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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5507-0.txt b/5507-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9f433f --- /dev/null +++ b/5507-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11546 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Serapis, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Serapis, Complete + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5507] +Last updated: April 27, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +SERAPIS, Complete + +By Georg Ebers + + +Translated from the German by Clara Bell + + + + +SERAPIS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The busy turmoil of the town had been hushed for some hours; the moon +and stars were keeping silent watch over Alexandria, and many of the +inhabitants were already in the land of dreams. It was deliciously +fresh--a truly gracious night; but, though peace reigned in the streets +and alleys, even now there was in this pause for rest a lack of the +soothing calm which refreshes and renews the spirit of man. For some few +weeks there had been an oppressive and fevered tension in the repose +of night. Every house and shop was closed as securely as though it were +done, not only to secure slumber against intrusion, but to protect life +and property from the spoiler; and instead of tones of jollity and mirth +the sleeping city echoed the heavy steps and ringing arms of soldiers. +Now and again, when the Roman word of command or the excited cry of some +sleepless monk broke the silence, shops and doors were cautiously opened +and an anxious face peered out, while belated wanderers shrunk into +gateways or under the black shadow of a wall as the watch came past. A +mysterious burden weighed on the Heart of the busy city and clicked its +pulses, as a nightmare oppresses the dreamer. + +On this night of the year of our Lord 391, in a narrow street leading +from the commercial harbor known as Kibotus, an old man was slinking +along close to the houses. His clothes were plain but decent, and he +walked with his head bent forward looking anxiously on all sides; when +the patrol came by he shrank into the shadow; though he was no thief +he had his reasons for keeping out of the way of the soldiery, for the +inhabitants, whether natives or strangers, were forbidden to appear in +the streets after the harbor was closed for the night. + +He stopped in front of a large house, whose long, windowless wall +extended from one side street to the next, and pausing before the great +gate, he read an inscription on which the light fell from a lamp above: +“The House of the Holy Martyr. His widow here offers shelter to all who +need it. He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.” + +“At how much per cent I wonder?” mattered the old man and a satirical +smile curled his beardless lips. A heavy thud with the knocker rang +through the silent street, and after a few short questions from within +and equally curt replies from without, a small door was opened in the +great gate. The stranger was on the point of crossing the vestibule when +a human creature crept up to him on all fours, and clutched his ankle +with a strong hand, exclaiming in a hoarse voice: “As soon as the door +is shut--an entrance fee; for the poor, you know.” + +The old man flung a copper piece to the gatekeeper who tried it, and +then, holding on to the rope by which he was tied to a post like a +watch-dog, he whined out “Not a drop to wet a Christian’s lips?” + +“It has not rained for some time,” retorted the stranger, who proceeded +to open a second door which led into a vast court-yard open to the blue +vault of heaven. A few torches stuck against the pillars and a small +fire on the pavement added thin smoky, flickering light to the clear +glory of the stars, and the whole quadrangle was full of a heavy, +reeking atmosphere, compounded of smoke and the steam of hot food. + +Even in the street the wanderer had heard the dull buzz and roar which +now met his ear as a loud medley of noises and voices, rising from +hundreds of men who were encamped in the wide space before him--in +groups or singly, sleeping and snoring, or quarrelling, eating, talking +and singing as they squatted on the ground which was strewn with straw. + +The inn was full, and more than half of the humble guests were monks +who, during the last two days, had flowed into the city from every +Cenoby, Laura and hermitage in the desert, and from most of the +monasteries in the surrounding district--the ‘Nitriote Nome’. Some of +them had laid their heads close together for confidential whispering, +others squabbled loudly, and a large group in the northern angle of +the court had raised a psalm which mingled strangely with the “three,” + “four,” “seven,” of the men who were playing ‘mora’, and the cry of +the cook inviting purchasers to his stall spread with meat, bread, and +onions. + +At the end of the court furthest from the gateway there was a covered +way, on to which a row of doors opened leading to the rooms devoted to +families of women and children, each apartment being divided into two by +a curtain across the middle. The stranger made his way into one of these +rooms, where he was warmly welcomed by a young man, who was occupied in +cutting a Kopais reed into a mouth-piece for a double flute, and by a +tall matronly woman. + +The new-comer’s name was Karnis and he was the head of a family of +wandering singers who had arrived in Alexandria only the day before +from Rome. His surroundings were poor and mean, for their ship had been +attacked off the African coast by a band of pirates, and though they +had saved their lives they had lost everything they possessed. The +young owner of the vessel, to whom he owed his safety, had procured him +admission to this Xenodochium,--[a refuge or inn]--kept by his mother +the Widow Mary; Karnis had, however, found it far from comfortable, and +had gone forth at noon to seek other quarters. + +“All in vain!” said he, as he wiped the heat drops from his forehead. +“I have hunted Medius half the city through and found him at last at the +house of Posidonius the Magian, whose assistant he is. There was singing +behind a curtain--wretched rubbish; but there were some old airs too +with an accompaniment on the flutes, in the style of Olympus, and really +not so bad. + +“Then spirits appeared. By Sirius a queer business altogether! Medius +is in the midst of it all. I arranged the chorus and sang with them a +little. All I got for it was a little dirty silver--there! But as for +a lodging--free quarters!--there are none to be found here for anything +above an owl; and then there is the edict--that cursed edict!” + +During this speech the younger man had exchanged meaning glances +with his mother. He now interrupted Karnis, saying in a tone of +encouragement: + +“Never mind, father; we have something good in view.” + +“You have?” said the old man with an incredulous shrug, while his wife +served him with a small roast chicken, on a stool which did duty for a +table. + +“Yes father, we!” the lad went on, laying aside his knife. “You know we +vowed an offering to Dionysus for our escape, since he himself once fell +into the hands of pirates, so we went at once to his temple. Mother knew +the way; and as we--she, I mean, and Dada and myself...” + +“Heh! what is this?” interrupted Karnis, now for the first time noticing +the dish before him. “A fowl--when we are so miserably poor? A whole +fowl, and cooked with oil?” He spoke angrily, but his wife, laying her +hand on his shoulder, said soothingly: + +“We shall soon earn it again. Never a sesterce was won by fretting. +Enjoy to-day’s gifts and the gods will provide for to-morrow.” + +“Indeed?” asked Karnis in an altered key. “To be sure when a roast fowl +flies into one’s mouth instead of a pigeon.... But you are right as +usual, Herse, as usual, only--here am I battening like a senator while +you--I lay a wager you have drunk nothing but milk all day and eaten +nothing but bread and radishes. I thought so? Then the chicken must +pretend to be a pheasant and you, wife, will eat this leg. The girls +are gone to bed? Why here is some wine too! Fill up your cup, boy. A +libation to the God! Glory to Dionysus!” The two men poured the libation +on the floor and drank; then the father thrust his knife into the breast +of the bird and began his meal with a will, while Orpheus, the son, went +on with his story: + +“Well, the temple of Dionysus was not to be found, for Bishop Theophilus +has had it destroyed; so to what divinity could we offer our wreath +and cake? Here in Egypt there is none but the great Mother Isis. Her +sanctuary is on the shore of Lake Mareotis and mother found it at once. +There she fell into conversation with a priestess who, as soon as she +learnt that my mother belonged to a family of musicians--though Dame +Herse was cautious in announcing this fact--and hoped to find employment +in Alexandria, led her away to a young lady who was closely veiled. This +lady,” Orpheus went on--he not only played the flute but took the higher +parts for a man’s voice and could also strike the lyre--“desired us to +go to her later at her own house, where she would speak with us. She +drove off in a fine carriage and we, of course followed her orders; Agne +was with us too. A splendid house! I never saw anything handsomer in +Rome or Antioch. We were kindly received, and with the lady there were +another very old lady and a tall grave man, a priest I should fancy or a +philosopher, or something of that kind.” + +“Not some Christian trap?” asked Karnis suspiciously. “You do not know +this place, and since the edict...” + +“Never fear, father! There were images of the gods in the halls +and corridors, and in the room where we were received by Gorgo, the +beautiful daughter of Porphyrius, there was an altar before an image of +Isis, quite freshly anointed.--This Porphyrius is a very rich merchant; +we learnt that afterwards, and many other things. The philosopher asked +us at once whether we were aware that Theodosius had lately promulgated +a new edict forbidding young maidens to appear in public as singers or +flute-players.” + +“And did Agne hear that?” said the old man in a low voice as he pointed +to the curtain. + +“No, she and Dada were in the garden on to which the room opened, and +mother explained at once that though Agne was a Christian she was a very +good girl, and that so long as she remained in our service she was bound +to sing with us whenever she was required. The philosopher exclaimed +at once: ‘The very thing!’ and they whispered together, and called the +girls and desired them to show what they could do.” + +“And how did they perform?” asked the old man, who was growing excited. + +“Dada warbled like a lark, and Agne--well you know how it always is. Her +voice sounded lovely but it was just as usual. You can guess how much +there is in her and how deep her feeling is but she never quite brings +it out. What has she to complain of with us? And yet whatever she sings +has that mournful, painful ring which even you can do nothing to alter. +However, she pleased them better than Dada did, for I noticed that Gorgo +and the gentleman glanced at each other and at her, and whispered a word +now and then which certainly referred to Ague. When they had sung two +songs the young lady came towards us and praised both the girls, and +asked whether we would undertake to learn something quite new. I told +her that my father was a great musician who could master the most +difficult things at the first hearing.” + +“The most difficult! Hm... that depends,” said the old man. “Did she +show it you?” + +“No; it is something in the style of Linus and she sang it to us.” + +“The daughter of the rich Porphyrius sang for your entertainment? +Yours?” said Karnis laughing. “By Sirius! The world is turning upside +down. Now that girls are forbidden to perform to the gentlefolks, art is +being cultivated by the upper classes; it cannot be killed outright. For +the future the listeners will be paid to keep quiet and the singers pay +for the right of torturing their ears--our ears, our luckless ears will +be victimized.” + +Orpheus smiled and shook his head; then, again dropping his knife, he +went on eagerly: + +“But if you could only hear her! You would give your last copper piece +to hear her again.” + +“Indeed!” muttered his father. “Well, there are very good teachers here. +Something by Linus did you say she sang?” + +“Something of that kind; a lament for the dead of very great power: +‘Return, oh! return my beloved, came back--come home!’ that was the +burthen of it. And there was a passage which said: ‘Oh that each tear +had a voice and could join with me in calling thee!’ And how she sang +it, father! I do not think I ever in my life heard anything like it. Ask +mother. Even Dada’s eyes were full of tears.” + +“Yes, it was beautiful,” the mother agreed. “I could not help wishing +that you were there.” + +Karnis rose and paced the little room, waving his arms and muttering: + +“Ah! so that is how it is! A friend of the Muses. We saved the large +lute--that is well. My chlamys has an ugly hole in it--if the girls were +not asleep... but the first thing to-morrow Ague.... Tell me, is she +handsome, tall?” + +Herse had been watching her excitable husband with much satisfaction +and now answered his question: “Not a Hera--not a Muse--decidedly not. +Hardly above the middle height, slightly made, but not small, black +eyes, long lashes, dark straight eyebrows. I could hardly, like Orpheus, +call her beautiful...” + +“Oh yes, mother.--Beautiful is a great word, and one my father has +taught me to use but rarely; but she--if she is not beautiful who +is?--when she raised her large dark eyes and threw back her head to +bring out her lament; tone after tone seemed to come from the bottom of +her heart and rise to the furthest height of heaven. Ah, if Agne could +learn to sing like that! ‘Throw your whole soul into your singing.’--You +have told her that again and again. Now, Gorgo can and does. And she +stood there as steady and as highly strung as a bow, every note came out +with the ring of an arrow and went straight to the heart, as clear and +pure as possible.” + +“Be silent!” cried the old man covering his ears with his hands. “I +shall not close an eye till daylight, and then... Orpheus, take +that silver--take it all, I have no more--go early to market and buy +flowers--laurel branches, ivy, violets and roses. But no lotuses though +the market here is full of them; they are showy, boastful things with +no scent, I cannot bear them. We will go crowned to the Temple of the +Muses.” + +“Buy away, buy all you want!” said Herse laughing, as she showed her +husband some bright gold pieces. “We got that to-day, and if all is +well....” Here she paused, pointed to the curtain, and went on again in +a lower tone: “It all depends of course, on Agne’s playing us no trick.” + +“How so? Why? She is a good girl and I will...” + +“No, no,” said Herse holding him back. “She does not know yet what the +business is. The lady wants her...” + +“Well?” + +“To sing in the Temple of Isis.” + +Karnis colored. He was suddenly called from a lovely dream back to the +squalid reality. “In the Temple of Isis,” he said gloomily. “Agne? In +the face of all the people? And she knows nothing about it?” + +“Nothing, father.” + +“No? Well then, if that is the case... Agne, the Christian, in the +Temple of Isis--here, here, where Bishop Theophilus is destroying +all our sanctuaries and the monks outdo their master. Ah, children, +children, how pretty and round and bright a soap-bubble is, and how soon +it bursts. Do you know at all what it is that you are planning? If the +black flies smell it out and it becomes known, by the great Apollo! +we should have fared better at the hands of the pirates. And yet, and +yet.--Do you know at all how the girl...?” + +“She wept at the lady’s singing,” interrupted Herse eagerly, “and, +silent as she generally is, on her way home she said: ‘To sing like +that! She is a happy girl!’” + +Karnis looked up with renewed confidence. + +“Ah!” he exclaimed, “that is my Agne. Yes, yes, she truly loves her +divine art. She can sing, she will sing! We will venture it, if you, I, +all of us die for it! + +“Herse, Orpheus, what have we to lose? Our gods, too, shall have their +martyrs. It is a poor life that has no excitement. Our art--why, all +I have ever had has been devoted to it. I make no boast of having +sacrificed everything, and if gold and lands were again to be mine I +would become a beggar once more for the sake of art: We have always held +the divine Muse sacred, but who can keep up a brave heart when he sees +her persecuted! She may only be worshipped in darkness in these days, +and the Queen of Gods and men shuns the light like a moth, a bat, an +owl. If we must die let it be with and for Her! Once more let pure and +perfect song rejoice this old heart, and if afterwards... My children, +we have no place in this dim, colorless world. While the Arts lived +there was Spring on the earth. Now they are condemned to death and it +is Winter. The leaves fall from all the trees, and we piping birds need +groves to sing in. How often already has Death laid his hand on our +shoulder, every breath we draw is a boon of mercy--the extra length +given in by the weaver, the hour of grace granted by the hangman to his +victim! Our lives are no longer our own, a borrowed purse with damaged +copper coins. The hard-hearted creditor has already bent his knuckles, +and when he knocks the time is up. Once more let us have one hour of +pure and perfect enjoyment, and then we will pay up capital and interest +when we must.” + +“It cannot and will not be yet,” said Herse resolutely, but she wiped +her eyes with her hand. “If Agne sings even, so long as she does it +without coercion and of her own free-will no Bishop can punish us.” + +“He cannot, he dare not!” cried the old man. “There are still laws and +judges.” + +“And Gorgo’s family is influential as well as rich. Porphyrius has power +to protect us, and you do not yet know what a fancy he has taken to us. +Ask mother.” + +“It is like a story,” Herse put in. “Before we left, the old lady--she +must be eighty or more--took me aside and asked me where we were +lodging. I told her at the Widow Mary’s and when she heard it she struck +her crutch on the floor. ‘Do you like the place?’ she asked. I told her +not at all, and said we could not possibly stop here.” + +“Quite right!” cried Karnis. “The monks in the court-yard will kill us +as dead as rats if they hear us learning heathen hymns.” + +“That is what I told her; but the old lady did not allow me to finish; +she drew me close to her and whispered, ‘only do as my granddaughter +wishes and you shall be safely housed and take this for the +present’--and she put her hand into the purse at her girdle, gave the +gold into my hand, and added loud enough for the others to hear: ‘Fifty +gold pieces out of my own pocket if Gorgo tells me that she is satisfied +with your performance.’” + +“Fifty gold pieces!” cried Karnis clasping his hands. “That brightens +up the dull grey of existence. Fifty, then, are certain. If we sing six +times that makes a talent--[estimated in 1880 at $1100]--and that will +buy back our old vineyard at Leontium. I will repair the old Odeum--they +have made a cowhouse of it--and when we sing there the monks may come +and listen! You laugh? But you are simpletons--I should like to see who +will forbid my singing on my own land and in my own country. A talent of +gold! + +“It is quite enough to pay on account, and I will not agree to any +bargain that will not give me the field-slaves and cattle. Castles in +the air, do you say? But just listen to me: We are sure you see of +a hundred gold pieces at least...” He had raised his voice in his +eagerness and while he spoke the curtains had been softly opened, and +the dull glimmer of the lamp which stood in front of Orpheus fell on a +head which was charming in spite of its disorder. A quantity of loose +fair hair curled in papers stuck up all over the round head and fell +over the forehead, the eyes were tired and still half shut, but the +little mouth was wide awake and laughing with the frank amusement of +light-hearted youth. + +Karnis, without noticing the listener, had gone on with his visionary +hopes of regaining his estates by his next earnings, but at this point +the young girl, holding the curtain in her right hand, stretched out her +plump left arm and begged in a humble whine: + +“Good father Karnis, give me a little of your wealth; five poor little +drachmae!” + +The old man started; but he instantly recovered himself and answered +good-naturedly enough: + +“Go back to bed, you little hussy. You ought to be asleep instead of +listening there!” + +“Asleep?” said the girl. “While you are shouting like an orator against +the wind! Five drachmae, father. I stick to that. A new ribband for me +will cost one, and the same for Agne, two. Two I will spend on wine for +us all, and that makes the five.” + +“That makes four--you are a great arithmetician to be sure!” + +“Four?” said Dada, as much amazed as though the moon had fallen. “If +only I had a counting-frame. No, father, five I tell you--it is five.” + +“No, child, four; and you shall have four,” replied her father. “Plutus +is at the door and to-morrow morning you shall both have garlands.” + +“Yes, of violets, ivy and roses,” added Dame Herse. “Is Agne asleep?” + +“As sound as the dead. She always sleeps soundly unless she lies wide +awake all the night through. But we were both so tired--and I am still. +It is a comfort to yawn. Do you see how I am sitting?” + +“On the clothes-chest?” said Herse. + +“Yes, and the curtain is not a strong back to the seat. Fortunately if I +fall asleep I shall drop forwards, not backwards.” + +“But there is a bed for each of you,” said the mother, and giving the +girl a gentle push she followed her into the sleeping-alcove. In a few +minutes she came out again. + +“That is just like Dada!” she exclaimed. “Little Papias had rolled off +the chest on which he was sleeping, so the good girl had put him into +her bed and was sitting on the chest herself, tired as she was.” + +“She would do anything for that boy,” said Karnis. “But it is past +midnight. Come, Orpheus, let us make the bed!” + +Three long hen-coops which stood piled against the wall were laid on +the ground and covered with mats; on these the tired men stretched their +limbs, but they could not sleep. + +The little lamp was extinguished, and for an hour all was still in the +dark room. Then, suddenly, there was a loud commotion; some elastic +object flew against the wall with a loud flap, and Karnis, starting up, +called out: “Get out--monster!” + +“What is it?” cried Herse who had also been startled, and the old man +replied angrily: + +“Some daemon, some dog of a daemon is attacking me and giving me no +peace. Wait, you villain--there, perhaps that will settle you,” and he +flung his second sandal. Then, without heeding the rustling fall of some +object that he had hit by accident, he gasped out: + +“The impudent fiend will not let me be. It knows that we need Agne’s +voice, and it keeps whispering, first in one ear and then in the other, +that I should threaten to sell her little brother if she refuses; but +I--I--strike a light, Orpheus!--She is a good girl and rather than do +such a thing...” + +“The daemon has been close to me too,” said the son as he blew on the +spark he had struck. + +“And to me too,” added Herse nervously. “It is only natural. There are +no images of the gods in this Christian hovel. Away, hateful serpent! +We are honest folks and will not agree to any vile baseness. Here is my +amulet, Karnis; if the daemon comes again you must turn it round--you +know how.” + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Early next morning the singers set out for the house of Porphyrius. The +party was not complete, however, for Dada had been forced to remain at +home. The shoes that the old man had flung to scare away the daemon had +caught in the girl’s dress which she had just washed, and had dragged +it down on to the earth; she had found it in the morning full of holes +burnt by the ashes into the damp material. Dada had no other presentable +garment, so, in spite of her indignant refusal and many tears, she had +to remain indoors with Papias. Agne’s anxious offers to stay in her +place with the little boy and to lend Dada her dress, both Karnis and +his wife had positively refused; and Dada had lent her aid--at first +silently though willingly and then with her usual merriment--in twining +garlands for the others and in dressing Agne’s smooth black plaits with +a wreath of ivy and violets. + +The men were already washed, anointed and crowned with poplar and laurel +when a steward arrived from Porphyrius to bid them follow him to his +master’s house. But a small sacrifice was necessary, for the messenger +desired them to lay aside their wreaths, which would excite ill-feeling +among the monks, and certainly be snatched off by the Christian mob. +Karnis when he started was greatly disappointed, and as much depressed +as he had been triumphant and hopeful a short time before. + +The monks, who had gathered outside the Xenodochium, glanced with +scowling suspicion at the party, who could not recover the good spirits +with which they had begun the day till they were fairly out of the +narrow, gloomy alleys, reeking with tar and salt fish, that adjoined the +harbor, and where they had to push their way through a dense throng. +The steward led the van with Herse, talking freely in reply to her +enquiries. + +His master, he said, was one of the great merchants of the city, whose +wife had died twenty years since in giving birth to Gorgo. His two sons +were at present absent on their travels. The old lady who had been +so liberal in her treatment of the singers was Damia, the mother of +Porphyrius. She had a fine fortune of her own, and notwithstanding her +great age was still respected as the soul of business in the household, +and as a woman deeply versed in the mysterious sciences. Mary, the pious +Christian, who had founded the “House of the Holy Martyr,” was the +widow of Apelles, the brother of Porphyrius, but she had ceased all +intercourse with her husband’s family. This was but natural, as she was +at the head of the Christian women of Alexandria, while the household +of Porphyrius--though the master himself had been baptized--was as +thoroughly heathen as any in Alexandria. + +Karnis heard nothing of all this, for he came last of the party. Orpheus +and Agne followed next to Herse and the steward, and after them came two +slaves, carrying the lutes and pipes. Agne walked with downcast eyes, +as if she desired to avoid seeing all that surrounded her, though when +Orpheus addressed her she shyly glanced up at him and answered briefly +and timidly. They presently came out of an obscure alley by the canal +connecting Kibotus with Lake Mareotis where the Nile-boats lay at +anchor. Karnis drew a deeper breath, for here the air was clear and +balmy; a light northerly breeze brought the refreshing fragrance of +the sea, and the slender palm-trees that bordered the canal threw long +shadows mingling with the massive shade of the sycamores. The road was +astir with busy groups, birds sang in the trees, and the old musician +drank in the exciting and aromatic atmosphere of the Egyptian Spring +with keen enjoyment. + +As they reached the middle of the steep bridge across the canal he +involuntarily stood still, riveted by the view of the southwest. In his +excitement he threw up his arms, his eyes glistened with moisture and +with the enthusiasm of youth, and, as was always the case when his +emotions were stirred by some glorious work of God or man, an image rose +to his mind, all unbidden--the image of his eldest son, now dead, but +in life his closest and most sympathetic comrade. He felt as though +his hand could grasp the shoulder of that son, too early snatched away, +whose gifts had far transcended those of the surviving Orpheus--as +though he too could gaze with him on the grand scene that lay before +him. + +On a platform of rocks and mighty masonry rose a structure of wonderful +magnificence and beauty, so brilliantly illuminated by the morning +sun that its noble proportions and gorgeous colors showed in dazzling +splendor and relief. Over the gilt dome bent the cloudless blue of the +African sky, and the polished hemisphere shone, as radiant as the sun +whose beams it reflected. Sloping planes for vehicles, and flights +of steps for pedestrians led up to the gates. The lower part of this +wonderful edifice--the great Temple of Serapis--was built to stand +forever, and the pillars of the vestibule supported a roof more fitted +to the majesty of the gods than to the insignificance of mortals; +priests and worshippers moved here like children among the trunks of +some gigantic forest. Round the cornice, in hundreds of niches, and on +every projection, all the gods of Olympus and all the heroes and sages +of Greece seemed to have met in conclave, and stood gazing down on the +world in gleaming brass or tinted marble. Every portion of the building +blazed with gold and vivid coloring; the painter’s hand had added life +to the marble groups in high relief that filled the pediments and the +smaller figures in the long row of metopes. All the population of a town +might have found refuge in the vast edifice and its effect on the mind +was like that of a harmonious symphony of adoration sung by a chorus of +giants. + +“All hail! Great Serapis! I greet thee in joyful humility, thankful that +Thou hast granted to my old eyes to see Thy glorious and eternal temple +once again!” murmured Karnis in devout contemplation. Then, appealing +to his wife and son, he pointed in silence to the building. Presently, +however, as he watched Orpheus gazing in speechless delight at its +magnificent proportions he could not forbear. + +“This,” he began with fervid enthusiasm, “is the stronghold of Serapis +the King of the Gods! A work for all time. Its youth has lasted five +hundred years, its future will extend to all eternity.--Aye, so it +is; and so long as it endures in all its glory the old gods cannot be +deposed!” + +“No one will ever dare to touch a stone of it,” said the steward. “Every +child in Alexandria knows that the world will crumble into dust and +ashes if a finger is laid on that Temple, and the man who ventures to +touch the sacred image...” + +“The god can protect himself!” interrupted the singer. “But you--you +Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death--if you +really long so vehemently for the end of all things, you have only to +fall upon this glorious structure.--Do that, do that--only do that!” + +The old man shook his fist at the invisible foe and Herse echoed his +words: + +“Aye, aye, only do that!” Then she added more calmly: “Well, if +everything comes to an end at once the enemies of the gods will die with +us; and there can be nothing terrible in perishing at the same time with +everything that is beautiful or dear to us.” + +“Nevertheless,” said the steward, “the Bishop has put out his hand +to touch the sanctuary. But our noble Olympius would not suffer the +sacrilegious host to approach, and they had to retire with broken +heads. Serapis will not be mocked; he will stand though all else perish. +‘Eternity,’ the priest tells us, ‘is to him but as an instant, and while +millions of generations bloom and fade, he is still and forever the +same!’” + +“Hail, all hail to the great god!” cried Orpheus with hands outstretched +towards the temple. + +“Yea, hail! for everlasting glory shall be his!” repeated his father. +“Great is Serapis, and his house and his image shall last...” + +“Till the next full moon!” said a passer-by in a tone of sinister +mockery, shaking his fist in the face, as it were, of the god. Orpheus +turned quickly to punish the prophet of evil; but he had disappeared in +the crowd and the tide of men had borne him onwards. “Till the next full +moon!” murmured Agne, who had shuddered at her companion’s rapturous +ejaculations, and she glanced uneasily at Orpheus; but by the time Herse +addressed her a minute or two later she had controlled the expression of +her features, and the matron’s heart was gladdened by her bright +smile. Nay, many a young Alexandrian, passing the group on foot or in a +carriage, looked at her a second time, for that smile lent a mysterious +charm to her pale, calm face. Nor had it faded away when they had +crossed the bridge and were nearing the shores of the lake, for an idea +once conceived lingered long in Agne’s mind; and as she walked on in +the bright glory of the morning’s sun her mind’s eye was fixed on a +nocturnal scene--on the full moon, high in the sky--on the overthrow +of the great idol and a glittering army among the marble ruins of the +Serapeum. Apostles and martyrs soared around, the Saviour sat enthroned +in glory and triumph, while angels, cradled on the clouds that were his +footstool, were singing beatific hymns which sounded clearly in her ear +above the many-voiced tumult of the quays. The vision did not vanish +till she was desired to get into the boat. + +Herse was a native of Alexandria and Karnis had passed some of the best +years of his life there; but to Orpheus and Agne all was new, and even +the girl, when once she had escaped from the crowd and noise which +oppressed her, took an interest in the scene and asked a question now +and then. The younger man had not eyes enough to see all that claimed +his attention and admiration. + +There were the great sluice-gates at the entrance to the canal that +joined the lake to the sea--there, in a separate dock, lay the splendid +imperial Nile-boats which served to keep up communication between the +garrison of Alexandria and the military stations on the river--there, +again, were the gaudy barges intended for the use of the ‘comes’, the +prefect and other high officials--and there merchant-vessels of every +size lay at anchor in countless number. Long trains of many-colored +sails swept over the rippling lake like flights of birds across a +cornfield, and every inch of the shore was covered with stores or +buildings. Far away to the south long trellices of vine covered the +slopes, broken by the silvery glaucous tones of the olive-groves, and +by clumps of towering palms whose crowns mingled to form a lofty canopy. +White walls, gaudily-painted temples and private villas gleamed among +the green, and the slanting rays of the low sun, shining on the drops +that fell from the never-resting wheels and buckets that irrigated the +land, turned them into showers of diamonds. These water-works, of the +most ingenious construction, many of them invented and contrived by +scientific engineers, were the weapons with which man had conquered +the desert that originally surrounded this lake, forcing it into green +fertility and productiveness of grain and fruit. Nay, the desert had, +for many centuries, here ceased to exist. Dionysus the generous, and the +kindly garden-gods had blest the toil of men, and yet, now, in many +a plot--in all which belonged to Christian owners--their altars lay +scattered and overthrown. + +During the last thirty years much indeed was changed, and nothing to +the satisfaction of old Karnis; Herse, too, shook her head, and when +the rowers had pulled them about half-way across, she pointed to a broad +vacant spot on the bank where a new building was just rising above the +soil, and said sadly to her husband: + +“Would you know that place again? Where is our dear old temple gone? The +temple of Dionysus.” Karnis started up so hastily that he almost upset +the boat, and their conductor was obliged to insist on his keeping +quiet; he obeyed but badly, however, for his arms were never still as he +broke out: + +“And do you suppose that because we are in Egypt I can keep my living +body as still as one of your dead mummies? Let others keep still if they +can! I say it is shameful, disgraceful; a dove’s gall might rise at it! +That splendid building, the pride of the city and the delight of men’s +eyes, destroyed--swept away like dust from the road! Do you see? Do you +see, I say? Broken columns, marble capitals, here, there and everywhere +at the bottom of the lake--here a head and there a torso! Great +and noble masters formed those statues by the aid of the gods, and +they--they, small and ignoble as they are, have destroyed them by the +aid of evil daemons. They have annihilated and drowned works that were +worthy to live forever! And why? Shall I tell you? Because they shun +the Beautiful as an owl shuns light. Aye, they do! There is nothing they +hate or dread so much as beauty; wherever they find it, they deface and +destroy it, even if it is the work of the Divinity. I accuse them before +the Immortals--for where is the grove even, not the work of man but +the special work of Heaven itself? Where is our grove, with its cool +grottos, its primaeval trees, its shady nooks, and all the peace and +enjoyment of which it was as full as a ripe grape is full of sweet +juice?” + +“It was cut down and rooted up,” replied the steward. “The emperor gave +the sanctuary over to Bishop Theophilus and he set to work at once to +destroy it. The temple was pulled down, the sacred vessels went into the +melting-pot, and the images were mutilated and insulted before they were +thrown into the lime-kiln. The place they are building now is to be a +Christian church. Oh! to think of the airy, beautiful colonnades that +once stood there, and then of the dingy barn that is to take their +place!” + +“Why do the gods endure it? Has Zeus lost his thunderbolts?” cried +Orpheus clenching his hands, and paying no heed to Agne who sat pale and +sternly silent during this conversation. + +“Nay, he only sleeps, to wake with awful power,” said the old man. +“See those blocks of marble and ruins under the waves. Swift work +is destruction! And men lost their wits and looked on at the crime, +flinging the delight of the gods into the water and the kiln. They were +wise, very wise; fishes and flames are dumb and cannot cry to heaven. +One barbarian, in one hour can destroy what it has taken the sublimest +souls years, centuries, to create. They glory in destruction and ruin +and they can no more build up again such a temple as stood there than +they can restore trees that have taken six hundred years to grow. +There--out there, Herse, in the hollow where those black fellows are +stirring mortar--they have given them shirts too, because they are +ashamed of the beauty of men’s bodies--that is where the grotto was +where we found your poor father.” + +“The grotto?” repeated his wife, looking at the spot through her tears, +and thinking of the day when, as a girl, she had hurried to the feast +of Dionysus and sought her father in the temple. He had been famous as +a gem-cutter. In obedience to the time-honored tradition in Alexandria, +after intoxicating himself with new wine in honor of the god, he had +rushed out into the street to join the procession. The next morning he +had not returned; the afternoon passed and evening came and still he +did not appear, so his daughter had gone in search of him. Karnis was +at that time a young student and, as her father’s lodger, had rented the +best room in the house. He had met her going on her errand and had been +very ready to help her in the search; before long they had found the +old man in the ivy-grown grotto in the grove of Dionysus--motionless and +cold, as if struck by lightning. The bystanders believed that the god +had snatched him away in his intoxicated legion. + +In this hour of sorrow Karnis had proved himself her friend, and a few +months after Herse had become his wife and gone with him to Tauromenium +in Sicily. + +All this rose before her mind, and even Karnis sat gazing dumbly at the +waves; for every spot where some decisive change has occurred in our +lives has power to revive the past when we see it again after a long +absence. Thus they all sat in silence till Orpheus, touching his father, +pointed out the temple of Isis where he had met the fair Gorgo on the +previous day. The old man turned to look at the sanctuary which, as yet, +remained intact. + +“A barbarous structure!” he said bitterly. “The art of the Egyptians +has long been numbered with the dead and the tiger hungers only for the +living!” + +“Nay, it is not such a bad piece of work,” replied the steward, “but it +is out of their reach; for the ground on which it stands belongs to my +old mistress, and the law protects private property.--You must at your +leisure inspect the ship-yard here; it is perhaps the most extensive in +the world. The timber that is piled there--cedar of Lebanon, oak from +Pontus and heavy iron-wood from Ethiopia--is worth hundreds of talents.” + +“And does all that belong to your master?” + +“No; the owner is the grandson of a freedman, formerly in his family. +Now they are very rich and highly respected, and Master Clemens sits in +the Senate. There he is--that man in a white robe.” + +“A Christian, I should imagine,” observed the singer. + +“Very true;” replied the steward. “But what is good remains good, and +he is a worthy and excellent man notwithstanding. He keeps a tight +hand over the ship-yard here and over the others too by the harbor +of Eunostus. Only Clemens can never let other people have their own +opinions; in that he is just like the rest of them. Every slave he buys +must become a Christian and his sons are the same; even Constantine, +though he is an officer in the imperial army and as smart and clever a +soldier as lives.--As far as we are concerned we leave every man to his +own beliefs. Porphyrius makes no secret of his views and all the vessels +we use in the corn-trade are built by Christians.--But here we are.” + +The boat stopped at a broad flight of marble steps which led from the +lake into the garden of Porphyrius’ house. Karnis as he walked through +the grounds felt himself at greater ease, for here the old gods were +at home; their statues gleamed among the dark clumps of evergreens, and +were mirrored in the clear tanks, while delicious perfumes were wafted +from the garlanded shrines and freshly anointed altars, to greet the +newcomers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The family of musicians were kindly received, but they were not +immediately called upon to perform, for as soon as Damia heard that the +pretty fair-haired child who had pleased her so much the day before +had been obliged to remain at home, she had one of her granddaughter’s +dresses brought out, and requested Herse to go back to fetch her. Some +slaves were to accompany Herse and transfer all her little property on +board a Nile-boat belonging to Porphyrius, which was lying at anchor +just off the ship-yard. In this large barge there were several cabins +which had often accommodated guests, and which would now serve very well +as a residence for Karnis and his party. Indeed, it was particularly +well suited for a family of musicians, for they could practise there +undisturbed, and Gorgo could at any time pay them a visit. + +Herse went back to the Xenodochium with a lighter heart; her son also +returned to the city to replace a number of necessaries that had been +lost on board ship, and Karnis, rejoicing to be out of the monk-haunted +asylum had remained in the men’s room in the house of his new patron, +enjoying the good things which abounded there. He felt as though he was +here once more at home after years of exile. Here dwelt the spirit of +his fathers; here he found men who enjoyed life after his own fashion, +who could share his enthusiasms and his hatreds. He drank noble liquor +out of an elegantly carved onyx cup, all that he heard soothed his ears, +and all that he said met with entire sympathy. The future prospects of +his family, till now so uncertain, were hardly inferior to those which +his vivid imagination had painted the night before. And even if Fortune +should again desert him, the hours of present enjoyment should be +written down to the profit side of life, and remain a permanent gain at +any rate in memory. + +The venerable Damia, her son Porphyrius, and the fair Gorgo were in +fact a trio such as are rarely met with. The master of the house, more +cautious than the women, was inclined to think that his mother and +daughter had been somewhat overhasty and imprudent in their advances and +he had at first received Karnis with considerable reserve; but after a +short interview he had convinced himself that the musician was a man of +unusual culture and superior stamp. The old lady had, from the first, +been predisposed in his favor, for she had read in the stars last night +that the day was to bring her a fortunate meeting. Her wish was law, and +Karnis could not help smiling when she addressed her son, whose hair +had long been grey and who looked fully competent to manage his own +household, as “my child,” not hesitating to scold and reprove him. Her +cathedra was a high arm-chair which she never quitted but to be +carried to her observatory on the roof of the house, where she kept her +astrological tablets and manuscripts. The only weakness about her was +in her feet; but strong, and willing arms were always at her disposal +to carry her about--to table, into her sleeping-room, and during the +daytime out to sunny spots in the garden. She was never so happy as when +Helios warmed her back with his rays, for her old blood needed it after +the long night-watches that she still would keep in her observatory. +Even during the hottest noon she would sit in the sun, with a large +green umbrella to shade her keen eyes, and those who desired to speak +with her might find shade as best they could. As she stood, much bent, +but propped on her ivory crutches, eagerly following every word of a +conversation, she looked as though she were prepared at any moment to +spring into the middle of it and interrupt the speaker. She always said +exactly what she meant without reserve or ruth; and throughout her long +life, as the mistress of great wealth, she had always been allowed to +have her own way. She asserted her rights even over her son, though +he was the centre of a web whose threads reached to the furthest +circumference of the known world. The peasants who tilled the earth by +the Upper and Lower Nile, the shepherds who kept their flocks in the +Arabian desert, in Syria, or on the Silphium meads of Cyrenaica, the +wood-cutters of Lebanon and Pontus, the mountaineers of Hispania and +Sardinia, the brokers, merchants, and skippers of every port on the +Mediterranean, were bound by these threads to the villa on the shore of +Mareotis, and felt the tie when the master there--docile as a boy to his +mother’s will--tightened or released his hold. + +His possessions, even in his youth, had been so vast that their +increment could bring no added enjoyment to him or his family, and yet +their increase had become his life’s task. He strove for a higher sum to +figure on the annual balance sheet, as eagerly as an athlete strives +for a prize; and his mother not only inspected the account, but watched +every important undertaking with keen interest. When her son and his +colleagues doubted over some decision it was she who gave the casting +vote; but though her advice in most cases proved sound and profitable, +she herself ascribed this less to her own acumen and knowledge of the +world than to the hints she obtained from the stars and from magical +calculations. Her son did not follow her in these speculations, but +he rarely disputed the conclusions that she drew from her astrological +studies. While she was turning night into day he was glad to entertain +a few learned friends, for all the hours of leisure that he could snatch +from his pursuit of fortune, he devoted to philosophy, and the most +distinguished thinkers of Alexandria were happy to be received at +the hospitable table of so rich a patron. He was charmed to be called +“Callias,” + + [The noble Athenian family of Callias was famed for its wealth and + splendor.] + +and the heathen teachers at the schools of the Museum and Serapeum +regarded him as a faithful ally. It was known that he had been baptized, +but he never liked to hear the fact mentioned. He won all hearts by his +perfect modesty, but even more perhaps by a certain air of suffering +and melancholy which protected the wealthy merchant against the envy of +detractors. + +In the course of her conversation with Karnis the old lady enquired +particularly as to the antecedent history of Agne, for if there had been +a stain on her character, or if she were by birth a slave, Gorgo could +not of course be seen with her in public, and in that case Karnis would +have to teach the lament of Isis to some freeborn singer. Karnis in +reply could only shrug his shoulders, and beg the ladies and Porphyrius +to judge for themselves when he should have related the young girl’s +story. + +Three years since, he said, he had been staying at Antioch at the time +of a violent outbreak against the levying of certain taxes. There had +been much bloodshed, and he and his family had got out of the city +as quickly as they could. It was growing dusk when they turned into a +wayside inn, where they found Agne and her little brother captives to a +soldier. During the night the girl had crept up to the little boy’s bed, +and to comfort and lull him had begun to sing him a simple song. The +singer’s voice was so pure and pathetic that it had touched both him and +his wife and they had at once purchased the girl and her brother for a +small sum. He had simply paid what the soldier asked, not regarding the +children in the light of slaves; nor had he had any description of them +written out, though it was, no doubt, in his power to treat them as +slaves and to sell them again, since the sale had taken place before +witnesses who might still be found. He had afterwards learnt from the +girl that her parents were Christians and had settled in Antioch only +a few years previously; but she had no friends nor relatives there. Her +father, being a tax-collector in the service of the Emperor, had moved +about a great deal, but she remembered his having spoken of Augusta +Treviroruin in Belgica prima, as his native place.--[Now Trier or +Treves, on the Moselle.] + +Agne had witnessed the attack on her father’s house by the angry mob +who had killed her parents, their two slaves, and her elder brother. Her +father must certainly have been an official of some rank, and probably, +as it would seem, a Roman citizen, in which case--as Porphyrius +agreed--both the young girl and her little brother could legally claim +their freedom. The insurgents who had dragged the two children out into +the street had been driven off by the troops, and it was from them that +Karnis had rescued them. “And I have never regretted it,” added the old +musician, “for Agne is a sweet, gentle soul. Of her voice I need say +nothing, since you yourselves heard it yesterday.” + +“And were quite delighted with it!” cried Gorgo. “If flowers could sing +it would be like that!” + +“Well, well,” said Karnis. “She has a lovely voice--but she wants wings. +Something--what, I know not, keeps the violet rooted to the soil.” + +“Christian scruples,” said the merchant, and Damia added: + +“Let Eros touch her--that will loosen her tongue.” + +“Eros, always Eros!” repeated Gorgo shrugging her shoulders. “Nay, love +means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them. To do the best +of which he is capable man needs only to be free, true, and in health.” + +“That is a great deal, fair mistress,” replied Karnis eagerly. “With +these three gifts the best work is done. But as to Agne--what can be +further from freedom than a girl bound to service? her body, to be sure +is healthy, but her spirit suffers; she can get no peace for dread of +the Christian’s terrors: Sin, Repentance, and Hell....” + +“Oh, we know how their life is ruined!” interrupted the old lady. “Was +it Agne who introduced you to Mary’s Asylum?” + +“No, noble lady.” + +“But how then--that prudent saint generally selects her guests, and +those that are not baptized...” + +“She certainly sheltered heathens on this occasion.” + +“I am much surprised. Tell me how it happened.” + +“We were at Rome,” began Karnis, “and my patron there persuaded Marcus, +Mary’s son, to take us on board his ship at Ostia. We dropped anchor at +Cyrene, where the young master wanted to pick up his brother and bring +him also to Alexandria.” + +“Then is Demetrius here?” asked Porphyrius. + +“Yes, sir. He came on board at Cyrene. Hardly had we got fairly to +sea again when we saw two pirate ships. Our trireme was at once turned +round, but in our hurry to regain the harbor we stuck fast on a +sand bank; the boats were at once put out to save the passengers and +Cynegius, the consul...” + +“Cynegius--on his way here!” exclaimed Porphyrius, much excited. + +“He landed yesterday with us in the harbor of Eunostus. The secretaries +and officers of his suite filled one boat and Marcus and his brother +were getting into the other with their men. We, and others of the free +passengers, should have been left behind if Dada...” + +“That pretty little blonde?” asked Damia. + +“The very same. Marcus had taken a great fancy to her prattle and her +songs during the voyage--no nightingale can sing more clearly--and when +she begged and prayed him he gave way at once, and said: he would take +her in his boat. But the brave child declared that she would jump into +the sea before she would leave without us.” + +“Well done!” cried the old lady, and Porphyrius added: + +“That speaks well for her and for you.” + +“So after all Marcus found room for us in the boat--for all of us, and +we got safely to land. A few days after we all came on in a troop-ship: +Cynegius, the two brothers and the rest, all safe and sound; and, as +we had lost everything we possessed, Marcus gave us a certificate which +procured our admission into his mother’s Xenodochium. And then the gods +brought me and mine under the notice of your noble daughter.” + +“Then Cynegius is here, positively here?” asked Porphyrius once more. +Karnis assured him that he was, and the merchant, turning to his mother, +went on: + +“And Olympius has not yet come home. It is always the same thing; he is +as rash as a boy. If they should take him! The roads are swarming with +monks. There is something astir. Bring out the chariot, Syrus, at once; +and tell Atlas to be ready to accompany me. Cynegius here!--Ha, ha! I +thank the gods!” + +The last exclamation was addressed to a man who at this instant came +into the room, muffled up to the eyes. He threw off the hood of his +cloak and the wrapper that went round his throat, concealing his long +white beard, and as he did so he exclaimed with a gasp for breath: + +“Here I am once more!--Cynegius is here and matters look serious my +friend.” + +“You have been to the Museum?” + +“Without any obstruction. I found them all assembled. Brave lads. They +are all for us and the gods. There are plenty of weapons. The Jews--[At +that time about two-fifths of the whole population.]--are not stirring, +Onias thinks he may vouch for that; and we must surely be a match for +the monks and the imperial cohorts.” + +“If the gods only stand by us to-day and tomorrow,” replied Porphyrius +doubtfully. + +“For ever, if only the country people do their duty!” cried the other. +“But who is this stranger?” + +“The chief of the singers who were here yesterday,” replied Gorgo. + +“Karnis, the son of Hiero of Tauromenium,” said the musician, bowing to +the stranger, whose stately figure and handsome, thoughtful head struck +him with admiration. + +“Karnis of Tauromenium!” exclaimed the newcomer with glad surprise. “By +Hercules! a strange meeting. Your hand, your hand, old man. How many +years is it since we last emptied a wine-jar together at the house of +old Hippias? Seven lustres have turned our hair grey, but we still can +stand upright. Well, Karnis son of Hiero--and who am I?” + +“Olympius--the great Olympius!” cried Karnis, eagerly grasping the +offered hand. “May all the gods bless this happy day!” + +“All the gods?” repeated the philosopher. “Is that what you say? Then +you have not crawled under the yoke of the cross?” + +“The world can rejoice only under the auspices of the gods!” cried +Karnis excitedly. + +“And it shall rejoice still, we will save it from gloom!” added the +other with a flash of vehemence. + +“The times are fateful. We must fight; and no longer over trifles; we +cannot now break each other’s heads over a quibble, or believe that the +whole world hangs on the question whether the instant of death is the +last minute of this life or the first of the next. No--what now remains +to be decided is whether the old gods shall be victorious, whether we +shall continue to live free and happy under the rule of the Immortals, +or whether we shall bow under the dismal doctrine of the carpenter’s +crucified son; we must fight for the highest hopes and aims of +humanity.” + +“I know,” interrupted Karnis, “you have already done battle valiantly +for great Serapis. They wanted to lay hands on his sanctuary but you and +your disciples put them to rout. The rest got off scot-free...” + +“But they have taught me the value of my head,” said Olympius laughing. +“Evagrius prices it at three talents. Why, you might buy a house with +the money and a modest man could live upon the interest. This worthy man +keeps me concealed here. We must talk over a few things, Porphyrius; and +you, Gorgo, do not forget the solemn festival of Isis. Now that Cynegius +is here it must be made as splendid as possible, and he must tell the +Emperor, who has sent him, what temper we Alexandrians are in. But where +is the dark maiden I saw yesterday?” + +“In the garden,” replied Gorgo. + +“She is to sing at the foot of the bier!” cried Olympius. “That must not +be altered.” + +“If I can persuade her--she is a Christian,” said Karnis doubtfully. + +“She must,” said the philosopher positively. “It will be a bad lookout +indeed for the logic and rhetoric of Alexandria if an old professor and +disputant cannot succeed in turning a young girl’s resolutions upside +down. Leave that to me. I shall find time for a chat with you by and +bye, friend Karnis. How in the world does it happen that you, who so +often have helped us with your father’s coin, have come down to be the +chief of a band of travelling musicians? You will have much to tell me, +my good friend; but even such important matters must give way to those +that are more pressing. One word with you, Porphyrius.” + +Agne had been all this time awaiting Herse’s return in the colonnade +that ran along the garden-front of the house. She was glad to be alone, +and it was very comfortable to rest on the soft cushions under the +gilt-coffered ceiling of the arcade. At each end stood large shrubs +covered with bunches of violet-blue flowers and the spreading branches +cast a pleasant shade on the couch where she sat; the beautiful flowers, +which were strange to her, were delightfully fragrant, and from time +to time she helped herself to the refreshments which Gorgo herself had +brought out to her. All she saw, heard, and felt, was soothing to her +mind; never had she seen or tasted juicier peaches, richer bunches of +grapes, fresher almonds or more tempting cakes; on the shrubs in the +garden and on the grass-plots between the paths there was not a dead +leaf, not a dry stem, not the tiniest weed. The buds were swelling on +the tall trees, shrubs without end were covered with blossoms--white, +blue, yellow, and red--while, among the smooth, shining leaves of the +orange and lemon trees, gleamed the swelling fruit. On a round tank +close at hand some black swans were noiselessly tracing evanescent +circles and uttering their strange lament. The song of birds mingled +with the plash of fountains, and even the marble statues, for all that +they were dumb, seemed to be enjoying the sweet morning air and the stir +and voice of nature. + +Yes, she could be happy here; as she peeled a peach and slowly +swallowed the soft fragrant mouthfuls, she laughed to remember the +hard ship’s-biscuit, of the two previous days’ fare. And it was Gorgo’s +privilege to revel in these good things day after day, year after year. +It was like living in Eden, in the perpetual spring of man’s first +blissful home on earth. There could be no suffering here; who could +cry here, who could be sorrowful, who could die?... Here a new train of +thought forced itself upon her. She was still so young, and yet she was +as familiar with the idea of death as she was with life; for whenever +she had happened to tell any minister of her creed that she was an +orphan and a slave, and deeply sad and sorrowful, the joys of eternity +in Paradise had always been described to her for her consolation, and it +was in hopes of Heaven that her visionary nature found such a modicum of +comfort as might suffice to keep the young artist-soul from despair. And +now it struck her that it must be hard, very hard to die, in the midst +of all this splendor. Living here must be a foretaste of the joys of +Paradise--and in the next world, among the angels of Heaven, in the +presence of the Saviour--would it not be a thousand times more beautiful +even than this? She shuddered, for, sojourning here, she was no longer +to be counted as one of the poor and humble sufferers to whom Christ had +promised the Kingdom of Heaven--here she was one of the rich, who had +nothing to hope for after death. + +She pushed the peaches away with a feeling of oppression, and closed +her eyes that she might no longer see all these perishable splendors +and sinful works of the heathen, which pandered only to the senses. She +longed to remain miserable and poor on earth, that she might rejoin her +parents and dwell with them eternally. + +To her it was not a belief but a certainty that her father and mother +were dwelling in Heaven, and she had often felt moved to pray that she +might die and be reunited to them; but she must not die yet, for her +little brother still needed her care. The kind souls whom she served +let him lack for nothing, it is true, that could conduce to his bodily +welfare; still, she could not appear before her parents without the +little one in her hand, and he would be lost eternally if his soul fell +into the power of the enemies of her faith. Her heart ached when she +reflected that Karnis, who was certainly not one of the reprobate and +whom she affectionately revered as a master in the art she loved--that +Herse, and the light-hearted Dada, and Orpheus even, must all be doomed +to perish eternally; and to save Orpheus she would willingly have +forfeited half the joys of Paradise. She saw that he was no less an +idolater than his parents; and yet, day by day, she prayed that his soul +might be saved, and she never ceased to hope for a miracle--that he too +might see a vision, like Paul, and confess the Saviour. She was so happy +when she was with him, and never happier than when it was her fortune to +sing with him, or to his admirable accompaniment on the lute. When she +could succeed in forgetting herself completely, and in giving utterance +by her lovely voice to all that was highest and best in her soul, he, +whose ear was no less sensitive and appreciative than his father’s, +would frankly express his approval, and in these moments life was indeed +fair and precious. + +Music was the bond between her and Orpheus, and when her soul was +stirred she could feel and express herself in music. Song was the +language of her heart, and she had learnt by experience that it was +a language which even the heathen could both use and understand. The +Eternal Father himself must find joy in such a voice as Gorgo’s. She was +a heathen, and yet she had thrown into her song all that Agne herself +could feel when she lifted up her heart in passionate prayer. The +Christian--so she had often been taught--must have no part with the +idolaters; but it was God himself who had cast her on the hands of +Karnis, and the Church commanded that servants should obey their +masters. Singing seemed to her to be a language in itself, bestowed by +God on all living creatures, even on the birds, wherein to speak to Him; +so she allowed herself to look forward with pleasure to an opportunity +of mingling her own voice with that of the heathen lady. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Not long after Porphyrius and the philosopher had retired to a private +room Herse returned with Dada. Gorgo’s blue spangled dress, which Damia +had sent her, suited the girl to perfection; but she was quite out of +breath, and her hair was in disorder. Herse, too, looked agitated, her +face was red and she dragged little Papias, whose hand she held, rather +roughly at her heels. + +Dada was evidently abashed; less by reason of the splendor that +surrounded her than because her foster-mother had strictly enjoined her +to be very quiet and mannerly in the presence of their patrons. She felt +shy and strange as she made her low courtesy to the old lady; but Damia +seemed to be pleased with the timid grace of her demeanor, for she +offered her her hand--an honor she usually conferred only on her +intimates, bid her stoop, and gave her a kiss, saying kindly: “You are +a good brave girl. Fidelity to your friends is pleasing in the sight of +the gods, and finds its reward even among men.” + +Dada, obeying a happy impulse, threw herself on her knees before the old +woman, kissed her hands, and then, sitting on her heels, nestled at her +feet. + +Gorgo, however, noticing Herse’s agitation, asked what had happened to +them. Some monks, Herse explained, had followed them on the road hither, +had snatched Dada’s lyre from the slave who was carrying it and pulled +the wreath out of her hair. Damia was furious as she heard it, and +trembled with rage as she railed at the wild hordes who disgraced and +desecrated Alexandria, the sacred home of the Muses; then she began to +speak once more of the young captain, Mary’s son, to whom the troupe of +singers owed their lives. + +“Marcus,” said she, “is said to be a paragon of chastity. He races in +the hippodrome with all the gallants of the town and yet--if it is true +it is a miracle--he shuns women as though he were a priest already. His +mother is very anxious that he should become one; but he, by the grace +of Aphrodite, is the son of my handsome Appelles, who, if he had gazed +into those blue eyes all the way from Rome to Alexandria, would have +surrendered at mercy; but then he would also have conquered them--as +surely as I hope to live till autumn. You need not blush so, child. +After all, Marcus is a man like other men. Keep your eyes open, Dame +Herse!” + +“Never fear!” cried Herse. “And I have need to keep them open I am +sorry to say. The young captain, who on board ship was so bashful and +retiring, as soon as he was on land altered his time. While we were away +this morning he crept into his own mother’s inn like a ferret, opened +the door of our room with the keys of which he has the command--it is +shameful!--and proposed to the girl to fly, to leave us--she is the +daughter of a dear sister of mine--and go with him; who but he knows +where!” + +Damia struck the floor with her crutch and, interrupting the indignant +matron with a spiteful laugh, exclaimed: + +“Ha, ha! The saintly Mary’s most saintly son! Such wonders do not happen +every day! Here, Dada--here; take this ring, it has been worn by a woman +who once was young and who has had many lovers. Close--come close, my +sweet child.” + +Dada looked up at the old lady with puzzled eyes; Damia bent her head +close to the girl’s, and whispered, softly but vehemently in her ear: + +“Only turn that milksop’s head, make him so madly and desperately in +love with you that he does not know which way to turn for delicious +torment. You can do it I know, and if you do--well, I make no promises; +but on the day when all Alexandria is talking of that woman’s son as +wandering out, night after night, to watch under the window of the fair +Dada, the heathen singer--when he drives you out in the face of day +and in his own chariot, down the Canopic Way and past his mother’s +door--then child, ask, claim whatever you will, and old Damia will not +refuse it.” + +Then raising her head she added to the others: + +“In the afternoon, my friends, you can take possession of your new +quarters. Go with them, Dada. By-and-bye we will find you a pretty room +in the tower. Come and see me very often, sweet one, and tell me all +your prettiest tales. When I am not too busy I shall always be glad to +see you, for you and I have a secret you know.” + +The girl stood up, looking uneasily at the old woman; Damia nodded +knowingly, as much as to say that they quite understood each other and +again offered her hand to Dada; but Dada could not kiss it; she turned +and followed the others more gravely than usual. + +Gorgo guessed what the old lady would be at with Dada; as soon as the +party of singers had taken leave she went up to her grandmother and said +reproachfully: + +“That little fair thing will find no difficulty in making a fool of +Marcus; for my part I hardly know him, but why should he pay for his +mother’s sins against you? How can he help...” + +“He cannot help it,” interrupted Damia with decisive abruptness. “He can +do nothing to save his mother, any more than you can help being a child +of twenty and bound to hold your tongue till your opinion is asked.” + + ........................... + +The family of musicians had all met on board the barge which was lying +at anchor in the lake, off the ship-yard. Orpheus had just been an +eye-witness of the disturbance which prevailed throughout the city, and +the wild howls and cries that were audible in the distance confirmed his +report; but the waters of the lake were an unruffled mirror of blue, +the slaves in the ship-yard were at work as usual, and the cooing +turtle-doves flew from palm to palm. + +No signs of troubled times were to be seen in the floating home of the +wanderers. The steward had provided for everything. There were rooms +and beds to spare in the vessel; the large deck-cabin was a comfortable +sitting-room, and from the little galley at the prow came a savory smell +of cooking and a cheerful clang of pots and pans. + +“This is living!” exclaimed Karnis, stretching himself comfortably on a +divan. “This abode seems made on purpose for our noble selves! Sit down, +mother, make yourself at home. Here we are people of consequence, and +if it were only to make things pleasant for the slaves we must behave as +though we had never known people who take their meals squatted round an +earthen bowl, and clawing out the broken meat. Enjoy the gifts of the +present--who knows how long this golden hour may last! Ah, wife, it +reminds us of former times! It would be very pleasant to be like this, +side by side, and help ourselves from a table all our own to dainty +dishes which we had not assisted in cooking. For you, old woman, have +done everything with your own hands for so long, that you deserve to +have some one to wait on you for once.” + +A little table was placed by each divan and covered with appetizing +food; the steward mixed some fine wine of the country with fresh, clear +water, Orpheus offered the libation, and Karnis spiced the meal with +jests and tales of his youth, of which he had been reminded by his +meeting with his old friend and comrade Olympius. + +Dada interrupted him frequently, laughing more loudly and recklessly +than usual; she was in a fever of excitement and Herse did not fail to +remark it. The good woman was somewhat uneasy. The very fact that her +husband always gave himself up heart and soul to the influences of the +hour--though she was glad that he should enjoy this good fortune to the +utmost--made her look beyond the present into the future. She had seen +with her own eyes the tumult that was rife in Alexandria, and felt +that they had arrived at an inauspicious moment. If it should come to +a struggle between the Christians and the Heathen, Karnis, finding that +his old friend Olympius was the head of his party, would infallibly +seize the sword, and if, then, the victory remained with the Christians +no mercy would be shown to those who had fought for the old gods. +Gorgo’s wish that Agne should sing in the temple of Isis was another +source of anxiety; for if it came to that they might, only too probably, +be accused of perverting a Christian to heathen worship, and be +condemned to a severe penalty. All this had worn a very different aspect +yesterday when she had thought of Alexandria as the gay home of her +youth; but now she saw what a change had taken place in these thirty +years. The Church had risen on the ruins of the Temple, and monks had +forced the sacrificing priests into the background. + +Karnis and his troupe were musicians of no ordinary stamp; still the +law concerning singing-girls might place him in peril, especially now +that--to make matters worse--a young Christian was paying court to his +pretty niece. What catastrophes might not be called down on his hapless +head if so influential a woman as Marcus’ mother Mary should come to +know of her son’s backsliding! Herse had long perceived how attractive +that little simpleton was to all men--old and young--and when one of the +lovers, of whom she had no lack, happened to take her fancy she was +apt to forget herself and play a too audacious game; but as soon as she +found she had gone too far and somewhat committed herself she would draw +back and meet him, if she could not avoid him, with repellent and even +unmannerly coldness. Again and again had Herse scolded and warned her, +but Dada always answered her reproofs by saying that she could not make +herself different from what she was, and Herse had never been able to +remain stern and severe in the face of the foolish excuses that Dada put +forward so convincingly. + +To-day the good woman could not quite make up her mind whether it +would be wiser to warn Dada against Marcus and desire her to repel any +advances he might attempt to make, or to let bygones be bygones. She +knew full well how a trifling incident gains importance when undue +emphasis is laid on it; she therefore had merely asked the girl what +secret she could have with old Damia and had accepted some evasive +subterfuge in reply, while, at the same time, she guessed the truth and +was quite determined not to remit her watchfulness. For a time, at any +rate, she thought she would let matters go their own way, and never +mention the young fellow’s name; but her husband spoilt this plan, +for with the eager jollity of a man very much at his ease after a good +dinner he called upon Dada to tell their the whole history of the young +Christian’s invasion in the morning. Dada at first was reticent, but the +old man’s communicative humor proved infectious and she presently told +her story: + +“I was sitting alone with the poor little boy, like--well I do not know +what like--you must find a comparison for yourselves. I was comforting +myself with the reflection that the key was on the inside and the door +locked, for I was getting frightened as the monks began to sing in the +yard below, one part going off to the left, as it were, and the other +part to the right. Did you ever see two drunken men walking arm in arm, +and lurching first to one side and then to the other? You may laugh, +but by the nine Muses it was just like that. Then Papias grew tired and +cross and kept asking where Agne was, till at last he began to cry. When +I asked him what he was crying for, he said he had forgotten, I really +am patient--you must all allow that--I did not do anything to him, but, +just to give him something to play with, I took out the key, for there +was nothing else at hand that he could not break, and gave it to him and +told him to play a tune on it. This delighted him, and he really did it +quite prettily. Then I looked over my burnt dress and was horrified to +see how large the holes were, and it struck me that I might turn it, +because when you turn a thing the spots, you know, do not show.” + +“You have invented that this very minute,” cried Orpheus laughing. “We +know you. If you can only turn the laugh against yourself...” + +“No, really,” cried Dada, “the idea flew through my head like a bird +through a room; but I remembered at once that a hole burnt through shows +on both sides, so I threw the dress aside as past mending and sat down +on the low stool to peep through the wicket by the door out at the yard; +the singing had stopped and the silence frightened me almost as much. +Papias had stopped his piping too, and was sitting in the corner where +Orpheus sat to write his letter to Tauromenium.” + +“I know,” said Orpheus, “the inkstand was there, that the steward of the +inn had lent us the day before.” + +“Just so; and when mother came in, there he was, dipping his finger in +the ink, and painting his white dress--you can study the pattern at +your leisure.--But no not interrupt me.--Well, I was looking into the +court-yard; it was quite empty; all the monks were gone. Suddenly a tall +young man in a white dress with a beautiful sky-blue border appeared +through the great gate. The gate-keeper crawled after him very humbly as +far as his rope would allow and even the steward spoke to him with both +hands pressed to his breast as if he had a faithful heart on the right +side as well as the one on the left. This young man--it was our kind +friend Marcus, of course--crossed the court, taking a zigzag at first, +as a snipe flies, and then came towards our door. The steward and the +gate-keeper had both vanished.--Do you remember the young Goths whom +their father took to bathe in the Tiber last winter, when it was so +cold? And how they first stood on the brink and dipped their toes in, +and then ran away and when they came back again just wetted their heads +and chests? But they had to jump in at last when their father shouted +some barbaric words to them--I can see them now. Well, Marcus was +exactly like those boys; but at last he suddenly walked straight up to +our door and knocked.” + +“He remembered your pretty face no doubt,” laughed Karnis. + +“May be. However, I did not stir. I kept as still as a mouse, sitting on +my stool and watching him through the key-hole, till presently he called +out: ‘Is no one there?’ Then I forgot and answered: ‘They are all +out!’ Of course I had betrayed myself--but it is impossible to think of +everything at once. Oh! yes--you may laugh. And he smiled too--he is a +very handsome fellow--and desired me most pressingly to open the door +as he had something of the greatest importance to say to me. I said he +could talk very well through the gap at the top; that Pyramus and Thisbe +had even kissed through a chink in a wall. But he would not see the +joke; he got graver and more earnest, and insisted, saying that our +fate, his and mine, hung on that hour, and that not a soul must overhear +what he had to say. The top of the door was too high to whisper through, +so there was nothing for it but to ask Papias for the key; however, he +did not know where he had put it. I afterwards thought of asking him +what he had done with his flute and he fetched it then at once.--In +short, the key was nowhere to be found. I told Marcus this and he wrung +his hands with vexation; but in a few minutes the inn-steward, who must +have been hiding to listen behind a pillar, suddenly appeared as if he +had dropped from the skies, took a key out of his girdle, threw the door +wide open, and vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + +“There we stood, Marcus and I, face to face. He was quite agitated; I +really believe the poor fellow was trembling, and I did not feel very +confident; however, I asked him what it was that he wanted. Then he +recovered himself a little: ‘I wished,’--he began; so I went on: +‘Thou wishedst,’--and it might have gone on to the end: ‘he wished, we +wished’---and so forth, like the children at school at Rome, when we +were learning Greek; but, Papias came to the rescue, for he ran up to +Marcus and asked him to toss him up high, as he used to do on board +ship. Marcus did as he was asked, and then he suddenly broke out into +such a torrent of words that I was quite terrified. First he said so +many fine things that I quite expected a declaration of love, and was +trying to make up my mind whether I would laugh him out of it or +throw myself into his arms--for he really is a dear, good, handsome +fellow--and if you would like to know the truth I should have been very +willing to oblige him--to a certain extent. But he asked me nothing, and +from talking of me--listen to this Father Karnis--and saying that the +great Father in Heaven had granted me every good gift, he went on to +speak of you as a wicked, perverse and reprobate old heathen.” + +“I will teach him!” exclaimed Karnis shaking his fist. + +“Nay, but listen,” Dada went on. “He praised you and mother for a great +many things; but do you know what he says is wrong? He says you will +imperil my psyche--my soul, my immortal soul. As if I had ever heard of +any Psyche but the Psyche whom Eros loved!” + +“That is quite another thing,” said Karnis very seriously. “In many +songs, you know, I have tried to make you uplift your soul to a higher +flight. You have learnt to sing, and there is no better school for a +woman’s soul than music and singing. If that conceited simpleton--why, +he is young enough to be my grandson--if he talks any such nonsense to +you again you may tell him from me...” + +“You will tell him nothing,” cried Herse, “for we can have nothing +whatever to do with the Christian. You are my own sister’s child and I +desire and order you--do you hear--to keep out of his way, if he ever +tries to come near you again...” + +“Who is likely to find us here?” said Dada. “Besides, he has no such +ideas and motives as you suppose. It is what he calls my soul that he +cares for and not myself; and he wanted to take me away, not to his own +house, but to some man who would be the physician of my soul, he said. +I am generally ready enough to laugh, but what he said was so impressive +and solemn, and so wonderfully earnest and startling that I could not +jest over it. At last I was more angry at his daring to speak to me in +such a way than any of you ever thought I could be, and that drove him +half mad. You came in, mother, just as the gentleman had fallen on his +knees to implore me to leave you.” + +“And I gave him my mind on the subject,” retorted Herse with grim +satisfaction. “I let him know what I thought of him. He may talk about +the soul--what he is after is the girl. I know these Christians and I +know what the upshot will be. He will take advantage of the edict to +gain his ends, and then you will be separated from us and shut up in a +reformatory or a refuge or a cloister or whatever they call their dismal +prisons, and will learn more about your soul than you will care to know. +It will be all over then with singing, and laughter, and amusement. Now +you know the truth, and if you are wise you will keep out of his way +till we leave Alexandria; and that will be as soon as possible, if you +listen to reason, Karnis.” + +She spoke with such earnest conviction that Dada remained silent with +downcast eyes, and Karnis sat up to think the matter over. + +However, there was no time now for further reflection; the steward came +in and desired that he, with his son and Agne should go at once to Gorgo +to practise the lament of Isis. + +This command did not include Herse and Dada, who remained on the barge. +Herse having plenty to occupy her in the lower rooms, Dada went on deck +and watched the others on their way to the house; then she sat looking +at the shipwrights at their work and tossed fruit and sweetmeats, the +remains of their dessert, for the children to catch who were playing on +the shore. Meanwhile she thought over Marcus’ startling speech, Damia’s +injunctions and Herse’s warnings. + +At first it seemed to her that Herse might be right, but by degrees she +fell back into her old conviction that the young Christian could mean +no harm by her; and she felt as sure that he would find her out wherever +she might hide herself, as that it was her pretty and much-admired +little person that he sought to win, and not her soul--for what could +such an airy nothing as a soul profit a lover? How rapturously he had +described her charms, how candidly he had owned that her image was +always before him even in his dreams, that he could not and would not +give her up--nay, that he was ready to lay down his life to save her +soul. Only a man in love could speak like this and a man so desperately +in love can achieve whatever he will. On her way from the Xenodochium +to the house of Porphyrius she had passed him in his chariot, and had +admired the splendid horses which he turned and guided with perfect +skill and grace. He was scarcely three years older than herself; he was +eighteen--but in spite of his youth and simplicity he was not unmanly; +and there was something in him--something that compelled her to be +constantly thinking of him and asking herself what that something was. +Old Damia’s instructions troubled her; they took much of the charm from +her dream of being loved by Marcus, clasped in his arms, and driven +through the city in his chariot. + +It was impossible--yes, quite impossible, she was sure--that they should +have parted forever; as she sat, thinking still of him and glancing from +time to time at the toiling carpenters, a boat pulled up at the landing +close to the barge out of which jumped an officer of the imperial guard. +Such a handsome man! with such a noble, powerful, sunburnt face, a +lightly waving black beard, and hair that fell from under his gold +helmet! The short-sword at his side showed him to be a tribune or +prefect of cavalry, and what gallant deeds must not this brilliant and +glittering young warrior have performed to have risen to such high rank +while still so young! He stood on the shore, looking all round, his +eyes met hers and she felt herself color; he seemed surprised to see her +there and greeted her respectfully with a military salute; then he went +on towards the unfinished hulk of a large ship whose bare curved ribs +one or two foremen were busily measuring with tape and rule. + +An elderly man of dignified aspect was standing close by, who, as Dada +had already discovered, was the head of the ship-yard, and the warrior +hastened towards him. She heard him say: “Father,” and in the next +instant she saw the old man open his arms and the officer rush to +embrace him. + +Dada never took her eyes off the couple who walked on, arm in arm and +talking eagerly, till they disappeared into a large house on the further +side of the dockyard. + +“What a handsome man!” Dada repeated to herself, but while she waited to +see him return she gazed across the lake by which Marcus might find +his way to her. And as she lingered, idly dreaming, she involuntarily +compared the two men. There were fine soldiers in plenty in Rome, +and the ship-builder’s son was in no particular superior to a hundred +others; but such a man as Marcus she had never before seen--there could +hardly be such another in the world. The young guard was one fine +tree among a grove of fine trees; but Marcus had something peculiar +to himself, that distinguished him from the crowd, and which made him +exceptionally attractive and lovable. His image at length so completely +filled her mind that she forgot the handsome officer, and the shipmaster +and every one else. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Karnis and his two companions were a long time away. Dada had almost +forgotten her wish to see the young soldier once more, and after playing +with little Papias for some time, as she might have played with a dog, +she began to feel dull and to think the quiet of the boat intolerable. +The sun was sinking when the absentees returned, but she at once +reminded Karnis that he had promised to take her for a walk and show her +Alexandria. Herse, however, forbid her going on such an expedition +till the following day. Dada, who was more irritable and fractious than +usual, burst into tears, flung the distaff that her foster-mother put +into her hand over the side of the ship, and declared between her sobs +that she was not a slave, that she would run away and find happiness +wherever it offered. In short she was so insubordinate that Herse +lost patience and scolded her severely. The girl sprang up, flung on a +handkerchief and in a moment would have crossed the plank to the shore; +Karnis, however, held her back. + +“Why, child,” he said, “do you not see how tired I am?” The appeal had +its effect; Dada recovered her reason and tried to look up brightly, but +her eyes were still tearful and heavy and she could only creep away into +a corner and cry in silence. The old man’s heart was very soft towards +the girl; he would have been glad only to speak a few kind words to her +and smoothe down her hair; however, he made an effort, and whispering a +few words to his wife said he was ready, if Dada wished it, to take her +as far as the Canopic way and the Bruchium. + +Dada laughed with delight, wiped away her tears, flung her arms round +the musician’s neck and kissed his brown cheeks, exclaiming: + +“You are the best of them all! Make haste, and Agne shall come too; she +must see something of the city.” + +But Agne preferred to remain on board, so Karnis and Dada set out +together. Orpheus followed them closely for, though the troops had +succeeded in quelling the uproar, the city was still in a state of +ferment. Closely veiled, and without any kind of adornment--on this +Herse had positively insisted--the girl, clinging to the old man’s arm, +made her way through the streets, asking questions about everything she +saw; and her spirits rose, and she was so full of droll suggestions that +Karnis soon forgot his fatigue and gave himself up to the enjoyment +of showing her the old scenes that he knew and the new beauties and +improvements. + +In the Canopic way Dada was fairly beside herself with delight. Houses +like palaces stood arrayed on each side. Close to the buildings ran a +covered arcade, and down the centre of the roadway there was a broad +footpath shaded by sycamores. This fine avenue swarmed with pedestrians, +while on each side chariots, drawn by magnificent horses, hurried past, +and riders galloped up and down; at every step there was something new +and interesting to be seen. + +Rome, even, could not boast of a handsomer street, and Dada expressed +her delight with frank eagerness; but Karnis did not echo her praises; +he was indignant at finding that the Christians had removed a fine +statue of the venerable Nile-god surrounded by the playful forms of his +infant children, which had formerly graced the fountain in the middle of +the avenue, and had also overthrown or mutilated the statues of Hermes +that had stood by the roadside. Orpheus sympathized in his wrath which +reached its climax when, on looking for two statues, of Demeter and of +Pallas Athene, of which Karnis had spoken to his son as decorating the +gateway of one of the finest houses in the city, they beheld instead, +mounted on the plinths, two coarsely-wrought images of the Lamb with its +Cross. + +“Like two rats that have been caught under a stone!” cried the old +man. “And what is most shameful is that I would wager that they have +destroyed the statues which were the pride of the town and thrown them +on a rubbish heap. In my day this house belonged to a rich man +named Philippus. But stop--was not he the father of our hospitable +protector...” + +“The steward spoke of Porphyrius as the son of Philippus,” Orpheus said. + +“And Philippus was a corn merchant, too,” added Karnis. “Demeter was +figurative of a blessing on the harvest, for it was from that the house +derived its wealth, and Pallas Athene was patroness of the learning that +was encouraged by its owners. When I was a student here every wealthy +man belonged to some school of philosophy. The money-bag did not count +for everything. Heathen or Jew, whether engaged in business or enjoying +the revenues of an inherited fortune, a man was expected to be able to +talk of something besides the price of merchandise and the coming and +sailing of vessels.” + +During this conversation Dada had withdrawn her hand from the old man’s +arm to raise her veil, for two men had gone up to the gate between the +images that had roused Karnis to wrath, and one of them, who at this +instant knocked at the door, was Mary’s son. + +“Father, see, there he is!” cried Dada, as the door was opened, speaking +louder than was at all necessary to enable her companion to hear her; +the musician at once recognized Marcus, and turning to his son he said: + +“Now we may be quite sure! Porphyrius and this young Christian’s father +were brothers. Philippus must have left his house to his eldest son who +is the one that is dead, and it now belongs no doubt to Mary, his widow. +I must admit, child, that you choose your adorers from respectable +families!” + +“I should think so,” said the girl laughing. “And that is why he is so +proud. My fine gentleman has not even a glance to cast at us. Bang! the +door is shut. Come along, uncle!” + +The young man in question entered the hall of his father’s house with +his companion and paused there to say in a tone of pressing entreaty: +“Only come and speak with my mother; you really must not leave like +this.” + +“How else?” said the other roughly. “You stick to your way, I will go +mine. You can find a better steward for the estate--I go to-morrow. +May the earth open and swallow me up if I stay one hour longer than is +absolutely necessary in this demented place. And after all Mary is your +mother and not mine.” + +“But she was your father’s wife,” retorted Marcus. + +“Certainly, or you would not be my brother. But she--I have amply +repaid any kindness she ever did me by ten years of service. We do not +understand each other and we never shall.” + +“Yes, yes, you will indeed. I have been in church and prayed--nay, do +not laugh--I prayed to the Lord that he would make it all work right and +He--well, you have been baptized and made one of His flock.” + +“To my misfortune! You drive me frantic with your meek and mild ways,” + cried the other passionately. “My own feet are strong enough for me to +stand on and my hand, though it is horny, can carry out what my brain +thinks right.” + +“No, no, Demetrius, no. You see, you believe in the old gods...” + +“Certainly,” said the other with increasing irritation. “You are merely +talking to the winds, and my time is precious. I must pack up my small +possessions, and for your sake I will say a few words of farewell when +I take the account-books to your mother. I have land enough belonging to +myself alone, at Arsinoe; I know my own business and am tired of letting +a woman meddle and mar it. Good-bye for the present, youngster. Tell +your mother I am coming; I shall be with her in just an hour.” + +“Demetrius!” cried the lad trying once more to detain his brother; but +Demetrius freed himself with a powerful wrench and hurried across the +court-yard--gay with flowers and with a fountain in the middle--into +which the apartments of the family opened, his own among the number. + +Marcus looked after him sadly; they differed too widely in thought and +feeling ever to understand each other completely, and when they stood +side by side no one would have imagined that they were the sons of one +father, for even in appearance they were strongly dissimilar. Marcus was +slight and delicate, Demetrius, on the contrary, broad-shouldered and +large-boned. + +After this parting from his half-brother Marcus betook himself to the +women’s rooms where Mary, after superintending the spinning and other +work of the slave-girls, in the rooms at the back, was wont to sit +during the evening. He found his mother in eager conversation with a +Christian priest of advanced age, an imposing personage of gentle and +dignified aspect. The widow, though past forty, might still pass for +a handsome woman: it was from her that her son had inherited his tall, +thin figure with narrow shoulders and a slight stoop, his finely-cut +features, white skin and soft, flowing, raven-black hair. Their +resemblance was rendered all the more striking by the fact that each +wore a simple, narrow circlet of gold-round the head; nay it would have +seemed some unusual trick of Nature’s but that their eyes were quite +unlike. Hers were black, and their gaze was shrewd and sharp and +sometimes sternly hard; while the dreamy lustre of her son’s, which were +blue, lent his face an almost feminine softness. + +She must have been discussing some grave questions with the old man, +for, as the young man entered the room, she colored slightly and her +long, taper fingers impatiently tapped the back of the couch on which +she was lounging. + +Marcus kissed first the priest’s hand and then his mother’s, and, +after enquiring with filial anxiety after her health, informed her that +Demetrius would presently be coming to take leave of her. + +“How condescending?” she said coldly. “You know reverend Father what it +is that I require of him and that he refuses. His peasants--always his +peasants! Now can you tell me why they, who must feel the influence and +power of their masters so much more directly than the lower class in +towns, they, whose weal or woe so obviously depends on the will of the +Most High, are so obstinately set against the Gospel of Salvation?” + +“They cling to what they are used to,” replied the old man. “The seed +they sow bore fruit under the old gods; and as they cannot see nor +handle our Heavenly Father as they can their idols, and at the same +time have nothing better to hope for than a tenth or a twentieth of the +grain...” + +“Yes, mine and thine--the miserable profit of this world!” sighed the +widow. “Oh! Demetrius can defend the idolatry of his favorites warmly +enough, never fear. If you can spare the time, good Father, stay and +help me to convince him.” + +“I have already stayed too long,” replied the priest, “for the Bishop +has commanded my presence. I should like to speak to you, my dear +Marcus; to-morrow morning, early, will you come to me? The Lord be with +you, beloved!” + +He rose, and as he gave Mary his hand she detained him a moment signing +to her son to leave them, and said in a low tone: + +“Marcus must not suspect that I know of the error into which he has been +led; speak roundly to his conscience, and as to the girl, I will take +her in hand. Will it not be possible for Theophilus to grant me an +interview?” + +“Hardly, at present,” replied the priest. “As you know, Cynegius is here +and the fate of the Bishop and of our cause hangs on the next few days. +Give up your ambitious desires I beseech you, daughter, for even if +Theophilus were to admit you I firmly believe, nay--do not be angry--I +can but hope that he would never give way on this point.” + +“No?” said the widow looking down in some embarrassment; but when her +visitor was gone she lifted her head with a flash of wilful defiance. + +She then made Marcus, who had on the previous day given her a full +account of his voyage from Rome, tell her all that had passed between +himself and Demetrius; she asked him how he liked his horse, whether he +hoped to win the approaching races, and generally what he had been doing +and was going to do. But it did not escape her notice that Marcus was +more reticent than usual and that he tried to bring the conversation +round to his voyage and to the guests in the Xenodochium; however, she +always stopped him, for she knew what he was aiming at and would not +listen to anything on that subject. + +It was not till long after the slaves had lighted the three-branched +silver lamps that Demetrius appeared. His stepmother received him +kindly and began to talk on indifferent subjects; but he replied with +ill-disguised impatience, for he had not come to chatter and gossip. She +fully understood this; but it pleased her to check and provoke him and +she did it in a way which vividly reminded him of his early days, of the +desolation and unhappiness that had blighted his young life when this +woman had taken the place of his own tender gentle mother, and come +between him and his father. Day after day, in that bygone time, she +had received him just as she had this evening: with words that sounded +kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart. He knew that she had always +seen his boyish errors and petty faults in the worst light, attributing +them to bad propensities and innate wickedness, that she had injured him +in his father’s eyes by painting a distorted image of his disposition +and doings--and all these sins he could not forgive her. At the time of +his father’s assassination Demetrius was already grown to man’s estate, +and as the eldest son it would have been his right and duty to take +part with his uncle Porphyrius in the management of the business; but +he could not endure the idea of living in the same place with his +stepmother, so, having a pronounced taste for a country life, he left +the widow in possession of the house in the Canopic street, persuaded +his uncle to pay over his father’s share in the business in hard cash +and then had quitted Alexandria to take entire charge of the family +estates in Cyrenaica. In the course of a few years he had become an +admirable farmer; the landowners throughout the province were glad to +take his advice or follow his example, and the accounts which he +now laid on the table by the side of Mary’s couch--three goodly +rolls--proved by the irrefragable evidence of figures that he had +actually doubled their revenues from the estates of which he had been +the manager. He had earned his right to claim his independence, to +persist in his own determinations and to go his own way; he was animated +by the pride of an independent nature that recklessly breaks away from a +detested tie when it has means at command either to rest without anxiety +or to devote its energies to new enterprise. + +When Demetrius had allowed his stepmother time enough for subjects in +which he took no interest, he laid his hand on the account-books and +abruptly observed that it was now time to talk seriously. He had already +explained to Marcus that he could no longer undertake to meet her +requirements; and as, with him, to decide was to act, he wished at once +to come to a decision as to whether he should continue to manage the +family estates in the way he thought proper, or should retire and +devote himself to the care of his own land. If Mary accepted the latter +alternative he would at once cancel their deed of agreement, but even +then he was very willing to stay on for a time in Cyrenaica, and put the +new steward, when she had appointed one, in the way of performing his +onerous duties. After that he would have nothing more to do with the +family estates. This was his last word; and whichever way she decided, +they might part without any final breach, which he was anxious to avoid +if only for the sake of Marcus. + +Demetrius spoke gravely and calmly; still, the bitterness that filled +his soul imparted a flavor to his speech that did not escape the widow, +and she replied with some emphasis that she should be very sorry to +think that any motives personal to herself had led to his decision; +she owed much, very much, to his exertions and had great pleasure in +expressing her obligations. He was aware, of course, that the property +he had been managing had been purchased originally partly with her +fortune and partly out of her husband’s pocket, and that half of it was +therefore hers and half of it the property of Marcus and himself; +but that by her husband’s will the control and management were hers +absolutely. She had endeavored to carry out the intentions of her +deceased husband by entrusting the stewardship of the estate to +Demetrius while he was still quite young; under his care the income had +increased, and she had no doubt that in the future he might achieve even +greater results; at the same time, the misunderstandings that the whole +business had given rise to were not to be endured, and must positively +be put an end to, even if their income were to diminish by half. + +“I,” she exclaimed, “am a Christian, with my whole heart and soul. I +have dedicated my body and life to the service of my Saviour. What shall +all the treasures of the world profit me if I lose my soul; and that, +which is my immortal part, must inevitably perish if I allow my pockets +to be filled by the toil of heathen peasants and slaves. I therefore +must insist--and on this point I will not yield a jot--that our slaves +in Cyrenaica, a flock of more than three thousand erring sheep, shall +either submit to be baptized or be removed to make way for Christians.” + +“That is to say...” began Demetrius hastily. + +“I have not yet done,” she interrupted. “So far as the peasants are +concerned who rent and farm our land they all, without exception--as you +said yesterday--are stiff-necked idolaters. We must give them time to +think it over, but the annual agreement will not be renewed with any who +will not pledge themselves to give up the old sacrifices and to worship +the Redeemer. If they submit they will be safe--in this world and +the next; if they refuse they must go, and the land must be let to +Christians in their stead.” + +“Just as I change this seat for another!” said Demetrius with a laugh, +and lifting up a heavy bronze chair he flung it down again on the hard +mosaic pavement so that the floor shook. + +Maria started violently. + +“My body may tremble,” she said in great excitement, “but my soul +is firm when its everlasting bliss is at stake. I insist--and my +representative, whether he be you or another, must carry my orders into +effect without an hour’s delay--I insist that every heathen shrine, +every image of the field and garden-gods, every altar and sacred stone +which the heathens use for their idolatrous practices shall be pulled +down, overthrown, mutilated and destroyed. That is what I require and +insist on.” + +“And that is what I will never consent to,” cried Demetrius in a voice +like low thunder. “I cannot and will not. These things have been held +precious and sacred to men for thousands of years and I cannot, will +not, blow them off the face of the earth, as you blow a feather off your +cloak. You may go and do it yourself; you may be able to achieve it.” + +“What do you mean?” asked Mary drawing herself up with a glance of +indignant protest. + +“Yes--if any one can do it you can!” repeated Demetrius imperturbably. +“I went to-day to seek the images of our forefathers--the venerable +images that were clear to our infancy, the portraits of our fathers’ +fathers and mothers, the founders of the honor of our race. And where +are they? They have gone with the protectors of our home, the pride +and ornament of this house--of the street, of the city--the Hermes and +Pallas Athene that you--you flung into the lime-kiln. Old Phabis told me +with tears in his eyes. Alas poor house that is robbed of its past, of +its glory, and of its patron deities!” + +“I have placed it under a better safeguard,” replied Maria in a +tremulous voice, and she looked it Marcus with an appeal for sympathy. +“Now, for the last time, I ask you: Will you accede to my demands or +will you not?” + +“I will not,” said Demetrius resolutely. + +“Then I must find a new agent to manage the estates.” + +“You will soon find one; but your land--which is our land too--will +become a desert. Poor land! If you destroy its shrines and sanctuaries +you will destroy its soul; for they are the soul of the land. The first +inhabitants gathered round the sanctuary, and on that sanctuary and the +gods that dwell there the peasant founds his hopes of increase on what +he sows and plants, and of prosperity for his wife and children and +cattle and all that he has. In destroying his shrines you ruin his +hopes, and with them all the joy of life. I know the peasant; he +believes that his labors must be vain if you deprive him of the gods +that make it thrive. He sows in hope, in the swelling of the grain he +sees the hand of the gods who claim his joyful thanksgiving after the +harvest is gathered in. You are depriving him of all that encourages and +uplifts and rejoices his soul when you ruin his shrines and altars!” + +“But I give him other and better ones,” replied Mary. + +“Take care then that they are such as he can appreciate,” said Demetrius +gravely. “Persuade him to love, to believe, to hope in the creed you +force upon him; but do not rob him of what he trusts in before he is +prepared to accept the substitute you offer him.--Now, let me go; we +are neither of us in the temper to make the best arrangements for the +future. One thing, at any rate, is certain: I have nothing more to do +with the estate.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +After leaving his stepmother Demetrius made good use of his time and +dictated a number of letters to his secretary, a slave he had brought +with him to Alexandria, for the use of the pen was to him unendurable +labor. The letters were on business, relating to his departure from +Cyrenaica and his purpose of managing his own estates for the future, +and when they lay before him, finished, rolled up and sealed, he felt +that he had come to a mile-stone on his road, a landmark in his life. He +paced the room in silence, trying to picture to himself the fate of +the slaves and peasants who, for so many years, had been his faithful +servants and fellow-laborers, whose confidence he had entirely won, and +many of whom he truly loved. But he could not conceive of their life, +their toil or their festivals, bereft of images, offerings, garlands, +and hymns of rejoicing. To him they were as children, forbidden to laugh +and play, and he could not help once more recurring to his boyhood and +the day of his going to school, when, instead of running and shouting in +his father’s sunny garden, he had been made to sit still and silent in +a dull class-room. And now had the whole world reached such a boundary +line in existence beyond which there was to be no more freedom and +careless joy--where a ceaseless struggle for higher things must begin +and never end? + +If the Gospel were indeed true, and if all it promised could ever find +fulfilment, it might perhaps be prudent to admit the sinfulness of man +and to give up the joys and glories of this world to win the eternal +treasure that it described. Many a good and wise man whom he had +known--nay the Emperor, the great and learned Theodosius himself--was +devoted heart and soul to the Christian faith, and Demetrius knew +from his own experience that his mother’s creed, in which he had been +initiated as a boy and from which his father, after holding him at the +font had perverted him at an early age, offered great consolations and +enduring help to those whose existence was one of care, poverty, +and suffering. But his laborers and servants? They were healthy and +contented. What power on earth could induce them--a race that clung +devotedly to custom--to desert the faith of their fathers, and the +time-honored traditions to which they owed all the comforts and +pleasures of life, or to seek in a strange creed the aid which they +already believed that they possessed. + +He did not repent of his determination; but he nevertheless said to +himself that, when once he was gone, Mary would proceed only too soon +on the work of extermination and destruction; and every temple on the +estate, every statue, every whispering grotto, every shrine and stone +anointed by pious hands, doomed now to perish, rose before his fancy. + +Demetrius was accustomed to rise at cock-crow and go to bed at an early +hour, and he was on the point of retiring even before the usual time, +when Marcus came to his room and begged him to give him yet an hour. + +“You are angry with my mother,” said the younger man with a look of +melancholy entreaty, “but you know there is nothing that she would not +sacrifice for the faith. And you can smile so bitterly! But only put +yourself in my place. Loving my mother as I do, it is acutely painful +to me to see another person--to see you whom I love, too, for you are +my friend and brother--to see you, I say, turn your back on her so +completely. My heart is heavy enough to-day I can tell you.” + +“Poor boy!” said the countryman. “Yes, I am truly your friend, and am +anxious to remain so; you are not to blame in this business--and for +that matter, I am anything but cheerful. You have chosen to say: Down +with the shrines! Perish all those who do not think as we do! Still, +look at the thing as you will, in some cases certainly violence must +ensue--nay, if no blood is shed it will be a wonder! You sum up the +matter in one common term: The heathen peasants on the estate. My view +of it is totally different; I know these farmers and their wives and +children, each one by name and by sight. There is not one but is ready +to bid me good day and shake my hand or kiss my dress. Many a one has +come to me in tears and left me happy.--By the great Zeus! no one ever +accused me of being soft-hearted, but I could wish this day that I were +harder; and my blood turns to gall as I ask--What is all this for--to +what possible end?” + +“For the sake and honor of the faith, Demetrius; for the eternal +salvation of our people.” + +“Indeed!” retorted Demetrius with a drawl, “I know better. If that and +that alone were intended you would build churches and chapels and send +us worthy priests--Eusebius and the like--and would try to win men’s +hearts to your Lord by the love you are always talking so much about. +That was my advice to your mother, only this morning. I believe the end +might be attained by those means, among us as elsewhere; ultimately it +will, no doubt, be gained--but not to-day nor to-morrow. A peasant, when +he had become accustomed to the church and grasped a trust in the new +God, would of his own accord give up the old gods and their sanctuaries; +I could count you off a dozen such instances. That I could have looked +on at calmly, for I want only men’s arms and legs and do not ask for +their souls; but to burn down the old house before you have collected +wood and stone to build a new one I call wicked.--It is cruelty and +madness, and when so shrewd a woman as your mother is bent on carrying +through such a measure, come what may, there is something more behind +it.” + +“You think she wants to get rid of you--you, Demetrius!” interrupted +Marcus eagerly. “But you are mistaken, you are altogether wrong. What +you have done for the estate...” + +“Oh! as for that!” cried the other, “what has my work to do with all +this? Ere the year is out everything that can remind us of the heathen +gods is to be swept away from the hamlets and fields of the pious Mary. +That is what is intended! Then they will hurry off to the Bishop with +the great news and to crown one marvel with another, the reversion +will be secured of a martyr’s nimbus. And this is what all this zeal is +for--this and nothing else!” + +“You are speaking of my mother, remember!” cried Marcus, looking at his +brother with a touching appeal in his eyes. Demetrius shook his shaggy +head and spoke more temperately as he went on: + +“Yes, child, I had forgotten that--and I may be mistaken of course, for +I am no more than human. Here one thing follows so close on another, and +in this house I feel so battered and storm-tossed, that I hardly know +myself. But old Phabis tells me that steps are being seriously taken to +procure the title of Martyr for our father Apelles.” + +“My mother is quite convinced that he died for the faith, and she loved +him devotedly...” + +“Then it is so!” cried Demetrius, grinding his teeth and thumping his +fist down on the table. “The lies sown by one single man have produced +a deadly weed that is smothering this miserable house! You--to be sure, +what can you know of our father? I knew him; I have been present when +he and his friends, the philosophers, have laughed to scorn things +which not only you Christians but even pious heathen regard as sacred. +Lucretius was his evangelist, and the Cosmogony of that utter atheist +lay by his pillow and was his companion wherever he went.” + +“He admired the heathen poets, but he was a Christian all the same,” + replied Marcus. + +“Neither more nor less than Porphyrius, our uncle, or myself,” retorted +his brother. “Since the day when our grandfather Philippus was baptized, +wealth and happiness have deserted this house. He gave up the old gods +solely that he might not lose the right of supplying the city and the +Emperor with corn, and became a Christian and made his sons Christians. +But he had us educated by his heathen friends, and though we passed for +Christians we were not so in fact. When it was absolutely necessary he +showed himself in church with us; but our daily life, our pleasures, our +pastimes were heathen, and when life began for us in earnest we offered +a bleeding sacrifice to the gods. It was impossible to retract honestly, +since a renegade Christian returning to the worship of the old gods is +incapacitated by law from making a will. You know this; and when you ask +me why I am content to live alone, without either wife or child--and I +love children, even those of other people--a solitary man dragging +out my days and nights joylessly enough--I tell you: I am openly and +honestly a worshipper of our old gods, and I will not go to church +because I scorn a lie. What should I do with children who, in +consequence of my retractation, must forfeit all I might leave them? It +was this question of inheritance only that induced my father to have us +baptized and to make a pretense of Christianity. He set out for Petra +with his Lucretius in his satchel--I packed it with my own hands into +his money-bag--to put in a claim to supply grain to the ‘Rock city.’ +He was slain on his way home; most likely by his servant Anubis, who +certainly knew what money he had with him, and who vanished and left no +trace. Because--about the same time--a band of Saracens had fallen on +some Christian anchorites and travellers, in the district between Petra +and Aila, your mother chose to assume a right to call our father a +martyr! But she knew his opinions full well, I tell you, and shed many a +tear over them, too.--Now she has expended vast sums on church-building, +she has opened the Xenodochium and pours her money by lavish handfuls +clown the insatiable throats of monks and priests. To what end? To have +her husband recognized as a martyr. Hitherto her toil and money have +been wasted. In my estimation the Bishop is a perfectly detestable +tyrant, and if I know him at all he will take all she will give and +never grant her wish. Now she is preparing her great move, and hopes +to startle him into compliance by a new marvel. She thinks that, like +a juggler who turns a white egg black, she can turn a heathen district +into a Christian one by a twist of her finger. Well--so far as I am +concerned I will have nothing to do with the trick.” + +During this harangue Marcus had alternately gazed at the floor and fixed +his large eyes in anguish on his brother’s face. For some minutes he +found nothing to reply, and he was evidently going through a bitter +mental struggle. Demetrius spoke no more, but arranged the sheets of +papyrus that strewed the table. At length Marcus, after a deep sigh, +broke out in a tone of fervent conviction and with a blissful smile that +lighted up his whole face: + +“Poor mother! And others misunderstand her just as you do; I myself +was in danger of doubting her. But I think that now I understand her +perfectly. She loved my father so completely that she hopes now to win +for his immortal soul the grace which he, in the flesh, neglected to +strive after. He was baptized, so she longs to win, by her prayers and +oblations, the mercy of the Lord who is so ready to forgive. She herself +firmly believes in the martyrdom of her beloved dead, and if only the +Church will rank him among those who have died for Her, he will be +saved, and she will find him standing in the pure radiance of the realms +above, with open arms, overflowing with fervent love and gratitude, to +welcome the faithful helpmate who will have purged his soul. Yes, now I +quite understand; and from this day forth I will aid and second her; the +hardest task shall not be too hard, the best shall not be too good, +if only we may open the gates of Heaven to my poor father’s imperilled +soul.” + +As he spoke his eye glistened with ecstatic light; his brother, too, +was touched, and to hide his emotion, he exclaimed, more recklessly and +sharply than was his wont: + +“That will come all right, never fear, lad!” But he hastily wiped his +eyes with his hand, slapped Marcus on the shoulder, and added gaily: “It +is better to choke than to swallow down the thing you think right, and +it never hurt a man yet to make a clean breast of his feelings, even if +we do not quite agree we understand each other the better for it. I have +my way of thinking, you have yours; thus we each know what the other +means; but after the tragedy comes the satyr play, and we may as well +finish this agitating evening with an hour’s friendly chat.” + +So saying Demetrius stretched himself on a divan and invited Marcus +to do the same, and in a few minutes their conversation had turned, +as usual, to the subject of horses. Marcus was full of praises of the +stallions his brother had bred for him, and which he had ridden that +very day round the Myssa--[The Myssa was the Meta, or turning-post]--in +the Hippodrome, and his brother added with no small complacency: + +“They were all bred from the same sire and from the choicest mares. I +broke them in myself, and I only wish.... But why did you not come to +the stables this morning?” + +“I could not,” replied Marcus coloring slightly. Then we will go +to-morrow to Nicopolis and I will show you how to get Megaera past the +Taraxippios.”--[The terror of the horses.] + +“To-morrow?” said Marcus somewhat embarrassed. “In the morning I must go +to see Eusebius and then....” + +“Well, then?” + +“Then I must--I mean I should like....” + +“What?” + +“Well, to be sure I might, all the same.--But no, it is not to be +done--I have....” + +“What, what?” cried Demetrius with increasing impatience: “My time is +limited and if you start the horses without knowing my way of managing +them they will certainly not do their best. As soon as the market begins +to fill we will set out. We shall need a few hours for the Hippodrome, +then we will dine with Damon, and before dark....” + +“No, no,” replied Marcus, “to-morrow, certainly, I positively +cannot....” + +“People who have nothing to do always lack time,” replied the other. “Is +to-morrow one of your festivals?” + +“No, not that=-and Good Heavens! If only I could....” + +“Could, could!” cried Demetrius angrily and standing close in front of +his brother with his arms folded. “Say out honestly: ‘I will not go,’ or +else, ‘my affairs are my own secret and I mean to keep it.’--But give me +no more of your silly equivocations.” + +His vehemence increased the younger man’s embarrassment, and as he stood +trying to find an explanation which might come somewhat near the truth +and yet not betray him, Demetrius, who had stood watching him closely, +suddenly exclaimed: + +“By Aphrodite, the daughter of the foam! it is a love affair--an +assignation.--Woman, woman, always woman!” + +“An assignation!” cried Marcus shaking his head. “No indeed, no one +expects me; and yet--I had rather you should misunderstand me than think +that I had lied. Yes--I am going to seek a woman; and if I do not find +her to-morrow, if in the course of tomorrow I do not succeed in my +heart’s desire, she is lost--not only to me, though I cannot give up the +heavenly love for the sake of the earthly and fleshly--but to my Lord +and Saviour. It is the life--the everlasting life or death of one of +God’s loveliest creatures that hangs on to-morrow’s work.” + +Demetrius was greatly astonished, and it was with an angry gesture of +impatience that he replied: + +“Again you have overstepped the boundary within which we can possibly +understand each other. In my opinion you are hardly old enough to +undertake the salvation of the imperilled souls of pretty women. Take +care what you are about, youngster! It is safe enough to go into the +water with those who can swim, but those who sink are apt to draw you +down with them. You are a good-looking young fellow, you have money and +fine horses, and there are women enough who are only too ready to spread +their nets abroad...” + +“What are you thinking of?” cried Marcus passionately. “It is I who am +the fisher--a fisher of souls, and so every true believer ought to be. +She--she is innocence and simplicity itself, in spite of her roguish +sauciness. But she has fallen into the hands of a reprobate heathen, and +here, where vice prowls about the city like a roaring lion, she will be +lost--lost, if I do not rescue her. Twice have I seen her in my dreams; +once close to the cavern of a raging dragon, and again on the edge of +a precipitous cliff, and each time an angel called out to me and bid me +save her from the jaws of the monster, and from falling into the abyss. +Since then I seem to see her constantly; at meals, when I am in company, +when I am driving,--and I always hear the warning voice of the angel. +And now I feel it a sacred duty to save her--a creature on whom the +Almighty has lavished every gift he ever bestowed on the daughters of +Eve--to lead her into the path of Salvation.” + +Demetrius had listened to his brother’s enthusiastic speech with growing +anxiety, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and said: + +“I almost envy you your acquaintance with this favorite of the gods; but +you might, it seems to me, postpone the work of salvation. You were away +from Alexandria for half a year, and if she could hold out so long as +that...” + +“Do not speak so; you ought not to speak so!” cried Marcus, pressing +his hand on his heart as though in physical pain. “But I have no time to +lose, for I must at once find out where the old singer has taken her. I +am not so inexperienced as you seem to think. He has brought her here to +trade in her beauty, and enrich himself. Why, you, too, saw her on +board ship; I, as you know, had arranged for them to be taken in at my +mother’s Xenodochium.” + +“Whom?” asked Demetrius folding his hands. + +“The singers whom I brought with me from Ostia. And now they have +disappeared from thence, and Dada...” + +“Dada!” cried Demetrius, bursting into a loud laugh without heeding +Marcus who stepped up to him, crimson with rage. “Dada! that little fair +puss! You see her day and night and an angel calls upon you to save that +child’s merry soul? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, boy! Why, what +shall I wager now? I will stake this roll of gold that I could make her +come with me to-morrow--with me, a hard-featured countryman, freckled +all over like a plover’s egg, where my clothes do not protect my skin, +and with hair on end like the top of a broom--yes, that she will follow +me to Arsinoe or wherever I choose to bid her. Let the hussy go, you +simple innocent. Such a Soul as hers is of small account even in a less +exclusive Heaven than yours is.” + +“Take back those words!” cried Marcus, beside himself and clenching +his fist. “But that is just like you! Your impure eyes and heart defile +purity itself, and see spots even in the sun. Nothing is too bad for a +‘singing girl,’ I know. But that is just the marrow of the matter; it is +from that very curse that I mean to save her. If you can accuse her +of anything, speak; if not, and if you do not want to appear a base +slanderer in my eyes, take back the words you have just spoken!” + +“Oh! I take them back of course,” said Demetrius indifferently. “I know +nothing of your beauty beyond what she has herself said to me and you +and Cynegius and his Secretaries--with her pretty, saucy eyes. But the +language of the eye, they say, is not always to be depended on; so take +it as unsaid. And, if I understood you rightly, you do not even know +where the singers are hiding? If you have no objection, I will help you +to seek them out.” + +“That is as you please,” answered Marcus hotly. “All your mockery will +not prevent my doing my duty.” + +“Very right, very right,” said his brother. “Perhaps this damsel is +unlike all the other singing-girls with whom I used so often to spend +a jolly evening in my younger days. Once, at Barca, I saw a white +raven--but perhaps after all it was only a dove. Your opinion, in this +case, is at any rate better founded than mine, for I never thought twice +about the girl and you did.--But it is late; till to-morrow, Marcus.” + +The brothers parted for the night, but when Demetrius found himself +alone he walked up and down the room, shaking his head doubtfully. +Presently, when his body-slave came in to pack for him, he called out +crossly: + +“Let that alone--I shall stay in Alexandria a few days longer.” + +Marcus could not go to bed; his brother’s scorn had shaken his soul +to the foundations. An inward voice told him that his more experienced +senior might be right, but at the same time he hated and contemned +himself for listening to its warnings at all. The curse that rested on +Dada was that of her position; she herself was pure--as pure as a lily, +as pure as the heart of a child, as pure as the blue of her eyes and +the ring of her voice. He would obey the angel’s behest! He could and he +must save her! + +In the greatest excitement he went out of the house, through the great +gate, into the Canopic way, and walked on. As he was about to turn down +a side street to go to the lake he found the road stopped by soldiers, +for this street led past the prefect’s house where Cynegius, the +Emperor’s emissary, was staying; he had come, it was said, to close the +Temples, and the excited populace had gathered outside the building, +during the afternoon, to signify their indignant disapprobation. At +sundown an armed force had been called out and had dispersed the crowd; +but it was by another road that the young Christian at length made his +way to the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +While Marcus was restlessly wandering on the shore of Mareotis, dreaming +of Dada’s image and arranging speeches of persuasive eloquence by which +to touch her heart and appeal to her soul, silence had fallen on the +floating home of the singers. A light white mist, like a filmy veil--a +tissue of clouds and moonbeams--hung over the lake. Work was long since +over in the ship-yard, and the huge skeletons of the unfinished ships +threw weird and ghostly shadows on the silvered strand-forms like black +visions of crayfish, centipedes, or enormous spiders. + +From the town there came not a sound; it lay in the silence of +intoxicated sleep. The Roman troops had cleared the streets, the lights +were dead in every house, and in all the alleys and squares; only the +moon shone over the roofs of Alexandria, while the blazing beacon of +the light-house on the north-eastern point of the island of Pharos shone +like a sun through the darkness. + +In a large cabin in the stern of the vessel lay the two girls, on soft +woollen couches and covered with rugs. Agne was gazing wide-eyed into +the darkness; Dada had long been asleep, but she breathed painfully +and her rosy lips were puckered now and then as if she were in some +distress. She was dreaming of the infuriated mob who had snatched the +garland from her hair--she saw Marcus suddenly interfere to protect her +and rescue her from her persecutors--then she thought she had fallen off +the gangway that led from the land to the barge, and was in the water +while old Damia stood on the shore and laughed at her without trying +to help her. Night generally brought the child sound sleep or pleasant +dreams, but now one hideous face after another haunted her. + +And yet the evening had brought her a great pleasure. Not long after +their return from their walk the steward had come down to the boat +and brought her a very beautiful dress, with greetings from his old +mistress; he had at the same time brought an Egyptian slave-woman, well +skilled in all the arts of the toilet, who was to wait upon her so long +as she remained in Alexandria. Dada had never owned such a lovely dress! +The under-robe was of soft sea-green bombyx silk, with a broad border, +delicately embroidered, of a garland of roses and buds. The peplos +was of the same color and decorated to match; costly clasps of mosaic, +representing full-blown roses and set in oval gold settings, fastened +it on the shoulders. In a separate case were a gold girdle, a bracelet, +also of gold, in the shape of a snake, a gold crescent with a rose, +like those on the shoulder-clasps, in its centre, and a metal mirror of +spotless lustre. + +The slave, a middle-aged woman with a dark cunning face, had helped her +to put on this new garment; she had also insisted on dressing her hair, +and all the time had never ceased praising the charms that nature had +bestowed on her young mistress, with the zeal of a lover. + +Agne had looked on smiling, good-naturedly handing the slave the pins +and ribbands she had needed, and sincerely rejoicing in her companion’s +beauty and delight. + +At last Dada had made her appearance in the deckroom and was greeted by +many an Ah! and Oh! of admiration from the men of the party, including +Medius, the singer whom Karnis had met in the street. Even Herse, who +had received her quite disagreeably on her return from the city, could +not suppress a smile of kindly approval, though she shook her finger at +her saying: + +“The old lady has set her heart on turning your head completely I see. +All that is very pretty, but all the good it will do will be to rouse +spiteful tongues. Remember, Dada, that you are my sister’s child; I +promise you I shall not forget it, and I shall keep my eye upon you.” + +Orpheus made haste to light every lamp and taper, of which there were +plenty, for the barge was handsomely furnished, and when Dada was +plainly visible in the brilliant illumination Karnis exclaimed: + +“You look like a senator’s daughter! Long live the Fair!” + +She ran up to him and kissed him; but when Orpheus walked all round +her, examining the fineness of the tissue and the artistic finish of the +clasps, and even turned the snake above her round elbow, she sharply bid +him let her be. + +Medius, a man of the age of Karnis who had formerly been his intimate +companion, never took his eyes off the girl, and whispered to the +old musician that Dada would easily carry off the palm for beauty in +Alexandria, and that with such a jewel in his keeping he might recover +wealth and position and by quite honest means. At his suggestion she +then assumed a variety of attitudes; she stood as Hebe, offering nectar +to the gods--as Nausicae, listening to the tale of Odysseus--and as +Sappho, singing to her lyre. The girl was delighted at all this, and +when Medius, who kept close to her, tried to persuade her to perform +in a similar manner in the magical representations at the house of +Posidonius, before a select company of spectators, she clapped her hands +exclaiming: + +“You took me all round the city, father, and as your reward I should +like to earn back your pretty vineyards, I should stand like this, you +know, and like this--to be stared at. I only hope I might not be seized +with a sudden impulse to make a face at the audience. But if they did +not come too close I really might...” + +“You could do no better than to play the parts that Posidonius might +give you,” interrupted Medius. “His audiences like to see good daemons, +the kindly protecting spirits, and so forth. You would have to appear +among clouds behind a transparent veil, and the people would hail you +with acclamations or even raise their hands in adoration.” + +All this seemed to Dada perfectly delightful, and she was on the point +of giving her hand to Medius in token of agreement, when her eye caught +the anxious gaze of the young Christian girl who stood before her with +a deep flush on her face. Agne seemed to be blushing for her. The color +rushed to her own cheeks, and shortly saying: “No--after all, I think +not,” she turned her back on the old man and threw herself on the +cushions close to where the wine-jug was standing. Medius now began to +besiege Karnis and Herse with arguments, but they refused all his +offers as they intended quitting Alexandria in a few days, so he had +no alternative but to submit. Still, he did not altogether throw up the +game, and to win Dada’s consent, at any rate, he made her laugh with +a variety of comical pranks and showed her some ingenious conjuring +tricks, and ere long their floating home echoed with merriment, with the +clinking of wine-cups and with songs, in which even Agne was obliged to +take part. Medius did not leave till near midnight and Herse then sent +them all to bed. + +As soon as the slave had undressed her young mistress and left the girls +alone, Dada threw herself into the arms of Agne who was on the point +of getting into bed, and kissed her vehemently, exclaiming: “You are +much--so much better than I! How is that you always know what is right?” + +Then she lay down; but before she fell asleep she once more spoke to +Agne: “Marcus will find us out, I am certain,” she said, “and I should +really like to know what he has to say to me.” + +In a few minutes sleep had sealed her eyes, but the Christian girl lay +awake; her thoughts would not rest, and Sleep, who the night before had +taken her to his heart, to-night would not come near her pillow; so much +to agitate and disturb her soul had taken place during the day. + +She had often before now been a silent spectator of the wild rejoicings +of the musician’s family, and she had always thought of these +light-hearted creatures as spendthrifts who waste all their substance +in a few days to linger afterwards through years of privation and +repentance. Troubled, as she could not fail to be, as to the eternal +salvation of these lost souls, though happy in her own faith, she had +constantly turned for peace to her Saviour and always found it; but +to-night it was not so, for a new and unexpected temptation had sprung +up for her in the house of Porphyrius. + +She had heard Gorgo sing again, and joined her own voice with hers. +Dirges, yearning hymns, passionate outpourings in praise of the mighty +and beautiful divinity had filled her ear and stirred her soul with an +ecstatic thrill, although she knew that they, were the composition +of heathen poets and had first been sung to the harmony of lutes by +reprobate idolaters. And yet, and yet they had touched her heart, and +moved her soul to rapture, and filled her eyes with tears. + +She could not but confess to herself that she could have given no +purer, sweeter, or loftier expression to her own woes, thankfulness, +aspirations, and hopes of ever lasting life and glory, than this gifted +creature had given to the utterance of her idolatry. Surprise, unrest, +nay, some little jealousy had been mingled with her delight at Gorgo’s +singing. How was it that this heathen could feel and utter emotions +which she had always conceived of as the special privilege of the +Christian, and, for her own part, had never felt so fervently as in +the hours when she had drawn closest to her Lord? Were not her own +sentiments the true and right ones; had her intercourse with these +heathens tainted her? + +This doubt disturbed her greatly; it must be based on something more +than mere self-torture, for she had not once thought of asking to whom +the two-part hymn, with its tender appeal, was addressed, when Karnis +had first gone through it with her alone; nor even subsequently, when +she had sung it with Gorgo--timidly at first, more boldly the second +time, and finally without a mistake, but carried completely away by the +beauty and passion of the emotions it expressed. + +She knew now, for Karnis himself had told her. It was the Lament of +Isis for her--lost husband and brother--oh that horrible heathen +confusion!--The departed Osiris. The wailing widow, who called on him +to return with “the silent speech of tears,” was that queen of the +idolater’s devils whose shameful worship her father had often spoke of +with horror. Still, this dirge was so true and noble, so penetrated with +fervent, agonized grief, that it had gone to her heart. The sorrowing +Mother of God, Mary herself, might thus have besought the resurrection +of her Son; just thus must the “God-like maid”--as she was called in the +Arian confession of her father--have uttered her grief, her prayers, and +her longings. + +But it was all a heathen delusion, all the trickery and jugglery of the +Devil, though she had failed to see through it, and had given herself up +to it, heart and soul. Nay, worse! for after she had learnt that Gorgo +was to represent Isis and she herself Nephthys, the sister of the divine +pair, she had opposed the suggestion but feebly, even though she knew +that they were to sing the hymn together in the Temple of Isis; and when +Gorgo had clasped her in her arms with sisterly kindness, begging her +not to spoil her plans but to oblige her in this, she had not repulsed +the tempter with firm decision, but merely asked for time to think it +over. + +How indeed could she have found the heart to refuse the noble girl, +whose beauty and voice had so struck and fascinated her, when she flung +her arms round her neck, looked into her eyes and earnestly besought +her: + +“Do it for my sake, to please me. I do not ask you to do anything +wicked. Pure song is acceptable to every god. Think of your lament, if +you like, as being for your own god who suffered on the cross. But I +like singing with you so much; say yes. Do not refuse, for my sake!” + +She had thrown her arms so gladly, so much too gladly round the heathen +lady--for she had a loving heart and no one else had ever made it a +return in kind--and clinging closely to her she had said: + +“As you will; I will do whatever you like.” + +Then Orpheus, too, had urged her to oblige Gorgo, and himself, and all +of them; and it had seemed almost impossible to refuse the first request +that the modest youth--to whom she would willingly have granted anything +and everything--had ever made. Still, she had held back; and in her +anxious bewilderment, not daring to think or act, she had tried every +form of excuse and postponement. She would probably have been awkward +enough about this, but Gorgo was content to press her no further, and +when, after leaving the house, she had summoned up courage to refuse to +enter the Temple of Isis, Karnis had only said: “Be thankful that this +gifted lady, the favorite of the Muses, should think you worthy to sing +with her. We will see about the rest by-and-bye.” + +Now, in the watches of the sleepless night, she saw clearly the abyss +above which she was standing. She, like Judas, was on the point of +betraying her Saviour; not indeed for money, but in obedience to the +transient sound of an earthly voice, for the pleasure of exercising +her art, to indulge a hastily-formed liking; nay, perhaps because it +satisfied her childish vanity to find herself put on an equality with a +lady of rank and wealth, and matched with a singer who had roused Karnis +and Orpheus to such ardent admiration. + +She was an enigma to herself; while passages out of the Bible crowded on +her memory to reproach her conscience. + +There lay Dada’s embroidered dress. Worn for the first time this day, in +a month it would be unpresentably shabby and then, ere long, flung aside +as past wearing. Like this--just like this--was every earthly pleasure, +every joy of this brief existence. Alas, she certainly was not happy +here in Karnis’ sense of the word; but in the other world there were +joys eternal, and she had only to deny herself the petty enjoyments of +this life to secure unfailing and everlasting happiness in the next. +There she would find an endless flow of all her soul could desire, +there perhaps she might be allowed to cool the lips of Gorgo, as Lazarus +cooled those of the rich man. + +She was quite clear now what her answer would be to-morrow, and, firmly +resolved not to allow herself to think of singing in the Temple of Isis, +she at last fell asleep just as the light began to dawn in the east. She +did not wake till late, and it was with downcast eyes and set lips that +she went with Karnis and Orpheus to the house of Porphyrius. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +When the steward went to summons the musicians to his master’s house he +had again had no bidding for Dada, and she was very indignant at being +left behind. “That old cornsack’s daughter,” she said, “was full of her +airs, and would have nothing to say to them excepting to make use of +them for her own purposes!” If she had not been afraid of being thought +intrusive she would have acted on old Damia’s invitation to visit her +frequently, and have made her appearance, in defiance of Gorgo, dropping +like a shooting-star into the midst of their practising. It never +occurred to her to fancy that the young lady had any personal dislike +to her, for, though she might be ignored and forgotten, who had ever had +any but a kind word for her. At the same time she assumed the right of +feeling that “she could not bear” the haughty Gorgo, and as the party +set out she exclaimed to Agne, “Well, you need not kill her for me, but +at any rate, I send her no greeting; it is a shame that I should be left +to mope alone with Herse. Do not be surprised if you find me turned to a +stark, brown mummy--for we are in Egypt, you know, the land of mummies. +I bequeath my old dress to you, my dear, for I know you would never +put on the new one. If you bewail me as you ought I will visit you in a +dream, and put a sugarplum in your mouth--a cake of ambrosia such as the +gods eat. You are not even leaving me Papias to tease!” + +For in fact Agne’s little brother, dressed in a clean garment, was to be +taken to Gorgo who had expressed a wish to see him. + +When they had all left the ship Dada soon betrayed how superficial her +indignation had been; for, presently spying through the window of the +cabin the young cavalry officer’s grey-bearded father, she sprang up +the narrow steps--barefoot as she was accustomed to be when at home--and +threw herself on a cushion to lean over the gunwale of the upper deck, +which was shaded by a canvas awning, to watch the ship-yard and the +shore-path. Before she had begun to weary of this occupation the +waiting-slave, who had been up to the house to put various matters in +order, came back to the vessel, and squatting down at her feet was +ready to give her all the information she chose to require. Dada’s +first questions naturally related to Gorgo. The young mistress, said +the slave, had already dismissed many suitors, the sons of the greatest +families of Alexandria, and if her suspicions--those of Sachepris, the +slave--were well founded, all for the sake of the old shipbuilder’s +son, whom she had known from childhood and who was now an officer in +the Imperial guard. However, as she opined, this attachment could hardly +lead to marriage, since Constantine was a zealous Christian and his +family were immeasurably beneath that of Porphyrius in rank; and though +he had distinguished himself greatly and risen to the grade of Prefect, +Damia, who on all occasions had the casting-vote, had quite other views +for her granddaughter. + +All this excited Dada’s sympathies to the highest pitch, but she +listened with even greater attention when her gossip began to speak of +Marcus, his mother, and his brother. In this the Egyptian slave was the +tool of old Damia. She had counted on being questioned about the young +Christian, and as soon as Dada mentioned his name she shuffled on her +knees close up to the girl, laid her hand gently on her arm and +looking up into her eyes with a meaning flash, she whispered in broken +Greek--and hastily, for Herse was bustling about the deck: “Such a +pretty mistress, such a young mistress as you, and kept here like +a slave! If the young mistress only chose she could easily--quite +easily--have as good a lover as our Gorgo, and better; so pretty and so +young! And I know some one who would dress the pretty mistress in red +gold and pale pearls and bright jewels, if sweet Dada only said the +word.” + +“And why should sweet Dada not say the word?” echoed the girl gaily. +“Who is it that has so many nice things and all for me? You--I shall +never remember your name if I live to be as old as Damia....” + +“Sachepris, Sachepris is my name,” said the woman, “but call me anything +else you like. The lover I mean is the son of the rich Christian, Mary. +A handsome man, my lord Marcus; and he has horses, such fine horses, and +more gold pieces than the pebbles on the shore there. Sachepris knows +that he has sent out slaves to look for the pretty mistress. Send him a +token--write to my lord Marcus.” + +“Write?” laughed Dada. “Girls learn other things in my country; but if +I could--shall I tell you something? I would not write him a line. Those +who want me may seek me!” + +“He is seeking, he is trying to find the pretty mistress,” declared the +woman; “he is full of you, quite full of you, and if I dared....” + +“Well?” + +“I would go and say to my lord Marcus, quite in a secret....” + +“Well, what? Speak out, woman.” + +“First I would tell him where the pretty mistress is hidden; and then +say that he might hope once--this evening perhaps--he is not far off, he +is quite near this... over there; do you see that little white house? It +is a tavern and the host is a freedman attached to the lady Damia, and +for money he would shut his shop up for a day, for a night, for many +days.--Well, and then I would say--shall I tell you all? My lord Marcus +is there, waiting for his pretty mistress, and has brought her dresses +that would make the rose-garment look a rag. You would have gold too, as +much gold as heart can wish. I can take you there, and he will meet you +with open arms.” + +“What, this evening?” cried Dada, and the blue veins swelled on her +white forehead. “You hateful, brown serpent! Did Gorgo teach you such +things as this? It is horrible, disgraceful, sickening!” + +So base a proposal was the last thing she would ever have expected from +Marcus--of all men in the world, Marcus, whom she had imagined so good +and pure! She could not believe it; and as her glance met the cunning +glitter of the Egyptian’s eyes her own sparkled keenly, and she +exclaimed with a vehemence and decision which her attendant had never +suspected in her: + +“It is deceit and falsehood from beginning to end! Go, woman, I will +hear no more of it. Why should Marcus have come to you since yesterday +if he does not know where I am? You are silent--you will not say?... Oh! +I understand it all. He--I know he would never have ventured it. But +it is your ‘noble lady Damia’--that old woman, who has told you what to +say. You are her echo, and as for Marcus.... Confess, confess at once, +you witch....” + +“Sachepris is only a poor slave,” said the woman raising her hands in +entreaty. “Sachepris can only obey, and if the pretty mistress were to +tell my lady Damia...” + +“It was she then who sent for me to go to the little tavern?” + +The woman nodded. “And Marcus?” + +“If the pretty mistress had consented...” + +“Well?” + +“Then--but Great Isis! if you tell of me!” + +“I will not tell; go on.” + +“I should have gone to my lord Marcus and invited him, from you...” + +“It is shameful!” interrupted Dada, and a shudder ran through her slight +frame. “How cruel, how horrible it is! You--you will stay here till the +others come home and then you will go home to the old woman. I thank +the gods, I have two hands and need no maid to wait upon me! But look +there--what is the meaning of that? That pretty litter has stopped and +there is an old man signing to you.” + +“It is the widow Mary’s house steward,” whined the woman, while Dada +turned pale, wondering what a messenger from Marcus’ mother could want +here. + +Herse, who had kept a watchful eye on the landing-plank, on Dada’s +account, had also seen the approach of the widow’s messenger and +suspected a love-message from Marcus; but she was utterly astounded when +the old man politely but imperiously desired her--Herse to get into the +litter which would convey her to his mistress’s house. Was this a trap? +Did he merely want to tempt her from the vessel so as to clear the way +for his young master? No--for he handed her a tablet on which there was +a written message, and she, an Alexandrian, had been well educated and +could read: + +“Mary, the widow of Apelles, to the wife of Karnis, the singer.” And +then followed the same urgent request as she had already received by +word of mouth. To reassure herself entirely she called the slave-woman +aside, and asked her whether Phabis was indeed a trust worthy servant +of the widow’s. Evidently there was no treason to be apprehended and she +must obey the invitation, though it disturbed her greatly; but she was a +cautious woman, with not only her heart but her brains and tongue in the +right place, and she at once made up her mind what must be done under +the circumstances. While she gave a few decorative touches to her person +she handed the tablet to the waiting-woman, whom she had taken into her +own room, and desired her to carry it at once to her husband, and tell +him whither she had gone, and to beg him to return without delay to take +care of Dada. But what if her husband and son could not come away? The +girl would be left quite alone, and then... The picture rose before +her anxious mind of Marcus appearing on the scene and tempting Dada +on shore--of her niece stealing away by herself even, if the young +Christian failed to discover her present residence--loitering alone +along the Canopic way or the Bruclumn, where, at noon, all that was most +disreputable in Alexandria was to be seen at this time of year--she saw, +shuddered, considered--and suddenly thought of an expedient which +seemed to promise an issue from the difficulty. It was nothing new and a +favorite trick among the Egyptians; she had seen is turned to account +by a lame tailor at whose house her father had lodged, when he had to +go out to his customers and leave his young negress wife alone at home. +Dada was lying barefoot on the deck: Herse would hide her shoes. + +She hastily acted on this idea, locking up not only Dada’s sandals, but +also Agne’s and her own, in the trunk they had saved; a glance at the +slave’s feet assured her that hers could be of no use. + +“Not if fire were to break out,” thought she, “would my Dada be seen in +the streets with those preposterous things on her pretty little feet.” + +When this was done Herse breathed more freely, and as she took leave of +her niece, feeling perhaps that she owed her some little reparation, she +said in an unusually kind tone: + +“Good bye, child. Try to amuse yourself while I am gone. There is plenty +to look at here, and the others will soon be back again. If the city is +fairly quiet this evening we will all go out together, to Canopus, to +eat oysters. Good bye till we meet again, my pet!” She kissed the child, +who looked up at her in astonishment, for her adopted mother was not +usually lavish of such endearments. + +Before long Dada was alone, cooling herself with her new fan and eating +sweetmeats; but she could not cease thinking of the shameful treachery +planned by old Damia, and while she rejoiced to reflect that she had not +fallen into the net, and had seen through the plot, her wrath against +the wicked old woman and Gorgo--whom she could not help including--burnt +within her. Meanwhile she looked about her, expecting to see Marcus, or +perhaps the young officer. Finding it impossible to think any evil of +the young Christian, and having already trusted him so far, her fancy +dwelt on him with particular pleasure; but she was curious, too, about +the prefect, the early love of the proud merchant’s daughter. + +Time went on; the sun was high in the heavens, she was tired of staring, +wondering and thinking, and, yawning wearily, she began to consider +whether she would make herself comfortable for a nap, or go down +stairs and fill up the time by dressing herself up in her new garments. +However, before she could do either, the slave returned from her errand +to the house, and a few moments after she espied the young officer +crossing the ship-yard towards the lake; she sat up, set the crescent +straight that she wore in her hair, and waved her fan in a graceful +greeting. + +The cavalry prefect, who knew that, of old, the barge was often used by +Porphyrius’ guests, though he did not happen to have heard who were its +present occupants--bowed, with military politeness and precision, to the +pretty girl lounging on the deck. Dada returned the greeting; but this +seemed likely to be the end of their acquaintance, for the soldier +walked on without turning round. He looked handsomer even than he +had seemed the day before; his hair was freshly oiled and curled, his +scale-armor gleamed as brightly, and his crimson tunic was as new and +rich as if he were going at once to guard the Imperial throne. The +merchant’s daughter had good taste, but her friend looked no less +haughty than herself. Dada longed to make his acquaintance and find out +whether he really had no eyes for any one but Gorgo. To discover that it +was not so, little as she cared about him personally, would have given +her infinite satisfaction, and she decided that she must put him to the +test. But there was no time to lose, so, as it would hardly do to call +after him, she obeyed a sudden impulse, flung overboard the handsome fan +which had been in her possession but one day, and gave a little cry in +which alarm and regret were most skilfully and naturally expressed. + +This had the wished-for effect. The officer turned round, his eyes met +hers, and Dada leaned far over the boat’s side pointing to the water and +exclaiming: + +“It is in the water--it has fallen into the lake!--my fan!” + +The officer again bowed slightly; then he walked from the path down to +the water’s edge, while Dada went on more quietly: + +“There, close there! Oh, if only you would!... + +“I am so fond of the fan, it is so pretty. Do you see, it is quite +obliging? it is floating towards you!” Constantine had soon secured the +fan, and shook it to dry it as he went across the plank to the vessel. +Dada joyfully received it, stroked the feathers smooth, and warmly +thanked its preserver, while he assured her that he only wished he could +have rendered her some greater service. He was then about to retire with +a bow no less distant than before, but he found himself unexpectedly +detained by the Egyptian slave who, placing herself in his way, kissed +the hem of his tunic and exclaimed: + +“What joy for my lord your father and the lady your mother, and for poor +Sachepris! My lord Constantine at home again!” + +“Yes, at home at last,” said the soldier in a deep pleasant voice. “Your +old mistress is still hale and hearty? That is well. I am on my way to +the others.” + +“They know that you have come,” replied the slave. “Glad, they are all +glad. They asked if my lord Constantine forgot old friends.” + +“Never, not one!” + +“How long now since my lord Constantine went away--two, three years, and +just the same. Only a cut over the eyes--may the hand wither that gave +the blow!” + +Dada had already observed a broad scar which marked the soldier’s brow +as high up as she could see it for the helmet, and she broke in: + +“How can you men like to slash and kill each other? Just think, if that +cut had been only a finger’s breadth lower--you would have lost your +eyes, and oh! it is better to be dead than blind. When all the world is +bright not to be able to see it; what must that be! The whole earth in +darkness so that you see nothing--no one; neither the sky, nor the lake, +nor the boat, nor even me.” + +“That would indeed be a pity,” said the prefect with a laugh and a +shrug. + +“A pity!” exclaimed Dada. “As if it were nothing at all! I should find +something else to say than that. It gives me a shudder only to think of +being blind. How dreadfully dull life can be with one’s eyes open! so +what must it be when they are of no use and one cannot even look about +one. Do you know that you have done me not one service only, but two at +once?” + +“I?” said the officer. + +“Yes, you. But the second is not yet complete. Sit down awhile, I +beg--there is a seat. You know it is a fatal omen if a visitor does not +sit down before he leaves.--That is well.--And now, may I ask you: do +you take off your helmet when you go into battle? No.--Then how could a +swordcut hurt your forehead?” + +“In a hand to hand scuffle,” said the young man, “everything gets out of +place. One man knocked my helmet off and another gave me this cut in my +face.” + +“Where did it happen?” + +“On the Savus, where we defeated Maximus.” + +“And had you this same helmet on?” + +“Certainly.” + +“Oh! pray let me look at it! I can still see the dent in the metal; how +heavy such a thing must be to wear!” + +Constantine took off his helmet with resigned politeness and put it into +her hands. She weighed it, thought it fearfully heavy, and then lifted +it up to put it on her own fair curls; but this did not seem to please +her new acquaintance, and saying rather shortly: “Allow me--” he took it +from her, set it on his head and rose. + +But Dada pointed eagerly to the seat. + +“No, no,” she said, “I have not yet had enough of your second kindness. +I was on the point of death from sheer tedium; then you came, just in +time; and if you want to carry out your work of mercy you must tell me +something about the battle where you were wounded, and who took care of +you afterwards, and whether the women of Pannonia are really as handsome +as they are said to be...” + +“I am sorry to say that I have not time,” interrupted the officer. +“Sachepris here is far better qualified to amuse you than I; some years +since, at any rate, she lead a wonderful store of tales. I wish you a +pleasant day!” + +And with this farewell greeting, Constantine left the vessel, nor did he +once look back at it or its pretty inhabitant as he made his way towards +the house of Porphyrius. + +Dada as she gazed after him colored with vexation; again she had done +a thing that Herse and--which she regretted still more--that Agne would +certainly disapprove of. The stranger whom she had tried to draw into a +flirtation was a really chivalrous man. Gorgo might be proud of such a +lover; and if now, he were to go to her and tell her, probably with +some annoyance, how provokingly he had been delayed by that pert little +singing-girl, it would be all her own fault. She felt as though there +were something in her which forced her to seem much worse than she +really was, and wished to be. Agne, Marcus, the young soldier--nay, +even Gorgo, were loftier and nobler than she or her people, and she +was conscious for the first time that the dangers from which Marcus had +longed to protect her were not the offspring of his fancy. She could not +have found a name for them, but she understood that she was whirled and +tossed through life from one thing to another, like a leaf before the +wind, bereft of every stay or holdfast, defenceless even against the +foolish vagaries of her own nature. Everyone, thought the girl to +herself, distrusted and suspected her, and, solely because she was one +of a family of singers, dared to insult and dishonor her. A strange +spite against Fate, against her uncle and aunt, against herself even, +surged up in her, and with it a vague longing for another and a better +life. + +Thus meditating she looked down into the water, not noticing what was +going on around her, till the slave-woman, addressing her by name, +pointed to a carriage drawn up at the side of the road that divided the +grove of the Temple of Isis from the ship-yard, and which the Egyptian +believed that she recognized as belonging to Marcus. Dada started up and +ran off to the cabin to fetch her shoes, but everything in the shape of +a sandal had vanished, and Herse had been wise when she had looked +at those of the Egyptian, for Dada did the same and would not have +hesitated to borrow them if they had been a little less dirty and +clumsy. + +Herse, no doubt, had played her this trick, and it was easy to guess +why! It was only to divert her suspicions that the false woman had +been so affectionate at parting. It was cheating, treachery-cruel and +shameful! She, who had always submitted like a lamb--but this was too +much--this she could not bear--this!... The slave-woman now followed +her to desire her to come up on deck; a new visitor had appeared on the +scene, an old acquaintance and fellow-voyager: Demetrius, Marcus’ elder +brother. + +At any other time she would have made him gladly welcome, as a companion +and comfort in her solitude; but he had chosen an evil hour for his +visit and his proposals, as the girl’s red cheeks and tearful eyes at +once told him. + +He had come to fetch her, cost him what it might, and to carry her away +to his country-home, near Arsinoe on the coast. It was not that he had +any mad desire to make her his own, but that he thought it his most +urgent duty to preserve his inexperienced brother from the danger into +which his foolish passion for the little singing-girl was certain +to plunge him. A purse full of gold, and a necklace of turquoise and +diamonds, which he had purchased from a jeweller in the Jews’ quarter +for a sum for which he had often sold a ship-load of corn or a whole +cellar full of wine or oil, were to supplement his proposals; and he +went straight to the point, asking the girl simply and plainly to leave +her friends and accompany him to Arsinoe. When she asked him, in much +astonishment, “What to do there?” he told her he wanted a cheerful +companion; he had taken a fancy to her saucy little nose, and though he +could not flatter himself that he had ever found favor in her eyes he +had brought something with him which she would certainly like, and +which might help him to win her kindness. He was not niggardly, and if +this--and this--and he displayed the sparkling necklace and laid the +purse on her pillow--could please her she might regard them as an +earnest of more, as much more as she chose, for his pockets were deep. + +Dada did not interrupt him, for the growing indignation with which she +heard him took away her breath. This fresh humiliation was beyond the +bounds of endurance; and when at last she recovered her powers of speech +and action, she flung the purse off the divan, and as it fell clattering +on the floor, she kicked it away as far as possible, as though it were +plague-tainted. Then, standing upright in front of her suitor, she +exclaimed: + +“Shame upon you all! You thought that because I am a poor girl, a +singing-girl, and because you have filthy gold.... Your brother Marcus +would never have done such a thing, I am very sure!... And you, a horrid +peasant!... If you ever dare set foot on this vessel again, Karnis and +Orpheus shall drive you away as if you were a thief or an assassin! +Eternal Gods! what is it that I have done, that everyone thinks I must +be wicked? Eternal Gods....” + +And she burst into loud spasmodic sobs and vanished down the steps that +led below. + +Demetrius called after her in soothing words and tones, but she would +not listen. Then he sent down the slave to beg Dada to grant him a +hearing, but the only answer he received was an order to quit the barge +at once. + +He obeyed, and as he picked up the purse he thought to himself: + +“I may buy ship and vineyard back again; but I would send four more +after those if I could undo this luckless deed. If I were a better and +a worthier man, I might not so easily give others credit for being evil +and unworthy.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The town of Alexandria was stirred to its very foundations. From dawn +till night every centre of public traffic and intercourse was the scene +of hostile meetings between Christians and heathen, with frequent frays +and bloodshed, only stopped by the intervention of the soldiery. +Still, as we see that the trivial round of daily tasks is necessarily +fulfilled, even when the hand of Fate lies heaviest on a household, +and that children cannot forego their play even when their father is +stretched on his death-bed, so the minor interests of individual lives +pursued their course, even in the midst of the general agitation and +peril. + +The current of trade and of public business was, of course, checked at +many points, but they never came to a stand-still. The physician visited +the sick, the convalescent made his first attempt, leaning on a friendly +arm, to walk from his bedroom to the “viridarium,” and alms were given +and received. Hatred was abroad and rampant, but love held its own, +strengthening old ties and forming new ones. Terror and grief weighed +on thousands of hearts, while some tried to make a profit out of +the prevailing anxiety, and others--many others--went forth, as +light-hearted as ever, in pursuit of pleasure and amusement. + +Horses were ridden and driven in the Hippodrome, and feasts were held +in the pleasure-houses of Canopus, with music and noisy mirth; in the +public gardens round the Paneum cock-fighting and quail-fighting were as +popular as ever, and eager was the betting in new gold or humble +copper. Thus may we see a child, safe on the roof of its father’s house, +floating its toy boat on the flood that has drowned them all out; thus +might a boy fly his gaudy kite in the face of a gathering storm; thus +does the miser, on whom death has already laid its bony hand, count his +hoarded coin; thus thoughtless youth dances over the heaving soil at the +very foot of a volcano. What do these care for the common weal? Each +has his separate life and personal interests. What he himself needs or +desires--the greatest or the least--is to him more important and more +absorbing than the requirements of the vast organism in which he is no +more than a drop of blood or the hair of an eyelash. + +Olympius was still in concealment in the house of Porphyrius--Olympius, +whose mind and will had formerly had such imperious hold on the fate +of the city, and to whose nod above half of the inhabitants were still +obedient. Porphyrius and his family shared his views and regarded +themselves as his confederates; but, even among them, the minor details +of life claimed their place, and Gorgo, who entered into the struggle +for the triumph of the old gods, gave but a half-hearted attention to +the great cause to which she was enthusiastically devoted, because a +companion of her childhood, to whose attentions she had every claim, +delayed his visit longer than was kind. + +She had performed her ‘Isis’ lament the day before with all her heart +and soul, and had urgently claimed Agne’s assistance; but to-day, though +she had been singing again and well, she had stopped to listen whenever +she heard a door open in the adjoining room or voices in the garden, +and had sung altogether with so much less feeling and energy than before +that Karnis longed to reprove her sharply enough. This, however, would +have been too indiscreet, so he could only express his annoyance by +saying to his son, in a loud whisper: + +“The most remarkable gifts, you see, and the highest abilities are of no +avail so long as Art and Life are not one and the same--so long as Art +is not the Alpha and Omega of existence, but merely an amusement or a +decoration.” + +Agne had been true to herself, and had modestly but steadfastly declared +that she could not possibly enter the temple of Isis, and her refusal +had been accepted quite calmly, and without any argument or controversy. +She had not been able to refuse Gorgo’s request that she would repeat +to-day the rehearsal she had gone through yesterday, since, to all +appearance, her cooperation at the festival had been altogether given +up. How could the girl guess that the venerable philosopher, who had +listened with breathless admiration to their joint performance, had +taken upon himself to dissipate her doubts and persuade her into +compliance? + +Olympius laid the greatest stress on Agne’s assistance, for every +one who clung to the worship of the old gods was to assemble in the +sanctuary of Isis; and the more brilliant and splendid the ceremony +could be made the more would that enthusiasm be fired which, only too +soon, would be put to crucial proof. On quitting the temple the crowd of +worshippers, all in holiday garb, were to pass in front of the Prefect’s +residence, and if only they could effect this great march through the +city in the right frame of mind, it might confidently be expected +that every one who was not avowedly Jew or Christian, would join +the procession. It would thus become a demonstration of overwhelming +magnitude and Cynegius, the Emperor’s representative, could not fail to +see what the feeling was of the majority of the towns folk, and what it +was to drive matters to extremes and lay hands on the chief temples of +such a city. + +To Olympius the orator, grown grey in the exercise of logic and +eloquence, it seemed but a small matter to confute the foolish doubts +of a wilful girl. He would sweep her arguments to the winds as the +storm drives the clouds before it; and any one who had seen the two +together--the fine old man with the face and front of Zeus, with +his thoughtful brow and broad chest, who could pour forth a flood of +eloquence fascinatingly persuasive or convincingly powerful, and the +modest, timid girl--could not have doubted on which side the victory +must be. + +To-day, for the first time, Olympius had found leisure for a prolonged +interview with his old friend Karnis, and while the girls were in +the garden, amusing little Papias by showing him the swans and tame +gazelles, the philosopher had made enquiries as to the Christian girl’s +history and then had heard a full account of the old musician’s past +life. Karnis felt it as a great favor that his old friend, famous now +for his learning--the leader of his fellow-thinkers in the second city +of the world, the high-priest of Serapis, to whose superior intellect +he himself had bowed even in their student days--should remember his +insignificant person and allow him to give him the history of the +vicissitudes which had reduced him--the learned son of a wealthy +house--to the position of a wandering singer. + +Olympius had been his friend at the time when Karnis, on leaving +college, instead of devoting himself to business and accounts, as his +father wished, had thrown himself into the study of music, and at once +distinguished himself as a singer, lute-player and leader of heathen +choirs. Karnis was in Alexandria when the news reached him of his +father’s death. Before quitting the city he married Herse, who was +beneath him alike in birth and in fortune, and who accompanied him +on his return to Tauromenium in Sicily, where he found himself the +possessor of an inheritance of which the extent and importance greatly +astonished him. + +At Alexandria he had been far better acquainted with the theatre than +with the Museum or the school of the Serapeum; nay, as an amateur, he +had often sung in the chorus there and acted as deputy for the regular +leader. The theatre in his native town of Tauromenium had also been a +famous one of old, but, at the time of his return, it had sunk to a very +low ebb. Most of the inhabitants of the beautiful city nestling at +the foot off Etna, had been converted to Christianity; among them the +wealthy citizens at whose cost the plays had been performed and the +chorus maintained. Small entertainments were still frequently given, +but the singers and actors had fallen off, and in that fine and spacious +theatre nothing was ever done at all worthy of its past glories. This +Karnis deeply regretted, and with his wonted energy and vigor he soon +managed to win the interest of those of his fellow-citizens who remained +faithful to the old gods and had still some feeling for the music and +poetry of the ancient Greeks, in his plans for their revival. + +His purpose was to make the theatre the centre of a reaction against the +influence of the Christians, by vieing with the Church in its efforts +to win back the renegade heathen and confirming the faithful in +their adhesion. The Greeks of Tauromenium should be reminded from the +stage-boards of the might of the old gods and the glories of their past. +To this end it was needful to restore the ruined theatre, and Karnis, +after advancing the greater part of the money required, was entrusted +with the management. He devoted himself zealously to the task, and +soon was so successful that the plays at Tauromenium, and the musical +performances in its Odeum, attracted the citizens in crowds, and were +talked of far and wide. Such success was of course only purchased at +a heavy cost, and in spite of Herse’s warnings, Karnis would never +hesitate when the object in view was the preservation or advancement of +his great work. + +Thus passed twenty years; then there came a day when his fine fortune +was exhausted, and a time when the Christian congregation strained every +nerve to deal a death-blow to the abomination of desolation in their +midst. Again and again, and with increasing frequency, there were +sanguinary riots between the Christians who forced their way into the +theatre and the heathen audience, till at last a decree of the Emperor +Theodosius prohibited the performance of heathen plays or music. + +Now, the theatre at Tauromenium, for which Karnis had either given or +advanced his whole inheritance, had ceased to exist, and the usurers +who, when his own fortune was spent, had lent him moneys on the security +of the theatre itself--while it still flourished--or on his personal +security, seized his house and lands and would have cast him into the +debtor’s prison if he had not escaped that last disgrace by flight. Some +good friends had rescued his family and helped them to follow him, and +when they rejoined him he had begun his wanderings as a singer. Many +a time had life proved miserable enough; still, he had always remained +true to his art and to the gods of Olympus. + +Olympius had listened to his narrative with many tokens of sympathy and +agreement, and when Karnis, with tears in his eyes, brought his story +to a close, the philosopher laid his hand on his friend’s shoulder and +drawing him towards him, exclaimed: + +“Well done, my brave old comrade! We will both be faithful to the same +good cause! You have made sacrifices for it as I have; and we need not +despair yet. If we triumph here our friends in a thousand towns will +begin to look up. The reading of the stars last night, and the auguries +drawn from this morning’s victims, portend great changes. What is down +to the ground to-day may float high in the air to-morrow. All the signs +indicate: ‘A fall to the Greatest;’ and what can be greater than Rome, +the old tyrant queen of the nations? The immediate future, it is true, +can hardly bring the final crash, but it is fraught with important +consequences to us. I dreamed of the fall of the Caesars, and of a great +Greek Empire risen from the ruins, powerful and brilliant under the +special protection of the gods of Olympus; and each one of us must +labor to bring about the realization of this dream. You have set a noble +example of devotion and self-sacrifice, and I thank you in the name of +all those who feel with us--nay, in the name of the gods themselves whom +I serve! The first thing to be done now is to avert the blow which the +Bishop intends shall strike us by the hand of Cynegius--it has already +fallen on the magnificent sanctuary of the Apamaean Zeus. If the +ambassador retires without having gained his purpose the balance will +be greatly--enormously, in our favor, and it will cease to be a folly to +believe in the success of our cause.” + +“Ah! teach us to hope once more,” cried the musician. “That in itself is +half the victory; still, I cannot see how this delay...” + +“It would give us time, and that is what we want,” replied Olympius. +“Everything is in preparation, but nothing is ready. Alexandria, Athens, +Antioch, and Neapolis are to be the centres of the outbreak. The great +Libanius is not a man of action, and even he approves of our scheme. No +less a man than Florentin has undertaken to recruit for our cause among +the heathen officers in the army. Messala, and the great Gothic captains +Fraiut and Generid are ready to fight for the old gods. Our army will +not lack leaders...” + +“Our army!” exclaimed Karnis in surprise. “Is the matter so far +advanced?” + +“I mean the army of the future,” cried Olympius enthusiastically. “It +does not count a man as yet, but is already distributed into several +legions. The vigor of mind and body--our learned youth on one hand and +strong-armed peasantry on the other--form the nucleus of our force. +Maximus could collect, in the utmost haste, the army which deprived +Gratian of his throne and life, and was within a Hair-breadth of +overthrowing Theodosius; and what was he but an ambitious rebel, and +what tempted his followers but their hopes of a share in the booty? But +we--we enlist them in the name of the loftiest ideas and warmest desires +of the human heart, and, as the prize of victory, we show them the +ancient faith with freedom of thought--the ancient loveliness of life. +The beings whom the Christians can win over--a patch-work medley of +loathsome Barbarians--let them wear out their lives as they choose! +We are Greeks--the thinking brain, the subtle and sentient soul of the +world. The polity, the empire, that we shall found on the overthrow +of Theodosius and of Rome shall be Hellenic, purely Hellenic. The old +national spirit, which made the Greeks omnipotent against the millions +of Darius and Xerxes, shall live again, and we will keep the Barbarians +at a distance as a Patrician forbids his inferiors to count themselves +as belonging to his illustrious house. The Greek gods, Greek heroism, +Greek art and Greek learning, under our rule shall rise from the +dust--all the more promptly for the stringent oppression under which +their indomitable spirit has so long languished.” + +“You speak to my heart!” cried Karnis. “My old blood flows more swiftly +already, and if I only had a thousand talents left to give...” + +“You would stake them on the future Greek Empire,” said Olympius +eagerly. “And we have adherents without number who feel as you do, +my trusty friend. We shall succeed--as the great Julian would have +succeeded but for the assassins who laid him low at so early an age; for +Rome...” + +“Rome is still powerful.” + +“Rome is a colossus built up of a thousand blocks; but among them a +hundred and more be but loosely in their places, and are ready to drop +away from the body of the foul monster--sooner rather than later. Our +shout alone will shake them down, and they will fall on our side, we may +choose the best for our own use. Ere long--a few months only--the hosts +will gather in the champaign country at the foot of Vesuvius, by land +and by sea; Rome will open its gates wide to us who bring her back her +old gods; the Senate will proclaim the emperor deposed and the Republic +restored. Theodosius will come out against us. But the Idea for which +we go forth to fight will hover before us, will stir the hearts of those +soldiers and officers who would gladly--ah! how gladly-sacrifice to the +Olympian gods and who only kiss the wounds of the crucified Jew under +compulsion. They will desert from the labarum, which Constantine carried +to victory, to our standards; and those standards are all there, ready +for use; they have been made in this city and are lying hidden in the +house of Apollodorus. Heaven-sent daemons showed them in a vision to my +disciple Ammonius, when he was full of the divinity and lost in ecstasy, +and I have had them made from his instructions.” + +“And what do they represent?” + +“The bust of Serapis with the ‘modius’ on his head. It is framed in a +circle with the signs of the zodiac and the images of the great Olympian +deities. We have given our god the head of Zeus, and the corn-measure +on his head is emblematic of the blessing that the husbandman hopes for. +The zodiac promises us a good star, and the figures representing it +are not the common emblems, but each deeply significant. The Twins, +for instance, are the mariner’s divinities, Castor and Pollux; Hercules +stands by the Lion whom he has subdued; and the Fishes are dolphins, +which love music. In the Scales, one holds the cross high in the air +while the other is weighed down by Apollo’s laurel-wreath and the bolts +of Zeus; in short, our standard displays everything that is most dear +to the soul of a Greek or that fills him with devotion. Above all, Nike +hovers with the crown of victory. If only fitting leaders are to be +found at the centres of the movement, these standards will at once be +sent out, and with them arms for the country-folk. A place of meeting +has already been selected in each province, the pass-word will be given, +and a day fixed for a general rising.” + +“And they will flock round you!” interrupted Karnis, “and--I, my son, +will not be absent. Oh glorious, happy, and triumphant day! Gladly will +I die if only I may first live to see the smoking offerings sending up +their fragrance to the gods before the open doors of every temple in +Greece; see the young men and maidens dancing in rapt enthusiasm to the +sound of lutes and pipes, and joining their voices in the chorus! Then +light will shine once more on the world, then life will once more mean +joy, and death a departure from a scene of bliss.” + +“Aye, and thus shall it be!” cried Olympius, fired by this eager +exposition of his own excitement, and he wrung the musician’s hand. +“We will restore life to the Greeks and teach them to scorn death as of +yore. Let the Christians, the Barbarians, make life miserable and seek +joy in death, if they list! But the girls have ceased singing. There +is still much to be done to-day, and first of all I must confute the +objections of your recalcitrant pupil.” + +“You will not find it an easy task,” said Karnis. “Reason is a feeble +weapon in contending with a woman.” + +“Not always,” replied the philosopher. “But you must know how to use it. +Leave me to deal with the child. There are really no singing-women left +here; we have tried three, but they were all vulgar and ill taught. This +girl, when she sings with Gorgo, has a voice that will go to the heart +of the audience. What we want is to fire the crowd with enthusiasm, and +she will help us to do it.” + +“Well, well. But you, Olympius, you who are the very soul of the +revulsion we hope for, you must not be present at the festival. Indeed, +sheltered as you are under Porphyrius’ roof, there is a price on your +head, and this house swarms with slaves, who all know you; if one of +them, tempted by filthy lucre...” + +“They will not betray me,” smiled the philosopher. “They know that their +aged mistress, Damia, and I myself command the daemons of the upper +and lower spheres, and that at a sign from her or from me they would +instantly perish; and even if there were an Ephialtes among them, a +spring through that loop-hole would save me. Be easy, my friend. Oracles +and stars alike foretell me death from another cause than the treason of +a slave.” + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Olympius followed Agne into the garden where he found her sitting by the +marble margin of a small pool, giving her little brother pieces of bread +to feed the swans with. He greeted her kindly and, taking up the child, +showed him a ball which rose and fell on the jet of water from the +fountain. Papias was not at all frightened by the big man with his white +beard, for a bright and kindly gleam shone in his eyes, and his voice +was soft and attractive as he asked him whether he had such another ball +and could toss it as cleverly as the fountain did. + +Papias said: “No,” and Olympius, turning to Agne, went on: + +“You should get him a ball. There is no better plaything, for play ought +to consist in pleasant exertion which is in itself its object and gain. +Play is the toil of a little child; and a ball, which he can throw and +run after or catch, trains his eye, gives exercise to his limbs and +includes a double moral which men of every age and position should act +upon: To look down on the earth and keep his gaze on the heavens.” + +Agne nodded agreement and thanks, while Olympius set the child down +and bid him run away to the paddock where some tame gazelles were kept. +Then, going straight to the point, he said: + +“I hear you have declined to sing in the temple of Isis; you have been +taught to regard the goddess to whom many good men turn in faith and +confidence, as a monster of iniquity, but, tell me, do you know what she +embodies?” + +“No,” replied Agne looking down; but she hastily rose from her seat and +added with some spirit: “And I do not want to know, for I am a Christian +and your gods are not mine.” + +“Well, well; your beliefs, of course, differ from ours in many points: +still, I fancy that you and I have much in common. We belong to those +who have learnt to ‘look upwards’--there goes the ball, up again!--and +who find comfort in doing so. Do you know that many men believe that the +universe was formed by concurrence of mechanical processes and is still +slowly developing, that there is no divinity whose love and power guard, +guide and lend grace to the lives of men?” + +“Oh! yes, I have been obliged to hear many such blasphemous things in +Rome!” + +“And they ran off you like water off the silvery sheen of that swan’s +plumage as he dips and raises his neck. Those who deny a God are, in +your estimation, foolish or perhaps abominable?” + +“I pity them, with all my heart.” + +“And with very good reason. You are an orphan and what its parents are +to a child the divinity is to every member of the human race. In this +Gorgo, and I, and many others whom you call heathen, feel exactly as you +do; but you--have you ever asked yourself why and how it is that you, to +whom life has been so bitter, have such a perfect conviction that there +is a benevolent divinity who rules the world and your own fate to kindly +ends? Why, in short, do you believe in a God?” + +“I?” said Ague, looking puzzled, but straight into his face. “How could +anything exist without God? You ask such strange questions. All I can +see was created by our Father in Heaven.” + +“But there are men born blind who nevertheless believe in Him.” + +“They feel Him just as I see Him.” + +“Nay you should say: ‘As I believe that I see and feel Him.’ But I, for +my part, think that the intellect has a right to test what the soul only +divines, and that it must be a real happiness to see this divination +proved by well-founded arguments, and thus transformed to certainty. Did +you ever hear of Plato, the philosopher?” + +“Yes, Karnis often speaks of him when he and Orpheus are discussing +things which I do not understand.” + +“Well, Plato, by his intellect, worked out the proof of the problem +which our feelings alone are so capable of apprehending rightly. Listen +to me: If you stand on a spit of land at the entrance to a harbor and +see a ship in the distance sailing towards you--a ship which carefully +avoids the rocks, and makes straight for the shelter of the port--are +you not justified in concluding that there is, on board that ship, a man +who guides and steers it? Certainly. You not only may, but must infer +that it is directed by a pilot. And if you look up at the sky and +contemplate the well-ordered courses of the stars--when you see how +everything on earth, great and small, obeys eternal laws and unerringly +tends to certain preordained ends and issues, you may and must infer the +existence of a ruling hand. Whose then but that of the Great Pilot of +the universe--the Almighty Godhead.--Do you like my illustration?” + +“Very much. But it only proves what I knew before.” + +“Nevertheless, you must, I think, be pleased to find it so beautifully +expressed.” + +“Certainly.” + +“And must admire the wise man who thought out the comparison. +Yes?--Well, that man again was one of those whom you call heathen, who +believed as we believe, and who at the same time worked out the evidence +of the foundations of his faith for you as well as himself. And we, +the later disciples of Plato--[Known as the school of the +Neo-Platonists]--have gone even further than our master, and in many +respects are much nearer to you Christians than you perhaps suspect. +You see at once, of course, that we are no more inclined than you +to conceive of the existence of the world and the destiny of man as +independent of a God? However, I dare say you still think that your +divinity and ours are as far asunder as the east from the west. But can +you tell me where any difference lies?” + +“I do not know,” said Ague uneasily. “I am only an ignorant girl; and +who can learn the names even of all your gods?” + +“Very true,” said Olympius. “There is great Serapis, whose temple +you saw yesterday; there is Apollo, to whom Karnis prefers to offer +sacrifice; there is Isis the bountiful, and her sister Nephthys, whose +lament you and my young friend sing together so thrillingly; and besides +these there are more immortals than I could name while Gorgo--who is +leading your little brother to the lake out there--walked ten times from +the shore to us and back; and yet--and yet my child, your God is ours +and ours is yours.” + +“No, no, He is not, indeed!” cried Agne with increasing alarm. + +“But listen,” Olympius went on, with the same kind urgency but with +extreme dignity, “and answer my questions simply and honestly. We are +agreed, are we not?--that we perceive the divinity in the works of his +creation, and even in his workings in our own souls. Then which are the +phenomena of nature in which you discern Him as especially near to you? +You are silent. I see, you have outlived your school-days and do not +choose to answer to an uninvited catechism. And yet the things I wish +you to name are lovely in themselves and dear to your heart; and if only +you did not keep your soft lips so firmly closed, but would give me the +answer I ask for, you would remember much that is grand and beautiful. +You would speak of the pale light of dawn, the tender flush that tinges +the clouds as the glowing day-star rises from the waves, of the splendor +of the sun-as glorious as truth and as warm as divine love. You would +say: In the myriad blossoms that open to the morning, in the dew that +bathes them and covers them with diamonds, in the ripening ears in the +field, in the swelling fruit on the trees--in all these I see the mercy +and wisdom of the divinity. I feel his infinite greatness as I gaze on +the wide expanse of deep blue sea; it comes home to me at night when I +lift my eyes to the skies and see the sparkling hosts of stars roll over +my head. Who created that countless multitude, who guides them so that +they glide past in glorious harmony, and rise and set, accurately timed +to minutes and seconds, silent but full of meaning, immeasurably distant +and yet closely linked with the fate of individual men?--All this bears +witness to the existence of a God, and as you contemplate it and +admire it with thankful emotion, you feel yourself drawn near to the +Omnipotent. Aye, and even if you were deaf and blind, and lay bound and +fettered in the gloom of a closely-shut cavern, you still could feel if +love and pity and hope touched your heart. Rejoice then, child! for the +immortals have endowed you with good gifts, and granted you sound senses +by which to enjoy the beauty of creation. You exercise an art which +binds you to the divinity like a bridge; when you give utterance to your +whole soul in song that divinity itself speaks through you, and when you +hear noble music its voice appeals to your ear. All round you and within +you, you can recognize its power just as we feel it--everywhere and at +all times. + +“And this incomprehensible, infinite, unfettered, bountiful and +infallibly wise Power, which penetrates and permeates the life of the +universe as it does the hearts of men, though called by different names +in different lands, is the same to every race, wherever it may dwell, +whatever its language or its beliefs. You Christians call him the +Heavenly Father, we give him the name of the Primal One. To you, too, +your God speaks in the surging seas, the waving corn, the pure light of +day; you, too, regard music which enchants your heart, and love which +draws man to man, as his gifts; and we go only a step further, giving a +special name to each phenomenon of nature, and each lofty emotion of +the soul in which we recognize the direct influence of the Most High; +calling the sea Poseidon, the corn-field Demeter, the charm of music +Apollo, and the rapture of love Eros. When you see us offering sacrifice +at the foot of a marble image you must not suppose that the lifeless, +perishable stone is the object of our adoration. The god does not +descend to inform the statue; but the statue is made after the Idea +figured forth by the divinity it is intended to represent; and through +that Idea the image is as intimately connected with the Godhead, as, +by the bond of Soul, everything else that is manifest to our senses is +connected with the phenomena of the supersensuous World. But this is +beyond you; it will be enough for you if I assure you that the statue of +Demeter, with the sheaf in her arms, is only intended to remind us to be +grateful to the Divinity for our daily bread--a hymn of praise to Apollo +expresses our thanks to the Primal One for the wings of music and song, +on which our soul is borne upwards till it feels the very presence of +the Most High. These are names, mere names that divide us; but if +you were called anything else than Agne--Ismene, for instance, or +Eudoxia--would you be at all different from what you are?--There you +see--no, stay where you are--you must listen while I tell you that +Isis, the much--maligned Isis, is nothing and represents nothing but the +kindly influences of the Divinity, on nature and on human life. What she +embodies to us is the abstraction which you call the loving-kindness of +the Father, revealed in his manifold gifts, wherever we turn our eyes. +The image of Isis reminds us of the lavish bounties of the Creator, +just as you are reminded by the cross, the fish, and the lamb, of your +Redeemer. Isis is the earth from whose maternal bosom the creative +God brings forth food and comfort for man and beast; she is the tender +yearning which He implants in the hearts of the lover and the beloved +one; she is the bond of affection which unites husband and wife, brother +and sister, which is rapture to the mother with a child at her breast +and makes her ready and able for any sacrifice for the darling she has +brought into the world. She shines, a star in the midnight sky, giving +comfort to the sorrowing heart; she, who has languished in grief, pours +balm into the wounded souls of the desolate and bereaved, and gives +health and refreshment to the suffering. When nature pines in winter +cold or in summer drought and lacks power to revive, when the sun is +darkened, when lies and evil instincts alienate the soul from its pure +first cause, then Isis uplifts her complaint, calling on her husband, +Osiris, to return, to take her once more in his arms and fill her with +new powers, to show the benevolence of God once more to the earth and +to us men. You have learnt that lament; and when you sing it at her +festival, picture yourself as standing with the Mother of Sorrows--the +mother of your crucified divinity, by his open grave, and cry to your +God that he may let him rise from the dead.” + +Olympius spoke the last words with excited enthusiasm as though he were +certain of the young girl’s consent; but the effect was not what he +counted on; for Agne, who had listened to him, so far, with increasing +agitation, setting herself against his arguments like a bird under +the fascinating glare of the snake’s eye, at this last address seemed +suddenly to shake off the spell of his seductive eloquence as the leaves +drop from the crown of a tree shaken by the blast; the ideas of her +Saviour and of the hymn she was to sing were utterly irreconcilable +in her mind; she remembered the struggle she had fought out during the +night, and the determination with which she had come to the house this +morning. All the insidious language she had just heard was forgotten, +swept away like dust from a rocky path, and her voice was firmly +repellent as she said: + +“Your Isis has nothing in common with the Mother of our God, and how +can you dare to compare your Osiris with the Lord who redeemed the world +from death?” + +Olympius, startled at the decision of her tone, rose from his seat, but +he went on, as though he had expected this refusal: + +“I will tell you--I will show you. Osiris--we will take him as being +an Egyptian god, instead of Serapis in whose mysterious attributes you +would find much to commend itself even to a Christian soul--Osiris, like +your Master, voluntarily passed through death--to redeem the world from +death--in this resembling your Christ. He, the Risen One, gives new +light, and life, and blossom, and verdure to all that is darkened, dead +and withered. All that seems to have fallen a prey to death is, by him, +restored to a more beautiful existence; he, who has risen again, can +bring even the departed soul to a resurrection; and when during this +life its high aims have kept it unspotted by the dust of the sensual +life, and he, as the judge, sees that it has preserved itself worthy of +its pure First Cause, he allows it to return to the eternal and supreme +Spirit whence it originally proceeded. + +“And do not you, too, strive after purification, to the end that your +soul may find an everlasting home in the radiant realms? Again and +again do we meet with the same ideas, only they bear different forms +and names. Try to feel the true bearing of my words, and then you will +gladly join in the pathetic appeal to the sublime god to return. How +like he is to your Lord! Is he not, like your Christ, a Saviour, and +risen from the dead? The Temple or the Church--both are the sanctuaries +of the Deity. By the ivy-wreathed altar of the weeping goddess, at the +foot of the tall cypresses which cast their mysterious shadows on the +snowy whiteness of the marble steps on which lies the bier of the god, +you will feel the sacred awe which falls upon every pure soul when it is +conscious of the presence of the Deity--call Him what you will. + +“Isis, whom you now know, and who is neither more nor less than a +personification of divine mercy, will make you a return by restoring you +to the freedom for which you pine. She will allow you to find a home in +some Christian house through our intervention, in acknowledgment of the +pious service you are rendering, not to her but to the faith in divine +goodness. There you may live with your little brother, as free as +heart can desire. To-morrow you will go with Gorgo to the temple of the +goddess ...” + +But Agne broke in on his speech: “No, I will not go with her!” + +Her cheeks were scarlet and her breath came short and fast with +excitement as she went on: + +“I will not, I must not, I cannot! Do what you will with me: sell me and +my brother, put us to turn a mill--but I will not sing in the temple!” + +Olympius knit his brows; his beard quivered and his lips parted in +wrath, but he controlled himself and going close to the girl he laid +his hand on her shoulder and said in a deep grave tone of fatherly +admonition: + +“Reflect, child, pause; think over what I have been saying to you; +remember, too, what you owe the little one you love, and to-morrow +morning tell us that you have duly weighed your answer. Give me your +hand, my daughter; believe me, Olympius is one of your sincerest +well-wishers.” + +He turned his back on her and was going in doors. In front of the house +Porphyrius and Karnis were standing in eager colloquy. The news that +Marcus’ mother Mary had sent for Herse had reached the singer, and +his vivid fancy painted his wife as surrounded by a thousand perils, +threatened by the widow, and carried before the judges. The merchant +advised him to wait and see what came of it, as did Damia and Gorgo +who were attracted to the spot by the vehemence of the discussion; but +Karnis would not be detained, and he and Orpheus hurried off to the +rescue. Thus Agne was left alone in the garden with her little +brother, and perceiving that no one paid any further attention to their +proceedings, she fell on her knees, clasped the child closely to her and +whispered: + +“Pray with me, Papias; pray, pray that the Lord will protect us, and +that we may not be turned out of the way that leads us to our parents! +Pray, as I do!” + +For a minute she remained prostrate with the child by her side. +Then, rising quickly, she took him by the hand and led him in almost +breathless haste through the garden-gate out into the road, bending her +steps towards the lake and then down the first turning that led to the +city. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Agne’s flight remained unperceived for some little time, for every +member of the merchant’s household was at the moment intent on some +personal interest. When Karnis and Orpheus had set out Gorgo was left +with her grandmother and it was not till some little time after that she +went out into the colonnade on the garden side of the house, whence she +had a view over the park and the shore as far as the ship-yard. There, +leaning against the shaft of a pillar, under the shade of the blossoming +shrubs, she stood gazing thoughtfully to the southward. + +She was dreaming of the past, of her childhood’s joys and privations. +Fate had bereft her of a mother’s love, that sun of life’s spring. Below +her, in a splendid mausoleum of purple porphyry, lay the mortal remains +of the beautiful woman who had given her birth, and who had been +snatched away before she could give her infant a first caress. But all +round the solemn monument gardens bloomed in the sunshine, and on the +further side of the wall covered with creepers, was the ship-yard, the +scene of numberless delightful games. She sighed as she looked at the +tall hulks, and watched for the man who, from her earliest girlhood, had +owned her heart, whose image was inseparable from every thing of joy +and beauty that she had ever known, and every grief her young soul had +suffered under. + +Constantine, the younger son of Clemens the shipbuilder, had been her +brothers’ companion and closest friend. He had proved himself their +superior in talents and gifts, and in all their games had been the +recognized leader. While still a tiny thing she would always be at their +heels, and Constantine had never failed to be patient with her, or to +help and protect her, and then came a time when the lads were all +eager to win her sympathy for their games and undertakings. When her +grandmother read in the stars that some evil influences were to cross +the path of Gorgo’s planet, the girl was carefully kept in the house; at +other times she was free to go with the boys in the garden, on the lake +or to the ship-yard. There the happy playmates built houses or boats; +there, in a separate room, old Melampus modelled figure-heads for the +finished vessels, and he would supply them with clay and let them model +too. Constantine was an apt pupil, and Gorgo would sit quiet while he +took her likeness, till, out of twenty images that he had made of her, +several were really very like. Melampus declared that his young master +might be a very distinguished sculptor if only he were the son of poor +parents, and Gorgo’s father appreciated his talent and was pleased when +the boy attempted to copy the beautiful busts and statues of which +the house was full; but to his parents, and especially his mother, +his artistic proclivities were an offence. He himself, indeed, never +seriously thought of devoting himself to such a heathenish occupation, +for he was deeply penetrated by the Christian sentiments of his family, +and he had even succeeded in inflaming the sons of Porphyrius, who had +been baptized at an early age, with zeal for their faith. The merchant +perceived this and submitted in silence, for the boys must be and remain +Christians in consequence of the edict referring to wills; but the +necessity for confessing a creed which was hateful to him was so painful +and repulsive to a nature which, though naturally magnanimous was +not very steadfast, that he was anxious to spare his sons the same +experience, and allowed them to accompany Constantine to church and to +wear blue--the badge of the Christians--at races and public games, with +a shrug of silent consent. + +With Gorgo it was different. She was a woman and need wear no colors; +and her enthusiasm for the old gods and Greek taste and prejudices were +the delight of her father. She was the pride of his life, and as he +heard his own convictions echoed in her childish prattle, and later in +her conversation and exquisite singing, he was grateful to his mother +and to his friend Olympius who had implanted and cherished these +feelings in his daughter. Constantine’s endeavors to show her the beauty +of his creed and to win her to Christianity were entirely futile; and +the older they grew, and the less they agreed, the worse could each +endure the dissent of the other. + +An early and passionate affection attracted the young man to his +charming playfellow; the more ardently he cherished his faith the more +fervently did he desire to win her for his wife. But Olympius’ fair +pupil was not easy of conquest; nay, he was not unfrequently hard beset +by her questions and arguments, and while, to her, the fight for a creed +was no more than an amusing wrestling match, in which to display her +strength, to him it was a matter in which his heart was engaged. + +Damia and Porphyrius took a vain pleasure in their eager discussions, +and clapped with delight, as though it were a game of skill, when +Gorgo laughingly checkmated her excited opponent with some unanswerable +argument. + +But there came a day when Constantine discovered that his eager defence +of that which to him was high and holy, was, to his hearers, no more +than a subject of mockery, and henceforth the lad, now fast growing to +manhood, kept away from the merchant’s house. Still, Gorgo could always +win him back again, and sometimes, when they were alone together, the +old strife would be renewed, and more seriously and bitterly than of +old. But while he loved her, she also loved him, and when he had so +far mastered himself as to remain away for any length of time she wore +herself out with longing to see him. They felt that they belonged to +each other, but they also felt that an insuperable gulf yawned between +them, and that whenever they attempted to clasp hands across the abyss a +mysterious and irresistible impulse drove them to open it wider, and to +dig it deeper by fresh discussions, till at last Constantine could not +endure that she, of all people, should mock at his Holy of Holies and +drag it in the dust. + +He must go--he must leave Gorgo, quit Alexandria, cost what it +might. The travellers’ tales that he had heard from the captains of +trading-vessels and ships of war who frequented his father’s house had +filled him with a love of danger and enterprise, and a desire to see +distant lands and foreign peoples. His father’s business, for which he +was intended, did not attract him. Away--away--he would go away; and a +happy coincidence opened a path for him. + +Porphyrius had taken him one day on some errand to Canopus; the elder +man had gone in his chariot, his two sons and Constantine escorting him +on horseback. At the city-gates they met Romanus, the general in command +of the Imperial army, with his staff of officers, and he, drawing +rein by the great merchant’s carriage, had asked him, pointing to +Constantine, whether that were his son. + +“No,” replied Porphyrius, “but I wish he were.” At these words the +ship-master’s son colored deeply, while Romanus turned his horse round, +laid his hand on the young man’s arm and called out to the commander of +the cavalry of Arsinoe: “A soldier after Ares’ own heart, Columella! Do +not let him slip.” + +Before the clouds of dust raised by the officers’ horses as they rode +off, had fairly settled, Constantine had made up his mind to be a +soldier. In his parents’ house, however, this decision was seen under +various aspects. His father found little to say against it, for he had +three sons and only two shipyards, and the question seemed settled by +the fact that Constantine, with his resolute and powerful nature, was +cut out to be a soldier. His pious mother, on the other hand, appealed +to the learned works of Clemens and Tertullian, who forbid the faithful +Christian to draw the sword; and she related the legend of the holy +Maximilianus, who, being compelled, under Diocletian, to join the army, +had suffered death at the hands of the executioner rather than shed his +fellow-creatures’ blood in battle. The use of weapons, she added, was +incompatible with a godly and Christian life. + +His father, however, would not listen to this reasoning; new times, he +said, were come; the greater part of the army had been baptized; the +Church prayed for, victory, and at the head of the troops stood the +great Theodosius, an exemplar of an orthodox and zealous Christian. + +Clemens was master in his own house, and Constantine joined the heavy +cavalry at Arsinoe. In the war against the Blemmyes he was so fortunate +as to merit the highest distinction; after that he was in garrison at +Arsinoe, and, as Alexandria was within easy reach of that town, he was +in frequent intercourse with his own family and that of Porphyrius. Not +quite three years previously, when a revolt had broken out in favor +of the usurper Maximus in his native town, Constantine had assisted in +suppressing it, and almost immediately afterwards he was sent to Europe +to take part in the war which Theodosius had begun, again against +Maximus. + +An unpleasant misunderstanding had embittered his parting from Gorgo; +old Damia, as she held his hand had volunteered a promise that she and +her granddaughter would from time to time slay a beast in sacrifice on +his behalf. Perhaps she had had no spiteful meaning in this, but he had +regarded it as an insult, and had turned away angry and hurt. +Gorgo, however, could not bear to let him go thus; disregarding her +grandmother’s look of surprise, she had called him back, and giving him +both hands had warmly bidden him farewell. Damia had looked after him in +silence and had ever afterwards avoided mentioning his name in Gorgo’s +presence. + +After the victory over Maximus, Constantine, though still very young, +was promoted to the command of the troop in the place of Columella, +and he had arrived in Alexandria the day before at the head of his ‘ala +miliaria’. + + [The ala miliaria consisted of 24 ‘turmae’ or 960 mounted troopers + under the conduct of a Prefect.] + +Gorgo had never at any time ceased to think of him, but her passion had +constantly appeared to her in the light of treason and a breach of faith +towards the gods, so, to condone the sins she committed on one side by +zeal on another, she had come forth from the privacy of her father’s +house to give active support to Olympius in his struggle for the faith +of their ancestors. She had become a daily worshipper at the temple of +Isis, and the hope of hearing her sing had already mere than once filled +it to overflowing at high festivals. Then, while Olympius was defending +the sanctuary of Serapis against the attacks of the Christians, she and +her grandmother had become the leaders of a party of women who made +it their task to provide the champions of the faith with the means of +subsistence. + +All this had given purpose to her life; still, every little victory in +this contest had filled her soul with regrets and anxieties. For months +and years she had been conspicuous as the opponent of her lover’s +creed, and the bright eager child had developed into a grave girl a +clear-headed and resolute woman. She was the only person in the house +who dared to contradict her grandmother, and to insist on a thing when +she thought it right. The longing of her heart she could not still, but +her high spirit found food for its needs in all that surrounded her, +and, by degrees, would no doubt have gained the mastery and have been +supreme in all her being and doing, but that music and song still +fostered the softer emotions of her strong, womanly nature. + +The news of Constantine’s return had shaken her soul to the foundations. +Would it bring her the greatest happiness or only fresh anguish and +unrest? + +She saw him coming!--The plume of his helmet first came in sight above +the bushes, and then his whole figure emerged from among the shrubbery. +She leaned against the pillar for support now, for her knees trembled +under her. Tall and stately, his armor blazing in the sunshine, he came +straight towards her--a man, a hero--exactly as her fancy had painted +him in many a dark and sleepless hour. As he passed her mother’s tomb, +she felt as though a cold hand laid a grip on her beating heart. In +a swift flash of thought she saw her own home with its wealth and +splendor, and then the ship-builder’s house-simple, chillingly bare, +with its comfortless rooms; she felt as though she must perish, nipped +and withered, in such a home. Again she thought of him standing on his +father’s threshold, she fancied she could hear his bright boyish laugh +and her heart glowed once more. She forgot for the moment--clear-headed +woman though she was, and trained by her philosopher to “know +herself”--she forgot what she had fully acknowledged only the night +before: That he would no more give up his Christ than she would her +Isis, and that if they should ever reach the dreamed-of pinnacle of joy +it must be for an instant only, followed by a weary length of misery. +Yes--she forgot everything; doubts and fears were cast aside; as his +approaching footsteps fell on her ear, she could hardly keep herself +from flying, open armed, to meet him. + +He was standing before her; she offered him her hand with frank +gladness, and, as he clasped it in his, their hearts were too full for +words. Only their eyes gave utterance to their feelings, and when he +perceived that hers were sparkling through tears, he spoke her name +once, twice--joyfully and yet doubtfully, as if he dared not interpret +her emotion as he would. She laid her left hand lightly on his which +still grasped her right, and said with a brilliant smile: “Welcome, +Constantine, welcome home! How glad I am to see you back again!” + +“And I--and I...” he began, greatly moved. + +“O Gorgo! Can it really be years since we parted?” + +“Yes, indeed,” she said. “Anxious, busy, struggling years!” + +“But to-day we celebrate the festival of Peace,” he exclaimed fervently. +“I have learnt to leave every man to go his own way so long as I am +allowed to go mine. The old strife is buried; take me as I am and I, for +my part, will think only of the noble and beautiful traits in which your +nature is so rich. The fruit of all wholesome strife must be peace; let +us pluck that fruit, Gorgo, and enjoy it together. Ah! as I stand here +and gaze out over the gardens and the lake, hearing the hammers of +the shipwrights, and rejoicing in your presence, I feel as though our +childhood might begin all over again--only better, fuller and more +beautiful!” + +“If only my brothers were here!” + +“I saw them.” + +“Oh! where?” + +“At Thessalonica, well and happy--I have letters for you from them.” + +“Letters!” cried Gorgo, drawing away her hand. “Well, you are a tardy +messenger! Our houses are within a stone’s throw, and yet in a whole +day, from noon till noon, so old a friend could not find a few minutes +to deliver the letters entrusted to him, or to call upon such near +neighbors ...” + +“First there were my parents,” interrupted the young soldier. “And then +the tyrant military duty, which kept me on the stretch from yesterday +afternoon till an hour or two since. Romanus robbed me even of my sleep, +and kept me in attendance till the morn had set. However, I lost but +little by that, for I could not have closed my eyes till they had beheld +you! This morning again I was on duty, and rarely have I ridden to the +front with such reluctance. After that I was delayed by various details; +even on my way here--but for that I cannot be sorry for it gave me this +chance of finding you alone. All I ask now is that we may remain so, for +such a moment is not likely to be repeated.--There, I heard a door...” + +“Come into the garden,” cried Gorgo, signing to him to follow her. “My +heart is as full as yours. Down by the tank under the old sycamores--we +shall be quietest there.” + +Under the dense shade of the centenarian trees was a rough-hewn bench +that they themselves had made years before; there Gorgo seated herself, +but her companion remained standing. + +“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Here--here you must hear me! Here where we have +been so happy together!” + +“So happy!” she echoed softly. + +“And now,” he went on, “we are together once more. My heart beats +wildly, Gorgo; it is well that this breastplate holds it fast, for I +feel as though it would burst with hope and thankfulness.” + +“Thankfulness?” said Gorgo, looking down. + +“Yes, thankfulness--sheer, fervent passionate gratitude! What you have +given me, what an inestimable boon, you yourself hardly know; but no +emperor could reward love and fidelity more lavishly than you have +done--you, the care and the consolation, the pain and the joy of my +life! My mother told me--it was the first thing she thought of--how +you shed tears of grief on her bosom when the false report of my death +reached home. Those tears fell as morning dew on the drooping hopes +in my heart, they were a welcome such as few travellers find on their +return home. I am no orator, and if I were, how could speech in any way +express my feelings? But you know them--you understand what it is, after +so many years...” + +“I know,” she said looking up into his eyes, and allowing him to seize +her hand as he dropped on the bench by her side. “If I did not I could +not bear this--and I freely confess that I shed many more tears over you +than you could imagine. You love me, Constantine...” + +He threw his arm round her; but she disengaged herself, exclaiming: + +“Nay--I implore you, not so--not yet, till I have told you what troubles +me, what keeps me from throwing myself wholly, freely into the arms of +happiness. I know what you will ask--what you have a right to ask; but +before you speak, Constantine, remember once more all that has so often +saddened our life, even as children, that has torn us asunder like a +whirlwind although, ever since we can remember, our hearts have flowed +towards each other. But I need not remind you of what binds us--that we +both know well, only too well....” + +“Nay,” he replied boldly: “That we are only beginning to know in all its +fullness and rapture. The other thing the whirlwind of which you speak, +has indeed tossed and tormented me, more than it has you perhaps; but +since I have known that you could shed tears for me and love me I have +had no more anxieties; I know for certain that all must come right! You +love me as I am, Gorgo. I am no dreamer nor poet; but I can look +forward to finding life lovely and noble if shared with you, so long as +one--only one thing is sure. I ask you plainly and truly: Is your heart +as full of love for me as mine is for you? When I was away did you think +of me every day, every night, as I thought of you, day and night without +fail?” + +Gorgo’s head sank and blushes dyed her cheeks as she replied: “I love +you, and I have never even thought of any one else. My thoughts and +yearnings followed you all the while you were away... and yet... oh, +Constantine! That one thing...” + +“It cannot part us,” said the young man passionately, “since we have +love--the mighty and gracious power which conquers all things! When love +beckon: the whirlwind dies away like the breath from a child’s lips; +it can bridge over any abyss; it created the world and preserves the +existence of humanity, it can remove mountains--and these are the most +beautiful words of the greatest of the apostles: ‘It is long suffering +and kind, it believes all things, hopes all things’ and it knows no end. +It remains with us till death and will teach us to find that peace whose +bulwark and adornment, whose child and parent it is!” + +Gorgo had looked lovingly at him while he spoke, and he, pressing her +hand to his lips went on with ardent feeling: + +“Yes, you shall be mine--I dare, and I will go to ask you of your +father. There are some words spoken in one’s life which can never be +forgotten. Once your father said that he wished that I was his son. On +the march, in camp, in battle, wherever I have wandered, those words +have been in my mind; for me they could have but one meaning: I would be +his son--I shall be his son when Gorgo is my wife!--And now the time has +come...” + +“Not yet, not to-day,” she interrupted eagerly. “My hopes are the +same as yours. I believe with you that our love can bring all that is +sweetest into our lives. What you believe I must believe, and I will +never urge upon you the things that I regard as holiest. I can give up +much, bear much, and it will all seem easy for your sake. We can +agree, and settle what shall be conceded to your Christ and what to our +gods--but not to-day; not even to-morrow. For the present let me first +carry out the task I have undertaken--when that is done and past, +then.... You have my heart, my love; but if I were to prove a deserter +from the cause to-day or to-morrow it would give others--Olympius--a +right to point at me with scorn.” + +“What is it then that you have undertaken?” asked Constantine with grave +anxiety. + +“To crown and close my past life. Before I can say: I am yours, wholly +yours...” + +“Are you not mine now, to-day, at once?” he urged. + +“To day-no,” she replied firmly. “The great cause still has a claim upon +me; the cause which I must renounce for your sake. But the woman who +gives only one person reason to despise her signs the death-warrant of +her own dignity. I will carry out what I have undertaken.... Do not ask +me what it is; it would grieve you to know.--The day after tomorrow, +when the feast of Isis is over....” + +“Gorgo, Gorgo!” shouted Damia’s shrill voice, interrupting the young +girl in her speech, and half a dozen slave-women came rushing out in +search of her. + +They rose, and as they went towards the house Constantine said very +earnestly: + +“I will not insist; but trust my experience: When we have to give +something up sooner or later, if the wrench is a painful one, the sooner +and the more definitely it is done the better. Nothing is gained by +postponement and the pain is only prolonged. Hesitation and delay, +Gorgo, are a barrier built up by your own hand between us and our +happiness. You always had abundance of determination; be brave then, +now, and cut short at once a state of things that cannot last.” + +“Well, well,” she said hurriedly. “But you must not, you will not +require me to do anything that is beyond my strength, or that would +involve breaking my word. To-morrow is not, and cannot be yours; it must +be a day of leave-taking and parting. After that I am yours, I cannot +live without you. I want you and nothing else. Your happiness shall be +mine; only, do not make it too hard to me to part from all that has been +dear to me from my infancy. Shut your eyes to tomorrow’s proceedings, +and then--oh! if only we were sure of the right path, if only we could +tread it together! We know each other so perfectly, and I know, I feel, +that it will perhaps be a comfort to our hearts to be patient with each +other over matters which our judgment fails to comprehend or even to +approve. I might be so unutterably happy; but my heart trembles within +me, and I am not, I dare not be quite glad yet.” + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The young soldier was heartily welcomed by his friends of the merchant’s +family; but old Damia was a little uneasy at the attitude which he +and Gorgo had taken up after their first greeting. He was agitated and +grave, she was eager and excited, with an air of determined enterprise. + +Was Eros at the bottom of it all? Were the young people going to carry +out the jest of their childhood in sober earnest? The young officer was +handsome and attractive enough, and her granddaughter after all was but +a woman. + +So far as Constantine was concerned the old lady had no personal +objection to him; nay, she appreciated his steady, grave manliness and, +for his own sake, was very glad to see him once more; but to contemplate +the ship-builder’s son--the grandson of a freedman--a Christian and +devoted to the Emperor, even though he were a prefect or of even higher +grade--as a possible suitor for her Gorgo, the beautiful heiress of the +greater part of her wealth--the centre of attraction to all the gilded +youth of Alexandria--this was too much for her philosophy; and, as +she had never in her life restrained the expression of her sentiments, +though she gave him a friendly hand and the usual greeting, she very +soon showed him, by her irony and impertinence, that she was as hostile +to his creed as ever. + +She put her word in on every subject, and when, presently, +Demetrius--who, after Dada’s rebuff, had come on to see his uncle--began +speaking of the horses he had been breeding for Marcus, and Constantine +enquired whether any Arabs from his stables were to be purchased in the +town, Damia broke out: + +“You out-do your crucified God in most things I observe! He could ride +on an ass, and a stout Egyptian nag is not good enough for you.” + +However, the young officer was not to be provoked; and though he was +very well able to hold his own in a strife of words, he kept himself +under control and pretended to see nothing in the old woman’s taunts but +harmless jesting. + +Gorgo triumphed in his temperate demeanor, and thanked him with grateful +glances and a silent grasp of the hand when opportunity offered. + +Demetrius, who had also known Constantine as a boy, and who, through +Porphyrius, had sold him his first charger, met him very warmly and +told him with a laugh that he had seen him before that day, that he +had evidently learnt something on his travels, that he had tracked +the prettiest head of game in all the city; and he slapped him on +the shoulder and gave him what he meant to be a very knowing glance. +Constantine could not think where Demetrius had seen him or what he +meant; while Gorgo supposed that he alluded to her, and thought him +perfectly odious. + +Porphyrius pelted the prefect with questions which Constantine was very +ready to answer, till they were interrupted by some commotion in the +garden. On looking out they saw a strange and unpleasing procession, +headed by Herse who was scolding, thumping and dragging Dada’s Egyptian +slave, while her husband followed, imploring her to moderate her fury. +Behind them came Orpheus, now and then throwing out a persuasive word +to soothe the indignant matron. This party soon came up with the others, +and Herse, unasked, poured out an explanation of her wrath. + +She had had but a brief interview with Mary, Marcus’ mother, for she had +positively opposed the Christian lady’s suggestion that Karnis and his +family would do well to quit Alexandria as soon as possible, accepting +an indemnification from Mary herself. To the widow’s threats of seeking +the intervention of the law, she had retorted that they were not public +singers but free citizens who performed for their own enjoyment; to the +anxious mother’s complaints that Dada was doing all she could to attract +Marcus, she had answered promptly and to the point that her niece’s good +name would certainly out-weigh anything that could be said against a +young man to whom so much license was allowed in Alexandria. She would +find some means of protecting her own sister’s child. Mary had replied +that Herse would do well to remember that she--Mary--had means at her +command of bringing justice down on those who should attempt to entrap a +Christian youth, and tempt him into the path of sin. + +This had closed the interview. Herse had found her husband and son +waiting for her at the door of Mary’s house and had at once returned +with them to the ship. There an unpleasant surprise awaited them; they +had found no one on board but the Egyptian slave, who told them that +Dada had sent her on shore to procure her some sandals; on her return +the girl had vanished. The woman at the same time declared that she had +seen Agne and her brother leave the garden and make for the high-road. + +So far as the Christian girl was concerned Herse declared there would +be no difficulty; but Dada, her own niece, had always clung to them +faithfully, and though Alexandria was full of sorcerers and Magians +they could hardly succeed in making away with a fullgrown, rational, and +healthy girl. In her inexperience she had, no doubt, gone at the bidding +of some perfidious wretch, and the Egyptian witch, the brown slave had, +of course, had a finger in the trick. She would accuse no one, but she +knew some people who would be only too glad if Dada and that baby-faced +young Christian got into trouble and disgrace together. She delivered +herself of this long story with tears of rage and regret, angrily +refusing to admit any qualifying parentheses from her husband, to whose +natural delicacy her rough and vociferous complaints were offensive in +the presence of the high-bred ladies of the house. Old Damia, however, +had listened attentively to her indignant torrent of words, and had only +shrugged her shoulders with a scornful smile at the implied accusation +of herself. + +Porphyrius, to whom the whole business was simply revolting, questioned +Herse closely and when the facts were clearly established, and it also +was plainly proved that Agne had escaped from the garden, he desired +the slave-woman to tell her story of all that had occurred during the +absence of Karnis, promising her half a dozen stripes from the cane on +the soles of her feet for every false word she might utter. The threat +was enough to raise a howl from the Egyptian; but this Porphyries soon +put a stop to, and Sachepris, with perfect veracity, told her tale of +all that had happened till Herse’s return to the vessel. The beginning +of the narrative was of no special interest, but when she was pressed to +go faster to the point she went on to say: + +“And then--then my lord Constantine came to us on the ship, and the +pretty mistress laughed with him and asked him to take off his helmet, +because the pretty mistress wanted to see the cut, the great sword-cut +above his eyes, and my lord Constantine took it off.” + +“It is a lie!” exclaimed Gorgo. + +“No, no; it is true. Sachepris does not want her feet flayed, mistress,” + cried the slave. “Ask my lord Constantine himself.” + +“Yes, I went on board,” said Constantine. “Just as I was crossing the +ship-yard a young girl dropped her fan into the lake. I fished it out at +her request, and carried it back to her.” + +“Yes, that was it,” cried Sachepris. “And the pretty mistress laughed +with my lord Constantine--is it not true?--and she took his helmet out +of his hand and weighed it in hers...” + +“And you could stop on your way here to trifle with that child?” cried +Gorgo wrathfully. “Pah! what men will do!” + +These words portended rage and intense disgust to Constantine. “Gorgo!” + he cried with a reproachful accent, but she could not control her +indignation and went on more vehemently than ever: + +“You stopped--with that little hussy--on your way to me--stopped to +trifle and flirt with her! Shame! Yes, I say shame! Men are thought +lucky in being light-hearted, but, for my part, may the gods preserve me +from such luck! Trifling, whispering, caressing--a tender squeeze of the +hand--solemnly, passionately earnest!--And what next? Who dares warrant +that it will not all be repeated before the shadows are an ell long on +the shore!” + +She laughed, a sharp, bitter laugh; but it was a short one. She ceased +and turned pale, for her lover’s face had undergone a change that +terrified her. The scar on his forehead was purple, and his voice was +strange, harsh and hoarse as he leaned forward to bring his face on a +level with hers, and said: + +“Even if you had seen me with your own eyes you ought not to have +believed them! And if you dare to say that you do believe it, I can say +Shame! as well as you. My life may be at stake but I say: Shame!” + +As he spoke he clutched the back of a chair with convulsive fury and +stood facing the girl like an avenging god of war, his eyes flashing to +meet hers. This was too much for old Damia; she could contain herself no +longer, and striking her crutch on the floor she broke out: + +“What next shall we hear! You threaten and storm at the daughter of +this house as if she were a soldier in your camp! Listen to me, my +fine gentleman, and mind what I say: In the house of a free Alexandrian +citizen no one has any right to give his orders--be he Caesar, Consul or +Comes; he has only to observe the laws of good manners.” Then turning to +Gorgo she shook her head with pathetic emphasis; “This, my love, is the +consequence of too much familiar condescension. Come, an end of this! +Greeting and parting often go hand in hand.” + +The prefect turned on his heel and went towards the steps leading to the +garden; but Gorgo flew after him and seized his hand, calling out to the +old woman: + +“No, no, grandmother; he is in the right, I am certain he is in the +right. Stop, Constantine--wait, stay, and forgive my folly! If you love +me, mother, say no more--he will explain it all presently.” + +The soldier heaved a sigh of relief and assented in silence, while the +slave went on with her story: “And when my lord Constantine was gone, my +lord Demetrius came and he--but what should poor Sachepris say--ask my +lord Demetrius himself to tell you.” + +“That is soon done,” replied Demetrius, who had failed to understand +a great deal of all that had been going forward. “My brother Marcus +is over head and ears in love with the little puss--she is a pretty +creature--and to save that simple soul from mischief I thought I would +take the business on my own shoulders which are broader and stronger +than his. I went boldly to work and offered the girl--more shame for me, +I must say--the treasures of Midas; however, offering is one thing and +accepting is another, and the child snapped me up and sent me to the +right about--by Castor and Pollux! packed me off with my tail between my +legs! My only comfort was that Constantine had just quitted the pretty +little hussy. By the side of the god of war, thought I, a country Pan +makes but a poor figure; but this Ares was dismissed by Venus, and so, +if only to keep up my self-respect, I was forced to conclude that the +girl, with all her pertness, was of a better sort than we had supposed. +My presents, which would have tempted any other girl in Alexandria to +follow a cripple to Hades, she took as an insult; she positively cried +with indignation, and I really respect pretty little Dada!” + +“She is my very own sister’s child,” Herse threw in, honestly angered +by the cheap estimation in which every one seemed to hold her adopted +child. “My own sister’s,” she insisted, with an emphasis which seemed to +imply that she had a whole family of half-sisters. “Though we now earn +our bread as singers, we have seen better days; and in these hard +times Croesus to-day may be Irus to-morrow. As for us, Karnis did not +dissipate his money in riotous living. It was foolish perhaps but it +was splendid--I believe we should do the same again; he spent all his +inheritance in trying to reinstate Art. However, what is the use of +looking after money when it is gone! If you can win it, or keep it you +will be held of some account, but if you are poor the dogs will snap at +you!--The girl, Dada--we have taken as much care of her as if she were +our own, and divided our last mouthful with her before now. Karnis used +to tease her about training her voice--and now, when she could really do +something to satisfy even good judges--now, when she might have helped +us to earn a living-now...” + +The good woman broke down and burst into tears, while Karnis tried to +soothe and comfort her. + +“We shall get on without them somehow,” he said. “‘Nil desperandum’ says +Horace the Roman. And after all they are not lizards that can hide in +the cracks of the walls; I know every corner of Alexandria and I will go +and hunt them up at once.” + +“And I will help you, my friend,” said Demetrius, “We will go to the +Hippodrome--the gentry you will meet with there are capital blood-hounds +after such game as the daughter of your ‘own sister,’ my good woman. As +to the black-haired Christian girl--I have seen her many a time on board +ship...” + +“Oh! she will take refuge with some fellow-Christians,” remarked +Porphyrius. “Olympius told me all about her. I know plenty of the same +sort in the Church. They fling away life and happiness as if they were +apple-peelings to snatch at something which they believe to constitute +salvation. It is folly, madness! pure unmitigated madness! To have sung +in the temple of the she-devil Isis with Gorgo and the other worshippers +would have cost her her seat in Paradise. That, as I believe, is the +cause of her flight.” + +“That and nothing else!” cried Karnis. “How vexed the noble Olympius +will be. Indeed, Apollo be my witness! I have not been so disturbed +about anything for many a day. Do you happen to recollect,” he went on, +turning to Demetrius, “our conversation on board ship about a dirge for +Pytho? Well, we had transposed the lament of Isis into the Lydian mode, +and when this young lady’s wonderful voice gave it out, in harmony with +Agne’s and with Orpheus’ flute, it was quite exquisite! My old heart +floated on wings as I listened! And only the day after to-morrow the +whole crowd of worshippers in the temple of Isis were to enjoy that +treat!--It would have roused them to unheard-of enthusiasm. Yesterday +the girl was in it, heart and soul; nay, only this morning she and the +noble Gorgo sang it through from beginning to end. One more rehearsal +to-morrow, and then the two voices would have given such a performance +as perhaps was never before heard within the temple walls.” + +Constantine had listened to this rhapsody with growing agitation; he was +standing close to Gorgo, and while the rest of the party held anxious +consultation as to what could be done to follow up and capture the +fugitives, he asked Gorgo in a low voice, but with gloomy looks: + +“You intended to sing in the temple of Isis? Before the crowd, and with +a girl of this stamp?” + +“Yes,” she said firmly. + +“And you knew yesterday that I had come home?” She nodded. + +“And yet, this morning even, while you were actually expecting me, you +could practise the hymn with such a creature?” + +“Agne is not such another as the girl who played tricks with your +helmet,” replied Gorgo, and the black arches of her eyebrows knit into +something very like a scowl. “I told you just now that I was not yours +today, nor to-morrow. We still serve different gods.” + +“Indeed we do!” he exclaimed, so vehemently that the others looked +round, and old Damia again began to fidget in her chair. + +Then with a strong effort he recovered himself and, after standing for +some minutes gazing in silence at the ground, he said in a low tone: + +“I have borne enough for to-day. Gorgo, pause, reflect. God preserve me +from despair!” + +He bowed, hastily explained that his duties called him away, and left +the spot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The amateurs of horse-racing who assembled in the Hippodrome could +afford no clue to Dada’s hiding-place, because she had not, in fact, +run away with any gay young gallant. Within a few minutes of her sending +Sachepris to fetch her a pair of shoes, Medius had hailed her from the +shore; he wanted to speak with Karnis, and having come on an ass it was +not in vain that the incensed damsel entreated him to take her with him. +He had in fact only come to try to persuade Karnis and his wife to spare +Dada for a few performances, such as he had described, in the house of +Posidonius. His hopes of success had been but slender; and now the whole +thing had settled itself, and Dada’s wish that her people should not, +for a while, know where to find her was most opportune for his plans. + +In the days when Karnis was the manager of the theatre at Tauromenium +Medius had led the chorus, and had received much kindness at the hands +of the girl’s uncle. All this, he thought, he could now repay, for +certainly his old patron was poor enough, and he intended honestly to +share with his former benefactor the profits he expected to realize +with so fair a prodigy as Dada. No harm could come to the girl, +and gold--said he to himself--glitters as brightly and is just as +serviceable, even when it has been earned for us against our will. + +Medius, being a cautious man, made the girl bring her new dress away +with her, and the girdle and jewels belonging to it, and his neat hands +packed everything into the smallest compass. He filled up the basket +which he took for the purpose with sweetmeats, oranges and pomegranates +“for the children at home,” and easily consoled Dada for the loss of her +shoes. He would lead the ass and she should ride. She covered her face +with a veil, and her little feet could be hidden under her dress. When +they reached his house he would at once have “a sweet little pair of +sandals” made for her by the shoemaker who worked for the wife of the +Comes and the daughters of the Alabarch--[The chief of the Jewish +colony in Alexandria.]--These preparations and the start only took a few +minutes; and their rapid search and broken conversation caused so much +absurd confusion that Dada had quite recovered her spirits and laughed +merrily as she tripped bare-foot across the strand. She sprang gaily +on to the little donkey and as they made their way along the road, the +basket containing her small wardrobe placed in front of her on the ass’s +shoulders, she remarked that she should be mistaken for the young +wife of a shabby old husband, returning from market with a load of +provisions. + +She was delighted to think of what Herse’s face would be when, on her +return home, she should discover that the prisoner could make her escape +even without shoes. + +“Let her have a good hunt for me!” she cried quite enchanted. “Why +should I always be supposed to be ready for folly and wickedness! But +one thing I warn you: If I am not comfortable and happy with you, and +if I do not like the parts you want me to fill, we part as quickly as +we have come together.--Why are you taking me through all these dirty +alleys? I want to ride through the main streets and see what is going +on.” But Medius would not agree to this, for in the great arteries +of the town there were excitement and tumult, and they might think +themselves fortunate if they reached his house unmolested. + +He lived in a little square, between the Greek quarter and Rhacotis +where the Egyptians lived, and his house, which was exactly opposite the +church of St. Marcus, accommodated Medius himself, his wife, his widowed +daughter and her five children, besides being crammed from top to bottom +with all sorts of strange properties, standing or hanging in every +available space. Dada’s curiosity had no rest, and by the time she had +spent a few hours in the house her host’s pretty little grandchildren +were clinging to her with devoted affection. + +Agne had not been so fortunate as to find a refuge so easily. With no +escort, unveiled, and left entirely to her own guidance, leading the +little boy, she hurried forward, not knowing whither. All she thought +was to get away--far away from these men who were trying to imperil her +immortal soul. + +She knew that Karnis had actually bought her, and that she was, +therefore, his property and chattel. Even Christian doctrine taught +her that the slave must obey his master; but she could not feel like a +slave, and if indeed she were one her owner might destroy and kill her +body, but not her soul. The law, however, was on the side of Karnis, and +it allowed him to pursue her and cast her into prison. This idea +haunted her, and for fear of being caught she avoided all the chief +thoroughfares and kept close to the houses as she stole through the side +streets and alleys. Once, in Antioch, she had seen a runaway slave, who, +having succeeded in reaching a statue of the Emperor and laying his hand +on it, was by that act safe from his pursuers. There must surely be +such a statue somewhere in Alexandria--but where? A woman, of whom she +enquired, directed her down a wider street that would take her into the +Canopic Way. If she crossed that and went down the first turning to the +left she would reach a large open square in the Bruchium, and there, in +front of the Prefect’s residence and by the side of the Bishop’s house, +stood the new statue of Theodosius. + +This information, and the mention of the Bishop, gave a new course to +her proceedings. It was wrong to defy and desert her master, but to obey +him would be deadly sin. Which must she choose and which avoid? Only one +person could advise in such a case--only one could relieve her mind of +its difficulties and terrors: The Shepherd of souls in the city--the +Bishop himself. She too was a lamb of his flock; to him and to no one +else could she turn. + +This thought fell on her heart like a ray of light dispersing the clouds +of uncertainty and alarm. With a deep breath of relief she took the +child in her arms and told him--for he was whimpering to know where she +was taking him, and why he might not go back to Dada--that they were +going to see a good, kind man who would tell them the way home to their +father and mother. Papias, however, still wailed to go to Dada and not +to the man. + +Half insisting and half coaxing him with promises, she dragged him along +as far as the main street. This was full of an excited throng; soldiers +on foot and on horseback were doing what they could to keep the peace, +and the bustle amused the little boy’s curiosity so that he soon forgot +his homesickness. When, at length, Ague found the street that led to +the Prefect’s house she was fairly carried along by the surging, rushing +mob. To turn was quite impossible; the utmost she could do was to keep +her wits about her, and concentrate her strength so as not to be parted +from the child. Pushed, pulled, squeezed, scolded, and abused by other +women for her folly in bringing a child out into such a crowd, she at +last found herself in the great square. A hideous hubbub of coarse, loud +voices pierced her unaccustomed ears; she could have sunk on the earth +and cried; but she kept up her courage and collected all her energies, +for she saw in the distance a large gilt cross over a lofty doorway. +It was like a greeting and welcome home. Under its protection she would +certainly, find rest, consolation and safety. + +But how was she to reach it? The space before her was packed with men +as a quiver is packed with arrows; there was not room for a pin +between. The only chance of getting forward was by forcing her way, and +nine-tenths of the crowd were men--angry and storming men, whose wild +and strange demeanor filled her with terror and disgust. Most of +them were monks who had flocked in at the Bishop’s appeal from the +monasteries of the desert, or from the Lauras and hermitages of Kolzum +by the Red Sea, or even from Tabenna in Upper Egypt, and whose hoarse +voices rent the air with vehement cries of: “Down with the idols! Down +with Serapis! Death to the heathen!” + +This army of the Saviour whose very essence was gentleness and whose +spirit was love, seemed indeed to have deserted from his standard of +light and grace to the blood-stained banner of murderous hatred. Their +matted locks and beards fringed savage faces with glowing eyes; their +haggard or paunchy nakedness was scarcely covered by undressed hides of +sheep and goats; their parched skins were scarred and striped by the use +of the scourges that hung at their girdles. One--a “crown bearer”--had +a face streaming with blood, from the crown of thorns which he had +vowed to wear day and night in memory and imitation of the Redeemer’s +sufferings, and which on this great occasion he pressed hard into the +flesh with ostentatious martyrdom. One, who, in his monastery, had +earned the name of the “oil-jar,” supported himself on his neighbors’ +arms, for his emaciated legs could hardly carry his dropsical carcass +which, for the last ten years, he had fed exclusively on gourds, snails, +locusts and Nile water. Another was chained inseparably to a comrade, +and the couple dwelt together in a cave in the limestone hills near +Lycopolis. These two had vowed never to let each other sleep, that so +their time for repentance might be doubled, and their bliss in the next +world enhanced in proportion to their mortifications in this. + +One and all, they were allies in a great fight, and the same hopes, +ideas, and wishes fired them all. The Abominable Thing--which imperilled +hundreds of thousands of souls, which invited Satan to assert his +dominion in this world--should fall this day and be annihilated forever! +To them the whole heathen world was the “great whore;” and though the +gems she wore were beautiful to see and rejoiced the mind and heart of +fools, they must be snatched from her painted brow; they would scourge +her from off the face of the redeemed earth and destroy the seducer of +souls forever. “Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Down with the +heathen!” Their shouts thundered and bellowed all about Agne; but, just +as the uproar and crush were at the worst, a tall and majestic figure +appeared on a balcony above the cross and extended his hand in calm +and dignified benediction towards the seething mass of humanity. As he +raised it all present, including Ague, bowed and bent the knee. + +Agne felt, knew, that this stately man was the Bishop whom she sought, +but she did not point him out to her little brother, for his aspect was +that of some proud sovereign rather than of “the good, kind man” of whom +she had dreamed. She could never dare to force her way into the presence +of this great lord! How should the ruler over a million souls find time +or patience for her and her trivial griefs? + +However, there must be within his dwelling sundry presbyters and +deacons, and she would address herself to one of them, as soon as the +crowd had dispersed enough for her to make her way to the door beneath +the cross. Twenty times at least did she renew her efforts, but she made +very small progress; most of the monks, as she tried to squeeze past +them, roughly pushed her back; one, on whose arm she ventured to lay her +hand, begging him to make way for her, broke out into shrieks as though +a serpent had stung him, and when the crush brought her into contact +with the crown-bearer he thrust her away exclaiming: + +“Away woman! Do not touch me, spawn of Satan tool of the evil one! or I +will tread you under foot!” + +Retreat had been as impossible as progress, and long hours went by +which to her seemed like days; still she felt no fatigue, only alarm +and disgust, and, more than anything else, an ardent desire to reach the +Bishop’s palace and take counsel of a priest. It was long past noon when +a diversion took place which served at any rate to interest and amuse +the crying child. + +On the platform above the doorway Cynegius came forth--Cynegius, the +Emperor’s delegate; a stout man of middle height, with a shrewd round +head and a lawyer’s face. State dignitaries, Consuls and Prefects had, +at this date, ceased to wear the costume that had marked the patricians +of old Rome--a woollen toga that fell in broad and dignified folds from +the shoulders; a long, close-fitting robe had taken its place, of purple +silk brocade with gold flowers. On the envoy’s shoulder blazed the badge +of the highest officials, a cruciform ornament of a peculiarly thick and +costly tissue. He greeted the crowd with a condescending bow, a herald +blew three blasts on the tuba, and then Cynegius, with a wave of his +hand introduced his private secretary who stood by his side, and who at +once opened a roll he held and shouted at the top of a ringing voice: + +“Silence in Caesar’s name!” + +The trumpet then sounded for the fourth time, and silence so complete +fell on the crowded square that the horses of the mounted guard in front +of the Prefect’s house could be heard snorting and champing. + +“In Caesar’s name,” repeated the official, who had been selected for the +duty of reading the Imperial message. Cynegius himself bent his head, +again waved his hand towards his secretary, and then towards the statues +of the Emperor and Empress which, mounted on gilt standards, were +displayed to the populace on each side of the balcony; then the reading +began: + +“Theodosius Caesar greets the inhabitants of the great and noble city of +Alexandria, by Cynegius, his faithful ambassador and servant. He knows +that its true and honest citizens confess the Holy Faith in all piety +and steadfastness, as delivered to believers in the beginning by Peter, +the prince of the Apostles; he knows that they hold the true Christian +faith, and abide by the doctrine delivered by the Holy Ghost to the +Fathers of the Church in council at Nicaea. + +“Theodosius Caesar who, in all humility and pride, claims to be the +sword and shield, the champion and the rampart of the one true faith, +congratulates his subjects of the great and noble city of Alexandria +inasmuch as that most of them have turned from the devilish heresy of +Arius, and have confessed the true Nicaean creed; and he announces to +them, by his faithful and noble servant Cynegius, that this faith and no +other shall be recognized in Alexandria, as throughout his dominions. + +“In Egypt, as in all his lands and provinces, every doctrine opposed to +this precious creed shall be persecuted, and all who confess, preach or +diffuse any other doctrine shall be considered heretics and treated as +such.” + +The secretary paused, for loud and repeated shouts of joy broke from the +multitude. Not a dissentient word was heard-indeed, the man who should +have dared to utter one would certainly not have escaped unpunished. It +was not till the herald had several times blown a warning blast that the +reader could proceed, as follows: + +“It has come to the ears of your Caesar, to the deep grieving of his +Christian soul, that the ancient idolatry, which so long smote mankind +with blindness and kept them wandering far from the gates of Paradise, +still, through the power of the devil, has some temples and altars in +your great and noble city. But because it is grievous to the Christian +and clement heart of the Emperor to avenge the persecutions and death +which so many holy martyrs have endured at the hands of the +bloodthirsty and cruel heathen on their posterity, or on the miscreant +and--misbelieving enemies of our holy faith--and because the Lord +hath said ‘vengeance is mine’--Theodosius Caesar only decrees that the +temples of the heathen idols in this great and noble city of Alexandria +shall be closed, their images destroyed and their altars overthrown. +Whosoever shall defile himself with blood, or slay an innocent beast for +sacrifice, or enter a heathen temple, or perform any religious ceremony +therein, or worship any image of a god made by hands-nay, or pray in any +temple in the country or in the city, shall be at once required to pay a +fine of fifteen pounds of gold; and whosoever shall know of such a crime +being committed without giving information of it, shall be fined to the +same amount.”--[Codex Theodosianus XVI, 10, 10.] + +The last words were spoken to the winds, for a shout of triumph, +louder and wilder than had ever before been heard even on this favorite +meeting-place of the populace, rent the very skies. Nor did it cease, +nor yield to any trumpet-blast, but rolled on in spreading waves down +every street and alley; it reached the ships in the port, and rang +through the halls of the rich and the hovels of the poor; it even +found a dull echo in the light-house at the point of Pharos, where the +watchman was trimming the lamp for the night; and in an incredibly +short time all Alexandria knew that Caesar had dealt a death-blow to the +worship of the heathen gods. + +The great and fateful rumor was heard, too, in the Museum and the +Serapeum; once more the youth who had grown up in the high schools of +the city, studying the wisdom of the heathen, gathered together; men +who had refined and purified their intellect at the spring of Greek +philosophy and fired their spirit with enthusiasm for all that was good +and lovely in the teaching of ancient Greece--these obeyed the summons +of their master, Olympius, or flew to arms under the leadership of +Orestes, the Governor, for the High-Priest himself had to see to the +defences of the Serapeum.--Olympius had weapons ready in abundance, and +the youths rapidly collected round the standards he had prepared, and +rushed into the square before the Prefect’s house to drive away the +monks and to insist that Cynegius should return forthwith to Rome with +the Emperor’s edict. + +Young and noble lads were they who marched forth to the struggle, +equipped like the Helleman soldiers of the palmy days of Athens; and as +they went they sang a battle-song of Callinus which some one--who, no +one could tell--had slightly altered for the occasion: + + “Come, rouse ye Greeks; what, sleeping still! + Is courage dead, is shame unknown? + Start up, rush forth with zealous will, + And smite the mocking Christians down!” + +Everything that opposed their progress was overthrown. Two maniples of +foot-soldiers who held the high-road across the Bruchium attempted +to turn them, but the advance of the inflamed young warriors was +irresistible and they reached the street of the Caesareum and the square +in front of the Prefect’s residence. Here they paused to sing the last +lines of their battlesong: + + “Fate seeks the coward out at home, + He dies unwept, unknown to fame, + While by the hero’s honored tomb + Our grandsons’ grandsons shall proclaim: + ‘In the great conflict’s fiercest hour + He stood unmoved, our shield and tower.’” + +It was here, at the wide opening into the square, that the collision +took place: on one side the handsome youths, crowned with garlands, with +their noble Greek type of heads, thoughtful brows, perfumed curls, and +anointed limbs exercised in the gymnasium--on the other the sinister +fanatics in sheep-skin, ascetic visionaries grown grey in fasting, +scourging, and self-denial. + +The monks now prepared to meet the onset of the young enthusiasts who +were fighting for freedom of thought and enquiry, for Art and Beauty. +Each side was defending what it felt to be the highest Good, each was +equally in earnest as to its convictions, both fought for something +dearer and more precious than this earthly span of existence. But the +philosophers’ party had swords; the monks’ sole weapon was the scourge, +and they were accustomed to ply that, not on each other but on their own +rebellious flesh. A wild and disorderly struggle began with swingeing +blows on both sides; prayers and psalms mingling with the battle-song of +the heathen. Here a monk fell wounded, there one lay dead, there again +lay a fine and delicate-looking youth, felled by the heavy fist of a +recluse. A hermit wrestled hand to hand with a young philosopher who, +only yesterday had delivered his first lecture on the Neo-Platonism of +Plotinus to an interested audience. + +And in the midst of this mad struggle stood Agne with her little +brother, who clung closely to her skirts and was too terrified to shed +a tear or utter a cry. The girl was resolutely calm, but she was too +utterly terror-stricken even to pray. Fear, absorbing fear had stunned +her thoughts; it overmastered her like some acute physical pain which +began in her heart and penetrated every fibre of her frame. + +Even while the Imperial message was being read she had been too +frightened to take it all in; and now she simply shut her eyes tight and +hardly understood what was going on around her, till a new and different +noise sounded close in her ears: the clatter of hoofs, blare of trumpets +and shouts and screams. At last the tumult died away and, when she +ventured to open her eyes and look about her, the place all round her +was as clear as though it had been swept by invisible hands; here and +there lay a dead body and there still was a dense crowd in the street +leading to the Caesareum, but even that was dispersing and retreating +before the advance of a mounted force. + +She breathed freely once more, and released the child’s head from the +skirt of her dress in which he had wrapped and buried it. The end of her +alarms was not yet come, however, for a troop of the young heathen came +flying across the square in wild retreat before a division of the heavy +cavalry, which had intervened to part the combatants. + +The fugitives came straight towards her; again she closed her eyes +tightly, expecting every instant to find herself under the horses’ feet. +Then one of the runaways knocked down Papias, and she could bear no +more; her senses deserted her, her knees failed under her, she lost +consciousness, and with a dull groan she fell on the dusty pavement. +Close to her, as she lay, rushed the pursued and the pursuers--and at +last, how long after she knew not, when she recovered her senses she +felt as if she were floating in the air, and presently perceived that a +soldier had her in his arms and was carrying her like a child. + +Fresh alarms and fresh shame overwhelmed the poor girl; she tried to +free herself and found him quite ready to set her down. When she was +once more on her feet and felt that she could stand she glanced wildly +round her with sudden recollection, and then uttered a hoarse cry, for +her mouth and tongue were parched: + +“Christ Jesus! Where is my brother?” She pushed back her hair with a +desperate gesture, pressing her hands to her temples and peering all +round her with a look of fevered misery. + +She was still in the square and close to the door of the Prefect’s +house; a man on horseback, in all probability her preserver’s servant, +was following them, leading his master’s horse. On the pavement lay +wounded men groaning with pain; the street of the Caesareum was lined +with a double row of footsoldiers of Papias no sign! + +Again she called him, and with such deep anguish in her voice, which was +harsh and shrill with terror, that the young officer looked at her with +extreme compassion. + +“Papias, Papias--my little brother! O God my Saviour!--where, where is +the child?” + +“We will have him sought for,” said the soldier whose voice was gentle +and kind. “You are too young and pretty--what brought you into this +crowd and amid such an uproar?” + +She colored deeply and looking down answered low and hurriedly: “I was +going to see the Bishop.” + +“You chose an evil hour,” replied Constantine, for it was he who had +found her lying on the pavement and who had thought it only an act of +mercy not to trust so young and fair a girl to the protection of his +followers. “You may thank God that you have got off so cheaply. Now, I +must return to my men. You know where the Bishop lives? Yes, here. And +with regard to your little brother.... Stay; do you live in Alexandria?” + “No, my lord.” + +“But you have some relation or friend whom you lodge with?” + +“No, my lord. I am... I have... I told you, I only want to see my lord +the Bishop.” + +“Very strange! Well, take care of yourself. My time is not my own; but +by-and-bye, in a very short time, I will speak to the city watchmen; how +old is the boy?” + +“Nearly six.” + +“And with black hair like yours?” + +“No, my lord--fair hair,” and as she spoke the tears started to her +eyes. “He has light curly hair and a sweet, pretty little face.” + +The prefect smiled and nodded. “And if they find him,” he went on, +“Papias, you say, is his name where is he to be taken?” + +“I do not know, my lord, for--and yet! Oh! my head aches, I cannot +think--if only I knew.... If they find him he must come here--here to my +lord the Bishop.” + +“To Theophilus?” said Constantine in surprise. “Yes, yes--to him,” she +said hastily. “Or--stay--to the gate-keeper at the Bishop’s palace.” + +“Well, that is less aristocratic, but perhaps it is more to the +purpose,” said the officer; and with a sign to his servant, he twisted +his hand in his horse’s mane, leaped into the saddle, waved her a +farewell, and rejoined his men without paying any heed to her thanks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +There was much bustle and stir in the hall of the Episcopal palace. +Priests and monks were crowding in and out; widows, who, as deaconesses, +were entrusted with the care of the sick, were waiting, bandages in +hand, and discussing their work and cases, while acolytes lifted the +wounded on to the litters to carry them to the hospitals. + +The deacon Eusebius, whom we have met as the spiritual adviser of +Marcus, was superintending the good work, and he took particular care +that as much attention should be shown to the wounded heathen as to the +Christians. + +In front of the building veterans of the twenty-first legion paced up +and down in the place of the ordinary gate-keepers, who were sufficient +protection in times of peace. + +Agne looked in vain for any but soldiers, but at last she slipped in +unobserved among the men and women who were tending the wounded. She +was terribly thirsty, and seeing one of the widows mixing some wine and +water and offer it to one of the wounded men who pushed it away, she +took courage and begged the deaconess to give her a drink. The woman +handed her the cup at once, asking to whom she belonged that she was +here. + +“I want to see my lord, the Bishop,” replied Agne, but then correcting +herself, she added hastily: “If I could see the Bishop’s gate-keeper, I +might speak to him.” + +“There he is,” said the deaconess, pointing to an enormously tall man +standing in the darkest and remotest corner of the hall. The darkness +reminded her for the first time that it was now evening. Night was +drawing on, and then where could she take refuge and find shelter? She +shuddered and simply saying: “Thank you,” she went to the man who had +been pointed out to her and begged that if her little brother should be +found and brought to him, he would take charge of him. + +“To be sure,” said the big man good-naturedly. “He can be taken to the +orphanage of the ‘Good Samaritan’ if they bring him here, and you can +enquire for him there.” + +She then made so bold as to ask if she could see a priest; but for this +she was directed to go to the church, as all those who were immediately +attached to the Bishop were to-day fully occupied, and had no time +for trifles. Agne, however, persisted in her request till the man lost +patience altogether and told her to be off at once; but at this instant +three ecclesiastics came in at the door by which her friend was on +guard, and Agne, collecting all her courage, went up to one of them, a +priest of advanced age, and besought him urgently: + +“Oh! reverend Father, I beg of you to hear me. I must speak to a priest, +and that man drives me away and says you none of you have time to attend +to me!” + +“Did he say that!” asked the priest, and he turned angrily on the +culprit saying: “The Church and her ministers never lack time to attend +to the needs of any faithful soul--I will follow you, brothers.--Now, my +child, what is it that you need?” + +“It lies so heavily on my soul,” replied Agne, raising her eyes and +hands in humble supplication. “I love my Saviour, but I cannot always do +exactly as I should wish, and I do not know how I ought to act so as not +to fall into sin.” + +“Come with me,” said the priest, and leading the way across a small +garden, he took her into a wide open court and from thence in at a side +door and up a flight of stairs which led to the upper floor. As +she followed him her heart beat high with painful and yet hopeful +excitement. She kept her hands tightly clasped and tried to pray, but +she could hardly control her thoughts of her brother and of all she +wanted to say to the presbyter. + +They presently entered a lofty room where the window-shutters were +closed, and where a number of lamps, already lighted, were hanging over +the cushioned divans on which sat rows of busy scribes of all ages. + +“Here we are,” said the priest kindly, as he seated himself in an +easy-chair at some little distance from the writers. “Now, tell me fully +what troubles you; but as briefly as you can, for I am sparing you these +minutes from important business.” + +“My lord,” she began, “my parents were freeborn, natives of Augusta +Trevirorum. My father was a collector of tribute in the Emperor’s +service ...” + +“Very good--but has this anything to do with the matter?” + +“Yes, yes, it has. My father and mother were good Christians and in +the riots at Antioch--you remember, my lord, three years ago--they were +killed and I and my brother--Papias is his name...” + +“Yes, yes--go on.” + +“We were sold. My master paid for us--I saw the money; but he did not +treat us as slaves. But now he wants me--he, Sir, is wholly devoted to +the heathen gods-and he wants me...” + +“To serve his idols?” + +“Yes, reverend Father, and so we ran away.” + +“Quite right, my child.” + +“But the scriptures say that the slave shall obey his master?” + +“True; but higher than the master in the flesh is the Father in Heaven, +and it is better a thousand times to sin against man than against God.” + +This conversation had been carried on in an undertone on account of the +scribes occupied at the desks; but the priest raised his voice with his +last words, and he must have been heard in the adjoining room, for +a heavy curtain of plain cloth was opened, and an unusually deep and +powerful voice exclaimed: + +“Back again already, Irenaeus! That is well; I want to speak with you.” + +“Immediately, my lord--I am at your service in a moment.--Now, my +child,” he added, rising, “you know what your duty is. And if your +master looks you up and insists on your assisting at the sacrifice +or what ever it may be, you will find shelter with us. My name is +Irenaeus.” + +Here he was again interrupted, for the curtain was lifted once more and +a man came out of the inner room whom no one could forget after having +once met him. It was the Bishop whom Agne had seen on the balcony; she +recognized him at once, and dropped on her knees to kiss the hem of +his robe in all humility. Theophilus accepted the homage as a matter of +course, hastily glancing at the child with his large keen eyes; Agne +not daring to raise hers, for there was certainly something strangely +impressive in his aspect. Then, with a wave of his long thin hand to +indicate Agne, he asked: + +“What does this girl want?” + +“A freeborn girl--parents Christian--comes from Antioch...” replied +Irenaeus. “Sold to a heathen master--commanded to serve idols--has run +away and now has doubts...” + +“You have told her to which Lord her service is due?” interrupted the +Bishop. Then, turning to Agne, he said: “And why did you come here +instead of going to the deacon of your own church?” + +“We have only been here a few days,” replied the girl timidly, as +she ventured to raise her eyes to the handsome face of this princely +prelate, whose fine, pale features looked as if they had been carved out +of marble. + +“Then go to partake of the sacred Eucharist in the basilica of Mary,” + replied the Bishop. “It is just now the hour--but no, stop. You are a +stranger here you say; you have run away from your master--and you are +young, very young and very.... It is dark too. Where are you intending +to sleep?” + +“I do not know,” said Agne, and her eyes filled with tears. + +“That is what I call courage!” murmured Theophilus to the priest, and +then he added to Agne: “Well, thanks to the saints, we have asylums +for such as you, here in the city. That scribe will give you a document +which will secure your admission to one. So you come from Antioch? Then +there is the refuge of Seleucus of Antioch. To what parish--[Parochia in +Latin]--did your parents belong?” + +“To that of John the Baptist?” + +“Where Damascius was the preacher?” + +“Yes, holy Father. He was the shepherd of our souls.” + +“What! Damascius the Arian?” cried the Bishop. He drew his fine and +stately figure up to its most commanding height and closed his thin lips +in august contempt, while Irenaeus, clasping his hands in horror, asked +her: + +“And you--do you, too, confess the heresy of Arius?” + +“My parents were Arians,” replied Agne in much surprise. “They taught me +to worship the godlike Saviour.” + +“Enough!” exclaimed the Bishop severely. “Come Irenaeus.” + +He nodded to the priest to follow him, opened the curtain and went in +first with supreme dignity. + +Agne stood as if a thunderbolt had fallen, pale, trembling and +desperate. Then was she not a Christian? Was it a sin in a child to +accept the creed of her parents? And were those who, after charitably +extending a saving hand, had so promptly withdrawn it--were they +Christians in the full meaning of the All-merciful Redeemer? + +Agonizing doubts of everything that she had hitherto deemed sacred and +inviolable fell upon her soul; doubts of everything in heaven and earth, +and not merely of Christ and of his godlike, or divine goodness--for +what difference was there to her apprehension in the meaning of the +two words which set man to hunt and persecute man? In the distress and +hopeless dilemma in which she found herself, she shed no tears; she +simply stood rooted to the spot where she had heard the Bishop’s +verdict. + +Presently her attention was roused by the shrill voice of an old writer +who called out to one of the younger assistants. + +“That girl disturbs me, Petubastis; show her out.” Petubastis, a pretty +Egyptian lad, was more than glad of an interruption to his work which +somehow seemed endless to-day; he put aside his implements, stroked back +the black hair that had fallen over his face, and removing the reed-pen +from behind his ear, stuck in a sprig of dark blue larkspur. Then +he tripped to the door, opened it, looked at the girl with the cool +impudence of a connoisseur in beauty, bowed slightly, and pointing the +way out said with airified politeness: + +“Allow me!” + +Agne at once obeyed and with a drooping head left the room; but the +young Egyptian stole out after her, and as soon as the door was shut he +seized her hand and said in a whisper: “If you can wait half an hour at +the bottom of the stairs, pretty one, I will take you somewhere where +you will enjoy yourself.” + +She had stopped to listen, and looked enquiringly into his face, for she +had no suspicion of his meaning; the young fellow, encouraged by this, +laid his hand on her shoulder and would have drawn her towards him but +that she, thrusting him from her as if he were some horrible animal, +flew down the steps as fast as her feet could carry her, and through the +courtyard back into the great entrance-hall. + +Here all was, by this time, dark and still; only a few lamps lighted +the pillared space and the flare of a torch fell upon the benches +placed there for the accommodation of priests, laymen and supplicants +generally. + +Utterly worn out--whether by terror or disappointment or by hunger and +fatigue she scarcely knew--she sank on a seat and buried her face in her +hands. + +During her absence the wounded had been conveyed to the sick-houses; +one only was left whom they had not been able to move. He was lying on +a mattress between two of the columns at some little distance from +Agne, and the light of a lamp, standing on a medicine-chest, fell on his +handsome but bloodless features. A deaconess was kneeling at his +head and gazed in silence in the face of the dead, while old Eusebius +crouched prostrate by his side, resting his cheek on the breast of the +man whose eyes were sealed in eternal sleep. Two sounds only broke the +profound silence of the deserted hall: an occasional faint sob from the +old man and the steady step of the soldiers on guard in front of the +Bishop’s palace. The widow, kneeling with clasped hands, never took her +eyes off the face of the youth, nor moved for fear of disturbing the +deacon who, as she knew, was praying--praying for the salvation of the +heathen soul snatched away before it could repent. Many minutes passed +before the old man rose, dried his moist eyes, pressed his lips to the +cold hand of the dead and said sadly: + +“So young--so handsome--a masterpiece of the Creator’s hand!... Only +to-day as gay as a lark, the pride and joy of his mother-and now! How +many hopes, how much triumph and happiness are extinct with that life. O +Lord my Saviour, Thou hast said that not only those who call Thee Lord, +Lord, shall find grace with our Father in Heaven, and that Thou hast +shed Thy blood for the salvation even of the heathen--save, redeem +this one! Thou that are the Good Shepherd, have mercy on this wandering +sheep!” + +Stirred to the bottom of his soul the old man threw up his arms and +gazed upwards rapt in ecstasy. But presently, with an effort, he said to +the deaconess: + +“You know, Sister, that this lad was the only son of Berenice, the +widow of Asclepiodorus, the rich shipowner. Poor, bereaved mother! Only +yesterday he was driving his guadriga out of the gate on the road to +Marea, and now--here! Go and tell her of this terrible occurrence. I +would go myself but that, as I am a priest, it might be painful to her +to learn of his tragic end from one of the very men against whom the +poor darkened youth had drawn the sword. So do you go, Sister, and treat +the poor soul very tenderly; and if you find it suitable show her very +gently that there is One who has balm for every wound, and that we--we +and all who believe in Him--lose what is dear to us only to find it +again. Tell her of hope: Hope is everything. They say that green is the +color of hope, for it is the spring-tide of the heart. There may be a +Spring for her yet.” + +The deaconess rose, pressed a kiss on the eyes of the dead youth, +promised Eusebius that she would do her best and went away. He, too, +was about to leave when he heard a sound of low sobbing from one of the +benches. He stood still to listen, shook his old head, and muttering to +himself: + +“Great God--merciful and kind.... Thou alone canst know wherefore Thou +hast set the rose-garland of life with so many sharp thorns,” he went up +to Agne who rose at his approach. + +“Why, my child,” he said kindly, “what are you weeping for? Have you, +too, lost some dear one killed in the fray?” + +“No, no,” she hastily replied with a gesture of terror at the thought. + +“What then do you want here at so late an hour?” + +“Nothing--nothing,” she said. “That is all over! Good God, how long I +must have been sitting here--I--I know I must go; yes, I know it.” + +“And are you alone-no one with you?” + +She shook her head sadly. The old man looked at her narrowly. + +“Then I will take you safe home,” he said. “You see I am an old man and +a priest. Where do you live, my child?” + +“I? I...” stammered Agne, and a torrent of scalding tears fell down her +cheeks. “My God! my God! where, where am I to go?” + +“You have no home, no one belonging to you?” asked the old man. “Come, +child, pluck up your courage and tell me truly what it is that troubles +you; perhaps I may be able to help you.” + +“You?” she said with bitter melancholy. “Are not you one of the Bishop’s +priests?” + +“I am a deacon, and Theophilus is the head of my church; but for that +very reason...” + +“No,” said Agne sharply, “I will deceive no one. My parents were Arians, +and as my beliefs are the same as theirs the Bishop has driven me away +as an outcast, finally and without pity.” + +“Indeed,” said Eusebius. “Did the Bishop do that? Well, as the head of a +large community of Christians he, of course, is bound to look at things +in their widest aspect; small things, small people can be nothing to +him. I, on the contrary, am myself but a small personage, and I care +for small things. You know, child, that the Lord has said ‘that in +his Father’s kingdom there are many mansions,’ and that in which Arius +dwells is not mine; but it is in the Father’s kingdom nevertheless. It +cannot be so much amiss after all that you should cling to the creed of +your parents. What is your name?” + +“Agne.” + +“Agne, or the lamb. A pretty, good name! It is a name I love, as I, too, +am a shepherd, though but a very humble one, so trust yourself to me, +little lamb. Tell me, why are you crying? And whom do you seek here? And +how is it that you do not know where to find a home?” + +Eusebius spoke with such homely kindness, and his voice was so full of +fatherly sympathy that hope revived in Agne’s breast, and she told him +with frank confidence all he wanted to know. + +The old man listened with many a “Hum” and “Ha”--then he bid her +accompany him to his own house, where his wife would find a corner that +she might fill. + +She gladly agreed, and thanked him eagerly when he also told the +doorkeeper to bring Papias after them if he should be found. Relieved +of the worst of her griefs, Agne followed her new friend through the +streets and lanes, till they paused at the gate of a small garden and he +said: “Here we are. What we have we give gladly, but it is little, +very little. Indeed, who can bear to live in luxury when so many are +perishing in want and misery?” + +As they went across the plot, between the little flower-beds, the deacon +pointed to a tree and said with some pride: “Last year that tree bore +me three hundred and seven peaches, and it is still healthy and +productive.” + +A hospitable light twinkled in the little house at the end of the +garden, and as they entered a queer-looking dog came out to meet his +master, barking his welcome. He jumped with considerable agility on his +fore-legs, but his hind legs were paralyzed and his body sloped away and +stuck up in the air as though it were attached to an invisible board. + +“This is my good friend Lazarus,” said the old man cheerfully. “I +found the poor beggar in the road one day, and as he was one of God’s +creatures, although he is a cripple, I comfort myself with the verse +from the Psalms: ‘The Lord has no joy in the strength of a horse, +neither taketh he pleasure in any man’s legs.’” + +He was so evidently content and merry that Agne could not help laughing +too, and when, in a few minutes, the deacon’s wife gave her a warm and +motherly reception she would have been happier than she had been for a +long time past, if only her little brother had not been a weight on her +mind and if she had not longed so sadly to have him safe by her side. +But even that anxiety presently found relief, for she was so weary and +exhausted that, after eating a few mouthfuls, she was thankful to lie +down in the clean bed that Elizabeth had prepared for her, and she +instantly fell asleep. She was in the old deacon’s bed, and he made +ready to pass the night on the couch in his little sitting-room. + +As soon as the old couple were alone Eusebius told his wife how and +where he had met the girl and ended by saying: + +“It is a puzzling question as to these Arians and other Christian +heretics. I cannot be hard on them so long as they cling faithfully +to the One Lord who is necessary to all. If we are in the right--and +I firmly believe that we are--and the Son is of one substance of the +Father, he is without spot or blemish; and what can be more divine than +to overlook the error of another if it concerns ourselves, or what more +meanly human than to take such an error amiss and indulge in a cruel +or sanguinary revenge on the erring soul? Do not misunderstand me. I, +unfortunately--or rather, I say, thank God!--I have done nothing great +here on earth, and have never risen to be anything more than a deacon. +But if a boy comes up to me and mistakes me for an acolyte or something +of that kind, is that a reason why I should flout or punish him? Not a +bit of it. + +“And to my belief our Saviour is too purely divine to hate those who +regard Him as only ‘God-like.’ He is Love. And when Arius goes to Heaven +and sees Jesus Christ in all His divine glory, and falls down before Him +in an ecstasy of joy and repentance, the worst the Lord will do to him +will be to take him by the ear and say: ‘Thou fool! Now thou seest what +I really am; but thine errors be forgiven!’” + +Elizabeth nodded assent. “Amen,” she said, “so be it.--And so, no doubt, +it will be. Did the Lord cast out the woman taken in adultery? Did he +not give us the parable of the Samaritan?--Poor little girl! We have +often wished for a daughter and now we have found one; a pretty creature +she is too. God grants us all our wishes! But you must be tired, old +man; go to rest now.” + +“Directly, directly,” said Eusebius; but then, striking his forehead +with his hand, he went on in much annoyance: “And with all this tumult +and worry I had quite forgotten the most important thing of all: Marcus! +He is like a possessed creature, and if I do not make a successful +appeal to his conscience before he sleeps this night mischief will come +of it. Yes, I am very tired; but duty before rest. It is of no use to +contradict me, Mother. Get me my cloak; I must go to the lad.” And a few +minutes later the old man was making his way to the house in the Canopic +street. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Dread and anxiety had taken possession of the merchant’s household +after Constantine had left them. Messengers came hurrying in, one after +another, to request the presence of Olympius. A heathen secretary of +Evagrius the Governor, had revealed what was astir, and the philosopher +had at once prepared to return to the Serapeum. Porphyrius himself +ordered his closed harmamaxa to be brought out, and undertook to fetch +weapons and standards to the temple from a storehouse where they were +laid by. This building stood on a plot of ground belonging to him in +Rhacotis, behind a timber-yard which was accessible from the streets +in front and behind, but sheltered from the public gaze by sheds and +wood-stacks. + +The old aqueduct, which supplied the courts of sacrifice and the +Subterranean crypts of the temple where the mysteries of Serapis were +celebrated, passed close by the back-wall of this warehouse. Since +the destruction of the watercourse, under the Emperor Julian, the +underground conduit had been dry and empty, and a man by slightly +stooping could readily pass through it unseen into the Serapeum. This +mysterious passage had lately been secretly cleared out, and it was now +to be used for the transport of the arms to the temple precincts. + +Damia had been present at the brief but vehement interview between +her son and Olympius, and had thrown in a word now and again: “It is +serious, very serious!” or, “Fight it out--no quarter!” + +The parting was evidently a very painful one to Olympius; when the +merchant held out both his hands the older man clasped them in his and +held them to his breast, saying: “Thanks, my friend; thanks for all +you have done. We have lived--and if now we perish it is for the future +happiness of our grandchildren. What would life be to you and me if it +were marred by scourgings and questionings?--The omens read ill, and if +I am not completely deceived we are at the beginning of the end. What +lies beyond!... we as philosophers must meet it calmly. The supreme Mind +that governs us has planned the universe so well, that it is not likely +that those things of which we now have no knowledge should not also be +ordered for the best. The pinions of my soul beat indeed more freely +and lightly as I foresee the moment when it shall be released from the +burden of this flesh!” + +The High-Priest raised his arms as though indeed he were prepared to +soar and uttered a fervent and inspired prayer in which he rehearsed to +the gods all that he and his had done in their honor and vowed to offer +them fresh sacrifices. His expressions were so lofty, and his flow +of language so beautiful and free, that Porphyrius did not dare to +interrupt him, though this long delay on the part of the leader of +the cause made him intolerably anxious. When the old man--who was as +emotional as a boy--ceased speaking, his white beard was wet with +tears, and seeing that even Damia’s and Gorgo’s eyes were moist, he was +preparing to address them again; but Porphyrius interposed. He gave him +time only to press his lips to Datnia’s hand and to bid Gorgo farewell. + +“You were born into stirring times,” he said to her, “but under a good +sign. Two worlds are in collision; which shall survive?--For you, my +darling, I have but one wish: May you be happy!” + +He left the room and the merchant paced up and down lost in gloomy +thoughts. Presently, as he caught his mother’s eye fixed uneasily upon +him, he murmured, less to her than to himself: “If he can think thus of +what the end will be, who can still dare to hope?” Damia drew herself up +in her chair. + +“I,” she exclaimed passionately, “I--I dare, and I do hope and trust in +the future. Is everything to perish which our forefathers planned and +founded? Is this dismal superstition to overwhelm and bury the world +and all that is bright and beautiful, as the lava stream rolled over the +cities of Vesuvius? No, a thousand times no! Our retrograde and cowardly +generation, which has lost all heart to enjoy life in sheer dread of +future annihilation, may perhaps be doomed by the gods, as was that of +Deucalion’s day. Well--if so, what must be must! But such a world as +they dream of never can, never will last. Let them succeed in their +monstrous scheme! if the Temple of temples, the House of Serapis, were +to be in ashes and the image of the mighty god to be dashed to pieces, +what then.... I say what then? Then indeed everything will be at an +end--we, everybody; but they too, they, too, will perish.” + +She clenched her fist with hatred and revenge and went on: “I know what +I know--there are legible and infallible signs, and it is given to me +to interpret them, and I tell you: It is true, unerringly true, as every +Alexandrian child has learnt from its nurse: When Serapis falls the +earth will collapse like a dry puff-ball under a horse’s hoof. A hundred +oracles have announced it, it is written in the prophecies of the +heavenly bodies, and in the scroll of Fate. Let them be! Let it come! +The end is sweet to those who, in the hour of death, can see the enemy +thrust the sword into his own breast.” + +The old woman sank back panting and gasping for breath, but Gorgo +hastened to support her in her arms and she soon recovered. Hardly had +she opened her eyes again than, seeing her son still in the room, she +went on angrily: + +“You--here still? Do you think there is any time to spare? They will be +waiting, waiting for you! You have the key and they need weapons.” + +“I know what I am about,” replied Porphyrius calmly. “All in good time. +I shall be on the spot long before the youngsters have assembled. Cyrus +will bring me the pass-words and signs; I shall send off the messengers, +and then I shall still be in time for action.” + +“Messengers! To whom?” + +“To Barkas. He is at the head of more than a thousand Libyan peasants +and slaves. I shall send one, too, to Pachomius to bid him win us over +adherents among the Biamite fishermen and the population of the eastern +Delta.” + +“Right, right--I know. Twenty talents--Pachomius is poor--twenty talents +shall be his, out of my private coffer, if only they are here in time.” + +“I would give ten, thirty times as much if they were only here now!” + cried the merchant, giving way for the first time to the expression +of his real feelings. “When I began life my father taught me the new +superstitions. Its chains still hang about me; but in this fateful hour +I feel more strongly than ever, and I mean to show, that I am faithful +to the old gods. We will not be wanting; but alas! there is no escape +for us now if the Imperial party are staunch. If they fall upon us +before Barkas can join us, all is lost; if, on the contrary, Barkas +comes at once and in time, there is still some hope; all may yet be +well. What can a party of monks do? And as yet only our Constantine’s +heavy cavalry have come to the assistance of the two legions of the +garrison.” + +“Our Constantine!” shrieked Damia. “Whose? I ask you, whose? We have +nothing to do with that miserable Christian!” + +But Gorgo turned upon her at once: + +“Indeed, grandmother,” she exclaimed, quivering with rage, “but we have! +He is a soldier and must do his duty; but he is fondly attached to us.” + +“Us, us?” retorted the old woman with a laugh. “Has he sworn love to +you, let me ask? Has he? and you-do you believe him, simple fool? I know +him, I know him! Why, for a scrap of bread and a drop of wine from the +hand of his priest he would see you and all of us plunged into misery! +But see, here are the messengers.” + +Porphyrius gave his instructions to the young men who now entered the +hall, hurried them off, clasped Gorgo in a tender embrace and then bent +over his mother to kiss her--a thing he had not done for many a day. +Old Damia laid aside her stick, and taking her son’s face in both her +withered hands, muttered a few words which were half a fond appeal and +half a magical formula, and then the women were alone. For a long while +both were silent. The old woman sat sunk in her arm-chair while Gorgo +stood with her back against the pedestal of a bust of Plato, gazing +meditatively at the ground. At last it was Damia who spoke, asking to be +carried into the women’s rooms. + +Gorgo, however, stopped her with a gesture, went close to her and said: +“No, wait a minute, mother; first you must hear what I have to say.” + +“What you have to say?” asked her grandmother, shrugging her shoulders. + +“Yes. I have never deceived you; but one thing I have hitherto concealed +from you because I was never till this morning sure of it myself--now I +am. Now I know that I love him.” + +“The Christian?” said the old woman, pushing aside a shade that screened +her eyes. + +“Yes, Constantine; I will not hear you abuse him.” Damia laughed +sharply, and said in a tone of supreme scorn: + +“You will not? Then you had better stop your ears, my dear, for as long +as my tongue can wag....” + +“Hush, grandmother, say no more,” said the girl resolutely. “Do not +provoke me with more than I can bear. Eros has pierced me later than he +does most girls and has done it but once, but how deeply you can never +know. If you speak ill of him you only aggravate the wound and you would +not be so cruel! Do not--I entreat you; drop the subject or else...” + +“Or else?” + +“Or else I must die, mother--and you know you love me.” + +Her tone was soft but firm; her words referred to the future, but that +future was as clear to Gorgo’s view as if it were past. Damia gave a +hasty, sidelong glance at her grandchild, and a cold chill ran through +her; the--girl stood and spoke with an air of inspiration--she was full +of the divinity as Damia thought, and the old woman herself felt +as though she were in a temple and in the immediate presence of the +Immortals. + +Gorgo waited for a reply, but in vain; and as her grandmother remained +silent she went back to her place by the pedestal. At last Damia raised +her wrinkled face, looked straight in the girl’s eyes and asked: + +“And what is to be the end of it?” + +“Aye--what?” said Gorgo gloomily and she shook her head. “I ask myself +and can find no answer, for his image is ever present to me and yet +walls and mountains stand between us. That face, that image--I might +perhaps force myself to shatter it; but nothing shall ever induce me to +let it be defiled or disgraced! Nothing!” + +The old woman sank into brooding thought once more; mechanically she +repeated Gorgo’s last word, and at intervals that gradually became +longer she murmured, at last scarcely audibly: “Nothing--nothing!” + +She had lost all sense of time and of her immediate surroundings, and +long-forgotten sorrows crowded on her memory: The dreadful day when +a young freedman--a gifted astronomer and philosopher who had been +appointed her tutor, and whom she had loved with all the passion of a +vehement nature--had been kicked out of her father’s house by slaves, +for daring to aspire to her hand. She had given him up--she had been +forced to do so; and after she was the wife of another and he had risen +to fame, she had never given him any token that she had not forgotten +him. Two thirds of a century lay between that happy and terrible time, +and the present. He had been dead many a long year, and still she +remembered him, and was thinking of him even now. A singular effort of +fancy showed her herself, as she had then been, and Gorgo--whom she +saw not with her bodily eyes, though the girl was standing in front +of her--two young creatures side by side. The two were but one in her +vision; the same anguish that embittered one life now threatened the +other. But after all she, Damia, had dragged this grief after her +through the weary decades, like the iron ball at the end of a chain +which keeps the galley-slave to his place at the oar, and from which he +can no more escape than from a ponderous and ever-present shadow; and +Gorgo’s sorrow could not at any rate be for long, since the end of all +things was at hand--it was coming slowly but with inevitable certainty, +nearer and nearer every hour. + +When had a troop of enthusiastic students and hastily-collected +peasant-soldiers ever been able to snake an effectual stand against the +hosts of Rome? Damia, who only a few minutes since had spoken with +such determined encouragement to her son, had terrible visions of the +Imperial legions putting Olympius to rout, with the Libyans under +Barkas and the Biamite rabble under Pachomius; storming the Serapeum +and reducing it to ruin: Firebrands flying through its sacred halls, +the roof giving way, the vaults falling in; the sublime image of the +god--the magnificent work of Bryaxis--battered by a hail of stones, and +sinking to mingle with the reeking dust. Then a cry rose up from all +nature, as though every star in heaven, every wave of ocean, every leaf +of the forest, every blade in the meadow, every rock on the shore and +every grain of sand in the measureless desert had found a voice; and +this universal wail of “Woe, woe!” was drowned by rolling thunder such +as the ear of man had never heard, and no mortal creature could hear +and live. The heavens opened, and out of the black gulf of death-bearing +clouds poured streams of fire; consuming flames rose to meet it from +the riven womb of earth, rushing up to lick the sky. What had been air +turned to fire and ashes, the silver and gold stars fell crashing from +the firmament, and the heavens themselves bowed and collapsed, burying +the ruined earth. Ashes, ashes, fine grey dusty ashes pervaded space, +till presently a hurricane rose and swept away the chaos of gloom, and +vast nothingness yawned before her: a bottomless abyss--an insatiable +throat, swallowing down with greedy thirst all that was left; till where +the world had been, with gods and men and all their works, there was +only nothingness; hideous, inscrutable and unfathomable. And in it, +above it, around it--for what are the dimensions of nothingness?--there +reigned the incomprehensible Unity of the Primal One, in calm and +pitiless self-concentration, beyond--the Real, nay even beyond the +Conceivable--for conception implies plurality--the Supreme One of the +Neo-Platonists to whose school she belonged. + +The old woman’s blood ran cold and hot as she pictured the scene; but +she believed in it, and chose to believe in it; “Nothing, nothing...” + which she had begun by muttering, insensibly changed to “Nothingness, +nothingness!” and at last she spoke it aloud. + +Gorgo stood spellbound as she gazed at her grandmother. What had come +over her? What was the meaning of this glaring eye, this gasping breath, +this awful expression in her face, this convulsive action of her hands? +Was she mad? And what did she mean by “Nothingness, nothingness...” + repeated in a sort of hollow cry? + +Terrified beyond bearing she laid her hand on Dalnia’s shoulder, saying: +“Mother, mother! wake up! What do you mean by saying ‘nothingness, +nothingness’ in that dreadful way?” + +Dainia collected her scattered wits, shivered with cold and then said, +dully at first, but with a growing cheerfulness that made Gorgo’s blood +run cold: “Did I say ‘nothingness’? Did I speak of the great void, my +child? You are quick of hearing. Nothingness--well, you have learnt to +think; are you capable of defining the meaning of the word--a monster +that has neither head nor tail, neither front nor back--can you, I say, +define the idea of nothingness?” + +“What do you mean, mother?” said Gorgo with growing alarm. + +“No, she does not know, she does not understand,” muttered the old woman +with a dreary smile. “And yet Melampus told me, only yesterday, that you +understood his lesson on conic sections better than many men. Aye, aye, +child; I, too, learnt mathematics once, and I still go through various +calculations every night in my observatory; but to this day I find it +difficult to conceive of a mathematical point. It is nothing and yet +it is something. But the great final nothingness!--And that even is +nonsense, for it can be neither great nor small, and come neither sooner +nor later. Is it not so, my sweet? Think of nothing--who cannot do that; +but it is very hard to imagine nothingness. We can neither of us achieve +that. Not even the One has a place in it. But what is the use of racking +our brains? Only wait till to-morrow or the day after; something +will happen then which will reduce our own precious persons and this +beautiful world to that nothingness which to-day is inconceivable. It +is coming; I can hear from afar the brazen tramp of the airy +and incorporeal monster. A queer sort of giant--smaller than the +mathematical point of which we were speaking, and yet vast beyond all +measurement. Aye, aye; our intelligence, polyp-like, has long arms and +can apprehend vast size and wide extent; but it can no more conceive of +nothingness than it can of infinite space or time. + +“I was dreaming that this monstrous Nought had come to his kingdom and +was opening a yawning mouth and toothless jaws to swallow its all +down into the throat that it has not got--you, and me, and your young +officer, with this splendid, recreant city and the sky and the earth. +Wait, only wait! The glorious image of Serapis still stands radiant, but +the cross casts an ominous shadow that has already darkened the light +over half the earth! Our gods are an abomination to Caesar, and Cynegius +only carries out his wishes...” + +Here Damia was interrupted by the steward, who rushed breathless into +the room, exclaiming: + +“Lost! All is lost! An edict of Theodosius commands that every temple +of the gods shall be closed, and the heavy cavalry have dispersed our +force.” + +“Ah ha!” croaked the old woman in shrill accents. “You see, you see! +There it is: the beginning of the end! Yes--your cavalry are a powerful +force. They are digging a grave--wide and deep, with room in it +for many: for you, for me, and for themselves, too, and for their +Prefect.--Call Argus, man, and carry me into the Gynaeconitis--[The +women’s apartment]--and there tell us what has happened.” In the women’s +room the steward told all he knew, and a sad tale it was; one thing, +however, gave him some comfort: Olympius was at the Serapeunt and had +begun to fortify the temple, and garrison it with a strong force of +adherents. + +Damia had definitively given up all hope, and hardly heeded this part +of his story, while on Gorgo’s mind it had a startling effect. She +loved Constantine with all the fervor of a first, and only, and +long-suppressed passion; she had repented long since of her little fit +of suspicion, and it would have cost her no perceptible effort to +humble her pride, to fly to him and pray for forgiveness. But she could +not--dared not--now, when everything was at stake, renounce her fidelity +to the gods for whose sake she had let him leave her in anger, and to +whom she must cling, cost what it might; that would be a base desertion. +If Olympius were to triumph in the struggle she might go to her lover +and say: “Do you remain a Christian, and leave me the creed of my +childhood, or else open my heart to yours.” But, as matters now stood, +her first duty was to quell her passion and retrain faithful to the end, +even though the cause were lost. She was Greek to the backbone; she knew +it and felt it, and yet her eye had sparkled with pride as she heard +the steward’s tale, and she seemed to see Constantine at the head of his +horsemen, rushing upon the heathen and driving them to the four winds +like a flock of sheep. Her heart beat high for the foe rather than +for her hapless friends--these were but bruised reeds--those were the +incarnation of victorious strength. + +These divided feelings worried and vexed her; but her grandmother +had suggested a way of reconciling them. Where he commanded victory +followed, and if the Christians should succeed in destroying the image +of Serapis the joints of the world would crack and the earth would +crumble away. She herself was familiar with the traditions and the +oracles which with one consent foretold this doom; she had learnt them +as an infant from her nurse, from the slave-women at the loom, from +learned men and astute philosophers--and to her the horrible prophecy +meant a solution of every contradiction and the bitter-sweet hope of +perishing with the man she loved. + +As it grew dark another person appeared: the Moschosphragist--[The +examiner of sacrificed animals]--from the temple of Serapis, who, every +day, examined the entrails of a slaughtered beast for Damia; to-day the +augury had been so bad that he was almost afraid of revealing it. But +the old woman, sure of it beforehand, took his soothsaying quite calmly, +and only desired to be carried up to her observatory that she might +watch the risings of the stars. + +Gorgo remained alone below. From the adjoining workrooms came the +monotonous rattle of the loom at which, as usual, a number of slaves +were working. + +Suddenly the clatter ceased. Damia had sent a slave-girl down to say +that they might leave off work and rest till next day if they chose. She +had ordered that wine should be distributed to them in the great hall, +as freely as at the great festival of Dionysus. + +All was silent in the Gynaeconitis. The garlands of flowers, which Gorgo +herself had helped some damsels of her acquaintance to twine for +the temple of Isis, lay in a heap-the steward had told her that the +venerable sanctuary was to be closed and surrounded by soldiers. This +then put an end to the festival; and she could have been heartily glad, +for it relieved her of the necessity of defying Constantine; still, it +was with tender melancholy that she thought of the gentle goddess in +whose sanctuary she had so often found comfort and support. She could +remember, as a tiny child, gathering the first flowers in her little +garden, and sticking them in the ground near the tank from which water +was fetched for libations in the temple; with the pocketmoney given +her by her elders, she had bought perfumes to pour on the altars of the +divinity; and often when her heart was heavy she had found relief in +prayer before the marble statue of the goddess. How splendid had the +festivals of Isis been, how gladly and rapturously had she sung in +their honor! Almost everything that had lent poetry and dignity to her +childhood had been bound up with Isis and her sanctuary--and now it was +closed and the image of the divine mother was perhaps lying in fragments +in the dirt! + +Gorgo knew all the lofty ideals which lay at the foundation of the +worship of this goddess; but it was not to them that she had turned for +help, but to the image in whose mystical strength she trusted. And +what had already been done to Isis and her temple might soon be done to +Serapis and to his house. + +She could not bear the thought, for she had been accustomed to regard +the Serapeum as the very heart of the universe--the centre and fulcrum +on which the balance of the earth depended; to her, Serapis himself was +inseparable from his temple and its atmosphere of magical and mystical +power. Every prophecy, every Sibylline text, every oracle must be +false if the overthrow of that image could remain unpunished--if the +destruction of the universe failed to follow, as surely as a flood +ensues from a breach in a dyke. How indeed could it be otherwise, +according to the explanation which her teacher had given her of the +Neo-Platonic conception of the nature of the god? + +It was not Serapis but the great and unapproachable One--supreme above +comprehension and sublime beyond conception, for whose majesty every +name was too mean, the fount and crown of Good and Beauty, in whole +all that exists ever has been and ever shall be. He it was who, like a +brimful vessel, overflowed with the quintessence of what we call divine; +and from this effluence emanated the divine Mind, the pure intelligence +which is to the One what light is to the sun. This Mind with its +vitality--a life not of time but of eternity--could stir or remain +passive as it listed; it included a Plurality, while the One was Unity, +and forever indivisible. The concept of each living creature proceeded +from the second: The eternal Mind; and this vivifying and energizing +intelligence comprehended the prototypes of every living being, hence, +also, of the immortal gods--not themselves but their idea or image. And +just as the eternal Mind proceeded from the One, so, in the third place, +did the Soul of the universe proceed from the second; that Soul whose +twofold nature on one side touched the supreme Mind, and, on the other, +the baser world of matter. This was the immortal Aphrodite, cradled in +bliss in the pure radiance of the ideal world and yet unable to free +herself from the gross clay of matter fouled by sensuality and the +vehicle of sin. + +The head of Serapis was the eternal Mind; in his broad breast slept +the Soul of the Universe, and the prototypes of all created things; the +world of matter was the footstool under his feet. All the subordinate +forces obeyed him, the mighty first Cause, whose head towered up to +the realm of the incomprehensible and inconceivable One. He was the sum +total of the universe, the epitome of things created; and at the +same time he was the power which gave them life and intelligence and +preserved them from perishing by perpetual procreation. It was his might +that kept the multiform structure of the material and psychical world +in perennial harmony. All that lived--Nature and its Soul as much as Man +and his Soul--were inseparably dependent on him. If he--if Serapis were +to fall, the order of the universe must be destroyed; and with him: The +Synthesis of the Universe--the Universe itself must cease to exist. + +But what would survive would not be the nothingness--the void of which +her grandmother had spoken; it would be the One--the cold, ineffable, +incomprehensible One! This world would perish with Serapis; but perhaps +it might please that One to call another world into being out of his +overflowing essence, peopled by other and different beings. + +Gorgo was startled out of these meditations by a wild tumult which came +up from the slaves’ hall some distance off and reached her ears in the +women’s sitting-room. Could her grandmother have opened the wine stores +all too freely; were the miserable wretches already drunk? + +No, the noise was not that of a troop of slaves who have forgotten +themselves, and given the rein to their wild revelry under the influence +of Dionysus! She listened and could distinctly hear lamentable howls and +wild cries of grief. Something frightful must have happened! Had some +evil befallen her father? Greatly alarmed she flew across the courtyard +to the slaves’ quarters and found the whole establishment, black and +white alike, in a state of frenzy. The women were rushing about with +their hair unbound over their faces, beating their breasts and wailing, +the men squatted in silence with their wine-cups before them untouched, +softly sobbing and whining. + +What had come upon them--what blow had fallen on the house? + +Gorgo called her old nurse and learnt from her that the Moschosphragist +had just told them that the troops had been placed all round the +Serapeum and that the Emperor had commanded the Prefect of the East to +lay violent hands on the temple of the King of gods. Today or to-morrow +the crime was to be perpetrated. They had been warned to pray and repent +of their sins, for at the moment when the holiest sanctuary on earth +should fall the whole world would crumble into nothingness. The entrails +of the beast sacrificed by Damia had been black as though scorched, +and a terrific groan had been heard from the god himself in the great +shrine; the pillars of the great hypostyle had trembled and the three +heads of Cerberus, lying at the feet of Serapis; had opened their jaws. + +Gorgo listened in silence to the old woman’s story; and all she said in +reply was: “Let them wail.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The day had flown swiftly for Dada under the roof of Medius; there were +costumes and scenery in wonderful variety for her to look over; the +children were bright and friendly, and she had enjoyed playing with +them, for all her little tricks and rhymes, which Papias was familiar +with by this time, were to them new and delightful. It amused her, +too, to see what the domestic difficulties were of which the singer had +described himself as being a victim. + +Medius was one of those men who buy everything that strikes them as +cheap--for instance, that very morning, at Kibotus he had stood to watch +a fish auction and had bought a whole tub-full of pickled fish for “a +mere trifle;” but when, presently, the cargo was delivered, his wife +flew into a great rage, which she vented first on the innocent lad who +brought the fish, and then on the less innocent purchaser. They would +not get to the bottom of the barrel and eat the last herring, she +asserted, till they were a century old. Medius, while he disputed so +monstrous a statement, vehemently declared that such wholesome and +nutritious food as those fish was undoubtedly calculated to prolong the +lives of the whole family to an exceptionally great age. + +This discussion, which was not at all by way of a jest, amused Dada +far more than the tablets, cylinders and cones covered with numbers and +cabalistic signs, to which Medius tried to direct her attention. +She darted off in the midst of his eager explanations to show his +grandchildren how a rabbit sniffs and moves his ears when he is offered +a cabbage-leaf. + +The report, which reached them in the afternoon, of the proceedings in +the square by the Prefect’s house, disturbed Medius greatly, and he set +off at once for the scene of action. + +He did not return till evening, and then he looked like an altered man. +He must have witnessed something very terrible, for his face was as +pale as death, and his usually confident and swaggering manner had given +place to a stricken and care-worn air. He walked up and down the room, +groaning as he went; he flung himself on the divan and stared fixedly at +the ground; he wandered into the atrium and gazed cautiously out on the +street. Dada’s presence seemed suddenly to be the source of much anxiety +to him, and the girl, painfully conscious of this, hastened to tell him +that she would prefer to return home at once to her uncle and aunt. + +“You can please yourself,” was all he said, with a shrug and a sigh. +“You may stay for aught I care. It is all the same now!” + +So far his wife had left him to himself, for she was used to his violent +and eccentric behavior whenever anything had crossed him; but now she +peremptorily desired to be informed what had happened to him and he at +once acceded. He had been unwilling to frighten them sooner than was +needful, but they must learn it sooner or later: Cynegius had arrived to +overthrow the image of Serapis, and what must ensue they knew only too +well. “To-day,” he cried, “we will live; but by to-morrow--a thousand to +one-by to-morrow there will be an end of all our joys and the earth will +swallow up the old home and us with it!” + +His words fell on prepared ground; his wife and daughter were appalled, +and as Medius went on to paint the imminent catastrophe in more vivid +colors, his energy growing in proportion to its effect on them, they +began at first to sob and whimper and then to wail loudly. When the +children, who by this time were in bed, heard the lamentations of their +elders, they, too, set up a howl, and even Dada caught the infection. As +for Medius himself, he had talked himself into such a state of terror by +his own descriptions of the approaching destruction of the world that he +abandoned all claim to his proud reputation as a strong-minded man, and +quite forgot his favorite theory that everything that went by the name +of God was a mere invention of priests and rulers to delude and oppress +the ignorant; at last he even went so far as to mutter a prayer, and +when his wife begged to be allowed to join a family of neighbors in +sacrificing a black lamb at daybreak, he recklessly gave her a handful +of money. + +None of the party closed an eye that night. Dada could not bear to +remain in the house. Perhaps all these horrors existed only in Medius’ +fancy; but if destruction were indeed impending, she would a thousand +times rattier perish with her own relations than with these people, in +whom there was something--she did not know what--for which she felt a +deep aversion. This she explained to her host early in the day and he +was ready to set out at once and restore her to the care of Karnis. + +In fact, the purpose for which he had needed her must certainly come to +nothing. He himself was attached to the service of Posidonius, a great +magician and wizard, to whom half Alexandria flocked--Christians, Jews, +and heathens--in order to communicate with the dead, with gods and with +demons, to obtain spells and charms by which to attract lovers or injure +foes, to learn the art of becoming invisible, or to gain a glimpse into +the future. In the performance which was being planned Dada was to have +appeared to a bereaved mother as the glorified presence of her lost +daughter; but the disturbance in the city had driven the matron, who was +rich, to take refuge in the country the previous afternoon. Nor was it +likely that the sorcerer’s other clients--even if all turned out better +than could be hoped--would venture into the streets by night. Rich +people were timid and suspicious; and as the Emperor had lately +promulgated fresh and more stringent edicts against the magic arts, +Posidonius had thought it prudent to postpone the meeting. Hence Medius +had at present no use for the girl; but he affected to agree so readily +to her wishes merely out of anxiety to relieve Isarnis as soon as +possible of his uneasiness as to her fate. + +The morning was bright and hot, and the town was swarming with an +excited mob soon after sunrise. Terror, curiosity and defiance were +painted on every face; however, Medius and his young companion made +their way unhindered as far as the temple of Isis by the lake. The doors +of the sanctuary were closed, and guarded by soldiers; but the southern +and western walls were surrounded by thousands and thousands of heathen. +Some hundreds, indeed, had passed the night there in prayer, or in sheer +terror of the catastrophe which could not fail to ensue, and they were +kneeling in groups, groaning, weeping, and cursing, or squatting in +stolid resignation, weary, crushed and hopeless. It was a heart-rending +sight, and neither Dada--who till this moment had been dreading Dame +Herse’s scolding tongue far more than the destruction of the world--nor +her companion could forbear joining in the wail that rose from this vast +multitude. Medius fell on his knees groaning aloud and pulled the girl +down beside him; for, upon the wall that enclosed the temple precincts, +they now saw a priest who, after holding the sacred Sistrum up to view +and muttering some unintelligible prayers and invocations, proceeded to +address the people. + +He was a short stout man, and the sweat streamed down his face as he +stood under the blazing sun to sketch a fearful picture of the monstrous +doom which was hanging over the city and its inhabitants. He spoke +with pompous exaggeration, in a shrill, harsh voice, wiping his face +meanwhile with his white linen robe or gasping for air, when breath +failed him, like a fish stranded on the beach. All this, however, did +not trouble his audience, for the hatred that inspired his language, and +the terror of the immediate future which betrayed itself in every word +exactly reflected their feelings. Dada alone was moved to mirth; the +longer she looked at him the more she felt inclined to laugh; besides, +the day was so bright--a pigeon on the wall pattered round his mate, +nodding and wriggling after the funny manner of pigeons in love--and, +above all, her heart beat so high and she had such a happy instinctive +feeling that all was ordered for the best, that the world seemed to +her a beautiful and fairly secure dwelling-place, in spite of the dark +forebodings of the zealous preacher. On the eve of destruction the earth +must surely look differently from this; and it struck her as highly +improbable that the gods should have revealed their purpose to such a +queer old driveller as this priest, and have hidden it from other men. +The very fact that this burly personage should prophesy evil with such +conviction made her doubt it; and presently, when the plumes of three +or four helmets became visible behind the speaker, and a pair of strong +hands grasped his thick ankles and suddenly dragged him down from his +eminence and back into the temple, she could hardly keep herself from +laughing outright. + +Now, however, there was more real cause for alarm a trumpet-blast was +heard, and a maniple of the twenty-second legion marched down in close +order on the crowd who fled before them. Medius was one of the first to +make off; Dada kept close to his side, and when, in his alarm, he fairly +took to his heels, she did the same; for, in spite of the reception she +apprehended, she felt that the sooner she could rejoin her own people +the better. Never till now had she known how dear they were to her. +Herse might scold; but her sharpest words were truer and better than +the smooth flattery of Medius. It was a joy to think of seeing them +again--Agne, too, and little Papias--and she felt as though she were +about to meet them after years of separation. + +By this time they were at the ship-yard, which was divided only by a +lane from the Temple-grove; there lay the barge. Dada pulled off her +veil and waved it in the air, but the signal met with no response. +They were at the house, no doubt, for some men were in the very act of +drawing up the wooden gangway which connected the vessel with the land. +Medius hurried forward and was so fortunate as to overtake the steward, +who had been superintending the operation, before he reached the +garden-gate. + +The old man was rejoiced to see them, and told them at once that his old +mistress had promised Herse to give Dada shelter if she should return +to them. But Dada was proud. She had no liking for Gorgo or her +grandmother; and when she had caught up to Medius, quite out of breath, +she positively refused the old lady’s hospitality. + +The barge was deserted. Karnis--so the steward informed her--had +withdrawn to the temple of Serapis with his son, intending to assist in +its defence; and Herse had accompanied them, for Olympius had said that +women would be found useful in the beleaguered sanctuary, in preparing +food for the combatants and in nursing the wounded. + +Dada stood looking at their floating home, utterly disappointed and +discouraged. She longed to follow her aunt and to gain admission to the +Serapeutn; but how could she do this now, and of what use could she hope +to be? There was nothing heroic in her composition, and from her infancy +she had always sickened at the sight of blood. She had no alternative +but to return with Medius, and take refuge under his roof. + +The singer gave her ample time for reflection; he had seated himself, +with the steward, under the shade of a sycamore, and the two men were +absorbed in convincing each other, by a hundred arguments which they had +picked up during the last day or two, how inevitably the earth must be +annihilated if the statue of Serapis should be overthrown. In the warmth +of their discussion they paid no heed to the young girl, who was sitting +on a fallen Hermes by the road-side. Her vigorous and lively temperament +rendered her little apt to dream, or even meditate, in broad daylight; +but the heat and the recent excitement had overwrought her and she fell +into a drowsy reverie. Now and again, as her heavy head drooped on +her breast, she fancied the Serapeum had actually fallen; then, as she +raised it again, she recovered her consciousness that it was hot, that +she had lost her home, and that she must, however unwillingly, return +with Medius. But at length her eyelids closed, and as she sat in the +full blaze of the sun, a rosy light filled her eyes and a bright vision +floated before her: Marcus took the modius--the corn measure--from the +head of the statue of Serapis and offered it to her; it was quite full +of lilies and roses and violets, and she was delighted with the flowers +and thanked him warmly when he set the modius down before her. He held +out his hands to her calmly and kindly, and she gave him hers, feeling +very happy under the steady, compassionate gaze of his large eyes which +had often watched her, on board ship, for some minutes at a time. She +longed to say something to him, but she could not speak; and she looked +on quite unmoved as the statue of the god and the hall in which it stood +were wrapt in flames. No smoke mingled with this clear and genial blaze, +but it compelled her to shade her dazzled eyes; and as she lifted her +hand she woke to see Medius standing in front of her. + +He desired her to come home with him at once, and she rose to obey, +listening in silence to his assurances that the lives of Karnis and +Orpheus would not be worth a sesterce if they fell into the hands of the +Roman soldiers. + +She walked on, more hopeless and depressed than she had ever felt in her +life before, past the unfinished hulks in the ship-yard where no one was +at work to-day when, coming down the lane that divided the wharf from +the temple precincts, she saw an old man and a little boy. She had not +time to ask herself whether she saw rightly or was mistaken before +the child caught sight of her, snatched his hand away from that of his +companion, and flew towards her, shouting her name. In the next moment +little Papias had rushed rapturously into her arms and, as she lifted +him up, had thrown his hands round her neck, clinging to her as if he +would never leave go again, while she hugged him closely for joy, and +kissed him with her eyes full of tears. She was herself again at once; +the sad and anxious girl was the lively Dada once more. + +The man who had been leading the little boy was immediately besieged +with questions, and from his answers they learnt that he had found the +child the evening before at the corner of a street, crying bitterly; +that he had taken him home, and with some little difficulty had +ascertained from him that he belonged to some people who were living +on board a barge, close to a ship-yard. In spite of the excitement that +prevailed he had brought the child home as soon as possible, for +he could fancy how anxious his parents must be. Dada thanked the +kind-hearted artisan with sincere warmth, and the man, seeing how happy +the girl and the child were at having met, went his way quite satisfied. + +Medius had stood by and had said nothing, but he looked on the pretty +little boy with much favor. If the earth were not to crumble into +nothingness after all, this child would be a real treasure trove; and +when Dada begged him to find a corner for Papias in his house, though +he hinted at the smallness of his earnings and the limited space at his +command, he yielded, if reluctantly, to her entreaties, on her offering +him her gold brooch to cover his expenses. + +As they made their way back she cast many loving glances at the child; +she was extremely fond of him, and he seemed a link to bind her to her +own people. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The singer’s wife and daughter had joined some neighbors in sacrificing +a black lamb to Zeus, a ceremony that was usual on the occasion of +earthquakes or very severe storms; but it was done very secretly, +for the edicts prohibiting the sacrifice of victims to the gods were +promptly and rigidly enforced. The more the different members of the +family came into contact with other citizens, the more deeply rooted was +their terror that the end of all things was at hand. As soon as it was +dark the old man buried all his savings, for even if everyone else were +to perish, he felt that he--though how or why he knew not--might be +exempt from the common doom. + +The night was warm, and great and small alike slept--or lay awake--under +the stars so as not to be overwhelmed by the crash of roofs and walls; +the next day was oppressively hot, and the family cowered in a row in +the scanty shade of a palm and of a fig-tree, the only growth of any +size in the singer’s garden. Medius himself, in spite of the scorching +sun, could not be still. + +He rushed off to the town again and again, but only to return each time +to enhance the anguish of the household by relating all sorts of horrors +which he had picked up in his wanderings. They were obliged to satisfy +their hunger with bread, cheese, and fruit, for the two slave-women +positively refused to risk their lives by cooking in the house. + +Medius’ temper varied as he came and went; now he was gentle and +affectionate, and then again he raged like a madman; and his wife outdid +him. At one moment she would abandon him and the children, while she +anointed the household altar and put up prayers; at the next she railed +at the baseness and cruelty of the gods. When her husband brought +the news that the Serapeum was surrounded by the Imperial troops, she +scoffed and spit at the sacred images, and five minutes later she was +vowing a sacrifice to the deities of Olympus. The general confusion was +distracting; as the sun rose, the anguish, physical and mental, of the +whole family greatly increased, and by noon had reached an appalling +pitch. + +Dada looked on intensely disgusted, and only shook her head when one +or another of her companions was sure she felt a shock of earthquake or +heard the roll of distant thunder. She could not explain to herself why +she, who was usually timid enough, was exempt from the universal panic +though she felt deeply pitiful towards the terrified women and children. +None of them troubled themselves about her; the day dragged on with +intolerable slowness, quenching all her gay vivacity, while she was +utterly exhausted by the scorching African sun, of which, till now, +she had never known the power. At last, in the afternoon, she found +the little garden, which was by this time heated like an oven, quite +unbearable, and she looked round for Papias. The child was sitting on +the wall looking at the congregation streaming into the basilica of St. +Mark. Dada followed his example, and when the many-voiced psalms rang +out of the open door of the church, she listened to the music, for it +seemed long since she had heard any, and after wiping the perspiration +from the little boy’s face with her peplos, she pointed to the building +and said: “It must be nice and cool in there.” + +“Of course it is,” said Papias. + +“It is never too hot in church. I will tell you what--we will go there.” + This was a bright idea; for, thought Dada, any place must be pleasanter +than this; and she felt strongly tempted, too, to see the inside of one +of Agne’s temples and to sing once more, or, at any rate, hear others +sing. + +“Come along,” she said, and they stole through the deserted house to get +into the street by the atrium. Medius saw them, but he made no attempt +to detain them; he had sunk into lethargic indifference. It was not an +hour since he had taken stock of his life and means, setting the small +figure of his average income against his hospitality to Dada and her +little companion; but then, again, he had calculated that, if all went +well, he might make considerable profits out of the girl and the child. +Now, he felt it was all the same to him whether he and his family and +Dada met their doom in the house or out of it. + +Dada and Papias soon reached the church of St. Mark, the oldest +Christian basilica in the city. It consisted of a vestibule--the +narthex--and the body of the church, a very long hall, with a flat roof +ceiled with stained wood and supported on a double row of quite simple +columns. This space was divided into two parts by a screen of pierced +work; the innermost portion had a raised floor or podium, on which stood +a table with chairs placed round it in a semicircle. The centre seat +was higher and more richly decorated than the others. These chairs were +unoccupied; a few deacons in ‘talares’ of light-colored brocade were +busied about the table. + +In the middle of the vestibule there was a small tank; here a number +of penitents had collected who, with their flayed ribs and abject +lamentations, offered a more melancholy spectacle than even the +terrified crowd whom Dada had seen the day before, gathered round the +temple of Isis. Indeed, she would have withdrawn at once but that +Papias dragged her forward, and when she had passed through the great +door into the nave she breathed a sigh of relief. A soothing sense +of respite came over her, such as she had rarely felt; for the lofty +building, which was only half full, was deliciously cool and the subdued +light was restful to her eyes. The slight perfume of incense and the +sober singing of the assembled worshippers were soothing to her senses, +and, as she took a seat on one of the benches, she felt sheltered and +safe. + +The old church struck her as a home of perfect peace; in all the city, +she thought, there could hardly be another spot where she might rest so +quietly and contentedly. So for some little time she gave herself +up, body and soul, to the refreshing influences of the coolness, the +solemnity, the fragrance and the music; but presently her attention was +attracted to two women in the seats just in front of her. + +One of them, who had a child on her arm, whispered to her neighbor: + +“You here, Hannah, among the unbaptized? How are you going on at home?” + +“I cannot stay long,” was the answer. “It is all the same where one +sits, and when I leave I shall disturb no one. But my heart is heavy; +the child is very bad. The doctor says he cannot live through the day, +and I felt as if I must come to church.” + +“Very right, very right. Do you stay here and I will go to your house at +once; my husband will not mind waiting.” + +“Thank you very much, but Katharine is staying with the boy and he is +quite safe there.” + +“Then I will stay and pray with you for the dear little child.” + +Dada had not missed a word of this simple dialogue. The woman whose +child was ill at home, and who had come here to pray for strength or +mercy, had a remarkably sweet face; as the girl saw the two friends +bow their heads and fold their hands with downcast eyes, she thought to +herself: “Now they are praying for the sick child...” and involuntarily +she, too, bent her curly head, and murmured softly: “O ye gods, or thou +God of the Christians, or whatever thou art called that hast power over +life and death, make this poor woman’s little son well again. When I get +home again I will offer up a cake or a fowl--a lamb is so costly.” + +And she fancied that some invisible spirit heard her, and it gave her +a vague satisfaction to repeat her simple supplication over and over +again. + +Meanwhile a miserable blind dwarf had seated himself by her side; near +him stood the old dog that guided him. He held him by a string and had +been allowed to bring his indispensable comrade into the church. The +old man joined loudly and devoutly in the psalm which the rest of the +congregation were singing; his voice had lost its freshness, no doubt, +but he sang in perfect tune. It was a pleasure to Dada to listen, and +though she only half understood the words of the psalm she easily caught +the air and began to sing too, at first timidly and hardly audibly; but +she soon gained courage and, following the example of little Papias, +joined in with all her might. + +She felt as though she had reached land after a stormy and uncomfortable +voyage, and had found refuge in a hospitable home; she looked about her +to discover whether the news of the approaching destruction of the +world had not penetrated even here, but she could not feel certain; +for, though many faces expressed anguish of mind, contrition, and a +passionate desire--perhaps for help or, perhaps, for something quite +different--not a cry of lamentation was to be heard, such as had rent +the air by the temple of Isis, and most of the men and women assembled +here were singing, or praying in silent absorption. There were none of +the frenzied monks who had terrified her in the Xenodochium and in the +streets; on this day of tumult and anxiety they are devoting all +their small strength and great enthusiasm to the service of the Church +militant. + +This meeting, at so unusual an hour, had been convened by Eusebius, the +deacon of the district, with the intention of calming the spirits of +those who had caught the general infection of alarm. Dada could see the +old man step up into a raised pulpit on the inner side of the +screen which parted the baptized from the unbaptized members of the +congregation; his silvery hair and beard, and the cheerful calm of his +face, with the high white forehead and gentle, loving gaze, attracted +her greatly. She had heard Karnis speak of Plato, and knew by heart +some axioms of his doctrine, and she had always thought of the sage as +a young man; but in advanced age, she fancied, he might have looked like +Eusebius. Aye, and it would have well beseemed this old man to die, like +the great Athenian, at a mirthful wedding-feast. + +The priest was evidently about to give a discourse, and much as she +admired him, this idea prompted her to quit the church; for, though she +could sit still for hours to hear music, she found nothing more irksome +than to be compelled to listen for any length of time to a speech she +might not interrupt. She was therefore rising to leave; but Papias held +her back and entreated her so pathetically with his blue baby-eyes not +to take him away and spoil his pleasure that she yielded, though the +opportunity was favorable for moving unobserved, as the woman in front +of her was preparing to go and was shaking hands with her neighbor. She +had indeed risen from her seat when a little girl came in behind her and +whispered, loud enough for Dada’s keen ears to catch the words: “Come +mother, come home at once. He has opened his eyes and called for you. +The physician says all danger is over.” + +The mother in her turn whispered to her friend in glad haste: “All is +well!” and hurried away with the girl. The friend she had left raised +her hands and eyes in thanksgiving, and Dada, too, smiled in sympathy +and pleasure. Had the God of the Christian heard her prayer with theirs. + +Meanwhile the preacher had ended his preliminary prayer and began to +explain to his hearers that he had bidden them to the church in order +to warn them against foolish terrors, and to lead them into the frame of +mind in which the true Christian ought to live in these momentous times +of disturbance. He wished to point out to his brethren and sisters in +the Lord what was to be feared from the idols and their overthrow, what +the world really owed to the heathen, and what he expected from his +fellow-believers when the splendid and imminent triumph of the Church +should be achieved. + +“Let us look back a little, my beloved,” he said, after this brief +introduction. “You have all heard of the great Alexander, to whom this +noble city owes its existence and its name. He was a mighty instrument +in the hand of the Lord, for he carried the tongue and the wisdom of +the Greeks throughout all lands, so that, in the fulness of time, +the doctrine which should proceed from the only Son of God might be +understood by all nations and go home to all hearts. In those days every +people had its own idols by hundreds, and in every tongue on earth +men put up their prayers to the supreme Power which makes itself felt +wherever mortal creatures dwell. Here, by the Nile, after Alexander’s +death, reigned the Ptolemies; and the Egyptian citizens of Alexandria +prayed to other gods than their Greek neighbors, so that they could +never unite in worshipping their divinities; but Philadelphus, +the second Ptolemy, a very wise man, gave them a god in common. In +consequence of a vision seen in a dream he had the divinity brought from +Sinope, on the shores of Pontus, to this town. This idol was Serapis, +and he was raised to the throne of divinity here, not by Heaven, but by +a shrewd and prudent man; a grand temple was built for him, which is to +this day one of the wonders of the world, and a statue of him was made, +as beautiful as any image ever formed by the hand of man. You have +seen and know them both, and you know too, how, before the gospel was +preached in Alexandria, crowds of all classes, excepting the Jews, +thronged the Serapeum. + +“A dim perception of the sublime teaching of the Lord by whom God has +redeemed the world had dawned, even before His appearance on earth, on +the spirit of the best of the heathen, and in the hearts of those wise +men who--though not born into the state of grace--sought and strove +after the truth, after inward purity, and an apprehension of the +Almighty. The Lord chose them out to prepare the hearts of mankind for +the good tidings, and make them fit to receive the gospel when the Star +should rise over Bethlehem. + +“Many of these sages had infused precious doctrine into the worship of +Serapis before the hour of true redemption had come. They enjoined the +servants of Serapis to be more zealous in the care of the soul than in +that of the body, for they had detected the imperishable nature of the +spiritual and divine part of man; they saw that we are brought into +existence by sin and love, and we must therefore die to our sinful love +and rise again through the might of love eternal. These Hellenes, like +the Egyptian sages of the times of the Pharaohs, divined and declared +that the soul was held responsible after death for all it had done of +good or evil in its mortal body. They distinguished virtue and sin by +the eternal law, which was written in the hearts even of the heathen, to +the end that they, by nature, might do the works of the law; nay, there +were some of their loftiest spirits who, though they knew not the +Lord, it is true, required the repentance in the sinner, in the name of +Serapis, and pronounced that it was good to give up the delusive joys +and vain pleasures of the flesh and to break away from the evil--whether +of body or of soul--which we are led into by the senses. They called +upon their disciples to hold meetings for meditation whereby they might +discern truth and the divinity; and the vast precincts of the Serapeum +contained cells and alcoves for penitents and devotees, in which many +a soul touched by grace, dead to the world and absorbed in the +contemplation of such things as they esteemed high and heavenly, has +ripened to old age and death. + +“But, my beloved, the Light in which we rejoice, through no merits or +deserts of our own, had not yet been shed on the lost children of those +days of darkness; and all those noble, and indeed most admirable efforts +were polluted by an admixture, even here, of coarse superstition, bloody +sacrifices, and foolish adoration of perishable stone idols and beasts +without understanding; and in other places by the false and delusive +arts of Magians and sorcerers. Even the dim apprehension of true +salvation was darkened and distorted by the subtleties of a vain and +inconsistent philosophy, which held a theory as immutably true one day +and overthrew or denied it the next. Thus, by degrees, the temple of the +idol of Sinope degenerated into a stronghold of deceit and bloodshed, +of the basest superstition, the pleasures of the flesh, and abominations +that cried to Heaven. Learning, to be sure, was still cherished in the +halls of the Serapeum; but its disciples turned with hardened hearts +from the truth which was sent into the world by the grace of God, and +they remained the prophets of error. The doctrines which the sages had +associated with the idea of Serapis, debased and degraded by the most +contemptible trivialities; lost all their worth and dignity; and after +the great Apostle to whom this basilica is dedicated, had brought the +gospel to Alexandria, the idol’s throne began to totter, and the tidings +of salvation shook its foundations and brought it to the verge of +destruction in spite of the persecutions, in spite of the edicts of the +apostate Julian, in spite of the desperate efforts of the philosophers, +sophists, and heathen--for our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, has given +certainty and actuality to the fleeting shadow of half-divined truth +which lies in the core of the worship of Serapis. The pure and radiant +star of Christian love has risen in the place of the dim nebulous mist +of Serapis; and just as the moon pales when the sun appears triumphant, +the worship of Serapis has died away in a thousand places where the +gospel has been received. Even here, in Alexandria, its feeble flame +is kept alive only by infinite care, and if the might of our pious and +Christian Emperor makes itself felt-tomorrow, or next day--then, my +beloved, it will vanish in smoke, and no power on earth can fan it +into life again. Not our grandsons, no, but our own children will ask: +Who--what was Serapis? For he who shall be overthrown is no longer a +mighty god but an idol bereft of his splendor and his dignity. This is +no struggle of might against might; it is the death-stroke given to a +wounded and vanquished foe. The tree is rotten to the core and can crush +no one in its fall, but it will cover all who stand near it with dust +and rubbish. The sovereign has outlived his dominion, and when his +fingers drop the sceptre few indeed will bewail him, for the new King +has already mounted the throne and His is the Kingdom, and the power, +and the glory, forever! Amen.” + +Dada had listened to the deacon’s address with no particular interest, +but the conclusion struck her attention. The old man looked dignified +and honest; but Father Karnis was a well-meaning man, no doubt, and one +of those who are wont to keep on the winning side. How was it that the +preacher could draw so pitiable a picture of the very same god whose +greatness her uncle had praised in such glowing terms only two days +since? How could the same thing appear so totally different to two +different people? + +The priest looked more sagacious than the musician; Marcus, the young +Christian, had a most kind heart; there was not a better or gentler +creature under the sun than Agne--it was quite possible that +Christianity was something very different in reality from what her +foster parents chose to represent. As to the frightful consequences of +the overthrow of the temple of Serapis, on that point she was completely +reassured, and she prepared to listen with greater attention as Eusebius +went on: + +“Let us rejoice, beloved! The great idol’s days are numbered! Do you +know what that false worship has been in our midst? It has been like +a splendid and richly-dressed trireme sailing, plague-stricken, into a +harbor full of ships and boats. Woe to those who allow themselves to be +tempted on board by the magnificence of its decorations! How great is +their chance of infection, how easily they will carry it from ship to +ship, and from the ships on to the shore, till the pestilence has +spread from the harbor to the city! Let us then be thankful to those who +destroy the gorgeous vessel, who drive it from amongst us, or sink or +burn it. May our Father in Heaven give courage to their hearts, strength +to their hands and blessing on their deeds! When we hear: ‘Great Serapis +has fallen to the earth and is no more, we and the world are free from +him!’ then, in this city, and wherever Christians dwell and worship, let +a solemn festival be held. + +“But still let us be just, still let us bear in mind all the great and +good gifts that the trireme brought to our parents when it rode the +waves manned by a healthy crew. If we do, it will be with sincere pity +that we shall watch the proud vessel sink to the bottom, and we shall +understand the grief of those whom once it bore over ebb and flow, and +who believe they owe every thing to it. We shall rejoice doubly, too, +to think that we ourselves have a safe bark with stout planks and strong +masts, and a trustworthy pilot at the helm; and that we may confidently +invite others to join us on board as soon as they have purified +themselves of the plague with which they have been smitten. + +“I think you will all have understood this parable. When Serapis falls +there will be lamentation and woe among the heathen; but we, who are +true Christians, ought not to pass them by, but must strive to heal and +save the wounded and sick at heart. When Serapis falls you must be the +physicians--healers of souls, as the Lord hath said; and if we desire to +heal, our first task must be to discover in what the sufferings consist +of those we wish to succor, for our choice of medicine must depend on +the nature of the injury. + +“What I mean is this: None can give comfort but those who know how to +sympathize with the soul that craves it, who feel the sorrows of others +as keenly as though they were their own. And this gift, my brethren, is, +next to faith, the Christian grace which of all others best pleases our +Heavenly Master. + +“I see it in my mind’s eye! The ruined edifice of the Serapeum, the +masterpiece of Bryaxis laid in fragments in the dust, and thousands of +wailing heathen! As the Jews wept and hung their harps on the trees by +the waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion, so do I see the heathen +weep as they think of the perished splendor. They themselves, indeed, +ruined and desecrated the glory they bewail; and when something higher +and purer took its place they hardened their hearts, and, instead of +leaving the dead to bury their dead and throwing themselves hopefully +into the new life, they refused to be parted from the putrefying corpse. +They were fools, but their folly was fidelity; and if we can win them +over to our holy faith they will be faithful unto death, as they have +been to their old gods, clinging to Jesus and earning the crown of life. +‘There will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth than +over ninety and nine that need no repentance,’--that you have heard; and +whichever among you loves the Saviour can procure him a great joy if he +guides only one of these weeping heathen into the Kingdom of Heaven. + +“But perhaps you will ask: Is not the sorrow of the heathen a vain +thing? What is it after all that they bewail? To understand that, try to +picture to yourselves what it is that they think they are losing. Verily +it is not a small matter, and it includes many things for which we and +all mankind owe them a debt of gratitude. We call ourselves Christians +and are proud of the name; but we also call ourselves Hellenes, and are +proud of that name too. It was under the protection of the old gods, +whose fall is about to be consummated, that the Greeks achieved +marvellous deeds, nurturing the gifts of the intellect which the +Almighty bestowed on their race, like faithful gardeners, and making +them bring forth marvellous fruit. In the realm of thought the Greek +is sovereign of the nations, and he has given to perishable matter a +perfection of form which has elevated and vivified it to immortality. +Nothing more beautiful has ever been imagined or executed, before or +since, or by any other people, than was produced by Greece in its prime. +But perhaps you will ask, why did not the Redeemer come down among our +fathers in those glorious days? Because beauty, as they conceived and +still conceive of it, is a mere perishable accident of matter, and +because a race which thus devoted every thought and feeling to an +inspired and fervent worship of beauty--which was so absorbed in the +contemplation of the visible, could have no longing for the invisible +which is the real life that came down among us with the only-begotten +Son of God. Nevertheless Beauty is beautiful; and when the time shall +come when the visible is married to the invisible, when eternal Truth is +clothed in perfect form, then, and not till then, will the ideal which +our fathers strove after in the great old days be realized, by the grace +of the Saviour. + +“But this visible beauty, which they so passionately cherished, does us +good service too, so long as we do not allow it to dazzle us and lead +us astray from the one thing needful. To whom, if not to the heathen +Hellenes, do our great teachers owe, under God, the noble art of +coordinating their loftiest feelings, and casting them in forms which +are intelligible to the Christian and at once instruct, delight, +and edify him? It was in a heathen school that each one of your +pastors--that even I, the humblest of them--studied that rhetoric which +enables me to utter with a flowing tongue the things which the Spirit +gives me to speak to you; and if some day there are Christian schools, +in which our sons may acquire the same power, they must adopt many of +the laws devised by the heathen. If in the future we are rich enough to +raise churches to the Almighty, to the Virgin Mary and the great Saints, +in any way worthy of their sublime merits, we shall owe our skill to the +famous architects of heathen Hellas. We are indebted to the arts of the +heathen for a thousand things in daily use, beside numberless others +that lend charm to existence. Yes, my beloved, when we consider all they +did for us we cannot in justice withhold our tribute of gratitude and +admiration. + +“Nor can we doubt that the best of them were acceptable to the Almighty +himself, for he granted to them to see darkly and from afar what he has +brought nigh to us, and poured into our hearts by divine revelation. +You all know the name of Plato. He, from whom Salvation was hidden, +saw remotely, by presentiment as it were, many things which to us, the +Redeemed, are clear and plain and near. He perceived the relation of +earthly beauty and heavenly truth. The great gift of Love binds and +supports us all and Plato gave the name of the divine Eros, that is +divine love, to an inspired devotion to the Imperishable. He placed +goodness--the Good--at the top of the great scale of Ideas which he +constructed. The Good was, to him, the highest Idea and the uttermost of +which we can conceive:--Good, whose properties he made manifest by every +means his lofty and lucid mind could command. This heathen, my brethren +and sisters, was well worthy of the grace bestowed on us. Do justice +then to the blinded souls, justice in Plato’s sense of the word; he +calls the virtue of reason Wisdom; the virtue of spirit Courage, and the +virtue of the senses Temperance. Well, well! ‘Prove all things and hold +fast that which is good.’ That is to say: consider what may be worth +anything in the works of the heathen that it may be duly preserved; +but, on the other hand, tread all that is idolatry in the dust, all +that brings the unclean thing among us, all that imperils our souls and +bodies, or anything that is high and pure in life; but do not forget, +my beloved, all that the heathen have done for us. Be temperate in all +things; avoid excess of zeal; for thus, and thus only, can we be just. +‘It is not to hate, but to love each other that we are here.’ It was +not a Christian but Sophocles, one of the greatest of the heathen, who +uttered those words, and he speaks them still to us!” + +Eusebius paused and drew a deep breath. + +Dada had listened eagerly, for it pleased her to hear all that she +had been wont to prize spoken of here with due appreciation. But since +Eusebius had begun to discourse about Plato she had been disturbed by +two men sitting just in front of her. One was tall and lean, with a +long narrow head, and the other a shorter and more comfortable-looking +personage. The first fidgeted incessantly, nudging and twitching his +companion, and looking now and then as if he were ready to start up and +interrupt the preacher. This behavior evidently annoyed his neighbors +who kept signing to him to be quiet and hushing him down, while he took +no notice of their demonstrations but kept clearing his throat with +obtrusive emphasis and at last scraped and shuffled his feet on the +floor, though not very noisily. But Eusebius began again: + +“And now, my brethren, how ought we to demean ourselves in these fateful +times of disturbance? As Christians; only--or rather, by God’s aiding +grace as Christians in the true sense of our Lord and Master, according +to the precepts given by Him through the Apostles. Their words shall +be mine. They say there are two paths--the path of Life and the path of +Death, and there is a great difference between them. The path of Life is +this: First, Thou shalt love God who hath created thee; next thou shalt +love thy neighbor as thyself, and whatsoever thou wouldst men should do +unto thee even so do unto them; but what thou wouldst not have done unto +thee do thou not to them. And the sum of the doctrine contained in these +words is this: Bless those that curse you, pray for your enemies and +repent for those who persecute you, for ‘if ye love them that love you +what thank have ye? Do not even the heathen the same?’ Love those that +hate you and you will have no enemies. + +“Take this teaching of the holy Apostles to heart this day. Beware of +mocking or persecuting those who have been your enemies. Even the nobler +heathen regarded it as an act of grace to respect the conquered foe, and +to you, as Christians, it should be a law. It is not so hard to forgive +an enemy when we regard him as a possible friend in the future; and the +Christian can go so far as to love him when he remembers that every man +is his brother and neighbor, and equally precious in the sight of the +Saviour who is dearer to us than life. + +“The heathen, the idolater, is the Christian’s archfoe; but soon he will +be in fetters at our feet. And, then, my brethren, pray for him; for if +the Almighty, who is without spot or stain and perfect beyond words, +can forgive the sinner, ye who are base and guilty may surely forgive. +‘Fishers of souls’ we all should be; try to fulfil the injunction. Draw +the enemy to you by kindness and love; show him by your example +the beauty of the Christian life; let him perceive the benefits of +Salvation; lead those whose gods and temples we have overthrown, into +our churches; and when, after triumphing over those blind souls by the +sword, we have also conquered them by love, faith and prayer--when they +can rejoice with us in the Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ--then +shall we all be as one fold under one shepherd, and peace and joy shall +reign in the city which is now torn by dissension and strife.” + +At this point the preacher was interrupted, for a loud uproar broke out +in the Narthex--[The vestibule of the early Christian basilica which was +open to penitents.]--shouts and cries of men fighting, mingled with the +dull roar of a bull. + +The congregation started to their feet in extreme consternation, and the +door was flung open and a host of heathen youths rushed into the nave, +followed by an overwhelming force of Christians from whom they had +sought refuge in the sanctuary. Here they turned at bay to make a last +desperate resistance. Garlands, stripped of their leaves and flowers, +still crowned their heads and hung over their shoulders. They had been +attacked close to the church, by a party of monks when in the act of +driving a gaily-decorated steer to the temple of Apollo, in defiance of +the Imperial edict; and the beast, terrified by the tumult, had rushed +into the narthex for shelter. + +The fight in the church was a short one; the idolaters were soon +vanquished; but Eusebius threw himself between them and the monks, and +tried to save the victims from the revengeful fury of the conquerors. +The women had all made for the door, but they did not venture out into +the vestibule, for the young bull was still raging there, trampling or +tossing everything that came in his way. At last, however, a soldier of +the city-watch dealt him a sword-thrust in the neck, and he fell +rolling in his own blood. At once the congregation forced their way out, +shrieking with alarm and excitement, Dada among the number, dragging +the child with her. Papias pulled with all his might to keep her back, +declaring with vehement insistence that he had seen Agne in the church +and wanted to go back to her. Dada, however, neither heard nor heeded; +frightened out of her wits she went on with the crowd, taking him with +her. + +She never paused till she reached the house of Medius, quite out of +breath; but then, as the little boy still asserted that he had seen his +sister in the sanctuary, she turned back with him, as soon as the throng +had dispersed. In the church there was no one to hinder them; but they +got no further than the dividing screen, for on the floor beyond lay +the mutilated and bleeding bodies of many a youth who had fallen in the +contest. + +How she made her way back to the house of Medius once more she never +knew. For the first time she had been brought face to face with life in +hideous earnest, and when the singer went to look for her in her room, +at dusk, he was startled to find her bright face clouded and her eyes +dim with tears. How bitterly she had been weeping Medius indeed could +not know; he ascribed her altered appearance to fear of the approaching +cataclysm and was happy to be able to tell her, in all good faith, that +the danger was as good as over. Posidonius, the Magian, had been to see +him, and had completely reassured him. This man, whose accomplice he +had been again and again in producing false apparitions of spirits and +demons, had once gained an extraordinary influence over him by +casting some mysterious spell upon him and reducing his will to abject +subjection to his own; and this magician, who had recovered his +own self-possession, had assured him, with an inimitable air of +infallibility, that the fall of the Temple of Serapis would involve no +greater catastrophe than that of any old worn-out statue. Since this +announcement Medius had laughed at his own alarms; he had recovered his +“strong-mindedness,” and when Posidonius had given him three tickets for +the Hippodrome he had jumped at the offer. + +The races were to be run next day, in spite of the general panic that +had fallen on the citizens; and Dada, when he invited her to join him +and his daughter in-the enjoyment of so great a treat, dried her eyes +and accepted gleefully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Alarming as was the outlook in Alexandria, the races, were to be held +as usual. This had been decided only a few hours since at the Bishop’s +palace, and criers had been sent abroad throughout the streets +and squares of the city to bid the inhabitants to this popular +entertainment. In the writing-office of the Ephemeris, which would be +given to the public the first thing in the morning, five hundred slaves +or more were occupied in writing from dictation a list of the owners of +the horses, of the ‘agitatores’ who would drive them, and of the prizes +offered to the winners, whether Christians or heathen. + + [Ephemeris--The news-sheet, which was brought out, not only in Rome, + but in all the cities of the Empire, and which kept the citizens + informed of all important events.] + +The heat in the Episcopal council-hall had been oppressive, and not less +so the heat of temper among the priests assembled there; for they +had fully determined, for once, not to obey their prelate with blind +submission, and they knew full well that Theophilus, on occasion, if his +will were opposed, could not merely thunder but wield the bolt. + +Besides the ecclesiastical members of the council, Cynegius, +the Imperial legate--Evagrius, the Prefect--and Romanus, the +commander-in-chief and Comes of Egypt,--had all been present. The +officials of the Empire--Roman statesmen who knew Alexandria and her +citizens well, and who had often smarted under the spiritual haughtiness +of her Bishop--were on the prelate’s side. Cynegius was doubtful; but +the priests, who had not altogether escaped the alarms that had stricken +the whole population, were so bold as to declare against a too hasty +decision, and to say that the celebration of the games at a time of such +desperate peril was not only presumptuous but sinful, and a tempting of +God. + +In answer to a scornful enquiry from Theophilus as to where the danger +lay if--as the Comes promised--Serapis were to be overthrown on the +morrow, one of the assembly answered in the name of his colleagues. This +man, now very old, had formerly been a wonderfully successful exorcist, +and, notwithstanding that he was a faithful Christian, he was the leader +of a gnostic sect and a diligent student of magic. He proceeded to +argue, with all the zeal and vehemence of conviction, that Serapis was +the most terrible of all the heathen daemons, and that all the oracles +of antiquity, all the prophecies of the seers, and all the conclusions +of the Magians and astrologers would be proved false if his fall--which +the present assembly could only regard as a great boon from Heaven--did +not entail some tremendous convulsion of nature. + +At this Theophilus gave the reins to his wrath; he snatched a little +crucifix from the wall above his episcopal throne, and broke it in +fragments, exclaiming in deep tones that quavered with wrath: + +“And which do you regard as the greater: The only-begotten Son of God, +or that helpless image?” And he flung the pieces of the broken crucifix +down on the table round which they were sitting. Then, as though +horror-stricken at his own daring act, he fell on his knees, raised his +eyes and hands in prayer, and gathering up the broken image, kissed it +devoutly. + +This rapid scene had a tremendous effect. Amazement and suspense were +painted on every face, not a hand, not a lip moved as Theophilus rose +again and cast a glance of proud and stern defiance round the assembly, +which each man took to himself. For some moments he remained silent, +as though awaiting a reply; but his repellent mien and majestic bearing +made it sufficiently clear that he was ready to annihilate any opponent. +In fact none of the priests contradicted him; and, though Evagrius +looked at him with a doubting shake of his shrewd head, Cynegius on +the other hand nodded assent. The Bishop, however, seemed to care for +neither dissent nor approval, and it was in brief and cutting terms, +with no flourish of rhetoric, that he laid it down that wood and stone +had nothing to do with the divine Majesty, even though they were made +in the image of all that was Holy and worshipful or were most lavishly +beautified by the hand of man with the foul splendors of perishable +wealth. The greater the power ascribed by superstition to the base +material--whatever form it bore--the more odious must it be to the +Christian. Any man who should believe that a daemon could turn even a +breath of the Most High to its own will and purpose, would do well to +beware of idolatry, for Satan had already laid his clutches somewhere on +his robe. + +At this sweeping accusation many a cheek colored wrathfully, and not +a word was spoken when the Bishop proceeded to require of his hearers +that, if the Serapeum should fall into the hands of the Imperial troops, +it should be at once and ruthlessly destroyed, and that his hearers +should not cease from the work of ruin till this scandal of the city +should be swept from the face of the earth. + +“If then the world crumbles to atoms!” he cried, “well and good--the +heathen are right and we are wrong, and in that case it were better +to perish; but as surely as I sit on this throne by the grace of God, +Serapis is the vain imagining of fools and blind, and there is no god +but the God whose minister I am!” + +“Whose Kingdom is everlasting, Amen!” chanted an old priest; and +Cynegius rose to explain that he should do nothing to hinder the total +overthrow of the temple and image. + +Then the Comes spoke in defence of the Bishop’s resolution to allow +the races to be held, as usual, on the morrow. He sketched a striking +picture of the shallow, unstable nature of the Alexandrians, a people +wholly given over to enjoyment. The troops at his command were few in +number in comparison with the heathen population of the city, and it was +a very important matter to keep a large proportion of the worshippers +of Serapis occupied elsewhere at the moment of the decisive onset. +Gladiator-fights were prohibited, and the people were tired of wild +beasts; but races, in which heathen and Christian alike might enter +their horses for competition, must certainly prove most attractive just +at this time of bitter rivalry and oppugnancy between the two religions, +and would draw thousands of the most able-bodied idolaters to the +Hippodrome. All this he had already considered and discussed with the +Bishop and Cynegius; nay, that zealous destroyer of heathen worship +had come to Alexandria with the express purpose of overthrowing the +Serapeum; but, as a prudent statesman, he had first made sure that the +time and circumstances were propitious for the work of annihilation. All +that he had here seen and heard had only strengthened his purpose; so, +after suggesting a few possible difficulties, and enjoining moderation +and mercy as the guiding principles of his sovereign, he commanded, in +the Emperor’s name, that the sanctuary of Serapis should be seized by +force of arms and utterly destroyed, and that the races should be held +on the morrow. + +The assembled council bowed low; and when Theophilus had closed the +meeting with a prayer he withdrew to his ungarnished study, with his +head bent and an air of profound humility, as though he had met with a +defeat instead of gaining a victory. + + ....................... + +The fate of the great god of the heathen was sealed, but in the wide +precincts of the Serapeum no one thought of surrender or of prompt +defeat. The basement of the building, on which stood the grandest temple +ever erected by the Hellenes, presented a smooth and slightly scarped +rampart of impregnable strength to the foe. A sloping way extended up +over a handsomely-decorated incline, and from the middle of the grand +curve described by this road, two flights of steps led up to the three +great doors in the facade of the building. + +The heathen had taken care to barricade this approach in all haste, +piling the road and steps with statuary-images of the gods of the finest +workmanship, figures and busts of kings, queens, and heroes, Hermes, +columns, stelae, sacrificial stones, chairs and benches-torn from their +places by a thousand eager hands. The squared flags of the pavement and +the granite blocks of the steps had been built up into walls and these +were still being added to after the besiegers had surrounded the temple; +for the defenders tore down stones, pilasters, gutters and pieces of the +cornice, and flung them on to the outworks, or, when they could, on to +the foe who for the present were not eager to commence hostilities. + +The captains of the Imperial force had miscalculated the strength of +the heathen garrison. They supposed a few hundreds might have entrenched +themselves, but on the roof alone above a thousand men were to be seen, +and every hour seemed to increase the number of men and women crowding +into the Serapeum. The Romans could only suppose that this constantly +growing multitude had been concealed in the secret halls and chambers of +the temple ever since Cynegius had first arrived, and had no idea that +they were still being constantly reinforced. + +Karnis, Herse, and Orpheus, among others, had made their way thither +from the timber-yard, down the dry conduit, and an almost incessant +stream of the adherents of the old gods had preceded and followed them. + +While Eusebius had been exhorting his congregation in the church of St. +Mark to Christian love towards the idolaters, these had collected in the +temple precincts to the number of about four thousand, all eager for +the struggle. A vast multitude! But the extent of the Serapeum was so +enormous that the mass of people was by no means densely packed on the +roof, in the halls, and in the underground passages and rooms. There was +no crowding anywhere, least of all in the central halls of the temple +itself; indeed, in the great vestibule crowned with a dome which formed +the entrance, in the vast hall next to it, and in the magnificent +hypostyle with a semicircular niche on the furthest side in which stood +the far-famed image of the god, there were only scattered groups of men, +who looked like dwarfs as the eye compared them with the endless rows of +huge columns. + +The full blaze of day penetrated nowhere but into the circular +vestibule, which was lighted by openings in the drum of the cupola that +rested on four gigantic columns. In the inner hall there was only dim +twilight; while the hypostyle was quite dark, but for a singularly +contrived shaft of light which produced a most mysterious effect. + +The shadows of the great columns in the fore hall, and of the double +colonnade on each side of the hypostyle, lay like bands of crape on +the many-colored pavement; borders, circles, and ellipses of mosaic +diversified the smooth and lucent surface, in which were mirrored the +astrological figures which sparkled in brighter hues on the ceiling, +the trophies of symbols and mythological groups that graced the walls +in tinted high relief, and the statues and Hermes between the columns. +A wreath of lovely forms and colors dazzled the eye with their +multiplicity and profusion, and the heavy atmosphere of incense which +filled the halls was almost suffocating, while the magical and mystical +signs and figures were so many and so new that the enquiring mind, +craving for an explanation and an interpretation of all these +incomprehensible mysteries, hardly dared investigate them in detail. + +A heavy curtain, that looked as though giants must have woven it on a +loom of superhuman proportions, hung, like a thick cloud shrouding a +mountain-peak, from the very top of the hypostyle, in grand folds over +the niche containing the statue, and down to the floor; and while it +hid the sacred image from the gaze of the worshipper it attracted his +attention by the infinite variety of symbolical patterns and beautiful +designs which were woven in it and embroidered on it. + +The gold and silver vessels and precious jewels that lay concealed by +this hanging were of more value than many a mighty king’s treasure; and +everything was on so vast a scale that man shuddered to feel his own +littleness, and the mind sought some new standard of measurement by +which to realize such unwonted proportions. The finite here seemed to +pass into the infinite; and as the spectator gazed up, with his head +thrown back, at the capitals of the lofty columns and the remote +height of the ceiling, his sight failed him before he had succeeded +in distinguishing or even perceiving a small portion only of the +bewildering confusion of figures and emblems that were crowded on to +the surface. Greek feeling for beauty had here worked hand in hand with +Oriental taste for gorgeous magnificence, and every detail could bear +examination; for there was not a motive of the architecture, not a work +of sculpture, painting, or mosaic, not a product of the foundry or the +loom, which did not bear the stamp of thorough workmanship and elaborate +finish. The ruddy, flecked porphyry, the red, white, green, or yellow +marbles which had been used for the decorations were all the finest and +purest ever wrought upon by Greek craftsmen. Each of the hundreds of +sculptured works which here had found a home was the masterpiece of some +great artist; as the curious visitor lingered in loving contemplation of +the mosaics on the polished floor, or examined the ornamental mouldings +that framed the reliefs, dividing the walls into panels, he was +filled with wonder and delight at the beauty, the elegance and the +inventiveness that had given charm, dignity, and significance to every +detail. + +Adjoining these great halls devoted especially to the worship of the +god, were hundreds of courts, passages, colonnades and rooms, and +others not less numerous lay underground. There were long rows of rooms +containing above a hundred thousand rolls of books, the famous library +of the Serapeum, with separate apartments for readers and copyists; +there were store-rooms, refectories and assembly-rooms for the +high-priests of the temple, for teachers and disciples; while acrid +odors came up from the laboratories, and the fragrance of cooking from +the kitchen and bake-houses. In the very thickness of the walls of the +basement were cells for penitents and recluses, long since abandoned, +and rooms for the menials and slaves, of whom hundreds were employed +in the precincts; under ground spread the mystical array of halls, +grottoes, galleries and catacombs dedicated to the practice of the +Mysteries and the initiation of neophytes; on the roof stood various +observatories--among them one erected for the study of the heavens by +Eratosthenes, where Claudius Ptolemaeus had watched and worked. Up here +astronomers, star-gazers, horoscopists and Magians spent their nights, +while, far below them, in the temple-courts that were surrounded by +store-houses and stables, the blood of sacrificed beasts was shed and +the entrails of the victims were examined. + +The house of Serapis was a whole world in little, and centuries had +enriched it with wealth, beauty, and the noblest treasures of art and +learning. Magic and witchcraft hedged it in with a maze of mystical and +symbolical secrets, and philosophy had woven a tissue of speculation +round the person of the god. The sanctuary was indeed the centre of +Hellenic culture in the city of Alexander; what marvel then, that +the heathen should believe that with the overthrow of Serapis and his +temple, the earth, nay the universe itself must sink into the abyss? + +Anxious spirits and throbbing hearts were those that now sought shelter +in the Serapeum, fully prepared to perish with their god, and yet eager +with enthusiasm to avert his fall if possible. + +A strange medley indeed of men and women had collected within +these sacred precincts! Grave sages, philosophers, grammarians, +mathematicians, naturalists, and physicians clung to Olympius and obeyed +him in silence. Rhetoricians with shaven faces, Magians and sorcerers, +whose long beards flowed over robes embroidered with strange figures; +students, dressed after the fashion of their forefathers in the palmy +days of Athens; men of every age, who dubbed themselves artists though +they were no more than imitators of the works of a greater epoch, +unhappy in that no one at this period of indifference to beauty called +upon them to prove what they could do, or to put forth their highest +powers. Actors, again, from the neglected theatres, starving histrions, +to whom the stage was prohibited by the Emperor and Bishop, singers and +flute-players; hungry priests and temple-servitors expelled from the +closed sanctuaries; lawyers, scribes, ships’ captains, artisans, though +but very few merchants, for Christianity had ceased to be the creed of +the poor, and the wealthy attached themselves to the faith professed by +those in authority. + +One of the students had contrived to bring a girl with him, and several +others, seeing this, went back into the streets by the secret way and +brought in damsels of no very fair repute, till the crowd of men was +diversified by a considerable sprinkling of wreathed and painted +girls, some of them the outcast maids of various temples, and others +priestesses of higher character, who had remained faithful to the old +gods or who practised magic arts. + +Among these women one, a tall and dignified matron in mourning robes, +was a conspicuous figure. This was Berenice, the mother of the young +heathen who had been ridden down and wounded in the skirmish near the +Prefect’s house, and whose eyes Eusebius had afterwards closed. She had +come to the Serapeum expressly to avenge her son’s death and then to +perish with the fall of the gods for whom he had sacrificed his young +life. But the mad turmoil that surrounded her was more than she could +bear; she stood, hour after hour, closely veiled and absorbed in her own +thoughts, neither raising her eyes nor uttering a word, at the foot of a +bronze statue of justice dispensing rewards and punishments. + +Olympius had entrusted the command of the little garrison of armed men +to Memnon, a veteran legate of great experience, who had lost his left +arm in the war against the Goths. The high-priest himself was occupied +alternately in trying to persuade the hastily-collected force to +obey their leader, and in settling quarrels, smoothing difficulties, +suppressing insubordination, and considering plans with reference to +supplies for his adherents, and the offering of a great sacrifice at +which all the worshippers of Serapis were to assist. Karnis kept near +his friend, helping him so far as was possible; Orpheus, with others +of the younger men, had been ordered to the roof, where they were +employed--under the scorching sun, reflected from the copper-plated +covering and the radiating surface of the dome--in loosening blocks of +stone from the balustrade to be hurled down to-morrow on the besieging +force. + +Herse devoted herself to the sick and wounded, for a few who had +ventured forth too boldly to aid in barricading the entrance, had +been hurt by arrows and lances flung by the idle soldiery; and a still +greater number were suffering from sun-stroke in consequence of toiling +on the top of the building. + +Inside the vast, thick-walled halls it was much cooler than in the +streets even, and the hours glided fast to the besieged heathen. Many of +them were fully occupied, or placed on guard; others were discussing the +situation, and disputing or guessing at what the outcome might, or must +be. Numbers, panic-stricken or absorbed in pious awe, sat huddled on +the ground, praying, muttering magical formulas, or wailing aloud. The +Magians and astrologers had retired with knots of followers into +the adjoining studies, where they were comparing registers, making +calculations, reading signs, devising new formulas and defending them +against their opponents. + +An incessant bustle went on, to and fro between these rooms and the +great library, and the tables were covered with rolls and tablets +containing ancient prophecies, horoscopes and potent exorcisms. +Messengers, one after another, were sent out from thence to command +silence in the great halls, where the assembled youths and girls were +kissing, singing, shouting and dancing to the shrill pipe of flutes and +twang of lutes, clapping their hands, rattling tambourines--in short, +enjoying to the utmost the few hours that might yet be theirs before +they must make the fatal leap into nothingness, or at least into the dim +shades of death. + +The sun was sinking when suddenly the great brazen gong was loudly +struck, and the hard, blatant clatter rent the air of the temple-hall. +The mighty waves of sound reverberated from the walls of the sanctuary +like the surge of a clangorous sea, and sent their metallic vibration +ringing through every room and cell, from the topmost observatory-turret +to the deepest vault beneath, calling all who were within the precincts +to assemble. The holy places filled at once; the throng poured in +through the vestibule, and in a few minutes even the hypostyle, the +sanctum of the veiled statue, was full to overflowing. Without any +distinction of rank or sex, and regardless of all the usual formalities +or the degrees of initiation which each had passed through, the +worshippers of Serapis crowded towards the sacred niche, till a chain, +held up by neokores--[Temple-servants]--at a respectful distance from +the mystical spot, checked their advance. Densely packed and in almost +breathless silence, they filled the nave and the colonnades, watching +for what might befall. + +Presently a dull low chant of men’s voices was heard. This went on for +a few minutes, and then a loud pean in honor of the god rang through the +temple with an accompaniment of flutes, cymbals, lutes and trumpets. + +Karnis had found a place with his wife and son; all three, holding +hands, joined enthusiastically in the stirring hymn; and, with them, +Porphyrius, who by accident was close to them, swelling the song of the +multitude. All now stood with hands uplifted and eyes fixed in anxious +expectancy on the curtain. The figures and emblems on the hanging were +invisible in the gloom--but now-now there was a stir, as of life, in the +ponderous folds,--they moved--they began to ripple like streams, brooks, +water-falls, recovering motion after long stagnation--the curtain slowly +sank, and at length it fell so suddenly that the eye could scarcely note +the instant. From every lip, as but one voice, rose a cry of admiration, +amazement, and delight, for Serapis stood revealed to his people. + +The noble manhood of the god sat with dignity on a golden throne that +was covered with a blaze of jewels; his gracious and solemn face +looked down on the crowd of worshippers. The hair that curled upon his +thoughtful brow, and the kalathos that crowned it were of pure gold +At his feet crouched Cerberus, raising his three fierce heads with +glistening ruby eyes. The body of the god--a model of strength in +repose--and the drapery were of gold and ivory. In its perfect harmony +as a whole, and the exquisite beauty of every detail, this statue bore +the stamp of supreme power and divine majesty. When such a divinity as +this should rise from his throne the earth indeed might quake and the +heavens tremble! Before such a Lord the strongest might gladly bow, for +no mortal ever shone in such radiant beauty. This Sovereign must triumph +over every foe, even over death--the monster that lay writhing in +impotent rage at his feet! + +Gasping and thrilled with pious awe, enraptured but dumb with reverent +fear, the assembled thousands gazed on the god dimly revealed to them in +the twilight, when suddenly, for a moment of solemn glory, a ray of the +setting sun--a shaft of intense brightness--pierced the star-spangled +apse of the niche and fell on the lips of the god as though to kiss its +Lord and Father. + +A shout like a thunder-clap-like the roar of breakers on a reef, burst +from the spectators; a shout of triumph so mighty that the statues +quivered, the brazen altars rang, the hangings swayed, the sacred +vessels clattered and the lamps trembled and swung; the echo rolled +round the aisles like a whirlpool at the flood, and was dashed from +pillar to column in a hundred wavelets of sound. The glorious sun still +recognized its lord; Serapis still reigned in undiminished might; he had +not yet lost the power to defend himself, his world and his children! + +The sun was gone, night fell on the temple and suddenly there was a +swaying movement of the apse above the statue; the stars were shaken by +invisible hands, and colored flames twinkled with dazzling brightness +from a myriad five-rayed perforations. Once more the god was revealed to +his worshippers under a flood of magical glory, and now fully visible in +his unique beauty. Again the great halls rang with the acclamations of +the delirious throng; Olympius stepped forth, arrayed in a flowing robe +with the insignia and decorations of the high-priesthood; standing in +front of the image he poured on the pedestal a libation to the gods out +of a golden cup, and waved a censer of the costliest incense. Then, in +burning words, he exhorted all the followers of Serapis to fight and +conquer for their god, or--if need must--to perish for and with him. He +added a fervent prayer in a loud ringing voice--a cry for help that came +from the bottom of his heart, and went to the souls of his hearers. + +Then a solemn hymn was chanted as the curtain was raised; and while +the assembled multitude watched it rise in reverent silence, the +temple-servants lighted the lamps that illuminated the sanctuary from +every cornice and pillar. + +Karnis had left hold of his companions’ hands, for he wanted to wipe +away the tears of devotional excitement that flowed down his withered +cheeks; Orpheus had thrown his arms round his mother, and Porphyrius, +who had joined a group of philosophers and sages, sent a glance of +sympathy to the old musician. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +By an hour after sunset the sacrifice of a bull in the great court of +the Serapeum was consummated, and the Moscosphragist announced that the +god had graciously accepted it--the examination of the entrails showed +more favorable indications than it had the day before. The flesh of the +slaughtered beast went forthwith to the kitchen; and, if the savor of +roast beef that presently rose up was as grateful to Serapis as to +his worshippers, they might surely reckon on a happy issue from the +struggle. + +The besieged, indeed, were, ere long, in excellent spirits; for Olympius +had taken care to store the cellars of the sanctuary with plenty of good +wine, and the happy auguries drawn from the appearance of the god and +the state of the victim had filled them with fresh confidence. As there +was not sleeping accommodation for nearly all the men, they had to turn +night into day; and as, to most of them, life consisted wholly in the +enjoyment of the moment, and all was delightful that was new or strange, +they soon eat and drank themselves into a valiant frame of mind. + +Couches, such as they were wont to be on at meals, there were not, so +each man snatched up the first thing he could lay his hands on to +serve as a seat. When cups were lacking the jugs and vessels from the +sanctuary were sent for, and passed from one to another. Many a youth +lounged with his head in some fair one’s lap; many a girl leaned back +to back with some old man; and as flowers were not to be had, messengers +were sent to the town to buy them, with vine-wreaths and other greenery. + +They were easily procured, and with them came the news that the races +were to be held next morning. + +This information was regarded by many as being of the first importance; +Nicarchus, the son of the rich Hippocleides, and Zenodotus a weaver of +tapestry--whose quadriga had once proved victorious--hastily made their +way into the town to give the requisite orders in their stables, and +they were closely followed by Hippias, the handsome agitator, who was +the favorite driver in the arena for the horses belonging to wealthy +owners. In the train of these three every lover of horses vanished from +the scene, with a number of Hippias’ friends, and of flower-sellers, +door-keepers, and ticket-holders-in short, of all who expected to derive +special pleasure or profit from the games. Each man reflected that one +could not be missed, and as the god was favorably disposed he might +surely contrive to defend his own temple till after the races were over; +they would then return to conquer or die with the rest. + +Then some others began to think of wives and children in bed at home, +and they, too, departed; still, by far the larger proportion remained +behind--above three thousand in all, men and women. These at once +possessed themselves of the half-emptied wine-jars left by the +deserters; gay music was got up, and then, wreathed with garlands on +their heads and shoulders, and ‘filled with the god’ they drank, shouted +and danced far into the night. The merry feast soon became a wild orgy; +loud cries of Evoe, and tumultuous singing reached the ears of the +Magians, who had once more settled down to calculations and discussions +over their rolls and tablets. + +The mother of the youth that had been killed still sat huddled at the +foot of the statue of justice, enduring the anguish of listening to +these drunken revels with dull resignation. Every shout of laughter, +every burst of mad mirth from the revellers above cut her to the +heart--and yet, how they would have gladdened her if only one other +voice could have mingled with those hundreds! When Olympius, still in +his fullest dress, and carrying his head loftily as became him, made +his way through the temple at the head of his subordinates, he noticed +Berenice--whom he had known as a proud and happy mother--and begged her +to join the friends whom he had bidden to his own table; but she dreaded +any social contact with men whom she knew, and preferred to remain where +she was at the feet of the goddess. + +Wherever the high-priest went he was hailed with enthusiasm: “Rejoice,” + he would say to encourage the feasters, cheering them with wise and +fervid exhortations, reminding them of Pharaoh Mycerinus who, having +been told by an oracle that he had only six years to live, determined to +prove the prophecy false, and by carousing through every night made the +six years allotted to him a good dozen. + +“Imitate him!” cried Olympius as he raised a cup to his lips, “crowd +the joys of a year into the few hours that still are left us, and pour a +libation to the god as I do, out of every cup ere you drink.” + +His appeal was answered by a rapturous shout; the flutes and cymbals +piped and clanged, metal cups rang sharply as the drinkers pledged +each other, and the girls thumped their tambourines, till the calf-skin +droned and the bells in the frames tinkled shrilly. + +Olympius thanked them, and bowed on all sides, as he walked from group +to group of his adherents. Seldom, indeed, had his heart beat so high! +His end perhaps was very near, but it should at least be worthy of his +life. + +He knew how the sunbeam had been reflected so as to kiss the statue’s +lips. For centuries had this startling little scene and the sudden +illumination of the niche round the head of the god been worked in +precisely the same way at high festivals--[They are mentioned by +Rufinus.]--these were mere stimulants to the dull souls of the vulgar +who needed to be stirred up by the miraculous power of the god, +which the elect recognized throughout the universe, in the wondrous +co-operation of forces and results in nature, and in the lives of men. +He, for his part, firmly believed in Serapis and his might, and in the +prophecies and calculations which declared that his fall must involve +the dissolution of the organic world and its relapse into chaos. + +Many winds were battling in the air, each one driving the ship of life +towards the whirlpool. To-day or to-morrow--what matter which? The +threatened cataclysm had no terrors for Olympius. One thing only was a +pang to his vanity: No succeeding generations would preserve the memory +of his heroic struggle and death for the cause of the gods. But all was +not yet lost, and his sunny nature read in the glow of the dying clay +the promise and dawn of a brilliant morrow. If the expected succor +should arrive--if the good cause should triumph here in Alexandria--if +the rising were to be general throughout Greek heathendom, then indeed +had he been rightly named Olympius by his parents--then he would not +change places with any god of Olympus--then the glory of his name, more +lasting than bronze or marble, would shine forth like the sun, so long +as one Greek heart honored the ancient gods and loved its native land. + +This night--perhaps its last--should see a grand, a sumptuous feast; +he invited his friends and adherents--the leaders of spiritual life in +Alexandria--to a ‘symposium’, after the manner of the philosophers and +dilettanti of ancient Athens, to be held in the great concert-hall of +the Serapeum. + +How different was its aspect from that of the Bishop’s council-chamber! +The Christians sat within bare walls, on wooden benches, round a plain +table; the large room in which Olympius received his supporters was +magnificently decorated, and furnished with treasures of art in fine +inlaid work, beaten brass and purple stuffs-a hall for kings to meet in. +Thick cushions, covered with lion and panther-skins, tempted fatigue or +indolence; and when the hero of the hour joined his guests, after his +progress through the precincts, every couch was occupied. To his +right lay Helladius, the famous grammarian and high-priest of Zeus; +Porphyrius, the benefactor of the Serapeum, was on his left; even Karnis +had been allotted a place in his old friend’s social circle, and greatly +appreciated the noble juice of the grape, that was passed round, as well +as the eager and intelligent friction of minds, from which he had long +been cut off. + +Olympius himself was unanimously chosen Symposiarch, and he invited the +company to discuss, in the first instance, the time-honored question: +Which was the highest good? + +One and all, he said, they were standing on a threshold, as it were; +and as travellers, quitting an old and beloved home to seek a new and +unknown one in a distant land, pause to consider what particular joy +that they have known under the shelter of the old Penates has been the +dearest, so it would beseem them to reflect, at this supreme moment, +what had been the highest good of their life in this world. They were +on the eve, perhaps, of a splendid victory; but, perchance, on the other +hand, their foot was already on the plank that led from the shore of +life to Charon’s bark. + +The subject was a familiar one and a warm discussion was immediately +started. The talk was more flowery and brilliant, no doubt, than in old +Athens, but it led to no deeper views and threw no clearer light on the +well-worn question. The wranglers could only quote what had been said +long since as to the highest Good, and when presently Helladius called +upon them to bring their minds to bear on the nature of humanity, a +vehement disputation arose as to whether man were the best or the worst +of created beings. This led to various utterances as to the mystical +connection of the spiritual and material worlds, and nothing could +be more amazing than the power of imagination which had enabled these +mystical thinkers to people with spirits and daemons every circle of +the ladder-like structure which connected the incomprehensible and +self-sufficing One with the divine manifestation known as Man. It became +quite intelligible that many Alexandrians should fear to fling a stone +lest it might hit one of the good daemons of which the air was full--a +spirit of light perhaps, or a protecting spirit. The more obscure their +theories, the more were they overloaded with image and metaphor; +all simplicity of statement was lost, and yet the disputants prided +themselves on the brilliancy of their language and the wealth of their +ideas. They believed that they had brought the transcendental within +the grasp of intelligent sense, and that their empty speculations had +carried them far beyond the narrow limits of the Ancients. + +Karnis was in raptures; Porphyrius only wished for Gorgo by his side, +for, like all fathers, he would rather that his child should have +enjoyed this supreme intellectual treat than himself. + + ........................ + +In Porphyrius’ house, meanwhile, all was gloom and anxiety. In spite +of the terrific heat Damia would not be persuaded to come down from the +turret-room where she had collected all the instruments, manuals and +formulas used by astrologers and Magians. A certain priest of Saturn, +who had a great reputation as a master of such arts, and who, for many +years, had been her assistant whenever she sought to apply her science +to any important event, was in attendance--to give her the astrological +tables, to draw circles, ellipses or triangles at her bidding, to +interpret the mystical sense of numbers or letters, which now and then +escaped her aged memory; he made her calculations or tested those +she made herself, and read out the incantations which she thought +efficacious under the circumstances. Occasionally, too, he suggested +some new method or fresh formula by which she might verify her results. + +She had fasted, according to rule, the whole forenoon, and was +frequently so far overcome by the heat as to drop asleep in the midst +of her studies; then, when she woke with a start, if her assistant +had meanwhile worked out his calculation to a result contrary to her +anticipations, she took him up sharply and made him begin again from the +beginning. Gorge, went up from time to time; but, though she offered the +old woman refreshment prepared by her own hand, she could not persuade +her even to moisten her lips with a little fruitsyrup, for to break the +prescribed fast might endanger the accuracy of her prognostications +and the result of all her labor. However, when she seemed to doze, her +granddaughter sprinkled strong waters about the room to freshen the +air, poured a few drops on the old lady’s dress, wiped the dews from +her brow, and fanned her to cool her. Damia submitted to all this; and +though she had only closed her weary eyes, she pretended to be asleep in +order to have the pleasure of being cared for by her darling. + +Towards noon she dismissed the Magian and allowed herself a short +interval of rest and sleep; but as soon as she woke she collected her +wits, and set to work again with fresh zeal and diligence. When, at +last, she had mastered all the signs and omens, she knew for certain +that nothing could avert the awful doom foretold by the oracles of old. + +The fall of Serapis and the end of the world were at hand. + +The Magian covered his head as he saw, plainly demonstrated, how she had +reached this conclusion, and he groaned in sincere terror; she, however, +dismissed him with perfect equanimity, handing him her purse, which she +had filled in the morning, and saying: + +“To last till the end.” + +The sun was now long past the meridian and the old woman, quite worn +out, threw herself back in her chair and desired Gorgo to let no one +disturb her; nay, not to return herself till she was sent for. As soon +as Damia was alone she gazed at herself in a mirror for some little +time, murmuring the seven vocables incessantly while she did so; and +then she fixed her eyes intently on the sky. These strange proceedings +were directed to a particular end, she was endeavoring to close her +senses to the external world, to become blind, deaf, and impervious to +everything material--the polluting burthen which divided her divine and +spiritual part from the celestia fount whence it was derived; to set her +soul free from its earthly shroud--free to gaze on the god that was its +father. She had already more than once nearly attained to this state by +long fasting and resolute abstraction and once, in a moment she could +never forget, had enjoyed the dizzy ecstasy of feeling herself float, +as it were through infinite space, like a cloud, bathed in glorious +radiance. The fatigue that had been gradually over powering her now +seconded her efforts; she soon felt slight tremor; a cold sweat broke +out all over her; she lost all consciousness of her limbs, and all sense +of sighs and hearing; a fresher and cooler air seemed to revive not her +lungs only, but every part of her body, while undulating rays of red and +violet light danced before her eyes. Was not their strange radiance +an emanation from the eternal glory that she sought? Was not some +mysterious power uplifting her, bearing her towards the highest goal? +Was her soul already free from the bondage of the flesh? Had she indeed +become one with God and had her earnest seeking for the Divinity ended +in glorification? No; her arms which she had thrown up as if to fly, +fell by her side it was all in vain. A pain--a trifling pain in her +foot, had brought her down again to the base world of sense which she so +ardently strove to soar away from. + +Several times she took up the mirror, looked in it fixedly as before, +and then gazed upwards; but each time that she lost consciousness of the +material world and that her liberated soul began to move its unfettered +pinions, some little noise, the twitch of a muscle, a fly settling on +her hand, a drop of perspiration falling from her brow on to her cheek, +roused her senses to reassert themselves. + +Why--why was it so difficult to shake off this burthen of mortal clay? +She thought of herself as of a sculptor who chisels away all superfluous +material froth his block of marble, to reveal the image of the god +within; but it was easier to remove the enclosing stone than to release +the soul from the body to which it was so closely knit. Still, she did +not give up the struggle to attain the object which others had achieved +before her; but she got no nearer to it--indeed, less and less near, +for, between her and that hoped-for climax, rose up a series of memories +and strange faces which she could not get rid of. The chisel slipped +aside, went wrong or lost its edge before the image could be extracted +from the block. + +One illusion after another floated before her eyes first it was Gorgo, +the idol of her old heart, lying pale and fair on a sea of surf that +rocked her on its watery waste--up high on the crest of a wave and then +deep down in the abyss that yawned behind it. She, too--so young, a +hardly-opened blossom--must perish in the universal ruin, and be crushed +by the same omnipotent hand that could overthrow the greatest of the +gods; and a glow of passionate hatred snatched her away from the aim of +her hopes. Then the dream changed she saw a scattered flock of ravens +flying in wide circles, at an unattainable height, against the clouds; +suddenly they vanished and she saw, in a grey mist, the monument to +Porphyrius’ wife, Gorgo’s long-departed mother. She had often visited +the mausoleum with tender emotion, but she did not want to see it +now--not now, and she shook it off; but in its place rose up the image +of her daughter-in-law herself, the dweller in that tomb, and no effort +of will or energy availed to banish that face. She saw the dead woman +as she had seen her on the last fateful occasion in her short life. A +solemn and festal procession was passing out through the door of their +house, headed by flute-players and singing-girls; then came a white +bull; a garland of the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate--[This tree +was regarded as the symbol of fertility, on account of its many-seeded +fruit.]--hung round its massive neck, and its horns were gilt. By its +side walked slaves, carrying white baskets full of bread and cakes and +heaps of flowers, and these were followed by others, bearing light-blue +cages containing geese and doves. The bull, the calves, the flowers and +the birds were all to be deposited in the temple of Eileithyia, as +a sacrifice to the protecting goddess of women in child-birth. Close +behind the bull came Gorgo’s mother, dressed with wreaths, walking +slowly and timidly, with shy, downcast eyes-thinking perhaps of the +anguish to come, and putting up a silent prayer. + +Damia followed with the female friends of the house, the clients and +their wives and some personal attendants, all carrying pomegranates in +the right hand, and holding in the left a long wreath of flowers which +thus connected the whole procession. + +In this order they reached the ship-yard; but at that spot they were met +by a band of crazy monks from the desert monasteries, who, seeing the +beast for sacrifice, abused them loudly, cursing the heathen. The slaves +indignantly drove them off, but then the starveling anchorites fell upon +the innocent beast which was the chief abomination in their eyes. The +bull tossed his huge head, snuffing and snorting to right and left, +stuck out his tail and rushed away from the boy whose guidance he had +till now meekly followed, flung a monk high in the air with his huge +horns, and then turned in his fury on the women who were behind. + +They fled like a flock of doves on which a hawk comes swooping down; +some were driven quite into the lake and others up against the paling of +the shipyard, while Damia herself--who was going through it all again +in the midst of her efforts to rise to the divinity--and the young wife +whom she had vainly tried to shelter and support, were both knocked +down. To that hour of terror Gorgo owed her birth, while to her mother +it was death. + +On the following day Alexandria beheld a funeral ceremony as solemn, +as magnificent, and as crowded as though a conquering hero were being +entombed; it was that of the monk whom the bull had gored; the Bishop +had proclaimed that by this attack on the abomination of desolation--the +blood-sacrifice of idolatry--he had won an eternal crown in Paradise. + +But now the black ravens crossed Damia’s vision once more, till +presently a handsome young Greek gaily drove them off with his thyrsus. +His powerful and supple limbs shone with oil, applied in the gymnasium +of Timagetes, the scene of his frequent triumphs in all the sports and +exercises of the youthful Greeks. His features and waving hair were +those of her son Apelles; but suddenly his aspect changed: he was an +emaciated penitent, his knees bent under the weight of a heavy cross; +his widow, Mary, had declared him a martyr to the cause of the crucified +Jew and defamed his memory in the eyes of his own son and of all men. +Damia clenched her trembling hands. Again those ravens came swirling +round, flapping their wings wildly over the prostrate penitent. + +Then her husband appeared to her, calmly indifferent to the birds of +ill-omen. He looked just as she remembered him many--so many years ago, +when he had come in smiling and said: “The best stroke of business I +ever did! For a sprinkling of water I have secured the corn trade with +Thessalonica and Constantinople; that is a hundred gold solidi for each +drop.” + +Yes, he had made a good bargain. The profits of that day’s work +were multiplied by tens, and water, nothing in the world but Nile +water--Baptismal water the priest had called it--had filled her son’s +money-bags, too, and had turned their plot of land into broad estates; +but it had been tacitly understood that this sprinkling of water +established a claim for a return, and this both father and son had +solemnly promised. Its magic turned everything they touched to gold, but +it brought a blight on the peace of the household. One branch, which had +grown up in the traditions of the old Macedonian stock, had separated +from the other; and her husband’s great lie lay between them and the +family still living in the Canopic way, like a wide ocean embittered +with the salt of hatred. That he had infused poison into his son’s life +and compelled him, proud as he was, to forfeit the dignity of a free +and high-minded man. Though devoted in his heart to the old gods he +had humbled himself, year after year, to bow the knee with the hated +votaries of the Christian faith, and in their church, to their crucified +Lord, and had publicly confessed Christ. The water--the terrible +thaumaturgic stream--clung to him more inseparably than the brand-mark +on a slave’s arm. It could neither be dried up nor wiped away; for +if the false Christian, who was really a zealous heathen, had boldly +confessed the Olympian gods and abjured the odious new faith, the gifts +of the all-powerful water and all the possessions of their old family +would be confiscated to the State and Church, and the children of +Porphyrius, the grandchildren of the wealthy Damia, would be beggars. +And this--all this--for the sake of a crucified Jew. + +The gods be praised the end of all this wretchedness was at hand! A +thrill of ecstasy ran through her as she reflected that with herself +and her children, every soul, everything that bore the name of Christian +would be crushed, shattered and annihilated. She could have laughed +aloud but that her throat was so dry, her tongue so parched; but her +scornful triumph was expressed in every feature, as her fancy showed her +Marcus riding along the Canopic street with that little heathen hussy +Dada, the singing girl, while her much-hated daughter-in-law looked +after them, beating her forehead in grief and rage. + +Quite beside herself with delight the old woman rocked backwards and +forwards in her chair; not for long, however, for the black birds seemed +to fill the whole room, describing swift, interminable spirals round her +head. She could not hear them, but she could see them, and the whirling +vortex fascinated her; she could not help turning her head to follow +their flight; she grew giddy and she was forced to try to recover her +balance. + +The old woman sat huddled in her chair, her hands convulsively clutching +the arms, like a horseman whose steed has run away with him round and +round the arena; till at length, worn out by excitement and exhaustion, +she became unconscious, and sank in a heap on the ground, rigid and +apparently lifeless. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Gorgo, when she had left her grandmother, could not rest. Her lofty +calmness of demeanor had given way to a restless mood such as she +had always contemned severely in others, since she had ceased to be a +vehement child and grown to be a woman. She tried to beguile the alarm +that made her pulses beat so quickly, and the heart-sickness that ached +like a wound, by music and singing; but this only added to her torment. +The means by which she could usually recover her equanimity of mind had +lost their efficacy, and Sappho’s longing hymn, which she began to +sing, had only served to bring the fervid longing of her own heart to +light--to set it, as it were, in the full glare of the sun. She had +become aware that every fibre, every nerve of her being yearned for the +man she loved; she would have thrown away her life like a hollow nut for +one single hour of perfect joy with him and in him. The faith in the old +gods, the heathen world which contained the ideal of her young soul, her +detestation of Christianity, her beautiful art--everything, in short, +that had filled the spiritual side of her life, was cast into the shade +by the one absorbing passion that possessed her soul. Every feeling, +every instinct, urged her to abandon herself entirely to her lover, and +yet she never for one instant doubted which side she would take in the +approaching conflict of the great powers that ruled the world. The last +few hours had only confirmed her conviction that the end of all things +was at hand. The world was on the eve of destruction; she foresaw that +she must perish--perish with Constantine, and that, in her eyes, was a +grace from the gods. + +While Damia was vainly struggling to liberate her soul from the bondage +of the flesh, Gorgo had been wandering uneasily about the house; now +going to the slaves, encouraging them with brave words, and giving them +employment to keep them from utter desperation, and then stealing up to +see whether her grandmother might not by this time be in need of her. +As it grew dark she observed that several of the women, and even some of +the men, had made their escape. These were such as had already shown +a leaning towards the new faith, and who now made off to join their +fellow-Christians, or to seek refuge in the churches under the +protection of the crucified God whose supreme power might, perhaps, even +yet, avert the impending catastrophe. + +Twice had Porphyrius sent a messenger to assure his mother and daughter +that all was well with him, that a powerful party was prepared to defend +the Serapeum, and that he should pass the night in the temple. The +Romans were evidently hesitating to attack it, and if, next morning, +the heathen should succeed in repelling the first onset, reinforcements +might yet be brought up in time. Gorgo could not share these hopes; a +client of her father’s had brought in a rumor that the Biamites, after +advancing as far as Naucratis, had been dispersed by a few of the +Imperial maniples. Fate was stalking on its way, and no one could give +it pause. + +The evening brought no coolness, and when it was already quite dark, as +her grandmother had not yet called her, Gorgo could no longer control +her increasing anxiety, so, after knocking in vain at the door of the +observatory, she went in. Her old nurse preceded her with a lamp, +and the two women stood dumb with consternation, for the old lady lay +senseless on the ground. Her head was thrown back against the seat of +the chair off which she had slipped, and her pale face was lifeless and +horrible to look at, with its half-closed eyes and dropped jaw. +Wine, water, and strong essences were all at hand, and they laid the +unconscious woman on a couch intended for the occasional use of the +wearied observer. In a few minutes they had succeeded in reviving the +old lady; but her eyes rested without recognition on the girl who knelt +by her side, and she murmured to herself: “The ravens--where are they +gone? Ravens!” + +Her glance wandered round the room, to the tablets and rolls which had +been tossed off the couch and the table to make room for her, and for +the lamps and medicaments. They lay in disorder on the floor, and the +sight of this confusion produced a favorable excitement and reaction; +she succeeded in expressing herself in husky accents and broken, hardly +intelligible sentences, so far as to scold them sharply for their +irreverence for the precious documents, and for the disorder they had +created. The waiting-woman proceeded to pick them up: but Damia again +became unconscious. Gorgo bathed her brow and tried to pour some +wine between her teeth, but she clenched them too firmly, till the +slave-woman came to her assistance and they succeeded in making Damia +swallow a few drops. The old woman opened her eyes, smacking her tongue +feebly; but she took the cup into her own hand to hold it to her lips; +and though she trembled so that half the contents were spilt, she drank +eagerly till it was quite empty. “More,” she gasped with the eagerness +of intense thirst, “more--I want drink!” + +Gorgo gave her a second and a third draught which Damia drank with equal +eagerness; then, with a deep breath, she looked up fully conscious, at +her granddaughter. + +“Thank you, child,” she said. “Now I shall do very well for a little +while. The material world and all that belongs to it weighs us down and +clings to us like iron fetters. We may long and strive to be free, but +it pursues us and holds us fast. Only those who are content with their +miserable humanity can enjoy it. They laugh, as you know, at Praxilla, +the poetess, because she makes the dying Adonis lament, when face to +face with death, that he is forced to leave the apples and pears behind +him. But is not that subtly true? Yes, yes; Praxilla is right! We fast, +we mortify ourselves--I have felt it all myself--to partake of divinity. +We almost perish of hunger and thirst, when we might be so happy if +only we would be satisfied with apples and pears! No man has ever yet +succeeded in the great effort; those who would be truly happy must be +content with small things. That is what makes children so happy. Apples +and pears! Well, everything will be at an end for me ere long--even +those. But if the great First Cause spares himself in the universal +crash, there is still the grand idea of Apples and Pears; and who knows +but that it may please Him, when this world is destroyed, to frame +another to come after it. Will He then once more embody the ideas of +Man--and Apples and Pears? It would be plagiarism from himself. Nay, if +He is merciful, He will never again give substance to that hybrid idea +called Man; or, if He does, He will let the poor wretch be happy with +apples and pears--I mean trivial joys; for all higher joys, be they what +they may, are vanity and vexation.... Give me another draught. Ah, that +is good! And to-morrow is the end. I could find it in my heart to regret +the good gifts of Dionysus myself; it is better than apples and pears; +next to that comes the joy that Eros bestows on mortals, and there must +be an end to all that, too. That, however, is above the level of apples +and pears. It is great, very great happiness, and mingled therefor with +bitter sorrow. Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line +that divides them? Smiles and tears alike belong to both. And you are +weeping? Aye, aye--poor child! Come here and kiss me.” Damia drew the +head of the kneeling girl close to her bosom and pressed her lips to +Gorge’s brow. Presently, however, she relaxed her embrace and, looking +about the room, she exclaimed: + +“How you have mixed and upset the book-rolls! If only I could show you +how clearly everything agrees and coincides. We know now exactly how it +will all happen. By the day after to-morrow there will be no more earth, +no more sky; and I will tell you this, child: If, when Serapis falls, +the universe does not crumble to pieces like a ruinous hovel, then the +wisdom of the Magians is a lie, the course of the stars has nothing to +do with the destinies of the earth and its inhabitants, the planets are +mere lamps, the sun is no more than a luminous furnace, the old gods are +marsh-fires, emanations from the dark bog of men’s minds--and the great +Serapis.... But why be angry with him? There is no doubt--no if nor +but.... Give me the diptychon and I will show you our doom. There--just +here--my sight is so dazzled, I cannot make it out.--And if I could, +what matter? Who can alter here below what has been decided above? Leave +me to sleep now, and I will explain it all to you to-morrow if there is +still time. Poor child, when I think how we have tormented you to learn +what you know, and how industrious you have been! And now--to what end? +I ask you, to what end? The great gulf will swallow up one and all.” + +“So be it, so be it!” cried Gorgo interrupting her. “Then, at any rate, +nothing that I love on earth will be lost to me before I die!” + +“And the enemy will perish in the same ruin!” continued Damia, her eyes +sparkling with revived fire. “But where shall we go to--where? The soul +is divine by nature and cannot be destroyed. It must return--say, am I +right or wrong?--It will return to its first fount and cause; for like +attracts and absorbs like, and thus our deification, our union with the +god will be accomplished.” + +“I believe it--I am sure of it!” replied Gorgo with conviction. + +“You are sure of it?” retorted the old woman. “But I am not. For our +clearest knowledge is but guesswork when it is not based on numbers. +Nothing is proved or provable but by numbers, but they are surer than +the rocks in the sea; that is why I believe in our coming doom, for, +on those tablets, we have calculated it to a certainty. But who can +calculate evidence of the future fate of the soul? If, indeed, the old +order should not pass away--if the depths should remain below and the +empyrean still keep its place above--then, to be sure, your studies +would not be in vain; for then your soul, which is fixed on spiritual, +supernatural and sublime conceptions, would be drawn upwards to the +great Intelligence of which it is the offspring, to the very god, and +become one with him--absorbed into him, as the rain-drop fallen from a +cloud rises again and is reunited to its parent vapor. Then--for there +may be a metempsychosis--your songful spirit might revive to inform a +nightingale, then...” + +Damia paused; and gazed upwards as if in ecstasy, and it was not till +a few minutes later that she went on, with a changed expression in her +face: “Then my son’s widow, Mary, would be hatched out of a serpent’s +egg and would creep a writhing asp.... Great gods! the ravens! What can +they mean? They come again. Air, air! Wine! I cannot--I am choking--take +it away!--To-morrow--to-day.... Everything is going; do you see--do +you feel? It is all black--no, red; and now black again. Everything is +sinking; hold me, save me; the floor is going from under me.--Where is +Porphyrius? Where is my son?--My feet are so cold; rub them. It is the +water! rising--it is up to my knees. I am sinking--help! save me! help!” + The dying woman fought with her arms as if she were drowning; her cries +for help grew fainter, her head drooped on her laboring chest, and in a +few minutes she had breathed her last in her grandchild’s arms, and her +restless, suffering soul was free. + +Never before had Gorgo seen death. She could not persuade herself that +the heart which had been so cold for others, but had throbbed so warmly +and tenderly for her, was now stilled for ever; that the spirit which, +even in sleep, had never been at rest, had now found eternal peace. The +slave-woman had hastily taken her place, had closed the dead woman’s +eyes and mouth, and done all she could to diminish the horror of the +scene, and the terrible aspect of the dead in the sight of the girl who +had been her one darling. But Gorgo had remained by her side, and, +while she did everything in her power to revive the stiffening body, +the overwhelming might of Death had come home to her with appalling +clearness. She felt the limbs of one she had loved growing cold and +rigid under her hands, and her spirit rose in obstinate rebellion +against the idea that annihilation stood between her and the woman +who had so amply filled a mother’s place. She insisted on having every +method of resuscitation tried that had ever been heard of, and made her +nurse send for physicians, though the woman solemnly assured her that +human help was of no avail: then she sent for the priest of Saturn +who--as the dead woman herself had told her--knew mighty spells which +had called back many a departed spirit to the body it had quitted. + +When, at last, she was alone and gazed on the hard, set features of the +dead, though she shuddered with horror, she so far controlled herself +as to press her lips in sorrow and gratitude to the thin hand whose +caresses she had been wont to accept as a mere matter of course. How +cold and heavy it was! She shivered and dropped it, and the large rings +on the fingers rattled on the wooden frame of the couch. There was no +hope; she understood that her friend and mother was indeed dead and +silent forever. + +Deep and bitter grief overwhelmed her completely, with the sense of +abandoned loneliness, the humiliating feeling of helplessness against +a brutal power that marches on, scorning humanity, as a warrior treads +down the grass and flowers in his path. She fell on her knees by the +corpse, sobbing passionately, and crying like an indignant child when a +stronger companion has robbed it of some precious possession. She wept +with rage at her own impotence; and her tears flowed faster and faster +as she more fully realized how lonely she was, and what a blow this must +be to her father. In this hour no pleasant reminiscences of past family +happiness came to infuse a drop of sweetness into the bitterness of her +grief. Only one reflection brought her any comfort, and that was the +thought that the grave which had yawned already for her grandmother +would soon, very soon, open for herself and all living souls. On the +table, close at hand, lay the evidence of their impending doom, and +a longing for that end gradually took complete possession of her, +excluding every other feeling. Thinking of this she rose from her knees +and ceased to weep. + +When, presently, her waiting-woman should return, she was resolved to +leave the house at once; she could not bear to stay; her feelings and +duty alike indicated the place where she might find the last hour’s +happiness that she expected or desired of life. Her father must learn +from herself, and not from a stranger, of the loss that had befallen +them, and she knew that he was in the Serapeum--on the very spot where +she might hope next morning to meet Constantine. It would be her lover’s +duty to open the gate to destruction, and she would be there to pass +through it at his side. + +She waited a long, long time, but at last there was a noise on the +stairs. That was her nurse’s step, but she was not alone. Had she +brought the leech and the exorciser? The door opened and the old steward +came in, carrying a three-branched lamp; then followed the slave-woman, +and then--her heart stood still then came Constantine and his mother. + +Gorgo, pale and speechless, received her unexpected visitors. The nurse +had failed to find the physician, whose aid would, at any rate, have +come too late; and as the housekeeper had taken herself off with others +of the Christian slaves, the faithful soul had said to herself that “her +child” would want some womanly help and comfort in her trouble, and had +gone to the house of their neighbor Clemens, to entreat his wife to +come with her to see the dead, and visit her forlorn young mistress. +Constantine, who had come home a short time previously, had said +nothing, but had accompanied the two women. + +While Constantine gazed with no unkindly feelings at the still face of +Damia--to whom, after all, he owed many a little debt of kindness--and +then turned to look at Gorgo who stood downcast, pale, and struggling +to breathe calmly, Dame Marianne tried to proffer a few words of +consolation. She warmly praised everything in the dead woman which was +not in her estimation absolutely reprobate and godless, and brought +forward all the comforting arguments which a pious Christian can command +for the edification and encouragement of those who mourn a beloved +friend; but to Gorgo all this well-meant discourse was as the babble of +an unknown tongue; and it was only when, at length, Marianne went up +to her and drew her to her motherly bosom, to kiss her, and bid her be +welcome under Clelnens’ roof till Porphyrius should be at home again, +that she understood that the good woman meant kindly, and honestly +desired to help and comfort her. + +But the allusion to her father reminded her of the first duty in her +path; she roused her energies, thanked Marianne warmly, and begged her +only to assist her in carrying the corpse into the thalamos, and then +to take charge of the keys. She herself, she explained, meant at once to +seek her father, since he ought to learn from no one but herself of +his mother’s death. Nor would she listen for a moment to her friend’s +pressing entreaties that she would put off this task, and pass the +night, at any rate, under her roof. + +Constantine had kept in the background; it was not till Gorgo approached +the dead and gave the order to carry the body down into the house that +he came forward, and with simple feeling offered her his hand. The girl +looked frankly in his face, and, as she put her hand in his, she said in +a low voice: “I was unjust to you, Constantine. I insulted and hurt you; +but I repented sincerely, even before you had left the house. And you +owe me no grudge, I know, for you understood how forlorn I must be +and came to see me. There is no ill-feeling, is there, nothing to come +between us?” + +“Nothing, nothing!” he eagerly exclaimed, seizing her other hand with +passionate fervor. + +She felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed in a full tide to +her heart--as if he were some part of her very being, that had been torn +out, snatched from her, and that she must have back again, even if it +cost them both their life and happiness. The impulse was irresistible; +she drew away her hands from his grasp and flung them round his neck, +clinging to him as a weary child clings to its mother. She did not know +how it had come about--how such a thing was possible, but it was done; +and without paying any heed to Marianne, who looked on in dismay +while her son’s lips were pressed to the brow and lips of the lovely +idolatress, she wept upon her lover’s shoulders, feeling a thousand +roses blossoming in her soul and a thousand thorns piercing and tearing +her heart. + +It had to be, that she felt; it was at once their union and their +parting. Their common destiny was but for a moment, and that moment had +come and gone. All that now retrained for them was death--destruction, +with all things living; and she looked forward to this, as a man watches +for the dawn after a sleepless night. Marianne stood aside; she dimly +perceived that something vital was going on, that something inevitable +had happened which would admit of no interference. Gorgo, as she +freed herself from Constantine’s embrace, stood strangely solemn and +unapproachable. To the simple matron she was an inscrutable riddle to +which she could find no clue; but she was pleased, nevertheless, when +Gorgo came up to her and kissed her hand. She could not utter a word, +for she felt that whatever she might say, it would not be the right +thing; and it was a real relief to her to busy herself over the removal +of the body, in which she could be helpful. + +Gorgo had covered the dead face; and when old Damia had been carried +down to the thalamos and laid in state on the bridal bed, she strewed +the couch with flowers. + +Meanwhile, the priest of Saturn had been found, and he declared in all +confidence that no power on earth could have recalled this departed +soul. Damia’s sudden end and the girl’s great grief went to his faithful +heart, and he gladly acceded to Gorgo’s request that he would wait for +her by the garden-gate and escort her to the Serapeum. When he had left +them she gave the keys of her grandmother’s chests and cupboards +into Marianne’s keeping; then she went into the adjoining room, where +Constantine had been waiting while she decked the bed of death, and bid +him a solemn, but apparently calm, farewell. He put out his arm to clasp +her to his heart, but this she would not permit; and when he besought +her to go home with them she answered sadly, “No, my dearest... I must +not; I have other duties to fulfil.” + +“Yes,” he replied emphatically, “and I, too--I have mine. But you have +given yourself to me. You are my very own; you belong to me only, +and not to yourself; and I desire, I command you to yield to my first +request. Go with my mother, or stay here, if you will, with the dead. +Wherever your father may be, it is not, cannot be, the right place for +you--my betrothed bride. I can guess where he is. Oh! Gorgo, be warned. + +“The fate of the old gods is sealed. We are the stronger and to-morrow, +yes to-morrow--by your own head, by all I hold dear and sacred!--Serapis +will fall!” + +“I know it,” she said firmly. “And you are charged to lay hands on the +god?” + +“I am, and I shall do it.” + +She nodded approbation and then said submissively and sweetly: “It is +your duty, and you cannot do otherwise. And come what may we are one, +Constantine, forever one. Nothing can part us. Whatever the future may +bring, we belong to each other, to stand or fall together. I with you, +you with me, till the end of time.” She gave him her hand and looked +lovingly into his eyes; then she threw herself into his mother’s arms +and kissed her fondly. + +“Come, come with me, my child,” said Marianne; but Gorgo freed herself, +exclaiming: “Go, go; if you love me leave me; go and let me be alone.” + +She went back into the thalamos where the dead lay at peace, and before +the others could follow her she had opened a door hidden behind some +tapestry near the bed, and fled into the garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The night was hot and gloomy. Heavy clouds gathered in the north, and +wreaths of mist, like a hot vapor-bath, swayed over the crisply-foaming +wavelets that curled the lustreless waters of the Mareotis Lake. The +moon peeped, pale and shrouded, out of a russet halo, and ghostly +twilight reigned in the streets, still heated by the baked walls of the +houses. + +To the west, over the desert, a dull sulphurous yellow streaked the +black clouds, and from time to time the sultry air was rent by a +blinding flash sent across the firmament from the north. There was a +hot, sluggish wind blowing from the southwest, which drove the sand +across the lake into the streets; the fine grit stung: and burnt +the face of the wanderer who hurried on with half-closed eyes and +tightly-shut lips. A deep oppression seemed to have fallen on nature and +on man; the sudden gusts of the heated breeze, the arrow-like shafts of +lightning, the weird shapes and colors of the clouds, all combined to +give a sinister, baleful and portentous aspect to this night, as though +skies and waters, earth and air were brooding over some tremendous +catastrophe. + +Gorgo had thrown a veil and handkerchief round her head and followed the +priest with an aching brow and throbbing heart. When she heard a step +behind her she started-for it might be Constantine following her +up; when a gust of wind flung the stinging sand in her face, or the +storm-flash threw a lurid light on the sky, her heart stood still, for +was not this the prelude to the final crash. + +She was familiar with the way they were going, but its length seemed +to have stretched tenfold. At last, however, they reached their +destination. She gave the pass-word at the gate of her father’s +timber-yard and exchanged the signs agreed upon; in a few minutes she +had made her way through the piles of beams and planks that screened the +entrance to the aqueduct--a slave who knew her leading the way with a +light--and she and her companion entered the underground passage. + +It was hot and close; bats, scared by the flare of the torch, fluttered +round her with a ghostly rustle, startling and disgusting her; still, +she felt less alarm here than outside; and when, as she went forward she +thought of the great temple she was coming to, of its wonderful beauty +and solemn majesty, she only cared to press onward to that refuge of +ineffable splendor where all would be peace. To die there, to perish +there with her lover, did not seem hard; nay, she felt proud to think +that she might await death in the noblest edifice ever raised to a god +by mortal hands. Here Fate might have its way; she had known the highest +joy she had ever dreamed of, and where on earth was there a sublimer +tomb than this sanctuary of the sovereign of the universe, whose +supremacy even the other gods acknowledged with trembling! + +She had known the sacred halls of the temple from her childhood, and she +pictured them as filled with thousands of lofty souls, united in this +supreme hour by one feeling and one purpose. She even fancied she could +hear the inspired and heartfelt strains of the enthusiasts who were +prepared to give their lives for the god of their fathers, that she +breathed the odor of incense and burnt sacrifices, that she saw the +chorus of youths and maidens, led by priests and dancing with solemn +grace in mazy circles round the flower-decked altars. There among the +elders who had gathered round Olympius to meditate devoutly on the +coming doom and on the inmost meaning of the mysteries--among the adepts +who were anxiously noting, in the observatories of the Serapeum, the +fateful courses of the stars, the swirling of the clouds and the flight +of birds, she would doubtless find her father; and the fresh wound bled +anew as she remembered that she was the bearer of news which must deeply +shock and grieve him. Still, no doubt, she would find him wrapped in +dignified readiness for the worst, sorrowing serenely for the doomed +world, and so her melancholy message would come to a prepared and +resigned heart. + +She had no fear of the crowd of men she would find in the Serapeum. +Her father and Olympius were there to protect her, and Dame Herse, too, +would be a support and comfort; but even without those three, on such a +night as this--the last perhaps that they might ever see--she would have +ventured without hesitation among thousands, for she firmly believed +that every votary of the gods was awaiting his own end and the crash of +falling skies with devout expectancy, and perhaps with not less terror +than herself. + +These were her thoughts as she and her guide stopped at a strong door. +This was presently opened and they found themselves in an underground +chamber, devoted to the mysteries of the worship of Serapis, in which +the adepts were required to go through certain severe ordeals before +they were esteemed worthy to be received into the highest order of the +initiated--the Esoterics. The halls and corridors which she now went +through, and which she had never before seen, were meagrely lighted with +lamps and torches, and all that met her eye filled her with reverent awe +while it excited her imagination. Everything, in fact--every room and +every image--was as unlike nature, and as far removed from ordinary +types as possible, in arrangement and appearance. After passing through +a pyramidal room, with triangular sides that sloped to a point, she came +to one in the shape of a polygonal prism. In a long, broad corridor she +had to walk on a narrow path, bordered by sphinxes; and there she clung +tightly to her guide, for on one side of the foot-way yawned a gulf of +great depth. In another place she heard, above her head, the sound of +rushing waters, which then fell into the abyss beneath with a loud roar. +After this she came upon a large grotto, hewn in the living rock and +defended by a row of staring crocodiles’ heads, plated with gold; the +heavy smell of stale incense and acrid resins choked her, and her way +now lay over iron gratings and past strangely contrived furnaces. The +walls were decorated with colored reliefs: Tantalus, Ixion, and Sisyphus +toiling at his stone, looked down on her in hideous realism as she went. +Rock chambers, fast closed with iron doors, as though they enclosed +inestimable treasures or inscrutable secrets, lay on either hand, and +her dress swept against numerous images and vessels closely shrouded in +hangings. + +When she ventured to look round, her eye fell on monstrous forms and +mystical signs and figures; if she glanced upwards, she saw human and +animal forms, and mixed with these the various constellations, sailing +in boats--the Egyptian notion of their motions--along the back of a +woman stretched out to an enormous length; or, again, figures by some +Greek artist: the Pleiades, Castor and Pollux as horsemen with stars on +their heads, and Berenice’s star-gemmed hair. + +The effect on the girl was bewildering, overpowering, as she made her +way through this underground world. The things she had glimpses of were +very sparely illuminated, nay scarcely discernible, and yet appallingly +real; what mysteries, what spells might not be hidden in all she did +not see! She felt as if the end of life, which she was looking for, had +already begun, as if she had already gone down, alive, into Hades. + +The path gradually sloped upwards and at last she ascended, by a spiral +staircase, to the ground-floor of the temple. Once or twice she had met +a few men, but solemn silence reigned in those subterranean chambers. + +The sound of their approaching and receding steps had only served to +make her aware of the complete stillness. This was just as it should +be--just as she would have it. This peace reminded her of the profound +silence of nature before a tempest bursts and rages. + +Gorgo took off her veil as she went up the stairs, shook out the folds +of her dress, and assumed the dignified and reverent demeanor which +became a young girl of rank and position when approaching the altars +of the divinity. But as she reached the top a loud medley of noises and +voices met her ear-flutes, drums?--The sacred dance, she supposed, must +be going on. + +She came out into a room on one side of the hypostyle; her companion +opened a high door, plated with gilt bronze and silver, and Gorgo +followed him, walking gravely with her head held high and her eyes fixed +on the ground, into the magnificent hall where the sacred image sat +enthroned in veiled majesty. They crossed the colonnade at the side of +the hypostyle and went down two steps into the vast nave of the temple. + +The wild tumult that she had heard on first opening the door had +surprised and puzzled her; but now, as she timidly looked up and around +her, she felt a shock of horror and revulsion such as might come over a +man who, walking by night and believing that he is treading on flowers, +suddenly finds that the slimy slope of a bottomless bog is leading him +to perdition. She tottered and clutched at a statue, gazing about +her, listening to the uproar, and wondering whether she were awake or +dreaming. + +She tried not to see and hear what was going on there; it was revolting, +loathsome, horrible; but it was too manifest to be overlooked or +ignored; its vulgarity and horror forced it on her attention. For some +time she stood spell-bound, paralyzed; but then she covered her +face with her hands; maidenly shame, bitter disillusion, and pious +indignation at the gross desecration of all that she deemed most sacred +and inviolable surged up in her stricken soul, and she burst into tears, +weeping as she had never wept in all her life before. Sobbing bitterly, +she wrapped her face in her veil, as though to protect herself from +storm and chill. + +No one heeded her; her companion had left her to seek her father. She +could only await his return, and she looked round for a hiding place. +Then she observed a woman in mourning garb sitting huddled at the +foot of the statue of justice; she recognized her as the widow of +Asclepiodorus and breathed more freely as she went up to her and said, +between her sobs “Let me sit by you; we can mourn together.” + +“Yes, yes, come,” said the other; and without enquiring what Gorgo’s +trouble might be, moved only by the mysterious charm of finding another +in like sorrow with herself, she drew the girl to her and bending over +her, at length found relief in tears. + +The two weeping women sat in silence, side by side, while in front of +them the orgy went on its frantic course. A party of men and women were +dancing down the hall, singing and shouting. Flutes yelled, cymbals +clanged, drums rattled and droned, without either time or tune. Drunken +pastophori had flung open the rooms where the vestments and sacred +vessels were kept, and from these treasuries the ribald mob had dragged +forth panther-skins such as the priests wore when performing the sacred +functions, brass cars for carrying sacrifices, wooden biers on which the +images of the gods were borne in solemn processions, and other precious +objects. In a large room adjoining, a party of students and girls were +concocting some grand scheme for which they needed much time and large +supplies of wine; but most of those who had possessed themselves of the +plunder had taken it into the hypostyle and were vying with each other +in extravagant travesties. + +A burly wine-grower was elected to represent Dionysus and was seated +with nothing but some wreaths of flowers to cover his naked limbs, in +a four-wheeled sacrificial car of beaten brass. An alabaster wine-jar +stood between his fat knees, and his heavy body rolled with laughter as +he was drawn in triumph through the sacred arcades by a shouting rabble, +as fast as they could run. Numbers of the intoxicated crew, mad with +excitement and wine, had cast off their clothes which lay in heaps +between the pillars, soaking in puddles of spilt wine. In their wild +dance the girls’ hair had fallen about their heated faces, tangled with +withered leaves and faded flowers, and the men, young and old alike, +leaped and waltzed like possessed creatures, flourishing thyrsus-staves +and the emblems of the lusty wine-god. + +A small band of priests and philosophers ventured into the chaos in the +hope of quelling the riot, but a tipsy flute-player placed himself in +front of them and throwing back his head blew a furious blast to +heaven on his double pipe, shrill enough to wake the dead, while a girl +seconded him by flinging her tambourine in the face of the intruding +pacificators. It bounced against the shaft of a column, and then fell on +the shaven head of a priestling, who seized it and tossed it back. The +game was soon taken up, and before long, one tambourine after another +was flying over the heads of the frenzied crew. Every one was eager to +have one, and sprung to catch them, scuffling and struggling and making +the parchment sound on his neighbor’s head. + +Some of the women had jumped on to the processional biers and were being +carried round the hall by staggering youths, screaming with alarm and +laughter; if one of them lost her balance and fell she was captured with +shrieks of merriment and forced to mount her insecure eminence again. +Presently the car of Dionysus came to wreck over the body of an +unconscious toper, but no one stopped to set it right; and though the +hapless representative of the god howled loudly to them to stop while +he extricated himself from the machine, in which he had stuck, it was +in vain; the score or so of youths who were dragging it tore on, passing +close by Gorgo, who noted with indignation, that the brasswork of the +axles was cutting deeply into the splendid mosaic of the pavement. +At last the burly god fell out by his sheer weight, and his followers +restored him to consciousness by taking him by the heels and dipping his +towzled and bleeding head into a huge jar of wine and water. Then some +hundreds of his drunken votaries danced madly round the rescued god; and +as all the tambourines were split and the flute-players had no breath +left, time was kept by beating with thyrsus-staves against the pillars, +while three men, who had found the brazen tubas among the temple +vessels, blew with all their might and main. + +Strong opposition, however, was roused by this mad uproar. A party of +worshippers, in the first place, rebelled against it; these had been +standing with veiled heads, near the statue of Serapis, muttering +exorcisms after a Magian and howling lamentably at intervals; then a +preacher, who had succeeded in collecting a little knot of listeners, +bid the trumpeters cease; and finally, a party of actors and singers, +who had assembled in the outer hall to perform a satira play, tried +to stop them, though they themselves were making such a noise that the +trumpet-blast could have affected them but little. When the players +found that remonstrance had no effect they rushed into the hypostyle and +tried to reduce the musicians to silence by force. + +Then a frenzied contest began; but the combatants were soon separated; +the actors and their antagonists fell on each other’s necks, and a +Homeric poet, who had compiled an elegy for the evening on the “Gods +coerced by the hosts of the new superstition,” made up simply of lines +culled from the Iliad and Odyssey, seized this favorable opportunity. He +had begun to read it at the top of his voice, screaming down the general +din, when everything was forgotten in the excitement caused by the +entrance of a procession which was the successful result of many raids +on the temple-treasuries and lumber-rooms. + +A storm of applause greeted its appearance; the tipsiest stammered out +his approval, and the picture presented to drunken eyes was indeed a +beautiful and gorgeous one. On a high platform-intended for the display +of a small image of Serapis and certain symbols of the god, at great +festivals--Glycera, the loveliest hetaira of the town, was drawn in +triumph through the temple. She reclined in a sort of bowl representing +a shell, placed at the top of the platform, and on the lower stages sat +groups of fair girls, swaying gently with luxurious grace, and flinging +flowers down to the crowd who, with jealous rivalry, strove to catch +them. Everyone recognized the beautiful hetaira as Aphrodite, and she +was hailed, as with one voice, the Queen of the World. The men rushed +forward to pour libations in her honor, and to join hands and dance in a +giddy maze round her car. + +“Take her to Serapis!” shouted a drunken student. “Marry her to the god. +Heavenly Love should be his bride!” + +“Yes--take her to Serapis,” yelled another. “It is the wedding of +Serapis and Glycera.” + +The crazy rabble pushed the machine towards the curtain, with the +beautiful, laughing woman on the top, and her bevy of languishing +attendants. + +Until this instant the vivid lightning outside, and the growling of +distant thunder had not been heeded by the revellers, but now a blinding +flash lighted up the hall and, at the same instant, a tremendous peal +crashed and rattled just above them, and shook the desecrated shrine. +A sulphurous vapor came rolling in at the openings just below the roof, +and this first flash was immediately followed by another which seemed to +have rent the vault of heaven, for it was accompanied by a deafening and +stunning roar and a terrific rumbling and creaking, as though the metal +walls of the firmament had burst asunder and fallen in on the earth--on +Alexandria--on the Serapeum. + +The whole awful force of an African tempest came crashing down upon +them; the wild revel was stilled; the trembling topers dropped their +cups, fevered checks turned pale, the dancers parted and threw up their +hands in agonized supplication, words of lust and blasphemy died on +their lips and turned to prayers and muttered charms. The terrified +nymphs that surrounded Venus sprang from the car, and the foam-born +goddess in the shell tried to free herself from the garlands and gauzes +in which she was involved, shrieking aloud when she perceived that +she could not descend unaided from her elevated position. Other voices +mingled with hers--lamenting, cursing, and entreating; for now the +rainclouds burst, and through the window-openings poured a cold flood, +chilling and wetting the drunken mob within. + +The storm raved through the halls and corridors; lightning and thunder +raged fiercely overhead; and the terrified wretches, suddenly sobered, +rushed about or huddled together, like ants whose nest has been +upturned. And into the midst of this dismayed throng rushed Orpheus, the +son of Karnis, who had been till now on guard on the roof, crying out: +“The world is coming to an end, the heavens are opening! Father--where +is my father?” + +And everyone believed him; they snatched off their garlands, tore their +hair and gave themselves up to the utmost despair. Wailing, sobbing, +howling-furious, but impotent, they appealed to each other; and though +they had no hope of living to see another morning, or perhaps another +hour, each one thought only of himself, of his garments, and of how he +might best cover his limbs that shivered with terror and cold. From +the Scuffling mob round the heaps of cast-off clothes came deep groans, +piteous weeping, the shrieks of women, and the despairing moans of the +panic-stricken wretches. + +It was a fearful scene, at once heart-rending and revolting; Gorgo +looked on, gnashing her teeth with rage and disgust, and only wishing +for the end of the world and of her own life as a respite from it all. +These crazed and miserable wretches, cowardly fools, these beasts in +the guise of human beings, deserved no better than to perish; but was +it conceivable that the supreme being should destroy the whole of +the beautiful and wisely-planned world for the sake of this base and +loathsome rabble. + +It thundered, it lightened, the foundations of the temple shook--but she +no longer looked for the final crash; she had ceased to believe in the +majesty, the power and the purity of the divinity behind the veil. +Her cheeks burnt with shame, she felt it a disgrace ever to have been +numbered among his adherents; and, as the howling of the terrified crowd +grew every moment louder and wilder, the memory of Constantine’s grave +and fearless manliness rose before her, in all its strength and beauty. +She was his, his wholly and forever; and for the future all that was his +should be hers: his love, his home, his noble purpose--and his God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The doubtful light of dawn was beginning to break through the +storm-clouds as they exhausted their fury on the Serapeum, but the +terrified heathen did not notice it. No captain, no prophet, no +comforter had come to revive their courage and hopes; for Olympius and +his guests, the leaders of the intellectual life of Alexandria--and +among them the chief priests of the sanctuary--were tardy in making +their appearance. + +The lightning-flash which had fallen on the brassplated cupola, and then +discharged its force along a flagstaff, had alarmed even the sages and +philosophers; and the Symposium had come to an abrupt end but little +more dignified than the orgy in the temple-halls. Few, to be sure, of +the high-priest’s friends had allowed themselves to be so far scared as +to betray their terrors frankly; on the contrary, when the crack of +doom really seemed to have sounded, rhetoric and argument grew even +more eager than before round Olympius’ table; and Gorgo’s opinion of her +fellow-heathen might not have been much raised if she could have heard +Helladius, the famous philologist and biographer, reciting verses from +“Prometheus bound,” his knees quaking and lips quivering as he heard +the thunder; or seen Ammonius, another grammarian who had written a +celebrated work on “The Differences of Synonyms,” rending his robe and +presenting his bared breast as a target to the lightning, with a glance +round at the company to challenge their admiration. His heroic display +was, unfortunately, observed by few; for most of them, including +Eunapius, a neo-platonic philosopher distinguished as a historian and an +implacable foe of the Christians, had wrapped their heads in their robes +and were awaiting the end in sullen resignation. Some had dropped +on their knees and were praying with uplifted hands, or murmuring +incantations; and a poet, who had been crowned for a poem entitled: +“Man the Lord and Master of the Gods,” had fainted with fear, and his +laurel-wreath had fallen into a dish of oysters. + +Olympius had risen from his place as Symposiarch and was leaning against +a door-post awaiting death with manly composure. Father Karnis, who had +made rather too free with the wine-cup, but had been completely sobered +by the sudden fury of the storm, had sprung up and hastened past the +high-priest to seek his wife and son; he knew they could not be far off, +and desired to perish with them. + +Porphyrius and his next neighbor, Apuleius, the great physician, were +among those who had covered their faces. Porphyrius could look forward +more calmly than many to the approaching crisis; for, as a cautious man +and far-seeing merchant, he had made provision for every contingency. +If, in spite of a Christian victory, the world should still roll on, +and if the law which declared invalid the will of an apostate should be +enforced against him, a princely fortune, out of the reach of Church or +State, lay safe in the hands of a wealthy and trustworthy friend for his +daughter’s use; if, on the other hand, heaven and earth met in a +common doom, he had by him an infallible remedy against a lingering and +agonizing death. + +The whole party had sat during some long and anxious minutes, +listening to the appalling thunder-claps, when Orpheus rushed into the +banqueting-room, with the same frenzied and terror-stricken haste as +before, among the revellers, crying: “It is the end-all is over! The +world is falling asunder! Fire is come down from heaven! The earth is +in flames already--I saw it with my own eyes! I have come down from the +roof.... + +“Father! Where is my father?” + +At this news the company started up in fresh alarm, Pappus, the +mathematician, cried out: “The conflagration has begun! Flame and fire +are falling from the skies!” + +“Lost-lost!” wailed Eunapius; while Porphyrius hastily felt in the folds +of his purple garment, took out a small crystal phial and went, pale but +calm, up to the high-priest. He laid his hand on the arm of the friend +whom he had looked up to all his life with affectionate admiration, and +said with an expression of tender regret: + +“Farewell. We have often disputed over the death of Cato--you +disapproving and I approving it. Now I follow his example. Look--there +is enough for us both.” + +He hastily put the phial to his mouth, and part of the liquid had passed +his lips before Olympius understood the situation and seized his arm. +The effect of the deadly fluid was instantly manifest; but Porphyrius +had hardly lost consciousness when Apuleius had rushed to his side. +The physician had succumbed to the universal panic and resigned himself +doggedly to Fate; but as soon as an appeal was made to his medical skill +and he heard a cry for help, he had thrown off the wrapper from his head +and hastened to the merchant’s side to combat the effects of the poison, +as clear-headed and decisive as in his best hours by the bed of sickness +or in the lecture-room. + +When the very backbone of the soul seems to be broken, a sense of duty +is the one and last thing that holds it together and keeps it upright; +and nature has implanted in us such a strong and instinctive regard for +life--which we are so apt to contemn--that even within a few paces of +the grave we cherish and foster it as carefully as in its prime, when +the end seems still remote. + +The merchant’s desperate deed had been done under the very eyes of +Orpheus, and the newer horror so completely overshadowed the older, that +he hastened unbidden to help the physician lay the unconscious man on +the nearest couch; but then he went off again in search of his parents. +Olympius, however, who at the sight of his friend’s weakness had +suddenly comprehended how much depended, in these last hours, on his own +resolute demeanor, detained the youth, and sternly desired him to give +an exact and clear account of what had happened on the roof. The young +musician obeyed; and his report was certainly far from reassuring. + +A ball of fire had fallen with a terrific noise on the cupola, mingling +with flames that seemed to rise like streams of fire from the earth. +Then, again the heavens had opened with a blinding flash and Orpheus had +seen--with his own eyes seen--a gigantic monster--an uprooted mountain +perhaps--which had slowly moved towards the back-wall of the Serapeum +with an appalling clatter; and not rain, but rivers, rushing torrents of +water, had poured down on the men on guard. + +“It is Poseidon,” cried the lad, “bringing up the ocean against the +temple, and I heard the neighing of his horses. It was not an illusion, +I heard it with my own ears....” + +“The horses of Poseidon!” interrupted Olympius. “The horses of the +Imperial cavalry were what you heard!” + +He ran to the window with the activity of a younger man and, lifting the +curtain, looked out to the eastward. The storm had vanished as rapidly +as it had come up and it was day. Over the rosy skirts of Eos hung a +full and heavy robe of swelling grey and black clouds, edged with +a fringe of sheeny gold. To the north a sullen flash now and then +zigzagged across the dark sky, and the roll of the thunder was faint +and distant; but the horses whose neighing had affrighted Orpheus were +already near; they were standing close to the southern or back-wall of +the temple, in which there was no gate or entrance of any kind. What +object could the Imperial cavalry have in placing themselves by that +strong and impenetrable spot? + +But there was no time for much consideration, for at this instant the +gong, which was sounded to call the defenders of the Serapeum together, +rang through the precincts. + +Olympius needed no spur or encouragement. He turned to his guests with +the passion and fire of a fanatical leader, of the champion of a great +but imperilled cause, and bid them be men and stand by him to resist +the foe till death. His voice was husky with excitement as he spoke his +brief but vehement call to arms, and the effect was immense, precisely +because the speaker, carried away by the tide of feeling, had not tried +to impress the learned and eloquent men whom he addressed by any tricks +of elocution or choice of words. They, too, were fired by the spark of +the old man’s enthusiasm; they gathered round him, and followed him at +once to the rooms where the weapons had been deposited for use. + +Breastplates girt on to their bodies, and swords wielded in their hands +made soldiers of the sages at once, and inspired them with martial +ardor. Little was spoken among these heroes of “the mighty word.” + They were bent on action. Olympius Had desired Apuleius to go into his +private room adjoining the hypostyle with Porphyrius, on whose senseless +and rigid state no treatment had as yet had any effect. Some of the +temple-servants carried the merchant down a back staircase, while +Olympius hastily and silently led his comrades in arms up the main steps +into the great halls of the temple. + +Here the chivalrous host were doomed to surprise and disappointment +greater than the most hopeless of them was prepared to meet. Olympius +himself for a moment despaired; for his ecstatic adherents had during +the night turned to poltroons and tipplers, and the sacred precincts +of the sanctuary looked as if a battle had been fought and lost there. +Broken and bruised furniture, smashed instruments, garments torn and +wet, draggled wreaths, and faded flowers were strewn in every direction. +The red wine lay in pools like blood on the scarred beauties of the +inlaid pavement; here and there, at the foot of a column, lay an +inert body--whether dead or merely senseless who could guess?--and the +sickening reek of hundreds of dying lamps filled the air, for in the +confusion they had been left to burn or die as they might. + +And how wretched was the aspect of the sobered, terror-stricken, +worn-out men and women. An obscure consciousness of having insulted the +god and incurred his wrath lurked in every soul. To many a one prompt +death would have seemed most welcome, and one man--a promising pupil +of Helladius, had actually taken the leap from existence into the +non-existence which, as he believed, he should find beyond the grave; +he had run his had violently against a pillar, and lay at the foot of it +with a broken skull. + +With reeling brains, aching brows, and dejected hearts, the unhappy +creatures had got so far as to curse the present; and those who dared to +contemplate the future thought of it only as a bottomless abyss, towards +which the flying hours were dragging them with unfelt but irresistible +force. Time was passing--each could feel and see that; night was gone, +it would soon be day; the storm had passed over, but instead of the +inexorable powers of nature a new terror now hung over them: the no +less inexorable power of Caesar. To the struggle of man against the gods +there was but one possible end: Annihilation. In the conflict of man +against man there might yet be, if not victory, at least escape. The +veteran Memnon, with his one arm, had kept watch on the temple-roof +during that night’s orgy, planning measures for repulsing the enemy’s +attack, till the storm had burst on him and his adherents with the +“artillery of heaven.” Then the greater portion of the garrison had +taken refuge in the lower galleries of the Serapeum, and the old general +was left alone at his post, in the blinding and deafening tempest. He +threw his remaining arm round a statue that graced the parapet of the +roof to save himself from being swept or washed away; and he would still +have shouted his orders, but that the hurricane drowned his voice, and +none of his few remaining adherents could have heard him speak. He, too, +had heard the champing of horses and had seen the moving mountain +which Orpheus had described. It was in fact a Roman engine of war; and, +faithful though he was to the cause he had undertaken, something like a +feeling of joy stirred his warrior’s soul, as he looked down on the fine +and well-drilled men who followed the Imperial standards under which +he had, ere now, shed his best blood. His old comrades in arms had not +forgotten how to defy the tempest, and their captains had been well +advised in preparing to attack first what seemed the securest side of +the temple. The struggle, he foresaw, would be against tried soldiers, +and it was with a deep curse and a smile of bitter scorn that he thought +of the inexperienced novices under his command. It was only yesterday +that he had tried to moderate Olympius’ sanguine dreams, and had said to +him: “It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe!” + +The skill and experience he had to contend with were in no respect +inferior to his own; and he would know, only too soon, what the +practical worth might be of the daring and enthusiastic youths whom he +had undertaken to command, and of whom he still had secret hopes for the +best. + +The one thing to do was to prevent the Christians from effecting the +breach which they evidently intended to make in the back-wall, before +the Libyan army of relief should arrive; and, at the same time, to +defend the front of the temple from the roof. There was a use for every +one who could heave a stone or flourish a sword; and when he thought +over the number of his troops he believed he might succeed in holding +the building for some considerable time. But he was counting on false +premises, for he did not know how attractive the races had proved to his +“enthusiastic youth” and how great a change had come over most of them. + +As soon as the wind had so far subsided that he could stand alone, he +went to collect those that still remained, and to have the brass gong +sounded which was to summon the combatants to their posts. Its metallic +clang rang loud and far through the dim dawn; a deaf man might have +heard it in the deepest recess of the sanctuary--and yet the minutes +slipped by--a quarter of an hour--and no one had come at its call. The +old captain’s impatience turned to surprise, his surprise became wrath. +The messengers he sent down did not return and the great moving shed +of the Romans was brought nearer and nearer to the southern side of the +temple, screening the miners from the rare missiles which the few men +remaining with him cast clown by his orders. + +The enemy were evidently making a suitable foundation on which to place +the storming engine--a beam with a ram’s head of iron-to make a breach +in the temple-wall. Every minute’s delay on the part of the besieged was +an advantage to the enemy. A hundred-two hundred more hands on the roof, +and their tactics might yet be defeated. + +Tears of rage, of the bitter sense of impotence, started to the old +soldier’s eyes; and when, at length, one of his messengers came back and +told him that the men and women alike seemed quite demented, and all +and each refused to come up on the roof, he uttered a wrathful curse and +rushed down-stairs himself. + +He stormed in on the trembling wretches; and when he beheld with his +own eyes all that his volunteers had done dining that fateful night, he +raved and thundered; asked them, rather confusedly perhaps, if they knew +what it was to be expected to command and find no obedience; scolded the +refractory, driving some on in front of him; and then, as he perceived +that some of them were making off with the girls through the door +leading to the secret passage, he placed himself on guard with his sword +drawn, and threatened to cut down any who attempted to escape. + +In the midst of all this Olympius and his party had come into the +ball and seeing the commander struggling, sword in hand, with the +recalcitrant fugitives, where the noise was loudest, he and his guests +hastened to the rescue and defended the door against the hundreds who +were crowding to fly. The old man was grieved to turn the weapons they +had seized in their sacred ardor, against the seceders from their own +cause; but it had to be. While the loyal party--among them Karnis and +Orpheus--guarded the passage to the underground rooms with shield and +lance, Olympius took council of the veteran captain, and they rapidly +decided to allow all the women to depart at once and to divide the men +into two parties-one to be sent to fight on the roof, and the other to +defend the wall where the Roman battering-ram was by this time almost +ready to attack. + +The high-priest took his stand boldly between his adherents and the +would-be runaways and appealed to them in loud and emphatic tones to do +their duty. They listened to him silently and respectfully; but when he +ended by stating that the women were commanded to withdraw, a terrific +outcry was raised, some of the girls clung to their lovers, while others +urged the men to fight their way out. + +Several, however, and among them the fair Glycera who a few hours since +had smiled down triumphantly on her worshippers as Aphrodite, availed +themselves at once of the permission to quit this scene of horrors, +and made their way without delay to the subterranean passages. They had +adorers in plenty in the city. But they did not get far; they were met +by a temple-servant flying towards the great hall, who warned them +to return thither at once: the Imperial soldiers had discovered the +entrance to the aqueduct and posted sentries in the timber-yard. They +turned and followed him with loud lamentations, and hardly had they +got back into the temple when a new terror came upon them: the iron +battering-ram came with a first heavy shock, thundering against the +southern wall. + +The Imperial troops were in fact masters of the secret passage; and they +had begun the attack on the Serapeum in earnest. It was serious--but all +was not yet lost; and in this fateful hour Olympius and Memnon proved +their mettle. The high-priest commanded that the great stone trap-doors +should be dropped into their places, and that the bridges across the +gulfs, in the underground rooms reserved for the initiated, should be +destroyed; and this there was yet time to do, for the soldiers had not +yet ventured into those mysterious corridors, where there could not fail +to be traps and men in ambush. Memnon meanwhile had hurried to the spot +where the battering-ram had by this time dealt a second blow, shouting +as he went to every man who was not a coward to follow him. + +Karnis, Orpheus and the rest of the high-priest’s guests obeyed his call +and gathered round him; he commanded that everything portable should be +brought out of the temple to be built into a barricade behind the point +of attack, and that neither the most precious and beautiful statues, nor +the brass and marble stelae and altar-slabs should be spared. Screened +by this barricade, and armed with lances and bows--of which there were +plenty at hand--he proposed, when the breach was made, to check the +further advance of the foe. + +He was not ill-pleased that the only way of escape was cut off; and +as soon as he had seen the statues dragged from their pedestals, the +altar-stones removed from the sacred places they had filled for half +a century, benches and jars piled together and a stone barricade thus +fairly advanced towards completion, he drafted off a small force for the +defences on the roof. There was no escape now; and many a one who, +to the very last, had hoped to find himself free, mounted the stairs +reluctantly, because he would there be more immediately in the face of +the foe than when defending the breach. + +Olympius distributed weapons, and went from one to another, speaking +words of encouragement; presently he found Gorgo who, with the bereaved +widow, was still sitting at the foot of the statue of justice. He told +her that her father was ill, and desired a servant to show her the way +to his private room, that she might help the leech in attending on him. +Berenice could not be induced to stir; she longed only for the end and +was persuaded that it could not be far off. She listened eagerly to the +blows of the battering-engine; each one sounded to her like a shock to +the very structure of the universe. Another--and another--and at last +the ancient masonry must give way and the grave that had already opened +for her husband and her son would yawn to swallow her up with her +sorrows. She shuddered and drew her hood over her face to screen it from +the sun which now began to shine in. Its light was a grievance to her; +she had hoped never to see another day. + +The women, and with them a few helpless weaklings, had withdrawn to the +rotunda, and before long they were laughing as saucily as ever. + +From the roof blocks of stone and broken statues were hailing down on +the besiegers, and in the halls below, the toiler who paused to wipe +the sweat from his brow would brook no idleness in his comrade; the most +recalcitrant were forced to bestir themselves, and the barricade inside +the southern wall soon rose to a goodly height. No rampart was ever +built of nobler materials; each stone was a work of art and had been +reverenced for centuries as something sacred, or bore in an elegant +inscription the memorial of noble deeds. This wall was to protect the +highest of the gods, and among the detachment told off to defend it, +were Karnis, his son, and his wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Gorgo sat by the bed of her apparently lifeless father, gazing fondly at +the worn and wax-like features, and listening to his breathing, now soft +and easy and again painful and convulsive, as it fluttered through his +nostrils. She held his cold damp hand tightly clasped, or stroked it +gently, or now and then, when his closed eyelids quivered, raised it +tenderly to her lips. + +The room in which they were lay on one side of the hypostyle and behind +the right-hand--or western--colonnade; more forward, therefore, than +the veiled statue and to its left hand. The noise of the toilers at the +barricade and the crash of the blows of the battering-ram came up from +just below, and at each thud of the engine the senseless man started +convulsively and a look of intense pain crossed his face. But, though +it was indeed grievous to Gorgo to see her father suffering, though she +told herself again and again that, ere long, the sanctuary must fall +into the hands of the Christians, she felt safe, thankful and sheltered +up here, in her old friend’s half-lighted and barely-furnished room, +shut off, at any rate, from the frenzied wretches of whom she thought +only with loathing and fear. + +She was wearied out with her night of unrest, but the agitation and +excitement she had gone through were still vividly present to her mind, +and even on the comfortable couch in her own snug room at home her +perturbed spirit would have prevented her sleeping. Her brain was still +in a ferment, and here, in comparative peace, she had time to think over +all she had gone through during the last few hours, and the catastrophes +that had befallen her grandmother and her father. She had exchanged but +few words with the physician, who was still unceasingly busy in trying +to restore his patient to consciousness, and who had assured her that he +had every hope of her father’s recovery. + +But at length the girl looked up with an eager gaze and said, sadly +enough: “You said something about an antidote to poison, Apuleius? Then +my father tried to escape the final destruction by attempting to kill +himself.--Is it so?” + +The leech looked at her keenly, and after confirming her suspicion and +explaining to her exactly how the fateful deed had been accomplished, he +went on: + +“The storm had completely unnerved him--it unmanned us all--and yet that +was only the prelude to the tremendous doom which is hanging over +the universe. It is at hand; we can hear its approach; the stones are +yielding! the Christian’s engines are opening the way for it to enter!” + +Apuleius spoke in a tone of sinister foreboding, and the falling stones +dislodged by the battering-ram thundered a solemn accompaniment to his +prophecy. Gorgo, turned pale; but it was not the physician’s ominous +speech that alarmed her, but the quaking of the walls of the room. +Still, the Serapeum was built for eternity; the ram might bring down a +wall, but it could not destroy or even shake the building itself. + +Outside, the hubbub of fighting men grew louder and louder every minute, +and Apuleius, increasingly anxious, went to the door to listen. Gorgo +could see that his hands trembled! he--a man--was frightened, while +she felt no anxiety but for her suffering father! Through that breach +Constantine would enter--and where he commanded she was safe. As to +the destruction of the universe--she no longer believed in it. When the +physician turned round and saw her calmly and quietly wiping the cold +drops from the sick man’s brow, he said gloomily: “Of what use is it to +shut our eyes like the ostrich. They are fighting down there for life +or death--we had better prepare for the end. If they venture--and they +will--to lay a sacrilegious hand on the god, besiegers and besieged +alike--the whole world together, must perish.” + +But Gorgo shook her head. “No, no,” she cried, with zealous confidence. +“No, Apuleius, Serapis is not what you believe him to be; for, if he +were, would he suffer his enemies to overthrow his temple and his image? +Why does he not, at this supreme moment, inspire his worshippers +with courage? I have seen the men--mere boys--and the women who have +assembled here to fight for him. They are nothing but drivellers and +triflers. If the master is like his men it serves him right if he is +overthrown; to weep for him would be waste of woe!” + +“And can the daughter of Porphyrius say this?” exclaimed the leech. + +“Yes, Apuleius, yes. After what I have seen, and heard, and endured this +night, I cannot speak otherwise. It was shameful, horrible, sickening; +I could rage at the mere thought of being supposed to be one of that +debased crew. It is disgrace and ignominy even to be named in the same +breath! A god who is served as this god has been is no god of mine! And +you--you are learned--a sage and a philosopher--how can you believe that +the God of the Christians when he has conquered and crippled yours, will +ever permit Serapis to destroy His world and the men He created?” + +Apuleius drew himself up. “Are you then a Christian?” he asked swiftly +and sternly. + +But Gorgo could not reply; she colored deeply and Apuleius vehemently +repeated his question: “Then you really are a Christian?” + +She looked frankly in his face: “No,” she said, “I am not; but I wish I +were.” + +The physician turned away with a shrug; but Gorgo drew a breath of +relief, feeling that her avowal had lifted a heavy burthen from her +soul. She hardly knew how the bold and momentous confession had got +itself spoken, but she felt that it was the only veracious answer to the +physician’s question. + +They spoke no more; she was better pleased to remain silent, for her own +utterance had opened out to her a new land of promise--of feeling and of +thought. + +Her lover henceforth was no longer her enemy; and as the tumult of the +struggle by the breach fell on her ear, she could think with joy of +his victorious arms. She felt that this was the purer, the nobler, the +better cause; and she rejoiced in the love of which he had spoken as the +support and the stay of their future life together--as sheltering them +like a tower of strength and a mighty refuge. Compared with that love +all that she had hitherto held dear or indispensable as gracing life, +now seemed vain and worthless; and as she looked at her father’s still +face, and remembered how he had lived and what he had suffered, she +applied those words of Paul which Constantine had spoken at their +meeting after his return, to him, too; and her heart overflowed with +affection towards her hapless parent. She knew full well the meaning of +the deep lines that marked his lips and brow; for Porphyrius had never +made any secret of his distress and vexation whenever he found himself +compelled to confess a creed in which he did not honestly believe. This +great falsehood and constant duplicity, this divided allegiance to two +masters, had poisoned the existence of a man by nature truthful; and +Gorgo knew for whose sake and for what reasons he had subjected himself +to this moral martyrdom. It was a lesson to her to see him lying +there, and his look of anguish warned her to become, heart and soul, +a Christian as she felt prompted. She would confess Christ for love’s +sake-aye, for love’s sake; for in this hour the thing she saw most +clearly in the faith which she purposed to adopt, and of which +Constantine had so often spoken to her with affectionate enthusiasm, was +Everlasting Love. + +Never in her life had she felt so much at peace, so open to all that was +good and beautiful; and yet, outside, the strife grew louder and more +furious; the Imperial tuba sounded above the battle-cry of the heathen, +and the uproar of the struggle came nearer and nearer. + +The battering-ram had made a large breach in the southern wall, and, +protected by their shed, the heavy-armed infantry of the twenty-second +legion had forced their way up; but many a veteran had paid for his +rashness with his life, for the storming party had been met by a perfect +shower of arrows and javelins. Still, the great shield had turned many a +spear, and many an arrow had glanced harmless from the brazen armor and +helmets; the men that had escaped pressed onwards, while fresh ranks +of soldiers made their way in, over the bodies of the fallen. The +well-drilled foe came creeping up to the barricade on their knees, and +protected by bronze bucklers, while others, in the rear, flung lances +and arrows over their heads at the besieged. A few of the heathen fell, +and the sight of their blood had a wonderful effect on their comrades. +Rage surged up in the breasts of the most timid, and fear vanished +before the passion for revenge; cowardice turned to martial ardor, and +philosophers and artists thirsted for blood. The red glare of strife +danced before the eyes of the veriest book-worm; fired by the terrible +impulse to kill, to subdue, to destroy the foe, they fought desperately +and blindly, staking their lives on the issue. + +Karnis, that zealous votary of the Muses, stood with Orpheus, on the +very top of the barricade throwing lance after lance, while he sang at +the top of his voice snatches of the verses of Tyrtaeus, in the teeth, +as it were, of the foe who were crowding through the breach; the sweat +streamed from his bald head and his eye flashed fire. By his side stood +his son, sending swift arrows from an enormous bow. The heavy curls of +his hair had come unbound and fell over his flushed face. When he hit +one of the Imperial soldiers his father applauded him eagerly; then, +collecting all his strength, flung another lance, chanting a hexameter +or a verse of an ode. Herse crouched half hidden behind a sacrificial +stone which lay at the top of the hastily-constructed rampart, and +handed weapons to the combatants as they needed them. Her dress was torn +and blood-stained, her grey hair had come loose from the ribbands and +crescent that should have confined it; the worthy matron had become a +Megaera and shrieked to the men: “Kill the dogs! Stand steady! Spare +never a Christian!” + +But the little garrison needed no incitement; the fevered zeal which +possessed them wholly, seconded their thirst for blood and doubled their +strength. + +An arrow, shot by Orpheus, had just glanced over the breastplate and +into the throat of a centurion who had already set foot on the lowest +step, when Karnis suddenly dropped the spear he was preparing to fling +and fell without a cry. A Roman lance had hit him, and he lay transfixed +by the side of a living purple fount, like a rock in the surf from which +a sapling has sprung. Orpheus saw his father’s life-blood flowing and +fell on his knees by his side; but the old man pointed to the bow that +his son had cast aside and murmured eagerly: “Leave me--let me be. What +does it matter about me? Fight--for the gods--I say. For the gods! Go +on, aim truly!” + +But the lad would not leave the dying man, and seeing how deeply the +spear had struck to the old man’s heart he groaned aloud, throwing up +his arms in despair. Then an arrow hit his shoulder, another pierced +his neck, and he, too, fell gasping for breath. Karnis saw him drop, and +painfully raised himself a little to help him; but it was too much +for him; he could only clench his fist in helpless fury and chant, +half-singing, half-speaking, as loud he was able, Electra’s curse: + + “This my last prayer, ye gods, do not disdain! + For them turn day to night and joy to pain!” + +But the heavy infantry, who by this time were crowding through the +breach, neither heard nor heeded his curse. He lost consciousness and +did not recover it till Herse, after lifting up her son and propping him +against a plinth, pressed a cloth against the stump of the lance +still remaining in the wound to staunch the swiftly flowing blood, and +sprinkled his brow with wine. He felt her warm tears on his face, and as +he looked up into her kind, faithful eyes, brimming over with tears of +sympathy and regret, his heart melted to tenderness. All the happiest +hours of the life they had spent together crowded on his memory; he +answered her glance with a loving and grateful gaze and painfully held +out his hand. Herse pressed it to her lips, weeping bitterly; but he +smiled up at her, nodding his head and repeating again and again the +line from Lucian: “Be comforted: you, too, must soon follow.” + +“Yes, yes--I shall follow soon,” she repeated with sobs. “Without you, +without either of you, without the gods--what would become of me here.” + +And she turned to her son who, fully conscious, had followed every word +and every gesture of his parents and tried himself to say something. But +the arrow in his neck choked his breath, and it was such agony to speak +that he could only say hoarsely: “Father mother!” But these poor words +were full of deep love and gratitude, and Karnis and Herse understood +all he longed to express. + +Tears choked the poor woman’s utterance so that neither of the three +could say another word, but they were at any rate close together, and +could look lovingly in each other’s eyes. Thus passed some few minutes +of peace for them, in spite of the blare of trumpets, and shrieks and +butchery; but Herse’s kerchief was dyed and soaked with her husband’s +blood, and the old man’s eyes were glazed and staring as they wandered +feebly on the scene, as though to get a last general picture of the +world in which they had always sought to see only what was fair. +Suddenly they remained fixed on the face of a statue of Apollo, which +had been flung on to the barricade; and the longer they dwelt on the +beautiful countenance of the god the more they sparkled with a clear +transfigured gleam. Once more, with a final effort, he raised his heavy +hand and pointed to the sun-crowned head of the immortal youth while he +softly murmured: + +“He--he--all that was fair in existence--Orpheus, Herse--we owe it all +to him. He dies with us.--They--the enemy--in conquering us conquer +thee! They dream of a Paradise beyond death; but where thou reignest, O +Phoebus, there is bliss even on earth! They boast that they love death +and hate life; and when they are the victors they will destroy lute and +pipe, nay, if they could, would exterminate beauty and extinguish +the sun. This beautiful happy world they would have dark, gloomy, +melancholy, hideous; thy kingdom, great Phoebus, is sunny, joyful and +bright...!” Here his strength failed him; but presently he rallied once +more and went on, with eager eyes: “We crave for light, for music, +lutes and pipes--for perfumed flowers on careless brows--we--hold me +up Herse--and thou, heal me, O Phoebus Apollo!--Hail, all hail! I thank +thee--thou hast accepted much from me and hast given me all! Come, thou +joy of my soul! Come in thy glorious chariot, attended by Muses and +Hours! See, Orpheus, Herse--do you see Him coming?” + +He pointed with a confident gesture to the distance; and his anxious +eyes followed the indication of his hand; he raised himself a little +by a last supreme effort; but instantly fell back; his head sank on +the bosom of his faithful partner and a stream of blood flowed from +his quivering lips. The votary of the Muses was dead; and a few minutes +after Orpheus, too, fell senseless. + +War-cries and trumpet-calls rang and echoed through the Serapeum. The +battle was now a hand-to-hand fight; the besiegers had surmounted +the barricade and stood face to face with the heathen. Herse saw them +coming; she snatched the dart from her husband’s wound, and fired by +hatred and a wild thirst for vengeance, she rushed upon the besiegers +with frantic and helpless fury, cursing them loudly. She met the death +she craved; a javelin struck her and she fell close to her husband and +son. Her death struggle was a short one; she had only time and strength +to extend a hand to lay on each before she herself was a corpse. + +The battle raged round the heap of dead; the Imperial troops drove the +garrison backwards into the temple-halls, and the plan of attack which +had been agreed upon at a council of war held in the palace of +the Comes, was carried out, point by point, with cool courage and +irresistible force. A few maniples pursued the fugitives into the main +entrance hall, helped them to force the gates open, and then drove them +down the slope and steps, over the stones that had been heaped up for +protection, and into the very arms of the division placed in front of +the temple. These at once surrounded them and took them prisoners, as +the hunter traps the game that rushes down upon him when driven by the +dogs and beaters. Foremost to fly were the women from the rotunda, who +were welcomed with acclamations by the soldiers. + +But those who now tried to defend themselves found no quarter. Berenice +had picked up a sword that was lying on the ground and had opened a vein +with the point of it; her body, bathed in blood, was found at the foot +of the statue of justice. + +No sooner had the Christians mastered the barricade than a few maniples +had been sent up to the roof, and the defenders had been compelled to +surrender or to throw themselves from the parapet. Old Memnon, who had +been fighting against his Imperial master and could hope for no mercy, +sprang at once into the gulf below, and others followed his example; for +the end of all things was now close at hand, and to the nobler souls to +die voluntarily in battle for great Serapis seemed finer and worthier +than to languish in the enemy’s chains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The terrific storm of the preceding night had thrown the whole city into +dismay. Everyone knew the danger that threatened Serapis, and what must +ensue if he were overthrown; and everyone had thought that the end of +the world had indeed come. But the tempest died away; the sun’s bright +glow dispersed the clouds and mist; sea and sky smiled radiantly blue, +and the trees and herbage glistened in revived freshness. + +Not yet had the Romans dared to lay hands on the chief of the gods, +the patron and protector of the city. Serapis had perhaps sent the +lightning, thunder and rain as a message to warn his foes. If only they +might abstain from the last, worst crime of desecrating his image! + +Nor was this the hope of the heathen only; on the contrary: Jews and +Christians no less dreaded the fall of the god and of his temple. He was +the pride, the monumental glory of the city of Alexander; the centre of +foundations and schools which benefited thousands. The learning which +was the boast of Alexandria dwelt under his protection; to the Serapeum +was attached a medical Faculty which enjoyed the reputation of being +the first in the world; from its observatory the course of the year +was forecast and the calendar was promulgated. An hour’s slumber in its +halls brought prophetic dreams, and the future must remain undivined if +Serapis were to fall, for the god revealed it to his priests, not merely +by the courses and positions of the stars, but by many other signs; +and it was a delight and a privilege to look forward from the certain, +tangible present to the mysteries of the morrow. + +Even Christian seers answered the questionings of their followers in +a way which portended the worst, and it was a grief to many of the +baptized to think of their native city without Serapis and the Serapeum, +just as we cannot bear to cut down a tree planted by the hand of an +ancestor, even though it may darken our home. The temple ought to be +closed, bloody sacrifices to the god should be prohibited--but his +image--the noblest work of Bryaxis--to mutilate, or even to touch that +would be a rash, a fateful deed, treason to the city and an outrage on +the world. + +Thus thought the citizens; thus, too, thought the soldiers, who were +required by military discipline to draw the sword against the god in +whom many of them believed. + +As the news spread that the troops were to attack the Serapeum early +next morning, thousands of spectators collected, and filled the temple +itself in breathless anxiety to watch the issue of the struggle. + +The sky was as clear and blue as on any other fine day; but over the sea +to the north lay a light stratum of clouds--the harbingers perhaps of +the appalling blackness which the god would presently bring up against +his enemies. + +The men who had defended the Serapeum were led away; it had been +determined in a council of war that they should be treated with +clemency, and Cynegius had proclaimed free and full pardon to every +prisoner who would swear never, for the future, to sacrifice to the god +or worship in his temple. + +Not one of the hundreds who had fallen into the hands of the Romans had +refused to take the oath; they dispersed at once, though with suppressed +fury, many of them joining the crowd who stood waiting and watching +for the next step to be taken by the Romans--for the final crash of the +universe, perhaps. + +The doors of the temple were thrown wide open; the temple-servants and +hundreds of soldiers were busied in clearing the steps and approaches +of the stones and fragments of statuary with which the heathen had +encumbered them. As soon as this task was finished the dead and wounded +were removed; among those who still breathed was Orpheus, the son of +Karnis. Those who had been so happy as to escape in the defence of the +sanctuary and had mingled with the crowd were besieged with questions, +and all agreed that the statue of the god was as yet inviolate. + +The citizens were relieved, but ere long were startled by a new alarm; +an Ala of heavy cavalry came upon the scene, opening a way for an +immensely long procession whose chanted psalms rang out from afar, loud +above the cries and murmurs of the mob, the clatter of harness, and +stamping of horses. It was clear now where the monks had been. They were +not usually absent when there was a skirmish with the heathen; but, +till this moment, they had been seen only in twos or threes about the +Serapeum. Now they came forward shouting a psalm of triumph, their eyes +glaring, wilder and more ruthless than ever. + +The Bishop marched at their head, in his vestments, under a magnificent +canopy; his lofty stature was drawn to its full height and his lips were +firmly closed. + +He looked like a stern judge about to mount the tribunal to pronounce +sentence with inexorable severity on some execrable crime. + +The crowd quailed. + +The Bishop and the monks in the Serapeum, meant the overthrow of the +statue of the sovereign god--death and destruction. The boldest turned +pale; many who had left wife and children at home stole away to await +the end of the world with those they loved; others remained to watch the +menaced sanctuary, cursing or praying; but the greater number, men and +women alike, crowded into the temple, risking their lives to be present +at the stupendous events about to be enacted there and which promised to +be a drama of unequalled interest. + +At the bottom of the ascent the Comes rode forth to meet the Bishop, +leaped from his saddle and greeted him with reverence. The Imperial +legate had not made his appearance; he had preferred to remain for the +present at the prefect’s house, intending to preside, later in the day, +at the races as the Emperor’s representative, side by side with the +Prefect Evagrius--who also kept aloof during the attack on the Serapeum. +After a brief colloquy, Romanus signed to Constantine, the captain of +the cavalry; the troop dismounted, and, led by their officer, marched up +the slope that led to the great gate of the Serapeum. They were followed +by the Comes with his staff; next to him pale and somewhat tremulous +came some of the city officials and a few Christian members of the +senate; and then the Bishop--who had preferred to come last--with all +the Christian priesthood and a crowd of chanting monks. The train +was closed by a division of heavy-armed infantry; and after them the +populace rushed in, unchecked by the soldiers who stood outside the +temple. + +The great halls of the Serapeum had been put in order as well as +possible in so short a time. Of all those who, the day before, +had crowded in to defend the god and his house, none were left but +Porphyrius and those who were nursing him. After a long and agonizing +period of silence heavy fists came thundering at the door. Gorgo started +up to unbolt it, but Apuleius held her back; so it was forced off its +hinges and thing into the temple-aisle on which the room opened. At the +same instant a party of soldiers entered the room and glanced round it +enquiringly. + +The physician turned as pale as death, and sank incapable of speech on +a seat by his patient’s couch; but Gorgo turned with calm dignity to the +centurion who led the intruders, and explained to him who she was, +and that she was here under the protection of the leech to tend her +suffering father. She concluded by asking to speak with Constantine +the prefect of cavalry, or with the Comes Romanus, to whom she and her +father were well known. + +There was nothing unusual in a sick man being brought into the Serapeum +for treatment, and the calm, undoubting superiority of Gorgo’s tone +as well as the high rank of the men whose protection she appealed to, +commanded the centurion’s respectful consideration; however, his orders +were to send every one out of the temple who was not a Roman soldier, so +he begged her to wait a few minutes, and soon returned with the legate +Volcatius, the captain of his legion. This knightly patrician well +knew--as did every lover of horses--the owner of the finest stable in +Alexandria, and was quite willing to allow Gorgo and Apuleius to +remain with their patient; at the same time he warned them that a great +catastrophe was imminent. Gorgo, however, persisted in her wish to be by +her father’s side, so he left her a guard to protect them. + +The soldiers were too busy to linger; instead of replacing the door they +had torn down, they pushed it out of their way; and Gorgo, seeing that +her father remained in precisely the same condition, drew back the +curtain which was all that now divided them from the hypostyle, and +looked out over the heads of a double row of soldiers. They were posted +close round the lower step of the platform that raised the hypostyle +above the nave and the colonnades on each side of it. + +In the distance Gorgo could see a vast body of men slowly approaching +in detachments, and with long pauses at intervals. They stopped for +some time in the outer hall, and before they entered the basilica twenty +Christian priests came in with strange gestures and a still stranger +chant; these were exorcists, come to bann the evil spirits and daemons +that must surely haunt this high place of idolatry and abominations. +They carried crosses which they flourished like weapons against an +unseen foe, and touched the columns with them, the pavement and the +few remaining statues; they fell on their knees, making the sign of +the cross with the left hand; and, finally, they ranged themselves like +soldiers in three ranks in front of the niche containing the statue, +pointed their crosses at the god, and recited in loud, angry, and +commanding tones the potent anathemas and mysterious formulas which they +thought calculated to expel the most reprobate and obdurate of all the +heathen devils. A host of acolytes, following at their heels, swung +their censers about the plague-spot--the shrine of the king of idols; +while the exorcists dipped wands into a cauldron carried by their +attendants, and sprinkled the mystical figures on the hanging and on the +mosaic pavement. + +All this occupied several minutes. Then--and Gorgo’s heart beat +high--then Constantine came in, armed and equipped, and behind him an +Ala of picked men, the elite of his troop; bearded men with tanned +and scarred faces. Instead of swords they carried axes, and they were +followed by sappers bearing tall ladders which, by Constantine’s +orders, they leaned up against the niche. The infantry ranged under the +colonnades at the sides were evidently startled at the sight of these +ladders, and Gorgo could perceive by the trembling of the curtain near +which she and Apuleius were standing, how deeply the physician was +agitated. It was as though the axe had been displayed with which a king +was about to be decapitated. + +Now the Bishop came in with the municipal dignitaries; priests and +monks, chanting as they walked, filled the broad hall, incessantly +making the sign of the cross; and the crowd that poured into the +hypostyle pressed as far forward as they were allowed by the chain which +the soldiers held outstretched between them and their superiors. + +The populace-heathen and Christian of every sect and degree-filled the +aisles, too; but the chain also kept them off the upper end, on to which +the room opened in which Porphyrius lay; so that Gorgo’s view of the +curtain and apse remained unhindered. + +The psalm rang loudly through the temple-courts above the murmur and +grumble of the angry, terrified and expectant mob. They were prepared +for the worst; each one knew the crime which was to be perpetrated, and +yet few, perhaps, really believed that any one would dare to commit +it. Whichever way she looked Gorgo saw only white faces, stamped with +passion, dismay, and dread. The very priests and soldiers themselves had +turned pale, and stood with bloodless cheeks and set teeth, staring at +the ground; some, to disguise their alarm, cast wrathful and defiant +glances at the rebellious mob, who tried to drown the psalm-singing in +loud menaces and curses, and the echoes of the great building doubled +their thousand voices. + +A strange unrest seethed in this dense mass of humanity. The heathen +were trembling with rage, clutching their amulets and charms, or shaking +angry fists; the Christians thrilled with anxiety and pious zeal, and +used their hands to lift the cross or to ward off the evil one with +outstretched fingers. Every face and every gesture, the muttered curses +and pious hymns--all showed that some terrible and fateful event was +impending over all. Gorgo herself felt as though she were standing on +the brink of a crater, while air and earth heaved around her; she felt +and saw the eruption of the volcano threatening, every instant, to burst +at her feet, and to choke and ruin every living thing. + +The uproar among the heathen grew louder and louder; fragments of stone +and wood came flying towards the spot where the Bishop and officials +were standing; but, suddenly, the tumult ceased, and, as if by a +miracle, there was silence--perfect silence--in the temple. It was as +though at a sign from the Omnipotent Ruler the storm-lashed ocean had +turned to the calm of a land-locked lake. At a nod from the Bishop some +acolytes had stepped up to the niche where the statue of the god was +shrouded and the curtain, which till now had hidden it, slowly began to +fall. + +There sat Serapis, looking down in majestic indifference, as cold and +unapproachable as if his sublime dignity was far removed above the +petty doings of the crawling humanity at his feet; and the effect was +as impressive now as it had been the evening before. How beautiful--how +marvellously grand and lofty was this work of human hands! Even the +Christians could not repress a low, long-drawn murmur of surprise, +admiration, and astonishment. The heathen were at first silent, +overcome by pious awe and ecstasy; but then they broke out in a loud and +triumphant shout, and their cries of “Hail to Serapis!” “Serapis, reign +forever!” rang from pillar to pillar and echoed from the stony vault of +the apse and ceiling. + +Gorgo crossed her hands over her bosom as she saw the god revealed in +his glorious beauty. Spotlessly pure, complete and perfect, the noble +statue stood before her; an idol indeed, and perishable--but still +divine as a matchless work, wrought by the loving hands of a votary of +the god, inspired by the immortals. She gazed spell-bound on the form +which, though human, transcended humanity as eternity transcends time, +as the light of the sun transcended the blazing beacon on Pharos; and +she said to herself that it was impossible that an irreverent hand +should be laid on this supremely lovely statue, crowned with the might +of undying beauty. + +She saw that even the Bishop drew back a step when the curtain had +fallen, and his lips parted involuntarily to utter a cry of admiration +like the others; but she saw, too, that he closed them again and pressed +them more firmly together; that his eye sparkled with a fiercer light as +the shout of the heathen rose to heaven, that the knotted veins on his +high forehead swelled with rage as he heard the cry of “Serapis, Hail, +all hail!” Then she noted the Comes, as he whispered soothing words in +the prelate’s ear, praying him perhaps to spare the statue--not as an +idol, but as a work of art; as he turned from Theophilus with a shrug; +and then--her heart stood still, and she had to cling to the curtain--he +pointed to the statue, with a nod of intelligence to Constantine. The +young officer bowed with military formality and gave a word of command +to his men, which was drowned by the wild cries of the heathen as soon +as they apprehended with dismay what its import was. + +The veterans were stirred. A subaltern officer, putting the standard he +bore into the hands of the man next to him and taking his axe from him +instead, rushed towards the statue, gazed up at it--and then, letting +the axe sink, withdrew slowly to rejoin the others who still stood +hesitating, looking at each other with doubting and defiant eyes. + +Once more Constantine shouted his order, louder and more positively than +before; but the men did not move. The subaltern flung his axe on the +ground and the rest followed his example, pointing eagerly to the god, +and vehemently adjuring their prefect--refusing apparently to obey his +commands--for he went to the recalcitrant standard-bearer, a grey-haired +veteran, and laying his hand on the man’s shoulder shook him angrily, +evidently threatening him and his comrades. + +In these brave souls a struggle was going on, between their sense of +discipline and devotion to their fine young leader, and their awe of +the god; it was visible in their puzzled faces, in their hands raised +in supplication. Constantine, however, relentlessly repeated his order; +and, when they still refused to obey, he turned his back on their ranks +with a gesture of bitter contempt, and shouted his commands to the +infantry posted by the colonnade behind which Gorgo was watching all +these proceedings. + +But these also were refractory. The heathen were triumphant, and +encouraged the soldiers with loud cries to persist. + +Constantine turned once more to his own men, and finding them obstinate +in their disobedience, he went forward himself to where the ladders were +standing, moved one of them from the wall and leaned it up against the +body of the statue, seized the axe that lay nearest, and mounted from +rung to rung. The murmurs of the heathen were suddenly silenced; the +multitude were so still that the least sound of one plate of armor +against another was audible, that each man could hear his neighbor +breathe, and that Gorgo fancied she could hear her own heart throb. + +The man and the god stood face to face, and the man who was about to +lay hands on the god was her lover. She watched his movements with +breathless interest; she longed to call out to him, to follow him as +he mounted the ladder, to fall on his neck and keep him from committing +such sacrilege--not out of fear of the ruin he might bring upon the +world, but only because she felt that the first blow he should deal to +this beautiful and unique work of art might wreck her love for him, as +his axe would wreck the ivory. She was not afraid for him; he seemed +to her inviolable and invulnerable; but her whole soul shuddered at the +deed which he was steeling himself to perpetrate. She remembered their +happy childhood together, his own artistic attempts, the admiration with +which he had gazed at the great works of the ancient sculptors--and +it seemed impossible that he, of all men he, should lay hands on that +masterpiece, that he, of all men, should be the one to insult, mutilate +and ruin it. It was not--could not be true! + +But there he was, at the top of the ladder; he passed the axe from his +left hand to his right, and leaning back a little, looked at the head +of the god from one side. She could see his face plainly, and note +every movement and look; she watched him keenly, and saw the loving +and compassionate expression with which he fixed his gaze on the noble +features of Serapis, saw him clutch his left hand to his heart as if in +pain. The crowd below might fancy that he lacked courage, that he was +absorbed in prayer, or that his soul shrank from dealing the fateful +blow to the great divinity; but she could see that he was bidding a +silent farewell, as it were, to the sublime work of an inspired artist, +which it pained and shocked him to destroy. And this comforted her; +it gave her views of the situation a new direction, and suggested the +question whether he, a soldier and a Christian, when commanded by his +superior to do this deed ought to shrink or hesitate, if he were indeed, +heart and soul, what, after all, he was. Her eyes clung to him, as +a frightened child clings to its mother’s neck; and the expectant +thousands, in an agony of suspense, like her, saw nothing but him. + +Stillness more profound never reigned in the heart of the desert than +now in this vast and densely-crowded hall. Of all man’s five senses only +one was active: that of sight; and that was concentrated on a single +object a man’s hand holding an axe. The hearts of thousands stood +still, their breath was suspended, there was a singing in their ears, +a dazzling light in their eyes--eyes that longed to see, that must +see--and that could not; thousands stood there like condemned criminals, +whose heads are on the block, who hear the executioner behind them, and +who still, on the very threshold of death, hope for respite and release. + +Gorgo found no answer to her own questionings; but she, too, wanted +to see--must see. And she saw Constantine close his eyes, as though he +dared not contemplate the deed that Fate had condemned him to do; she +saw him lay his left hand on the god’s sacred beard, saw him raise his +right for the fatal blow--saw, heard, felt the axe crash again and +again on the cheek of Serapis--saw the polished ivory fall in chips +and shavings, large and small, on the stone floor, and leap up with an +elastic rebound or shiver into splinters. She covered her face with her +hands and hid her head in the curtain, weeping aloud. She could only +moan and sob, and feel nothing, think nothing but that a momentous and +sinister act had been perpetrated. An appalling uproar like the noise of +thunder and the beating of surf rose up on every side, but she heeded it +not; and when at length the physician called her by her name, when she +turned from the curtain and once more looked out, instead of the sublime +image of the god she saw in the niche a shapeless log of wood, a hideous +mass against which several ladders were propped, while the ground was +heaped and strewed with scraps of ivory, fragments of gold-plate, and +chips of marble. Constantine had disappeared; the ladders and the plinth +of the statue were covered with a swarm of soldiers and monks who were +finishing the work of destruction. As soon as the young officer had +struck the first blow, and the god had submitted in abject impotence, +they had rushed upon him and saved their captain the trouble of ending +the task he had begun. + +The great idol was desecrated. Serapis was no more--the heaven of the +heathen had lost its king. The worshippers of the deposed god, sullen, +furious, and bitterly disabused, made their way out of the temple and +looked up at the serene blue sky, the unclouded sunshine, for some +symptoms of an avenging tempest; but in vain. + +Theophilus had also quitted the scene with the Comes, leaving the +work of devastation in the competent hands of the monks. He knew his +skin-clad adherents well; and he knew that within a very few days not +an idol, not a picture, not a token would remain intact to preserve the +memory of the old gods; a thousand slaves charged to sweep the Serapeum +from the face of the earth would have given his impatience twenty times +as long to wait. The Comes went off at once to the Hippodrome, preceded +by hundreds who had hurried off to tell the assembled multitude that +Alexandria had lost her god. + +Constantine, however, had not left the temple; he had withdrawn into one +of the aisles and seated himself on the steps, where he remained, sunk +in thought and gazing at the ground. He was a soldier and took service +and discipline in earnest. What he had done he had been forced to +do; but no one could guess how hard it had been to him to fulfil this +terrible duty. His own act was abominable in his eyes, and yet he would +have done it again to-morrow, if it had again been required of him +under similar circumstances. He bewailed the beautiful statue as a lost +treasure of art; but he felt that it was indispensable that it should +perish out of the world. And at the same time he thought of Gorgo, +wondering how she--who had only the day before pledged herself to him, +whom he loved with fervent passion, to whom, as he well knew, his faith +was something monstrous in its contempt for beauty--would bear to learn +that he, her lover, was the man who, like some coarse barbarian, had +defaced this noble work and ruined this vision of beauty, no less dear +to him than it was to her. Still, as he sat brooding and searching the +very depths of his soul, he could not help feeling that he had certainly +acted rightly and would do the same again, even at the risk of losing +her. To him Gorgo, was the noblest of God’s creatures, and how could he +have borne to go through life at her side with a stain on his honor? But +he did not conceal from himself the fact that his deed had opened a +wide gulf between them; and it was with deep pathos that his thoughts +recurred to the antique conception of tragedy--of fate which pursues +its innocent victims as though they were guilty. This day perhaps would +witness the sunset of his life’s joy, would drive him forth once more to +war--to fight, and do nothing but fight, till death should meet him on +the battle-field. And as he sat there his eyes grew dim and heavy and +his head fell on his heaving breast. + +Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and turning round, he +saw Gorgo standing with her hand outstretched; he started to his feet, +seized it with eager passion and looking sadly into the young girl’s +eyes said, with deep emotion: + +“I would I might hold this hand forever--but you will leave me, you will +turn from me when I tell you of the deed that mine has done.” + +“I know it,” she said firmly. “And it was a hard task even for you--a +painful duty--was it not?” + +“Terrible! horrible!” he exclaimed with a shudder, as he recalled the +feelings of that momentous instant. She looked sympathetically into his +eyes. + +“And you did it,” she cried, “because you felt that you must and will +be wholly what you profess to be? It is right--the only right; I feel it +so. I will try to imitate you, and rise above the half-heartedness +which is the bane of existence, and which makes the firm path of life a +trembling, swaying bridge. I am yours, wholly yours; I have none other +gods but yours, and for love of you I will learn to love your God--for +you have often and often called him a God of Love.” + +“And He is a God of Love!” cried Constantine, “and you will know him and +confess him even without teaching; for our Saviour lives in every heart +that is filled with love. Oh! Gorgo, I have destroyed that beautiful +idol, but I will let you see that even a Christian can duly value and +cherish beauty in his home and in his heart.” + +“I am sure of it,” she exclaimed joyfully. “The world goes on its way +and does not quake, in spite of the fall of Serapis; but I feel as +though in my inmost soul a world had perished and a new one was created, +nobler and purer, and perhaps even more lovely than the old one!” + +He pressed her hand to his lips; she signed to him to follow her and led +the way to her father’s couch. Porphyrius was sitting up, supported in +the physician’s arms; his eyes were open, and as they entered he greeted +them with a faint smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The spacious Hippodrome was filled with some thousands of spectators. At +first many rows of seats had been left vacant, though usually on the +eve of the great races, the people would set out soon after midnight +and every place would be filled long before the games began; indeed the +upper tiers of the tribune, which were built of wood and were free to +all comers, with standing-room behind, were commonly so crowded early in +the morning that the crush ended in a free fight. + +On this occasion, the storm of the previous night, the anxiety caused +by the conflict round the Serapeum, and the prevalent panic as to +the approaching end of the world, kept great numbers away from their +favorite diversion; but when the sky recovered its radiant blue, and +when it became known that the statue of Serapis had escaped uninjured +in the siege of his sanctuary--when Cynegius, the Imperial legate, and +Evagrius, the city-prefect, had entered the theatre with much +pomp, followed by several senators and ladies and gentlemen of +rank-Christians, Heathen, and Jews--the most timid took courage; the +games had been postponed for an hour, and before the first team was led +into the arched shed whence the chariots started, the seats, though less +densely packed than usual, were amply filled. + +The number of chariots entered for competition was by no means smaller +than on former occasions, for the heathen had strained every nerve to +show their fellow-citizens of different creeds, and especially Caesar’s +representative, that, in spite of persecution and in defiance of +Imperial edicts, they were still a power worthy of consideration. The +Christians, on their part, did their utmost to outdo the idolaters on +the same ground where, not long since, they had held quite the second +place. + +The Bishop’s epigram: That Christianity had ceased to be the religion of +the poor, was amply confirmed; the greater proportion of the places for +senators, officials and rich citizens were occupied by its adherents, +and the men and women who professed the Faith were by no means behind +their heathen peers in magnificence of dress and jewels. + +The horses, too, entered by the Christians could not fail to please +the connoisseur, as they punctually made their appearance behind the +starting-place, though he might have felt more confidence--and not +without reason--in the heathen steeds, and more particularly in their +drivers, each of whom had won on an average nine races out of ten. + +The horses in the quadriga with which Marcus, the son of Mary, made his +appearance in the arena had never before been driven in the Hippodrome. +Demetrius, the owner’s brother, had bred and trained them--four +magnificent black Arabs--and they excited much interest among the +knowing judges who were wont to collect and lounge about the ‘oppidum’, +as it was called, behind the ‘carceres’--[The covered sheds or stalls +in which the horses were brought to wait for the start.]--to inspect the +racers, predict the winner, offer counsel to the drivers, and make +bets. These perfect creatures were perhaps as fine as the famous team +of golden bays belonging to Iphicrates, which so often had proved +victorious; but the agitatores, or drivers, attracted even more interest +than the horses. Marcus, though he knew how to handle the reins--he +had already been seen in experimental races--could hardly hold his +own against Hippias, the handsome young heathen, who, like most of the +drivers in the arena, was an agitator by profession. A story was told +of his having driven over a bridge which was not quite as wide as the +outside edges of his chariot-wheels; and there were many witnesses +to the feat he had performed of writing his mistress’ name with his +chariot-tracks in the sand of the Hippodrome. + +The betting was freest and the wagers highest on Hippias and the team +belonging to Iphicrates. Some few backed Marcus and his Arabs, but for +smaller sums; and when they compared the tall but narrow-shouldered +figure of the young Christian with the heroic breadth of Hippias’ frame, +and his delicate features, dreamy blue eyes and downy black moustache +with the powerful Hermes-head of his rival, they were anxious about +their money. If his brother now, the farmer Demetrius--who was standing +by the horses’ heads--or some well-known agitator had held the reins, it +would have been a pleasure and a profit to back such horses. Marcus had +been abroad, too, and men shrugged their shoulders over that, for it was +not till the last few days that he had been seen exercising his horses +in the Hippodrome. + +Time was going on, and the Imperial envoy, who had been elected to +preside as judge, at length took his place; Demetrius whispered a few +last words of advice to his brother and went back into the arena. He had +secured a good place on the stone podium and on the shady side, though +there were several seats vacant among those belonging to his family; but +he did not care to occupy one of these, preferring to keep out of the +way of his step-mother, who had made her appearance with a senator and +his wife to whom she was related. He had not seen her for two days; his +promise to Karnis that he would try to find Dada, had kept him fully +occupied, and he had done his best in all earnest to discover the girl. + +The honest indignation with which this young creature had refused his +splendid offers, in spite of the modest circumstances of her life, had +roused his respect, and he had felt it an insult to himself and to his +brother when Gorgo had spoken of her with contempt. For his part, he had +never met with any one more fascinating; he could not cease dreaming of +her, and the thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of +a great city made him miserable. His brother had the first claim on +her and he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly +in every resort of the young and gay--nay even in Canopus--he had only +meant to place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being +lost to the family, though, when at last its possession is secured, +it becomes the property of the member who can prove the best right +of ownership. But all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an +unhappy mood that he went at last to the Hippodrome. There the bitter +hostility and party-feeling which he had everywhere observed during his +present visit to his native city, were not less conspicuous than they +had been in the streets. The competing chariots usually arrived at +the amphitheatre in grand procession, but this had not been thought +advisable in the prevailing excitement; they had driven into the oppidum +singly and without any display; and the images of the gods, which in +former days had always been placed on the spina before the games began, +had long since fallen into disuse. + + [The spina was the division down the middle of the arena. At each + end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of + about 13 feet. The spina was originally constructed of wood, + subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29 + feet. The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet + long.] + +All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat +it was in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of +spectators. + +His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins +which was reserved for the family. Her tunic and skirt displayed the +color blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and +silver brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and +the olive-branch were elegantly combined. Her black hair was closely and +simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string +of large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals, +lying on her forehead. A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat +gazing into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were +folded and held a cross. This placid and demure attitude she deemed +becoming to a Christian matron and widow. Everyone might see that she +had not come for worldly pleasure, but merely to be present at a triumph +of her fellow-Christians--and especially her son--over the idolaters. +Everything about her bore witness to the Faith, even the pattern on her +dress and the shape of her ornaments; down to the embroidery on her silk +gloves, in which a cross and an anchor were so designed as to form a +Greek X, the initial letter of the name of Christ. Her ambition was to +appear simple and superior to all worldly vanities; still, all she wore +must be rich and costly, for she was here to do honor to her creed. She +would have regarded it as a heathen abomination to wear wreaths of fresh +and fragrant flowers, though for the money which that string of pearls +had cost she might have decked the circus with garlands from end to end, +or have fed a hundred poor for a twelvemonth. It seems so much easier to +cheat the omniscient Creator of the Universe than our fellow-fools! + +So Dame Maria sat there in sour and virtuous dignity, looking like +the Virgin Mary as painters and sculptors were at that time wont to +represent her; and her farmer-son shuddered whenever his eye fell on +his step-mother. It did him good, by contrast, to hear a hearty peal of +laughter that came up from the lowest ranks of the podium. When he had +discovered the spot from whence it proceeded he could hardly believe his +eyes, for there sat the long-sought Dada, between an old man and a +young woman, laughing as though something had just occurred to amuse her +extremely. Demetrius stretched his limbs with a feeling of relief and +satisfaction; then he rose, and seeing his city agent seated just behind +the girl, he begged him to change places with him, as he thought it +advisable not to lose sight of the game now it was caught; the old +man was very ready to oblige him and went up to the other seat with a +meaning smile. + +For the first time since she could recollect anything Dada had spent +a sleepless night. Whether the wind and thunder would have sufficed to +keep her awake who can tell; but the thoughts that had whirled through +her brain had been varied and exciting enough to rob her of sleep. Her +own people who were fighting for Serapis--how were they faring; and +Agne--what had become of her? Then her mind turned to the church, and +the worthy old priest’s sermon; to the races that she was to see--and +the face and figure of the handsome young Christian rose vividly and +irresistibly before her fancy. Of course--of course, she wished his +horses to win; but it was strange enough that she, Karnis’ niece, should +be on the side of the Christians. Stranger still that she had entirely +ceased to believe in all the abuse which, from her earliest childhood, +she had heard heaped on the followers of the crucified Jew. It could +only be that Karnis had never been able to forgive them for having +ruined his theatre at Tauromenium, and so, perhaps, had never known them +thoroughly. + +She had enjoyed many a happy hour at the festivals of the old gods; and +they were no doubt beautiful and festive divinities, or terrible when +they were wroth; still, in the depths of her soul there had for some +time lurked a vague, sweet longing which found no fulfilment in any +heathen temple. She knew no name for it and would have found it hard to +describe, but in the church, listening to the prayers and hymns and the +old deacon’s discourse, it had for the first time been stilled; she had +felt then and there that, helpless and simple as she was, and even if +she were to remain parted from her foster parents, she need never feel +abandoned, but could rest and hope in a supreme, loving, and helpful +power. And indeed she needed such a protector; she was so easily +beguiled. Stephanion, a flute-player she had known in Rome, had wheedled +everything she had a fancy for out of poor Dada, and when she had +got into any mischief laid it all on Dada’s shoulders. There must be +something particularly helpless about her, for everyone, as a matter of +course, took her in hand and treated her like a child, or said things +that made her angry. + +In the Hippodrome, however, she forgot everything in the present +pleasure, and was happy enough in finding herself in the lowest row +of places, in the comfortable seats on the shady side, belonging to +Posidonius, the wealthy Magian. This was quite different from her +experience in Rome, where once, in the Circus Maximus, she had stood in +the second tier of the wooden gallery and had been squeezed and pushed, +while no one had taken any notice of her and she had only seen the races +from a distance, looking down on the heads of the men and horses. Herse +never would take her a second time, for, as they came out, they had been +followed and spoken to by men, young and old; and after that her aunt +had fancied she never could be safe, scenting danger at every turn, and +would not allow her ever again to go out alone in the city. + +This was altogether a much finer place, for here she was parted from +the race-course only by a narrow watercourse which, as it happened, was +bridged over just in front of her; the horses would pass close to her; +and besides, it was pleasant to be seen and to feel conscious of a +thousand flattering glances centered on herself. + +Even the great Cynegius, Caesar’s envoy and deputy, who had often +noticed her on board ship, turned again and again to look at her. He was +carried in on a golden litter by ten huge negroes, preceded by twelve +lictors bearing fasces wreathed with laurel; and he took his seat, robed +in purple and embroidery, on a magnificent throne in the middle of the +tribune above the starting sheds; however, Dada troubled herself no more +about the overdressed old man. + +Her eyes were everywhere, and she made Medius or his daughter name +everybody and explain everything. Demetrius was delighted with her eager +enjoyment; presently, nudging the singer, she whispered to him with much +satisfaction: + +“Look how the people down below are craning their necks to look at us! +My dress is so very pretty--I wonder where your friend Posidonius gets +these lovely roses. There are above a hundred buds in this garland +across my shoulders and down to my girdle, I counted them in the litter +as I came along. It is a pity they should die so soon; I shall dry the +leaves and make scent of them.” + +Demetrius could not resist the temptation; he leaned forward and said +over her shoulder: “There are hardly enough for that.” + +At this unexpected address Dada looked round, and she blushed as she +recognized Marcus’ brother; he, however, hastened to assure her that he +deeply regretted his audacious proposals of two days since, and the girl +laughed, and said that he had come off worst, and that she might have +sent him away a little more civilly perhaps; but the truth was she +had been out of temper to begin with--any one would be cross that was +treated as Dame Herse had treated her: hiding her shoes and leaving +her a prisoner on the deck of a barge in the middle of a lake! Then +she introduced him to Medius, and finally enquired about Marcus and his +horses, and whether he had any chance of winning the race. + +The countryman answered all her questions; and when, presently, a +flower-girl came along the ranks of seats, selling wreaths of blue and +red flowers and ribbands, Demetrius bought two lovely olive-wreaths to +fling to the winner--his brother he hoped. Medius and his daughter wore +red knots--the color of the Heathen, and Dada, following their example, +had a similar bow on her shoulder; now, however, she accepted a blue +ribband that Demetrius bought for her and pinned it in the place of +the red one as being the color of Marcus, to the old singer’s great +annoyance. Demetrius laughed loudly in his deep bass tones, declaring +that his brother was already most anxious to win, and that, when he saw +her with these ribbands he would strain every nerve, in gratitude +for her partisanship. He could assure her that Marcus thought of her +constantly. + +“I am glad of that,” she said simply; and she added that it was the same +with her, for she had been thinking all night of Marcus and his horses. +Medius could not help remarking that Karnis and Herse would take it very +ill that she should display the Christian color to-day of all days; to +which she only replied that she was sorry for that, but that she +liked blue better than red. The answer was so abrupt and short that it +startled Demetrius, who had hitherto seen Dada gentle and pliant; and +it struck him at once how deep an aversion the girl felt for her present +protectors. + +There was music, as usual, in the towers at either end of the row +of carceres; but it was less stirring and cheerful than of yore, for +flutes, and several of the heathen airs had been prohibited. Formerly, +too, the Hippodrome had been a place where lovers could meet and where +many a love-affair had been brought to a happy climax; but to-day none +of the daughters of the more respectable families were allowed to quit +the women’s apartments in their own homes, for danger was in the air; +the course of events in the Serapeum had kept many of the younger men +from witnessing the races, and some mysterious influence seemed to weigh +upon the gaiety and mirth of which the Hippodrome on a gala day was +usually the headquarters. + +Wild excitement, expectation strung to the highest pitch, and +party-feeling, both for and against, had always, of course, been rife +here; but to-day they were manifest in an acuter form--hatred had +added its taint and lent virulence to every emotion. The heathen were +oppressed and angered, their rights abridged and defied; they saw the +Christians triumphant at every point, and hatred is a protean monster +which rages most fiercely and most venomously when it has lurked in the +foul career of envy. + +The Christians could hate, too, and they hated the idolaters who gloried +with haughty self-sufficiency in their intellectual inheritance; the +traditions of a brilliant past. They, who had been persecuted and +contemned, now had the upper hand; they were in power, and the more +insolently they treated their opponents, the more injustice they +did them, and the less the victimized heathen were able to revenge +themselves, the more bitterly did the Christians detest the party they +contemned as superstitious idolaters. In their care for the soul--the +spiritual and divine part--the Christians had hitherto neglected the +graces of the body; thus the heathen had remained the undisputed masters +of the palaestra and the hippodrome. In the gymnasium the Christian +refused even to compete, for the exhibition of his naked body he +regarded as an abomination; but on the race-course he had lately been +willing to display his horses, and many times had disputed the crown +with the hereditary victors, so that, even here, the heathen felt +his time-honored and undisputed supremacy endangered. This was +intolerable--this must be averted--the mere thought of being beaten on +this ground roused the idolaters to wrath and malice. They displayed +their color in wreaths of scarlet poppies, pomegranate flowers and red +roses, with crimson ribbands and dresses; white and green, the colors +formerly adopted by the competitors, were abandoned; for all the heathen +were unanimous in combining their forces against the common foe. +The ladies used red sun-shades and the very baskets, in which the +refreshments were brought for the day, were painted red. + +The widow Mary, on the other hand, and all the Christians were robed in +blue from head to foot, their sandals being tied with blue ribbands; +and Dada’s blue shoulder-knot was in conspicuous contrast to her bright +rose-colored dress. + +The vendors of food who wandered round the circus had eggs dyed blue +and red, cakes with sugared icing and refreshing drinks in jars of both +colors. When a Christian and a Heathen found themselves seated side by +side, each turned a shoulder to the other, or, if they were forced to +sit face to face, eyed each other with a scowl. + +Cynegius did all he could to postpone the races as long as possible; +he was anxious to wait till the Comes had finished his task in the +Serapeum, so that the troops might be free to act in any emergency that +might arise before the contests in the Hippodrome were fairly ended. +Time did not hang heavy on his hands for the vast multitude here +assembled interested him greatly, though he had frequently been a +spectator of similar festivities in Rome and Constantinople; but this +crowd differed in many particulars from the populace of those cities. +In the topmost tiers of free seats black and brown faces predominated +greatly over white ones; in the cushioned and carpeted ranks of the +stone podium--the lower portion of the amphitheatre--mingled with Greeks +and Egyptians, sat thousands of splendidly dressed men and women +with strongly-marked Semitic features: members of the wealthy Jewish +community, whose venerable head, the Alabarch, a dignified patriarch in +Greek dress, sat with the chief members of the senate, near the envoy’s +tribune. + +The Alexandrians were not a patient race and they were beginning to +rebel against the delay, making no small noise and disturbance, when +Cynegius rose and with his white handkerchief waved the signal for the +races to begin. The number of spectators had gradually swelled from +fifty to sixty and to eighty thousand; and no less than thirty-six +chariots were waiting behind the carceres ready to start. + +Four ‘missus’ or races were to be run. In each of the three first twelve +chariots were to start, and in the fourth only the leaders in the +three former ones were to compete. The winner of the olive-wreath and +palmbranch in this final heat would bear the honors of the day; his +party would be victorious and he would quit the Hippodrome in triumph. + +Lots were now drawn in the oppidum to decide which shed each chariot was +to start from, and in which naissus each was to run. It was Marcus’ fate +to start among the first lot, and, to the horror of those who had backed +his chances, Hippias, the hero of the Hippodrome, was his rival, with +the four famous bays. + +Heathen priests poured libations to Poseidon, and Phoebus Apollo, the +patron divinities of horses and of the Hippodrome--for sacrifices of +blood were prohibited; while Christian presbyters and exorcists blessed +the rival steeds in the name of the Bishop. A few monks had crept in, +but they were turned out by the heathen with bitter jeers, as unbidden +intruders. + +Cynegius repeated his signal. The sound of the tuba rang through the +air, and the first twelve chariots were led into the starting-sheds. A +few minutes later a machine was set in motion by which a bronze eagle +was made to rise with outspread wings high into the air, from an altar +in front of the carceres; this was the signal for the chariots to come +forth from their boxes. They took up their positions close behind a +broad chalk line, traced on the ground with diagonal slope, so as to +reduce the disadvantage of standing outermost and having a larger curve +to cover. + +Until this moment only the privileged possessors of the seats over the +carceres had been able, by craning backwards, to see the horses and +drivers; now the competitors were visible to the multitude which, +at their first appearance, broke out into vociferous applause. The +agitatores had to exert all their strength to hold in the startled and +eager teams, and make them stand even for a few short minutes; then +Cynegius signalled for the third time. A golden dolphin, which had been +suspended from a beam, and on which the eye of every charioteer was +fixed, dropped to the ground, a blast on the ‘salpinx’, or war-trumpet, +was sounded, and forty-eight horses flew forth as though thrown forward +by one impulsion. + +The strength of four fine horses whirled each light, two-wheeled chariot +over the hard causeway as though it were a toy. The down-pour of the +previous night had laid the dust; the bright sunshine sparkled and +danced in rapidly-changing flashes, mirrored in the polished gilding +of the bronze or the silver fittings of the elegantly-decorated, +semicircular cars in which the drivers stood. + +Five blue and seven red competitors had drawn the first lots. The eye +rested with pleasure on the sinewy figures whose bare feet seemed rooted +to the boards they stood on, while their eyes were riveted on the goal +they were striving to reach, though--as the eye of the archer sees +arrow, bow and mark all at once--they never lost sight of the horses +they were guiding. A close cap with floating ribbands confined their +hair, and they wore a short sleeveless tunic, swathed round the body +with wide bands, as if to brace their muscles and add to their strength. +The reins were fastened around the hips so as to leave the hands free, +not only to hold them but also to ply the whip and use the goad. Each +charioteer had a knife in his girdle, to enable him to release himself, +in case of accident, from a bond that might prove fatal. + +Before long the bay team was leading alone. Behind were two Christian +drivers, followed by three red chariots; Marcus was last of all, but it +was easy to see that it was by choice and not by necessity that he was +hanging back. He was holding in his fiery team with all his strength and +weight--his body thrown back, his feet firmly set with his knees against +the silver bar of the chariot, and his hands gripping the reins. In a +few minutes he came flying past Dada and his brother, but he did not +see them. He had not even caught sight of his own mother, while the +professional charioteers had not failed to bow to Cynegius and nod to +their friends. He could only keep his eyes and mind fixed on his horses +and on the goal. + +The multitude clapped, roared, shouted encouragement to their party, +hissed and whistled when they were disappointed--venting their utmost +indignation on Marcus as he came past behind the others; but he either +heard them not or would not hear. Dada’s heart beat so wildly that she +thought it would burst. She could not sit still; she started to her +feet and then flung herself back on her cushions, shouting some spurring +words to Marcus in the flash of time when he might perhaps hear them. +When he had passed, her head fell and she said sadly enough: “Poor +fellow!--We have bought our wreaths for nothing after all, Demetrius!” + +But Demetrius shook his head and smiled. + +“Nay,” he said, “the boy has iron sinews in that slight body. Look how +he holds the horses in! He is saving their strength till they need it. +Seven times, child, seven times he has to go round this great circus and +past the ‘nyssa’. You will see, he will catch up what he has lost, yet. +Hippias, you see, is holding in his horses, too; it is his way of +giving himself airs at starting. Now he is close to the ‘nyssa’--the +‘kampter’--the ‘meta’ they call it at Rome; the smaller the bend he +can make round it the better for him, but it is risky work. There--you +see!--They drive round from right to left and that throws most of the +work on the lefthand beast; it has to turn almost in its own length. +Aura, our first horse, is as supple as a panther and I trained her to +do it, myself.--Now, look out there! that bronze figure of a rearing +horse--the ‘Taraxippos’ they call it--is put there to frighten the +horses, and Megaera, our third horse, is like a mad thing sometimes, +though she can go like a stag; every time Marcus gets her quietly past +the Taraxippos we are nearer to success.--Look, look,=-the first chariot +has got round the nyssa! It is Hippias! Yes, by Zeus, he has done it! He +is a detestable braggart, but he knows his business!” + +This was one of the decisive moments of the race. The crowd was silent; +expectation was at the utmost pitch of tension, and Dada’s eyes were +fixed spell-bound on the obelisk and on the quadrigas that whirled round +the bourn. + +Next to Hippias came a blue team, and close behind were three red ones. +The Christian who had succeeded in reaching the nyssa second, boldly +took his horses close round the obelisk, hoping to gain space and get +past Hippias; but the left wheel of his chariot grazed the granite +plinth, the light car was overset, and the horses of the red chariot, +whose noses were almost on his shoulder, could not be pulled up short +in time. They fell over the Christian’s team which rolled on the +ground; the red chariot, too, turned over, and eight snorting beasts lay +struggling in the sand. + +The horses in the next chariot bolted as they were being driven past +this mass of plunging and neighing confusion; they defied their driver’s +impotent efforts and galloped across the course back into the caiceres. + +The rest had time and space enough to beware of the wreck and to give it +a wide berth, among them Marcus. The melee at the Meta had excited his +steeds almost beyond control, and as they tore past the Taraxippos the +third horse, Megaera, shied violently as Demetrius had predicted. She +flung herself on one side, thrust her hind quarters under the pole, and +kicked desperately, lifting the chariot quite off the ground; the young +charioteer lost his footing and slipped. Dada covered her face with her +hands, and his mother turned pale and knit her brows with apprehension. +The youth was still standing; his feet were on the sand of the arena; +but he had a firm grip on the right-hand spiral ornament that terminated +the bar round the chariot. Many a heart stood still with anxiety, and +shouts of triumph and mockery broke from the red party; but in less than +half a minute, by an effort of strength and agility, he had his knees on +the foot-board, and then, in the winking of an eye, he was on his feet +in the chariot, had gathered up the reins and was rushing onward. + +Meanwhile, however, Hippias had far outstripped all the rest, and as +he flew past the carceres he checked his pace, snatched a cup from +a lemonade-seller, tossed the contents down his throat with haughty +audacity amid the plaudits of the crowd, and then dashed on again. A +wide gap, indeed, still lay between him and Marcus. + +By the time the competitors again came round to the nyssa, the slaves in +attendance had cleared away the broken chariots and led off the horses. +A Christian still came next to Hippias followed by a red agitator; +Marcus had gained on the others and was now fourth. + +In the third round the chariot of the red driver in front of Marcus +made too sharp a turn and ran up against the granite. The broken car was +dragged on by the terrified beasts, and the charioter with it, till, by +the time they were stopped, he was a corpse. In the fifth circuit the +Christian who till now had been second to Hippias shared the same +fate, though he escaped with his life; and then Marcus drove past the +starting-sheds next to Hippias. + +Hippias had ceased to flout and dally. In spite of the delay that Marcus +had experienced from the Taraxippos, the space that parted his bays +from the black Arabs had sensibly diminished, round after round; and +the interest of the race now centered entirely in him and the young +Christian. Never before had so passionate and reckless a contest been +fought out on this venerable race-course, and the throng of spectators +were carried away by the almost frenzied rivalry of the two drivers. Not +a creature in the upper tiers had been able to keep his seat; men and +women alike had risen to their feet and were shouting and roaring to the +competitors. The music in the towers might have ceased, so completely +was it drowned by the tumult in the amphitheatre. + +Only the ladies, in the best places above the starting-sheds, preserved +their aristocratic calm; Still, when the seventh and decisive round was +begun, even the widow Mary leaned forward a little and clasped her hands +more tightly over the cross in her lap. Each time that Marcus had driven +round the obelisk or past the Taraxippos, Dada had clutched her head +with her hands and set her teeth in her lip; each time, as he happily +steered clear of the fatal stone and whirled past the dreadful bronze +statue, she had relaxed her grip and leaned back in her seat with a sigh +of relief. Her sympathy made her one with Marcus; she felt as if his +loss must be her death and his victory her personal triumph. + +During the sixth circuit Hippias was still a long way ahead of the young +Christian; the distance which lay between Marcus and the team of bays +seemed to have become a fixed quantity, for, do what he could, he could +not diminish it by a hand-breadth. The two agitatores had now completely +altered their tactics; instead of holding their horses in they urged +them onward, leaning over the front of their chariots, speaking to the +horses, Shouting at them with hoarse, breathless cries, and flogging +them unsparingly. Steamy sweat and lathering foam streaked the flanks of +the desperate, laboring brutes, while clouds of dust were flung up +from the dry, furrowed and trampled soil. The other chariots were left +further and further behind those of Hippias and Marcus, and when, for +the seventh and last time, these two were nearing the nyssa, the crowd +for a moment held its breath, only to break out into louder and wilder +cries, and then again to be hushed. It seemed as though their exhausted +lungs found renewed strength to shout with double energy when their +excitement had kept them silent for a while. + +Dada spoke no more; pale and gasping, she sat with her eyes fixed on the +tall obelisk and on the cloud of dust which, as the chariots neared the +nyssa, seemed to grow denser. At about a hundred paces from the nyssa +she saw, above the sandy curtain, the red cap of Hippias flash past, and +then--close behind it--the blue cap worn by Marcus. Then a deafening, +thundering roar from thousands of throats went up to heaven, while, +round the obelisk--so close to it that not a horse, not a wheel could +have found room between the plinth and the driver-the blue cap came +forward out of the cloud, and, behind it now--no longer in front, though +not more than a length behind--came the red cap of Hippias. When within +a few feet of the nyssa, Marcus had overtaken his antagonist, had passed +the point with a bold and perilously close turn, and had left the bays +behind him. + +Demetrius saw it all, as though his eye had power to pierce the +dust-cloud, and now he, too, lost his phlegmatic calm. He threw up his +arms as if in prayer and shouted, as though his brother could hear him: + +“Well done, splendid boy! Now for the kentron--the goad--drive it in, +send it home if they die for it! Give it them well!” + +Dada, who could only guess what was happening, looked round at him, +asking in tremulous tones: “Has he passed him? Is he gaining on him? +Will he win?” But Demetrius did not answer; he only pointed to the +foremost of the flying clouds on which the second was fast advancing, +and cried in a frenzy of excitement: + +“Death and Hades! The other is catching him up. The dog, the sneak! If +only the boy would use his goad. Give it them, Marcus! Give it them, +lad! Never give in now! Great Father Poseidon!--there--there!--no! I can +hardly stand--Yes, he is still in front, and now--now--this must settle +it! Thunder and lightning! They are close together again--may the dust +choke him! No--it is all right; my Arabs are in front! All is well, keep +it up, lad, well done! We have won!” + +The horses were pulled up, the dust settled; Marcus, the Christian, had +won the first missus. Cynegius held out the crown to the victor, +who bowed to receive it. Then he waved his hand to his mother, who +graciously waved hers in return, and he drove into the oppidurn and was +lost to sight. + +Hippias flung down his whip in a rage, but the triumphant shouts of the +Christians drowned the music, the trumpet-blasts and the angry murmurs +of the defeated heathen. Threatening fists were shaken in the air, while +behind the carceres the drivers and owners of the red party scolded, +squabbled and stormed; and Hippias, who by his audacious swagger +had given away the race to their hated foe--to the Blues, the +Christians--narrowly escaped being torn in pieces. + +The tumult and excitement were unparalleled; but Dada saw and heard +nothing. She sat in a blissful dream, gazing into her lap, while tears +of joyful reaction rolled down her cheeks. Demetrius saw her tears and +was glad; then, pointing out Mary to the girl, he informed her that she +was the mother of Marcus. And he registered a secret vow that, cost what +it might, he would bring his victorious brother and this sweet child +together. + +The second and third missus, like the first, were marked by serious +accidents; both, however, were won for the Red party. In the fourth, +the decisive race, there were but three competitors: Marcus and the two +heathen winners. Demetrius watched it with less anxiety; he knew that +his Arabs were far superior to the Egyptian breed in staying power, and +they also had the advantage of having had a longer rest. In fact, the +final victory was adjudged to the young Christian. + +Long before it was decided Dada had been impatiently fingering her +wreaths, and could hardly wait any longer to fling them into Marcus’ +chariot. When it was all over she might perhaps have an opportunity of +speaking to him; and she thought how delightful his voice was and what +fine, kind eyes he had. If only he were to bid her be his, she would +follow him whither and wherever he desired, whatever Karnis and Herse +might say to the contrary. She thought no one could be so glad of his +success as she was; she felt as if she belonged to him, had always +belonged to him, and only some spiteful trick of Fate had come between +them. + +There was a fresh blast of trumpets; the victor, in obedience to a +time-honored custom, was to drive round the arena at a foot-pace and +show his brave team to the multitude. He came nearer and nearer, and +Demetrius proposed that they should cross the little watercourse that +parted the podium from the arena and follow the chariot, so as to +give his brother the wreaths instead of flinging them to him. The girl +colored and could say neither yes or no; but she rose, hung one of the +olive-crowns on her arm with a happy, bashful smile, and handed the +other to her new friend; then she followed him across the little bridge +on to the race-course which, now that the games were over, was crowded +with Christians. + +The brothers exchanged pleased greetings from afar, but Marcus did not +see Dada till she was close to him and stood, with a shy but radiant +glance of intense delight, holding out the olive-wreath for his +acceptance. He felt as though Heaven had wrought a miracle in his favor. +Never before had he thought her half so lovely. She seemed to have +grown since he had seen her last, to have gained a deeper and nobler +expression; and he observed, too, the blue favors on her shoulder and +among the roses that crowned her fair curls. Gladness and surprise +prevented his speaking; but he took the garland she offered him and, +seizing her hands, stammered out: “Thanks--thank you, Dada.” + +Their eyes met, and as he gazed into her face he forgot where he was, +did not even wonder why his brother had suddenly turned away and, +beginning some long-winded speech, had rushed after a man who hastily +covered his head and tried to escape; he did not notice that thousands +of eyes were fixed on him, and among them his mother’s; he could merely +repeat: “thanks” and “Dada”--the only words he could find. He would +perhaps have gone on repeating them, but that he was interrupted; the +‘porta libitinaria’--the gate through which the dead or injured were +usually carried out, was thrown open, and a rabble of infuriated heathen +rushed in, crying: “Serapis is fallen! They have destroyed the image of +Serapis! The Christians are ruining the sanctuaries of the gods!” + +A sudden panic seized the assembled multitude; the Reds rushed down from +their places into the arena to hear the details and ask questions--ready +to fight for the god or to fly for safety. In an instant the victor’s +chariot was surrounded by an angry mob; Dada clutched it for protection, +and Marcus, without pausing to reflect--indeed hardly master of his own +actions--turned and lifted her into it by his side; then, urging his +horses forward, he forced a way through the crowd, past the caiceres. He +glanced anxiously up at the seats but could nowhere see his mother, so +he guided the exhausted beasts, steaming with sweat and dappled with +foam, through the open gate and out of the circus. His stable-slaves had +run after him; he released himself from the reins on his hips and flung +them to the grooms. Then he helped Dada to leap from the car. + +“Will you come with me?” he asked her simply; and the girl’s reply was: +“Wherever you bid me.” + +At the news that Serapis was overthrown Dame Mary had started from +her seat with eager haste that ill-became her dignity and, under the +protection of the body-guard in attendance on Cynegius, had found her +way to her litter. + +In the Hippodrome the tumult rose to a riot; Reds and Blues rushed +from the upper tiers, down the ranks of the podium and into the dusty +race-course; falling on each other tooth and nail like wild beasts; +and the bloody fray--no uncommon termination to the day, even in more +peaceful times--lasted till the Imperial soldiery parted the unarmed +combatants. + +The Bishop was triumphant; his adherents had won the day at every point; +nor was he sorry to learn that Olympius, Helladius, Ainmonius and many +other spiritual leaders of the heathen world had succeeded in escaping. +They might come back; they might preach and harangue as much as they +chose: their power was broken. The Church had nothing now to fear +from them, and their philosophy and learning would still and always be +valuable in the mental training of her priests. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +The great Hippodrome of Alexandria was outside the Canopic gate, on the +northern side of the road leading to Eleusis which to-day was crowded +with passengers, all moving in the same direction. The tumult roused by +the intelligence that Serapis was overthrown made all the more peaceful +and peace-loving of the spectators hurry homewards; and as these, for +the most part, were of the richer classes, who came and went in litters +or chariots, their conveyances left but scanty space on the wide +causeway for foot passengers, still, there they were, in considerable +numbers, all wending their way towards the city, and the heathen who +came rushing towards the Hippodrome behind the first heralds of the +disaster, had great difficulty in making their way against the stream. + +Marcus and Dada allowed themselves to be carried onward by the throng +which was tending towards the city-walls and the Canopic gate. Phabis, +Mary’s old steward, whose duty it had been to help his young master to +dress after the races were over, had snatched the agitator’s cap from +the youth’s head and flung a cloak over his shoulders, hastily following +him as he went off with the young girl by his side. The old man quite +understood what was in the wind for he it was who had conducted Dame +Herse to his mistress’ presence. He had thought her a shrewd and +kind-hearted woman, and it now struck him that she must certainly have +been in the right when she accused Marcus of designs on her pretty +niece. At the time he had refused to believe it, for he had never in his +life detected his young master in any underhand or forbidden courses; +but, after all, Marcus was his father’s son, and, in his younger +days, the old man had often and often had to risk his skin in Apelles’ +love-intrigues. And now it was the Son’s turn--and if he were to take +his fancy for that pretty chit as seriously as he did most things, if he +got the notion into his head of marrying the little singer--what a storm +there was brewing between him and his mother! + +The old man did his best to keep up with Marcus who did not see or heed +him, for his eyes and attention were centered on the fair companion who +was clinging to his arm, while he tried to force a passage through the +mob, towards the gate. Miracle on miracle seemed to him to have been +wrought in his behalf; for Heaven had not only sent him Dada, but she +was wearing blue ribbands; and when he asked her why, she had replied +“For your sake, and because I like your Faith.” + +He was tired to death; but as soon as Dada had put her hand through his +arm he lead felt refreshed as if by magic. His swollen and blistered +hands, to be sure, were painful and his shoulders ached and winced from +stiffness; but as she pressed his arm to her side and looked up gladly +in his face--telling him how happy she was while he responded: “And how +I love you!”--he felt himself in Heaven, and pain and discomfort were +forgotten. The crush did not allow them to say more than a few words; +but the things their eyes and lips could smile were sweeter and dearer +than anything they had ever known before. + +They had got through the gate and were in the Canopic way when Dada +suddenly perceived that his lips were white, and felt the arm tremble +on which her hand was lying. She asked him what ailed him; he made +no reply, but put his hand to his head, so she led him aside into the +public garden that lay to their right between the little Stadium and the +Maeandrian circus. In this pretty spot, fresh with verdure and spring +flowers, she soon found a bench shaded by a semicircular screen of +dark-tufted tamarisk, and there she made him lie down. He yielded at +once, and his pale face and fixed gaze showed her that he was in a +fainting state. Indeed, he must be quite worn out by the terrible +struggle of the race, and after it was over he had not given himself +time to take a cup of drink or a scrap of food for refreshment. It was +only too natural that his strength should fail him, so, without feeling +at all alarmed but only very pitiful and anxious to help, she ran back +to a fruit-stall which they had passed at the entrance to the garden +from the street. + +How glad she was that she still had the four drachmae which she had +coaxed out of Karnis in the Xenodochium that evening; she could buy +whatever she liked for her lover. When she went back-loaded with +oranges, apples, hard-boiled eggs, bread and salt, in the skirt of her +dress that she gathered up with one hand, and with a flask of wine +and water, and a gourdbowl in the other-she found him still lying +unconscious. However, when she had moistened his forehead and lips he +opened his eyes, and then she peeled him an orange as daintily as she +could and begged him to try it, and as she was herself very hungry she +took a hearty share. She was enchanted at making him her guest, and at +finding that he enjoyed the simple meal and soon was quite revived. +In fact, in a few minutes he had altogether recovered his strength and +consciousness of satisfaction; and as he lay back with Dada’s hand +in his, gazing happily and thankfully into her sweet eyes, a sense of +peace, rest and bliss came over him such as he had never before known. +He thought he had never tasted such delicious food, or such exquisite +wine as the wretched Mareotic from the fruitstall. He took the apple she +had begun eating out of her hand and bit it where her white teeth had +been; he made her drink first out of the gourd-cup, and, as one of the +three eggs she had brought with her was bad, they had quite a little +battle for the last, till he finally gave way and eat it. + +When they had finished Dada’s purchases to the last mouthful she asked +him, for the first time, where he meant to take her, and he said he +intended placing her in the house of his former tutor, Eusebius, the +deacon, where she would be a welcome guest and find her old companion +Agne. Of this she was sincerely glad; and when, on hearing the title of +Deacon, she questioned Marcus further, and identified Eusebius as the +worthy old man whose discourse in the basilica had so deeply impressed +her, she told Marcus how she had gone into the church, and how, from +that hour, she had felt at peace. A quite new feeling had sprung up in +her soul, and since then she had constantly longed to see him again +and talk it all over with him:--The little she had learnt of Christian +doctrine did her heart good and had given her comfort and courage. The +world was so beautiful, and there were many more good men than bad. +It was a pleasure to love one’s neighbor, and as for forgiving a +wrong--that she had never found difficult. It must be good to live on +earth if everyone loved his neighbor as she loved him and he loved her; +and life could not be a great hardship if in every trouble there was +some one who was always ready to hear our cry and help us, out of pure +beneficence. + +Her innocent talk was to Marcus the greatest marvel of this day of +miracles. The soul which he had dreamed that he was called to save had, +of its own accord, turned to walk in the path of salvation; he went on +to tell her of the things which he felt to be most sublime and glorious +in his creed, and at length he confessed that, though he had always +loved his neighbor for Christ’s sake, never till now had true and +perfect love been revealed to him. No power on earth could now part +him from her, and when she should have been baptized there would be +no further difficulty; their love might last till, and beyond, death, +through all the ages of eternity. And she listened to him, perfectly +content; and said that she was his, wholly his, now, and for ever and +ever. + +There were to-day but few people in the garden which was usually full +in the afternoon, of idlers, and of children with their nurses; but the +disturbance in the streets had kept these at home, and the idlers had +found more to attract them at the Hippodrome and in the crowded roads. +This favored the lovers, who could sit hand in hand, looking into each +other’s eyes; and when old Phabis, who had lost sight of them long +since, at length discovered them in the park, he could see from his +lurking-place as he crept closer, that his young master, after glancing +cautiously round, pressed a kiss on the little singer’s hair, and then +on her eyes and at last on her lips. + +The hours flew fast between serious talk and delightful dalliance, and +when they tore themselves away from their quiet retreat it was already +dusk. They soon found themselves in the Canopic way, in the thick of the +crowd which they were now occasionally obliged to meet, for those who +were making homewards had long since dispersed, and thousands were still +crowding to the Hippodrome where a brisk fight was still going on. As +they passed his mother’s house Marcus paused and, pointing it out to +Dada, told her that the day was not far distant when he should bring her +home hither. But the girl’s face fell. + +“Oh no!” she exclaimed, in a low voice. “Not here-not to this great +palace in a street. Let us live in a little house, quite quietly, by +ourselves. A house with a garden, and a seat in the shade. Your mother +lives here!” + +And then she blushed scarlet and looked down. He guessed, however, what +was passing in her mind, and bid her only to have patience, for as soon +as she was a baptized Christian Eusebius would intercede for her. And +he spoke warmly of his mother’s piety and virtues, and asked Dada if she +had seen her at the races. + +“Yes,” she replied timidly; and when he went on to ask her if she had +not thought Mary very handsome and dignified, she answered frankly: +“Yes--very; but then she is so tall and grand-looking-she must wish for +a daughter-in-law very different from a poor, forsaken orphan like me--a +mere singer, looked down upon by every one! It is different with you; +you are satisfied with me as I am, and you know that I love you. If I +never find my uncle again I have no one on earth to care for me but you; +but I want no other, for you are my one and only hope, and to live for +you and with you is enough. Only you must never leave me or I shall die! +But you never can, for you told me that my soul was dearer to you than +your own life; and so long as I have you and your love I shall grow +better and better every day; but if you ever let me be parted from you +I shall be utterly lost. Yes, understand that once for all--ruined and +lost, body and soul!--I do not know what it is that terrifies me, but do +let us go on, away from this house. Suppose your mother were to see us!” + +He did as she wished and tried to soothe her, praising his mother’s +virtues with the affectionate blindness of a son; but she only half +listened to his eulogy, for, as they approached Rhacotis the throng grew +denser, they had no opportunities for conversation, they could think +of nothing but battling their way through the crowd; still, they were +happy. + + [The quarter of the city inhabited by the Egyptians. It was the old + town close to which Alexander the Great built his splendid new + city.] + +They thus got to the street of the Sun--one of the main arteries of +the city cutting the Canopic way at right angles--and they went down it +towards the Gate of Helios in the south wall. The Serapeum lay to their +right, several streets leading to it from the street of the Sun. To +reach the house where Eusebius lived they ought to have turned down the +street of the Acropolis, but a compact mass of frenzied creatures came +storming down it from the Serapeum, and towards them. The sun was now +fast setting over the City of the Dead on the western horizon. Marcus +tried to get out of the middle of the road and place Dada in safety by +the house at the corner, but in vain; the rabble that came crowding out +of the side street was mad with excitement, and could think of nothing +but the trophies it had snatched from the temple. Several dozen men, +black and white alike--and among them some monks and even women, +had harnessed themselves to an enormous truck, commonly used for the +carriage of beams, columns, and heavy blocks of stone, on which they +had erected a huge but shapeless mass of wood, the core, and all that +remained, of the image of Serapis; this they were dragging through the +streets. + +“To the Hippodrome! Burn it! Down with the idols! Look at the divine +form of Serapis! Behold the god!” + +These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an +ear-splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity. + +The monks had torn the desecrated block from the niche in the Serapeum, +hauled it through the courts on to the steps, and were now taking it to +the arena where it was to be burnt. Others of their kidney, and some of +the Christian citizens who had caught the destructive mania, had forced +their way into the temple of Anubis, hard by the Serapeumn, where they +had overthrown and wrecked the jackal-headed idols and the Canopic +gods--four huge jars with lids representing respectively a man’s head, +an ape’s, a hawk’s and a jackal’s. They were now bearing these heads in +triumph, while others were shouldering the limbs of broken statues of +Apollo, of Athene, or of Aphrodite, or carrying the fragments in baskets +to cast them into the flames in the Hippodrome after the wooden stock +of the great Serapis. The mob had broken off the noses of all the heads, +had smeared the marble with pitch, or painted it grossly with the red +paint they had found in the writing-rooms of the Sera peum. Every one +who could get near enough to the remains of the statue, or to a fragment +of a ruined idol, spit upon it, struck it or thrust at it; and not a +heathen had, as yet, dared to interfere. + +Behind the oak block of the image of Serapis and the other trophies +of victory, came an endless stream of men of all ages, of monks and of +women, compelling a large carruca--[A four-wheeled chariot used in the +city and for travelling.]--that had fallen into their hands, and which +they had completely surrounded, to keep pace with them. The two fine +horses that drew it had to be led by the bridle; they were trembling +with terror and excitement and made repeated attempts to kick over the +pole or to rear. + +In this vehicle was Porphyrius, who had fully recovered consciousness, +and by his side sat Gorgo. Constantine had not stirred from the side of +the convalescent till Apuleius had pronounced him out of all danger; +but then the young officer’s duty had called him away. The merchant +had hailed the news of his daughter’s, union with the companion of her +childhood as a most satisfactory and long-expected event. + +A party of the Prefect’s guards had been charged to bring the carriage +for Porphyrius to the door of the temple, and the abbot of a monastery +at Arsinoe, who was well known to the Prefect, undertook to escort them +on their road home and protect them from the attacks of the raving mob. +At the spot where the side street intersected the street of the Sun, and +where Marcus and Dada had been forced to stop, unable either to proceed +or to return, a troop of armed heathen had given the Christian rabble +a check at the very moment when the carruca came up, and falling on +the foe who had mocked and insulted their most sacred treasure, began +a furious fray. Quite close to the young lovers a heathen cut down a +Christian who was carrying the besmirched head of a Muse. Dada clung +in terror to Marcus, who was beginning to be seriously alarmed for her +when, looking round for aid or refuge, he caught sight of his brother +forcing his way through the throng, and gesticulating vehemently. The +farmer was telegraphing to the occupants of the carruca as well, and +when he at last reached Marcus he briefly explained to him that the +first thing to be done was to place Dada in safety. + +Only too glad to be out of the crush and danger, the girl nimbly climbed +into the chariot, and, after hastily greeting the father and daughter, +signed to Marcus to follow her; but Demetrius held his brother back, and +it was hurriedly agreed that Dada should be sent for that evening to +the house of Porphyrius. Demetrius whispered a few words of enthusiastic +praise of the little singer into Gorgo’s ear; then the carriage moved +on again. Many of the heathen who had collected round it recognized +Porphyrius, the noble friend of the great Olympius, and cleared a +passage for him, so that at last he got out of the gate uninjured, and +turned into the quieter street of Euergetes which led to the temple of +Isis, the ship-yard and the merchant’s residence. + +But few words were exchanged in the chariot, for it was only step by +step and with considerable difficulty that the horses could get along. +It was now quite dark and the mob had spread even into this usually +deserted quarter. + +A flaring glow that tinged the temple, the wharf and the deep sky itself +with a gorgeous crimson glare, showed very plainly what the populace +were employed in doing. The monks had set fire to the temple of Isis +and the flames had been driven by the northwest wind down into the +ship-yard, where they had found ample food in the enormous timber stacks +and the skeletons of ships. Tall jets of rushing and crackling sparks +were thrown skywards to mingle with the paler stars. Porphyrius could +see what danger his house was in; but thanks to the old steward’s +foresight and the indefatigable diligence of the slaves, it escaped the +conflagration. + +The two brothers, meanwhile, had left the mob far behind them. Demetrius +was not alone, and as soon as he had introduced Marcus to his companion, +an abbot of friendly mien, the monk warmly expressed his pleasure at +meeting another son of Apelles, to whom he had once owed his life. +Demetrius then told his brother what his adventures had been during the +last few hours, and where he had met this worthy Father. + +While taking Dada down into the arena to join Marcus, he had caught +sight of Anubis, the Egyptian slave who had been his father’s companion +in his last memorable journey to Syria, and who, since the death of +Apelles, had totally disappeared, the countryman had instantly followed +him, seized him--not without a struggle and some little danger--and then +had him led off by the city-guard to the prison by the Prefect’s house. +Once secured he had been induced to speak, and his narrative proved +beyond a doubt that Apelles had perished in a skirmish with the +Saracens; the Egyptian slave had only taken advantage of his master’s +death to make off with the money he had with him. He had found his way +to Crete, where he had purchased a plot of ground with his plunder; but +then, craving to see his wife and children once more, he had come back +to fetch them away to his new home. Finally, to confirm the truth of his +story, which--clearing him apparently of the murder of his master--did +not invite implicit belief, he told Demetrius that he had seen in +Alexandria, only the day before, a recluse who had been present when +Apelles fell, and Demetrius had at once set out to find this monk, +enquiring among those who had swarmed into the city. He had very soon +been successful; Kosnias, who since then had been elected abbot of the +monastery to which he belonged, now again told Marcus the story of his +father’s heroic courage in the struggle with the freebooters who had +attacked his caravan. Apelles, he said, had saved his life and that of +two other anchorites, one of whom was in Alexandria at this very time. +They were travelling from Hebron to Aila, a party of seven, and had +placed themselves under the protection of the Alexandrian merchant’s +escort; everything had gone well till the infidel Saracens had fallen +upon them in the high land south of Petra. Four of the monks had been +butchered out of hand; but Apelles, with a few of the more resolute +spirits in the company, had fought the heathen with the valor of a lion. +He, Kosmas, and his two surviving comrades had effected their escape, +while Apelles engaged the foe; but from a rocky height which they +climbed in their flight they saw him fall, and from that hour they +had always mentioned him in their prayers. It would be an unspeakable +satisfaction to him to do his utmost to procure for such a man as +Apelles the rank he deserved in the list of martyrs for the Faith. + +Marcus, only too happy, wanted to hurry away at once to his mother and +tell her what he had heard, but Demetrius detained him. The +Bishop-he told his brother--had desired his immediate presence, to be +congratulated on his victory; his first duty was to obey that mandate, +and he should at once avail himself of its favorable opportunity to +obtain for his deceased parent the honor he had earned. + +It rather startled Marcus to find his brother taking its interest in +a matter which, so lately, he had vehemently opposed; however, he +proceeded at once to the episcopal palace, accompanied by the abbot, and +half an hour later Demetrius, who had awaited his return, met him coming +out with sparkling eyes. The Prelate, he said, had received him very +graciously, had thanked him for his prowess and had bid him crave a +reward. He at once had spoken of his father, and called the recluse to +witness to the facts. The Bishop had listened his story, and had ended +by declaring himself quite willing to put the name of Apelles on the +list of the Syrian martyrs. Theophilus had been most unwilling hitherto +to reject the petitions of so good and illustrious Christian as Mary; +and now, after such ample testimony as to the manner of her husband’s +death, it was with sincere satisfaction that he bestowed this high mark +of honor on the Christian victor and his admirable mother. “So now,” + added the young man, “I shall fly home, and how happy my mother will +be....” + +But Demetrius would not allow him to finish his sentence. He laid his +hand on the young man’s shoulder saying: “Patience, my dear fellow, +patience! You must stay with me for the present, and not go to your +mother till I have settled everything that is necessary. Do not +contradict me I entreat you, unless you want to deprive me of the +happiness of remedying an injustice to your pretty Dada. What you most +desire for yourself and her is your mother’s blessing--and do you think +that will be easy to obtain? Far from it, lad! But I can manage it for +you; and I will, too, if only you will do as I bid you, and if the old +Heathen’s niece can be induced to be baptized....” + +“She is a Christian already!” exclaimed Marcus eagerly. + +“Well then, she can be yours to-morrow,” Demetrius went on calmly, “if +you listen to the advice of your older and wiser brother. It cannot be +very hard upon you, for you must own that if I had not fought it out +with Anubis--and the rascal bit all he could reach like a trapped +fox--if I had not got him locked up and almost run my legs off in +hunting down the worthy abbot, our father would never have enjoyed the +promotion which he is at last to obtain. Who would ever have believed +that I should get any satisfaction out of this ‘Crown of Martyrdom’? +By the gods! It is by no means impossible, and I hope the manes of the +deceased will forgive me for your sake. But it is getting late, so only +one thing more: for my own share of the business all I claim is my right +to tell your mother myself of all that has occurred; you, on your part, +must go at once to Eusebius and beg him to receive Dada in his house. +If he consents--and he certainly will--take him with you to our uncle +Porphyrius and wait there till I come; then, if all goes well, I will +take you and Dada to your mother--or, if not, we will go with Eusebius.” + +“Dada to my mother!” cried Marcus. “But what will she....” + +“She will receive her as a daughter,” interrupted his brother, “if +you hold your tongue about the whole business till I give you leave to +speak.--There, the tall gate-keeper is closing the episcopal palace, +so nothing more can come out of there to-night. You are a lucky +fellow--well good-bye till we meet again; I am in a hurry.” + +The farmer went off, leaving Marcus with a thousand questions still +unasked. However, the young man did his bidding and went, hopeful though +not altogether free from doubts, to find his old tutor and friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +While Marcus carried out his brother’s instructions Dada was expecting +him and Eusebius with the greatest impatience. Gorgo had charged her +waiting-woman to conduct the girl into the music-room and to tell her +that she would join her there if her father was in such a state as to +allow of it. Some refreshments were brought in to her, all delicate and +tempting enough; but Dada would not touch them, for she fancied that the +merchant’s daughter was avoiding her intentionally, and her heart ached +with a sense of bereavement and loneliness. To distract her thoughts she +wandered round the room, looking at the works of art that stood against +the walls, feeling the stuffs with which the cushions were covered and +striking a lute which was leaning against the pedestal of a Muse. She +only played a few chords, but they sufficed to call up a whole train of +memories; she sank on a divan in the darkest corner she could find in +the brilliantly-lighted room, and gave herself up to reviewing the many +events of the last few days. It was all so bright, so delightful, that +it hardly seemed real, and her hopes were so radiantly happy that for a +moment she trembled to think of their fulfilment--but only for a moment; +her young soul was full of confidence and elation, and if a doubt +weighed it down for an instant it was soon cast off and her spirit rose +with bold expectancy. + +Her heart overflowed with happiness and thankfulness as she thought of +Marcus and his love for her; her fancy painted the future always by his +side, and though her annoyance at Gorgo’s continued absence, and her +dread of her lover’s mother slightly clouded her gladness, the sense of +peace and rapture constantly came triumphantly to the front. She forgot +time as it sped, till at length Gorgo made her appearance. + +She had not deliberately kept out of the little singer’s way; on the +contrary, she had been detained by her father, for not till now had she +dared to tell him that his mother, the beloved mistress of his +house, was no more. In the Serapeum she had not mentioned it, by the +physician’s orders; and now, in addition, through the indiscretion of +a friend, he had received some terrible tidings which had already been +known for some hours in the city and which dealt him a serious blow. +His two sons were in Thessalonica, and a ship, just arrived from thence, +brought the news-only too well substantiated, that fifteen thousand of +the inhabitants of that town had been treacherously assassinated in the +Circus there. + +This hideous massacre had been carried out by the Imperial troops at +Caesar’s command, the wretched citizens having been bidden to witness +the races and then ruthlessly butchered. A general of the Imperial +army--a Goth named Botheric--had been killed by the mob, and the Emperor +had thus avenged his death. + +Porphyrius knew only too well that his sons would never have been +absent from any races or games. They certainly must have been among the +spectators and have fallen victims to the sword of the slaughterer. His +mother and two noble sons were snatched from him in a day; and he would +again have had recourse to poison as a refuge from all, if a dim ray of +hope had not permitted him to believe in their escape. But all the same +he was sunk in despair, and behaved as though he had nothing on earth +left to live for. Gorgo tried to console him, encouraged his belief in +her brothers’ possible safety, reminded him that it was the duty of a +philosopher to bear the strokes of Fate with fortitude; but he would not +listen to her, and only varied his lamentations with bursts of rage. + +At last he said he wished to be alone and reminded Gorgo that she ought +to go to Dada. His daughter obeyed, but against her will; in spite of +all that Demetrius had said in the young girl’s favor she felt a little +shy of her, and in approaching her more closely she had something of +the feeling of a fine lady who condescends to enter the squalid hovel of +poverty. But her father was right: Dada was her guest and she must treat +her with kindness. + +Outside the door of the music-room she dried away her tears for her +brothers, for her emotion seemed to her too sacred to be confessed to a +creature who boldly defied the laws laid down by custom for the conduct +of women. From Dada’s appearance she felt sure that all those lofty +ideas, which she herself had been taught to call “moral dignity” and +“a yearning for the highest things,” must be quite foreign to this girl +with whom her cousin had condescended to intrigue. She felt herself +immeasurably her superior; but it would be ungenerous to allow her +to see this, and she spoke very kindly; but Dada answered timidly and +formally. + +“I am glad,” Gorgo began, “that accident brought you in our way;” and +Dada replied hastily: “I owe it to your father’s kindness, and not to +accident.” + +“Yes, he is very kind,” said Gorgo, ignoring Dada’s indignant tone. “And +the last few hours have brought him terrible sorrows. You have heard, no +doubt, that he has lost his mother; you knew her--she had taken quite a +fancy to you, I suppose you know.” + +“Oh! forget it!” cried Dada. + +“She was hard to win,” Gorgo went on, “but she liked you. Do you not +believe me? You should have seen how carefully she chose the dress you +have on at this minute, and matched the ornaments to wear with it.” + +“Pray, pray say no more about it,” Dada begged. “She is dead, and I have +forgiven her--but she thought badly, very badly of me.” + +“It is very bad of you to speak so,” interrupted Gorgo, making no +attempt to conceal her annoyance at the girl’s reply. “She--who is +dead--deserves more gratitude for her liberality and kindness!” + +Dada shook her head. + +“No,” she said firmly. “I am grateful, even for the smallest kindness; I +have not often met with disinterested generosity. But she had an end in +view--I must say it once for all. She wanted to make use of me to bring +shame on Marcus and grief on his mother. You surely must know it; for +why should you have thought me too vile to sing with you if you did not +believe that I was a good-for-nothing hussy, and quite ready to do your +dead grandmother’s bidding? Everybody, of course, looked down upon us +all and thought we must be wicked because we were singers; but you knew +better; you made a distinction; for you invited Agne to come to your +house and sing with you.--No, unless you wish to insult me, say no more +about my owing the dead lady a debt of gratitude!” + +Gorgo’s eyes fell; but presently she looked up again and said: + +“You do not know what that poor soul had suffered. Mary, her son’s +widow, had been very cruel to her, had done her injuries she could never +forgive--so perhaps you are right in your notion; but all the same, +my grandmother had a great liking for you--and after all her wish is +fulfilled, for Marcus has found you and he loves you, too, if I am not +mistaken!” + +“If you are not mistaken!” retorted Dada. “The gods forefend!--Yes, we +have found each other, we love each other. Why should I conceal it?” + +“And Mary, his mother--what has she to say to it?” asked Gorgo. + +“I do not know,” replied Dada abashed. + +“But she is his mother, you know!” cried Gorgo severely. “And he will +never--never--marry against her will. He depends on her for all that he +has in the world.” + +“Then let her keep it!” exclaimed Dada. “The smaller and humbler the +home he gives me the better I shall like it. I want his love and nothing +more. All--all he desires of me is right and good; he is not like other +men; he does not care for nothing but my pretty face. I will do whatever +he bids me in perfect confidence; and what he thinks about me you may +judge for yourself, for he is going to put me in the care of his tutor +Eusebius.” + +“Then you have accepted his creed?” asked Gorgo. “Certainly I have,” + said Dada. + +“I am glad of that for his sake,” said the merchant’s daughter. “And if +the Christians only did what their preachers enjoin on them one might be +glad to become one. But they make a riot and destroy everything that is +fine and beautiful. What have you to say to that--you, who were brought +up by Karnis, a true votary of the Muses?” + +“I?” said Dada. “There are bad men everywhere, and when they rise +to destroy what is beautiful I am very sorry. But we can love it and +cherish it all the same.” + +“You are happy indeed if you can shut your eyes at the dictates of your +heart!” retorted Gorgo, but she sighed. “Happy are they and much to be +envied who can compel their judgment to silence when it is grief to +hear its voice. I--I who have been taught to think, cannot abandon +my judgment; it builds up a barrier between me and the happiness that +beckons me. And yet, so long as truth remains the highest aim of man, I +will bless the faculty of seeking it with all the powers of my mind. +My betrothed husband, like yours, is a Christian; and I would I could +accept his creed as unflinchingly as you; but it is not in my nature +to leap into a pool when I know that it is full of currents and +whirlpools.--However, the present question has to do with you and not +with me. Marcus, no doubt, will be happy to have won you; but if he does +not succeed in gaining his mother’s consent he will not continue happy +you may rely upon it. I know these Christians! they cannot conceive of +any possible joy in married life without their parents’ blessing, and +if Marcus defies his mother he will torture his conscience and lead a +death-in-life, as though he were under some heavy load of guilt.” + +“For all that, and all that,” Dada insisted, “he can no more be happy +without me than I can without him. I have never in my life paid court to +any one, but I have always met with kindness. Why then should I not be +able to win his mother’s heart? I will wager anything and everything +that she will take kindly to me, for, after all, she must be glad when +she sees her son happy. Eusebius will speak for us and she will give +its her blessing! But if it is not to be, if I may never be his wife +honestly and in the face of the world, still I will not give him up, nor +he me. He may deal with me as he will--as if he were my god and I were +his slave!” + +“But, my poor child, do you know nothing of womanly honor and womanly +dignity?” cried Gorgo clasping her hands. “You complain of the lot of +a singing-girl, and the cruel prejudices of the world--and what are you +saying? Let me have my way, you would say, or I scorn your morality?” + +“Scorn!” exclaimed Dada firing up. “Do you say I scorn morality? No, +indeed no. I am an insignificant little person; there is nothing proud +or great about me, and as I know it full well I am quite humble; in all +my life I never dared to think of scorn, even of a child. But here, +in my heart, something was awoke to life--through Marcus, only through +him--something that makes me strong; and when I see custom and tradition +in league against me because I am a singer, when they combine to keep me +out of what I have a right to have--well, within these few hours I have +found the spirit to defend myself, to the death if need be! What you +call womanly honor I have been taught to hold as sacred as you yourself, +and I have kept it as untainted as any girl living. Not that I meant +to do anything grand, but you have no idea of what it is when every man +thinks he has a right to oppress and insult a girl and try to entrap +her. You, and others like you, know nothing of small things, for you are +sheltered by walls and privileges. We are every man’s game, while they +approach you as humbly as if you were goddesses.--Besides! It is not +only what I have heard from Karnis, who knows the world and fine folks +like you; I have seen it for myself at Rome, in the senators’ houses, +where there were plenty of young lords and great men’s daughters--for +I have not gone through life with my eyes shut; with you love is like +lukewarm water in a bath, but it catches us like fire. Sappho of Lesbos +flung herself from the Leucadian rock because Phaon flouted her, and if +I could save Marcus from any calamity by doing the same, I would follow +her example.--You have a lover, too; but your feeling for him, with all +the ‘intellect’ and ‘reflections,’ and ‘thought’ of which you spoke, +cannot be the right one. There is no but or if in my love at any rate; +and yet, for all that, my heart aches so sorely and beats so wildly, +I will wait patiently with Eusebius and submit to whatever I am +bidden.--And in spite of it all you condemn me unheard, for you.... But +why do you stand and look like that? You look just like you did that +time when I heard you sing. By all the Muses! but you, too, like us, +have some fire in your veins, you are not one of the lukewarm sort; you +are an artist, and a better one than I; and if you ever should feel the +right love, then--then take care lest you break loose from propriety +and custom--or whatever name you give to the sacred powers that subdue +passion--even more wildly than I--who am an honest girl, and mean to +remain so, for all the fire and flame in my breast!” + +Gorgo remembered the hour in which she had, in fact, proffered to the +man of her choice as a free gift, the love which, by every canon of +propriety, she ought only to have granted to his urgent wooing. She +blushed and her eyes fell before the humble little singer; but while +she was considering what answer she could make men’s steps were heard +approaching, and presently Eusebius and Marcus entered the room, +followed by Gorgo’s lover. Constantine was in deep dejection, for one of +his brothers had lost his life in the burning of his father’s ship-yard, +and as compared with this grief, the destruction of the timber stores +which constituted the chief part of his wealth scarcely counted as a +calamity. + +Gorgo had met him with a doubtful and embarrassed air; but when she +learnt of the blow that had fallen on him and his parents, she clung to +him caressingly and tried to comfort him. The others sympathized deeply +with his sorrow; but soon it was Dada’s turn to weep, for Eusebius +brought the news of her foster-parent’s death in the fight at the +Serapeum, and of Orpheus being severely wounded. + +The cheerful music-room was a scene of woe till Demetrius came to +conduct his brother and Dada to the widow Mary who was expecting them. +He had arrived in a chariot, for he declared his legs would no longer +carry him. “Men,” said he, “are like horses. A swift saddle-horse is +soon tired when it is driven in harness and a heavy cart-horse when +it is made to gallop. His hoofs were spoilt for city pavements, and +scheming, struggling and running about the streets were too much for his +country brains and wore him out, as trotting under a saddle would weary +a plough-horse. He thanked the gods that this day was over. He would +not be rested enough till to-morrow to be really glad of all his +success.”--But in spite of this assertion he was radiant with +overflowing satisfaction, and that in itself cheered the mourners whom +he tried to encourage. When he said they must be going, Gorgo kissed the +little singer; indeed, as soon as she saw how deeply she was grieved, +shedding bitter but silent tears, she had hastened to take her in her +arms and comfort her like a sister. + +Constantine, Gorgo and old Eusebius were left together, and the young +girl was longing to unburden her over-full heart. She had agreed to +her lover’s request that she would at once accompany him to see his +sorrowing parents; still, she could not appear before the old Christian +couple and crave their blessing in her present mood. Recent events +had embittered her happy belief in the creed into which she had thrown +herself, and much as it pained her to add a drop to Constantine’s cup of +sorrow, duty and honesty commanded that she should show him the secrets +of her soul and the doubts and questionings which had begun to trouble +her. The old priest’s presence was a comfort to her; for her earnest +wish was to become a Christian from conviction; as soon as they were +alone she poured out before them all the accusations she had to bring +against the adherents of their Faith: They had triumphed in ruining the +creations of Art; the Temple of Isis and the ship-yard lay in ashes, +destroyed by Christian incendiaries; their tears were not yet dry +when they flowed afresh for the sons of Porphyrius--Christians +themselves--who, unless some happy accident had saved them, must have +perished with thousands of innocent sufferers--believers and infidels +together--by the orders of the Emperor whom Constantine had always +lauded as a wise sovereign and pious Christian, as the Defender of the +Faith, and as a faithful disciple of the Redeemer. + +When, at last, she came to an end of her indictment she appealed +to Constantine and Eusebius to defend the proceedings of their +co-religionists, and to give her good grounds for confessing a creed +which could sanction such ruthless deeds. + +Neither the Deacon nor his pupil attempted to excuse these acts; nay, +Constantine thought they were in plain defiance of that high law of +Love which the Christian Faith imposes on all its followers. The wicked +servant, he declared, had committed crimes in direct opposition to the +spirit and the letter of the Master. + +But this admission by no means satisfied Gorgo; she represented to +the young Christian that a master must be judged by the deeds of his +servant; she herself had turned from the old gods only because she felt +such intense contempt for their worshippers; but now it had been her lot +to see--the Deacon must pardon her for saying so--that many a Christian +far outdid the infidels in coarse brutality and cruelty. Such an +experience had filled her with distrust of the creed she was required to +subscribe to--she was shaken to the very foundations of her being. + +Eusebius had, till now, listened in silence; but as she ended he went +towards her, and asked her gently whether she would think it right +to turn the fertilizing Nile from its bed and leave its shores dry, +because, from time to time, it destroyed fields and villages in the +excess of its overflow? “This day and its deeds of shame,” he went on +sadly, “are a blot on the pure and sublime book of the History of our +Faith, and every true Christian must bitterly bewail the excesses of +a frenzied mob. The Church must no less condemn Caesar’s sanguinary +vengeance; it casts a shade on his honor and his fair name, and his +conscience no doubt will punish him for such a crime. Far be it from me +to defend deeds which nothing can justify...” + +But Gorgo interrupted him. “All this,” she said, “does not alter the +fact that such crimes are just as possible and as frequent with you, as +with those whom I am expected to give up, and who...” + +“But it is not merely on account of their ill deeds that you are giving +them up, Gorgo,” Constantine broke in. “Confess, dear girl, that your +wrath makes you unjust to yourself and your own heart. It was not out of +aversion for the ruthless and base adherents of the old gods but--as +I hope and believe--out of love for me that you consented to adopt my +faith--our faith.” + +“True, true,” she exclaimed, coloring as she remembered the doubts Dada +had cast on the truth of her love. + +“True, out of love for you--love of Love and of peace, I consented +to become a Christian. But with regard to the deeds committed by your +followers, tell me yourself--and I appeal to you reverend Father--what +inspired them: Love or Hate.” + +“Hate!” said Constantine gloomily; and Eusebius added sorrowfully + +“In these dark days our Faith is seen under an aspect that by no means +fairly represents its true nature, noble lady; trust my words! Have you +not yourself seen, even in your short life, that what is highest and +greatest can in its excess, be all that is most hideous? A noble pride, +if not kept within bounds, becomes overweening ambition; the lovely +grace of humility degenerates into an indolent sacrifice of opinion and +will; high-hearted enterprise into a mad chase after fortune, in which +we ride down everything that comes in the way of success. What is nobler +than a mother’s love, but when she fights for her child she becomes a +raving Megaera. In the same way the Faith--the consoler of hearts--turns +to a raging wild-beast when it stoops to become religious partisanship. +If you would really understand Christianity you must look neither down +to the deluded masses, and those ambitious worldlings who only use it +as a means to an end by inflaming their baser passions, nor up to the +throne, where power translates the impulse of a disastrous moment into +sinister deeds. If you want to know what true and pure Christianity is, +look into our homes, look at the family life of our fellow believers. +I know them well, for my humble functions lead me into daily and hourly +intercourse with them. Look to them if you purpose to give your hand to +a Christian and make your home with him. There, my child, you will +see all the blessings of the Saviour’s teaching, love and soberness, +pitifulness to the poor and a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive +injuries. I have seen a Christian bestow his last crust on his hapless +foe, on the enemy of his house, on the Heathen or the Jew, because they, +too, are men, because our neighbor’s woes should be as our own--I +have seen them taken in and cherished as though they were +fellow-Christians.--There you will find a striving after all that is +good, a never-fading hope in better days to come, even under the worst +afflictions; and when death requires the sacrifice of all that is +dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a firm assurance of the +forgiveness of sins through Christ. Believe me, mistress, there is no +home so happy as that of the Christian; for he who really apprehends the +Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar his own joys in this +life to the end that he may be a partaker of the bliss of the next. +On the contrary: He who called the erring to himself, who drew little +children to his heart, who esteemed the poor above the rich, who was +a cheerful guest at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain interest on the +spiritual talents in our care, who commanded us to remember Him at a +social meal, who opened hearts to love--He longed to release the life +of the humblest creature from want and suffering. Where love and peace +reign must there not be happiness? And as He preached love and peace +above all else, He cannot have desired that we should intentionally +darken our lives on earth and load them with sorrow and miseries in +order to will our share of Heaven. The soul that is full of the happy +confidence of being one with Him and his love, is released from the +bondage of sin and sorrow, even here below; for Jesus has taken all the +sins and pains of the world on himself; and if Fate visits the Christian +with the heaviest blows he bears them in silence and patience. Our Lord +is Love itself; neither hatred nor envy are known to Him as they are to +the gods of the Heathen; and when he afflicts us, it is as the wise and +tender pastor of our souls, and for our good. The omniscient Lord knows +his own counsel, and the Christian submits as a child does to a wise +father whose loving kindness he can always trust; nay, he can even thank +him for sorrow and pain as though they were pleasurable benefits.” + +Gorgo shook her head. + +“That all sounds very beautiful and good; it is required of the +Christian, and sometimes, no doubt, fulfilled; but the Stoa demands the +same virtues of its disciples. You, Constantine, knew Damon the Stoic, +and you will remember how strictly he enjoined on all that they should +rise superior to pain and grief. And then, when his only daughter +lost her sight--she was a great friend of mine--he behaved like one +possessed. My father, too, has often spoken to you of philosophy as a +help to contemning the discomforts of life, and bearing the sports of +Fate with a lofty mind; and now? You should see the poor man, reverend +Father. What good have all the teachings of the great master done him?” + +“But he has lost so much--so much!” sighed Constantine thinking of his +own loss; and Eusebius shook his head. + +“In sorrow such as his, no philosophy, no mental effort can avail. The +blows that wound the affections can only be healed by the affections, +and not by the intellect and considerations of reason. Faith, child! +Faith is the true Herb of Grace. The intellect is its foe; the feelings +are its native soil where it finds constant nourishment; and however +deep the bleeding wound of the mourner may be, Faith can heal it and +reconcile the sufferer to his loss. You have been taught to value a fine +understanding, to measure everything by it, to build everything on its +decisions. To you the knowledge you have attained to by argument and +inference is supreme; but the Creator has given us a heart as well as +a brain; our affections, too, stir and grow in their own way, and the +knowledge they can attain to, my child, is Faith. You love--and Love +is part of your affections; and now take my advice; do not let that +reasoning intelligence, which has nothing to do with love, have anything +to say in the matter; cherish your love and nurture it from the +rich stores of your heart; thus only can it thrive to beauty and +harmony.--And this must suffice for to-day, for I have already kept the +wounded waiting too long in the Serapeum. If you desire it, another time +I will show you Christianity in all its depth and beauty, and your +love for this good man will prepare the way and open your heart to my +teaching. A day will come when you will be able to listen to the voice +of your heart as gladly as you have hitherto obeyed the dictates of your +intellect; something new will be born in you which you will esteem as +a treasure above all you ever acquired by reason and thought. That day +will assuredly dawn on you; for he whom you love has opened the path for +you that leads to the gates of Truth; and as you seek you will not fail +to find.--And so farewell. When you crave a teacher you have only to +come to him--and I know he will not have long to wait.” + +Gorgo looked thoughtfully at the old man as he went away and then went +with Constantine to see his parents. It was in total silence that they +made their way along the short piece of road to the house of Clemens. +Lights were visible in the viridarium and the curtains of the doorway +were drawn back; as they reached the threshold Constantine pointed to +a bier which had been placed in the little court among the flower-beds; +his parents were on their knees by the side of it. + +Neither he nor Gorgo ventured to disturb their wordless devotions, but +presently the ship-master rose, drawing his fine, stalwart figure to its +full height; then turning his kind, manly, grave face to his wife, who +had also risen to her feet, he laid one hand on her still abundant white +hair and held out the other which she took in hers. Mariamne dried her +eyes and looked up, in her husband’s face as he said firmly and calmly: + +“The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away!’ She hid her face on his +shoulder and responded sadly but fervently: + +“Blessed be the name of the Lord!” + +“Yea--Blessed!” repeated Clemens emphatically but he passed his arm +across his eyes. “For thirty-two years hath He lent him to us; and in +our hearts....” and he struck his broad breast, “in here, he will never +die for you or for me. As for the rest--and there was a deal of property +of our own and of other folks in these wood-piles--well, in time we +shall get over that. We may bless the Almighty for what we have left!” + +Gorgo felt her lover’s hand grasp hers more tightly and she understood +what he meant; she clung closer to him and whispered softly: “Yes, that +is grand--that is the Truth.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +In the great house in the Canopic street it was late ere all was quiet +for the night. Even Demetrius, in spite of his fatigue, broke through +his rule of “early to bed”; he felt he must see the reaping of the +harvest he had sown for his brother. + +It had been no easy task to persuade Mary to accede to his +importunities, but to his great joy he at last succeeded. + +He would have met with a rough dismissal if he had begun by praising +Dada and expressing his wish to see her married to Marcus; he had gained +his point inch by inch, very quietly; but when he had explained to her +that it was in his hands to secure the martyr’s crown for her husband +she had turned suspicious and ironical, had made him swear that it was +true, threatening him with punishments in this world and in the next; +but he had let it all pass over his head, had solemnly sworn as she +desired him, pledging not merely the salvation of his soul but his +possessions in this world; till, at length, convinced that it really was +in his power to gratify the dearest wish of her heart, she had yielded +somewhat and altered her demeanor. Still, he had not spoken a word to +help her through her deliberations and bewilderment, but had left her +to fight out the hard struggle with her own soul; not without some +malicious enjoyment but also not without anxiety, till the first +decisive question was put to him by his stepmother. + +She had heard that Dada was quite resolved to be baptized, and having +once more made sure of the fact that the girl was anxious to become a +Christian, she next asked: + +“And it was Marcus who won her to the faith?” + +“He alone.” + +“And you can swear that she is a pure-minded and well-conducted girl?” + +“Certainly, with the firmest conviction.” + +“I saw her in the arena--she is pretty, uncommonly charming indeed--and +Marcus...?” + +“He has set his heart on the girl, and I am sure that his passion is +sincere and unselfish. On the other hand I need hardly remind you that +in this city there are many women, even among those of the first rank, +whose birth and origin are far more doubtful than those of your +son’s little friend, for she, at any rate, is descended from free and +respectable parents. Her uncle’s connections are among the best families +in Sicily; not that we need trouble ourselves about that, for the wife +of Philip’s grandson would command respect even if she were only a +freed-woman.” + +“I know, I know,” murmured Mary, as though all this were of minor +importance in her eyes; and then for some little time she remained +silent. At last she looked up and exclaimed in a voice that betrayed the +struggle still going on in her soul: + +“What have I to care for but my child’s happiness? In the sight of God +we are all equal--great and small alike; and I myself am but a weak +woman, full of defects and sins--but for all that I could have wished +that the only son of a noble house might have chosen differently. All +I can say is that I must look upon this marriage as a humiliation laid +upon me by the Almighty--still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and +I will do freely and with my whole heart if my son’s bride brings as her +marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my +desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles. The martyr’s crown will open +the gates of Heaven to him--who was your father, too, Demetrius. Gain +that and I myself will lead the singer to my son’s arms.” + +“That is a bargain!” cried Demetrius--and soon after midnight he had +retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental +blessing to the betrothed pair. + +A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the +name of Cecilia; and then, at Mary’s special entreaty, Marcus’ marriage +was solemnized with much pomp by the Bishop himself. + +Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly +affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a +stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way. When +Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he +should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she +jumped at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it +when his brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two, +helping him with his advice and instructions. + +Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for, +though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her +children, she soon acceded to her son’s wishes and admitted that they +were kind and wise. She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of +the martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian +sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than +that of the family. She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors +of her daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her +gentleness; in fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she +herself had chosen her son’s wife. But she did not care to keep this +“beloved daughter” with her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in +every department of social life was far more certain to be conceded to +the noble widow of a “martyred witness” in the absence of the pretty +little converted singer. + +So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning +to govern her husband’s large estates with prudence and good sense. The +gay singing-girl became a capable housewife, and the idle horse-loving +Marcus a diligent farmer. For three years Demetrius staid with them as +adviser and superintendent; even afterwards he frequently visited them, +and for months at a time, and he was wont to say: + +“In Alexandria I am heart and soul, a Heathen, but in the house with +your Cecilia I am happy to be a Christian.” + +Before they quitted the city a terrible blow fell on Eusebius. The +sermon he had delivered just before the overthrow of Serapes, to soothe +the excited multitude and guide them in the right way, had been regarded +by the Bishop of the zealot priests, who happened to be present, as +blasphemous and as pandering to the infidels; Theophilus, therefore, had +charged his nephew Cyril--his successor in the see--to verify the facts +and enquire into the deacon’s orthodoxy. It thus came to light that +Agne, an Arian, was not only living under his roof, but had been trusted +by him to nurse certain sick persons among the orthodox; the old man +was condemned by Cyril to severe acts of penance, but Theophilus decided +that he must be deprived of his office in the city, where men of sterner +stuff were needed, and only allowed the charge of souls in a country +congregation. + +It was a cruel blow to the venerable couple to be forced to quit the +house and the little garden where they had been happy together for half +a lifetime; however, the change proved to be to their advantage, for +Marcus invited his worthy teacher to be the spiritual pastor of his +estates. The churches he built for his peasants were consecrated by +Eusebius, whose mild doctrine and kindly influence persuaded many +laborers and slaves to be baptized and to join his flock of disciples. +But the example and amiability of their young mistress was even more +effectual than his preaching. Men and women, slaves and free, all adored +and respected her; to imitate her in all she did could only lead to +honor and happiness, could only be right and good and wise. Thus by +degrees, and without the exertion of any compulsion, the temples and +shrines on the Martyr’s inheritance were voluntarily abandoned, and fell +into ruin and decay. + +It was the same on the property of Constantine, which lay at no more +than a day’s journey from that of Marcus; the two young couples were +faithful friends and good neighbors. The estate which had come into +Constantine’s possession had belonged to Barkas, the Libyan, who, with +his troops, had been so anxiously and vainly expected to succor the +Serapeum. The State had confiscated his extensive and valuable lands, +and the young officer, after retiring from the service, had purchased +them with the splendid fortune left to Gorgo by her grandmother. + +The two sons of Porphyrius had, as it proved, been so happy as to escape +in the massacre at Thessalonica; and as they were Christians and piously +orthodox, the old man transferred to them, during his lifetime, +the chief share of his wealth; so that henceforth he could live +honestly--alienated from the Church and a worshipper of the old gods, +without anxiety as to his will. The treasures of art which Constantine +and Gorgo found in the house of Barkas they carefully preserved, though, +ere long, few heathen were to be found even in this neighborhood which +had formerly been the headquarters of rebellion on behalf of the old +religion. + +Papias was brought up with the children of Marcus and Dada Cecilia, +while his sister Agne, finding herself relieved of all care on his +account, sought and found her own way through life. + +Orpheus, after seeing his parents killed in the fight at the Serapeum, +was carried, sorely wounded, to the sick-house of which Eusebius was +spiritual director. Agne had volunteered to nurse him and had watched +by his couch day and night. Eusebius had also brought Dada and Papias +to visit them, and Dada had promised, on behalf of Marcus, that Agne and +her brother should always be provided for, even in the event of the good +Deacon’s death. The little boy was for the moment placed in Eusebius’ +care, and it was a cause of daily rejoicing to Agne to hear from the +kind old man of all the charming qualities he discovered in the child +who was perfectly happy with the old folks, and who, though he was +always delighted to see his sister, was quite content to part from her +and return home with Eusebius, or with Dada, to whom he was devoted. + +Orpheus recognized no one, neither Agne nor the child--and when +visitors had been to see him, in his fevered ravings he would talk more +vehemently than ever of great Apollo and other heathen divinities. Then +he would fancy that he was still fighting in the Serapeum and butchering +thousands of Christian foes with his own hand. Agne, whom he rarely +recognized for a moment, would talk soothingly to him, and even try to +say a few words about the Saviour and the life to come; but he always +interrupted her with blasphemous exclamations, and cursed and abused +her. Never had she gone through such anguish of soul as by his bed of +suffering, and yet she could not help gazing at his face; and when she +told herself that he must soon be no more, that the light of his eyes +would cease to shine on hers, she felt as though the sun were about +to be extinguished and the earth darkened for all time. However, his +healthy vigor kept him lingering for many days and nights. + +On the last evening of his life he took Agne for a Muse, and calling to +her to come to him seized her hand and sank back unconscious, never to +move again. She stood there as the minutes slowly passed, waiting in +agonized suspense till his hand should be cold in hers; and as she +waited she overheard a dialogue between two deaconesses who were +watching by a sleeping patient. One of them was telling the other that +her sister’s husband, a mason, had died an obdurate heathen and a bitter +enemy of the Christian Church. Then Dorothea, his widow, had devoted +herself to saving his soul; she left her children, abandoning them to +the charity of the congregation, and had withdrawn to a cloister to +pray in silence and unceasingly for the soul of her deceased husband. +At first he used to appear to her in her dreams, with furious gestures, +accompanied by centaurs and goat-footed creatures, and had desired her +to go home to her children and leave his soul in peace, for that he was +in very good quarters with the jolly devils; but soon after she had +seen him again with scorched limbs, and he lead implored her to pray +fervently for mercy on him, for that they were torturing him cruelly in +hell. + +Dorothea had then retired into the desert of Kolzoum where she was still +living in a cave, feeding on herbs, roots, and shell-fish thrown up on +the sea-shore. She had schooled herself to do without sleep, and prayed +day and night for her husband’s soul; and she lead obtained strength +never to think of anything but her own and her husband’s salvation, and +to forget her children completely. Her fervid devotion had at length met +with full reward; for some little time her husband had appeared to her +in a robe of shining light and often attended by lovely angels. + +Agne had not lost a word of this narrative, and when, next morning, +she felt the cold hand of the dead youth and looked at his drawn and +pain-stricken features, she shuddered with vague terrors: he, she +thought, like Dorothea’s husband, must have hell-torments to endure. +When she presently found herself alone with the corpse she bent over it +and kissed the pale lips, and swore to herself that she would save his +soul. + +That same evening she went back to Eusebius and told him of her wish +to withdraw to the desert of Koizoum and become a recluse. The old man +besought her to remain with him, to take charge of her little brother, +and not to abandon him and his old wife; for that it was a no less +lovely Christian duty to be compassionate and helpful, and cherish the +feeble in their old age. His wife added her entreaties and tears; but a +sudden chill had gripped Agne’s heart; dry-eyed and rigid she resisted +their prayers, and took leave of her benefactors and of Papias. +Bare-foot and begging her way, she started for the south-east and +reached the shores of the Red Sea. There she found the stonemason’s +widow, emaciated and haggard, with matted hair, evidently dying. Agne +remained with her, closed her eyes, and then lived on as Dorothea had +lived, in the same cave, till the fame of her sanctity spread far beyond +the boundaries of Egypt. + +When Papias had grown to man’s estate and was installed as steward to +Demetrius, he sought his sister many times and tried to persuade her to +live with him in his new home; but she never would consent to quit her +solitary cell. She would not have exchanged it for a king’s palace; for +Orpheus appeared to her in nightly visions, radiant with the glories of +Heaven; and time was passing and the hour drawing near when she might +hope to be with him once more. + +The widow Mary, in her later years, made many pilgrimages to holy places +and saintly persons, and among others to Agne, the recluse; but she +would never be induced to visit Cyrenaica, whither she was frequently +invited by her children and grandchildren; some more powerful excitant +was needed to prompt her to face the discomforts of a journey. + +The old Heathen cults had completely vanished from the Greek capital +long before her death. With it died the splendor and the power of the +second city in the world; and of all the glories of the city of +Serapis nothing now remains but a mighty column--[Known as Pompey’s +Pillar.]--towering to the skies, the last surviving fragment of the +beautiful temple of the sovereign-god whose fall marked so momentous +an epoch in the life of the human race. But, like this pillar, outward +Beauty--the sense of form that characterized the heathen mind--has +survived through the ages. We can gaze up at the one and the other, and +wherever the living Truth--the Spirit of Christianity--has informed and +penetrated that form of Beauty, the highest hopes of old Eusebius have +been realized. Their union is solemnized in Christian Art. + + + + ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: + + Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death + Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor + Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow + He may talk about the soul--what he is after is the girl + He spoke with pompous exaggeration + It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe + Love means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them + People who have nothing to do always lack time + Perish all those who do not think as we do + Pretended to see nothing in the old woman’s taunts + Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line + Reason is a feeble weapon in contending with a woman + To her it was not a belief but a certainty + Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid + Very hard to imagine nothingness + Whether man were the best or the worst of created beings + Words that sounded kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Serapis, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 5507-0.txt or 5507-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/0/5507/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Serapis, Complete + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5507] +Last updated: August 26, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <h1> + SERAPIS + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Georg Ebers + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated from the German by Clara Bell + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>SERAPIS</b> </a><br /><br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER XXVI. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII. </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + SERAPIS. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. + </h2> + <p> + The busy turmoil of the town had been hushed for some hours; the moon and + stars were keeping silent watch over Alexandria, and many of the + inhabitants were already in the land of dreams. It was deliciously fresh—a + truly gracious night; but, though peace reigned in the streets and alleys, + even now there was in this pause for rest a lack of the soothing calm + which refreshes and renews the spirit of man. For some few weeks there had + been an oppressive and fevered tension in the repose of night. Every house + and shop was closed as securely as though it were done, not only to secure + slumber against intrusion, but to protect life and property from the + spoiler; and instead of tones of jollity and mirth the sleeping city + echoed the heavy steps and ringing arms of soldiers. Now and again, when + the Roman word of command or the excited cry of some sleepless monk broke + the silence, shops and doors were cautiously opened and an anxious face + peered out, while belated wanderers shrunk into gateways or under the + black shadow of a wall as the watch came past. A mysterious burden weighed + on the Heart of the busy city and clicked its pulses, as a nightmare + oppresses the dreamer. + </p> + <p> + On this night of the year of our Lord 391, in a narrow street leading from + the commercial harbor known as Kibotus, an old man was slinking along + close to the houses. His clothes were plain but decent, and he walked with + his head bent forward looking anxiously on all sides; when the patrol came + by he shrank into the shadow; though he was no thief he had his reasons + for keeping out of the way of the soldiery, for the inhabitants, whether + natives or strangers, were forbidden to appear in the streets after the + harbor was closed for the night. + </p> + <p> + He stopped in front of a large house, whose long, windowless wall extended + from one side street to the next, and pausing before the great gate, he + read an inscription on which the light fell from a lamp above: “The House + of the Holy Martyr. His widow here offers shelter to all who need it. He + that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.” + </p> + <p> + “At how much per cent I wonder?” mattered the old man and a satirical + smile curled his beardless lips. A heavy thud with the knocker rang + through the silent street, and after a few short questions from within and + equally curt replies from without, a small door was opened in the great + gate. The stranger was on the point of crossing the vestibule when a human + creature crept up to him on all fours, and clutched his ankle with a + strong hand, exclaiming in a hoarse voice: “As soon as the door is shut—an + entrance fee; for the poor, you know.” + </p> + <p> + The old man flung a copper piece to the gatekeeper who tried it, and then, + holding on to the rope by which he was tied to a post like a watch-dog, he + whined out “Not a drop to wet a Christian’s lips?” + </p> + <p> + “It has not rained for some time,” retorted the stranger, who proceeded to + open a second door which led into a vast court-yard open to the blue vault + of heaven. A few torches stuck against the pillars and a small fire on the + pavement added thin smoky, flickering light to the clear glory of the + stars, and the whole quadrangle was full of a heavy, reeking atmosphere, + compounded of smoke and the steam of hot food. + </p> + <p> + Even in the street the wanderer had heard the dull buzz and roar which now + met his ear as a loud medley of noises and voices, rising from hundreds of + men who were encamped in the wide space before him—in groups or + singly, sleeping and snoring, or quarrelling, eating, talking and singing + as they squatted on the ground which was strewn with straw. + </p> + <p> + The inn was full, and more than half of the humble guests were monks who, + during the last two days, had flowed into the city from every Cenoby, + Laura and hermitage in the desert, and from most of the monasteries in the + surrounding district—the ‘Nitriote Nome’. Some of them had laid + their heads close together for confidential whispering, others squabbled + loudly, and a large group in the northern angle of the court had raised a + psalm which mingled strangely with the “three,” “four,” “seven,” of the + men who were playing ‘mora’, and the cry of the cook inviting purchasers + to his stall spread with meat, bread, and onions. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the court furthest from the gateway there was a covered way, + on to which a row of doors opened leading to the rooms devoted to families + of women and children, each apartment being divided into two by a curtain + across the middle. The stranger made his way into one of these rooms, + where he was warmly welcomed by a young man, who was occupied in cutting a + Kopais reed into a mouth-piece for a double flute, and by a tall matronly + woman. + </p> + <p> + The new-comer’s name was Karnis and he was the head of a family of + wandering singers who had arrived in Alexandria only the day before from + Rome. His surroundings were poor and mean, for their ship had been + attacked off the African coast by a band of pirates, and though they had + saved their lives they had lost everything they possessed. The young owner + of the vessel, to whom he owed his safety, had procured him admission to + this Xenodochium,—[a refuge or inn]—kept by his mother the + Widow Mary; Karnis had, however, found it far from comfortable, and had + gone forth at noon to seek other quarters. + </p> + <p> + “All in vain!” said he, as he wiped the heat drops from his forehead. “I + have hunted Medius half the city through and found him at last at the + house of Posidonius the Magian, whose assistant he is. There was singing + behind a curtain—wretched rubbish; but there were some old airs too + with an accompaniment on the flutes, in the style of Olympus, and really + not so bad. + </p> + <p> + “Then spirits appeared. By Sirius a queer business altogether! Medius is + in the midst of it all. I arranged the chorus and sang with them a little. + All I got for it was a little dirty silver—there! But as for a + lodging—free quarters!—there are none to be found here for + anything above an owl; and then there is the edict—that cursed + edict!” + </p> + <p> + During this speech the younger man had exchanged meaning glances with his + mother. He now interrupted Karnis, saying in a tone of encouragement: + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, father; we have something good in view.” + </p> + <p> + “You have?” said the old man with an incredulous shrug, while his wife + served him with a small roast chicken, on a stool which did duty for a + table. + </p> + <p> + “Yes father, we!” the lad went on, laying aside his knife. “You know we + vowed an offering to Dionysus for our escape, since he himself once fell + into the hands of pirates, so we went at once to his temple. Mother knew + the way; and as we—she, I mean, and Dada and myself...” + </p> + <p> + “Heh! what is this?” interrupted Karnis, now for the first time noticing + the dish before him. “A fowl—when we are so miserably poor? A whole + fowl, and cooked with oil?” He spoke angrily, but his wife, laying her + hand on his shoulder, said soothingly: + </p> + <p> + “We shall soon earn it again. Never a sesterce was won by fretting. Enjoy + to-day’s gifts and the gods will provide for to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed?” asked Karnis in an altered key. “To be sure when a roast fowl + flies into one’s mouth instead of a pigeon.... But you are right as usual, + Herse, as usual, only—here am I battening like a senator while you—I + lay a wager you have drunk nothing but milk all day and eaten nothing but + bread and radishes. I thought so? Then the chicken must pretend to be a + pheasant and you, wife, will eat this leg. The girls are gone to bed? Why + here is some wine too! Fill up your cup, boy. A libation to the God! Glory + to Dionysus!” The two men poured the libation on the floor and drank; then + the father thrust his knife into the breast of the bird and began his meal + with a will, while Orpheus, the son, went on with his story: + </p> + <p> + “Well, the temple of Dionysus was not to be found, for Bishop Theophilus + has had it destroyed; so to what divinity could we offer our wreath and + cake? Here in Egypt there is none but the great Mother Isis. Her sanctuary + is on the shore of Lake Mareotis and mother found it at once. There she + fell into conversation with a priestess who, as soon as she learnt that my + mother belonged to a family of musicians—though Dame Herse was + cautious in announcing this fact—and hoped to find employment in + Alexandria, led her away to a young lady who was closely veiled. This + lady,” Orpheus went on—he not only played the flute but took the + higher parts for a man’s voice and could also strike the lyre—“desired + us to go to her later at her own house, where she would speak with us. She + drove off in a fine carriage and we, of course followed her orders; Agne + was with us too. A splendid house! I never saw anything handsomer in Rome + or Antioch. We were kindly received, and with the lady there were another + very old lady and a tall grave man, a priest I should fancy or a + philosopher, or something of that kind.” + </p> + <p> + “Not some Christian trap?” asked Karnis suspiciously. “You do not know + this place, and since the edict...” + </p> + <p> + “Never fear, father! There were images of the gods in the halls and + corridors, and in the room where we were received by Gorgo, the beautiful + daughter of Porphyrius, there was an altar before an image of Isis, quite + freshly anointed.—This Porphyrius is a very rich merchant; we learnt + that afterwards, and many other things. The philosopher asked us at once + whether we were aware that Theodosius had lately promulgated a new edict + forbidding young maidens to appear in public as singers or flute-players.” + </p> + <p> + “And did Agne hear that?” said the old man in a low voice as he pointed to + the curtain. + </p> + <p> + “No, she and Dada were in the garden on to which the room opened, and + mother explained at once that though Agne was a Christian she was a very + good girl, and that so long as she remained in our service she was bound + to sing with us whenever she was required. The philosopher exclaimed at + once: ‘The very thing!’ and they whispered together, and called the girls + and desired them to show what they could do.” + </p> + <p> + “And how did they perform?” asked the old man, who was growing excited. + </p> + <p> + “Dada warbled like a lark, and Agne—well you know how it always is. + Her voice sounded lovely but it was just as usual. You can guess how much + there is in her and how deep her feeling is but she never quite brings it + out. What has she to complain of with us? And yet whatever she sings has + that mournful, painful ring which even you can do nothing to alter. + However, she pleased them better than Dada did, for I noticed that Gorgo + and the gentleman glanced at each other and at her, and whispered a word + now and then which certainly referred to Ague. When they had sung two + songs the young lady came towards us and praised both the girls, and asked + whether we would undertake to learn something quite new. I told her that + my father was a great musician who could master the most difficult things + at the first hearing.” + </p> + <p> + “The most difficult! Hm... that depends,” said the old man. “Did she show + it you?” + </p> + <p> + “No; it is something in the style of Linus and she sang it to us.” + </p> + <p> + “The daughter of the rich Porphyrius sang for your entertainment? Yours?” + said Karnis laughing. “By Sirius! The world is turning upside down. Now + that girls are forbidden to perform to the gentlefolks, art is being + cultivated by the upper classes; it cannot be killed outright. For the + future the listeners will be paid to keep quiet and the singers pay for + the right of torturing their ears—our ears, our luckless ears will + be victimized.” + </p> + <p> + Orpheus smiled and shook his head; then, again dropping his knife, he went + on eagerly: + </p> + <p> + “But if you could only hear her! You would give your last copper piece to + hear her again.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” muttered his father. “Well, there are very good teachers here. + Something by Linus did you say she sang?” + </p> + <p> + “Something of that kind; a lament for the dead of very great power: + ‘Return, oh! return my beloved, came back—come home!’ that was the + burthen of it. And there was a passage which said: ‘Oh that each tear had + a voice and could join with me in calling thee!’ And how she sang it, + father! I do not think I ever in my life heard anything like it. Ask + mother. Even Dada’s eyes were full of tears.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it was beautiful,” the mother agreed. “I could not help wishing that + you were there.” + </p> + <p> + Karnis rose and paced the little room, waving his arms and muttering: + </p> + <p> + “Ah! so that is how it is! A friend of the Muses. We saved the large lute—that + is well. My chlamys has an ugly hole in it—if the girls were not + asleep... but the first thing to-morrow Ague.... Tell me, is she handsome, + tall?” + </p> + <p> + Herse had been watching her excitable husband with much satisfaction and + now answered his question: “Not a Hera—not a Muse—decidedly + not. Hardly above the middle height, slightly made, but not small, black + eyes, long lashes, dark straight eyebrows. I could hardly, like Orpheus, + call her beautiful...” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes, mother.—Beautiful is a great word, and one my father has + taught me to use but rarely; but she—if she is not beautiful who is?—when + she raised her large dark eyes and threw back her head to bring out her + lament; tone after tone seemed to come from the bottom of her heart and + rise to the furthest height of heaven. Ah, if Agne could learn to sing + like that! ‘Throw your whole soul into your singing.’—You have told + her that again and again. Now, Gorgo can and does. And she stood there as + steady and as highly strung as a bow, every note came out with the ring of + an arrow and went straight to the heart, as clear and pure as possible.” + </p> + <p> + “Be silent!” cried the old man covering his ears with his hands. “I shall + not close an eye till daylight, and then... Orpheus, take that silver—take + it all, I have no more—go early to market and buy flowers—laurel + branches, ivy, violets and roses. But no lotuses though the market here is + full of them; they are showy, boastful things with no scent, I cannot bear + them. We will go crowned to the Temple of the Muses.” + </p> + <p> + “Buy away, buy all you want!” said Herse laughing, as she showed her + husband some bright gold pieces. “We got that to-day, and if all is + well....” Here she paused, pointed to the curtain, and went on again in a + lower tone: “It all depends of course, on Agne’s playing us no trick.” + </p> + <p> + “How so? Why? She is a good girl and I will...” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” said Herse holding him back. “She does not know yet what the + business is. The lady wants her...” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “To sing in the Temple of Isis.” + </p> + <p> + Karnis colored. He was suddenly called from a lovely dream back to the + squalid reality. “In the Temple of Isis,” he said gloomily. “Agne? In the + face of all the people? And she knows nothing about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, father.” + </p> + <p> + “No? Well then, if that is the case... Agne, the Christian, in the Temple + of Isis—here, here, where Bishop Theophilus is destroying all our + sanctuaries and the monks outdo their master. Ah, children, children, how + pretty and round and bright a soap-bubble is, and how soon it bursts. Do + you know at all what it is that you are planning? If the black flies smell + it out and it becomes known, by the great Apollo! we should have fared + better at the hands of the pirates. And yet, and yet.—Do you know at + all how the girl...?” + </p> + <p> + “She wept at the lady’s singing,” interrupted Herse eagerly, “and, silent + as she generally is, on her way home she said: ‘To sing like that! She is + a happy girl!’” + </p> + <p> + Karnis looked up with renewed confidence. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he exclaimed, “that is my Agne. Yes, yes, she truly loves her divine + art. She can sing, she will sing! We will venture it, if you, I, all of us + die for it! + </p> + <p> + “Herse, Orpheus, what have we to lose? Our gods, too, shall have their + martyrs. It is a poor life that has no excitement. Our art—why, all + I have ever had has been devoted to it. I make no boast of having + sacrificed everything, and if gold and lands were again to be mine I would + become a beggar once more for the sake of art: We have always held the + divine Muse sacred, but who can keep up a brave heart when he sees her + persecuted! She may only be worshipped in darkness in these days, and the + Queen of Gods and men shuns the light like a moth, a bat, an owl. If we + must die let it be with and for Her! Once more let pure and perfect song + rejoice this old heart, and if afterwards... My children, we have no place + in this dim, colorless world. While the Arts lived there was Spring on the + earth. Now they are condemned to death and it is Winter. The leaves fall + from all the trees, and we piping birds need groves to sing in. How often + already has Death laid his hand on our shoulder, every breath we draw is a + boon of mercy—the extra length given in by the weaver, the hour of + grace granted by the hangman to his victim! Our lives are no longer our + own, a borrowed purse with damaged copper coins. The hard-hearted creditor + has already bent his knuckles, and when he knocks the time is up. Once + more let us have one hour of pure and perfect enjoyment, and then we will + pay up capital and interest when we must.” + </p> + <p> + “It cannot and will not be yet,” said Herse resolutely, but she wiped her + eyes with her hand. “If Agne sings even, so long as she does it without + coercion and of her own free-will no Bishop can punish us.” + </p> + <p> + “He cannot, he dare not!” cried the old man. “There are still laws and + judges.” + </p> + <p> + “And Gorgo’s family is influential as well as rich. Porphyrius has power + to protect us, and you do not yet know what a fancy he has taken to us. + Ask mother.” + </p> + <p> + “It is like a story,” Herse put in. “Before we left, the old lady—she + must be eighty or more—took me aside and asked me where we were + lodging. I told her at the Widow Mary’s and when she heard it she struck + her crutch on the floor. ‘Do you like the place?’ she asked. I told her + not at all, and said we could not possibly stop here.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite right!” cried Karnis. “The monks in the court-yard will kill us as + dead as rats if they hear us learning heathen hymns.” + </p> + <p> + “That is what I told her; but the old lady did not allow me to finish; she + drew me close to her and whispered, ‘only do as my granddaughter wishes + and you shall be safely housed and take this for the present’—and + she put her hand into the purse at her girdle, gave the gold into my hand, + and added loud enough for the others to hear: ‘Fifty gold pieces out of my + own pocket if Gorgo tells me that she is satisfied with your + performance.’” + </p> + <p> + “Fifty gold pieces!” cried Karnis clasping his hands. “That brightens up + the dull grey of existence. Fifty, then, are certain. If we sing six times + that makes a talent—[estimated in 1880 at $1100]—and that will + buy back our old vineyard at Leontium. I will repair the old Odeum—they + have made a cowhouse of it—and when we sing there the monks may come + and listen! You laugh? But you are simpletons—I should like to see + who will forbid my singing on my own land and in my own country. A talent + of gold! + </p> + <p> + “It is quite enough to pay on account, and I will not agree to any bargain + that will not give me the field-slaves and cattle. Castles in the air, do + you say? But just listen to me: We are sure you see of a hundred gold + pieces at least...” He had raised his voice in his eagerness and while he + spoke the curtains had been softly opened, and the dull glimmer of the + lamp which stood in front of Orpheus fell on a head which was charming in + spite of its disorder. A quantity of loose fair hair curled in papers + stuck up all over the round head and fell over the forehead, the eyes were + tired and still half shut, but the little mouth was wide awake and + laughing with the frank amusement of light-hearted youth. + </p> + <p> + Karnis, without noticing the listener, had gone on with his visionary + hopes of regaining his estates by his next earnings, but at this point the + young girl, holding the curtain in her right hand, stretched out her plump + left arm and begged in a humble whine: + </p> + <p> + “Good father Karnis, give me a little of your wealth; five poor little + drachmae!” + </p> + <p> + The old man started; but he instantly recovered himself and answered + good-naturedly enough: + </p> + <p> + “Go back to bed, you little hussy. You ought to be asleep instead of + listening there!” + </p> + <p> + “Asleep?” said the girl. “While you are shouting like an orator against + the wind! Five drachmae, father. I stick to that. A new ribband for me + will cost one, and the same for Agne, two. Two I will spend on wine for us + all, and that makes the five.” + </p> + <p> + “That makes four—you are a great arithmetician to be sure!” + </p> + <p> + “Four?” said Dada, as much amazed as though the moon had fallen. “If only + I had a counting-frame. No, father, five I tell you—it is five.” + </p> + <p> + “No, child, four; and you shall have four,” replied her father. “Plutus is + at the door and to-morrow morning you shall both have garlands.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, of violets, ivy and roses,” added Dame Herse. “Is Agne asleep?” + </p> + <p> + “As sound as the dead. She always sleeps soundly unless she lies wide + awake all the night through. But we were both so tired—and I am + still. It is a comfort to yawn. Do you see how I am sitting?” + </p> + <p> + “On the clothes-chest?” said Herse. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and the curtain is not a strong back to the seat. Fortunately if I + fall asleep I shall drop forwards, not backwards.” + </p> + <p> + “But there is a bed for each of you,” said the mother, and giving the girl + a gentle push she followed her into the sleeping-alcove. In a few minutes + she came out again. + </p> + <p> + “That is just like Dada!” she exclaimed. “Little Papias had rolled off the + chest on which he was sleeping, so the good girl had put him into her bed + and was sitting on the chest herself, tired as she was.” + </p> + <p> + “She would do anything for that boy,” said Karnis. “But it is past + midnight. Come, Orpheus, let us make the bed!” + </p> + <p> + Three long hen-coops which stood piled against the wall were laid on the + ground and covered with mats; on these the tired men stretched their + limbs, but they could not sleep. + </p> + <p> + The little lamp was extinguished, and for an hour all was still in the + dark room. Then, suddenly, there was a loud commotion; some elastic object + flew against the wall with a loud flap, and Karnis, starting up, called + out: “Get out—monster!” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” cried Herse who had also been startled, and the old man + replied angrily: + </p> + <p> + “Some daemon, some dog of a daemon is attacking me and giving me no peace. + Wait, you villain—there, perhaps that will settle you,” and he flung + his second sandal. Then, without heeding the rustling fall of some object + that he had hit by accident, he gasped out: + </p> + <p> + “The impudent fiend will not let me be. It knows that we need Agne’s + voice, and it keeps whispering, first in one ear and then in the other, + that I should threaten to sell her little brother if she refuses; but I—I—strike + a light, Orpheus!—She is a good girl and rather than do such a + thing...” + </p> + <p> + “The daemon has been close to me too,” said the son as he blew on the + spark he had struck. + </p> + <p> + “And to me too,” added Herse nervously. “It is only natural. There are no + images of the gods in this Christian hovel. Away, hateful serpent! We are + honest folks and will not agree to any vile baseness. Here is my amulet, + Karnis; if the daemon comes again you must turn it round—you know + how.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. + </h2> + <p> + Early next morning the singers set out for the house of Porphyrius. The + party was not complete, however, for Dada had been forced to remain at + home. The shoes that the old man had flung to scare away the daemon had + caught in the girl’s dress which she had just washed, and had dragged it + down on to the earth; she had found it in the morning full of holes burnt + by the ashes into the damp material. Dada had no other presentable + garment, so, in spite of her indignant refusal and many tears, she had to + remain indoors with Papias. Agne’s anxious offers to stay in her place + with the little boy and to lend Dada her dress, both Karnis and his wife + had positively refused; and Dada had lent her aid—at first silently + though willingly and then with her usual merriment—in twining + garlands for the others and in dressing Agne’s smooth black plaits with a + wreath of ivy and violets. + </p> + <p> + The men were already washed, anointed and crowned with poplar and laurel + when a steward arrived from Porphyrius to bid them follow him to his + master’s house. But a small sacrifice was necessary, for the messenger + desired them to lay aside their wreaths, which would excite ill-feeling + among the monks, and certainly be snatched off by the Christian mob. + Karnis when he started was greatly disappointed, and as much depressed as + he had been triumphant and hopeful a short time before. + </p> + <p> + The monks, who had gathered outside the Xenodochium, glanced with scowling + suspicion at the party, who could not recover the good spirits with which + they had begun the day till they were fairly out of the narrow, gloomy + alleys, reeking with tar and salt fish, that adjoined the harbor, and + where they had to push their way through a dense throng. The steward led + the van with Herse, talking freely in reply to her enquiries. + </p> + <p> + His master, he said, was one of the great merchants of the city, whose + wife had died twenty years since in giving birth to Gorgo. His two sons + were at present absent on their travels. The old lady who had been so + liberal in her treatment of the singers was Damia, the mother of + Porphyrius. She had a fine fortune of her own, and notwithstanding her + great age was still respected as the soul of business in the household, + and as a woman deeply versed in the mysterious sciences. Mary, the pious + Christian, who had founded the “House of the Holy Martyr,” was the widow + of Apelles, the brother of Porphyrius, but she had ceased all intercourse + with her husband’s family. This was but natural, as she was at the head of + the Christian women of Alexandria, while the household of Porphyrius—though + the master himself had been baptized—was as thoroughly heathen as + any in Alexandria. + </p> + <p> + Karnis heard nothing of all this, for he came last of the party. Orpheus + and Agne followed next to Herse and the steward, and after them came two + slaves, carrying the lutes and pipes. Agne walked with downcast eyes, as + if she desired to avoid seeing all that surrounded her, though when + Orpheus addressed her she shyly glanced up at him and answered briefly and + timidly. They presently came out of an obscure alley by the canal + connecting Kibotus with Lake Mareotis where the Nile-boats lay at anchor. + Karnis drew a deeper breath, for here the air was clear and balmy; a light + northerly breeze brought the refreshing fragrance of the sea, and the + slender palm-trees that bordered the canal threw long shadows mingling + with the massive shade of the sycamores. The road was astir with busy + groups, birds sang in the trees, and the old musician drank in the + exciting and aromatic atmosphere of the Egyptian Spring with keen + enjoyment. + </p> + <p> + As they reached the middle of the steep bridge across the canal he + involuntarily stood still, riveted by the view of the southwest. In his + excitement he threw up his arms, his eyes glistened with moisture and with + the enthusiasm of youth, and, as was always the case when his emotions + were stirred by some glorious work of God or man, an image rose to his + mind, all unbidden—the image of his eldest son, now dead, but in + life his closest and most sympathetic comrade. He felt as though his hand + could grasp the shoulder of that son, too early snatched away, whose gifts + had far transcended those of the surviving Orpheus—as though he too + could gaze with him on the grand scene that lay before him. + </p> + <p> + On a platform of rocks and mighty masonry rose a structure of wonderful + magnificence and beauty, so brilliantly illuminated by the morning sun + that its noble proportions and gorgeous colors showed in dazzling splendor + and relief. Over the gilt dome bent the cloudless blue of the African sky, + and the polished hemisphere shone, as radiant as the sun whose beams it + reflected. Sloping planes for vehicles, and flights of steps for + pedestrians led up to the gates. The lower part of this wonderful edifice—the + great Temple of Serapis—was built to stand forever, and the pillars + of the vestibule supported a roof more fitted to the majesty of the gods + than to the insignificance of mortals; priests and worshippers moved here + like children among the trunks of some gigantic forest. Round the cornice, + in hundreds of niches, and on every projection, all the gods of Olympus + and all the heroes and sages of Greece seemed to have met in conclave, and + stood gazing down on the world in gleaming brass or tinted marble. Every + portion of the building blazed with gold and vivid coloring; the painter’s + hand had added life to the marble groups in high relief that filled the + pediments and the smaller figures in the long row of metopes. All the + population of a town might have found refuge in the vast edifice and its + effect on the mind was like that of a harmonious symphony of adoration + sung by a chorus of giants. + </p> + <p> + “All hail! Great Serapis! I greet thee in joyful humility, thankful that + Thou hast granted to my old eyes to see Thy glorious and eternal temple + once again!” murmured Karnis in devout contemplation. Then, appealing to + his wife and son, he pointed in silence to the building. Presently, + however, as he watched Orpheus gazing in speechless delight at its + magnificent proportions he could not forbear. + </p> + <p> + “This,” he began with fervid enthusiasm, “is the stronghold of Serapis the + King of the Gods! A work for all time. Its youth has lasted five hundred + years, its future will extend to all eternity.—Aye, so it is; and so + long as it endures in all its glory the old gods cannot be deposed!” + </p> + <p> + “No one will ever dare to touch a stone of it,” said the steward. “Every + child in Alexandria knows that the world will crumble into dust and ashes + if a finger is laid on that Temple, and the man who ventures to touch the + sacred image...” + </p> + <p> + “The god can protect himself!” interrupted the singer. “But you—you + Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death—if you + really long so vehemently for the end of all things, you have only to fall + upon this glorious structure.—Do that, do that—only do that!” + </p> + <p> + The old man shook his fist at the invisible foe and Herse echoed his + words: + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, only do that!” Then she added more calmly: “Well, if everything + comes to an end at once the enemies of the gods will die with us; and + there can be nothing terrible in perishing at the same time with + everything that is beautiful or dear to us.” + </p> + <p> + “Nevertheless,” said the steward, “the Bishop has put out his hand to + touch the sanctuary. But our noble Olympius would not suffer the + sacrilegious host to approach, and they had to retire with broken heads. + Serapis will not be mocked; he will stand though all else perish. + ‘Eternity,’ the priest tells us, ‘is to him but as an instant, and while + millions of generations bloom and fade, he is still and forever the + same!’” + </p> + <p> + “Hail, all hail to the great god!” cried Orpheus with hands outstretched + towards the temple. + </p> + <p> + “Yea, hail! for everlasting glory shall be his!” repeated his father. + “Great is Serapis, and his house and his image shall last...” + </p> + <p> + “Till the next full moon!” said a passer-by in a tone of sinister mockery, + shaking his fist in the face, as it were, of the god. Orpheus turned + quickly to punish the prophet of evil; but he had disappeared in the crowd + and the tide of men had borne him onwards. “Till the next full moon!” + murmured Agne, who had shuddered at her companion’s rapturous + ejaculations, and she glanced uneasily at Orpheus; but by the time Herse + addressed her a minute or two later she had controlled the expression of + her features, and the matron’s heart was gladdened by her bright smile. + Nay, many a young Alexandrian, passing the group on foot or in a carriage, + looked at her a second time, for that smile lent a mysterious charm to her + pale, calm face. Nor had it faded away when they had crossed the bridge + and were nearing the shores of the lake, for an idea once conceived + lingered long in Agne’s mind; and as she walked on in the bright glory of + the morning’s sun her mind’s eye was fixed on a nocturnal scene—on + the full moon, high in the sky—on the overthrow of the great idol + and a glittering army among the marble ruins of the Serapeum. Apostles and + martyrs soared around, the Saviour sat enthroned in glory and triumph, + while angels, cradled on the clouds that were his footstool, were singing + beatific hymns which sounded clearly in her ear above the many-voiced + tumult of the quays. The vision did not vanish till she was desired to get + into the boat. + </p> + <p> + Herse was a native of Alexandria and Karnis had passed some of the best + years of his life there; but to Orpheus and Agne all was new, and even the + girl, when once she had escaped from the crowd and noise which oppressed + her, took an interest in the scene and asked a question now and then. The + younger man had not eyes enough to see all that claimed his attention and + admiration. + </p> + <p> + There were the great sluice-gates at the entrance to the canal that joined + the lake to the sea—there, in a separate dock, lay the splendid + imperial Nile-boats which served to keep up communication between the + garrison of Alexandria and the military stations on the river—there, + again, were the gaudy barges intended for the use of the ‘comes’, the + prefect and other high officials—and there merchant-vessels of every + size lay at anchor in countless number. Long trains of many-colored sails + swept over the rippling lake like flights of birds across a cornfield, and + every inch of the shore was covered with stores or buildings. Far away to + the south long trellices of vine covered the slopes, broken by the silvery + glaucous tones of the olive-groves, and by clumps of towering palms whose + crowns mingled to form a lofty canopy. White walls, gaudily-painted + temples and private villas gleamed among the green, and the slanting rays + of the low sun, shining on the drops that fell from the never-resting + wheels and buckets that irrigated the land, turned them into showers of + diamonds. These water-works, of the most ingenious construction, many of + them invented and contrived by scientific engineers, were the weapons with + which man had conquered the desert that originally surrounded this lake, + forcing it into green fertility and productiveness of grain and fruit. + Nay, the desert had, for many centuries, here ceased to exist. Dionysus + the generous, and the kindly garden-gods had blest the toil of men, and + yet, now, in many a plot—in all which belonged to Christian owners—their + altars lay scattered and overthrown. + </p> + <p> + During the last thirty years much indeed was changed, and nothing to the + satisfaction of old Karnis; Herse, too, shook her head, and when the + rowers had pulled them about half-way across, she pointed to a broad + vacant spot on the bank where a new building was just rising above the + soil, and said sadly to her husband: + </p> + <p> + “Would you know that place again? Where is our dear old temple gone? The + temple of Dionysus.” Karnis started up so hastily that he almost upset the + boat, and their conductor was obliged to insist on his keeping quiet; he + obeyed but badly, however, for his arms were never still as he broke out: + </p> + <p> + “And do you suppose that because we are in Egypt I can keep my living body + as still as one of your dead mummies? Let others keep still if they can! I + say it is shameful, disgraceful; a dove’s gall might rise at it! That + splendid building, the pride of the city and the delight of men’s eyes, + destroyed—swept away like dust from the road! Do you see? Do you + see, I say? Broken columns, marble capitals, here, there and everywhere at + the bottom of the lake—here a head and there a torso! Great and + noble masters formed those statues by the aid of the gods, and they—they, + small and ignoble as they are, have destroyed them by the aid of evil + daemons. They have annihilated and drowned works that were worthy to live + forever! And why? Shall I tell you? Because they shun the Beautiful as an + owl shuns light. Aye, they do! There is nothing they hate or dread so much + as beauty; wherever they find it, they deface and destroy it, even if it + is the work of the Divinity. I accuse them before the Immortals—for + where is the grove even, not the work of man but the special work of + Heaven itself? Where is our grove, with its cool grottos, its primaeval + trees, its shady nooks, and all the peace and enjoyment of which it was as + full as a ripe grape is full of sweet juice?” + </p> + <p> + “It was cut down and rooted up,” replied the steward. “The emperor gave + the sanctuary over to Bishop Theophilus and he set to work at once to + destroy it. The temple was pulled down, the sacred vessels went into the + melting-pot, and the images were mutilated and insulted before they were + thrown into the lime-kiln. The place they are building now is to be a + Christian church. Oh! to think of the airy, beautiful colonnades that once + stood there, and then of the dingy barn that is to take their place!” + </p> + <p> + “Why do the gods endure it? Has Zeus lost his thunderbolts?” cried Orpheus + clenching his hands, and paying no heed to Agne who sat pale and sternly + silent during this conversation. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, he only sleeps, to wake with awful power,” said the old man. “See + those blocks of marble and ruins under the waves. Swift work is + destruction! And men lost their wits and looked on at the crime, flinging + the delight of the gods into the water and the kiln. They were wise, very + wise; fishes and flames are dumb and cannot cry to heaven. One barbarian, + in one hour can destroy what it has taken the sublimest souls years, + centuries, to create. They glory in destruction and ruin and they can no + more build up again such a temple as stood there than they can restore + trees that have taken six hundred years to grow. There—out there, + Herse, in the hollow where those black fellows are stirring mortar—they + have given them shirts too, because they are ashamed of the beauty of + men’s bodies—that is where the grotto was where we found your poor + father.” + </p> + <p> + “The grotto?” repeated his wife, looking at the spot through her tears, + and thinking of the day when, as a girl, she had hurried to the feast of + Dionysus and sought her father in the temple. He had been famous as a + gem-cutter. In obedience to the time-honored tradition in Alexandria, + after intoxicating himself with new wine in honor of the god, he had + rushed out into the street to join the procession. The next morning he had + not returned; the afternoon passed and evening came and still he did not + appear, so his daughter had gone in search of him. Karnis was at that time + a young student and, as her father’s lodger, had rented the best room in + the house. He had met her going on her errand and had been very ready to + help her in the search; before long they had found the old man in the + ivy-grown grotto in the grove of Dionysus—motionless and cold, as if + struck by lightning. The bystanders believed that the god had snatched him + away in his intoxicated legion. + </p> + <p> + In this hour of sorrow Karnis had proved himself her friend, and a few + months after Herse had become his wife and gone with him to Tauromenium in + Sicily. + </p> + <p> + All this rose before her mind, and even Karnis sat gazing dumbly at the + waves; for every spot where some decisive change has occurred in our lives + has power to revive the past when we see it again after a long absence. + Thus they all sat in silence till Orpheus, touching his father, pointed + out the temple of Isis where he had met the fair Gorgo on the previous + day. The old man turned to look at the sanctuary which, as yet, remained + intact. + </p> + <p> + “A barbarous structure!” he said bitterly. “The art of the Egyptians has + long been numbered with the dead and the tiger hungers only for the + living!” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, it is not such a bad piece of work,” replied the steward, “but it is + out of their reach; for the ground on which it stands belongs to my old + mistress, and the law protects private property.—You must at your + leisure inspect the ship-yard here; it is perhaps the most extensive in + the world. The timber that is piled there—cedar of Lebanon, oak from + Pontus and heavy iron-wood from Ethiopia—is worth hundreds of + talents.” + </p> + <p> + “And does all that belong to your master?” + </p> + <p> + “No; the owner is the grandson of a freedman, formerly in his family. Now + they are very rich and highly respected, and Master Clemens sits in the + Senate. There he is—that man in a white robe.” + </p> + <p> + “A Christian, I should imagine,” observed the singer. + </p> + <p> + “Very true;” replied the steward. “But what is good remains good, and he + is a worthy and excellent man notwithstanding. He keeps a tight hand over + the ship-yard here and over the others too by the harbor of Eunostus. Only + Clemens can never let other people have their own opinions; in that he is + just like the rest of them. Every slave he buys must become a Christian + and his sons are the same; even Constantine, though he is an officer in + the imperial army and as smart and clever a soldier as lives.—As far + as we are concerned we leave every man to his own beliefs. Porphyrius + makes no secret of his views and all the vessels we use in the corn-trade + are built by Christians.—But here we are.” + </p> + <p> + The boat stopped at a broad flight of marble steps which led from the lake + into the garden of Porphyrius’ house. Karnis as he walked through the + grounds felt himself at greater ease, for here the old gods were at home; + their statues gleamed among the dark clumps of evergreens, and were + mirrored in the clear tanks, while delicious perfumes were wafted from the + garlanded shrines and freshly anointed altars, to greet the newcomers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. + </h2> + <p> + The family of musicians were kindly received, but they were not + immediately called upon to perform, for as soon as Damia heard that the + pretty fair-haired child who had pleased her so much the day before had + been obliged to remain at home, she had one of her granddaughter’s dresses + brought out, and requested Herse to go back to fetch her. Some slaves were + to accompany Herse and transfer all her little property on board a + Nile-boat belonging to Porphyrius, which was lying at anchor just off the + ship-yard. In this large barge there were several cabins which had often + accommodated guests, and which would now serve very well as a residence + for Karnis and his party. Indeed, it was particularly well suited for a + family of musicians, for they could practise there undisturbed, and Gorgo + could at any time pay them a visit. + </p> + <p> + Herse went back to the Xenodochium with a lighter heart; her son also + returned to the city to replace a number of necessaries that had been lost + on board ship, and Karnis, rejoicing to be out of the monk-haunted asylum + had remained in the men’s room in the house of his new patron, enjoying + the good things which abounded there. He felt as though he was here once + more at home after years of exile. Here dwelt the spirit of his fathers; + here he found men who enjoyed life after his own fashion, who could share + his enthusiasms and his hatreds. He drank noble liquor out of an elegantly + carved onyx cup, all that he heard soothed his ears, and all that he said + met with entire sympathy. The future prospects of his family, till now so + uncertain, were hardly inferior to those which his vivid imagination had + painted the night before. And even if Fortune should again desert him, the + hours of present enjoyment should be written down to the profit side of + life, and remain a permanent gain at any rate in memory. + </p> + <p> + The venerable Damia, her son Porphyrius, and the fair Gorgo were in fact a + trio such as are rarely met with. The master of the house, more cautious + than the women, was inclined to think that his mother and daughter had + been somewhat overhasty and imprudent in their advances and he had at + first received Karnis with considerable reserve; but after a short + interview he had convinced himself that the musician was a man of unusual + culture and superior stamp. The old lady had, from the first, been + predisposed in his favor, for she had read in the stars last night that + the day was to bring her a fortunate meeting. Her wish was law, and Karnis + could not help smiling when she addressed her son, whose hair had long + been grey and who looked fully competent to manage his own household, as + “my child,” not hesitating to scold and reprove him. Her cathedra was a + high arm-chair which she never quitted but to be carried to her + observatory on the roof of the house, where she kept her astrological + tablets and manuscripts. The only weakness about her was in her feet; but + strong, and willing arms were always at her disposal to carry her about—to + table, into her sleeping-room, and during the daytime out to sunny spots + in the garden. She was never so happy as when Helios warmed her back with + his rays, for her old blood needed it after the long night-watches that + she still would keep in her observatory. Even during the hottest noon she + would sit in the sun, with a large green umbrella to shade her keen eyes, + and those who desired to speak with her might find shade as best they + could. As she stood, much bent, but propped on her ivory crutches, eagerly + following every word of a conversation, she looked as though she were + prepared at any moment to spring into the middle of it and interrupt the + speaker. She always said exactly what she meant without reserve or ruth; + and throughout her long life, as the mistress of great wealth, she had + always been allowed to have her own way. She asserted her rights even over + her son, though he was the centre of a web whose threads reached to the + furthest circumference of the known world. The peasants who tilled the + earth by the Upper and Lower Nile, the shepherds who kept their flocks in + the Arabian desert, in Syria, or on the Silphium meads of Cyrenaica, the + wood-cutters of Lebanon and Pontus, the mountaineers of Hispania and + Sardinia, the brokers, merchants, and skippers of every port on the + Mediterranean, were bound by these threads to the villa on the shore of + Mareotis, and felt the tie when the master there—docile as a boy to + his mother’s will—tightened or released his hold. + </p> + <p> + His possessions, even in his youth, had been so vast that their increment + could bring no added enjoyment to him or his family, and yet their + increase had become his life’s task. He strove for a higher sum to figure + on the annual balance sheet, as eagerly as an athlete strives for a prize; + and his mother not only inspected the account, but watched every important + undertaking with keen interest. When her son and his colleagues doubted + over some decision it was she who gave the casting vote; but though her + advice in most cases proved sound and profitable, she herself ascribed + this less to her own acumen and knowledge of the world than to the hints + she obtained from the stars and from magical calculations. Her son did not + follow her in these speculations, but he rarely disputed the conclusions + that she drew from her astrological studies. While she was turning night + into day he was glad to entertain a few learned friends, for all the hours + of leisure that he could snatch from his pursuit of fortune, he devoted to + philosophy, and the most distinguished thinkers of Alexandria were happy + to be received at the hospitable table of so rich a patron. He was charmed + to be called “Callias,” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The noble Athenian family of Callias was famed for its wealth and + splendor.] +</pre> + <p> + and the heathen teachers at the schools of the Museum and Serapeum + regarded him as a faithful ally. It was known that he had been baptized, + but he never liked to hear the fact mentioned. He won all hearts by his + perfect modesty, but even more perhaps by a certain air of suffering and + melancholy which protected the wealthy merchant against the envy of + detractors. + </p> + <p> + In the course of her conversation with Karnis the old lady enquired + particularly as to the antecedent history of Agne, for if there had been a + stain on her character, or if she were by birth a slave, Gorgo could not + of course be seen with her in public, and in that case Karnis would have + to teach the lament of Isis to some freeborn singer. Karnis in reply could + only shrug his shoulders, and beg the ladies and Porphyrius to judge for + themselves when he should have related the young girl’s story. + </p> + <p> + Three years since, he said, he had been staying at Antioch at the time of + a violent outbreak against the levying of certain taxes. There had been + much bloodshed, and he and his family had got out of the city as quickly + as they could. It was growing dusk when they turned into a wayside inn, + where they found Agne and her little brother captives to a soldier. During + the night the girl had crept up to the little boy’s bed, and to comfort + and lull him had begun to sing him a simple song. The singer’s voice was + so pure and pathetic that it had touched both him and his wife and they + had at once purchased the girl and her brother for a small sum. He had + simply paid what the soldier asked, not regarding the children in the + light of slaves; nor had he had any description of them written out, + though it was, no doubt, in his power to treat them as slaves and to sell + them again, since the sale had taken place before witnesses who might + still be found. He had afterwards learnt from the girl that her parents + were Christians and had settled in Antioch only a few years previously; + but she had no friends nor relatives there. Her father, being a + tax-collector in the service of the Emperor, had moved about a great deal, + but she remembered his having spoken of Augusta Treviroruin in Belgica + prima, as his native place.—[Now Trier or Treves, on the Moselle.] + </p> + <p> + Agne had witnessed the attack on her father’s house by the angry mob who + had killed her parents, their two slaves, and her elder brother. Her + father must certainly have been an official of some rank, and probably, as + it would seem, a Roman citizen, in which case—as Porphyrius agreed—both + the young girl and her little brother could legally claim their freedom. + The insurgents who had dragged the two children out into the street had + been driven off by the troops, and it was from them that Karnis had + rescued them. “And I have never regretted it,” added the old musician, + “for Agne is a sweet, gentle soul. Of her voice I need say nothing, since + you yourselves heard it yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “And were quite delighted with it!” cried Gorgo. “If flowers could sing it + would be like that!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well,” said Karnis. “She has a lovely voice—but she wants + wings. Something—what, I know not, keeps the violet rooted to the + soil.” + </p> + <p> + “Christian scruples,” said the merchant, and Damia added: + </p> + <p> + “Let Eros touch her—that will loosen her tongue.” + </p> + <p> + “Eros, always Eros!” repeated Gorgo shrugging her shoulders. “Nay, love + means suffering—those who love drag a chain with them. To do the + best of which he is capable man needs only to be free, true, and in + health.” + </p> + <p> + “That is a great deal, fair mistress,” replied Karnis eagerly. “With these + three gifts the best work is done. But as to Agne—what can be + further from freedom than a girl bound to service? her body, to be sure is + healthy, but her spirit suffers; she can get no peace for dread of the + Christian’s terrors: Sin, Repentance, and Hell....” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we know how their life is ruined!” interrupted the old lady. “Was it + Agne who introduced you to Mary’s Asylum?” + </p> + <p> + “No, noble lady.” + </p> + <p> + “But how then—that prudent saint generally selects her guests, and + those that are not baptized...” + </p> + <p> + “She certainly sheltered heathens on this occasion.” + </p> + <p> + “I am much surprised. Tell me how it happened.” + </p> + <p> + “We were at Rome,” began Karnis, “and my patron there persuaded Marcus, + Mary’s son, to take us on board his ship at Ostia. We dropped anchor at + Cyrene, where the young master wanted to pick up his brother and bring him + also to Alexandria.” + </p> + <p> + “Then is Demetrius here?” asked Porphyrius. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir. He came on board at Cyrene. Hardly had we got fairly to sea + again when we saw two pirate ships. Our trireme was at once turned round, + but in our hurry to regain the harbor we stuck fast on a sand bank; the + boats were at once put out to save the passengers and Cynegius, the + consul...” + </p> + <p> + “Cynegius—on his way here!” exclaimed Porphyrius, much excited. + </p> + <p> + “He landed yesterday with us in the harbor of Eunostus. The secretaries + and officers of his suite filled one boat and Marcus and his brother were + getting into the other with their men. We, and others of the free + passengers, should have been left behind if Dada...” + </p> + <p> + “That pretty little blonde?” asked Damia. + </p> + <p> + “The very same. Marcus had taken a great fancy to her prattle and her + songs during the voyage—no nightingale can sing more clearly—and + when she begged and prayed him he gave way at once, and said: he would + take her in his boat. But the brave child declared that she would jump + into the sea before she would leave without us.” + </p> + <p> + “Well done!” cried the old lady, and Porphyrius added: + </p> + <p> + “That speaks well for her and for you.” + </p> + <p> + “So after all Marcus found room for us in the boat—for all of us, + and we got safely to land. A few days after we all came on in a + troop-ship: Cynegius, the two brothers and the rest, all safe and sound; + and, as we had lost everything we possessed, Marcus gave us a certificate + which procured our admission into his mother’s Xenodochium. And then the + gods brought me and mine under the notice of your noble daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “Then Cynegius is here, positively here?” asked Porphyrius once more. + Karnis assured him that he was, and the merchant, turning to his mother, + went on: + </p> + <p> + “And Olympius has not yet come home. It is always the same thing; he is as + rash as a boy. If they should take him! The roads are swarming with monks. + There is something astir. Bring out the chariot, Syrus, at once; and tell + Atlas to be ready to accompany me. Cynegius here!—Ha, ha! I thank + the gods!” + </p> + <p> + The last exclamation was addressed to a man who at this instant came into + the room, muffled up to the eyes. He threw off the hood of his cloak and + the wrapper that went round his throat, concealing his long white beard, + and as he did so he exclaimed with a gasp for breath: + </p> + <p> + “Here I am once more!—Cynegius is here and matters look serious my + friend.” + </p> + <p> + “You have been to the Museum?” + </p> + <p> + “Without any obstruction. I found them all assembled. Brave lads. They are + all for us and the gods. There are plenty of weapons. The Jews—[At + that time about two-fifths of the whole population.]—are not + stirring, Onias thinks he may vouch for that; and we must surely be a + match for the monks and the imperial cohorts.” + </p> + <p> + “If the gods only stand by us to-day and tomorrow,” replied Porphyrius + doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “For ever, if only the country people do their duty!” cried the other. + “But who is this stranger?” + </p> + <p> + “The chief of the singers who were here yesterday,” replied Gorgo. + </p> + <p> + “Karnis, the son of Hiero of Tauromenium,” said the musician, bowing to + the stranger, whose stately figure and handsome, thoughtful head struck + him with admiration. + </p> + <p> + “Karnis of Tauromenium!” exclaimed the newcomer with glad surprise. “By + Hercules! a strange meeting. Your hand, your hand, old man. How many years + is it since we last emptied a wine-jar together at the house of old + Hippias? Seven lustres have turned our hair grey, but we still can stand + upright. Well, Karnis son of Hiero—and who am I?” + </p> + <p> + “Olympius—the great Olympius!” cried Karnis, eagerly grasping the + offered hand. “May all the gods bless this happy day!” + </p> + <p> + “All the gods?” repeated the philosopher. “Is that what you say? Then you + have not crawled under the yoke of the cross?” + </p> + <p> + “The world can rejoice only under the auspices of the gods!” cried Karnis + excitedly. + </p> + <p> + “And it shall rejoice still, we will save it from gloom!” added the other + with a flash of vehemence. + </p> + <p> + “The times are fateful. We must fight; and no longer over trifles; we + cannot now break each other’s heads over a quibble, or believe that the + whole world hangs on the question whether the instant of death is the last + minute of this life or the first of the next. No—what now remains to + be decided is whether the old gods shall be victorious, whether we shall + continue to live free and happy under the rule of the Immortals, or + whether we shall bow under the dismal doctrine of the carpenter’s + crucified son; we must fight for the highest hopes and aims of humanity.” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” interrupted Karnis, “you have already done battle valiantly for + great Serapis. They wanted to lay hands on his sanctuary but you and your + disciples put them to rout. The rest got off scot-free...” + </p> + <p> + “But they have taught me the value of my head,” said Olympius laughing. + “Evagrius prices it at three talents. Why, you might buy a house with the + money and a modest man could live upon the interest. This worthy man keeps + me concealed here. We must talk over a few things, Porphyrius; and you, + Gorgo, do not forget the solemn festival of Isis. Now that Cynegius is + here it must be made as splendid as possible, and he must tell the + Emperor, who has sent him, what temper we Alexandrians are in. But where + is the dark maiden I saw yesterday?” + </p> + <p> + “In the garden,” replied Gorgo. + </p> + <p> + “She is to sing at the foot of the bier!” cried Olympius. “That must not + be altered.” + </p> + <p> + “If I can persuade her—she is a Christian,” said Karnis doubtfully. + </p> + <p> + “She must,” said the philosopher positively. “It will be a bad lookout + indeed for the logic and rhetoric of Alexandria if an old professor and + disputant cannot succeed in turning a young girl’s resolutions upside + down. Leave that to me. I shall find time for a chat with you by and bye, + friend Karnis. How in the world does it happen that you, who so often have + helped us with your father’s coin, have come down to be the chief of a + band of travelling musicians? You will have much to tell me, my good + friend; but even such important matters must give way to those that are + more pressing. One word with you, Porphyrius.” + </p> + <p> + Agne had been all this time awaiting Herse’s return in the colonnade that + ran along the garden-front of the house. She was glad to be alone, and it + was very comfortable to rest on the soft cushions under the gilt-coffered + ceiling of the arcade. At each end stood large shrubs covered with bunches + of violet-blue flowers and the spreading branches cast a pleasant shade on + the couch where she sat; the beautiful flowers, which were strange to her, + were delightfully fragrant, and from time to time she helped herself to + the refreshments which Gorgo herself had brought out to her. All she saw, + heard, and felt, was soothing to her mind; never had she seen or tasted + juicier peaches, richer bunches of grapes, fresher almonds or more + tempting cakes; on the shrubs in the garden and on the grass-plots between + the paths there was not a dead leaf, not a dry stem, not the tiniest weed. + The buds were swelling on the tall trees, shrubs without end were covered + with blossoms—white, blue, yellow, and red—while, among the + smooth, shining leaves of the orange and lemon trees, gleamed the swelling + fruit. On a round tank close at hand some black swans were noiselessly + tracing evanescent circles and uttering their strange lament. The song of + birds mingled with the plash of fountains, and even the marble statues, + for all that they were dumb, seemed to be enjoying the sweet morning air + and the stir and voice of nature. + </p> + <p> + Yes, she could be happy here; as she peeled a peach and slowly swallowed + the soft fragrant mouthfuls, she laughed to remember the hard + ship’s-biscuit, of the two previous days’ fare. And it was Gorgo’s + privilege to revel in these good things day after day, year after year. It + was like living in Eden, in the perpetual spring of man’s first blissful + home on earth. There could be no suffering here; who could cry here, who + could be sorrowful, who could die?... Here a new train of thought forced + itself upon her. She was still so young, and yet she was as familiar with + the idea of death as she was with life; for whenever she had happened to + tell any minister of her creed that she was an orphan and a slave, and + deeply sad and sorrowful, the joys of eternity in Paradise had always been + described to her for her consolation, and it was in hopes of Heaven that + her visionary nature found such a modicum of comfort as might suffice to + keep the young artist-soul from despair. And now it struck her that it + must be hard, very hard to die, in the midst of all this splendor. Living + here must be a foretaste of the joys of Paradise—and in the next + world, among the angels of Heaven, in the presence of the Saviour—would + it not be a thousand times more beautiful even than this? She shuddered, + for, sojourning here, she was no longer to be counted as one of the poor + and humble sufferers to whom Christ had promised the Kingdom of Heaven—here + she was one of the rich, who had nothing to hope for after death. + </p> + <p> + She pushed the peaches away with a feeling of oppression, and closed her + eyes that she might no longer see all these perishable splendors and + sinful works of the heathen, which pandered only to the senses. She longed + to remain miserable and poor on earth, that she might rejoin her parents + and dwell with them eternally. + </p> + <p> + To her it was not a belief but a certainty that her father and mother were + dwelling in Heaven, and she had often felt moved to pray that she might + die and be reunited to them; but she must not die yet, for her little + brother still needed her care. The kind souls whom she served let him lack + for nothing, it is true, that could conduce to his bodily welfare; still, + she could not appear before her parents without the little one in her + hand, and he would be lost eternally if his soul fell into the power of + the enemies of her faith. Her heart ached when she reflected that Karnis, + who was certainly not one of the reprobate and whom she affectionately + revered as a master in the art she loved—that Herse, and the + light-hearted Dada, and Orpheus even, must all be doomed to perish + eternally; and to save Orpheus she would willingly have forfeited half the + joys of Paradise. She saw that he was no less an idolater than his + parents; and yet, day by day, she prayed that his soul might be saved, and + she never ceased to hope for a miracle—that he too might see a + vision, like Paul, and confess the Saviour. She was so happy when she was + with him, and never happier than when it was her fortune to sing with him, + or to his admirable accompaniment on the lute. When she could succeed in + forgetting herself completely, and in giving utterance by her lovely voice + to all that was highest and best in her soul, he, whose ear was no less + sensitive and appreciative than his father’s, would frankly express his + approval, and in these moments life was indeed fair and precious. + </p> + <p> + Music was the bond between her and Orpheus, and when her soul was stirred + she could feel and express herself in music. Song was the language of her + heart, and she had learnt by experience that it was a language which even + the heathen could both use and understand. The Eternal Father himself must + find joy in such a voice as Gorgo’s. She was a heathen, and yet she had + thrown into her song all that Agne herself could feel when she lifted up + her heart in passionate prayer. The Christian—so she had often been + taught—must have no part with the idolaters; but it was God himself + who had cast her on the hands of Karnis, and the Church commanded that + servants should obey their masters. Singing seemed to her to be a language + in itself, bestowed by God on all living creatures, even on the birds, + wherein to speak to Him; so she allowed herself to look forward with + pleasure to an opportunity of mingling her own voice with that of the + heathen lady. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. + </h2> + <p> + Not long after Porphyrius and the philosopher had retired to a private + room Herse returned with Dada. Gorgo’s blue spangled dress, which Damia + had sent her, suited the girl to perfection; but she was quite out of + breath, and her hair was in disorder. Herse, too, looked agitated, her + face was red and she dragged little Papias, whose hand she held, rather + roughly at her heels. + </p> + <p> + Dada was evidently abashed; less by reason of the splendor that surrounded + her than because her foster-mother had strictly enjoined her to be very + quiet and mannerly in the presence of their patrons. She felt shy and + strange as she made her low courtesy to the old lady; but Damia seemed to + be pleased with the timid grace of her demeanor, for she offered her her + hand—an honor she usually conferred only on her intimates, bid her + stoop, and gave her a kiss, saying kindly: “You are a good brave girl. + Fidelity to your friends is pleasing in the sight of the gods, and finds + its reward even among men.” + </p> + <p> + Dada, obeying a happy impulse, threw herself on her knees before the old + woman, kissed her hands, and then, sitting on her heels, nestled at her + feet. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo, however, noticing Herse’s agitation, asked what had happened to + them. Some monks, Herse explained, had followed them on the road hither, + had snatched Dada’s lyre from the slave who was carrying it and pulled the + wreath out of her hair. Damia was furious as she heard it, and trembled + with rage as she railed at the wild hordes who disgraced and desecrated + Alexandria, the sacred home of the Muses; then she began to speak once + more of the young captain, Mary’s son, to whom the troupe of singers owed + their lives. + </p> + <p> + “Marcus,” said she, “is said to be a paragon of chastity. He races in the + hippodrome with all the gallants of the town and yet—if it is true + it is a miracle—he shuns women as though he were a priest already. + His mother is very anxious that he should become one; but he, by the grace + of Aphrodite, is the son of my handsome Appelles, who, if he had gazed + into those blue eyes all the way from Rome to Alexandria, would have + surrendered at mercy; but then he would also have conquered them—as + surely as I hope to live till autumn. You need not blush so, child. After + all, Marcus is a man like other men. Keep your eyes open, Dame Herse!” + </p> + <p> + “Never fear!” cried Herse. “And I have need to keep them open I am sorry + to say. The young captain, who on board ship was so bashful and retiring, + as soon as he was on land altered his time. While we were away this + morning he crept into his own mother’s inn like a ferret, opened the door + of our room with the keys of which he has the command—it is + shameful!—and proposed to the girl to fly, to leave us—she is + the daughter of a dear sister of mine—and go with him; who but he + knows where!” + </p> + <p> + Damia struck the floor with her crutch and, interrupting the indignant + matron with a spiteful laugh, exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Ha, ha! The saintly Mary’s most saintly son! Such wonders do not happen + every day! Here, Dada—here; take this ring, it has been worn by a + woman who once was young and who has had many lovers. Close—come + close, my sweet child.” + </p> + <p> + Dada looked up at the old lady with puzzled eyes; Damia bent her head + close to the girl’s, and whispered, softly but vehemently in her ear: + </p> + <p> + “Only turn that milksop’s head, make him so madly and desperately in love + with you that he does not know which way to turn for delicious torment. + You can do it I know, and if you do—well, I make no promises; but on + the day when all Alexandria is talking of that woman’s son as wandering + out, night after night, to watch under the window of the fair Dada, the + heathen singer—when he drives you out in the face of day and in his + own chariot, down the Canopic Way and past his mother’s door—then + child, ask, claim whatever you will, and old Damia will not refuse it.” + </p> + <p> + Then raising her head she added to the others: + </p> + <p> + “In the afternoon, my friends, you can take possession of your new + quarters. Go with them, Dada. By-and-bye we will find you a pretty room in + the tower. Come and see me very often, sweet one, and tell me all your + prettiest tales. When I am not too busy I shall always be glad to see you, + for you and I have a secret you know.” + </p> + <p> + The girl stood up, looking uneasily at the old woman; Damia nodded + knowingly, as much as to say that they quite understood each other and + again offered her hand to Dada; but Dada could not kiss it; she turned and + followed the others more gravely than usual. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo guessed what the old lady would be at with Dada; as soon as the + party of singers had taken leave she went up to her grandmother and said + reproachfully: + </p> + <p> + “That little fair thing will find no difficulty in making a fool of + Marcus; for my part I hardly know him, but why should he pay for his + mother’s sins against you? How can he help...” + </p> + <p> + “He cannot help it,” interrupted Damia with decisive abruptness. “He can + do nothing to save his mother, any more than you can help being a child of + twenty and bound to hold your tongue till your opinion is asked.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ........................... +</pre> + <p> + The family of musicians had all met on board the barge which was lying at + anchor in the lake, off the ship-yard. Orpheus had just been an + eye-witness of the disturbance which prevailed throughout the city, and + the wild howls and cries that were audible in the distance confirmed his + report; but the waters of the lake were an unruffled mirror of blue, the + slaves in the ship-yard were at work as usual, and the cooing turtle-doves + flew from palm to palm. + </p> + <p> + No signs of troubled times were to be seen in the floating home of the + wanderers. The steward had provided for everything. There were rooms and + beds to spare in the vessel; the large deck-cabin was a comfortable + sitting-room, and from the little galley at the prow came a savory smell + of cooking and a cheerful clang of pots and pans. + </p> + <p> + “This is living!” exclaimed Karnis, stretching himself comfortably on a + divan. “This abode seems made on purpose for our noble selves! Sit down, + mother, make yourself at home. Here we are people of consequence, and if + it were only to make things pleasant for the slaves we must behave as + though we had never known people who take their meals squatted round an + earthen bowl, and clawing out the broken meat. Enjoy the gifts of the + present—who knows how long this golden hour may last! Ah, wife, it + reminds us of former times! It would be very pleasant to be like this, + side by side, and help ourselves from a table all our own to dainty dishes + which we had not assisted in cooking. For you, old woman, have done + everything with your own hands for so long, that you deserve to have some + one to wait on you for once.” + </p> + <p> + A little table was placed by each divan and covered with appetizing food; + the steward mixed some fine wine of the country with fresh, clear water, + Orpheus offered the libation, and Karnis spiced the meal with jests and + tales of his youth, of which he had been reminded by his meeting with his + old friend and comrade Olympius. + </p> + <p> + Dada interrupted him frequently, laughing more loudly and recklessly than + usual; she was in a fever of excitement and Herse did not fail to remark + it. The good woman was somewhat uneasy. The very fact that her husband + always gave himself up heart and soul to the influences of the hour—though + she was glad that he should enjoy this good fortune to the utmost—made + her look beyond the present into the future. She had seen with her own + eyes the tumult that was rife in Alexandria, and felt that they had + arrived at an inauspicious moment. If it should come to a struggle between + the Christians and the Heathen, Karnis, finding that his old friend + Olympius was the head of his party, would infallibly seize the sword, and + if, then, the victory remained with the Christians no mercy would be shown + to those who had fought for the old gods. Gorgo’s wish that Agne should + sing in the temple of Isis was another source of anxiety; for if it came + to that they might, only too probably, be accused of perverting a + Christian to heathen worship, and be condemned to a severe penalty. All + this had worn a very different aspect yesterday when she had thought of + Alexandria as the gay home of her youth; but now she saw what a change had + taken place in these thirty years. The Church had risen on the ruins of + the Temple, and monks had forced the sacrificing priests into the + background. + </p> + <p> + Karnis and his troupe were musicians of no ordinary stamp; still the law + concerning singing-girls might place him in peril, especially now that—to + make matters worse—a young Christian was paying court to his pretty + niece. What catastrophes might not be called down on his hapless head if + so influential a woman as Marcus’ mother Mary should come to know of her + son’s backsliding! Herse had long perceived how attractive that little + simpleton was to all men—old and young—and when one of the + lovers, of whom she had no lack, happened to take her fancy she was apt to + forget herself and play a too audacious game; but as soon as she found she + had gone too far and somewhat committed herself she would draw back and + meet him, if she could not avoid him, with repellent and even unmannerly + coldness. Again and again had Herse scolded and warned her, but Dada + always answered her reproofs by saying that she could not make herself + different from what she was, and Herse had never been able to remain stern + and severe in the face of the foolish excuses that Dada put forward so + convincingly. + </p> + <p> + To-day the good woman could not quite make up her mind whether it would be + wiser to warn Dada against Marcus and desire her to repel any advances he + might attempt to make, or to let bygones be bygones. She knew full well + how a trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid on + it; she therefore had merely asked the girl what secret she could have + with old Damia and had accepted some evasive subterfuge in reply, while, + at the same time, she guessed the truth and was quite determined not to + remit her watchfulness. For a time, at any rate, she thought she would let + matters go their own way, and never mention the young fellow’s name; but + her husband spoilt this plan, for with the eager jollity of a man very + much at his ease after a good dinner he called upon Dada to tell their the + whole history of the young Christian’s invasion in the morning. Dada at + first was reticent, but the old man’s communicative humor proved + infectious and she presently told her story: + </p> + <p> + “I was sitting alone with the poor little boy, like—well I do not + know what like—you must find a comparison for yourselves. I was + comforting myself with the reflection that the key was on the inside and + the door locked, for I was getting frightened as the monks began to sing + in the yard below, one part going off to the left, as it were, and the + other part to the right. Did you ever see two drunken men walking arm in + arm, and lurching first to one side and then to the other? You may laugh, + but by the nine Muses it was just like that. Then Papias grew tired and + cross and kept asking where Agne was, till at last he began to cry. When I + asked him what he was crying for, he said he had forgotten, I really am + patient—you must all allow that—I did not do anything to him, + but, just to give him something to play with, I took out the key, for + there was nothing else at hand that he could not break, and gave it to him + and told him to play a tune on it. This delighted him, and he really did + it quite prettily. Then I looked over my burnt dress and was horrified to + see how large the holes were, and it struck me that I might turn it, + because when you turn a thing the spots, you know, do not show.” + </p> + <p> + “You have invented that this very minute,” cried Orpheus laughing. “We + know you. If you can only turn the laugh against yourself...” + </p> + <p> + “No, really,” cried Dada, “the idea flew through my head like a bird + through a room; but I remembered at once that a hole burnt through shows + on both sides, so I threw the dress aside as past mending and sat down on + the low stool to peep through the wicket by the door out at the yard; the + singing had stopped and the silence frightened me almost as much. Papias + had stopped his piping too, and was sitting in the corner where Orpheus + sat to write his letter to Tauromenium.” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” said Orpheus, “the inkstand was there, that the steward of the + inn had lent us the day before.” + </p> + <p> + “Just so; and when mother came in, there he was, dipping his finger in the + ink, and painting his white dress—you can study the pattern at your + leisure.—But no not interrupt me.—Well, I was looking into the + court-yard; it was quite empty; all the monks were gone. Suddenly a tall + young man in a white dress with a beautiful sky-blue border appeared + through the great gate. The gate-keeper crawled after him very humbly as + far as his rope would allow and even the steward spoke to him with both + hands pressed to his breast as if he had a faithful heart on the right + side as well as the one on the left. This young man—it was our kind + friend Marcus, of course—crossed the court, taking a zigzag at + first, as a snipe flies, and then came towards our door. The steward and + the gate-keeper had both vanished.—Do you remember the young Goths + whom their father took to bathe in the Tiber last winter, when it was so + cold? And how they first stood on the brink and dipped their toes in, and + then ran away and when they came back again just wetted their heads and + chests? But they had to jump in at last when their father shouted some + barbaric words to them—I can see them now. Well, Marcus was exactly + like those boys; but at last he suddenly walked straight up to our door + and knocked.” + </p> + <p> + “He remembered your pretty face no doubt,” laughed Karnis. + </p> + <p> + “May be. However, I did not stir. I kept as still as a mouse, sitting on + my stool and watching him through the key-hole, till presently he called + out: ‘Is no one there?’ Then I forgot and answered: ‘They are all out!’ Of + course I had betrayed myself—but it is impossible to think of + everything at once. Oh! yes—you may laugh. And he smiled too—he + is a very handsome fellow—and desired me most pressingly to open the + door as he had something of the greatest importance to say to me. I said + he could talk very well through the gap at the top; that Pyramus and + Thisbe had even kissed through a chink in a wall. But he would not see the + joke; he got graver and more earnest, and insisted, saying that our fate, + his and mine, hung on that hour, and that not a soul must overhear what he + had to say. The top of the door was too high to whisper through, so there + was nothing for it but to ask Papias for the key; however, he did not know + where he had put it. I afterwards thought of asking him what he had done + with his flute and he fetched it then at once.—In short, the key was + nowhere to be found. I told Marcus this and he wrung his hands with + vexation; but in a few minutes the inn-steward, who must have been hiding + to listen behind a pillar, suddenly appeared as if he had dropped from the + skies, took a key out of his girdle, threw the door wide open, and + vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + </p> + <p> + “There we stood, Marcus and I, face to face. He was quite agitated; I + really believe the poor fellow was trembling, and I did not feel very + confident; however, I asked him what it was that he wanted. Then he + recovered himself a little: ‘I wished,’—he began; so I went on: + ‘Thou wishedst,’—and it might have gone on to the end: ‘he wished, + we wished’—-and so forth, like the children at school at Rome, when + we were learning Greek; but, Papias came to the rescue, for he ran up to + Marcus and asked him to toss him up high, as he used to do on board ship. + Marcus did as he was asked, and then he suddenly broke out into such a + torrent of words that I was quite terrified. First he said so many fine + things that I quite expected a declaration of love, and was trying to make + up my mind whether I would laugh him out of it or throw myself into his + arms—for he really is a dear, good, handsome fellow—and if you + would like to know the truth I should have been very willing to oblige him—to + a certain extent. But he asked me nothing, and from talking of me—listen + to this Father Karnis—and saying that the great Father in Heaven had + granted me every good gift, he went on to speak of you as a wicked, + perverse and reprobate old heathen.” + </p> + <p> + “I will teach him!” exclaimed Karnis shaking his fist. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, but listen,” Dada went on. “He praised you and mother for a great + many things; but do you know what he says is wrong? He says you will + imperil my psyche—my soul, my immortal soul. As if I had ever heard + of any Psyche but the Psyche whom Eros loved!” + </p> + <p> + “That is quite another thing,” said Karnis very seriously. “In many songs, + you know, I have tried to make you uplift your soul to a higher flight. + You have learnt to sing, and there is no better school for a woman’s soul + than music and singing. If that conceited simpleton—why, he is young + enough to be my grandson—if he talks any such nonsense to you again + you may tell him from me...” + </p> + <p> + “You will tell him nothing,” cried Herse, “for we can have nothing + whatever to do with the Christian. You are my own sister’s child and I + desire and order you—do you hear—to keep out of his way, if he + ever tries to come near you again...” + </p> + <p> + “Who is likely to find us here?” said Dada. “Besides, he has no such ideas + and motives as you suppose. It is what he calls my soul that he cares for + and not myself; and he wanted to take me away, not to his own house, but + to some man who would be the physician of my soul, he said. I am generally + ready enough to laugh, but what he said was so impressive and solemn, and + so wonderfully earnest and startling that I could not jest over it. At + last I was more angry at his daring to speak to me in such a way than any + of you ever thought I could be, and that drove him half mad. You came in, + mother, just as the gentleman had fallen on his knees to implore me to + leave you.” + </p> + <p> + “And I gave him my mind on the subject,” retorted Herse with grim + satisfaction. “I let him know what I thought of him. He may talk about the + soul—what he is after is the girl. I know these Christians and I + know what the upshot will be. He will take advantage of the edict to gain + his ends, and then you will be separated from us and shut up in a + reformatory or a refuge or a cloister or whatever they call their dismal + prisons, and will learn more about your soul than you will care to know. + It will be all over then with singing, and laughter, and amusement. Now + you know the truth, and if you are wise you will keep out of his way till + we leave Alexandria; and that will be as soon as possible, if you listen + to reason, Karnis.” + </p> + <p> + She spoke with such earnest conviction that Dada remained silent with + downcast eyes, and Karnis sat up to think the matter over. + </p> + <p> + However, there was no time now for further reflection; the steward came in + and desired that he, with his son and Agne should go at once to Gorgo to + practise the lament of Isis. + </p> + <p> + This command did not include Herse and Dada, who remained on the barge. + Herse having plenty to occupy her in the lower rooms, Dada went on deck + and watched the others on their way to the house; then she sat looking at + the shipwrights at their work and tossed fruit and sweetmeats, the remains + of their dessert, for the children to catch who were playing on the shore. + Meanwhile she thought over Marcus’ startling speech, Damia’s injunctions + and Herse’s warnings. + </p> + <p> + At first it seemed to her that Herse might be right, but by degrees she + fell back into her old conviction that the young Christian could mean no + harm by her; and she felt as sure that he would find her out wherever she + might hide herself, as that it was her pretty and much-admired little + person that he sought to win, and not her soul—for what could such + an airy nothing as a soul profit a lover? How rapturously he had described + her charms, how candidly he had owned that her image was always before him + even in his dreams, that he could not and would not give her up—nay, + that he was ready to lay down his life to save her soul. Only a man in + love could speak like this and a man so desperately in love can achieve + whatever he will. On her way from the Xenodochium to the house of + Porphyrius she had passed him in his chariot, and had admired the splendid + horses which he turned and guided with perfect skill and grace. He was + scarcely three years older than herself; he was eighteen—but in + spite of his youth and simplicity he was not unmanly; and there was + something in him—something that compelled her to be constantly + thinking of him and asking herself what that something was. Old Damia’s + instructions troubled her; they took much of the charm from her dream of + being loved by Marcus, clasped in his arms, and driven through the city in + his chariot. + </p> + <p> + It was impossible—yes, quite impossible, she was sure—that + they should have parted forever; as she sat, thinking still of him and + glancing from time to time at the toiling carpenters, a boat pulled up at + the landing close to the barge out of which jumped an officer of the + imperial guard. Such a handsome man! with such a noble, powerful, sunburnt + face, a lightly waving black beard, and hair that fell from under his gold + helmet! The short-sword at his side showed him to be a tribune or prefect + of cavalry, and what gallant deeds must not this brilliant and glittering + young warrior have performed to have risen to such high rank while still + so young! He stood on the shore, looking all round, his eyes met hers and + she felt herself color; he seemed surprised to see her there and greeted + her respectfully with a military salute; then he went on towards the + unfinished hulk of a large ship whose bare curved ribs one or two foremen + were busily measuring with tape and rule. + </p> + <p> + An elderly man of dignified aspect was standing close by, who, as Dada had + already discovered, was the head of the ship-yard, and the warrior + hastened towards him. She heard him say: “Father,” and in the next instant + she saw the old man open his arms and the officer rush to embrace him. + </p> + <p> + Dada never took her eyes off the couple who walked on, arm in arm and + talking eagerly, till they disappeared into a large house on the further + side of the dockyard. + </p> + <p> + “What a handsome man!” Dada repeated to herself, but while she waited to + see him return she gazed across the lake by which Marcus might find his + way to her. And as she lingered, idly dreaming, she involuntarily compared + the two men. There were fine soldiers in plenty in Rome, and the + ship-builder’s son was in no particular superior to a hundred others; but + such a man as Marcus she had never before seen—there could hardly be + such another in the world. The young guard was one fine tree among a grove + of fine trees; but Marcus had something peculiar to himself, that + distinguished him from the crowd, and which made him exceptionally + attractive and lovable. His image at length so completely filled her mind + that she forgot the handsome officer, and the shipmaster and every one + else. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. + </h2> + <p> + Karnis and his two companions were a long time away. Dada had almost + forgotten her wish to see the young soldier once more, and after playing + with little Papias for some time, as she might have played with a dog, she + began to feel dull and to think the quiet of the boat intolerable. The sun + was sinking when the absentees returned, but she at once reminded Karnis + that he had promised to take her for a walk and show her Alexandria. + Herse, however, forbid her going on such an expedition till the following + day. Dada, who was more irritable and fractious than usual, burst into + tears, flung the distaff that her foster-mother put into her hand over the + side of the ship, and declared between her sobs that she was not a slave, + that she would run away and find happiness wherever it offered. In short + she was so insubordinate that Herse lost patience and scolded her + severely. The girl sprang up, flung on a handkerchief and in a moment + would have crossed the plank to the shore; Karnis, however, held her back. + </p> + <p> + “Why, child,” he said, “do you not see how tired I am?” The appeal had its + effect; Dada recovered her reason and tried to look up brightly, but her + eyes were still tearful and heavy and she could only creep away into a + corner and cry in silence. The old man’s heart was very soft towards the + girl; he would have been glad only to speak a few kind words to her and + smoothe down her hair; however, he made an effort, and whispering a few + words to his wife said he was ready, if Dada wished it, to take her as far + as the Canopic way and the Bruchium. + </p> + <p> + Dada laughed with delight, wiped away her tears, flung her arms round the + musician’s neck and kissed his brown cheeks, exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “You are the best of them all! Make haste, and Agne shall come too; she + must see something of the city.” + </p> + <p> + But Agne preferred to remain on board, so Karnis and Dada set out + together. Orpheus followed them closely for, though the troops had + succeeded in quelling the uproar, the city was still in a state of + ferment. Closely veiled, and without any kind of adornment—on this + Herse had positively insisted—the girl, clinging to the old man’s + arm, made her way through the streets, asking questions about everything + she saw; and her spirits rose, and she was so full of droll suggestions + that Karnis soon forgot his fatigue and gave himself up to the enjoyment + of showing her the old scenes that he knew and the new beauties and + improvements. + </p> + <p> + In the Canopic way Dada was fairly beside herself with delight. Houses + like palaces stood arrayed on each side. Close to the buildings ran a + covered arcade, and down the centre of the roadway there was a broad + footpath shaded by sycamores. This fine avenue swarmed with pedestrians, + while on each side chariots, drawn by magnificent horses, hurried past, + and riders galloped up and down; at every step there was something new and + interesting to be seen. + </p> + <p> + Rome, even, could not boast of a handsomer street, and Dada expressed her + delight with frank eagerness; but Karnis did not echo her praises; he was + indignant at finding that the Christians had removed a fine statue of the + venerable Nile-god surrounded by the playful forms of his infant children, + which had formerly graced the fountain in the middle of the avenue, and + had also overthrown or mutilated the statues of Hermes that had stood by + the roadside. Orpheus sympathized in his wrath which reached its climax + when, on looking for two statues, of Demeter and of Pallas Athene, of + which Karnis had spoken to his son as decorating the gateway of one of the + finest houses in the city, they beheld instead, mounted on the plinths, + two coarsely-wrought images of the Lamb with its Cross. + </p> + <p> + “Like two rats that have been caught under a stone!” cried the old man. + “And what is most shameful is that I would wager that they have destroyed + the statues which were the pride of the town and thrown them on a rubbish + heap. In my day this house belonged to a rich man named Philippus. But + stop—was not he the father of our hospitable protector...” + </p> + <p> + “The steward spoke of Porphyrius as the son of Philippus,” Orpheus said. + </p> + <p> + “And Philippus was a corn merchant, too,” added Karnis. “Demeter was + figurative of a blessing on the harvest, for it was from that the house + derived its wealth, and Pallas Athene was patroness of the learning that + was encouraged by its owners. When I was a student here every wealthy man + belonged to some school of philosophy. The money-bag did not count for + everything. Heathen or Jew, whether engaged in business or enjoying the + revenues of an inherited fortune, a man was expected to be able to talk of + something besides the price of merchandise and the coming and sailing of + vessels.” + </p> + <p> + During this conversation Dada had withdrawn her hand from the old man’s + arm to raise her veil, for two men had gone up to the gate between the + images that had roused Karnis to wrath, and one of them, who at this + instant knocked at the door, was Mary’s son. + </p> + <p> + “Father, see, there he is!” cried Dada, as the door was opened, speaking + louder than was at all necessary to enable her companion to hear her; the + musician at once recognized Marcus, and turning to his son he said: + </p> + <p> + “Now we may be quite sure! Porphyrius and this young Christian’s father + were brothers. Philippus must have left his house to his eldest son who is + the one that is dead, and it now belongs no doubt to Mary, his widow. I + must admit, child, that you choose your adorers from respectable + families!” + </p> + <p> + “I should think so,” said the girl laughing. “And that is why he is so + proud. My fine gentleman has not even a glance to cast at us. Bang! the + door is shut. Come along, uncle!” + </p> + <p> + The young man in question entered the hall of his father’s house with his + companion and paused there to say in a tone of pressing entreaty: “Only + come and speak with my mother; you really must not leave like this.” + </p> + <p> + “How else?” said the other roughly. “You stick to your way, I will go + mine. You can find a better steward for the estate—I go to-morrow. + May the earth open and swallow me up if I stay one hour longer than is + absolutely necessary in this demented place. And after all Mary is your + mother and not mine.” + </p> + <p> + “But she was your father’s wife,” retorted Marcus. + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, or you would not be my brother. But she—I have amply + repaid any kindness she ever did me by ten years of service. We do not + understand each other and we never shall.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, you will indeed. I have been in church and prayed—nay, do + not laugh—I prayed to the Lord that he would make it all work right + and He—well, you have been baptized and made one of His flock.” + </p> + <p> + “To my misfortune! You drive me frantic with your meek and mild ways,” + cried the other passionately. “My own feet are strong enough for me to + stand on and my hand, though it is horny, can carry out what my brain + thinks right.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, Demetrius, no. You see, you believe in the old gods...” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said the other with increasing irritation. “You are merely + talking to the winds, and my time is precious. I must pack up my small + possessions, and for your sake I will say a few words of farewell when I + take the account-books to your mother. I have land enough belonging to + myself alone, at Arsinoe; I know my own business and am tired of letting a + woman meddle and mar it. Good-bye for the present, youngster. Tell your + mother I am coming; I shall be with her in just an hour.” + </p> + <p> + “Demetrius!” cried the lad trying once more to detain his brother; but + Demetrius freed himself with a powerful wrench and hurried across the + court-yard—gay with flowers and with a fountain in the middle—into + which the apartments of the family opened, his own among the number. + </p> + <p> + Marcus looked after him sadly; they differed too widely in thought and + feeling ever to understand each other completely, and when they stood side + by side no one would have imagined that they were the sons of one father, + for even in appearance they were strongly dissimilar. Marcus was slight + and delicate, Demetrius, on the contrary, broad-shouldered and + large-boned. + </p> + <p> + After this parting from his half-brother Marcus betook himself to the + women’s rooms where Mary, after superintending the spinning and other work + of the slave-girls, in the rooms at the back, was wont to sit during the + evening. He found his mother in eager conversation with a Christian priest + of advanced age, an imposing personage of gentle and dignified aspect. The + widow, though past forty, might still pass for a handsome woman: it was + from her that her son had inherited his tall, thin figure with narrow + shoulders and a slight stoop, his finely-cut features, white skin and + soft, flowing, raven-black hair. Their resemblance was rendered all the + more striking by the fact that each wore a simple, narrow circlet of + gold-round the head; nay it would have seemed some unusual trick of + Nature’s but that their eyes were quite unlike. Hers were black, and their + gaze was shrewd and sharp and sometimes sternly hard; while the dreamy + lustre of her son’s, which were blue, lent his face an almost feminine + softness. + </p> + <p> + She must have been discussing some grave questions with the old man, for, + as the young man entered the room, she colored slightly and her long, + taper fingers impatiently tapped the back of the couch on which she was + lounging. + </p> + <p> + Marcus kissed first the priest’s hand and then his mother’s, and, after + enquiring with filial anxiety after her health, informed her that + Demetrius would presently be coming to take leave of her. + </p> + <p> + “How condescending?” she said coldly. “You know reverend Father what it is + that I require of him and that he refuses. His peasants—always his + peasants! Now can you tell me why they, who must feel the influence and + power of their masters so much more directly than the lower class in + towns, they, whose weal or woe so obviously depends on the will of the + Most High, are so obstinately set against the Gospel of Salvation?” + </p> + <p> + “They cling to what they are used to,” replied the old man. “The seed they + sow bore fruit under the old gods; and as they cannot see nor handle our + Heavenly Father as they can their idols, and at the same time have nothing + better to hope for than a tenth or a twentieth of the grain...” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mine and thine—the miserable profit of this world!” sighed the + widow. “Oh! Demetrius can defend the idolatry of his favorites warmly + enough, never fear. If you can spare the time, good Father, stay and help + me to convince him.” + </p> + <p> + “I have already stayed too long,” replied the priest, “for the Bishop has + commanded my presence. I should like to speak to you, my dear Marcus; + to-morrow morning, early, will you come to me? The Lord be with you, + beloved!” + </p> + <p> + He rose, and as he gave Mary his hand she detained him a moment signing to + her son to leave them, and said in a low tone: + </p> + <p> + “Marcus must not suspect that I know of the error into which he has been + led; speak roundly to his conscience, and as to the girl, I will take her + in hand. Will it not be possible for Theophilus to grant me an interview?” + </p> + <p> + “Hardly, at present,” replied the priest. “As you know, Cynegius is here + and the fate of the Bishop and of our cause hangs on the next few days. + Give up your ambitious desires I beseech you, daughter, for even if + Theophilus were to admit you I firmly believe, nay—do not be angry—I + can but hope that he would never give way on this point.” + </p> + <p> + “No?” said the widow looking down in some embarrassment; but when her + visitor was gone she lifted her head with a flash of wilful defiance. + </p> + <p> + She then made Marcus, who had on the previous day given her a full account + of his voyage from Rome, tell her all that had passed between himself and + Demetrius; she asked him how he liked his horse, whether he hoped to win + the approaching races, and generally what he had been doing and was going + to do. But it did not escape her notice that Marcus was more reticent than + usual and that he tried to bring the conversation round to his voyage and + to the guests in the Xenodochium; however, she always stopped him, for she + knew what he was aiming at and would not listen to anything on that + subject. + </p> + <p> + It was not till long after the slaves had lighted the three-branched + silver lamps that Demetrius appeared. His stepmother received him kindly + and began to talk on indifferent subjects; but he replied with + ill-disguised impatience, for he had not come to chatter and gossip. She + fully understood this; but it pleased her to check and provoke him and she + did it in a way which vividly reminded him of his early days, of the + desolation and unhappiness that had blighted his young life when this + woman had taken the place of his own tender gentle mother, and come + between him and his father. Day after day, in that bygone time, she had + received him just as she had this evening: with words that sounded kindly, + but with a cold, unloving heart. He knew that she had always seen his + boyish errors and petty faults in the worst light, attributing them to bad + propensities and innate wickedness, that she had injured him in his + father’s eyes by painting a distorted image of his disposition and doings—and + all these sins he could not forgive her. At the time of his father’s + assassination Demetrius was already grown to man’s estate, and as the + eldest son it would have been his right and duty to take part with his + uncle Porphyrius in the management of the business; but he could not + endure the idea of living in the same place with his stepmother, so, + having a pronounced taste for a country life, he left the widow in + possession of the house in the Canopic street, persuaded his uncle to pay + over his father’s share in the business in hard cash and then had quitted + Alexandria to take entire charge of the family estates in Cyrenaica. In + the course of a few years he had become an admirable farmer; the + landowners throughout the province were glad to take his advice or follow + his example, and the accounts which he now laid on the table by the side + of Mary’s couch—three goodly rolls—proved by the irrefragable + evidence of figures that he had actually doubled their revenues from the + estates of which he had been the manager. He had earned his right to claim + his independence, to persist in his own determinations and to go his own + way; he was animated by the pride of an independent nature that recklessly + breaks away from a detested tie when it has means at command either to + rest without anxiety or to devote its energies to new enterprise. + </p> + <p> + When Demetrius had allowed his stepmother time enough for subjects in + which he took no interest, he laid his hand on the account-books and + abruptly observed that it was now time to talk seriously. He had already + explained to Marcus that he could no longer undertake to meet her + requirements; and as, with him, to decide was to act, he wished at once to + come to a decision as to whether he should continue to manage the family + estates in the way he thought proper, or should retire and devote himself + to the care of his own land. If Mary accepted the latter alternative he + would at once cancel their deed of agreement, but even then he was very + willing to stay on for a time in Cyrenaica, and put the new steward, when + she had appointed one, in the way of performing his onerous duties. After + that he would have nothing more to do with the family estates. This was + his last word; and whichever way she decided, they might part without any + final breach, which he was anxious to avoid if only for the sake of + Marcus. + </p> + <p> + Demetrius spoke gravely and calmly; still, the bitterness that filled his + soul imparted a flavor to his speech that did not escape the widow, and + she replied with some emphasis that she should be very sorry to think that + any motives personal to herself had led to his decision; she owed much, + very much, to his exertions and had great pleasure in expressing her + obligations. He was aware, of course, that the property he had been + managing had been purchased originally partly with her fortune and partly + out of her husband’s pocket, and that half of it was therefore hers and + half of it the property of Marcus and himself; but that by her husband’s + will the control and management were hers absolutely. She had endeavored + to carry out the intentions of her deceased husband by entrusting the + stewardship of the estate to Demetrius while he was still quite young; + under his care the income had increased, and she had no doubt that in the + future he might achieve even greater results; at the same time, the + misunderstandings that the whole business had given rise to were not to be + endured, and must positively be put an end to, even if their income were + to diminish by half. + </p> + <p> + “I,” she exclaimed, “am a Christian, with my whole heart and soul. I have + dedicated my body and life to the service of my Saviour. What shall all + the treasures of the world profit me if I lose my soul; and that, which is + my immortal part, must inevitably perish if I allow my pockets to be + filled by the toil of heathen peasants and slaves. I therefore must insist—and + on this point I will not yield a jot—that our slaves in Cyrenaica, a + flock of more than three thousand erring sheep, shall either submit to be + baptized or be removed to make way for Christians.” + </p> + <p> + “That is to say...” began Demetrius hastily. + </p> + <p> + “I have not yet done,” she interrupted. “So far as the peasants are + concerned who rent and farm our land they all, without exception—as + you said yesterday—are stiff-necked idolaters. We must give them + time to think it over, but the annual agreement will not be renewed with + any who will not pledge themselves to give up the old sacrifices and to + worship the Redeemer. If they submit they will be safe—in this world + and the next; if they refuse they must go, and the land must be let to + Christians in their stead.” + </p> + <p> + “Just as I change this seat for another!” said Demetrius with a laugh, and + lifting up a heavy bronze chair he flung it down again on the hard mosaic + pavement so that the floor shook. + </p> + <p> + Maria started violently. + </p> + <p> + “My body may tremble,” she said in great excitement, “but my soul is firm + when its everlasting bliss is at stake. I insist—and my + representative, whether he be you or another, must carry my orders into + effect without an hour’s delay—I insist that every heathen shrine, + every image of the field and garden-gods, every altar and sacred stone + which the heathens use for their idolatrous practices shall be pulled + down, overthrown, mutilated and destroyed. That is what I require and + insist on.” + </p> + <p> + “And that is what I will never consent to,” cried Demetrius in a voice + like low thunder. “I cannot and will not. These things have been held + precious and sacred to men for thousands of years and I cannot, will not, + blow them off the face of the earth, as you blow a feather off your cloak. + You may go and do it yourself; you may be able to achieve it.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” asked Mary drawing herself up with a glance of + indignant protest. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—if any one can do it you can!” repeated Demetrius + imperturbably. “I went to-day to seek the images of our forefathers—the + venerable images that were clear to our infancy, the portraits of our + fathers’ fathers and mothers, the founders of the honor of our race. And + where are they? They have gone with the protectors of our home, the pride + and ornament of this house—of the street, of the city—the + Hermes and Pallas Athene that you—you flung into the lime-kiln. Old + Phabis told me with tears in his eyes. Alas poor house that is robbed of + its past, of its glory, and of its patron deities!” + </p> + <p> + “I have placed it under a better safeguard,” replied Maria in a tremulous + voice, and she looked it Marcus with an appeal for sympathy. “Now, for the + last time, I ask you: Will you accede to my demands or will you not?” + </p> + <p> + “I will not,” said Demetrius resolutely. + </p> + <p> + “Then I must find a new agent to manage the estates.” + </p> + <p> + “You will soon find one; but your land—which is our land too—will + become a desert. Poor land! If you destroy its shrines and sanctuaries you + will destroy its soul; for they are the soul of the land. The first + inhabitants gathered round the sanctuary, and on that sanctuary and the + gods that dwell there the peasant founds his hopes of increase on what he + sows and plants, and of prosperity for his wife and children and cattle + and all that he has. In destroying his shrines you ruin his hopes, and + with them all the joy of life. I know the peasant; he believes that his + labors must be vain if you deprive him of the gods that make it thrive. He + sows in hope, in the swelling of the grain he sees the hand of the gods + who claim his joyful thanksgiving after the harvest is gathered in. You + are depriving him of all that encourages and uplifts and rejoices his soul + when you ruin his shrines and altars!” + </p> + <p> + “But I give him other and better ones,” replied Mary. + </p> + <p> + “Take care then that they are such as he can appreciate,” said Demetrius + gravely. “Persuade him to love, to believe, to hope in the creed you force + upon him; but do not rob him of what he trusts in before he is prepared to + accept the substitute you offer him.—Now, let me go; we are neither + of us in the temper to make the best arrangements for the future. One + thing, at any rate, is certain: I have nothing more to do with the + estate.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. + </h2> + <p> + After leaving his stepmother Demetrius made good use of his time and + dictated a number of letters to his secretary, a slave he had brought with + him to Alexandria, for the use of the pen was to him unendurable labor. + The letters were on business, relating to his departure from Cyrenaica and + his purpose of managing his own estates for the future, and when they lay + before him, finished, rolled up and sealed, he felt that he had come to a + mile-stone on his road, a landmark in his life. He paced the room in + silence, trying to picture to himself the fate of the slaves and peasants + who, for so many years, had been his faithful servants and + fellow-laborers, whose confidence he had entirely won, and many of whom he + truly loved. But he could not conceive of their life, their toil or their + festivals, bereft of images, offerings, garlands, and hymns of rejoicing. + To him they were as children, forbidden to laugh and play, and he could + not help once more recurring to his boyhood and the day of his going to + school, when, instead of running and shouting in his father’s sunny + garden, he had been made to sit still and silent in a dull class-room. And + now had the whole world reached such a boundary line in existence beyond + which there was to be no more freedom and careless joy—where a + ceaseless struggle for higher things must begin and never end? + </p> + <p> + If the Gospel were indeed true, and if all it promised could ever find + fulfilment, it might perhaps be prudent to admit the sinfulness of man and + to give up the joys and glories of this world to win the eternal treasure + that it described. Many a good and wise man whom he had known—nay + the Emperor, the great and learned Theodosius himself—was devoted + heart and soul to the Christian faith, and Demetrius knew from his own + experience that his mother’s creed, in which he had been initiated as a + boy and from which his father, after holding him at the font had perverted + him at an early age, offered great consolations and enduring help to those + whose existence was one of care, poverty, and suffering. But his laborers + and servants? They were healthy and contented. What power on earth could + induce them—a race that clung devotedly to custom—to desert + the faith of their fathers, and the time-honored traditions to which they + owed all the comforts and pleasures of life, or to seek in a strange creed + the aid which they already believed that they possessed. + </p> + <p> + He did not repent of his determination; but he nevertheless said to + himself that, when once he was gone, Mary would proceed only too soon on + the work of extermination and destruction; and every temple on the estate, + every statue, every whispering grotto, every shrine and stone anointed by + pious hands, doomed now to perish, rose before his fancy. + </p> + <p> + Demetrius was accustomed to rise at cock-crow and go to bed at an early + hour, and he was on the point of retiring even before the usual time, when + Marcus came to his room and begged him to give him yet an hour. + </p> + <p> + “You are angry with my mother,” said the younger man with a look of + melancholy entreaty, “but you know there is nothing that she would not + sacrifice for the faith. And you can smile so bitterly! But only put + yourself in my place. Loving my mother as I do, it is acutely painful to + me to see another person—to see you whom I love, too, for you are my + friend and brother—to see you, I say, turn your back on her so + completely. My heart is heavy enough to-day I can tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor boy!” said the countryman. “Yes, I am truly your friend, and am + anxious to remain so; you are not to blame in this business—and for + that matter, I am anything but cheerful. You have chosen to say: Down with + the shrines! Perish all those who do not think as we do! Still, look at + the thing as you will, in some cases certainly violence must ensue—nay, + if no blood is shed it will be a wonder! You sum up the matter in one + common term: The heathen peasants on the estate. My view of it is totally + different; I know these farmers and their wives and children, each one by + name and by sight. There is not one but is ready to bid me good day and + shake my hand or kiss my dress. Many a one has come to me in tears and + left me happy.—By the great Zeus! no one ever accused me of being + soft-hearted, but I could wish this day that I were harder; and my blood + turns to gall as I ask—What is all this for—to what possible + end?” + </p> + <p> + “For the sake and honor of the faith, Demetrius; for the eternal salvation + of our people.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” retorted Demetrius with a drawl, “I know better. If that and + that alone were intended you would build churches and chapels and send us + worthy priests—Eusebius and the like—and would try to win + men’s hearts to your Lord by the love you are always talking so much + about. That was my advice to your mother, only this morning. I believe the + end might be attained by those means, among us as elsewhere; ultimately it + will, no doubt, be gained—but not to-day nor to-morrow. A peasant, + when he had become accustomed to the church and grasped a trust in the new + God, would of his own accord give up the old gods and their sanctuaries; I + could count you off a dozen such instances. That I could have looked on at + calmly, for I want only men’s arms and legs and do not ask for their + souls; but to burn down the old house before you have collected wood and + stone to build a new one I call wicked.—It is cruelty and madness, + and when so shrewd a woman as your mother is bent on carrying through such + a measure, come what may, there is something more behind it.” + </p> + <p> + “You think she wants to get rid of you—you, Demetrius!” interrupted + Marcus eagerly. “But you are mistaken, you are altogether wrong. What you + have done for the estate...” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! as for that!” cried the other, “what has my work to do with all this? + Ere the year is out everything that can remind us of the heathen gods is + to be swept away from the hamlets and fields of the pious Mary. That is + what is intended! Then they will hurry off to the Bishop with the great + news and to crown one marvel with another, the reversion will be secured + of a martyr’s nimbus. And this is what all this zeal is for—this and + nothing else!” + </p> + <p> + “You are speaking of my mother, remember!” cried Marcus, looking at his + brother with a touching appeal in his eyes. Demetrius shook his shaggy + head and spoke more temperately as he went on: + </p> + <p> + “Yes, child, I had forgotten that—and I may be mistaken of course, + for I am no more than human. Here one thing follows so close on another, + and in this house I feel so battered and storm-tossed, that I hardly know + myself. But old Phabis tells me that steps are being seriously taken to + procure the title of Martyr for our father Apelles.” + </p> + <p> + “My mother is quite convinced that he died for the faith, and she loved + him devotedly...” + </p> + <p> + “Then it is so!” cried Demetrius, grinding his teeth and thumping his fist + down on the table. “The lies sown by one single man have produced a deadly + weed that is smothering this miserable house! You—to be sure, what + can you know of our father? I knew him; I have been present when he and + his friends, the philosophers, have laughed to scorn things which not only + you Christians but even pious heathen regard as sacred. Lucretius was his + evangelist, and the Cosmogony of that utter atheist lay by his pillow and + was his companion wherever he went.” + </p> + <p> + “He admired the heathen poets, but he was a Christian all the same,” + replied Marcus. + </p> + <p> + “Neither more nor less than Porphyrius, our uncle, or myself,” retorted + his brother. “Since the day when our grandfather Philippus was baptized, + wealth and happiness have deserted this house. He gave up the old gods + solely that he might not lose the right of supplying the city and the + Emperor with corn, and became a Christian and made his sons Christians. + But he had us educated by his heathen friends, and though we passed for + Christians we were not so in fact. When it was absolutely necessary he + showed himself in church with us; but our daily life, our pleasures, our + pastimes were heathen, and when life began for us in earnest we offered a + bleeding sacrifice to the gods. It was impossible to retract honestly, + since a renegade Christian returning to the worship of the old gods is + incapacitated by law from making a will. You know this; and when you ask + me why I am content to live alone, without either wife or child—and + I love children, even those of other people—a solitary man dragging + out my days and nights joylessly enough—I tell you: I am openly and + honestly a worshipper of our old gods, and I will not go to church because + I scorn a lie. What should I do with children who, in consequence of my + retractation, must forfeit all I might leave them? It was this question of + inheritance only that induced my father to have us baptized and to make a + pretense of Christianity. He set out for Petra with his Lucretius in his + satchel—I packed it with my own hands into his money-bag—to + put in a claim to supply grain to the ‘Rock city.’ He was slain on his way + home; most likely by his servant Anubis, who certainly knew what money he + had with him, and who vanished and left no trace. Because—about the + same time—a band of Saracens had fallen on some Christian anchorites + and travellers, in the district between Petra and Aila, your mother chose + to assume a right to call our father a martyr! But she knew his opinions + full well, I tell you, and shed many a tear over them, too.—Now she + has expended vast sums on church-building, she has opened the Xenodochium + and pours her money by lavish handfuls clown the insatiable throats of + monks and priests. To what end? To have her husband recognized as a + martyr. Hitherto her toil and money have been wasted. In my estimation the + Bishop is a perfectly detestable tyrant, and if I know him at all he will + take all she will give and never grant her wish. Now she is preparing her + great move, and hopes to startle him into compliance by a new marvel. She + thinks that, like a juggler who turns a white egg black, she can turn a + heathen district into a Christian one by a twist of her finger. Well—so + far as I am concerned I will have nothing to do with the trick.” + </p> + <p> + During this harangue Marcus had alternately gazed at the floor and fixed + his large eyes in anguish on his brother’s face. For some minutes he found + nothing to reply, and he was evidently going through a bitter mental + struggle. Demetrius spoke no more, but arranged the sheets of papyrus that + strewed the table. At length Marcus, after a deep sigh, broke out in a + tone of fervent conviction and with a blissful smile that lighted up his + whole face: + </p> + <p> + “Poor mother! And others misunderstand her just as you do; I myself was in + danger of doubting her. But I think that now I understand her perfectly. + She loved my father so completely that she hopes now to win for his + immortal soul the grace which he, in the flesh, neglected to strive after. + He was baptized, so she longs to win, by her prayers and oblations, the + mercy of the Lord who is so ready to forgive. She herself firmly believes + in the martyrdom of her beloved dead, and if only the Church will rank him + among those who have died for Her, he will be saved, and she will find him + standing in the pure radiance of the realms above, with open arms, + overflowing with fervent love and gratitude, to welcome the faithful + helpmate who will have purged his soul. Yes, now I quite understand; and + from this day forth I will aid and second her; the hardest task shall not + be too hard, the best shall not be too good, if only we may open the gates + of Heaven to my poor father’s imperilled soul.” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke his eye glistened with ecstatic light; his brother, too, was + touched, and to hide his emotion, he exclaimed, more recklessly and + sharply than was his wont: + </p> + <p> + “That will come all right, never fear, lad!” But he hastily wiped his eyes + with his hand, slapped Marcus on the shoulder, and added gaily: “It is + better to choke than to swallow down the thing you think right, and it + never hurt a man yet to make a clean breast of his feelings, even if we do + not quite agree we understand each other the better for it. I have my way + of thinking, you have yours; thus we each know what the other means; but + after the tragedy comes the satyr play, and we may as well finish this + agitating evening with an hour’s friendly chat.” + </p> + <p> + So saying Demetrius stretched himself on a divan and invited Marcus to do + the same, and in a few minutes their conversation had turned, as usual, to + the subject of horses. Marcus was full of praises of the stallions his + brother had bred for him, and which he had ridden that very day round the + Myssa—[The Myssa was the Meta, or turning-post]—in the + Hippodrome, and his brother added with no small complacency: + </p> + <p> + “They were all bred from the same sire and from the choicest mares. I + broke them in myself, and I only wish.... But why did you not come to the + stables this morning?” + </p> + <p> + “I could not,” replied Marcus coloring slightly. Then we will go to-morrow + to Nicopolis and I will show you how to get Megaera past the Taraxippios.”—[The + terror of the horses.] + </p> + <p> + “To-morrow?” said Marcus somewhat embarrassed. “In the morning I must go + to see Eusebius and then....” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then?” + </p> + <p> + “Then I must—I mean I should like....” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, to be sure I might, all the same.—But no, it is not to be + done—I have....” + </p> + <p> + “What, what?” cried Demetrius with increasing impatience: “My time is + limited and if you start the horses without knowing my way of managing + them they will certainly not do their best. As soon as the market begins + to fill we will set out. We shall need a few hours for the Hippodrome, + then we will dine with Damon, and before dark....” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” replied Marcus, “to-morrow, certainly, I positively cannot....” + </p> + <p> + “People who have nothing to do always lack time,” replied the other. “Is + to-morrow one of your festivals?” + </p> + <p> + “No, not that=-and Good Heavens! If only I could....” + </p> + <p> + “Could, could!” cried Demetrius angrily and standing close in front of his + brother with his arms folded. “Say out honestly: ‘I will not go,’ or else, + ‘my affairs are my own secret and I mean to keep it.’—But give me no + more of your silly equivocations.” + </p> + <p> + His vehemence increased the younger man’s embarrassment, and as he stood + trying to find an explanation which might come somewhat near the truth and + yet not betray him, Demetrius, who had stood watching him closely, + suddenly exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “By Aphrodite, the daughter of the foam! it is a love affair—an + assignation.—Woman, woman, always woman!” + </p> + <p> + “An assignation!” cried Marcus shaking his head. “No indeed, no one + expects me; and yet—I had rather you should misunderstand me than + think that I had lied. Yes—I am going to seek a woman; and if I do + not find her to-morrow, if in the course of tomorrow I do not succeed in + my heart’s desire, she is lost—not only to me, though I cannot give + up the heavenly love for the sake of the earthly and fleshly—but to + my Lord and Saviour. It is the life—the everlasting life or death of + one of God’s loveliest creatures that hangs on to-morrow’s work.” + </p> + <p> + Demetrius was greatly astonished, and it was with an angry gesture of + impatience that he replied: + </p> + <p> + “Again you have overstepped the boundary within which we can possibly + understand each other. In my opinion you are hardly old enough to + undertake the salvation of the imperilled souls of pretty women. Take care + what you are about, youngster! It is safe enough to go into the water with + those who can swim, but those who sink are apt to draw you down with them. + You are a good-looking young fellow, you have money and fine horses, and + there are women enough who are only too ready to spread their nets + abroad...” + </p> + <p> + “What are you thinking of?” cried Marcus passionately. “It is I who am the + fisher—a fisher of souls, and so every true believer ought to be. + She—she is innocence and simplicity itself, in spite of her roguish + sauciness. But she has fallen into the hands of a reprobate heathen, and + here, where vice prowls about the city like a roaring lion, she will be + lost—lost, if I do not rescue her. Twice have I seen her in my + dreams; once close to the cavern of a raging dragon, and again on the edge + of a precipitous cliff, and each time an angel called out to me and bid me + save her from the jaws of the monster, and from falling into the abyss. + Since then I seem to see her constantly; at meals, when I am in company, + when I am driving,—and I always hear the warning voice of the angel. + And now I feel it a sacred duty to save her—a creature on whom the + Almighty has lavished every gift he ever bestowed on the daughters of Eve—to + lead her into the path of Salvation.” + </p> + <p> + Demetrius had listened to his brother’s enthusiastic speech with growing + anxiety, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and said: + </p> + <p> + “I almost envy you your acquaintance with this favorite of the gods; but + you might, it seems to me, postpone the work of salvation. You were away + from Alexandria for half a year, and if she could hold out so long as + that...” + </p> + <p> + “Do not speak so; you ought not to speak so!” cried Marcus, pressing his + hand on his heart as though in physical pain. “But I have no time to lose, + for I must at once find out where the old singer has taken her. I am not + so inexperienced as you seem to think. He has brought her here to trade in + her beauty, and enrich himself. Why, you, too, saw her on board ship; I, + as you know, had arranged for them to be taken in at my mother’s + Xenodochium.” + </p> + <p> + “Whom?” asked Demetrius folding his hands. + </p> + <p> + “The singers whom I brought with me from Ostia. And now they have + disappeared from thence, and Dada...” + </p> + <p> + “Dada!” cried Demetrius, bursting into a loud laugh without heeding Marcus + who stepped up to him, crimson with rage. “Dada! that little fair puss! + You see her day and night and an angel calls upon you to save that child’s + merry soul? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, boy! Why, what shall I + wager now? I will stake this roll of gold that I could make her come with + me to-morrow—with me, a hard-featured countryman, freckled all over + like a plover’s egg, where my clothes do not protect my skin, and with + hair on end like the top of a broom—yes, that she will follow me to + Arsinoe or wherever I choose to bid her. Let the hussy go, you simple + innocent. Such a Soul as hers is of small account even in a less exclusive + Heaven than yours is.” + </p> + <p> + “Take back those words!” cried Marcus, beside himself and clenching his + fist. “But that is just like you! Your impure eyes and heart defile purity + itself, and see spots even in the sun. Nothing is too bad for a ‘singing + girl,’ I know. But that is just the marrow of the matter; it is from that + very curse that I mean to save her. If you can accuse her of anything, + speak; if not, and if you do not want to appear a base slanderer in my + eyes, take back the words you have just spoken!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I take them back of course,” said Demetrius indifferently. “I know + nothing of your beauty beyond what she has herself said to me and you and + Cynegius and his Secretaries—with her pretty, saucy eyes. But the + language of the eye, they say, is not always to be depended on; so take it + as unsaid. And, if I understood you rightly, you do not even know where + the singers are hiding? If you have no objection, I will help you to seek + them out.” + </p> + <p> + “That is as you please,” answered Marcus hotly. “All your mockery will not + prevent my doing my duty.” + </p> + <p> + “Very right, very right,” said his brother. “Perhaps this damsel is unlike + all the other singing-girls with whom I used so often to spend a jolly + evening in my younger days. Once, at Barca, I saw a white raven—but + perhaps after all it was only a dove. Your opinion, in this case, is at + any rate better founded than mine, for I never thought twice about the + girl and you did.—But it is late; till to-morrow, Marcus.” + </p> + <p> + The brothers parted for the night, but when Demetrius found himself alone + he walked up and down the room, shaking his head doubtfully. Presently, + when his body-slave came in to pack for him, he called out crossly: + </p> + <p> + “Let that alone—I shall stay in Alexandria a few days longer.” + </p> + <p> + Marcus could not go to bed; his brother’s scorn had shaken his soul to the + foundations. An inward voice told him that his more experienced senior + might be right, but at the same time he hated and contemned himself for + listening to its warnings at all. The curse that rested on Dada was that + of her position; she herself was pure—as pure as a lily, as pure as + the heart of a child, as pure as the blue of her eyes and the ring of her + voice. He would obey the angel’s behest! He could and he must save her! + </p> + <p> + In the greatest excitement he went out of the house, through the great + gate, into the Canopic way, and walked on. As he was about to turn down a + side street to go to the lake he found the road stopped by soldiers, for + this street led past the prefect’s house where Cynegius, the Emperor’s + emissary, was staying; he had come, it was said, to close the Temples, and + the excited populace had gathered outside the building, during the + afternoon, to signify their indignant disapprobation. At sundown an armed + force had been called out and had dispersed the crowd; but it was by + another road that the young Christian at length made his way to the shore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. + </h2> + <p> + While Marcus was restlessly wandering on the shore of Mareotis, dreaming + of Dada’s image and arranging speeches of persuasive eloquence by which to + touch her heart and appeal to her soul, silence had fallen on the floating + home of the singers. A light white mist, like a filmy veil—a tissue + of clouds and moonbeams—hung over the lake. Work was long since over + in the ship-yard, and the huge skeletons of the unfinished ships threw + weird and ghostly shadows on the silvered strand-forms like black visions + of crayfish, centipedes, or enormous spiders. + </p> + <p> + From the town there came not a sound; it lay in the silence of intoxicated + sleep. The Roman troops had cleared the streets, the lights were dead in + every house, and in all the alleys and squares; only the moon shone over + the roofs of Alexandria, while the blazing beacon of the light-house on + the north-eastern point of the island of Pharos shone like a sun through + the darkness. + </p> + <p> + In a large cabin in the stern of the vessel lay the two girls, on soft + woollen couches and covered with rugs. Agne was gazing wide-eyed into the + darkness; Dada had long been asleep, but she breathed painfully and her + rosy lips were puckered now and then as if she were in some distress. She + was dreaming of the infuriated mob who had snatched the garland from her + hair—she saw Marcus suddenly interfere to protect her and rescue her + from her persecutors—then she thought she had fallen off the gangway + that led from the land to the barge, and was in the water while old Damia + stood on the shore and laughed at her without trying to help her. Night + generally brought the child sound sleep or pleasant dreams, but now one + hideous face after another haunted her. + </p> + <p> + And yet the evening had brought her a great pleasure. Not long after their + return from their walk the steward had come down to the boat and brought + her a very beautiful dress, with greetings from his old mistress; he had + at the same time brought an Egyptian slave-woman, well skilled in all the + arts of the toilet, who was to wait upon her so long as she remained in + Alexandria. Dada had never owned such a lovely dress! The under-robe was + of soft sea-green bombyx silk, with a broad border, delicately + embroidered, of a garland of roses and buds. The peplos was of the same + color and decorated to match; costly clasps of mosaic, representing + full-blown roses and set in oval gold settings, fastened it on the + shoulders. In a separate case were a gold girdle, a bracelet, also of + gold, in the shape of a snake, a gold crescent with a rose, like those on + the shoulder-clasps, in its centre, and a metal mirror of spotless lustre. + </p> + <p> + The slave, a middle-aged woman with a dark cunning face, had helped her to + put on this new garment; she had also insisted on dressing her hair, and + all the time had never ceased praising the charms that nature had bestowed + on her young mistress, with the zeal of a lover. + </p> + <p> + Agne had looked on smiling, good-naturedly handing the slave the pins and + ribbands she had needed, and sincerely rejoicing in her companion’s beauty + and delight. + </p> + <p> + At last Dada had made her appearance in the deckroom and was greeted by + many an Ah! and Oh! of admiration from the men of the party, including + Medius, the singer whom Karnis had met in the street. Even Herse, who had + received her quite disagreeably on her return from the city, could not + suppress a smile of kindly approval, though she shook her finger at her + saying: + </p> + <p> + “The old lady has set her heart on turning your head completely I see. All + that is very pretty, but all the good it will do will be to rouse spiteful + tongues. Remember, Dada, that you are my sister’s child; I promise you I + shall not forget it, and I shall keep my eye upon you.” + </p> + <p> + Orpheus made haste to light every lamp and taper, of which there were + plenty, for the barge was handsomely furnished, and when Dada was plainly + visible in the brilliant illumination Karnis exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “You look like a senator’s daughter! Long live the Fair!” + </p> + <p> + She ran up to him and kissed him; but when Orpheus walked all round her, + examining the fineness of the tissue and the artistic finish of the + clasps, and even turned the snake above her round elbow, she sharply bid + him let her be. + </p> + <p> + Medius, a man of the age of Karnis who had formerly been his intimate + companion, never took his eyes off the girl, and whispered to the old + musician that Dada would easily carry off the palm for beauty in + Alexandria, and that with such a jewel in his keeping he might recover + wealth and position and by quite honest means. At his suggestion she then + assumed a variety of attitudes; she stood as Hebe, offering nectar to the + gods—as Nausicae, listening to the tale of Odysseus—and as + Sappho, singing to her lyre. The girl was delighted at all this, and when + Medius, who kept close to her, tried to persuade her to perform in a + similar manner in the magical representations at the house of Posidonius, + before a select company of spectators, she clapped her hands exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “You took me all round the city, father, and as your reward I should like + to earn back your pretty vineyards, I should stand like this, you know, + and like this—to be stared at. I only hope I might not be seized + with a sudden impulse to make a face at the audience. But if they did not + come too close I really might...” + </p> + <p> + “You could do no better than to play the parts that Posidonius might give + you,” interrupted Medius. “His audiences like to see good daemons, the + kindly protecting spirits, and so forth. You would have to appear among + clouds behind a transparent veil, and the people would hail you with + acclamations or even raise their hands in adoration.” + </p> + <p> + All this seemed to Dada perfectly delightful, and she was on the point of + giving her hand to Medius in token of agreement, when her eye caught the + anxious gaze of the young Christian girl who stood before her with a deep + flush on her face. Agne seemed to be blushing for her. The color rushed to + her own cheeks, and shortly saying: “No—after all, I think not,” she + turned her back on the old man and threw herself on the cushions close to + where the wine-jug was standing. Medius now began to besiege Karnis and + Herse with arguments, but they refused all his offers as they intended + quitting Alexandria in a few days, so he had no alternative but to submit. + Still, he did not altogether throw up the game, and to win Dada’s consent, + at any rate, he made her laugh with a variety of comical pranks and showed + her some ingenious conjuring tricks, and ere long their floating home + echoed with merriment, with the clinking of wine-cups and with songs, in + which even Agne was obliged to take part. Medius did not leave till near + midnight and Herse then sent them all to bed. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the slave had undressed her young mistress and left the girls + alone, Dada threw herself into the arms of Agne who was on the point of + getting into bed, and kissed her vehemently, exclaiming: “You are much—so + much better than I! How is that you always know what is right?” + </p> + <p> + Then she lay down; but before she fell asleep she once more spoke to Agne: + “Marcus will find us out, I am certain,” she said, “and I should really + like to know what he has to say to me.” + </p> + <p> + In a few minutes sleep had sealed her eyes, but the Christian girl lay + awake; her thoughts would not rest, and Sleep, who the night before had + taken her to his heart, to-night would not come near her pillow; so much + to agitate and disturb her soul had taken place during the day. + </p> + <p> + She had often before now been a silent spectator of the wild rejoicings of + the musician’s family, and she had always thought of these light-hearted + creatures as spendthrifts who waste all their substance in a few days to + linger afterwards through years of privation and repentance. Troubled, as + she could not fail to be, as to the eternal salvation of these lost souls, + though happy in her own faith, she had constantly turned for peace to her + Saviour and always found it; but to-night it was not so, for a new and + unexpected temptation had sprung up for her in the house of Porphyrius. + </p> + <p> + She had heard Gorgo sing again, and joined her own voice with hers. + Dirges, yearning hymns, passionate outpourings in praise of the mighty and + beautiful divinity had filled her ear and stirred her soul with an + ecstatic thrill, although she knew that they, were the composition of + heathen poets and had first been sung to the harmony of lutes by reprobate + idolaters. And yet, and yet they had touched her heart, and moved her soul + to rapture, and filled her eyes with tears. + </p> + <p> + She could not but confess to herself that she could have given no purer, + sweeter, or loftier expression to her own woes, thankfulness, aspirations, + and hopes of ever lasting life and glory, than this gifted creature had + given to the utterance of her idolatry. Surprise, unrest, nay, some little + jealousy had been mingled with her delight at Gorgo’s singing. How was it + that this heathen could feel and utter emotions which she had always + conceived of as the special privilege of the Christian, and, for her own + part, had never felt so fervently as in the hours when she had drawn + closest to her Lord? Were not her own sentiments the true and right ones; + had her intercourse with these heathens tainted her? + </p> + <p> + This doubt disturbed her greatly; it must be based on something more than + mere self-torture, for she had not once thought of asking to whom the + two-part hymn, with its tender appeal, was addressed, when Karnis had + first gone through it with her alone; nor even subsequently, when she had + sung it with Gorgo—timidly at first, more boldly the second time, + and finally without a mistake, but carried completely away by the beauty + and passion of the emotions it expressed. + </p> + <p> + She knew now, for Karnis himself had told her. It was the Lament of Isis + for her—lost husband and brother—oh that horrible heathen + confusion!—The departed Osiris. The wailing widow, who called on him + to return with “the silent speech of tears,” was that queen of the + idolater’s devils whose shameful worship her father had often spoke of + with horror. Still, this dirge was so true and noble, so penetrated with + fervent, agonized grief, that it had gone to her heart. The sorrowing + Mother of God, Mary herself, might thus have besought the resurrection of + her Son; just thus must the “God-like maid”—as she was called in the + Arian confession of her father—have uttered her grief, her prayers, + and her longings. + </p> + <p> + But it was all a heathen delusion, all the trickery and jugglery of the + Devil, though she had failed to see through it, and had given herself up + to it, heart and soul. Nay, worse! for after she had learnt that Gorgo was + to represent Isis and she herself Nephthys, the sister of the divine pair, + she had opposed the suggestion but feebly, even though she knew that they + were to sing the hymn together in the Temple of Isis; and when Gorgo had + clasped her in her arms with sisterly kindness, begging her not to spoil + her plans but to oblige her in this, she had not repulsed the tempter with + firm decision, but merely asked for time to think it over. + </p> + <p> + How indeed could she have found the heart to refuse the noble girl, whose + beauty and voice had so struck and fascinated her, when she flung her arms + round her neck, looked into her eyes and earnestly besought her: + </p> + <p> + “Do it for my sake, to please me. I do not ask you to do anything wicked. + Pure song is acceptable to every god. Think of your lament, if you like, + as being for your own god who suffered on the cross. But I like singing + with you so much; say yes. Do not refuse, for my sake!” + </p> + <p> + She had thrown her arms so gladly, so much too gladly round the heathen + lady—for she had a loving heart and no one else had ever made it a + return in kind—and clinging closely to her she had said: + </p> + <p> + “As you will; I will do whatever you like.” + </p> + <p> + Then Orpheus, too, had urged her to oblige Gorgo, and himself, and all of + them; and it had seemed almost impossible to refuse the first request that + the modest youth—to whom she would willingly have granted anything + and everything—had ever made. Still, she had held back; and in her + anxious bewilderment, not daring to think or act, she had tried every form + of excuse and postponement. She would probably have been awkward enough + about this, but Gorgo was content to press her no further, and when, after + leaving the house, she had summoned up courage to refuse to enter the + Temple of Isis, Karnis had only said: “Be thankful that this gifted lady, + the favorite of the Muses, should think you worthy to sing with her. We + will see about the rest by-and-bye.” + </p> + <p> + Now, in the watches of the sleepless night, she saw clearly the abyss + above which she was standing. She, like Judas, was on the point of + betraying her Saviour; not indeed for money, but in obedience to the + transient sound of an earthly voice, for the pleasure of exercising her + art, to indulge a hastily-formed liking; nay, perhaps because it satisfied + her childish vanity to find herself put on an equality with a lady of rank + and wealth, and matched with a singer who had roused Karnis and Orpheus to + such ardent admiration. + </p> + <p> + She was an enigma to herself; while passages out of the Bible crowded on + her memory to reproach her conscience. + </p> + <p> + There lay Dada’s embroidered dress. Worn for the first time this day, in a + month it would be unpresentably shabby and then, ere long, flung aside as + past wearing. Like this—just like this—was every earthly + pleasure, every joy of this brief existence. Alas, she certainly was not + happy here in Karnis’ sense of the word; but in the other world there were + joys eternal, and she had only to deny herself the petty enjoyments of + this life to secure unfailing and everlasting happiness in the next. There + she would find an endless flow of all her soul could desire, there perhaps + she might be allowed to cool the lips of Gorgo, as Lazarus cooled those of + the rich man. + </p> + <p> + She was quite clear now what her answer would be to-morrow, and, firmly + resolved not to allow herself to think of singing in the Temple of Isis, + she at last fell asleep just as the light began to dawn in the east. She + did not wake till late, and it was with downcast eyes and set lips that + she went with Karnis and Orpheus to the house of Porphyrius. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. + </h2> + <p> + When the steward went to summons the musicians to his master’s house he + had again had no bidding for Dada, and she was very indignant at being + left behind. “That old cornsack’s daughter,” she said, “was full of her + airs, and would have nothing to say to them excepting to make use of them + for her own purposes!” If she had not been afraid of being thought + intrusive she would have acted on old Damia’s invitation to visit her + frequently, and have made her appearance, in defiance of Gorgo, dropping + like a shooting-star into the midst of their practising. It never occurred + to her to fancy that the young lady had any personal dislike to her, for, + though she might be ignored and forgotten, who had ever had any but a kind + word for her. At the same time she assumed the right of feeling that “she + could not bear” the haughty Gorgo, and as the party set out she exclaimed + to Agne, “Well, you need not kill her for me, but at any rate, I send her + no greeting; it is a shame that I should be left to mope alone with Herse. + Do not be surprised if you find me turned to a stark, brown mummy—for + we are in Egypt, you know, the land of mummies. I bequeath my old dress to + you, my dear, for I know you would never put on the new one. If you bewail + me as you ought I will visit you in a dream, and put a sugarplum in your + mouth—a cake of ambrosia such as the gods eat. You are not even + leaving me Papias to tease!” + </p> + <p> + For in fact Agne’s little brother, dressed in a clean garment, was to be + taken to Gorgo who had expressed a wish to see him. + </p> + <p> + When they had all left the ship Dada soon betrayed how superficial her + indignation had been; for, presently spying through the window of the + cabin the young cavalry officer’s grey-bearded father, she sprang up the + narrow steps—barefoot as she was accustomed to be when at home—and + threw herself on a cushion to lean over the gunwale of the upper deck, + which was shaded by a canvas awning, to watch the ship-yard and the + shore-path. Before she had begun to weary of this occupation the + waiting-slave, who had been up to the house to put various matters in + order, came back to the vessel, and squatting down at her feet was ready + to give her all the information she chose to require. Dada’s first + questions naturally related to Gorgo. The young mistress, said the slave, + had already dismissed many suitors, the sons of the greatest families of + Alexandria, and if her suspicions—those of Sachepris, the slave—were + well founded, all for the sake of the old shipbuilder’s son, whom she had + known from childhood and who was now an officer in the Imperial guard. + However, as she opined, this attachment could hardly lead to marriage, + since Constantine was a zealous Christian and his family were immeasurably + beneath that of Porphyrius in rank; and though he had distinguished + himself greatly and risen to the grade of Prefect, Damia, who on all + occasions had the casting-vote, had quite other views for her + granddaughter. + </p> + <p> + All this excited Dada’s sympathies to the highest pitch, but she listened + with even greater attention when her gossip began to speak of Marcus, his + mother, and his brother. In this the Egyptian slave was the tool of old + Damia. She had counted on being questioned about the young Christian, and + as soon as Dada mentioned his name she shuffled on her knees close up to + the girl, laid her hand gently on her arm and looking up into her eyes + with a meaning flash, she whispered in broken Greek—and hastily, for + Herse was bustling about the deck: “Such a pretty mistress, such a young + mistress as you, and kept here like a slave! If the young mistress only + chose she could easily—quite easily—have as good a lover as + our Gorgo, and better; so pretty and so young! And I know some one who + would dress the pretty mistress in red gold and pale pearls and bright + jewels, if sweet Dada only said the word.” + </p> + <p> + “And why should sweet Dada not say the word?” echoed the girl gaily. “Who + is it that has so many nice things and all for me? You—I shall never + remember your name if I live to be as old as Damia....” + </p> + <p> + “Sachepris, Sachepris is my name,” said the woman, “but call me anything + else you like. The lover I mean is the son of the rich Christian, Mary. A + handsome man, my lord Marcus; and he has horses, such fine horses, and + more gold pieces than the pebbles on the shore there. Sachepris knows that + he has sent out slaves to look for the pretty mistress. Send him a token—write + to my lord Marcus.” + </p> + <p> + “Write?” laughed Dada. “Girls learn other things in my country; but if I + could—shall I tell you something? I would not write him a line. + Those who want me may seek me!” + </p> + <p> + “He is seeking, he is trying to find the pretty mistress,” declared the + woman; “he is full of you, quite full of you, and if I dared....” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “I would go and say to my lord Marcus, quite in a secret....” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what? Speak out, woman.” + </p> + <p> + “First I would tell him where the pretty mistress is hidden; and then say + that he might hope once—this evening perhaps—he is not far + off, he is quite near this... over there; do you see that little white + house? It is a tavern and the host is a freedman attached to the lady + Damia, and for money he would shut his shop up for a day, for a night, for + many days.—Well, and then I would say—shall I tell you all? My + lord Marcus is there, waiting for his pretty mistress, and has brought her + dresses that would make the rose-garment look a rag. You would have gold + too, as much gold as heart can wish. I can take you there, and he will + meet you with open arms.” + </p> + <p> + “What, this evening?” cried Dada, and the blue veins swelled on her white + forehead. “You hateful, brown serpent! Did Gorgo teach you such things as + this? It is horrible, disgraceful, sickening!” + </p> + <p> + So base a proposal was the last thing she would ever have expected from + Marcus—of all men in the world, Marcus, whom she had imagined so + good and pure! She could not believe it; and as her glance met the cunning + glitter of the Egyptian’s eyes her own sparkled keenly, and she exclaimed + with a vehemence and decision which her attendant had never suspected in + her: + </p> + <p> + “It is deceit and falsehood from beginning to end! Go, woman, I will hear + no more of it. Why should Marcus have come to you since yesterday if he + does not know where I am? You are silent—you will not say?... Oh! I + understand it all. He—I know he would never have ventured it. But it + is your ‘noble lady Damia’—that old woman, who has told you what to + say. You are her echo, and as for Marcus.... Confess, confess at once, you + witch....” + </p> + <p> + “Sachepris is only a poor slave,” said the woman raising her hands in + entreaty. “Sachepris can only obey, and if the pretty mistress were to + tell my lady Damia...” + </p> + <p> + “It was she then who sent for me to go to the little tavern?” + </p> + <p> + The woman nodded. “And Marcus?” + </p> + <p> + “If the pretty mistress had consented...” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “Then—but Great Isis! if you tell of me!” + </p> + <p> + “I will not tell; go on.” + </p> + <p> + “I should have gone to my lord Marcus and invited him, from you...” + </p> + <p> + “It is shameful!” interrupted Dada, and a shudder ran through her slight + frame. “How cruel, how horrible it is! You—you will stay here till + the others come home and then you will go home to the old woman. I thank + the gods, I have two hands and need no maid to wait upon me! But look + there—what is the meaning of that? That pretty litter has stopped + and there is an old man signing to you.” + </p> + <p> + “It is the widow Mary’s house steward,” whined the woman, while Dada + turned pale, wondering what a messenger from Marcus’ mother could want + here. + </p> + <p> + Herse, who had kept a watchful eye on the landing-plank, on Dada’s + account, had also seen the approach of the widow’s messenger and suspected + a love-message from Marcus; but she was utterly astounded when the old man + politely but imperiously desired her—Herse to get into the litter + which would convey her to his mistress’s house. Was this a trap? Did he + merely want to tempt her from the vessel so as to clear the way for his + young master? No—for he handed her a tablet on which there was a + written message, and she, an Alexandrian, had been well educated and could + read: + </p> + <p> + “Mary, the widow of Apelles, to the wife of Karnis, the singer.” And then + followed the same urgent request as she had already received by word of + mouth. To reassure herself entirely she called the slave-woman aside, and + asked her whether Phabis was indeed a trust worthy servant of the widow’s. + Evidently there was no treason to be apprehended and she must obey the + invitation, though it disturbed her greatly; but she was a cautious woman, + with not only her heart but her brains and tongue in the right place, and + she at once made up her mind what must be done under the circumstances. + While she gave a few decorative touches to her person she handed the + tablet to the waiting-woman, whom she had taken into her own room, and + desired her to carry it at once to her husband, and tell him whither she + had gone, and to beg him to return without delay to take care of Dada. But + what if her husband and son could not come away? The girl would be left + quite alone, and then... The picture rose before her anxious mind of + Marcus appearing on the scene and tempting Dada on shore—of her + niece stealing away by herself even, if the young Christian failed to + discover her present residence—loitering alone along the Canopic way + or the Bruclumn, where, at noon, all that was most disreputable in + Alexandria was to be seen at this time of year—she saw, shuddered, + considered—and suddenly thought of an expedient which seemed to + promise an issue from the difficulty. It was nothing new and a favorite + trick among the Egyptians; she had seen is turned to account by a lame + tailor at whose house her father had lodged, when he had to go out to his + customers and leave his young negress wife alone at home. Dada was lying + barefoot on the deck: Herse would hide her shoes. + </p> + <p> + She hastily acted on this idea, locking up not only Dada’s sandals, but + also Agne’s and her own, in the trunk they had saved; a glance at the + slave’s feet assured her that hers could be of no use. + </p> + <p> + “Not if fire were to break out,” thought she, “would my Dada be seen in + the streets with those preposterous things on her pretty little feet.” + </p> + <p> + When this was done Herse breathed more freely, and as she took leave of + her niece, feeling perhaps that she owed her some little reparation, she + said in an unusually kind tone: + </p> + <p> + “Good bye, child. Try to amuse yourself while I am gone. There is plenty + to look at here, and the others will soon be back again. If the city is + fairly quiet this evening we will all go out together, to Canopus, to eat + oysters. Good bye till we meet again, my pet!” She kissed the child, who + looked up at her in astonishment, for her adopted mother was not usually + lavish of such endearments. + </p> + <p> + Before long Dada was alone, cooling herself with her new fan and eating + sweetmeats; but she could not cease thinking of the shameful treachery + planned by old Damia, and while she rejoiced to reflect that she had not + fallen into the net, and had seen through the plot, her wrath against the + wicked old woman and Gorgo—whom she could not help including—burnt + within her. Meanwhile she looked about her, expecting to see Marcus, or + perhaps the young officer. Finding it impossible to think any evil of the + young Christian, and having already trusted him so far, her fancy dwelt on + him with particular pleasure; but she was curious, too, about the prefect, + the early love of the proud merchant’s daughter. + </p> + <p> + Time went on; the sun was high in the heavens, she was tired of staring, + wondering and thinking, and, yawning wearily, she began to consider + whether she would make herself comfortable for a nap, or go down stairs + and fill up the time by dressing herself up in her new garments. However, + before she could do either, the slave returned from her errand to the + house, and a few moments after she espied the young officer crossing the + ship-yard towards the lake; she sat up, set the crescent straight that she + wore in her hair, and waved her fan in a graceful greeting. + </p> + <p> + The cavalry prefect, who knew that, of old, the barge was often used by + Porphyrius’ guests, though he did not happen to have heard who were its + present occupants—bowed, with military politeness and precision, to + the pretty girl lounging on the deck. Dada returned the greeting; but this + seemed likely to be the end of their acquaintance, for the soldier walked + on without turning round. He looked handsomer even than he had seemed the + day before; his hair was freshly oiled and curled, his scale-armor gleamed + as brightly, and his crimson tunic was as new and rich as if he were going + at once to guard the Imperial throne. The merchant’s daughter had good + taste, but her friend looked no less haughty than herself. Dada longed to + make his acquaintance and find out whether he really had no eyes for any + one but Gorgo. To discover that it was not so, little as she cared about + him personally, would have given her infinite satisfaction, and she + decided that she must put him to the test. But there was no time to lose, + so, as it would hardly do to call after him, she obeyed a sudden impulse, + flung overboard the handsome fan which had been in her possession but one + day, and gave a little cry in which alarm and regret were most skilfully + and naturally expressed. + </p> + <p> + This had the wished-for effect. The officer turned round, his eyes met + hers, and Dada leaned far over the boat’s side pointing to the water and + exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “It is in the water—it has fallen into the lake!—my fan!” + </p> + <p> + The officer again bowed slightly; then he walked from the path down to the + water’s edge, while Dada went on more quietly: + </p> + <p> + “There, close there! Oh, if only you would!... + </p> + <p> + “I am so fond of the fan, it is so pretty. Do you see, it is quite + obliging? it is floating towards you!” Constantine had soon secured the + fan, and shook it to dry it as he went across the plank to the vessel. + Dada joyfully received it, stroked the feathers smooth, and warmly thanked + its preserver, while he assured her that he only wished he could have + rendered her some greater service. He was then about to retire with a bow + no less distant than before, but he found himself unexpectedly detained by + the Egyptian slave who, placing herself in his way, kissed the hem of his + tunic and exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “What joy for my lord your father and the lady your mother, and for poor + Sachepris! My lord Constantine at home again!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, at home at last,” said the soldier in a deep pleasant voice. “Your + old mistress is still hale and hearty? That is well. I am on my way to the + others.” + </p> + <p> + “They know that you have come,” replied the slave. “Glad, they are all + glad. They asked if my lord Constantine forgot old friends.” + </p> + <p> + “Never, not one!” + </p> + <p> + “How long now since my lord Constantine went away—two, three years, + and just the same. Only a cut over the eyes—may the hand wither that + gave the blow!” + </p> + <p> + Dada had already observed a broad scar which marked the soldier’s brow as + high up as she could see it for the helmet, and she broke in: + </p> + <p> + “How can you men like to slash and kill each other? Just think, if that + cut had been only a finger’s breadth lower—you would have lost your + eyes, and oh! it is better to be dead than blind. When all the world is + bright not to be able to see it; what must that be! The whole earth in + darkness so that you see nothing—no one; neither the sky, nor the + lake, nor the boat, nor even me.” + </p> + <p> + “That would indeed be a pity,” said the prefect with a laugh and a shrug. + </p> + <p> + “A pity!” exclaimed Dada. “As if it were nothing at all! I should find + something else to say than that. It gives me a shudder only to think of + being blind. How dreadfully dull life can be with one’s eyes open! so what + must it be when they are of no use and one cannot even look about one. Do + you know that you have done me not one service only, but two at once?” + </p> + <p> + “I?” said the officer. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you. But the second is not yet complete. Sit down awhile, I beg—there + is a seat. You know it is a fatal omen if a visitor does not sit down + before he leaves.—That is well.—And now, may I ask you: do you + take off your helmet when you go into battle? No.—Then how could a + swordcut hurt your forehead?” + </p> + <p> + “In a hand to hand scuffle,” said the young man, “everything gets out of + place. One man knocked my helmet off and another gave me this cut in my + face.” + </p> + <p> + “Where did it happen?” + </p> + <p> + “On the Savus, where we defeated Maximus.” + </p> + <p> + “And had you this same helmet on?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! pray let me look at it! I can still see the dent in the metal; how + heavy such a thing must be to wear!” + </p> + <p> + Constantine took off his helmet with resigned politeness and put it into + her hands. She weighed it, thought it fearfully heavy, and then lifted it + up to put it on her own fair curls; but this did not seem to please her + new acquaintance, and saying rather shortly: “Allow me—” he took it + from her, set it on his head and rose. + </p> + <p> + But Dada pointed eagerly to the seat. + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” she said, “I have not yet had enough of your second kindness. I + was on the point of death from sheer tedium; then you came, just in time; + and if you want to carry out your work of mercy you must tell me something + about the battle where you were wounded, and who took care of you + afterwards, and whether the women of Pannonia are really as handsome as + they are said to be...” + </p> + <p> + “I am sorry to say that I have not time,” interrupted the officer. + “Sachepris here is far better qualified to amuse you than I; some years + since, at any rate, she lead a wonderful store of tales. I wish you a + pleasant day!” + </p> + <p> + And with this farewell greeting, Constantine left the vessel, nor did he + once look back at it or its pretty inhabitant as he made his way towards + the house of Porphyrius. + </p> + <p> + Dada as she gazed after him colored with vexation; again she had done a + thing that Herse and—which she regretted still more—that Agne + would certainly disapprove of. The stranger whom she had tried to draw + into a flirtation was a really chivalrous man. Gorgo might be proud of + such a lover; and if now, he were to go to her and tell her, probably with + some annoyance, how provokingly he had been delayed by that pert little + singing-girl, it would be all her own fault. She felt as though there were + something in her which forced her to seem much worse than she really was, + and wished to be. Agne, Marcus, the young soldier—nay, even Gorgo, + were loftier and nobler than she or her people, and she was conscious for + the first time that the dangers from which Marcus had longed to protect + her were not the offspring of his fancy. She could not have found a name + for them, but she understood that she was whirled and tossed through life + from one thing to another, like a leaf before the wind, bereft of every + stay or holdfast, defenceless even against the foolish vagaries of her own + nature. Everyone, thought the girl to herself, distrusted and suspected + her, and, solely because she was one of a family of singers, dared to + insult and dishonor her. A strange spite against Fate, against her uncle + and aunt, against herself even, surged up in her, and with it a vague + longing for another and a better life. + </p> + <p> + Thus meditating she looked down into the water, not noticing what was + going on around her, till the slave-woman, addressing her by name, pointed + to a carriage drawn up at the side of the road that divided the grove of + the Temple of Isis from the ship-yard, and which the Egyptian believed + that she recognized as belonging to Marcus. Dada started up and ran off to + the cabin to fetch her shoes, but everything in the shape of a sandal had + vanished, and Herse had been wise when she had looked at those of the + Egyptian, for Dada did the same and would not have hesitated to borrow + them if they had been a little less dirty and clumsy. + </p> + <p> + Herse, no doubt, had played her this trick, and it was easy to guess why! + It was only to divert her suspicions that the false woman had been so + affectionate at parting. It was cheating, treachery-cruel and shameful! + She, who had always submitted like a lamb—but this was too much—this + she could not bear—this!... The slave-woman now followed her to + desire her to come up on deck; a new visitor had appeared on the scene, an + old acquaintance and fellow-voyager: Demetrius, Marcus’ elder brother. + </p> + <p> + At any other time she would have made him gladly welcome, as a companion + and comfort in her solitude; but he had chosen an evil hour for his visit + and his proposals, as the girl’s red cheeks and tearful eyes at once told + him. + </p> + <p> + He had come to fetch her, cost him what it might, and to carry her away to + his country-home, near Arsinoe on the coast. It was not that he had any + mad desire to make her his own, but that he thought it his most urgent + duty to preserve his inexperienced brother from the danger into which his + foolish passion for the little singing-girl was certain to plunge him. A + purse full of gold, and a necklace of turquoise and diamonds, which he had + purchased from a jeweller in the Jews’ quarter for a sum for which he had + often sold a ship-load of corn or a whole cellar full of wine or oil, were + to supplement his proposals; and he went straight to the point, asking the + girl simply and plainly to leave her friends and accompany him to Arsinoe. + When she asked him, in much astonishment, “What to do there?” he told her + he wanted a cheerful companion; he had taken a fancy to her saucy little + nose, and though he could not flatter himself that he had ever found favor + in her eyes he had brought something with him which she would certainly + like, and which might help him to win her kindness. He was not niggardly, + and if this—and this—and he displayed the sparkling necklace + and laid the purse on her pillow—could please her she might regard + them as an earnest of more, as much more as she chose, for his pockets + were deep. + </p> + <p> + Dada did not interrupt him, for the growing indignation with which she + heard him took away her breath. This fresh humiliation was beyond the + bounds of endurance; and when at last she recovered her powers of speech + and action, she flung the purse off the divan, and as it fell clattering + on the floor, she kicked it away as far as possible, as though it were + plague-tainted. Then, standing upright in front of her suitor, she + exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Shame upon you all! You thought that because I am a poor girl, a + singing-girl, and because you have filthy gold.... Your brother Marcus + would never have done such a thing, I am very sure!... And you, a horrid + peasant!... If you ever dare set foot on this vessel again, Karnis and + Orpheus shall drive you away as if you were a thief or an assassin! + Eternal Gods! what is it that I have done, that everyone thinks I must be + wicked? Eternal Gods....” + </p> + <p> + And she burst into loud spasmodic sobs and vanished down the steps that + led below. + </p> + <p> + Demetrius called after her in soothing words and tones, but she would not + listen. Then he sent down the slave to beg Dada to grant him a hearing, + but the only answer he received was an order to quit the barge at once. + </p> + <p> + He obeyed, and as he picked up the purse he thought to himself: + </p> + <p> + “I may buy ship and vineyard back again; but I would send four more after + those if I could undo this luckless deed. If I were a better and a + worthier man, I might not so easily give others credit for being evil and + unworthy.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. + </h2> + <p> + The town of Alexandria was stirred to its very foundations. From dawn till + night every centre of public traffic and intercourse was the scene of + hostile meetings between Christians and heathen, with frequent frays and + bloodshed, only stopped by the intervention of the soldiery. Still, as we + see that the trivial round of daily tasks is necessarily fulfilled, even + when the hand of Fate lies heaviest on a household, and that children + cannot forego their play even when their father is stretched on his + death-bed, so the minor interests of individual lives pursued their + course, even in the midst of the general agitation and peril. + </p> + <p> + The current of trade and of public business was, of course, checked at + many points, but they never came to a stand-still. The physician visited + the sick, the convalescent made his first attempt, leaning on a friendly + arm, to walk from his bedroom to the “viridarium,” and alms were given and + received. Hatred was abroad and rampant, but love held its own, + strengthening old ties and forming new ones. Terror and grief weighed on + thousands of hearts, while some tried to make a profit out of the + prevailing anxiety, and others—many others—went forth, as + light-hearted as ever, in pursuit of pleasure and amusement. + </p> + <p> + Horses were ridden and driven in the Hippodrome, and feasts were held in + the pleasure-houses of Canopus, with music and noisy mirth; in the public + gardens round the Paneum cock-fighting and quail-fighting were as popular + as ever, and eager was the betting in new gold or humble copper. Thus may + we see a child, safe on the roof of its father’s house, floating its toy + boat on the flood that has drowned them all out; thus might a boy fly his + gaudy kite in the face of a gathering storm; thus does the miser, on whom + death has already laid its bony hand, count his hoarded coin; thus + thoughtless youth dances over the heaving soil at the very foot of a + volcano. What do these care for the common weal? Each has his separate + life and personal interests. What he himself needs or desires—the + greatest or the least—is to him more important and more absorbing + than the requirements of the vast organism in which he is no more than a + drop of blood or the hair of an eyelash. + </p> + <p> + Olympius was still in concealment in the house of Porphyrius—Olympius, + whose mind and will had formerly had such imperious hold on the fate of + the city, and to whose nod above half of the inhabitants were still + obedient. Porphyrius and his family shared his views and regarded + themselves as his confederates; but, even among them, the minor details of + life claimed their place, and Gorgo, who entered into the struggle for the + triumph of the old gods, gave but a half-hearted attention to the great + cause to which she was enthusiastically devoted, because a companion of + her childhood, to whose attentions she had every claim, delayed his visit + longer than was kind. + </p> + <p> + She had performed her ‘Isis’ lament the day before with all her heart and + soul, and had urgently claimed Agne’s assistance; but to-day, though she + had been singing again and well, she had stopped to listen whenever she + heard a door open in the adjoining room or voices in the garden, and had + sung altogether with so much less feeling and energy than before that + Karnis longed to reprove her sharply enough. This, however, would have + been too indiscreet, so he could only express his annoyance by saying to + his son, in a loud whisper: + </p> + <p> + “The most remarkable gifts, you see, and the highest abilities are of no + avail so long as Art and Life are not one and the same—so long as + Art is not the Alpha and Omega of existence, but merely an amusement or a + decoration.” + </p> + <p> + Agne had been true to herself, and had modestly but steadfastly declared + that she could not possibly enter the temple of Isis, and her refusal had + been accepted quite calmly, and without any argument or controversy. She + had not been able to refuse Gorgo’s request that she would repeat to-day + the rehearsal she had gone through yesterday, since, to all appearance, + her cooperation at the festival had been altogether given up. How could + the girl guess that the venerable philosopher, who had listened with + breathless admiration to their joint performance, had taken upon himself + to dissipate her doubts and persuade her into compliance? + </p> + <p> + Olympius laid the greatest stress on Agne’s assistance, for every one who + clung to the worship of the old gods was to assemble in the sanctuary of + Isis; and the more brilliant and splendid the ceremony could be made the + more would that enthusiasm be fired which, only too soon, would be put to + crucial proof. On quitting the temple the crowd of worshippers, all in + holiday garb, were to pass in front of the Prefect’s residence, and if + only they could effect this great march through the city in the right + frame of mind, it might confidently be expected that every one who was not + avowedly Jew or Christian, would join the procession. It would thus become + a demonstration of overwhelming magnitude and Cynegius, the Emperor’s + representative, could not fail to see what the feeling was of the majority + of the towns folk, and what it was to drive matters to extremes and lay + hands on the chief temples of such a city. + </p> + <p> + To Olympius the orator, grown grey in the exercise of logic and eloquence, + it seemed but a small matter to confute the foolish doubts of a wilful + girl. He would sweep her arguments to the winds as the storm drives the + clouds before it; and any one who had seen the two together—the fine + old man with the face and front of Zeus, with his thoughtful brow and + broad chest, who could pour forth a flood of eloquence fascinatingly + persuasive or convincingly powerful, and the modest, timid girl—could + not have doubted on which side the victory must be. + </p> + <p> + To-day, for the first time, Olympius had found leisure for a prolonged + interview with his old friend Karnis, and while the girls were in the + garden, amusing little Papias by showing him the swans and tame gazelles, + the philosopher had made enquiries as to the Christian girl’s history and + then had heard a full account of the old musician’s past life. Karnis felt + it as a great favor that his old friend, famous now for his learning—the + leader of his fellow-thinkers in the second city of the world, the + high-priest of Serapis, to whose superior intellect he himself had bowed + even in their student days—should remember his insignificant person + and allow him to give him the history of the vicissitudes which had + reduced him—the learned son of a wealthy house—to the position + of a wandering singer. + </p> + <p> + Olympius had been his friend at the time when Karnis, on leaving college, + instead of devoting himself to business and accounts, as his father + wished, had thrown himself into the study of music, and at once + distinguished himself as a singer, lute-player and leader of heathen + choirs. Karnis was in Alexandria when the news reached him of his father’s + death. Before quitting the city he married Herse, who was beneath him + alike in birth and in fortune, and who accompanied him on his return to + Tauromenium in Sicily, where he found himself the possessor of an + inheritance of which the extent and importance greatly astonished him. + </p> + <p> + At Alexandria he had been far better acquainted with the theatre than with + the Museum or the school of the Serapeum; nay, as an amateur, he had often + sung in the chorus there and acted as deputy for the regular leader. The + theatre in his native town of Tauromenium had also been a famous one of + old, but, at the time of his return, it had sunk to a very low ebb. Most + of the inhabitants of the beautiful city nestling at the foot off Etna, + had been converted to Christianity; among them the wealthy citizens at + whose cost the plays had been performed and the chorus maintained. Small + entertainments were still frequently given, but the singers and actors had + fallen off, and in that fine and spacious theatre nothing was ever done at + all worthy of its past glories. This Karnis deeply regretted, and with his + wonted energy and vigor he soon managed to win the interest of those of + his fellow-citizens who remained faithful to the old gods and had still + some feeling for the music and poetry of the ancient Greeks, in his plans + for their revival. + </p> + <p> + His purpose was to make the theatre the centre of a reaction against the + influence of the Christians, by vieing with the Church in its efforts to + win back the renegade heathen and confirming the faithful in their + adhesion. The Greeks of Tauromenium should be reminded from the + stage-boards of the might of the old gods and the glories of their past. + To this end it was needful to restore the ruined theatre, and Karnis, + after advancing the greater part of the money required, was entrusted with + the management. He devoted himself zealously to the task, and soon was so + successful that the plays at Tauromenium, and the musical performances in + its Odeum, attracted the citizens in crowds, and were talked of far and + wide. Such success was of course only purchased at a heavy cost, and in + spite of Herse’s warnings, Karnis would never hesitate when the object in + view was the preservation or advancement of his great work. + </p> + <p> + Thus passed twenty years; then there came a day when his fine fortune was + exhausted, and a time when the Christian congregation strained every nerve + to deal a death-blow to the abomination of desolation in their midst. + Again and again, and with increasing frequency, there were sanguinary + riots between the Christians who forced their way into the theatre and the + heathen audience, till at last a decree of the Emperor Theodosius + prohibited the performance of heathen plays or music. + </p> + <p> + Now, the theatre at Tauromenium, for which Karnis had either given or + advanced his whole inheritance, had ceased to exist, and the usurers who, + when his own fortune was spent, had lent him moneys on the security of the + theatre itself—while it still flourished—or on his personal + security, seized his house and lands and would have cast him into the + debtor’s prison if he had not escaped that last disgrace by flight. Some + good friends had rescued his family and helped them to follow him, and + when they rejoined him he had begun his wanderings as a singer. Many a + time had life proved miserable enough; still, he had always remained true + to his art and to the gods of Olympus. + </p> + <p> + Olympius had listened to his narrative with many tokens of sympathy and + agreement, and when Karnis, with tears in his eyes, brought his story to a + close, the philosopher laid his hand on his friend’s shoulder and drawing + him towards him, exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Well done, my brave old comrade! We will both be faithful to the same + good cause! You have made sacrifices for it as I have; and we need not + despair yet. If we triumph here our friends in a thousand towns will begin + to look up. The reading of the stars last night, and the auguries drawn + from this morning’s victims, portend great changes. What is down to the + ground to-day may float high in the air to-morrow. All the signs indicate: + ‘A fall to the Greatest;’ and what can be greater than Rome, the old + tyrant queen of the nations? The immediate future, it is true, can hardly + bring the final crash, but it is fraught with important consequences to + us. I dreamed of the fall of the Caesars, and of a great Greek Empire + risen from the ruins, powerful and brilliant under the special protection + of the gods of Olympus; and each one of us must labor to bring about the + realization of this dream. You have set a noble example of devotion and + self-sacrifice, and I thank you in the name of all those who feel with us—nay, + in the name of the gods themselves whom I serve! The first thing to be + done now is to avert the blow which the Bishop intends shall strike us by + the hand of Cynegius—it has already fallen on the magnificent + sanctuary of the Apamaean Zeus. If the ambassador retires without having + gained his purpose the balance will be greatly—enormously, in our + favor, and it will cease to be a folly to believe in the success of our + cause.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! teach us to hope once more,” cried the musician. “That in itself is + half the victory; still, I cannot see how this delay...” + </p> + <p> + “It would give us time, and that is what we want,” replied Olympius. + “Everything is in preparation, but nothing is ready. Alexandria, Athens, + Antioch, and Neapolis are to be the centres of the outbreak. The great + Libanius is not a man of action, and even he approves of our scheme. No + less a man than Florentin has undertaken to recruit for our cause among + the heathen officers in the army. Messala, and the great Gothic captains + Fraiut and Generid are ready to fight for the old gods. Our army will not + lack leaders...” + </p> + <p> + “Our army!” exclaimed Karnis in surprise. “Is the matter so far advanced?” + </p> + <p> + “I mean the army of the future,” cried Olympius enthusiastically. “It does + not count a man as yet, but is already distributed into several legions. + The vigor of mind and body—our learned youth on one hand and + strong-armed peasantry on the other—form the nucleus of our force. + Maximus could collect, in the utmost haste, the army which deprived + Gratian of his throne and life, and was within a Hair-breadth of + overthrowing Theodosius; and what was he but an ambitious rebel, and what + tempted his followers but their hopes of a share in the booty? But we—we + enlist them in the name of the loftiest ideas and warmest desires of the + human heart, and, as the prize of victory, we show them the ancient faith + with freedom of thought—the ancient loveliness of life. The beings + whom the Christians can win over—a patch-work medley of loathsome + Barbarians—let them wear out their lives as they choose! We are + Greeks—the thinking brain, the subtle and sentient soul of the + world. The polity, the empire, that we shall found on the overthrow of + Theodosius and of Rome shall be Hellenic, purely Hellenic. The old + national spirit, which made the Greeks omnipotent against the millions of + Darius and Xerxes, shall live again, and we will keep the Barbarians at a + distance as a Patrician forbids his inferiors to count themselves as + belonging to his illustrious house. The Greek gods, Greek heroism, Greek + art and Greek learning, under our rule shall rise from the dust—all + the more promptly for the stringent oppression under which their + indomitable spirit has so long languished.” + </p> + <p> + “You speak to my heart!” cried Karnis. “My old blood flows more swiftly + already, and if I only had a thousand talents left to give...” + </p> + <p> + “You would stake them on the future Greek Empire,” said Olympius eagerly. + “And we have adherents without number who feel as you do, my trusty + friend. We shall succeed—as the great Julian would have succeeded + but for the assassins who laid him low at so early an age; for Rome...” + </p> + <p> + “Rome is still powerful.” + </p> + <p> + “Rome is a colossus built up of a thousand blocks; but among them a + hundred and more be but loosely in their places, and are ready to drop + away from the body of the foul monster—sooner rather than later. Our + shout alone will shake them down, and they will fall on our side, we may + choose the best for our own use. Ere long—a few months only—the + hosts will gather in the champaign country at the foot of Vesuvius, by + land and by sea; Rome will open its gates wide to us who bring her back + her old gods; the Senate will proclaim the emperor deposed and the + Republic restored. Theodosius will come out against us. But the Idea for + which we go forth to fight will hover before us, will stir the hearts of + those soldiers and officers who would gladly—ah! how + gladly-sacrifice to the Olympian gods and who only kiss the wounds of the + crucified Jew under compulsion. They will desert from the labarum, which + Constantine carried to victory, to our standards; and those standards are + all there, ready for use; they have been made in this city and are lying + hidden in the house of Apollodorus. Heaven-sent daemons showed them in a + vision to my disciple Ammonius, when he was full of the divinity and lost + in ecstasy, and I have had them made from his instructions.” + </p> + <p> + “And what do they represent?” + </p> + <p> + “The bust of Serapis with the ‘modius’ on his head. It is framed in a + circle with the signs of the zodiac and the images of the great Olympian + deities. We have given our god the head of Zeus, and the corn-measure on + his head is emblematic of the blessing that the husbandman hopes for. The + zodiac promises us a good star, and the figures representing it are not + the common emblems, but each deeply significant. The Twins, for instance, + are the mariner’s divinities, Castor and Pollux; Hercules stands by the + Lion whom he has subdued; and the Fishes are dolphins, which love music. + In the Scales, one holds the cross high in the air while the other is + weighed down by Apollo’s laurel-wreath and the bolts of Zeus; in short, + our standard displays everything that is most dear to the soul of a Greek + or that fills him with devotion. Above all, Nike hovers with the crown of + victory. If only fitting leaders are to be found at the centres of the + movement, these standards will at once be sent out, and with them arms for + the country-folk. A place of meeting has already been selected in each + province, the pass-word will be given, and a day fixed for a general + rising.” + </p> + <p> + “And they will flock round you!” interrupted Karnis, “and—I, my son, + will not be absent. Oh glorious, happy, and triumphant day! Gladly will I + die if only I may first live to see the smoking offerings sending up their + fragrance to the gods before the open doors of every temple in Greece; see + the young men and maidens dancing in rapt enthusiasm to the sound of lutes + and pipes, and joining their voices in the chorus! Then light will shine + once more on the world, then life will once more mean joy, and death a + departure from a scene of bliss.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, and thus shall it be!” cried Olympius, fired by this eager + exposition of his own excitement, and he wrung the musician’s hand. “We + will restore life to the Greeks and teach them to scorn death as of yore. + Let the Christians, the Barbarians, make life miserable and seek joy in + death, if they list! But the girls have ceased singing. There is still + much to be done to-day, and first of all I must confute the objections of + your recalcitrant pupil.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not find it an easy task,” said Karnis. “Reason is a feeble + weapon in contending with a woman.” + </p> + <p> + “Not always,” replied the philosopher. “But you must know how to use it. + Leave me to deal with the child. There are really no singing-women left + here; we have tried three, but they were all vulgar and ill taught. This + girl, when she sings with Gorgo, has a voice that will go to the heart of + the audience. What we want is to fire the crowd with enthusiasm, and she + will help us to do it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well. But you, Olympius, you who are the very soul of the revulsion + we hope for, you must not be present at the festival. Indeed, sheltered as + you are under Porphyrius’ roof, there is a price on your head, and this + house swarms with slaves, who all know you; if one of them, tempted by + filthy lucre...” + </p> + <p> + “They will not betray me,” smiled the philosopher. “They know that their + aged mistress, Damia, and I myself command the daemons of the upper and + lower spheres, and that at a sign from her or from me they would instantly + perish; and even if there were an Ephialtes among them, a spring through + that loop-hole would save me. Be easy, my friend. Oracles and stars alike + foretell me death from another cause than the treason of a slave.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. + </h2> + <p> + Olympius followed Agne into the garden where he found her sitting by the + marble margin of a small pool, giving her little brother pieces of bread + to feed the swans with. He greeted her kindly and, taking up the child, + showed him a ball which rose and fell on the jet of water from the + fountain. Papias was not at all frightened by the big man with his white + beard, for a bright and kindly gleam shone in his eyes, and his voice was + soft and attractive as he asked him whether he had such another ball and + could toss it as cleverly as the fountain did. + </p> + <p> + Papias said: “No,” and Olympius, turning to Agne, went on: + </p> + <p> + “You should get him a ball. There is no better plaything, for play ought + to consist in pleasant exertion which is in itself its object and gain. + Play is the toil of a little child; and a ball, which he can throw and run + after or catch, trains his eye, gives exercise to his limbs and includes a + double moral which men of every age and position should act upon: To look + down on the earth and keep his gaze on the heavens.” + </p> + <p> + Agne nodded agreement and thanks, while Olympius set the child down and + bid him run away to the paddock where some tame gazelles were kept. Then, + going straight to the point, he said: + </p> + <p> + “I hear you have declined to sing in the temple of Isis; you have been + taught to regard the goddess to whom many good men turn in faith and + confidence, as a monster of iniquity, but, tell me, do you know what she + embodies?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Agne looking down; but she hastily rose from her seat and + added with some spirit: “And I do not want to know, for I am a Christian + and your gods are not mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well; your beliefs, of course, differ from ours in many points: + still, I fancy that you and I have much in common. We belong to those who + have learnt to ‘look upwards’—there goes the ball, up again!—and + who find comfort in doing so. Do you know that many men believe that the + universe was formed by concurrence of mechanical processes and is still + slowly developing, that there is no divinity whose love and power guard, + guide and lend grace to the lives of men?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! yes, I have been obliged to hear many such blasphemous things in + Rome!” + </p> + <p> + “And they ran off you like water off the silvery sheen of that swan’s + plumage as he dips and raises his neck. Those who deny a God are, in your + estimation, foolish or perhaps abominable?” + </p> + <p> + “I pity them, with all my heart.” + </p> + <p> + “And with very good reason. You are an orphan and what its parents are to + a child the divinity is to every member of the human race. In this Gorgo, + and I, and many others whom you call heathen, feel exactly as you do; but + you—have you ever asked yourself why and how it is that you, to whom + life has been so bitter, have such a perfect conviction that there is a + benevolent divinity who rules the world and your own fate to kindly ends? + Why, in short, do you believe in a God?” + </p> + <p> + “I?” said Ague, looking puzzled, but straight into his face. “How could + anything exist without God? You ask such strange questions. All I can see + was created by our Father in Heaven.” + </p> + <p> + “But there are men born blind who nevertheless believe in Him.” + </p> + <p> + “They feel Him just as I see Him.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay you should say: ‘As I believe that I see and feel Him.’ But I, for my + part, think that the intellect has a right to test what the soul only + divines, and that it must be a real happiness to see this divination + proved by well-founded arguments, and thus transformed to certainty. Did + you ever hear of Plato, the philosopher?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Karnis often speaks of him when he and Orpheus are discussing things + which I do not understand.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Plato, by his intellect, worked out the proof of the problem which + our feelings alone are so capable of apprehending rightly. Listen to me: + If you stand on a spit of land at the entrance to a harbor and see a ship + in the distance sailing towards you—a ship which carefully avoids + the rocks, and makes straight for the shelter of the port—are you + not justified in concluding that there is, on board that ship, a man who + guides and steers it? Certainly. You not only may, but must infer that it + is directed by a pilot. And if you look up at the sky and contemplate the + well-ordered courses of the stars—when you see how everything on + earth, great and small, obeys eternal laws and unerringly tends to certain + preordained ends and issues, you may and must infer the existence of a + ruling hand. Whose then but that of the Great Pilot of the universe—the + Almighty Godhead.—Do you like my illustration?” + </p> + <p> + “Very much. But it only proves what I knew before.” + </p> + <p> + “Nevertheless, you must, I think, be pleased to find it so beautifully + expressed.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “And must admire the wise man who thought out the comparison. Yes?—Well, + that man again was one of those whom you call heathen, who believed as we + believe, and who at the same time worked out the evidence of the + foundations of his faith for you as well as himself. And we, the later + disciples of Plato—[Known as the school of the Neo-Platonists]—have + gone even further than our master, and in many respects are much nearer to + you Christians than you perhaps suspect. You see at once, of course, that + we are no more inclined than you to conceive of the existence of the world + and the destiny of man as independent of a God? However, I dare say you + still think that your divinity and ours are as far asunder as the east + from the west. But can you tell me where any difference lies?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” said Ague uneasily. “I am only an ignorant girl; and who + can learn the names even of all your gods?” + </p> + <p> + “Very true,” said Olympius. “There is great Serapis, whose temple you saw + yesterday; there is Apollo, to whom Karnis prefers to offer sacrifice; + there is Isis the bountiful, and her sister Nephthys, whose lament you and + my young friend sing together so thrillingly; and besides these there are + more immortals than I could name while Gorgo—who is leading your + little brother to the lake out there—walked ten times from the shore + to us and back; and yet—and yet my child, your God is ours and ours + is yours.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, He is not, indeed!” cried Agne with increasing alarm. + </p> + <p> + “But listen,” Olympius went on, with the same kind urgency but with + extreme dignity, “and answer my questions simply and honestly. We are + agreed, are we not?—that we perceive the divinity in the works of + his creation, and even in his workings in our own souls. Then which are + the phenomena of nature in which you discern Him as especially near to + you? You are silent. I see, you have outlived your school-days and do not + choose to answer to an uninvited catechism. And yet the things I wish you + to name are lovely in themselves and dear to your heart; and if only you + did not keep your soft lips so firmly closed, but would give me the answer + I ask for, you would remember much that is grand and beautiful. You would + speak of the pale light of dawn, the tender flush that tinges the clouds + as the glowing day-star rises from the waves, of the splendor of the + sun-as glorious as truth and as warm as divine love. You would say: In the + myriad blossoms that open to the morning, in the dew that bathes them and + covers them with diamonds, in the ripening ears in the field, in the + swelling fruit on the trees—in all these I see the mercy and wisdom + of the divinity. I feel his infinite greatness as I gaze on the wide + expanse of deep blue sea; it comes home to me at night when I lift my eyes + to the skies and see the sparkling hosts of stars roll over my head. Who + created that countless multitude, who guides them so that they glide past + in glorious harmony, and rise and set, accurately timed to minutes and + seconds, silent but full of meaning, immeasurably distant and yet closely + linked with the fate of individual men?—All this bears witness to + the existence of a God, and as you contemplate it and admire it with + thankful emotion, you feel yourself drawn near to the Omnipotent. Aye, and + even if you were deaf and blind, and lay bound and fettered in the gloom + of a closely-shut cavern, you still could feel if love and pity and hope + touched your heart. Rejoice then, child! for the immortals have endowed + you with good gifts, and granted you sound senses by which to enjoy the + beauty of creation. You exercise an art which binds you to the divinity + like a bridge; when you give utterance to your whole soul in song that + divinity itself speaks through you, and when you hear noble music its + voice appeals to your ear. All round you and within you, you can recognize + its power just as we feel it—everywhere and at all times. + </p> + <p> + “And this incomprehensible, infinite, unfettered, bountiful and infallibly + wise Power, which penetrates and permeates the life of the universe as it + does the hearts of men, though called by different names in different + lands, is the same to every race, wherever it may dwell, whatever its + language or its beliefs. You Christians call him the Heavenly Father, we + give him the name of the Primal One. To you, too, your God speaks in the + surging seas, the waving corn, the pure light of day; you, too, regard + music which enchants your heart, and love which draws man to man, as his + gifts; and we go only a step further, giving a special name to each + phenomenon of nature, and each lofty emotion of the soul in which we + recognize the direct influence of the Most High; calling the sea Poseidon, + the corn-field Demeter, the charm of music Apollo, and the rapture of love + Eros. When you see us offering sacrifice at the foot of a marble image you + must not suppose that the lifeless, perishable stone is the object of our + adoration. The god does not descend to inform the statue; but the statue + is made after the Idea figured forth by the divinity it is intended to + represent; and through that Idea the image is as intimately connected with + the Godhead, as, by the bond of Soul, everything else that is manifest to + our senses is connected with the phenomena of the supersensuous World. But + this is beyond you; it will be enough for you if I assure you that the + statue of Demeter, with the sheaf in her arms, is only intended to remind + us to be grateful to the Divinity for our daily bread—a hymn of + praise to Apollo expresses our thanks to the Primal One for the wings of + music and song, on which our soul is borne upwards till it feels the very + presence of the Most High. These are names, mere names that divide us; but + if you were called anything else than Agne—Ismene, for instance, or + Eudoxia—would you be at all different from what you are?—There + you see—no, stay where you are—you must listen while I tell + you that Isis, the much—maligned Isis, is nothing and represents + nothing but the kindly influences of the Divinity, on nature and on human + life. What she embodies to us is the abstraction which you call the + loving-kindness of the Father, revealed in his manifold gifts, wherever we + turn our eyes. The image of Isis reminds us of the lavish bounties of the + Creator, just as you are reminded by the cross, the fish, and the lamb, of + your Redeemer. Isis is the earth from whose maternal bosom the creative + God brings forth food and comfort for man and beast; she is the tender + yearning which He implants in the hearts of the lover and the beloved one; + she is the bond of affection which unites husband and wife, brother and + sister, which is rapture to the mother with a child at her breast and + makes her ready and able for any sacrifice for the darling she has brought + into the world. She shines, a star in the midnight sky, giving comfort to + the sorrowing heart; she, who has languished in grief, pours balm into the + wounded souls of the desolate and bereaved, and gives health and + refreshment to the suffering. When nature pines in winter cold or in + summer drought and lacks power to revive, when the sun is darkened, when + lies and evil instincts alienate the soul from its pure first cause, then + Isis uplifts her complaint, calling on her husband, Osiris, to return, to + take her once more in his arms and fill her with new powers, to show the + benevolence of God once more to the earth and to us men. You have learnt + that lament; and when you sing it at her festival, picture yourself as + standing with the Mother of Sorrows—the mother of your crucified + divinity, by his open grave, and cry to your God that he may let him rise + from the dead.” + </p> + <p> + Olympius spoke the last words with excited enthusiasm as though he were + certain of the young girl’s consent; but the effect was not what he + counted on; for Agne, who had listened to him, so far, with increasing + agitation, setting herself against his arguments like a bird under the + fascinating glare of the snake’s eye, at this last address seemed suddenly + to shake off the spell of his seductive eloquence as the leaves drop from + the crown of a tree shaken by the blast; the ideas of her Saviour and of + the hymn she was to sing were utterly irreconcilable in her mind; she + remembered the struggle she had fought out during the night, and the + determination with which she had come to the house this morning. All the + insidious language she had just heard was forgotten, swept away like dust + from a rocky path, and her voice was firmly repellent as she said: + </p> + <p> + “Your Isis has nothing in common with the Mother of our God, and how can + you dare to compare your Osiris with the Lord who redeemed the world from + death?” + </p> + <p> + Olympius, startled at the decision of her tone, rose from his seat, but he + went on, as though he had expected this refusal: + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you—I will show you. Osiris—we will take him as + being an Egyptian god, instead of Serapis in whose mysterious attributes + you would find much to commend itself even to a Christian soul—Osiris, + like your Master, voluntarily passed through death—to redeem the + world from death—in this resembling your Christ. He, the Risen One, + gives new light, and life, and blossom, and verdure to all that is + darkened, dead and withered. All that seems to have fallen a prey to death + is, by him, restored to a more beautiful existence; he, who has risen + again, can bring even the departed soul to a resurrection; and when during + this life its high aims have kept it unspotted by the dust of the sensual + life, and he, as the judge, sees that it has preserved itself worthy of + its pure First Cause, he allows it to return to the eternal and supreme + Spirit whence it originally proceeded. + </p> + <p> + “And do not you, too, strive after purification, to the end that your soul + may find an everlasting home in the radiant realms? Again and again do we + meet with the same ideas, only they bear different forms and names. Try to + feel the true bearing of my words, and then you will gladly join in the + pathetic appeal to the sublime god to return. How like he is to your Lord! + Is he not, like your Christ, a Saviour, and risen from the dead? The + Temple or the Church—both are the sanctuaries of the Deity. By the + ivy-wreathed altar of the weeping goddess, at the foot of the tall + cypresses which cast their mysterious shadows on the snowy whiteness of + the marble steps on which lies the bier of the god, you will feel the + sacred awe which falls upon every pure soul when it is conscious of the + presence of the Deity—call Him what you will. + </p> + <p> + “Isis, whom you now know, and who is neither more nor less than a + personification of divine mercy, will make you a return by restoring you + to the freedom for which you pine. She will allow you to find a home in + some Christian house through our intervention, in acknowledgment of the + pious service you are rendering, not to her but to the faith in divine + goodness. There you may live with your little brother, as free as heart + can desire. To-morrow you will go with Gorgo to the temple of the goddess + ...” + </p> + <p> + But Agne broke in on his speech: “No, I will not go with her!” + </p> + <p> + Her cheeks were scarlet and her breath came short and fast with excitement + as she went on: + </p> + <p> + “I will not, I must not, I cannot! Do what you will with me: sell me and + my brother, put us to turn a mill—but I will not sing in the + temple!” + </p> + <p> + Olympius knit his brows; his beard quivered and his lips parted in wrath, + but he controlled himself and going close to the girl he laid his hand on + her shoulder and said in a deep grave tone of fatherly admonition: + </p> + <p> + “Reflect, child, pause; think over what I have been saying to you; + remember, too, what you owe the little one you love, and to-morrow morning + tell us that you have duly weighed your answer. Give me your hand, my + daughter; believe me, Olympius is one of your sincerest well-wishers.” + </p> + <p> + He turned his back on her and was going in doors. In front of the house + Porphyrius and Karnis were standing in eager colloquy. The news that + Marcus’ mother Mary had sent for Herse had reached the singer, and his + vivid fancy painted his wife as surrounded by a thousand perils, + threatened by the widow, and carried before the judges. The merchant + advised him to wait and see what came of it, as did Damia and Gorgo who + were attracted to the spot by the vehemence of the discussion; but Karnis + would not be detained, and he and Orpheus hurried off to the rescue. Thus + Agne was left alone in the garden with her little brother, and perceiving + that no one paid any further attention to their proceedings, she fell on + her knees, clasped the child closely to her and whispered: + </p> + <p> + “Pray with me, Papias; pray, pray that the Lord will protect us, and that + we may not be turned out of the way that leads us to our parents! Pray, as + I do!” + </p> + <p> + For a minute she remained prostrate with the child by her side. Then, + rising quickly, she took him by the hand and led him in almost breathless + haste through the garden-gate out into the road, bending her steps towards + the lake and then down the first turning that led to the city. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. + </h2> + <p> + Agne’s flight remained unperceived for some little time, for every member + of the merchant’s household was at the moment intent on some personal + interest. When Karnis and Orpheus had set out Gorgo was left with her + grandmother and it was not till some little time after that she went out + into the colonnade on the garden side of the house, whence she had a view + over the park and the shore as far as the ship-yard. There, leaning + against the shaft of a pillar, under the shade of the blossoming shrubs, + she stood gazing thoughtfully to the southward. + </p> + <p> + She was dreaming of the past, of her childhood’s joys and privations. Fate + had bereft her of a mother’s love, that sun of life’s spring. Below her, + in a splendid mausoleum of purple porphyry, lay the mortal remains of the + beautiful woman who had given her birth, and who had been snatched away + before she could give her infant a first caress. But all round the solemn + monument gardens bloomed in the sunshine, and on the further side of the + wall covered with creepers, was the ship-yard, the scene of numberless + delightful games. She sighed as she looked at the tall hulks, and watched + for the man who, from her earliest girlhood, had owned her heart, whose + image was inseparable from every thing of joy and beauty that she had ever + known, and every grief her young soul had suffered under. + </p> + <p> + Constantine, the younger son of Clemens the shipbuilder, had been her + brothers’ companion and closest friend. He had proved himself their + superior in talents and gifts, and in all their games had been the + recognized leader. While still a tiny thing she would always be at their + heels, and Constantine had never failed to be patient with her, or to help + and protect her, and then came a time when the lads were all eager to win + her sympathy for their games and undertakings. When her grandmother read + in the stars that some evil influences were to cross the path of Gorgo’s + planet, the girl was carefully kept in the house; at other times she was + free to go with the boys in the garden, on the lake or to the ship-yard. + There the happy playmates built houses or boats; there, in a separate + room, old Melampus modelled figure-heads for the finished vessels, and he + would supply them with clay and let them model too. Constantine was an apt + pupil, and Gorgo would sit quiet while he took her likeness, till, out of + twenty images that he had made of her, several were really very like. + Melampus declared that his young master might be a very distinguished + sculptor if only he were the son of poor parents, and Gorgo’s father + appreciated his talent and was pleased when the boy attempted to copy the + beautiful busts and statues of which the house was full; but to his + parents, and especially his mother, his artistic proclivities were an + offence. He himself, indeed, never seriously thought of devoting himself + to such a heathenish occupation, for he was deeply penetrated by the + Christian sentiments of his family, and he had even succeeded in inflaming + the sons of Porphyrius, who had been baptized at an early age, with zeal + for their faith. The merchant perceived this and submitted in silence, for + the boys must be and remain Christians in consequence of the edict + referring to wills; but the necessity for confessing a creed which was + hateful to him was so painful and repulsive to a nature which, though + naturally magnanimous was not very steadfast, that he was anxious to spare + his sons the same experience, and allowed them to accompany Constantine to + church and to wear blue—the badge of the Christians—at races + and public games, with a shrug of silent consent. + </p> + <p> + With Gorgo it was different. She was a woman and need wear no colors; and + her enthusiasm for the old gods and Greek taste and prejudices were the + delight of her father. She was the pride of his life, and as he heard his + own convictions echoed in her childish prattle, and later in her + conversation and exquisite singing, he was grateful to his mother and to + his friend Olympius who had implanted and cherished these feelings in his + daughter. Constantine’s endeavors to show her the beauty of his creed and + to win her to Christianity were entirely futile; and the older they grew, + and the less they agreed, the worse could each endure the dissent of the + other. + </p> + <p> + An early and passionate affection attracted the young man to his charming + playfellow; the more ardently he cherished his faith the more fervently + did he desire to win her for his wife. But Olympius’ fair pupil was not + easy of conquest; nay, he was not unfrequently hard beset by her questions + and arguments, and while, to her, the fight for a creed was no more than + an amusing wrestling match, in which to display her strength, to him it + was a matter in which his heart was engaged. + </p> + <p> + Damia and Porphyrius took a vain pleasure in their eager discussions, and + clapped with delight, as though it were a game of skill, when Gorgo + laughingly checkmated her excited opponent with some unanswerable + argument. + </p> + <p> + But there came a day when Constantine discovered that his eager defence of + that which to him was high and holy, was, to his hearers, no more than a + subject of mockery, and henceforth the lad, now fast growing to manhood, + kept away from the merchant’s house. Still, Gorgo could always win him + back again, and sometimes, when they were alone together, the old strife + would be renewed, and more seriously and bitterly than of old. But while + he loved her, she also loved him, and when he had so far mastered himself + as to remain away for any length of time she wore herself out with longing + to see him. They felt that they belonged to each other, but they also felt + that an insuperable gulf yawned between them, and that whenever they + attempted to clasp hands across the abyss a mysterious and irresistible + impulse drove them to open it wider, and to dig it deeper by fresh + discussions, till at last Constantine could not endure that she, of all + people, should mock at his Holy of Holies and drag it in the dust. + </p> + <p> + He must go—he must leave Gorgo, quit Alexandria, cost what it might. + The travellers’ tales that he had heard from the captains of + trading-vessels and ships of war who frequented his father’s house had + filled him with a love of danger and enterprise, and a desire to see + distant lands and foreign peoples. His father’s business, for which he was + intended, did not attract him. Away—away—he would go away; and + a happy coincidence opened a path for him. + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius had taken him one day on some errand to Canopus; the elder man + had gone in his chariot, his two sons and Constantine escorting him on + horseback. At the city-gates they met Romanus, the general in command of + the Imperial army, with his staff of officers, and he, drawing rein by the + great merchant’s carriage, had asked him, pointing to Constantine, whether + that were his son. + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Porphyrius, “but I wish he were.” At these words the + ship-master’s son colored deeply, while Romanus turned his horse round, + laid his hand on the young man’s arm and called out to the commander of + the cavalry of Arsinoe: “A soldier after Ares’ own heart, Columella! Do + not let him slip.” + </p> + <p> + Before the clouds of dust raised by the officers’ horses as they rode off, + had fairly settled, Constantine had made up his mind to be a soldier. In + his parents’ house, however, this decision was seen under various aspects. + His father found little to say against it, for he had three sons and only + two shipyards, and the question seemed settled by the fact that + Constantine, with his resolute and powerful nature, was cut out to be a + soldier. His pious mother, on the other hand, appealed to the learned + works of Clemens and Tertullian, who forbid the faithful Christian to draw + the sword; and she related the legend of the holy Maximilianus, who, being + compelled, under Diocletian, to join the army, had suffered death at the + hands of the executioner rather than shed his fellow-creatures’ blood in + battle. The use of weapons, she added, was incompatible with a godly and + Christian life. + </p> + <p> + His father, however, would not listen to this reasoning; new times, he + said, were come; the greater part of the army had been baptized; the + Church prayed for, victory, and at the head of the troops stood the great + Theodosius, an exemplar of an orthodox and zealous Christian. + </p> + <p> + Clemens was master in his own house, and Constantine joined the heavy + cavalry at Arsinoe. In the war against the Blemmyes he was so fortunate as + to merit the highest distinction; after that he was in garrison at + Arsinoe, and, as Alexandria was within easy reach of that town, he was in + frequent intercourse with his own family and that of Porphyrius. Not quite + three years previously, when a revolt had broken out in favor of the + usurper Maximus in his native town, Constantine had assisted in + suppressing it, and almost immediately afterwards he was sent to Europe to + take part in the war which Theodosius had begun, again against Maximus. + </p> + <p> + An unpleasant misunderstanding had embittered his parting from Gorgo; old + Damia, as she held his hand had volunteered a promise that she and her + granddaughter would from time to time slay a beast in sacrifice on his + behalf. Perhaps she had had no spiteful meaning in this, but he had + regarded it as an insult, and had turned away angry and hurt. Gorgo, + however, could not bear to let him go thus; disregarding her grandmother’s + look of surprise, she had called him back, and giving him both hands had + warmly bidden him farewell. Damia had looked after him in silence and had + ever afterwards avoided mentioning his name in Gorgo’s presence. + </p> + <p> + After the victory over Maximus, Constantine, though still very young, was + promoted to the command of the troop in the place of Columella, and he had + arrived in Alexandria the day before at the head of his ‘ala miliaria’. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The ala miliaria consisted of 24 ‘turmae’ or 960 mounted troopers + under the conduct of a Prefect.] +</pre> + <p> + Gorgo had never at any time ceased to think of him, but her passion had + constantly appeared to her in the light of treason and a breach of faith + towards the gods, so, to condone the sins she committed on one side by + zeal on another, she had come forth from the privacy of her father’s house + to give active support to Olympius in his struggle for the faith of their + ancestors. She had become a daily worshipper at the temple of Isis, and + the hope of hearing her sing had already mere than once filled it to + overflowing at high festivals. Then, while Olympius was defending the + sanctuary of Serapis against the attacks of the Christians, she and her + grandmother had become the leaders of a party of women who made it their + task to provide the champions of the faith with the means of subsistence. + </p> + <p> + All this had given purpose to her life; still, every little victory in + this contest had filled her soul with regrets and anxieties. For months + and years she had been conspicuous as the opponent of her lover’s creed, + and the bright eager child had developed into a grave girl a clear-headed + and resolute woman. She was the only person in the house who dared to + contradict her grandmother, and to insist on a thing when she thought it + right. The longing of her heart she could not still, but her high spirit + found food for its needs in all that surrounded her, and, by degrees, + would no doubt have gained the mastery and have been supreme in all her + being and doing, but that music and song still fostered the softer + emotions of her strong, womanly nature. + </p> + <p> + The news of Constantine’s return had shaken her soul to the foundations. + Would it bring her the greatest happiness or only fresh anguish and + unrest? + </p> + <p> + She saw him coming!—The plume of his helmet first came in sight + above the bushes, and then his whole figure emerged from among the + shrubbery. She leaned against the pillar for support now, for her knees + trembled under her. Tall and stately, his armor blazing in the sunshine, + he came straight towards her—a man, a hero—exactly as her + fancy had painted him in many a dark and sleepless hour. As he passed her + mother’s tomb, she felt as though a cold hand laid a grip on her beating + heart. In a swift flash of thought she saw her own home with its wealth + and splendor, and then the ship-builder’s house-simple, chillingly bare, + with its comfortless rooms; she felt as though she must perish, nipped and + withered, in such a home. Again she thought of him standing on his + father’s threshold, she fancied she could hear his bright boyish laugh and + her heart glowed once more. She forgot for the moment—clear-headed + woman though she was, and trained by her philosopher to “know herself”—she + forgot what she had fully acknowledged only the night before: That he + would no more give up his Christ than she would her Isis, and that if they + should ever reach the dreamed-of pinnacle of joy it must be for an instant + only, followed by a weary length of misery. Yes—she forgot + everything; doubts and fears were cast aside; as his approaching footsteps + fell on her ear, she could hardly keep herself from flying, open armed, to + meet him. + </p> + <p> + He was standing before her; she offered him her hand with frank gladness, + and, as he clasped it in his, their hearts were too full for words. Only + their eyes gave utterance to their feelings, and when he perceived that + hers were sparkling through tears, he spoke her name once, twice—joyfully + and yet doubtfully, as if he dared not interpret her emotion as he would. + She laid her left hand lightly on his which still grasped her right, and + said with a brilliant smile: “Welcome, Constantine, welcome home! How glad + I am to see you back again!” + </p> + <p> + “And I—and I...” he began, greatly moved. + </p> + <p> + “O Gorgo! Can it really be years since we parted?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed,” she said. “Anxious, busy, struggling years!” + </p> + <p> + “But to-day we celebrate the festival of Peace,” he exclaimed fervently. + “I have learnt to leave every man to go his own way so long as I am + allowed to go mine. The old strife is buried; take me as I am and I, for + my part, will think only of the noble and beautiful traits in which your + nature is so rich. The fruit of all wholesome strife must be peace; let us + pluck that fruit, Gorgo, and enjoy it together. Ah! as I stand here and + gaze out over the gardens and the lake, hearing the hammers of the + shipwrights, and rejoicing in your presence, I feel as though our + childhood might begin all over again—only better, fuller and more + beautiful!” + </p> + <p> + “If only my brothers were here!” + </p> + <p> + “I saw them.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! where?” + </p> + <p> + “At Thessalonica, well and happy—I have letters for you from them.” + </p> + <p> + “Letters!” cried Gorgo, drawing away her hand. “Well, you are a tardy + messenger! Our houses are within a stone’s throw, and yet in a whole day, + from noon till noon, so old a friend could not find a few minutes to + deliver the letters entrusted to him, or to call upon such near neighbors + ...” + </p> + <p> + “First there were my parents,” interrupted the young soldier. “And then + the tyrant military duty, which kept me on the stretch from yesterday + afternoon till an hour or two since. Romanus robbed me even of my sleep, + and kept me in attendance till the morn had set. However, I lost but + little by that, for I could not have closed my eyes till they had beheld + you! This morning again I was on duty, and rarely have I ridden to the + front with such reluctance. After that I was delayed by various details; + even on my way here—but for that I cannot be sorry for it gave me + this chance of finding you alone. All I ask now is that we may remain so, + for such a moment is not likely to be repeated.—There, I heard a + door...” + </p> + <p> + “Come into the garden,” cried Gorgo, signing to him to follow her. “My + heart is as full as yours. Down by the tank under the old sycamores—we + shall be quietest there.” + </p> + <p> + Under the dense shade of the centenarian trees was a rough-hewn bench that + they themselves had made years before; there Gorgo seated herself, but her + companion remained standing. + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” he exclaimed. “Here—here you must hear me! Here where we have + been so happy together!” + </p> + <p> + “So happy!” she echoed softly. + </p> + <p> + “And now,” he went on, “we are together once more. My heart beats wildly, + Gorgo; it is well that this breastplate holds it fast, for I feel as + though it would burst with hope and thankfulness.” + </p> + <p> + “Thankfulness?” said Gorgo, looking down. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, thankfulness—sheer, fervent passionate gratitude! What you + have given me, what an inestimable boon, you yourself hardly know; but no + emperor could reward love and fidelity more lavishly than you have done—you, + the care and the consolation, the pain and the joy of my life! My mother + told me—it was the first thing she thought of—how you shed + tears of grief on her bosom when the false report of my death reached + home. Those tears fell as morning dew on the drooping hopes in my heart, + they were a welcome such as few travellers find on their return home. I am + no orator, and if I were, how could speech in any way express my feelings? + But you know them—you understand what it is, after so many years...” + </p> + <p> + “I know,” she said looking up into his eyes, and allowing him to seize her + hand as he dropped on the bench by her side. “If I did not I could not + bear this—and I freely confess that I shed many more tears over you + than you could imagine. You love me, Constantine...” + </p> + <p> + He threw his arm round her; but she disengaged herself, exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “Nay—I implore you, not so—not yet, till I have told you what + troubles me, what keeps me from throwing myself wholly, freely into the + arms of happiness. I know what you will ask—what you have a right to + ask; but before you speak, Constantine, remember once more all that has so + often saddened our life, even as children, that has torn us asunder like a + whirlwind although, ever since we can remember, our hearts have flowed + towards each other. But I need not remind you of what binds us—that + we both know well, only too well....” + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” he replied boldly: “That we are only beginning to know in all its + fullness and rapture. The other thing the whirlwind of which you speak, + has indeed tossed and tormented me, more than it has you perhaps; but + since I have known that you could shed tears for me and love me I have had + no more anxieties; I know for certain that all must come right! You love + me as I am, Gorgo. I am no dreamer nor poet; but I can look forward to + finding life lovely and noble if shared with you, so long as one—only + one thing is sure. I ask you plainly and truly: Is your heart as full of + love for me as mine is for you? When I was away did you think of me every + day, every night, as I thought of you, day and night without fail?” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo’s head sank and blushes dyed her cheeks as she replied: “I love you, + and I have never even thought of any one else. My thoughts and yearnings + followed you all the while you were away... and yet... oh, Constantine! + That one thing...” + </p> + <p> + “It cannot part us,” said the young man passionately, “since we have love—the + mighty and gracious power which conquers all things! When love beckon: the + whirlwind dies away like the breath from a child’s lips; it can bridge + over any abyss; it created the world and preserves the existence of + humanity, it can remove mountains—and these are the most beautiful + words of the greatest of the apostles: ‘It is long suffering and kind, it + believes all things, hopes all things’ and it knows no end. It remains + with us till death and will teach us to find that peace whose bulwark and + adornment, whose child and parent it is!” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo had looked lovingly at him while he spoke, and he, pressing her hand + to his lips went on with ardent feeling: + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you shall be mine—I dare, and I will go to ask you of your + father. There are some words spoken in one’s life which can never be + forgotten. Once your father said that he wished that I was his son. On the + march, in camp, in battle, wherever I have wandered, those words have been + in my mind; for me they could have but one meaning: I would be his son—I + shall be his son when Gorgo is my wife!—And now the time has + come...” + </p> + <p> + “Not yet, not to-day,” she interrupted eagerly. “My hopes are the same as + yours. I believe with you that our love can bring all that is sweetest + into our lives. What you believe I must believe, and I will never urge + upon you the things that I regard as holiest. I can give up much, bear + much, and it will all seem easy for your sake. We can agree, and settle + what shall be conceded to your Christ and what to our gods—but not + to-day; not even to-morrow. For the present let me first carry out the + task I have undertaken—when that is done and past, then.... You have + my heart, my love; but if I were to prove a deserter from the cause to-day + or to-morrow it would give others—Olympius—a right to point at + me with scorn.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it then that you have undertaken?” asked Constantine with grave + anxiety. + </p> + <p> + “To crown and close my past life. Before I can say: I am yours, wholly + yours...” + </p> + <p> + “Are you not mine now, to-day, at once?” he urged. + </p> + <p> + “To day-no,” she replied firmly. “The great cause still has a claim upon + me; the cause which I must renounce for your sake. But the woman who gives + only one person reason to despise her signs the death-warrant of her own + dignity. I will carry out what I have undertaken.... Do not ask me what it + is; it would grieve you to know.—The day after tomorrow, when the + feast of Isis is over....” + </p> + <p> + “Gorgo, Gorgo!” shouted Damia’s shrill voice, interrupting the young girl + in her speech, and half a dozen slave-women came rushing out in search of + her. + </p> + <p> + They rose, and as they went towards the house Constantine said very + earnestly: + </p> + <p> + “I will not insist; but trust my experience: When we have to give + something up sooner or later, if the wrench is a painful one, the sooner + and the more definitely it is done the better. Nothing is gained by + postponement and the pain is only prolonged. Hesitation and delay, Gorgo, + are a barrier built up by your own hand between us and our happiness. You + always had abundance of determination; be brave then, now, and cut short + at once a state of things that cannot last.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well,” she said hurriedly. “But you must not, you will not require + me to do anything that is beyond my strength, or that would involve + breaking my word. To-morrow is not, and cannot be yours; it must be a day + of leave-taking and parting. After that I am yours, I cannot live without + you. I want you and nothing else. Your happiness shall be mine; only, do + not make it too hard to me to part from all that has been dear to me from + my infancy. Shut your eyes to tomorrow’s proceedings, and then—oh! + if only we were sure of the right path, if only we could tread it + together! We know each other so perfectly, and I know, I feel, that it + will perhaps be a comfort to our hearts to be patient with each other over + matters which our judgment fails to comprehend or even to approve. I might + be so unutterably happy; but my heart trembles within me, and I am not, I + dare not be quite glad yet.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. + </h2> + <p> + The young soldier was heartily welcomed by his friends of the merchant’s + family; but old Damia was a little uneasy at the attitude which he and + Gorgo had taken up after their first greeting. He was agitated and grave, + she was eager and excited, with an air of determined enterprise. + </p> + <p> + Was Eros at the bottom of it all? Were the young people going to carry out + the jest of their childhood in sober earnest? The young officer was + handsome and attractive enough, and her granddaughter after all was but a + woman. + </p> + <p> + So far as Constantine was concerned the old lady had no personal objection + to him; nay, she appreciated his steady, grave manliness and, for his own + sake, was very glad to see him once more; but to contemplate the + ship-builder’s son—the grandson of a freedman—a Christian and + devoted to the Emperor, even though he were a prefect or of even higher + grade—as a possible suitor for her Gorgo, the beautiful heiress of + the greater part of her wealth—the centre of attraction to all the + gilded youth of Alexandria—this was too much for her philosophy; + and, as she had never in her life restrained the expression of her + sentiments, though she gave him a friendly hand and the usual greeting, + she very soon showed him, by her irony and impertinence, that she was as + hostile to his creed as ever. + </p> + <p> + She put her word in on every subject, and when, presently, Demetrius—who, + after Dada’s rebuff, had come on to see his uncle—began speaking of + the horses he had been breeding for Marcus, and Constantine enquired + whether any Arabs from his stables were to be purchased in the town, Damia + broke out: + </p> + <p> + “You out-do your crucified God in most things I observe! He could ride on + an ass, and a stout Egyptian nag is not good enough for you.” + </p> + <p> + However, the young officer was not to be provoked; and though he was very + well able to hold his own in a strife of words, he kept himself under + control and pretended to see nothing in the old woman’s taunts but + harmless jesting. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo triumphed in his temperate demeanor, and thanked him with grateful + glances and a silent grasp of the hand when opportunity offered. + </p> + <p> + Demetrius, who had also known Constantine as a boy, and who, through + Porphyrius, had sold him his first charger, met him very warmly and told + him with a laugh that he had seen him before that day, that he had + evidently learnt something on his travels, that he had tracked the + prettiest head of game in all the city; and he slapped him on the shoulder + and gave him what he meant to be a very knowing glance. Constantine could + not think where Demetrius had seen him or what he meant; while Gorgo + supposed that he alluded to her, and thought him perfectly odious. + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius pelted the prefect with questions which Constantine was very + ready to answer, till they were interrupted by some commotion in the + garden. On looking out they saw a strange and unpleasing procession, + headed by Herse who was scolding, thumping and dragging Dada’s Egyptian + slave, while her husband followed, imploring her to moderate her fury. + Behind them came Orpheus, now and then throwing out a persuasive word to + soothe the indignant matron. This party soon came up with the others, and + Herse, unasked, poured out an explanation of her wrath. + </p> + <p> + She had had but a brief interview with Mary, Marcus’ mother, for she had + positively opposed the Christian lady’s suggestion that Karnis and his + family would do well to quit Alexandria as soon as possible, accepting an + indemnification from Mary herself. To the widow’s threats of seeking the + intervention of the law, she had retorted that they were not public + singers but free citizens who performed for their own enjoyment; to the + anxious mother’s complaints that Dada was doing all she could to attract + Marcus, she had answered promptly and to the point that her niece’s good + name would certainly out-weigh anything that could be said against a young + man to whom so much license was allowed in Alexandria. She would find some + means of protecting her own sister’s child. Mary had replied that Herse + would do well to remember that she—Mary—had means at her + command of bringing justice down on those who should attempt to entrap a + Christian youth, and tempt him into the path of sin. + </p> + <p> + This had closed the interview. Herse had found her husband and son waiting + for her at the door of Mary’s house and had at once returned with them to + the ship. There an unpleasant surprise awaited them; they had found no one + on board but the Egyptian slave, who told them that Dada had sent her on + shore to procure her some sandals; on her return the girl had vanished. + The woman at the same time declared that she had seen Agne and her brother + leave the garden and make for the high-road. + </p> + <p> + So far as the Christian girl was concerned Herse declared there would be + no difficulty; but Dada, her own niece, had always clung to them + faithfully, and though Alexandria was full of sorcerers and Magians they + could hardly succeed in making away with a fullgrown, rational, and + healthy girl. In her inexperience she had, no doubt, gone at the bidding + of some perfidious wretch, and the Egyptian witch, the brown slave had, of + course, had a finger in the trick. She would accuse no one, but she knew + some people who would be only too glad if Dada and that baby-faced young + Christian got into trouble and disgrace together. She delivered herself of + this long story with tears of rage and regret, angrily refusing to admit + any qualifying parentheses from her husband, to whose natural delicacy her + rough and vociferous complaints were offensive in the presence of the + high-bred ladies of the house. Old Damia, however, had listened + attentively to her indignant torrent of words, and had only shrugged her + shoulders with a scornful smile at the implied accusation of herself. + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius, to whom the whole business was simply revolting, questioned + Herse closely and when the facts were clearly established, and it also was + plainly proved that Agne had escaped from the garden, he desired the + slave-woman to tell her story of all that had occurred during the absence + of Karnis, promising her half a dozen stripes from the cane on the soles + of her feet for every false word she might utter. The threat was enough to + raise a howl from the Egyptian; but this Porphyries soon put a stop to, + and Sachepris, with perfect veracity, told her tale of all that had + happened till Herse’s return to the vessel. The beginning of the narrative + was of no special interest, but when she was pressed to go faster to the + point she went on to say: + </p> + <p> + “And then—then my lord Constantine came to us on the ship, and the + pretty mistress laughed with him and asked him to take off his helmet, + because the pretty mistress wanted to see the cut, the great sword-cut + above his eyes, and my lord Constantine took it off.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a lie!” exclaimed Gorgo. + </p> + <p> + “No, no; it is true. Sachepris does not want her feet flayed, mistress,” + cried the slave. “Ask my lord Constantine himself.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I went on board,” said Constantine. “Just as I was crossing the + ship-yard a young girl dropped her fan into the lake. I fished it out at + her request, and carried it back to her.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that was it,” cried Sachepris. “And the pretty mistress laughed with + my lord Constantine—is it not true?—and she took his helmet + out of his hand and weighed it in hers...” + </p> + <p> + “And you could stop on your way here to trifle with that child?” cried + Gorgo wrathfully. “Pah! what men will do!” + </p> + <p> + These words portended rage and intense disgust to Constantine. “Gorgo!” he + cried with a reproachful accent, but she could not control her indignation + and went on more vehemently than ever: + </p> + <p> + “You stopped—with that little hussy—on your way to me—stopped + to trifle and flirt with her! Shame! Yes, I say shame! Men are thought + lucky in being light-hearted, but, for my part, may the gods preserve me + from such luck! Trifling, whispering, caressing—a tender squeeze of + the hand—solemnly, passionately earnest!—And what next? Who + dares warrant that it will not all be repeated before the shadows are an + ell long on the shore!” + </p> + <p> + She laughed, a sharp, bitter laugh; but it was a short one. She ceased and + turned pale, for her lover’s face had undergone a change that terrified + her. The scar on his forehead was purple, and his voice was strange, harsh + and hoarse as he leaned forward to bring his face on a level with hers, + and said: + </p> + <p> + “Even if you had seen me with your own eyes you ought not to have believed + them! And if you dare to say that you do believe it, I can say Shame! as + well as you. My life may be at stake but I say: Shame!” + </p> + <p> + As he spoke he clutched the back of a chair with convulsive fury and stood + facing the girl like an avenging god of war, his eyes flashing to meet + hers. This was too much for old Damia; she could contain herself no + longer, and striking her crutch on the floor she broke out: + </p> + <p> + “What next shall we hear! You threaten and storm at the daughter of this + house as if she were a soldier in your camp! Listen to me, my fine + gentleman, and mind what I say: In the house of a free Alexandrian citizen + no one has any right to give his orders—be he Caesar, Consul or + Comes; he has only to observe the laws of good manners.” Then turning to + Gorgo she shook her head with pathetic emphasis; “This, my love, is the + consequence of too much familiar condescension. Come, an end of this! + Greeting and parting often go hand in hand.” + </p> + <p> + The prefect turned on his heel and went towards the steps leading to the + garden; but Gorgo flew after him and seized his hand, calling out to the + old woman: + </p> + <p> + “No, no, grandmother; he is in the right, I am certain he is in the right. + Stop, Constantine—wait, stay, and forgive my folly! If you love me, + mother, say no more—he will explain it all presently.” + </p> + <p> + The soldier heaved a sigh of relief and assented in silence, while the + slave went on with her story: “And when my lord Constantine was gone, my + lord Demetrius came and he—but what should poor Sachepris say—ask + my lord Demetrius himself to tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “That is soon done,” replied Demetrius, who had failed to understand a + great deal of all that had been going forward. “My brother Marcus is over + head and ears in love with the little puss—she is a pretty creature—and + to save that simple soul from mischief I thought I would take the business + on my own shoulders which are broader and stronger than his. I went boldly + to work and offered the girl—more shame for me, I must say—the + treasures of Midas; however, offering is one thing and accepting is + another, and the child snapped me up and sent me to the right about—by + Castor and Pollux! packed me off with my tail between my legs! My only + comfort was that Constantine had just quitted the pretty little hussy. By + the side of the god of war, thought I, a country Pan makes but a poor + figure; but this Ares was dismissed by Venus, and so, if only to keep up + my self-respect, I was forced to conclude that the girl, with all her + pertness, was of a better sort than we had supposed. My presents, which + would have tempted any other girl in Alexandria to follow a cripple to + Hades, she took as an insult; she positively cried with indignation, and I + really respect pretty little Dada!” + </p> + <p> + “She is my very own sister’s child,” Herse threw in, honestly angered by + the cheap estimation in which every one seemed to hold her adopted child. + “My own sister’s,” she insisted, with an emphasis which seemed to imply + that she had a whole family of half-sisters. “Though we now earn our bread + as singers, we have seen better days; and in these hard times Croesus + to-day may be Irus to-morrow. As for us, Karnis did not dissipate his + money in riotous living. It was foolish perhaps but it was splendid—I + believe we should do the same again; he spent all his inheritance in + trying to reinstate Art. However, what is the use of looking after money + when it is gone! If you can win it, or keep it you will be held of some + account, but if you are poor the dogs will snap at you!—The girl, + Dada—we have taken as much care of her as if she were our own, and + divided our last mouthful with her before now. Karnis used to tease her + about training her voice—and now, when she could really do something + to satisfy even good judges—now, when she might have helped us to + earn a living-now...” + </p> + <p> + The good woman broke down and burst into tears, while Karnis tried to + soothe and comfort her. + </p> + <p> + “We shall get on without them somehow,” he said. “‘Nil desperandum’ says + Horace the Roman. And after all they are not lizards that can hide in the + cracks of the walls; I know every corner of Alexandria and I will go and + hunt them up at once.” + </p> + <p> + “And I will help you, my friend,” said Demetrius, “We will go to the + Hippodrome—the gentry you will meet with there are capital + blood-hounds after such game as the daughter of your ‘own sister,’ my good + woman. As to the black-haired Christian girl—I have seen her many a + time on board ship...” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! she will take refuge with some fellow-Christians,” remarked + Porphyrius. “Olympius told me all about her. I know plenty of the same + sort in the Church. They fling away life and happiness as if they were + apple-peelings to snatch at something which they believe to constitute + salvation. It is folly, madness! pure unmitigated madness! To have sung in + the temple of the she-devil Isis with Gorgo and the other worshippers + would have cost her her seat in Paradise. That, as I believe, is the cause + of her flight.” + </p> + <p> + “That and nothing else!” cried Karnis. “How vexed the noble Olympius will + be. Indeed, Apollo be my witness! I have not been so disturbed about + anything for many a day. Do you happen to recollect,” he went on, turning + to Demetrius, “our conversation on board ship about a dirge for Pytho? + Well, we had transposed the lament of Isis into the Lydian mode, and when + this young lady’s wonderful voice gave it out, in harmony with Agne’s and + with Orpheus’ flute, it was quite exquisite! My old heart floated on wings + as I listened! And only the day after to-morrow the whole crowd of + worshippers in the temple of Isis were to enjoy that treat!—It would + have roused them to unheard-of enthusiasm. Yesterday the girl was in it, + heart and soul; nay, only this morning she and the noble Gorgo sang it + through from beginning to end. One more rehearsal to-morrow, and then the + two voices would have given such a performance as perhaps was never before + heard within the temple walls.” + </p> + <p> + Constantine had listened to this rhapsody with growing agitation; he was + standing close to Gorgo, and while the rest of the party held anxious + consultation as to what could be done to follow up and capture the + fugitives, he asked Gorgo in a low voice, but with gloomy looks: + </p> + <p> + “You intended to sing in the temple of Isis? Before the crowd, and with a + girl of this stamp?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said firmly. + </p> + <p> + “And you knew yesterday that I had come home?” She nodded. + </p> + <p> + “And yet, this morning even, while you were actually expecting me, you + could practise the hymn with such a creature?” + </p> + <p> + “Agne is not such another as the girl who played tricks with your helmet,” + replied Gorgo, and the black arches of her eyebrows knit into something + very like a scowl. “I told you just now that I was not yours today, nor + to-morrow. We still serve different gods.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed we do!” he exclaimed, so vehemently that the others looked round, + and old Damia again began to fidget in her chair. + </p> + <p> + Then with a strong effort he recovered himself and, after standing for + some minutes gazing in silence at the ground, he said in a low tone: + </p> + <p> + “I have borne enough for to-day. Gorgo, pause, reflect. God preserve me + from despair!” + </p> + <p> + He bowed, hastily explained that his duties called him away, and left the + spot. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. + </h2> + <p> + The amateurs of horse-racing who assembled in the Hippodrome could afford + no clue to Dada’s hiding-place, because she had not, in fact, run away + with any gay young gallant. Within a few minutes of her sending Sachepris + to fetch her a pair of shoes, Medius had hailed her from the shore; he + wanted to speak with Karnis, and having come on an ass it was not in vain + that the incensed damsel entreated him to take her with him. He had in + fact only come to try to persuade Karnis and his wife to spare Dada for a + few performances, such as he had described, in the house of Posidonius. + His hopes of success had been but slender; and now the whole thing had + settled itself, and Dada’s wish that her people should not, for a while, + know where to find her was most opportune for his plans. + </p> + <p> + In the days when Karnis was the manager of the theatre at Tauromenium + Medius had led the chorus, and had received much kindness at the hands of + the girl’s uncle. All this, he thought, he could now repay, for certainly + his old patron was poor enough, and he intended honestly to share with his + former benefactor the profits he expected to realize with so fair a + prodigy as Dada. No harm could come to the girl, and gold—said he to + himself—glitters as brightly and is just as serviceable, even when + it has been earned for us against our will. + </p> + <p> + Medius, being a cautious man, made the girl bring her new dress away with + her, and the girdle and jewels belonging to it, and his neat hands packed + everything into the smallest compass. He filled up the basket which he + took for the purpose with sweetmeats, oranges and pomegranates “for the + children at home,” and easily consoled Dada for the loss of her shoes. He + would lead the ass and she should ride. She covered her face with a veil, + and her little feet could be hidden under her dress. When they reached his + house he would at once have “a sweet little pair of sandals” made for her + by the shoemaker who worked for the wife of the Comes and the daughters of + the Alabarch—[The chief of the Jewish colony in Alexandria.]—These + preparations and the start only took a few minutes; and their rapid search + and broken conversation caused so much absurd confusion that Dada had + quite recovered her spirits and laughed merrily as she tripped bare-foot + across the strand. She sprang gaily on to the little donkey and as they + made their way along the road, the basket containing her small wardrobe + placed in front of her on the ass’s shoulders, she remarked that she + should be mistaken for the young wife of a shabby old husband, returning + from market with a load of provisions. + </p> + <p> + She was delighted to think of what Herse’s face would be when, on her + return home, she should discover that the prisoner could make her escape + even without shoes. + </p> + <p> + “Let her have a good hunt for me!” she cried quite enchanted. “Why should + I always be supposed to be ready for folly and wickedness! But one thing I + warn you: If I am not comfortable and happy with you, and if I do not like + the parts you want me to fill, we part as quickly as we have come + together.—Why are you taking me through all these dirty alleys? I + want to ride through the main streets and see what is going on.” But + Medius would not agree to this, for in the great arteries of the town + there were excitement and tumult, and they might think themselves + fortunate if they reached his house unmolested. + </p> + <p> + He lived in a little square, between the Greek quarter and Rhacotis where + the Egyptians lived, and his house, which was exactly opposite the church + of St. Marcus, accommodated Medius himself, his wife, his widowed daughter + and her five children, besides being crammed from top to bottom with all + sorts of strange properties, standing or hanging in every available space. + Dada’s curiosity had no rest, and by the time she had spent a few hours in + the house her host’s pretty little grandchildren were clinging to her with + devoted affection. + </p> + <p> + Agne had not been so fortunate as to find a refuge so easily. With no + escort, unveiled, and left entirely to her own guidance, leading the + little boy, she hurried forward, not knowing whither. All she thought was + to get away—far away from these men who were trying to imperil her + immortal soul. + </p> + <p> + She knew that Karnis had actually bought her, and that she was, therefore, + his property and chattel. Even Christian doctrine taught her that the + slave must obey his master; but she could not feel like a slave, and if + indeed she were one her owner might destroy and kill her body, but not her + soul. The law, however, was on the side of Karnis, and it allowed him to + pursue her and cast her into prison. This idea haunted her, and for fear + of being caught she avoided all the chief thoroughfares and kept close to + the houses as she stole through the side streets and alleys. Once, in + Antioch, she had seen a runaway slave, who, having succeeded in reaching a + statue of the Emperor and laying his hand on it, was by that act safe from + his pursuers. There must surely be such a statue somewhere in Alexandria—but + where? A woman, of whom she enquired, directed her down a wider street + that would take her into the Canopic Way. If she crossed that and went + down the first turning to the left she would reach a large open square in + the Bruchium, and there, in front of the Prefect’s residence and by the + side of the Bishop’s house, stood the new statue of Theodosius. + </p> + <p> + This information, and the mention of the Bishop, gave a new course to her + proceedings. It was wrong to defy and desert her master, but to obey him + would be deadly sin. Which must she choose and which avoid? Only one + person could advise in such a case—only one could relieve her mind + of its difficulties and terrors: The Shepherd of souls in the city—the + Bishop himself. She too was a lamb of his flock; to him and to no one else + could she turn. + </p> + <p> + This thought fell on her heart like a ray of light dispersing the clouds + of uncertainty and alarm. With a deep breath of relief she took the child + in her arms and told him—for he was whimpering to know where she was + taking him, and why he might not go back to Dada—that they were + going to see a good, kind man who would tell them the way home to their + father and mother. Papias, however, still wailed to go to Dada and not to + the man. + </p> + <p> + Half insisting and half coaxing him with promises, she dragged him along + as far as the main street. This was full of an excited throng; soldiers on + foot and on horseback were doing what they could to keep the peace, and + the bustle amused the little boy’s curiosity so that he soon forgot his + homesickness. When, at length, Ague found the street that led to the + Prefect’s house she was fairly carried along by the surging, rushing mob. + To turn was quite impossible; the utmost she could do was to keep her wits + about her, and concentrate her strength so as not to be parted from the + child. Pushed, pulled, squeezed, scolded, and abused by other women for + her folly in bringing a child out into such a crowd, she at last found + herself in the great square. A hideous hubbub of coarse, loud voices + pierced her unaccustomed ears; she could have sunk on the earth and cried; + but she kept up her courage and collected all her energies, for she saw in + the distance a large gilt cross over a lofty doorway. It was like a + greeting and welcome home. Under its protection she would certainly, find + rest, consolation and safety. + </p> + <p> + But how was she to reach it? The space before her was packed with men as a + quiver is packed with arrows; there was not room for a pin between. The + only chance of getting forward was by forcing her way, and nine-tenths of + the crowd were men—angry and storming men, whose wild and strange + demeanor filled her with terror and disgust. Most of them were monks who + had flocked in at the Bishop’s appeal from the monasteries of the desert, + or from the Lauras and hermitages of Kolzum by the Red Sea, or even from + Tabenna in Upper Egypt, and whose hoarse voices rent the air with vehement + cries of: “Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Death to the heathen!” + </p> + <p> + This army of the Saviour whose very essence was gentleness and whose + spirit was love, seemed indeed to have deserted from his standard of light + and grace to the blood-stained banner of murderous hatred. Their matted + locks and beards fringed savage faces with glowing eyes; their haggard or + paunchy nakedness was scarcely covered by undressed hides of sheep and + goats; their parched skins were scarred and striped by the use of the + scourges that hung at their girdles. One—a “crown bearer”—had + a face streaming with blood, from the crown of thorns which he had vowed + to wear day and night in memory and imitation of the Redeemer’s + sufferings, and which on this great occasion he pressed hard into the + flesh with ostentatious martyrdom. One, who, in his monastery, had earned + the name of the “oil-jar,” supported himself on his neighbors’ arms, for + his emaciated legs could hardly carry his dropsical carcass which, for the + last ten years, he had fed exclusively on gourds, snails, locusts and Nile + water. Another was chained inseparably to a comrade, and the couple dwelt + together in a cave in the limestone hills near Lycopolis. These two had + vowed never to let each other sleep, that so their time for repentance + might be doubled, and their bliss in the next world enhanced in proportion + to their mortifications in this. + </p> + <p> + One and all, they were allies in a great fight, and the same hopes, ideas, + and wishes fired them all. The Abominable Thing—which imperilled + hundreds of thousands of souls, which invited Satan to assert his dominion + in this world—should fall this day and be annihilated forever! To + them the whole heathen world was the “great whore;” and though the gems + she wore were beautiful to see and rejoiced the mind and heart of fools, + they must be snatched from her painted brow; they would scourge her from + off the face of the redeemed earth and destroy the seducer of souls + forever. “Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Down with the heathen!” + Their shouts thundered and bellowed all about Agne; but, just as the + uproar and crush were at the worst, a tall and majestic figure appeared on + a balcony above the cross and extended his hand in calm and dignified + benediction towards the seething mass of humanity. As he raised it all + present, including Ague, bowed and bent the knee. + </p> + <p> + Agne felt, knew, that this stately man was the Bishop whom she sought, but + she did not point him out to her little brother, for his aspect was that + of some proud sovereign rather than of “the good, kind man” of whom she + had dreamed. She could never dare to force her way into the presence of + this great lord! How should the ruler over a million souls find time or + patience for her and her trivial griefs? + </p> + <p> + However, there must be within his dwelling sundry presbyters and deacons, + and she would address herself to one of them, as soon as the crowd had + dispersed enough for her to make her way to the door beneath the cross. + Twenty times at least did she renew her efforts, but she made very small + progress; most of the monks, as she tried to squeeze past them, roughly + pushed her back; one, on whose arm she ventured to lay her hand, begging + him to make way for her, broke out into shrieks as though a serpent had + stung him, and when the crush brought her into contact with the + crown-bearer he thrust her away exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “Away woman! Do not touch me, spawn of Satan tool of the evil one! or I + will tread you under foot!” + </p> + <p> + Retreat had been as impossible as progress, and long hours went by which + to her seemed like days; still she felt no fatigue, only alarm and + disgust, and, more than anything else, an ardent desire to reach the + Bishop’s palace and take counsel of a priest. It was long past noon when a + diversion took place which served at any rate to interest and amuse the + crying child. + </p> + <p> + On the platform above the doorway Cynegius came forth—Cynegius, the + Emperor’s delegate; a stout man of middle height, with a shrewd round head + and a lawyer’s face. State dignitaries, Consuls and Prefects had, at this + date, ceased to wear the costume that had marked the patricians of old + Rome—a woollen toga that fell in broad and dignified folds from the + shoulders; a long, close-fitting robe had taken its place, of purple silk + brocade with gold flowers. On the envoy’s shoulder blazed the badge of the + highest officials, a cruciform ornament of a peculiarly thick and costly + tissue. He greeted the crowd with a condescending bow, a herald blew three + blasts on the tuba, and then Cynegius, with a wave of his hand introduced + his private secretary who stood by his side, and who at once opened a roll + he held and shouted at the top of a ringing voice: + </p> + <p> + “Silence in Caesar’s name!” + </p> + <p> + The trumpet then sounded for the fourth time, and silence so complete fell + on the crowded square that the horses of the mounted guard in front of the + Prefect’s house could be heard snorting and champing. + </p> + <p> + “In Caesar’s name,” repeated the official, who had been selected for the + duty of reading the Imperial message. Cynegius himself bent his head, + again waved his hand towards his secretary, and then towards the statues + of the Emperor and Empress which, mounted on gilt standards, were + displayed to the populace on each side of the balcony; then the reading + began: + </p> + <p> + “Theodosius Caesar greets the inhabitants of the great and noble city of + Alexandria, by Cynegius, his faithful ambassador and servant. He knows + that its true and honest citizens confess the Holy Faith in all piety and + steadfastness, as delivered to believers in the beginning by Peter, the + prince of the Apostles; he knows that they hold the true Christian faith, + and abide by the doctrine delivered by the Holy Ghost to the Fathers of + the Church in council at Nicaea. + </p> + <p> + “Theodosius Caesar who, in all humility and pride, claims to be the sword + and shield, the champion and the rampart of the one true faith, + congratulates his subjects of the great and noble city of Alexandria + inasmuch as that most of them have turned from the devilish heresy of + Arius, and have confessed the true Nicaean creed; and he announces to + them, by his faithful and noble servant Cynegius, that this faith and no + other shall be recognized in Alexandria, as throughout his dominions. + </p> + <p> + “In Egypt, as in all his lands and provinces, every doctrine opposed to + this precious creed shall be persecuted, and all who confess, preach or + diffuse any other doctrine shall be considered heretics and treated as + such.” + </p> + <p> + The secretary paused, for loud and repeated shouts of joy broke from the + multitude. Not a dissentient word was heard-indeed, the man who should + have dared to utter one would certainly not have escaped unpunished. It + was not till the herald had several times blown a warning blast that the + reader could proceed, as follows: + </p> + <p> + “It has come to the ears of your Caesar, to the deep grieving of his + Christian soul, that the ancient idolatry, which so long smote mankind + with blindness and kept them wandering far from the gates of Paradise, + still, through the power of the devil, has some temples and altars in your + great and noble city. But because it is grievous to the Christian and + clement heart of the Emperor to avenge the persecutions and death which so + many holy martyrs have endured at the hands of the bloodthirsty and cruel + heathen on their posterity, or on the miscreant and—misbelieving + enemies of our holy faith—and because the Lord hath said ‘vengeance + is mine’—Theodosius Caesar only decrees that the temples of the + heathen idols in this great and noble city of Alexandria shall be closed, + their images destroyed and their altars overthrown. Whosoever shall defile + himself with blood, or slay an innocent beast for sacrifice, or enter a + heathen temple, or perform any religious ceremony therein, or worship any + image of a god made by hands-nay, or pray in any temple in the country or + in the city, shall be at once required to pay a fine of fifteen pounds of + gold; and whosoever shall know of such a crime being committed without + giving information of it, shall be fined to the same amount.”—[Codex + Theodosianus XVI, 10, 10.] + </p> + <p> + The last words were spoken to the winds, for a shout of triumph, louder + and wilder than had ever before been heard even on this favorite + meeting-place of the populace, rent the very skies. Nor did it cease, nor + yield to any trumpet-blast, but rolled on in spreading waves down every + street and alley; it reached the ships in the port, and rang through the + halls of the rich and the hovels of the poor; it even found a dull echo in + the light-house at the point of Pharos, where the watchman was trimming + the lamp for the night; and in an incredibly short time all Alexandria + knew that Caesar had dealt a death-blow to the worship of the heathen + gods. + </p> + <p> + The great and fateful rumor was heard, too, in the Museum and the + Serapeum; once more the youth who had grown up in the high schools of the + city, studying the wisdom of the heathen, gathered together; men who had + refined and purified their intellect at the spring of Greek philosophy and + fired their spirit with enthusiasm for all that was good and lovely in the + teaching of ancient Greece—these obeyed the summons of their master, + Olympius, or flew to arms under the leadership of Orestes, the Governor, + for the High-Priest himself had to see to the defences of the Serapeum.—Olympius + had weapons ready in abundance, and the youths rapidly collected round the + standards he had prepared, and rushed into the square before the Prefect’s + house to drive away the monks and to insist that Cynegius should return + forthwith to Rome with the Emperor’s edict. + </p> + <p> + Young and noble lads were they who marched forth to the struggle, equipped + like the Helleman soldiers of the palmy days of Athens; and as they went + they sang a battle-song of Callinus which some one—who, no one could + tell—had slightly altered for the occasion: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Come, rouse ye Greeks; what, sleeping still! + Is courage dead, is shame unknown? + Start up, rush forth with zealous will, + And smite the mocking Christians down!” + </pre> + <p> + Everything that opposed their progress was overthrown. Two maniples of + foot-soldiers who held the high-road across the Bruchium attempted to turn + them, but the advance of the inflamed young warriors was irresistible and + they reached the street of the Caesareum and the square in front of the + Prefect’s residence. Here they paused to sing the last lines of their + battlesong: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fate seeks the coward out at home, + He dies unwept, unknown to fame, + While by the hero’s honored tomb + Our grandsons’ grandsons shall proclaim: + ‘In the great conflict’s fiercest hour + He stood unmoved, our shield and tower.’” + </pre> + <p> + It was here, at the wide opening into the square, that the collision took + place: on one side the handsome youths, crowned with garlands, with their + noble Greek type of heads, thoughtful brows, perfumed curls, and anointed + limbs exercised in the gymnasium—on the other the sinister fanatics + in sheep-skin, ascetic visionaries grown grey in fasting, scourging, and + self-denial. + </p> + <p> + The monks now prepared to meet the onset of the young enthusiasts who were + fighting for freedom of thought and enquiry, for Art and Beauty. Each side + was defending what it felt to be the highest Good, each was equally in + earnest as to its convictions, both fought for something dearer and more + precious than this earthly span of existence. But the philosophers’ party + had swords; the monks’ sole weapon was the scourge, and they were + accustomed to ply that, not on each other but on their own rebellious + flesh. A wild and disorderly struggle began with swingeing blows on both + sides; prayers and psalms mingling with the battle-song of the heathen. + Here a monk fell wounded, there one lay dead, there again lay a fine and + delicate-looking youth, felled by the heavy fist of a recluse. A hermit + wrestled hand to hand with a young philosopher who, only yesterday had + delivered his first lecture on the Neo-Platonism of Plotinus to an + interested audience. + </p> + <p> + And in the midst of this mad struggle stood Agne with her little brother, + who clung closely to her skirts and was too terrified to shed a tear or + utter a cry. The girl was resolutely calm, but she was too utterly + terror-stricken even to pray. Fear, absorbing fear had stunned her + thoughts; it overmastered her like some acute physical pain which began in + her heart and penetrated every fibre of her frame. + </p> + <p> + Even while the Imperial message was being read she had been too frightened + to take it all in; and now she simply shut her eyes tight and hardly + understood what was going on around her, till a new and different noise + sounded close in her ears: the clatter of hoofs, blare of trumpets and + shouts and screams. At last the tumult died away and, when she ventured to + open her eyes and look about her, the place all round her was as clear as + though it had been swept by invisible hands; here and there lay a dead + body and there still was a dense crowd in the street leading to the + Caesareum, but even that was dispersing and retreating before the advance + of a mounted force. + </p> + <p> + She breathed freely once more, and released the child’s head from the + skirt of her dress in which he had wrapped and buried it. The end of her + alarms was not yet come, however, for a troop of the young heathen came + flying across the square in wild retreat before a division of the heavy + cavalry, which had intervened to part the combatants. + </p> + <p> + The fugitives came straight towards her; again she closed her eyes + tightly, expecting every instant to find herself under the horses’ feet. + Then one of the runaways knocked down Papias, and she could bear no more; + her senses deserted her, her knees failed under her, she lost + consciousness, and with a dull groan she fell on the dusty pavement. Close + to her, as she lay, rushed the pursued and the pursuers—and at last, + how long after she knew not, when she recovered her senses she felt as if + she were floating in the air, and presently perceived that a soldier had + her in his arms and was carrying her like a child. + </p> + <p> + Fresh alarms and fresh shame overwhelmed the poor girl; she tried to free + herself and found him quite ready to set her down. When she was once more + on her feet and felt that she could stand she glanced wildly round her + with sudden recollection, and then uttered a hoarse cry, for her mouth and + tongue were parched: + </p> + <p> + “Christ Jesus! Where is my brother?” She pushed back her hair with a + desperate gesture, pressing her hands to her temples and peering all round + her with a look of fevered misery. + </p> + <p> + She was still in the square and close to the door of the Prefect’s house; + a man on horseback, in all probability her preserver’s servant, was + following them, leading his master’s horse. On the pavement lay wounded + men groaning with pain; the street of the Caesareum was lined with a + double row of footsoldiers of Papias no sign! + </p> + <p> + Again she called him, and with such deep anguish in her voice, which was + harsh and shrill with terror, that the young officer looked at her with + extreme compassion. + </p> + <p> + “Papias, Papias—my little brother! O God my Saviour!—where, + where is the child?” + </p> + <p> + “We will have him sought for,” said the soldier whose voice was gentle and + kind. “You are too young and pretty—what brought you into this crowd + and amid such an uproar?” + </p> + <p> + She colored deeply and looking down answered low and hurriedly: “I was + going to see the Bishop.” + </p> + <p> + “You chose an evil hour,” replied Constantine, for it was he who had found + her lying on the pavement and who had thought it only an act of mercy not + to trust so young and fair a girl to the protection of his followers. “You + may thank God that you have got off so cheaply. Now, I must return to my + men. You know where the Bishop lives? Yes, here. And with regard to your + little brother.... Stay; do you live in Alexandria?” “No, my lord.” + </p> + <p> + “But you have some relation or friend whom you lodge with?” + </p> + <p> + “No, my lord. I am... I have... I told you, I only want to see my lord the + Bishop.” + </p> + <p> + “Very strange! Well, take care of yourself. My time is not my own; but + by-and-bye, in a very short time, I will speak to the city watchmen; how + old is the boy?” + </p> + <p> + “Nearly six.” + </p> + <p> + “And with black hair like yours?” + </p> + <p> + “No, my lord—fair hair,” and as she spoke the tears started to her + eyes. “He has light curly hair and a sweet, pretty little face.” + </p> + <p> + The prefect smiled and nodded. “And if they find him,” he went on, + “Papias, you say, is his name where is he to be taken?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know, my lord, for—and yet! Oh! my head aches, I cannot + think—if only I knew.... If they find him he must come here—here + to my lord the Bishop.” + </p> + <p> + “To Theophilus?” said Constantine in surprise. “Yes, yes—to him,” + she said hastily. “Or—stay—to the gate-keeper at the Bishop’s + palace.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that is less aristocratic, but perhaps it is more to the purpose,” + said the officer; and with a sign to his servant, he twisted his hand in + his horse’s mane, leaped into the saddle, waved her a farewell, and + rejoined his men without paying any heed to her thanks. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. + </h2> + <p> + There was much bustle and stir in the hall of the Episcopal palace. + Priests and monks were crowding in and out; widows, who, as deaconesses, + were entrusted with the care of the sick, were waiting, bandages in hand, + and discussing their work and cases, while acolytes lifted the wounded on + to the litters to carry them to the hospitals. + </p> + <p> + The deacon Eusebius, whom we have met as the spiritual adviser of Marcus, + was superintending the good work, and he took particular care that as much + attention should be shown to the wounded heathen as to the Christians. + </p> + <p> + In front of the building veterans of the twenty-first legion paced up and + down in the place of the ordinary gate-keepers, who were sufficient + protection in times of peace. + </p> + <p> + Agne looked in vain for any but soldiers, but at last she slipped in + unobserved among the men and women who were tending the wounded. She was + terribly thirsty, and seeing one of the widows mixing some wine and water + and offer it to one of the wounded men who pushed it away, she took + courage and begged the deaconess to give her a drink. The woman handed her + the cup at once, asking to whom she belonged that she was here. + </p> + <p> + “I want to see my lord, the Bishop,” replied Agne, but then correcting + herself, she added hastily: “If I could see the Bishop’s gate-keeper, I + might speak to him.” + </p> + <p> + “There he is,” said the deaconess, pointing to an enormously tall man + standing in the darkest and remotest corner of the hall. The darkness + reminded her for the first time that it was now evening. Night was drawing + on, and then where could she take refuge and find shelter? She shuddered + and simply saying: “Thank you,” she went to the man who had been pointed + out to her and begged that if her little brother should be found and + brought to him, he would take charge of him. + </p> + <p> + “To be sure,” said the big man good-naturedly. “He can be taken to the + orphanage of the ‘Good Samaritan’ if they bring him here, and you can + enquire for him there.” + </p> + <p> + She then made so bold as to ask if she could see a priest; but for this + she was directed to go to the church, as all those who were immediately + attached to the Bishop were to-day fully occupied, and had no time for + trifles. Agne, however, persisted in her request till the man lost + patience altogether and told her to be off at once; but at this instant + three ecclesiastics came in at the door by which her friend was on guard, + and Agne, collecting all her courage, went up to one of them, a priest of + advanced age, and besought him urgently: + </p> + <p> + “Oh! reverend Father, I beg of you to hear me. I must speak to a priest, + and that man drives me away and says you none of you have time to attend + to me!” + </p> + <p> + “Did he say that!” asked the priest, and he turned angrily on the culprit + saying: “The Church and her ministers never lack time to attend to the + needs of any faithful soul—I will follow you, brothers.—Now, + my child, what is it that you need?” + </p> + <p> + “It lies so heavily on my soul,” replied Agne, raising her eyes and hands + in humble supplication. “I love my Saviour, but I cannot always do exactly + as I should wish, and I do not know how I ought to act so as not to fall + into sin.” + </p> + <p> + “Come with me,” said the priest, and leading the way across a small + garden, he took her into a wide open court and from thence in at a side + door and up a flight of stairs which led to the upper floor. As she + followed him her heart beat high with painful and yet hopeful excitement. + She kept her hands tightly clasped and tried to pray, but she could hardly + control her thoughts of her brother and of all she wanted to say to the + presbyter. + </p> + <p> + They presently entered a lofty room where the window-shutters were closed, + and where a number of lamps, already lighted, were hanging over the + cushioned divans on which sat rows of busy scribes of all ages. + </p> + <p> + “Here we are,” said the priest kindly, as he seated himself in an + easy-chair at some little distance from the writers. “Now, tell me fully + what troubles you; but as briefly as you can, for I am sparing you these + minutes from important business.” + </p> + <p> + “My lord,” she began, “my parents were freeborn, natives of Augusta + Trevirorum. My father was a collector of tribute in the Emperor’s service + ...” + </p> + <p> + “Very good—but has this anything to do with the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, it has. My father and mother were good Christians and in the + riots at Antioch—you remember, my lord, three years ago—they + were killed and I and my brother—Papias is his name...” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes—go on.” + </p> + <p> + “We were sold. My master paid for us—I saw the money; but he did not + treat us as slaves. But now he wants me—he, Sir, is wholly devoted + to the heathen gods-and he wants me...” + </p> + <p> + “To serve his idols?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, reverend Father, and so we ran away.” + </p> + <p> + “Quite right, my child.” + </p> + <p> + “But the scriptures say that the slave shall obey his master?” + </p> + <p> + “True; but higher than the master in the flesh is the Father in Heaven, + and it is better a thousand times to sin against man than against God.” + </p> + <p> + This conversation had been carried on in an undertone on account of the + scribes occupied at the desks; but the priest raised his voice with his + last words, and he must have been heard in the adjoining room, for a heavy + curtain of plain cloth was opened, and an unusually deep and powerful + voice exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Back again already, Irenaeus! That is well; I want to speak with you.” + </p> + <p> + “Immediately, my lord—I am at your service in a moment.—Now, + my child,” he added, rising, “you know what your duty is. And if your + master looks you up and insists on your assisting at the sacrifice or what + ever it may be, you will find shelter with us. My name is Irenaeus.” + </p> + <p> + Here he was again interrupted, for the curtain was lifted once more and a + man came out of the inner room whom no one could forget after having once + met him. It was the Bishop whom Agne had seen on the balcony; she + recognized him at once, and dropped on her knees to kiss the hem of his + robe in all humility. Theophilus accepted the homage as a matter of + course, hastily glancing at the child with his large keen eyes; Agne not + daring to raise hers, for there was certainly something strangely + impressive in his aspect. Then, with a wave of his long thin hand to + indicate Agne, he asked: + </p> + <p> + “What does this girl want?” + </p> + <p> + “A freeborn girl—parents Christian—comes from Antioch...” + replied Irenaeus. “Sold to a heathen master—commanded to serve idols—has + run away and now has doubts...” + </p> + <p> + “You have told her to which Lord her service is due?” interrupted the + Bishop. Then, turning to Agne, he said: “And why did you come here instead + of going to the deacon of your own church?” + </p> + <p> + “We have only been here a few days,” replied the girl timidly, as she + ventured to raise her eyes to the handsome face of this princely prelate, + whose fine, pale features looked as if they had been carved out of marble. + </p> + <p> + “Then go to partake of the sacred Eucharist in the basilica of Mary,” + replied the Bishop. “It is just now the hour—but no, stop. You are a + stranger here you say; you have run away from your master—and you + are young, very young and very.... It is dark too. Where are you intending + to sleep?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” said Agne, and her eyes filled with tears. + </p> + <p> + “That is what I call courage!” murmured Theophilus to the priest, and then + he added to Agne: “Well, thanks to the saints, we have asylums for such as + you, here in the city. That scribe will give you a document which will + secure your admission to one. So you come from Antioch? Then there is the + refuge of Seleucus of Antioch. To what parish—[Parochia in Latin]—did + your parents belong?” + </p> + <p> + “To that of John the Baptist?” + </p> + <p> + “Where Damascius was the preacher?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, holy Father. He was the shepherd of our souls.” + </p> + <p> + “What! Damascius the Arian?” cried the Bishop. He drew his fine and + stately figure up to its most commanding height and closed his thin lips + in august contempt, while Irenaeus, clasping his hands in horror, asked + her: + </p> + <p> + “And you—do you, too, confess the heresy of Arius?” + </p> + <p> + “My parents were Arians,” replied Agne in much surprise. “They taught me + to worship the godlike Saviour.” + </p> + <p> + “Enough!” exclaimed the Bishop severely. “Come Irenaeus.” + </p> + <p> + He nodded to the priest to follow him, opened the curtain and went in + first with supreme dignity. + </p> + <p> + Agne stood as if a thunderbolt had fallen, pale, trembling and desperate. + Then was she not a Christian? Was it a sin in a child to accept the creed + of her parents? And were those who, after charitably extending a saving + hand, had so promptly withdrawn it—were they Christians in the full + meaning of the All-merciful Redeemer? + </p> + <p> + Agonizing doubts of everything that she had hitherto deemed sacred and + inviolable fell upon her soul; doubts of everything in heaven and earth, + and not merely of Christ and of his godlike, or divine goodness—for + what difference was there to her apprehension in the meaning of the two + words which set man to hunt and persecute man? In the distress and + hopeless dilemma in which she found herself, she shed no tears; she simply + stood rooted to the spot where she had heard the Bishop’s verdict. + </p> + <p> + Presently her attention was roused by the shrill voice of an old writer + who called out to one of the younger assistants. + </p> + <p> + “That girl disturbs me, Petubastis; show her out.” Petubastis, a pretty + Egyptian lad, was more than glad of an interruption to his work which + somehow seemed endless to-day; he put aside his implements, stroked back + the black hair that had fallen over his face, and removing the reed-pen + from behind his ear, stuck in a sprig of dark blue larkspur. Then he + tripped to the door, opened it, looked at the girl with the cool impudence + of a connoisseur in beauty, bowed slightly, and pointing the way out said + with airified politeness: + </p> + <p> + “Allow me!” + </p> + <p> + Agne at once obeyed and with a drooping head left the room; but the young + Egyptian stole out after her, and as soon as the door was shut he seized + her hand and said in a whisper: “If you can wait half an hour at the + bottom of the stairs, pretty one, I will take you somewhere where you will + enjoy yourself.” + </p> + <p> + She had stopped to listen, and looked enquiringly into his face, for she + had no suspicion of his meaning; the young fellow, encouraged by this, + laid his hand on her shoulder and would have drawn her towards him but + that she, thrusting him from her as if he were some horrible animal, flew + down the steps as fast as her feet could carry her, and through the + courtyard back into the great entrance-hall. + </p> + <p> + Here all was, by this time, dark and still; only a few lamps lighted the + pillared space and the flare of a torch fell upon the benches placed there + for the accommodation of priests, laymen and supplicants generally. + </p> + <p> + Utterly worn out—whether by terror or disappointment or by hunger + and fatigue she scarcely knew—she sank on a seat and buried her face + in her hands. + </p> + <p> + During her absence the wounded had been conveyed to the sick-houses; one + only was left whom they had not been able to move. He was lying on a + mattress between two of the columns at some little distance from Agne, and + the light of a lamp, standing on a medicine-chest, fell on his handsome + but bloodless features. A deaconess was kneeling at his head and gazed in + silence in the face of the dead, while old Eusebius crouched prostrate by + his side, resting his cheek on the breast of the man whose eyes were + sealed in eternal sleep. Two sounds only broke the profound silence of the + deserted hall: an occasional faint sob from the old man and the steady + step of the soldiers on guard in front of the Bishop’s palace. The widow, + kneeling with clasped hands, never took her eyes off the face of the + youth, nor moved for fear of disturbing the deacon who, as she knew, was + praying—praying for the salvation of the heathen soul snatched away + before it could repent. Many minutes passed before the old man rose, dried + his moist eyes, pressed his lips to the cold hand of the dead and said + sadly: + </p> + <p> + “So young—so handsome—a masterpiece of the Creator’s hand!... + Only to-day as gay as a lark, the pride and joy of his mother-and now! How + many hopes, how much triumph and happiness are extinct with that life. O + Lord my Saviour, Thou hast said that not only those who call Thee Lord, + Lord, shall find grace with our Father in Heaven, and that Thou hast shed + Thy blood for the salvation even of the heathen—save, redeem this + one! Thou that are the Good Shepherd, have mercy on this wandering sheep!” + </p> + <p> + Stirred to the bottom of his soul the old man threw up his arms and gazed + upwards rapt in ecstasy. But presently, with an effort, he said to the + deaconess: + </p> + <p> + “You know, Sister, that this lad was the only son of Berenice, the widow + of Asclepiodorus, the rich shipowner. Poor, bereaved mother! Only + yesterday he was driving his guadriga out of the gate on the road to + Marea, and now—here! Go and tell her of this terrible occurrence. I + would go myself but that, as I am a priest, it might be painful to her to + learn of his tragic end from one of the very men against whom the poor + darkened youth had drawn the sword. So do you go, Sister, and treat the + poor soul very tenderly; and if you find it suitable show her very gently + that there is One who has balm for every wound, and that we—we and + all who believe in Him—lose what is dear to us only to find it + again. Tell her of hope: Hope is everything. They say that green is the + color of hope, for it is the spring-tide of the heart. There may be a + Spring for her yet.” + </p> + <p> + The deaconess rose, pressed a kiss on the eyes of the dead youth, promised + Eusebius that she would do her best and went away. He, too, was about to + leave when he heard a sound of low sobbing from one of the benches. He + stood still to listen, shook his old head, and muttering to himself: + </p> + <p> + “Great God—merciful and kind.... Thou alone canst know wherefore + Thou hast set the rose-garland of life with so many sharp thorns,” he went + up to Agne who rose at his approach. + </p> + <p> + “Why, my child,” he said kindly, “what are you weeping for? Have you, too, + lost some dear one killed in the fray?” + </p> + <p> + “No, no,” she hastily replied with a gesture of terror at the thought. + </p> + <p> + “What then do you want here at so late an hour?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing—nothing,” she said. “That is all over! Good God, how long I + must have been sitting here—I—I know I must go; yes, I know + it.” + </p> + <p> + “And are you alone-no one with you?” + </p> + <p> + She shook her head sadly. The old man looked at her narrowly. + </p> + <p> + “Then I will take you safe home,” he said. “You see I am an old man and a + priest. Where do you live, my child?” + </p> + <p> + “I? I...” stammered Agne, and a torrent of scalding tears fell down her + cheeks. “My God! my God! where, where am I to go?” + </p> + <p> + “You have no home, no one belonging to you?” asked the old man. “Come, + child, pluck up your courage and tell me truly what it is that troubles + you; perhaps I may be able to help you.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” she said with bitter melancholy. “Are not you one of the Bishop’s + priests?” + </p> + <p> + “I am a deacon, and Theophilus is the head of my church; but for that very + reason...” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Agne sharply, “I will deceive no one. My parents were Arians, + and as my beliefs are the same as theirs the Bishop has driven me away as + an outcast, finally and without pity.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed,” said Eusebius. “Did the Bishop do that? Well, as the head of a + large community of Christians he, of course, is bound to look at things in + their widest aspect; small things, small people can be nothing to him. I, + on the contrary, am myself but a small personage, and I care for small + things. You know, child, that the Lord has said ‘that in his Father’s + kingdom there are many mansions,’ and that in which Arius dwells is not + mine; but it is in the Father’s kingdom nevertheless. It cannot be so much + amiss after all that you should cling to the creed of your parents. What + is your name?” + </p> + <p> + “Agne.” + </p> + <p> + “Agne, or the lamb. A pretty, good name! It is a name I love, as I, too, + am a shepherd, though but a very humble one, so trust yourself to me, + little lamb. Tell me, why are you crying? And whom do you seek here? And + how is it that you do not know where to find a home?” + </p> + <p> + Eusebius spoke with such homely kindness, and his voice was so full of + fatherly sympathy that hope revived in Agne’s breast, and she told him + with frank confidence all he wanted to know. + </p> + <p> + The old man listened with many a “Hum” and “Ha”—then he bid her + accompany him to his own house, where his wife would find a corner that + she might fill. + </p> + <p> + She gladly agreed, and thanked him eagerly when he also told the + doorkeeper to bring Papias after them if he should be found. Relieved of + the worst of her griefs, Agne followed her new friend through the streets + and lanes, till they paused at the gate of a small garden and he said: + “Here we are. What we have we give gladly, but it is little, very little. + Indeed, who can bear to live in luxury when so many are perishing in want + and misery?” + </p> + <p> + As they went across the plot, between the little flower-beds, the deacon + pointed to a tree and said with some pride: “Last year that tree bore me + three hundred and seven peaches, and it is still healthy and productive.” + </p> + <p> + A hospitable light twinkled in the little house at the end of the garden, + and as they entered a queer-looking dog came out to meet his master, + barking his welcome. He jumped with considerable agility on his fore-legs, + but his hind legs were paralyzed and his body sloped away and stuck up in + the air as though it were attached to an invisible board. + </p> + <p> + “This is my good friend Lazarus,” said the old man cheerfully. “I found + the poor beggar in the road one day, and as he was one of God’s creatures, + although he is a cripple, I comfort myself with the verse from the Psalms: + ‘The Lord has no joy in the strength of a horse, neither taketh he + pleasure in any man’s legs.’” + </p> + <p> + He was so evidently content and merry that Agne could not help laughing + too, and when, in a few minutes, the deacon’s wife gave her a warm and + motherly reception she would have been happier than she had been for a + long time past, if only her little brother had not been a weight on her + mind and if she had not longed so sadly to have him safe by her side. But + even that anxiety presently found relief, for she was so weary and + exhausted that, after eating a few mouthfuls, she was thankful to lie down + in the clean bed that Elizabeth had prepared for her, and she instantly + fell asleep. She was in the old deacon’s bed, and he made ready to pass + the night on the couch in his little sitting-room. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the old couple were alone Eusebius told his wife how and where + he had met the girl and ended by saying: + </p> + <p> + “It is a puzzling question as to these Arians and other Christian + heretics. I cannot be hard on them so long as they cling faithfully to the + One Lord who is necessary to all. If we are in the right—and I + firmly believe that we are—and the Son is of one substance of the + Father, he is without spot or blemish; and what can be more divine than to + overlook the error of another if it concerns ourselves, or what more + meanly human than to take such an error amiss and indulge in a cruel or + sanguinary revenge on the erring soul? Do not misunderstand me. I, + unfortunately—or rather, I say, thank God!—I have done nothing + great here on earth, and have never risen to be anything more than a + deacon. But if a boy comes up to me and mistakes me for an acolyte or + something of that kind, is that a reason why I should flout or punish him? + Not a bit of it. + </p> + <p> + “And to my belief our Saviour is too purely divine to hate those who + regard Him as only ‘God-like.’ He is Love. And when Arius goes to Heaven + and sees Jesus Christ in all His divine glory, and falls down before Him + in an ecstasy of joy and repentance, the worst the Lord will do to him + will be to take him by the ear and say: ‘Thou fool! Now thou seest what I + really am; but thine errors be forgiven!’” + </p> + <p> + Elizabeth nodded assent. “Amen,” she said, “so be it.—And so, no + doubt, it will be. Did the Lord cast out the woman taken in adultery? Did + he not give us the parable of the Samaritan?—Poor little girl! We + have often wished for a daughter and now we have found one; a pretty + creature she is too. God grants us all our wishes! But you must be tired, + old man; go to rest now.” + </p> + <p> + “Directly, directly,” said Eusebius; but then, striking his forehead with + his hand, he went on in much annoyance: “And with all this tumult and + worry I had quite forgotten the most important thing of all: Marcus! He is + like a possessed creature, and if I do not make a successful appeal to his + conscience before he sleeps this night mischief will come of it. Yes, I am + very tired; but duty before rest. It is of no use to contradict me, + Mother. Get me my cloak; I must go to the lad.” And a few minutes later + the old man was making his way to the house in the Canopic street. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. + </h2> + <p> + Dread and anxiety had taken possession of the merchant’s household after + Constantine had left them. Messengers came hurrying in, one after another, + to request the presence of Olympius. A heathen secretary of Evagrius the + Governor, had revealed what was astir, and the philosopher had at once + prepared to return to the Serapeum. Porphyrius himself ordered his closed + harmamaxa to be brought out, and undertook to fetch weapons and standards + to the temple from a storehouse where they were laid by. This building + stood on a plot of ground belonging to him in Rhacotis, behind a + timber-yard which was accessible from the streets in front and behind, but + sheltered from the public gaze by sheds and wood-stacks. + </p> + <p> + The old aqueduct, which supplied the courts of sacrifice and the + Subterranean crypts of the temple where the mysteries of Serapis were + celebrated, passed close by the back-wall of this warehouse. Since the + destruction of the watercourse, under the Emperor Julian, the underground + conduit had been dry and empty, and a man by slightly stooping could + readily pass through it unseen into the Serapeum. This mysterious passage + had lately been secretly cleared out, and it was now to be used for the + transport of the arms to the temple precincts. + </p> + <p> + Damia had been present at the brief but vehement interview between her son + and Olympius, and had thrown in a word now and again: “It is serious, very + serious!” or, “Fight it out—no quarter!” + </p> + <p> + The parting was evidently a very painful one to Olympius; when the + merchant held out both his hands the older man clasped them in his and + held them to his breast, saying: “Thanks, my friend; thanks for all you + have done. We have lived—and if now we perish it is for the future + happiness of our grandchildren. What would life be to you and me if it + were marred by scourgings and questionings?—The omens read ill, and + if I am not completely deceived we are at the beginning of the end. What + lies beyond!... we as philosophers must meet it calmly. The supreme Mind + that governs us has planned the universe so well, that it is not likely + that those things of which we now have no knowledge should not also be + ordered for the best. The pinions of my soul beat indeed more freely and + lightly as I foresee the moment when it shall be released from the burden + of this flesh!” + </p> + <p> + The High-Priest raised his arms as though indeed he were prepared to soar + and uttered a fervent and inspired prayer in which he rehearsed to the + gods all that he and his had done in their honor and vowed to offer them + fresh sacrifices. His expressions were so lofty, and his flow of language + so beautiful and free, that Porphyrius did not dare to interrupt him, + though this long delay on the part of the leader of the cause made him + intolerably anxious. When the old man—who was as emotional as a boy—ceased + speaking, his white beard was wet with tears, and seeing that even Damia’s + and Gorgo’s eyes were moist, he was preparing to address them again; but + Porphyrius interposed. He gave him time only to press his lips to Datnia’s + hand and to bid Gorgo farewell. + </p> + <p> + “You were born into stirring times,” he said to her, “but under a good + sign. Two worlds are in collision; which shall survive?—For you, my + darling, I have but one wish: May you be happy!” + </p> + <p> + He left the room and the merchant paced up and down lost in gloomy + thoughts. Presently, as he caught his mother’s eye fixed uneasily upon + him, he murmured, less to her than to himself: “If he can think thus of + what the end will be, who can still dare to hope?” Damia drew herself up + in her chair. + </p> + <p> + “I,” she exclaimed passionately, “I—I dare, and I do hope and trust + in the future. Is everything to perish which our forefathers planned and + founded? Is this dismal superstition to overwhelm and bury the world and + all that is bright and beautiful, as the lava stream rolled over the + cities of Vesuvius? No, a thousand times no! Our retrograde and cowardly + generation, which has lost all heart to enjoy life in sheer dread of + future annihilation, may perhaps be doomed by the gods, as was that of + Deucalion’s day. Well—if so, what must be must! But such a world as + they dream of never can, never will last. Let them succeed in their + monstrous scheme! if the Temple of temples, the House of Serapis, were to + be in ashes and the image of the mighty god to be dashed to pieces, what + then.... I say what then? Then indeed everything will be at an end—we, + everybody; but they too, they, too, will perish.” + </p> + <p> + She clenched her fist with hatred and revenge and went on: “I know what I + know—there are legible and infallible signs, and it is given to me + to interpret them, and I tell you: It is true, unerringly true, as every + Alexandrian child has learnt from its nurse: When Serapis falls the earth + will collapse like a dry puff-ball under a horse’s hoof. A hundred oracles + have announced it, it is written in the prophecies of the heavenly bodies, + and in the scroll of Fate. Let them be! Let it come! The end is sweet to + those who, in the hour of death, can see the enemy thrust the sword into + his own breast.” + </p> + <p> + The old woman sank back panting and gasping for breath, but Gorgo hastened + to support her in her arms and she soon recovered. Hardly had she opened + her eyes again than, seeing her son still in the room, she went on + angrily: + </p> + <p> + “You—here still? Do you think there is any time to spare? They will + be waiting, waiting for you! You have the key and they need weapons.” + </p> + <p> + “I know what I am about,” replied Porphyrius calmly. “All in good time. I + shall be on the spot long before the youngsters have assembled. Cyrus will + bring me the pass-words and signs; I shall send off the messengers, and + then I shall still be in time for action.” + </p> + <p> + “Messengers! To whom?” + </p> + <p> + “To Barkas. He is at the head of more than a thousand Libyan peasants and + slaves. I shall send one, too, to Pachomius to bid him win us over + adherents among the Biamite fishermen and the population of the eastern + Delta.” + </p> + <p> + “Right, right—I know. Twenty talents—Pachomius is poor—twenty + talents shall be his, out of my private coffer, if only they are here in + time.” + </p> + <p> + “I would give ten, thirty times as much if they were only here now!” cried + the merchant, giving way for the first time to the expression of his real + feelings. “When I began life my father taught me the new superstitions. + Its chains still hang about me; but in this fateful hour I feel more + strongly than ever, and I mean to show, that I am faithful to the old + gods. We will not be wanting; but alas! there is no escape for us now if + the Imperial party are staunch. If they fall upon us before Barkas can + join us, all is lost; if, on the contrary, Barkas comes at once and in + time, there is still some hope; all may yet be well. What can a party of + monks do? And as yet only our Constantine’s heavy cavalry have come to the + assistance of the two legions of the garrison.” + </p> + <p> + “Our Constantine!” shrieked Damia. “Whose? I ask you, whose? We have + nothing to do with that miserable Christian!” + </p> + <p> + But Gorgo turned upon her at once: + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, grandmother,” she exclaimed, quivering with rage, “but we have! + He is a soldier and must do his duty; but he is fondly attached to us.” + </p> + <p> + “Us, us?” retorted the old woman with a laugh. “Has he sworn love to you, + let me ask? Has he? and you-do you believe him, simple fool? I know him, I + know him! Why, for a scrap of bread and a drop of wine from the hand of + his priest he would see you and all of us plunged into misery! But see, + here are the messengers.” + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius gave his instructions to the young men who now entered the + hall, hurried them off, clasped Gorgo in a tender embrace and then bent + over his mother to kiss her—a thing he had not done for many a day. + Old Damia laid aside her stick, and taking her son’s face in both her + withered hands, muttered a few words which were half a fond appeal and + half a magical formula, and then the women were alone. For a long while + both were silent. The old woman sat sunk in her arm-chair while Gorgo + stood with her back against the pedestal of a bust of Plato, gazing + meditatively at the ground. At last it was Damia who spoke, asking to be + carried into the women’s rooms. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo, however, stopped her with a gesture, went close to her and said: + “No, wait a minute, mother; first you must hear what I have to say.” + </p> + <p> + “What you have to say?” asked her grandmother, shrugging her shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I have never deceived you; but one thing I have hitherto concealed + from you because I was never till this morning sure of it myself—now + I am. Now I know that I love him.” + </p> + <p> + “The Christian?” said the old woman, pushing aside a shade that screened + her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Constantine; I will not hear you abuse him.” Damia laughed sharply, + and said in a tone of supreme scorn: + </p> + <p> + “You will not? Then you had better stop your ears, my dear, for as long as + my tongue can wag....” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, grandmother, say no more,” said the girl resolutely. “Do not + provoke me with more than I can bear. Eros has pierced me later than he + does most girls and has done it but once, but how deeply you can never + know. If you speak ill of him you only aggravate the wound and you would + not be so cruel! Do not—I entreat you; drop the subject or else...” + </p> + <p> + “Or else?” + </p> + <p> + “Or else I must die, mother—and you know you love me.” + </p> + <p> + Her tone was soft but firm; her words referred to the future, but that + future was as clear to Gorgo’s view as if it were past. Damia gave a + hasty, sidelong glance at her grandchild, and a cold chill ran through + her; the—girl stood and spoke with an air of inspiration—she + was full of the divinity as Damia thought, and the old woman herself felt + as though she were in a temple and in the immediate presence of the + Immortals. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo waited for a reply, but in vain; and as her grandmother remained + silent she went back to her place by the pedestal. At last Damia raised + her wrinkled face, looked straight in the girl’s eyes and asked: + </p> + <p> + “And what is to be the end of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Aye—what?” said Gorgo gloomily and she shook her head. “I ask + myself and can find no answer, for his image is ever present to me and yet + walls and mountains stand between us. That face, that image—I might + perhaps force myself to shatter it; but nothing shall ever induce me to + let it be defiled or disgraced! Nothing!” + </p> + <p> + The old woman sank into brooding thought once more; mechanically she + repeated Gorgo’s last word, and at intervals that gradually became longer + she murmured, at last scarcely audibly: “Nothing—nothing!” + </p> + <p> + She had lost all sense of time and of her immediate surroundings, and + long-forgotten sorrows crowded on her memory: The dreadful day when a + young freedman—a gifted astronomer and philosopher who had been + appointed her tutor, and whom she had loved with all the passion of a + vehement nature—had been kicked out of her father’s house by slaves, + for daring to aspire to her hand. She had given him up—she had been + forced to do so; and after she was the wife of another and he had risen to + fame, she had never given him any token that she had not forgotten him. + Two thirds of a century lay between that happy and terrible time, and the + present. He had been dead many a long year, and still she remembered him, + and was thinking of him even now. A singular effort of fancy showed her + herself, as she had then been, and Gorgo—whom she saw not with her + bodily eyes, though the girl was standing in front of her—two young + creatures side by side. The two were but one in her vision; the same + anguish that embittered one life now threatened the other. But after all + she, Damia, had dragged this grief after her through the weary decades, + like the iron ball at the end of a chain which keeps the galley-slave to + his place at the oar, and from which he can no more escape than from a + ponderous and ever-present shadow; and Gorgo’s sorrow could not at any + rate be for long, since the end of all things was at hand—it was + coming slowly but with inevitable certainty, nearer and nearer every hour. + </p> + <p> + When had a troop of enthusiastic students and hastily-collected + peasant-soldiers ever been able to snake an effectual stand against the + hosts of Rome? Damia, who only a few minutes since had spoken with such + determined encouragement to her son, had terrible visions of the Imperial + legions putting Olympius to rout, with the Libyans under Barkas and the + Biamite rabble under Pachomius; storming the Serapeum and reducing it to + ruin: Firebrands flying through its sacred halls, the roof giving way, the + vaults falling in; the sublime image of the god—the magnificent work + of Bryaxis—battered by a hail of stones, and sinking to mingle with + the reeking dust. Then a cry rose up from all nature, as though every star + in heaven, every wave of ocean, every leaf of the forest, every blade in + the meadow, every rock on the shore and every grain of sand in the + measureless desert had found a voice; and this universal wail of “Woe, + woe!” was drowned by rolling thunder such as the ear of man had never + heard, and no mortal creature could hear and live. The heavens opened, and + out of the black gulf of death-bearing clouds poured streams of fire; + consuming flames rose to meet it from the riven womb of earth, rushing up + to lick the sky. What had been air turned to fire and ashes, the silver + and gold stars fell crashing from the firmament, and the heavens + themselves bowed and collapsed, burying the ruined earth. Ashes, ashes, + fine grey dusty ashes pervaded space, till presently a hurricane rose and + swept away the chaos of gloom, and vast nothingness yawned before her: a + bottomless abyss—an insatiable throat, swallowing down with greedy + thirst all that was left; till where the world had been, with gods and men + and all their works, there was only nothingness; hideous, inscrutable and + unfathomable. And in it, above it, around it—for what are the + dimensions of nothingness?—there reigned the incomprehensible Unity + of the Primal One, in calm and pitiless self-concentration, beyond—the + Real, nay even beyond the Conceivable—for conception implies + plurality—the Supreme One of the Neo-Platonists to whose school she + belonged. + </p> + <p> + The old woman’s blood ran cold and hot as she pictured the scene; but she + believed in it, and chose to believe in it; “Nothing, nothing...” which + she had begun by muttering, insensibly changed to “Nothingness, + nothingness!” and at last she spoke it aloud. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo stood spellbound as she gazed at her grandmother. What had come over + her? What was the meaning of this glaring eye, this gasping breath, this + awful expression in her face, this convulsive action of her hands? Was she + mad? And what did she mean by “Nothingness, nothingness...” repeated in a + sort of hollow cry? + </p> + <p> + Terrified beyond bearing she laid her hand on Dalnia’s shoulder, saying: + “Mother, mother! wake up! What do you mean by saying ‘nothingness, + nothingness’ in that dreadful way?” + </p> + <p> + Dainia collected her scattered wits, shivered with cold and then said, + dully at first, but with a growing cheerfulness that made Gorgo’s blood + run cold: “Did I say ‘nothingness’? Did I speak of the great void, my + child? You are quick of hearing. Nothingness—well, you have learnt + to think; are you capable of defining the meaning of the word—a + monster that has neither head nor tail, neither front nor back—can + you, I say, define the idea of nothingness?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean, mother?” said Gorgo with growing alarm. + </p> + <p> + “No, she does not know, she does not understand,” muttered the old woman + with a dreary smile. “And yet Melampus told me, only yesterday, that you + understood his lesson on conic sections better than many men. Aye, aye, + child; I, too, learnt mathematics once, and I still go through various + calculations every night in my observatory; but to this day I find it + difficult to conceive of a mathematical point. It is nothing and yet it is + something. But the great final nothingness!—And that even is + nonsense, for it can be neither great nor small, and come neither sooner + nor later. Is it not so, my sweet? Think of nothing—who cannot do + that; but it is very hard to imagine nothingness. We can neither of us + achieve that. Not even the One has a place in it. But what is the use of + racking our brains? Only wait till to-morrow or the day after; something + will happen then which will reduce our own precious persons and this + beautiful world to that nothingness which to-day is inconceivable. It is + coming; I can hear from afar the brazen tramp of the airy and incorporeal + monster. A queer sort of giant—smaller than the mathematical point + of which we were speaking, and yet vast beyond all measurement. Aye, aye; + our intelligence, polyp-like, has long arms and can apprehend vast size + and wide extent; but it can no more conceive of nothingness than it can of + infinite space or time. + </p> + <p> + “I was dreaming that this monstrous Nought had come to his kingdom and was + opening a yawning mouth and toothless jaws to swallow its all down into + the throat that it has not got—you, and me, and your young officer, + with this splendid, recreant city and the sky and the earth. Wait, only + wait! The glorious image of Serapis still stands radiant, but the cross + casts an ominous shadow that has already darkened the light over half the + earth! Our gods are an abomination to Caesar, and Cynegius only carries + out his wishes...” + </p> + <p> + Here Damia was interrupted by the steward, who rushed breathless into the + room, exclaiming: + </p> + <p> + “Lost! All is lost! An edict of Theodosius commands that every temple of + the gods shall be closed, and the heavy cavalry have dispersed our force.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah ha!” croaked the old woman in shrill accents. “You see, you see! There + it is: the beginning of the end! Yes—your cavalry are a powerful + force. They are digging a grave—wide and deep, with room in it for + many: for you, for me, and for themselves, too, and for their Prefect.—Call + Argus, man, and carry me into the Gynaeconitis—[The women’s + apartment]—and there tell us what has happened.” In the women’s room + the steward told all he knew, and a sad tale it was; one thing, however, + gave him some comfort: Olympius was at the Serapeunt and had begun to + fortify the temple, and garrison it with a strong force of adherents. + </p> + <p> + Damia had definitively given up all hope, and hardly heeded this part of + his story, while on Gorgo’s mind it had a startling effect. She loved + Constantine with all the fervor of a first, and only, and long-suppressed + passion; she had repented long since of her little fit of suspicion, and + it would have cost her no perceptible effort to humble her pride, to fly + to him and pray for forgiveness. But she could not—dared not—now, + when everything was at stake, renounce her fidelity to the gods for whose + sake she had let him leave her in anger, and to whom she must cling, cost + what it might; that would be a base desertion. If Olympius were to triumph + in the struggle she might go to her lover and say: “Do you remain a + Christian, and leave me the creed of my childhood, or else open my heart + to yours.” But, as matters now stood, her first duty was to quell her + passion and retrain faithful to the end, even though the cause were lost. + She was Greek to the backbone; she knew it and felt it, and yet her eye + had sparkled with pride as she heard the steward’s tale, and she seemed to + see Constantine at the head of his horsemen, rushing upon the heathen and + driving them to the four winds like a flock of sheep. Her heart beat high + for the foe rather than for her hapless friends—these were but + bruised reeds—those were the incarnation of victorious strength. + </p> + <p> + These divided feelings worried and vexed her; but her grandmother had + suggested a way of reconciling them. Where he commanded victory followed, + and if the Christians should succeed in destroying the image of Serapis + the joints of the world would crack and the earth would crumble away. She + herself was familiar with the traditions and the oracles which with one + consent foretold this doom; she had learnt them as an infant from her + nurse, from the slave-women at the loom, from learned men and astute + philosophers—and to her the horrible prophecy meant a solution of + every contradiction and the bitter-sweet hope of perishing with the man + she loved. + </p> + <p> + As it grew dark another person appeared: the Moschosphragist—[The + examiner of sacrificed animals]—from the temple of Serapis, who, + every day, examined the entrails of a slaughtered beast for Damia; to-day + the augury had been so bad that he was almost afraid of revealing it. But + the old woman, sure of it beforehand, took his soothsaying quite calmly, + and only desired to be carried up to her observatory that she might watch + the risings of the stars. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo remained alone below. From the adjoining workrooms came the + monotonous rattle of the loom at which, as usual, a number of slaves were + working. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the clatter ceased. Damia had sent a slave-girl down to say that + they might leave off work and rest till next day if they chose. She had + ordered that wine should be distributed to them in the great hall, as + freely as at the great festival of Dionysus. + </p> + <p> + All was silent in the Gynaeconitis. The garlands of flowers, which Gorgo + herself had helped some damsels of her acquaintance to twine for the + temple of Isis, lay in a heap-the steward had told her that the venerable + sanctuary was to be closed and surrounded by soldiers. This then put an + end to the festival; and she could have been heartily glad, for it + relieved her of the necessity of defying Constantine; still, it was with + tender melancholy that she thought of the gentle goddess in whose + sanctuary she had so often found comfort and support. She could remember, + as a tiny child, gathering the first flowers in her little garden, and + sticking them in the ground near the tank from which water was fetched for + libations in the temple; with the pocketmoney given her by her elders, she + had bought perfumes to pour on the altars of the divinity; and often when + her heart was heavy she had found relief in prayer before the marble + statue of the goddess. How splendid had the festivals of Isis been, how + gladly and rapturously had she sung in their honor! Almost everything that + had lent poetry and dignity to her childhood had been bound up with Isis + and her sanctuary—and now it was closed and the image of the divine + mother was perhaps lying in fragments in the dirt! + </p> + <p> + Gorgo knew all the lofty ideals which lay at the foundation of the worship + of this goddess; but it was not to them that she had turned for help, but + to the image in whose mystical strength she trusted. And what had already + been done to Isis and her temple might soon be done to Serapis and to his + house. + </p> + <p> + She could not bear the thought, for she had been accustomed to regard the + Serapeum as the very heart of the universe—the centre and fulcrum on + which the balance of the earth depended; to her, Serapis himself was + inseparable from his temple and its atmosphere of magical and mystical + power. Every prophecy, every Sibylline text, every oracle must be false if + the overthrow of that image could remain unpunished—if the + destruction of the universe failed to follow, as surely as a flood ensues + from a breach in a dyke. How indeed could it be otherwise, according to + the explanation which her teacher had given her of the Neo-Platonic + conception of the nature of the god? + </p> + <p> + It was not Serapis but the great and unapproachable One—supreme + above comprehension and sublime beyond conception, for whose majesty every + name was too mean, the fount and crown of Good and Beauty, in whole all + that exists ever has been and ever shall be. He it was who, like a brimful + vessel, overflowed with the quintessence of what we call divine; and from + this effluence emanated the divine Mind, the pure intelligence which is to + the One what light is to the sun. This Mind with its vitality—a life + not of time but of eternity—could stir or remain passive as it + listed; it included a Plurality, while the One was Unity, and forever + indivisible. The concept of each living creature proceeded from the + second: The eternal Mind; and this vivifying and energizing intelligence + comprehended the prototypes of every living being, hence, also, of the + immortal gods—not themselves but their idea or image. And just as + the eternal Mind proceeded from the One, so, in the third place, did the + Soul of the universe proceed from the second; that Soul whose twofold + nature on one side touched the supreme Mind, and, on the other, the baser + world of matter. This was the immortal Aphrodite, cradled in bliss in the + pure radiance of the ideal world and yet unable to free herself from the + gross clay of matter fouled by sensuality and the vehicle of sin. + </p> + <p> + The head of Serapis was the eternal Mind; in his broad breast slept the + Soul of the Universe, and the prototypes of all created things; the world + of matter was the footstool under his feet. All the subordinate forces + obeyed him, the mighty first Cause, whose head towered up to the realm of + the incomprehensible and inconceivable One. He was the sum total of the + universe, the epitome of things created; and at the same time he was the + power which gave them life and intelligence and preserved them from + perishing by perpetual procreation. It was his might that kept the + multiform structure of the material and psychical world in perennial + harmony. All that lived—Nature and its Soul as much as Man and his + Soul—were inseparably dependent on him. If he—if Serapis were + to fall, the order of the universe must be destroyed; and with him: The + Synthesis of the Universe—the Universe itself must cease to exist. + </p> + <p> + But what would survive would not be the nothingness—the void of + which her grandmother had spoken; it would be the One—the cold, + ineffable, incomprehensible One! This world would perish with Serapis; but + perhaps it might please that One to call another world into being out of + his overflowing essence, peopled by other and different beings. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo was startled out of these meditations by a wild tumult which came up + from the slaves’ hall some distance off and reached her ears in the + women’s sitting-room. Could her grandmother have opened the wine stores + all too freely; were the miserable wretches already drunk? + </p> + <p> + No, the noise was not that of a troop of slaves who have forgotten + themselves, and given the rein to their wild revelry under the influence + of Dionysus! She listened and could distinctly hear lamentable howls and + wild cries of grief. Something frightful must have happened! Had some evil + befallen her father? Greatly alarmed she flew across the courtyard to the + slaves’ quarters and found the whole establishment, black and white alike, + in a state of frenzy. The women were rushing about with their hair unbound + over their faces, beating their breasts and wailing, the men squatted in + silence with their wine-cups before them untouched, softly sobbing and + whining. + </p> + <p> + What had come upon them—what blow had fallen on the house? + </p> + <p> + Gorgo called her old nurse and learnt from her that the Moschosphragist + had just told them that the troops had been placed all round the Serapeum + and that the Emperor had commanded the Prefect of the East to lay violent + hands on the temple of the King of gods. Today or to-morrow the crime was + to be perpetrated. They had been warned to pray and repent of their sins, + for at the moment when the holiest sanctuary on earth should fall the + whole world would crumble into nothingness. The entrails of the beast + sacrificed by Damia had been black as though scorched, and a terrific + groan had been heard from the god himself in the great shrine; the pillars + of the great hypostyle had trembled and the three heads of Cerberus, lying + at the feet of Serapis; had opened their jaws. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo listened in silence to the old woman’s story; and all she said in + reply was: “Let them wail.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. + </h2> + <p> + The day had flown swiftly for Dada under the roof of Medius; there were + costumes and scenery in wonderful variety for her to look over; the + children were bright and friendly, and she had enjoyed playing with them, + for all her little tricks and rhymes, which Papias was familiar with by + this time, were to them new and delightful. It amused her, too, to see + what the domestic difficulties were of which the singer had described + himself as being a victim. + </p> + <p> + Medius was one of those men who buy everything that strikes them as cheap—for + instance, that very morning, at Kibotus he had stood to watch a fish + auction and had bought a whole tub-full of pickled fish for “a mere + trifle;” but when, presently, the cargo was delivered, his wife flew into + a great rage, which she vented first on the innocent lad who brought the + fish, and then on the less innocent purchaser. They would not get to the + bottom of the barrel and eat the last herring, she asserted, till they + were a century old. Medius, while he disputed so monstrous a statement, + vehemently declared that such wholesome and nutritious food as those fish + was undoubtedly calculated to prolong the lives of the whole family to an + exceptionally great age. + </p> + <p> + This discussion, which was not at all by way of a jest, amused Dada far + more than the tablets, cylinders and cones covered with numbers and + cabalistic signs, to which Medius tried to direct her attention. She + darted off in the midst of his eager explanations to show his + grandchildren how a rabbit sniffs and moves his ears when he is offered a + cabbage-leaf. + </p> + <p> + The report, which reached them in the afternoon, of the proceedings in the + square by the Prefect’s house, disturbed Medius greatly, and he set off at + once for the scene of action. + </p> + <p> + He did not return till evening, and then he looked like an altered man. He + must have witnessed something very terrible, for his face was as pale as + death, and his usually confident and swaggering manner had given place to + a stricken and care-worn air. He walked up and down the room, groaning as + he went; he flung himself on the divan and stared fixedly at the ground; + he wandered into the atrium and gazed cautiously out on the street. Dada’s + presence seemed suddenly to be the source of much anxiety to him, and the + girl, painfully conscious of this, hastened to tell him that she would + prefer to return home at once to her uncle and aunt. + </p> + <p> + “You can please yourself,” was all he said, with a shrug and a sigh. “You + may stay for aught I care. It is all the same now!” + </p> + <p> + So far his wife had left him to himself, for she was used to his violent + and eccentric behavior whenever anything had crossed him; but now she + peremptorily desired to be informed what had happened to him and he at + once acceded. He had been unwilling to frighten them sooner than was + needful, but they must learn it sooner or later: Cynegius had arrived to + overthrow the image of Serapis, and what must ensue they knew only too + well. “To-day,” he cried, “we will live; but by to-morrow—a thousand + to one-by to-morrow there will be an end of all our joys and the earth + will swallow up the old home and us with it!” + </p> + <p> + His words fell on prepared ground; his wife and daughter were appalled, + and as Medius went on to paint the imminent catastrophe in more vivid + colors, his energy growing in proportion to its effect on them, they began + at first to sob and whimper and then to wail loudly. When the children, + who by this time were in bed, heard the lamentations of their elders, + they, too, set up a howl, and even Dada caught the infection. As for + Medius himself, he had talked himself into such a state of terror by his + own descriptions of the approaching destruction of the world that he + abandoned all claim to his proud reputation as a strong-minded man, and + quite forgot his favorite theory that everything that went by the name of + God was a mere invention of priests and rulers to delude and oppress the + ignorant; at last he even went so far as to mutter a prayer, and when his + wife begged to be allowed to join a family of neighbors in sacrificing a + black lamb at daybreak, he recklessly gave her a handful of money. + </p> + <p> + None of the party closed an eye that night. Dada could not bear to remain + in the house. Perhaps all these horrors existed only in Medius’ fancy; but + if destruction were indeed impending, she would a thousand times rattier + perish with her own relations than with these people, in whom there was + something—she did not know what—for which she felt a deep + aversion. This she explained to her host early in the day and he was ready + to set out at once and restore her to the care of Karnis. + </p> + <p> + In fact, the purpose for which he had needed her must certainly come to + nothing. He himself was attached to the service of Posidonius, a great + magician and wizard, to whom half Alexandria flocked—Christians, + Jews, and heathens—in order to communicate with the dead, with gods + and with demons, to obtain spells and charms by which to attract lovers or + injure foes, to learn the art of becoming invisible, or to gain a glimpse + into the future. In the performance which was being planned Dada was to + have appeared to a bereaved mother as the glorified presence of her lost + daughter; but the disturbance in the city had driven the matron, who was + rich, to take refuge in the country the previous afternoon. Nor was it + likely that the sorcerer’s other clients—even if all turned out + better than could be hoped—would venture into the streets by night. + Rich people were timid and suspicious; and as the Emperor had lately + promulgated fresh and more stringent edicts against the magic arts, + Posidonius had thought it prudent to postpone the meeting. Hence Medius + had at present no use for the girl; but he affected to agree so readily to + her wishes merely out of anxiety to relieve Isarnis as soon as possible of + his uneasiness as to her fate. + </p> + <p> + The morning was bright and hot, and the town was swarming with an excited + mob soon after sunrise. Terror, curiosity and defiance were painted on + every face; however, Medius and his young companion made their way + unhindered as far as the temple of Isis by the lake. The doors of the + sanctuary were closed, and guarded by soldiers; but the southern and + western walls were surrounded by thousands and thousands of heathen. Some + hundreds, indeed, had passed the night there in prayer, or in sheer terror + of the catastrophe which could not fail to ensue, and they were kneeling + in groups, groaning, weeping, and cursing, or squatting in stolid + resignation, weary, crushed and hopeless. It was a heart-rending sight, + and neither Dada—who till this moment had been dreading Dame Herse’s + scolding tongue far more than the destruction of the world—nor her + companion could forbear joining in the wail that rose from this vast + multitude. Medius fell on his knees groaning aloud and pulled the girl + down beside him; for, upon the wall that enclosed the temple precincts, + they now saw a priest who, after holding the sacred Sistrum up to view and + muttering some unintelligible prayers and invocations, proceeded to + address the people. + </p> + <p> + He was a short stout man, and the sweat streamed down his face as he stood + under the blazing sun to sketch a fearful picture of the monstrous doom + which was hanging over the city and its inhabitants. He spoke with pompous + exaggeration, in a shrill, harsh voice, wiping his face meanwhile with his + white linen robe or gasping for air, when breath failed him, like a fish + stranded on the beach. All this, however, did not trouble his audience, + for the hatred that inspired his language, and the terror of the immediate + future which betrayed itself in every word exactly reflected their + feelings. Dada alone was moved to mirth; the longer she looked at him the + more she felt inclined to laugh; besides, the day was so bright—a + pigeon on the wall pattered round his mate, nodding and wriggling after + the funny manner of pigeons in love—and, above all, her heart beat + so high and she had such a happy instinctive feeling that all was ordered + for the best, that the world seemed to her a beautiful and fairly secure + dwelling-place, in spite of the dark forebodings of the zealous preacher. + On the eve of destruction the earth must surely look differently from + this; and it struck her as highly improbable that the gods should have + revealed their purpose to such a queer old driveller as this priest, and + have hidden it from other men. The very fact that this burly personage + should prophesy evil with such conviction made her doubt it; and + presently, when the plumes of three or four helmets became visible behind + the speaker, and a pair of strong hands grasped his thick ankles and + suddenly dragged him down from his eminence and back into the temple, she + could hardly keep herself from laughing outright. + </p> + <p> + Now, however, there was more real cause for alarm a trumpet-blast was + heard, and a maniple of the twenty-second legion marched down in close + order on the crowd who fled before them. Medius was one of the first to + make off; Dada kept close to his side, and when, in his alarm, he fairly + took to his heels, she did the same; for, in spite of the reception she + apprehended, she felt that the sooner she could rejoin her own people the + better. Never till now had she known how dear they were to her. Herse + might scold; but her sharpest words were truer and better than the smooth + flattery of Medius. It was a joy to think of seeing them again—Agne, + too, and little Papias—and she felt as though she were about to meet + them after years of separation. + </p> + <p> + By this time they were at the ship-yard, which was divided only by a lane + from the Temple-grove; there lay the barge. Dada pulled off her veil and + waved it in the air, but the signal met with no response. They were at the + house, no doubt, for some men were in the very act of drawing up the + wooden gangway which connected the vessel with the land. Medius hurried + forward and was so fortunate as to overtake the steward, who had been + superintending the operation, before he reached the garden-gate. + </p> + <p> + The old man was rejoiced to see them, and told them at once that his old + mistress had promised Herse to give Dada shelter if she should return to + them. But Dada was proud. She had no liking for Gorgo or her grandmother; + and when she had caught up to Medius, quite out of breath, she positively + refused the old lady’s hospitality. + </p> + <p> + The barge was deserted. Karnis—so the steward informed her—had + withdrawn to the temple of Serapis with his son, intending to assist in + its defence; and Herse had accompanied them, for Olympius had said that + women would be found useful in the beleaguered sanctuary, in preparing + food for the combatants and in nursing the wounded. + </p> + <p> + Dada stood looking at their floating home, utterly disappointed and + discouraged. She longed to follow her aunt and to gain admission to the + Serapeutn; but how could she do this now, and of what use could she hope + to be? There was nothing heroic in her composition, and from her infancy + she had always sickened at the sight of blood. She had no alternative but + to return with Medius, and take refuge under his roof. + </p> + <p> + The singer gave her ample time for reflection; he had seated himself, with + the steward, under the shade of a sycamore, and the two men were absorbed + in convincing each other, by a hundred arguments which they had picked up + during the last day or two, how inevitably the earth must be annihilated + if the statue of Serapis should be overthrown. In the warmth of their + discussion they paid no heed to the young girl, who was sitting on a + fallen Hermes by the road-side. Her vigorous and lively temperament + rendered her little apt to dream, or even meditate, in broad daylight; but + the heat and the recent excitement had overwrought her and she fell into a + drowsy reverie. Now and again, as her heavy head drooped on her breast, + she fancied the Serapeum had actually fallen; then, as she raised it + again, she recovered her consciousness that it was hot, that she had lost + her home, and that she must, however unwillingly, return with Medius. But + at length her eyelids closed, and as she sat in the full blaze of the sun, + a rosy light filled her eyes and a bright vision floated before her: + Marcus took the modius—the corn measure—from the head of the + statue of Serapis and offered it to her; it was quite full of lilies and + roses and violets, and she was delighted with the flowers and thanked him + warmly when he set the modius down before her. He held out his hands to + her calmly and kindly, and she gave him hers, feeling very happy under the + steady, compassionate gaze of his large eyes which had often watched her, + on board ship, for some minutes at a time. She longed to say something to + him, but she could not speak; and she looked on quite unmoved as the + statue of the god and the hall in which it stood were wrapt in flames. No + smoke mingled with this clear and genial blaze, but it compelled her to + shade her dazzled eyes; and as she lifted her hand she woke to see Medius + standing in front of her. + </p> + <p> + He desired her to come home with him at once, and she rose to obey, + listening in silence to his assurances that the lives of Karnis and + Orpheus would not be worth a sesterce if they fell into the hands of the + Roman soldiers. + </p> + <p> + She walked on, more hopeless and depressed than she had ever felt in her + life before, past the unfinished hulks in the ship-yard where no one was + at work to-day when, coming down the lane that divided the wharf from the + temple precincts, she saw an old man and a little boy. She had not time to + ask herself whether she saw rightly or was mistaken before the child + caught sight of her, snatched his hand away from that of his companion, + and flew towards her, shouting her name. In the next moment little Papias + had rushed rapturously into her arms and, as she lifted him up, had thrown + his hands round her neck, clinging to her as if he would never leave go + again, while she hugged him closely for joy, and kissed him with her eyes + full of tears. She was herself again at once; the sad and anxious girl was + the lively Dada once more. + </p> + <p> + The man who had been leading the little boy was immediately besieged with + questions, and from his answers they learnt that he had found the child + the evening before at the corner of a street, crying bitterly; that he had + taken him home, and with some little difficulty had ascertained from him + that he belonged to some people who were living on board a barge, close to + a ship-yard. In spite of the excitement that prevailed he had brought the + child home as soon as possible, for he could fancy how anxious his parents + must be. Dada thanked the kind-hearted artisan with sincere warmth, and + the man, seeing how happy the girl and the child were at having met, went + his way quite satisfied. + </p> + <p> + Medius had stood by and had said nothing, but he looked on the pretty + little boy with much favor. If the earth were not to crumble into + nothingness after all, this child would be a real treasure trove; and when + Dada begged him to find a corner for Papias in his house, though he hinted + at the smallness of his earnings and the limited space at his command, he + yielded, if reluctantly, to her entreaties, on her offering him her gold + brooch to cover his expenses. + </p> + <p> + As they made their way back she cast many loving glances at the child; she + was extremely fond of him, and he seemed a link to bind her to her own + people. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. + </h2> + <p> + The singer’s wife and daughter had joined some neighbors in sacrificing a + black lamb to Zeus, a ceremony that was usual on the occasion of + earthquakes or very severe storms; but it was done very secretly, for the + edicts prohibiting the sacrifice of victims to the gods were promptly and + rigidly enforced. The more the different members of the family came into + contact with other citizens, the more deeply rooted was their terror that + the end of all things was at hand. As soon as it was dark the old man + buried all his savings, for even if everyone else were to perish, he felt + that he—though how or why he knew not—might be exempt from the + common doom. + </p> + <p> + The night was warm, and great and small alike slept—or lay awake—under + the stars so as not to be overwhelmed by the crash of roofs and walls; the + next day was oppressively hot, and the family cowered in a row in the + scanty shade of a palm and of a fig-tree, the only growth of any size in + the singer’s garden. Medius himself, in spite of the scorching sun, could + not be still. + </p> + <p> + He rushed off to the town again and again, but only to return each time to + enhance the anguish of the household by relating all sorts of horrors + which he had picked up in his wanderings. They were obliged to satisfy + their hunger with bread, cheese, and fruit, for the two slave-women + positively refused to risk their lives by cooking in the house. + </p> + <p> + Medius’ temper varied as he came and went; now he was gentle and + affectionate, and then again he raged like a madman; and his wife outdid + him. At one moment she would abandon him and the children, while she + anointed the household altar and put up prayers; at the next she railed at + the baseness and cruelty of the gods. When her husband brought the news + that the Serapeum was surrounded by the Imperial troops, she scoffed and + spit at the sacred images, and five minutes later she was vowing a + sacrifice to the deities of Olympus. The general confusion was + distracting; as the sun rose, the anguish, physical and mental, of the + whole family greatly increased, and by noon had reached an appalling + pitch. + </p> + <p> + Dada looked on intensely disgusted, and only shook her head when one or + another of her companions was sure she felt a shock of earthquake or heard + the roll of distant thunder. She could not explain to herself why she, who + was usually timid enough, was exempt from the universal panic though she + felt deeply pitiful towards the terrified women and children. None of them + troubled themselves about her; the day dragged on with intolerable + slowness, quenching all her gay vivacity, while she was utterly exhausted + by the scorching African sun, of which, till now, she had never known the + power. At last, in the afternoon, she found the little garden, which was + by this time heated like an oven, quite unbearable, and she looked round + for Papias. The child was sitting on the wall looking at the congregation + streaming into the basilica of St. Mark. Dada followed his example, and + when the many-voiced psalms rang out of the open door of the church, she + listened to the music, for it seemed long since she had heard any, and + after wiping the perspiration from the little boy’s face with her peplos, + she pointed to the building and said: “It must be nice and cool in there.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course it is,” said Papias. + </p> + <p> + “It is never too hot in church. I will tell you what—we will go + there.” This was a bright idea; for, thought Dada, any place must be + pleasanter than this; and she felt strongly tempted, too, to see the + inside of one of Agne’s temples and to sing once more, or, at any rate, + hear others sing. + </p> + <p> + “Come along,” she said, and they stole through the deserted house to get + into the street by the atrium. Medius saw them, but he made no attempt to + detain them; he had sunk into lethargic indifference. It was not an hour + since he had taken stock of his life and means, setting the small figure + of his average income against his hospitality to Dada and her little + companion; but then, again, he had calculated that, if all went well, he + might make considerable profits out of the girl and the child. Now, he + felt it was all the same to him whether he and his family and Dada met + their doom in the house or out of it. + </p> + <p> + Dada and Papias soon reached the church of St. Mark, the oldest Christian + basilica in the city. It consisted of a vestibule—the narthex—and + the body of the church, a very long hall, with a flat roof ceiled with + stained wood and supported on a double row of quite simple columns. This + space was divided into two parts by a screen of pierced work; the + innermost portion had a raised floor or podium, on which stood a table + with chairs placed round it in a semicircle. The centre seat was higher + and more richly decorated than the others. These chairs were unoccupied; a + few deacons in ‘talares’ of light-colored brocade were busied about the + table. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the vestibule there was a small tank; here a number of + penitents had collected who, with their flayed ribs and abject + lamentations, offered a more melancholy spectacle than even the terrified + crowd whom Dada had seen the day before, gathered round the temple of + Isis. Indeed, she would have withdrawn at once but that Papias dragged + her forward, and when she had passed through the great door into the nave + she breathed a sigh of relief. A soothing sense of respite came over her, + such as she had rarely felt; for the lofty building, which was only half + full, was deliciously cool and the subdued light was restful to her eyes. + The slight perfume of incense and the sober singing of the assembled + worshippers were soothing to her senses, and, as she took a seat on one of + the benches, she felt sheltered and safe. + </p> + <p> + The old church struck her as a home of perfect peace; in all the city, she + thought, there could hardly be another spot where she might rest so + quietly and contentedly. So for some little time she gave herself up, body + and soul, to the refreshing influences of the coolness, the solemnity, the + fragrance and the music; but presently her attention was attracted to two + women in the seats just in front of her. + </p> + <p> + One of them, who had a child on her arm, whispered to her neighbor: + </p> + <p> + “You here, Hannah, among the unbaptized? How are you going on at home?” + </p> + <p> + “I cannot stay long,” was the answer. “It is all the same where one sits, + and when I leave I shall disturb no one. But my heart is heavy; the child + is very bad. The doctor says he cannot live through the day, and I felt as + if I must come to church.” + </p> + <p> + “Very right, very right. Do you stay here and I will go to your house at + once; my husband will not mind waiting.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you very much, but Katharine is staying with the boy and he is + quite safe there.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I will stay and pray with you for the dear little child.” + </p> + <p> + Dada had not missed a word of this simple dialogue. The woman whose child + was ill at home, and who had come here to pray for strength or mercy, had + a remarkably sweet face; as the girl saw the two friends bow their heads + and fold their hands with downcast eyes, she thought to herself: “Now they + are praying for the sick child...” and involuntarily she, too, bent her + curly head, and murmured softly: “O ye gods, or thou God of the + Christians, or whatever thou art called that hast power over life and + death, make this poor woman’s little son well again. When I get home again + I will offer up a cake or a fowl—a lamb is so costly.” + </p> + <p> + And she fancied that some invisible spirit heard her, and it gave her a + vague satisfaction to repeat her simple supplication over and over again. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile a miserable blind dwarf had seated himself by her side; near him + stood the old dog that guided him. He held him by a string and had been + allowed to bring his indispensable comrade into the church. The old man + joined loudly and devoutly in the psalm which the rest of the congregation + were singing; his voice had lost its freshness, no doubt, but he sang in + perfect tune. It was a pleasure to Dada to listen, and though she only + half understood the words of the psalm she easily caught the air and began + to sing too, at first timidly and hardly audibly; but she soon gained + courage and, following the example of little Papias, joined in with all + her might. + </p> + <p> + She felt as though she had reached land after a stormy and uncomfortable + voyage, and had found refuge in a hospitable home; she looked about her to + discover whether the news of the approaching destruction of the world had + not penetrated even here, but she could not feel certain; for, though many + faces expressed anguish of mind, contrition, and a passionate desire—perhaps + for help or, perhaps, for something quite different—not a cry of + lamentation was to be heard, such as had rent the air by the temple of + Isis, and most of the men and women assembled here were singing, or + praying in silent absorption. There were none of the frenzied monks who + had terrified her in the Xenodochium and in the streets; on this day of + tumult and anxiety they are devoting all their small strength and great + enthusiasm to the service of the Church militant. + </p> + <p> + This meeting, at so unusual an hour, had been convened by Eusebius, the + deacon of the district, with the intention of calming the spirits of those + who had caught the general infection of alarm. Dada could see the old man + step up into a raised pulpit on the inner side of the screen which parted + the baptized from the unbaptized members of the congregation; his silvery + hair and beard, and the cheerful calm of his face, with the high white + forehead and gentle, loving gaze, attracted her greatly. She had heard + Karnis speak of Plato, and knew by heart some axioms of his doctrine, and + she had always thought of the sage as a young man; but in advanced age, + she fancied, he might have looked like Eusebius. Aye, and it would have + well beseemed this old man to die, like the great Athenian, at a mirthful + wedding-feast. + </p> + <p> + The priest was evidently about to give a discourse, and much as she + admired him, this idea prompted her to quit the church; for, though she + could sit still for hours to hear music, she found nothing more irksome + than to be compelled to listen for any length of time to a speech she + might not interrupt. She was therefore rising to leave; but Papias held + her back and entreated her so pathetically with his blue baby-eyes not to + take him away and spoil his pleasure that she yielded, though the + opportunity was favorable for moving unobserved, as the woman in front of + her was preparing to go and was shaking hands with her neighbor. She had + indeed risen from her seat when a little girl came in behind her and + whispered, loud enough for Dada’s keen ears to catch the words: “Come + mother, come home at once. He has opened his eyes and called for you. The + physician says all danger is over.” + </p> + <p> + The mother in her turn whispered to her friend in glad haste: “All is + well!” and hurried away with the girl. The friend she had left raised her + hands and eyes in thanksgiving, and Dada, too, smiled in sympathy and + pleasure. Had the God of the Christian heard her prayer with theirs. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the preacher had ended his preliminary prayer and began to + explain to his hearers that he had bidden them to the church in order to + warn them against foolish terrors, and to lead them into the frame of mind + in which the true Christian ought to live in these momentous times of + disturbance. He wished to point out to his brethren and sisters in the + Lord what was to be feared from the idols and their overthrow, what the + world really owed to the heathen, and what he expected from his + fellow-believers when the splendid and imminent triumph of the Church + should be achieved. + </p> + <p> + “Let us look back a little, my beloved,” he said, after this brief + introduction. “You have all heard of the great Alexander, to whom this + noble city owes its existence and its name. He was a mighty instrument in + the hand of the Lord, for he carried the tongue and the wisdom of the + Greeks throughout all lands, so that, in the fulness of time, the doctrine + which should proceed from the only Son of God might be understood by all + nations and go home to all hearts. In those days every people had its own + idols by hundreds, and in every tongue on earth men put up their prayers + to the supreme Power which makes itself felt wherever mortal creatures + dwell. Here, by the Nile, after Alexander’s death, reigned the Ptolemies; + and the Egyptian citizens of Alexandria prayed to other gods than their + Greek neighbors, so that they could never unite in worshipping their + divinities; but Philadelphus, the second Ptolemy, a very wise man, gave + them a god in common. In consequence of a vision seen in a dream he had + the divinity brought from Sinope, on the shores of Pontus, to this town. + This idol was Serapis, and he was raised to the throne of divinity here, + not by Heaven, but by a shrewd and prudent man; a grand temple was built + for him, which is to this day one of the wonders of the world, and a + statue of him was made, as beautiful as any image ever formed by the hand + of man. You have seen and know them both, and you know too, how, before + the gospel was preached in Alexandria, crowds of all classes, excepting + the Jews, thronged the Serapeum. + </p> + <p> + “A dim perception of the sublime teaching of the Lord by whom God has + redeemed the world had dawned, even before His appearance on earth, on the + spirit of the best of the heathen, and in the hearts of those wise men who—though + not born into the state of grace—sought and strove after the truth, + after inward purity, and an apprehension of the Almighty. The Lord chose + them out to prepare the hearts of mankind for the good tidings, and make + them fit to receive the gospel when the Star should rise over Bethlehem. + </p> + <p> + “Many of these sages had infused precious doctrine into the worship of + Serapis before the hour of true redemption had come. They enjoined the + servants of Serapis to be more zealous in the care of the soul than in + that of the body, for they had detected the imperishable nature of the + spiritual and divine part of man; they saw that we are brought into + existence by sin and love, and we must therefore die to our sinful love + and rise again through the might of love eternal. These Hellenes, like the + Egyptian sages of the times of the Pharaohs, divined and declared that the + soul was held responsible after death for all it had done of good or evil + in its mortal body. They distinguished virtue and sin by the eternal law, + which was written in the hearts even of the heathen, to the end that they, + by nature, might do the works of the law; nay, there were some of their + loftiest spirits who, though they knew not the Lord, it is true, required + the repentance in the sinner, in the name of Serapis, and pronounced that + it was good to give up the delusive joys and vain pleasures of the flesh + and to break away from the evil—whether of body or of soul—which + we are led into by the senses. They called upon their disciples to hold + meetings for meditation whereby they might discern truth and the divinity; + and the vast precincts of the Serapeum contained cells and alcoves for + penitents and devotees, in which many a soul touched by grace, dead to the + world and absorbed in the contemplation of such things as they esteemed + high and heavenly, has ripened to old age and death. + </p> + <p> + “But, my beloved, the Light in which we rejoice, through no merits or + deserts of our own, had not yet been shed on the lost children of those + days of darkness; and all those noble, and indeed most admirable efforts + were polluted by an admixture, even here, of coarse superstition, bloody + sacrifices, and foolish adoration of perishable stone idols and beasts + without understanding; and in other places by the false and delusive arts + of Magians and sorcerers. Even the dim apprehension of true salvation was + darkened and distorted by the subtleties of a vain and inconsistent + philosophy, which held a theory as immutably true one day and overthrew or + denied it the next. Thus, by degrees, the temple of the idol of Sinope + degenerated into a stronghold of deceit and bloodshed, of the basest + superstition, the pleasures of the flesh, and abominations that cried to + Heaven. Learning, to be sure, was still cherished in the halls of the + Serapeum; but its disciples turned with hardened hearts from the truth + which was sent into the world by the grace of God, and they remained the + prophets of error. The doctrines which the sages had associated with the + idea of Serapis, debased and degraded by the most contemptible + trivialities; lost all their worth and dignity; and after the great + Apostle to whom this basilica is dedicated, had brought the gospel to + Alexandria, the idol’s throne began to totter, and the tidings of + salvation shook its foundations and brought it to the verge of destruction + in spite of the persecutions, in spite of the edicts of the apostate + Julian, in spite of the desperate efforts of the philosophers, sophists, + and heathen—for our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, has given + certainty and actuality to the fleeting shadow of half-divined truth which + lies in the core of the worship of Serapis. The pure and radiant star of + Christian love has risen in the place of the dim nebulous mist of Serapis; + and just as the moon pales when the sun appears triumphant, the worship of + Serapis has died away in a thousand places where the gospel has been + received. Even here, in Alexandria, its feeble flame is kept alive only by + infinite care, and if the might of our pious and Christian Emperor makes + itself felt-tomorrow, or next day—then, my beloved, it will vanish + in smoke, and no power on earth can fan it into life again. Not our + grandsons, no, but our own children will ask: Who—what was Serapis? + For he who shall be overthrown is no longer a mighty god but an idol + bereft of his splendor and his dignity. This is no struggle of might + against might; it is the death-stroke given to a wounded and vanquished + foe. The tree is rotten to the core and can crush no one in its fall, but + it will cover all who stand near it with dust and rubbish. The sovereign + has outlived his dominion, and when his fingers drop the sceptre few + indeed will bewail him, for the new King has already mounted the throne + and His is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever! Amen.” + </p> + <p> + Dada had listened to the deacon’s address with no particular interest, but + the conclusion struck her attention. The old man looked dignified and + honest; but Father Karnis was a well-meaning man, no doubt, and one of + those who are wont to keep on the winning side. How was it that the + preacher could draw so pitiable a picture of the very same god whose + greatness her uncle had praised in such glowing terms only two days since? + How could the same thing appear so totally different to two different + people? + </p> + <p> + The priest looked more sagacious than the musician; Marcus, the young + Christian, had a most kind heart; there was not a better or gentler + creature under the sun than Agne—it was quite possible that + Christianity was something very different in reality from what her foster + parents chose to represent. As to the frightful consequences of the + overthrow of the temple of Serapis, on that point she was completely + reassured, and she prepared to listen with greater attention as Eusebius + went on: + </p> + <p> + “Let us rejoice, beloved! The great idol’s days are numbered! Do you know + what that false worship has been in our midst? It has been like a splendid + and richly-dressed trireme sailing, plague-stricken, into a harbor full of + ships and boats. Woe to those who allow themselves to be tempted on board + by the magnificence of its decorations! How great is their chance of + infection, how easily they will carry it from ship to ship, and from the + ships on to the shore, till the pestilence has spread from the harbor to + the city! Let us then be thankful to those who destroy the gorgeous + vessel, who drive it from amongst us, or sink or burn it. May our Father + in Heaven give courage to their hearts, strength to their hands and + blessing on their deeds! When we hear: ‘Great Serapis has fallen to the + earth and is no more, we and the world are free from him!’ then, in this + city, and wherever Christians dwell and worship, let a solemn festival be + held. + </p> + <p> + “But still let us be just, still let us bear in mind all the great and + good gifts that the trireme brought to our parents when it rode the waves + manned by a healthy crew. If we do, it will be with sincere pity that we + shall watch the proud vessel sink to the bottom, and we shall understand + the grief of those whom once it bore over ebb and flow, and who believe + they owe every thing to it. We shall rejoice doubly, too, to think that we + ourselves have a safe bark with stout planks and strong masts, and a + trustworthy pilot at the helm; and that we may confidently invite others + to join us on board as soon as they have purified themselves of the plague + with which they have been smitten. + </p> + <p> + “I think you will all have understood this parable. When Serapis falls + there will be lamentation and woe among the heathen; but we, who are true + Christians, ought not to pass them by, but must strive to heal and save + the wounded and sick at heart. When Serapis falls you must be the + physicians—healers of souls, as the Lord hath said; and if we desire + to heal, our first task must be to discover in what the sufferings consist + of those we wish to succor, for our choice of medicine must depend on the + nature of the injury. + </p> + <p> + “What I mean is this: None can give comfort but those who know how to + sympathize with the soul that craves it, who feel the sorrows of others as + keenly as though they were their own. And this gift, my brethren, is, next + to faith, the Christian grace which of all others best pleases our + Heavenly Master. + </p> + <p> + “I see it in my mind’s eye! The ruined edifice of the Serapeum, the + masterpiece of Bryaxis laid in fragments in the dust, and thousands of + wailing heathen! As the Jews wept and hung their harps on the trees by the + waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion, so do I see the heathen weep + as they think of the perished splendor. They themselves, indeed, ruined + and desecrated the glory they bewail; and when something higher and purer + took its place they hardened their hearts, and, instead of leaving the + dead to bury their dead and throwing themselves hopefully into the new + life, they refused to be parted from the putrefying corpse. They were + fools, but their folly was fidelity; and if we can win them over to our + holy faith they will be faithful unto death, as they have been to their + old gods, clinging to Jesus and earning the crown of life. ‘There will be + more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and + nine that need no repentance,’—that you have heard; and whichever + among you loves the Saviour can procure him a great joy if he guides only + one of these weeping heathen into the Kingdom of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + “But perhaps you will ask: Is not the sorrow of the heathen a vain thing? + What is it after all that they bewail? To understand that, try to picture + to yourselves what it is that they think they are losing. Verily it is not + a small matter, and it includes many things for which we and all mankind + owe them a debt of gratitude. We call ourselves Christians and are proud + of the name; but we also call ourselves Hellenes, and are proud of that + name too. It was under the protection of the old gods, whose fall is about + to be consummated, that the Greeks achieved marvellous deeds, nurturing + the gifts of the intellect which the Almighty bestowed on their race, like + faithful gardeners, and making them bring forth marvellous fruit. In the + realm of thought the Greek is sovereign of the nations, and he has given + to perishable matter a perfection of form which has elevated and vivified + it to immortality. Nothing more beautiful has ever been imagined or + executed, before or since, or by any other people, than was produced by + Greece in its prime. But perhaps you will ask, why did not the Redeemer + come down among our fathers in those glorious days? Because beauty, as + they conceived and still conceive of it, is a mere perishable accident of + matter, and because a race which thus devoted every thought and feeling to + an inspired and fervent worship of beauty—which was so absorbed in + the contemplation of the visible, could have no longing for the invisible + which is the real life that came down among us with the only-begotten Son + of God. Nevertheless Beauty is beautiful; and when the time shall come + when the visible is married to the invisible, when eternal Truth is + clothed in perfect form, then, and not till then, will the ideal which our + fathers strove after in the great old days be realized, by the grace of + the Saviour. + </p> + <p> + “But this visible beauty, which they so passionately cherished, does us + good service too, so long as we do not allow it to dazzle us and lead us + astray from the one thing needful. To whom, if not to the heathen + Hellenes, do our great teachers owe, under God, the noble art of + coordinating their loftiest feelings, and casting them in forms which are + intelligible to the Christian and at once instruct, delight, and edify + him? It was in a heathen school that each one of your pastors—that + even I, the humblest of them—studied that rhetoric which enables me + to utter with a flowing tongue the things which the Spirit gives me to + speak to you; and if some day there are Christian schools, in which our + sons may acquire the same power, they must adopt many of the laws devised + by the heathen. If in the future we are rich enough to raise churches to + the Almighty, to the Virgin Mary and the great Saints, in any way worthy + of their sublime merits, we shall owe our skill to the famous architects + of heathen Hellas. We are indebted to the arts of the heathen for a + thousand things in daily use, beside numberless others that lend charm to + existence. Yes, my beloved, when we consider all they did for us we cannot + in justice withhold our tribute of gratitude and admiration. + </p> + <p> + “Nor can we doubt that the best of them were acceptable to the Almighty + himself, for he granted to them to see darkly and from afar what he has + brought nigh to us, and poured into our hearts by divine revelation. You + all know the name of Plato. He, from whom Salvation was hidden, saw + remotely, by presentiment as it were, many things which to us, the + Redeemed, are clear and plain and near. He perceived the relation of + earthly beauty and heavenly truth. The great gift of Love binds and + supports us all and Plato gave the name of the divine Eros, that is divine + love, to an inspired devotion to the Imperishable. He placed goodness—the + Good—at the top of the great scale of Ideas which he constructed. + The Good was, to him, the highest Idea and the uttermost of which we can + conceive:—Good, whose properties he made manifest by every means his + lofty and lucid mind could command. This heathen, my brethren and sisters, + was well worthy of the grace bestowed on us. Do justice then to the + blinded souls, justice in Plato’s sense of the word; he calls the virtue + of reason Wisdom; the virtue of spirit Courage, and the virtue of the + senses Temperance. Well, well! ‘Prove all things and hold fast that which + is good.’ That is to say: consider what may be worth anything in the works + of the heathen that it may be duly preserved; but, on the other hand, + tread all that is idolatry in the dust, all that brings the unclean thing + among us, all that imperils our souls and bodies, or anything that is high + and pure in life; but do not forget, my beloved, all that the heathen have + done for us. Be temperate in all things; avoid excess of zeal; for thus, + and thus only, can we be just. ‘It is not to hate, but to love each other + that we are here.’ It was not a Christian but Sophocles, one of the + greatest of the heathen, who uttered those words, and he speaks them still + to us!” + </p> + <p> + Eusebius paused and drew a deep breath. + </p> + <p> + Dada had listened eagerly, for it pleased her to hear all that she had + been wont to prize spoken of here with due appreciation. But since + Eusebius had begun to discourse about Plato she had been disturbed by two + men sitting just in front of her. One was tall and lean, with a long + narrow head, and the other a shorter and more comfortable-looking + personage. The first fidgeted incessantly, nudging and twitching his + companion, and looking now and then as if he were ready to start up and + interrupt the preacher. This behavior evidently annoyed his neighbors who + kept signing to him to be quiet and hushing him down, while he took no + notice of their demonstrations but kept clearing his throat with obtrusive + emphasis and at last scraped and shuffled his feet on the floor, though + not very noisily. But Eusebius began again: + </p> + <p> + “And now, my brethren, how ought we to demean ourselves in these fateful + times of disturbance? As Christians; only—or rather, by God’s aiding + grace as Christians in the true sense of our Lord and Master, according to + the precepts given by Him through the Apostles. Their words shall be mine. + They say there are two paths—the path of Life and the path of Death, + and there is a great difference between them. The path of Life is this: + First, Thou shalt love God who hath created thee; next thou shalt love thy + neighbor as thyself, and whatsoever thou wouldst men should do unto thee + even so do unto them; but what thou wouldst not have done unto thee do + thou not to them. And the sum of the doctrine contained in these words is + this: Bless those that curse you, pray for your enemies and repent for + those who persecute you, for ‘if ye love them that love you what thank + have ye? Do not even the heathen the same?’ Love those that hate you and + you will have no enemies. + </p> + <p> + “Take this teaching of the holy Apostles to heart this day. Beware of + mocking or persecuting those who have been your enemies. Even the nobler + heathen regarded it as an act of grace to respect the conquered foe, and + to you, as Christians, it should be a law. It is not so hard to forgive an + enemy when we regard him as a possible friend in the future; and the + Christian can go so far as to love him when he remembers that every man is + his brother and neighbor, and equally precious in the sight of the Saviour + who is dearer to us than life. + </p> + <p> + “The heathen, the idolater, is the Christian’s archfoe; but soon he will + be in fetters at our feet. And, then, my brethren, pray for him; for if + the Almighty, who is without spot or stain and perfect beyond words, can + forgive the sinner, ye who are base and guilty may surely forgive. + ‘Fishers of souls’ we all should be; try to fulfil the injunction. Draw + the enemy to you by kindness and love; show him by your example the beauty + of the Christian life; let him perceive the benefits of Salvation; lead + those whose gods and temples we have overthrown, into our churches; and + when, after triumphing over those blind souls by the sword, we have also + conquered them by love, faith and prayer—when they can rejoice with + us in the Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ—then shall we all be + as one fold under one shepherd, and peace and joy shall reign in the city + which is now torn by dissension and strife.” + </p> + <p> + At this point the preacher was interrupted, for a loud uproar broke out in + the Narthex—[The vestibule of the early Christian basilica which was + open to penitents.]—shouts and cries of men fighting, mingled with + the dull roar of a bull. + </p> + <p> + The congregation started to their feet in extreme consternation, and the + door was flung open and a host of heathen youths rushed into the nave, + followed by an overwhelming force of Christians from whom they had sought + refuge in the sanctuary. Here they turned at bay to make a last desperate + resistance. Garlands, stripped of their leaves and flowers, still crowned + their heads and hung over their shoulders. They had been attacked close to + the church, by a party of monks when in the act of driving a + gaily-decorated steer to the temple of Apollo, in defiance of the Imperial + edict; and the beast, terrified by the tumult, had rushed into the narthex + for shelter. + </p> + <p> + The fight in the church was a short one; the idolaters were soon + vanquished; but Eusebius threw himself between them and the monks, and + tried to save the victims from the revengeful fury of the conquerors. The + women had all made for the door, but they did not venture out into the + vestibule, for the young bull was still raging there, trampling or tossing + everything that came in his way. At last, however, a soldier of the + city-watch dealt him a sword-thrust in the neck, and he fell rolling in + his own blood. At once the congregation forced their way out, shrieking + with alarm and excitement, Dada among the number, dragging the child with + her. Papias pulled with all his might to keep her back, declaring with + vehement insistence that he had seen Agne in the church and wanted to go + back to her. Dada, however, neither heard nor heeded; frightened out of + her wits she went on with the crowd, taking him with her. + </p> + <p> + She never paused till she reached the house of Medius, quite out of + breath; but then, as the little boy still asserted that he had seen his + sister in the sanctuary, she turned back with him, as soon as the throng + had dispersed. In the church there was no one to hinder them; but they got + no further than the dividing screen, for on the floor beyond lay the + mutilated and bleeding bodies of many a youth who had fallen in the + contest. + </p> + <p> + How she made her way back to the house of Medius once more she never knew. + For the first time she had been brought face to face with life in hideous + earnest, and when the singer went to look for her in her room, at dusk, he + was startled to find her bright face clouded and her eyes dim with tears. + How bitterly she had been weeping Medius indeed could not know; he + ascribed her altered appearance to fear of the approaching cataclysm and + was happy to be able to tell her, in all good faith, that the danger was + as good as over. Posidonius, the Magian, had been to see him, and had + completely reassured him. This man, whose accomplice he had been again and + again in producing false apparitions of spirits and demons, had once + gained an extraordinary influence over him by casting some mysterious + spell upon him and reducing his will to abject subjection to his own; and + this magician, who had recovered his own self-possession, had assured him, + with an inimitable air of infallibility, that the fall of the Temple of + Serapis would involve no greater catastrophe than that of any old worn-out + statue. Since this announcement Medius had laughed at his own alarms; he + had recovered his “strong-mindedness,” and when Posidonius had given him + three tickets for the Hippodrome he had jumped at the offer. + </p> + <p> + The races were to be run next day, in spite of the general panic that had + fallen on the citizens; and Dada, when he invited her to join him and his + daughter in-the enjoyment of so great a treat, dried her eyes and accepted + gleefully. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. + </h2> + <p> + Alarming as was the outlook in Alexandria, the races, were to be held as + usual. This had been decided only a few hours since at the Bishop’s + palace, and criers had been sent abroad throughout the streets and squares + of the city to bid the inhabitants to this popular entertainment. In the + writing-office of the Ephemeris, which would be given to the public the + first thing in the morning, five hundred slaves or more were occupied in + writing from dictation a list of the owners of the horses, of the + ‘agitatores’ who would drive them, and of the prizes offered to the + winners, whether Christians or heathen. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Ephemeris—The news-sheet, which was brought out, not only in Rome, + but in all the cities of the Empire, and which kept the citizens + informed of all important events.] +</pre> + <p> + The heat in the Episcopal council-hall had been oppressive, and not less + so the heat of temper among the priests assembled there; for they had + fully determined, for once, not to obey their prelate with blind + submission, and they knew full well that Theophilus, on occasion, if his + will were opposed, could not merely thunder but wield the bolt. + </p> + <p> + Besides the ecclesiastical members of the council, Cynegius, the Imperial + legate—Evagrius, the Prefect—and Romanus, the + commander-in-chief and Comes of Egypt,—had all been present. The + officials of the Empire—Roman statesmen who knew Alexandria and her + citizens well, and who had often smarted under the spiritual haughtiness + of her Bishop—were on the prelate’s side. Cynegius was doubtful; but + the priests, who had not altogether escaped the alarms that had stricken + the whole population, were so bold as to declare against a too hasty + decision, and to say that the celebration of the games at a time of such + desperate peril was not only presumptuous but sinful, and a tempting of + God. + </p> + <p> + In answer to a scornful enquiry from Theophilus as to where the danger lay + if—as the Comes promised—Serapis were to be overthrown on the + morrow, one of the assembly answered in the name of his colleagues. This + man, now very old, had formerly been a wonderfully successful exorcist, + and, notwithstanding that he was a faithful Christian, he was the leader + of a gnostic sect and a diligent student of magic. He proceeded to argue, + with all the zeal and vehemence of conviction, that Serapis was the most + terrible of all the heathen daemons, and that all the oracles of + antiquity, all the prophecies of the seers, and all the conclusions of the + Magians and astrologers would be proved false if his fall—which the + present assembly could only regard as a great boon from Heaven—did + not entail some tremendous convulsion of nature. + </p> + <p> + At this Theophilus gave the reins to his wrath; he snatched a little + crucifix from the wall above his episcopal throne, and broke it in + fragments, exclaiming in deep tones that quavered with wrath: + </p> + <p> + “And which do you regard as the greater: The only-begotten Son of God, or + that helpless image?” And he flung the pieces of the broken crucifix down + on the table round which they were sitting. Then, as though + horror-stricken at his own daring act, he fell on his knees, raised his + eyes and hands in prayer, and gathering up the broken image, kissed it + devoutly. + </p> + <p> + This rapid scene had a tremendous effect. Amazement and suspense were + painted on every face, not a hand, not a lip moved as Theophilus rose + again and cast a glance of proud and stern defiance round the assembly, + which each man took to himself. For some moments he remained silent, as + though awaiting a reply; but his repellent mien and majestic bearing made + it sufficiently clear that he was ready to annihilate any opponent. In + fact none of the priests contradicted him; and, though Evagrius looked at + him with a doubting shake of his shrewd head, Cynegius on the other hand + nodded assent. The Bishop, however, seemed to care for neither dissent nor + approval, and it was in brief and cutting terms, with no flourish of + rhetoric, that he laid it down that wood and stone had nothing to do with + the divine Majesty, even though they were made in the image of all that + was Holy and worshipful or were most lavishly beautified by the hand of + man with the foul splendors of perishable wealth. The greater the power + ascribed by superstition to the base material—whatever form it bore—the + more odious must it be to the Christian. Any man who should believe that a + daemon could turn even a breath of the Most High to its own will and + purpose, would do well to beware of idolatry, for Satan had already laid + his clutches somewhere on his robe. + </p> + <p> + At this sweeping accusation many a cheek colored wrathfully, and not a + word was spoken when the Bishop proceeded to require of his hearers that, + if the Serapeum should fall into the hands of the Imperial troops, it + should be at once and ruthlessly destroyed, and that his hearers should + not cease from the work of ruin till this scandal of the city should be + swept from the face of the earth. + </p> + <p> + “If then the world crumbles to atoms!” he cried, “well and good—the + heathen are right and we are wrong, and in that case it were better to + perish; but as surely as I sit on this throne by the grace of God, Serapis + is the vain imagining of fools and blind, and there is no god but the God + whose minister I am!” + </p> + <p> + “Whose Kingdom is everlasting, Amen!” chanted an old priest; and Cynegius + rose to explain that he should do nothing to hinder the total overthrow of + the temple and image. + </p> + <p> + Then the Comes spoke in defence of the Bishop’s resolution to allow the + races to be held, as usual, on the morrow. He sketched a striking picture + of the shallow, unstable nature of the Alexandrians, a people wholly given + over to enjoyment. The troops at his command were few in number in + comparison with the heathen population of the city, and it was a very + important matter to keep a large proportion of the worshippers of Serapis + occupied elsewhere at the moment of the decisive onset. Gladiator-fights + were prohibited, and the people were tired of wild beasts; but races, in + which heathen and Christian alike might enter their horses for + competition, must certainly prove most attractive just at this time of + bitter rivalry and oppugnancy between the two religions, and would draw + thousands of the most able-bodied idolaters to the Hippodrome. All this he + had already considered and discussed with the Bishop and Cynegius; nay, + that zealous destroyer of heathen worship had come to Alexandria with the + express purpose of overthrowing the Serapeum; but, as a prudent statesman, + he had first made sure that the time and circumstances were propitious for + the work of annihilation. All that he had here seen and heard had only + strengthened his purpose; so, after suggesting a few possible + difficulties, and enjoining moderation and mercy as the guiding principles + of his sovereign, he commanded, in the Emperor’s name, that the sanctuary + of Serapis should be seized by force of arms and utterly destroyed, and + that the races should be held on the morrow. + </p> + <p> + The assembled council bowed low; and when Theophilus had closed the + meeting with a prayer he withdrew to his ungarnished study, with his head + bent and an air of profound humility, as though he had met with a defeat + instead of gaining a victory. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ....................... +</pre> + <p> + The fate of the great god of the heathen was sealed, but in the wide + precincts of the Serapeum no one thought of surrender or of prompt defeat. + The basement of the building, on which stood the grandest temple ever + erected by the Hellenes, presented a smooth and slightly scarped rampart + of impregnable strength to the foe. A sloping way extended up over a + handsomely-decorated incline, and from the middle of the grand curve + described by this road, two flights of steps led up to the three great + doors in the facade of the building. + </p> + <p> + The heathen had taken care to barricade this approach in all haste, piling + the road and steps with statuary-images of the gods of the finest + workmanship, figures and busts of kings, queens, and heroes, Hermes, + columns, stelae, sacrificial stones, chairs and benches-torn from their + places by a thousand eager hands. The squared flags of the pavement and + the granite blocks of the steps had been built up into walls and these + were still being added to after the besiegers had surrounded the temple; + for the defenders tore down stones, pilasters, gutters and pieces of the + cornice, and flung them on to the outworks, or, when they could, on to the + foe who for the present were not eager to commence hostilities. + </p> + <p> + The captains of the Imperial force had miscalculated the strength of the + heathen garrison. They supposed a few hundreds might have entrenched + themselves, but on the roof alone above a thousand men were to be seen, + and every hour seemed to increase the number of men and women crowding + into the Serapeum. The Romans could only suppose that this constantly + growing multitude had been concealed in the secret halls and chambers of + the temple ever since Cynegius had first arrived, and had no idea that + they were still being constantly reinforced. + </p> + <p> + Karnis, Herse, and Orpheus, among others, had made their way thither from + the timber-yard, down the dry conduit, and an almost incessant stream of + the adherents of the old gods had preceded and followed them. + </p> + <p> + While Eusebius had been exhorting his congregation in the church of St. + Mark to Christian love towards the idolaters, these had collected in the + temple precincts to the number of about four thousand, all eager for the + struggle. A vast multitude! But the extent of the Serapeum was so enormous + that the mass of people was by no means densely packed on the roof, in the + halls, and in the underground passages and rooms. There was no crowding + anywhere, least of all in the central halls of the temple itself; indeed, + in the great vestibule crowned with a dome which formed the entrance, in + the vast hall next to it, and in the magnificent hypostyle with a + semicircular niche on the furthest side in which stood the far-famed image + of the god, there were only scattered groups of men, who looked like + dwarfs as the eye compared them with the endless rows of huge columns. + </p> + <p> + The full blaze of day penetrated nowhere but into the circular vestibule, + which was lighted by openings in the drum of the cupola that rested on + four gigantic columns. In the inner hall there was only dim twilight; + while the hypostyle was quite dark, but for a singularly contrived shaft + of light which produced a most mysterious effect. + </p> + <p> + The shadows of the great columns in the fore hall, and of the double + colonnade on each side of the hypostyle, lay like bands of crape on the + many-colored pavement; borders, circles, and ellipses of mosaic + diversified the smooth and lucent surface, in which were mirrored the + astrological figures which sparkled in brighter hues on the ceiling, the + trophies of symbols and mythological groups that graced the walls in + tinted high relief, and the statues and Hermes between the columns. A + wreath of lovely forms and colors dazzled the eye with their multiplicity + and profusion, and the heavy atmosphere of incense which filled the halls + was almost suffocating, while the magical and mystical signs and figures + were so many and so new that the enquiring mind, craving for an + explanation and an interpretation of all these incomprehensible mysteries, + hardly dared investigate them in detail. + </p> + <p> + A heavy curtain, that looked as though giants must have woven it on a loom + of superhuman proportions, hung, like a thick cloud shrouding a + mountain-peak, from the very top of the hypostyle, in grand folds over the + niche containing the statue, and down to the floor; and while it hid the + sacred image from the gaze of the worshipper it attracted his attention by + the infinite variety of symbolical patterns and beautiful designs which + were woven in it and embroidered on it. + </p> + <p> + The gold and silver vessels and precious jewels that lay concealed by this + hanging were of more value than many a mighty king’s treasure; and + everything was on so vast a scale that man shuddered to feel his own + littleness, and the mind sought some new standard of measurement by which + to realize such unwonted proportions. The finite here seemed to pass into + the infinite; and as the spectator gazed up, with his head thrown back, at + the capitals of the lofty columns and the remote height of the ceiling, + his sight failed him before he had succeeded in distinguishing or even + perceiving a small portion only of the bewildering confusion of figures + and emblems that were crowded on to the surface. Greek feeling for beauty + had here worked hand in hand with Oriental taste for gorgeous + magnificence, and every detail could bear examination; for there was not a + motive of the architecture, not a work of sculpture, painting, or mosaic, + not a product of the foundry or the loom, which did not bear the stamp of + thorough workmanship and elaborate finish. The ruddy, flecked porphyry, + the red, white, green, or yellow marbles which had been used for the + decorations were all the finest and purest ever wrought upon by Greek + craftsmen. Each of the hundreds of sculptured works which here had found a + home was the masterpiece of some great artist; as the curious visitor + lingered in loving contemplation of the mosaics on the polished floor, or + examined the ornamental mouldings that framed the reliefs, dividing the + walls into panels, he was filled with wonder and delight at the beauty, + the elegance and the inventiveness that had given charm, dignity, and + significance to every detail. + </p> + <p> + Adjoining these great halls devoted especially to the worship of the god, + were hundreds of courts, passages, colonnades and rooms, and others not + less numerous lay underground. There were long rows of rooms containing + above a hundred thousand rolls of books, the famous library of the + Serapeum, with separate apartments for readers and copyists; there were + store-rooms, refectories and assembly-rooms for the high-priests of the + temple, for teachers and disciples; while acrid odors came up from the + laboratories, and the fragrance of cooking from the kitchen and + bake-houses. In the very thickness of the walls of the basement were cells + for penitents and recluses, long since abandoned, and rooms for the + menials and slaves, of whom hundreds were employed in the precincts; under + ground spread the mystical array of halls, grottoes, galleries and + catacombs dedicated to the practice of the Mysteries and the initiation of + neophytes; on the roof stood various observatories—among them one + erected for the study of the heavens by Eratosthenes, where Claudius + Ptolemaeus had watched and worked. Up here astronomers, star-gazers, + horoscopists and Magians spent their nights, while, far below them, in the + temple-courts that were surrounded by store-houses and stables, the blood + of sacrificed beasts was shed and the entrails of the victims were + examined. + </p> + <p> + The house of Serapis was a whole world in little, and centuries had + enriched it with wealth, beauty, and the noblest treasures of art and + learning. Magic and witchcraft hedged it in with a maze of mystical and + symbolical secrets, and philosophy had woven a tissue of speculation round + the person of the god. The sanctuary was indeed the centre of Hellenic + culture in the city of Alexander; what marvel then, that the heathen + should believe that with the overthrow of Serapis and his temple, the + earth, nay the universe itself must sink into the abyss? + </p> + <p> + Anxious spirits and throbbing hearts were those that now sought shelter in + the Serapeum, fully prepared to perish with their god, and yet eager with + enthusiasm to avert his fall if possible. + </p> + <p> + A strange medley indeed of men and women had collected within these sacred + precincts! Grave sages, philosophers, grammarians, mathematicians, + naturalists, and physicians clung to Olympius and obeyed him in silence. + Rhetoricians with shaven faces, Magians and sorcerers, whose long beards + flowed over robes embroidered with strange figures; students, dressed + after the fashion of their forefathers in the palmy days of Athens; men of + every age, who dubbed themselves artists though they were no more than + imitators of the works of a greater epoch, unhappy in that no one at this + period of indifference to beauty called upon them to prove what they could + do, or to put forth their highest powers. Actors, again, from the + neglected theatres, starving histrions, to whom the stage was prohibited + by the Emperor and Bishop, singers and flute-players; hungry priests and + temple-servitors expelled from the closed sanctuaries; lawyers, scribes, + ships’ captains, artisans, though but very few merchants, for Christianity + had ceased to be the creed of the poor, and the wealthy attached + themselves to the faith professed by those in authority. + </p> + <p> + One of the students had contrived to bring a girl with him, and several + others, seeing this, went back into the streets by the secret way and + brought in damsels of no very fair repute, till the crowd of men was + diversified by a considerable sprinkling of wreathed and painted girls, + some of them the outcast maids of various temples, and others priestesses + of higher character, who had remained faithful to the old gods or who + practised magic arts. + </p> + <p> + Among these women one, a tall and dignified matron in mourning robes, was + a conspicuous figure. This was Berenice, the mother of the young heathen + who had been ridden down and wounded in the skirmish near the Prefect’s + house, and whose eyes Eusebius had afterwards closed. She had come to the + Serapeum expressly to avenge her son’s death and then to perish with the + fall of the gods for whom he had sacrificed his young life. But the mad + turmoil that surrounded her was more than she could bear; she stood, hour + after hour, closely veiled and absorbed in her own thoughts, neither + raising her eyes nor uttering a word, at the foot of a bronze statue of + justice dispensing rewards and punishments. + </p> + <p> + Olympius had entrusted the command of the little garrison of armed men to + Memnon, a veteran legate of great experience, who had lost his left arm in + the war against the Goths. The high-priest himself was occupied + alternately in trying to persuade the hastily-collected force to obey + their leader, and in settling quarrels, smoothing difficulties, + suppressing insubordination, and considering plans with reference to + supplies for his adherents, and the offering of a great sacrifice at which + all the worshippers of Serapis were to assist. Karnis kept near his + friend, helping him so far as was possible; Orpheus, with others of the + younger men, had been ordered to the roof, where they were employed—under + the scorching sun, reflected from the copper-plated covering and the + radiating surface of the dome—in loosening blocks of stone from the + balustrade to be hurled down to-morrow on the besieging force. + </p> + <p> + Herse devoted herself to the sick and wounded, for a few who had ventured + forth too boldly to aid in barricading the entrance, had been hurt by + arrows and lances flung by the idle soldiery; and a still greater number + were suffering from sun-stroke in consequence of toiling on the top of the + building. + </p> + <p> + Inside the vast, thick-walled halls it was much cooler than in the streets + even, and the hours glided fast to the besieged heathen. Many of them were + fully occupied, or placed on guard; others were discussing the situation, + and disputing or guessing at what the outcome might, or must be. Numbers, + panic-stricken or absorbed in pious awe, sat huddled on the ground, + praying, muttering magical formulas, or wailing aloud. The Magians and + astrologers had retired with knots of followers into the adjoining + studies, where they were comparing registers, making calculations, reading + signs, devising new formulas and defending them against their opponents. + </p> + <p> + An incessant bustle went on, to and fro between these rooms and the great + library, and the tables were covered with rolls and tablets containing + ancient prophecies, horoscopes and potent exorcisms. Messengers, one after + another, were sent out from thence to command silence in the great halls, + where the assembled youths and girls were kissing, singing, shouting and + dancing to the shrill pipe of flutes and twang of lutes, clapping their + hands, rattling tambourines—in short, enjoying to the utmost the few + hours that might yet be theirs before they must make the fatal leap into + nothingness, or at least into the dim shades of death. + </p> + <p> + The sun was sinking when suddenly the great brazen gong was loudly struck, + and the hard, blatant clatter rent the air of the temple-hall. The mighty + waves of sound reverberated from the walls of the sanctuary like the surge + of a clangorous sea, and sent their metallic vibration ringing through + every room and cell, from the topmost observatory-turret to the deepest + vault beneath, calling all who were within the precincts to assemble. The + holy places filled at once; the throng poured in through the vestibule, + and in a few minutes even the hypostyle, the sanctum of the veiled statue, + was full to overflowing. Without any distinction of rank or sex, and + regardless of all the usual formalities or the degrees of initiation which + each had passed through, the worshippers of Serapis crowded towards the + sacred niche, till a chain, held up by neokores—[Temple-servants]—at + a respectful distance from the mystical spot, checked their advance. + Densely packed and in almost breathless silence, they filled the nave and + the colonnades, watching for what might befall. + </p> + <p> + Presently a dull low chant of men’s voices was heard. This went on for a + few minutes, and then a loud pean in honor of the god rang through the + temple with an accompaniment of flutes, cymbals, lutes and trumpets. + </p> + <p> + Karnis had found a place with his wife and son; all three, holding hands, + joined enthusiastically in the stirring hymn; and, with them, Porphyrius, + who by accident was close to them, swelling the song of the multitude. All + now stood with hands uplifted and eyes fixed in anxious expectancy on the + curtain. The figures and emblems on the hanging were invisible in the + gloom—but now-now there was a stir, as of life, in the ponderous + folds,—they moved—they began to ripple like streams, brooks, + water-falls, recovering motion after long stagnation—the curtain + slowly sank, and at length it fell so suddenly that the eye could scarcely + note the instant. From every lip, as but one voice, rose a cry of + admiration, amazement, and delight, for Serapis stood revealed to his + people. + </p> + <p> + The noble manhood of the god sat with dignity on a golden throne that was + covered with a blaze of jewels; his gracious and solemn face looked down + on the crowd of worshippers. The hair that curled upon his thoughtful + brow, and the kalathos that crowned it were of pure gold At his feet + crouched Cerberus, raising his three fierce heads with glistening ruby + eyes. The body of the god—a model of strength in repose—and + the drapery were of gold and ivory. In its perfect harmony as a whole, and + the exquisite beauty of every detail, this statue bore the stamp of + supreme power and divine majesty. When such a divinity as this should rise + from his throne the earth indeed might quake and the heavens tremble! + Before such a Lord the strongest might gladly bow, for no mortal ever + shone in such radiant beauty. This Sovereign must triumph over every foe, + even over death—the monster that lay writhing in impotent rage at + his feet! + </p> + <p> + Gasping and thrilled with pious awe, enraptured but dumb with reverent + fear, the assembled thousands gazed on the god dimly revealed to them in + the twilight, when suddenly, for a moment of solemn glory, a ray of the + setting sun—a shaft of intense brightness—pierced the + star-spangled apse of the niche and fell on the lips of the god as though + to kiss its Lord and Father. + </p> + <p> + A shout like a thunder-clap-like the roar of breakers on a reef, burst + from the spectators; a shout of triumph so mighty that the statues + quivered, the brazen altars rang, the hangings swayed, the sacred vessels + clattered and the lamps trembled and swung; the echo rolled round the + aisles like a whirlpool at the flood, and was dashed from pillar to column + in a hundred wavelets of sound. The glorious sun still recognized its + lord; Serapis still reigned in undiminished might; he had not yet lost the + power to defend himself, his world and his children! + </p> + <p> + The sun was gone, night fell on the temple and suddenly there was a + swaying movement of the apse above the statue; the stars were shaken by + invisible hands, and colored flames twinkled with dazzling brightness from + a myriad five-rayed perforations. Once more the god was revealed to his + worshippers under a flood of magical glory, and now fully visible in his + unique beauty. Again the great halls rang with the acclamations of the + delirious throng; Olympius stepped forth, arrayed in a flowing robe with + the insignia and decorations of the high-priesthood; standing in front of + the image he poured on the pedestal a libation to the gods out of a golden + cup, and waved a censer of the costliest incense. Then, in burning words, + he exhorted all the followers of Serapis to fight and conquer for their + god, or—if need must—to perish for and with him. He added a + fervent prayer in a loud ringing voice—a cry for help that came from + the bottom of his heart, and went to the souls of his hearers. + </p> + <p> + Then a solemn hymn was chanted as the curtain was raised; and while the + assembled multitude watched it rise in reverent silence, the + temple-servants lighted the lamps that illuminated the sanctuary from + every cornice and pillar. + </p> + <p> + Karnis had left hold of his companions’ hands, for he wanted to wipe away + the tears of devotional excitement that flowed down his withered cheeks; + Orpheus had thrown his arms round his mother, and Porphyrius, who had + joined a group of philosophers and sages, sent a glance of sympathy to the + old musician. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. + </h2> + <p> + By an hour after sunset the sacrifice of a bull in the great court of the + Serapeum was consummated, and the Moscosphragist announced that the god + had graciously accepted it—the examination of the entrails showed + more favorable indications than it had the day before. The flesh of the + slaughtered beast went forthwith to the kitchen; and, if the savor of + roast beef that presently rose up was as grateful to Serapis as to his + worshippers, they might surely reckon on a happy issue from the struggle. + </p> + <p> + The besieged, indeed, were, ere long, in excellent spirits; for Olympius + had taken care to store the cellars of the sanctuary with plenty of good + wine, and the happy auguries drawn from the appearance of the god and the + state of the victim had filled them with fresh confidence. As there was + not sleeping accommodation for nearly all the men, they had to turn night + into day; and as, to most of them, life consisted wholly in the enjoyment + of the moment, and all was delightful that was new or strange, they soon + eat and drank themselves into a valiant frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + Couches, such as they were wont to be on at meals, there were not, so each + man snatched up the first thing he could lay his hands on to serve as a + seat. When cups were lacking the jugs and vessels from the sanctuary were + sent for, and passed from one to another. Many a youth lounged with his + head in some fair one’s lap; many a girl leaned back to back with some old + man; and as flowers were not to be had, messengers were sent to the town + to buy them, with vine-wreaths and other greenery. + </p> + <p> + They were easily procured, and with them came the news that the races were + to be held next morning. + </p> + <p> + This information was regarded by many as being of the first importance; + Nicarchus, the son of the rich Hippocleides, and Zenodotus a weaver of + tapestry—whose quadriga had once proved victorious—hastily + made their way into the town to give the requisite orders in their + stables, and they were closely followed by Hippias, the handsome agitator, + who was the favorite driver in the arena for the horses belonging to + wealthy owners. In the train of these three every lover of horses vanished + from the scene, with a number of Hippias’ friends, and of flower-sellers, + door-keepers, and ticket-holders-in short, of all who expected to derive + special pleasure or profit from the games. Each man reflected that one + could not be missed, and as the god was favorably disposed he might surely + contrive to defend his own temple till after the races were over; they + would then return to conquer or die with the rest. + </p> + <p> + Then some others began to think of wives and children in bed at home, and + they, too, departed; still, by far the larger proportion remained behind—above + three thousand in all, men and women. These at once possessed themselves + of the half-emptied wine-jars left by the deserters; gay music was got up, + and then, wreathed with garlands on their heads and shoulders, and ‘filled + with the god’ they drank, shouted and danced far into the night. The merry + feast soon became a wild orgy; loud cries of Evoe, and tumultuous singing + reached the ears of the Magians, who had once more settled down to + calculations and discussions over their rolls and tablets. + </p> + <p> + The mother of the youth that had been killed still sat huddled at the foot + of the statue of justice, enduring the anguish of listening to these + drunken revels with dull resignation. Every shout of laughter, every burst + of mad mirth from the revellers above cut her to the heart—and yet, + how they would have gladdened her if only one other voice could have + mingled with those hundreds! When Olympius, still in his fullest dress, + and carrying his head loftily as became him, made his way through the + temple at the head of his subordinates, he noticed Berenice—whom he + had known as a proud and happy mother—and begged her to join the + friends whom he had bidden to his own table; but she dreaded any social + contact with men whom she knew, and preferred to remain where she was at + the feet of the goddess. + </p> + <p> + Wherever the high-priest went he was hailed with enthusiasm: “Rejoice,” he + would say to encourage the feasters, cheering them with wise and fervid + exhortations, reminding them of Pharaoh Mycerinus who, having been told by + an oracle that he had only six years to live, determined to prove the + prophecy false, and by carousing through every night made the six years + allotted to him a good dozen. + </p> + <p> + “Imitate him!” cried Olympius as he raised a cup to his lips, “crowd the + joys of a year into the few hours that still are left us, and pour a + libation to the god as I do, out of every cup ere you drink.” + </p> + <p> + His appeal was answered by a rapturous shout; the flutes and cymbals piped + and clanged, metal cups rang sharply as the drinkers pledged each other, + and the girls thumped their tambourines, till the calf-skin droned and the + bells in the frames tinkled shrilly. + </p> + <p> + Olympius thanked them, and bowed on all sides, as he walked from group to + group of his adherents. Seldom, indeed, had his heart beat so high! His + end perhaps was very near, but it should at least be worthy of his life. + </p> + <p> + He knew how the sunbeam had been reflected so as to kiss the statue’s + lips. For centuries had this startling little scene and the sudden + illumination of the niche round the head of the god been worked in + precisely the same way at high festivals—[They are mentioned by + Rufinus.]—these were mere stimulants to the dull souls of the vulgar + who needed to be stirred up by the miraculous power of the god, which the + elect recognized throughout the universe, in the wondrous co-operation of + forces and results in nature, and in the lives of men. He, for his part, + firmly believed in Serapis and his might, and in the prophecies and + calculations which declared that his fall must involve the dissolution of + the organic world and its relapse into chaos. + </p> + <p> + Many winds were battling in the air, each one driving the ship of life + towards the whirlpool. To-day or to-morrow—what matter which? The + threatened cataclysm had no terrors for Olympius. One thing only was a + pang to his vanity: No succeeding generations would preserve the memory of + his heroic struggle and death for the cause of the gods. But all was not + yet lost, and his sunny nature read in the glow of the dying clay the + promise and dawn of a brilliant morrow. If the expected succor should + arrive—if the good cause should triumph here in Alexandria—if + the rising were to be general throughout Greek heathendom, then indeed had + he been rightly named Olympius by his parents—then he would not + change places with any god of Olympus—then the glory of his name, + more lasting than bronze or marble, would shine forth like the sun, so + long as one Greek heart honored the ancient gods and loved its native + land. + </p> + <p> + This night—perhaps its last—should see a grand, a sumptuous + feast; he invited his friends and adherents—the leaders of spiritual + life in Alexandria—to a ‘symposium’, after the manner of the + philosophers and dilettanti of ancient Athens, to be held in the great + concert-hall of the Serapeum. + </p> + <p> + How different was its aspect from that of the Bishop’s council-chamber! + The Christians sat within bare walls, on wooden benches, round a plain + table; the large room in which Olympius received his supporters was + magnificently decorated, and furnished with treasures of art in fine + inlaid work, beaten brass and purple stuffs-a hall for kings to meet in. + Thick cushions, covered with lion and panther-skins, tempted fatigue or + indolence; and when the hero of the hour joined his guests, after his + progress through the precincts, every couch was occupied. To his right lay + Helladius, the famous grammarian and high-priest of Zeus; Porphyrius, the + benefactor of the Serapeum, was on his left; even Karnis had been allotted + a place in his old friend’s social circle, and greatly appreciated the + noble juice of the grape, that was passed round, as well as the eager and + intelligent friction of minds, from which he had long been cut off. + </p> + <p> + Olympius himself was unanimously chosen Symposiarch, and he invited the + company to discuss, in the first instance, the time-honored question: + Which was the highest good? + </p> + <p> + One and all, he said, they were standing on a threshold, as it were; and + as travellers, quitting an old and beloved home to seek a new and unknown + one in a distant land, pause to consider what particular joy that they + have known under the shelter of the old Penates has been the dearest, so + it would beseem them to reflect, at this supreme moment, what had been the + highest good of their life in this world. They were on the eve, perhaps, + of a splendid victory; but, perchance, on the other hand, their foot was + already on the plank that led from the shore of life to Charon’s bark. + </p> + <p> + The subject was a familiar one and a warm discussion was immediately + started. The talk was more flowery and brilliant, no doubt, than in old + Athens, but it led to no deeper views and threw no clearer light on the + well-worn question. The wranglers could only quote what had been said long + since as to the highest Good, and when presently Helladius called upon + them to bring their minds to bear on the nature of humanity, a vehement + disputation arose as to whether man were the best or the worst of created + beings. This led to various utterances as to the mystical connection of + the spiritual and material worlds, and nothing could be more amazing than + the power of imagination which had enabled these mystical thinkers to + people with spirits and daemons every circle of the ladder-like structure + which connected the incomprehensible and self-sufficing One with the + divine manifestation known as Man. It became quite intelligible that many + Alexandrians should fear to fling a stone lest it might hit one of the + good daemons of which the air was full—a spirit of light perhaps, or + a protecting spirit. The more obscure their theories, the more were they + overloaded with image and metaphor; all simplicity of statement was lost, + and yet the disputants prided themselves on the brilliancy of their + language and the wealth of their ideas. They believed that they had + brought the transcendental within the grasp of intelligent sense, and that + their empty speculations had carried them far beyond the narrow limits of + the Ancients. + </p> + <p> + Karnis was in raptures; Porphyrius only wished for Gorgo by his side, for, + like all fathers, he would rather that his child should have enjoyed this + supreme intellectual treat than himself. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ........................ +</pre> + <p> + In Porphyrius’ house, meanwhile, all was gloom and anxiety. In spite of + the terrific heat Damia would not be persuaded to come down from the + turret-room where she had collected all the instruments, manuals and + formulas used by astrologers and Magians. A certain priest of Saturn, who + had a great reputation as a master of such arts, and who, for many years, + had been her assistant whenever she sought to apply her science to any + important event, was in attendance—to give her the astrological + tables, to draw circles, ellipses or triangles at her bidding, to + interpret the mystical sense of numbers or letters, which now and then + escaped her aged memory; he made her calculations or tested those she made + herself, and read out the incantations which she thought efficacious under + the circumstances. Occasionally, too, he suggested some new method or + fresh formula by which she might verify her results. + </p> + <p> + She had fasted, according to rule, the whole forenoon, and was frequently + so far overcome by the heat as to drop asleep in the midst of her studies; + then, when she woke with a start, if her assistant had meanwhile worked + out his calculation to a result contrary to her anticipations, she took + him up sharply and made him begin again from the beginning. Gorge, went up + from time to time; but, though she offered the old woman refreshment + prepared by her own hand, she could not persuade her even to moisten her + lips with a little fruitsyrup, for to break the prescribed fast might + endanger the accuracy of her prognostications and the result of all her + labor. However, when she seemed to doze, her granddaughter sprinkled + strong waters about the room to freshen the air, poured a few drops on the + old lady’s dress, wiped the dews from her brow, and fanned her to cool + her. Damia submitted to all this; and though she had only closed her weary + eyes, she pretended to be asleep in order to have the pleasure of being + cared for by her darling. + </p> + <p> + Towards noon she dismissed the Magian and allowed herself a short interval + of rest and sleep; but as soon as she woke she collected her wits, and set + to work again with fresh zeal and diligence. When, at last, she had + mastered all the signs and omens, she knew for certain that nothing could + avert the awful doom foretold by the oracles of old. + </p> + <p> + The fall of Serapis and the end of the world were at hand. + </p> + <p> + The Magian covered his head as he saw, plainly demonstrated, how she had + reached this conclusion, and he groaned in sincere terror; she, however, + dismissed him with perfect equanimity, handing him her purse, which she + had filled in the morning, and saying: + </p> + <p> + “To last till the end.” + </p> + <p> + The sun was now long past the meridian and the old woman, quite worn out, + threw herself back in her chair and desired Gorgo to let no one disturb + her; nay, not to return herself till she was sent for. As soon as Damia + was alone she gazed at herself in a mirror for some little time, murmuring + the seven vocables incessantly while she did so; and then she fixed her + eyes intently on the sky. These strange proceedings were directed to a + particular end, she was endeavoring to close her senses to the external + world, to become blind, deaf, and impervious to everything material—the + polluting burthen which divided her divine and spiritual part from the + celestia fount whence it was derived; to set her soul free from its + earthly shroud—free to gaze on the god that was its father. She had + already more than once nearly attained to this state by long fasting and + resolute abstraction and once, in a moment she could never forget, had + enjoyed the dizzy ecstasy of feeling herself float, as it were through + infinite space, like a cloud, bathed in glorious radiance. The fatigue + that had been gradually over powering her now seconded her efforts; she + soon felt slight tremor; a cold sweat broke out all over her; she lost all + consciousness of her limbs, and all sense of sighs and hearing; a fresher + and cooler air seemed to revive not her lungs only, but every part of her + body, while undulating rays of red and violet light danced before her + eyes. Was not their strange radiance an emanation from the eternal glory + that she sought? Was not some mysterious power uplifting her, bearing her + towards the highest goal? Was her soul already free from the bondage of + the flesh? Had she indeed become one with God and had her earnest seeking + for the Divinity ended in glorification? No; her arms which she had thrown + up as if to fly, fell by her side it was all in vain. A pain—a + trifling pain in her foot, had brought her down again to the base world of + sense which she so ardently strove to soar away from. + </p> + <p> + Several times she took up the mirror, looked in it fixedly as before, and + then gazed upwards; but each time that she lost consciousness of the + material world and that her liberated soul began to move its unfettered + pinions, some little noise, the twitch of a muscle, a fly settling on her + hand, a drop of perspiration falling from her brow on to her cheek, roused + her senses to reassert themselves. + </p> + <p> + Why—why was it so difficult to shake off this burthen of mortal + clay? She thought of herself as of a sculptor who chisels away all + superfluous material froth his block of marble, to reveal the image of the + god within; but it was easier to remove the enclosing stone than to + release the soul from the body to which it was so closely knit. Still, she + did not give up the struggle to attain the object which others had + achieved before her; but she got no nearer to it—indeed, less and + less near, for, between her and that hoped-for climax, rose up a series of + memories and strange faces which she could not get rid of. The chisel + slipped aside, went wrong or lost its edge before the image could be + extracted from the block. + </p> + <p> + One illusion after another floated before her eyes first it was Gorgo, the + idol of her old heart, lying pale and fair on a sea of surf that rocked + her on its watery waste—up high on the crest of a wave and then deep + down in the abyss that yawned behind it. She, too—so young, a + hardly-opened blossom—must perish in the universal ruin, and be + crushed by the same omnipotent hand that could overthrow the greatest of + the gods; and a glow of passionate hatred snatched her away from the aim + of her hopes. Then the dream changed she saw a scattered flock of ravens + flying in wide circles, at an unattainable height, against the clouds; + suddenly they vanished and she saw, in a grey mist, the monument to + Porphyrius’ wife, Gorgo’s long-departed mother. She had often visited the + mausoleum with tender emotion, but she did not want to see it now—not + now, and she shook it off; but in its place rose up the image of her + daughter-in-law herself, the dweller in that tomb, and no effort of will + or energy availed to banish that face. She saw the dead woman as she had + seen her on the last fateful occasion in her short life. A solemn and + festal procession was passing out through the door of their house, headed + by flute-players and singing-girls; then came a white bull; a garland of + the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate—[This tree was regarded as + the symbol of fertility, on account of its many-seeded fruit.]—hung + round its massive neck, and its horns were gilt. By its side walked + slaves, carrying white baskets full of bread and cakes and heaps of + flowers, and these were followed by others, bearing light-blue cages + containing geese and doves. The bull, the calves, the flowers and the + birds were all to be deposited in the temple of Eileithyia, as a sacrifice + to the protecting goddess of women in child-birth. Close behind the bull + came Gorgo’s mother, dressed with wreaths, walking slowly and timidly, + with shy, downcast eyes-thinking perhaps of the anguish to come, and + putting up a silent prayer. + </p> + <p> + Damia followed with the female friends of the house, the clients and their + wives and some personal attendants, all carrying pomegranates in the right + hand, and holding in the left a long wreath of flowers which thus + connected the whole procession. + </p> + <p> + In this order they reached the ship-yard; but at that spot they were met + by a band of crazy monks from the desert monasteries, who, seeing the + beast for sacrifice, abused them loudly, cursing the heathen. The slaves + indignantly drove them off, but then the starveling anchorites fell upon + the innocent beast which was the chief abomination in their eyes. The bull + tossed his huge head, snuffing and snorting to right and left, stuck out + his tail and rushed away from the boy whose guidance he had till now + meekly followed, flung a monk high in the air with his huge horns, and + then turned in his fury on the women who were behind. + </p> + <p> + They fled like a flock of doves on which a hawk comes swooping down; some + were driven quite into the lake and others up against the paling of the + shipyard, while Damia herself—who was going through it all again in + the midst of her efforts to rise to the divinity—and the young wife + whom she had vainly tried to shelter and support, were both knocked down. + To that hour of terror Gorgo owed her birth, while to her mother it was + death. + </p> + <p> + On the following day Alexandria beheld a funeral ceremony as solemn, as + magnificent, and as crowded as though a conquering hero were being + entombed; it was that of the monk whom the bull had gored; the Bishop had + proclaimed that by this attack on the abomination of desolation—the + blood-sacrifice of idolatry—he had won an eternal crown in Paradise. + </p> + <p> + But now the black ravens crossed Damia’s vision once more, till presently + a handsome young Greek gaily drove them off with his thyrsus. His powerful + and supple limbs shone with oil, applied in the gymnasium of Timagetes, + the scene of his frequent triumphs in all the sports and exercises of the + youthful Greeks. His features and waving hair were those of her son + Apelles; but suddenly his aspect changed: he was an emaciated penitent, + his knees bent under the weight of a heavy cross; his widow, Mary, had + declared him a martyr to the cause of the crucified Jew and defamed his + memory in the eyes of his own son and of all men. Damia clenched her + trembling hands. Again those ravens came swirling round, flapping their + wings wildly over the prostrate penitent. + </p> + <p> + Then her husband appeared to her, calmly indifferent to the birds of + ill-omen. He looked just as she remembered him many—so many years + ago, when he had come in smiling and said: “The best stroke of business I + ever did! For a sprinkling of water I have secured the corn trade with + Thessalonica and Constantinople; that is a hundred gold solidi for each + drop.” + </p> + <p> + Yes, he had made a good bargain. The profits of that day’s work were + multiplied by tens, and water, nothing in the world but Nile water—Baptismal + water the priest had called it—had filled her son’s money-bags, too, + and had turned their plot of land into broad estates; but it had been + tacitly understood that this sprinkling of water established a claim for a + return, and this both father and son had solemnly promised. Its magic + turned everything they touched to gold, but it brought a blight on the + peace of the household. One branch, which had grown up in the traditions + of the old Macedonian stock, had separated from the other; and her + husband’s great lie lay between them and the family still living in the + Canopic way, like a wide ocean embittered with the salt of hatred. That he + had infused poison into his son’s life and compelled him, proud as he was, + to forfeit the dignity of a free and high-minded man. Though devoted in + his heart to the old gods he had humbled himself, year after year, to bow + the knee with the hated votaries of the Christian faith, and in their + church, to their crucified Lord, and had publicly confessed Christ. The + water—the terrible thaumaturgic stream—clung to him more + inseparably than the brand-mark on a slave’s arm. It could neither be + dried up nor wiped away; for if the false Christian, who was really a + zealous heathen, had boldly confessed the Olympian gods and abjured the + odious new faith, the gifts of the all-powerful water and all the + possessions of their old family would be confiscated to the State and + Church, and the children of Porphyrius, the grandchildren of the wealthy + Damia, would be beggars. And this—all this—for the sake of a + crucified Jew. + </p> + <p> + The gods be praised the end of all this wretchedness was at hand! A thrill + of ecstasy ran through her as she reflected that with herself and her + children, every soul, everything that bore the name of Christian would be + crushed, shattered and annihilated. She could have laughed aloud but that + her throat was so dry, her tongue so parched; but her scornful triumph was + expressed in every feature, as her fancy showed her Marcus riding along + the Canopic street with that little heathen hussy Dada, the singing girl, + while her much-hated daughter-in-law looked after them, beating her + forehead in grief and rage. + </p> + <p> + Quite beside herself with delight the old woman rocked backwards and + forwards in her chair; not for long, however, for the black birds seemed + to fill the whole room, describing swift, interminable spirals round her + head. She could not hear them, but she could see them, and the whirling + vortex fascinated her; she could not help turning her head to follow their + flight; she grew giddy and she was forced to try to recover her balance. + </p> + <p> + The old woman sat huddled in her chair, her hands convulsively clutching + the arms, like a horseman whose steed has run away with him round and + round the arena; till at length, worn out by excitement and exhaustion, + she became unconscious, and sank in a heap on the ground, rigid and + apparently lifeless. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. + </h2> + <p> + Gorgo, when she had left her grandmother, could not rest. Her lofty + calmness of demeanor had given way to a restless mood such as she had + always contemned severely in others, since she had ceased to be a vehement + child and grown to be a woman. She tried to beguile the alarm that made + her pulses beat so quickly, and the heart-sickness that ached like a + wound, by music and singing; but this only added to her torment. The means + by which she could usually recover her equanimity of mind had lost their + efficacy, and Sappho’s longing hymn, which she began to sing, had only + served to bring the fervid longing of her own heart to light—to set + it, as it were, in the full glare of the sun. She had become aware that + every fibre, every nerve of her being yearned for the man she loved; she + would have thrown away her life like a hollow nut for one single hour of + perfect joy with him and in him. The faith in the old gods, the heathen + world which contained the ideal of her young soul, her detestation of + Christianity, her beautiful art—everything, in short, that had + filled the spiritual side of her life, was cast into the shade by the one + absorbing passion that possessed her soul. Every feeling, every instinct, + urged her to abandon herself entirely to her lover, and yet she never for + one instant doubted which side she would take in the approaching conflict + of the great powers that ruled the world. The last few hours had only + confirmed her conviction that the end of all things was at hand. The world + was on the eve of destruction; she foresaw that she must perish—perish + with Constantine, and that, in her eyes, was a grace from the gods. + </p> + <p> + While Damia was vainly struggling to liberate her soul from the bondage of + the flesh, Gorgo had been wandering uneasily about the house; now going to + the slaves, encouraging them with brave words, and giving them employment + to keep them from utter desperation, and then stealing up to see whether + her grandmother might not by this time be in need of her. As it grew dark + she observed that several of the women, and even some of the men, had made + their escape. These were such as had already shown a leaning towards the + new faith, and who now made off to join their fellow-Christians, or to + seek refuge in the churches under the protection of the crucified God + whose supreme power might, perhaps, even yet, avert the impending + catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + Twice had Porphyrius sent a messenger to assure his mother and daughter + that all was well with him, that a powerful party was prepared to defend + the Serapeum, and that he should pass the night in the temple. The Romans + were evidently hesitating to attack it, and if, next morning, the heathen + should succeed in repelling the first onset, reinforcements might yet be + brought up in time. Gorgo could not share these hopes; a client of her + father’s had brought in a rumor that the Biamites, after advancing as far + as Naucratis, had been dispersed by a few of the Imperial maniples. Fate + was stalking on its way, and no one could give it pause. + </p> + <p> + The evening brought no coolness, and when it was already quite dark, as + her grandmother had not yet called her, Gorgo could no longer control her + increasing anxiety, so, after knocking in vain at the door of the + observatory, she went in. Her old nurse preceded her with a lamp, and the + two women stood dumb with consternation, for the old lady lay senseless on + the ground. Her head was thrown back against the seat of the chair off + which she had slipped, and her pale face was lifeless and horrible to look + at, with its half-closed eyes and dropped jaw. Wine, water, and strong + essences were all at hand, and they laid the unconscious woman on a couch + intended for the occasional use of the wearied observer. In a few minutes + they had succeeded in reviving the old lady; but her eyes rested without + recognition on the girl who knelt by her side, and she murmured to + herself: “The ravens—where are they gone? Ravens!” + </p> + <p> + Her glance wandered round the room, to the tablets and rolls which had + been tossed off the couch and the table to make room for her, and for the + lamps and medicaments. They lay in disorder on the floor, and the sight of + this confusion produced a favorable excitement and reaction; she succeeded + in expressing herself in husky accents and broken, hardly intelligible + sentences, so far as to scold them sharply for their irreverence for the + precious documents, and for the disorder they had created. The + waiting-woman proceeded to pick them up: but Damia again became + unconscious. Gorgo bathed her brow and tried to pour some wine between her + teeth, but she clenched them too firmly, till the slave-woman came to her + assistance and they succeeded in making Damia swallow a few drops. The old + woman opened her eyes, smacking her tongue feebly; but she took the cup + into her own hand to hold it to her lips; and though she trembled so that + half the contents were spilt, she drank eagerly till it was quite empty. + “More,” she gasped with the eagerness of intense thirst, “more—I + want drink!” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo gave her a second and a third draught which Damia drank with equal + eagerness; then, with a deep breath, she looked up fully conscious, at her + granddaughter. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, child,” she said. “Now I shall do very well for a little + while. The material world and all that belongs to it weighs us down and + clings to us like iron fetters. We may long and strive to be free, but it + pursues us and holds us fast. Only those who are content with their + miserable humanity can enjoy it. They laugh, as you know, at Praxilla, the + poetess, because she makes the dying Adonis lament, when face to face with + death, that he is forced to leave the apples and pears behind him. But is + not that subtly true? Yes, yes; Praxilla is right! We fast, we mortify + ourselves—I have felt it all myself—to partake of divinity. We + almost perish of hunger and thirst, when we might be so happy if only we + would be satisfied with apples and pears! No man has ever yet succeeded in + the great effort; those who would be truly happy must be content with + small things. That is what makes children so happy. Apples and pears! + Well, everything will be at an end for me ere long—even those. But + if the great First Cause spares himself in the universal crash, there is + still the grand idea of Apples and Pears; and who knows but that it may + please Him, when this world is destroyed, to frame another to come after + it. Will He then once more embody the ideas of Man—and Apples and + Pears? It would be plagiarism from himself. Nay, if He is merciful, He + will never again give substance to that hybrid idea called Man; or, if He + does, He will let the poor wretch be happy with apples and pears—I + mean trivial joys; for all higher joys, be they what they may, are vanity + and vexation.... Give me another draught. Ah, that is good! And to-morrow + is the end. I could find it in my heart to regret the good gifts of + Dionysus myself; it is better than apples and pears; next to that comes + the joy that Eros bestows on mortals, and there must be an end to all + that, too. That, however, is above the level of apples and pears. It is + great, very great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow. + Rapture and anguish—who can lay down the border line that divides + them? Smiles and tears alike belong to both. And you are weeping? Aye, aye—poor + child! Come here and kiss me.” Damia drew the head of the kneeling girl + close to her bosom and pressed her lips to Gorge’s brow. Presently, + however, she relaxed her embrace and, looking about the room, she + exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “How you have mixed and upset the book-rolls! If only I could show you how + clearly everything agrees and coincides. We know now exactly how it will + all happen. By the day after to-morrow there will be no more earth, no + more sky; and I will tell you this, child: If, when Serapis falls, the + universe does not crumble to pieces like a ruinous hovel, then the wisdom + of the Magians is a lie, the course of the stars has nothing to do with + the destinies of the earth and its inhabitants, the planets are mere + lamps, the sun is no more than a luminous furnace, the old gods are + marsh-fires, emanations from the dark bog of men’s minds—and the + great Serapis.... But why be angry with him? There is no doubt—no if + nor but.... Give me the diptychon and I will show you our doom. There—just + here—my sight is so dazzled, I cannot make it out.—And if I + could, what matter? Who can alter here below what has been decided above? + Leave me to sleep now, and I will explain it all to you to-morrow if there + is still time. Poor child, when I think how we have tormented you to learn + what you know, and how industrious you have been! And now—to what + end? I ask you, to what end? The great gulf will swallow up one and all.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it, so be it!” cried Gorgo interrupting her. “Then, at any rate, + nothing that I love on earth will be lost to me before I die!” + </p> + <p> + “And the enemy will perish in the same ruin!” continued Damia, her eyes + sparkling with revived fire. “But where shall we go to—where? The + soul is divine by nature and cannot be destroyed. It must return—say, + am I right or wrong?—It will return to its first fount and cause; + for like attracts and absorbs like, and thus our deification, our union + with the god will be accomplished.” + </p> + <p> + “I believe it—I am sure of it!” replied Gorgo with conviction. + </p> + <p> + “You are sure of it?” retorted the old woman. “But I am not. For our + clearest knowledge is but guesswork when it is not based on numbers. + Nothing is proved or provable but by numbers, but they are surer than the + rocks in the sea; that is why I believe in our coming doom, for, on those + tablets, we have calculated it to a certainty. But who can calculate + evidence of the future fate of the soul? If, indeed, the old order should + not pass away—if the depths should remain below and the empyrean + still keep its place above—then, to be sure, your studies would not + be in vain; for then your soul, which is fixed on spiritual, supernatural + and sublime conceptions, would be drawn upwards to the great Intelligence + of which it is the offspring, to the very god, and become one with him—absorbed + into him, as the rain-drop fallen from a cloud rises again and is reunited + to its parent vapor. Then—for there may be a metempsychosis—your + songful spirit might revive to inform a nightingale, then...” + </p> + <p> + Damia paused; and gazed upwards as if in ecstasy, and it was not till a + few minutes later that she went on, with a changed expression in her face: + “Then my son’s widow, Mary, would be hatched out of a serpent’s egg and + would creep a writhing asp.... Great gods! the ravens! What can they mean? + They come again. Air, air! Wine! I cannot—I am choking—take it + away!—To-morrow—to-day.... Everything is going; do you see—do + you feel? It is all black—no, red; and now black again. Everything + is sinking; hold me, save me; the floor is going from under me.—Where + is Porphyrius? Where is my son?—My feet are so cold; rub them. It is + the water! rising—it is up to my knees. I am sinking—help! + save me! help!” The dying woman fought with her arms as if she were + drowning; her cries for help grew fainter, her head drooped on her + laboring chest, and in a few minutes she had breathed her last in her + grandchild’s arms, and her restless, suffering soul was free. + </p> + <p> + Never before had Gorgo seen death. She could not persuade herself that the + heart which had been so cold for others, but had throbbed so warmly and + tenderly for her, was now stilled for ever; that the spirit which, even in + sleep, had never been at rest, had now found eternal peace. The + slave-woman had hastily taken her place, had closed the dead woman’s eyes + and mouth, and done all she could to diminish the horror of the scene, and + the terrible aspect of the dead in the sight of the girl who had been her + one darling. But Gorgo had remained by her side, and, while she did + everything in her power to revive the stiffening body, the overwhelming + might of Death had come home to her with appalling clearness. She felt the + limbs of one she had loved growing cold and rigid under her hands, and her + spirit rose in obstinate rebellion against the idea that annihilation + stood between her and the woman who had so amply filled a mother’s place. + She insisted on having every method of resuscitation tried that had ever + been heard of, and made her nurse send for physicians, though the woman + solemnly assured her that human help was of no avail: then she sent for + the priest of Saturn who—as the dead woman herself had told her—knew + mighty spells which had called back many a departed spirit to the body it + had quitted. + </p> + <p> + When, at last, she was alone and gazed on the hard, set features of the + dead, though she shuddered with horror, she so far controlled herself as + to press her lips in sorrow and gratitude to the thin hand whose caresses + she had been wont to accept as a mere matter of course. How cold and heavy + it was! She shivered and dropped it, and the large rings on the fingers + rattled on the wooden frame of the couch. There was no hope; she + understood that her friend and mother was indeed dead and silent forever. + </p> + <p> + Deep and bitter grief overwhelmed her completely, with the sense of + abandoned loneliness, the humiliating feeling of helplessness against a + brutal power that marches on, scorning humanity, as a warrior treads down + the grass and flowers in his path. She fell on her knees by the corpse, + sobbing passionately, and crying like an indignant child when a stronger + companion has robbed it of some precious possession. She wept with rage at + her own impotence; and her tears flowed faster and faster as she more + fully realized how lonely she was, and what a blow this must be to her + father. In this hour no pleasant reminiscences of past family happiness + came to infuse a drop of sweetness into the bitterness of her grief. Only + one reflection brought her any comfort, and that was the thought that the + grave which had yawned already for her grandmother would soon, very soon, + open for herself and all living souls. On the table, close at hand, lay + the evidence of their impending doom, and a longing for that end gradually + took complete possession of her, excluding every other feeling. Thinking + of this she rose from her knees and ceased to weep. + </p> + <p> + When, presently, her waiting-woman should return, she was resolved to + leave the house at once; she could not bear to stay; her feelings and duty + alike indicated the place where she might find the last hour’s happiness + that she expected or desired of life. Her father must learn from herself, + and not from a stranger, of the loss that had befallen them, and she knew + that he was in the Serapeum—on the very spot where she might hope + next morning to meet Constantine. It would be her lover’s duty to open the + gate to destruction, and she would be there to pass through it at his + side. + </p> + <p> + She waited a long, long time, but at last there was a noise on the stairs. + That was her nurse’s step, but she was not alone. Had she brought the + leech and the exorciser? The door opened and the old steward came in, + carrying a three-branched lamp; then followed the slave-woman, and then—her + heart stood still then came Constantine and his mother. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo, pale and speechless, received her unexpected visitors. The nurse + had failed to find the physician, whose aid would, at any rate, have come + too late; and as the housekeeper had taken herself off with others of the + Christian slaves, the faithful soul had said to herself that “her child” + would want some womanly help and comfort in her trouble, and had gone to + the house of their neighbor Clemens, to entreat his wife to come with her + to see the dead, and visit her forlorn young mistress. Constantine, who + had come home a short time previously, had said nothing, but had + accompanied the two women. + </p> + <p> + While Constantine gazed with no unkindly feelings at the still face of + Damia—to whom, after all, he owed many a little debt of kindness—and + then turned to look at Gorgo who stood downcast, pale, and struggling to + breathe calmly, Dame Marianne tried to proffer a few words of consolation. + She warmly praised everything in the dead woman which was not in her + estimation absolutely reprobate and godless, and brought forward all the + comforting arguments which a pious Christian can command for the + edification and encouragement of those who mourn a beloved friend; but to + Gorgo all this well-meant discourse was as the babble of an unknown + tongue; and it was only when, at length, Marianne went up to her and drew + her to her motherly bosom, to kiss her, and bid her be welcome under + Clelnens’ roof till Porphyrius should be at home again, that she + understood that the good woman meant kindly, and honestly desired to help + and comfort her. + </p> + <p> + But the allusion to her father reminded her of the first duty in her path; + she roused her energies, thanked Marianne warmly, and begged her only to + assist her in carrying the corpse into the thalamos, and then to take + charge of the keys. She herself, she explained, meant at once to seek her + father, since he ought to learn from no one but herself of his mother’s + death. Nor would she listen for a moment to her friend’s pressing + entreaties that she would put off this task, and pass the night, at any + rate, under her roof. + </p> + <p> + Constantine had kept in the background; it was not till Gorgo approached + the dead and gave the order to carry the body down into the house that he + came forward, and with simple feeling offered her his hand. The girl + looked frankly in his face, and, as she put her hand in his, she said in a + low voice: “I was unjust to you, Constantine. I insulted and hurt you; but + I repented sincerely, even before you had left the house. And you owe me + no grudge, I know, for you understood how forlorn I must be and came to + see me. There is no ill-feeling, is there, nothing to come between us?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, nothing!” he eagerly exclaimed, seizing her other hand with + passionate fervor. + </p> + <p> + She felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed in a full tide to her + heart—as if he were some part of her very being, that had been torn + out, snatched from her, and that she must have back again, even if it cost + them both their life and happiness. The impulse was irresistible; she drew + away her hands from his grasp and flung them round his neck, clinging to + him as a weary child clings to its mother. She did not know how it had + come about—how such a thing was possible, but it was done; and + without paying any heed to Marianne, who looked on in dismay while her + son’s lips were pressed to the brow and lips of the lovely idolatress, she + wept upon her lover’s shoulders, feeling a thousand roses blossoming in + her soul and a thousand thorns piercing and tearing her heart. + </p> + <p> + It had to be, that she felt; it was at once their union and their parting. + Their common destiny was but for a moment, and that moment had come and + gone. All that now retrained for them was death—destruction, with + all things living; and she looked forward to this, as a man watches for + the dawn after a sleepless night. Marianne stood aside; she dimly + perceived that something vital was going on, that something inevitable had + happened which would admit of no interference. Gorgo, as she freed herself + from Constantine’s embrace, stood strangely solemn and unapproachable. To + the simple matron she was an inscrutable riddle to which she could find no + clue; but she was pleased, nevertheless, when Gorgo came up to her and + kissed her hand. She could not utter a word, for she felt that whatever + she might say, it would not be the right thing; and it was a real relief + to her to busy herself over the removal of the body, in which she could be + helpful. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo had covered the dead face; and when old Damia had been carried down + to the thalamos and laid in state on the bridal bed, she strewed the couch + with flowers. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, the priest of Saturn had been found, and he declared in all + confidence that no power on earth could have recalled this departed soul. + Damia’s sudden end and the girl’s great grief went to his faithful heart, + and he gladly acceded to Gorgo’s request that he would wait for her by the + garden-gate and escort her to the Serapeum. When he had left them she gave + the keys of her grandmother’s chests and cupboards into Marianne’s + keeping; then she went into the adjoining room, where Constantine had been + waiting while she decked the bed of death, and bid him a solemn, but + apparently calm, farewell. He put out his arm to clasp her to his heart, + but this she would not permit; and when he besought her to go home with + them she answered sadly, “No, my dearest... I must not; I have other + duties to fulfil.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” he replied emphatically, “and I, too—I have mine. But you + have given yourself to me. You are my very own; you belong to me only, and + not to yourself; and I desire, I command you to yield to my first request. + Go with my mother, or stay here, if you will, with the dead. Wherever your + father may be, it is not, cannot be, the right place for you—my + betrothed bride. I can guess where he is. Oh! Gorgo, be warned. + </p> + <p> + “The fate of the old gods is sealed. We are the stronger and to-morrow, + yes to-morrow—by your own head, by all I hold dear and sacred!—Serapis + will fall!” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” she said firmly. “And you are charged to lay hands on the + god?” + </p> + <p> + “I am, and I shall do it.” + </p> + <p> + She nodded approbation and then said submissively and sweetly: “It is your + duty, and you cannot do otherwise. And come what may we are one, + Constantine, forever one. Nothing can part us. Whatever the future may + bring, we belong to each other, to stand or fall together. I with you, you + with me, till the end of time.” She gave him her hand and looked lovingly + into his eyes; then she threw herself into his mother’s arms and kissed + her fondly. + </p> + <p> + “Come, come with me, my child,” said Marianne; but Gorgo freed herself, + exclaiming: “Go, go; if you love me leave me; go and let me be alone.” + </p> + <p> + She went back into the thalamos where the dead lay at peace, and before + the others could follow her she had opened a door hidden behind some + tapestry near the bed, and fled into the garden. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. + </h2> + <p> + The night was hot and gloomy. Heavy clouds gathered in the north, and + wreaths of mist, like a hot vapor-bath, swayed over the crisply-foaming + wavelets that curled the lustreless waters of the Mareotis Lake. The moon + peeped, pale and shrouded, out of a russet halo, and ghostly twilight + reigned in the streets, still heated by the baked walls of the houses. + </p> + <p> + To the west, over the desert, a dull sulphurous yellow streaked the black + clouds, and from time to time the sultry air was rent by a blinding flash + sent across the firmament from the north. There was a hot, sluggish wind + blowing from the southwest, which drove the sand across the lake into the + streets; the fine grit stung: and burnt the face of the wanderer who + hurried on with half-closed eyes and tightly-shut lips. A deep oppression + seemed to have fallen on nature and on man; the sudden gusts of the heated + breeze, the arrow-like shafts of lightning, the weird shapes and colors of + the clouds, all combined to give a sinister, baleful and portentous aspect + to this night, as though skies and waters, earth and air were brooding + over some tremendous catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo had thrown a veil and handkerchief round her head and followed the + priest with an aching brow and throbbing heart. When she heard a step + behind her she started-for it might be Constantine following her up; when + a gust of wind flung the stinging sand in her face, or the storm-flash + threw a lurid light on the sky, her heart stood still, for was not this + the prelude to the final crash. + </p> + <p> + She was familiar with the way they were going, but its length seemed to + have stretched tenfold. At last, however, they reached their destination. + She gave the pass-word at the gate of her father’s timber-yard and + exchanged the signs agreed upon; in a few minutes she had made her way + through the piles of beams and planks that screened the entrance to the + aqueduct—a slave who knew her leading the way with a light—and + she and her companion entered the underground passage. + </p> + <p> + It was hot and close; bats, scared by the flare of the torch, fluttered + round her with a ghostly rustle, startling and disgusting her; still, she + felt less alarm here than outside; and when, as she went forward she + thought of the great temple she was coming to, of its wonderful beauty and + solemn majesty, she only cared to press onward to that refuge of ineffable + splendor where all would be peace. To die there, to perish there with her + lover, did not seem hard; nay, she felt proud to think that she might + await death in the noblest edifice ever raised to a god by mortal hands. + Here Fate might have its way; she had known the highest joy she had ever + dreamed of, and where on earth was there a sublimer tomb than this + sanctuary of the sovereign of the universe, whose supremacy even the other + gods acknowledged with trembling! + </p> + <p> + She had known the sacred halls of the temple from her childhood, and she + pictured them as filled with thousands of lofty souls, united in this + supreme hour by one feeling and one purpose. She even fancied she could + hear the inspired and heartfelt strains of the enthusiasts who were + prepared to give their lives for the god of their fathers, that she + breathed the odor of incense and burnt sacrifices, that she saw the chorus + of youths and maidens, led by priests and dancing with solemn grace in + mazy circles round the flower-decked altars. There among the elders who + had gathered round Olympius to meditate devoutly on the coming doom and on + the inmost meaning of the mysteries—among the adepts who were + anxiously noting, in the observatories of the Serapeum, the fateful + courses of the stars, the swirling of the clouds and the flight of birds, + she would doubtless find her father; and the fresh wound bled anew as she + remembered that she was the bearer of news which must deeply shock and + grieve him. Still, no doubt, she would find him wrapped in dignified + readiness for the worst, sorrowing serenely for the doomed world, and so + her melancholy message would come to a prepared and resigned heart. + </p> + <p> + She had no fear of the crowd of men she would find in the Serapeum. Her + father and Olympius were there to protect her, and Dame Herse, too, would + be a support and comfort; but even without those three, on such a night as + this—the last perhaps that they might ever see—she would have + ventured without hesitation among thousands, for she firmly believed that + every votary of the gods was awaiting his own end and the crash of falling + skies with devout expectancy, and perhaps with not less terror than + herself. + </p> + <p> + These were her thoughts as she and her guide stopped at a strong door. + This was presently opened and they found themselves in an underground + chamber, devoted to the mysteries of the worship of Serapis, in which the + adepts were required to go through certain severe ordeals before they were + esteemed worthy to be received into the highest order of the initiated—the + Esoterics. The halls and corridors which she now went through, and which + she had never before seen, were meagrely lighted with lamps and torches, + and all that met her eye filled her with reverent awe while it excited her + imagination. Everything, in fact—every room and every image—was + as unlike nature, and as far removed from ordinary types as possible, in + arrangement and appearance. After passing through a pyramidal room, with + triangular sides that sloped to a point, she came to one in the shape of a + polygonal prism. In a long, broad corridor she had to walk on a narrow + path, bordered by sphinxes; and there she clung tightly to her guide, for + on one side of the foot-way yawned a gulf of great depth. In another place + she heard, above her head, the sound of rushing waters, which then fell + into the abyss beneath with a loud roar. After this she came upon a large + grotto, hewn in the living rock and defended by a row of staring + crocodiles’ heads, plated with gold; the heavy smell of stale incense and + acrid resins choked her, and her way now lay over iron gratings and past + strangely contrived furnaces. The walls were decorated with colored + reliefs: Tantalus, Ixion, and Sisyphus toiling at his stone, looked down + on her in hideous realism as she went. Rock chambers, fast closed with + iron doors, as though they enclosed inestimable treasures or inscrutable + secrets, lay on either hand, and her dress swept against numerous images + and vessels closely shrouded in hangings. + </p> + <p> + When she ventured to look round, her eye fell on monstrous forms and + mystical signs and figures; if she glanced upwards, she saw human and + animal forms, and mixed with these the various constellations, sailing in + boats—the Egyptian notion of their motions—along the back of a + woman stretched out to an enormous length; or, again, figures by some + Greek artist: the Pleiades, Castor and Pollux as horsemen with stars on + their heads, and Berenice’s star-gemmed hair. + </p> + <p> + The effect on the girl was bewildering, overpowering, as she made her way + through this underground world. The things she had glimpses of were very + sparely illuminated, nay scarcely discernible, and yet appallingly real; + what mysteries, what spells might not be hidden in all she did not see! + She felt as if the end of life, which she was looking for, had already + begun, as if she had already gone down, alive, into Hades. + </p> + <p> + The path gradually sloped upwards and at last she ascended, by a spiral + staircase, to the ground-floor of the temple. Once or twice she had met a + few men, but solemn silence reigned in those subterranean chambers. + </p> + <p> + The sound of their approaching and receding steps had only served to make + her aware of the complete stillness. This was just as it should be—just + as she would have it. This peace reminded her of the profound silence of + nature before a tempest bursts and rages. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo took off her veil as she went up the stairs, shook out the folds of + her dress, and assumed the dignified and reverent demeanor which became a + young girl of rank and position when approaching the altars of the + divinity. But as she reached the top a loud medley of noises and voices + met her ear-flutes, drums?—The sacred dance, she supposed, must be + going on. + </p> + <p> + She came out into a room on one side of the hypostyle; her companion + opened a high door, plated with gilt bronze and silver, and Gorgo followed + him, walking gravely with her head held high and her eyes fixed on the + ground, into the magnificent hall where the sacred image sat enthroned in + veiled majesty. They crossed the colonnade at the side of the hypostyle + and went down two steps into the vast nave of the temple. + </p> + <p> + The wild tumult that she had heard on first opening the door had surprised + and puzzled her; but now, as she timidly looked up and around her, she + felt a shock of horror and revulsion such as might come over a man who, + walking by night and believing that he is treading on flowers, suddenly + finds that the slimy slope of a bottomless bog is leading him to + perdition. She tottered and clutched at a statue, gazing about her, + listening to the uproar, and wondering whether she were awake or dreaming. + </p> + <p> + She tried not to see and hear what was going on there; it was revolting, + loathsome, horrible; but it was too manifest to be overlooked or ignored; + its vulgarity and horror forced it on her attention. For some time she + stood spell-bound, paralyzed; but then she covered her face with her + hands; maidenly shame, bitter disillusion, and pious indignation at the + gross desecration of all that she deemed most sacred and inviolable surged + up in her stricken soul, and she burst into tears, weeping as she had + never wept in all her life before. Sobbing bitterly, she wrapped her face + in her veil, as though to protect herself from storm and chill. + </p> + <p> + No one heeded her; her companion had left her to seek her father. She + could only await his return, and she looked round for a hiding place. Then + she observed a woman in mourning garb sitting huddled at the foot of the + statue of justice; she recognized her as the widow of Asclepiodorus and + breathed more freely as she went up to her and said, between her sobs “Let + me sit by you; we can mourn together.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, come,” said the other; and without enquiring what Gorgo’s + trouble might be, moved only by the mysterious charm of finding another in + like sorrow with herself, she drew the girl to her and bending over her, + at length found relief in tears. + </p> + <p> + The two weeping women sat in silence, side by side, while in front of them + the orgy went on its frantic course. A party of men and women were dancing + down the hall, singing and shouting. Flutes yelled, cymbals clanged, drums + rattled and droned, without either time or tune. Drunken pastophori had + flung open the rooms where the vestments and sacred vessels were kept, and + from these treasuries the ribald mob had dragged forth panther-skins such + as the priests wore when performing the sacred functions, brass cars for + carrying sacrifices, wooden biers on which the images of the gods were + borne in solemn processions, and other precious objects. In a large room + adjoining, a party of students and girls were concocting some grand scheme + for which they needed much time and large supplies of wine; but most of + those who had possessed themselves of the plunder had taken it into the + hypostyle and were vying with each other in extravagant travesties. + </p> + <p> + A burly wine-grower was elected to represent Dionysus and was seated with + nothing but some wreaths of flowers to cover his naked limbs, in a + four-wheeled sacrificial car of beaten brass. An alabaster wine-jar stood + between his fat knees, and his heavy body rolled with laughter as he was + drawn in triumph through the sacred arcades by a shouting rabble, as fast + as they could run. Numbers of the intoxicated crew, mad with excitement + and wine, had cast off their clothes which lay in heaps between the + pillars, soaking in puddles of spilt wine. In their wild dance the girls’ + hair had fallen about their heated faces, tangled with withered leaves and + faded flowers, and the men, young and old alike, leaped and waltzed like + possessed creatures, flourishing thyrsus-staves and the emblems of the + lusty wine-god. + </p> + <p> + A small band of priests and philosophers ventured into the chaos in the + hope of quelling the riot, but a tipsy flute-player placed himself in + front of them and throwing back his head blew a furious blast to heaven on + his double pipe, shrill enough to wake the dead, while a girl seconded him + by flinging her tambourine in the face of the intruding pacificators. It + bounced against the shaft of a column, and then fell on the shaven head of + a priestling, who seized it and tossed it back. The game was soon taken + up, and before long, one tambourine after another was flying over the + heads of the frenzied crew. Every one was eager to have one, and sprung to + catch them, scuffling and struggling and making the parchment sound on his + neighbor’s head. + </p> + <p> + Some of the women had jumped on to the processional biers and were being + carried round the hall by staggering youths, screaming with alarm and + laughter; if one of them lost her balance and fell she was captured with + shrieks of merriment and forced to mount her insecure eminence again. + Presently the car of Dionysus came to wreck over the body of an + unconscious toper, but no one stopped to set it right; and though the + hapless representative of the god howled loudly to them to stop while he + extricated himself from the machine, in which he had stuck, it was in + vain; the score or so of youths who were dragging it tore on, passing + close by Gorgo, who noted with indignation, that the brasswork of the + axles was cutting deeply into the splendid mosaic of the pavement. At last + the burly god fell out by his sheer weight, and his followers restored him + to consciousness by taking him by the heels and dipping his towzled and + bleeding head into a huge jar of wine and water. Then some hundreds of his + drunken votaries danced madly round the rescued god; and as all the + tambourines were split and the flute-players had no breath left, time was + kept by beating with thyrsus-staves against the pillars, while three men, + who had found the brazen tubas among the temple vessels, blew with all + their might and main. + </p> + <p> + Strong opposition, however, was roused by this mad uproar. A party of + worshippers, in the first place, rebelled against it; these had been + standing with veiled heads, near the statue of Serapis, muttering + exorcisms after a Magian and howling lamentably at intervals; then a + preacher, who had succeeded in collecting a little knot of listeners, bid + the trumpeters cease; and finally, a party of actors and singers, who had + assembled in the outer hall to perform a satira play, tried to stop them, + though they themselves were making such a noise that the trumpet-blast + could have affected them but little. When the players found that + remonstrance had no effect they rushed into the hypostyle and tried to + reduce the musicians to silence by force. + </p> + <p> + Then a frenzied contest began; but the combatants were soon separated; the + actors and their antagonists fell on each other’s necks, and a Homeric + poet, who had compiled an elegy for the evening on the “Gods coerced by + the hosts of the new superstition,” made up simply of lines culled from + the Iliad and Odyssey, seized this favorable opportunity. He had begun to + read it at the top of his voice, screaming down the general din, when + everything was forgotten in the excitement caused by the entrance of a + procession which was the successful result of many raids on the + temple-treasuries and lumber-rooms. + </p> + <p> + A storm of applause greeted its appearance; the tipsiest stammered out his + approval, and the picture presented to drunken eyes was indeed a beautiful + and gorgeous one. On a high platform-intended for the display of a small + image of Serapis and certain symbols of the god, at great festivals—Glycera, + the loveliest hetaira of the town, was drawn in triumph through the + temple. She reclined in a sort of bowl representing a shell, placed at the + top of the platform, and on the lower stages sat groups of fair girls, + swaying gently with luxurious grace, and flinging flowers down to the + crowd who, with jealous rivalry, strove to catch them. Everyone recognized + the beautiful hetaira as Aphrodite, and she was hailed, as with one voice, + the Queen of the World. The men rushed forward to pour libations in her + honor, and to join hands and dance in a giddy maze round her car. + </p> + <p> + “Take her to Serapis!” shouted a drunken student. “Marry her to the god. + Heavenly Love should be his bride!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes—take her to Serapis,” yelled another. “It is the wedding of + Serapis and Glycera.” + </p> + <p> + The crazy rabble pushed the machine towards the curtain, with the + beautiful, laughing woman on the top, and her bevy of languishing + attendants. + </p> + <p> + Until this instant the vivid lightning outside, and the growling of + distant thunder had not been heeded by the revellers, but now a blinding + flash lighted up the hall and, at the same instant, a tremendous peal + crashed and rattled just above them, and shook the desecrated shrine. A + sulphurous vapor came rolling in at the openings just below the roof, and + this first flash was immediately followed by another which seemed to have + rent the vault of heaven, for it was accompanied by a deafening and + stunning roar and a terrific rumbling and creaking, as though the metal + walls of the firmament had burst asunder and fallen in on the earth—on + Alexandria—on the Serapeum. + </p> + <p> + The whole awful force of an African tempest came crashing down upon them; + the wild revel was stilled; the trembling topers dropped their cups, + fevered checks turned pale, the dancers parted and threw up their hands in + agonized supplication, words of lust and blasphemy died on their lips and + turned to prayers and muttered charms. The terrified nymphs that + surrounded Venus sprang from the car, and the foam-born goddess in the + shell tried to free herself from the garlands and gauzes in which she was + involved, shrieking aloud when she perceived that she could not descend + unaided from her elevated position. Other voices mingled with hers—lamenting, + cursing, and entreating; for now the rainclouds burst, and through the + window-openings poured a cold flood, chilling and wetting the drunken mob + within. + </p> + <p> + The storm raved through the halls and corridors; lightning and thunder + raged fiercely overhead; and the terrified wretches, suddenly sobered, + rushed about or huddled together, like ants whose nest has been upturned. + And into the midst of this dismayed throng rushed Orpheus, the son of + Karnis, who had been till now on guard on the roof, crying out: “The world + is coming to an end, the heavens are opening! Father—where is my + father?” + </p> + <p> + And everyone believed him; they snatched off their garlands, tore their + hair and gave themselves up to the utmost despair. Wailing, sobbing, + howling-furious, but impotent, they appealed to each other; and though + they had no hope of living to see another morning, or perhaps another + hour, each one thought only of himself, of his garments, and of how he + might best cover his limbs that shivered with terror and cold. From the + Scuffling mob round the heaps of cast-off clothes came deep groans, + piteous weeping, the shrieks of women, and the despairing moans of the + panic-stricken wretches. + </p> + <p> + It was a fearful scene, at once heart-rending and revolting; Gorgo looked + on, gnashing her teeth with rage and disgust, and only wishing for the end + of the world and of her own life as a respite from it all. These crazed + and miserable wretches, cowardly fools, these beasts in the guise of human + beings, deserved no better than to perish; but was it conceivable that the + supreme being should destroy the whole of the beautiful and wisely-planned + world for the sake of this base and loathsome rabble. + </p> + <p> + It thundered, it lightened, the foundations of the temple shook—but + she no longer looked for the final crash; she had ceased to believe in the + majesty, the power and the purity of the divinity behind the veil. Her + cheeks burnt with shame, she felt it a disgrace ever to have been numbered + among his adherents; and, as the howling of the terrified crowd grew every + moment louder and wilder, the memory of Constantine’s grave and fearless + manliness rose before her, in all its strength and beauty. She was his, + his wholly and forever; and for the future all that was his should be + hers: his love, his home, his noble purpose—and his God. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII. + </h2> + <p> + The doubtful light of dawn was beginning to break through the storm-clouds + as they exhausted their fury on the Serapeum, but the terrified heathen + did not notice it. No captain, no prophet, no comforter had come to revive + their courage and hopes; for Olympius and his guests, the leaders of the + intellectual life of Alexandria—and among them the chief priests of + the sanctuary—were tardy in making their appearance. + </p> + <p> + The lightning-flash which had fallen on the brassplated cupola, and then + discharged its force along a flagstaff, had alarmed even the sages and + philosophers; and the Symposium had come to an abrupt end but little more + dignified than the orgy in the temple-halls. Few, to be sure, of the + high-priest’s friends had allowed themselves to be so far scared as to + betray their terrors frankly; on the contrary, when the crack of doom + really seemed to have sounded, rhetoric and argument grew even more eager + than before round Olympius’ table; and Gorgo’s opinion of her + fellow-heathen might not have been much raised if she could have heard + Helladius, the famous philologist and biographer, reciting verses from + “Prometheus bound,” his knees quaking and lips quivering as he heard the + thunder; or seen Ammonius, another grammarian who had written a celebrated + work on “The Differences of Synonyms,” rending his robe and presenting his + bared breast as a target to the lightning, with a glance round at the + company to challenge their admiration. His heroic display was, + unfortunately, observed by few; for most of them, including Eunapius, a + neo-platonic philosopher distinguished as a historian and an implacable + foe of the Christians, had wrapped their heads in their robes and were + awaiting the end in sullen resignation. Some had dropped on their knees + and were praying with uplifted hands, or murmuring incantations; and a + poet, who had been crowned for a poem entitled: “Man the Lord and Master + of the Gods,” had fainted with fear, and his laurel-wreath had fallen into + a dish of oysters. + </p> + <p> + Olympius had risen from his place as Symposiarch and was leaning against a + door-post awaiting death with manly composure. Father Karnis, who had made + rather too free with the wine-cup, but had been completely sobered by the + sudden fury of the storm, had sprung up and hastened past the high-priest + to seek his wife and son; he knew they could not be far off, and desired + to perish with them. + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius and his next neighbor, Apuleius, the great physician, were + among those who had covered their faces. Porphyrius could look forward + more calmly than many to the approaching crisis; for, as a cautious man + and far-seeing merchant, he had made provision for every contingency. If, + in spite of a Christian victory, the world should still roll on, and if + the law which declared invalid the will of an apostate should be enforced + against him, a princely fortune, out of the reach of Church or State, lay + safe in the hands of a wealthy and trustworthy friend for his daughter’s + use; if, on the other hand, heaven and earth met in a common doom, he had + by him an infallible remedy against a lingering and agonizing death. + </p> + <p> + The whole party had sat during some long and anxious minutes, listening to + the appalling thunder-claps, when Orpheus rushed into the banqueting-room, + with the same frenzied and terror-stricken haste as before, among the + revellers, crying: “It is the end-all is over! The world is falling + asunder! Fire is come down from heaven! The earth is in flames already—I + saw it with my own eyes! I have come down from the roof.... + </p> + <p> + “Father! Where is my father?” + </p> + <p> + At this news the company started up in fresh alarm, Pappus, the + mathematician, cried out: “The conflagration has begun! Flame and fire are + falling from the skies!” + </p> + <p> + “Lost-lost!” wailed Eunapius; while Porphyrius hastily felt in the folds + of his purple garment, took out a small crystal phial and went, pale but + calm, up to the high-priest. He laid his hand on the arm of the friend + whom he had looked up to all his life with affectionate admiration, and + said with an expression of tender regret: + </p> + <p> + “Farewell. We have often disputed over the death of Cato—you + disapproving and I approving it. Now I follow his example. Look—there + is enough for us both.” + </p> + <p> + He hastily put the phial to his mouth, and part of the liquid had passed + his lips before Olympius understood the situation and seized his arm. The + effect of the deadly fluid was instantly manifest; but Porphyrius had + hardly lost consciousness when Apuleius had rushed to his side. The + physician had succumbed to the universal panic and resigned himself + doggedly to Fate; but as soon as an appeal was made to his medical skill + and he heard a cry for help, he had thrown off the wrapper from his head + and hastened to the merchant’s side to combat the effects of the poison, + as clear-headed and decisive as in his best hours by the bed of sickness + or in the lecture-room. + </p> + <p> + When the very backbone of the soul seems to be broken, a sense of duty is + the one and last thing that holds it together and keeps it upright; and + nature has implanted in us such a strong and instinctive regard for life—which + we are so apt to contemn—that even within a few paces of the grave + we cherish and foster it as carefully as in its prime, when the end seems + still remote. + </p> + <p> + The merchant’s desperate deed had been done under the very eyes of + Orpheus, and the newer horror so completely overshadowed the older, that + he hastened unbidden to help the physician lay the unconscious man on the + nearest couch; but then he went off again in search of his parents. + Olympius, however, who at the sight of his friend’s weakness had suddenly + comprehended how much depended, in these last hours, on his own resolute + demeanor, detained the youth, and sternly desired him to give an exact and + clear account of what had happened on the roof. The young musician obeyed; + and his report was certainly far from reassuring. + </p> + <p> + A ball of fire had fallen with a terrific noise on the cupola, mingling + with flames that seemed to rise like streams of fire from the earth. Then, + again the heavens had opened with a blinding flash and Orpheus had seen—with + his own eyes seen—a gigantic monster—an uprooted mountain + perhaps—which had slowly moved towards the back-wall of the Serapeum + with an appalling clatter; and not rain, but rivers, rushing torrents of + water, had poured down on the men on guard. + </p> + <p> + “It is Poseidon,” cried the lad, “bringing up the ocean against the + temple, and I heard the neighing of his horses. It was not an illusion, I + heard it with my own ears....” + </p> + <p> + “The horses of Poseidon!” interrupted Olympius. “The horses of the + Imperial cavalry were what you heard!” + </p> + <p> + He ran to the window with the activity of a younger man and, lifting the + curtain, looked out to the eastward. The storm had vanished as rapidly as + it had come up and it was day. Over the rosy skirts of Eos hung a full and + heavy robe of swelling grey and black clouds, edged with a fringe of + sheeny gold. To the north a sullen flash now and then zigzagged across the + dark sky, and the roll of the thunder was faint and distant; but the + horses whose neighing had affrighted Orpheus were already near; they were + standing close to the southern or back-wall of the temple, in which there + was no gate or entrance of any kind. What object could the Imperial + cavalry have in placing themselves by that strong and impenetrable spot? + </p> + <p> + But there was no time for much consideration, for at this instant the + gong, which was sounded to call the defenders of the Serapeum together, + rang through the precincts. + </p> + <p> + Olympius needed no spur or encouragement. He turned to his guests with the + passion and fire of a fanatical leader, of the champion of a great but + imperilled cause, and bid them be men and stand by him to resist the foe + till death. His voice was husky with excitement as he spoke his brief but + vehement call to arms, and the effect was immense, precisely because the + speaker, carried away by the tide of feeling, had not tried to impress the + learned and eloquent men whom he addressed by any tricks of elocution or + choice of words. They, too, were fired by the spark of the old man’s + enthusiasm; they gathered round him, and followed him at once to the rooms + where the weapons had been deposited for use. + </p> + <p> + Breastplates girt on to their bodies, and swords wielded in their hands + made soldiers of the sages at once, and inspired them with martial ardor. + Little was spoken among these heroes of “the mighty word.” They were bent + on action. Olympius Had desired Apuleius to go into his private room + adjoining the hypostyle with Porphyrius, on whose senseless and rigid + state no treatment had as yet had any effect. Some of the temple-servants + carried the merchant down a back staircase, while Olympius hastily and + silently led his comrades in arms up the main steps into the great halls + of the temple. + </p> + <p> + Here the chivalrous host were doomed to surprise and disappointment + greater than the most hopeless of them was prepared to meet. Olympius + himself for a moment despaired; for his ecstatic adherents had during the + night turned to poltroons and tipplers, and the sacred precincts of the + sanctuary looked as if a battle had been fought and lost there. Broken and + bruised furniture, smashed instruments, garments torn and wet, draggled + wreaths, and faded flowers were strewn in every direction. The red wine + lay in pools like blood on the scarred beauties of the inlaid pavement; + here and there, at the foot of a column, lay an inert body—whether + dead or merely senseless who could guess?—and the sickening reek of + hundreds of dying lamps filled the air, for in the confusion they had been + left to burn or die as they might. + </p> + <p> + And how wretched was the aspect of the sobered, terror-stricken, worn-out + men and women. An obscure consciousness of having insulted the god and + incurred his wrath lurked in every soul. To many a one prompt death would + have seemed most welcome, and one man—a promising pupil of + Helladius, had actually taken the leap from existence into the + non-existence which, as he believed, he should find beyond the grave; he + had run his had violently against a pillar, and lay at the foot of it with + a broken skull. + </p> + <p> + With reeling brains, aching brows, and dejected hearts, the unhappy + creatures had got so far as to curse the present; and those who dared to + contemplate the future thought of it only as a bottomless abyss, towards + which the flying hours were dragging them with unfelt but irresistible + force. Time was passing—each could feel and see that; night was + gone, it would soon be day; the storm had passed over, but instead of the + inexorable powers of nature a new terror now hung over them: the no less + inexorable power of Caesar. To the struggle of man against the gods there + was but one possible end: Annihilation. In the conflict of man against man + there might yet be, if not victory, at least escape. The veteran Memnon, + with his one arm, had kept watch on the temple-roof during that night’s + orgy, planning measures for repulsing the enemy’s attack, till the storm + had burst on him and his adherents with the “artillery of heaven.” Then + the greater portion of the garrison had taken refuge in the lower + galleries of the Serapeum, and the old general was left alone at his post, + in the blinding and deafening tempest. He threw his remaining arm round a + statue that graced the parapet of the roof to save himself from being + swept or washed away; and he would still have shouted his orders, but that + the hurricane drowned his voice, and none of his few remaining adherents + could have heard him speak. He, too, had heard the champing of horses and + had seen the moving mountain which Orpheus had described. It was in fact a + Roman engine of war; and, faithful though he was to the cause he had + undertaken, something like a feeling of joy stirred his warrior’s soul, as + he looked down on the fine and well-drilled men who followed the Imperial + standards under which he had, ere now, shed his best blood. His old + comrades in arms had not forgotten how to defy the tempest, and their + captains had been well advised in preparing to attack first what seemed + the securest side of the temple. The struggle, he foresaw, would be + against tried soldiers, and it was with a deep curse and a smile of bitter + scorn that he thought of the inexperienced novices under his command. It + was only yesterday that he had tried to moderate Olympius’ sanguine + dreams, and had said to him: “It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that + we defeat a foe!” + </p> + <p> + The skill and experience he had to contend with were in no respect + inferior to his own; and he would know, only too soon, what the practical + worth might be of the daring and enthusiastic youths whom he had + undertaken to command, and of whom he still had secret hopes for the best. + </p> + <p> + The one thing to do was to prevent the Christians from effecting the + breach which they evidently intended to make in the back-wall, before the + Libyan army of relief should arrive; and, at the same time, to defend the + front of the temple from the roof. There was a use for every one who could + heave a stone or flourish a sword; and when he thought over the number of + his troops he believed he might succeed in holding the building for some + considerable time. But he was counting on false premises, for he did not + know how attractive the races had proved to his “enthusiastic youth” and + how great a change had come over most of them. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the wind had so far subsided that he could stand alone, he went + to collect those that still remained, and to have the brass gong sounded + which was to summon the combatants to their posts. Its metallic clang rang + loud and far through the dim dawn; a deaf man might have heard it in the + deepest recess of the sanctuary—and yet the minutes slipped by—a + quarter of an hour—and no one had come at its call. The old + captain’s impatience turned to surprise, his surprise became wrath. The + messengers he sent down did not return and the great moving shed of the + Romans was brought nearer and nearer to the southern side of the temple, + screening the miners from the rare missiles which the few men remaining + with him cast clown by his orders. + </p> + <p> + The enemy were evidently making a suitable foundation on which to place + the storming engine—a beam with a ram’s head of iron-to make a + breach in the temple-wall. Every minute’s delay on the part of the + besieged was an advantage to the enemy. A hundred-two hundred more hands + on the roof, and their tactics might yet be defeated. + </p> + <p> + Tears of rage, of the bitter sense of impotence, started to the old + soldier’s eyes; and when, at length, one of his messengers came back and + told him that the men and women alike seemed quite demented, and all and + each refused to come up on the roof, he uttered a wrathful curse and + rushed down-stairs himself. + </p> + <p> + He stormed in on the trembling wretches; and when he beheld with his own + eyes all that his volunteers had done dining that fateful night, he raved + and thundered; asked them, rather confusedly perhaps, if they knew what it + was to be expected to command and find no obedience; scolded the + refractory, driving some on in front of him; and then, as he perceived + that some of them were making off with the girls through the door leading + to the secret passage, he placed himself on guard with his sword drawn, + and threatened to cut down any who attempted to escape. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of all this Olympius and his party had come into the ball and + seeing the commander struggling, sword in hand, with the recalcitrant + fugitives, where the noise was loudest, he and his guests hastened to the + rescue and defended the door against the hundreds who were crowding to + fly. The old man was grieved to turn the weapons they had seized in their + sacred ardor, against the seceders from their own cause; but it had to be. + While the loyal party—among them Karnis and Orpheus—guarded + the passage to the underground rooms with shield and lance, Olympius took + council of the veteran captain, and they rapidly decided to allow all the + women to depart at once and to divide the men into two parties-one to be + sent to fight on the roof, and the other to defend the wall where the + Roman battering-ram was by this time almost ready to attack. + </p> + <p> + The high-priest took his stand boldly between his adherents and the + would-be runaways and appealed to them in loud and emphatic tones to do + their duty. They listened to him silently and respectfully; but when he + ended by stating that the women were commanded to withdraw, a terrific + outcry was raised, some of the girls clung to their lovers, while others + urged the men to fight their way out. + </p> + <p> + Several, however, and among them the fair Glycera who a few hours since + had smiled down triumphantly on her worshippers as Aphrodite, availed + themselves at once of the permission to quit this scene of horrors, and + made their way without delay to the subterranean passages. They had + adorers in plenty in the city. But they did not get far; they were met by + a temple-servant flying towards the great hall, who warned them to return + thither at once: the Imperial soldiers had discovered the entrance to the + aqueduct and posted sentries in the timber-yard. They turned and followed + him with loud lamentations, and hardly had they got back into the temple + when a new terror came upon them: the iron battering-ram came with a first + heavy shock, thundering against the southern wall. + </p> + <p> + The Imperial troops were in fact masters of the secret passage; and they + had begun the attack on the Serapeum in earnest. It was serious—but + all was not yet lost; and in this fateful hour Olympius and Memnon proved + their mettle. The high-priest commanded that the great stone trap-doors + should be dropped into their places, and that the bridges across the + gulfs, in the underground rooms reserved for the initiated, should be + destroyed; and this there was yet time to do, for the soldiers had not yet + ventured into those mysterious corridors, where there could not fail to be + traps and men in ambush. Memnon meanwhile had hurried to the spot where + the battering-ram had by this time dealt a second blow, shouting as he + went to every man who was not a coward to follow him. + </p> + <p> + Karnis, Orpheus and the rest of the high-priest’s guests obeyed his call + and gathered round him; he commanded that everything portable should be + brought out of the temple to be built into a barricade behind the point of + attack, and that neither the most precious and beautiful statues, nor the + brass and marble stelae and altar-slabs should be spared. Screened by this + barricade, and armed with lances and bows—of which there were plenty + at hand—he proposed, when the breach was made, to check the further + advance of the foe. + </p> + <p> + He was not ill-pleased that the only way of escape was cut off; and as + soon as he had seen the statues dragged from their pedestals, the + altar-stones removed from the sacred places they had filled for half a + century, benches and jars piled together and a stone barricade thus fairly + advanced towards completion, he drafted off a small force for the defences + on the roof. There was no escape now; and many a one who, to the very + last, had hoped to find himself free, mounted the stairs reluctantly, + because he would there be more immediately in the face of the foe than + when defending the breach. + </p> + <p> + Olympius distributed weapons, and went from one to another, speaking words + of encouragement; presently he found Gorgo who, with the bereaved widow, + was still sitting at the foot of the statue of justice. He told her that + her father was ill, and desired a servant to show her the way to his + private room, that she might help the leech in attending on him. Berenice + could not be induced to stir; she longed only for the end and was + persuaded that it could not be far off. She listened eagerly to the blows + of the battering-engine; each one sounded to her like a shock to the very + structure of the universe. Another—and another—and at last the + ancient masonry must give way and the grave that had already opened for + her husband and her son would yawn to swallow her up with her sorrows. She + shuddered and drew her hood over her face to screen it from the sun which + now began to shine in. Its light was a grievance to her; she had hoped + never to see another day. + </p> + <p> + The women, and with them a few helpless weaklings, had withdrawn to the + rotunda, and before long they were laughing as saucily as ever. + </p> + <p> + From the roof blocks of stone and broken statues were hailing down on the + besiegers, and in the halls below, the toiler who paused to wipe the sweat + from his brow would brook no idleness in his comrade; the most + recalcitrant were forced to bestir themselves, and the barricade inside + the southern wall soon rose to a goodly height. No rampart was ever built + of nobler materials; each stone was a work of art and had been reverenced + for centuries as something sacred, or bore in an elegant inscription the + memorial of noble deeds. This wall was to protect the highest of the gods, + and among the detachment told off to defend it, were Karnis, his son, and + his wife. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII. + </h2> + <p> + Gorgo sat by the bed of her apparently lifeless father, gazing fondly at + the worn and wax-like features, and listening to his breathing, now soft + and easy and again painful and convulsive, as it fluttered through his + nostrils. She held his cold damp hand tightly clasped, or stroked it + gently, or now and then, when his closed eyelids quivered, raised it + tenderly to her lips. + </p> + <p> + The room in which they were lay on one side of the hypostyle and behind + the right-hand—or western—colonnade; more forward, therefore, + than the veiled statue and to its left hand. The noise of the toilers at + the barricade and the crash of the blows of the battering-ram came up from + just below, and at each thud of the engine the senseless man started + convulsively and a look of intense pain crossed his face. But, though it + was indeed grievous to Gorgo to see her father suffering, though she told + herself again and again that, ere long, the sanctuary must fall into the + hands of the Christians, she felt safe, thankful and sheltered up here, in + her old friend’s half-lighted and barely-furnished room, shut off, at any + rate, from the frenzied wretches of whom she thought only with loathing + and fear. + </p> + <p> + She was wearied out with her night of unrest, but the agitation and + excitement she had gone through were still vividly present to her mind, + and even on the comfortable couch in her own snug room at home her + perturbed spirit would have prevented her sleeping. Her brain was still in + a ferment, and here, in comparative peace, she had time to think over all + she had gone through during the last few hours, and the catastrophes that + had befallen her grandmother and her father. She had exchanged but few + words with the physician, who was still unceasingly busy in trying to + restore his patient to consciousness, and who had assured her that he had + every hope of her father’s recovery. + </p> + <p> + But at length the girl looked up with an eager gaze and said, sadly + enough: “You said something about an antidote to poison, Apuleius? Then my + father tried to escape the final destruction by attempting to kill + himself.—Is it so?” + </p> + <p> + The leech looked at her keenly, and after confirming her suspicion and + explaining to her exactly how the fateful deed had been accomplished, he + went on: + </p> + <p> + “The storm had completely unnerved him—it unmanned us all—and + yet that was only the prelude to the tremendous doom which is hanging over + the universe. It is at hand; we can hear its approach; the stones are + yielding! the Christian’s engines are opening the way for it to enter!” + </p> + <p> + Apuleius spoke in a tone of sinister foreboding, and the falling stones + dislodged by the battering-ram thundered a solemn accompaniment to his + prophecy. Gorgo, turned pale; but it was not the physician’s ominous + speech that alarmed her, but the quaking of the walls of the room. Still, + the Serapeum was built for eternity; the ram might bring down a wall, but + it could not destroy or even shake the building itself. + </p> + <p> + Outside, the hubbub of fighting men grew louder and louder every minute, + and Apuleius, increasingly anxious, went to the door to listen. Gorgo + could see that his hands trembled! he—a man—was frightened, + while she felt no anxiety but for her suffering father! Through that + breach Constantine would enter—and where he commanded she was safe. + As to the destruction of the universe—she no longer believed in it. + When the physician turned round and saw her calmly and quietly wiping the + cold drops from the sick man’s brow, he said gloomily: “Of what use is it + to shut our eyes like the ostrich. They are fighting down there for life + or death—we had better prepare for the end. If they venture—and + they will—to lay a sacrilegious hand on the god, besiegers and + besieged alike—the whole world together, must perish.” + </p> + <p> + But Gorgo shook her head. “No, no,” she cried, with zealous confidence. + “No, Apuleius, Serapis is not what you believe him to be; for, if he were, + would he suffer his enemies to overthrow his temple and his image? Why + does he not, at this supreme moment, inspire his worshippers with courage? + I have seen the men—mere boys—and the women who have assembled + here to fight for him. They are nothing but drivellers and triflers. If + the master is like his men it serves him right if he is overthrown; to + weep for him would be waste of woe!” + </p> + <p> + “And can the daughter of Porphyrius say this?” exclaimed the leech. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Apuleius, yes. After what I have seen, and heard, and endured this + night, I cannot speak otherwise. It was shameful, horrible, sickening; I + could rage at the mere thought of being supposed to be one of that debased + crew. It is disgrace and ignominy even to be named in the same breath! A + god who is served as this god has been is no god of mine! And you—you + are learned—a sage and a philosopher—how can you believe that + the God of the Christians when he has conquered and crippled yours, will + ever permit Serapis to destroy His world and the men He created?” + </p> + <p> + Apuleius drew himself up. “Are you then a Christian?” he asked swiftly and + sternly. + </p> + <p> + But Gorgo could not reply; she colored deeply and Apuleius vehemently + repeated his question: “Then you really are a Christian?” + </p> + <p> + She looked frankly in his face: “No,” she said, “I am not; but I wish I + were.” + </p> + <p> + The physician turned away with a shrug; but Gorgo drew a breath of relief, + feeling that her avowal had lifted a heavy burthen from her soul. She + hardly knew how the bold and momentous confession had got itself spoken, + but she felt that it was the only veracious answer to the physician’s + question. + </p> + <p> + They spoke no more; she was better pleased to remain silent, for her own + utterance had opened out to her a new land of promise—of feeling and + of thought. + </p> + <p> + Her lover henceforth was no longer her enemy; and as the tumult of the + struggle by the breach fell on her ear, she could think with joy of his + victorious arms. She felt that this was the purer, the nobler, the better + cause; and she rejoiced in the love of which he had spoken as the support + and the stay of their future life together—as sheltering them like a + tower of strength and a mighty refuge. Compared with that love all that + she had hitherto held dear or indispensable as gracing life, now seemed + vain and worthless; and as she looked at her father’s still face, and + remembered how he had lived and what he had suffered, she applied those + words of Paul which Constantine had spoken at their meeting after his + return, to him, too; and her heart overflowed with affection towards her + hapless parent. She knew full well the meaning of the deep lines that + marked his lips and brow; for Porphyrius had never made any secret of his + distress and vexation whenever he found himself compelled to confess a + creed in which he did not honestly believe. This great falsehood and + constant duplicity, this divided allegiance to two masters, had poisoned + the existence of a man by nature truthful; and Gorgo knew for whose sake + and for what reasons he had subjected himself to this moral martyrdom. It + was a lesson to her to see him lying there, and his look of anguish warned + her to become, heart and soul, a Christian as she felt prompted. She would + confess Christ for love’s sake-aye, for love’s sake; for in this hour the + thing she saw most clearly in the faith which she purposed to adopt, and + of which Constantine had so often spoken to her with affectionate + enthusiasm, was Everlasting Love. + </p> + <p> + Never in her life had she felt so much at peace, so open to all that was + good and beautiful; and yet, outside, the strife grew louder and more + furious; the Imperial tuba sounded above the battle-cry of the heathen, + and the uproar of the struggle came nearer and nearer. + </p> + <p> + The battering-ram had made a large breach in the southern wall, and, + protected by their shed, the heavy-armed infantry of the twenty-second + legion had forced their way up; but many a veteran had paid for his + rashness with his life, for the storming party had been met by a perfect + shower of arrows and javelins. Still, the great shield had turned many a + spear, and many an arrow had glanced harmless from the brazen armor and + helmets; the men that had escaped pressed onwards, while fresh ranks of + soldiers made their way in, over the bodies of the fallen. The + well-drilled foe came creeping up to the barricade on their knees, and + protected by bronze bucklers, while others, in the rear, flung lances and + arrows over their heads at the besieged. A few of the heathen fell, and + the sight of their blood had a wonderful effect on their comrades. Rage + surged up in the breasts of the most timid, and fear vanished before the + passion for revenge; cowardice turned to martial ardor, and philosophers + and artists thirsted for blood. The red glare of strife danced before the + eyes of the veriest book-worm; fired by the terrible impulse to kill, to + subdue, to destroy the foe, they fought desperately and blindly, staking + their lives on the issue. + </p> + <p> + Karnis, that zealous votary of the Muses, stood with Orpheus, on the very + top of the barricade throwing lance after lance, while he sang at the top + of his voice snatches of the verses of Tyrtaeus, in the teeth, as it were, + of the foe who were crowding through the breach; the sweat streamed from + his bald head and his eye flashed fire. By his side stood his son, sending + swift arrows from an enormous bow. The heavy curls of his hair had come + unbound and fell over his flushed face. When he hit one of the Imperial + soldiers his father applauded him eagerly; then, collecting all his + strength, flung another lance, chanting a hexameter or a verse of an ode. + Herse crouched half hidden behind a sacrificial stone which lay at the top + of the hastily-constructed rampart, and handed weapons to the combatants + as they needed them. Her dress was torn and blood-stained, her grey hair + had come loose from the ribbands and crescent that should have confined + it; the worthy matron had become a Megaera and shrieked to the men: “Kill + the dogs! Stand steady! Spare never a Christian!” + </p> + <p> + But the little garrison needed no incitement; the fevered zeal which + possessed them wholly, seconded their thirst for blood and doubled their + strength. + </p> + <p> + An arrow, shot by Orpheus, had just glanced over the breastplate and into + the throat of a centurion who had already set foot on the lowest step, + when Karnis suddenly dropped the spear he was preparing to fling and fell + without a cry. A Roman lance had hit him, and he lay transfixed by the + side of a living purple fount, like a rock in the surf from which a + sapling has sprung. Orpheus saw his father’s life-blood flowing and fell + on his knees by his side; but the old man pointed to the bow that his son + had cast aside and murmured eagerly: “Leave me—let me be. What does + it matter about me? Fight—for the gods—I say. For the gods! Go + on, aim truly!” + </p> + <p> + But the lad would not leave the dying man, and seeing how deeply the spear + had struck to the old man’s heart he groaned aloud, throwing up his arms + in despair. Then an arrow hit his shoulder, another pierced his neck, and + he, too, fell gasping for breath. Karnis saw him drop, and painfully + raised himself a little to help him; but it was too much for him; he could + only clench his fist in helpless fury and chant, half-singing, + half-speaking, as loud he was able, Electra’s curse: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “This my last prayer, ye gods, do not disdain! + For them turn day to night and joy to pain!” + </pre> + <p> + But the heavy infantry, who by this time were crowding through the breach, + neither heard nor heeded his curse. He lost consciousness and did not + recover it till Herse, after lifting up her son and propping him against a + plinth, pressed a cloth against the stump of the lance still remaining in + the wound to staunch the swiftly flowing blood, and sprinkled his brow + with wine. He felt her warm tears on his face, and as he looked up into + her kind, faithful eyes, brimming over with tears of sympathy and regret, + his heart melted to tenderness. All the happiest hours of the life they + had spent together crowded on his memory; he answered her glance with a + loving and grateful gaze and painfully held out his hand. Herse pressed it + to her lips, weeping bitterly; but he smiled up at her, nodding his head + and repeating again and again the line from Lucian: “Be comforted: you, + too, must soon follow.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes—I shall follow soon,” she repeated with sobs. “Without + you, without either of you, without the gods—what would become of me + here.” + </p> + <p> + And she turned to her son who, fully conscious, had followed every word + and every gesture of his parents and tried himself to say something. But + the arrow in his neck choked his breath, and it was such agony to speak + that he could only say hoarsely: “Father mother!” But these poor words + were full of deep love and gratitude, and Karnis and Herse understood all + he longed to express. + </p> + <p> + Tears choked the poor woman’s utterance so that neither of the three could + say another word, but they were at any rate close together, and could look + lovingly in each other’s eyes. Thus passed some few minutes of peace for + them, in spite of the blare of trumpets, and shrieks and butchery; but + Herse’s kerchief was dyed and soaked with her husband’s blood, and the old + man’s eyes were glazed and staring as they wandered feebly on the scene, + as though to get a last general picture of the world in which they had + always sought to see only what was fair. Suddenly they remained fixed on + the face of a statue of Apollo, which had been flung on to the barricade; + and the longer they dwelt on the beautiful countenance of the god the more + they sparkled with a clear transfigured gleam. Once more, with a final + effort, he raised his heavy hand and pointed to the sun-crowned head of + the immortal youth while he softly murmured: + </p> + <p> + “He—he—all that was fair in existence—Orpheus, Herse—we + owe it all to him. He dies with us.—They—the enemy—in + conquering us conquer thee! They dream of a Paradise beyond death; but + where thou reignest, O Phoebus, there is bliss even on earth! They boast + that they love death and hate life; and when they are the victors they + will destroy lute and pipe, nay, if they could, would exterminate beauty + and extinguish the sun. This beautiful happy world they would have dark, + gloomy, melancholy, hideous; thy kingdom, great Phoebus, is sunny, joyful + and bright...!” Here his strength failed him; but presently he rallied + once more and went on, with eager eyes: “We crave for light, for music, + lutes and pipes—for perfumed flowers on careless brows—we—hold + me up Herse—and thou, heal me, O Phoebus Apollo!—Hail, all + hail! I thank thee—thou hast accepted much from me and hast given me + all! Come, thou joy of my soul! Come in thy glorious chariot, attended by + Muses and Hours! See, Orpheus, Herse—do you see Him coming?” + </p> + <p> + He pointed with a confident gesture to the distance; and his anxious eyes + followed the indication of his hand; he raised himself a little by a last + supreme effort; but instantly fell back; his head sank on the bosom of his + faithful partner and a stream of blood flowed from his quivering lips. The + votary of the Muses was dead; and a few minutes after Orpheus, too, fell + senseless. + </p> + <p> + War-cries and trumpet-calls rang and echoed through the Serapeum. The + battle was now a hand-to-hand fight; the besiegers had surmounted the + barricade and stood face to face with the heathen. Herse saw them coming; + she snatched the dart from her husband’s wound, and fired by hatred and a + wild thirst for vengeance, she rushed upon the besiegers with frantic and + helpless fury, cursing them loudly. She met the death she craved; a + javelin struck her and she fell close to her husband and son. Her death + struggle was a short one; she had only time and strength to extend a hand + to lay on each before she herself was a corpse. + </p> + <p> + The battle raged round the heap of dead; the Imperial troops drove the + garrison backwards into the temple-halls, and the plan of attack which had + been agreed upon at a council of war held in the palace of the Comes, was + carried out, point by point, with cool courage and irresistible force. A + few maniples pursued the fugitives into the main entrance hall, helped + them to force the gates open, and then drove them down the slope and + steps, over the stones that had been heaped up for protection, and into + the very arms of the division placed in front of the temple. These at once + surrounded them and took them prisoners, as the hunter traps the game that + rushes down upon him when driven by the dogs and beaters. Foremost to fly + were the women from the rotunda, who were welcomed with acclamations by + the soldiers. + </p> + <p> + But those who now tried to defend themselves found no quarter. Berenice + had picked up a sword that was lying on the ground and had opened a vein + with the point of it; her body, bathed in blood, was found at the foot of + the statue of justice. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had the Christians mastered the barricade than a few maniples + had been sent up to the roof, and the defenders had been compelled to + surrender or to throw themselves from the parapet. Old Memnon, who had + been fighting against his Imperial master and could hope for no mercy, + sprang at once into the gulf below, and others followed his example; for + the end of all things was now close at hand, and to the nobler souls to + die voluntarily in battle for great Serapis seemed finer and worthier than + to languish in the enemy’s chains. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV. + </h2> + <p> + The terrific storm of the preceding night had thrown the whole city into + dismay. Everyone knew the danger that threatened Serapis, and what must + ensue if he were overthrown; and everyone had thought that the end of the + world had indeed come. But the tempest died away; the sun’s bright glow + dispersed the clouds and mist; sea and sky smiled radiantly blue, and the + trees and herbage glistened in revived freshness. + </p> + <p> + Not yet had the Romans dared to lay hands on the chief of the gods, the + patron and protector of the city. Serapis had perhaps sent the lightning, + thunder and rain as a message to warn his foes. If only they might abstain + from the last, worst crime of desecrating his image! + </p> + <p> + Nor was this the hope of the heathen only; on the contrary: Jews and + Christians no less dreaded the fall of the god and of his temple. He was + the pride, the monumental glory of the city of Alexander; the centre of + foundations and schools which benefited thousands. The learning which was + the boast of Alexandria dwelt under his protection; to the Serapeum was + attached a medical Faculty which enjoyed the reputation of being the first + in the world; from its observatory the course of the year was forecast and + the calendar was promulgated. An hour’s slumber in its halls brought + prophetic dreams, and the future must remain undivined if Serapis were to + fall, for the god revealed it to his priests, not merely by the courses + and positions of the stars, but by many other signs; and it was a delight + and a privilege to look forward from the certain, tangible present to the + mysteries of the morrow. + </p> + <p> + Even Christian seers answered the questionings of their followers in a way + which portended the worst, and it was a grief to many of the baptized to + think of their native city without Serapis and the Serapeum, just as we + cannot bear to cut down a tree planted by the hand of an ancestor, even + though it may darken our home. The temple ought to be closed, bloody + sacrifices to the god should be prohibited—but his image—the + noblest work of Bryaxis—to mutilate, or even to touch that would be + a rash, a fateful deed, treason to the city and an outrage on the world. + </p> + <p> + Thus thought the citizens; thus, too, thought the soldiers, who were + required by military discipline to draw the sword against the god in whom + many of them believed. + </p> + <p> + As the news spread that the troops were to attack the Serapeum early next + morning, thousands of spectators collected, and filled the temple itself + in breathless anxiety to watch the issue of the struggle. + </p> + <p> + The sky was as clear and blue as on any other fine day; but over the sea + to the north lay a light stratum of clouds—the harbingers perhaps of + the appalling blackness which the god would presently bring up against his + enemies. + </p> + <p> + The men who had defended the Serapeum were led away; it had been + determined in a council of war that they should be treated with clemency, + and Cynegius had proclaimed free and full pardon to every prisoner who + would swear never, for the future, to sacrifice to the god or worship in + his temple. + </p> + <p> + Not one of the hundreds who had fallen into the hands of the Romans had + refused to take the oath; they dispersed at once, though with suppressed + fury, many of them joining the crowd who stood waiting and watching for + the next step to be taken by the Romans—for the final crash of the + universe, perhaps. + </p> + <p> + The doors of the temple were thrown wide open; the temple-servants and + hundreds of soldiers were busied in clearing the steps and approaches of + the stones and fragments of statuary with which the heathen had encumbered + them. As soon as this task was finished the dead and wounded were removed; + among those who still breathed was Orpheus, the son of Karnis. Those who + had been so happy as to escape in the defence of the sanctuary and had + mingled with the crowd were besieged with questions, and all agreed that + the statue of the god was as yet inviolate. + </p> + <p> + The citizens were relieved, but ere long were startled by a new alarm; an + Ala of heavy cavalry came upon the scene, opening a way for an immensely + long procession whose chanted psalms rang out from afar, loud above the + cries and murmurs of the mob, the clatter of harness, and stamping of + horses. It was clear now where the monks had been. They were not usually + absent when there was a skirmish with the heathen; but, till this moment, + they had been seen only in twos or threes about the Serapeum. Now they + came forward shouting a psalm of triumph, their eyes glaring, wilder and + more ruthless than ever. + </p> + <p> + The Bishop marched at their head, in his vestments, under a magnificent + canopy; his lofty stature was drawn to its full height and his lips were + firmly closed. + </p> + <p> + He looked like a stern judge about to mount the tribunal to pronounce + sentence with inexorable severity on some execrable crime. + </p> + <p> + The crowd quailed. + </p> + <p> + The Bishop and the monks in the Serapeum, meant the overthrow of the + statue of the sovereign god—death and destruction. The boldest + turned pale; many who had left wife and children at home stole away to + await the end of the world with those they loved; others remained to watch + the menaced sanctuary, cursing or praying; but the greater number, men and + women alike, crowded into the temple, risking their lives to be present at + the stupendous events about to be enacted there and which promised to be a + drama of unequalled interest. + </p> + <p> + At the bottom of the ascent the Comes rode forth to meet the Bishop, + leaped from his saddle and greeted him with reverence. The Imperial legate + had not made his appearance; he had preferred to remain for the present at + the prefect’s house, intending to preside, later in the day, at the races + as the Emperor’s representative, side by side with the Prefect Evagrius—who + also kept aloof during the attack on the Serapeum. After a brief colloquy, + Romanus signed to Constantine, the captain of the cavalry; the troop + dismounted, and, led by their officer, marched up the slope that led to + the great gate of the Serapeum. They were followed by the Comes with his + staff; next to him pale and somewhat tremulous came some of the city + officials and a few Christian members of the senate; and then the Bishop—who + had preferred to come last—with all the Christian priesthood and a + crowd of chanting monks. The train was closed by a division of heavy-armed + infantry; and after them the populace rushed in, unchecked by the soldiers + who stood outside the temple. + </p> + <p> + The great halls of the Serapeum had been put in order as well as possible + in so short a time. Of all those who, the day before, had crowded in to + defend the god and his house, none were left but Porphyrius and those who + were nursing him. After a long and agonizing period of silence heavy fists + came thundering at the door. Gorgo started up to unbolt it, but Apuleius + held her back; so it was forced off its hinges and thing into the + temple-aisle on which the room opened. At the same instant a party of + soldiers entered the room and glanced round it enquiringly. + </p> + <p> + The physician turned as pale as death, and sank incapable of speech on a + seat by his patient’s couch; but Gorgo turned with calm dignity to the + centurion who led the intruders, and explained to him who she was, and + that she was here under the protection of the leech to tend her suffering + father. She concluded by asking to speak with Constantine the prefect of + cavalry, or with the Comes Romanus, to whom she and her father were well + known. + </p> + <p> + There was nothing unusual in a sick man being brought into the Serapeum + for treatment, and the calm, undoubting superiority of Gorgo’s tone as + well as the high rank of the men whose protection she appealed to, + commanded the centurion’s respectful consideration; however, his orders + were to send every one out of the temple who was not a Roman soldier, so + he begged her to wait a few minutes, and soon returned with the legate + Volcatius, the captain of his legion. This knightly patrician well knew—as + did every lover of horses—the owner of the finest stable in + Alexandria, and was quite willing to allow Gorgo and Apuleius to remain + with their patient; at the same time he warned them that a great + catastrophe was imminent. Gorgo, however, persisted in her wish to be by + her father’s side, so he left her a guard to protect them. + </p> + <p> + The soldiers were too busy to linger; instead of replacing the door they + had torn down, they pushed it out of their way; and Gorgo, seeing that her + father remained in precisely the same condition, drew back the curtain + which was all that now divided them from the hypostyle, and looked out + over the heads of a double row of soldiers. They were posted close round + the lower step of the platform that raised the hypostyle above the nave + and the colonnades on each side of it. + </p> + <p> + In the distance Gorgo could see a vast body of men slowly approaching in + detachments, and with long pauses at intervals. They stopped for some time + in the outer hall, and before they entered the basilica twenty Christian + priests came in with strange gestures and a still stranger chant; these + were exorcists, come to bann the evil spirits and daemons that must surely + haunt this high place of idolatry and abominations. They carried crosses + which they flourished like weapons against an unseen foe, and touched the + columns with them, the pavement and the few remaining statues; they fell + on their knees, making the sign of the cross with the left hand; and, + finally, they ranged themselves like soldiers in three ranks in front of + the niche containing the statue, pointed their crosses at the god, and + recited in loud, angry, and commanding tones the potent anathemas and + mysterious formulas which they thought calculated to expel the most + reprobate and obdurate of all the heathen devils. A host of acolytes, + following at their heels, swung their censers about the plague-spot—the + shrine of the king of idols; while the exorcists dipped wands into a + cauldron carried by their attendants, and sprinkled the mystical figures + on the hanging and on the mosaic pavement. + </p> + <p> + All this occupied several minutes. Then—and Gorgo’s heart beat high—then + Constantine came in, armed and equipped, and behind him an Ala of picked + men, the elite of his troop; bearded men with tanned and scarred faces. + Instead of swords they carried axes, and they were followed by sappers + bearing tall ladders which, by Constantine’s orders, they leaned up + against the niche. The infantry ranged under the colonnades at the sides + were evidently startled at the sight of these ladders, and Gorgo could + perceive by the trembling of the curtain near which she and Apuleius were + standing, how deeply the physician was agitated. It was as though the axe + had been displayed with which a king was about to be decapitated. + </p> + <p> + Now the Bishop came in with the municipal dignitaries; priests and monks, + chanting as they walked, filled the broad hall, incessantly making the + sign of the cross; and the crowd that poured into the hypostyle pressed as + far forward as they were allowed by the chain which the soldiers held + outstretched between them and their superiors. + </p> + <p> + The populace-heathen and Christian of every sect and degree-filled the + aisles, too; but the chain also kept them off the upper end, on to which + the room opened in which Porphyrius lay; so that Gorgo’s view of the + curtain and apse remained unhindered. + </p> + <p> + The psalm rang loudly through the temple-courts above the murmur and + grumble of the angry, terrified and expectant mob. They were prepared for + the worst; each one knew the crime which was to be perpetrated, and yet + few, perhaps, really believed that any one would dare to commit it. + Whichever way she looked Gorgo saw only white faces, stamped with passion, + dismay, and dread. The very priests and soldiers themselves had turned + pale, and stood with bloodless cheeks and set teeth, staring at the + ground; some, to disguise their alarm, cast wrathful and defiant glances + at the rebellious mob, who tried to drown the psalm-singing in loud + menaces and curses, and the echoes of the great building doubled their + thousand voices. + </p> + <p> + A strange unrest seethed in this dense mass of humanity. The heathen were + trembling with rage, clutching their amulets and charms, or shaking angry + fists; the Christians thrilled with anxiety and pious zeal, and used their + hands to lift the cross or to ward off the evil one with outstretched + fingers. Every face and every gesture, the muttered curses and pious hymns—all + showed that some terrible and fateful event was impending over all. Gorgo + herself felt as though she were standing on the brink of a crater, while + air and earth heaved around her; she felt and saw the eruption of the + volcano threatening, every instant, to burst at her feet, and to choke and + ruin every living thing. + </p> + <p> + The uproar among the heathen grew louder and louder; fragments of stone + and wood came flying towards the spot where the Bishop and officials were + standing; but, suddenly, the tumult ceased, and, as if by a miracle, there + was silence—perfect silence—in the temple. It was as though at + a sign from the Omnipotent Ruler the storm-lashed ocean had turned to the + calm of a land-locked lake. At a nod from the Bishop some acolytes had + stepped up to the niche where the statue of the god was shrouded and the + curtain, which till now had hidden it, slowly began to fall. + </p> + <p> + There sat Serapis, looking down in majestic indifference, as cold and + unapproachable as if his sublime dignity was far removed above the petty + doings of the crawling humanity at his feet; and the effect was as + impressive now as it had been the evening before. How beautiful—how + marvellously grand and lofty was this work of human hands! Even the + Christians could not repress a low, long-drawn murmur of surprise, + admiration, and astonishment. The heathen were at first silent, overcome + by pious awe and ecstasy; but then they broke out in a loud and triumphant + shout, and their cries of “Hail to Serapis!” “Serapis, reign forever!” + rang from pillar to pillar and echoed from the stony vault of the apse and + ceiling. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo crossed her hands over her bosom as she saw the god revealed in his + glorious beauty. Spotlessly pure, complete and perfect, the noble statue + stood before her; an idol indeed, and perishable—but still divine as + a matchless work, wrought by the loving hands of a votary of the god, + inspired by the immortals. She gazed spell-bound on the form which, though + human, transcended humanity as eternity transcends time, as the light of + the sun transcended the blazing beacon on Pharos; and she said to herself + that it was impossible that an irreverent hand should be laid on this + supremely lovely statue, crowned with the might of undying beauty. + </p> + <p> + She saw that even the Bishop drew back a step when the curtain had fallen, + and his lips parted involuntarily to utter a cry of admiration like the + others; but she saw, too, that he closed them again and pressed them more + firmly together; that his eye sparkled with a fiercer light as the shout + of the heathen rose to heaven, that the knotted veins on his high forehead + swelled with rage as he heard the cry of “Serapis, Hail, all hail!” Then + she noted the Comes, as he whispered soothing words in the prelate’s ear, + praying him perhaps to spare the statue—not as an idol, but as a + work of art; as he turned from Theophilus with a shrug; and then—her + heart stood still, and she had to cling to the curtain—he pointed to + the statue, with a nod of intelligence to Constantine. The young officer + bowed with military formality and gave a word of command to his men, which + was drowned by the wild cries of the heathen as soon as they apprehended + with dismay what its import was. + </p> + <p> + The veterans were stirred. A subaltern officer, putting the standard he + bore into the hands of the man next to him and taking his axe from him + instead, rushed towards the statue, gazed up at it—and then, letting + the axe sink, withdrew slowly to rejoin the others who still stood + hesitating, looking at each other with doubting and defiant eyes. + </p> + <p> + Once more Constantine shouted his order, louder and more positively than + before; but the men did not move. The subaltern flung his axe on the + ground and the rest followed his example, pointing eagerly to the god, and + vehemently adjuring their prefect—refusing apparently to obey his + commands—for he went to the recalcitrant standard-bearer, a + grey-haired veteran, and laying his hand on the man’s shoulder shook him + angrily, evidently threatening him and his comrades. + </p> + <p> + In these brave souls a struggle was going on, between their sense of + discipline and devotion to their fine young leader, and their awe of the + god; it was visible in their puzzled faces, in their hands raised in + supplication. Constantine, however, relentlessly repeated his order; and, + when they still refused to obey, he turned his back on their ranks with a + gesture of bitter contempt, and shouted his commands to the infantry + posted by the colonnade behind which Gorgo was watching all these + proceedings. + </p> + <p> + But these also were refractory. The heathen were triumphant, and + encouraged the soldiers with loud cries to persist. + </p> + <p> + Constantine turned once more to his own men, and finding them obstinate in + their disobedience, he went forward himself to where the ladders were + standing, moved one of them from the wall and leaned it up against the + body of the statue, seized the axe that lay nearest, and mounted from rung + to rung. The murmurs of the heathen were suddenly silenced; the multitude + were so still that the least sound of one plate of armor against another + was audible, that each man could hear his neighbor breathe, and that Gorgo + fancied she could hear her own heart throb. + </p> + <p> + The man and the god stood face to face, and the man who was about to lay + hands on the god was her lover. She watched his movements with breathless + interest; she longed to call out to him, to follow him as he mounted the + ladder, to fall on his neck and keep him from committing such sacrilege—not + out of fear of the ruin he might bring upon the world, but only because + she felt that the first blow he should deal to this beautiful and unique + work of art might wreck her love for him, as his axe would wreck the + ivory. She was not afraid for him; he seemed to her inviolable and + invulnerable; but her whole soul shuddered at the deed which he was + steeling himself to perpetrate. She remembered their happy childhood + together, his own artistic attempts, the admiration with which he had + gazed at the great works of the ancient sculptors—and it seemed + impossible that he, of all men he, should lay hands on that masterpiece, + that he, of all men, should be the one to insult, mutilate and ruin it. It + was not—could not be true! + </p> + <p> + But there he was, at the top of the ladder; he passed the axe from his + left hand to his right, and leaning back a little, looked at the head of + the god from one side. She could see his face plainly, and note every + movement and look; she watched him keenly, and saw the loving and + compassionate expression with which he fixed his gaze on the noble + features of Serapis, saw him clutch his left hand to his heart as if in + pain. The crowd below might fancy that he lacked courage, that he was + absorbed in prayer, or that his soul shrank from dealing the fateful blow + to the great divinity; but she could see that he was bidding a silent + farewell, as it were, to the sublime work of an inspired artist, which it + pained and shocked him to destroy. And this comforted her; it gave her + views of the situation a new direction, and suggested the question whether + he, a soldier and a Christian, when commanded by his superior to do this + deed ought to shrink or hesitate, if he were indeed, heart and soul, what, + after all, he was. Her eyes clung to him, as a frightened child clings to + its mother’s neck; and the expectant thousands, in an agony of suspense, + like her, saw nothing but him. + </p> + <p> + Stillness more profound never reigned in the heart of the desert than now + in this vast and densely-crowded hall. Of all man’s five senses only one + was active: that of sight; and that was concentrated on a single object a + man’s hand holding an axe. The hearts of thousands stood still, their + breath was suspended, there was a singing in their ears, a dazzling light + in their eyes—eyes that longed to see, that must see—and that + could not; thousands stood there like condemned criminals, whose heads are + on the block, who hear the executioner behind them, and who still, on the + very threshold of death, hope for respite and release. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo found no answer to her own questionings; but she, too, wanted to see—must + see. And she saw Constantine close his eyes, as though he dared not + contemplate the deed that Fate had condemned him to do; she saw him lay + his left hand on the god’s sacred beard, saw him raise his right for the + fatal blow—saw, heard, felt the axe crash again and again on the + cheek of Serapis—saw the polished ivory fall in chips and shavings, + large and small, on the stone floor, and leap up with an elastic rebound + or shiver into splinters. She covered her face with her hands and hid her + head in the curtain, weeping aloud. She could only moan and sob, and feel + nothing, think nothing but that a momentous and sinister act had been + perpetrated. An appalling uproar like the noise of thunder and the beating + of surf rose up on every side, but she heeded it not; and when at length + the physician called her by her name, when she turned from the curtain and + once more looked out, instead of the sublime image of the god she saw in + the niche a shapeless log of wood, a hideous mass against which several + ladders were propped, while the ground was heaped and strewed with scraps + of ivory, fragments of gold-plate, and chips of marble. Constantine had + disappeared; the ladders and the plinth of the statue were covered with a + swarm of soldiers and monks who were finishing the work of destruction. As + soon as the young officer had struck the first blow, and the god had + submitted in abject impotence, they had rushed upon him and saved their + captain the trouble of ending the task he had begun. + </p> + <p> + The great idol was desecrated. Serapis was no more—the heaven of the + heathen had lost its king. The worshippers of the deposed god, sullen, + furious, and bitterly disabused, made their way out of the temple and + looked up at the serene blue sky, the unclouded sunshine, for some + symptoms of an avenging tempest; but in vain. + </p> + <p> + Theophilus had also quitted the scene with the Comes, leaving the work of + devastation in the competent hands of the monks. He knew his skin-clad + adherents well; and he knew that within a very few days not an idol, not a + picture, not a token would remain intact to preserve the memory of the old + gods; a thousand slaves charged to sweep the Serapeum from the face of the + earth would have given his impatience twenty times as long to wait. The + Comes went off at once to the Hippodrome, preceded by hundreds who had + hurried off to tell the assembled multitude that Alexandria had lost her + god. + </p> + <p> + Constantine, however, had not left the temple; he had withdrawn into one + of the aisles and seated himself on the steps, where he remained, sunk in + thought and gazing at the ground. He was a soldier and took service and + discipline in earnest. What he had done he had been forced to do; but no + one could guess how hard it had been to him to fulfil this terrible duty. + His own act was abominable in his eyes, and yet he would have done it + again to-morrow, if it had again been required of him under similar + circumstances. He bewailed the beautiful statue as a lost treasure of art; + but he felt that it was indispensable that it should perish out of the + world. And at the same time he thought of Gorgo, wondering how she—who + had only the day before pledged herself to him, whom he loved with fervent + passion, to whom, as he well knew, his faith was something monstrous in + its contempt for beauty—would bear to learn that he, her lover, was + the man who, like some coarse barbarian, had defaced this noble work and + ruined this vision of beauty, no less dear to him than it was to her. + Still, as he sat brooding and searching the very depths of his soul, he + could not help feeling that he had certainly acted rightly and would do + the same again, even at the risk of losing her. To him Gorgo, was the + noblest of God’s creatures, and how could he have borne to go through life + at her side with a stain on his honor? But he did not conceal from himself + the fact that his deed had opened a wide gulf between them; and it was + with deep pathos that his thoughts recurred to the antique conception of + tragedy—of fate which pursues its innocent victims as though they + were guilty. This day perhaps would witness the sunset of his life’s joy, + would drive him forth once more to war—to fight, and do nothing but + fight, till death should meet him on the battle-field. And as he sat there + his eyes grew dim and heavy and his head fell on his heaving breast. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and turning round, he saw + Gorgo standing with her hand outstretched; he started to his feet, seized + it with eager passion and looking sadly into the young girl’s eyes said, + with deep emotion: + </p> + <p> + “I would I might hold this hand forever—but you will leave me, you + will turn from me when I tell you of the deed that mine has done.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” she said firmly. “And it was a hard task even for you—a + painful duty—was it not?” + </p> + <p> + “Terrible! horrible!” he exclaimed with a shudder, as he recalled the + feelings of that momentous instant. She looked sympathetically into his + eyes. + </p> + <p> + “And you did it,” she cried, “because you felt that you must and will be + wholly what you profess to be? It is right—the only right; I feel it + so. I will try to imitate you, and rise above the half-heartedness which + is the bane of existence, and which makes the firm path of life a + trembling, swaying bridge. I am yours, wholly yours; I have none other + gods but yours, and for love of you I will learn to love your God—for + you have often and often called him a God of Love.” + </p> + <p> + “And He is a God of Love!” cried Constantine, “and you will know him and + confess him even without teaching; for our Saviour lives in every heart + that is filled with love. Oh! Gorgo, I have destroyed that beautiful idol, + but I will let you see that even a Christian can duly value and cherish + beauty in his home and in his heart.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure of it,” she exclaimed joyfully. “The world goes on its way and + does not quake, in spite of the fall of Serapis; but I feel as though in + my inmost soul a world had perished and a new one was created, nobler and + purer, and perhaps even more lovely than the old one!” + </p> + <p> + He pressed her hand to his lips; she signed to him to follow her and led + the way to her father’s couch. Porphyrius was sitting up, supported in the + physician’s arms; his eyes were open, and as they entered he greeted them + with a faint smile. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV. + </h2> + <p> + The spacious Hippodrome was filled with some thousands of spectators. At + first many rows of seats had been left vacant, though usually on the eve + of the great races, the people would set out soon after midnight and every + place would be filled long before the games began; indeed the upper tiers + of the tribune, which were built of wood and were free to all comers, with + standing-room behind, were commonly so crowded early in the morning that + the crush ended in a free fight. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion, the storm of the previous night, the anxiety caused by + the conflict round the Serapeum, and the prevalent panic as to the + approaching end of the world, kept great numbers away from their favorite + diversion; but when the sky recovered its radiant blue, and when it became + known that the statue of Serapis had escaped uninjured in the siege of his + sanctuary—when Cynegius, the Imperial legate, and Evagrius, the + city-prefect, had entered the theatre with much pomp, followed by several + senators and ladies and gentlemen of rank-Christians, Heathen, and Jews—the + most timid took courage; the games had been postponed for an hour, and + before the first team was led into the arched shed whence the chariots + started, the seats, though less densely packed than usual, were amply + filled. + </p> + <p> + The number of chariots entered for competition was by no means smaller + than on former occasions, for the heathen had strained every nerve to show + their fellow-citizens of different creeds, and especially Caesar’s + representative, that, in spite of persecution and in defiance of Imperial + edicts, they were still a power worthy of consideration. The Christians, + on their part, did their utmost to outdo the idolaters on the same ground + where, not long since, they had held quite the second place. + </p> + <p> + The Bishop’s epigram: That Christianity had ceased to be the religion of + the poor, was amply confirmed; the greater proportion of the places for + senators, officials and rich citizens were occupied by its adherents, and + the men and women who professed the Faith were by no means behind their + heathen peers in magnificence of dress and jewels. + </p> + <p> + The horses, too, entered by the Christians could not fail to please the + connoisseur, as they punctually made their appearance behind the + starting-place, though he might have felt more confidence—and not + without reason—in the heathen steeds, and more particularly in their + drivers, each of whom had won on an average nine races out of ten. + </p> + <p> + The horses in the quadriga with which Marcus, the son of Mary, made his + appearance in the arena had never before been driven in the Hippodrome. + Demetrius, the owner’s brother, had bred and trained them—four + magnificent black Arabs—and they excited much interest among the + knowing judges who were wont to collect and lounge about the ‘oppidum’, as + it was called, behind the ‘carceres’—[The covered sheds or stalls in + which the horses were brought to wait for the start.]—to inspect the + racers, predict the winner, offer counsel to the drivers, and make bets. + These perfect creatures were perhaps as fine as the famous team of golden + bays belonging to Iphicrates, which so often had proved victorious; but + the agitatores, or drivers, attracted even more interest than the horses. + Marcus, though he knew how to handle the reins—he had already been + seen in experimental races—could hardly hold his own against + Hippias, the handsome young heathen, who, like most of the drivers in the + arena, was an agitator by profession. A story was told of his having + driven over a bridge which was not quite as wide as the outside edges of + his chariot-wheels; and there were many witnesses to the feat he had + performed of writing his mistress’ name with his chariot-tracks in the + sand of the Hippodrome. + </p> + <p> + The betting was freest and the wagers highest on Hippias and the team + belonging to Iphicrates. Some few backed Marcus and his Arabs, but for + smaller sums; and when they compared the tall but narrow-shouldered figure + of the young Christian with the heroic breadth of Hippias’ frame, and his + delicate features, dreamy blue eyes and downy black moustache with the + powerful Hermes-head of his rival, they were anxious about their money. If + his brother now, the farmer Demetrius—who was standing by the + horses’ heads—or some well-known agitator had held the reins, it + would have been a pleasure and a profit to back such horses. Marcus had + been abroad, too, and men shrugged their shoulders over that, for it was + not till the last few days that he had been seen exercising his horses in + the Hippodrome. + </p> + <p> + Time was going on, and the Imperial envoy, who had been elected to preside + as judge, at length took his place; Demetrius whispered a few last words + of advice to his brother and went back into the arena. He had secured a + good place on the stone podium and on the shady side, though there were + several seats vacant among those belonging to his family; but he did not + care to occupy one of these, preferring to keep out of the way of his + step-mother, who had made her appearance with a senator and his wife to + whom she was related. He had not seen her for two days; his promise to + Karnis that he would try to find Dada, had kept him fully occupied, and he + had done his best in all earnest to discover the girl. + </p> + <p> + The honest indignation with which this young creature had refused his + splendid offers, in spite of the modest circumstances of her life, had + roused his respect, and he had felt it an insult to himself and to his + brother when Gorgo had spoken of her with contempt. For his part, he had + never met with any one more fascinating; he could not cease dreaming of + her, and the thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of a + great city made him miserable. His brother had the first claim on her and + he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly in every + resort of the young and gay—nay even in Canopus—he had only + meant to place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being + lost to the family, though, when at last its possession is secured, it + becomes the property of the member who can prove the best right of + ownership. But all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an unhappy + mood that he went at last to the Hippodrome. There the bitter hostility + and party-feeling which he had everywhere observed during his present + visit to his native city, were not less conspicuous than they had been in + the streets. The competing chariots usually arrived at the amphitheatre in + grand procession, but this had not been thought advisable in the + prevailing excitement; they had driven into the oppidum singly and without + any display; and the images of the gods, which in former days had always + been placed on the spina before the games began, had long since fallen + into disuse. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The spina was the division down the middle of the arena. At each + end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of + about 13 feet. The spina was originally constructed of wood, + subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29 + feet. The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet + long.] +</pre> + <p> + All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat it was + in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of spectators. + </p> + <p> + His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins + which was reserved for the family. Her tunic and skirt displayed the color + blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and silver + brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and the + olive-branch were elegantly combined. Her black hair was closely and + simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string of + large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals, lying + on her forehead. A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat gazing + into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were folded and + held a cross. This placid and demure attitude she deemed becoming to a + Christian matron and widow. Everyone might see that she had not come for + worldly pleasure, but merely to be present at a triumph of her + fellow-Christians—and especially her son—over the idolaters. + Everything about her bore witness to the Faith, even the pattern on her + dress and the shape of her ornaments; down to the embroidery on her silk + gloves, in which a cross and an anchor were so designed as to form a Greek + X, the initial letter of the name of Christ. Her ambition was to appear + simple and superior to all worldly vanities; still, all she wore must be + rich and costly, for she was here to do honor to her creed. She would have + regarded it as a heathen abomination to wear wreaths of fresh and fragrant + flowers, though for the money which that string of pearls had cost she + might have decked the circus with garlands from end to end, or have fed a + hundred poor for a twelvemonth. It seems so much easier to cheat the + omniscient Creator of the Universe than our fellow-fools! + </p> + <p> + So Dame Maria sat there in sour and virtuous dignity, looking like the + Virgin Mary as painters and sculptors were at that time wont to represent + her; and her farmer-son shuddered whenever his eye fell on his + step-mother. It did him good, by contrast, to hear a hearty peal of + laughter that came up from the lowest ranks of the podium. When he had + discovered the spot from whence it proceeded he could hardly believe his + eyes, for there sat the long-sought Dada, between an old man and a young + woman, laughing as though something had just occurred to amuse her + extremely. Demetrius stretched his limbs with a feeling of relief and + satisfaction; then he rose, and seeing his city agent seated just behind + the girl, he begged him to change places with him, as he thought it + advisable not to lose sight of the game now it was caught; the old man was + very ready to oblige him and went up to the other seat with a meaning + smile. + </p> + <p> + For the first time since she could recollect anything Dada had spent a + sleepless night. Whether the wind and thunder would have sufficed to keep + her awake who can tell; but the thoughts that had whirled through her + brain had been varied and exciting enough to rob her of sleep. Her own + people who were fighting for Serapis—how were they faring; and Agne—what + had become of her? Then her mind turned to the church, and the worthy old + priest’s sermon; to the races that she was to see—and the face and + figure of the handsome young Christian rose vividly and irresistibly + before her fancy. Of course—of course, she wished his horses to win; + but it was strange enough that she, Karnis’ niece, should be on the side + of the Christians. Stranger still that she had entirely ceased to believe + in all the abuse which, from her earliest childhood, she had heard heaped + on the followers of the crucified Jew. It could only be that Karnis had + never been able to forgive them for having ruined his theatre at + Tauromenium, and so, perhaps, had never known them thoroughly. + </p> + <p> + She had enjoyed many a happy hour at the festivals of the old gods; and + they were no doubt beautiful and festive divinities, or terrible when they + were wroth; still, in the depths of her soul there had for some time + lurked a vague, sweet longing which found no fulfilment in any heathen + temple. She knew no name for it and would have found it hard to describe, + but in the church, listening to the prayers and hymns and the old deacon’s + discourse, it had for the first time been stilled; she had felt then and + there that, helpless and simple as she was, and even if she were to remain + parted from her foster parents, she need never feel abandoned, but could + rest and hope in a supreme, loving, and helpful power. And indeed she + needed such a protector; she was so easily beguiled. Stephanion, a + flute-player she had known in Rome, had wheedled everything she had a + fancy for out of poor Dada, and when she had got into any mischief laid it + all on Dada’s shoulders. There must be something particularly helpless + about her, for everyone, as a matter of course, took her in hand and + treated her like a child, or said things that made her angry. + </p> + <p> + In the Hippodrome, however, she forgot everything in the present pleasure, + and was happy enough in finding herself in the lowest row of places, in + the comfortable seats on the shady side, belonging to Posidonius, the + wealthy Magian. This was quite different from her experience in Rome, + where once, in the Circus Maximus, she had stood in the second tier of the + wooden gallery and had been squeezed and pushed, while no one had taken + any notice of her and she had only seen the races from a distance, looking + down on the heads of the men and horses. Herse never would take her a + second time, for, as they came out, they had been followed and spoken to + by men, young and old; and after that her aunt had fancied she never could + be safe, scenting danger at every turn, and would not allow her ever again + to go out alone in the city. + </p> + <p> + This was altogether a much finer place, for here she was parted from the + race-course only by a narrow watercourse which, as it happened, was + bridged over just in front of her; the horses would pass close to her; and + besides, it was pleasant to be seen and to feel conscious of a thousand + flattering glances centered on herself. + </p> + <p> + Even the great Cynegius, Caesar’s envoy and deputy, who had often noticed + her on board ship, turned again and again to look at her. He was carried + in on a golden litter by ten huge negroes, preceded by twelve lictors + bearing fasces wreathed with laurel; and he took his seat, robed in purple + and embroidery, on a magnificent throne in the middle of the tribune above + the starting sheds; however, Dada troubled herself no more about the + overdressed old man. + </p> + <p> + Her eyes were everywhere, and she made Medius or his daughter name + everybody and explain everything. Demetrius was delighted with her eager + enjoyment; presently, nudging the singer, she whispered to him with much + satisfaction: + </p> + <p> + “Look how the people down below are craning their necks to look at us! My + dress is so very pretty—I wonder where your friend Posidonius gets + these lovely roses. There are above a hundred buds in this garland across + my shoulders and down to my girdle, I counted them in the litter as I came + along. It is a pity they should die so soon; I shall dry the leaves and + make scent of them.” + </p> + <p> + Demetrius could not resist the temptation; he leaned forward and said over + her shoulder: “There are hardly enough for that.” + </p> + <p> + At this unexpected address Dada looked round, and she blushed as she + recognized Marcus’ brother; he, however, hastened to assure her that he + deeply regretted his audacious proposals of two days since, and the girl + laughed, and said that he had come off worst, and that she might have sent + him away a little more civilly perhaps; but the truth was she had been out + of temper to begin with—any one would be cross that was treated as + Dame Herse had treated her: hiding her shoes and leaving her a prisoner on + the deck of a barge in the middle of a lake! Then she introduced him to + Medius, and finally enquired about Marcus and his horses, and whether he + had any chance of winning the race. + </p> + <p> + The countryman answered all her questions; and when, presently, a + flower-girl came along the ranks of seats, selling wreaths of blue and red + flowers and ribbands, Demetrius bought two lovely olive-wreaths to fling + to the winner—his brother he hoped. Medius and his daughter wore red + knots—the color of the Heathen, and Dada, following their example, + had a similar bow on her shoulder; now, however, she accepted a blue + ribband that Demetrius bought for her and pinned it in the place of the + red one as being the color of Marcus, to the old singer’s great annoyance. + Demetrius laughed loudly in his deep bass tones, declaring that his + brother was already most anxious to win, and that, when he saw her with + these ribbands he would strain every nerve, in gratitude for her + partisanship. He could assure her that Marcus thought of her constantly. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad of that,” she said simply; and she added that it was the same + with her, for she had been thinking all night of Marcus and his horses. + Medius could not help remarking that Karnis and Herse would take it very + ill that she should display the Christian color to-day of all days; to + which she only replied that she was sorry for that, but that she liked + blue better than red. The answer was so abrupt and short that it startled + Demetrius, who had hitherto seen Dada gentle and pliant; and it struck him + at once how deep an aversion the girl felt for her present protectors. + </p> + <p> + There was music, as usual, in the towers at either end of the row of + carceres; but it was less stirring and cheerful than of yore, for flutes, + and several of the heathen airs had been prohibited. Formerly, too, the + Hippodrome had been a place where lovers could meet and where many a + love-affair had been brought to a happy climax; but to-day none of the + daughters of the more respectable families were allowed to quit the + women’s apartments in their own homes, for danger was in the air; the + course of events in the Serapeum had kept many of the younger men from + witnessing the races, and some mysterious influence seemed to weigh upon + the gaiety and mirth of which the Hippodrome on a gala day was usually the + headquarters. + </p> + <p> + Wild excitement, expectation strung to the highest pitch, and + party-feeling, both for and against, had always, of course, been rife + here; but to-day they were manifest in an acuter form—hatred had + added its taint and lent virulence to every emotion. The heathen were + oppressed and angered, their rights abridged and defied; they saw the + Christians triumphant at every point, and hatred is a protean monster + which rages most fiercely and most venomously when it has lurked in the + foul career of envy. + </p> + <p> + The Christians could hate, too, and they hated the idolaters who gloried + with haughty self-sufficiency in their intellectual inheritance; the + traditions of a brilliant past. They, who had been persecuted and + contemned, now had the upper hand; they were in power, and the more + insolently they treated their opponents, the more injustice they did them, + and the less the victimized heathen were able to revenge themselves, the + more bitterly did the Christians detest the party they contemned as + superstitious idolaters. In their care for the soul—the spiritual + and divine part—the Christians had hitherto neglected the graces of + the body; thus the heathen had remained the undisputed masters of the + palaestra and the hippodrome. In the gymnasium the Christian refused even + to compete, for the exhibition of his naked body he regarded as an + abomination; but on the race-course he had lately been willing to display + his horses, and many times had disputed the crown with the hereditary + victors, so that, even here, the heathen felt his time-honored and + undisputed supremacy endangered. This was intolerable—this must be + averted—the mere thought of being beaten on this ground roused the + idolaters to wrath and malice. They displayed their color in wreaths of + scarlet poppies, pomegranate flowers and red roses, with crimson ribbands + and dresses; white and green, the colors formerly adopted by the + competitors, were abandoned; for all the heathen were unanimous in + combining their forces against the common foe. The ladies used red + sun-shades and the very baskets, in which the refreshments were brought + for the day, were painted red. + </p> + <p> + The widow Mary, on the other hand, and all the Christians were robed in + blue from head to foot, their sandals being tied with blue ribbands; and + Dada’s blue shoulder-knot was in conspicuous contrast to her bright + rose-colored dress. + </p> + <p> + The vendors of food who wandered round the circus had eggs dyed blue and + red, cakes with sugared icing and refreshing drinks in jars of both + colors. When a Christian and a Heathen found themselves seated side by + side, each turned a shoulder to the other, or, if they were forced to sit + face to face, eyed each other with a scowl. + </p> + <p> + Cynegius did all he could to postpone the races as long as possible; he + was anxious to wait till the Comes had finished his task in the Serapeum, + so that the troops might be free to act in any emergency that might arise + before the contests in the Hippodrome were fairly ended. Time did not hang + heavy on his hands for the vast multitude here assembled interested him + greatly, though he had frequently been a spectator of similar festivities + in Rome and Constantinople; but this crowd differed in many particulars + from the populace of those cities. In the topmost tiers of free seats + black and brown faces predominated greatly over white ones; in the + cushioned and carpeted ranks of the stone podium—the lower portion + of the amphitheatre—mingled with Greeks and Egyptians, sat thousands + of splendidly dressed men and women with strongly-marked Semitic features: + members of the wealthy Jewish community, whose venerable head, the + Alabarch, a dignified patriarch in Greek dress, sat with the chief members + of the senate, near the envoy’s tribune. + </p> + <p> + The Alexandrians were not a patient race and they were beginning to rebel + against the delay, making no small noise and disturbance, when Cynegius + rose and with his white handkerchief waved the signal for the races to + begin. The number of spectators had gradually swelled from fifty to sixty + and to eighty thousand; and no less than thirty-six chariots were waiting + behind the carceres ready to start. + </p> + <p> + Four ‘missus’ or races were to be run. In each of the three first twelve + chariots were to start, and in the fourth only the leaders in the three + former ones were to compete. The winner of the olive-wreath and palmbranch + in this final heat would bear the honors of the day; his party would be + victorious and he would quit the Hippodrome in triumph. + </p> + <p> + Lots were now drawn in the oppidum to decide which shed each chariot was + to start from, and in which naissus each was to run. It was Marcus’ fate + to start among the first lot, and, to the horror of those who had backed + his chances, Hippias, the hero of the Hippodrome, was his rival, with the + four famous bays. + </p> + <p> + Heathen priests poured libations to Poseidon, and Phoebus Apollo, the + patron divinities of horses and of the Hippodrome—for sacrifices of + blood were prohibited; while Christian presbyters and exorcists blessed + the rival steeds in the name of the Bishop. A few monks had crept in, but + they were turned out by the heathen with bitter jeers, as unbidden + intruders. + </p> + <p> + Cynegius repeated his signal. The sound of the tuba rang through the air, + and the first twelve chariots were led into the starting-sheds. A few + minutes later a machine was set in motion by which a bronze eagle was made + to rise with outspread wings high into the air, from an altar in front of + the carceres; this was the signal for the chariots to come forth from + their boxes. They took up their positions close behind a broad chalk line, + traced on the ground with diagonal slope, so as to reduce the disadvantage + of standing outermost and having a larger curve to cover. + </p> + <p> + Until this moment only the privileged possessors of the seats over the + carceres had been able, by craning backwards, to see the horses and + drivers; now the competitors were visible to the multitude which, at their + first appearance, broke out into vociferous applause. The agitatores had + to exert all their strength to hold in the startled and eager teams, and + make them stand even for a few short minutes; then Cynegius signalled for + the third time. A golden dolphin, which had been suspended from a beam, + and on which the eye of every charioteer was fixed, dropped to the ground, + a blast on the ‘salpinx’, or war-trumpet, was sounded, and forty-eight + horses flew forth as though thrown forward by one impulsion. + </p> + <p> + The strength of four fine horses whirled each light, two-wheeled chariot + over the hard causeway as though it were a toy. The down-pour of the + previous night had laid the dust; the bright sunshine sparkled and danced + in rapidly-changing flashes, mirrored in the polished gilding of the + bronze or the silver fittings of the elegantly-decorated, semicircular + cars in which the drivers stood. + </p> + <p> + Five blue and seven red competitors had drawn the first lots. The eye + rested with pleasure on the sinewy figures whose bare feet seemed rooted + to the boards they stood on, while their eyes were riveted on the goal + they were striving to reach, though—as the eye of the archer sees + arrow, bow and mark all at once—they never lost sight of the horses + they were guiding. A close cap with floating ribbands confined their hair, + and they wore a short sleeveless tunic, swathed round the body with wide + bands, as if to brace their muscles and add to their strength. The reins + were fastened around the hips so as to leave the hands free, not only to + hold them but also to ply the whip and use the goad. Each charioteer had a + knife in his girdle, to enable him to release himself, in case of + accident, from a bond that might prove fatal. + </p> + <p> + Before long the bay team was leading alone. Behind were two Christian + drivers, followed by three red chariots; Marcus was last of all, but it + was easy to see that it was by choice and not by necessity that he was + hanging back. He was holding in his fiery team with all his strength and + weight—his body thrown back, his feet firmly set with his knees + against the silver bar of the chariot, and his hands gripping the reins. + In a few minutes he came flying past Dada and his brother, but he did not + see them. He had not even caught sight of his own mother, while the + professional charioteers had not failed to bow to Cynegius and nod to + their friends. He could only keep his eyes and mind fixed on his horses + and on the goal. + </p> + <p> + The multitude clapped, roared, shouted encouragement to their party, + hissed and whistled when they were disappointed—venting their utmost + indignation on Marcus as he came past behind the others; but he either + heard them not or would not hear. Dada’s heart beat so wildly that she + thought it would burst. She could not sit still; she started to her feet + and then flung herself back on her cushions, shouting some spurring words + to Marcus in the flash of time when he might perhaps hear them. When he + had passed, her head fell and she said sadly enough: “Poor fellow!—We + have bought our wreaths for nothing after all, Demetrius!” + </p> + <p> + But Demetrius shook his head and smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” he said, “the boy has iron sinews in that slight body. Look how he + holds the horses in! He is saving their strength till they need it. Seven + times, child, seven times he has to go round this great circus and past + the ‘nyssa’. You will see, he will catch up what he has lost, yet. + Hippias, you see, is holding in his horses, too; it is his way of giving + himself airs at starting. Now he is close to the ‘nyssa’—the + ‘kampter’—the ‘meta’ they call it at Rome; the smaller the bend he + can make round it the better for him, but it is risky work. There—you + see!—They drive round from right to left and that throws most of the + work on the lefthand beast; it has to turn almost in its own length. Aura, + our first horse, is as supple as a panther and I trained her to do it, + myself.—Now, look out there! that bronze figure of a rearing horse—the + ‘Taraxippos’ they call it—is put there to frighten the horses, and + Megaera, our third horse, is like a mad thing sometimes, though she can go + like a stag; every time Marcus gets her quietly past the Taraxippos we are + nearer to success.—Look, look,=-the first chariot has got round the + nyssa! It is Hippias! Yes, by Zeus, he has done it! He is a detestable + braggart, but he knows his business!” + </p> + <p> + This was one of the decisive moments of the race. The crowd was silent; + expectation was at the utmost pitch of tension, and Dada’s eyes were fixed + spell-bound on the obelisk and on the quadrigas that whirled round the + bourn. + </p> + <p> + Next to Hippias came a blue team, and close behind were three red ones. + The Christian who had succeeded in reaching the nyssa second, boldly took + his horses close round the obelisk, hoping to gain space and get past + Hippias; but the left wheel of his chariot grazed the granite plinth, the + light car was overset, and the horses of the red chariot, whose noses were + almost on his shoulder, could not be pulled up short in time. They fell + over the Christian’s team which rolled on the ground; the red chariot, + too, turned over, and eight snorting beasts lay struggling in the sand. + </p> + <p> + The horses in the next chariot bolted as they were being driven past this + mass of plunging and neighing confusion; they defied their driver’s + impotent efforts and galloped across the course back into the caiceres. + </p> + <p> + The rest had time and space enough to beware of the wreck and to give it a + wide berth, among them Marcus. The melee at the Meta had excited his + steeds almost beyond control, and as they tore past the Taraxippos the + third horse, Megaera, shied violently as Demetrius had predicted. She + flung herself on one side, thrust her hind quarters under the pole, and + kicked desperately, lifting the chariot quite off the ground; the young + charioteer lost his footing and slipped. Dada covered her face with her + hands, and his mother turned pale and knit her brows with apprehension. + The youth was still standing; his feet were on the sand of the arena; but + he had a firm grip on the right-hand spiral ornament that terminated the + bar round the chariot. Many a heart stood still with anxiety, and shouts + of triumph and mockery broke from the red party; but in less than half a + minute, by an effort of strength and agility, he had his knees on the + foot-board, and then, in the winking of an eye, he was on his feet in the + chariot, had gathered up the reins and was rushing onward. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, however, Hippias had far outstripped all the rest, and as he + flew past the carceres he checked his pace, snatched a cup from a + lemonade-seller, tossed the contents down his throat with haughty audacity + amid the plaudits of the crowd, and then dashed on again. A wide gap, + indeed, still lay between him and Marcus. + </p> + <p> + By the time the competitors again came round to the nyssa, the slaves in + attendance had cleared away the broken chariots and led off the horses. A + Christian still came next to Hippias followed by a red agitator; Marcus + had gained on the others and was now fourth. + </p> + <p> + In the third round the chariot of the red driver in front of Marcus made + too sharp a turn and ran up against the granite. The broken car was + dragged on by the terrified beasts, and the charioter with it, till, by + the time they were stopped, he was a corpse. In the fifth circuit the + Christian who till now had been second to Hippias shared the same fate, + though he escaped with his life; and then Marcus drove past the + starting-sheds next to Hippias. + </p> + <p> + Hippias had ceased to flout and dally. In spite of the delay that Marcus + had experienced from the Taraxippos, the space that parted his bays from + the black Arabs had sensibly diminished, round after round; and the + interest of the race now centered entirely in him and the young Christian. + Never before had so passionate and reckless a contest been fought out on + this venerable race-course, and the throng of spectators were carried away + by the almost frenzied rivalry of the two drivers. Not a creature in the + upper tiers had been able to keep his seat; men and women alike had risen + to their feet and were shouting and roaring to the competitors. The music + in the towers might have ceased, so completely was it drowned by the + tumult in the amphitheatre. + </p> + <p> + Only the ladies, in the best places above the starting-sheds, preserved + their aristocratic calm; Still, when the seventh and decisive round was + begun, even the widow Mary leaned forward a little and clasped her hands + more tightly over the cross in her lap. Each time that Marcus had driven + round the obelisk or past the Taraxippos, Dada had clutched her head with + her hands and set her teeth in her lip; each time, as he happily steered + clear of the fatal stone and whirled past the dreadful bronze statue, she + had relaxed her grip and leaned back in her seat with a sigh of relief. + Her sympathy made her one with Marcus; she felt as if his loss must be her + death and his victory her personal triumph. + </p> + <p> + During the sixth circuit Hippias was still a long way ahead of the young + Christian; the distance which lay between Marcus and the team of bays + seemed to have become a fixed quantity, for, do what he could, he could + not diminish it by a hand-breadth. The two agitatores had now completely + altered their tactics; instead of holding their horses in they urged them + onward, leaning over the front of their chariots, speaking to the horses, + Shouting at them with hoarse, breathless cries, and flogging them + unsparingly. Steamy sweat and lathering foam streaked the flanks of the + desperate, laboring brutes, while clouds of dust were flung up from the + dry, furrowed and trampled soil. The other chariots were left further and + further behind those of Hippias and Marcus, and when, for the seventh and + last time, these two were nearing the nyssa, the crowd for a moment held + its breath, only to break out into louder and wilder cries, and then again + to be hushed. It seemed as though their exhausted lungs found renewed + strength to shout with double energy when their excitement had kept them + silent for a while. + </p> + <p> + Dada spoke no more; pale and gasping, she sat with her eyes fixed on the + tall obelisk and on the cloud of dust which, as the chariots neared the + nyssa, seemed to grow denser. At about a hundred paces from the nyssa she + saw, above the sandy curtain, the red cap of Hippias flash past, and then—close + behind it—the blue cap worn by Marcus. Then a deafening, thundering + roar from thousands of throats went up to heaven, while, round the obelisk—so + close to it that not a horse, not a wheel could have found room between + the plinth and the driver-the blue cap came forward out of the cloud, and, + behind it now—no longer in front, though not more than a length + behind—came the red cap of Hippias. When within a few feet of the + nyssa, Marcus had overtaken his antagonist, had passed the point with a + bold and perilously close turn, and had left the bays behind him. + </p> + <p> + Demetrius saw it all, as though his eye had power to pierce the + dust-cloud, and now he, too, lost his phlegmatic calm. He threw up his + arms as if in prayer and shouted, as though his brother could hear him: + </p> + <p> + “Well done, splendid boy! Now for the kentron—the goad—drive + it in, send it home if they die for it! Give it them well!” + </p> + <p> + Dada, who could only guess what was happening, looked round at him, asking + in tremulous tones: “Has he passed him? Is he gaining on him? Will he + win?” But Demetrius did not answer; he only pointed to the foremost of the + flying clouds on which the second was fast advancing, and cried in a + frenzy of excitement: + </p> + <p> + “Death and Hades! The other is catching him up. The dog, the sneak! If + only the boy would use his goad. Give it them, Marcus! Give it them, lad! + Never give in now! Great Father Poseidon!—there—there!—no! + I can hardly stand—Yes, he is still in front, and now—now—this + must settle it! Thunder and lightning! They are close together again—may + the dust choke him! No—it is all right; my Arabs are in front! All + is well, keep it up, lad, well done! We have won!” + </p> + <p> + The horses were pulled up, the dust settled; Marcus, the Christian, had + won the first missus. Cynegius held out the crown to the victor, who bowed + to receive it. Then he waved his hand to his mother, who graciously waved + hers in return, and he drove into the oppidurn and was lost to sight. + </p> + <p> + Hippias flung down his whip in a rage, but the triumphant shouts of the + Christians drowned the music, the trumpet-blasts and the angry murmurs of + the defeated heathen. Threatening fists were shaken in the air, while + behind the carceres the drivers and owners of the red party scolded, + squabbled and stormed; and Hippias, who by his audacious swagger had given + away the race to their hated foe—to the Blues, the Christians—narrowly + escaped being torn in pieces. + </p> + <p> + The tumult and excitement were unparalleled; but Dada saw and heard + nothing. She sat in a blissful dream, gazing into her lap, while tears of + joyful reaction rolled down her cheeks. Demetrius saw her tears and was + glad; then, pointing out Mary to the girl, he informed her that she was + the mother of Marcus. And he registered a secret vow that, cost what it + might, he would bring his victorious brother and this sweet child + together. + </p> + <p> + The second and third missus, like the first, were marked by serious + accidents; both, however, were won for the Red party. In the fourth, the + decisive race, there were but three competitors: Marcus and the two + heathen winners. Demetrius watched it with less anxiety; he knew that his + Arabs were far superior to the Egyptian breed in staying power, and they + also had the advantage of having had a longer rest. In fact, the final + victory was adjudged to the young Christian. + </p> + <p> + Long before it was decided Dada had been impatiently fingering her + wreaths, and could hardly wait any longer to fling them into Marcus’ + chariot. When it was all over she might perhaps have an opportunity of + speaking to him; and she thought how delightful his voice was and what + fine, kind eyes he had. If only he were to bid her be his, she would + follow him whither and wherever he desired, whatever Karnis and Herse + might say to the contrary. She thought no one could be so glad of his + success as she was; she felt as if she belonged to him, had always + belonged to him, and only some spiteful trick of Fate had come between + them. + </p> + <p> + There was a fresh blast of trumpets; the victor, in obedience to a + time-honored custom, was to drive round the arena at a foot-pace and show + his brave team to the multitude. He came nearer and nearer, and Demetrius + proposed that they should cross the little watercourse that parted the + podium from the arena and follow the chariot, so as to give his brother + the wreaths instead of flinging them to him. The girl colored and could + say neither yes or no; but she rose, hung one of the olive-crowns on her + arm with a happy, bashful smile, and handed the other to her new friend; + then she followed him across the little bridge on to the race-course + which, now that the games were over, was crowded with Christians. + </p> + <p> + The brothers exchanged pleased greetings from afar, but Marcus did not see + Dada till she was close to him and stood, with a shy but radiant glance of + intense delight, holding out the olive-wreath for his acceptance. He felt + as though Heaven had wrought a miracle in his favor. Never before had he + thought her half so lovely. She seemed to have grown since he had seen her + last, to have gained a deeper and nobler expression; and he observed, too, + the blue favors on her shoulder and among the roses that crowned her fair + curls. Gladness and surprise prevented his speaking; but he took the + garland she offered him and, seizing her hands, stammered out: “Thanks—thank + you, Dada.” + </p> + <p> + Their eyes met, and as he gazed into her face he forgot where he was, did + not even wonder why his brother had suddenly turned away and, beginning + some long-winded speech, had rushed after a man who hastily covered his + head and tried to escape; he did not notice that thousands of eyes were + fixed on him, and among them his mother’s; he could merely repeat: + “thanks” and “Dada”—the only words he could find. He would perhaps + have gone on repeating them, but that he was interrupted; the ‘porta + libitinaria’—the gate through which the dead or injured were usually + carried out, was thrown open, and a rabble of infuriated heathen rushed + in, crying: “Serapis is fallen! They have destroyed the image of Serapis! + The Christians are ruining the sanctuaries of the gods!” + </p> + <p> + A sudden panic seized the assembled multitude; the Reds rushed down from + their places into the arena to hear the details and ask questions—ready + to fight for the god or to fly for safety. In an instant the victor’s + chariot was surrounded by an angry mob; Dada clutched it for protection, + and Marcus, without pausing to reflect—indeed hardly master of his + own actions—turned and lifted her into it by his side; then, urging + his horses forward, he forced a way through the crowd, past the caiceres. + He glanced anxiously up at the seats but could nowhere see his mother, so + he guided the exhausted beasts, steaming with sweat and dappled with foam, + through the open gate and out of the circus. His stable-slaves had run + after him; he released himself from the reins on his hips and flung them + to the grooms. Then he helped Dada to leap from the car. + </p> + <p> + “Will you come with me?” he asked her simply; and the girl’s reply was: + “Wherever you bid me.” + </p> + <p> + At the news that Serapis was overthrown Dame Mary had started from her + seat with eager haste that ill-became her dignity and, under the + protection of the body-guard in attendance on Cynegius, had found her way + to her litter. + </p> + <p> + In the Hippodrome the tumult rose to a riot; Reds and Blues rushed from + the upper tiers, down the ranks of the podium and into the dusty + race-course; falling on each other tooth and nail like wild beasts; and + the bloody fray—no uncommon termination to the day, even in more + peaceful times—lasted till the Imperial soldiery parted the unarmed + combatants. + </p> + <p> + The Bishop was triumphant; his adherents had won the day at every point; + nor was he sorry to learn that Olympius, Helladius, Ainmonius and many + other spiritual leaders of the heathen world had succeeded in escaping. + They might come back; they might preach and harangue as much as they + chose: their power was broken. The Church had nothing now to fear from + them, and their philosophy and learning would still and always be valuable + in the mental training of her priests. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI. + </h2> + <p> + The great Hippodrome of Alexandria was outside the Canopic gate, on the + northern side of the road leading to Eleusis which to-day was crowded with + passengers, all moving in the same direction. The tumult roused by the + intelligence that Serapis was overthrown made all the more peaceful and + peace-loving of the spectators hurry homewards; and as these, for the most + part, were of the richer classes, who came and went in litters or + chariots, their conveyances left but scanty space on the wide causeway for + foot passengers, still, there they were, in considerable numbers, all + wending their way towards the city, and the heathen who came rushing + towards the Hippodrome behind the first heralds of the disaster, had great + difficulty in making their way against the stream. + </p> + <p> + Marcus and Dada allowed themselves to be carried onward by the throng + which was tending towards the city-walls and the Canopic gate. Phabis, + Mary’s old steward, whose duty it had been to help his young master to + dress after the races were over, had snatched the agitator’s cap from the + youth’s head and flung a cloak over his shoulders, hastily following him + as he went off with the young girl by his side. The old man quite + understood what was in the wind for he it was who had conducted Dame Herse + to his mistress’ presence. He had thought her a shrewd and kind-hearted + woman, and it now struck him that she must certainly have been in the + right when she accused Marcus of designs on her pretty niece. At the time + he had refused to believe it, for he had never in his life detected his + young master in any underhand or forbidden courses; but, after all, Marcus + was his father’s son, and, in his younger days, the old man had often and + often had to risk his skin in Apelles’ love-intrigues. And now it was the + Son’s turn—and if he were to take his fancy for that pretty chit as + seriously as he did most things, if he got the notion into his head of + marrying the little singer—what a storm there was brewing between + him and his mother! + </p> + <p> + The old man did his best to keep up with Marcus who did not see or heed + him, for his eyes and attention were centered on the fair companion who + was clinging to his arm, while he tried to force a passage through the + mob, towards the gate. Miracle on miracle seemed to him to have been + wrought in his behalf; for Heaven had not only sent him Dada, but she was + wearing blue ribbands; and when he asked her why, she had replied “For + your sake, and because I like your Faith.” + </p> + <p> + He was tired to death; but as soon as Dada had put her hand through his + arm he lead felt refreshed as if by magic. His swollen and blistered + hands, to be sure, were painful and his shoulders ached and winced from + stiffness; but as she pressed his arm to her side and looked up gladly in + his face—telling him how happy she was while he responded: “And how + I love you!”—he felt himself in Heaven, and pain and discomfort were + forgotten. The crush did not allow them to say more than a few words; but + the things their eyes and lips could smile were sweeter and dearer than + anything they had ever known before. + </p> + <p> + They had got through the gate and were in the Canopic way when Dada + suddenly perceived that his lips were white, and felt the arm tremble on + which her hand was lying. She asked him what ailed him; he made no reply, + but put his hand to his head, so she led him aside into the public garden + that lay to their right between the little Stadium and the Maeandrian + circus. In this pretty spot, fresh with verdure and spring flowers, she + soon found a bench shaded by a semicircular screen of dark-tufted + tamarisk, and there she made him lie down. He yielded at once, and his + pale face and fixed gaze showed her that he was in a fainting state. + Indeed, he must be quite worn out by the terrible struggle of the race, + and after it was over he had not given himself time to take a cup of drink + or a scrap of food for refreshment. It was only too natural that his + strength should fail him, so, without feeling at all alarmed but only very + pitiful and anxious to help, she ran back to a fruit-stall which they had + passed at the entrance to the garden from the street. + </p> + <p> + How glad she was that she still had the four drachmae which she had coaxed + out of Karnis in the Xenodochium that evening; she could buy whatever she + liked for her lover. When she went back-loaded with oranges, apples, + hard-boiled eggs, bread and salt, in the skirt of her dress that she + gathered up with one hand, and with a flask of wine and water, and a + gourdbowl in the other-she found him still lying unconscious. However, + when she had moistened his forehead and lips he opened his eyes, and then + she peeled him an orange as daintily as she could and begged him to try + it, and as she was herself very hungry she took a hearty share. She was + enchanted at making him her guest, and at finding that he enjoyed the + simple meal and soon was quite revived. In fact, in a few minutes he had + altogether recovered his strength and consciousness of satisfaction; and + as he lay back with Dada’s hand in his, gazing happily and thankfully into + her sweet eyes, a sense of peace, rest and bliss came over him such as he + had never before known. He thought he had never tasted such delicious + food, or such exquisite wine as the wretched Mareotic from the fruitstall. + He took the apple she had begun eating out of her hand and bit it where + her white teeth had been; he made her drink first out of the gourd-cup, + and, as one of the three eggs she had brought with her was bad, they had + quite a little battle for the last, till he finally gave way and eat it. + </p> + <p> + When they had finished Dada’s purchases to the last mouthful she asked + him, for the first time, where he meant to take her, and he said he + intended placing her in the house of his former tutor, Eusebius, the + deacon, where she would be a welcome guest and find her old companion + Agne. Of this she was sincerely glad; and when, on hearing the title of + Deacon, she questioned Marcus further, and identified Eusebius as the + worthy old man whose discourse in the basilica had so deeply impressed + her, she told Marcus how she had gone into the church, and how, from that + hour, she had felt at peace. A quite new feeling had sprung up in her + soul, and since then she had constantly longed to see him again and talk + it all over with him:—The little she had learnt of Christian + doctrine did her heart good and had given her comfort and courage. The + world was so beautiful, and there were many more good men than bad. It was + a pleasure to love one’s neighbor, and as for forgiving a wrong—that + she had never found difficult. It must be good to live on earth if + everyone loved his neighbor as she loved him and he loved her; and life + could not be a great hardship if in every trouble there was some one who + was always ready to hear our cry and help us, out of pure beneficence. + </p> + <p> + Her innocent talk was to Marcus the greatest marvel of this day of + miracles. The soul which he had dreamed that he was called to save had, of + its own accord, turned to walk in the path of salvation; he went on to + tell her of the things which he felt to be most sublime and glorious in + his creed, and at length he confessed that, though he had always loved his + neighbor for Christ’s sake, never till now had true and perfect love been + revealed to him. No power on earth could now part him from her, and when + she should have been baptized there would be no further difficulty; their + love might last till, and beyond, death, through all the ages of eternity. + And she listened to him, perfectly content; and said that she was his, + wholly his, now, and for ever and ever. + </p> + <p> + There were to-day but few people in the garden which was usually full in + the afternoon, of idlers, and of children with their nurses; but the + disturbance in the streets had kept these at home, and the idlers had + found more to attract them at the Hippodrome and in the crowded roads. + This favored the lovers, who could sit hand in hand, looking into each + other’s eyes; and when old Phabis, who had lost sight of them long since, + at length discovered them in the park, he could see from his lurking-place + as he crept closer, that his young master, after glancing cautiously + round, pressed a kiss on the little singer’s hair, and then on her eyes + and at last on her lips. + </p> + <p> + The hours flew fast between serious talk and delightful dalliance, and + when they tore themselves away from their quiet retreat it was already + dusk. They soon found themselves in the Canopic way, in the thick of the + crowd which they were now occasionally obliged to meet, for those who were + making homewards had long since dispersed, and thousands were still + crowding to the Hippodrome where a brisk fight was still going on. As they + passed his mother’s house Marcus paused and, pointing it out to Dada, told + her that the day was not far distant when he should bring her home hither. + But the girl’s face fell. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no!” she exclaimed, in a low voice. “Not here-not to this great palace + in a street. Let us live in a little house, quite quietly, by ourselves. A + house with a garden, and a seat in the shade. Your mother lives here!” + </p> + <p> + And then she blushed scarlet and looked down. He guessed, however, what + was passing in her mind, and bid her only to have patience, for as soon as + she was a baptized Christian Eusebius would intercede for her. And he + spoke warmly of his mother’s piety and virtues, and asked Dada if she had + seen her at the races. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she replied timidly; and when he went on to ask her if she had not + thought Mary very handsome and dignified, she answered frankly: “Yes—very; + but then she is so tall and grand-looking-she must wish for a + daughter-in-law very different from a poor, forsaken orphan like me—a + mere singer, looked down upon by every one! It is different with you; you + are satisfied with me as I am, and you know that I love you. If I never + find my uncle again I have no one on earth to care for me but you; but I + want no other, for you are my one and only hope, and to live for you and + with you is enough. Only you must never leave me or I shall die! But you + never can, for you told me that my soul was dearer to you than your own + life; and so long as I have you and your love I shall grow better and + better every day; but if you ever let me be parted from you I shall be + utterly lost. Yes, understand that once for all—ruined and lost, + body and soul!—I do not know what it is that terrifies me, but do + let us go on, away from this house. Suppose your mother were to see us!” + </p> + <p> + He did as she wished and tried to soothe her, praising his mother’s + virtues with the affectionate blindness of a son; but she only half + listened to his eulogy, for, as they approached Rhacotis the throng grew + denser, they had no opportunities for conversation, they could think of + nothing but battling their way through the crowd; still, they were happy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [The quarter of the city inhabited by the Egyptians. It was the old + town close to which Alexander the Great built his splendid new + city.] +</pre> + <p> + They thus got to the street of the Sun—one of the main arteries of + the city cutting the Canopic way at right angles—and they went down + it towards the Gate of Helios in the south wall. The Serapeum lay to their + right, several streets leading to it from the street of the Sun. To reach + the house where Eusebius lived they ought to have turned down the street + of the Acropolis, but a compact mass of frenzied creatures came storming + down it from the Serapeum, and towards them. The sun was now fast setting + over the City of the Dead on the western horizon. Marcus tried to get out + of the middle of the road and place Dada in safety by the house at the + corner, but in vain; the rabble that came crowding out of the side street + was mad with excitement, and could think of nothing but the trophies it + had snatched from the temple. Several dozen men, black and white alike—and + among them some monks and even women, had harnessed themselves to an + enormous truck, commonly used for the carriage of beams, columns, and + heavy blocks of stone, on which they had erected a huge but shapeless mass + of wood, the core, and all that remained, of the image of Serapis; this + they were dragging through the streets. + </p> + <p> + “To the Hippodrome! Burn it! Down with the idols! Look at the divine form + of Serapis! Behold the god!” + </p> + <p> + These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an + ear-splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity. + </p> + <p> + The monks had torn the desecrated block from the niche in the Serapeum, + hauled it through the courts on to the steps, and were now taking it to + the arena where it was to be burnt. Others of their kidney, and some of + the Christian citizens who had caught the destructive mania, had forced + their way into the temple of Anubis, hard by the Serapeumn, where they had + overthrown and wrecked the jackal-headed idols and the Canopic gods—four + huge jars with lids representing respectively a man’s head, an ape’s, a + hawk’s and a jackal’s. They were now bearing these heads in triumph, while + others were shouldering the limbs of broken statues of Apollo, of Athene, + or of Aphrodite, or carrying the fragments in baskets to cast them into + the flames in the Hippodrome after the wooden stock of the great Serapis. + The mob had broken off the noses of all the heads, had smeared the marble + with pitch, or painted it grossly with the red paint they had found in the + writing-rooms of the Sera peum. Every one who could get near enough to the + remains of the statue, or to a fragment of a ruined idol, spit upon it, + struck it or thrust at it; and not a heathen had, as yet, dared to + interfere. + </p> + <p> + Behind the oak block of the image of Serapis and the other trophies of + victory, came an endless stream of men of all ages, of monks and of women, + compelling a large carruca—[A four-wheeled chariot used in the city + and for travelling.]—that had fallen into their hands, and which + they had completely surrounded, to keep pace with them. The two fine + horses that drew it had to be led by the bridle; they were trembling with + terror and excitement and made repeated attempts to kick over the pole or + to rear. + </p> + <p> + In this vehicle was Porphyrius, who had fully recovered consciousness, and + by his side sat Gorgo. Constantine had not stirred from the side of the + convalescent till Apuleius had pronounced him out of all danger; but then + the young officer’s duty had called him away. The merchant had hailed the + news of his daughter’s, union with the companion of her childhood as a + most satisfactory and long-expected event. + </p> + <p> + A party of the Prefect’s guards had been charged to bring the carriage for + Porphyrius to the door of the temple, and the abbot of a monastery at + Arsinoe, who was well known to the Prefect, undertook to escort them on + their road home and protect them from the attacks of the raving mob. At + the spot where the side street intersected the street of the Sun, and + where Marcus and Dada had been forced to stop, unable either to proceed or + to return, a troop of armed heathen had given the Christian rabble a check + at the very moment when the carruca came up, and falling on the foe who + had mocked and insulted their most sacred treasure, began a furious fray. + Quite close to the young lovers a heathen cut down a Christian who was + carrying the besmirched head of a Muse. Dada clung in terror to Marcus, + who was beginning to be seriously alarmed for her when, looking round for + aid or refuge, he caught sight of his brother forcing his way through the + throng, and gesticulating vehemently. The farmer was telegraphing to the + occupants of the carruca as well, and when he at last reached Marcus he + briefly explained to him that the first thing to be done was to place Dada + in safety. + </p> + <p> + Only too glad to be out of the crush and danger, the girl nimbly climbed + into the chariot, and, after hastily greeting the father and daughter, + signed to Marcus to follow her; but Demetrius held his brother back, and + it was hurriedly agreed that Dada should be sent for that evening to the + house of Porphyrius. Demetrius whispered a few words of enthusiastic + praise of the little singer into Gorgo’s ear; then the carriage moved on + again. Many of the heathen who had collected round it recognized + Porphyrius, the noble friend of the great Olympius, and cleared a passage + for him, so that at last he got out of the gate uninjured, and turned into + the quieter street of Euergetes which led to the temple of Isis, the + ship-yard and the merchant’s residence. + </p> + <p> + But few words were exchanged in the chariot, for it was only step by step + and with considerable difficulty that the horses could get along. It was + now quite dark and the mob had spread even into this usually deserted + quarter. + </p> + <p> + A flaring glow that tinged the temple, the wharf and the deep sky itself + with a gorgeous crimson glare, showed very plainly what the populace were + employed in doing. The monks had set fire to the temple of Isis and the + flames had been driven by the northwest wind down into the ship-yard, + where they had found ample food in the enormous timber stacks and the + skeletons of ships. Tall jets of rushing and crackling sparks were thrown + skywards to mingle with the paler stars. Porphyrius could see what danger + his house was in; but thanks to the old steward’s foresight and the + indefatigable diligence of the slaves, it escaped the conflagration. + </p> + <p> + The two brothers, meanwhile, had left the mob far behind them. Demetrius + was not alone, and as soon as he had introduced Marcus to his companion, + an abbot of friendly mien, the monk warmly expressed his pleasure at + meeting another son of Apelles, to whom he had once owed his life. + Demetrius then told his brother what his adventures had been during the + last few hours, and where he had met this worthy Father. + </p> + <p> + While taking Dada down into the arena to join Marcus, he had caught sight + of Anubis, the Egyptian slave who had been his father’s companion in his + last memorable journey to Syria, and who, since the death of Apelles, had + totally disappeared, the countryman had instantly followed him, seized him—not + without a struggle and some little danger—and then had him led off + by the city-guard to the prison by the Prefect’s house. Once secured he + had been induced to speak, and his narrative proved beyond a doubt that + Apelles had perished in a skirmish with the Saracens; the Egyptian slave + had only taken advantage of his master’s death to make off with the money + he had with him. He had found his way to Crete, where he had purchased a + plot of ground with his plunder; but then, craving to see his wife and + children once more, he had come back to fetch them away to his new home. + Finally, to confirm the truth of his story, which—clearing him + apparently of the murder of his master—did not invite implicit + belief, he told Demetrius that he had seen in Alexandria, only the day + before, a recluse who had been present when Apelles fell, and Demetrius + had at once set out to find this monk, enquiring among those who had + swarmed into the city. He had very soon been successful; Kosnias, who + since then had been elected abbot of the monastery to which he belonged, + now again told Marcus the story of his father’s heroic courage in the + struggle with the freebooters who had attacked his caravan. Apelles, he + said, had saved his life and that of two other anchorites, one of whom was + in Alexandria at this very time. They were travelling from Hebron to Aila, + a party of seven, and had placed themselves under the protection of the + Alexandrian merchant’s escort; everything had gone well till the infidel + Saracens had fallen upon them in the high land south of Petra. Four of the + monks had been butchered out of hand; but Apelles, with a few of the more + resolute spirits in the company, had fought the heathen with the valor of + a lion. He, Kosmas, and his two surviving comrades had effected their + escape, while Apelles engaged the foe; but from a rocky height which they + climbed in their flight they saw him fall, and from that hour they had + always mentioned him in their prayers. It would be an unspeakable + satisfaction to him to do his utmost to procure for such a man as Apelles + the rank he deserved in the list of martyrs for the Faith. + </p> + <p> + Marcus, only too happy, wanted to hurry away at once to his mother and + tell her what he had heard, but Demetrius detained him. The Bishop-he told + his brother—had desired his immediate presence, to be congratulated + on his victory; his first duty was to obey that mandate, and he should at + once avail himself of its favorable opportunity to obtain for his deceased + parent the honor he had earned. + </p> + <p> + It rather startled Marcus to find his brother taking its interest in a + matter which, so lately, he had vehemently opposed; however, he proceeded + at once to the episcopal palace, accompanied by the abbot, and half an + hour later Demetrius, who had awaited his return, met him coming out with + sparkling eyes. The Prelate, he said, had received him very graciously, + had thanked him for his prowess and had bid him crave a reward. He at once + had spoken of his father, and called the recluse to witness to the facts. + The Bishop had listened his story, and had ended by declaring himself + quite willing to put the name of Apelles on the list of the Syrian + martyrs. Theophilus had been most unwilling hitherto to reject the + petitions of so good and illustrious Christian as Mary; and now, after + such ample testimony as to the manner of her husband’s death, it was with + sincere satisfaction that he bestowed this high mark of honor on the + Christian victor and his admirable mother. “So now,” added the young man, + “I shall fly home, and how happy my mother will be....” + </p> + <p> + But Demetrius would not allow him to finish his sentence. He laid his hand + on the young man’s shoulder saying: “Patience, my dear fellow, patience! + You must stay with me for the present, and not go to your mother till I + have settled everything that is necessary. Do not contradict me I entreat + you, unless you want to deprive me of the happiness of remedying an + injustice to your pretty Dada. What you most desire for yourself and her + is your mother’s blessing—and do you think that will be easy to + obtain? Far from it, lad! But I can manage it for you; and I will, too, if + only you will do as I bid you, and if the old Heathen’s niece can be + induced to be baptized....” + </p> + <p> + “She is a Christian already!” exclaimed Marcus eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Well then, she can be yours to-morrow,” Demetrius went on calmly, “if you + listen to the advice of your older and wiser brother. It cannot be very + hard upon you, for you must own that if I had not fought it out with + Anubis—and the rascal bit all he could reach like a trapped fox—if + I had not got him locked up and almost run my legs off in hunting down the + worthy abbot, our father would never have enjoyed the promotion which he + is at last to obtain. Who would ever have believed that I should get any + satisfaction out of this ‘Crown of Martyrdom’? By the gods! It is by no + means impossible, and I hope the manes of the deceased will forgive me for + your sake. But it is getting late, so only one thing more: for my own + share of the business all I claim is my right to tell your mother myself + of all that has occurred; you, on your part, must go at once to Eusebius + and beg him to receive Dada in his house. If he consents—and he + certainly will—take him with you to our uncle Porphyrius and wait + there till I come; then, if all goes well, I will take you and Dada to + your mother—or, if not, we will go with Eusebius.” + </p> + <p> + “Dada to my mother!” cried Marcus. “But what will she....” + </p> + <p> + “She will receive her as a daughter,” interrupted his brother, “if you + hold your tongue about the whole business till I give you leave to speak.—There, + the tall gate-keeper is closing the episcopal palace, so nothing more can + come out of there to-night. You are a lucky fellow—well good-bye + till we meet again; I am in a hurry.” + </p> + <p> + The farmer went off, leaving Marcus with a thousand questions still + unasked. However, the young man did his bidding and went, hopeful though + not altogether free from doubts, to find his old tutor and friend. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII. + </h2> + <p> + While Marcus carried out his brother’s instructions Dada was expecting him + and Eusebius with the greatest impatience. Gorgo had charged her + waiting-woman to conduct the girl into the music-room and to tell her that + she would join her there if her father was in such a state as to allow of + it. Some refreshments were brought in to her, all delicate and tempting + enough; but Dada would not touch them, for she fancied that the merchant’s + daughter was avoiding her intentionally, and her heart ached with a sense + of bereavement and loneliness. To distract her thoughts she wandered round + the room, looking at the works of art that stood against the walls, + feeling the stuffs with which the cushions were covered and striking a + lute which was leaning against the pedestal of a Muse. She only played a + few chords, but they sufficed to call up a whole train of memories; she + sank on a divan in the darkest corner she could find in the + brilliantly-lighted room, and gave herself up to reviewing the many events + of the last few days. It was all so bright, so delightful, that it hardly + seemed real, and her hopes were so radiantly happy that for a moment she + trembled to think of their fulfilment—but only for a moment; her + young soul was full of confidence and elation, and if a doubt weighed it + down for an instant it was soon cast off and her spirit rose with bold + expectancy. + </p> + <p> + Her heart overflowed with happiness and thankfulness as she thought of + Marcus and his love for her; her fancy painted the future always by his + side, and though her annoyance at Gorgo’s continued absence, and her dread + of her lover’s mother slightly clouded her gladness, the sense of peace + and rapture constantly came triumphantly to the front. She forgot time as + it sped, till at length Gorgo made her appearance. + </p> + <p> + She had not deliberately kept out of the little singer’s way; on the + contrary, she had been detained by her father, for not till now had she + dared to tell him that his mother, the beloved mistress of his house, was + no more. In the Serapeum she had not mentioned it, by the physician’s + orders; and now, in addition, through the indiscretion of a friend, he had + received some terrible tidings which had already been known for some hours + in the city and which dealt him a serious blow. His two sons were in + Thessalonica, and a ship, just arrived from thence, brought the news-only + too well substantiated, that fifteen thousand of the inhabitants of that + town had been treacherously assassinated in the Circus there. + </p> + <p> + This hideous massacre had been carried out by the Imperial troops at + Caesar’s command, the wretched citizens having been bidden to witness the + races and then ruthlessly butchered. A general of the Imperial army—a + Goth named Botheric—had been killed by the mob, and the Emperor had + thus avenged his death. + </p> + <p> + Porphyrius knew only too well that his sons would never have been absent + from any races or games. They certainly must have been among the + spectators and have fallen victims to the sword of the slaughterer. His + mother and two noble sons were snatched from him in a day; and he would + again have had recourse to poison as a refuge from all, if a dim ray of + hope had not permitted him to believe in their escape. But all the same he + was sunk in despair, and behaved as though he had nothing on earth left to + live for. Gorgo tried to console him, encouraged his belief in her + brothers’ possible safety, reminded him that it was the duty of a + philosopher to bear the strokes of Fate with fortitude; but he would not + listen to her, and only varied his lamentations with bursts of rage. + </p> + <p> + At last he said he wished to be alone and reminded Gorgo that she ought to + go to Dada. His daughter obeyed, but against her will; in spite of all + that Demetrius had said in the young girl’s favor she felt a little shy of + her, and in approaching her more closely she had something of the feeling + of a fine lady who condescends to enter the squalid hovel of poverty. But + her father was right: Dada was her guest and she must treat her with + kindness. + </p> + <p> + Outside the door of the music-room she dried away her tears for her + brothers, for her emotion seemed to her too sacred to be confessed to a + creature who boldly defied the laws laid down by custom for the conduct of + women. From Dada’s appearance she felt sure that all those lofty ideas, + which she herself had been taught to call “moral dignity” and “a yearning + for the highest things,” must be quite foreign to this girl with whom her + cousin had condescended to intrigue. She felt herself immeasurably her + superior; but it would be ungenerous to allow her to see this, and she + spoke very kindly; but Dada answered timidly and formally. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad,” Gorgo began, “that accident brought you in our way;” and Dada + replied hastily: “I owe it to your father’s kindness, and not to + accident.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he is very kind,” said Gorgo, ignoring Dada’s indignant tone. “And + the last few hours have brought him terrible sorrows. You have heard, no + doubt, that he has lost his mother; you knew her—she had taken quite + a fancy to you, I suppose you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! forget it!” cried Dada. + </p> + <p> + “She was hard to win,” Gorgo went on, “but she liked you. Do you not + believe me? You should have seen how carefully she chose the dress you + have on at this minute, and matched the ornaments to wear with it.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, pray say no more about it,” Dada begged. “She is dead, and I have + forgiven her—but she thought badly, very badly of me.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very bad of you to speak so,” interrupted Gorgo, making no attempt + to conceal her annoyance at the girl’s reply. “She—who is dead—deserves + more gratitude for her liberality and kindness!” + </p> + <p> + Dada shook her head. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said firmly. “I am grateful, even for the smallest kindness; I + have not often met with disinterested generosity. But she had an end in + view—I must say it once for all. She wanted to make use of me to + bring shame on Marcus and grief on his mother. You surely must know it; + for why should you have thought me too vile to sing with you if you did + not believe that I was a good-for-nothing hussy, and quite ready to do + your dead grandmother’s bidding? Everybody, of course, looked down upon us + all and thought we must be wicked because we were singers; but you knew + better; you made a distinction; for you invited Agne to come to your house + and sing with you.—No, unless you wish to insult me, say no more + about my owing the dead lady a debt of gratitude!” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo’s eyes fell; but presently she looked up again and said: + </p> + <p> + “You do not know what that poor soul had suffered. Mary, her son’s widow, + had been very cruel to her, had done her injuries she could never forgive—so + perhaps you are right in your notion; but all the same, my grandmother had + a great liking for you—and after all her wish is fulfilled, for + Marcus has found you and he loves you, too, if I am not mistaken!” + </p> + <p> + “If you are not mistaken!” retorted Dada. “The gods forefend!—Yes, + we have found each other, we love each other. Why should I conceal it?” + </p> + <p> + “And Mary, his mother—what has she to say to it?” asked Gorgo. + </p> + <p> + “I do not know,” replied Dada abashed. + </p> + <p> + “But she is his mother, you know!” cried Gorgo severely. “And he will + never—never—marry against her will. He depends on her for all + that he has in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let her keep it!” exclaimed Dada. “The smaller and humbler the home + he gives me the better I shall like it. I want his love and nothing more. + All—all he desires of me is right and good; he is not like other + men; he does not care for nothing but my pretty face. I will do whatever + he bids me in perfect confidence; and what he thinks about me you may + judge for yourself, for he is going to put me in the care of his tutor + Eusebius.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you have accepted his creed?” asked Gorgo. “Certainly I have,” said + Dada. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad of that for his sake,” said the merchant’s daughter. “And if + the Christians only did what their preachers enjoin on them one might be + glad to become one. But they make a riot and destroy everything that is + fine and beautiful. What have you to say to that—you, who were + brought up by Karnis, a true votary of the Muses?” + </p> + <p> + “I?” said Dada. “There are bad men everywhere, and when they rise to + destroy what is beautiful I am very sorry. But we can love it and cherish + it all the same.” + </p> + <p> + “You are happy indeed if you can shut your eyes at the dictates of your + heart!” retorted Gorgo, but she sighed. “Happy are they and much to be + envied who can compel their judgment to silence when it is grief to hear + its voice. I—I who have been taught to think, cannot abandon my + judgment; it builds up a barrier between me and the happiness that beckons + me. And yet, so long as truth remains the highest aim of man, I will bless + the faculty of seeking it with all the powers of my mind. My betrothed + husband, like yours, is a Christian; and I would I could accept his creed + as unflinchingly as you; but it is not in my nature to leap into a pool + when I know that it is full of currents and whirlpools.—However, the + present question has to do with you and not with me. Marcus, no doubt, + will be happy to have won you; but if he does not succeed in gaining his + mother’s consent he will not continue happy you may rely upon it. I know + these Christians! they cannot conceive of any possible joy in married life + without their parents’ blessing, and if Marcus defies his mother he will + torture his conscience and lead a death-in-life, as though he were under + some heavy load of guilt.” + </p> + <p> + “For all that, and all that,” Dada insisted, “he can no more be happy + without me than I can without him. I have never in my life paid court to + any one, but I have always met with kindness. Why then should I not be + able to win his mother’s heart? I will wager anything and everything that + she will take kindly to me, for, after all, she must be glad when she sees + her son happy. Eusebius will speak for us and she will give its her + blessing! But if it is not to be, if I may never be his wife honestly and + in the face of the world, still I will not give him up, nor he me. He may + deal with me as he will—as if he were my god and I were his slave!” + </p> + <p> + “But, my poor child, do you know nothing of womanly honor and womanly + dignity?” cried Gorgo clasping her hands. “You complain of the lot of a + singing-girl, and the cruel prejudices of the world—and what are you + saying? Let me have my way, you would say, or I scorn your morality?” + </p> + <p> + “Scorn!” exclaimed Dada firing up. “Do you say I scorn morality? No, + indeed no. I am an insignificant little person; there is nothing proud or + great about me, and as I know it full well I am quite humble; in all my + life I never dared to think of scorn, even of a child. But here, in my + heart, something was awoke to life—through Marcus, only through him—something + that makes me strong; and when I see custom and tradition in league + against me because I am a singer, when they combine to keep me out of what + I have a right to have—well, within these few hours I have found the + spirit to defend myself, to the death if need be! What you call womanly + honor I have been taught to hold as sacred as you yourself, and I have + kept it as untainted as any girl living. Not that I meant to do anything + grand, but you have no idea of what it is when every man thinks he has a + right to oppress and insult a girl and try to entrap her. You, and others + like you, know nothing of small things, for you are sheltered by walls and + privileges. We are every man’s game, while they approach you as humbly as + if you were goddesses.—Besides! It is not only what I have heard + from Karnis, who knows the world and fine folks like you; I have seen it + for myself at Rome, in the senators’ houses, where there were plenty of + young lords and great men’s daughters—for I have not gone through + life with my eyes shut; with you love is like lukewarm water in a bath, + but it catches us like fire. Sappho of Lesbos flung herself from the + Leucadian rock because Phaon flouted her, and if I could save Marcus from + any calamity by doing the same, I would follow her example.—You have + a lover, too; but your feeling for him, with all the ‘intellect’ and + ‘reflections,’ and ‘thought’ of which you spoke, cannot be the right one. + There is no but or if in my love at any rate; and yet, for all that, my + heart aches so sorely and beats so wildly, I will wait patiently with + Eusebius and submit to whatever I am bidden.—And in spite of it all + you condemn me unheard, for you.... But why do you stand and look like + that? You look just like you did that time when I heard you sing. By all + the Muses! but you, too, like us, have some fire in your veins, you are + not one of the lukewarm sort; you are an artist, and a better one than I; + and if you ever should feel the right love, then—then take care lest + you break loose from propriety and custom—or whatever name you give + to the sacred powers that subdue passion—even more wildly than I—who + am an honest girl, and mean to remain so, for all the fire and flame in my + breast!” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo remembered the hour in which she had, in fact, proffered to the man + of her choice as a free gift, the love which, by every canon of propriety, + she ought only to have granted to his urgent wooing. She blushed and her + eyes fell before the humble little singer; but while she was considering + what answer she could make men’s steps were heard approaching, and + presently Eusebius and Marcus entered the room, followed by Gorgo’s lover. + Constantine was in deep dejection, for one of his brothers had lost his + life in the burning of his father’s ship-yard, and as compared with this + grief, the destruction of the timber stores which constituted the chief + part of his wealth scarcely counted as a calamity. + </p> + <p> + Gorgo had met him with a doubtful and embarrassed air; but when she learnt + of the blow that had fallen on him and his parents, she clung to him + caressingly and tried to comfort him. The others sympathized deeply with + his sorrow; but soon it was Dada’s turn to weep, for Eusebius brought the + news of her foster-parent’s death in the fight at the Serapeum, and of + Orpheus being severely wounded. + </p> + <p> + The cheerful music-room was a scene of woe till Demetrius came to conduct + his brother and Dada to the widow Mary who was expecting them. He had + arrived in a chariot, for he declared his legs would no longer carry him. + “Men,” said he, “are like horses. A swift saddle-horse is soon tired when + it is driven in harness and a heavy cart-horse when it is made to gallop. + His hoofs were spoilt for city pavements, and scheming, struggling and + running about the streets were too much for his country brains and wore + him out, as trotting under a saddle would weary a plough-horse. He thanked + the gods that this day was over. He would not be rested enough till + to-morrow to be really glad of all his success.”—But in spite of + this assertion he was radiant with overflowing satisfaction, and that in + itself cheered the mourners whom he tried to encourage. When he said they + must be going, Gorgo kissed the little singer; indeed, as soon as she saw + how deeply she was grieved, shedding bitter but silent tears, she had + hastened to take her in her arms and comfort her like a sister. + </p> + <p> + Constantine, Gorgo and old Eusebius were left together, and the young girl + was longing to unburden her over-full heart. She had agreed to her lover’s + request that she would at once accompany him to see his sorrowing parents; + still, she could not appear before the old Christian couple and crave + their blessing in her present mood. Recent events had embittered her happy + belief in the creed into which she had thrown herself, and much as it + pained her to add a drop to Constantine’s cup of sorrow, duty and honesty + commanded that she should show him the secrets of her soul and the doubts + and questionings which had begun to trouble her. The old priest’s presence + was a comfort to her; for her earnest wish was to become a Christian from + conviction; as soon as they were alone she poured out before them all the + accusations she had to bring against the adherents of their Faith: They + had triumphed in ruining the creations of Art; the Temple of Isis and the + ship-yard lay in ashes, destroyed by Christian incendiaries; their tears + were not yet dry when they flowed afresh for the sons of Porphyrius—Christians + themselves—who, unless some happy accident had saved them, must have + perished with thousands of innocent sufferers—believers and infidels + together—by the orders of the Emperor whom Constantine had always + lauded as a wise sovereign and pious Christian, as the Defender of the + Faith, and as a faithful disciple of the Redeemer. + </p> + <p> + When, at last, she came to an end of her indictment she appealed to + Constantine and Eusebius to defend the proceedings of their + co-religionists, and to give her good grounds for confessing a creed which + could sanction such ruthless deeds. + </p> + <p> + Neither the Deacon nor his pupil attempted to excuse these acts; nay, + Constantine thought they were in plain defiance of that high law of Love + which the Christian Faith imposes on all its followers. The wicked + servant, he declared, had committed crimes in direct opposition to the + spirit and the letter of the Master. + </p> + <p> + But this admission by no means satisfied Gorgo; she represented to the + young Christian that a master must be judged by the deeds of his servant; + she herself had turned from the old gods only because she felt such + intense contempt for their worshippers; but now it had been her lot to see—the + Deacon must pardon her for saying so—that many a Christian far + outdid the infidels in coarse brutality and cruelty. Such an experience + had filled her with distrust of the creed she was required to subscribe to—she + was shaken to the very foundations of her being. + </p> + <p> + Eusebius had, till now, listened in silence; but as she ended he went + towards her, and asked her gently whether she would think it right to turn + the fertilizing Nile from its bed and leave its shores dry, because, from + time to time, it destroyed fields and villages in the excess of its + overflow? “This day and its deeds of shame,” he went on sadly, “are a blot + on the pure and sublime book of the History of our Faith, and every true + Christian must bitterly bewail the excesses of a frenzied mob. The Church + must no less condemn Caesar’s sanguinary vengeance; it casts a shade on + his honor and his fair name, and his conscience no doubt will punish him + for such a crime. Far be it from me to defend deeds which nothing can + justify...” + </p> + <p> + But Gorgo interrupted him. “All this,” she said, “does not alter the fact + that such crimes are just as possible and as frequent with you, as with + those whom I am expected to give up, and who...” + </p> + <p> + “But it is not merely on account of their ill deeds that you are giving + them up, Gorgo,” Constantine broke in. “Confess, dear girl, that your + wrath makes you unjust to yourself and your own heart. It was not out of + aversion for the ruthless and base adherents of the old gods but—as + I hope and believe—out of love for me that you consented to adopt my + faith—our faith.” + </p> + <p> + “True, true,” she exclaimed, coloring as she remembered the doubts Dada + had cast on the truth of her love. + </p> + <p> + “True, out of love for you—love of Love and of peace, I consented to + become a Christian. But with regard to the deeds committed by your + followers, tell me yourself—and I appeal to you reverend Father—what + inspired them: Love or Hate.” + </p> + <p> + “Hate!” said Constantine gloomily; and Eusebius added sorrowfully + </p> + <p> + “In these dark days our Faith is seen under an aspect that by no means + fairly represents its true nature, noble lady; trust my words! Have you + not yourself seen, even in your short life, that what is highest and + greatest can in its excess, be all that is most hideous? A noble pride, if + not kept within bounds, becomes overweening ambition; the lovely grace of + humility degenerates into an indolent sacrifice of opinion and will; + high-hearted enterprise into a mad chase after fortune, in which we ride + down everything that comes in the way of success. What is nobler than a + mother’s love, but when she fights for her child she becomes a raving + Megaera. In the same way the Faith—the consoler of hearts—turns + to a raging wild-beast when it stoops to become religious partisanship. If + you would really understand Christianity you must look neither down to the + deluded masses, and those ambitious worldlings who only use it as a means + to an end by inflaming their baser passions, nor up to the throne, where + power translates the impulse of a disastrous moment into sinister deeds. + If you want to know what true and pure Christianity is, look into our + homes, look at the family life of our fellow believers. I know them well, + for my humble functions lead me into daily and hourly intercourse with + them. Look to them if you purpose to give your hand to a Christian and + make your home with him. There, my child, you will see all the blessings + of the Saviour’s teaching, love and soberness, pitifulness to the poor and + a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive injuries. I have seen a Christian + bestow his last crust on his hapless foe, on the enemy of his house, on + the Heathen or the Jew, because they, too, are men, because our neighbor’s + woes should be as our own—I have seen them taken in and cherished as + though they were fellow-Christians.—There you will find a striving + after all that is good, a never-fading hope in better days to come, even + under the worst afflictions; and when death requires the sacrifice of all + that is dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a firm assurance of the + forgiveness of sins through Christ. Believe me, mistress, there is no home + so happy as that of the Christian; for he who really apprehends the + Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar his own joys in this + life to the end that he may be a partaker of the bliss of the next. On the + contrary: He who called the erring to himself, who drew little children to + his heart, who esteemed the poor above the rich, who was a cheerful guest + at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain interest on the spiritual talents in + our care, who commanded us to remember Him at a social meal, who opened + hearts to love—He longed to release the life of the humblest + creature from want and suffering. Where love and peace reign must there + not be happiness? And as He preached love and peace above all else, He + cannot have desired that we should intentionally darken our lives on earth + and load them with sorrow and miseries in order to will our share of + Heaven. The soul that is full of the happy confidence of being one with + Him and his love, is released from the bondage of sin and sorrow, even + here below; for Jesus has taken all the sins and pains of the world on + himself; and if Fate visits the Christian with the heaviest blows he bears + them in silence and patience. Our Lord is Love itself; neither hatred nor + envy are known to Him as they are to the gods of the Heathen; and when he + afflicts us, it is as the wise and tender pastor of our souls, and for our + good. The omniscient Lord knows his own counsel, and the Christian submits + as a child does to a wise father whose loving kindness he can always + trust; nay, he can even thank him for sorrow and pain as though they were + pleasurable benefits.” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo shook her head. + </p> + <p> + “That all sounds very beautiful and good; it is required of the Christian, + and sometimes, no doubt, fulfilled; but the Stoa demands the same virtues + of its disciples. You, Constantine, knew Damon the Stoic, and you will + remember how strictly he enjoined on all that they should rise superior to + pain and grief. And then, when his only daughter lost her sight—she + was a great friend of mine—he behaved like one possessed. My father, + too, has often spoken to you of philosophy as a help to contemning the + discomforts of life, and bearing the sports of Fate with a lofty mind; and + now? You should see the poor man, reverend Father. What good have all the + teachings of the great master done him?” + </p> + <p> + “But he has lost so much—so much!” sighed Constantine thinking of + his own loss; and Eusebius shook his head. + </p> + <p> + “In sorrow such as his, no philosophy, no mental effort can avail. The + blows that wound the affections can only be healed by the affections, and + not by the intellect and considerations of reason. Faith, child! Faith is + the true Herb of Grace. The intellect is its foe; the feelings are its + native soil where it finds constant nourishment; and however deep the + bleeding wound of the mourner may be, Faith can heal it and reconcile the + sufferer to his loss. You have been taught to value a fine understanding, + to measure everything by it, to build everything on its decisions. To you + the knowledge you have attained to by argument and inference is supreme; + but the Creator has given us a heart as well as a brain; our affections, + too, stir and grow in their own way, and the knowledge they can attain to, + my child, is Faith. You love—and Love is part of your affections; + and now take my advice; do not let that reasoning intelligence, which has + nothing to do with love, have anything to say in the matter; cherish your + love and nurture it from the rich stores of your heart; thus only can it + thrive to beauty and harmony.—And this must suffice for to-day, for + I have already kept the wounded waiting too long in the Serapeum. If you + desire it, another time I will show you Christianity in all its depth and + beauty, and your love for this good man will prepare the way and open your + heart to my teaching. A day will come when you will be able to listen to + the voice of your heart as gladly as you have hitherto obeyed the dictates + of your intellect; something new will be born in you which you will esteem + as a treasure above all you ever acquired by reason and thought. That day + will assuredly dawn on you; for he whom you love has opened the path for + you that leads to the gates of Truth; and as you seek you will not fail to + find.—And so farewell. When you crave a teacher you have only to + come to him—and I know he will not have long to wait.” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo looked thoughtfully at the old man as he went away and then went + with Constantine to see his parents. It was in total silence that they + made their way along the short piece of road to the house of Clemens. + Lights were visible in the viridarium and the curtains of the doorway were + drawn back; as they reached the threshold Constantine pointed to a bier + which had been placed in the little court among the flower-beds; his + parents were on their knees by the side of it. + </p> + <p> + Neither he nor Gorgo ventured to disturb their wordless devotions, but + presently the ship-master rose, drawing his fine, stalwart figure to its + full height; then turning his kind, manly, grave face to his wife, who had + also risen to her feet, he laid one hand on her still abundant white hair + and held out the other which she took in hers. Mariamne dried her eyes and + looked up, in her husband’s face as he said firmly and calmly: + </p> + <p> + “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away!’ She hid her face on his + shoulder and responded sadly but fervently: + </p> + <p> + “Blessed be the name of the Lord!” + </p> + <p> + “Yea—Blessed!” repeated Clemens emphatically but he passed his arm + across his eyes. “For thirty-two years hath He lent him to us; and in our + hearts....” and he struck his broad breast, “in here, he will never die + for you or for me. As for the rest—and there was a deal of property + of our own and of other folks in these wood-piles—well, in time we + shall get over that. We may bless the Almighty for what we have left!” + </p> + <p> + Gorgo felt her lover’s hand grasp hers more tightly and she understood + what he meant; she clung closer to him and whispered softly: “Yes, that is + grand—that is the Truth.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII. + </h2> + <p> + In the great house in the Canopic street it was late ere all was quiet for + the night. Even Demetrius, in spite of his fatigue, broke through his rule + of “early to bed”; he felt he must see the reaping of the harvest he had + sown for his brother. + </p> + <p> + It had been no easy task to persuade Mary to accede to his importunities, + but to his great joy he at last succeeded. + </p> + <p> + He would have met with a rough dismissal if he had begun by praising Dada + and expressing his wish to see her married to Marcus; he had gained his + point inch by inch, very quietly; but when he had explained to her that it + was in his hands to secure the martyr’s crown for her husband she had + turned suspicious and ironical, had made him swear that it was true, + threatening him with punishments in this world and in the next; but he had + let it all pass over his head, had solemnly sworn as she desired him, + pledging not merely the salvation of his soul but his possessions in this + world; till, at length, convinced that it really was in his power to + gratify the dearest wish of her heart, she had yielded somewhat and + altered her demeanor. Still, he had not spoken a word to help her through + her deliberations and bewilderment, but had left her to fight out the hard + struggle with her own soul; not without some malicious enjoyment but also + not without anxiety, till the first decisive question was put to him by + his stepmother. + </p> + <p> + She had heard that Dada was quite resolved to be baptized, and having once + more made sure of the fact that the girl was anxious to become a + Christian, she next asked: + </p> + <p> + “And it was Marcus who won her to the faith?” + </p> + <p> + “He alone.” + </p> + <p> + “And you can swear that she is a pure-minded and well-conducted girl?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, with the firmest conviction.” + </p> + <p> + “I saw her in the arena—she is pretty, uncommonly charming indeed—and + Marcus...?” + </p> + <p> + “He has set his heart on the girl, and I am sure that his passion is + sincere and unselfish. On the other hand I need hardly remind you that in + this city there are many women, even among those of the first rank, whose + birth and origin are far more doubtful than those of your son’s little + friend, for she, at any rate, is descended from free and respectable + parents. Her uncle’s connections are among the best families in Sicily; + not that we need trouble ourselves about that, for the wife of Philip’s + grandson would command respect even if she were only a freed-woman.” + </p> + <p> + “I know, I know,” murmured Mary, as though all this were of minor + importance in her eyes; and then for some little time she remained silent. + At last she looked up and exclaimed in a voice that betrayed the struggle + still going on in her soul: + </p> + <p> + “What have I to care for but my child’s happiness? In the sight of God we + are all equal—great and small alike; and I myself am but a weak + woman, full of defects and sins—but for all that I could have wished + that the only son of a noble house might have chosen differently. All I + can say is that I must look upon this marriage as a humiliation laid upon + me by the Almighty—still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and I + will do freely and with my whole heart if my son’s bride brings as her + marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my + desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles. The martyr’s crown will open + the gates of Heaven to him—who was your father, too, Demetrius. Gain + that and I myself will lead the singer to my son’s arms.” + </p> + <p> + “That is a bargain!” cried Demetrius—and soon after midnight he had + retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental + blessing to the betrothed pair. + </p> + <p> + A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the name + of Cecilia; and then, at Mary’s special entreaty, Marcus’ marriage was + solemnized with much pomp by the Bishop himself. + </p> + <p> + Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly + affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a + stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way. When + Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he + should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she jumped + at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it when his + brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two, helping him + with his advice and instructions. + </p> + <p> + Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for, + though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her + children, she soon acceded to her son’s wishes and admitted that they were + kind and wise. She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of the + martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian + sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than that + of the family. She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors of her + daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her gentleness; in + fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she herself had chosen + her son’s wife. But she did not care to keep this “beloved daughter” with + her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in every department of social + life was far more certain to be conceded to the noble widow of a “martyred + witness” in the absence of the pretty little converted singer. + </p> + <p> + So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning to + govern her husband’s large estates with prudence and good sense. The gay + singing-girl became a capable housewife, and the idle horse-loving Marcus + a diligent farmer. For three years Demetrius staid with them as adviser + and superintendent; even afterwards he frequently visited them, and for + months at a time, and he was wont to say: + </p> + <p> + “In Alexandria I am heart and soul, a Heathen, but in the house with your + Cecilia I am happy to be a Christian.” + </p> + <p> + Before they quitted the city a terrible blow fell on Eusebius. The sermon + he had delivered just before the overthrow of Serapes, to soothe the + excited multitude and guide them in the right way, had been regarded by + the Bishop of the zealot priests, who happened to be present, as + blasphemous and as pandering to the infidels; Theophilus, therefore, had + charged his nephew Cyril—his successor in the see—to verify + the facts and enquire into the deacon’s orthodoxy. It thus came to light + that Agne, an Arian, was not only living under his roof, but had been + trusted by him to nurse certain sick persons among the orthodox; the old + man was condemned by Cyril to severe acts of penance, but Theophilus + decided that he must be deprived of his office in the city, where men of + sterner stuff were needed, and only allowed the charge of souls in a + country congregation. + </p> + <p> + It was a cruel blow to the venerable couple to be forced to quit the house + and the little garden where they had been happy together for half a + lifetime; however, the change proved to be to their advantage, for Marcus + invited his worthy teacher to be the spiritual pastor of his estates. The + churches he built for his peasants were consecrated by Eusebius, whose + mild doctrine and kindly influence persuaded many laborers and slaves to + be baptized and to join his flock of disciples. But the example and + amiability of their young mistress was even more effectual than his + preaching. Men and women, slaves and free, all adored and respected her; + to imitate her in all she did could only lead to honor and happiness, + could only be right and good and wise. Thus by degrees, and without the + exertion of any compulsion, the temples and shrines on the Martyr’s + inheritance were voluntarily abandoned, and fell into ruin and decay. + </p> + <p> + It was the same on the property of Constantine, which lay at no more than + a day’s journey from that of Marcus; the two young couples were faithful + friends and good neighbors. The estate which had come into Constantine’s + possession had belonged to Barkas, the Libyan, who, with his troops, had + been so anxiously and vainly expected to succor the Serapeum. The State + had confiscated his extensive and valuable lands, and the young officer, + after retiring from the service, had purchased them with the splendid + fortune left to Gorgo by her grandmother. + </p> + <p> + The two sons of Porphyrius had, as it proved, been so happy as to escape + in the massacre at Thessalonica; and as they were Christians and piously + orthodox, the old man transferred to them, during his lifetime, the chief + share of his wealth; so that henceforth he could live honestly—alienated + from the Church and a worshipper of the old gods, without anxiety as to + his will. The treasures of art which Constantine and Gorgo found in the + house of Barkas they carefully preserved, though, ere long, few heathen + were to be found even in this neighborhood which had formerly been the + headquarters of rebellion on behalf of the old religion. + </p> + <p> + Papias was brought up with the children of Marcus and Dada Cecilia, while + his sister Agne, finding herself relieved of all care on his account, + sought and found her own way through life. + </p> + <p> + Orpheus, after seeing his parents killed in the fight at the Serapeum, was + carried, sorely wounded, to the sick-house of which Eusebius was spiritual + director. Agne had volunteered to nurse him and had watched by his couch + day and night. Eusebius had also brought Dada and Papias to visit them, + and Dada had promised, on behalf of Marcus, that Agne and her brother + should always be provided for, even in the event of the good Deacon’s + death. The little boy was for the moment placed in Eusebius’ care, and it + was a cause of daily rejoicing to Agne to hear from the kind old man of + all the charming qualities he discovered in the child who was perfectly + happy with the old folks, and who, though he was always delighted to see + his sister, was quite content to part from her and return home with + Eusebius, or with Dada, to whom he was devoted. + </p> + <p> + Orpheus recognized no one, neither Agne nor the child—and when + visitors had been to see him, in his fevered ravings he would talk more + vehemently than ever of great Apollo and other heathen divinities. Then he + would fancy that he was still fighting in the Serapeum and butchering + thousands of Christian foes with his own hand. Agne, whom he rarely + recognized for a moment, would talk soothingly to him, and even try to say + a few words about the Saviour and the life to come; but he always + interrupted her with blasphemous exclamations, and cursed and abused her. + Never had she gone through such anguish of soul as by his bed of + suffering, and yet she could not help gazing at his face; and when she + told herself that he must soon be no more, that the light of his eyes + would cease to shine on hers, she felt as though the sun were about to be + extinguished and the earth darkened for all time. However, his healthy + vigor kept him lingering for many days and nights. + </p> + <p> + On the last evening of his life he took Agne for a Muse, and calling to + her to come to him seized her hand and sank back unconscious, never to + move again. She stood there as the minutes slowly passed, waiting in + agonized suspense till his hand should be cold in hers; and as she waited + she overheard a dialogue between two deaconesses who were watching by a + sleeping patient. One of them was telling the other that her sister’s + husband, a mason, had died an obdurate heathen and a bitter enemy of the + Christian Church. Then Dorothea, his widow, had devoted herself to saving + his soul; she left her children, abandoning them to the charity of the + congregation, and had withdrawn to a cloister to pray in silence and + unceasingly for the soul of her deceased husband. At first he used to + appear to her in her dreams, with furious gestures, accompanied by + centaurs and goat-footed creatures, and had desired her to go home to her + children and leave his soul in peace, for that he was in very good + quarters with the jolly devils; but soon after she had seen him again with + scorched limbs, and he lead implored her to pray fervently for mercy on + him, for that they were torturing him cruelly in hell. + </p> + <p> + Dorothea had then retired into the desert of Kolzoum where she was still + living in a cave, feeding on herbs, roots, and shell-fish thrown up on the + sea-shore. She had schooled herself to do without sleep, and prayed day + and night for her husband’s soul; and she lead obtained strength never to + think of anything but her own and her husband’s salvation, and to forget + her children completely. Her fervid devotion had at length met with full + reward; for some little time her husband had appeared to her in a robe of + shining light and often attended by lovely angels. + </p> + <p> + Agne had not lost a word of this narrative, and when, next morning, she + felt the cold hand of the dead youth and looked at his drawn and + pain-stricken features, she shuddered with vague terrors: he, she thought, + like Dorothea’s husband, must have hell-torments to endure. When she + presently found herself alone with the corpse she bent over it and kissed + the pale lips, and swore to herself that she would save his soul. + </p> + <p> + That same evening she went back to Eusebius and told him of her wish to + withdraw to the desert of Koizoum and become a recluse. The old man + besought her to remain with him, to take charge of her little brother, and + not to abandon him and his old wife; for that it was a no less lovely + Christian duty to be compassionate and helpful, and cherish the feeble in + their old age. His wife added her entreaties and tears; but a sudden chill + had gripped Agne’s heart; dry-eyed and rigid she resisted their prayers, + and took leave of her benefactors and of Papias. Bare-foot and begging her + way, she started for the south-east and reached the shores of the Red Sea. + There she found the stonemason’s widow, emaciated and haggard, with matted + hair, evidently dying. Agne remained with her, closed her eyes, and then + lived on as Dorothea had lived, in the same cave, till the fame of her + sanctity spread far beyond the boundaries of Egypt. + </p> + <p> + When Papias had grown to man’s estate and was installed as steward to + Demetrius, he sought his sister many times and tried to persuade her to + live with him in his new home; but she never would consent to quit her + solitary cell. She would not have exchanged it for a king’s palace; for + Orpheus appeared to her in nightly visions, radiant with the glories of + Heaven; and time was passing and the hour drawing near when she might hope + to be with him once more. + </p> + <p> + The widow Mary, in her later years, made many pilgrimages to holy places + and saintly persons, and among others to Agne, the recluse; but she would + never be induced to visit Cyrenaica, whither she was frequently invited by + her children and grandchildren; some more powerful excitant was needed to + prompt her to face the discomforts of a journey. + </p> + <p> + The old Heathen cults had completely vanished from the Greek capital long + before her death. With it died the splendor and the power of the second + city in the world; and of all the glories of the city of Serapis nothing + now remains but a mighty column—[Known as Pompey’s Pillar.]—towering + to the skies, the last surviving fragment of the beautiful temple of the + sovereign-god whose fall marked so momentous an epoch in the life of the + human race. But, like this pillar, outward Beauty—the sense of form + that characterized the heathen mind—has survived through the ages. + We can gaze up at the one and the other, and wherever the living Truth—the + Spirit of Christianity—has informed and penetrated that form of + Beauty, the highest hopes of old Eusebius have been realized. Their union + is solemnized in Christian Art. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ETEXT EDITOR’S BOOKMARKS: + + Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death + Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor + Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow + He may talk about the soul—what he is after is the girl + He spoke with pompous exaggeration + It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe + Love means suffering—those who love drag a chain with them + People who have nothing to do always lack time + Perish all those who do not think as we do + Pretended to see nothing in the old woman’s taunts + Rapture and anguish—who can lay down the border line + Reason is a feeble weapon in contending with a woman + To her it was not a belief but a certainty + Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid + Very hard to imagine nothingness + Whether man were the best or the worst of created beings + Words that sounded kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Serapis, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 5507-h.htm or 5507-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/0/5507/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Serapis, Complete + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Last Updated: March 9, 2009 +Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5507] +[Last updated: April 27, 2014] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +SERAPIS, Complete + +By Georg Ebers + + +Translated from the German by Clara Bell + + + + +SERAPIS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +The busy turmoil of the town had been hushed for some hours; the moon +and stars were keeping silent watch over Alexandria, and many of the +inhabitants were already in the land of dreams. It was deliciously +fresh--a truly gracious night; but, though peace reigned in the streets +and alleys, even now there was in this pause for rest a lack of the +soothing calm which refreshes and renews the spirit of man. For some few +weeks there had been an oppressive and fevered tension in the repose +of night. Every house and shop was closed as securely as though it were +done, not only to secure slumber against intrusion, but to protect life +and property from the spoiler; and instead of tones of jollity and mirth +the sleeping city echoed the heavy steps and ringing arms of soldiers. +Now and again, when the Roman word of command or the excited cry of some +sleepless monk broke the silence, shops and doors were cautiously opened +and an anxious face peered out, while belated wanderers shrunk into +gateways or under the black shadow of a wall as the watch came past. A +mysterious burden weighed on the Heart of the busy city and clicked its +pulses, as a nightmare oppresses the dreamer. + +On this night of the year of our Lord 391, in a narrow street leading +from the commercial harbor known as Kibotus, an old man was slinking +along close to the houses. His clothes were plain but decent, and he +walked with his head bent forward looking anxiously on all sides; when +the patrol came by he shrank into the shadow; though he was no thief +he had his reasons for keeping out of the way of the soldiery, for the +inhabitants, whether natives or strangers, were forbidden to appear in +the streets after the harbor was closed for the night. + +He stopped in front of a large house, whose long, windowless wall +extended from one side street to the next, and pausing before the great +gate, he read an inscription on which the light fell from a lamp above: +"The House of the Holy Martyr. His widow here offers shelter to all who +need it. He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." + +"At how much per cent I wonder?" mattered the old man and a satirical +smile curled his beardless lips. A heavy thud with the knocker rang +through the silent street, and after a few short questions from within +and equally curt replies from without, a small door was opened in the +great gate. The stranger was on the point of crossing the vestibule when +a human creature crept up to him on all fours, and clutched his ankle +with a strong hand, exclaiming in a hoarse voice: "As soon as the door +is shut--an entrance fee; for the poor, you know." + +The old man flung a copper piece to the gatekeeper who tried it, and +then, holding on to the rope by which he was tied to a post like a +watch-dog, he whined out "Not a drop to wet a Christian's lips?" + +"It has not rained for some time," retorted the stranger, who proceeded +to open a second door which led into a vast court-yard open to the blue +vault of heaven. A few torches stuck against the pillars and a small +fire on the pavement added thin smoky, flickering light to the clear +glory of the stars, and the whole quadrangle was full of a heavy, +reeking atmosphere, compounded of smoke and the steam of hot food. + +Even in the street the wanderer had heard the dull buzz and roar which +now met his ear as a loud medley of noises and voices, rising from +hundreds of men who were encamped in the wide space before him--in +groups or singly, sleeping and snoring, or quarrelling, eating, talking +and singing as they squatted on the ground which was strewn with straw. + +The inn was full, and more than half of the humble guests were monks +who, during the last two days, had flowed into the city from every +Cenoby, Laura and hermitage in the desert, and from most of the +monasteries in the surrounding district--the 'Nitriote Nome'. Some of +them had laid their heads close together for confidential whispering, +others squabbled loudly, and a large group in the northern angle of +the court had raised a psalm which mingled strangely with the "three," +"four," "seven," of the men who were playing 'mora', and the cry of +the cook inviting purchasers to his stall spread with meat, bread, and +onions. + +At the end of the court furthest from the gateway there was a covered +way, on to which a row of doors opened leading to the rooms devoted to +families of women and children, each apartment being divided into two by +a curtain across the middle. The stranger made his way into one of these +rooms, where he was warmly welcomed by a young man, who was occupied in +cutting a Kopais reed into a mouth-piece for a double flute, and by a +tall matronly woman. + +The new-comer's name was Karnis and he was the head of a family of +wandering singers who had arrived in Alexandria only the day before +from Rome. His surroundings were poor and mean, for their ship had been +attacked off the African coast by a band of pirates, and though they +had saved their lives they had lost everything they possessed. The +young owner of the vessel, to whom he owed his safety, had procured him +admission to this Xenodochium,--[a refuge or inn]--kept by his mother +the Widow Mary; Karnis had, however, found it far from comfortable, and +had gone forth at noon to seek other quarters. + +"All in vain!" said he, as he wiped the heat drops from his forehead. +"I have hunted Medius half the city through and found him at last at the +house of Posidonius the Magian, whose assistant he is. There was singing +behind a curtain--wretched rubbish; but there were some old airs too +with an accompaniment on the flutes, in the style of Olympus, and really +not so bad. + +"Then spirits appeared. By Sirius a queer business altogether! Medius +is in the midst of it all. I arranged the chorus and sang with them a +little. All I got for it was a little dirty silver--there! But as for +a lodging--free quarters!--there are none to be found here for anything +above an owl; and then there is the edict--that cursed edict!" + +During this speech the younger man had exchanged meaning glances +with his mother. He now interrupted Karnis, saying in a tone of +encouragement: + +"Never mind, father; we have something good in view." + +"You have?" said the old man with an incredulous shrug, while his wife +served him with a small roast chicken, on a stool which did duty for a +table. + +"Yes father, we!" the lad went on, laying aside his knife. "You know we +vowed an offering to Dionysus for our escape, since he himself once fell +into the hands of pirates, so we went at once to his temple. Mother knew +the way; and as we--she, I mean, and Dada and myself..." + +"Heh! what is this?" interrupted Karnis, now for the first time noticing +the dish before him. "A fowl--when we are so miserably poor? A whole +fowl, and cooked with oil?" He spoke angrily, but his wife, laying her +hand on his shoulder, said soothingly: + +"We shall soon earn it again. Never a sesterce was won by fretting. +Enjoy to-day's gifts and the gods will provide for to-morrow." + +"Indeed?" asked Karnis in an altered key. "To be sure when a roast fowl +flies into one's mouth instead of a pigeon.... But you are right as +usual, Herse, as usual, only--here am I battening like a senator while +you--I lay a wager you have drunk nothing but milk all day and eaten +nothing but bread and radishes. I thought so? Then the chicken must +pretend to be a pheasant and you, wife, will eat this leg. The girls +are gone to bed? Why here is some wine too! Fill up your cup, boy. A +libation to the God! Glory to Dionysus!" The two men poured the libation +on the floor and drank; then the father thrust his knife into the breast +of the bird and began his meal with a will, while Orpheus, the son, went +on with his story: + +"Well, the temple of Dionysus was not to be found, for Bishop Theophilus +has had it destroyed; so to what divinity could we offer our wreath +and cake? Here in Egypt there is none but the great Mother Isis. Her +sanctuary is on the shore of Lake Mareotis and mother found it at once. +There she fell into conversation with a priestess who, as soon as she +learnt that my mother belonged to a family of musicians--though Dame +Herse was cautious in announcing this fact--and hoped to find employment +in Alexandria, led her away to a young lady who was closely veiled. This +lady," Orpheus went on--he not only played the flute but took the higher +parts for a man's voice and could also strike the lyre--"desired us to +go to her later at her own house, where she would speak with us. She +drove off in a fine carriage and we, of course followed her orders; Agne +was with us too. A splendid house! I never saw anything handsomer in +Rome or Antioch. We were kindly received, and with the lady there were +another very old lady and a tall grave man, a priest I should fancy or a +philosopher, or something of that kind." + +"Not some Christian trap?" asked Karnis suspiciously. "You do not know +this place, and since the edict..." + +"Never fear, father! There were images of the gods in the halls +and corridors, and in the room where we were received by Gorgo, the +beautiful daughter of Porphyrius, there was an altar before an image of +Isis, quite freshly anointed.--This Porphyrius is a very rich merchant; +we learnt that afterwards, and many other things. The philosopher asked +us at once whether we were aware that Theodosius had lately promulgated +a new edict forbidding young maidens to appear in public as singers or +flute-players." + +"And did Agne hear that?" said the old man in a low voice as he pointed +to the curtain. + +"No, she and Dada were in the garden on to which the room opened, and +mother explained at once that though Agne was a Christian she was a very +good girl, and that so long as she remained in our service she was bound +to sing with us whenever she was required. The philosopher exclaimed +at once: 'The very thing!' and they whispered together, and called the +girls and desired them to show what they could do." + +"And how did they perform?" asked the old man, who was growing excited. + +"Dada warbled like a lark, and Agne--well you know how it always is. Her +voice sounded lovely but it was just as usual. You can guess how much +there is in her and how deep her feeling is but she never quite brings +it out. What has she to complain of with us? And yet whatever she sings +has that mournful, painful ring which even you can do nothing to alter. +However, she pleased them better than Dada did, for I noticed that Gorgo +and the gentleman glanced at each other and at her, and whispered a word +now and then which certainly referred to Ague. When they had sung two +songs the young lady came towards us and praised both the girls, and +asked whether we would undertake to learn something quite new. I told +her that my father was a great musician who could master the most +difficult things at the first hearing." + +"The most difficult! Hm... that depends," said the old man. "Did she +show it you?" + +"No; it is something in the style of Linus and she sang it to us." + +"The daughter of the rich Porphyrius sang for your entertainment? +Yours?" said Karnis laughing. "By Sirius! The world is turning upside +down. Now that girls are forbidden to perform to the gentlefolks, art is +being cultivated by the upper classes; it cannot be killed outright. For +the future the listeners will be paid to keep quiet and the singers pay +for the right of torturing their ears--our ears, our luckless ears will +be victimized." + +Orpheus smiled and shook his head; then, again dropping his knife, he +went on eagerly: + +"But if you could only hear her! You would give your last copper piece +to hear her again." + +"Indeed!" muttered his father. "Well, there are very good teachers here. +Something by Linus did you say she sang?" + +"Something of that kind; a lament for the dead of very great power: +'Return, oh! return my beloved, came back--come home!' that was the +burthen of it. And there was a passage which said: 'Oh that each tear +had a voice and could join with me in calling thee!' And how she sang +it, father! I do not think I ever in my life heard anything like it. Ask +mother. Even Dada's eyes were full of tears." + +"Yes, it was beautiful," the mother agreed. "I could not help wishing +that you were there." + +Karnis rose and paced the little room, waving his arms and muttering: + +"Ah! so that is how it is! A friend of the Muses. We saved the large +lute--that is well. My chlamys has an ugly hole in it--if the girls were +not asleep... but the first thing to-morrow Ague.... Tell me, is she +handsome, tall?" + +Herse had been watching her excitable husband with much satisfaction +and now answered his question: "Not a Hera--not a Muse--decidedly not. +Hardly above the middle height, slightly made, but not small, black +eyes, long lashes, dark straight eyebrows. I could hardly, like Orpheus, +call her beautiful..." + +"Oh yes, mother.--Beautiful is a great word, and one my father has +taught me to use but rarely; but she--if she is not beautiful who +is?--when she raised her large dark eyes and threw back her head to +bring out her lament; tone after tone seemed to come from the bottom of +her heart and rise to the furthest height of heaven. Ah, if Agne could +learn to sing like that! 'Throw your whole soul into your singing.'--You +have told her that again and again. Now, Gorgo can and does. And she +stood there as steady and as highly strung as a bow, every note came out +with the ring of an arrow and went straight to the heart, as clear and +pure as possible." + +"Be silent!" cried the old man covering his ears with his hands. "I +shall not close an eye till daylight, and then... Orpheus, take +that silver--take it all, I have no more--go early to market and buy +flowers--laurel branches, ivy, violets and roses. But no lotuses though +the market here is full of them; they are showy, boastful things with +no scent, I cannot bear them. We will go crowned to the Temple of the +Muses." + +"Buy away, buy all you want!" said Herse laughing, as she showed her +husband some bright gold pieces. "We got that to-day, and if all is +well...." Here she paused, pointed to the curtain, and went on again in +a lower tone: "It all depends of course, on Agne's playing us no trick." + +"How so? Why? She is a good girl and I will..." + +"No, no," said Herse holding him back. "She does not know yet what the +business is. The lady wants her..." + +"Well?" + +"To sing in the Temple of Isis." + +Karnis colored. He was suddenly called from a lovely dream back to the +squalid reality. "In the Temple of Isis," he said gloomily. "Agne? In +the face of all the people? And she knows nothing about it?" + +"Nothing, father." + +"No? Well then, if that is the case... Agne, the Christian, in the +Temple of Isis--here, here, where Bishop Theophilus is destroying +all our sanctuaries and the monks outdo their master. Ah, children, +children, how pretty and round and bright a soap-bubble is, and how soon +it bursts. Do you know at all what it is that you are planning? If the +black flies smell it out and it becomes known, by the great Apollo! +we should have fared better at the hands of the pirates. And yet, and +yet.--Do you know at all how the girl...?" + +"She wept at the lady's singing," interrupted Herse eagerly, "and, +silent as she generally is, on her way home she said: 'To sing like +that! She is a happy girl!'" + +Karnis looked up with renewed confidence. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "that is my Agne. Yes, yes, she truly loves her +divine art. She can sing, she will sing! We will venture it, if you, I, +all of us die for it! + +"Herse, Orpheus, what have we to lose? Our gods, too, shall have their +martyrs. It is a poor life that has no excitement. Our art--why, all +I have ever had has been devoted to it. I make no boast of having +sacrificed everything, and if gold and lands were again to be mine I +would become a beggar once more for the sake of art: We have always held +the divine Muse sacred, but who can keep up a brave heart when he sees +her persecuted! She may only be worshipped in darkness in these days, +and the Queen of Gods and men shuns the light like a moth, a bat, an +owl. If we must die let it be with and for Her! Once more let pure and +perfect song rejoice this old heart, and if afterwards... My children, +we have no place in this dim, colorless world. While the Arts lived +there was Spring on the earth. Now they are condemned to death and it +is Winter. The leaves fall from all the trees, and we piping birds need +groves to sing in. How often already has Death laid his hand on our +shoulder, every breath we draw is a boon of mercy--the extra length +given in by the weaver, the hour of grace granted by the hangman to his +victim! Our lives are no longer our own, a borrowed purse with damaged +copper coins. The hard-hearted creditor has already bent his knuckles, +and when he knocks the time is up. Once more let us have one hour of +pure and perfect enjoyment, and then we will pay up capital and interest +when we must." + +"It cannot and will not be yet," said Herse resolutely, but she wiped +her eyes with her hand. "If Agne sings even, so long as she does it +without coercion and of her own free-will no Bishop can punish us." + +"He cannot, he dare not!" cried the old man. "There are still laws and +judges." + +"And Gorgo's family is influential as well as rich. Porphyrius has power +to protect us, and you do not yet know what a fancy he has taken to us. +Ask mother." + +"It is like a story," Herse put in. "Before we left, the old lady--she +must be eighty or more--took me aside and asked me where we were +lodging. I told her at the Widow Mary's and when she heard it she struck +her crutch on the floor. 'Do you like the place?' she asked. I told her +not at all, and said we could not possibly stop here." + +"Quite right!" cried Karnis. "The monks in the court-yard will kill us +as dead as rats if they hear us learning heathen hymns." + +"That is what I told her; but the old lady did not allow me to finish; +she drew me close to her and whispered, 'only do as my granddaughter +wishes and you shall be safely housed and take this for the +present'--and she put her hand into the purse at her girdle, gave the +gold into my hand, and added loud enough for the others to hear: 'Fifty +gold pieces out of my own pocket if Gorgo tells me that she is satisfied +with your performance.'" + +"Fifty gold pieces!" cried Karnis clasping his hands. "That brightens +up the dull grey of existence. Fifty, then, are certain. If we sing six +times that makes a talent--[estimated in 1880 at $1100]--and that will +buy back our old vineyard at Leontium. I will repair the old Odeum--they +have made a cowhouse of it--and when we sing there the monks may come +and listen! You laugh? But you are simpletons--I should like to see who +will forbid my singing on my own land and in my own country. A talent of +gold! + +"It is quite enough to pay on account, and I will not agree to any +bargain that will not give me the field-slaves and cattle. Castles in +the air, do you say? But just listen to me: We are sure you see of +a hundred gold pieces at least..." He had raised his voice in his +eagerness and while he spoke the curtains had been softly opened, and +the dull glimmer of the lamp which stood in front of Orpheus fell on a +head which was charming in spite of its disorder. A quantity of loose +fair hair curled in papers stuck up all over the round head and fell +over the forehead, the eyes were tired and still half shut, but the +little mouth was wide awake and laughing with the frank amusement of +light-hearted youth. + +Karnis, without noticing the listener, had gone on with his visionary +hopes of regaining his estates by his next earnings, but at this point +the young girl, holding the curtain in her right hand, stretched out her +plump left arm and begged in a humble whine: + +"Good father Karnis, give me a little of your wealth; five poor little +drachmae!" + +The old man started; but he instantly recovered himself and answered +good-naturedly enough: + +"Go back to bed, you little hussy. You ought to be asleep instead of +listening there!" + +"Asleep?" said the girl. "While you are shouting like an orator against +the wind! Five drachmae, father. I stick to that. A new ribband for me +will cost one, and the same for Agne, two. Two I will spend on wine for +us all, and that makes the five." + +"That makes four--you are a great arithmetician to be sure!" + +"Four?" said Dada, as much amazed as though the moon had fallen. "If +only I had a counting-frame. No, father, five I tell you--it is five." + +"No, child, four; and you shall have four," replied her father. "Plutus +is at the door and to-morrow morning you shall both have garlands." + +"Yes, of violets, ivy and roses," added Dame Herse. "Is Agne asleep?" + +"As sound as the dead. She always sleeps soundly unless she lies wide +awake all the night through. But we were both so tired--and I am still. +It is a comfort to yawn. Do you see how I am sitting?" + +"On the clothes-chest?" said Herse. + +"Yes, and the curtain is not a strong back to the seat. Fortunately if I +fall asleep I shall drop forwards, not backwards." + +"But there is a bed for each of you," said the mother, and giving the +girl a gentle push she followed her into the sleeping-alcove. In a few +minutes she came out again. + +"That is just like Dada!" she exclaimed. "Little Papias had rolled off +the chest on which he was sleeping, so the good girl had put him into +her bed and was sitting on the chest herself, tired as she was." + +"She would do anything for that boy," said Karnis. "But it is past +midnight. Come, Orpheus, let us make the bed!" + +Three long hen-coops which stood piled against the wall were laid on +the ground and covered with mats; on these the tired men stretched their +limbs, but they could not sleep. + +The little lamp was extinguished, and for an hour all was still in the +dark room. Then, suddenly, there was a loud commotion; some elastic +object flew against the wall with a loud flap, and Karnis, starting up, +called out: "Get out--monster!" + +"What is it?" cried Herse who had also been startled, and the old man +replied angrily: + +"Some daemon, some dog of a daemon is attacking me and giving me no +peace. Wait, you villain--there, perhaps that will settle you," and he +flung his second sandal. Then, without heeding the rustling fall of some +object that he had hit by accident, he gasped out: + +"The impudent fiend will not let me be. It knows that we need Agne's +voice, and it keeps whispering, first in one ear and then in the other, +that I should threaten to sell her little brother if she refuses; but +I--I--strike a light, Orpheus!--She is a good girl and rather than do +such a thing..." + +"The daemon has been close to me too," said the son as he blew on the +spark he had struck. + +"And to me too," added Herse nervously. "It is only natural. There are +no images of the gods in this Christian hovel. Away, hateful serpent! +We are honest folks and will not agree to any vile baseness. Here is my +amulet, Karnis; if the daemon comes again you must turn it round--you +know how." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Early next morning the singers set out for the house of Porphyrius. The +party was not complete, however, for Dada had been forced to remain at +home. The shoes that the old man had flung to scare away the daemon had +caught in the girl's dress which she had just washed, and had dragged +it down on to the earth; she had found it in the morning full of holes +burnt by the ashes into the damp material. Dada had no other presentable +garment, so, in spite of her indignant refusal and many tears, she had +to remain indoors with Papias. Agne's anxious offers to stay in her +place with the little boy and to lend Dada her dress, both Karnis and +his wife had positively refused; and Dada had lent her aid--at first +silently though willingly and then with her usual merriment--in twining +garlands for the others and in dressing Agne's smooth black plaits with +a wreath of ivy and violets. + +The men were already washed, anointed and crowned with poplar and laurel +when a steward arrived from Porphyrius to bid them follow him to his +master's house. But a small sacrifice was necessary, for the messenger +desired them to lay aside their wreaths, which would excite ill-feeling +among the monks, and certainly be snatched off by the Christian mob. +Karnis when he started was greatly disappointed, and as much depressed +as he had been triumphant and hopeful a short time before. + +The monks, who had gathered outside the Xenodochium, glanced with +scowling suspicion at the party, who could not recover the good spirits +with which they had begun the day till they were fairly out of the +narrow, gloomy alleys, reeking with tar and salt fish, that adjoined the +harbor, and where they had to push their way through a dense throng. +The steward led the van with Herse, talking freely in reply to her +enquiries. + +His master, he said, was one of the great merchants of the city, whose +wife had died twenty years since in giving birth to Gorgo. His two sons +were at present absent on their travels. The old lady who had been +so liberal in her treatment of the singers was Damia, the mother of +Porphyrius. She had a fine fortune of her own, and notwithstanding her +great age was still respected as the soul of business in the household, +and as a woman deeply versed in the mysterious sciences. Mary, the pious +Christian, who had founded the "House of the Holy Martyr," was the +widow of Apelles, the brother of Porphyrius, but she had ceased all +intercourse with her husband's family. This was but natural, as she was +at the head of the Christian women of Alexandria, while the household +of Porphyrius--though the master himself had been baptized--was as +thoroughly heathen as any in Alexandria. + +Karnis heard nothing of all this, for he came last of the party. Orpheus +and Agne followed next to Herse and the steward, and after them came two +slaves, carrying the lutes and pipes. Agne walked with downcast eyes, +as if she desired to avoid seeing all that surrounded her, though when +Orpheus addressed her she shyly glanced up at him and answered briefly +and timidly. They presently came out of an obscure alley by the canal +connecting Kibotus with Lake Mareotis where the Nile-boats lay at +anchor. Karnis drew a deeper breath, for here the air was clear and +balmy; a light northerly breeze brought the refreshing fragrance of +the sea, and the slender palm-trees that bordered the canal threw long +shadows mingling with the massive shade of the sycamores. The road was +astir with busy groups, birds sang in the trees, and the old musician +drank in the exciting and aromatic atmosphere of the Egyptian Spring +with keen enjoyment. + +As they reached the middle of the steep bridge across the canal he +involuntarily stood still, riveted by the view of the southwest. In his +excitement he threw up his arms, his eyes glistened with moisture and +with the enthusiasm of youth, and, as was always the case when his +emotions were stirred by some glorious work of God or man, an image rose +to his mind, all unbidden--the image of his eldest son, now dead, but +in life his closest and most sympathetic comrade. He felt as though +his hand could grasp the shoulder of that son, too early snatched away, +whose gifts had far transcended those of the surviving Orpheus--as +though he too could gaze with him on the grand scene that lay before +him. + +On a platform of rocks and mighty masonry rose a structure of wonderful +magnificence and beauty, so brilliantly illuminated by the morning +sun that its noble proportions and gorgeous colors showed in dazzling +splendor and relief. Over the gilt dome bent the cloudless blue of the +African sky, and the polished hemisphere shone, as radiant as the sun +whose beams it reflected. Sloping planes for vehicles, and flights +of steps for pedestrians led up to the gates. The lower part of this +wonderful edifice--the great Temple of Serapis--was built to stand +forever, and the pillars of the vestibule supported a roof more fitted +to the majesty of the gods than to the insignificance of mortals; +priests and worshippers moved here like children among the trunks of +some gigantic forest. Round the cornice, in hundreds of niches, and on +every projection, all the gods of Olympus and all the heroes and sages +of Greece seemed to have met in conclave, and stood gazing down on the +world in gleaming brass or tinted marble. Every portion of the building +blazed with gold and vivid coloring; the painter's hand had added life +to the marble groups in high relief that filled the pediments and the +smaller figures in the long row of metopes. All the population of a town +might have found refuge in the vast edifice and its effect on the mind +was like that of a harmonious symphony of adoration sung by a chorus of +giants. + +"All hail! Great Serapis! I greet thee in joyful humility, thankful that +Thou hast granted to my old eyes to see Thy glorious and eternal temple +once again!" murmured Karnis in devout contemplation. Then, appealing +to his wife and son, he pointed in silence to the building. Presently, +however, as he watched Orpheus gazing in speechless delight at its +magnificent proportions he could not forbear. + +"This," he began with fervid enthusiasm, "is the stronghold of Serapis +the King of the Gods! A work for all time. Its youth has lasted five +hundred years, its future will extend to all eternity.--Aye, so it +is; and so long as it endures in all its glory the old gods cannot be +deposed!" + +"No one will ever dare to touch a stone of it," said the steward. "Every +child in Alexandria knows that the world will crumble into dust and +ashes if a finger is laid on that Temple, and the man who ventures to +touch the sacred image..." + +"The god can protect himself!" interrupted the singer. "But you--you +Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death--if you +really long so vehemently for the end of all things, you have only to +fall upon this glorious structure.--Do that, do that--only do that!" + +The old man shook his fist at the invisible foe and Herse echoed his +words: + +"Aye, aye, only do that!" Then she added more calmly: "Well, if +everything comes to an end at once the enemies of the gods will die with +us; and there can be nothing terrible in perishing at the same time with +everything that is beautiful or dear to us." + +"Nevertheless," said the steward, "the Bishop has put out his hand +to touch the sanctuary. But our noble Olympius would not suffer the +sacrilegious host to approach, and they had to retire with broken +heads. Serapis will not be mocked; he will stand though all else perish. +'Eternity,' the priest tells us, 'is to him but as an instant, and while +millions of generations bloom and fade, he is still and forever the +same!'" + +"Hail, all hail to the great god!" cried Orpheus with hands outstretched +towards the temple. + +"Yea, hail! for everlasting glory shall be his!" repeated his father. +"Great is Serapis, and his house and his image shall last..." + +"Till the next full moon!" said a passer-by in a tone of sinister +mockery, shaking his fist in the face, as it were, of the god. Orpheus +turned quickly to punish the prophet of evil; but he had disappeared in +the crowd and the tide of men had borne him onwards. "Till the next full +moon!" murmured Agne, who had shuddered at her companion's rapturous +ejaculations, and she glanced uneasily at Orpheus; but by the time Herse +addressed her a minute or two later she had controlled the expression of +her features, and the matron's heart was gladdened by her bright +smile. Nay, many a young Alexandrian, passing the group on foot or in a +carriage, looked at her a second time, for that smile lent a mysterious +charm to her pale, calm face. Nor had it faded away when they had +crossed the bridge and were nearing the shores of the lake, for an idea +once conceived lingered long in Agne's mind; and as she walked on in +the bright glory of the morning's sun her mind's eye was fixed on a +nocturnal scene--on the full moon, high in the sky--on the overthrow +of the great idol and a glittering army among the marble ruins of the +Serapeum. Apostles and martyrs soared around, the Saviour sat enthroned +in glory and triumph, while angels, cradled on the clouds that were his +footstool, were singing beatific hymns which sounded clearly in her ear +above the many-voiced tumult of the quays. The vision did not vanish +till she was desired to get into the boat. + +Herse was a native of Alexandria and Karnis had passed some of the best +years of his life there; but to Orpheus and Agne all was new, and even +the girl, when once she had escaped from the crowd and noise which +oppressed her, took an interest in the scene and asked a question now +and then. The younger man had not eyes enough to see all that claimed +his attention and admiration. + +There were the great sluice-gates at the entrance to the canal that +joined the lake to the sea--there, in a separate dock, lay the splendid +imperial Nile-boats which served to keep up communication between the +garrison of Alexandria and the military stations on the river--there, +again, were the gaudy barges intended for the use of the 'comes', the +prefect and other high officials--and there merchant-vessels of every +size lay at anchor in countless number. Long trains of many-colored +sails swept over the rippling lake like flights of birds across a +cornfield, and every inch of the shore was covered with stores or +buildings. Far away to the south long trellices of vine covered the +slopes, broken by the silvery glaucous tones of the olive-groves, and +by clumps of towering palms whose crowns mingled to form a lofty canopy. +White walls, gaudily-painted temples and private villas gleamed among +the green, and the slanting rays of the low sun, shining on the drops +that fell from the never-resting wheels and buckets that irrigated the +land, turned them into showers of diamonds. These water-works, of the +most ingenious construction, many of them invented and contrived by +scientific engineers, were the weapons with which man had conquered +the desert that originally surrounded this lake, forcing it into green +fertility and productiveness of grain and fruit. Nay, the desert had, +for many centuries, here ceased to exist. Dionysus the generous, and the +kindly garden-gods had blest the toil of men, and yet, now, in many +a plot--in all which belonged to Christian owners--their altars lay +scattered and overthrown. + +During the last thirty years much indeed was changed, and nothing to +the satisfaction of old Karnis; Herse, too, shook her head, and when +the rowers had pulled them about half-way across, she pointed to a broad +vacant spot on the bank where a new building was just rising above the +soil, and said sadly to her husband: + +"Would you know that place again? Where is our dear old temple gone? The +temple of Dionysus." Karnis started up so hastily that he almost upset +the boat, and their conductor was obliged to insist on his keeping +quiet; he obeyed but badly, however, for his arms were never still as he +broke out: + +"And do you suppose that because we are in Egypt I can keep my living +body as still as one of your dead mummies? Let others keep still if they +can! I say it is shameful, disgraceful; a dove's gall might rise at it! +That splendid building, the pride of the city and the delight of men's +eyes, destroyed--swept away like dust from the road! Do you see? Do you +see, I say? Broken columns, marble capitals, here, there and everywhere +at the bottom of the lake--here a head and there a torso! Great +and noble masters formed those statues by the aid of the gods, and +they--they, small and ignoble as they are, have destroyed them by the +aid of evil daemons. They have annihilated and drowned works that were +worthy to live forever! And why? Shall I tell you? Because they shun +the Beautiful as an owl shuns light. Aye, they do! There is nothing they +hate or dread so much as beauty; wherever they find it, they deface and +destroy it, even if it is the work of the Divinity. I accuse them before +the Immortals--for where is the grove even, not the work of man but +the special work of Heaven itself? Where is our grove, with its cool +grottos, its primaeval trees, its shady nooks, and all the peace and +enjoyment of which it was as full as a ripe grape is full of sweet +juice?" + +"It was cut down and rooted up," replied the steward. "The emperor gave +the sanctuary over to Bishop Theophilus and he set to work at once to +destroy it. The temple was pulled down, the sacred vessels went into the +melting-pot, and the images were mutilated and insulted before they were +thrown into the lime-kiln. The place they are building now is to be a +Christian church. Oh! to think of the airy, beautiful colonnades that +once stood there, and then of the dingy barn that is to take their +place!" + +"Why do the gods endure it? Has Zeus lost his thunderbolts?" cried +Orpheus clenching his hands, and paying no heed to Agne who sat pale and +sternly silent during this conversation. + +"Nay, he only sleeps, to wake with awful power," said the old man. +"See those blocks of marble and ruins under the waves. Swift work +is destruction! And men lost their wits and looked on at the crime, +flinging the delight of the gods into the water and the kiln. They were +wise, very wise; fishes and flames are dumb and cannot cry to heaven. +One barbarian, in one hour can destroy what it has taken the sublimest +souls years, centuries, to create. They glory in destruction and ruin +and they can no more build up again such a temple as stood there than +they can restore trees that have taken six hundred years to grow. +There--out there, Herse, in the hollow where those black fellows are +stirring mortar--they have given them shirts too, because they are +ashamed of the beauty of men's bodies--that is where the grotto was +where we found your poor father." + +"The grotto?" repeated his wife, looking at the spot through her tears, +and thinking of the day when, as a girl, she had hurried to the feast +of Dionysus and sought her father in the temple. He had been famous as +a gem-cutter. In obedience to the time-honored tradition in Alexandria, +after intoxicating himself with new wine in honor of the god, he had +rushed out into the street to join the procession. The next morning he +had not returned; the afternoon passed and evening came and still he +did not appear, so his daughter had gone in search of him. Karnis was +at that time a young student and, as her father's lodger, had rented the +best room in the house. He had met her going on her errand and had been +very ready to help her in the search; before long they had found the +old man in the ivy-grown grotto in the grove of Dionysus--motionless and +cold, as if struck by lightning. The bystanders believed that the god +had snatched him away in his intoxicated legion. + +In this hour of sorrow Karnis had proved himself her friend, and a few +months after Herse had become his wife and gone with him to Tauromenium +in Sicily. + +All this rose before her mind, and even Karnis sat gazing dumbly at the +waves; for every spot where some decisive change has occurred in our +lives has power to revive the past when we see it again after a long +absence. Thus they all sat in silence till Orpheus, touching his father, +pointed out the temple of Isis where he had met the fair Gorgo on the +previous day. The old man turned to look at the sanctuary which, as yet, +remained intact. + +"A barbarous structure!" he said bitterly. "The art of the Egyptians +has long been numbered with the dead and the tiger hungers only for the +living!" + +"Nay, it is not such a bad piece of work," replied the steward, "but it +is out of their reach; for the ground on which it stands belongs to my +old mistress, and the law protects private property.--You must at your +leisure inspect the ship-yard here; it is perhaps the most extensive in +the world. The timber that is piled there--cedar of Lebanon, oak from +Pontus and heavy iron-wood from Ethiopia--is worth hundreds of talents." + +"And does all that belong to your master?" + +"No; the owner is the grandson of a freedman, formerly in his family. +Now they are very rich and highly respected, and Master Clemens sits in +the Senate. There he is--that man in a white robe." + +"A Christian, I should imagine," observed the singer. + +"Very true;" replied the steward. "But what is good remains good, and +he is a worthy and excellent man notwithstanding. He keeps a tight +hand over the ship-yard here and over the others too by the harbor +of Eunostus. Only Clemens can never let other people have their own +opinions; in that he is just like the rest of them. Every slave he buys +must become a Christian and his sons are the same; even Constantine, +though he is an officer in the imperial army and as smart and clever a +soldier as lives.--As far as we are concerned we leave every man to his +own beliefs. Porphyrius makes no secret of his views and all the vessels +we use in the corn-trade are built by Christians.--But here we are." + +The boat stopped at a broad flight of marble steps which led from the +lake into the garden of Porphyrius' house. Karnis as he walked through +the grounds felt himself at greater ease, for here the old gods were +at home; their statues gleamed among the dark clumps of evergreens, and +were mirrored in the clear tanks, while delicious perfumes were wafted +from the garlanded shrines and freshly anointed altars, to greet the +newcomers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The family of musicians were kindly received, but they were not +immediately called upon to perform, for as soon as Damia heard that the +pretty fair-haired child who had pleased her so much the day before +had been obliged to remain at home, she had one of her granddaughter's +dresses brought out, and requested Herse to go back to fetch her. Some +slaves were to accompany Herse and transfer all her little property on +board a Nile-boat belonging to Porphyrius, which was lying at anchor +just off the ship-yard. In this large barge there were several cabins +which had often accommodated guests, and which would now serve very well +as a residence for Karnis and his party. Indeed, it was particularly +well suited for a family of musicians, for they could practise there +undisturbed, and Gorgo could at any time pay them a visit. + +Herse went back to the Xenodochium with a lighter heart; her son also +returned to the city to replace a number of necessaries that had been +lost on board ship, and Karnis, rejoicing to be out of the monk-haunted +asylum had remained in the men's room in the house of his new patron, +enjoying the good things which abounded there. He felt as though he was +here once more at home after years of exile. Here dwelt the spirit of +his fathers; here he found men who enjoyed life after his own fashion, +who could share his enthusiasms and his hatreds. He drank noble liquor +out of an elegantly carved onyx cup, all that he heard soothed his ears, +and all that he said met with entire sympathy. The future prospects of +his family, till now so uncertain, were hardly inferior to those which +his vivid imagination had painted the night before. And even if Fortune +should again desert him, the hours of present enjoyment should be +written down to the profit side of life, and remain a permanent gain at +any rate in memory. + +The venerable Damia, her son Porphyrius, and the fair Gorgo were in +fact a trio such as are rarely met with. The master of the house, more +cautious than the women, was inclined to think that his mother and +daughter had been somewhat overhasty and imprudent in their advances and +he had at first received Karnis with considerable reserve; but after a +short interview he had convinced himself that the musician was a man of +unusual culture and superior stamp. The old lady had, from the first, +been predisposed in his favor, for she had read in the stars last night +that the day was to bring her a fortunate meeting. Her wish was law, and +Karnis could not help smiling when she addressed her son, whose hair +had long been grey and who looked fully competent to manage his own +household, as "my child," not hesitating to scold and reprove him. Her +cathedra was a high arm-chair which she never quitted but to be +carried to her observatory on the roof of the house, where she kept her +astrological tablets and manuscripts. The only weakness about her was +in her feet; but strong, and willing arms were always at her disposal +to carry her about--to table, into her sleeping-room, and during the +daytime out to sunny spots in the garden. She was never so happy as when +Helios warmed her back with his rays, for her old blood needed it after +the long night-watches that she still would keep in her observatory. +Even during the hottest noon she would sit in the sun, with a large +green umbrella to shade her keen eyes, and those who desired to speak +with her might find shade as best they could. As she stood, much bent, +but propped on her ivory crutches, eagerly following every word of a +conversation, she looked as though she were prepared at any moment to +spring into the middle of it and interrupt the speaker. She always said +exactly what she meant without reserve or ruth; and throughout her long +life, as the mistress of great wealth, she had always been allowed to +have her own way. She asserted her rights even over her son, though +he was the centre of a web whose threads reached to the furthest +circumference of the known world. The peasants who tilled the earth by +the Upper and Lower Nile, the shepherds who kept their flocks in the +Arabian desert, in Syria, or on the Silphium meads of Cyrenaica, the +wood-cutters of Lebanon and Pontus, the mountaineers of Hispania and +Sardinia, the brokers, merchants, and skippers of every port on the +Mediterranean, were bound by these threads to the villa on the shore of +Mareotis, and felt the tie when the master there--docile as a boy to his +mother's will--tightened or released his hold. + +His possessions, even in his youth, had been so vast that their +increment could bring no added enjoyment to him or his family, and yet +their increase had become his life's task. He strove for a higher sum to +figure on the annual balance sheet, as eagerly as an athlete strives +for a prize; and his mother not only inspected the account, but watched +every important undertaking with keen interest. When her son and his +colleagues doubted over some decision it was she who gave the casting +vote; but though her advice in most cases proved sound and profitable, +she herself ascribed this less to her own acumen and knowledge of the +world than to the hints she obtained from the stars and from magical +calculations. Her son did not follow her in these speculations, but +he rarely disputed the conclusions that she drew from her astrological +studies. While she was turning night into day he was glad to entertain +a few learned friends, for all the hours of leisure that he could snatch +from his pursuit of fortune, he devoted to philosophy, and the most +distinguished thinkers of Alexandria were happy to be received at +the hospitable table of so rich a patron. He was charmed to be called +"Callias," + + [The noble Athenian family of Callias was famed for its wealth and + splendor.] + +and the heathen teachers at the schools of the Museum and Serapeum +regarded him as a faithful ally. It was known that he had been baptized, +but he never liked to hear the fact mentioned. He won all hearts by his +perfect modesty, but even more perhaps by a certain air of suffering +and melancholy which protected the wealthy merchant against the envy of +detractors. + +In the course of her conversation with Karnis the old lady enquired +particularly as to the antecedent history of Agne, for if there had been +a stain on her character, or if she were by birth a slave, Gorgo could +not of course be seen with her in public, and in that case Karnis would +have to teach the lament of Isis to some freeborn singer. Karnis in +reply could only shrug his shoulders, and beg the ladies and Porphyrius +to judge for themselves when he should have related the young girl's +story. + +Three years since, he said, he had been staying at Antioch at the time +of a violent outbreak against the levying of certain taxes. There had +been much bloodshed, and he and his family had got out of the city +as quickly as they could. It was growing dusk when they turned into a +wayside inn, where they found Agne and her little brother captives to a +soldier. During the night the girl had crept up to the little boy's bed, +and to comfort and lull him had begun to sing him a simple song. The +singer's voice was so pure and pathetic that it had touched both him and +his wife and they had at once purchased the girl and her brother for a +small sum. He had simply paid what the soldier asked, not regarding the +children in the light of slaves; nor had he had any description of them +written out, though it was, no doubt, in his power to treat them as +slaves and to sell them again, since the sale had taken place before +witnesses who might still be found. He had afterwards learnt from the +girl that her parents were Christians and had settled in Antioch only +a few years previously; but she had no friends nor relatives there. Her +father, being a tax-collector in the service of the Emperor, had moved +about a great deal, but she remembered his having spoken of Augusta +Treviroruin in Belgica prima, as his native place.--[Now Trier or +Treves, on the Moselle.] + +Agne had witnessed the attack on her father's house by the angry mob +who had killed her parents, their two slaves, and her elder brother. Her +father must certainly have been an official of some rank, and probably, +as it would seem, a Roman citizen, in which case--as Porphyrius +agreed--both the young girl and her little brother could legally claim +their freedom. The insurgents who had dragged the two children out into +the street had been driven off by the troops, and it was from them that +Karnis had rescued them. "And I have never regretted it," added the old +musician, "for Agne is a sweet, gentle soul. Of her voice I need say +nothing, since you yourselves heard it yesterday." + +"And were quite delighted with it!" cried Gorgo. "If flowers could sing +it would be like that!" + +"Well, well," said Karnis. "She has a lovely voice--but she wants wings. +Something--what, I know not, keeps the violet rooted to the soil." + +"Christian scruples," said the merchant, and Damia added: + +"Let Eros touch her--that will loosen her tongue." + +"Eros, always Eros!" repeated Gorgo shrugging her shoulders. "Nay, love +means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them. To do the best +of which he is capable man needs only to be free, true, and in health." + +"That is a great deal, fair mistress," replied Karnis eagerly. "With +these three gifts the best work is done. But as to Agne--what can be +further from freedom than a girl bound to service? her body, to be sure +is healthy, but her spirit suffers; she can get no peace for dread of +the Christian's terrors: Sin, Repentance, and Hell...." + +"Oh, we know how their life is ruined!" interrupted the old lady. "Was +it Agne who introduced you to Mary's Asylum?" + +"No, noble lady." + +"But how then--that prudent saint generally selects her guests, and +those that are not baptized..." + +"She certainly sheltered heathens on this occasion." + +"I am much surprised. Tell me how it happened." + +"We were at Rome," began Karnis, "and my patron there persuaded Marcus, +Mary's son, to take us on board his ship at Ostia. We dropped anchor at +Cyrene, where the young master wanted to pick up his brother and bring +him also to Alexandria." + +"Then is Demetrius here?" asked Porphyrius. + +"Yes, sir. He came on board at Cyrene. Hardly had we got fairly to +sea again when we saw two pirate ships. Our trireme was at once turned +round, but in our hurry to regain the harbor we stuck fast on a +sand bank; the boats were at once put out to save the passengers and +Cynegius, the consul..." + +"Cynegius--on his way here!" exclaimed Porphyrius, much excited. + +"He landed yesterday with us in the harbor of Eunostus. The secretaries +and officers of his suite filled one boat and Marcus and his brother +were getting into the other with their men. We, and others of the free +passengers, should have been left behind if Dada..." + +"That pretty little blonde?" asked Damia. + +"The very same. Marcus had taken a great fancy to her prattle and her +songs during the voyage--no nightingale can sing more clearly--and when +she begged and prayed him he gave way at once, and said: he would take +her in his boat. But the brave child declared that she would jump into +the sea before she would leave without us." + +"Well done!" cried the old lady, and Porphyrius added: + +"That speaks well for her and for you." + +"So after all Marcus found room for us in the boat--for all of us, and +we got safely to land. A few days after we all came on in a troop-ship: +Cynegius, the two brothers and the rest, all safe and sound; and, as +we had lost everything we possessed, Marcus gave us a certificate which +procured our admission into his mother's Xenodochium. And then the gods +brought me and mine under the notice of your noble daughter." + +"Then Cynegius is here, positively here?" asked Porphyrius once more. +Karnis assured him that he was, and the merchant, turning to his mother, +went on: + +"And Olympius has not yet come home. It is always the same thing; he is +as rash as a boy. If they should take him! The roads are swarming with +monks. There is something astir. Bring out the chariot, Syrus, at once; +and tell Atlas to be ready to accompany me. Cynegius here!--Ha, ha! I +thank the gods!" + +The last exclamation was addressed to a man who at this instant came +into the room, muffled up to the eyes. He threw off the hood of his +cloak and the wrapper that went round his throat, concealing his long +white beard, and as he did so he exclaimed with a gasp for breath: + +"Here I am once more!--Cynegius is here and matters look serious my +friend." + +"You have been to the Museum?" + +"Without any obstruction. I found them all assembled. Brave lads. They +are all for us and the gods. There are plenty of weapons. The Jews--[At +that time about two-fifths of the whole population.]--are not stirring, +Onias thinks he may vouch for that; and we must surely be a match for +the monks and the imperial cohorts." + +"If the gods only stand by us to-day and tomorrow," replied Porphyrius +doubtfully. + +"For ever, if only the country people do their duty!" cried the other. +"But who is this stranger?" + +"The chief of the singers who were here yesterday," replied Gorgo. + +"Karnis, the son of Hiero of Tauromenium," said the musician, bowing to +the stranger, whose stately figure and handsome, thoughtful head struck +him with admiration. + +"Karnis of Tauromenium!" exclaimed the newcomer with glad surprise. "By +Hercules! a strange meeting. Your hand, your hand, old man. How many +years is it since we last emptied a wine-jar together at the house of +old Hippias? Seven lustres have turned our hair grey, but we still can +stand upright. Well, Karnis son of Hiero--and who am I?" + +"Olympius--the great Olympius!" cried Karnis, eagerly grasping the +offered hand. "May all the gods bless this happy day!" + +"All the gods?" repeated the philosopher. "Is that what you say? Then +you have not crawled under the yoke of the cross?" + +"The world can rejoice only under the auspices of the gods!" cried +Karnis excitedly. + +"And it shall rejoice still, we will save it from gloom!" added the +other with a flash of vehemence. + +"The times are fateful. We must fight; and no longer over trifles; we +cannot now break each other's heads over a quibble, or believe that the +whole world hangs on the question whether the instant of death is the +last minute of this life or the first of the next. No--what now remains +to be decided is whether the old gods shall be victorious, whether we +shall continue to live free and happy under the rule of the Immortals, +or whether we shall bow under the dismal doctrine of the carpenter's +crucified son; we must fight for the highest hopes and aims of +humanity." + +"I know," interrupted Karnis, "you have already done battle valiantly +for great Serapis. They wanted to lay hands on his sanctuary but you and +your disciples put them to rout. The rest got off scot-free..." + +"But they have taught me the value of my head," said Olympius laughing. +"Evagrius prices it at three talents. Why, you might buy a house with +the money and a modest man could live upon the interest. This worthy man +keeps me concealed here. We must talk over a few things, Porphyrius; and +you, Gorgo, do not forget the solemn festival of Isis. Now that Cynegius +is here it must be made as splendid as possible, and he must tell the +Emperor, who has sent him, what temper we Alexandrians are in. But where +is the dark maiden I saw yesterday?" + +"In the garden," replied Gorgo. + +"She is to sing at the foot of the bier!" cried Olympius. "That must not +be altered." + +"If I can persuade her--she is a Christian," said Karnis doubtfully. + +"She must," said the philosopher positively. "It will be a bad lookout +indeed for the logic and rhetoric of Alexandria if an old professor and +disputant cannot succeed in turning a young girl's resolutions upside +down. Leave that to me. I shall find time for a chat with you by and +bye, friend Karnis. How in the world does it happen that you, who so +often have helped us with your father's coin, have come down to be the +chief of a band of travelling musicians? You will have much to tell me, +my good friend; but even such important matters must give way to those +that are more pressing. One word with you, Porphyrius." + +Agne had been all this time awaiting Herse's return in the colonnade +that ran along the garden-front of the house. She was glad to be alone, +and it was very comfortable to rest on the soft cushions under the +gilt-coffered ceiling of the arcade. At each end stood large shrubs +covered with bunches of violet-blue flowers and the spreading branches +cast a pleasant shade on the couch where she sat; the beautiful flowers, +which were strange to her, were delightfully fragrant, and from time +to time she helped herself to the refreshments which Gorgo herself had +brought out to her. All she saw, heard, and felt, was soothing to her +mind; never had she seen or tasted juicier peaches, richer bunches of +grapes, fresher almonds or more tempting cakes; on the shrubs in the +garden and on the grass-plots between the paths there was not a dead +leaf, not a dry stem, not the tiniest weed. The buds were swelling on +the tall trees, shrubs without end were covered with blossoms--white, +blue, yellow, and red--while, among the smooth, shining leaves of the +orange and lemon trees, gleamed the swelling fruit. On a round tank +close at hand some black swans were noiselessly tracing evanescent +circles and uttering their strange lament. The song of birds mingled +with the plash of fountains, and even the marble statues, for all that +they were dumb, seemed to be enjoying the sweet morning air and the stir +and voice of nature. + +Yes, she could be happy here; as she peeled a peach and slowly +swallowed the soft fragrant mouthfuls, she laughed to remember the +hard ship's-biscuit, of the two previous days' fare. And it was Gorgo's +privilege to revel in these good things day after day, year after year. +It was like living in Eden, in the perpetual spring of man's first +blissful home on earth. There could be no suffering here; who could +cry here, who could be sorrowful, who could die?... Here a new train of +thought forced itself upon her. She was still so young, and yet she was +as familiar with the idea of death as she was with life; for whenever +she had happened to tell any minister of her creed that she was an +orphan and a slave, and deeply sad and sorrowful, the joys of eternity +in Paradise had always been described to her for her consolation, and it +was in hopes of Heaven that her visionary nature found such a modicum of +comfort as might suffice to keep the young artist-soul from despair. And +now it struck her that it must be hard, very hard to die, in the midst +of all this splendor. Living here must be a foretaste of the joys of +Paradise--and in the next world, among the angels of Heaven, in the +presence of the Saviour--would it not be a thousand times more beautiful +even than this? She shuddered, for, sojourning here, she was no longer +to be counted as one of the poor and humble sufferers to whom Christ had +promised the Kingdom of Heaven--here she was one of the rich, who had +nothing to hope for after death. + +She pushed the peaches away with a feeling of oppression, and closed +her eyes that she might no longer see all these perishable splendors +and sinful works of the heathen, which pandered only to the senses. She +longed to remain miserable and poor on earth, that she might rejoin her +parents and dwell with them eternally. + +To her it was not a belief but a certainty that her father and mother +were dwelling in Heaven, and she had often felt moved to pray that she +might die and be reunited to them; but she must not die yet, for her +little brother still needed her care. The kind souls whom she served +let him lack for nothing, it is true, that could conduce to his bodily +welfare; still, she could not appear before her parents without the +little one in her hand, and he would be lost eternally if his soul fell +into the power of the enemies of her faith. Her heart ached when she +reflected that Karnis, who was certainly not one of the reprobate and +whom she affectionately revered as a master in the art she loved--that +Herse, and the light-hearted Dada, and Orpheus even, must all be doomed +to perish eternally; and to save Orpheus she would willingly have +forfeited half the joys of Paradise. She saw that he was no less an +idolater than his parents; and yet, day by day, she prayed that his soul +might be saved, and she never ceased to hope for a miracle--that he too +might see a vision, like Paul, and confess the Saviour. She was so happy +when she was with him, and never happier than when it was her fortune to +sing with him, or to his admirable accompaniment on the lute. When she +could succeed in forgetting herself completely, and in giving utterance +by her lovely voice to all that was highest and best in her soul, he, +whose ear was no less sensitive and appreciative than his father's, +would frankly express his approval, and in these moments life was indeed +fair and precious. + +Music was the bond between her and Orpheus, and when her soul was +stirred she could feel and express herself in music. Song was the +language of her heart, and she had learnt by experience that it was +a language which even the heathen could both use and understand. The +Eternal Father himself must find joy in such a voice as Gorgo's. She was +a heathen, and yet she had thrown into her song all that Agne herself +could feel when she lifted up her heart in passionate prayer. The +Christian--so she had often been taught--must have no part with the +idolaters; but it was God himself who had cast her on the hands of +Karnis, and the Church commanded that servants should obey their +masters. Singing seemed to her to be a language in itself, bestowed by +God on all living creatures, even on the birds, wherein to speak to Him; +so she allowed herself to look forward with pleasure to an opportunity +of mingling her own voice with that of the heathen lady. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Not long after Porphyrius and the philosopher had retired to a private +room Herse returned with Dada. Gorgo's blue spangled dress, which Damia +had sent her, suited the girl to perfection; but she was quite out of +breath, and her hair was in disorder. Herse, too, looked agitated, her +face was red and she dragged little Papias, whose hand she held, rather +roughly at her heels. + +Dada was evidently abashed; less by reason of the splendor that +surrounded her than because her foster-mother had strictly enjoined her +to be very quiet and mannerly in the presence of their patrons. She felt +shy and strange as she made her low courtesy to the old lady; but Damia +seemed to be pleased with the timid grace of her demeanor, for she +offered her her hand--an honor she usually conferred only on her +intimates, bid her stoop, and gave her a kiss, saying kindly: "You are +a good brave girl. Fidelity to your friends is pleasing in the sight of +the gods, and finds its reward even among men." + +Dada, obeying a happy impulse, threw herself on her knees before the old +woman, kissed her hands, and then, sitting on her heels, nestled at her +feet. + +Gorgo, however, noticing Herse's agitation, asked what had happened to +them. Some monks, Herse explained, had followed them on the road hither, +had snatched Dada's lyre from the slave who was carrying it and pulled +the wreath out of her hair. Damia was furious as she heard it, and +trembled with rage as she railed at the wild hordes who disgraced and +desecrated Alexandria, the sacred home of the Muses; then she began to +speak once more of the young captain, Mary's son, to whom the troupe of +singers owed their lives. + +"Marcus," said she, "is said to be a paragon of chastity. He races in +the hippodrome with all the gallants of the town and yet--if it is true +it is a miracle--he shuns women as though he were a priest already. His +mother is very anxious that he should become one; but he, by the grace +of Aphrodite, is the son of my handsome Appelles, who, if he had gazed +into those blue eyes all the way from Rome to Alexandria, would have +surrendered at mercy; but then he would also have conquered them--as +surely as I hope to live till autumn. You need not blush so, child. +After all, Marcus is a man like other men. Keep your eyes open, Dame +Herse!" + +"Never fear!" cried Herse. "And I have need to keep them open I am +sorry to say. The young captain, who on board ship was so bashful and +retiring, as soon as he was on land altered his time. While we were away +this morning he crept into his own mother's inn like a ferret, opened +the door of our room with the keys of which he has the command--it is +shameful!--and proposed to the girl to fly, to leave us--she is the +daughter of a dear sister of mine--and go with him; who but he knows +where!" + +Damia struck the floor with her crutch and, interrupting the indignant +matron with a spiteful laugh, exclaimed: + +"Ha, ha! The saintly Mary's most saintly son! Such wonders do not happen +every day! Here, Dada--here; take this ring, it has been worn by a woman +who once was young and who has had many lovers. Close--come close, my +sweet child." + +Dada looked up at the old lady with puzzled eyes; Damia bent her head +close to the girl's, and whispered, softly but vehemently in her ear: + +"Only turn that milksop's head, make him so madly and desperately in +love with you that he does not know which way to turn for delicious +torment. You can do it I know, and if you do--well, I make no promises; +but on the day when all Alexandria is talking of that woman's son as +wandering out, night after night, to watch under the window of the fair +Dada, the heathen singer--when he drives you out in the face of day +and in his own chariot, down the Canopic Way and past his mother's +door--then child, ask, claim whatever you will, and old Damia will not +refuse it." + +Then raising her head she added to the others: + +"In the afternoon, my friends, you can take possession of your new +quarters. Go with them, Dada. By-and-bye we will find you a pretty room +in the tower. Come and see me very often, sweet one, and tell me all +your prettiest tales. When I am not too busy I shall always be glad to +see you, for you and I have a secret you know." + +The girl stood up, looking uneasily at the old woman; Damia nodded +knowingly, as much as to say that they quite understood each other and +again offered her hand to Dada; but Dada could not kiss it; she turned +and followed the others more gravely than usual. + +Gorgo guessed what the old lady would be at with Dada; as soon as the +party of singers had taken leave she went up to her grandmother and said +reproachfully: + +"That little fair thing will find no difficulty in making a fool of +Marcus; for my part I hardly know him, but why should he pay for his +mother's sins against you? How can he help..." + +"He cannot help it," interrupted Damia with decisive abruptness. "He can +do nothing to save his mother, any more than you can help being a child +of twenty and bound to hold your tongue till your opinion is asked." + + ........................... + +The family of musicians had all met on board the barge which was lying +at anchor in the lake, off the ship-yard. Orpheus had just been an +eye-witness of the disturbance which prevailed throughout the city, and +the wild howls and cries that were audible in the distance confirmed his +report; but the waters of the lake were an unruffled mirror of blue, +the slaves in the ship-yard were at work as usual, and the cooing +turtle-doves flew from palm to palm. + +No signs of troubled times were to be seen in the floating home of the +wanderers. The steward had provided for everything. There were rooms +and beds to spare in the vessel; the large deck-cabin was a comfortable +sitting-room, and from the little galley at the prow came a savory smell +of cooking and a cheerful clang of pots and pans. + +"This is living!" exclaimed Karnis, stretching himself comfortably on a +divan. "This abode seems made on purpose for our noble selves! Sit down, +mother, make yourself at home. Here we are people of consequence, and +if it were only to make things pleasant for the slaves we must behave as +though we had never known people who take their meals squatted round an +earthen bowl, and clawing out the broken meat. Enjoy the gifts of the +present--who knows how long this golden hour may last! Ah, wife, it +reminds us of former times! It would be very pleasant to be like this, +side by side, and help ourselves from a table all our own to dainty +dishes which we had not assisted in cooking. For you, old woman, have +done everything with your own hands for so long, that you deserve to +have some one to wait on you for once." + +A little table was placed by each divan and covered with appetizing +food; the steward mixed some fine wine of the country with fresh, clear +water, Orpheus offered the libation, and Karnis spiced the meal with +jests and tales of his youth, of which he had been reminded by his +meeting with his old friend and comrade Olympius. + +Dada interrupted him frequently, laughing more loudly and recklessly +than usual; she was in a fever of excitement and Herse did not fail to +remark it. The good woman was somewhat uneasy. The very fact that her +husband always gave himself up heart and soul to the influences of the +hour--though she was glad that he should enjoy this good fortune to the +utmost--made her look beyond the present into the future. She had seen +with her own eyes the tumult that was rife in Alexandria, and felt +that they had arrived at an inauspicious moment. If it should come to +a struggle between the Christians and the Heathen, Karnis, finding that +his old friend Olympius was the head of his party, would infallibly +seize the sword, and if, then, the victory remained with the Christians +no mercy would be shown to those who had fought for the old gods. +Gorgo's wish that Agne should sing in the temple of Isis was another +source of anxiety; for if it came to that they might, only too probably, +be accused of perverting a Christian to heathen worship, and be +condemned to a severe penalty. All this had worn a very different aspect +yesterday when she had thought of Alexandria as the gay home of her +youth; but now she saw what a change had taken place in these thirty +years. The Church had risen on the ruins of the Temple, and monks had +forced the sacrificing priests into the background. + +Karnis and his troupe were musicians of no ordinary stamp; still the +law concerning singing-girls might place him in peril, especially now +that--to make matters worse--a young Christian was paying court to his +pretty niece. What catastrophes might not be called down on his hapless +head if so influential a woman as Marcus' mother Mary should come to +know of her son's backsliding! Herse had long perceived how attractive +that little simpleton was to all men--old and young--and when one of the +lovers, of whom she had no lack, happened to take her fancy she was +apt to forget herself and play a too audacious game; but as soon as she +found she had gone too far and somewhat committed herself she would draw +back and meet him, if she could not avoid him, with repellent and even +unmannerly coldness. Again and again had Herse scolded and warned her, +but Dada always answered her reproofs by saying that she could not make +herself different from what she was, and Herse had never been able to +remain stern and severe in the face of the foolish excuses that Dada put +forward so convincingly. + +To-day the good woman could not quite make up her mind whether it +would be wiser to warn Dada against Marcus and desire her to repel any +advances he might attempt to make, or to let bygones be bygones. She +knew full well how a trifling incident gains importance when undue +emphasis is laid on it; she therefore had merely asked the girl what +secret she could have with old Damia and had accepted some evasive +subterfuge in reply, while, at the same time, she guessed the truth and +was quite determined not to remit her watchfulness. For a time, at any +rate, she thought she would let matters go their own way, and never +mention the young fellow's name; but her husband spoilt this plan, +for with the eager jollity of a man very much at his ease after a good +dinner he called upon Dada to tell their the whole history of the young +Christian's invasion in the morning. Dada at first was reticent, but the +old man's communicative humor proved infectious and she presently told +her story: + +"I was sitting alone with the poor little boy, like--well I do not know +what like--you must find a comparison for yourselves. I was comforting +myself with the reflection that the key was on the inside and the door +locked, for I was getting frightened as the monks began to sing in the +yard below, one part going off to the left, as it were, and the other +part to the right. Did you ever see two drunken men walking arm in arm, +and lurching first to one side and then to the other? You may laugh, +but by the nine Muses it was just like that. Then Papias grew tired and +cross and kept asking where Agne was, till at last he began to cry. When +I asked him what he was crying for, he said he had forgotten, I really +am patient--you must all allow that--I did not do anything to him, but, +just to give him something to play with, I took out the key, for there +was nothing else at hand that he could not break, and gave it to him and +told him to play a tune on it. This delighted him, and he really did it +quite prettily. Then I looked over my burnt dress and was horrified to +see how large the holes were, and it struck me that I might turn it, +because when you turn a thing the spots, you know, do not show." + +"You have invented that this very minute," cried Orpheus laughing. "We +know you. If you can only turn the laugh against yourself..." + +"No, really," cried Dada, "the idea flew through my head like a bird +through a room; but I remembered at once that a hole burnt through shows +on both sides, so I threw the dress aside as past mending and sat down +on the low stool to peep through the wicket by the door out at the yard; +the singing had stopped and the silence frightened me almost as much. +Papias had stopped his piping too, and was sitting in the corner where +Orpheus sat to write his letter to Tauromenium." + +"I know," said Orpheus, "the inkstand was there, that the steward of the +inn had lent us the day before." + +"Just so; and when mother came in, there he was, dipping his finger in +the ink, and painting his white dress--you can study the pattern at +your leisure.--But no not interrupt me.--Well, I was looking into the +court-yard; it was quite empty; all the monks were gone. Suddenly a tall +young man in a white dress with a beautiful sky-blue border appeared +through the great gate. The gate-keeper crawled after him very humbly as +far as his rope would allow and even the steward spoke to him with both +hands pressed to his breast as if he had a faithful heart on the right +side as well as the one on the left. This young man--it was our kind +friend Marcus, of course--crossed the court, taking a zigzag at first, +as a snipe flies, and then came towards our door. The steward and the +gate-keeper had both vanished.--Do you remember the young Goths whom +their father took to bathe in the Tiber last winter, when it was so +cold? And how they first stood on the brink and dipped their toes in, +and then ran away and when they came back again just wetted their heads +and chests? But they had to jump in at last when their father shouted +some barbaric words to them--I can see them now. Well, Marcus was +exactly like those boys; but at last he suddenly walked straight up to +our door and knocked." + +"He remembered your pretty face no doubt," laughed Karnis. + +"May be. However, I did not stir. I kept as still as a mouse, sitting on +my stool and watching him through the key-hole, till presently he called +out: 'Is no one there?' Then I forgot and answered: 'They are all +out!' Of course I had betrayed myself--but it is impossible to think of +everything at once. Oh! yes--you may laugh. And he smiled too--he is a +very handsome fellow--and desired me most pressingly to open the door +as he had something of the greatest importance to say to me. I said he +could talk very well through the gap at the top; that Pyramus and Thisbe +had even kissed through a chink in a wall. But he would not see the +joke; he got graver and more earnest, and insisted, saying that our +fate, his and mine, hung on that hour, and that not a soul must overhear +what he had to say. The top of the door was too high to whisper through, +so there was nothing for it but to ask Papias for the key; however, he +did not know where he had put it. I afterwards thought of asking him +what he had done with his flute and he fetched it then at once.--In +short, the key was nowhere to be found. I told Marcus this and he wrung +his hands with vexation; but in a few minutes the inn-steward, who must +have been hiding to listen behind a pillar, suddenly appeared as if he +had dropped from the skies, took a key out of his girdle, threw the door +wide open, and vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + +"There we stood, Marcus and I, face to face. He was quite agitated; I +really believe the poor fellow was trembling, and I did not feel very +confident; however, I asked him what it was that he wanted. Then he +recovered himself a little: 'I wished,'--he began; so I went on: +'Thou wishedst,'--and it might have gone on to the end: 'he wished, we +wished'---and so forth, like the children at school at Rome, when we +were learning Greek; but, Papias came to the rescue, for he ran up to +Marcus and asked him to toss him up high, as he used to do on board +ship. Marcus did as he was asked, and then he suddenly broke out into +such a torrent of words that I was quite terrified. First he said so +many fine things that I quite expected a declaration of love, and was +trying to make up my mind whether I would laugh him out of it or +throw myself into his arms--for he really is a dear, good, handsome +fellow--and if you would like to know the truth I should have been very +willing to oblige him--to a certain extent. But he asked me nothing, and +from talking of me--listen to this Father Karnis--and saying that the +great Father in Heaven had granted me every good gift, he went on to +speak of you as a wicked, perverse and reprobate old heathen." + +"I will teach him!" exclaimed Karnis shaking his fist. + +"Nay, but listen," Dada went on. "He praised you and mother for a great +many things; but do you know what he says is wrong? He says you will +imperil my psyche--my soul, my immortal soul. As if I had ever heard of +any Psyche but the Psyche whom Eros loved!" + +"That is quite another thing," said Karnis very seriously. "In many +songs, you know, I have tried to make you uplift your soul to a higher +flight. You have learnt to sing, and there is no better school for a +woman's soul than music and singing. If that conceited simpleton--why, +he is young enough to be my grandson--if he talks any such nonsense to +you again you may tell him from me..." + +"You will tell him nothing," cried Herse, "for we can have nothing +whatever to do with the Christian. You are my own sister's child and I +desire and order you--do you hear--to keep out of his way, if he ever +tries to come near you again..." + +"Who is likely to find us here?" said Dada. "Besides, he has no such +ideas and motives as you suppose. It is what he calls my soul that he +cares for and not myself; and he wanted to take me away, not to his own +house, but to some man who would be the physician of my soul, he said. +I am generally ready enough to laugh, but what he said was so impressive +and solemn, and so wonderfully earnest and startling that I could not +jest over it. At last I was more angry at his daring to speak to me in +such a way than any of you ever thought I could be, and that drove him +half mad. You came in, mother, just as the gentleman had fallen on his +knees to implore me to leave you." + +"And I gave him my mind on the subject," retorted Herse with grim +satisfaction. "I let him know what I thought of him. He may talk about +the soul--what he is after is the girl. I know these Christians and I +know what the upshot will be. He will take advantage of the edict to +gain his ends, and then you will be separated from us and shut up in a +reformatory or a refuge or a cloister or whatever they call their dismal +prisons, and will learn more about your soul than you will care to know. +It will be all over then with singing, and laughter, and amusement. Now +you know the truth, and if you are wise you will keep out of his way +till we leave Alexandria; and that will be as soon as possible, if you +listen to reason, Karnis." + +She spoke with such earnest conviction that Dada remained silent with +downcast eyes, and Karnis sat up to think the matter over. + +However, there was no time now for further reflection; the steward came +in and desired that he, with his son and Agne should go at once to Gorgo +to practise the lament of Isis. + +This command did not include Herse and Dada, who remained on the barge. +Herse having plenty to occupy her in the lower rooms, Dada went on deck +and watched the others on their way to the house; then she sat looking +at the shipwrights at their work and tossed fruit and sweetmeats, the +remains of their dessert, for the children to catch who were playing on +the shore. Meanwhile she thought over Marcus' startling speech, Damia's +injunctions and Herse's warnings. + +At first it seemed to her that Herse might be right, but by degrees she +fell back into her old conviction that the young Christian could mean +no harm by her; and she felt as sure that he would find her out wherever +she might hide herself, as that it was her pretty and much-admired +little person that he sought to win, and not her soul--for what could +such an airy nothing as a soul profit a lover? How rapturously he had +described her charms, how candidly he had owned that her image was +always before him even in his dreams, that he could not and would not +give her up--nay, that he was ready to lay down his life to save her +soul. Only a man in love could speak like this and a man so desperately +in love can achieve whatever he will. On her way from the Xenodochium +to the house of Porphyrius she had passed him in his chariot, and had +admired the splendid horses which he turned and guided with perfect +skill and grace. He was scarcely three years older than herself; he was +eighteen--but in spite of his youth and simplicity he was not unmanly; +and there was something in him--something that compelled her to be +constantly thinking of him and asking herself what that something was. +Old Damia's instructions troubled her; they took much of the charm from +her dream of being loved by Marcus, clasped in his arms, and driven +through the city in his chariot. + +It was impossible--yes, quite impossible, she was sure--that they should +have parted forever; as she sat, thinking still of him and glancing from +time to time at the toiling carpenters, a boat pulled up at the landing +close to the barge out of which jumped an officer of the imperial guard. +Such a handsome man! with such a noble, powerful, sunburnt face, a +lightly waving black beard, and hair that fell from under his gold +helmet! The short-sword at his side showed him to be a tribune or +prefect of cavalry, and what gallant deeds must not this brilliant and +glittering young warrior have performed to have risen to such high rank +while still so young! He stood on the shore, looking all round, his +eyes met hers and she felt herself color; he seemed surprised to see her +there and greeted her respectfully with a military salute; then he went +on towards the unfinished hulk of a large ship whose bare curved ribs +one or two foremen were busily measuring with tape and rule. + +An elderly man of dignified aspect was standing close by, who, as Dada +had already discovered, was the head of the ship-yard, and the warrior +hastened towards him. She heard him say: "Father," and in the next +instant she saw the old man open his arms and the officer rush to +embrace him. + +Dada never took her eyes off the couple who walked on, arm in arm and +talking eagerly, till they disappeared into a large house on the further +side of the dockyard. + +"What a handsome man!" Dada repeated to herself, but while she waited to +see him return she gazed across the lake by which Marcus might find +his way to her. And as she lingered, idly dreaming, she involuntarily +compared the two men. There were fine soldiers in plenty in Rome, +and the ship-builder's son was in no particular superior to a hundred +others; but such a man as Marcus she had never before seen--there could +hardly be such another in the world. The young guard was one fine +tree among a grove of fine trees; but Marcus had something peculiar +to himself, that distinguished him from the crowd, and which made him +exceptionally attractive and lovable. His image at length so completely +filled her mind that she forgot the handsome officer, and the shipmaster +and every one else. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Karnis and his two companions were a long time away. Dada had almost +forgotten her wish to see the young soldier once more, and after playing +with little Papias for some time, as she might have played with a dog, +she began to feel dull and to think the quiet of the boat intolerable. +The sun was sinking when the absentees returned, but she at once +reminded Karnis that he had promised to take her for a walk and show her +Alexandria. Herse, however, forbid her going on such an expedition +till the following day. Dada, who was more irritable and fractious than +usual, burst into tears, flung the distaff that her foster-mother put +into her hand over the side of the ship, and declared between her sobs +that she was not a slave, that she would run away and find happiness +wherever it offered. In short she was so insubordinate that Herse +lost patience and scolded her severely. The girl sprang up, flung on a +handkerchief and in a moment would have crossed the plank to the shore; +Karnis, however, held her back. + +"Why, child," he said, "do you not see how tired I am?" The appeal had +its effect; Dada recovered her reason and tried to look up brightly, but +her eyes were still tearful and heavy and she could only creep away into +a corner and cry in silence. The old man's heart was very soft towards +the girl; he would have been glad only to speak a few kind words to her +and smoothe down her hair; however, he made an effort, and whispering a +few words to his wife said he was ready, if Dada wished it, to take her +as far as the Canopic way and the Bruchium. + +Dada laughed with delight, wiped away her tears, flung her arms round +the musician's neck and kissed his brown cheeks, exclaiming: + +"You are the best of them all! Make haste, and Agne shall come too; she +must see something of the city." + +But Agne preferred to remain on board, so Karnis and Dada set out +together. Orpheus followed them closely for, though the troops had +succeeded in quelling the uproar, the city was still in a state of +ferment. Closely veiled, and without any kind of adornment--on this +Herse had positively insisted--the girl, clinging to the old man's arm, +made her way through the streets, asking questions about everything she +saw; and her spirits rose, and she was so full of droll suggestions that +Karnis soon forgot his fatigue and gave himself up to the enjoyment +of showing her the old scenes that he knew and the new beauties and +improvements. + +In the Canopic way Dada was fairly beside herself with delight. Houses +like palaces stood arrayed on each side. Close to the buildings ran a +covered arcade, and down the centre of the roadway there was a broad +footpath shaded by sycamores. This fine avenue swarmed with pedestrians, +while on each side chariots, drawn by magnificent horses, hurried past, +and riders galloped up and down; at every step there was something new +and interesting to be seen. + +Rome, even, could not boast of a handsomer street, and Dada expressed +her delight with frank eagerness; but Karnis did not echo her praises; +he was indignant at finding that the Christians had removed a fine +statue of the venerable Nile-god surrounded by the playful forms of his +infant children, which had formerly graced the fountain in the middle of +the avenue, and had also overthrown or mutilated the statues of Hermes +that had stood by the roadside. Orpheus sympathized in his wrath which +reached its climax when, on looking for two statues, of Demeter and of +Pallas Athene, of which Karnis had spoken to his son as decorating the +gateway of one of the finest houses in the city, they beheld instead, +mounted on the plinths, two coarsely-wrought images of the Lamb with its +Cross. + +"Like two rats that have been caught under a stone!" cried the old +man. "And what is most shameful is that I would wager that they have +destroyed the statues which were the pride of the town and thrown them +on a rubbish heap. In my day this house belonged to a rich man +named Philippus. But stop--was not he the father of our hospitable +protector..." + +"The steward spoke of Porphyrius as the son of Philippus," Orpheus said. + +"And Philippus was a corn merchant, too," added Karnis. "Demeter was +figurative of a blessing on the harvest, for it was from that the house +derived its wealth, and Pallas Athene was patroness of the learning that +was encouraged by its owners. When I was a student here every wealthy +man belonged to some school of philosophy. The money-bag did not count +for everything. Heathen or Jew, whether engaged in business or enjoying +the revenues of an inherited fortune, a man was expected to be able to +talk of something besides the price of merchandise and the coming and +sailing of vessels." + +During this conversation Dada had withdrawn her hand from the old man's +arm to raise her veil, for two men had gone up to the gate between the +images that had roused Karnis to wrath, and one of them, who at this +instant knocked at the door, was Mary's son. + +"Father, see, there he is!" cried Dada, as the door was opened, speaking +louder than was at all necessary to enable her companion to hear her; +the musician at once recognized Marcus, and turning to his son he said: + +"Now we may be quite sure! Porphyrius and this young Christian's father +were brothers. Philippus must have left his house to his eldest son who +is the one that is dead, and it now belongs no doubt to Mary, his widow. +I must admit, child, that you choose your adorers from respectable +families!" + +"I should think so," said the girl laughing. "And that is why he is so +proud. My fine gentleman has not even a glance to cast at us. Bang! the +door is shut. Come along, uncle!" + +The young man in question entered the hall of his father's house with +his companion and paused there to say in a tone of pressing entreaty: +"Only come and speak with my mother; you really must not leave like +this." + +"How else?" said the other roughly. "You stick to your way, I will go +mine. You can find a better steward for the estate--I go to-morrow. +May the earth open and swallow me up if I stay one hour longer than is +absolutely necessary in this demented place. And after all Mary is your +mother and not mine." + +"But she was your father's wife," retorted Marcus. + +"Certainly, or you would not be my brother. But she--I have amply +repaid any kindness she ever did me by ten years of service. We do not +understand each other and we never shall." + +"Yes, yes, you will indeed. I have been in church and prayed--nay, do +not laugh--I prayed to the Lord that he would make it all work right and +He--well, you have been baptized and made one of His flock." + +"To my misfortune! You drive me frantic with your meek and mild ways," +cried the other passionately. "My own feet are strong enough for me to +stand on and my hand, though it is horny, can carry out what my brain +thinks right." + +"No, no, Demetrius, no. You see, you believe in the old gods..." + +"Certainly," said the other with increasing irritation. "You are merely +talking to the winds, and my time is precious. I must pack up my small +possessions, and for your sake I will say a few words of farewell when +I take the account-books to your mother. I have land enough belonging to +myself alone, at Arsinoe; I know my own business and am tired of letting +a woman meddle and mar it. Good-bye for the present, youngster. Tell +your mother I am coming; I shall be with her in just an hour." + +"Demetrius!" cried the lad trying once more to detain his brother; but +Demetrius freed himself with a powerful wrench and hurried across the +court-yard--gay with flowers and with a fountain in the middle--into +which the apartments of the family opened, his own among the number. + +Marcus looked after him sadly; they differed too widely in thought and +feeling ever to understand each other completely, and when they stood +side by side no one would have imagined that they were the sons of one +father, for even in appearance they were strongly dissimilar. Marcus was +slight and delicate, Demetrius, on the contrary, broad-shouldered and +large-boned. + +After this parting from his half-brother Marcus betook himself to the +women's rooms where Mary, after superintending the spinning and other +work of the slave-girls, in the rooms at the back, was wont to sit +during the evening. He found his mother in eager conversation with a +Christian priest of advanced age, an imposing personage of gentle and +dignified aspect. The widow, though past forty, might still pass for +a handsome woman: it was from her that her son had inherited his tall, +thin figure with narrow shoulders and a slight stoop, his finely-cut +features, white skin and soft, flowing, raven-black hair. Their +resemblance was rendered all the more striking by the fact that each +wore a simple, narrow circlet of gold-round the head; nay it would have +seemed some unusual trick of Nature's but that their eyes were quite +unlike. Hers were black, and their gaze was shrewd and sharp and +sometimes sternly hard; while the dreamy lustre of her son's, which were +blue, lent his face an almost feminine softness. + +She must have been discussing some grave questions with the old man, +for, as the young man entered the room, she colored slightly and her +long, taper fingers impatiently tapped the back of the couch on which +she was lounging. + +Marcus kissed first the priest's hand and then his mother's, and, +after enquiring with filial anxiety after her health, informed her that +Demetrius would presently be coming to take leave of her. + +"How condescending?" she said coldly. "You know reverend Father what it +is that I require of him and that he refuses. His peasants--always his +peasants! Now can you tell me why they, who must feel the influence and +power of their masters so much more directly than the lower class in +towns, they, whose weal or woe so obviously depends on the will of the +Most High, are so obstinately set against the Gospel of Salvation?" + +"They cling to what they are used to," replied the old man. "The seed +they sow bore fruit under the old gods; and as they cannot see nor +handle our Heavenly Father as they can their idols, and at the same +time have nothing better to hope for than a tenth or a twentieth of the +grain..." + +"Yes, mine and thine--the miserable profit of this world!" sighed the +widow. "Oh! Demetrius can defend the idolatry of his favorites warmly +enough, never fear. If you can spare the time, good Father, stay and +help me to convince him." + +"I have already stayed too long," replied the priest, "for the Bishop +has commanded my presence. I should like to speak to you, my dear +Marcus; to-morrow morning, early, will you come to me? The Lord be with +you, beloved!" + +He rose, and as he gave Mary his hand she detained him a moment signing +to her son to leave them, and said in a low tone: + +"Marcus must not suspect that I know of the error into which he has been +led; speak roundly to his conscience, and as to the girl, I will take +her in hand. Will it not be possible for Theophilus to grant me an +interview?" + +"Hardly, at present," replied the priest. "As you know, Cynegius is here +and the fate of the Bishop and of our cause hangs on the next few days. +Give up your ambitious desires I beseech you, daughter, for even if +Theophilus were to admit you I firmly believe, nay--do not be angry--I +can but hope that he would never give way on this point." + +"No?" said the widow looking down in some embarrassment; but when her +visitor was gone she lifted her head with a flash of wilful defiance. + +She then made Marcus, who had on the previous day given her a full +account of his voyage from Rome, tell her all that had passed between +himself and Demetrius; she asked him how he liked his horse, whether he +hoped to win the approaching races, and generally what he had been doing +and was going to do. But it did not escape her notice that Marcus was +more reticent than usual and that he tried to bring the conversation +round to his voyage and to the guests in the Xenodochium; however, she +always stopped him, for she knew what he was aiming at and would not +listen to anything on that subject. + +It was not till long after the slaves had lighted the three-branched +silver lamps that Demetrius appeared. His stepmother received him +kindly and began to talk on indifferent subjects; but he replied with +ill-disguised impatience, for he had not come to chatter and gossip. She +fully understood this; but it pleased her to check and provoke him and +she did it in a way which vividly reminded him of his early days, of the +desolation and unhappiness that had blighted his young life when this +woman had taken the place of his own tender gentle mother, and come +between him and his father. Day after day, in that bygone time, she +had received him just as she had this evening: with words that sounded +kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart. He knew that she had always +seen his boyish errors and petty faults in the worst light, attributing +them to bad propensities and innate wickedness, that she had injured him +in his father's eyes by painting a distorted image of his disposition +and doings--and all these sins he could not forgive her. At the time of +his father's assassination Demetrius was already grown to man's estate, +and as the eldest son it would have been his right and duty to take +part with his uncle Porphyrius in the management of the business; but +he could not endure the idea of living in the same place with his +stepmother, so, having a pronounced taste for a country life, he left +the widow in possession of the house in the Canopic street, persuaded +his uncle to pay over his father's share in the business in hard cash +and then had quitted Alexandria to take entire charge of the family +estates in Cyrenaica. In the course of a few years he had become an +admirable farmer; the landowners throughout the province were glad to +take his advice or follow his example, and the accounts which he +now laid on the table by the side of Mary's couch--three goodly +rolls--proved by the irrefragable evidence of figures that he had +actually doubled their revenues from the estates of which he had been +the manager. He had earned his right to claim his independence, to +persist in his own determinations and to go his own way; he was animated +by the pride of an independent nature that recklessly breaks away from a +detested tie when it has means at command either to rest without anxiety +or to devote its energies to new enterprise. + +When Demetrius had allowed his stepmother time enough for subjects in +which he took no interest, he laid his hand on the account-books and +abruptly observed that it was now time to talk seriously. He had already +explained to Marcus that he could no longer undertake to meet her +requirements; and as, with him, to decide was to act, he wished at once +to come to a decision as to whether he should continue to manage the +family estates in the way he thought proper, or should retire and +devote himself to the care of his own land. If Mary accepted the latter +alternative he would at once cancel their deed of agreement, but even +then he was very willing to stay on for a time in Cyrenaica, and put the +new steward, when she had appointed one, in the way of performing his +onerous duties. After that he would have nothing more to do with the +family estates. This was his last word; and whichever way she decided, +they might part without any final breach, which he was anxious to avoid +if only for the sake of Marcus. + +Demetrius spoke gravely and calmly; still, the bitterness that filled +his soul imparted a flavor to his speech that did not escape the widow, +and she replied with some emphasis that she should be very sorry to +think that any motives personal to herself had led to his decision; +she owed much, very much, to his exertions and had great pleasure in +expressing her obligations. He was aware, of course, that the property +he had been managing had been purchased originally partly with her +fortune and partly out of her husband's pocket, and that half of it was +therefore hers and half of it the property of Marcus and himself; +but that by her husband's will the control and management were hers +absolutely. She had endeavored to carry out the intentions of her +deceased husband by entrusting the stewardship of the estate to +Demetrius while he was still quite young; under his care the income had +increased, and she had no doubt that in the future he might achieve even +greater results; at the same time, the misunderstandings that the whole +business had given rise to were not to be endured, and must positively +be put an end to, even if their income were to diminish by half. + +"I," she exclaimed, "am a Christian, with my whole heart and soul. I +have dedicated my body and life to the service of my Saviour. What shall +all the treasures of the world profit me if I lose my soul; and that, +which is my immortal part, must inevitably perish if I allow my pockets +to be filled by the toil of heathen peasants and slaves. I therefore +must insist--and on this point I will not yield a jot--that our slaves +in Cyrenaica, a flock of more than three thousand erring sheep, shall +either submit to be baptized or be removed to make way for Christians." + +"That is to say..." began Demetrius hastily. + +"I have not yet done," she interrupted. "So far as the peasants are +concerned who rent and farm our land they all, without exception--as you +said yesterday--are stiff-necked idolaters. We must give them time to +think it over, but the annual agreement will not be renewed with any who +will not pledge themselves to give up the old sacrifices and to worship +the Redeemer. If they submit they will be safe--in this world and +the next; if they refuse they must go, and the land must be let to +Christians in their stead." + +"Just as I change this seat for another!" said Demetrius with a laugh, +and lifting up a heavy bronze chair he flung it down again on the hard +mosaic pavement so that the floor shook. + +Maria started violently. + +"My body may tremble," she said in great excitement, "but my soul +is firm when its everlasting bliss is at stake. I insist--and my +representative, whether he be you or another, must carry my orders into +effect without an hour's delay--I insist that every heathen shrine, +every image of the field and garden-gods, every altar and sacred stone +which the heathens use for their idolatrous practices shall be pulled +down, overthrown, mutilated and destroyed. That is what I require and +insist on." + +"And that is what I will never consent to," cried Demetrius in a voice +like low thunder. "I cannot and will not. These things have been held +precious and sacred to men for thousands of years and I cannot, will +not, blow them off the face of the earth, as you blow a feather off your +cloak. You may go and do it yourself; you may be able to achieve it." + +"What do you mean?" asked Mary drawing herself up with a glance of +indignant protest. + +"Yes--if any one can do it you can!" repeated Demetrius imperturbably. +"I went to-day to seek the images of our forefathers--the venerable +images that were clear to our infancy, the portraits of our fathers' +fathers and mothers, the founders of the honor of our race. And where +are they? They have gone with the protectors of our home, the pride +and ornament of this house--of the street, of the city--the Hermes and +Pallas Athene that you--you flung into the lime-kiln. Old Phabis told me +with tears in his eyes. Alas poor house that is robbed of its past, of +its glory, and of its patron deities!" + +"I have placed it under a better safeguard," replied Maria in a +tremulous voice, and she looked it Marcus with an appeal for sympathy. +"Now, for the last time, I ask you: Will you accede to my demands or +will you not?" + +"I will not," said Demetrius resolutely. + +"Then I must find a new agent to manage the estates." + +"You will soon find one; but your land--which is our land too--will +become a desert. Poor land! If you destroy its shrines and sanctuaries +you will destroy its soul; for they are the soul of the land. The first +inhabitants gathered round the sanctuary, and on that sanctuary and the +gods that dwell there the peasant founds his hopes of increase on what +he sows and plants, and of prosperity for his wife and children and +cattle and all that he has. In destroying his shrines you ruin his +hopes, and with them all the joy of life. I know the peasant; he +believes that his labors must be vain if you deprive him of the gods +that make it thrive. He sows in hope, in the swelling of the grain he +sees the hand of the gods who claim his joyful thanksgiving after the +harvest is gathered in. You are depriving him of all that encourages and +uplifts and rejoices his soul when you ruin his shrines and altars!" + +"But I give him other and better ones," replied Mary. + +"Take care then that they are such as he can appreciate," said Demetrius +gravely. "Persuade him to love, to believe, to hope in the creed you +force upon him; but do not rob him of what he trusts in before he is +prepared to accept the substitute you offer him.--Now, let me go; we +are neither of us in the temper to make the best arrangements for the +future. One thing, at any rate, is certain: I have nothing more to do +with the estate." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +After leaving his stepmother Demetrius made good use of his time and +dictated a number of letters to his secretary, a slave he had brought +with him to Alexandria, for the use of the pen was to him unendurable +labor. The letters were on business, relating to his departure from +Cyrenaica and his purpose of managing his own estates for the future, +and when they lay before him, finished, rolled up and sealed, he felt +that he had come to a mile-stone on his road, a landmark in his life. He +paced the room in silence, trying to picture to himself the fate of +the slaves and peasants who, for so many years, had been his faithful +servants and fellow-laborers, whose confidence he had entirely won, and +many of whom he truly loved. But he could not conceive of their life, +their toil or their festivals, bereft of images, offerings, garlands, +and hymns of rejoicing. To him they were as children, forbidden to laugh +and play, and he could not help once more recurring to his boyhood and +the day of his going to school, when, instead of running and shouting in +his father's sunny garden, he had been made to sit still and silent in +a dull class-room. And now had the whole world reached such a boundary +line in existence beyond which there was to be no more freedom and +careless joy--where a ceaseless struggle for higher things must begin +and never end? + +If the Gospel were indeed true, and if all it promised could ever find +fulfilment, it might perhaps be prudent to admit the sinfulness of man +and to give up the joys and glories of this world to win the eternal +treasure that it described. Many a good and wise man whom he had +known--nay the Emperor, the great and learned Theodosius himself--was +devoted heart and soul to the Christian faith, and Demetrius knew +from his own experience that his mother's creed, in which he had been +initiated as a boy and from which his father, after holding him at the +font had perverted him at an early age, offered great consolations and +enduring help to those whose existence was one of care, poverty, +and suffering. But his laborers and servants? They were healthy and +contented. What power on earth could induce them--a race that clung +devotedly to custom--to desert the faith of their fathers, and the +time-honored traditions to which they owed all the comforts and +pleasures of life, or to seek in a strange creed the aid which they +already believed that they possessed. + +He did not repent of his determination; but he nevertheless said to +himself that, when once he was gone, Mary would proceed only too soon +on the work of extermination and destruction; and every temple on the +estate, every statue, every whispering grotto, every shrine and stone +anointed by pious hands, doomed now to perish, rose before his fancy. + +Demetrius was accustomed to rise at cock-crow and go to bed at an early +hour, and he was on the point of retiring even before the usual time, +when Marcus came to his room and begged him to give him yet an hour. + +"You are angry with my mother," said the younger man with a look of +melancholy entreaty, "but you know there is nothing that she would not +sacrifice for the faith. And you can smile so bitterly! But only put +yourself in my place. Loving my mother as I do, it is acutely painful +to me to see another person--to see you whom I love, too, for you are +my friend and brother--to see you, I say, turn your back on her so +completely. My heart is heavy enough to-day I can tell you." + +"Poor boy!" said the countryman. "Yes, I am truly your friend, and am +anxious to remain so; you are not to blame in this business--and for +that matter, I am anything but cheerful. You have chosen to say: Down +with the shrines! Perish all those who do not think as we do! Still, +look at the thing as you will, in some cases certainly violence must +ensue--nay, if no blood is shed it will be a wonder! You sum up the +matter in one common term: The heathen peasants on the estate. My view +of it is totally different; I know these farmers and their wives and +children, each one by name and by sight. There is not one but is ready +to bid me good day and shake my hand or kiss my dress. Many a one has +come to me in tears and left me happy.--By the great Zeus! no one ever +accused me of being soft-hearted, but I could wish this day that I were +harder; and my blood turns to gall as I ask--What is all this for--to +what possible end?" + +"For the sake and honor of the faith, Demetrius; for the eternal +salvation of our people." + +"Indeed!" retorted Demetrius with a drawl, "I know better. If that and +that alone were intended you would build churches and chapels and send +us worthy priests--Eusebius and the like--and would try to win men's +hearts to your Lord by the love you are always talking so much about. +That was my advice to your mother, only this morning. I believe the end +might be attained by those means, among us as elsewhere; ultimately it +will, no doubt, be gained--but not to-day nor to-morrow. A peasant, when +he had become accustomed to the church and grasped a trust in the new +God, would of his own accord give up the old gods and their sanctuaries; +I could count you off a dozen such instances. That I could have looked +on at calmly, for I want only men's arms and legs and do not ask for +their souls; but to burn down the old house before you have collected +wood and stone to build a new one I call wicked.--It is cruelty and +madness, and when so shrewd a woman as your mother is bent on carrying +through such a measure, come what may, there is something more behind +it." + +"You think she wants to get rid of you--you, Demetrius!" interrupted +Marcus eagerly. "But you are mistaken, you are altogether wrong. What +you have done for the estate..." + +"Oh! as for that!" cried the other, "what has my work to do with all +this? Ere the year is out everything that can remind us of the heathen +gods is to be swept away from the hamlets and fields of the pious Mary. +That is what is intended! Then they will hurry off to the Bishop with +the great news and to crown one marvel with another, the reversion +will be secured of a martyr's nimbus. And this is what all this zeal is +for--this and nothing else!" + +"You are speaking of my mother, remember!" cried Marcus, looking at his +brother with a touching appeal in his eyes. Demetrius shook his shaggy +head and spoke more temperately as he went on: + +"Yes, child, I had forgotten that--and I may be mistaken of course, for +I am no more than human. Here one thing follows so close on another, and +in this house I feel so battered and storm-tossed, that I hardly know +myself. But old Phabis tells me that steps are being seriously taken to +procure the title of Martyr for our father Apelles." + +"My mother is quite convinced that he died for the faith, and she loved +him devotedly..." + +"Then it is so!" cried Demetrius, grinding his teeth and thumping his +fist down on the table. "The lies sown by one single man have produced +a deadly weed that is smothering this miserable house! You--to be sure, +what can you know of our father? I knew him; I have been present when +he and his friends, the philosophers, have laughed to scorn things +which not only you Christians but even pious heathen regard as sacred. +Lucretius was his evangelist, and the Cosmogony of that utter atheist +lay by his pillow and was his companion wherever he went." + +"He admired the heathen poets, but he was a Christian all the same," +replied Marcus. + +"Neither more nor less than Porphyrius, our uncle, or myself," retorted +his brother. "Since the day when our grandfather Philippus was baptized, +wealth and happiness have deserted this house. He gave up the old gods +solely that he might not lose the right of supplying the city and the +Emperor with corn, and became a Christian and made his sons Christians. +But he had us educated by his heathen friends, and though we passed for +Christians we were not so in fact. When it was absolutely necessary he +showed himself in church with us; but our daily life, our pleasures, our +pastimes were heathen, and when life began for us in earnest we offered +a bleeding sacrifice to the gods. It was impossible to retract honestly, +since a renegade Christian returning to the worship of the old gods is +incapacitated by law from making a will. You know this; and when you ask +me why I am content to live alone, without either wife or child--and I +love children, even those of other people--a solitary man dragging +out my days and nights joylessly enough--I tell you: I am openly and +honestly a worshipper of our old gods, and I will not go to church +because I scorn a lie. What should I do with children who, in +consequence of my retractation, must forfeit all I might leave them? It +was this question of inheritance only that induced my father to have us +baptized and to make a pretense of Christianity. He set out for Petra +with his Lucretius in his satchel--I packed it with my own hands into +his money-bag--to put in a claim to supply grain to the 'Rock city.' +He was slain on his way home; most likely by his servant Anubis, who +certainly knew what money he had with him, and who vanished and left no +trace. Because--about the same time--a band of Saracens had fallen on +some Christian anchorites and travellers, in the district between Petra +and Aila, your mother chose to assume a right to call our father a +martyr! But she knew his opinions full well, I tell you, and shed many a +tear over them, too.--Now she has expended vast sums on church-building, +she has opened the Xenodochium and pours her money by lavish handfuls +clown the insatiable throats of monks and priests. To what end? To have +her husband recognized as a martyr. Hitherto her toil and money have +been wasted. In my estimation the Bishop is a perfectly detestable +tyrant, and if I know him at all he will take all she will give and +never grant her wish. Now she is preparing her great move, and hopes +to startle him into compliance by a new marvel. She thinks that, like +a juggler who turns a white egg black, she can turn a heathen district +into a Christian one by a twist of her finger. Well--so far as I am +concerned I will have nothing to do with the trick." + +During this harangue Marcus had alternately gazed at the floor and fixed +his large eyes in anguish on his brother's face. For some minutes he +found nothing to reply, and he was evidently going through a bitter +mental struggle. Demetrius spoke no more, but arranged the sheets of +papyrus that strewed the table. At length Marcus, after a deep sigh, +broke out in a tone of fervent conviction and with a blissful smile that +lighted up his whole face: + +"Poor mother! And others misunderstand her just as you do; I myself +was in danger of doubting her. But I think that now I understand her +perfectly. She loved my father so completely that she hopes now to win +for his immortal soul the grace which he, in the flesh, neglected to +strive after. He was baptized, so she longs to win, by her prayers and +oblations, the mercy of the Lord who is so ready to forgive. She herself +firmly believes in the martyrdom of her beloved dead, and if only the +Church will rank him among those who have died for Her, he will be +saved, and she will find him standing in the pure radiance of the realms +above, with open arms, overflowing with fervent love and gratitude, to +welcome the faithful helpmate who will have purged his soul. Yes, now I +quite understand; and from this day forth I will aid and second her; the +hardest task shall not be too hard, the best shall not be too good, +if only we may open the gates of Heaven to my poor father's imperilled +soul." + +As he spoke his eye glistened with ecstatic light; his brother, too, +was touched, and to hide his emotion, he exclaimed, more recklessly and +sharply than was his wont: + +"That will come all right, never fear, lad!" But he hastily wiped his +eyes with his hand, slapped Marcus on the shoulder, and added gaily: "It +is better to choke than to swallow down the thing you think right, and +it never hurt a man yet to make a clean breast of his feelings, even if +we do not quite agree we understand each other the better for it. I have +my way of thinking, you have yours; thus we each know what the other +means; but after the tragedy comes the satyr play, and we may as well +finish this agitating evening with an hour's friendly chat." + +So saying Demetrius stretched himself on a divan and invited Marcus +to do the same, and in a few minutes their conversation had turned, +as usual, to the subject of horses. Marcus was full of praises of the +stallions his brother had bred for him, and which he had ridden that +very day round the Myssa--[The Myssa was the Meta, or turning-post]--in +the Hippodrome, and his brother added with no small complacency: + +"They were all bred from the same sire and from the choicest mares. I +broke them in myself, and I only wish.... But why did you not come to +the stables this morning?" + +"I could not," replied Marcus coloring slightly. Then we will go +to-morrow to Nicopolis and I will show you how to get Megaera past the +Taraxippios."--[The terror of the horses.] + +"To-morrow?" said Marcus somewhat embarrassed. "In the morning I must go +to see Eusebius and then...." + +"Well, then?" + +"Then I must--I mean I should like...." + +"What?" + +"Well, to be sure I might, all the same.--But no, it is not to be +done--I have...." + +"What, what?" cried Demetrius with increasing impatience: "My time is +limited and if you start the horses without knowing my way of managing +them they will certainly not do their best. As soon as the market begins +to fill we will set out. We shall need a few hours for the Hippodrome, +then we will dine with Damon, and before dark...." + +"No, no," replied Marcus, "to-morrow, certainly, I positively +cannot...." + +"People who have nothing to do always lack time," replied the other. "Is +to-morrow one of your festivals?" + +"No, not that=-and Good Heavens! If only I could...." + +"Could, could!" cried Demetrius angrily and standing close in front of +his brother with his arms folded. "Say out honestly: 'I will not go,' or +else, 'my affairs are my own secret and I mean to keep it.'--But give me +no more of your silly equivocations." + +His vehemence increased the younger man's embarrassment, and as he stood +trying to find an explanation which might come somewhat near the truth +and yet not betray him, Demetrius, who had stood watching him closely, +suddenly exclaimed: + +"By Aphrodite, the daughter of the foam! it is a love affair--an +assignation.--Woman, woman, always woman!" + +"An assignation!" cried Marcus shaking his head. "No indeed, no one +expects me; and yet--I had rather you should misunderstand me than think +that I had lied. Yes--I am going to seek a woman; and if I do not find +her to-morrow, if in the course of tomorrow I do not succeed in my +heart's desire, she is lost--not only to me, though I cannot give up the +heavenly love for the sake of the earthly and fleshly--but to my Lord +and Saviour. It is the life--the everlasting life or death of one of +God's loveliest creatures that hangs on to-morrow's work." + +Demetrius was greatly astonished, and it was with an angry gesture of +impatience that he replied: + +"Again you have overstepped the boundary within which we can possibly +understand each other. In my opinion you are hardly old enough to +undertake the salvation of the imperilled souls of pretty women. Take +care what you are about, youngster! It is safe enough to go into the +water with those who can swim, but those who sink are apt to draw you +down with them. You are a good-looking young fellow, you have money and +fine horses, and there are women enough who are only too ready to spread +their nets abroad..." + +"What are you thinking of?" cried Marcus passionately. "It is I who am +the fisher--a fisher of souls, and so every true believer ought to be. +She--she is innocence and simplicity itself, in spite of her roguish +sauciness. But she has fallen into the hands of a reprobate heathen, and +here, where vice prowls about the city like a roaring lion, she will be +lost--lost, if I do not rescue her. Twice have I seen her in my dreams; +once close to the cavern of a raging dragon, and again on the edge of +a precipitous cliff, and each time an angel called out to me and bid me +save her from the jaws of the monster, and from falling into the abyss. +Since then I seem to see her constantly; at meals, when I am in company, +when I am driving,--and I always hear the warning voice of the angel. +And now I feel it a sacred duty to save her--a creature on whom the +Almighty has lavished every gift he ever bestowed on the daughters of +Eve--to lead her into the path of Salvation." + +Demetrius had listened to his brother's enthusiastic speech with growing +anxiety, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and said: + +"I almost envy you your acquaintance with this favorite of the gods; but +you might, it seems to me, postpone the work of salvation. You were away +from Alexandria for half a year, and if she could hold out so long as +that..." + +"Do not speak so; you ought not to speak so!" cried Marcus, pressing +his hand on his heart as though in physical pain. "But I have no time to +lose, for I must at once find out where the old singer has taken her. I +am not so inexperienced as you seem to think. He has brought her here to +trade in her beauty, and enrich himself. Why, you, too, saw her on +board ship; I, as you know, had arranged for them to be taken in at my +mother's Xenodochium." + +"Whom?" asked Demetrius folding his hands. + +"The singers whom I brought with me from Ostia. And now they have +disappeared from thence, and Dada..." + +"Dada!" cried Demetrius, bursting into a loud laugh without heeding +Marcus who stepped up to him, crimson with rage. "Dada! that little fair +puss! You see her day and night and an angel calls upon you to save that +child's merry soul? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, boy! Why, what +shall I wager now? I will stake this roll of gold that I could make her +come with me to-morrow--with me, a hard-featured countryman, freckled +all over like a plover's egg, where my clothes do not protect my skin, +and with hair on end like the top of a broom--yes, that she will follow +me to Arsinoe or wherever I choose to bid her. Let the hussy go, you +simple innocent. Such a Soul as hers is of small account even in a less +exclusive Heaven than yours is." + +"Take back those words!" cried Marcus, beside himself and clenching +his fist. "But that is just like you! Your impure eyes and heart defile +purity itself, and see spots even in the sun. Nothing is too bad for a +'singing girl,' I know. But that is just the marrow of the matter; it is +from that very curse that I mean to save her. If you can accuse her +of anything, speak; if not, and if you do not want to appear a base +slanderer in my eyes, take back the words you have just spoken!" + +"Oh! I take them back of course," said Demetrius indifferently. "I know +nothing of your beauty beyond what she has herself said to me and you +and Cynegius and his Secretaries--with her pretty, saucy eyes. But the +language of the eye, they say, is not always to be depended on; so take +it as unsaid. And, if I understood you rightly, you do not even know +where the singers are hiding? If you have no objection, I will help you +to seek them out." + +"That is as you please," answered Marcus hotly. "All your mockery will +not prevent my doing my duty." + +"Very right, very right," said his brother. "Perhaps this damsel is +unlike all the other singing-girls with whom I used so often to spend +a jolly evening in my younger days. Once, at Barca, I saw a white +raven--but perhaps after all it was only a dove. Your opinion, in this +case, is at any rate better founded than mine, for I never thought twice +about the girl and you did.--But it is late; till to-morrow, Marcus." + +The brothers parted for the night, but when Demetrius found himself +alone he walked up and down the room, shaking his head doubtfully. +Presently, when his body-slave came in to pack for him, he called out +crossly: + +"Let that alone--I shall stay in Alexandria a few days longer." + +Marcus could not go to bed; his brother's scorn had shaken his soul +to the foundations. An inward voice told him that his more experienced +senior might be right, but at the same time he hated and contemned +himself for listening to its warnings at all. The curse that rested on +Dada was that of her position; she herself was pure--as pure as a lily, +as pure as the heart of a child, as pure as the blue of her eyes and +the ring of her voice. He would obey the angel's behest! He could and he +must save her! + +In the greatest excitement he went out of the house, through the great +gate, into the Canopic way, and walked on. As he was about to turn down +a side street to go to the lake he found the road stopped by soldiers, +for this street led past the prefect's house where Cynegius, the +Emperor's emissary, was staying; he had come, it was said, to close the +Temples, and the excited populace had gathered outside the building, +during the afternoon, to signify their indignant disapprobation. At +sundown an armed force had been called out and had dispersed the crowd; +but it was by another road that the young Christian at length made his +way to the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +While Marcus was restlessly wandering on the shore of Mareotis, dreaming +of Dada's image and arranging speeches of persuasive eloquence by which +to touch her heart and appeal to her soul, silence had fallen on the +floating home of the singers. A light white mist, like a filmy veil--a +tissue of clouds and moonbeams--hung over the lake. Work was long since +over in the ship-yard, and the huge skeletons of the unfinished ships +threw weird and ghostly shadows on the silvered strand-forms like black +visions of crayfish, centipedes, or enormous spiders. + +From the town there came not a sound; it lay in the silence of +intoxicated sleep. The Roman troops had cleared the streets, the lights +were dead in every house, and in all the alleys and squares; only the +moon shone over the roofs of Alexandria, while the blazing beacon of +the light-house on the north-eastern point of the island of Pharos shone +like a sun through the darkness. + +In a large cabin in the stern of the vessel lay the two girls, on soft +woollen couches and covered with rugs. Agne was gazing wide-eyed into +the darkness; Dada had long been asleep, but she breathed painfully +and her rosy lips were puckered now and then as if she were in some +distress. She was dreaming of the infuriated mob who had snatched the +garland from her hair--she saw Marcus suddenly interfere to protect her +and rescue her from her persecutors--then she thought she had fallen off +the gangway that led from the land to the barge, and was in the water +while old Damia stood on the shore and laughed at her without trying +to help her. Night generally brought the child sound sleep or pleasant +dreams, but now one hideous face after another haunted her. + +And yet the evening had brought her a great pleasure. Not long after +their return from their walk the steward had come down to the boat +and brought her a very beautiful dress, with greetings from his old +mistress; he had at the same time brought an Egyptian slave-woman, well +skilled in all the arts of the toilet, who was to wait upon her so long +as she remained in Alexandria. Dada had never owned such a lovely dress! +The under-robe was of soft sea-green bombyx silk, with a broad border, +delicately embroidered, of a garland of roses and buds. The peplos +was of the same color and decorated to match; costly clasps of mosaic, +representing full-blown roses and set in oval gold settings, fastened +it on the shoulders. In a separate case were a gold girdle, a bracelet, +also of gold, in the shape of a snake, a gold crescent with a rose, +like those on the shoulder-clasps, in its centre, and a metal mirror of +spotless lustre. + +The slave, a middle-aged woman with a dark cunning face, had helped her +to put on this new garment; she had also insisted on dressing her hair, +and all the time had never ceased praising the charms that nature had +bestowed on her young mistress, with the zeal of a lover. + +Agne had looked on smiling, good-naturedly handing the slave the pins +and ribbands she had needed, and sincerely rejoicing in her companion's +beauty and delight. + +At last Dada had made her appearance in the deckroom and was greeted by +many an Ah! and Oh! of admiration from the men of the party, including +Medius, the singer whom Karnis had met in the street. Even Herse, who +had received her quite disagreeably on her return from the city, could +not suppress a smile of kindly approval, though she shook her finger at +her saying: + +"The old lady has set her heart on turning your head completely I see. +All that is very pretty, but all the good it will do will be to rouse +spiteful tongues. Remember, Dada, that you are my sister's child; I +promise you I shall not forget it, and I shall keep my eye upon you." + +Orpheus made haste to light every lamp and taper, of which there were +plenty, for the barge was handsomely furnished, and when Dada was +plainly visible in the brilliant illumination Karnis exclaimed: + +"You look like a senator's daughter! Long live the Fair!" + +She ran up to him and kissed him; but when Orpheus walked all round +her, examining the fineness of the tissue and the artistic finish of the +clasps, and even turned the snake above her round elbow, she sharply bid +him let her be. + +Medius, a man of the age of Karnis who had formerly been his intimate +companion, never took his eyes off the girl, and whispered to the +old musician that Dada would easily carry off the palm for beauty in +Alexandria, and that with such a jewel in his keeping he might recover +wealth and position and by quite honest means. At his suggestion she +then assumed a variety of attitudes; she stood as Hebe, offering nectar +to the gods--as Nausicae, listening to the tale of Odysseus--and as +Sappho, singing to her lyre. The girl was delighted at all this, and +when Medius, who kept close to her, tried to persuade her to perform +in a similar manner in the magical representations at the house of +Posidonius, before a select company of spectators, she clapped her hands +exclaiming: + +"You took me all round the city, father, and as your reward I should +like to earn back your pretty vineyards, I should stand like this, you +know, and like this--to be stared at. I only hope I might not be seized +with a sudden impulse to make a face at the audience. But if they did +not come too close I really might..." + +"You could do no better than to play the parts that Posidonius might +give you," interrupted Medius. "His audiences like to see good daemons, +the kindly protecting spirits, and so forth. You would have to appear +among clouds behind a transparent veil, and the people would hail you +with acclamations or even raise their hands in adoration." + +All this seemed to Dada perfectly delightful, and she was on the point +of giving her hand to Medius in token of agreement, when her eye caught +the anxious gaze of the young Christian girl who stood before her with +a deep flush on her face. Agne seemed to be blushing for her. The color +rushed to her own cheeks, and shortly saying: "No--after all, I think +not," she turned her back on the old man and threw herself on the +cushions close to where the wine-jug was standing. Medius now began to +besiege Karnis and Herse with arguments, but they refused all his +offers as they intended quitting Alexandria in a few days, so he had +no alternative but to submit. Still, he did not altogether throw up the +game, and to win Dada's consent, at any rate, he made her laugh with +a variety of comical pranks and showed her some ingenious conjuring +tricks, and ere long their floating home echoed with merriment, with the +clinking of wine-cups and with songs, in which even Agne was obliged to +take part. Medius did not leave till near midnight and Herse then sent +them all to bed. + +As soon as the slave had undressed her young mistress and left the girls +alone, Dada threw herself into the arms of Agne who was on the point +of getting into bed, and kissed her vehemently, exclaiming: "You are +much--so much better than I! How is that you always know what is right?" + +Then she lay down; but before she fell asleep she once more spoke to +Agne: "Marcus will find us out, I am certain," she said, "and I should +really like to know what he has to say to me." + +In a few minutes sleep had sealed her eyes, but the Christian girl lay +awake; her thoughts would not rest, and Sleep, who the night before had +taken her to his heart, to-night would not come near her pillow; so much +to agitate and disturb her soul had taken place during the day. + +She had often before now been a silent spectator of the wild rejoicings +of the musician's family, and she had always thought of these +light-hearted creatures as spendthrifts who waste all their substance +in a few days to linger afterwards through years of privation and +repentance. Troubled, as she could not fail to be, as to the eternal +salvation of these lost souls, though happy in her own faith, she had +constantly turned for peace to her Saviour and always found it; but +to-night it was not so, for a new and unexpected temptation had sprung +up for her in the house of Porphyrius. + +She had heard Gorgo sing again, and joined her own voice with hers. +Dirges, yearning hymns, passionate outpourings in praise of the mighty +and beautiful divinity had filled her ear and stirred her soul with an +ecstatic thrill, although she knew that they, were the composition +of heathen poets and had first been sung to the harmony of lutes by +reprobate idolaters. And yet, and yet they had touched her heart, and +moved her soul to rapture, and filled her eyes with tears. + +She could not but confess to herself that she could have given no +purer, sweeter, or loftier expression to her own woes, thankfulness, +aspirations, and hopes of ever lasting life and glory, than this gifted +creature had given to the utterance of her idolatry. Surprise, unrest, +nay, some little jealousy had been mingled with her delight at Gorgo's +singing. How was it that this heathen could feel and utter emotions +which she had always conceived of as the special privilege of the +Christian, and, for her own part, had never felt so fervently as in +the hours when she had drawn closest to her Lord? Were not her own +sentiments the true and right ones; had her intercourse with these +heathens tainted her? + +This doubt disturbed her greatly; it must be based on something more +than mere self-torture, for she had not once thought of asking to whom +the two-part hymn, with its tender appeal, was addressed, when Karnis +had first gone through it with her alone; nor even subsequently, when +she had sung it with Gorgo--timidly at first, more boldly the second +time, and finally without a mistake, but carried completely away by the +beauty and passion of the emotions it expressed. + +She knew now, for Karnis himself had told her. It was the Lament of +Isis for her--lost husband and brother--oh that horrible heathen +confusion!--The departed Osiris. The wailing widow, who called on him +to return with "the silent speech of tears," was that queen of the +idolater's devils whose shameful worship her father had often spoke of +with horror. Still, this dirge was so true and noble, so penetrated with +fervent, agonized grief, that it had gone to her heart. The sorrowing +Mother of God, Mary herself, might thus have besought the resurrection +of her Son; just thus must the "God-like maid"--as she was called in the +Arian confession of her father--have uttered her grief, her prayers, and +her longings. + +But it was all a heathen delusion, all the trickery and jugglery of the +Devil, though she had failed to see through it, and had given herself up +to it, heart and soul. Nay, worse! for after she had learnt that Gorgo +was to represent Isis and she herself Nephthys, the sister of the divine +pair, she had opposed the suggestion but feebly, even though she knew +that they were to sing the hymn together in the Temple of Isis; and when +Gorgo had clasped her in her arms with sisterly kindness, begging her +not to spoil her plans but to oblige her in this, she had not repulsed +the tempter with firm decision, but merely asked for time to think it +over. + +How indeed could she have found the heart to refuse the noble girl, +whose beauty and voice had so struck and fascinated her, when she flung +her arms round her neck, looked into her eyes and earnestly besought +her: + +"Do it for my sake, to please me. I do not ask you to do anything +wicked. Pure song is acceptable to every god. Think of your lament, if +you like, as being for your own god who suffered on the cross. But I +like singing with you so much; say yes. Do not refuse, for my sake!" + +She had thrown her arms so gladly, so much too gladly round the heathen +lady--for she had a loving heart and no one else had ever made it a +return in kind--and clinging closely to her she had said: + +"As you will; I will do whatever you like." + +Then Orpheus, too, had urged her to oblige Gorgo, and himself, and all +of them; and it had seemed almost impossible to refuse the first request +that the modest youth--to whom she would willingly have granted anything +and everything--had ever made. Still, she had held back; and in her +anxious bewilderment, not daring to think or act, she had tried every +form of excuse and postponement. She would probably have been awkward +enough about this, but Gorgo was content to press her no further, and +when, after leaving the house, she had summoned up courage to refuse to +enter the Temple of Isis, Karnis had only said: "Be thankful that this +gifted lady, the favorite of the Muses, should think you worthy to sing +with her. We will see about the rest by-and-bye." + +Now, in the watches of the sleepless night, she saw clearly the abyss +above which she was standing. She, like Judas, was on the point of +betraying her Saviour; not indeed for money, but in obedience to the +transient sound of an earthly voice, for the pleasure of exercising +her art, to indulge a hastily-formed liking; nay, perhaps because it +satisfied her childish vanity to find herself put on an equality with a +lady of rank and wealth, and matched with a singer who had roused Karnis +and Orpheus to such ardent admiration. + +She was an enigma to herself; while passages out of the Bible crowded on +her memory to reproach her conscience. + +There lay Dada's embroidered dress. Worn for the first time this day, in +a month it would be unpresentably shabby and then, ere long, flung aside +as past wearing. Like this--just like this--was every earthly pleasure, +every joy of this brief existence. Alas, she certainly was not happy +here in Karnis' sense of the word; but in the other world there were +joys eternal, and she had only to deny herself the petty enjoyments of +this life to secure unfailing and everlasting happiness in the next. +There she would find an endless flow of all her soul could desire, +there perhaps she might be allowed to cool the lips of Gorgo, as Lazarus +cooled those of the rich man. + +She was quite clear now what her answer would be to-morrow, and, firmly +resolved not to allow herself to think of singing in the Temple of Isis, +she at last fell asleep just as the light began to dawn in the east. She +did not wake till late, and it was with downcast eyes and set lips that +she went with Karnis and Orpheus to the house of Porphyrius. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +When the steward went to summons the musicians to his master's house he +had again had no bidding for Dada, and she was very indignant at being +left behind. "That old cornsack's daughter," she said, "was full of her +airs, and would have nothing to say to them excepting to make use of +them for her own purposes!" If she had not been afraid of being thought +intrusive she would have acted on old Damia's invitation to visit her +frequently, and have made her appearance, in defiance of Gorgo, dropping +like a shooting-star into the midst of their practising. It never +occurred to her to fancy that the young lady had any personal dislike +to her, for, though she might be ignored and forgotten, who had ever had +any but a kind word for her. At the same time she assumed the right of +feeling that "she could not bear" the haughty Gorgo, and as the party +set out she exclaimed to Agne, "Well, you need not kill her for me, but +at any rate, I send her no greeting; it is a shame that I should be left +to mope alone with Herse. Do not be surprised if you find me turned to a +stark, brown mummy--for we are in Egypt, you know, the land of mummies. +I bequeath my old dress to you, my dear, for I know you would never +put on the new one. If you bewail me as you ought I will visit you in a +dream, and put a sugarplum in your mouth--a cake of ambrosia such as the +gods eat. You are not even leaving me Papias to tease!" + +For in fact Agne's little brother, dressed in a clean garment, was to be +taken to Gorgo who had expressed a wish to see him. + +When they had all left the ship Dada soon betrayed how superficial her +indignation had been; for, presently spying through the window of the +cabin the young cavalry officer's grey-bearded father, she sprang up +the narrow steps--barefoot as she was accustomed to be when at home--and +threw herself on a cushion to lean over the gunwale of the upper deck, +which was shaded by a canvas awning, to watch the ship-yard and the +shore-path. Before she had begun to weary of this occupation the +waiting-slave, who had been up to the house to put various matters in +order, came back to the vessel, and squatting down at her feet was +ready to give her all the information she chose to require. Dada's +first questions naturally related to Gorgo. The young mistress, said +the slave, had already dismissed many suitors, the sons of the greatest +families of Alexandria, and if her suspicions--those of Sachepris, the +slave--were well founded, all for the sake of the old shipbuilder's +son, whom she had known from childhood and who was now an officer in +the Imperial guard. However, as she opined, this attachment could hardly +lead to marriage, since Constantine was a zealous Christian and his +family were immeasurably beneath that of Porphyrius in rank; and though +he had distinguished himself greatly and risen to the grade of Prefect, +Damia, who on all occasions had the casting-vote, had quite other views +for her granddaughter. + +All this excited Dada's sympathies to the highest pitch, but she +listened with even greater attention when her gossip began to speak of +Marcus, his mother, and his brother. In this the Egyptian slave was the +tool of old Damia. She had counted on being questioned about the young +Christian, and as soon as Dada mentioned his name she shuffled on her +knees close up to the girl, laid her hand gently on her arm and +looking up into her eyes with a meaning flash, she whispered in broken +Greek--and hastily, for Herse was bustling about the deck: "Such a +pretty mistress, such a young mistress as you, and kept here like +a slave! If the young mistress only chose she could easily--quite +easily--have as good a lover as our Gorgo, and better; so pretty and so +young! And I know some one who would dress the pretty mistress in red +gold and pale pearls and bright jewels, if sweet Dada only said the +word." + +"And why should sweet Dada not say the word?" echoed the girl gaily. +"Who is it that has so many nice things and all for me? You--I shall +never remember your name if I live to be as old as Damia...." + +"Sachepris, Sachepris is my name," said the woman, "but call me anything +else you like. The lover I mean is the son of the rich Christian, Mary. +A handsome man, my lord Marcus; and he has horses, such fine horses, and +more gold pieces than the pebbles on the shore there. Sachepris knows +that he has sent out slaves to look for the pretty mistress. Send him a +token--write to my lord Marcus." + +"Write?" laughed Dada. "Girls learn other things in my country; but if +I could--shall I tell you something? I would not write him a line. Those +who want me may seek me!" + +"He is seeking, he is trying to find the pretty mistress," declared the +woman; "he is full of you, quite full of you, and if I dared...." + +"Well?" + +"I would go and say to my lord Marcus, quite in a secret...." + +"Well, what? Speak out, woman." + +"First I would tell him where the pretty mistress is hidden; and then +say that he might hope once--this evening perhaps--he is not far off, he +is quite near this... over there; do you see that little white house? It +is a tavern and the host is a freedman attached to the lady Damia, and +for money he would shut his shop up for a day, for a night, for many +days.--Well, and then I would say--shall I tell you all? My lord Marcus +is there, waiting for his pretty mistress, and has brought her dresses +that would make the rose-garment look a rag. You would have gold too, as +much gold as heart can wish. I can take you there, and he will meet you +with open arms." + +"What, this evening?" cried Dada, and the blue veins swelled on her +white forehead. "You hateful, brown serpent! Did Gorgo teach you such +things as this? It is horrible, disgraceful, sickening!" + +So base a proposal was the last thing she would ever have expected from +Marcus--of all men in the world, Marcus, whom she had imagined so good +and pure! She could not believe it; and as her glance met the cunning +glitter of the Egyptian's eyes her own sparkled keenly, and she +exclaimed with a vehemence and decision which her attendant had never +suspected in her: + +"It is deceit and falsehood from beginning to end! Go, woman, I will +hear no more of it. Why should Marcus have come to you since yesterday +if he does not know where I am? You are silent--you will not say?... Oh! +I understand it all. He--I know he would never have ventured it. But +it is your 'noble lady Damia'--that old woman, who has told you what to +say. You are her echo, and as for Marcus.... Confess, confess at once, +you witch...." + +"Sachepris is only a poor slave," said the woman raising her hands in +entreaty. "Sachepris can only obey, and if the pretty mistress were to +tell my lady Damia..." + +"It was she then who sent for me to go to the little tavern?" + +The woman nodded. "And Marcus?" + +"If the pretty mistress had consented..." + +"Well?" + +"Then--but Great Isis! if you tell of me!" + +"I will not tell; go on." + +"I should have gone to my lord Marcus and invited him, from you..." + +"It is shameful!" interrupted Dada, and a shudder ran through her slight +frame. "How cruel, how horrible it is! You--you will stay here till the +others come home and then you will go home to the old woman. I thank +the gods, I have two hands and need no maid to wait upon me! But look +there--what is the meaning of that? That pretty litter has stopped and +there is an old man signing to you." + +"It is the widow Mary's house steward," whined the woman, while Dada +turned pale, wondering what a messenger from Marcus' mother could want +here. + +Herse, who had kept a watchful eye on the landing-plank, on Dada's +account, had also seen the approach of the widow's messenger and +suspected a love-message from Marcus; but she was utterly astounded when +the old man politely but imperiously desired her--Herse to get into the +litter which would convey her to his mistress's house. Was this a trap? +Did he merely want to tempt her from the vessel so as to clear the way +for his young master? No--for he handed her a tablet on which there was +a written message, and she, an Alexandrian, had been well educated and +could read: + +"Mary, the widow of Apelles, to the wife of Karnis, the singer." And +then followed the same urgent request as she had already received by +word of mouth. To reassure herself entirely she called the slave-woman +aside, and asked her whether Phabis was indeed a trust worthy servant +of the widow's. Evidently there was no treason to be apprehended and she +must obey the invitation, though it disturbed her greatly; but she was a +cautious woman, with not only her heart but her brains and tongue in the +right place, and she at once made up her mind what must be done under +the circumstances. While she gave a few decorative touches to her person +she handed the tablet to the waiting-woman, whom she had taken into her +own room, and desired her to carry it at once to her husband, and tell +him whither she had gone, and to beg him to return without delay to take +care of Dada. But what if her husband and son could not come away? The +girl would be left quite alone, and then... The picture rose before +her anxious mind of Marcus appearing on the scene and tempting Dada +on shore--of her niece stealing away by herself even, if the young +Christian failed to discover her present residence--loitering alone +along the Canopic way or the Bruclumn, where, at noon, all that was most +disreputable in Alexandria was to be seen at this time of year--she saw, +shuddered, considered--and suddenly thought of an expedient which +seemed to promise an issue from the difficulty. It was nothing new and a +favorite trick among the Egyptians; she had seen is turned to account +by a lame tailor at whose house her father had lodged, when he had to +go out to his customers and leave his young negress wife alone at home. +Dada was lying barefoot on the deck: Herse would hide her shoes. + +She hastily acted on this idea, locking up not only Dada's sandals, but +also Agne's and her own, in the trunk they had saved; a glance at the +slave's feet assured her that hers could be of no use. + +"Not if fire were to break out," thought she, "would my Dada be seen in +the streets with those preposterous things on her pretty little feet." + +When this was done Herse breathed more freely, and as she took leave of +her niece, feeling perhaps that she owed her some little reparation, she +said in an unusually kind tone: + +"Good bye, child. Try to amuse yourself while I am gone. There is plenty +to look at here, and the others will soon be back again. If the city is +fairly quiet this evening we will all go out together, to Canopus, to +eat oysters. Good bye till we meet again, my pet!" She kissed the child, +who looked up at her in astonishment, for her adopted mother was not +usually lavish of such endearments. + +Before long Dada was alone, cooling herself with her new fan and eating +sweetmeats; but she could not cease thinking of the shameful treachery +planned by old Damia, and while she rejoiced to reflect that she had not +fallen into the net, and had seen through the plot, her wrath against +the wicked old woman and Gorgo--whom she could not help including--burnt +within her. Meanwhile she looked about her, expecting to see Marcus, or +perhaps the young officer. Finding it impossible to think any evil of +the young Christian, and having already trusted him so far, her fancy +dwelt on him with particular pleasure; but she was curious, too, about +the prefect, the early love of the proud merchant's daughter. + +Time went on; the sun was high in the heavens, she was tired of staring, +wondering and thinking, and, yawning wearily, she began to consider +whether she would make herself comfortable for a nap, or go down +stairs and fill up the time by dressing herself up in her new garments. +However, before she could do either, the slave returned from her errand +to the house, and a few moments after she espied the young officer +crossing the ship-yard towards the lake; she sat up, set the crescent +straight that she wore in her hair, and waved her fan in a graceful +greeting. + +The cavalry prefect, who knew that, of old, the barge was often used by +Porphyrius' guests, though he did not happen to have heard who were its +present occupants--bowed, with military politeness and precision, to the +pretty girl lounging on the deck. Dada returned the greeting; but this +seemed likely to be the end of their acquaintance, for the soldier +walked on without turning round. He looked handsomer even than he +had seemed the day before; his hair was freshly oiled and curled, his +scale-armor gleamed as brightly, and his crimson tunic was as new and +rich as if he were going at once to guard the Imperial throne. The +merchant's daughter had good taste, but her friend looked no less +haughty than herself. Dada longed to make his acquaintance and find out +whether he really had no eyes for any one but Gorgo. To discover that it +was not so, little as she cared about him personally, would have given +her infinite satisfaction, and she decided that she must put him to the +test. But there was no time to lose, so, as it would hardly do to call +after him, she obeyed a sudden impulse, flung overboard the handsome fan +which had been in her possession but one day, and gave a little cry in +which alarm and regret were most skilfully and naturally expressed. + +This had the wished-for effect. The officer turned round, his eyes met +hers, and Dada leaned far over the boat's side pointing to the water and +exclaiming: + +"It is in the water--it has fallen into the lake!--my fan!" + +The officer again bowed slightly; then he walked from the path down to +the water's edge, while Dada went on more quietly: + +"There, close there! Oh, if only you would!... + +"I am so fond of the fan, it is so pretty. Do you see, it is quite +obliging? it is floating towards you!" Constantine had soon secured the +fan, and shook it to dry it as he went across the plank to the vessel. +Dada joyfully received it, stroked the feathers smooth, and warmly +thanked its preserver, while he assured her that he only wished he could +have rendered her some greater service. He was then about to retire with +a bow no less distant than before, but he found himself unexpectedly +detained by the Egyptian slave who, placing herself in his way, kissed +the hem of his tunic and exclaimed: + +"What joy for my lord your father and the lady your mother, and for poor +Sachepris! My lord Constantine at home again!" + +"Yes, at home at last," said the soldier in a deep pleasant voice. "Your +old mistress is still hale and hearty? That is well. I am on my way to +the others." + +"They know that you have come," replied the slave. "Glad, they are all +glad. They asked if my lord Constantine forgot old friends." + +"Never, not one!" + +"How long now since my lord Constantine went away--two, three years, and +just the same. Only a cut over the eyes--may the hand wither that gave +the blow!" + +Dada had already observed a broad scar which marked the soldier's brow +as high up as she could see it for the helmet, and she broke in: + +"How can you men like to slash and kill each other? Just think, if that +cut had been only a finger's breadth lower--you would have lost your +eyes, and oh! it is better to be dead than blind. When all the world is +bright not to be able to see it; what must that be! The whole earth in +darkness so that you see nothing--no one; neither the sky, nor the lake, +nor the boat, nor even me." + +"That would indeed be a pity," said the prefect with a laugh and a +shrug. + +"A pity!" exclaimed Dada. "As if it were nothing at all! I should find +something else to say than that. It gives me a shudder only to think of +being blind. How dreadfully dull life can be with one's eyes open! so +what must it be when they are of no use and one cannot even look about +one. Do you know that you have done me not one service only, but two at +once?" + +"I?" said the officer. + +"Yes, you. But the second is not yet complete. Sit down awhile, I +beg--there is a seat. You know it is a fatal omen if a visitor does not +sit down before he leaves.--That is well.--And now, may I ask you: do +you take off your helmet when you go into battle? No.--Then how could a +swordcut hurt your forehead?" + +"In a hand to hand scuffle," said the young man, "everything gets out of +place. One man knocked my helmet off and another gave me this cut in my +face." + +"Where did it happen?" + +"On the Savus, where we defeated Maximus." + +"And had you this same helmet on?" + +"Certainly." + +"Oh! pray let me look at it! I can still see the dent in the metal; how +heavy such a thing must be to wear!" + +Constantine took off his helmet with resigned politeness and put it into +her hands. She weighed it, thought it fearfully heavy, and then lifted +it up to put it on her own fair curls; but this did not seem to please +her new acquaintance, and saying rather shortly: "Allow me--" he took it +from her, set it on his head and rose. + +But Dada pointed eagerly to the seat. + +"No, no," she said, "I have not yet had enough of your second kindness. +I was on the point of death from sheer tedium; then you came, just in +time; and if you want to carry out your work of mercy you must tell me +something about the battle where you were wounded, and who took care of +you afterwards, and whether the women of Pannonia are really as handsome +as they are said to be..." + +"I am sorry to say that I have not time," interrupted the officer. +"Sachepris here is far better qualified to amuse you than I; some years +since, at any rate, she lead a wonderful store of tales. I wish you a +pleasant day!" + +And with this farewell greeting, Constantine left the vessel, nor did he +once look back at it or its pretty inhabitant as he made his way towards +the house of Porphyrius. + +Dada as she gazed after him colored with vexation; again she had done +a thing that Herse and--which she regretted still more--that Agne would +certainly disapprove of. The stranger whom she had tried to draw into a +flirtation was a really chivalrous man. Gorgo might be proud of such a +lover; and if now, he were to go to her and tell her, probably with +some annoyance, how provokingly he had been delayed by that pert little +singing-girl, it would be all her own fault. She felt as though there +were something in her which forced her to seem much worse than she +really was, and wished to be. Agne, Marcus, the young soldier--nay, +even Gorgo, were loftier and nobler than she or her people, and she +was conscious for the first time that the dangers from which Marcus had +longed to protect her were not the offspring of his fancy. She could not +have found a name for them, but she understood that she was whirled and +tossed through life from one thing to another, like a leaf before the +wind, bereft of every stay or holdfast, defenceless even against the +foolish vagaries of her own nature. Everyone, thought the girl to +herself, distrusted and suspected her, and, solely because she was one +of a family of singers, dared to insult and dishonor her. A strange +spite against Fate, against her uncle and aunt, against herself even, +surged up in her, and with it a vague longing for another and a better +life. + +Thus meditating she looked down into the water, not noticing what was +going on around her, till the slave-woman, addressing her by name, +pointed to a carriage drawn up at the side of the road that divided the +grove of the Temple of Isis from the ship-yard, and which the Egyptian +believed that she recognized as belonging to Marcus. Dada started up and +ran off to the cabin to fetch her shoes, but everything in the shape of +a sandal had vanished, and Herse had been wise when she had looked +at those of the Egyptian, for Dada did the same and would not have +hesitated to borrow them if they had been a little less dirty and +clumsy. + +Herse, no doubt, had played her this trick, and it was easy to guess +why! It was only to divert her suspicions that the false woman had +been so affectionate at parting. It was cheating, treachery-cruel and +shameful! She, who had always submitted like a lamb--but this was too +much--this she could not bear--this!... The slave-woman now followed +her to desire her to come up on deck; a new visitor had appeared on the +scene, an old acquaintance and fellow-voyager: Demetrius, Marcus' elder +brother. + +At any other time she would have made him gladly welcome, as a companion +and comfort in her solitude; but he had chosen an evil hour for his +visit and his proposals, as the girl's red cheeks and tearful eyes at +once told him. + +He had come to fetch her, cost him what it might, and to carry her away +to his country-home, near Arsinoe on the coast. It was not that he had +any mad desire to make her his own, but that he thought it his most +urgent duty to preserve his inexperienced brother from the danger into +which his foolish passion for the little singing-girl was certain +to plunge him. A purse full of gold, and a necklace of turquoise and +diamonds, which he had purchased from a jeweller in the Jews' quarter +for a sum for which he had often sold a ship-load of corn or a whole +cellar full of wine or oil, were to supplement his proposals; and he +went straight to the point, asking the girl simply and plainly to leave +her friends and accompany him to Arsinoe. When she asked him, in much +astonishment, "What to do there?" he told her he wanted a cheerful +companion; he had taken a fancy to her saucy little nose, and though he +could not flatter himself that he had ever found favor in her eyes he +had brought something with him which she would certainly like, and +which might help him to win her kindness. He was not niggardly, and if +this--and this--and he displayed the sparkling necklace and laid the +purse on her pillow--could please her she might regard them as an +earnest of more, as much more as she chose, for his pockets were deep. + +Dada did not interrupt him, for the growing indignation with which she +heard him took away her breath. This fresh humiliation was beyond the +bounds of endurance; and when at last she recovered her powers of speech +and action, she flung the purse off the divan, and as it fell clattering +on the floor, she kicked it away as far as possible, as though it were +plague-tainted. Then, standing upright in front of her suitor, she +exclaimed: + +"Shame upon you all! You thought that because I am a poor girl, a +singing-girl, and because you have filthy gold.... Your brother Marcus +would never have done such a thing, I am very sure!... And you, a horrid +peasant!... If you ever dare set foot on this vessel again, Karnis and +Orpheus shall drive you away as if you were a thief or an assassin! +Eternal Gods! what is it that I have done, that everyone thinks I must +be wicked? Eternal Gods...." + +And she burst into loud spasmodic sobs and vanished down the steps that +led below. + +Demetrius called after her in soothing words and tones, but she would +not listen. Then he sent down the slave to beg Dada to grant him a +hearing, but the only answer he received was an order to quit the barge +at once. + +He obeyed, and as he picked up the purse he thought to himself: + +"I may buy ship and vineyard back again; but I would send four more +after those if I could undo this luckless deed. If I were a better and +a worthier man, I might not so easily give others credit for being evil +and unworthy." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The town of Alexandria was stirred to its very foundations. From dawn +till night every centre of public traffic and intercourse was the scene +of hostile meetings between Christians and heathen, with frequent frays +and bloodshed, only stopped by the intervention of the soldiery. +Still, as we see that the trivial round of daily tasks is necessarily +fulfilled, even when the hand of Fate lies heaviest on a household, +and that children cannot forego their play even when their father is +stretched on his death-bed, so the minor interests of individual lives +pursued their course, even in the midst of the general agitation and +peril. + +The current of trade and of public business was, of course, checked at +many points, but they never came to a stand-still. The physician visited +the sick, the convalescent made his first attempt, leaning on a friendly +arm, to walk from his bedroom to the "viridarium," and alms were given +and received. Hatred was abroad and rampant, but love held its own, +strengthening old ties and forming new ones. Terror and grief weighed +on thousands of hearts, while some tried to make a profit out of +the prevailing anxiety, and others--many others--went forth, as +light-hearted as ever, in pursuit of pleasure and amusement. + +Horses were ridden and driven in the Hippodrome, and feasts were held +in the pleasure-houses of Canopus, with music and noisy mirth; in the +public gardens round the Paneum cock-fighting and quail-fighting were as +popular as ever, and eager was the betting in new gold or humble +copper. Thus may we see a child, safe on the roof of its father's house, +floating its toy boat on the flood that has drowned them all out; thus +might a boy fly his gaudy kite in the face of a gathering storm; thus +does the miser, on whom death has already laid its bony hand, count his +hoarded coin; thus thoughtless youth dances over the heaving soil at the +very foot of a volcano. What do these care for the common weal? Each +has his separate life and personal interests. What he himself needs or +desires--the greatest or the least--is to him more important and more +absorbing than the requirements of the vast organism in which he is no +more than a drop of blood or the hair of an eyelash. + +Olympius was still in concealment in the house of Porphyrius--Olympius, +whose mind and will had formerly had such imperious hold on the fate +of the city, and to whose nod above half of the inhabitants were still +obedient. Porphyrius and his family shared his views and regarded +themselves as his confederates; but, even among them, the minor details +of life claimed their place, and Gorgo, who entered into the struggle +for the triumph of the old gods, gave but a half-hearted attention to +the great cause to which she was enthusiastically devoted, because a +companion of her childhood, to whose attentions she had every claim, +delayed his visit longer than was kind. + +She had performed her 'Isis' lament the day before with all her heart +and soul, and had urgently claimed Agne's assistance; but to-day, though +she had been singing again and well, she had stopped to listen whenever +she heard a door open in the adjoining room or voices in the garden, +and had sung altogether with so much less feeling and energy than before +that Karnis longed to reprove her sharply enough. This, however, would +have been too indiscreet, so he could only express his annoyance by +saying to his son, in a loud whisper: + +"The most remarkable gifts, you see, and the highest abilities are of no +avail so long as Art and Life are not one and the same--so long as Art +is not the Alpha and Omega of existence, but merely an amusement or a +decoration." + +Agne had been true to herself, and had modestly but steadfastly declared +that she could not possibly enter the temple of Isis, and her refusal +had been accepted quite calmly, and without any argument or controversy. +She had not been able to refuse Gorgo's request that she would repeat +to-day the rehearsal she had gone through yesterday, since, to all +appearance, her cooperation at the festival had been altogether given +up. How could the girl guess that the venerable philosopher, who had +listened with breathless admiration to their joint performance, had +taken upon himself to dissipate her doubts and persuade her into +compliance? + +Olympius laid the greatest stress on Agne's assistance, for every +one who clung to the worship of the old gods was to assemble in the +sanctuary of Isis; and the more brilliant and splendid the ceremony +could be made the more would that enthusiasm be fired which, only too +soon, would be put to crucial proof. On quitting the temple the crowd of +worshippers, all in holiday garb, were to pass in front of the Prefect's +residence, and if only they could effect this great march through the +city in the right frame of mind, it might confidently be expected +that every one who was not avowedly Jew or Christian, would join +the procession. It would thus become a demonstration of overwhelming +magnitude and Cynegius, the Emperor's representative, could not fail to +see what the feeling was of the majority of the towns folk, and what it +was to drive matters to extremes and lay hands on the chief temples of +such a city. + +To Olympius the orator, grown grey in the exercise of logic and +eloquence, it seemed but a small matter to confute the foolish doubts +of a wilful girl. He would sweep her arguments to the winds as the +storm drives the clouds before it; and any one who had seen the two +together--the fine old man with the face and front of Zeus, with +his thoughtful brow and broad chest, who could pour forth a flood of +eloquence fascinatingly persuasive or convincingly powerful, and the +modest, timid girl--could not have doubted on which side the victory +must be. + +To-day, for the first time, Olympius had found leisure for a prolonged +interview with his old friend Karnis, and while the girls were in +the garden, amusing little Papias by showing him the swans and tame +gazelles, the philosopher had made enquiries as to the Christian girl's +history and then had heard a full account of the old musician's past +life. Karnis felt it as a great favor that his old friend, famous now +for his learning--the leader of his fellow-thinkers in the second city +of the world, the high-priest of Serapis, to whose superior intellect +he himself had bowed even in their student days--should remember his +insignificant person and allow him to give him the history of the +vicissitudes which had reduced him--the learned son of a wealthy +house--to the position of a wandering singer. + +Olympius had been his friend at the time when Karnis, on leaving +college, instead of devoting himself to business and accounts, as his +father wished, had thrown himself into the study of music, and at once +distinguished himself as a singer, lute-player and leader of heathen +choirs. Karnis was in Alexandria when the news reached him of his +father's death. Before quitting the city he married Herse, who was +beneath him alike in birth and in fortune, and who accompanied him +on his return to Tauromenium in Sicily, where he found himself the +possessor of an inheritance of which the extent and importance greatly +astonished him. + +At Alexandria he had been far better acquainted with the theatre than +with the Museum or the school of the Serapeum; nay, as an amateur, he +had often sung in the chorus there and acted as deputy for the regular +leader. The theatre in his native town of Tauromenium had also been a +famous one of old, but, at the time of his return, it had sunk to a very +low ebb. Most of the inhabitants of the beautiful city nestling at +the foot off Etna, had been converted to Christianity; among them the +wealthy citizens at whose cost the plays had been performed and the +chorus maintained. Small entertainments were still frequently given, +but the singers and actors had fallen off, and in that fine and spacious +theatre nothing was ever done at all worthy of its past glories. This +Karnis deeply regretted, and with his wonted energy and vigor he soon +managed to win the interest of those of his fellow-citizens who remained +faithful to the old gods and had still some feeling for the music and +poetry of the ancient Greeks, in his plans for their revival. + +His purpose was to make the theatre the centre of a reaction against the +influence of the Christians, by vieing with the Church in its efforts +to win back the renegade heathen and confirming the faithful in +their adhesion. The Greeks of Tauromenium should be reminded from the +stage-boards of the might of the old gods and the glories of their past. +To this end it was needful to restore the ruined theatre, and Karnis, +after advancing the greater part of the money required, was entrusted +with the management. He devoted himself zealously to the task, and +soon was so successful that the plays at Tauromenium, and the musical +performances in its Odeum, attracted the citizens in crowds, and were +talked of far and wide. Such success was of course only purchased at +a heavy cost, and in spite of Herse's warnings, Karnis would never +hesitate when the object in view was the preservation or advancement of +his great work. + +Thus passed twenty years; then there came a day when his fine fortune +was exhausted, and a time when the Christian congregation strained every +nerve to deal a death-blow to the abomination of desolation in their +midst. Again and again, and with increasing frequency, there were +sanguinary riots between the Christians who forced their way into the +theatre and the heathen audience, till at last a decree of the Emperor +Theodosius prohibited the performance of heathen plays or music. + +Now, the theatre at Tauromenium, for which Karnis had either given or +advanced his whole inheritance, had ceased to exist, and the usurers +who, when his own fortune was spent, had lent him moneys on the security +of the theatre itself--while it still flourished--or on his personal +security, seized his house and lands and would have cast him into the +debtor's prison if he had not escaped that last disgrace by flight. Some +good friends had rescued his family and helped them to follow him, and +when they rejoined him he had begun his wanderings as a singer. Many +a time had life proved miserable enough; still, he had always remained +true to his art and to the gods of Olympus. + +Olympius had listened to his narrative with many tokens of sympathy and +agreement, and when Karnis, with tears in his eyes, brought his story +to a close, the philosopher laid his hand on his friend's shoulder and +drawing him towards him, exclaimed: + +"Well done, my brave old comrade! We will both be faithful to the same +good cause! You have made sacrifices for it as I have; and we need not +despair yet. If we triumph here our friends in a thousand towns will +begin to look up. The reading of the stars last night, and the auguries +drawn from this morning's victims, portend great changes. What is down +to the ground to-day may float high in the air to-morrow. All the signs +indicate: 'A fall to the Greatest;' and what can be greater than Rome, +the old tyrant queen of the nations? The immediate future, it is true, +can hardly bring the final crash, but it is fraught with important +consequences to us. I dreamed of the fall of the Caesars, and of a great +Greek Empire risen from the ruins, powerful and brilliant under the +special protection of the gods of Olympus; and each one of us must +labor to bring about the realization of this dream. You have set a noble +example of devotion and self-sacrifice, and I thank you in the name of +all those who feel with us--nay, in the name of the gods themselves whom +I serve! The first thing to be done now is to avert the blow which the +Bishop intends shall strike us by the hand of Cynegius--it has already +fallen on the magnificent sanctuary of the Apamaean Zeus. If the +ambassador retires without having gained his purpose the balance will +be greatly--enormously, in our favor, and it will cease to be a folly to +believe in the success of our cause." + +"Ah! teach us to hope once more," cried the musician. "That in itself is +half the victory; still, I cannot see how this delay..." + +"It would give us time, and that is what we want," replied Olympius. +"Everything is in preparation, but nothing is ready. Alexandria, Athens, +Antioch, and Neapolis are to be the centres of the outbreak. The great +Libanius is not a man of action, and even he approves of our scheme. No +less a man than Florentin has undertaken to recruit for our cause among +the heathen officers in the army. Messala, and the great Gothic captains +Fraiut and Generid are ready to fight for the old gods. Our army will +not lack leaders..." + +"Our army!" exclaimed Karnis in surprise. "Is the matter so far +advanced?" + +"I mean the army of the future," cried Olympius enthusiastically. "It +does not count a man as yet, but is already distributed into several +legions. The vigor of mind and body--our learned youth on one hand and +strong-armed peasantry on the other--form the nucleus of our force. +Maximus could collect, in the utmost haste, the army which deprived +Gratian of his throne and life, and was within a Hair-breadth of +overthrowing Theodosius; and what was he but an ambitious rebel, and +what tempted his followers but their hopes of a share in the booty? But +we--we enlist them in the name of the loftiest ideas and warmest desires +of the human heart, and, as the prize of victory, we show them the +ancient faith with freedom of thought--the ancient loveliness of life. +The beings whom the Christians can win over--a patch-work medley of +loathsome Barbarians--let them wear out their lives as they choose! +We are Greeks--the thinking brain, the subtle and sentient soul of the +world. The polity, the empire, that we shall found on the overthrow +of Theodosius and of Rome shall be Hellenic, purely Hellenic. The old +national spirit, which made the Greeks omnipotent against the millions +of Darius and Xerxes, shall live again, and we will keep the Barbarians +at a distance as a Patrician forbids his inferiors to count themselves +as belonging to his illustrious house. The Greek gods, Greek heroism, +Greek art and Greek learning, under our rule shall rise from the +dust--all the more promptly for the stringent oppression under which +their indomitable spirit has so long languished." + +"You speak to my heart!" cried Karnis. "My old blood flows more swiftly +already, and if I only had a thousand talents left to give..." + +"You would stake them on the future Greek Empire," said Olympius +eagerly. "And we have adherents without number who feel as you do, +my trusty friend. We shall succeed--as the great Julian would have +succeeded but for the assassins who laid him low at so early an age; for +Rome..." + +"Rome is still powerful." + +"Rome is a colossus built up of a thousand blocks; but among them a +hundred and more be but loosely in their places, and are ready to drop +away from the body of the foul monster--sooner rather than later. Our +shout alone will shake them down, and they will fall on our side, we may +choose the best for our own use. Ere long--a few months only--the hosts +will gather in the champaign country at the foot of Vesuvius, by land +and by sea; Rome will open its gates wide to us who bring her back her +old gods; the Senate will proclaim the emperor deposed and the Republic +restored. Theodosius will come out against us. But the Idea for which +we go forth to fight will hover before us, will stir the hearts of those +soldiers and officers who would gladly--ah! how gladly-sacrifice to the +Olympian gods and who only kiss the wounds of the crucified Jew under +compulsion. They will desert from the labarum, which Constantine carried +to victory, to our standards; and those standards are all there, ready +for use; they have been made in this city and are lying hidden in the +house of Apollodorus. Heaven-sent daemons showed them in a vision to my +disciple Ammonius, when he was full of the divinity and lost in ecstasy, +and I have had them made from his instructions." + +"And what do they represent?" + +"The bust of Serapis with the 'modius' on his head. It is framed in a +circle with the signs of the zodiac and the images of the great Olympian +deities. We have given our god the head of Zeus, and the corn-measure +on his head is emblematic of the blessing that the husbandman hopes for. +The zodiac promises us a good star, and the figures representing it +are not the common emblems, but each deeply significant. The Twins, +for instance, are the mariner's divinities, Castor and Pollux; Hercules +stands by the Lion whom he has subdued; and the Fishes are dolphins, +which love music. In the Scales, one holds the cross high in the air +while the other is weighed down by Apollo's laurel-wreath and the bolts +of Zeus; in short, our standard displays everything that is most dear +to the soul of a Greek or that fills him with devotion. Above all, Nike +hovers with the crown of victory. If only fitting leaders are to be +found at the centres of the movement, these standards will at once be +sent out, and with them arms for the country-folk. A place of meeting +has already been selected in each province, the pass-word will be given, +and a day fixed for a general rising." + +"And they will flock round you!" interrupted Karnis, "and--I, my son, +will not be absent. Oh glorious, happy, and triumphant day! Gladly will +I die if only I may first live to see the smoking offerings sending up +their fragrance to the gods before the open doors of every temple in +Greece; see the young men and maidens dancing in rapt enthusiasm to the +sound of lutes and pipes, and joining their voices in the chorus! Then +light will shine once more on the world, then life will once more mean +joy, and death a departure from a scene of bliss." + +"Aye, and thus shall it be!" cried Olympius, fired by this eager +exposition of his own excitement, and he wrung the musician's hand. +"We will restore life to the Greeks and teach them to scorn death as of +yore. Let the Christians, the Barbarians, make life miserable and seek +joy in death, if they list! But the girls have ceased singing. There +is still much to be done to-day, and first of all I must confute the +objections of your recalcitrant pupil." + +"You will not find it an easy task," said Karnis. "Reason is a feeble +weapon in contending with a woman." + +"Not always," replied the philosopher. "But you must know how to use it. +Leave me to deal with the child. There are really no singing-women left +here; we have tried three, but they were all vulgar and ill taught. This +girl, when she sings with Gorgo, has a voice that will go to the heart +of the audience. What we want is to fire the crowd with enthusiasm, and +she will help us to do it." + +"Well, well. But you, Olympius, you who are the very soul of the +revulsion we hope for, you must not be present at the festival. Indeed, +sheltered as you are under Porphyrius' roof, there is a price on your +head, and this house swarms with slaves, who all know you; if one of +them, tempted by filthy lucre..." + +"They will not betray me," smiled the philosopher. "They know that their +aged mistress, Damia, and I myself command the daemons of the upper +and lower spheres, and that at a sign from her or from me they would +instantly perish; and even if there were an Ephialtes among them, a +spring through that loop-hole would save me. Be easy, my friend. Oracles +and stars alike foretell me death from another cause than the treason of +a slave." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Olympius followed Agne into the garden where he found her sitting by the +marble margin of a small pool, giving her little brother pieces of bread +to feed the swans with. He greeted her kindly and, taking up the child, +showed him a ball which rose and fell on the jet of water from the +fountain. Papias was not at all frightened by the big man with his white +beard, for a bright and kindly gleam shone in his eyes, and his voice +was soft and attractive as he asked him whether he had such another ball +and could toss it as cleverly as the fountain did. + +Papias said: "No," and Olympius, turning to Agne, went on: + +"You should get him a ball. There is no better plaything, for play ought +to consist in pleasant exertion which is in itself its object and gain. +Play is the toil of a little child; and a ball, which he can throw and +run after or catch, trains his eye, gives exercise to his limbs and +includes a double moral which men of every age and position should act +upon: To look down on the earth and keep his gaze on the heavens." + +Agne nodded agreement and thanks, while Olympius set the child down +and bid him run away to the paddock where some tame gazelles were kept. +Then, going straight to the point, he said: + +"I hear you have declined to sing in the temple of Isis; you have been +taught to regard the goddess to whom many good men turn in faith and +confidence, as a monster of iniquity, but, tell me, do you know what she +embodies?" + +"No," replied Agne looking down; but she hastily rose from her seat and +added with some spirit: "And I do not want to know, for I am a Christian +and your gods are not mine." + +"Well, well; your beliefs, of course, differ from ours in many points: +still, I fancy that you and I have much in common. We belong to those +who have learnt to 'look upwards'--there goes the ball, up again!--and +who find comfort in doing so. Do you know that many men believe that the +universe was formed by concurrence of mechanical processes and is still +slowly developing, that there is no divinity whose love and power guard, +guide and lend grace to the lives of men?" + +"Oh! yes, I have been obliged to hear many such blasphemous things in +Rome!" + +"And they ran off you like water off the silvery sheen of that swan's +plumage as he dips and raises his neck. Those who deny a God are, in +your estimation, foolish or perhaps abominable?" + +"I pity them, with all my heart." + +"And with very good reason. You are an orphan and what its parents are +to a child the divinity is to every member of the human race. In this +Gorgo, and I, and many others whom you call heathen, feel exactly as you +do; but you--have you ever asked yourself why and how it is that you, to +whom life has been so bitter, have such a perfect conviction that there +is a benevolent divinity who rules the world and your own fate to kindly +ends? Why, in short, do you believe in a God?" + +"I?" said Ague, looking puzzled, but straight into his face. "How could +anything exist without God? You ask such strange questions. All I can +see was created by our Father in Heaven." + +"But there are men born blind who nevertheless believe in Him." + +"They feel Him just as I see Him." + +"Nay you should say: 'As I believe that I see and feel Him.' But I, for +my part, think that the intellect has a right to test what the soul only +divines, and that it must be a real happiness to see this divination +proved by well-founded arguments, and thus transformed to certainty. Did +you ever hear of Plato, the philosopher?" + +"Yes, Karnis often speaks of him when he and Orpheus are discussing +things which I do not understand." + +"Well, Plato, by his intellect, worked out the proof of the problem +which our feelings alone are so capable of apprehending rightly. Listen +to me: If you stand on a spit of land at the entrance to a harbor and +see a ship in the distance sailing towards you--a ship which carefully +avoids the rocks, and makes straight for the shelter of the port--are +you not justified in concluding that there is, on board that ship, a man +who guides and steers it? Certainly. You not only may, but must infer +that it is directed by a pilot. And if you look up at the sky and +contemplate the well-ordered courses of the stars--when you see how +everything on earth, great and small, obeys eternal laws and unerringly +tends to certain preordained ends and issues, you may and must infer the +existence of a ruling hand. Whose then but that of the Great Pilot of +the universe--the Almighty Godhead.--Do you like my illustration?" + +"Very much. But it only proves what I knew before." + +"Nevertheless, you must, I think, be pleased to find it so beautifully +expressed." + +"Certainly." + +"And must admire the wise man who thought out the comparison. +Yes?--Well, that man again was one of those whom you call heathen, who +believed as we believe, and who at the same time worked out the evidence +of the foundations of his faith for you as well as himself. And we, +the later disciples of Plato--[Known as the school of the +Neo-Platonists]--have gone even further than our master, and in many +respects are much nearer to you Christians than you perhaps suspect. +You see at once, of course, that we are no more inclined than you +to conceive of the existence of the world and the destiny of man as +independent of a God? However, I dare say you still think that your +divinity and ours are as far asunder as the east from the west. But can +you tell me where any difference lies?" + +"I do not know," said Ague uneasily. "I am only an ignorant girl; and +who can learn the names even of all your gods?" + +"Very true," said Olympius. "There is great Serapis, whose temple +you saw yesterday; there is Apollo, to whom Karnis prefers to offer +sacrifice; there is Isis the bountiful, and her sister Nephthys, whose +lament you and my young friend sing together so thrillingly; and besides +these there are more immortals than I could name while Gorgo--who is +leading your little brother to the lake out there--walked ten times from +the shore to us and back; and yet--and yet my child, your God is ours +and ours is yours." + +"No, no, He is not, indeed!" cried Agne with increasing alarm. + +"But listen," Olympius went on, with the same kind urgency but with +extreme dignity, "and answer my questions simply and honestly. We are +agreed, are we not?--that we perceive the divinity in the works of his +creation, and even in his workings in our own souls. Then which are the +phenomena of nature in which you discern Him as especially near to you? +You are silent. I see, you have outlived your school-days and do not +choose to answer to an uninvited catechism. And yet the things I wish +you to name are lovely in themselves and dear to your heart; and if only +you did not keep your soft lips so firmly closed, but would give me the +answer I ask for, you would remember much that is grand and beautiful. +You would speak of the pale light of dawn, the tender flush that tinges +the clouds as the glowing day-star rises from the waves, of the splendor +of the sun-as glorious as truth and as warm as divine love. You would +say: In the myriad blossoms that open to the morning, in the dew that +bathes them and covers them with diamonds, in the ripening ears in the +field, in the swelling fruit on the trees--in all these I see the mercy +and wisdom of the divinity. I feel his infinite greatness as I gaze on +the wide expanse of deep blue sea; it comes home to me at night when I +lift my eyes to the skies and see the sparkling hosts of stars roll over +my head. Who created that countless multitude, who guides them so that +they glide past in glorious harmony, and rise and set, accurately timed +to minutes and seconds, silent but full of meaning, immeasurably distant +and yet closely linked with the fate of individual men?--All this bears +witness to the existence of a God, and as you contemplate it and +admire it with thankful emotion, you feel yourself drawn near to the +Omnipotent. Aye, and even if you were deaf and blind, and lay bound and +fettered in the gloom of a closely-shut cavern, you still could feel if +love and pity and hope touched your heart. Rejoice then, child! for the +immortals have endowed you with good gifts, and granted you sound senses +by which to enjoy the beauty of creation. You exercise an art which +binds you to the divinity like a bridge; when you give utterance to your +whole soul in song that divinity itself speaks through you, and when you +hear noble music its voice appeals to your ear. All round you and within +you, you can recognize its power just as we feel it--everywhere and at +all times. + +"And this incomprehensible, infinite, unfettered, bountiful and +infallibly wise Power, which penetrates and permeates the life of the +universe as it does the hearts of men, though called by different names +in different lands, is the same to every race, wherever it may dwell, +whatever its language or its beliefs. You Christians call him the +Heavenly Father, we give him the name of the Primal One. To you, too, +your God speaks in the surging seas, the waving corn, the pure light of +day; you, too, regard music which enchants your heart, and love which +draws man to man, as his gifts; and we go only a step further, giving a +special name to each phenomenon of nature, and each lofty emotion of +the soul in which we recognize the direct influence of the Most High; +calling the sea Poseidon, the corn-field Demeter, the charm of music +Apollo, and the rapture of love Eros. When you see us offering sacrifice +at the foot of a marble image you must not suppose that the lifeless, +perishable stone is the object of our adoration. The god does not +descend to inform the statue; but the statue is made after the Idea +figured forth by the divinity it is intended to represent; and through +that Idea the image is as intimately connected with the Godhead, as, +by the bond of Soul, everything else that is manifest to our senses is +connected with the phenomena of the supersensuous World. But this is +beyond you; it will be enough for you if I assure you that the statue of +Demeter, with the sheaf in her arms, is only intended to remind us to be +grateful to the Divinity for our daily bread--a hymn of praise to Apollo +expresses our thanks to the Primal One for the wings of music and song, +on which our soul is borne upwards till it feels the very presence of +the Most High. These are names, mere names that divide us; but if +you were called anything else than Agne--Ismene, for instance, or +Eudoxia--would you be at all different from what you are?--There you +see--no, stay where you are--you must listen while I tell you that +Isis, the much--maligned Isis, is nothing and represents nothing but the +kindly influences of the Divinity, on nature and on human life. What she +embodies to us is the abstraction which you call the loving-kindness of +the Father, revealed in his manifold gifts, wherever we turn our eyes. +The image of Isis reminds us of the lavish bounties of the Creator, +just as you are reminded by the cross, the fish, and the lamb, of your +Redeemer. Isis is the earth from whose maternal bosom the creative +God brings forth food and comfort for man and beast; she is the tender +yearning which He implants in the hearts of the lover and the beloved +one; she is the bond of affection which unites husband and wife, brother +and sister, which is rapture to the mother with a child at her breast +and makes her ready and able for any sacrifice for the darling she has +brought into the world. She shines, a star in the midnight sky, giving +comfort to the sorrowing heart; she, who has languished in grief, pours +balm into the wounded souls of the desolate and bereaved, and gives +health and refreshment to the suffering. When nature pines in winter +cold or in summer drought and lacks power to revive, when the sun is +darkened, when lies and evil instincts alienate the soul from its pure +first cause, then Isis uplifts her complaint, calling on her husband, +Osiris, to return, to take her once more in his arms and fill her with +new powers, to show the benevolence of God once more to the earth and +to us men. You have learnt that lament; and when you sing it at her +festival, picture yourself as standing with the Mother of Sorrows--the +mother of your crucified divinity, by his open grave, and cry to your +God that he may let him rise from the dead." + +Olympius spoke the last words with excited enthusiasm as though he were +certain of the young girl's consent; but the effect was not what he +counted on; for Agne, who had listened to him, so far, with increasing +agitation, setting herself against his arguments like a bird under +the fascinating glare of the snake's eye, at this last address seemed +suddenly to shake off the spell of his seductive eloquence as the leaves +drop from the crown of a tree shaken by the blast; the ideas of her +Saviour and of the hymn she was to sing were utterly irreconcilable +in her mind; she remembered the struggle she had fought out during the +night, and the determination with which she had come to the house this +morning. All the insidious language she had just heard was forgotten, +swept away like dust from a rocky path, and her voice was firmly +repellent as she said: + +"Your Isis has nothing in common with the Mother of our God, and how +can you dare to compare your Osiris with the Lord who redeemed the world +from death?" + +Olympius, startled at the decision of her tone, rose from his seat, but +he went on, as though he had expected this refusal: + +"I will tell you--I will show you. Osiris--we will take him as being +an Egyptian god, instead of Serapis in whose mysterious attributes you +would find much to commend itself even to a Christian soul--Osiris, like +your Master, voluntarily passed through death--to redeem the world from +death--in this resembling your Christ. He, the Risen One, gives new +light, and life, and blossom, and verdure to all that is darkened, dead +and withered. All that seems to have fallen a prey to death is, by him, +restored to a more beautiful existence; he, who has risen again, can +bring even the departed soul to a resurrection; and when during this +life its high aims have kept it unspotted by the dust of the sensual +life, and he, as the judge, sees that it has preserved itself worthy of +its pure First Cause, he allows it to return to the eternal and supreme +Spirit whence it originally proceeded. + +"And do not you, too, strive after purification, to the end that your +soul may find an everlasting home in the radiant realms? Again and +again do we meet with the same ideas, only they bear different forms +and names. Try to feel the true bearing of my words, and then you will +gladly join in the pathetic appeal to the sublime god to return. How +like he is to your Lord! Is he not, like your Christ, a Saviour, and +risen from the dead? The Temple or the Church--both are the sanctuaries +of the Deity. By the ivy-wreathed altar of the weeping goddess, at the +foot of the tall cypresses which cast their mysterious shadows on the +snowy whiteness of the marble steps on which lies the bier of the god, +you will feel the sacred awe which falls upon every pure soul when it is +conscious of the presence of the Deity--call Him what you will. + +"Isis, whom you now know, and who is neither more nor less than a +personification of divine mercy, will make you a return by restoring you +to the freedom for which you pine. She will allow you to find a home in +some Christian house through our intervention, in acknowledgment of the +pious service you are rendering, not to her but to the faith in divine +goodness. There you may live with your little brother, as free as +heart can desire. To-morrow you will go with Gorgo to the temple of the +goddess ..." + +But Agne broke in on his speech: "No, I will not go with her!" + +Her cheeks were scarlet and her breath came short and fast with +excitement as she went on: + +"I will not, I must not, I cannot! Do what you will with me: sell me and +my brother, put us to turn a mill--but I will not sing in the temple!" + +Olympius knit his brows; his beard quivered and his lips parted in +wrath, but he controlled himself and going close to the girl he laid +his hand on her shoulder and said in a deep grave tone of fatherly +admonition: + +"Reflect, child, pause; think over what I have been saying to you; +remember, too, what you owe the little one you love, and to-morrow +morning tell us that you have duly weighed your answer. Give me your +hand, my daughter; believe me, Olympius is one of your sincerest +well-wishers." + +He turned his back on her and was going in doors. In front of the house +Porphyrius and Karnis were standing in eager colloquy. The news that +Marcus' mother Mary had sent for Herse had reached the singer, and +his vivid fancy painted his wife as surrounded by a thousand perils, +threatened by the widow, and carried before the judges. The merchant +advised him to wait and see what came of it, as did Damia and Gorgo +who were attracted to the spot by the vehemence of the discussion; but +Karnis would not be detained, and he and Orpheus hurried off to the +rescue. Thus Agne was left alone in the garden with her little +brother, and perceiving that no one paid any further attention to their +proceedings, she fell on her knees, clasped the child closely to her and +whispered: + +"Pray with me, Papias; pray, pray that the Lord will protect us, and +that we may not be turned out of the way that leads us to our parents! +Pray, as I do!" + +For a minute she remained prostrate with the child by her side. +Then, rising quickly, she took him by the hand and led him in almost +breathless haste through the garden-gate out into the road, bending her +steps towards the lake and then down the first turning that led to the +city. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Agne's flight remained unperceived for some little time, for every +member of the merchant's household was at the moment intent on some +personal interest. When Karnis and Orpheus had set out Gorgo was left +with her grandmother and it was not till some little time after that she +went out into the colonnade on the garden side of the house, whence she +had a view over the park and the shore as far as the ship-yard. There, +leaning against the shaft of a pillar, under the shade of the blossoming +shrubs, she stood gazing thoughtfully to the southward. + +She was dreaming of the past, of her childhood's joys and privations. +Fate had bereft her of a mother's love, that sun of life's spring. Below +her, in a splendid mausoleum of purple porphyry, lay the mortal remains +of the beautiful woman who had given her birth, and who had been +snatched away before she could give her infant a first caress. But all +round the solemn monument gardens bloomed in the sunshine, and on the +further side of the wall covered with creepers, was the ship-yard, the +scene of numberless delightful games. She sighed as she looked at the +tall hulks, and watched for the man who, from her earliest girlhood, had +owned her heart, whose image was inseparable from every thing of joy +and beauty that she had ever known, and every grief her young soul had +suffered under. + +Constantine, the younger son of Clemens the shipbuilder, had been her +brothers' companion and closest friend. He had proved himself their +superior in talents and gifts, and in all their games had been the +recognized leader. While still a tiny thing she would always be at their +heels, and Constantine had never failed to be patient with her, or to +help and protect her, and then came a time when the lads were all +eager to win her sympathy for their games and undertakings. When her +grandmother read in the stars that some evil influences were to cross +the path of Gorgo's planet, the girl was carefully kept in the house; at +other times she was free to go with the boys in the garden, on the lake +or to the ship-yard. There the happy playmates built houses or boats; +there, in a separate room, old Melampus modelled figure-heads for the +finished vessels, and he would supply them with clay and let them model +too. Constantine was an apt pupil, and Gorgo would sit quiet while he +took her likeness, till, out of twenty images that he had made of her, +several were really very like. Melampus declared that his young master +might be a very distinguished sculptor if only he were the son of poor +parents, and Gorgo's father appreciated his talent and was pleased when +the boy attempted to copy the beautiful busts and statues of which +the house was full; but to his parents, and especially his mother, +his artistic proclivities were an offence. He himself, indeed, never +seriously thought of devoting himself to such a heathenish occupation, +for he was deeply penetrated by the Christian sentiments of his family, +and he had even succeeded in inflaming the sons of Porphyrius, who had +been baptized at an early age, with zeal for their faith. The merchant +perceived this and submitted in silence, for the boys must be and remain +Christians in consequence of the edict referring to wills; but the +necessity for confessing a creed which was hateful to him was so painful +and repulsive to a nature which, though naturally magnanimous was +not very steadfast, that he was anxious to spare his sons the same +experience, and allowed them to accompany Constantine to church and to +wear blue--the badge of the Christians--at races and public games, with +a shrug of silent consent. + +With Gorgo it was different. She was a woman and need wear no colors; +and her enthusiasm for the old gods and Greek taste and prejudices were +the delight of her father. She was the pride of his life, and as he +heard his own convictions echoed in her childish prattle, and later in +her conversation and exquisite singing, he was grateful to his mother +and to his friend Olympius who had implanted and cherished these +feelings in his daughter. Constantine's endeavors to show her the beauty +of his creed and to win her to Christianity were entirely futile; and +the older they grew, and the less they agreed, the worse could each +endure the dissent of the other. + +An early and passionate affection attracted the young man to his +charming playfellow; the more ardently he cherished his faith the more +fervently did he desire to win her for his wife. But Olympius' fair +pupil was not easy of conquest; nay, he was not unfrequently hard beset +by her questions and arguments, and while, to her, the fight for a creed +was no more than an amusing wrestling match, in which to display her +strength, to him it was a matter in which his heart was engaged. + +Damia and Porphyrius took a vain pleasure in their eager discussions, +and clapped with delight, as though it were a game of skill, when +Gorgo laughingly checkmated her excited opponent with some unanswerable +argument. + +But there came a day when Constantine discovered that his eager defence +of that which to him was high and holy, was, to his hearers, no more +than a subject of mockery, and henceforth the lad, now fast growing to +manhood, kept away from the merchant's house. Still, Gorgo could always +win him back again, and sometimes, when they were alone together, the +old strife would be renewed, and more seriously and bitterly than of +old. But while he loved her, she also loved him, and when he had so +far mastered himself as to remain away for any length of time she wore +herself out with longing to see him. They felt that they belonged to +each other, but they also felt that an insuperable gulf yawned between +them, and that whenever they attempted to clasp hands across the abyss a +mysterious and irresistible impulse drove them to open it wider, and to +dig it deeper by fresh discussions, till at last Constantine could not +endure that she, of all people, should mock at his Holy of Holies and +drag it in the dust. + +He must go--he must leave Gorgo, quit Alexandria, cost what it +might. The travellers' tales that he had heard from the captains of +trading-vessels and ships of war who frequented his father's house had +filled him with a love of danger and enterprise, and a desire to see +distant lands and foreign peoples. His father's business, for which he +was intended, did not attract him. Away--away--he would go away; and a +happy coincidence opened a path for him. + +Porphyrius had taken him one day on some errand to Canopus; the elder +man had gone in his chariot, his two sons and Constantine escorting him +on horseback. At the city-gates they met Romanus, the general in command +of the Imperial army, with his staff of officers, and he, drawing +rein by the great merchant's carriage, had asked him, pointing to +Constantine, whether that were his son. + +"No," replied Porphyrius, "but I wish he were." At these words the +ship-master's son colored deeply, while Romanus turned his horse round, +laid his hand on the young man's arm and called out to the commander of +the cavalry of Arsinoe: "A soldier after Ares' own heart, Columella! Do +not let him slip." + +Before the clouds of dust raised by the officers' horses as they rode +off, had fairly settled, Constantine had made up his mind to be a +soldier. In his parents' house, however, this decision was seen under +various aspects. His father found little to say against it, for he had +three sons and only two shipyards, and the question seemed settled by +the fact that Constantine, with his resolute and powerful nature, was +cut out to be a soldier. His pious mother, on the other hand, appealed +to the learned works of Clemens and Tertullian, who forbid the faithful +Christian to draw the sword; and she related the legend of the holy +Maximilianus, who, being compelled, under Diocletian, to join the army, +had suffered death at the hands of the executioner rather than shed his +fellow-creatures' blood in battle. The use of weapons, she added, was +incompatible with a godly and Christian life. + +His father, however, would not listen to this reasoning; new times, he +said, were come; the greater part of the army had been baptized; the +Church prayed for, victory, and at the head of the troops stood the +great Theodosius, an exemplar of an orthodox and zealous Christian. + +Clemens was master in his own house, and Constantine joined the heavy +cavalry at Arsinoe. In the war against the Blemmyes he was so fortunate +as to merit the highest distinction; after that he was in garrison at +Arsinoe, and, as Alexandria was within easy reach of that town, he was +in frequent intercourse with his own family and that of Porphyrius. Not +quite three years previously, when a revolt had broken out in favor +of the usurper Maximus in his native town, Constantine had assisted in +suppressing it, and almost immediately afterwards he was sent to Europe +to take part in the war which Theodosius had begun, again against +Maximus. + +An unpleasant misunderstanding had embittered his parting from Gorgo; +old Damia, as she held his hand had volunteered a promise that she and +her granddaughter would from time to time slay a beast in sacrifice on +his behalf. Perhaps she had had no spiteful meaning in this, but he had +regarded it as an insult, and had turned away angry and hurt. +Gorgo, however, could not bear to let him go thus; disregarding her +grandmother's look of surprise, she had called him back, and giving him +both hands had warmly bidden him farewell. Damia had looked after him in +silence and had ever afterwards avoided mentioning his name in Gorgo's +presence. + +After the victory over Maximus, Constantine, though still very young, +was promoted to the command of the troop in the place of Columella, +and he had arrived in Alexandria the day before at the head of his 'ala +miliaria'. + + [The ala miliaria consisted of 24 'turmae' or 960 mounted troopers + under the conduct of a Prefect.] + +Gorgo had never at any time ceased to think of him, but her passion had +constantly appeared to her in the light of treason and a breach of faith +towards the gods, so, to condone the sins she committed on one side by +zeal on another, she had come forth from the privacy of her father's +house to give active support to Olympius in his struggle for the faith +of their ancestors. She had become a daily worshipper at the temple of +Isis, and the hope of hearing her sing had already mere than once filled +it to overflowing at high festivals. Then, while Olympius was defending +the sanctuary of Serapis against the attacks of the Christians, she and +her grandmother had become the leaders of a party of women who made +it their task to provide the champions of the faith with the means of +subsistence. + +All this had given purpose to her life; still, every little victory in +this contest had filled her soul with regrets and anxieties. For months +and years she had been conspicuous as the opponent of her lover's +creed, and the bright eager child had developed into a grave girl a +clear-headed and resolute woman. She was the only person in the house +who dared to contradict her grandmother, and to insist on a thing when +she thought it right. The longing of her heart she could not still, but +her high spirit found food for its needs in all that surrounded her, +and, by degrees, would no doubt have gained the mastery and have been +supreme in all her being and doing, but that music and song still +fostered the softer emotions of her strong, womanly nature. + +The news of Constantine's return had shaken her soul to the foundations. +Would it bring her the greatest happiness or only fresh anguish and +unrest? + +She saw him coming!--The plume of his helmet first came in sight above +the bushes, and then his whole figure emerged from among the shrubbery. +She leaned against the pillar for support now, for her knees trembled +under her. Tall and stately, his armor blazing in the sunshine, he came +straight towards her--a man, a hero--exactly as her fancy had painted +him in many a dark and sleepless hour. As he passed her mother's tomb, +she felt as though a cold hand laid a grip on her beating heart. In +a swift flash of thought she saw her own home with its wealth and +splendor, and then the ship-builder's house-simple, chillingly bare, +with its comfortless rooms; she felt as though she must perish, nipped +and withered, in such a home. Again she thought of him standing on his +father's threshold, she fancied she could hear his bright boyish laugh +and her heart glowed once more. She forgot for the moment--clear-headed +woman though she was, and trained by her philosopher to "know +herself"--she forgot what she had fully acknowledged only the night +before: That he would no more give up his Christ than she would her +Isis, and that if they should ever reach the dreamed-of pinnacle of joy +it must be for an instant only, followed by a weary length of misery. +Yes--she forgot everything; doubts and fears were cast aside; as his +approaching footsteps fell on her ear, she could hardly keep herself +from flying, open armed, to meet him. + +He was standing before her; she offered him her hand with frank +gladness, and, as he clasped it in his, their hearts were too full for +words. Only their eyes gave utterance to their feelings, and when he +perceived that hers were sparkling through tears, he spoke her name +once, twice--joyfully and yet doubtfully, as if he dared not interpret +her emotion as he would. She laid her left hand lightly on his which +still grasped her right, and said with a brilliant smile: "Welcome, +Constantine, welcome home! How glad I am to see you back again!" + +"And I--and I..." he began, greatly moved. + +"O Gorgo! Can it really be years since we parted?" + +"Yes, indeed," she said. "Anxious, busy, struggling years!" + +"But to-day we celebrate the festival of Peace," he exclaimed fervently. +"I have learnt to leave every man to go his own way so long as I am +allowed to go mine. The old strife is buried; take me as I am and I, for +my part, will think only of the noble and beautiful traits in which your +nature is so rich. The fruit of all wholesome strife must be peace; let +us pluck that fruit, Gorgo, and enjoy it together. Ah! as I stand here +and gaze out over the gardens and the lake, hearing the hammers of +the shipwrights, and rejoicing in your presence, I feel as though our +childhood might begin all over again--only better, fuller and more +beautiful!" + +"If only my brothers were here!" + +"I saw them." + +"Oh! where?" + +"At Thessalonica, well and happy--I have letters for you from them." + +"Letters!" cried Gorgo, drawing away her hand. "Well, you are a tardy +messenger! Our houses are within a stone's throw, and yet in a whole +day, from noon till noon, so old a friend could not find a few minutes +to deliver the letters entrusted to him, or to call upon such near +neighbors ..." + +"First there were my parents," interrupted the young soldier. "And then +the tyrant military duty, which kept me on the stretch from yesterday +afternoon till an hour or two since. Romanus robbed me even of my sleep, +and kept me in attendance till the morn had set. However, I lost but +little by that, for I could not have closed my eyes till they had beheld +you! This morning again I was on duty, and rarely have I ridden to the +front with such reluctance. After that I was delayed by various details; +even on my way here--but for that I cannot be sorry for it gave me this +chance of finding you alone. All I ask now is that we may remain so, for +such a moment is not likely to be repeated.--There, I heard a door..." + +"Come into the garden," cried Gorgo, signing to him to follow her. "My +heart is as full as yours. Down by the tank under the old sycamores--we +shall be quietest there." + +Under the dense shade of the centenarian trees was a rough-hewn bench +that they themselves had made years before; there Gorgo seated herself, +but her companion remained standing. + +"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Here--here you must hear me! Here where we have +been so happy together!" + +"So happy!" she echoed softly. + +"And now," he went on, "we are together once more. My heart beats +wildly, Gorgo; it is well that this breastplate holds it fast, for I +feel as though it would burst with hope and thankfulness." + +"Thankfulness?" said Gorgo, looking down. + +"Yes, thankfulness--sheer, fervent passionate gratitude! What you have +given me, what an inestimable boon, you yourself hardly know; but no +emperor could reward love and fidelity more lavishly than you have +done--you, the care and the consolation, the pain and the joy of my +life! My mother told me--it was the first thing she thought of--how +you shed tears of grief on her bosom when the false report of my death +reached home. Those tears fell as morning dew on the drooping hopes +in my heart, they were a welcome such as few travellers find on their +return home. I am no orator, and if I were, how could speech in any way +express my feelings? But you know them--you understand what it is, after +so many years..." + +"I know," she said looking up into his eyes, and allowing him to seize +her hand as he dropped on the bench by her side. "If I did not I could +not bear this--and I freely confess that I shed many more tears over you +than you could imagine. You love me, Constantine..." + +He threw his arm round her; but she disengaged herself, exclaiming: + +"Nay--I implore you, not so--not yet, till I have told you what troubles +me, what keeps me from throwing myself wholly, freely into the arms of +happiness. I know what you will ask--what you have a right to ask; but +before you speak, Constantine, remember once more all that has so often +saddened our life, even as children, that has torn us asunder like a +whirlwind although, ever since we can remember, our hearts have flowed +towards each other. But I need not remind you of what binds us--that we +both know well, only too well...." + +"Nay," he replied boldly: "That we are only beginning to know in all its +fullness and rapture. The other thing the whirlwind of which you speak, +has indeed tossed and tormented me, more than it has you perhaps; but +since I have known that you could shed tears for me and love me I have +had no more anxieties; I know for certain that all must come right! You +love me as I am, Gorgo. I am no dreamer nor poet; but I can look +forward to finding life lovely and noble if shared with you, so long as +one--only one thing is sure. I ask you plainly and truly: Is your heart +as full of love for me as mine is for you? When I was away did you think +of me every day, every night, as I thought of you, day and night without +fail?" + +Gorgo's head sank and blushes dyed her cheeks as she replied: "I love +you, and I have never even thought of any one else. My thoughts and +yearnings followed you all the while you were away... and yet... oh, +Constantine! That one thing..." + +"It cannot part us," said the young man passionately, "since we have +love--the mighty and gracious power which conquers all things! When love +beckon: the whirlwind dies away like the breath from a child's lips; +it can bridge over any abyss; it created the world and preserves the +existence of humanity, it can remove mountains--and these are the most +beautiful words of the greatest of the apostles: 'It is long suffering +and kind, it believes all things, hopes all things' and it knows no end. +It remains with us till death and will teach us to find that peace whose +bulwark and adornment, whose child and parent it is!" + +Gorgo had looked lovingly at him while he spoke, and he, pressing her +hand to his lips went on with ardent feeling: + +"Yes, you shall be mine--I dare, and I will go to ask you of your +father. There are some words spoken in one's life which can never be +forgotten. Once your father said that he wished that I was his son. On +the march, in camp, in battle, wherever I have wandered, those words +have been in my mind; for me they could have but one meaning: I would be +his son--I shall be his son when Gorgo is my wife!--And now the time has +come..." + +"Not yet, not to-day," she interrupted eagerly. "My hopes are the +same as yours. I believe with you that our love can bring all that is +sweetest into our lives. What you believe I must believe, and I will +never urge upon you the things that I regard as holiest. I can give up +much, bear much, and it will all seem easy for your sake. We can +agree, and settle what shall be conceded to your Christ and what to our +gods--but not to-day; not even to-morrow. For the present let me first +carry out the task I have undertaken--when that is done and past, +then.... You have my heart, my love; but if I were to prove a deserter +from the cause to-day or to-morrow it would give others--Olympius--a +right to point at me with scorn." + +"What is it then that you have undertaken?" asked Constantine with grave +anxiety. + +"To crown and close my past life. Before I can say: I am yours, wholly +yours..." + +"Are you not mine now, to-day, at once?" he urged. + +"To day-no," she replied firmly. "The great cause still has a claim upon +me; the cause which I must renounce for your sake. But the woman who +gives only one person reason to despise her signs the death-warrant of +her own dignity. I will carry out what I have undertaken.... Do not ask +me what it is; it would grieve you to know.--The day after tomorrow, +when the feast of Isis is over...." + +"Gorgo, Gorgo!" shouted Damia's shrill voice, interrupting the young +girl in her speech, and half a dozen slave-women came rushing out in +search of her. + +They rose, and as they went towards the house Constantine said very +earnestly: + +"I will not insist; but trust my experience: When we have to give +something up sooner or later, if the wrench is a painful one, the sooner +and the more definitely it is done the better. Nothing is gained by +postponement and the pain is only prolonged. Hesitation and delay, +Gorgo, are a barrier built up by your own hand between us and our +happiness. You always had abundance of determination; be brave then, +now, and cut short at once a state of things that cannot last." + +"Well, well," she said hurriedly. "But you must not, you will not +require me to do anything that is beyond my strength, or that would +involve breaking my word. To-morrow is not, and cannot be yours; it must +be a day of leave-taking and parting. After that I am yours, I cannot +live without you. I want you and nothing else. Your happiness shall be +mine; only, do not make it too hard to me to part from all that has been +dear to me from my infancy. Shut your eyes to tomorrow's proceedings, +and then--oh! if only we were sure of the right path, if only we could +tread it together! We know each other so perfectly, and I know, I feel, +that it will perhaps be a comfort to our hearts to be patient with each +other over matters which our judgment fails to comprehend or even to +approve. I might be so unutterably happy; but my heart trembles within +me, and I am not, I dare not be quite glad yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The young soldier was heartily welcomed by his friends of the merchant's +family; but old Damia was a little uneasy at the attitude which he +and Gorgo had taken up after their first greeting. He was agitated and +grave, she was eager and excited, with an air of determined enterprise. + +Was Eros at the bottom of it all? Were the young people going to carry +out the jest of their childhood in sober earnest? The young officer was +handsome and attractive enough, and her granddaughter after all was but +a woman. + +So far as Constantine was concerned the old lady had no personal +objection to him; nay, she appreciated his steady, grave manliness and, +for his own sake, was very glad to see him once more; but to contemplate +the ship-builder's son--the grandson of a freedman--a Christian and +devoted to the Emperor, even though he were a prefect or of even higher +grade--as a possible suitor for her Gorgo, the beautiful heiress of the +greater part of her wealth--the centre of attraction to all the gilded +youth of Alexandria--this was too much for her philosophy; and, as +she had never in her life restrained the expression of her sentiments, +though she gave him a friendly hand and the usual greeting, she very +soon showed him, by her irony and impertinence, that she was as hostile +to his creed as ever. + +She put her word in on every subject, and when, presently, +Demetrius--who, after Dada's rebuff, had come on to see his uncle--began +speaking of the horses he had been breeding for Marcus, and Constantine +enquired whether any Arabs from his stables were to be purchased in the +town, Damia broke out: + +"You out-do your crucified God in most things I observe! He could ride +on an ass, and a stout Egyptian nag is not good enough for you." + +However, the young officer was not to be provoked; and though he was +very well able to hold his own in a strife of words, he kept himself +under control and pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts but +harmless jesting. + +Gorgo triumphed in his temperate demeanor, and thanked him with grateful +glances and a silent grasp of the hand when opportunity offered. + +Demetrius, who had also known Constantine as a boy, and who, through +Porphyrius, had sold him his first charger, met him very warmly and +told him with a laugh that he had seen him before that day, that he +had evidently learnt something on his travels, that he had tracked +the prettiest head of game in all the city; and he slapped him on +the shoulder and gave him what he meant to be a very knowing glance. +Constantine could not think where Demetrius had seen him or what he +meant; while Gorgo supposed that he alluded to her, and thought him +perfectly odious. + +Porphyrius pelted the prefect with questions which Constantine was very +ready to answer, till they were interrupted by some commotion in the +garden. On looking out they saw a strange and unpleasing procession, +headed by Herse who was scolding, thumping and dragging Dada's Egyptian +slave, while her husband followed, imploring her to moderate her fury. +Behind them came Orpheus, now and then throwing out a persuasive word +to soothe the indignant matron. This party soon came up with the others, +and Herse, unasked, poured out an explanation of her wrath. + +She had had but a brief interview with Mary, Marcus' mother, for she had +positively opposed the Christian lady's suggestion that Karnis and his +family would do well to quit Alexandria as soon as possible, accepting +an indemnification from Mary herself. To the widow's threats of seeking +the intervention of the law, she had retorted that they were not public +singers but free citizens who performed for their own enjoyment; to the +anxious mother's complaints that Dada was doing all she could to attract +Marcus, she had answered promptly and to the point that her niece's good +name would certainly out-weigh anything that could be said against a +young man to whom so much license was allowed in Alexandria. She would +find some means of protecting her own sister's child. Mary had replied +that Herse would do well to remember that she--Mary--had means at her +command of bringing justice down on those who should attempt to entrap a +Christian youth, and tempt him into the path of sin. + +This had closed the interview. Herse had found her husband and son +waiting for her at the door of Mary's house and had at once returned +with them to the ship. There an unpleasant surprise awaited them; they +had found no one on board but the Egyptian slave, who told them that +Dada had sent her on shore to procure her some sandals; on her return +the girl had vanished. The woman at the same time declared that she had +seen Agne and her brother leave the garden and make for the high-road. + +So far as the Christian girl was concerned Herse declared there would +be no difficulty; but Dada, her own niece, had always clung to them +faithfully, and though Alexandria was full of sorcerers and Magians +they could hardly succeed in making away with a fullgrown, rational, and +healthy girl. In her inexperience she had, no doubt, gone at the bidding +of some perfidious wretch, and the Egyptian witch, the brown slave had, +of course, had a finger in the trick. She would accuse no one, but she +knew some people who would be only too glad if Dada and that baby-faced +young Christian got into trouble and disgrace together. She delivered +herself of this long story with tears of rage and regret, angrily +refusing to admit any qualifying parentheses from her husband, to whose +natural delicacy her rough and vociferous complaints were offensive in +the presence of the high-bred ladies of the house. Old Damia, however, +had listened attentively to her indignant torrent of words, and had only +shrugged her shoulders with a scornful smile at the implied accusation +of herself. + +Porphyrius, to whom the whole business was simply revolting, questioned +Herse closely and when the facts were clearly established, and it also +was plainly proved that Agne had escaped from the garden, he desired +the slave-woman to tell her story of all that had occurred during the +absence of Karnis, promising her half a dozen stripes from the cane on +the soles of her feet for every false word she might utter. The threat +was enough to raise a howl from the Egyptian; but this Porphyries soon +put a stop to, and Sachepris, with perfect veracity, told her tale of +all that had happened till Herse's return to the vessel. The beginning +of the narrative was of no special interest, but when she was pressed to +go faster to the point she went on to say: + +"And then--then my lord Constantine came to us on the ship, and the +pretty mistress laughed with him and asked him to take off his helmet, +because the pretty mistress wanted to see the cut, the great sword-cut +above his eyes, and my lord Constantine took it off." + +"It is a lie!" exclaimed Gorgo. + +"No, no; it is true. Sachepris does not want her feet flayed, mistress," +cried the slave. "Ask my lord Constantine himself." + +"Yes, I went on board," said Constantine. "Just as I was crossing the +ship-yard a young girl dropped her fan into the lake. I fished it out at +her request, and carried it back to her." + +"Yes, that was it," cried Sachepris. "And the pretty mistress laughed +with my lord Constantine--is it not true?--and she took his helmet out +of his hand and weighed it in hers..." + +"And you could stop on your way here to trifle with that child?" cried +Gorgo wrathfully. "Pah! what men will do!" + +These words portended rage and intense disgust to Constantine. "Gorgo!" +he cried with a reproachful accent, but she could not control her +indignation and went on more vehemently than ever: + +"You stopped--with that little hussy--on your way to me--stopped to +trifle and flirt with her! Shame! Yes, I say shame! Men are thought +lucky in being light-hearted, but, for my part, may the gods preserve me +from such luck! Trifling, whispering, caressing--a tender squeeze of the +hand--solemnly, passionately earnest!--And what next? Who dares warrant +that it will not all be repeated before the shadows are an ell long on +the shore!" + +She laughed, a sharp, bitter laugh; but it was a short one. She ceased +and turned pale, for her lover's face had undergone a change that +terrified her. The scar on his forehead was purple, and his voice was +strange, harsh and hoarse as he leaned forward to bring his face on a +level with hers, and said: + +"Even if you had seen me with your own eyes you ought not to have +believed them! And if you dare to say that you do believe it, I can say +Shame! as well as you. My life may be at stake but I say: Shame!" + +As he spoke he clutched the back of a chair with convulsive fury and +stood facing the girl like an avenging god of war, his eyes flashing to +meet hers. This was too much for old Damia; she could contain herself no +longer, and striking her crutch on the floor she broke out: + +"What next shall we hear! You threaten and storm at the daughter of +this house as if she were a soldier in your camp! Listen to me, my +fine gentleman, and mind what I say: In the house of a free Alexandrian +citizen no one has any right to give his orders--be he Caesar, Consul or +Comes; he has only to observe the laws of good manners." Then turning to +Gorgo she shook her head with pathetic emphasis; "This, my love, is the +consequence of too much familiar condescension. Come, an end of this! +Greeting and parting often go hand in hand." + +The prefect turned on his heel and went towards the steps leading to the +garden; but Gorgo flew after him and seized his hand, calling out to the +old woman: + +"No, no, grandmother; he is in the right, I am certain he is in the +right. Stop, Constantine--wait, stay, and forgive my folly! If you love +me, mother, say no more--he will explain it all presently." + +The soldier heaved a sigh of relief and assented in silence, while the +slave went on with her story: "And when my lord Constantine was gone, my +lord Demetrius came and he--but what should poor Sachepris say--ask my +lord Demetrius himself to tell you." + +"That is soon done," replied Demetrius, who had failed to understand +a great deal of all that had been going forward. "My brother Marcus +is over head and ears in love with the little puss--she is a pretty +creature--and to save that simple soul from mischief I thought I would +take the business on my own shoulders which are broader and stronger +than his. I went boldly to work and offered the girl--more shame for me, +I must say--the treasures of Midas; however, offering is one thing and +accepting is another, and the child snapped me up and sent me to the +right about--by Castor and Pollux! packed me off with my tail between my +legs! My only comfort was that Constantine had just quitted the pretty +little hussy. By the side of the god of war, thought I, a country Pan +makes but a poor figure; but this Ares was dismissed by Venus, and so, +if only to keep up my self-respect, I was forced to conclude that the +girl, with all her pertness, was of a better sort than we had supposed. +My presents, which would have tempted any other girl in Alexandria to +follow a cripple to Hades, she took as an insult; she positively cried +with indignation, and I really respect pretty little Dada!" + +"She is my very own sister's child," Herse threw in, honestly angered +by the cheap estimation in which every one seemed to hold her adopted +child. "My own sister's," she insisted, with an emphasis which seemed to +imply that she had a whole family of half-sisters. "Though we now earn +our bread as singers, we have seen better days; and in these hard +times Croesus to-day may be Irus to-morrow. As for us, Karnis did not +dissipate his money in riotous living. It was foolish perhaps but it +was splendid--I believe we should do the same again; he spent all his +inheritance in trying to reinstate Art. However, what is the use of +looking after money when it is gone! If you can win it, or keep it you +will be held of some account, but if you are poor the dogs will snap at +you!--The girl, Dada--we have taken as much care of her as if she were +our own, and divided our last mouthful with her before now. Karnis used +to tease her about training her voice--and now, when she could really do +something to satisfy even good judges--now, when she might have helped +us to earn a living-now..." + +The good woman broke down and burst into tears, while Karnis tried to +soothe and comfort her. + +"We shall get on without them somehow," he said. "'Nil desperandum' says +Horace the Roman. And after all they are not lizards that can hide in +the cracks of the walls; I know every corner of Alexandria and I will go +and hunt them up at once." + +"And I will help you, my friend," said Demetrius, "We will go to the +Hippodrome--the gentry you will meet with there are capital blood-hounds +after such game as the daughter of your 'own sister,' my good woman. As +to the black-haired Christian girl--I have seen her many a time on board +ship..." + +"Oh! she will take refuge with some fellow-Christians," remarked +Porphyrius. "Olympius told me all about her. I know plenty of the same +sort in the Church. They fling away life and happiness as if they were +apple-peelings to snatch at something which they believe to constitute +salvation. It is folly, madness! pure unmitigated madness! To have sung +in the temple of the she-devil Isis with Gorgo and the other worshippers +would have cost her her seat in Paradise. That, as I believe, is the +cause of her flight." + +"That and nothing else!" cried Karnis. "How vexed the noble Olympius +will be. Indeed, Apollo be my witness! I have not been so disturbed +about anything for many a day. Do you happen to recollect," he went on, +turning to Demetrius, "our conversation on board ship about a dirge for +Pytho? Well, we had transposed the lament of Isis into the Lydian mode, +and when this young lady's wonderful voice gave it out, in harmony with +Agne's and with Orpheus' flute, it was quite exquisite! My old heart +floated on wings as I listened! And only the day after to-morrow the +whole crowd of worshippers in the temple of Isis were to enjoy that +treat!--It would have roused them to unheard-of enthusiasm. Yesterday +the girl was in it, heart and soul; nay, only this morning she and the +noble Gorgo sang it through from beginning to end. One more rehearsal +to-morrow, and then the two voices would have given such a performance +as perhaps was never before heard within the temple walls." + +Constantine had listened to this rhapsody with growing agitation; he was +standing close to Gorgo, and while the rest of the party held anxious +consultation as to what could be done to follow up and capture the +fugitives, he asked Gorgo in a low voice, but with gloomy looks: + +"You intended to sing in the temple of Isis? Before the crowd, and with +a girl of this stamp?" + +"Yes," she said firmly. + +"And you knew yesterday that I had come home?" She nodded. + +"And yet, this morning even, while you were actually expecting me, you +could practise the hymn with such a creature?" + +"Agne is not such another as the girl who played tricks with your +helmet," replied Gorgo, and the black arches of her eyebrows knit into +something very like a scowl. "I told you just now that I was not yours +today, nor to-morrow. We still serve different gods." + +"Indeed we do!" he exclaimed, so vehemently that the others looked +round, and old Damia again began to fidget in her chair. + +Then with a strong effort he recovered himself and, after standing for +some minutes gazing in silence at the ground, he said in a low tone: + +"I have borne enough for to-day. Gorgo, pause, reflect. God preserve me +from despair!" + +He bowed, hastily explained that his duties called him away, and left +the spot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The amateurs of horse-racing who assembled in the Hippodrome could +afford no clue to Dada's hiding-place, because she had not, in fact, +run away with any gay young gallant. Within a few minutes of her sending +Sachepris to fetch her a pair of shoes, Medius had hailed her from the +shore; he wanted to speak with Karnis, and having come on an ass it was +not in vain that the incensed damsel entreated him to take her with him. +He had in fact only come to try to persuade Karnis and his wife to spare +Dada for a few performances, such as he had described, in the house of +Posidonius. His hopes of success had been but slender; and now the whole +thing had settled itself, and Dada's wish that her people should not, +for a while, know where to find her was most opportune for his plans. + +In the days when Karnis was the manager of the theatre at Tauromenium +Medius had led the chorus, and had received much kindness at the hands +of the girl's uncle. All this, he thought, he could now repay, for +certainly his old patron was poor enough, and he intended honestly to +share with his former benefactor the profits he expected to realize +with so fair a prodigy as Dada. No harm could come to the girl, +and gold--said he to himself--glitters as brightly and is just as +serviceable, even when it has been earned for us against our will. + +Medius, being a cautious man, made the girl bring her new dress away +with her, and the girdle and jewels belonging to it, and his neat hands +packed everything into the smallest compass. He filled up the basket +which he took for the purpose with sweetmeats, oranges and pomegranates +"for the children at home," and easily consoled Dada for the loss of her +shoes. He would lead the ass and she should ride. She covered her face +with a veil, and her little feet could be hidden under her dress. When +they reached his house he would at once have "a sweet little pair of +sandals" made for her by the shoemaker who worked for the wife of the +Comes and the daughters of the Alabarch--[The chief of the Jewish +colony in Alexandria.]--These preparations and the start only took a few +minutes; and their rapid search and broken conversation caused so much +absurd confusion that Dada had quite recovered her spirits and laughed +merrily as she tripped bare-foot across the strand. She sprang gaily +on to the little donkey and as they made their way along the road, the +basket containing her small wardrobe placed in front of her on the ass's +shoulders, she remarked that she should be mistaken for the young +wife of a shabby old husband, returning from market with a load of +provisions. + +She was delighted to think of what Herse's face would be when, on her +return home, she should discover that the prisoner could make her escape +even without shoes. + +"Let her have a good hunt for me!" she cried quite enchanted. "Why +should I always be supposed to be ready for folly and wickedness! But +one thing I warn you: If I am not comfortable and happy with you, and +if I do not like the parts you want me to fill, we part as quickly as +we have come together.--Why are you taking me through all these dirty +alleys? I want to ride through the main streets and see what is going +on." But Medius would not agree to this, for in the great arteries +of the town there were excitement and tumult, and they might think +themselves fortunate if they reached his house unmolested. + +He lived in a little square, between the Greek quarter and Rhacotis +where the Egyptians lived, and his house, which was exactly opposite the +church of St. Marcus, accommodated Medius himself, his wife, his widowed +daughter and her five children, besides being crammed from top to bottom +with all sorts of strange properties, standing or hanging in every +available space. Dada's curiosity had no rest, and by the time she had +spent a few hours in the house her host's pretty little grandchildren +were clinging to her with devoted affection. + +Agne had not been so fortunate as to find a refuge so easily. With no +escort, unveiled, and left entirely to her own guidance, leading the +little boy, she hurried forward, not knowing whither. All she thought +was to get away--far away from these men who were trying to imperil her +immortal soul. + +She knew that Karnis had actually bought her, and that she was, +therefore, his property and chattel. Even Christian doctrine taught +her that the slave must obey his master; but she could not feel like a +slave, and if indeed she were one her owner might destroy and kill her +body, but not her soul. The law, however, was on the side of Karnis, and +it allowed him to pursue her and cast her into prison. This idea +haunted her, and for fear of being caught she avoided all the chief +thoroughfares and kept close to the houses as she stole through the side +streets and alleys. Once, in Antioch, she had seen a runaway slave, who, +having succeeded in reaching a statue of the Emperor and laying his hand +on it, was by that act safe from his pursuers. There must surely be +such a statue somewhere in Alexandria--but where? A woman, of whom she +enquired, directed her down a wider street that would take her into the +Canopic Way. If she crossed that and went down the first turning to the +left she would reach a large open square in the Bruchium, and there, in +front of the Prefect's residence and by the side of the Bishop's house, +stood the new statue of Theodosius. + +This information, and the mention of the Bishop, gave a new course to +her proceedings. It was wrong to defy and desert her master, but to obey +him would be deadly sin. Which must she choose and which avoid? Only one +person could advise in such a case--only one could relieve her mind of +its difficulties and terrors: The Shepherd of souls in the city--the +Bishop himself. She too was a lamb of his flock; to him and to no one +else could she turn. + +This thought fell on her heart like a ray of light dispersing the clouds +of uncertainty and alarm. With a deep breath of relief she took the +child in her arms and told him--for he was whimpering to know where she +was taking him, and why he might not go back to Dada--that they were +going to see a good, kind man who would tell them the way home to their +father and mother. Papias, however, still wailed to go to Dada and not +to the man. + +Half insisting and half coaxing him with promises, she dragged him along +as far as the main street. This was full of an excited throng; soldiers +on foot and on horseback were doing what they could to keep the peace, +and the bustle amused the little boy's curiosity so that he soon forgot +his homesickness. When, at length, Ague found the street that led to +the Prefect's house she was fairly carried along by the surging, rushing +mob. To turn was quite impossible; the utmost she could do was to keep +her wits about her, and concentrate her strength so as not to be parted +from the child. Pushed, pulled, squeezed, scolded, and abused by other +women for her folly in bringing a child out into such a crowd, she at +last found herself in the great square. A hideous hubbub of coarse, loud +voices pierced her unaccustomed ears; she could have sunk on the earth +and cried; but she kept up her courage and collected all her energies, +for she saw in the distance a large gilt cross over a lofty doorway. +It was like a greeting and welcome home. Under its protection she would +certainly, find rest, consolation and safety. + +But how was she to reach it? The space before her was packed with men +as a quiver is packed with arrows; there was not room for a pin +between. The only chance of getting forward was by forcing her way, and +nine-tenths of the crowd were men--angry and storming men, whose wild +and strange demeanor filled her with terror and disgust. Most of +them were monks who had flocked in at the Bishop's appeal from the +monasteries of the desert, or from the Lauras and hermitages of Kolzum +by the Red Sea, or even from Tabenna in Upper Egypt, and whose hoarse +voices rent the air with vehement cries of: "Down with the idols! Down +with Serapis! Death to the heathen!" + +This army of the Saviour whose very essence was gentleness and whose +spirit was love, seemed indeed to have deserted from his standard of +light and grace to the blood-stained banner of murderous hatred. Their +matted locks and beards fringed savage faces with glowing eyes; their +haggard or paunchy nakedness was scarcely covered by undressed hides of +sheep and goats; their parched skins were scarred and striped by the use +of the scourges that hung at their girdles. One--a "crown bearer"--had +a face streaming with blood, from the crown of thorns which he had +vowed to wear day and night in memory and imitation of the Redeemer's +sufferings, and which on this great occasion he pressed hard into the +flesh with ostentatious martyrdom. One, who, in his monastery, had +earned the name of the "oil-jar," supported himself on his neighbors' +arms, for his emaciated legs could hardly carry his dropsical carcass +which, for the last ten years, he had fed exclusively on gourds, snails, +locusts and Nile water. Another was chained inseparably to a comrade, +and the couple dwelt together in a cave in the limestone hills near +Lycopolis. These two had vowed never to let each other sleep, that so +their time for repentance might be doubled, and their bliss in the next +world enhanced in proportion to their mortifications in this. + +One and all, they were allies in a great fight, and the same hopes, +ideas, and wishes fired them all. The Abominable Thing--which imperilled +hundreds of thousands of souls, which invited Satan to assert his +dominion in this world--should fall this day and be annihilated forever! +To them the whole heathen world was the "great whore;" and though the +gems she wore were beautiful to see and rejoiced the mind and heart of +fools, they must be snatched from her painted brow; they would scourge +her from off the face of the redeemed earth and destroy the seducer of +souls forever. "Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Down with the +heathen!" Their shouts thundered and bellowed all about Agne; but, just +as the uproar and crush were at the worst, a tall and majestic figure +appeared on a balcony above the cross and extended his hand in calm +and dignified benediction towards the seething mass of humanity. As he +raised it all present, including Ague, bowed and bent the knee. + +Agne felt, knew, that this stately man was the Bishop whom she sought, +but she did not point him out to her little brother, for his aspect was +that of some proud sovereign rather than of "the good, kind man" of whom +she had dreamed. She could never dare to force her way into the presence +of this great lord! How should the ruler over a million souls find time +or patience for her and her trivial griefs? + +However, there must be within his dwelling sundry presbyters and +deacons, and she would address herself to one of them, as soon as the +crowd had dispersed enough for her to make her way to the door beneath +the cross. Twenty times at least did she renew her efforts, but she made +very small progress; most of the monks, as she tried to squeeze past +them, roughly pushed her back; one, on whose arm she ventured to lay her +hand, begging him to make way for her, broke out into shrieks as though +a serpent had stung him, and when the crush brought her into contact +with the crown-bearer he thrust her away exclaiming: + +"Away woman! Do not touch me, spawn of Satan tool of the evil one! or I +will tread you under foot!" + +Retreat had been as impossible as progress, and long hours went by +which to her seemed like days; still she felt no fatigue, only alarm +and disgust, and, more than anything else, an ardent desire to reach the +Bishop's palace and take counsel of a priest. It was long past noon when +a diversion took place which served at any rate to interest and amuse +the crying child. + +On the platform above the doorway Cynegius came forth--Cynegius, the +Emperor's delegate; a stout man of middle height, with a shrewd round +head and a lawyer's face. State dignitaries, Consuls and Prefects had, +at this date, ceased to wear the costume that had marked the patricians +of old Rome--a woollen toga that fell in broad and dignified folds from +the shoulders; a long, close-fitting robe had taken its place, of purple +silk brocade with gold flowers. On the envoy's shoulder blazed the badge +of the highest officials, a cruciform ornament of a peculiarly thick and +costly tissue. He greeted the crowd with a condescending bow, a herald +blew three blasts on the tuba, and then Cynegius, with a wave of his +hand introduced his private secretary who stood by his side, and who at +once opened a roll he held and shouted at the top of a ringing voice: + +"Silence in Caesar's name!" + +The trumpet then sounded for the fourth time, and silence so complete +fell on the crowded square that the horses of the mounted guard in front +of the Prefect's house could be heard snorting and champing. + +"In Caesar's name," repeated the official, who had been selected for the +duty of reading the Imperial message. Cynegius himself bent his head, +again waved his hand towards his secretary, and then towards the statues +of the Emperor and Empress which, mounted on gilt standards, were +displayed to the populace on each side of the balcony; then the reading +began: + +"Theodosius Caesar greets the inhabitants of the great and noble city of +Alexandria, by Cynegius, his faithful ambassador and servant. He knows +that its true and honest citizens confess the Holy Faith in all piety +and steadfastness, as delivered to believers in the beginning by Peter, +the prince of the Apostles; he knows that they hold the true Christian +faith, and abide by the doctrine delivered by the Holy Ghost to the +Fathers of the Church in council at Nicaea. + +"Theodosius Caesar who, in all humility and pride, claims to be the +sword and shield, the champion and the rampart of the one true faith, +congratulates his subjects of the great and noble city of Alexandria +inasmuch as that most of them have turned from the devilish heresy of +Arius, and have confessed the true Nicaean creed; and he announces to +them, by his faithful and noble servant Cynegius, that this faith and no +other shall be recognized in Alexandria, as throughout his dominions. + +"In Egypt, as in all his lands and provinces, every doctrine opposed to +this precious creed shall be persecuted, and all who confess, preach or +diffuse any other doctrine shall be considered heretics and treated as +such." + +The secretary paused, for loud and repeated shouts of joy broke from the +multitude. Not a dissentient word was heard-indeed, the man who should +have dared to utter one would certainly not have escaped unpunished. It +was not till the herald had several times blown a warning blast that the +reader could proceed, as follows: + +"It has come to the ears of your Caesar, to the deep grieving of his +Christian soul, that the ancient idolatry, which so long smote mankind +with blindness and kept them wandering far from the gates of Paradise, +still, through the power of the devil, has some temples and altars in +your great and noble city. But because it is grievous to the Christian +and clement heart of the Emperor to avenge the persecutions and death +which so many holy martyrs have endured at the hands of the +bloodthirsty and cruel heathen on their posterity, or on the miscreant +and--misbelieving enemies of our holy faith--and because the Lord +hath said 'vengeance is mine'--Theodosius Caesar only decrees that the +temples of the heathen idols in this great and noble city of Alexandria +shall be closed, their images destroyed and their altars overthrown. +Whosoever shall defile himself with blood, or slay an innocent beast for +sacrifice, or enter a heathen temple, or perform any religious ceremony +therein, or worship any image of a god made by hands-nay, or pray in any +temple in the country or in the city, shall be at once required to pay a +fine of fifteen pounds of gold; and whosoever shall know of such a crime +being committed without giving information of it, shall be fined to the +same amount."--[Codex Theodosianus XVI, 10, 10.] + +The last words were spoken to the winds, for a shout of triumph, +louder and wilder than had ever before been heard even on this favorite +meeting-place of the populace, rent the very skies. Nor did it cease, +nor yield to any trumpet-blast, but rolled on in spreading waves down +every street and alley; it reached the ships in the port, and rang +through the halls of the rich and the hovels of the poor; it even +found a dull echo in the light-house at the point of Pharos, where the +watchman was trimming the lamp for the night; and in an incredibly +short time all Alexandria knew that Caesar had dealt a death-blow to the +worship of the heathen gods. + +The great and fateful rumor was heard, too, in the Museum and the +Serapeum; once more the youth who had grown up in the high schools of +the city, studying the wisdom of the heathen, gathered together; men +who had refined and purified their intellect at the spring of Greek +philosophy and fired their spirit with enthusiasm for all that was good +and lovely in the teaching of ancient Greece--these obeyed the summons +of their master, Olympius, or flew to arms under the leadership of +Orestes, the Governor, for the High-Priest himself had to see to the +defences of the Serapeum.--Olympius had weapons ready in abundance, and +the youths rapidly collected round the standards he had prepared, and +rushed into the square before the Prefect's house to drive away the +monks and to insist that Cynegius should return forthwith to Rome with +the Emperor's edict. + +Young and noble lads were they who marched forth to the struggle, +equipped like the Helleman soldiers of the palmy days of Athens; and as +they went they sang a battle-song of Callinus which some one--who, no +one could tell--had slightly altered for the occasion: + + "Come, rouse ye Greeks; what, sleeping still! + Is courage dead, is shame unknown? + Start up, rush forth with zealous will, + And smite the mocking Christians down!" + +Everything that opposed their progress was overthrown. Two maniples of +foot-soldiers who held the high-road across the Bruchium attempted +to turn them, but the advance of the inflamed young warriors was +irresistible and they reached the street of the Caesareum and the square +in front of the Prefect's residence. Here they paused to sing the last +lines of their battlesong: + + "Fate seeks the coward out at home, + He dies unwept, unknown to fame, + While by the hero's honored tomb + Our grandsons' grandsons shall proclaim: + 'In the great conflict's fiercest hour + He stood unmoved, our shield and tower.'" + +It was here, at the wide opening into the square, that the collision +took place: on one side the handsome youths, crowned with garlands, with +their noble Greek type of heads, thoughtful brows, perfumed curls, and +anointed limbs exercised in the gymnasium--on the other the sinister +fanatics in sheep-skin, ascetic visionaries grown grey in fasting, +scourging, and self-denial. + +The monks now prepared to meet the onset of the young enthusiasts who +were fighting for freedom of thought and enquiry, for Art and Beauty. +Each side was defending what it felt to be the highest Good, each was +equally in earnest as to its convictions, both fought for something +dearer and more precious than this earthly span of existence. But the +philosophers' party had swords; the monks' sole weapon was the scourge, +and they were accustomed to ply that, not on each other but on their own +rebellious flesh. A wild and disorderly struggle began with swingeing +blows on both sides; prayers and psalms mingling with the battle-song of +the heathen. Here a monk fell wounded, there one lay dead, there again +lay a fine and delicate-looking youth, felled by the heavy fist of a +recluse. A hermit wrestled hand to hand with a young philosopher who, +only yesterday had delivered his first lecture on the Neo-Platonism of +Plotinus to an interested audience. + +And in the midst of this mad struggle stood Agne with her little +brother, who clung closely to her skirts and was too terrified to shed +a tear or utter a cry. The girl was resolutely calm, but she was too +utterly terror-stricken even to pray. Fear, absorbing fear had stunned +her thoughts; it overmastered her like some acute physical pain which +began in her heart and penetrated every fibre of her frame. + +Even while the Imperial message was being read she had been too +frightened to take it all in; and now she simply shut her eyes tight and +hardly understood what was going on around her, till a new and different +noise sounded close in her ears: the clatter of hoofs, blare of trumpets +and shouts and screams. At last the tumult died away and, when she +ventured to open her eyes and look about her, the place all round her +was as clear as though it had been swept by invisible hands; here and +there lay a dead body and there still was a dense crowd in the street +leading to the Caesareum, but even that was dispersing and retreating +before the advance of a mounted force. + +She breathed freely once more, and released the child's head from the +skirt of her dress in which he had wrapped and buried it. The end of her +alarms was not yet come, however, for a troop of the young heathen came +flying across the square in wild retreat before a division of the heavy +cavalry, which had intervened to part the combatants. + +The fugitives came straight towards her; again she closed her eyes +tightly, expecting every instant to find herself under the horses' feet. +Then one of the runaways knocked down Papias, and she could bear no +more; her senses deserted her, her knees failed under her, she lost +consciousness, and with a dull groan she fell on the dusty pavement. +Close to her, as she lay, rushed the pursued and the pursuers--and at +last, how long after she knew not, when she recovered her senses she +felt as if she were floating in the air, and presently perceived that a +soldier had her in his arms and was carrying her like a child. + +Fresh alarms and fresh shame overwhelmed the poor girl; she tried to +free herself and found him quite ready to set her down. When she was +once more on her feet and felt that she could stand she glanced wildly +round her with sudden recollection, and then uttered a hoarse cry, for +her mouth and tongue were parched: + +"Christ Jesus! Where is my brother?" She pushed back her hair with a +desperate gesture, pressing her hands to her temples and peering all +round her with a look of fevered misery. + +She was still in the square and close to the door of the Prefect's +house; a man on horseback, in all probability her preserver's servant, +was following them, leading his master's horse. On the pavement lay +wounded men groaning with pain; the street of the Caesareum was lined +with a double row of footsoldiers of Papias no sign! + +Again she called him, and with such deep anguish in her voice, which was +harsh and shrill with terror, that the young officer looked at her with +extreme compassion. + +"Papias, Papias--my little brother! O God my Saviour!--where, where is +the child?" + +"We will have him sought for," said the soldier whose voice was gentle +and kind. "You are too young and pretty--what brought you into this +crowd and amid such an uproar?" + +She colored deeply and looking down answered low and hurriedly: "I was +going to see the Bishop." + +"You chose an evil hour," replied Constantine, for it was he who had +found her lying on the pavement and who had thought it only an act of +mercy not to trust so young and fair a girl to the protection of his +followers. "You may thank God that you have got off so cheaply. Now, I +must return to my men. You know where the Bishop lives? Yes, here. And +with regard to your little brother.... Stay; do you live in Alexandria?" +"No, my lord." + +"But you have some relation or friend whom you lodge with?" + +"No, my lord. I am... I have... I told you, I only want to see my lord +the Bishop." + +"Very strange! Well, take care of yourself. My time is not my own; but +by-and-bye, in a very short time, I will speak to the city watchmen; how +old is the boy?" + +"Nearly six." + +"And with black hair like yours?" + +"No, my lord--fair hair," and as she spoke the tears started to her +eyes. "He has light curly hair and a sweet, pretty little face." + +The prefect smiled and nodded. "And if they find him," he went on, +"Papias, you say, is his name where is he to be taken?" + +"I do not know, my lord, for--and yet! Oh! my head aches, I cannot +think--if only I knew.... If they find him he must come here--here to my +lord the Bishop." + +"To Theophilus?" said Constantine in surprise. "Yes, yes--to him," she +said hastily. "Or--stay--to the gate-keeper at the Bishop's palace." + +"Well, that is less aristocratic, but perhaps it is more to the +purpose," said the officer; and with a sign to his servant, he twisted +his hand in his horse's mane, leaped into the saddle, waved her a +farewell, and rejoined his men without paying any heed to her thanks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +There was much bustle and stir in the hall of the Episcopal palace. +Priests and monks were crowding in and out; widows, who, as deaconesses, +were entrusted with the care of the sick, were waiting, bandages in +hand, and discussing their work and cases, while acolytes lifted the +wounded on to the litters to carry them to the hospitals. + +The deacon Eusebius, whom we have met as the spiritual adviser of +Marcus, was superintending the good work, and he took particular care +that as much attention should be shown to the wounded heathen as to the +Christians. + +In front of the building veterans of the twenty-first legion paced up +and down in the place of the ordinary gate-keepers, who were sufficient +protection in times of peace. + +Agne looked in vain for any but soldiers, but at last she slipped in +unobserved among the men and women who were tending the wounded. She +was terribly thirsty, and seeing one of the widows mixing some wine and +water and offer it to one of the wounded men who pushed it away, she +took courage and begged the deaconess to give her a drink. The woman +handed her the cup at once, asking to whom she belonged that she was +here. + +"I want to see my lord, the Bishop," replied Agne, but then correcting +herself, she added hastily: "If I could see the Bishop's gate-keeper, I +might speak to him." + +"There he is," said the deaconess, pointing to an enormously tall man +standing in the darkest and remotest corner of the hall. The darkness +reminded her for the first time that it was now evening. Night was +drawing on, and then where could she take refuge and find shelter? She +shuddered and simply saying: "Thank you," she went to the man who had +been pointed out to her and begged that if her little brother should be +found and brought to him, he would take charge of him. + +"To be sure," said the big man good-naturedly. "He can be taken to the +orphanage of the 'Good Samaritan' if they bring him here, and you can +enquire for him there." + +She then made so bold as to ask if she could see a priest; but for this +she was directed to go to the church, as all those who were immediately +attached to the Bishop were to-day fully occupied, and had no time +for trifles. Agne, however, persisted in her request till the man lost +patience altogether and told her to be off at once; but at this instant +three ecclesiastics came in at the door by which her friend was on +guard, and Agne, collecting all her courage, went up to one of them, a +priest of advanced age, and besought him urgently: + +"Oh! reverend Father, I beg of you to hear me. I must speak to a priest, +and that man drives me away and says you none of you have time to attend +to me!" + +"Did he say that!" asked the priest, and he turned angrily on the +culprit saying: "The Church and her ministers never lack time to attend +to the needs of any faithful soul--I will follow you, brothers.--Now, my +child, what is it that you need?" + +"It lies so heavily on my soul," replied Agne, raising her eyes and +hands in humble supplication. "I love my Saviour, but I cannot always do +exactly as I should wish, and I do not know how I ought to act so as not +to fall into sin." + +"Come with me," said the priest, and leading the way across a small +garden, he took her into a wide open court and from thence in at a side +door and up a flight of stairs which led to the upper floor. As +she followed him her heart beat high with painful and yet hopeful +excitement. She kept her hands tightly clasped and tried to pray, but +she could hardly control her thoughts of her brother and of all she +wanted to say to the presbyter. + +They presently entered a lofty room where the window-shutters were +closed, and where a number of lamps, already lighted, were hanging over +the cushioned divans on which sat rows of busy scribes of all ages. + +"Here we are," said the priest kindly, as he seated himself in an +easy-chair at some little distance from the writers. "Now, tell me fully +what troubles you; but as briefly as you can, for I am sparing you these +minutes from important business." + +"My lord," she began, "my parents were freeborn, natives of Augusta +Trevirorum. My father was a collector of tribute in the Emperor's +service ..." + +"Very good--but has this anything to do with the matter?" + +"Yes, yes, it has. My father and mother were good Christians and in +the riots at Antioch--you remember, my lord, three years ago--they were +killed and I and my brother--Papias is his name..." + +"Yes, yes--go on." + +"We were sold. My master paid for us--I saw the money; but he did not +treat us as slaves. But now he wants me--he, Sir, is wholly devoted to +the heathen gods-and he wants me..." + +"To serve his idols?" + +"Yes, reverend Father, and so we ran away." + +"Quite right, my child." + +"But the scriptures say that the slave shall obey his master?" + +"True; but higher than the master in the flesh is the Father in Heaven, +and it is better a thousand times to sin against man than against God." + +This conversation had been carried on in an undertone on account of the +scribes occupied at the desks; but the priest raised his voice with his +last words, and he must have been heard in the adjoining room, for +a heavy curtain of plain cloth was opened, and an unusually deep and +powerful voice exclaimed: + +"Back again already, Irenaeus! That is well; I want to speak with you." + +"Immediately, my lord--I am at your service in a moment.--Now, my +child," he added, rising, "you know what your duty is. And if your +master looks you up and insists on your assisting at the sacrifice +or what ever it may be, you will find shelter with us. My name is +Irenaeus." + +Here he was again interrupted, for the curtain was lifted once more and +a man came out of the inner room whom no one could forget after having +once met him. It was the Bishop whom Agne had seen on the balcony; she +recognized him at once, and dropped on her knees to kiss the hem of +his robe in all humility. Theophilus accepted the homage as a matter of +course, hastily glancing at the child with his large keen eyes; Agne +not daring to raise hers, for there was certainly something strangely +impressive in his aspect. Then, with a wave of his long thin hand to +indicate Agne, he asked: + +"What does this girl want?" + +"A freeborn girl--parents Christian--comes from Antioch..." replied +Irenaeus. "Sold to a heathen master--commanded to serve idols--has run +away and now has doubts..." + +"You have told her to which Lord her service is due?" interrupted the +Bishop. Then, turning to Agne, he said: "And why did you come here +instead of going to the deacon of your own church?" + +"We have only been here a few days," replied the girl timidly, as +she ventured to raise her eyes to the handsome face of this princely +prelate, whose fine, pale features looked as if they had been carved out +of marble. + +"Then go to partake of the sacred Eucharist in the basilica of Mary," +replied the Bishop. "It is just now the hour--but no, stop. You are a +stranger here you say; you have run away from your master--and you are +young, very young and very.... It is dark too. Where are you intending +to sleep?" + +"I do not know," said Agne, and her eyes filled with tears. + +"That is what I call courage!" murmured Theophilus to the priest, and +then he added to Agne: "Well, thanks to the saints, we have asylums +for such as you, here in the city. That scribe will give you a document +which will secure your admission to one. So you come from Antioch? Then +there is the refuge of Seleucus of Antioch. To what parish--[Parochia in +Latin]--did your parents belong?" + +"To that of John the Baptist?" + +"Where Damascius was the preacher?" + +"Yes, holy Father. He was the shepherd of our souls." + +"What! Damascius the Arian?" cried the Bishop. He drew his fine and +stately figure up to its most commanding height and closed his thin lips +in august contempt, while Irenaeus, clasping his hands in horror, asked +her: + +"And you--do you, too, confess the heresy of Arius?" + +"My parents were Arians," replied Agne in much surprise. "They taught me +to worship the godlike Saviour." + +"Enough!" exclaimed the Bishop severely. "Come Irenaeus." + +He nodded to the priest to follow him, opened the curtain and went in +first with supreme dignity. + +Agne stood as if a thunderbolt had fallen, pale, trembling and +desperate. Then was she not a Christian? Was it a sin in a child to +accept the creed of her parents? And were those who, after charitably +extending a saving hand, had so promptly withdrawn it--were they +Christians in the full meaning of the All-merciful Redeemer? + +Agonizing doubts of everything that she had hitherto deemed sacred and +inviolable fell upon her soul; doubts of everything in heaven and earth, +and not merely of Christ and of his godlike, or divine goodness--for +what difference was there to her apprehension in the meaning of the +two words which set man to hunt and persecute man? In the distress and +hopeless dilemma in which she found herself, she shed no tears; she +simply stood rooted to the spot where she had heard the Bishop's +verdict. + +Presently her attention was roused by the shrill voice of an old writer +who called out to one of the younger assistants. + +"That girl disturbs me, Petubastis; show her out." Petubastis, a pretty +Egyptian lad, was more than glad of an interruption to his work which +somehow seemed endless to-day; he put aside his implements, stroked back +the black hair that had fallen over his face, and removing the reed-pen +from behind his ear, stuck in a sprig of dark blue larkspur. Then +he tripped to the door, opened it, looked at the girl with the cool +impudence of a connoisseur in beauty, bowed slightly, and pointing the +way out said with airified politeness: + +"Allow me!" + +Agne at once obeyed and with a drooping head left the room; but the +young Egyptian stole out after her, and as soon as the door was shut he +seized her hand and said in a whisper: "If you can wait half an hour at +the bottom of the stairs, pretty one, I will take you somewhere where +you will enjoy yourself." + +She had stopped to listen, and looked enquiringly into his face, for she +had no suspicion of his meaning; the young fellow, encouraged by this, +laid his hand on her shoulder and would have drawn her towards him but +that she, thrusting him from her as if he were some horrible animal, +flew down the steps as fast as her feet could carry her, and through the +courtyard back into the great entrance-hall. + +Here all was, by this time, dark and still; only a few lamps lighted +the pillared space and the flare of a torch fell upon the benches +placed there for the accommodation of priests, laymen and supplicants +generally. + +Utterly worn out--whether by terror or disappointment or by hunger and +fatigue she scarcely knew--she sank on a seat and buried her face in her +hands. + +During her absence the wounded had been conveyed to the sick-houses; +one only was left whom they had not been able to move. He was lying on +a mattress between two of the columns at some little distance from +Agne, and the light of a lamp, standing on a medicine-chest, fell on his +handsome but bloodless features. A deaconess was kneeling at his +head and gazed in silence in the face of the dead, while old Eusebius +crouched prostrate by his side, resting his cheek on the breast of the +man whose eyes were sealed in eternal sleep. Two sounds only broke the +profound silence of the deserted hall: an occasional faint sob from the +old man and the steady step of the soldiers on guard in front of the +Bishop's palace. The widow, kneeling with clasped hands, never took her +eyes off the face of the youth, nor moved for fear of disturbing the +deacon who, as she knew, was praying--praying for the salvation of the +heathen soul snatched away before it could repent. Many minutes passed +before the old man rose, dried his moist eyes, pressed his lips to the +cold hand of the dead and said sadly: + +"So young--so handsome--a masterpiece of the Creator's hand!... Only +to-day as gay as a lark, the pride and joy of his mother-and now! How +many hopes, how much triumph and happiness are extinct with that life. O +Lord my Saviour, Thou hast said that not only those who call Thee Lord, +Lord, shall find grace with our Father in Heaven, and that Thou hast +shed Thy blood for the salvation even of the heathen--save, redeem +this one! Thou that are the Good Shepherd, have mercy on this wandering +sheep!" + +Stirred to the bottom of his soul the old man threw up his arms and +gazed upwards rapt in ecstasy. But presently, with an effort, he said to +the deaconess: + +"You know, Sister, that this lad was the only son of Berenice, the +widow of Asclepiodorus, the rich shipowner. Poor, bereaved mother! Only +yesterday he was driving his guadriga out of the gate on the road to +Marea, and now--here! Go and tell her of this terrible occurrence. I +would go myself but that, as I am a priest, it might be painful to her +to learn of his tragic end from one of the very men against whom the +poor darkened youth had drawn the sword. So do you go, Sister, and treat +the poor soul very tenderly; and if you find it suitable show her very +gently that there is One who has balm for every wound, and that we--we +and all who believe in Him--lose what is dear to us only to find it +again. Tell her of hope: Hope is everything. They say that green is the +color of hope, for it is the spring-tide of the heart. There may be a +Spring for her yet." + +The deaconess rose, pressed a kiss on the eyes of the dead youth, +promised Eusebius that she would do her best and went away. He, too, +was about to leave when he heard a sound of low sobbing from one of the +benches. He stood still to listen, shook his old head, and muttering to +himself: + +"Great God--merciful and kind.... Thou alone canst know wherefore Thou +hast set the rose-garland of life with so many sharp thorns," he went up +to Agne who rose at his approach. + +"Why, my child," he said kindly, "what are you weeping for? Have you, +too, lost some dear one killed in the fray?" + +"No, no," she hastily replied with a gesture of terror at the thought. + +"What then do you want here at so late an hour?" + +"Nothing--nothing," she said. "That is all over! Good God, how long I +must have been sitting here--I--I know I must go; yes, I know it." + +"And are you alone-no one with you?" + +She shook her head sadly. The old man looked at her narrowly. + +"Then I will take you safe home," he said. "You see I am an old man and +a priest. Where do you live, my child?" + +"I? I..." stammered Agne, and a torrent of scalding tears fell down her +cheeks. "My God! my God! where, where am I to go?" + +"You have no home, no one belonging to you?" asked the old man. "Come, +child, pluck up your courage and tell me truly what it is that troubles +you; perhaps I may be able to help you." + +"You?" she said with bitter melancholy. "Are not you one of the Bishop's +priests?" + +"I am a deacon, and Theophilus is the head of my church; but for that +very reason..." + +"No," said Agne sharply, "I will deceive no one. My parents were Arians, +and as my beliefs are the same as theirs the Bishop has driven me away +as an outcast, finally and without pity." + +"Indeed," said Eusebius. "Did the Bishop do that? Well, as the head of a +large community of Christians he, of course, is bound to look at things +in their widest aspect; small things, small people can be nothing to +him. I, on the contrary, am myself but a small personage, and I care +for small things. You know, child, that the Lord has said 'that in +his Father's kingdom there are many mansions,' and that in which Arius +dwells is not mine; but it is in the Father's kingdom nevertheless. It +cannot be so much amiss after all that you should cling to the creed of +your parents. What is your name?" + +"Agne." + +"Agne, or the lamb. A pretty, good name! It is a name I love, as I, too, +am a shepherd, though but a very humble one, so trust yourself to me, +little lamb. Tell me, why are you crying? And whom do you seek here? And +how is it that you do not know where to find a home?" + +Eusebius spoke with such homely kindness, and his voice was so full of +fatherly sympathy that hope revived in Agne's breast, and she told him +with frank confidence all he wanted to know. + +The old man listened with many a "Hum" and "Ha"--then he bid her +accompany him to his own house, where his wife would find a corner that +she might fill. + +She gladly agreed, and thanked him eagerly when he also told the +doorkeeper to bring Papias after them if he should be found. Relieved +of the worst of her griefs, Agne followed her new friend through the +streets and lanes, till they paused at the gate of a small garden and he +said: "Here we are. What we have we give gladly, but it is little, +very little. Indeed, who can bear to live in luxury when so many are +perishing in want and misery?" + +As they went across the plot, between the little flower-beds, the deacon +pointed to a tree and said with some pride: "Last year that tree bore +me three hundred and seven peaches, and it is still healthy and +productive." + +A hospitable light twinkled in the little house at the end of the +garden, and as they entered a queer-looking dog came out to meet his +master, barking his welcome. He jumped with considerable agility on his +fore-legs, but his hind legs were paralyzed and his body sloped away and +stuck up in the air as though it were attached to an invisible board. + +"This is my good friend Lazarus," said the old man cheerfully. "I +found the poor beggar in the road one day, and as he was one of God's +creatures, although he is a cripple, I comfort myself with the verse +from the Psalms: 'The Lord has no joy in the strength of a horse, +neither taketh he pleasure in any man's legs.'" + +He was so evidently content and merry that Agne could not help laughing +too, and when, in a few minutes, the deacon's wife gave her a warm and +motherly reception she would have been happier than she had been for a +long time past, if only her little brother had not been a weight on her +mind and if she had not longed so sadly to have him safe by her side. +But even that anxiety presently found relief, for she was so weary and +exhausted that, after eating a few mouthfuls, she was thankful to lie +down in the clean bed that Elizabeth had prepared for her, and she +instantly fell asleep. She was in the old deacon's bed, and he made +ready to pass the night on the couch in his little sitting-room. + +As soon as the old couple were alone Eusebius told his wife how and +where he had met the girl and ended by saying: + +"It is a puzzling question as to these Arians and other Christian +heretics. I cannot be hard on them so long as they cling faithfully +to the One Lord who is necessary to all. If we are in the right--and +I firmly believe that we are--and the Son is of one substance of the +Father, he is without spot or blemish; and what can be more divine than +to overlook the error of another if it concerns ourselves, or what more +meanly human than to take such an error amiss and indulge in a cruel +or sanguinary revenge on the erring soul? Do not misunderstand me. I, +unfortunately--or rather, I say, thank God!--I have done nothing great +here on earth, and have never risen to be anything more than a deacon. +But if a boy comes up to me and mistakes me for an acolyte or something +of that kind, is that a reason why I should flout or punish him? Not a +bit of it. + +"And to my belief our Saviour is too purely divine to hate those who +regard Him as only 'God-like.' He is Love. And when Arius goes to Heaven +and sees Jesus Christ in all His divine glory, and falls down before Him +in an ecstasy of joy and repentance, the worst the Lord will do to him +will be to take him by the ear and say: 'Thou fool! Now thou seest what +I really am; but thine errors be forgiven!'" + +Elizabeth nodded assent. "Amen," she said, "so be it.--And so, no doubt, +it will be. Did the Lord cast out the woman taken in adultery? Did he +not give us the parable of the Samaritan?--Poor little girl! We have +often wished for a daughter and now we have found one; a pretty creature +she is too. God grants us all our wishes! But you must be tired, old +man; go to rest now." + +"Directly, directly," said Eusebius; but then, striking his forehead +with his hand, he went on in much annoyance: "And with all this tumult +and worry I had quite forgotten the most important thing of all: Marcus! +He is like a possessed creature, and if I do not make a successful +appeal to his conscience before he sleeps this night mischief will come +of it. Yes, I am very tired; but duty before rest. It is of no use to +contradict me, Mother. Get me my cloak; I must go to the lad." And a few +minutes later the old man was making his way to the house in the Canopic +street. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Dread and anxiety had taken possession of the merchant's household +after Constantine had left them. Messengers came hurrying in, one after +another, to request the presence of Olympius. A heathen secretary of +Evagrius the Governor, had revealed what was astir, and the philosopher +had at once prepared to return to the Serapeum. Porphyrius himself +ordered his closed harmamaxa to be brought out, and undertook to fetch +weapons and standards to the temple from a storehouse where they were +laid by. This building stood on a plot of ground belonging to him in +Rhacotis, behind a timber-yard which was accessible from the streets +in front and behind, but sheltered from the public gaze by sheds and +wood-stacks. + +The old aqueduct, which supplied the courts of sacrifice and the +Subterranean crypts of the temple where the mysteries of Serapis were +celebrated, passed close by the back-wall of this warehouse. Since +the destruction of the watercourse, under the Emperor Julian, the +underground conduit had been dry and empty, and a man by slightly +stooping could readily pass through it unseen into the Serapeum. This +mysterious passage had lately been secretly cleared out, and it was now +to be used for the transport of the arms to the temple precincts. + +Damia had been present at the brief but vehement interview between +her son and Olympius, and had thrown in a word now and again: "It is +serious, very serious!" or, "Fight it out--no quarter!" + +The parting was evidently a very painful one to Olympius; when the +merchant held out both his hands the older man clasped them in his and +held them to his breast, saying: "Thanks, my friend; thanks for all +you have done. We have lived--and if now we perish it is for the future +happiness of our grandchildren. What would life be to you and me if it +were marred by scourgings and questionings?--The omens read ill, and if +I am not completely deceived we are at the beginning of the end. What +lies beyond!... we as philosophers must meet it calmly. The supreme Mind +that governs us has planned the universe so well, that it is not likely +that those things of which we now have no knowledge should not also be +ordered for the best. The pinions of my soul beat indeed more freely +and lightly as I foresee the moment when it shall be released from the +burden of this flesh!" + +The High-Priest raised his arms as though indeed he were prepared to +soar and uttered a fervent and inspired prayer in which he rehearsed to +the gods all that he and his had done in their honor and vowed to offer +them fresh sacrifices. His expressions were so lofty, and his flow +of language so beautiful and free, that Porphyrius did not dare to +interrupt him, though this long delay on the part of the leader of +the cause made him intolerably anxious. When the old man--who was as +emotional as a boy--ceased speaking, his white beard was wet with +tears, and seeing that even Damia's and Gorgo's eyes were moist, he was +preparing to address them again; but Porphyrius interposed. He gave him +time only to press his lips to Datnia's hand and to bid Gorgo farewell. + +"You were born into stirring times," he said to her, "but under a good +sign. Two worlds are in collision; which shall survive?--For you, my +darling, I have but one wish: May you be happy!" + +He left the room and the merchant paced up and down lost in gloomy +thoughts. Presently, as he caught his mother's eye fixed uneasily upon +him, he murmured, less to her than to himself: "If he can think thus of +what the end will be, who can still dare to hope?" Damia drew herself up +in her chair. + +"I," she exclaimed passionately, "I--I dare, and I do hope and trust in +the future. Is everything to perish which our forefathers planned and +founded? Is this dismal superstition to overwhelm and bury the world +and all that is bright and beautiful, as the lava stream rolled over the +cities of Vesuvius? No, a thousand times no! Our retrograde and cowardly +generation, which has lost all heart to enjoy life in sheer dread of +future annihilation, may perhaps be doomed by the gods, as was that of +Deucalion's day. Well--if so, what must be must! But such a world as +they dream of never can, never will last. Let them succeed in their +monstrous scheme! if the Temple of temples, the House of Serapis, were +to be in ashes and the image of the mighty god to be dashed to pieces, +what then.... I say what then? Then indeed everything will be at an +end--we, everybody; but they too, they, too, will perish." + +She clenched her fist with hatred and revenge and went on: "I know what +I know--there are legible and infallible signs, and it is given to me +to interpret them, and I tell you: It is true, unerringly true, as every +Alexandrian child has learnt from its nurse: When Serapis falls the +earth will collapse like a dry puff-ball under a horse's hoof. A hundred +oracles have announced it, it is written in the prophecies of the +heavenly bodies, and in the scroll of Fate. Let them be! Let it come! +The end is sweet to those who, in the hour of death, can see the enemy +thrust the sword into his own breast." + +The old woman sank back panting and gasping for breath, but Gorgo +hastened to support her in her arms and she soon recovered. Hardly had +she opened her eyes again than, seeing her son still in the room, she +went on angrily: + +"You--here still? Do you think there is any time to spare? They will be +waiting, waiting for you! You have the key and they need weapons." + +"I know what I am about," replied Porphyrius calmly. "All in good time. +I shall be on the spot long before the youngsters have assembled. Cyrus +will bring me the pass-words and signs; I shall send off the messengers, +and then I shall still be in time for action." + +"Messengers! To whom?" + +"To Barkas. He is at the head of more than a thousand Libyan peasants +and slaves. I shall send one, too, to Pachomius to bid him win us over +adherents among the Biamite fishermen and the population of the eastern +Delta." + +"Right, right--I know. Twenty talents--Pachomius is poor--twenty talents +shall be his, out of my private coffer, if only they are here in time." + +"I would give ten, thirty times as much if they were only here now!" +cried the merchant, giving way for the first time to the expression +of his real feelings. "When I began life my father taught me the new +superstitions. Its chains still hang about me; but in this fateful hour +I feel more strongly than ever, and I mean to show, that I am faithful +to the old gods. We will not be wanting; but alas! there is no escape +for us now if the Imperial party are staunch. If they fall upon us +before Barkas can join us, all is lost; if, on the contrary, Barkas +comes at once and in time, there is still some hope; all may yet be +well. What can a party of monks do? And as yet only our Constantine's +heavy cavalry have come to the assistance of the two legions of the +garrison." + +"Our Constantine!" shrieked Damia. "Whose? I ask you, whose? We have +nothing to do with that miserable Christian!" + +But Gorgo turned upon her at once: + +"Indeed, grandmother," she exclaimed, quivering with rage, "but we have! +He is a soldier and must do his duty; but he is fondly attached to us." + +"Us, us?" retorted the old woman with a laugh. "Has he sworn love to +you, let me ask? Has he? and you-do you believe him, simple fool? I know +him, I know him! Why, for a scrap of bread and a drop of wine from the +hand of his priest he would see you and all of us plunged into misery! +But see, here are the messengers." + +Porphyrius gave his instructions to the young men who now entered the +hall, hurried them off, clasped Gorgo in a tender embrace and then bent +over his mother to kiss her--a thing he had not done for many a day. +Old Damia laid aside her stick, and taking her son's face in both her +withered hands, muttered a few words which were half a fond appeal and +half a magical formula, and then the women were alone. For a long while +both were silent. The old woman sat sunk in her arm-chair while Gorgo +stood with her back against the pedestal of a bust of Plato, gazing +meditatively at the ground. At last it was Damia who spoke, asking to be +carried into the women's rooms. + +Gorgo, however, stopped her with a gesture, went close to her and said: +"No, wait a minute, mother; first you must hear what I have to say." + +"What you have to say?" asked her grandmother, shrugging her shoulders. + +"Yes. I have never deceived you; but one thing I have hitherto concealed +from you because I was never till this morning sure of it myself--now I +am. Now I know that I love him." + +"The Christian?" said the old woman, pushing aside a shade that screened +her eyes. + +"Yes, Constantine; I will not hear you abuse him." Damia laughed +sharply, and said in a tone of supreme scorn: + +"You will not? Then you had better stop your ears, my dear, for as long +as my tongue can wag...." + +"Hush, grandmother, say no more," said the girl resolutely. "Do not +provoke me with more than I can bear. Eros has pierced me later than he +does most girls and has done it but once, but how deeply you can never +know. If you speak ill of him you only aggravate the wound and you would +not be so cruel! Do not--I entreat you; drop the subject or else..." + +"Or else?" + +"Or else I must die, mother--and you know you love me." + +Her tone was soft but firm; her words referred to the future, but that +future was as clear to Gorgo's view as if it were past. Damia gave a +hasty, sidelong glance at her grandchild, and a cold chill ran through +her; the--girl stood and spoke with an air of inspiration--she was full +of the divinity as Damia thought, and the old woman herself felt +as though she were in a temple and in the immediate presence of the +Immortals. + +Gorgo waited for a reply, but in vain; and as her grandmother remained +silent she went back to her place by the pedestal. At last Damia raised +her wrinkled face, looked straight in the girl's eyes and asked: + +"And what is to be the end of it?" + +"Aye--what?" said Gorgo gloomily and she shook her head. "I ask myself +and can find no answer, for his image is ever present to me and yet +walls and mountains stand between us. That face, that image--I might +perhaps force myself to shatter it; but nothing shall ever induce me to +let it be defiled or disgraced! Nothing!" + +The old woman sank into brooding thought once more; mechanically she +repeated Gorgo's last word, and at intervals that gradually became +longer she murmured, at last scarcely audibly: "Nothing--nothing!" + +She had lost all sense of time and of her immediate surroundings, and +long-forgotten sorrows crowded on her memory: The dreadful day when +a young freedman--a gifted astronomer and philosopher who had been +appointed her tutor, and whom she had loved with all the passion of a +vehement nature--had been kicked out of her father's house by slaves, +for daring to aspire to her hand. She had given him up--she had been +forced to do so; and after she was the wife of another and he had risen +to fame, she had never given him any token that she had not forgotten +him. Two thirds of a century lay between that happy and terrible time, +and the present. He had been dead many a long year, and still she +remembered him, and was thinking of him even now. A singular effort of +fancy showed her herself, as she had then been, and Gorgo--whom she +saw not with her bodily eyes, though the girl was standing in front +of her--two young creatures side by side. The two were but one in her +vision; the same anguish that embittered one life now threatened the +other. But after all she, Damia, had dragged this grief after her +through the weary decades, like the iron ball at the end of a chain +which keeps the galley-slave to his place at the oar, and from which he +can no more escape than from a ponderous and ever-present shadow; and +Gorgo's sorrow could not at any rate be for long, since the end of all +things was at hand--it was coming slowly but with inevitable certainty, +nearer and nearer every hour. + +When had a troop of enthusiastic students and hastily-collected +peasant-soldiers ever been able to snake an effectual stand against the +hosts of Rome? Damia, who only a few minutes since had spoken with +such determined encouragement to her son, had terrible visions of the +Imperial legions putting Olympius to rout, with the Libyans under +Barkas and the Biamite rabble under Pachomius; storming the Serapeum +and reducing it to ruin: Firebrands flying through its sacred halls, +the roof giving way, the vaults falling in; the sublime image of the +god--the magnificent work of Bryaxis--battered by a hail of stones, and +sinking to mingle with the reeking dust. Then a cry rose up from all +nature, as though every star in heaven, every wave of ocean, every leaf +of the forest, every blade in the meadow, every rock on the shore and +every grain of sand in the measureless desert had found a voice; and +this universal wail of "Woe, woe!" was drowned by rolling thunder such +as the ear of man had never heard, and no mortal creature could hear +and live. The heavens opened, and out of the black gulf of death-bearing +clouds poured streams of fire; consuming flames rose to meet it from +the riven womb of earth, rushing up to lick the sky. What had been air +turned to fire and ashes, the silver and gold stars fell crashing from +the firmament, and the heavens themselves bowed and collapsed, burying +the ruined earth. Ashes, ashes, fine grey dusty ashes pervaded space, +till presently a hurricane rose and swept away the chaos of gloom, and +vast nothingness yawned before her: a bottomless abyss--an insatiable +throat, swallowing down with greedy thirst all that was left; till where +the world had been, with gods and men and all their works, there was +only nothingness; hideous, inscrutable and unfathomable. And in it, +above it, around it--for what are the dimensions of nothingness?--there +reigned the incomprehensible Unity of the Primal One, in calm and +pitiless self-concentration, beyond--the Real, nay even beyond the +Conceivable--for conception implies plurality--the Supreme One of the +Neo-Platonists to whose school she belonged. + +The old woman's blood ran cold and hot as she pictured the scene; but +she believed in it, and chose to believe in it; "Nothing, nothing..." +which she had begun by muttering, insensibly changed to "Nothingness, +nothingness!" and at last she spoke it aloud. + +Gorgo stood spellbound as she gazed at her grandmother. What had come +over her? What was the meaning of this glaring eye, this gasping breath, +this awful expression in her face, this convulsive action of her hands? +Was she mad? And what did she mean by "Nothingness, nothingness..." +repeated in a sort of hollow cry? + +Terrified beyond bearing she laid her hand on Dalnia's shoulder, saying: +"Mother, mother! wake up! What do you mean by saying 'nothingness, +nothingness' in that dreadful way?" + +Dainia collected her scattered wits, shivered with cold and then said, +dully at first, but with a growing cheerfulness that made Gorgo's blood +run cold: "Did I say 'nothingness'? Did I speak of the great void, my +child? You are quick of hearing. Nothingness--well, you have learnt to +think; are you capable of defining the meaning of the word--a monster +that has neither head nor tail, neither front nor back--can you, I say, +define the idea of nothingness?" + +"What do you mean, mother?" said Gorgo with growing alarm. + +"No, she does not know, she does not understand," muttered the old woman +with a dreary smile. "And yet Melampus told me, only yesterday, that you +understood his lesson on conic sections better than many men. Aye, aye, +child; I, too, learnt mathematics once, and I still go through various +calculations every night in my observatory; but to this day I find it +difficult to conceive of a mathematical point. It is nothing and yet +it is something. But the great final nothingness!--And that even is +nonsense, for it can be neither great nor small, and come neither sooner +nor later. Is it not so, my sweet? Think of nothing--who cannot do that; +but it is very hard to imagine nothingness. We can neither of us achieve +that. Not even the One has a place in it. But what is the use of racking +our brains? Only wait till to-morrow or the day after; something +will happen then which will reduce our own precious persons and this +beautiful world to that nothingness which to-day is inconceivable. It +is coming; I can hear from afar the brazen tramp of the airy +and incorporeal monster. A queer sort of giant--smaller than the +mathematical point of which we were speaking, and yet vast beyond all +measurement. Aye, aye; our intelligence, polyp-like, has long arms and +can apprehend vast size and wide extent; but it can no more conceive of +nothingness than it can of infinite space or time. + +"I was dreaming that this monstrous Nought had come to his kingdom and +was opening a yawning mouth and toothless jaws to swallow its all +down into the throat that it has not got--you, and me, and your young +officer, with this splendid, recreant city and the sky and the earth. +Wait, only wait! The glorious image of Serapis still stands radiant, but +the cross casts an ominous shadow that has already darkened the light +over half the earth! Our gods are an abomination to Caesar, and Cynegius +only carries out his wishes..." + +Here Damia was interrupted by the steward, who rushed breathless into +the room, exclaiming: + +"Lost! All is lost! An edict of Theodosius commands that every temple +of the gods shall be closed, and the heavy cavalry have dispersed our +force." + +"Ah ha!" croaked the old woman in shrill accents. "You see, you see! +There it is: the beginning of the end! Yes--your cavalry are a powerful +force. They are digging a grave--wide and deep, with room in it +for many: for you, for me, and for themselves, too, and for their +Prefect.--Call Argus, man, and carry me into the Gynaeconitis--[The +women's apartment]--and there tell us what has happened." In the women's +room the steward told all he knew, and a sad tale it was; one thing, +however, gave him some comfort: Olympius was at the Serapeunt and had +begun to fortify the temple, and garrison it with a strong force of +adherents. + +Damia had definitively given up all hope, and hardly heeded this part +of his story, while on Gorgo's mind it had a startling effect. She +loved Constantine with all the fervor of a first, and only, and +long-suppressed passion; she had repented long since of her little fit +of suspicion, and it would have cost her no perceptible effort to +humble her pride, to fly to him and pray for forgiveness. But she could +not--dared not--now, when everything was at stake, renounce her fidelity +to the gods for whose sake she had let him leave her in anger, and to +whom she must cling, cost what it might; that would be a base desertion. +If Olympius were to triumph in the struggle she might go to her lover +and say: "Do you remain a Christian, and leave me the creed of my +childhood, or else open my heart to yours." But, as matters now stood, +her first duty was to quell her passion and retrain faithful to the end, +even though the cause were lost. She was Greek to the backbone; she knew +it and felt it, and yet her eye had sparkled with pride as she heard +the steward's tale, and she seemed to see Constantine at the head of his +horsemen, rushing upon the heathen and driving them to the four winds +like a flock of sheep. Her heart beat high for the foe rather than +for her hapless friends--these were but bruised reeds--those were the +incarnation of victorious strength. + +These divided feelings worried and vexed her; but her grandmother +had suggested a way of reconciling them. Where he commanded victory +followed, and if the Christians should succeed in destroying the image +of Serapis the joints of the world would crack and the earth would +crumble away. She herself was familiar with the traditions and the +oracles which with one consent foretold this doom; she had learnt them +as an infant from her nurse, from the slave-women at the loom, from +learned men and astute philosophers--and to her the horrible prophecy +meant a solution of every contradiction and the bitter-sweet hope of +perishing with the man she loved. + +As it grew dark another person appeared: the Moschosphragist--[The +examiner of sacrificed animals]--from the temple of Serapis, who, every +day, examined the entrails of a slaughtered beast for Damia; to-day the +augury had been so bad that he was almost afraid of revealing it. But +the old woman, sure of it beforehand, took his soothsaying quite calmly, +and only desired to be carried up to her observatory that she might +watch the risings of the stars. + +Gorgo remained alone below. From the adjoining workrooms came the +monotonous rattle of the loom at which, as usual, a number of slaves +were working. + +Suddenly the clatter ceased. Damia had sent a slave-girl down to say +that they might leave off work and rest till next day if they chose. She +had ordered that wine should be distributed to them in the great hall, +as freely as at the great festival of Dionysus. + +All was silent in the Gynaeconitis. The garlands of flowers, which Gorgo +herself had helped some damsels of her acquaintance to twine for +the temple of Isis, lay in a heap-the steward had told her that the +venerable sanctuary was to be closed and surrounded by soldiers. This +then put an end to the festival; and she could have been heartily glad, +for it relieved her of the necessity of defying Constantine; still, it +was with tender melancholy that she thought of the gentle goddess in +whose sanctuary she had so often found comfort and support. She could +remember, as a tiny child, gathering the first flowers in her little +garden, and sticking them in the ground near the tank from which water +was fetched for libations in the temple; with the pocketmoney given +her by her elders, she had bought perfumes to pour on the altars of the +divinity; and often when her heart was heavy she had found relief in +prayer before the marble statue of the goddess. How splendid had the +festivals of Isis been, how gladly and rapturously had she sung in +their honor! Almost everything that had lent poetry and dignity to her +childhood had been bound up with Isis and her sanctuary--and now it was +closed and the image of the divine mother was perhaps lying in fragments +in the dirt! + +Gorgo knew all the lofty ideals which lay at the foundation of the +worship of this goddess; but it was not to them that she had turned for +help, but to the image in whose mystical strength she trusted. And +what had already been done to Isis and her temple might soon be done to +Serapis and to his house. + +She could not bear the thought, for she had been accustomed to regard +the Serapeum as the very heart of the universe--the centre and fulcrum +on which the balance of the earth depended; to her, Serapis himself was +inseparable from his temple and its atmosphere of magical and mystical +power. Every prophecy, every Sibylline text, every oracle must be +false if the overthrow of that image could remain unpunished--if the +destruction of the universe failed to follow, as surely as a flood +ensues from a breach in a dyke. How indeed could it be otherwise, +according to the explanation which her teacher had given her of the +Neo-Platonic conception of the nature of the god? + +It was not Serapis but the great and unapproachable One--supreme above +comprehension and sublime beyond conception, for whose majesty every +name was too mean, the fount and crown of Good and Beauty, in whole +all that exists ever has been and ever shall be. He it was who, like a +brimful vessel, overflowed with the quintessence of what we call divine; +and from this effluence emanated the divine Mind, the pure intelligence +which is to the One what light is to the sun. This Mind with its +vitality--a life not of time but of eternity--could stir or remain +passive as it listed; it included a Plurality, while the One was Unity, +and forever indivisible. The concept of each living creature proceeded +from the second: The eternal Mind; and this vivifying and energizing +intelligence comprehended the prototypes of every living being, hence, +also, of the immortal gods--not themselves but their idea or image. And +just as the eternal Mind proceeded from the One, so, in the third place, +did the Soul of the universe proceed from the second; that Soul whose +twofold nature on one side touched the supreme Mind, and, on the other, +the baser world of matter. This was the immortal Aphrodite, cradled in +bliss in the pure radiance of the ideal world and yet unable to free +herself from the gross clay of matter fouled by sensuality and the +vehicle of sin. + +The head of Serapis was the eternal Mind; in his broad breast slept +the Soul of the Universe, and the prototypes of all created things; the +world of matter was the footstool under his feet. All the subordinate +forces obeyed him, the mighty first Cause, whose head towered up to +the realm of the incomprehensible and inconceivable One. He was the sum +total of the universe, the epitome of things created; and at the +same time he was the power which gave them life and intelligence and +preserved them from perishing by perpetual procreation. It was his might +that kept the multiform structure of the material and psychical world +in perennial harmony. All that lived--Nature and its Soul as much as Man +and his Soul--were inseparably dependent on him. If he--if Serapis were +to fall, the order of the universe must be destroyed; and with him: The +Synthesis of the Universe--the Universe itself must cease to exist. + +But what would survive would not be the nothingness--the void of which +her grandmother had spoken; it would be the One--the cold, ineffable, +incomprehensible One! This world would perish with Serapis; but perhaps +it might please that One to call another world into being out of his +overflowing essence, peopled by other and different beings. + +Gorgo was startled out of these meditations by a wild tumult which came +up from the slaves' hall some distance off and reached her ears in the +women's sitting-room. Could her grandmother have opened the wine stores +all too freely; were the miserable wretches already drunk? + +No, the noise was not that of a troop of slaves who have forgotten +themselves, and given the rein to their wild revelry under the influence +of Dionysus! She listened and could distinctly hear lamentable howls and +wild cries of grief. Something frightful must have happened! Had some +evil befallen her father? Greatly alarmed she flew across the courtyard +to the slaves' quarters and found the whole establishment, black and +white alike, in a state of frenzy. The women were rushing about with +their hair unbound over their faces, beating their breasts and wailing, +the men squatted in silence with their wine-cups before them untouched, +softly sobbing and whining. + +What had come upon them--what blow had fallen on the house? + +Gorgo called her old nurse and learnt from her that the Moschosphragist +had just told them that the troops had been placed all round the +Serapeum and that the Emperor had commanded the Prefect of the East to +lay violent hands on the temple of the King of gods. Today or to-morrow +the crime was to be perpetrated. They had been warned to pray and repent +of their sins, for at the moment when the holiest sanctuary on earth +should fall the whole world would crumble into nothingness. The entrails +of the beast sacrificed by Damia had been black as though scorched, +and a terrific groan had been heard from the god himself in the great +shrine; the pillars of the great hypostyle had trembled and the three +heads of Cerberus, lying at the feet of Serapis; had opened their jaws. + +Gorgo listened in silence to the old woman's story; and all she said in +reply was: "Let them wail." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The day had flown swiftly for Dada under the roof of Medius; there were +costumes and scenery in wonderful variety for her to look over; the +children were bright and friendly, and she had enjoyed playing with +them, for all her little tricks and rhymes, which Papias was familiar +with by this time, were to them new and delightful. It amused her, +too, to see what the domestic difficulties were of which the singer had +described himself as being a victim. + +Medius was one of those men who buy everything that strikes them as +cheap--for instance, that very morning, at Kibotus he had stood to watch +a fish auction and had bought a whole tub-full of pickled fish for "a +mere trifle;" but when, presently, the cargo was delivered, his wife +flew into a great rage, which she vented first on the innocent lad who +brought the fish, and then on the less innocent purchaser. They would +not get to the bottom of the barrel and eat the last herring, she +asserted, till they were a century old. Medius, while he disputed so +monstrous a statement, vehemently declared that such wholesome and +nutritious food as those fish was undoubtedly calculated to prolong the +lives of the whole family to an exceptionally great age. + +This discussion, which was not at all by way of a jest, amused Dada +far more than the tablets, cylinders and cones covered with numbers and +cabalistic signs, to which Medius tried to direct her attention. +She darted off in the midst of his eager explanations to show his +grandchildren how a rabbit sniffs and moves his ears when he is offered +a cabbage-leaf. + +The report, which reached them in the afternoon, of the proceedings in +the square by the Prefect's house, disturbed Medius greatly, and he set +off at once for the scene of action. + +He did not return till evening, and then he looked like an altered man. +He must have witnessed something very terrible, for his face was as +pale as death, and his usually confident and swaggering manner had given +place to a stricken and care-worn air. He walked up and down the room, +groaning as he went; he flung himself on the divan and stared fixedly at +the ground; he wandered into the atrium and gazed cautiously out on the +street. Dada's presence seemed suddenly to be the source of much anxiety +to him, and the girl, painfully conscious of this, hastened to tell him +that she would prefer to return home at once to her uncle and aunt. + +"You can please yourself," was all he said, with a shrug and a sigh. +"You may stay for aught I care. It is all the same now!" + +So far his wife had left him to himself, for she was used to his violent +and eccentric behavior whenever anything had crossed him; but now she +peremptorily desired to be informed what had happened to him and he at +once acceded. He had been unwilling to frighten them sooner than was +needful, but they must learn it sooner or later: Cynegius had arrived to +overthrow the image of Serapis, and what must ensue they knew only too +well. "To-day," he cried, "we will live; but by to-morrow--a thousand to +one-by to-morrow there will be an end of all our joys and the earth will +swallow up the old home and us with it!" + +His words fell on prepared ground; his wife and daughter were appalled, +and as Medius went on to paint the imminent catastrophe in more vivid +colors, his energy growing in proportion to its effect on them, they +began at first to sob and whimper and then to wail loudly. When the +children, who by this time were in bed, heard the lamentations of their +elders, they, too, set up a howl, and even Dada caught the infection. As +for Medius himself, he had talked himself into such a state of terror by +his own descriptions of the approaching destruction of the world that he +abandoned all claim to his proud reputation as a strong-minded man, and +quite forgot his favorite theory that everything that went by the name +of God was a mere invention of priests and rulers to delude and oppress +the ignorant; at last he even went so far as to mutter a prayer, and +when his wife begged to be allowed to join a family of neighbors in +sacrificing a black lamb at daybreak, he recklessly gave her a handful +of money. + +None of the party closed an eye that night. Dada could not bear to +remain in the house. Perhaps all these horrors existed only in Medius' +fancy; but if destruction were indeed impending, she would a thousand +times rattier perish with her own relations than with these people, in +whom there was something--she did not know what--for which she felt a +deep aversion. This she explained to her host early in the day and he +was ready to set out at once and restore her to the care of Karnis. + +In fact, the purpose for which he had needed her must certainly come to +nothing. He himself was attached to the service of Posidonius, a great +magician and wizard, to whom half Alexandria flocked--Christians, Jews, +and heathens--in order to communicate with the dead, with gods and with +demons, to obtain spells and charms by which to attract lovers or injure +foes, to learn the art of becoming invisible, or to gain a glimpse into +the future. In the performance which was being planned Dada was to have +appeared to a bereaved mother as the glorified presence of her lost +daughter; but the disturbance in the city had driven the matron, who was +rich, to take refuge in the country the previous afternoon. Nor was it +likely that the sorcerer's other clients--even if all turned out better +than could be hoped--would venture into the streets by night. Rich +people were timid and suspicious; and as the Emperor had lately +promulgated fresh and more stringent edicts against the magic arts, +Posidonius had thought it prudent to postpone the meeting. Hence Medius +had at present no use for the girl; but he affected to agree so readily +to her wishes merely out of anxiety to relieve Isarnis as soon as +possible of his uneasiness as to her fate. + +The morning was bright and hot, and the town was swarming with an +excited mob soon after sunrise. Terror, curiosity and defiance were +painted on every face; however, Medius and his young companion made +their way unhindered as far as the temple of Isis by the lake. The doors +of the sanctuary were closed, and guarded by soldiers; but the southern +and western walls were surrounded by thousands and thousands of heathen. +Some hundreds, indeed, had passed the night there in prayer, or in sheer +terror of the catastrophe which could not fail to ensue, and they were +kneeling in groups, groaning, weeping, and cursing, or squatting in +stolid resignation, weary, crushed and hopeless. It was a heart-rending +sight, and neither Dada--who till this moment had been dreading Dame +Herse's scolding tongue far more than the destruction of the world--nor +her companion could forbear joining in the wail that rose from this vast +multitude. Medius fell on his knees groaning aloud and pulled the girl +down beside him; for, upon the wall that enclosed the temple precincts, +they now saw a priest who, after holding the sacred Sistrum up to view +and muttering some unintelligible prayers and invocations, proceeded to +address the people. + +He was a short stout man, and the sweat streamed down his face as he +stood under the blazing sun to sketch a fearful picture of the monstrous +doom which was hanging over the city and its inhabitants. He spoke +with pompous exaggeration, in a shrill, harsh voice, wiping his face +meanwhile with his white linen robe or gasping for air, when breath +failed him, like a fish stranded on the beach. All this, however, did +not trouble his audience, for the hatred that inspired his language, and +the terror of the immediate future which betrayed itself in every word +exactly reflected their feelings. Dada alone was moved to mirth; the +longer she looked at him the more she felt inclined to laugh; besides, +the day was so bright--a pigeon on the wall pattered round his mate, +nodding and wriggling after the funny manner of pigeons in love--and, +above all, her heart beat so high and she had such a happy instinctive +feeling that all was ordered for the best, that the world seemed to +her a beautiful and fairly secure dwelling-place, in spite of the dark +forebodings of the zealous preacher. On the eve of destruction the earth +must surely look differently from this; and it struck her as highly +improbable that the gods should have revealed their purpose to such a +queer old driveller as this priest, and have hidden it from other men. +The very fact that this burly personage should prophesy evil with such +conviction made her doubt it; and presently, when the plumes of three +or four helmets became visible behind the speaker, and a pair of strong +hands grasped his thick ankles and suddenly dragged him down from his +eminence and back into the temple, she could hardly keep herself from +laughing outright. + +Now, however, there was more real cause for alarm a trumpet-blast was +heard, and a maniple of the twenty-second legion marched down in close +order on the crowd who fled before them. Medius was one of the first to +make off; Dada kept close to his side, and when, in his alarm, he fairly +took to his heels, she did the same; for, in spite of the reception she +apprehended, she felt that the sooner she could rejoin her own people +the better. Never till now had she known how dear they were to her. +Herse might scold; but her sharpest words were truer and better than +the smooth flattery of Medius. It was a joy to think of seeing them +again--Agne, too, and little Papias--and she felt as though she were +about to meet them after years of separation. + +By this time they were at the ship-yard, which was divided only by a +lane from the Temple-grove; there lay the barge. Dada pulled off her +veil and waved it in the air, but the signal met with no response. +They were at the house, no doubt, for some men were in the very act of +drawing up the wooden gangway which connected the vessel with the land. +Medius hurried forward and was so fortunate as to overtake the steward, +who had been superintending the operation, before he reached the +garden-gate. + +The old man was rejoiced to see them, and told them at once that his old +mistress had promised Herse to give Dada shelter if she should return +to them. But Dada was proud. She had no liking for Gorgo or her +grandmother; and when she had caught up to Medius, quite out of breath, +she positively refused the old lady's hospitality. + +The barge was deserted. Karnis--so the steward informed her--had +withdrawn to the temple of Serapis with his son, intending to assist in +its defence; and Herse had accompanied them, for Olympius had said that +women would be found useful in the beleaguered sanctuary, in preparing +food for the combatants and in nursing the wounded. + +Dada stood looking at their floating home, utterly disappointed and +discouraged. She longed to follow her aunt and to gain admission to the +Serapeutn; but how could she do this now, and of what use could she hope +to be? There was nothing heroic in her composition, and from her infancy +she had always sickened at the sight of blood. She had no alternative +but to return with Medius, and take refuge under his roof. + +The singer gave her ample time for reflection; he had seated himself, +with the steward, under the shade of a sycamore, and the two men were +absorbed in convincing each other, by a hundred arguments which they had +picked up during the last day or two, how inevitably the earth must be +annihilated if the statue of Serapis should be overthrown. In the warmth +of their discussion they paid no heed to the young girl, who was sitting +on a fallen Hermes by the road-side. Her vigorous and lively temperament +rendered her little apt to dream, or even meditate, in broad daylight; +but the heat and the recent excitement had overwrought her and she fell +into a drowsy reverie. Now and again, as her heavy head drooped on +her breast, she fancied the Serapeum had actually fallen; then, as she +raised it again, she recovered her consciousness that it was hot, that +she had lost her home, and that she must, however unwillingly, return +with Medius. But at length her eyelids closed, and as she sat in the +full blaze of the sun, a rosy light filled her eyes and a bright vision +floated before her: Marcus took the modius--the corn measure--from the +head of the statue of Serapis and offered it to her; it was quite full +of lilies and roses and violets, and she was delighted with the flowers +and thanked him warmly when he set the modius down before her. He held +out his hands to her calmly and kindly, and she gave him hers, feeling +very happy under the steady, compassionate gaze of his large eyes which +had often watched her, on board ship, for some minutes at a time. She +longed to say something to him, but she could not speak; and she looked +on quite unmoved as the statue of the god and the hall in which it stood +were wrapt in flames. No smoke mingled with this clear and genial blaze, +but it compelled her to shade her dazzled eyes; and as she lifted her +hand she woke to see Medius standing in front of her. + +He desired her to come home with him at once, and she rose to obey, +listening in silence to his assurances that the lives of Karnis and +Orpheus would not be worth a sesterce if they fell into the hands of the +Roman soldiers. + +She walked on, more hopeless and depressed than she had ever felt in her +life before, past the unfinished hulks in the ship-yard where no one was +at work to-day when, coming down the lane that divided the wharf from +the temple precincts, she saw an old man and a little boy. She had not +time to ask herself whether she saw rightly or was mistaken before +the child caught sight of her, snatched his hand away from that of his +companion, and flew towards her, shouting her name. In the next moment +little Papias had rushed rapturously into her arms and, as she lifted +him up, had thrown his hands round her neck, clinging to her as if he +would never leave go again, while she hugged him closely for joy, and +kissed him with her eyes full of tears. She was herself again at once; +the sad and anxious girl was the lively Dada once more. + +The man who had been leading the little boy was immediately besieged +with questions, and from his answers they learnt that he had found the +child the evening before at the corner of a street, crying bitterly; +that he had taken him home, and with some little difficulty had +ascertained from him that he belonged to some people who were living +on board a barge, close to a ship-yard. In spite of the excitement that +prevailed he had brought the child home as soon as possible, for +he could fancy how anxious his parents must be. Dada thanked the +kind-hearted artisan with sincere warmth, and the man, seeing how happy +the girl and the child were at having met, went his way quite satisfied. + +Medius had stood by and had said nothing, but he looked on the pretty +little boy with much favor. If the earth were not to crumble into +nothingness after all, this child would be a real treasure trove; and +when Dada begged him to find a corner for Papias in his house, though +he hinted at the smallness of his earnings and the limited space at his +command, he yielded, if reluctantly, to her entreaties, on her offering +him her gold brooch to cover his expenses. + +As they made their way back she cast many loving glances at the child; +she was extremely fond of him, and he seemed a link to bind her to her +own people. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The singer's wife and daughter had joined some neighbors in sacrificing +a black lamb to Zeus, a ceremony that was usual on the occasion of +earthquakes or very severe storms; but it was done very secretly, +for the edicts prohibiting the sacrifice of victims to the gods were +promptly and rigidly enforced. The more the different members of the +family came into contact with other citizens, the more deeply rooted was +their terror that the end of all things was at hand. As soon as it was +dark the old man buried all his savings, for even if everyone else were +to perish, he felt that he--though how or why he knew not--might be +exempt from the common doom. + +The night was warm, and great and small alike slept--or lay awake--under +the stars so as not to be overwhelmed by the crash of roofs and walls; +the next day was oppressively hot, and the family cowered in a row in +the scanty shade of a palm and of a fig-tree, the only growth of any +size in the singer's garden. Medius himself, in spite of the scorching +sun, could not be still. + +He rushed off to the town again and again, but only to return each time +to enhance the anguish of the household by relating all sorts of horrors +which he had picked up in his wanderings. They were obliged to satisfy +their hunger with bread, cheese, and fruit, for the two slave-women +positively refused to risk their lives by cooking in the house. + +Medius' temper varied as he came and went; now he was gentle and +affectionate, and then again he raged like a madman; and his wife outdid +him. At one moment she would abandon him and the children, while she +anointed the household altar and put up prayers; at the next she railed +at the baseness and cruelty of the gods. When her husband brought +the news that the Serapeum was surrounded by the Imperial troops, she +scoffed and spit at the sacred images, and five minutes later she was +vowing a sacrifice to the deities of Olympus. The general confusion was +distracting; as the sun rose, the anguish, physical and mental, of the +whole family greatly increased, and by noon had reached an appalling +pitch. + +Dada looked on intensely disgusted, and only shook her head when one +or another of her companions was sure she felt a shock of earthquake or +heard the roll of distant thunder. She could not explain to herself why +she, who was usually timid enough, was exempt from the universal panic +though she felt deeply pitiful towards the terrified women and children. +None of them troubled themselves about her; the day dragged on with +intolerable slowness, quenching all her gay vivacity, while she was +utterly exhausted by the scorching African sun, of which, till now, +she had never known the power. At last, in the afternoon, she found +the little garden, which was by this time heated like an oven, quite +unbearable, and she looked round for Papias. The child was sitting on +the wall looking at the congregation streaming into the basilica of St. +Mark. Dada followed his example, and when the many-voiced psalms rang +out of the open door of the church, she listened to the music, for it +seemed long since she had heard any, and after wiping the perspiration +from the little boy's face with her peplos, she pointed to the building +and said: "It must be nice and cool in there." + +"Of course it is," said Papias. + +"It is never too hot in church. I will tell you what--we will go there." +This was a bright idea; for, thought Dada, any place must be pleasanter +than this; and she felt strongly tempted, too, to see the inside of one +of Agne's temples and to sing once more, or, at any rate, hear others +sing. + +"Come along," she said, and they stole through the deserted house to get +into the street by the atrium. Medius saw them, but he made no attempt +to detain them; he had sunk into lethargic indifference. It was not an +hour since he had taken stock of his life and means, setting the small +figure of his average income against his hospitality to Dada and her +little companion; but then, again, he had calculated that, if all went +well, he might make considerable profits out of the girl and the child. +Now, he felt it was all the same to him whether he and his family and +Dada met their doom in the house or out of it. + +Dada and Papias soon reached the church of St. Mark, the oldest +Christian basilica in the city. It consisted of a vestibule--the +narthex--and the body of the church, a very long hall, with a flat roof +ceiled with stained wood and supported on a double row of quite simple +columns. This space was divided into two parts by a screen of pierced +work; the innermost portion had a raised floor or podium, on which stood +a table with chairs placed round it in a semicircle. The centre seat +was higher and more richly decorated than the others. These chairs were +unoccupied; a few deacons in 'talares' of light-colored brocade were +busied about the table. + +In the middle of the vestibule there was a small tank; here a number +of penitents had collected who, with their flayed ribs and abject +lamentations, offered a more melancholy spectacle than even the +terrified crowd whom Dada had seen the day before, gathered round the +temple of Isis. Indeed, she would have withdrawn at once but that +Papias dragged her forward, and when she had passed through the great +door into the nave she breathed a sigh of relief. A soothing sense +of respite came over her, such as she had rarely felt; for the lofty +building, which was only half full, was deliciously cool and the subdued +light was restful to her eyes. The slight perfume of incense and the +sober singing of the assembled worshippers were soothing to her senses, +and, as she took a seat on one of the benches, she felt sheltered and +safe. + +The old church struck her as a home of perfect peace; in all the city, +she thought, there could hardly be another spot where she might rest so +quietly and contentedly. So for some little time she gave herself +up, body and soul, to the refreshing influences of the coolness, the +solemnity, the fragrance and the music; but presently her attention was +attracted to two women in the seats just in front of her. + +One of them, who had a child on her arm, whispered to her neighbor: + +"You here, Hannah, among the unbaptized? How are you going on at home?" + +"I cannot stay long," was the answer. "It is all the same where one +sits, and when I leave I shall disturb no one. But my heart is heavy; +the child is very bad. The doctor says he cannot live through the day, +and I felt as if I must come to church." + +"Very right, very right. Do you stay here and I will go to your house at +once; my husband will not mind waiting." + +"Thank you very much, but Katharine is staying with the boy and he is +quite safe there." + +"Then I will stay and pray with you for the dear little child." + +Dada had not missed a word of this simple dialogue. The woman whose +child was ill at home, and who had come here to pray for strength or +mercy, had a remarkably sweet face; as the girl saw the two friends +bow their heads and fold their hands with downcast eyes, she thought to +herself: "Now they are praying for the sick child..." and involuntarily +she, too, bent her curly head, and murmured softly: "O ye gods, or thou +God of the Christians, or whatever thou art called that hast power over +life and death, make this poor woman's little son well again. When I get +home again I will offer up a cake or a fowl--a lamb is so costly." + +And she fancied that some invisible spirit heard her, and it gave her +a vague satisfaction to repeat her simple supplication over and over +again. + +Meanwhile a miserable blind dwarf had seated himself by her side; near +him stood the old dog that guided him. He held him by a string and had +been allowed to bring his indispensable comrade into the church. The +old man joined loudly and devoutly in the psalm which the rest of the +congregation were singing; his voice had lost its freshness, no doubt, +but he sang in perfect tune. It was a pleasure to Dada to listen, and +though she only half understood the words of the psalm she easily caught +the air and began to sing too, at first timidly and hardly audibly; but +she soon gained courage and, following the example of little Papias, +joined in with all her might. + +She felt as though she had reached land after a stormy and uncomfortable +voyage, and had found refuge in a hospitable home; she looked about her +to discover whether the news of the approaching destruction of the +world had not penetrated even here, but she could not feel certain; +for, though many faces expressed anguish of mind, contrition, and a +passionate desire--perhaps for help or, perhaps, for something quite +different--not a cry of lamentation was to be heard, such as had rent +the air by the temple of Isis, and most of the men and women assembled +here were singing, or praying in silent absorption. There were none of +the frenzied monks who had terrified her in the Xenodochium and in the +streets; on this day of tumult and anxiety they are devoting all +their small strength and great enthusiasm to the service of the Church +militant. + +This meeting, at so unusual an hour, had been convened by Eusebius, the +deacon of the district, with the intention of calming the spirits of +those who had caught the general infection of alarm. Dada could see the +old man step up into a raised pulpit on the inner side of the +screen which parted the baptized from the unbaptized members of the +congregation; his silvery hair and beard, and the cheerful calm of his +face, with the high white forehead and gentle, loving gaze, attracted +her greatly. She had heard Karnis speak of Plato, and knew by heart +some axioms of his doctrine, and she had always thought of the sage as +a young man; but in advanced age, she fancied, he might have looked like +Eusebius. Aye, and it would have well beseemed this old man to die, like +the great Athenian, at a mirthful wedding-feast. + +The priest was evidently about to give a discourse, and much as she +admired him, this idea prompted her to quit the church; for, though she +could sit still for hours to hear music, she found nothing more irksome +than to be compelled to listen for any length of time to a speech she +might not interrupt. She was therefore rising to leave; but Papias held +her back and entreated her so pathetically with his blue baby-eyes not +to take him away and spoil his pleasure that she yielded, though the +opportunity was favorable for moving unobserved, as the woman in front +of her was preparing to go and was shaking hands with her neighbor. She +had indeed risen from her seat when a little girl came in behind her and +whispered, loud enough for Dada's keen ears to catch the words: "Come +mother, come home at once. He has opened his eyes and called for you. +The physician says all danger is over." + +The mother in her turn whispered to her friend in glad haste: "All is +well!" and hurried away with the girl. The friend she had left raised +her hands and eyes in thanksgiving, and Dada, too, smiled in sympathy +and pleasure. Had the God of the Christian heard her prayer with theirs. + +Meanwhile the preacher had ended his preliminary prayer and began to +explain to his hearers that he had bidden them to the church in order +to warn them against foolish terrors, and to lead them into the frame of +mind in which the true Christian ought to live in these momentous times +of disturbance. He wished to point out to his brethren and sisters in +the Lord what was to be feared from the idols and their overthrow, what +the world really owed to the heathen, and what he expected from his +fellow-believers when the splendid and imminent triumph of the Church +should be achieved. + +"Let us look back a little, my beloved," he said, after this brief +introduction. "You have all heard of the great Alexander, to whom this +noble city owes its existence and its name. He was a mighty instrument +in the hand of the Lord, for he carried the tongue and the wisdom of +the Greeks throughout all lands, so that, in the fulness of time, +the doctrine which should proceed from the only Son of God might be +understood by all nations and go home to all hearts. In those days every +people had its own idols by hundreds, and in every tongue on earth +men put up their prayers to the supreme Power which makes itself felt +wherever mortal creatures dwell. Here, by the Nile, after Alexander's +death, reigned the Ptolemies; and the Egyptian citizens of Alexandria +prayed to other gods than their Greek neighbors, so that they could +never unite in worshipping their divinities; but Philadelphus, +the second Ptolemy, a very wise man, gave them a god in common. In +consequence of a vision seen in a dream he had the divinity brought from +Sinope, on the shores of Pontus, to this town. This idol was Serapis, +and he was raised to the throne of divinity here, not by Heaven, but by +a shrewd and prudent man; a grand temple was built for him, which is to +this day one of the wonders of the world, and a statue of him was made, +as beautiful as any image ever formed by the hand of man. You have +seen and know them both, and you know too, how, before the gospel was +preached in Alexandria, crowds of all classes, excepting the Jews, +thronged the Serapeum. + +"A dim perception of the sublime teaching of the Lord by whom God has +redeemed the world had dawned, even before His appearance on earth, on +the spirit of the best of the heathen, and in the hearts of those wise +men who--though not born into the state of grace--sought and strove +after the truth, after inward purity, and an apprehension of the +Almighty. The Lord chose them out to prepare the hearts of mankind for +the good tidings, and make them fit to receive the gospel when the Star +should rise over Bethlehem. + +"Many of these sages had infused precious doctrine into the worship of +Serapis before the hour of true redemption had come. They enjoined the +servants of Serapis to be more zealous in the care of the soul than in +that of the body, for they had detected the imperishable nature of the +spiritual and divine part of man; they saw that we are brought into +existence by sin and love, and we must therefore die to our sinful love +and rise again through the might of love eternal. These Hellenes, like +the Egyptian sages of the times of the Pharaohs, divined and declared +that the soul was held responsible after death for all it had done of +good or evil in its mortal body. They distinguished virtue and sin by +the eternal law, which was written in the hearts even of the heathen, to +the end that they, by nature, might do the works of the law; nay, there +were some of their loftiest spirits who, though they knew not the +Lord, it is true, required the repentance in the sinner, in the name of +Serapis, and pronounced that it was good to give up the delusive joys +and vain pleasures of the flesh and to break away from the evil--whether +of body or of soul--which we are led into by the senses. They called +upon their disciples to hold meetings for meditation whereby they might +discern truth and the divinity; and the vast precincts of the Serapeum +contained cells and alcoves for penitents and devotees, in which many +a soul touched by grace, dead to the world and absorbed in the +contemplation of such things as they esteemed high and heavenly, has +ripened to old age and death. + +"But, my beloved, the Light in which we rejoice, through no merits or +deserts of our own, had not yet been shed on the lost children of those +days of darkness; and all those noble, and indeed most admirable efforts +were polluted by an admixture, even here, of coarse superstition, bloody +sacrifices, and foolish adoration of perishable stone idols and beasts +without understanding; and in other places by the false and delusive +arts of Magians and sorcerers. Even the dim apprehension of true +salvation was darkened and distorted by the subtleties of a vain and +inconsistent philosophy, which held a theory as immutably true one day +and overthrew or denied it the next. Thus, by degrees, the temple of the +idol of Sinope degenerated into a stronghold of deceit and bloodshed, +of the basest superstition, the pleasures of the flesh, and abominations +that cried to Heaven. Learning, to be sure, was still cherished in the +halls of the Serapeum; but its disciples turned with hardened hearts +from the truth which was sent into the world by the grace of God, and +they remained the prophets of error. The doctrines which the sages had +associated with the idea of Serapis, debased and degraded by the most +contemptible trivialities; lost all their worth and dignity; and after +the great Apostle to whom this basilica is dedicated, had brought the +gospel to Alexandria, the idol's throne began to totter, and the tidings +of salvation shook its foundations and brought it to the verge of +destruction in spite of the persecutions, in spite of the edicts of the +apostate Julian, in spite of the desperate efforts of the philosophers, +sophists, and heathen--for our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, has given +certainty and actuality to the fleeting shadow of half-divined truth +which lies in the core of the worship of Serapis. The pure and radiant +star of Christian love has risen in the place of the dim nebulous mist +of Serapis; and just as the moon pales when the sun appears triumphant, +the worship of Serapis has died away in a thousand places where the +gospel has been received. Even here, in Alexandria, its feeble flame +is kept alive only by infinite care, and if the might of our pious and +Christian Emperor makes itself felt-tomorrow, or next day--then, my +beloved, it will vanish in smoke, and no power on earth can fan it +into life again. Not our grandsons, no, but our own children will ask: +Who--what was Serapis? For he who shall be overthrown is no longer a +mighty god but an idol bereft of his splendor and his dignity. This is +no struggle of might against might; it is the death-stroke given to a +wounded and vanquished foe. The tree is rotten to the core and can crush +no one in its fall, but it will cover all who stand near it with dust +and rubbish. The sovereign has outlived his dominion, and when his +fingers drop the sceptre few indeed will bewail him, for the new King +has already mounted the throne and His is the Kingdom, and the power, +and the glory, forever! Amen." + +Dada had listened to the deacon's address with no particular interest, +but the conclusion struck her attention. The old man looked dignified +and honest; but Father Karnis was a well-meaning man, no doubt, and one +of those who are wont to keep on the winning side. How was it that the +preacher could draw so pitiable a picture of the very same god whose +greatness her uncle had praised in such glowing terms only two days +since? How could the same thing appear so totally different to two +different people? + +The priest looked more sagacious than the musician; Marcus, the young +Christian, had a most kind heart; there was not a better or gentler +creature under the sun than Agne--it was quite possible that +Christianity was something very different in reality from what her +foster parents chose to represent. As to the frightful consequences of +the overthrow of the temple of Serapis, on that point she was completely +reassured, and she prepared to listen with greater attention as Eusebius +went on: + +"Let us rejoice, beloved! The great idol's days are numbered! Do you +know what that false worship has been in our midst? It has been like +a splendid and richly-dressed trireme sailing, plague-stricken, into a +harbor full of ships and boats. Woe to those who allow themselves to be +tempted on board by the magnificence of its decorations! How great is +their chance of infection, how easily they will carry it from ship to +ship, and from the ships on to the shore, till the pestilence has +spread from the harbor to the city! Let us then be thankful to those who +destroy the gorgeous vessel, who drive it from amongst us, or sink or +burn it. May our Father in Heaven give courage to their hearts, strength +to their hands and blessing on their deeds! When we hear: 'Great Serapis +has fallen to the earth and is no more, we and the world are free from +him!' then, in this city, and wherever Christians dwell and worship, let +a solemn festival be held. + +"But still let us be just, still let us bear in mind all the great and +good gifts that the trireme brought to our parents when it rode the +waves manned by a healthy crew. If we do, it will be with sincere pity +that we shall watch the proud vessel sink to the bottom, and we shall +understand the grief of those whom once it bore over ebb and flow, and +who believe they owe every thing to it. We shall rejoice doubly, too, +to think that we ourselves have a safe bark with stout planks and strong +masts, and a trustworthy pilot at the helm; and that we may confidently +invite others to join us on board as soon as they have purified +themselves of the plague with which they have been smitten. + +"I think you will all have understood this parable. When Serapis falls +there will be lamentation and woe among the heathen; but we, who are +true Christians, ought not to pass them by, but must strive to heal and +save the wounded and sick at heart. When Serapis falls you must be the +physicians--healers of souls, as the Lord hath said; and if we desire to +heal, our first task must be to discover in what the sufferings consist +of those we wish to succor, for our choice of medicine must depend on +the nature of the injury. + +"What I mean is this: None can give comfort but those who know how to +sympathize with the soul that craves it, who feel the sorrows of others +as keenly as though they were their own. And this gift, my brethren, is, +next to faith, the Christian grace which of all others best pleases our +Heavenly Master. + +"I see it in my mind's eye! The ruined edifice of the Serapeum, the +masterpiece of Bryaxis laid in fragments in the dust, and thousands of +wailing heathen! As the Jews wept and hung their harps on the trees by +the waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion, so do I see the heathen +weep as they think of the perished splendor. They themselves, indeed, +ruined and desecrated the glory they bewail; and when something higher +and purer took its place they hardened their hearts, and, instead of +leaving the dead to bury their dead and throwing themselves hopefully +into the new life, they refused to be parted from the putrefying corpse. +They were fools, but their folly was fidelity; and if we can win them +over to our holy faith they will be faithful unto death, as they have +been to their old gods, clinging to Jesus and earning the crown of life. +'There will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth than +over ninety and nine that need no repentance,'--that you have heard; and +whichever among you loves the Saviour can procure him a great joy if he +guides only one of these weeping heathen into the Kingdom of Heaven. + +"But perhaps you will ask: Is not the sorrow of the heathen a vain +thing? What is it after all that they bewail? To understand that, try to +picture to yourselves what it is that they think they are losing. Verily +it is not a small matter, and it includes many things for which we and +all mankind owe them a debt of gratitude. We call ourselves Christians +and are proud of the name; but we also call ourselves Hellenes, and are +proud of that name too. It was under the protection of the old gods, +whose fall is about to be consummated, that the Greeks achieved +marvellous deeds, nurturing the gifts of the intellect which the +Almighty bestowed on their race, like faithful gardeners, and making +them bring forth marvellous fruit. In the realm of thought the Greek +is sovereign of the nations, and he has given to perishable matter a +perfection of form which has elevated and vivified it to immortality. +Nothing more beautiful has ever been imagined or executed, before or +since, or by any other people, than was produced by Greece in its prime. +But perhaps you will ask, why did not the Redeemer come down among our +fathers in those glorious days? Because beauty, as they conceived and +still conceive of it, is a mere perishable accident of matter, and +because a race which thus devoted every thought and feeling to an +inspired and fervent worship of beauty--which was so absorbed in the +contemplation of the visible, could have no longing for the invisible +which is the real life that came down among us with the only-begotten +Son of God. Nevertheless Beauty is beautiful; and when the time shall +come when the visible is married to the invisible, when eternal Truth is +clothed in perfect form, then, and not till then, will the ideal which +our fathers strove after in the great old days be realized, by the grace +of the Saviour. + +"But this visible beauty, which they so passionately cherished, does us +good service too, so long as we do not allow it to dazzle us and lead +us astray from the one thing needful. To whom, if not to the heathen +Hellenes, do our great teachers owe, under God, the noble art of +coordinating their loftiest feelings, and casting them in forms which +are intelligible to the Christian and at once instruct, delight, +and edify him? It was in a heathen school that each one of your +pastors--that even I, the humblest of them--studied that rhetoric which +enables me to utter with a flowing tongue the things which the Spirit +gives me to speak to you; and if some day there are Christian schools, +in which our sons may acquire the same power, they must adopt many of +the laws devised by the heathen. If in the future we are rich enough to +raise churches to the Almighty, to the Virgin Mary and the great Saints, +in any way worthy of their sublime merits, we shall owe our skill to the +famous architects of heathen Hellas. We are indebted to the arts of the +heathen for a thousand things in daily use, beside numberless others +that lend charm to existence. Yes, my beloved, when we consider all they +did for us we cannot in justice withhold our tribute of gratitude and +admiration. + +"Nor can we doubt that the best of them were acceptable to the Almighty +himself, for he granted to them to see darkly and from afar what he has +brought nigh to us, and poured into our hearts by divine revelation. +You all know the name of Plato. He, from whom Salvation was hidden, +saw remotely, by presentiment as it were, many things which to us, the +Redeemed, are clear and plain and near. He perceived the relation of +earthly beauty and heavenly truth. The great gift of Love binds and +supports us all and Plato gave the name of the divine Eros, that is +divine love, to an inspired devotion to the Imperishable. He placed +goodness--the Good--at the top of the great scale of Ideas which he +constructed. The Good was, to him, the highest Idea and the uttermost of +which we can conceive:--Good, whose properties he made manifest by every +means his lofty and lucid mind could command. This heathen, my brethren +and sisters, was well worthy of the grace bestowed on us. Do justice +then to the blinded souls, justice in Plato's sense of the word; he +calls the virtue of reason Wisdom; the virtue of spirit Courage, and the +virtue of the senses Temperance. Well, well! 'Prove all things and hold +fast that which is good.' That is to say: consider what may be worth +anything in the works of the heathen that it may be duly preserved; +but, on the other hand, tread all that is idolatry in the dust, all +that brings the unclean thing among us, all that imperils our souls and +bodies, or anything that is high and pure in life; but do not forget, +my beloved, all that the heathen have done for us. Be temperate in all +things; avoid excess of zeal; for thus, and thus only, can we be just. +'It is not to hate, but to love each other that we are here.' It was +not a Christian but Sophocles, one of the greatest of the heathen, who +uttered those words, and he speaks them still to us!" + +Eusebius paused and drew a deep breath. + +Dada had listened eagerly, for it pleased her to hear all that she +had been wont to prize spoken of here with due appreciation. But since +Eusebius had begun to discourse about Plato she had been disturbed by +two men sitting just in front of her. One was tall and lean, with a +long narrow head, and the other a shorter and more comfortable-looking +personage. The first fidgeted incessantly, nudging and twitching his +companion, and looking now and then as if he were ready to start up and +interrupt the preacher. This behavior evidently annoyed his neighbors +who kept signing to him to be quiet and hushing him down, while he took +no notice of their demonstrations but kept clearing his throat with +obtrusive emphasis and at last scraped and shuffled his feet on the +floor, though not very noisily. But Eusebius began again: + +"And now, my brethren, how ought we to demean ourselves in these fateful +times of disturbance? As Christians; only--or rather, by God's aiding +grace as Christians in the true sense of our Lord and Master, according +to the precepts given by Him through the Apostles. Their words shall +be mine. They say there are two paths--the path of Life and the path of +Death, and there is a great difference between them. The path of Life is +this: First, Thou shalt love God who hath created thee; next thou shalt +love thy neighbor as thyself, and whatsoever thou wouldst men should do +unto thee even so do unto them; but what thou wouldst not have done unto +thee do thou not to them. And the sum of the doctrine contained in these +words is this: Bless those that curse you, pray for your enemies and +repent for those who persecute you, for 'if ye love them that love you +what thank have ye? Do not even the heathen the same?' Love those that +hate you and you will have no enemies. + +"Take this teaching of the holy Apostles to heart this day. Beware of +mocking or persecuting those who have been your enemies. Even the nobler +heathen regarded it as an act of grace to respect the conquered foe, and +to you, as Christians, it should be a law. It is not so hard to forgive +an enemy when we regard him as a possible friend in the future; and the +Christian can go so far as to love him when he remembers that every man +is his brother and neighbor, and equally precious in the sight of the +Saviour who is dearer to us than life. + +"The heathen, the idolater, is the Christian's archfoe; but soon he will +be in fetters at our feet. And, then, my brethren, pray for him; for if +the Almighty, who is without spot or stain and perfect beyond words, +can forgive the sinner, ye who are base and guilty may surely forgive. +'Fishers of souls' we all should be; try to fulfil the injunction. Draw +the enemy to you by kindness and love; show him by your example +the beauty of the Christian life; let him perceive the benefits of +Salvation; lead those whose gods and temples we have overthrown, into +our churches; and when, after triumphing over those blind souls by the +sword, we have also conquered them by love, faith and prayer--when they +can rejoice with us in the Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ--then +shall we all be as one fold under one shepherd, and peace and joy shall +reign in the city which is now torn by dissension and strife." + +At this point the preacher was interrupted, for a loud uproar broke out +in the Narthex--[The vestibule of the early Christian basilica which was +open to penitents.]--shouts and cries of men fighting, mingled with the +dull roar of a bull. + +The congregation started to their feet in extreme consternation, and the +door was flung open and a host of heathen youths rushed into the nave, +followed by an overwhelming force of Christians from whom they had +sought refuge in the sanctuary. Here they turned at bay to make a last +desperate resistance. Garlands, stripped of their leaves and flowers, +still crowned their heads and hung over their shoulders. They had been +attacked close to the church, by a party of monks when in the act of +driving a gaily-decorated steer to the temple of Apollo, in defiance of +the Imperial edict; and the beast, terrified by the tumult, had rushed +into the narthex for shelter. + +The fight in the church was a short one; the idolaters were soon +vanquished; but Eusebius threw himself between them and the monks, and +tried to save the victims from the revengeful fury of the conquerors. +The women had all made for the door, but they did not venture out into +the vestibule, for the young bull was still raging there, trampling or +tossing everything that came in his way. At last, however, a soldier of +the city-watch dealt him a sword-thrust in the neck, and he fell +rolling in his own blood. At once the congregation forced their way out, +shrieking with alarm and excitement, Dada among the number, dragging +the child with her. Papias pulled with all his might to keep her back, +declaring with vehement insistence that he had seen Agne in the church +and wanted to go back to her. Dada, however, neither heard nor heeded; +frightened out of her wits she went on with the crowd, taking him with +her. + +She never paused till she reached the house of Medius, quite out of +breath; but then, as the little boy still asserted that he had seen his +sister in the sanctuary, she turned back with him, as soon as the throng +had dispersed. In the church there was no one to hinder them; but they +got no further than the dividing screen, for on the floor beyond lay +the mutilated and bleeding bodies of many a youth who had fallen in the +contest. + +How she made her way back to the house of Medius once more she never +knew. For the first time she had been brought face to face with life in +hideous earnest, and when the singer went to look for her in her room, +at dusk, he was startled to find her bright face clouded and her eyes +dim with tears. How bitterly she had been weeping Medius indeed could +not know; he ascribed her altered appearance to fear of the approaching +cataclysm and was happy to be able to tell her, in all good faith, that +the danger was as good as over. Posidonius, the Magian, had been to see +him, and had completely reassured him. This man, whose accomplice he +had been again and again in producing false apparitions of spirits and +demons, had once gained an extraordinary influence over him by +casting some mysterious spell upon him and reducing his will to abject +subjection to his own; and this magician, who had recovered his +own self-possession, had assured him, with an inimitable air of +infallibility, that the fall of the Temple of Serapis would involve no +greater catastrophe than that of any old worn-out statue. Since this +announcement Medius had laughed at his own alarms; he had recovered his +"strong-mindedness," and when Posidonius had given him three tickets for +the Hippodrome he had jumped at the offer. + +The races were to be run next day, in spite of the general panic that +had fallen on the citizens; and Dada, when he invited her to join him +and his daughter in-the enjoyment of so great a treat, dried her eyes +and accepted gleefully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Alarming as was the outlook in Alexandria, the races, were to be held +as usual. This had been decided only a few hours since at the Bishop's +palace, and criers had been sent abroad throughout the streets +and squares of the city to bid the inhabitants to this popular +entertainment. In the writing-office of the Ephemeris, which would be +given to the public the first thing in the morning, five hundred slaves +or more were occupied in writing from dictation a list of the owners of +the horses, of the 'agitatores' who would drive them, and of the prizes +offered to the winners, whether Christians or heathen. + + [Ephemeris--The news-sheet, which was brought out, not only in Rome, + but in all the cities of the Empire, and which kept the citizens + informed of all important events.] + +The heat in the Episcopal council-hall had been oppressive, and not less +so the heat of temper among the priests assembled there; for they +had fully determined, for once, not to obey their prelate with blind +submission, and they knew full well that Theophilus, on occasion, if his +will were opposed, could not merely thunder but wield the bolt. + +Besides the ecclesiastical members of the council, Cynegius, +the Imperial legate--Evagrius, the Prefect--and Romanus, the +commander-in-chief and Comes of Egypt,--had all been present. The +officials of the Empire--Roman statesmen who knew Alexandria and her +citizens well, and who had often smarted under the spiritual haughtiness +of her Bishop--were on the prelate's side. Cynegius was doubtful; but +the priests, who had not altogether escaped the alarms that had stricken +the whole population, were so bold as to declare against a too hasty +decision, and to say that the celebration of the games at a time of such +desperate peril was not only presumptuous but sinful, and a tempting of +God. + +In answer to a scornful enquiry from Theophilus as to where the danger +lay if--as the Comes promised--Serapis were to be overthrown on the +morrow, one of the assembly answered in the name of his colleagues. This +man, now very old, had formerly been a wonderfully successful exorcist, +and, notwithstanding that he was a faithful Christian, he was the leader +of a gnostic sect and a diligent student of magic. He proceeded to +argue, with all the zeal and vehemence of conviction, that Serapis was +the most terrible of all the heathen daemons, and that all the oracles +of antiquity, all the prophecies of the seers, and all the conclusions +of the Magians and astrologers would be proved false if his fall--which +the present assembly could only regard as a great boon from Heaven--did +not entail some tremendous convulsion of nature. + +At this Theophilus gave the reins to his wrath; he snatched a little +crucifix from the wall above his episcopal throne, and broke it in +fragments, exclaiming in deep tones that quavered with wrath: + +"And which do you regard as the greater: The only-begotten Son of God, +or that helpless image?" And he flung the pieces of the broken crucifix +down on the table round which they were sitting. Then, as though +horror-stricken at his own daring act, he fell on his knees, raised his +eyes and hands in prayer, and gathering up the broken image, kissed it +devoutly. + +This rapid scene had a tremendous effect. Amazement and suspense were +painted on every face, not a hand, not a lip moved as Theophilus rose +again and cast a glance of proud and stern defiance round the assembly, +which each man took to himself. For some moments he remained silent, +as though awaiting a reply; but his repellent mien and majestic bearing +made it sufficiently clear that he was ready to annihilate any opponent. +In fact none of the priests contradicted him; and, though Evagrius +looked at him with a doubting shake of his shrewd head, Cynegius on +the other hand nodded assent. The Bishop, however, seemed to care for +neither dissent nor approval, and it was in brief and cutting terms, +with no flourish of rhetoric, that he laid it down that wood and stone +had nothing to do with the divine Majesty, even though they were made +in the image of all that was Holy and worshipful or were most lavishly +beautified by the hand of man with the foul splendors of perishable +wealth. The greater the power ascribed by superstition to the base +material--whatever form it bore--the more odious must it be to the +Christian. Any man who should believe that a daemon could turn even a +breath of the Most High to its own will and purpose, would do well to +beware of idolatry, for Satan had already laid his clutches somewhere on +his robe. + +At this sweeping accusation many a cheek colored wrathfully, and not +a word was spoken when the Bishop proceeded to require of his hearers +that, if the Serapeum should fall into the hands of the Imperial troops, +it should be at once and ruthlessly destroyed, and that his hearers +should not cease from the work of ruin till this scandal of the city +should be swept from the face of the earth. + +"If then the world crumbles to atoms!" he cried, "well and good--the +heathen are right and we are wrong, and in that case it were better +to perish; but as surely as I sit on this throne by the grace of God, +Serapis is the vain imagining of fools and blind, and there is no god +but the God whose minister I am!" + +"Whose Kingdom is everlasting, Amen!" chanted an old priest; and +Cynegius rose to explain that he should do nothing to hinder the total +overthrow of the temple and image. + +Then the Comes spoke in defence of the Bishop's resolution to allow +the races to be held, as usual, on the morrow. He sketched a striking +picture of the shallow, unstable nature of the Alexandrians, a people +wholly given over to enjoyment. The troops at his command were few in +number in comparison with the heathen population of the city, and it was +a very important matter to keep a large proportion of the worshippers +of Serapis occupied elsewhere at the moment of the decisive onset. +Gladiator-fights were prohibited, and the people were tired of wild +beasts; but races, in which heathen and Christian alike might enter +their horses for competition, must certainly prove most attractive just +at this time of bitter rivalry and oppugnancy between the two religions, +and would draw thousands of the most able-bodied idolaters to the +Hippodrome. All this he had already considered and discussed with the +Bishop and Cynegius; nay, that zealous destroyer of heathen worship +had come to Alexandria with the express purpose of overthrowing the +Serapeum; but, as a prudent statesman, he had first made sure that the +time and circumstances were propitious for the work of annihilation. All +that he had here seen and heard had only strengthened his purpose; so, +after suggesting a few possible difficulties, and enjoining moderation +and mercy as the guiding principles of his sovereign, he commanded, in +the Emperor's name, that the sanctuary of Serapis should be seized by +force of arms and utterly destroyed, and that the races should be held +on the morrow. + +The assembled council bowed low; and when Theophilus had closed the +meeting with a prayer he withdrew to his ungarnished study, with his +head bent and an air of profound humility, as though he had met with a +defeat instead of gaining a victory. + + ....................... + +The fate of the great god of the heathen was sealed, but in the wide +precincts of the Serapeum no one thought of surrender or of prompt +defeat. The basement of the building, on which stood the grandest temple +ever erected by the Hellenes, presented a smooth and slightly scarped +rampart of impregnable strength to the foe. A sloping way extended up +over a handsomely-decorated incline, and from the middle of the grand +curve described by this road, two flights of steps led up to the three +great doors in the facade of the building. + +The heathen had taken care to barricade this approach in all haste, +piling the road and steps with statuary-images of the gods of the finest +workmanship, figures and busts of kings, queens, and heroes, Hermes, +columns, stelae, sacrificial stones, chairs and benches-torn from their +places by a thousand eager hands. The squared flags of the pavement and +the granite blocks of the steps had been built up into walls and these +were still being added to after the besiegers had surrounded the temple; +for the defenders tore down stones, pilasters, gutters and pieces of the +cornice, and flung them on to the outworks, or, when they could, on to +the foe who for the present were not eager to commence hostilities. + +The captains of the Imperial force had miscalculated the strength of +the heathen garrison. They supposed a few hundreds might have entrenched +themselves, but on the roof alone above a thousand men were to be seen, +and every hour seemed to increase the number of men and women crowding +into the Serapeum. The Romans could only suppose that this constantly +growing multitude had been concealed in the secret halls and chambers of +the temple ever since Cynegius had first arrived, and had no idea that +they were still being constantly reinforced. + +Karnis, Herse, and Orpheus, among others, had made their way thither +from the timber-yard, down the dry conduit, and an almost incessant +stream of the adherents of the old gods had preceded and followed them. + +While Eusebius had been exhorting his congregation in the church of St. +Mark to Christian love towards the idolaters, these had collected in the +temple precincts to the number of about four thousand, all eager for +the struggle. A vast multitude! But the extent of the Serapeum was so +enormous that the mass of people was by no means densely packed on the +roof, in the halls, and in the underground passages and rooms. There was +no crowding anywhere, least of all in the central halls of the temple +itself; indeed, in the great vestibule crowned with a dome which formed +the entrance, in the vast hall next to it, and in the magnificent +hypostyle with a semicircular niche on the furthest side in which stood +the far-famed image of the god, there were only scattered groups of men, +who looked like dwarfs as the eye compared them with the endless rows of +huge columns. + +The full blaze of day penetrated nowhere but into the circular +vestibule, which was lighted by openings in the drum of the cupola that +rested on four gigantic columns. In the inner hall there was only dim +twilight; while the hypostyle was quite dark, but for a singularly +contrived shaft of light which produced a most mysterious effect. + +The shadows of the great columns in the fore hall, and of the double +colonnade on each side of the hypostyle, lay like bands of crape on +the many-colored pavement; borders, circles, and ellipses of mosaic +diversified the smooth and lucent surface, in which were mirrored the +astrological figures which sparkled in brighter hues on the ceiling, +the trophies of symbols and mythological groups that graced the walls +in tinted high relief, and the statues and Hermes between the columns. +A wreath of lovely forms and colors dazzled the eye with their +multiplicity and profusion, and the heavy atmosphere of incense which +filled the halls was almost suffocating, while the magical and mystical +signs and figures were so many and so new that the enquiring mind, +craving for an explanation and an interpretation of all these +incomprehensible mysteries, hardly dared investigate them in detail. + +A heavy curtain, that looked as though giants must have woven it on a +loom of superhuman proportions, hung, like a thick cloud shrouding a +mountain-peak, from the very top of the hypostyle, in grand folds over +the niche containing the statue, and down to the floor; and while it +hid the sacred image from the gaze of the worshipper it attracted his +attention by the infinite variety of symbolical patterns and beautiful +designs which were woven in it and embroidered on it. + +The gold and silver vessels and precious jewels that lay concealed by +this hanging were of more value than many a mighty king's treasure; and +everything was on so vast a scale that man shuddered to feel his own +littleness, and the mind sought some new standard of measurement by +which to realize such unwonted proportions. The finite here seemed to +pass into the infinite; and as the spectator gazed up, with his head +thrown back, at the capitals of the lofty columns and the remote +height of the ceiling, his sight failed him before he had succeeded +in distinguishing or even perceiving a small portion only of the +bewildering confusion of figures and emblems that were crowded on to +the surface. Greek feeling for beauty had here worked hand in hand with +Oriental taste for gorgeous magnificence, and every detail could bear +examination; for there was not a motive of the architecture, not a work +of sculpture, painting, or mosaic, not a product of the foundry or the +loom, which did not bear the stamp of thorough workmanship and elaborate +finish. The ruddy, flecked porphyry, the red, white, green, or yellow +marbles which had been used for the decorations were all the finest and +purest ever wrought upon by Greek craftsmen. Each of the hundreds of +sculptured works which here had found a home was the masterpiece of some +great artist; as the curious visitor lingered in loving contemplation of +the mosaics on the polished floor, or examined the ornamental mouldings +that framed the reliefs, dividing the walls into panels, he was +filled with wonder and delight at the beauty, the elegance and the +inventiveness that had given charm, dignity, and significance to every +detail. + +Adjoining these great halls devoted especially to the worship of the +god, were hundreds of courts, passages, colonnades and rooms, and +others not less numerous lay underground. There were long rows of rooms +containing above a hundred thousand rolls of books, the famous library +of the Serapeum, with separate apartments for readers and copyists; +there were store-rooms, refectories and assembly-rooms for the +high-priests of the temple, for teachers and disciples; while acrid +odors came up from the laboratories, and the fragrance of cooking from +the kitchen and bake-houses. In the very thickness of the walls of the +basement were cells for penitents and recluses, long since abandoned, +and rooms for the menials and slaves, of whom hundreds were employed +in the precincts; under ground spread the mystical array of halls, +grottoes, galleries and catacombs dedicated to the practice of the +Mysteries and the initiation of neophytes; on the roof stood various +observatories--among them one erected for the study of the heavens by +Eratosthenes, where Claudius Ptolemaeus had watched and worked. Up here +astronomers, star-gazers, horoscopists and Magians spent their nights, +while, far below them, in the temple-courts that were surrounded by +store-houses and stables, the blood of sacrificed beasts was shed and +the entrails of the victims were examined. + +The house of Serapis was a whole world in little, and centuries had +enriched it with wealth, beauty, and the noblest treasures of art and +learning. Magic and witchcraft hedged it in with a maze of mystical and +symbolical secrets, and philosophy had woven a tissue of speculation +round the person of the god. The sanctuary was indeed the centre of +Hellenic culture in the city of Alexander; what marvel then, that +the heathen should believe that with the overthrow of Serapis and his +temple, the earth, nay the universe itself must sink into the abyss? + +Anxious spirits and throbbing hearts were those that now sought shelter +in the Serapeum, fully prepared to perish with their god, and yet eager +with enthusiasm to avert his fall if possible. + +A strange medley indeed of men and women had collected within +these sacred precincts! Grave sages, philosophers, grammarians, +mathematicians, naturalists, and physicians clung to Olympius and obeyed +him in silence. Rhetoricians with shaven faces, Magians and sorcerers, +whose long beards flowed over robes embroidered with strange figures; +students, dressed after the fashion of their forefathers in the palmy +days of Athens; men of every age, who dubbed themselves artists though +they were no more than imitators of the works of a greater epoch, +unhappy in that no one at this period of indifference to beauty called +upon them to prove what they could do, or to put forth their highest +powers. Actors, again, from the neglected theatres, starving histrions, +to whom the stage was prohibited by the Emperor and Bishop, singers and +flute-players; hungry priests and temple-servitors expelled from the +closed sanctuaries; lawyers, scribes, ships' captains, artisans, though +but very few merchants, for Christianity had ceased to be the creed of +the poor, and the wealthy attached themselves to the faith professed by +those in authority. + +One of the students had contrived to bring a girl with him, and several +others, seeing this, went back into the streets by the secret way and +brought in damsels of no very fair repute, till the crowd of men was +diversified by a considerable sprinkling of wreathed and painted +girls, some of them the outcast maids of various temples, and others +priestesses of higher character, who had remained faithful to the old +gods or who practised magic arts. + +Among these women one, a tall and dignified matron in mourning robes, +was a conspicuous figure. This was Berenice, the mother of the young +heathen who had been ridden down and wounded in the skirmish near the +Prefect's house, and whose eyes Eusebius had afterwards closed. She had +come to the Serapeum expressly to avenge her son's death and then to +perish with the fall of the gods for whom he had sacrificed his young +life. But the mad turmoil that surrounded her was more than she could +bear; she stood, hour after hour, closely veiled and absorbed in her own +thoughts, neither raising her eyes nor uttering a word, at the foot of a +bronze statue of justice dispensing rewards and punishments. + +Olympius had entrusted the command of the little garrison of armed men +to Memnon, a veteran legate of great experience, who had lost his left +arm in the war against the Goths. The high-priest himself was occupied +alternately in trying to persuade the hastily-collected force to +obey their leader, and in settling quarrels, smoothing difficulties, +suppressing insubordination, and considering plans with reference to +supplies for his adherents, and the offering of a great sacrifice at +which all the worshippers of Serapis were to assist. Karnis kept near +his friend, helping him so far as was possible; Orpheus, with others +of the younger men, had been ordered to the roof, where they were +employed--under the scorching sun, reflected from the copper-plated +covering and the radiating surface of the dome--in loosening blocks of +stone from the balustrade to be hurled down to-morrow on the besieging +force. + +Herse devoted herself to the sick and wounded, for a few who had +ventured forth too boldly to aid in barricading the entrance, had +been hurt by arrows and lances flung by the idle soldiery; and a still +greater number were suffering from sun-stroke in consequence of toiling +on the top of the building. + +Inside the vast, thick-walled halls it was much cooler than in the +streets even, and the hours glided fast to the besieged heathen. Many of +them were fully occupied, or placed on guard; others were discussing the +situation, and disputing or guessing at what the outcome might, or must +be. Numbers, panic-stricken or absorbed in pious awe, sat huddled on +the ground, praying, muttering magical formulas, or wailing aloud. The +Magians and astrologers had retired with knots of followers into +the adjoining studies, where they were comparing registers, making +calculations, reading signs, devising new formulas and defending them +against their opponents. + +An incessant bustle went on, to and fro between these rooms and the +great library, and the tables were covered with rolls and tablets +containing ancient prophecies, horoscopes and potent exorcisms. +Messengers, one after another, were sent out from thence to command +silence in the great halls, where the assembled youths and girls were +kissing, singing, shouting and dancing to the shrill pipe of flutes and +twang of lutes, clapping their hands, rattling tambourines--in short, +enjoying to the utmost the few hours that might yet be theirs before +they must make the fatal leap into nothingness, or at least into the dim +shades of death. + +The sun was sinking when suddenly the great brazen gong was loudly +struck, and the hard, blatant clatter rent the air of the temple-hall. +The mighty waves of sound reverberated from the walls of the sanctuary +like the surge of a clangorous sea, and sent their metallic vibration +ringing through every room and cell, from the topmost observatory-turret +to the deepest vault beneath, calling all who were within the precincts +to assemble. The holy places filled at once; the throng poured in +through the vestibule, and in a few minutes even the hypostyle, the +sanctum of the veiled statue, was full to overflowing. Without any +distinction of rank or sex, and regardless of all the usual formalities +or the degrees of initiation which each had passed through, the +worshippers of Serapis crowded towards the sacred niche, till a chain, +held up by neokores--[Temple-servants]--at a respectful distance from +the mystical spot, checked their advance. Densely packed and in almost +breathless silence, they filled the nave and the colonnades, watching +for what might befall. + +Presently a dull low chant of men's voices was heard. This went on for +a few minutes, and then a loud pean in honor of the god rang through the +temple with an accompaniment of flutes, cymbals, lutes and trumpets. + +Karnis had found a place with his wife and son; all three, holding +hands, joined enthusiastically in the stirring hymn; and, with them, +Porphyrius, who by accident was close to them, swelling the song of the +multitude. All now stood with hands uplifted and eyes fixed in anxious +expectancy on the curtain. The figures and emblems on the hanging were +invisible in the gloom--but now-now there was a stir, as of life, in the +ponderous folds,--they moved--they began to ripple like streams, brooks, +water-falls, recovering motion after long stagnation--the curtain slowly +sank, and at length it fell so suddenly that the eye could scarcely note +the instant. From every lip, as but one voice, rose a cry of admiration, +amazement, and delight, for Serapis stood revealed to his people. + +The noble manhood of the god sat with dignity on a golden throne that +was covered with a blaze of jewels; his gracious and solemn face +looked down on the crowd of worshippers. The hair that curled upon his +thoughtful brow, and the kalathos that crowned it were of pure gold +At his feet crouched Cerberus, raising his three fierce heads with +glistening ruby eyes. The body of the god--a model of strength in +repose--and the drapery were of gold and ivory. In its perfect harmony +as a whole, and the exquisite beauty of every detail, this statue bore +the stamp of supreme power and divine majesty. When such a divinity as +this should rise from his throne the earth indeed might quake and the +heavens tremble! Before such a Lord the strongest might gladly bow, for +no mortal ever shone in such radiant beauty. This Sovereign must triumph +over every foe, even over death--the monster that lay writhing in +impotent rage at his feet! + +Gasping and thrilled with pious awe, enraptured but dumb with reverent +fear, the assembled thousands gazed on the god dimly revealed to them in +the twilight, when suddenly, for a moment of solemn glory, a ray of the +setting sun--a shaft of intense brightness--pierced the star-spangled +apse of the niche and fell on the lips of the god as though to kiss its +Lord and Father. + +A shout like a thunder-clap-like the roar of breakers on a reef, burst +from the spectators; a shout of triumph so mighty that the statues +quivered, the brazen altars rang, the hangings swayed, the sacred +vessels clattered and the lamps trembled and swung; the echo rolled +round the aisles like a whirlpool at the flood, and was dashed from +pillar to column in a hundred wavelets of sound. The glorious sun still +recognized its lord; Serapis still reigned in undiminished might; he had +not yet lost the power to defend himself, his world and his children! + +The sun was gone, night fell on the temple and suddenly there was a +swaying movement of the apse above the statue; the stars were shaken by +invisible hands, and colored flames twinkled with dazzling brightness +from a myriad five-rayed perforations. Once more the god was revealed to +his worshippers under a flood of magical glory, and now fully visible in +his unique beauty. Again the great halls rang with the acclamations of +the delirious throng; Olympius stepped forth, arrayed in a flowing robe +with the insignia and decorations of the high-priesthood; standing in +front of the image he poured on the pedestal a libation to the gods out +of a golden cup, and waved a censer of the costliest incense. Then, in +burning words, he exhorted all the followers of Serapis to fight and +conquer for their god, or--if need must--to perish for and with him. He +added a fervent prayer in a loud ringing voice--a cry for help that came +from the bottom of his heart, and went to the souls of his hearers. + +Then a solemn hymn was chanted as the curtain was raised; and while +the assembled multitude watched it rise in reverent silence, the +temple-servants lighted the lamps that illuminated the sanctuary from +every cornice and pillar. + +Karnis had left hold of his companions' hands, for he wanted to wipe +away the tears of devotional excitement that flowed down his withered +cheeks; Orpheus had thrown his arms round his mother, and Porphyrius, +who had joined a group of philosophers and sages, sent a glance of +sympathy to the old musician. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +By an hour after sunset the sacrifice of a bull in the great court of +the Serapeum was consummated, and the Moscosphragist announced that the +god had graciously accepted it--the examination of the entrails showed +more favorable indications than it had the day before. The flesh of the +slaughtered beast went forthwith to the kitchen; and, if the savor of +roast beef that presently rose up was as grateful to Serapis as to +his worshippers, they might surely reckon on a happy issue from the +struggle. + +The besieged, indeed, were, ere long, in excellent spirits; for Olympius +had taken care to store the cellars of the sanctuary with plenty of good +wine, and the happy auguries drawn from the appearance of the god and +the state of the victim had filled them with fresh confidence. As there +was not sleeping accommodation for nearly all the men, they had to turn +night into day; and as, to most of them, life consisted wholly in the +enjoyment of the moment, and all was delightful that was new or strange, +they soon eat and drank themselves into a valiant frame of mind. + +Couches, such as they were wont to be on at meals, there were not, so +each man snatched up the first thing he could lay his hands on to +serve as a seat. When cups were lacking the jugs and vessels from the +sanctuary were sent for, and passed from one to another. Many a youth +lounged with his head in some fair one's lap; many a girl leaned back +to back with some old man; and as flowers were not to be had, messengers +were sent to the town to buy them, with vine-wreaths and other greenery. + +They were easily procured, and with them came the news that the races +were to be held next morning. + +This information was regarded by many as being of the first importance; +Nicarchus, the son of the rich Hippocleides, and Zenodotus a weaver of +tapestry--whose quadriga had once proved victorious--hastily made their +way into the town to give the requisite orders in their stables, and +they were closely followed by Hippias, the handsome agitator, who was +the favorite driver in the arena for the horses belonging to wealthy +owners. In the train of these three every lover of horses vanished from +the scene, with a number of Hippias' friends, and of flower-sellers, +door-keepers, and ticket-holders-in short, of all who expected to derive +special pleasure or profit from the games. Each man reflected that one +could not be missed, and as the god was favorably disposed he might +surely contrive to defend his own temple till after the races were over; +they would then return to conquer or die with the rest. + +Then some others began to think of wives and children in bed at home, +and they, too, departed; still, by far the larger proportion remained +behind--above three thousand in all, men and women. These at once +possessed themselves of the half-emptied wine-jars left by the +deserters; gay music was got up, and then, wreathed with garlands on +their heads and shoulders, and 'filled with the god' they drank, shouted +and danced far into the night. The merry feast soon became a wild orgy; +loud cries of Evoe, and tumultuous singing reached the ears of the +Magians, who had once more settled down to calculations and discussions +over their rolls and tablets. + +The mother of the youth that had been killed still sat huddled at the +foot of the statue of justice, enduring the anguish of listening to +these drunken revels with dull resignation. Every shout of laughter, +every burst of mad mirth from the revellers above cut her to the +heart--and yet, how they would have gladdened her if only one other +voice could have mingled with those hundreds! When Olympius, still in +his fullest dress, and carrying his head loftily as became him, made +his way through the temple at the head of his subordinates, he noticed +Berenice--whom he had known as a proud and happy mother--and begged her +to join the friends whom he had bidden to his own table; but she dreaded +any social contact with men whom she knew, and preferred to remain where +she was at the feet of the goddess. + +Wherever the high-priest went he was hailed with enthusiasm: "Rejoice," +he would say to encourage the feasters, cheering them with wise and +fervid exhortations, reminding them of Pharaoh Mycerinus who, having +been told by an oracle that he had only six years to live, determined to +prove the prophecy false, and by carousing through every night made the +six years allotted to him a good dozen. + +"Imitate him!" cried Olympius as he raised a cup to his lips, "crowd +the joys of a year into the few hours that still are left us, and pour a +libation to the god as I do, out of every cup ere you drink." + +His appeal was answered by a rapturous shout; the flutes and cymbals +piped and clanged, metal cups rang sharply as the drinkers pledged +each other, and the girls thumped their tambourines, till the calf-skin +droned and the bells in the frames tinkled shrilly. + +Olympius thanked them, and bowed on all sides, as he walked from group +to group of his adherents. Seldom, indeed, had his heart beat so high! +His end perhaps was very near, but it should at least be worthy of his +life. + +He knew how the sunbeam had been reflected so as to kiss the statue's +lips. For centuries had this startling little scene and the sudden +illumination of the niche round the head of the god been worked in +precisely the same way at high festivals--[They are mentioned by +Rufinus.]--these were mere stimulants to the dull souls of the vulgar +who needed to be stirred up by the miraculous power of the god, +which the elect recognized throughout the universe, in the wondrous +co-operation of forces and results in nature, and in the lives of men. +He, for his part, firmly believed in Serapis and his might, and in the +prophecies and calculations which declared that his fall must involve +the dissolution of the organic world and its relapse into chaos. + +Many winds were battling in the air, each one driving the ship of life +towards the whirlpool. To-day or to-morrow--what matter which? The +threatened cataclysm had no terrors for Olympius. One thing only was a +pang to his vanity: No succeeding generations would preserve the memory +of his heroic struggle and death for the cause of the gods. But all was +not yet lost, and his sunny nature read in the glow of the dying clay +the promise and dawn of a brilliant morrow. If the expected succor +should arrive--if the good cause should triumph here in Alexandria--if +the rising were to be general throughout Greek heathendom, then indeed +had he been rightly named Olympius by his parents--then he would not +change places with any god of Olympus--then the glory of his name, more +lasting than bronze or marble, would shine forth like the sun, so long +as one Greek heart honored the ancient gods and loved its native land. + +This night--perhaps its last--should see a grand, a sumptuous feast; +he invited his friends and adherents--the leaders of spiritual life in +Alexandria--to a 'symposium', after the manner of the philosophers and +dilettanti of ancient Athens, to be held in the great concert-hall of +the Serapeum. + +How different was its aspect from that of the Bishop's council-chamber! +The Christians sat within bare walls, on wooden benches, round a plain +table; the large room in which Olympius received his supporters was +magnificently decorated, and furnished with treasures of art in fine +inlaid work, beaten brass and purple stuffs-a hall for kings to meet in. +Thick cushions, covered with lion and panther-skins, tempted fatigue or +indolence; and when the hero of the hour joined his guests, after his +progress through the precincts, every couch was occupied. To his +right lay Helladius, the famous grammarian and high-priest of Zeus; +Porphyrius, the benefactor of the Serapeum, was on his left; even Karnis +had been allotted a place in his old friend's social circle, and greatly +appreciated the noble juice of the grape, that was passed round, as well +as the eager and intelligent friction of minds, from which he had long +been cut off. + +Olympius himself was unanimously chosen Symposiarch, and he invited the +company to discuss, in the first instance, the time-honored question: +Which was the highest good? + +One and all, he said, they were standing on a threshold, as it were; +and as travellers, quitting an old and beloved home to seek a new and +unknown one in a distant land, pause to consider what particular joy +that they have known under the shelter of the old Penates has been the +dearest, so it would beseem them to reflect, at this supreme moment, +what had been the highest good of their life in this world. They were +on the eve, perhaps, of a splendid victory; but, perchance, on the other +hand, their foot was already on the plank that led from the shore of +life to Charon's bark. + +The subject was a familiar one and a warm discussion was immediately +started. The talk was more flowery and brilliant, no doubt, than in old +Athens, but it led to no deeper views and threw no clearer light on the +well-worn question. The wranglers could only quote what had been said +long since as to the highest Good, and when presently Helladius called +upon them to bring their minds to bear on the nature of humanity, a +vehement disputation arose as to whether man were the best or the worst +of created beings. This led to various utterances as to the mystical +connection of the spiritual and material worlds, and nothing could +be more amazing than the power of imagination which had enabled these +mystical thinkers to people with spirits and daemons every circle of +the ladder-like structure which connected the incomprehensible and +self-sufficing One with the divine manifestation known as Man. It became +quite intelligible that many Alexandrians should fear to fling a stone +lest it might hit one of the good daemons of which the air was full--a +spirit of light perhaps, or a protecting spirit. The more obscure their +theories, the more were they overloaded with image and metaphor; +all simplicity of statement was lost, and yet the disputants prided +themselves on the brilliancy of their language and the wealth of their +ideas. They believed that they had brought the transcendental within +the grasp of intelligent sense, and that their empty speculations had +carried them far beyond the narrow limits of the Ancients. + +Karnis was in raptures; Porphyrius only wished for Gorgo by his side, +for, like all fathers, he would rather that his child should have +enjoyed this supreme intellectual treat than himself. + + ........................ + +In Porphyrius' house, meanwhile, all was gloom and anxiety. In spite +of the terrific heat Damia would not be persuaded to come down from the +turret-room where she had collected all the instruments, manuals and +formulas used by astrologers and Magians. A certain priest of Saturn, +who had a great reputation as a master of such arts, and who, for many +years, had been her assistant whenever she sought to apply her science +to any important event, was in attendance--to give her the astrological +tables, to draw circles, ellipses or triangles at her bidding, to +interpret the mystical sense of numbers or letters, which now and then +escaped her aged memory; he made her calculations or tested those +she made herself, and read out the incantations which she thought +efficacious under the circumstances. Occasionally, too, he suggested +some new method or fresh formula by which she might verify her results. + +She had fasted, according to rule, the whole forenoon, and was +frequently so far overcome by the heat as to drop asleep in the midst +of her studies; then, when she woke with a start, if her assistant +had meanwhile worked out his calculation to a result contrary to her +anticipations, she took him up sharply and made him begin again from the +beginning. Gorge, went up from time to time; but, though she offered the +old woman refreshment prepared by her own hand, she could not persuade +her even to moisten her lips with a little fruitsyrup, for to break the +prescribed fast might endanger the accuracy of her prognostications +and the result of all her labor. However, when she seemed to doze, her +granddaughter sprinkled strong waters about the room to freshen the +air, poured a few drops on the old lady's dress, wiped the dews from +her brow, and fanned her to cool her. Damia submitted to all this; and +though she had only closed her weary eyes, she pretended to be asleep in +order to have the pleasure of being cared for by her darling. + +Towards noon she dismissed the Magian and allowed herself a short +interval of rest and sleep; but as soon as she woke she collected her +wits, and set to work again with fresh zeal and diligence. When, at +last, she had mastered all the signs and omens, she knew for certain +that nothing could avert the awful doom foretold by the oracles of old. + +The fall of Serapis and the end of the world were at hand. + +The Magian covered his head as he saw, plainly demonstrated, how she had +reached this conclusion, and he groaned in sincere terror; she, however, +dismissed him with perfect equanimity, handing him her purse, which she +had filled in the morning, and saying: + +"To last till the end." + +The sun was now long past the meridian and the old woman, quite worn +out, threw herself back in her chair and desired Gorgo to let no one +disturb her; nay, not to return herself till she was sent for. As soon +as Damia was alone she gazed at herself in a mirror for some little +time, murmuring the seven vocables incessantly while she did so; and +then she fixed her eyes intently on the sky. These strange proceedings +were directed to a particular end, she was endeavoring to close her +senses to the external world, to become blind, deaf, and impervious to +everything material--the polluting burthen which divided her divine and +spiritual part from the celestia fount whence it was derived; to set her +soul free from its earthly shroud--free to gaze on the god that was its +father. She had already more than once nearly attained to this state by +long fasting and resolute abstraction and once, in a moment she could +never forget, had enjoyed the dizzy ecstasy of feeling herself float, +as it were through infinite space, like a cloud, bathed in glorious +radiance. The fatigue that had been gradually over powering her now +seconded her efforts; she soon felt slight tremor; a cold sweat broke +out all over her; she lost all consciousness of her limbs, and all sense +of sighs and hearing; a fresher and cooler air seemed to revive not her +lungs only, but every part of her body, while undulating rays of red and +violet light danced before her eyes. Was not their strange radiance +an emanation from the eternal glory that she sought? Was not some +mysterious power uplifting her, bearing her towards the highest goal? +Was her soul already free from the bondage of the flesh? Had she indeed +become one with God and had her earnest seeking for the Divinity ended +in glorification? No; her arms which she had thrown up as if to fly, +fell by her side it was all in vain. A pain--a trifling pain in her +foot, had brought her down again to the base world of sense which she so +ardently strove to soar away from. + +Several times she took up the mirror, looked in it fixedly as before, +and then gazed upwards; but each time that she lost consciousness of the +material world and that her liberated soul began to move its unfettered +pinions, some little noise, the twitch of a muscle, a fly settling on +her hand, a drop of perspiration falling from her brow on to her cheek, +roused her senses to reassert themselves. + +Why--why was it so difficult to shake off this burthen of mortal clay? +She thought of herself as of a sculptor who chisels away all superfluous +material froth his block of marble, to reveal the image of the god +within; but it was easier to remove the enclosing stone than to release +the soul from the body to which it was so closely knit. Still, she did +not give up the struggle to attain the object which others had achieved +before her; but she got no nearer to it--indeed, less and less near, +for, between her and that hoped-for climax, rose up a series of memories +and strange faces which she could not get rid of. The chisel slipped +aside, went wrong or lost its edge before the image could be extracted +from the block. + +One illusion after another floated before her eyes first it was Gorgo, +the idol of her old heart, lying pale and fair on a sea of surf that +rocked her on its watery waste--up high on the crest of a wave and then +deep down in the abyss that yawned behind it. She, too--so young, a +hardly-opened blossom--must perish in the universal ruin, and be crushed +by the same omnipotent hand that could overthrow the greatest of the +gods; and a glow of passionate hatred snatched her away from the aim of +her hopes. Then the dream changed she saw a scattered flock of ravens +flying in wide circles, at an unattainable height, against the clouds; +suddenly they vanished and she saw, in a grey mist, the monument to +Porphyrius' wife, Gorgo's long-departed mother. She had often visited +the mausoleum with tender emotion, but she did not want to see it +now--not now, and she shook it off; but in its place rose up the image +of her daughter-in-law herself, the dweller in that tomb, and no effort +of will or energy availed to banish that face. She saw the dead woman +as she had seen her on the last fateful occasion in her short life. A +solemn and festal procession was passing out through the door of their +house, headed by flute-players and singing-girls; then came a white +bull; a garland of the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate--[This tree +was regarded as the symbol of fertility, on account of its many-seeded +fruit.]--hung round its massive neck, and its horns were gilt. By its +side walked slaves, carrying white baskets full of bread and cakes and +heaps of flowers, and these were followed by others, bearing light-blue +cages containing geese and doves. The bull, the calves, the flowers and +the birds were all to be deposited in the temple of Eileithyia, as +a sacrifice to the protecting goddess of women in child-birth. Close +behind the bull came Gorgo's mother, dressed with wreaths, walking +slowly and timidly, with shy, downcast eyes-thinking perhaps of the +anguish to come, and putting up a silent prayer. + +Damia followed with the female friends of the house, the clients and +their wives and some personal attendants, all carrying pomegranates in +the right hand, and holding in the left a long wreath of flowers which +thus connected the whole procession. + +In this order they reached the ship-yard; but at that spot they were met +by a band of crazy monks from the desert monasteries, who, seeing the +beast for sacrifice, abused them loudly, cursing the heathen. The slaves +indignantly drove them off, but then the starveling anchorites fell upon +the innocent beast which was the chief abomination in their eyes. The +bull tossed his huge head, snuffing and snorting to right and left, +stuck out his tail and rushed away from the boy whose guidance he had +till now meekly followed, flung a monk high in the air with his huge +horns, and then turned in his fury on the women who were behind. + +They fled like a flock of doves on which a hawk comes swooping down; +some were driven quite into the lake and others up against the paling of +the shipyard, while Damia herself--who was going through it all again +in the midst of her efforts to rise to the divinity--and the young wife +whom she had vainly tried to shelter and support, were both knocked +down. To that hour of terror Gorgo owed her birth, while to her mother +it was death. + +On the following day Alexandria beheld a funeral ceremony as solemn, +as magnificent, and as crowded as though a conquering hero were being +entombed; it was that of the monk whom the bull had gored; the Bishop +had proclaimed that by this attack on the abomination of desolation--the +blood-sacrifice of idolatry--he had won an eternal crown in Paradise. + +But now the black ravens crossed Damia's vision once more, till +presently a handsome young Greek gaily drove them off with his thyrsus. +His powerful and supple limbs shone with oil, applied in the gymnasium +of Timagetes, the scene of his frequent triumphs in all the sports and +exercises of the youthful Greeks. His features and waving hair were +those of her son Apelles; but suddenly his aspect changed: he was an +emaciated penitent, his knees bent under the weight of a heavy cross; +his widow, Mary, had declared him a martyr to the cause of the crucified +Jew and defamed his memory in the eyes of his own son and of all men. +Damia clenched her trembling hands. Again those ravens came swirling +round, flapping their wings wildly over the prostrate penitent. + +Then her husband appeared to her, calmly indifferent to the birds of +ill-omen. He looked just as she remembered him many--so many years ago, +when he had come in smiling and said: "The best stroke of business I +ever did! For a sprinkling of water I have secured the corn trade with +Thessalonica and Constantinople; that is a hundred gold solidi for each +drop." + +Yes, he had made a good bargain. The profits of that day's work +were multiplied by tens, and water, nothing in the world but Nile +water--Baptismal water the priest had called it--had filled her son's +money-bags, too, and had turned their plot of land into broad estates; +but it had been tacitly understood that this sprinkling of water +established a claim for a return, and this both father and son had +solemnly promised. Its magic turned everything they touched to gold, but +it brought a blight on the peace of the household. One branch, which had +grown up in the traditions of the old Macedonian stock, had separated +from the other; and her husband's great lie lay between them and the +family still living in the Canopic way, like a wide ocean embittered +with the salt of hatred. That he had infused poison into his son's life +and compelled him, proud as he was, to forfeit the dignity of a free +and high-minded man. Though devoted in his heart to the old gods he +had humbled himself, year after year, to bow the knee with the hated +votaries of the Christian faith, and in their church, to their crucified +Lord, and had publicly confessed Christ. The water--the terrible +thaumaturgic stream--clung to him more inseparably than the brand-mark +on a slave's arm. It could neither be dried up nor wiped away; for +if the false Christian, who was really a zealous heathen, had boldly +confessed the Olympian gods and abjured the odious new faith, the gifts +of the all-powerful water and all the possessions of their old family +would be confiscated to the State and Church, and the children of +Porphyrius, the grandchildren of the wealthy Damia, would be beggars. +And this--all this--for the sake of a crucified Jew. + +The gods be praised the end of all this wretchedness was at hand! A +thrill of ecstasy ran through her as she reflected that with herself +and her children, every soul, everything that bore the name of Christian +would be crushed, shattered and annihilated. She could have laughed +aloud but that her throat was so dry, her tongue so parched; but her +scornful triumph was expressed in every feature, as her fancy showed her +Marcus riding along the Canopic street with that little heathen hussy +Dada, the singing girl, while her much-hated daughter-in-law looked +after them, beating her forehead in grief and rage. + +Quite beside herself with delight the old woman rocked backwards and +forwards in her chair; not for long, however, for the black birds seemed +to fill the whole room, describing swift, interminable spirals round her +head. She could not hear them, but she could see them, and the whirling +vortex fascinated her; she could not help turning her head to follow +their flight; she grew giddy and she was forced to try to recover her +balance. + +The old woman sat huddled in her chair, her hands convulsively clutching +the arms, like a horseman whose steed has run away with him round and +round the arena; till at length, worn out by excitement and exhaustion, +she became unconscious, and sank in a heap on the ground, rigid and +apparently lifeless. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Gorgo, when she had left her grandmother, could not rest. Her lofty +calmness of demeanor had given way to a restless mood such as she +had always contemned severely in others, since she had ceased to be a +vehement child and grown to be a woman. She tried to beguile the alarm +that made her pulses beat so quickly, and the heart-sickness that ached +like a wound, by music and singing; but this only added to her torment. +The means by which she could usually recover her equanimity of mind had +lost their efficacy, and Sappho's longing hymn, which she began to +sing, had only served to bring the fervid longing of her own heart to +light--to set it, as it were, in the full glare of the sun. She had +become aware that every fibre, every nerve of her being yearned for the +man she loved; she would have thrown away her life like a hollow nut for +one single hour of perfect joy with him and in him. The faith in the old +gods, the heathen world which contained the ideal of her young soul, her +detestation of Christianity, her beautiful art--everything, in short, +that had filled the spiritual side of her life, was cast into the shade +by the one absorbing passion that possessed her soul. Every feeling, +every instinct, urged her to abandon herself entirely to her lover, and +yet she never for one instant doubted which side she would take in the +approaching conflict of the great powers that ruled the world. The last +few hours had only confirmed her conviction that the end of all things +was at hand. The world was on the eve of destruction; she foresaw that +she must perish--perish with Constantine, and that, in her eyes, was a +grace from the gods. + +While Damia was vainly struggling to liberate her soul from the bondage +of the flesh, Gorgo had been wandering uneasily about the house; now +going to the slaves, encouraging them with brave words, and giving them +employment to keep them from utter desperation, and then stealing up to +see whether her grandmother might not by this time be in need of her. +As it grew dark she observed that several of the women, and even some of +the men, had made their escape. These were such as had already shown +a leaning towards the new faith, and who now made off to join their +fellow-Christians, or to seek refuge in the churches under the +protection of the crucified God whose supreme power might, perhaps, even +yet, avert the impending catastrophe. + +Twice had Porphyrius sent a messenger to assure his mother and daughter +that all was well with him, that a powerful party was prepared to defend +the Serapeum, and that he should pass the night in the temple. The +Romans were evidently hesitating to attack it, and if, next morning, +the heathen should succeed in repelling the first onset, reinforcements +might yet be brought up in time. Gorgo could not share these hopes; a +client of her father's had brought in a rumor that the Biamites, after +advancing as far as Naucratis, had been dispersed by a few of the +Imperial maniples. Fate was stalking on its way, and no one could give +it pause. + +The evening brought no coolness, and when it was already quite dark, as +her grandmother had not yet called her, Gorgo could no longer control +her increasing anxiety, so, after knocking in vain at the door of the +observatory, she went in. Her old nurse preceded her with a lamp, +and the two women stood dumb with consternation, for the old lady lay +senseless on the ground. Her head was thrown back against the seat of +the chair off which she had slipped, and her pale face was lifeless and +horrible to look at, with its half-closed eyes and dropped jaw. +Wine, water, and strong essences were all at hand, and they laid the +unconscious woman on a couch intended for the occasional use of the +wearied observer. In a few minutes they had succeeded in reviving the +old lady; but her eyes rested without recognition on the girl who knelt +by her side, and she murmured to herself: "The ravens--where are they +gone? Ravens!" + +Her glance wandered round the room, to the tablets and rolls which had +been tossed off the couch and the table to make room for her, and for +the lamps and medicaments. They lay in disorder on the floor, and the +sight of this confusion produced a favorable excitement and reaction; +she succeeded in expressing herself in husky accents and broken, hardly +intelligible sentences, so far as to scold them sharply for their +irreverence for the precious documents, and for the disorder they had +created. The waiting-woman proceeded to pick them up: but Damia again +became unconscious. Gorgo bathed her brow and tried to pour some +wine between her teeth, but she clenched them too firmly, till the +slave-woman came to her assistance and they succeeded in making Damia +swallow a few drops. The old woman opened her eyes, smacking her tongue +feebly; but she took the cup into her own hand to hold it to her lips; +and though she trembled so that half the contents were spilt, she drank +eagerly till it was quite empty. "More," she gasped with the eagerness +of intense thirst, "more--I want drink!" + +Gorgo gave her a second and a third draught which Damia drank with equal +eagerness; then, with a deep breath, she looked up fully conscious, at +her granddaughter. + +"Thank you, child," she said. "Now I shall do very well for a little +while. The material world and all that belongs to it weighs us down and +clings to us like iron fetters. We may long and strive to be free, but +it pursues us and holds us fast. Only those who are content with their +miserable humanity can enjoy it. They laugh, as you know, at Praxilla, +the poetess, because she makes the dying Adonis lament, when face to +face with death, that he is forced to leave the apples and pears behind +him. But is not that subtly true? Yes, yes; Praxilla is right! We fast, +we mortify ourselves--I have felt it all myself--to partake of divinity. +We almost perish of hunger and thirst, when we might be so happy if +only we would be satisfied with apples and pears! No man has ever yet +succeeded in the great effort; those who would be truly happy must be +content with small things. That is what makes children so happy. Apples +and pears! Well, everything will be at an end for me ere long--even +those. But if the great First Cause spares himself in the universal +crash, there is still the grand idea of Apples and Pears; and who knows +but that it may please Him, when this world is destroyed, to frame +another to come after it. Will He then once more embody the ideas of +Man--and Apples and Pears? It would be plagiarism from himself. Nay, if +He is merciful, He will never again give substance to that hybrid idea +called Man; or, if He does, He will let the poor wretch be happy with +apples and pears--I mean trivial joys; for all higher joys, be they what +they may, are vanity and vexation.... Give me another draught. Ah, that +is good! And to-morrow is the end. I could find it in my heart to regret +the good gifts of Dionysus myself; it is better than apples and pears; +next to that comes the joy that Eros bestows on mortals, and there must +be an end to all that, too. That, however, is above the level of apples +and pears. It is great, very great happiness, and mingled therefor with +bitter sorrow. Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line +that divides them? Smiles and tears alike belong to both. And you are +weeping? Aye, aye--poor child! Come here and kiss me." Damia drew the +head of the kneeling girl close to her bosom and pressed her lips to +Gorge's brow. Presently, however, she relaxed her embrace and, looking +about the room, she exclaimed: + +"How you have mixed and upset the book-rolls! If only I could show you +how clearly everything agrees and coincides. We know now exactly how it +will all happen. By the day after to-morrow there will be no more earth, +no more sky; and I will tell you this, child: If, when Serapis falls, +the universe does not crumble to pieces like a ruinous hovel, then the +wisdom of the Magians is a lie, the course of the stars has nothing to +do with the destinies of the earth and its inhabitants, the planets are +mere lamps, the sun is no more than a luminous furnace, the old gods are +marsh-fires, emanations from the dark bog of men's minds--and the great +Serapis.... But why be angry with him? There is no doubt--no if nor +but.... Give me the diptychon and I will show you our doom. There--just +here--my sight is so dazzled, I cannot make it out.--And if I could, +what matter? Who can alter here below what has been decided above? Leave +me to sleep now, and I will explain it all to you to-morrow if there is +still time. Poor child, when I think how we have tormented you to learn +what you know, and how industrious you have been! And now--to what end? +I ask you, to what end? The great gulf will swallow up one and all." + +"So be it, so be it!" cried Gorgo interrupting her. "Then, at any rate, +nothing that I love on earth will be lost to me before I die!" + +"And the enemy will perish in the same ruin!" continued Damia, her eyes +sparkling with revived fire. "But where shall we go to--where? The soul +is divine by nature and cannot be destroyed. It must return--say, am I +right or wrong?--It will return to its first fount and cause; for like +attracts and absorbs like, and thus our deification, our union with the +god will be accomplished." + +"I believe it--I am sure of it!" replied Gorgo with conviction. + +"You are sure of it?" retorted the old woman. "But I am not. For our +clearest knowledge is but guesswork when it is not based on numbers. +Nothing is proved or provable but by numbers, but they are surer than +the rocks in the sea; that is why I believe in our coming doom, for, +on those tablets, we have calculated it to a certainty. But who can +calculate evidence of the future fate of the soul? If, indeed, the old +order should not pass away--if the depths should remain below and the +empyrean still keep its place above--then, to be sure, your studies +would not be in vain; for then your soul, which is fixed on spiritual, +supernatural and sublime conceptions, would be drawn upwards to the +great Intelligence of which it is the offspring, to the very god, and +become one with him--absorbed into him, as the rain-drop fallen from a +cloud rises again and is reunited to its parent vapor. Then--for there +may be a metempsychosis--your songful spirit might revive to inform a +nightingale, then..." + +Damia paused; and gazed upwards as if in ecstasy, and it was not till +a few minutes later that she went on, with a changed expression in her +face: "Then my son's widow, Mary, would be hatched out of a serpent's +egg and would creep a writhing asp.... Great gods! the ravens! What can +they mean? They come again. Air, air! Wine! I cannot--I am choking--take +it away!--To-morrow--to-day.... Everything is going; do you see--do +you feel? It is all black--no, red; and now black again. Everything is +sinking; hold me, save me; the floor is going from under me.--Where is +Porphyrius? Where is my son?--My feet are so cold; rub them. It is the +water! rising--it is up to my knees. I am sinking--help! save me! help!" +The dying woman fought with her arms as if she were drowning; her cries +for help grew fainter, her head drooped on her laboring chest, and in a +few minutes she had breathed her last in her grandchild's arms, and her +restless, suffering soul was free. + +Never before had Gorgo seen death. She could not persuade herself that +the heart which had been so cold for others, but had throbbed so warmly +and tenderly for her, was now stilled for ever; that the spirit which, +even in sleep, had never been at rest, had now found eternal peace. The +slave-woman had hastily taken her place, had closed the dead woman's +eyes and mouth, and done all she could to diminish the horror of the +scene, and the terrible aspect of the dead in the sight of the girl who +had been her one darling. But Gorgo had remained by her side, and, +while she did everything in her power to revive the stiffening body, +the overwhelming might of Death had come home to her with appalling +clearness. She felt the limbs of one she had loved growing cold and +rigid under her hands, and her spirit rose in obstinate rebellion +against the idea that annihilation stood between her and the woman +who had so amply filled a mother's place. She insisted on having every +method of resuscitation tried that had ever been heard of, and made her +nurse send for physicians, though the woman solemnly assured her that +human help was of no avail: then she sent for the priest of Saturn +who--as the dead woman herself had told her--knew mighty spells which +had called back many a departed spirit to the body it had quitted. + +When, at last, she was alone and gazed on the hard, set features of the +dead, though she shuddered with horror, she so far controlled herself +as to press her lips in sorrow and gratitude to the thin hand whose +caresses she had been wont to accept as a mere matter of course. How +cold and heavy it was! She shivered and dropped it, and the large rings +on the fingers rattled on the wooden frame of the couch. There was no +hope; she understood that her friend and mother was indeed dead and +silent forever. + +Deep and bitter grief overwhelmed her completely, with the sense of +abandoned loneliness, the humiliating feeling of helplessness against +a brutal power that marches on, scorning humanity, as a warrior treads +down the grass and flowers in his path. She fell on her knees by the +corpse, sobbing passionately, and crying like an indignant child when a +stronger companion has robbed it of some precious possession. She wept +with rage at her own impotence; and her tears flowed faster and faster +as she more fully realized how lonely she was, and what a blow this must +be to her father. In this hour no pleasant reminiscences of past family +happiness came to infuse a drop of sweetness into the bitterness of her +grief. Only one reflection brought her any comfort, and that was the +thought that the grave which had yawned already for her grandmother +would soon, very soon, open for herself and all living souls. On the +table, close at hand, lay the evidence of their impending doom, and +a longing for that end gradually took complete possession of her, +excluding every other feeling. Thinking of this she rose from her knees +and ceased to weep. + +When, presently, her waiting-woman should return, she was resolved to +leave the house at once; she could not bear to stay; her feelings and +duty alike indicated the place where she might find the last hour's +happiness that she expected or desired of life. Her father must learn +from herself, and not from a stranger, of the loss that had befallen +them, and she knew that he was in the Serapeum--on the very spot where +she might hope next morning to meet Constantine. It would be her lover's +duty to open the gate to destruction, and she would be there to pass +through it at his side. + +She waited a long, long time, but at last there was a noise on the +stairs. That was her nurse's step, but she was not alone. Had she +brought the leech and the exorciser? The door opened and the old steward +came in, carrying a three-branched lamp; then followed the slave-woman, +and then--her heart stood still then came Constantine and his mother. + +Gorgo, pale and speechless, received her unexpected visitors. The nurse +had failed to find the physician, whose aid would, at any rate, have +come too late; and as the housekeeper had taken herself off with others +of the Christian slaves, the faithful soul had said to herself that "her +child" would want some womanly help and comfort in her trouble, and had +gone to the house of their neighbor Clemens, to entreat his wife to +come with her to see the dead, and visit her forlorn young mistress. +Constantine, who had come home a short time previously, had said +nothing, but had accompanied the two women. + +While Constantine gazed with no unkindly feelings at the still face of +Damia--to whom, after all, he owed many a little debt of kindness--and +then turned to look at Gorgo who stood downcast, pale, and struggling +to breathe calmly, Dame Marianne tried to proffer a few words of +consolation. She warmly praised everything in the dead woman which was +not in her estimation absolutely reprobate and godless, and brought +forward all the comforting arguments which a pious Christian can command +for the edification and encouragement of those who mourn a beloved +friend; but to Gorgo all this well-meant discourse was as the babble of +an unknown tongue; and it was only when, at length, Marianne went up +to her and drew her to her motherly bosom, to kiss her, and bid her be +welcome under Clelnens' roof till Porphyrius should be at home again, +that she understood that the good woman meant kindly, and honestly +desired to help and comfort her. + +But the allusion to her father reminded her of the first duty in her +path; she roused her energies, thanked Marianne warmly, and begged her +only to assist her in carrying the corpse into the thalamos, and then +to take charge of the keys. She herself, she explained, meant at once to +seek her father, since he ought to learn from no one but herself of +his mother's death. Nor would she listen for a moment to her friend's +pressing entreaties that she would put off this task, and pass the +night, at any rate, under her roof. + +Constantine had kept in the background; it was not till Gorgo approached +the dead and gave the order to carry the body down into the house that +he came forward, and with simple feeling offered her his hand. The girl +looked frankly in his face, and, as she put her hand in his, she said in +a low voice: "I was unjust to you, Constantine. I insulted and hurt you; +but I repented sincerely, even before you had left the house. And you +owe me no grudge, I know, for you understood how forlorn I must be +and came to see me. There is no ill-feeling, is there, nothing to come +between us?" + +"Nothing, nothing!" he eagerly exclaimed, seizing her other hand with +passionate fervor. + +She felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed in a full tide to +her heart--as if he were some part of her very being, that had been torn +out, snatched from her, and that she must have back again, even if it +cost them both their life and happiness. The impulse was irresistible; +she drew away her hands from his grasp and flung them round his neck, +clinging to him as a weary child clings to its mother. She did not know +how it had come about--how such a thing was possible, but it was done; +and without paying any heed to Marianne, who looked on in dismay +while her son's lips were pressed to the brow and lips of the lovely +idolatress, she wept upon her lover's shoulders, feeling a thousand +roses blossoming in her soul and a thousand thorns piercing and tearing +her heart. + +It had to be, that she felt; it was at once their union and their +parting. Their common destiny was but for a moment, and that moment had +come and gone. All that now retrained for them was death--destruction, +with all things living; and she looked forward to this, as a man watches +for the dawn after a sleepless night. Marianne stood aside; she dimly +perceived that something vital was going on, that something inevitable +had happened which would admit of no interference. Gorgo, as she +freed herself from Constantine's embrace, stood strangely solemn and +unapproachable. To the simple matron she was an inscrutable riddle to +which she could find no clue; but she was pleased, nevertheless, when +Gorgo came up to her and kissed her hand. She could not utter a word, +for she felt that whatever she might say, it would not be the right +thing; and it was a real relief to her to busy herself over the removal +of the body, in which she could be helpful. + +Gorgo had covered the dead face; and when old Damia had been carried +down to the thalamos and laid in state on the bridal bed, she strewed +the couch with flowers. + +Meanwhile, the priest of Saturn had been found, and he declared in all +confidence that no power on earth could have recalled this departed +soul. Damia's sudden end and the girl's great grief went to his faithful +heart, and he gladly acceded to Gorgo's request that he would wait for +her by the garden-gate and escort her to the Serapeum. When he had left +them she gave the keys of her grandmother's chests and cupboards +into Marianne's keeping; then she went into the adjoining room, where +Constantine had been waiting while she decked the bed of death, and bid +him a solemn, but apparently calm, farewell. He put out his arm to clasp +her to his heart, but this she would not permit; and when he besought +her to go home with them she answered sadly, "No, my dearest... I must +not; I have other duties to fulfil." + +"Yes," he replied emphatically, "and I, too--I have mine. But you have +given yourself to me. You are my very own; you belong to me only, +and not to yourself; and I desire, I command you to yield to my first +request. Go with my mother, or stay here, if you will, with the dead. +Wherever your father may be, it is not, cannot be, the right place for +you--my betrothed bride. I can guess where he is. Oh! Gorgo, be warned. + +"The fate of the old gods is sealed. We are the stronger and to-morrow, +yes to-morrow--by your own head, by all I hold dear and sacred!--Serapis +will fall!" + +"I know it," she said firmly. "And you are charged to lay hands on the +god?" + +"I am, and I shall do it." + +She nodded approbation and then said submissively and sweetly: "It is +your duty, and you cannot do otherwise. And come what may we are one, +Constantine, forever one. Nothing can part us. Whatever the future may +bring, we belong to each other, to stand or fall together. I with you, +you with me, till the end of time." She gave him her hand and looked +lovingly into his eyes; then she threw herself into his mother's arms +and kissed her fondly. + +"Come, come with me, my child," said Marianne; but Gorgo freed herself, +exclaiming: "Go, go; if you love me leave me; go and let me be alone." + +She went back into the thalamos where the dead lay at peace, and before +the others could follow her she had opened a door hidden behind some +tapestry near the bed, and fled into the garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The night was hot and gloomy. Heavy clouds gathered in the north, and +wreaths of mist, like a hot vapor-bath, swayed over the crisply-foaming +wavelets that curled the lustreless waters of the Mareotis Lake. The +moon peeped, pale and shrouded, out of a russet halo, and ghostly +twilight reigned in the streets, still heated by the baked walls of the +houses. + +To the west, over the desert, a dull sulphurous yellow streaked the +black clouds, and from time to time the sultry air was rent by a +blinding flash sent across the firmament from the north. There was a +hot, sluggish wind blowing from the southwest, which drove the sand +across the lake into the streets; the fine grit stung: and burnt +the face of the wanderer who hurried on with half-closed eyes and +tightly-shut lips. A deep oppression seemed to have fallen on nature and +on man; the sudden gusts of the heated breeze, the arrow-like shafts of +lightning, the weird shapes and colors of the clouds, all combined to +give a sinister, baleful and portentous aspect to this night, as though +skies and waters, earth and air were brooding over some tremendous +catastrophe. + +Gorgo had thrown a veil and handkerchief round her head and followed the +priest with an aching brow and throbbing heart. When she heard a step +behind her she started-for it might be Constantine following her +up; when a gust of wind flung the stinging sand in her face, or the +storm-flash threw a lurid light on the sky, her heart stood still, for +was not this the prelude to the final crash. + +She was familiar with the way they were going, but its length seemed +to have stretched tenfold. At last, however, they reached their +destination. She gave the pass-word at the gate of her father's +timber-yard and exchanged the signs agreed upon; in a few minutes she +had made her way through the piles of beams and planks that screened the +entrance to the aqueduct--a slave who knew her leading the way with a +light--and she and her companion entered the underground passage. + +It was hot and close; bats, scared by the flare of the torch, fluttered +round her with a ghostly rustle, startling and disgusting her; still, +she felt less alarm here than outside; and when, as she went forward she +thought of the great temple she was coming to, of its wonderful beauty +and solemn majesty, she only cared to press onward to that refuge of +ineffable splendor where all would be peace. To die there, to perish +there with her lover, did not seem hard; nay, she felt proud to think +that she might await death in the noblest edifice ever raised to a god +by mortal hands. Here Fate might have its way; she had known the highest +joy she had ever dreamed of, and where on earth was there a sublimer +tomb than this sanctuary of the sovereign of the universe, whose +supremacy even the other gods acknowledged with trembling! + +She had known the sacred halls of the temple from her childhood, and she +pictured them as filled with thousands of lofty souls, united in this +supreme hour by one feeling and one purpose. She even fancied she could +hear the inspired and heartfelt strains of the enthusiasts who were +prepared to give their lives for the god of their fathers, that she +breathed the odor of incense and burnt sacrifices, that she saw the +chorus of youths and maidens, led by priests and dancing with solemn +grace in mazy circles round the flower-decked altars. There among the +elders who had gathered round Olympius to meditate devoutly on the +coming doom and on the inmost meaning of the mysteries--among the adepts +who were anxiously noting, in the observatories of the Serapeum, the +fateful courses of the stars, the swirling of the clouds and the flight +of birds, she would doubtless find her father; and the fresh wound bled +anew as she remembered that she was the bearer of news which must deeply +shock and grieve him. Still, no doubt, she would find him wrapped in +dignified readiness for the worst, sorrowing serenely for the doomed +world, and so her melancholy message would come to a prepared and +resigned heart. + +She had no fear of the crowd of men she would find in the Serapeum. +Her father and Olympius were there to protect her, and Dame Herse, too, +would be a support and comfort; but even without those three, on such a +night as this--the last perhaps that they might ever see--she would have +ventured without hesitation among thousands, for she firmly believed +that every votary of the gods was awaiting his own end and the crash of +falling skies with devout expectancy, and perhaps with not less terror +than herself. + +These were her thoughts as she and her guide stopped at a strong door. +This was presently opened and they found themselves in an underground +chamber, devoted to the mysteries of the worship of Serapis, in which +the adepts were required to go through certain severe ordeals before +they were esteemed worthy to be received into the highest order of the +initiated--the Esoterics. The halls and corridors which she now went +through, and which she had never before seen, were meagrely lighted with +lamps and torches, and all that met her eye filled her with reverent awe +while it excited her imagination. Everything, in fact--every room and +every image--was as unlike nature, and as far removed from ordinary +types as possible, in arrangement and appearance. After passing through +a pyramidal room, with triangular sides that sloped to a point, she came +to one in the shape of a polygonal prism. In a long, broad corridor she +had to walk on a narrow path, bordered by sphinxes; and there she clung +tightly to her guide, for on one side of the foot-way yawned a gulf of +great depth. In another place she heard, above her head, the sound of +rushing waters, which then fell into the abyss beneath with a loud roar. +After this she came upon a large grotto, hewn in the living rock and +defended by a row of staring crocodiles' heads, plated with gold; the +heavy smell of stale incense and acrid resins choked her, and her way +now lay over iron gratings and past strangely contrived furnaces. The +walls were decorated with colored reliefs: Tantalus, Ixion, and Sisyphus +toiling at his stone, looked down on her in hideous realism as she went. +Rock chambers, fast closed with iron doors, as though they enclosed +inestimable treasures or inscrutable secrets, lay on either hand, and +her dress swept against numerous images and vessels closely shrouded in +hangings. + +When she ventured to look round, her eye fell on monstrous forms and +mystical signs and figures; if she glanced upwards, she saw human and +animal forms, and mixed with these the various constellations, sailing +in boats--the Egyptian notion of their motions--along the back of a +woman stretched out to an enormous length; or, again, figures by some +Greek artist: the Pleiades, Castor and Pollux as horsemen with stars on +their heads, and Berenice's star-gemmed hair. + +The effect on the girl was bewildering, overpowering, as she made her +way through this underground world. The things she had glimpses of were +very sparely illuminated, nay scarcely discernible, and yet appallingly +real; what mysteries, what spells might not be hidden in all she did +not see! She felt as if the end of life, which she was looking for, had +already begun, as if she had already gone down, alive, into Hades. + +The path gradually sloped upwards and at last she ascended, by a spiral +staircase, to the ground-floor of the temple. Once or twice she had met +a few men, but solemn silence reigned in those subterranean chambers. + +The sound of their approaching and receding steps had only served to +make her aware of the complete stillness. This was just as it should +be--just as she would have it. This peace reminded her of the profound +silence of nature before a tempest bursts and rages. + +Gorgo took off her veil as she went up the stairs, shook out the folds +of her dress, and assumed the dignified and reverent demeanor which +became a young girl of rank and position when approaching the altars +of the divinity. But as she reached the top a loud medley of noises and +voices met her ear-flutes, drums?--The sacred dance, she supposed, must +be going on. + +She came out into a room on one side of the hypostyle; her companion +opened a high door, plated with gilt bronze and silver, and Gorgo +followed him, walking gravely with her head held high and her eyes fixed +on the ground, into the magnificent hall where the sacred image sat +enthroned in veiled majesty. They crossed the colonnade at the side of +the hypostyle and went down two steps into the vast nave of the temple. + +The wild tumult that she had heard on first opening the door had +surprised and puzzled her; but now, as she timidly looked up and around +her, she felt a shock of horror and revulsion such as might come over a +man who, walking by night and believing that he is treading on flowers, +suddenly finds that the slimy slope of a bottomless bog is leading him +to perdition. She tottered and clutched at a statue, gazing about +her, listening to the uproar, and wondering whether she were awake or +dreaming. + +She tried not to see and hear what was going on there; it was revolting, +loathsome, horrible; but it was too manifest to be overlooked or +ignored; its vulgarity and horror forced it on her attention. For some +time she stood spell-bound, paralyzed; but then she covered her +face with her hands; maidenly shame, bitter disillusion, and pious +indignation at the gross desecration of all that she deemed most sacred +and inviolable surged up in her stricken soul, and she burst into tears, +weeping as she had never wept in all her life before. Sobbing bitterly, +she wrapped her face in her veil, as though to protect herself from +storm and chill. + +No one heeded her; her companion had left her to seek her father. She +could only await his return, and she looked round for a hiding place. +Then she observed a woman in mourning garb sitting huddled at the +foot of the statue of justice; she recognized her as the widow of +Asclepiodorus and breathed more freely as she went up to her and said, +between her sobs "Let me sit by you; we can mourn together." + +"Yes, yes, come," said the other; and without enquiring what Gorgo's +trouble might be, moved only by the mysterious charm of finding another +in like sorrow with herself, she drew the girl to her and bending over +her, at length found relief in tears. + +The two weeping women sat in silence, side by side, while in front of +them the orgy went on its frantic course. A party of men and women were +dancing down the hall, singing and shouting. Flutes yelled, cymbals +clanged, drums rattled and droned, without either time or tune. Drunken +pastophori had flung open the rooms where the vestments and sacred +vessels were kept, and from these treasuries the ribald mob had dragged +forth panther-skins such as the priests wore when performing the sacred +functions, brass cars for carrying sacrifices, wooden biers on which the +images of the gods were borne in solemn processions, and other precious +objects. In a large room adjoining, a party of students and girls were +concocting some grand scheme for which they needed much time and large +supplies of wine; but most of those who had possessed themselves of the +plunder had taken it into the hypostyle and were vying with each other +in extravagant travesties. + +A burly wine-grower was elected to represent Dionysus and was seated +with nothing but some wreaths of flowers to cover his naked limbs, in +a four-wheeled sacrificial car of beaten brass. An alabaster wine-jar +stood between his fat knees, and his heavy body rolled with laughter as +he was drawn in triumph through the sacred arcades by a shouting rabble, +as fast as they could run. Numbers of the intoxicated crew, mad with +excitement and wine, had cast off their clothes which lay in heaps +between the pillars, soaking in puddles of spilt wine. In their wild +dance the girls' hair had fallen about their heated faces, tangled with +withered leaves and faded flowers, and the men, young and old alike, +leaped and waltzed like possessed creatures, flourishing thyrsus-staves +and the emblems of the lusty wine-god. + +A small band of priests and philosophers ventured into the chaos in the +hope of quelling the riot, but a tipsy flute-player placed himself in +front of them and throwing back his head blew a furious blast to +heaven on his double pipe, shrill enough to wake the dead, while a girl +seconded him by flinging her tambourine in the face of the intruding +pacificators. It bounced against the shaft of a column, and then fell on +the shaven head of a priestling, who seized it and tossed it back. The +game was soon taken up, and before long, one tambourine after another +was flying over the heads of the frenzied crew. Every one was eager to +have one, and sprung to catch them, scuffling and struggling and making +the parchment sound on his neighbor's head. + +Some of the women had jumped on to the processional biers and were being +carried round the hall by staggering youths, screaming with alarm and +laughter; if one of them lost her balance and fell she was captured with +shrieks of merriment and forced to mount her insecure eminence again. +Presently the car of Dionysus came to wreck over the body of an +unconscious toper, but no one stopped to set it right; and though the +hapless representative of the god howled loudly to them to stop while +he extricated himself from the machine, in which he had stuck, it was +in vain; the score or so of youths who were dragging it tore on, passing +close by Gorgo, who noted with indignation, that the brasswork of the +axles was cutting deeply into the splendid mosaic of the pavement. +At last the burly god fell out by his sheer weight, and his followers +restored him to consciousness by taking him by the heels and dipping his +towzled and bleeding head into a huge jar of wine and water. Then some +hundreds of his drunken votaries danced madly round the rescued god; and +as all the tambourines were split and the flute-players had no breath +left, time was kept by beating with thyrsus-staves against the pillars, +while three men, who had found the brazen tubas among the temple +vessels, blew with all their might and main. + +Strong opposition, however, was roused by this mad uproar. A party of +worshippers, in the first place, rebelled against it; these had been +standing with veiled heads, near the statue of Serapis, muttering +exorcisms after a Magian and howling lamentably at intervals; then a +preacher, who had succeeded in collecting a little knot of listeners, +bid the trumpeters cease; and finally, a party of actors and singers, +who had assembled in the outer hall to perform a satira play, tried +to stop them, though they themselves were making such a noise that the +trumpet-blast could have affected them but little. When the players +found that remonstrance had no effect they rushed into the hypostyle and +tried to reduce the musicians to silence by force. + +Then a frenzied contest began; but the combatants were soon separated; +the actors and their antagonists fell on each other's necks, and a +Homeric poet, who had compiled an elegy for the evening on the "Gods +coerced by the hosts of the new superstition," made up simply of lines +culled from the Iliad and Odyssey, seized this favorable opportunity. He +had begun to read it at the top of his voice, screaming down the general +din, when everything was forgotten in the excitement caused by the +entrance of a procession which was the successful result of many raids +on the temple-treasuries and lumber-rooms. + +A storm of applause greeted its appearance; the tipsiest stammered out +his approval, and the picture presented to drunken eyes was indeed a +beautiful and gorgeous one. On a high platform-intended for the display +of a small image of Serapis and certain symbols of the god, at great +festivals--Glycera, the loveliest hetaira of the town, was drawn in +triumph through the temple. She reclined in a sort of bowl representing +a shell, placed at the top of the platform, and on the lower stages sat +groups of fair girls, swaying gently with luxurious grace, and flinging +flowers down to the crowd who, with jealous rivalry, strove to catch +them. Everyone recognized the beautiful hetaira as Aphrodite, and she +was hailed, as with one voice, the Queen of the World. The men rushed +forward to pour libations in her honor, and to join hands and dance in a +giddy maze round her car. + +"Take her to Serapis!" shouted a drunken student. "Marry her to the god. +Heavenly Love should be his bride!" + +"Yes--take her to Serapis," yelled another. "It is the wedding of +Serapis and Glycera." + +The crazy rabble pushed the machine towards the curtain, with the +beautiful, laughing woman on the top, and her bevy of languishing +attendants. + +Until this instant the vivid lightning outside, and the growling of +distant thunder had not been heeded by the revellers, but now a blinding +flash lighted up the hall and, at the same instant, a tremendous peal +crashed and rattled just above them, and shook the desecrated shrine. +A sulphurous vapor came rolling in at the openings just below the roof, +and this first flash was immediately followed by another which seemed to +have rent the vault of heaven, for it was accompanied by a deafening and +stunning roar and a terrific rumbling and creaking, as though the metal +walls of the firmament had burst asunder and fallen in on the earth--on +Alexandria--on the Serapeum. + +The whole awful force of an African tempest came crashing down upon +them; the wild revel was stilled; the trembling topers dropped their +cups, fevered checks turned pale, the dancers parted and threw up their +hands in agonized supplication, words of lust and blasphemy died on +their lips and turned to prayers and muttered charms. The terrified +nymphs that surrounded Venus sprang from the car, and the foam-born +goddess in the shell tried to free herself from the garlands and gauzes +in which she was involved, shrieking aloud when she perceived that +she could not descend unaided from her elevated position. Other voices +mingled with hers--lamenting, cursing, and entreating; for now the +rainclouds burst, and through the window-openings poured a cold flood, +chilling and wetting the drunken mob within. + +The storm raved through the halls and corridors; lightning and thunder +raged fiercely overhead; and the terrified wretches, suddenly sobered, +rushed about or huddled together, like ants whose nest has been +upturned. And into the midst of this dismayed throng rushed Orpheus, the +son of Karnis, who had been till now on guard on the roof, crying out: +"The world is coming to an end, the heavens are opening! Father--where +is my father?" + +And everyone believed him; they snatched off their garlands, tore their +hair and gave themselves up to the utmost despair. Wailing, sobbing, +howling-furious, but impotent, they appealed to each other; and though +they had no hope of living to see another morning, or perhaps another +hour, each one thought only of himself, of his garments, and of how he +might best cover his limbs that shivered with terror and cold. From +the Scuffling mob round the heaps of cast-off clothes came deep groans, +piteous weeping, the shrieks of women, and the despairing moans of the +panic-stricken wretches. + +It was a fearful scene, at once heart-rending and revolting; Gorgo +looked on, gnashing her teeth with rage and disgust, and only wishing +for the end of the world and of her own life as a respite from it all. +These crazed and miserable wretches, cowardly fools, these beasts in +the guise of human beings, deserved no better than to perish; but was +it conceivable that the supreme being should destroy the whole of +the beautiful and wisely-planned world for the sake of this base and +loathsome rabble. + +It thundered, it lightened, the foundations of the temple shook--but she +no longer looked for the final crash; she had ceased to believe in the +majesty, the power and the purity of the divinity behind the veil. +Her cheeks burnt with shame, she felt it a disgrace ever to have been +numbered among his adherents; and, as the howling of the terrified crowd +grew every moment louder and wilder, the memory of Constantine's grave +and fearless manliness rose before her, in all its strength and beauty. +She was his, his wholly and forever; and for the future all that was his +should be hers: his love, his home, his noble purpose--and his God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The doubtful light of dawn was beginning to break through the +storm-clouds as they exhausted their fury on the Serapeum, but the +terrified heathen did not notice it. No captain, no prophet, no +comforter had come to revive their courage and hopes; for Olympius and +his guests, the leaders of the intellectual life of Alexandria--and +among them the chief priests of the sanctuary--were tardy in making +their appearance. + +The lightning-flash which had fallen on the brassplated cupola, and then +discharged its force along a flagstaff, had alarmed even the sages and +philosophers; and the Symposium had come to an abrupt end but little +more dignified than the orgy in the temple-halls. Few, to be sure, of +the high-priest's friends had allowed themselves to be so far scared as +to betray their terrors frankly; on the contrary, when the crack of +doom really seemed to have sounded, rhetoric and argument grew even +more eager than before round Olympius' table; and Gorgo's opinion of her +fellow-heathen might not have been much raised if she could have heard +Helladius, the famous philologist and biographer, reciting verses from +"Prometheus bound," his knees quaking and lips quivering as he heard +the thunder; or seen Ammonius, another grammarian who had written a +celebrated work on "The Differences of Synonyms," rending his robe and +presenting his bared breast as a target to the lightning, with a glance +round at the company to challenge their admiration. His heroic display +was, unfortunately, observed by few; for most of them, including +Eunapius, a neo-platonic philosopher distinguished as a historian and an +implacable foe of the Christians, had wrapped their heads in their robes +and were awaiting the end in sullen resignation. Some had dropped +on their knees and were praying with uplifted hands, or murmuring +incantations; and a poet, who had been crowned for a poem entitled: +"Man the Lord and Master of the Gods," had fainted with fear, and his +laurel-wreath had fallen into a dish of oysters. + +Olympius had risen from his place as Symposiarch and was leaning against +a door-post awaiting death with manly composure. Father Karnis, who had +made rather too free with the wine-cup, but had been completely sobered +by the sudden fury of the storm, had sprung up and hastened past the +high-priest to seek his wife and son; he knew they could not be far off, +and desired to perish with them. + +Porphyrius and his next neighbor, Apuleius, the great physician, were +among those who had covered their faces. Porphyrius could look forward +more calmly than many to the approaching crisis; for, as a cautious man +and far-seeing merchant, he had made provision for every contingency. +If, in spite of a Christian victory, the world should still roll on, +and if the law which declared invalid the will of an apostate should be +enforced against him, a princely fortune, out of the reach of Church or +State, lay safe in the hands of a wealthy and trustworthy friend for his +daughter's use; if, on the other hand, heaven and earth met in a +common doom, he had by him an infallible remedy against a lingering and +agonizing death. + +The whole party had sat during some long and anxious minutes, +listening to the appalling thunder-claps, when Orpheus rushed into the +banqueting-room, with the same frenzied and terror-stricken haste as +before, among the revellers, crying: "It is the end-all is over! The +world is falling asunder! Fire is come down from heaven! The earth is +in flames already--I saw it with my own eyes! I have come down from the +roof.... + +"Father! Where is my father?" + +At this news the company started up in fresh alarm, Pappus, the +mathematician, cried out: "The conflagration has begun! Flame and fire +are falling from the skies!" + +"Lost-lost!" wailed Eunapius; while Porphyrius hastily felt in the folds +of his purple garment, took out a small crystal phial and went, pale but +calm, up to the high-priest. He laid his hand on the arm of the friend +whom he had looked up to all his life with affectionate admiration, and +said with an expression of tender regret: + +"Farewell. We have often disputed over the death of Cato--you +disapproving and I approving it. Now I follow his example. Look--there +is enough for us both." + +He hastily put the phial to his mouth, and part of the liquid had passed +his lips before Olympius understood the situation and seized his arm. +The effect of the deadly fluid was instantly manifest; but Porphyrius +had hardly lost consciousness when Apuleius had rushed to his side. +The physician had succumbed to the universal panic and resigned himself +doggedly to Fate; but as soon as an appeal was made to his medical skill +and he heard a cry for help, he had thrown off the wrapper from his head +and hastened to the merchant's side to combat the effects of the poison, +as clear-headed and decisive as in his best hours by the bed of sickness +or in the lecture-room. + +When the very backbone of the soul seems to be broken, a sense of duty +is the one and last thing that holds it together and keeps it upright; +and nature has implanted in us such a strong and instinctive regard for +life--which we are so apt to contemn--that even within a few paces of +the grave we cherish and foster it as carefully as in its prime, when +the end seems still remote. + +The merchant's desperate deed had been done under the very eyes of +Orpheus, and the newer horror so completely overshadowed the older, that +he hastened unbidden to help the physician lay the unconscious man on +the nearest couch; but then he went off again in search of his parents. +Olympius, however, who at the sight of his friend's weakness had +suddenly comprehended how much depended, in these last hours, on his own +resolute demeanor, detained the youth, and sternly desired him to give +an exact and clear account of what had happened on the roof. The young +musician obeyed; and his report was certainly far from reassuring. + +A ball of fire had fallen with a terrific noise on the cupola, mingling +with flames that seemed to rise like streams of fire from the earth. +Then, again the heavens had opened with a blinding flash and Orpheus had +seen--with his own eyes seen--a gigantic monster--an uprooted mountain +perhaps--which had slowly moved towards the back-wall of the Serapeum +with an appalling clatter; and not rain, but rivers, rushing torrents of +water, had poured down on the men on guard. + +"It is Poseidon," cried the lad, "bringing up the ocean against the +temple, and I heard the neighing of his horses. It was not an illusion, +I heard it with my own ears...." + +"The horses of Poseidon!" interrupted Olympius. "The horses of the +Imperial cavalry were what you heard!" + +He ran to the window with the activity of a younger man and, lifting the +curtain, looked out to the eastward. The storm had vanished as rapidly +as it had come up and it was day. Over the rosy skirts of Eos hung a +full and heavy robe of swelling grey and black clouds, edged with +a fringe of sheeny gold. To the north a sullen flash now and then +zigzagged across the dark sky, and the roll of the thunder was faint +and distant; but the horses whose neighing had affrighted Orpheus were +already near; they were standing close to the southern or back-wall of +the temple, in which there was no gate or entrance of any kind. What +object could the Imperial cavalry have in placing themselves by that +strong and impenetrable spot? + +But there was no time for much consideration, for at this instant the +gong, which was sounded to call the defenders of the Serapeum together, +rang through the precincts. + +Olympius needed no spur or encouragement. He turned to his guests with +the passion and fire of a fanatical leader, of the champion of a great +but imperilled cause, and bid them be men and stand by him to resist +the foe till death. His voice was husky with excitement as he spoke his +brief but vehement call to arms, and the effect was immense, precisely +because the speaker, carried away by the tide of feeling, had not tried +to impress the learned and eloquent men whom he addressed by any tricks +of elocution or choice of words. They, too, were fired by the spark of +the old man's enthusiasm; they gathered round him, and followed him at +once to the rooms where the weapons had been deposited for use. + +Breastplates girt on to their bodies, and swords wielded in their hands +made soldiers of the sages at once, and inspired them with martial +ardor. Little was spoken among these heroes of "the mighty word." +They were bent on action. Olympius Had desired Apuleius to go into his +private room adjoining the hypostyle with Porphyrius, on whose senseless +and rigid state no treatment had as yet had any effect. Some of the +temple-servants carried the merchant down a back staircase, while +Olympius hastily and silently led his comrades in arms up the main steps +into the great halls of the temple. + +Here the chivalrous host were doomed to surprise and disappointment +greater than the most hopeless of them was prepared to meet. Olympius +himself for a moment despaired; for his ecstatic adherents had during +the night turned to poltroons and tipplers, and the sacred precincts +of the sanctuary looked as if a battle had been fought and lost there. +Broken and bruised furniture, smashed instruments, garments torn and +wet, draggled wreaths, and faded flowers were strewn in every direction. +The red wine lay in pools like blood on the scarred beauties of the +inlaid pavement; here and there, at the foot of a column, lay an +inert body--whether dead or merely senseless who could guess?--and the +sickening reek of hundreds of dying lamps filled the air, for in the +confusion they had been left to burn or die as they might. + +And how wretched was the aspect of the sobered, terror-stricken, +worn-out men and women. An obscure consciousness of having insulted the +god and incurred his wrath lurked in every soul. To many a one prompt +death would have seemed most welcome, and one man--a promising pupil +of Helladius, had actually taken the leap from existence into the +non-existence which, as he believed, he should find beyond the grave; +he had run his had violently against a pillar, and lay at the foot of it +with a broken skull. + +With reeling brains, aching brows, and dejected hearts, the unhappy +creatures had got so far as to curse the present; and those who dared to +contemplate the future thought of it only as a bottomless abyss, towards +which the flying hours were dragging them with unfelt but irresistible +force. Time was passing--each could feel and see that; night was gone, +it would soon be day; the storm had passed over, but instead of the +inexorable powers of nature a new terror now hung over them: the no +less inexorable power of Caesar. To the struggle of man against the gods +there was but one possible end: Annihilation. In the conflict of man +against man there might yet be, if not victory, at least escape. The +veteran Memnon, with his one arm, had kept watch on the temple-roof +during that night's orgy, planning measures for repulsing the enemy's +attack, till the storm had burst on him and his adherents with the +"artillery of heaven." Then the greater portion of the garrison had +taken refuge in the lower galleries of the Serapeum, and the old general +was left alone at his post, in the blinding and deafening tempest. He +threw his remaining arm round a statue that graced the parapet of the +roof to save himself from being swept or washed away; and he would still +have shouted his orders, but that the hurricane drowned his voice, and +none of his few remaining adherents could have heard him speak. He, too, +had heard the champing of horses and had seen the moving mountain +which Orpheus had described. It was in fact a Roman engine of war; and, +faithful though he was to the cause he had undertaken, something like a +feeling of joy stirred his warrior's soul, as he looked down on the fine +and well-drilled men who followed the Imperial standards under which +he had, ere now, shed his best blood. His old comrades in arms had not +forgotten how to defy the tempest, and their captains had been well +advised in preparing to attack first what seemed the securest side of +the temple. The struggle, he foresaw, would be against tried soldiers, +and it was with a deep curse and a smile of bitter scorn that he thought +of the inexperienced novices under his command. It was only yesterday +that he had tried to moderate Olympius' sanguine dreams, and had said to +him: "It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe!" + +The skill and experience he had to contend with were in no respect +inferior to his own; and he would know, only too soon, what the +practical worth might be of the daring and enthusiastic youths whom he +had undertaken to command, and of whom he still had secret hopes for the +best. + +The one thing to do was to prevent the Christians from effecting the +breach which they evidently intended to make in the back-wall, before +the Libyan army of relief should arrive; and, at the same time, to +defend the front of the temple from the roof. There was a use for every +one who could heave a stone or flourish a sword; and when he thought +over the number of his troops he believed he might succeed in holding +the building for some considerable time. But he was counting on false +premises, for he did not know how attractive the races had proved to his +"enthusiastic youth" and how great a change had come over most of them. + +As soon as the wind had so far subsided that he could stand alone, he +went to collect those that still remained, and to have the brass gong +sounded which was to summon the combatants to their posts. Its metallic +clang rang loud and far through the dim dawn; a deaf man might have +heard it in the deepest recess of the sanctuary--and yet the minutes +slipped by--a quarter of an hour--and no one had come at its call. The +old captain's impatience turned to surprise, his surprise became wrath. +The messengers he sent down did not return and the great moving shed +of the Romans was brought nearer and nearer to the southern side of the +temple, screening the miners from the rare missiles which the few men +remaining with him cast clown by his orders. + +The enemy were evidently making a suitable foundation on which to place +the storming engine--a beam with a ram's head of iron-to make a breach +in the temple-wall. Every minute's delay on the part of the besieged was +an advantage to the enemy. A hundred-two hundred more hands on the roof, +and their tactics might yet be defeated. + +Tears of rage, of the bitter sense of impotence, started to the old +soldier's eyes; and when, at length, one of his messengers came back and +told him that the men and women alike seemed quite demented, and all +and each refused to come up on the roof, he uttered a wrathful curse and +rushed down-stairs himself. + +He stormed in on the trembling wretches; and when he beheld with his +own eyes all that his volunteers had done dining that fateful night, he +raved and thundered; asked them, rather confusedly perhaps, if they knew +what it was to be expected to command and find no obedience; scolded the +refractory, driving some on in front of him; and then, as he perceived +that some of them were making off with the girls through the door +leading to the secret passage, he placed himself on guard with his sword +drawn, and threatened to cut down any who attempted to escape. + +In the midst of all this Olympius and his party had come into the +ball and seeing the commander struggling, sword in hand, with the +recalcitrant fugitives, where the noise was loudest, he and his guests +hastened to the rescue and defended the door against the hundreds who +were crowding to fly. The old man was grieved to turn the weapons they +had seized in their sacred ardor, against the seceders from their own +cause; but it had to be. While the loyal party--among them Karnis and +Orpheus--guarded the passage to the underground rooms with shield and +lance, Olympius took council of the veteran captain, and they rapidly +decided to allow all the women to depart at once and to divide the men +into two parties-one to be sent to fight on the roof, and the other to +defend the wall where the Roman battering-ram was by this time almost +ready to attack. + +The high-priest took his stand boldly between his adherents and the +would-be runaways and appealed to them in loud and emphatic tones to do +their duty. They listened to him silently and respectfully; but when he +ended by stating that the women were commanded to withdraw, a terrific +outcry was raised, some of the girls clung to their lovers, while others +urged the men to fight their way out. + +Several, however, and among them the fair Glycera who a few hours since +had smiled down triumphantly on her worshippers as Aphrodite, availed +themselves at once of the permission to quit this scene of horrors, +and made their way without delay to the subterranean passages. They had +adorers in plenty in the city. But they did not get far; they were met +by a temple-servant flying towards the great hall, who warned them +to return thither at once: the Imperial soldiers had discovered the +entrance to the aqueduct and posted sentries in the timber-yard. They +turned and followed him with loud lamentations, and hardly had they +got back into the temple when a new terror came upon them: the iron +battering-ram came with a first heavy shock, thundering against the +southern wall. + +The Imperial troops were in fact masters of the secret passage; and they +had begun the attack on the Serapeum in earnest. It was serious--but all +was not yet lost; and in this fateful hour Olympius and Memnon proved +their mettle. The high-priest commanded that the great stone trap-doors +should be dropped into their places, and that the bridges across the +gulfs, in the underground rooms reserved for the initiated, should be +destroyed; and this there was yet time to do, for the soldiers had not +yet ventured into those mysterious corridors, where there could not fail +to be traps and men in ambush. Memnon meanwhile had hurried to the spot +where the battering-ram had by this time dealt a second blow, shouting +as he went to every man who was not a coward to follow him. + +Karnis, Orpheus and the rest of the high-priest's guests obeyed his call +and gathered round him; he commanded that everything portable should be +brought out of the temple to be built into a barricade behind the point +of attack, and that neither the most precious and beautiful statues, nor +the brass and marble stelae and altar-slabs should be spared. Screened +by this barricade, and armed with lances and bows--of which there were +plenty at hand--he proposed, when the breach was made, to check the +further advance of the foe. + +He was not ill-pleased that the only way of escape was cut off; and +as soon as he had seen the statues dragged from their pedestals, the +altar-stones removed from the sacred places they had filled for half +a century, benches and jars piled together and a stone barricade thus +fairly advanced towards completion, he drafted off a small force for the +defences on the roof. There was no escape now; and many a one who, +to the very last, had hoped to find himself free, mounted the stairs +reluctantly, because he would there be more immediately in the face of +the foe than when defending the breach. + +Olympius distributed weapons, and went from one to another, speaking +words of encouragement; presently he found Gorgo who, with the bereaved +widow, was still sitting at the foot of the statue of justice. He told +her that her father was ill, and desired a servant to show her the way +to his private room, that she might help the leech in attending on him. +Berenice could not be induced to stir; she longed only for the end and +was persuaded that it could not be far off. She listened eagerly to the +blows of the battering-engine; each one sounded to her like a shock to +the very structure of the universe. Another--and another--and at last +the ancient masonry must give way and the grave that had already opened +for her husband and her son would yawn to swallow her up with her +sorrows. She shuddered and drew her hood over her face to screen it from +the sun which now began to shine in. Its light was a grievance to her; +she had hoped never to see another day. + +The women, and with them a few helpless weaklings, had withdrawn to the +rotunda, and before long they were laughing as saucily as ever. + +From the roof blocks of stone and broken statues were hailing down on +the besiegers, and in the halls below, the toiler who paused to wipe +the sweat from his brow would brook no idleness in his comrade; the most +recalcitrant were forced to bestir themselves, and the barricade inside +the southern wall soon rose to a goodly height. No rampart was ever +built of nobler materials; each stone was a work of art and had been +reverenced for centuries as something sacred, or bore in an elegant +inscription the memorial of noble deeds. This wall was to protect the +highest of the gods, and among the detachment told off to defend it, +were Karnis, his son, and his wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Gorgo sat by the bed of her apparently lifeless father, gazing fondly at +the worn and wax-like features, and listening to his breathing, now soft +and easy and again painful and convulsive, as it fluttered through his +nostrils. She held his cold damp hand tightly clasped, or stroked it +gently, or now and then, when his closed eyelids quivered, raised it +tenderly to her lips. + +The room in which they were lay on one side of the hypostyle and behind +the right-hand--or western--colonnade; more forward, therefore, than +the veiled statue and to its left hand. The noise of the toilers at the +barricade and the crash of the blows of the battering-ram came up from +just below, and at each thud of the engine the senseless man started +convulsively and a look of intense pain crossed his face. But, though +it was indeed grievous to Gorgo to see her father suffering, though she +told herself again and again that, ere long, the sanctuary must fall +into the hands of the Christians, she felt safe, thankful and sheltered +up here, in her old friend's half-lighted and barely-furnished room, +shut off, at any rate, from the frenzied wretches of whom she thought +only with loathing and fear. + +She was wearied out with her night of unrest, but the agitation and +excitement she had gone through were still vividly present to her mind, +and even on the comfortable couch in her own snug room at home her +perturbed spirit would have prevented her sleeping. Her brain was still +in a ferment, and here, in comparative peace, she had time to think over +all she had gone through during the last few hours, and the catastrophes +that had befallen her grandmother and her father. She had exchanged but +few words with the physician, who was still unceasingly busy in trying +to restore his patient to consciousness, and who had assured her that he +had every hope of her father's recovery. + +But at length the girl looked up with an eager gaze and said, sadly +enough: "You said something about an antidote to poison, Apuleius? Then +my father tried to escape the final destruction by attempting to kill +himself.--Is it so?" + +The leech looked at her keenly, and after confirming her suspicion and +explaining to her exactly how the fateful deed had been accomplished, he +went on: + +"The storm had completely unnerved him--it unmanned us all--and yet that +was only the prelude to the tremendous doom which is hanging over +the universe. It is at hand; we can hear its approach; the stones are +yielding! the Christian's engines are opening the way for it to enter!" + +Apuleius spoke in a tone of sinister foreboding, and the falling stones +dislodged by the battering-ram thundered a solemn accompaniment to his +prophecy. Gorgo, turned pale; but it was not the physician's ominous +speech that alarmed her, but the quaking of the walls of the room. +Still, the Serapeum was built for eternity; the ram might bring down a +wall, but it could not destroy or even shake the building itself. + +Outside, the hubbub of fighting men grew louder and louder every minute, +and Apuleius, increasingly anxious, went to the door to listen. Gorgo +could see that his hands trembled! he--a man--was frightened, while +she felt no anxiety but for her suffering father! Through that breach +Constantine would enter--and where he commanded she was safe. As to +the destruction of the universe--she no longer believed in it. When the +physician turned round and saw her calmly and quietly wiping the cold +drops from the sick man's brow, he said gloomily: "Of what use is it to +shut our eyes like the ostrich. They are fighting down there for life +or death--we had better prepare for the end. If they venture--and they +will--to lay a sacrilegious hand on the god, besiegers and besieged +alike--the whole world together, must perish." + +But Gorgo shook her head. "No, no," she cried, with zealous confidence. +"No, Apuleius, Serapis is not what you believe him to be; for, if he +were, would he suffer his enemies to overthrow his temple and his image? +Why does he not, at this supreme moment, inspire his worshippers +with courage? I have seen the men--mere boys--and the women who have +assembled here to fight for him. They are nothing but drivellers and +triflers. If the master is like his men it serves him right if he is +overthrown; to weep for him would be waste of woe!" + +"And can the daughter of Porphyrius say this?" exclaimed the leech. + +"Yes, Apuleius, yes. After what I have seen, and heard, and endured this +night, I cannot speak otherwise. It was shameful, horrible, sickening; +I could rage at the mere thought of being supposed to be one of that +debased crew. It is disgrace and ignominy even to be named in the same +breath! A god who is served as this god has been is no god of mine! And +you--you are learned--a sage and a philosopher--how can you believe that +the God of the Christians when he has conquered and crippled yours, will +ever permit Serapis to destroy His world and the men He created?" + +Apuleius drew himself up. "Are you then a Christian?" he asked swiftly +and sternly. + +But Gorgo could not reply; she colored deeply and Apuleius vehemently +repeated his question: "Then you really are a Christian?" + +She looked frankly in his face: "No," she said, "I am not; but I wish I +were." + +The physician turned away with a shrug; but Gorgo drew a breath of +relief, feeling that her avowal had lifted a heavy burthen from her +soul. She hardly knew how the bold and momentous confession had got +itself spoken, but she felt that it was the only veracious answer to the +physician's question. + +They spoke no more; she was better pleased to remain silent, for her own +utterance had opened out to her a new land of promise--of feeling and of +thought. + +Her lover henceforth was no longer her enemy; and as the tumult of the +struggle by the breach fell on her ear, she could think with joy of +his victorious arms. She felt that this was the purer, the nobler, the +better cause; and she rejoiced in the love of which he had spoken as the +support and the stay of their future life together--as sheltering them +like a tower of strength and a mighty refuge. Compared with that love +all that she had hitherto held dear or indispensable as gracing life, +now seemed vain and worthless; and as she looked at her father's still +face, and remembered how he had lived and what he had suffered, she +applied those words of Paul which Constantine had spoken at their +meeting after his return, to him, too; and her heart overflowed with +affection towards her hapless parent. She knew full well the meaning of +the deep lines that marked his lips and brow; for Porphyrius had never +made any secret of his distress and vexation whenever he found himself +compelled to confess a creed in which he did not honestly believe. This +great falsehood and constant duplicity, this divided allegiance to two +masters, had poisoned the existence of a man by nature truthful; and +Gorgo knew for whose sake and for what reasons he had subjected himself +to this moral martyrdom. It was a lesson to her to see him lying +there, and his look of anguish warned her to become, heart and soul, +a Christian as she felt prompted. She would confess Christ for love's +sake-aye, for love's sake; for in this hour the thing she saw most +clearly in the faith which she purposed to adopt, and of which +Constantine had so often spoken to her with affectionate enthusiasm, was +Everlasting Love. + +Never in her life had she felt so much at peace, so open to all that was +good and beautiful; and yet, outside, the strife grew louder and more +furious; the Imperial tuba sounded above the battle-cry of the heathen, +and the uproar of the struggle came nearer and nearer. + +The battering-ram had made a large breach in the southern wall, and, +protected by their shed, the heavy-armed infantry of the twenty-second +legion had forced their way up; but many a veteran had paid for his +rashness with his life, for the storming party had been met by a perfect +shower of arrows and javelins. Still, the great shield had turned many a +spear, and many an arrow had glanced harmless from the brazen armor and +helmets; the men that had escaped pressed onwards, while fresh ranks +of soldiers made their way in, over the bodies of the fallen. The +well-drilled foe came creeping up to the barricade on their knees, and +protected by bronze bucklers, while others, in the rear, flung lances +and arrows over their heads at the besieged. A few of the heathen fell, +and the sight of their blood had a wonderful effect on their comrades. +Rage surged up in the breasts of the most timid, and fear vanished +before the passion for revenge; cowardice turned to martial ardor, and +philosophers and artists thirsted for blood. The red glare of strife +danced before the eyes of the veriest book-worm; fired by the terrible +impulse to kill, to subdue, to destroy the foe, they fought desperately +and blindly, staking their lives on the issue. + +Karnis, that zealous votary of the Muses, stood with Orpheus, on the +very top of the barricade throwing lance after lance, while he sang at +the top of his voice snatches of the verses of Tyrtaeus, in the teeth, +as it were, of the foe who were crowding through the breach; the sweat +streamed from his bald head and his eye flashed fire. By his side stood +his son, sending swift arrows from an enormous bow. The heavy curls of +his hair had come unbound and fell over his flushed face. When he hit +one of the Imperial soldiers his father applauded him eagerly; then, +collecting all his strength, flung another lance, chanting a hexameter +or a verse of an ode. Herse crouched half hidden behind a sacrificial +stone which lay at the top of the hastily-constructed rampart, and +handed weapons to the combatants as they needed them. Her dress was torn +and blood-stained, her grey hair had come loose from the ribbands and +crescent that should have confined it; the worthy matron had become a +Megaera and shrieked to the men: "Kill the dogs! Stand steady! Spare +never a Christian!" + +But the little garrison needed no incitement; the fevered zeal which +possessed them wholly, seconded their thirst for blood and doubled their +strength. + +An arrow, shot by Orpheus, had just glanced over the breastplate and +into the throat of a centurion who had already set foot on the lowest +step, when Karnis suddenly dropped the spear he was preparing to fling +and fell without a cry. A Roman lance had hit him, and he lay transfixed +by the side of a living purple fount, like a rock in the surf from which +a sapling has sprung. Orpheus saw his father's life-blood flowing and +fell on his knees by his side; but the old man pointed to the bow that +his son had cast aside and murmured eagerly: "Leave me--let me be. What +does it matter about me? Fight--for the gods--I say. For the gods! Go +on, aim truly!" + +But the lad would not leave the dying man, and seeing how deeply the +spear had struck to the old man's heart he groaned aloud, throwing up +his arms in despair. Then an arrow hit his shoulder, another pierced +his neck, and he, too, fell gasping for breath. Karnis saw him drop, and +painfully raised himself a little to help him; but it was too much +for him; he could only clench his fist in helpless fury and chant, +half-singing, half-speaking, as loud he was able, Electra's curse: + + "This my last prayer, ye gods, do not disdain! + For them turn day to night and joy to pain!" + +But the heavy infantry, who by this time were crowding through the +breach, neither heard nor heeded his curse. He lost consciousness and +did not recover it till Herse, after lifting up her son and propping him +against a plinth, pressed a cloth against the stump of the lance +still remaining in the wound to staunch the swiftly flowing blood, and +sprinkled his brow with wine. He felt her warm tears on his face, and as +he looked up into her kind, faithful eyes, brimming over with tears of +sympathy and regret, his heart melted to tenderness. All the happiest +hours of the life they had spent together crowded on his memory; he +answered her glance with a loving and grateful gaze and painfully held +out his hand. Herse pressed it to her lips, weeping bitterly; but he +smiled up at her, nodding his head and repeating again and again the +line from Lucian: "Be comforted: you, too, must soon follow." + +"Yes, yes--I shall follow soon," she repeated with sobs. "Without you, +without either of you, without the gods--what would become of me here." + +And she turned to her son who, fully conscious, had followed every word +and every gesture of his parents and tried himself to say something. But +the arrow in his neck choked his breath, and it was such agony to speak +that he could only say hoarsely: "Father mother!" But these poor words +were full of deep love and gratitude, and Karnis and Herse understood +all he longed to express. + +Tears choked the poor woman's utterance so that neither of the three +could say another word, but they were at any rate close together, and +could look lovingly in each other's eyes. Thus passed some few minutes +of peace for them, in spite of the blare of trumpets, and shrieks and +butchery; but Herse's kerchief was dyed and soaked with her husband's +blood, and the old man's eyes were glazed and staring as they wandered +feebly on the scene, as though to get a last general picture of the +world in which they had always sought to see only what was fair. +Suddenly they remained fixed on the face of a statue of Apollo, which +had been flung on to the barricade; and the longer they dwelt on the +beautiful countenance of the god the more they sparkled with a clear +transfigured gleam. Once more, with a final effort, he raised his heavy +hand and pointed to the sun-crowned head of the immortal youth while he +softly murmured: + +"He--he--all that was fair in existence--Orpheus, Herse--we owe it all +to him. He dies with us.--They--the enemy--in conquering us conquer +thee! They dream of a Paradise beyond death; but where thou reignest, O +Phoebus, there is bliss even on earth! They boast that they love death +and hate life; and when they are the victors they will destroy lute and +pipe, nay, if they could, would exterminate beauty and extinguish +the sun. This beautiful happy world they would have dark, gloomy, +melancholy, hideous; thy kingdom, great Phoebus, is sunny, joyful and +bright...!" Here his strength failed him; but presently he rallied once +more and went on, with eager eyes: "We crave for light, for music, +lutes and pipes--for perfumed flowers on careless brows--we--hold me +up Herse--and thou, heal me, O Phoebus Apollo!--Hail, all hail! I thank +thee--thou hast accepted much from me and hast given me all! Come, thou +joy of my soul! Come in thy glorious chariot, attended by Muses and +Hours! See, Orpheus, Herse--do you see Him coming?" + +He pointed with a confident gesture to the distance; and his anxious +eyes followed the indication of his hand; he raised himself a little +by a last supreme effort; but instantly fell back; his head sank on +the bosom of his faithful partner and a stream of blood flowed from +his quivering lips. The votary of the Muses was dead; and a few minutes +after Orpheus, too, fell senseless. + +War-cries and trumpet-calls rang and echoed through the Serapeum. The +battle was now a hand-to-hand fight; the besiegers had surmounted +the barricade and stood face to face with the heathen. Herse saw them +coming; she snatched the dart from her husband's wound, and fired by +hatred and a wild thirst for vengeance, she rushed upon the besiegers +with frantic and helpless fury, cursing them loudly. She met the death +she craved; a javelin struck her and she fell close to her husband and +son. Her death struggle was a short one; she had only time and strength +to extend a hand to lay on each before she herself was a corpse. + +The battle raged round the heap of dead; the Imperial troops drove the +garrison backwards into the temple-halls, and the plan of attack which +had been agreed upon at a council of war held in the palace of +the Comes, was carried out, point by point, with cool courage and +irresistible force. A few maniples pursued the fugitives into the main +entrance hall, helped them to force the gates open, and then drove them +down the slope and steps, over the stones that had been heaped up for +protection, and into the very arms of the division placed in front of +the temple. These at once surrounded them and took them prisoners, as +the hunter traps the game that rushes down upon him when driven by the +dogs and beaters. Foremost to fly were the women from the rotunda, who +were welcomed with acclamations by the soldiers. + +But those who now tried to defend themselves found no quarter. Berenice +had picked up a sword that was lying on the ground and had opened a vein +with the point of it; her body, bathed in blood, was found at the foot +of the statue of justice. + +No sooner had the Christians mastered the barricade than a few maniples +had been sent up to the roof, and the defenders had been compelled to +surrender or to throw themselves from the parapet. Old Memnon, who had +been fighting against his Imperial master and could hope for no mercy, +sprang at once into the gulf below, and others followed his example; for +the end of all things was now close at hand, and to the nobler souls to +die voluntarily in battle for great Serapis seemed finer and worthier +than to languish in the enemy's chains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The terrific storm of the preceding night had thrown the whole city into +dismay. Everyone knew the danger that threatened Serapis, and what must +ensue if he were overthrown; and everyone had thought that the end of +the world had indeed come. But the tempest died away; the sun's bright +glow dispersed the clouds and mist; sea and sky smiled radiantly blue, +and the trees and herbage glistened in revived freshness. + +Not yet had the Romans dared to lay hands on the chief of the gods, +the patron and protector of the city. Serapis had perhaps sent the +lightning, thunder and rain as a message to warn his foes. If only they +might abstain from the last, worst crime of desecrating his image! + +Nor was this the hope of the heathen only; on the contrary: Jews and +Christians no less dreaded the fall of the god and of his temple. He was +the pride, the monumental glory of the city of Alexander; the centre of +foundations and schools which benefited thousands. The learning which +was the boast of Alexandria dwelt under his protection; to the Serapeum +was attached a medical Faculty which enjoyed the reputation of being +the first in the world; from its observatory the course of the year +was forecast and the calendar was promulgated. An hour's slumber in its +halls brought prophetic dreams, and the future must remain undivined if +Serapis were to fall, for the god revealed it to his priests, not merely +by the courses and positions of the stars, but by many other signs; +and it was a delight and a privilege to look forward from the certain, +tangible present to the mysteries of the morrow. + +Even Christian seers answered the questionings of their followers in +a way which portended the worst, and it was a grief to many of the +baptized to think of their native city without Serapis and the Serapeum, +just as we cannot bear to cut down a tree planted by the hand of an +ancestor, even though it may darken our home. The temple ought to be +closed, bloody sacrifices to the god should be prohibited--but his +image--the noblest work of Bryaxis--to mutilate, or even to touch that +would be a rash, a fateful deed, treason to the city and an outrage on +the world. + +Thus thought the citizens; thus, too, thought the soldiers, who were +required by military discipline to draw the sword against the god in +whom many of them believed. + +As the news spread that the troops were to attack the Serapeum early +next morning, thousands of spectators collected, and filled the temple +itself in breathless anxiety to watch the issue of the struggle. + +The sky was as clear and blue as on any other fine day; but over the sea +to the north lay a light stratum of clouds--the harbingers perhaps of +the appalling blackness which the god would presently bring up against +his enemies. + +The men who had defended the Serapeum were led away; it had been +determined in a council of war that they should be treated with +clemency, and Cynegius had proclaimed free and full pardon to every +prisoner who would swear never, for the future, to sacrifice to the god +or worship in his temple. + +Not one of the hundreds who had fallen into the hands of the Romans had +refused to take the oath; they dispersed at once, though with suppressed +fury, many of them joining the crowd who stood waiting and watching +for the next step to be taken by the Romans--for the final crash of the +universe, perhaps. + +The doors of the temple were thrown wide open; the temple-servants and +hundreds of soldiers were busied in clearing the steps and approaches +of the stones and fragments of statuary with which the heathen had +encumbered them. As soon as this task was finished the dead and wounded +were removed; among those who still breathed was Orpheus, the son of +Karnis. Those who had been so happy as to escape in the defence of the +sanctuary and had mingled with the crowd were besieged with questions, +and all agreed that the statue of the god was as yet inviolate. + +The citizens were relieved, but ere long were startled by a new alarm; +an Ala of heavy cavalry came upon the scene, opening a way for an +immensely long procession whose chanted psalms rang out from afar, loud +above the cries and murmurs of the mob, the clatter of harness, and +stamping of horses. It was clear now where the monks had been. They were +not usually absent when there was a skirmish with the heathen; but, +till this moment, they had been seen only in twos or threes about the +Serapeum. Now they came forward shouting a psalm of triumph, their eyes +glaring, wilder and more ruthless than ever. + +The Bishop marched at their head, in his vestments, under a magnificent +canopy; his lofty stature was drawn to its full height and his lips were +firmly closed. + +He looked like a stern judge about to mount the tribunal to pronounce +sentence with inexorable severity on some execrable crime. + +The crowd quailed. + +The Bishop and the monks in the Serapeum, meant the overthrow of the +statue of the sovereign god--death and destruction. The boldest turned +pale; many who had left wife and children at home stole away to await +the end of the world with those they loved; others remained to watch the +menaced sanctuary, cursing or praying; but the greater number, men and +women alike, crowded into the temple, risking their lives to be present +at the stupendous events about to be enacted there and which promised to +be a drama of unequalled interest. + +At the bottom of the ascent the Comes rode forth to meet the Bishop, +leaped from his saddle and greeted him with reverence. The Imperial +legate had not made his appearance; he had preferred to remain for the +present at the prefect's house, intending to preside, later in the day, +at the races as the Emperor's representative, side by side with the +Prefect Evagrius--who also kept aloof during the attack on the Serapeum. +After a brief colloquy, Romanus signed to Constantine, the captain of +the cavalry; the troop dismounted, and, led by their officer, marched up +the slope that led to the great gate of the Serapeum. They were followed +by the Comes with his staff; next to him pale and somewhat tremulous +came some of the city officials and a few Christian members of the +senate; and then the Bishop--who had preferred to come last--with all +the Christian priesthood and a crowd of chanting monks. The train +was closed by a division of heavy-armed infantry; and after them the +populace rushed in, unchecked by the soldiers who stood outside the +temple. + +The great halls of the Serapeum had been put in order as well as +possible in so short a time. Of all those who, the day before, +had crowded in to defend the god and his house, none were left but +Porphyrius and those who were nursing him. After a long and agonizing +period of silence heavy fists came thundering at the door. Gorgo started +up to unbolt it, but Apuleius held her back; so it was forced off its +hinges and thing into the temple-aisle on which the room opened. At the +same instant a party of soldiers entered the room and glanced round it +enquiringly. + +The physician turned as pale as death, and sank incapable of speech on +a seat by his patient's couch; but Gorgo turned with calm dignity to the +centurion who led the intruders, and explained to him who she was, +and that she was here under the protection of the leech to tend her +suffering father. She concluded by asking to speak with Constantine +the prefect of cavalry, or with the Comes Romanus, to whom she and her +father were well known. + +There was nothing unusual in a sick man being brought into the Serapeum +for treatment, and the calm, undoubting superiority of Gorgo's tone +as well as the high rank of the men whose protection she appealed to, +commanded the centurion's respectful consideration; however, his orders +were to send every one out of the temple who was not a Roman soldier, so +he begged her to wait a few minutes, and soon returned with the legate +Volcatius, the captain of his legion. This knightly patrician well +knew--as did every lover of horses--the owner of the finest stable in +Alexandria, and was quite willing to allow Gorgo and Apuleius to +remain with their patient; at the same time he warned them that a great +catastrophe was imminent. Gorgo, however, persisted in her wish to be by +her father's side, so he left her a guard to protect them. + +The soldiers were too busy to linger; instead of replacing the door they +had torn down, they pushed it out of their way; and Gorgo, seeing that +her father remained in precisely the same condition, drew back the +curtain which was all that now divided them from the hypostyle, and +looked out over the heads of a double row of soldiers. They were posted +close round the lower step of the platform that raised the hypostyle +above the nave and the colonnades on each side of it. + +In the distance Gorgo could see a vast body of men slowly approaching +in detachments, and with long pauses at intervals. They stopped for +some time in the outer hall, and before they entered the basilica twenty +Christian priests came in with strange gestures and a still stranger +chant; these were exorcists, come to bann the evil spirits and daemons +that must surely haunt this high place of idolatry and abominations. +They carried crosses which they flourished like weapons against an +unseen foe, and touched the columns with them, the pavement and the +few remaining statues; they fell on their knees, making the sign of +the cross with the left hand; and, finally, they ranged themselves like +soldiers in three ranks in front of the niche containing the statue, +pointed their crosses at the god, and recited in loud, angry, and +commanding tones the potent anathemas and mysterious formulas which they +thought calculated to expel the most reprobate and obdurate of all the +heathen devils. A host of acolytes, following at their heels, swung +their censers about the plague-spot--the shrine of the king of idols; +while the exorcists dipped wands into a cauldron carried by their +attendants, and sprinkled the mystical figures on the hanging and on the +mosaic pavement. + +All this occupied several minutes. Then--and Gorgo's heart beat +high--then Constantine came in, armed and equipped, and behind him an +Ala of picked men, the elite of his troop; bearded men with tanned +and scarred faces. Instead of swords they carried axes, and they were +followed by sappers bearing tall ladders which, by Constantine's +orders, they leaned up against the niche. The infantry ranged under the +colonnades at the sides were evidently startled at the sight of these +ladders, and Gorgo could perceive by the trembling of the curtain near +which she and Apuleius were standing, how deeply the physician was +agitated. It was as though the axe had been displayed with which a king +was about to be decapitated. + +Now the Bishop came in with the municipal dignitaries; priests and +monks, chanting as they walked, filled the broad hall, incessantly +making the sign of the cross; and the crowd that poured into the +hypostyle pressed as far forward as they were allowed by the chain which +the soldiers held outstretched between them and their superiors. + +The populace-heathen and Christian of every sect and degree-filled the +aisles, too; but the chain also kept them off the upper end, on to which +the room opened in which Porphyrius lay; so that Gorgo's view of the +curtain and apse remained unhindered. + +The psalm rang loudly through the temple-courts above the murmur and +grumble of the angry, terrified and expectant mob. They were prepared +for the worst; each one knew the crime which was to be perpetrated, and +yet few, perhaps, really believed that any one would dare to commit +it. Whichever way she looked Gorgo saw only white faces, stamped with +passion, dismay, and dread. The very priests and soldiers themselves had +turned pale, and stood with bloodless cheeks and set teeth, staring at +the ground; some, to disguise their alarm, cast wrathful and defiant +glances at the rebellious mob, who tried to drown the psalm-singing in +loud menaces and curses, and the echoes of the great building doubled +their thousand voices. + +A strange unrest seethed in this dense mass of humanity. The heathen +were trembling with rage, clutching their amulets and charms, or shaking +angry fists; the Christians thrilled with anxiety and pious zeal, and +used their hands to lift the cross or to ward off the evil one with +outstretched fingers. Every face and every gesture, the muttered curses +and pious hymns--all showed that some terrible and fateful event was +impending over all. Gorgo herself felt as though she were standing on +the brink of a crater, while air and earth heaved around her; she felt +and saw the eruption of the volcano threatening, every instant, to burst +at her feet, and to choke and ruin every living thing. + +The uproar among the heathen grew louder and louder; fragments of stone +and wood came flying towards the spot where the Bishop and officials +were standing; but, suddenly, the tumult ceased, and, as if by a +miracle, there was silence--perfect silence--in the temple. It was as +though at a sign from the Omnipotent Ruler the storm-lashed ocean had +turned to the calm of a land-locked lake. At a nod from the Bishop some +acolytes had stepped up to the niche where the statue of the god was +shrouded and the curtain, which till now had hidden it, slowly began to +fall. + +There sat Serapis, looking down in majestic indifference, as cold and +unapproachable as if his sublime dignity was far removed above the +petty doings of the crawling humanity at his feet; and the effect was +as impressive now as it had been the evening before. How beautiful--how +marvellously grand and lofty was this work of human hands! Even the +Christians could not repress a low, long-drawn murmur of surprise, +admiration, and astonishment. The heathen were at first silent, +overcome by pious awe and ecstasy; but then they broke out in a loud and +triumphant shout, and their cries of "Hail to Serapis!" "Serapis, reign +forever!" rang from pillar to pillar and echoed from the stony vault of +the apse and ceiling. + +Gorgo crossed her hands over her bosom as she saw the god revealed in +his glorious beauty. Spotlessly pure, complete and perfect, the noble +statue stood before her; an idol indeed, and perishable--but still +divine as a matchless work, wrought by the loving hands of a votary of +the god, inspired by the immortals. She gazed spell-bound on the form +which, though human, transcended humanity as eternity transcends time, +as the light of the sun transcended the blazing beacon on Pharos; and +she said to herself that it was impossible that an irreverent hand +should be laid on this supremely lovely statue, crowned with the might +of undying beauty. + +She saw that even the Bishop drew back a step when the curtain had +fallen, and his lips parted involuntarily to utter a cry of admiration +like the others; but she saw, too, that he closed them again and pressed +them more firmly together; that his eye sparkled with a fiercer light as +the shout of the heathen rose to heaven, that the knotted veins on his +high forehead swelled with rage as he heard the cry of "Serapis, Hail, +all hail!" Then she noted the Comes, as he whispered soothing words in +the prelate's ear, praying him perhaps to spare the statue--not as an +idol, but as a work of art; as he turned from Theophilus with a shrug; +and then--her heart stood still, and she had to cling to the curtain--he +pointed to the statue, with a nod of intelligence to Constantine. The +young officer bowed with military formality and gave a word of command +to his men, which was drowned by the wild cries of the heathen as soon +as they apprehended with dismay what its import was. + +The veterans were stirred. A subaltern officer, putting the standard he +bore into the hands of the man next to him and taking his axe from him +instead, rushed towards the statue, gazed up at it--and then, letting +the axe sink, withdrew slowly to rejoin the others who still stood +hesitating, looking at each other with doubting and defiant eyes. + +Once more Constantine shouted his order, louder and more positively than +before; but the men did not move. The subaltern flung his axe on the +ground and the rest followed his example, pointing eagerly to the god, +and vehemently adjuring their prefect--refusing apparently to obey his +commands--for he went to the recalcitrant standard-bearer, a grey-haired +veteran, and laying his hand on the man's shoulder shook him angrily, +evidently threatening him and his comrades. + +In these brave souls a struggle was going on, between their sense of +discipline and devotion to their fine young leader, and their awe of +the god; it was visible in their puzzled faces, in their hands raised +in supplication. Constantine, however, relentlessly repeated his order; +and, when they still refused to obey, he turned his back on their ranks +with a gesture of bitter contempt, and shouted his commands to the +infantry posted by the colonnade behind which Gorgo was watching all +these proceedings. + +But these also were refractory. The heathen were triumphant, and +encouraged the soldiers with loud cries to persist. + +Constantine turned once more to his own men, and finding them obstinate +in their disobedience, he went forward himself to where the ladders were +standing, moved one of them from the wall and leaned it up against the +body of the statue, seized the axe that lay nearest, and mounted from +rung to rung. The murmurs of the heathen were suddenly silenced; the +multitude were so still that the least sound of one plate of armor +against another was audible, that each man could hear his neighbor +breathe, and that Gorgo fancied she could hear her own heart throb. + +The man and the god stood face to face, and the man who was about to +lay hands on the god was her lover. She watched his movements with +breathless interest; she longed to call out to him, to follow him as +he mounted the ladder, to fall on his neck and keep him from committing +such sacrilege--not out of fear of the ruin he might bring upon the +world, but only because she felt that the first blow he should deal to +this beautiful and unique work of art might wreck her love for him, as +his axe would wreck the ivory. She was not afraid for him; he seemed +to her inviolable and invulnerable; but her whole soul shuddered at the +deed which he was steeling himself to perpetrate. She remembered their +happy childhood together, his own artistic attempts, the admiration with +which he had gazed at the great works of the ancient sculptors--and +it seemed impossible that he, of all men he, should lay hands on that +masterpiece, that he, of all men, should be the one to insult, mutilate +and ruin it. It was not--could not be true! + +But there he was, at the top of the ladder; he passed the axe from his +left hand to his right, and leaning back a little, looked at the head +of the god from one side. She could see his face plainly, and note +every movement and look; she watched him keenly, and saw the loving +and compassionate expression with which he fixed his gaze on the noble +features of Serapis, saw him clutch his left hand to his heart as if in +pain. The crowd below might fancy that he lacked courage, that he was +absorbed in prayer, or that his soul shrank from dealing the fateful +blow to the great divinity; but she could see that he was bidding a +silent farewell, as it were, to the sublime work of an inspired artist, +which it pained and shocked him to destroy. And this comforted her; +it gave her views of the situation a new direction, and suggested the +question whether he, a soldier and a Christian, when commanded by his +superior to do this deed ought to shrink or hesitate, if he were indeed, +heart and soul, what, after all, he was. Her eyes clung to him, as +a frightened child clings to its mother's neck; and the expectant +thousands, in an agony of suspense, like her, saw nothing but him. + +Stillness more profound never reigned in the heart of the desert than +now in this vast and densely-crowded hall. Of all man's five senses only +one was active: that of sight; and that was concentrated on a single +object a man's hand holding an axe. The hearts of thousands stood +still, their breath was suspended, there was a singing in their ears, +a dazzling light in their eyes--eyes that longed to see, that must +see--and that could not; thousands stood there like condemned criminals, +whose heads are on the block, who hear the executioner behind them, and +who still, on the very threshold of death, hope for respite and release. + +Gorgo found no answer to her own questionings; but she, too, wanted +to see--must see. And she saw Constantine close his eyes, as though he +dared not contemplate the deed that Fate had condemned him to do; she +saw him lay his left hand on the god's sacred beard, saw him raise his +right for the fatal blow--saw, heard, felt the axe crash again and +again on the cheek of Serapis--saw the polished ivory fall in chips +and shavings, large and small, on the stone floor, and leap up with an +elastic rebound or shiver into splinters. She covered her face with her +hands and hid her head in the curtain, weeping aloud. She could only +moan and sob, and feel nothing, think nothing but that a momentous and +sinister act had been perpetrated. An appalling uproar like the noise of +thunder and the beating of surf rose up on every side, but she heeded it +not; and when at length the physician called her by her name, when she +turned from the curtain and once more looked out, instead of the sublime +image of the god she saw in the niche a shapeless log of wood, a hideous +mass against which several ladders were propped, while the ground was +heaped and strewed with scraps of ivory, fragments of gold-plate, and +chips of marble. Constantine had disappeared; the ladders and the plinth +of the statue were covered with a swarm of soldiers and monks who were +finishing the work of destruction. As soon as the young officer had +struck the first blow, and the god had submitted in abject impotence, +they had rushed upon him and saved their captain the trouble of ending +the task he had begun. + +The great idol was desecrated. Serapis was no more--the heaven of the +heathen had lost its king. The worshippers of the deposed god, sullen, +furious, and bitterly disabused, made their way out of the temple and +looked up at the serene blue sky, the unclouded sunshine, for some +symptoms of an avenging tempest; but in vain. + +Theophilus had also quitted the scene with the Comes, leaving the +work of devastation in the competent hands of the monks. He knew his +skin-clad adherents well; and he knew that within a very few days not +an idol, not a picture, not a token would remain intact to preserve the +memory of the old gods; a thousand slaves charged to sweep the Serapeum +from the face of the earth would have given his impatience twenty times +as long to wait. The Comes went off at once to the Hippodrome, preceded +by hundreds who had hurried off to tell the assembled multitude that +Alexandria had lost her god. + +Constantine, however, had not left the temple; he had withdrawn into one +of the aisles and seated himself on the steps, where he remained, sunk +in thought and gazing at the ground. He was a soldier and took service +and discipline in earnest. What he had done he had been forced to +do; but no one could guess how hard it had been to him to fulfil this +terrible duty. His own act was abominable in his eyes, and yet he would +have done it again to-morrow, if it had again been required of him +under similar circumstances. He bewailed the beautiful statue as a lost +treasure of art; but he felt that it was indispensable that it should +perish out of the world. And at the same time he thought of Gorgo, +wondering how she--who had only the day before pledged herself to him, +whom he loved with fervent passion, to whom, as he well knew, his faith +was something monstrous in its contempt for beauty--would bear to learn +that he, her lover, was the man who, like some coarse barbarian, had +defaced this noble work and ruined this vision of beauty, no less dear +to him than it was to her. Still, as he sat brooding and searching the +very depths of his soul, he could not help feeling that he had certainly +acted rightly and would do the same again, even at the risk of losing +her. To him Gorgo, was the noblest of God's creatures, and how could he +have borne to go through life at her side with a stain on his honor? But +he did not conceal from himself the fact that his deed had opened a +wide gulf between them; and it was with deep pathos that his thoughts +recurred to the antique conception of tragedy--of fate which pursues +its innocent victims as though they were guilty. This day perhaps would +witness the sunset of his life's joy, would drive him forth once more to +war--to fight, and do nothing but fight, till death should meet him on +the battle-field. And as he sat there his eyes grew dim and heavy and +his head fell on his heaving breast. + +Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and turning round, he +saw Gorgo standing with her hand outstretched; he started to his feet, +seized it with eager passion and looking sadly into the young girl's +eyes said, with deep emotion: + +"I would I might hold this hand forever--but you will leave me, you will +turn from me when I tell you of the deed that mine has done." + +"I know it," she said firmly. "And it was a hard task even for you--a +painful duty--was it not?" + +"Terrible! horrible!" he exclaimed with a shudder, as he recalled the +feelings of that momentous instant. She looked sympathetically into his +eyes. + +"And you did it," she cried, "because you felt that you must and will +be wholly what you profess to be? It is right--the only right; I feel it +so. I will try to imitate you, and rise above the half-heartedness +which is the bane of existence, and which makes the firm path of life a +trembling, swaying bridge. I am yours, wholly yours; I have none other +gods but yours, and for love of you I will learn to love your God--for +you have often and often called him a God of Love." + +"And He is a God of Love!" cried Constantine, "and you will know him and +confess him even without teaching; for our Saviour lives in every heart +that is filled with love. Oh! Gorgo, I have destroyed that beautiful +idol, but I will let you see that even a Christian can duly value and +cherish beauty in his home and in his heart." + +"I am sure of it," she exclaimed joyfully. "The world goes on its way +and does not quake, in spite of the fall of Serapis; but I feel as +though in my inmost soul a world had perished and a new one was created, +nobler and purer, and perhaps even more lovely than the old one!" + +He pressed her hand to his lips; she signed to him to follow her and led +the way to her father's couch. Porphyrius was sitting up, supported in +the physician's arms; his eyes were open, and as they entered he greeted +them with a faint smile. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The spacious Hippodrome was filled with some thousands of spectators. At +first many rows of seats had been left vacant, though usually on the +eve of the great races, the people would set out soon after midnight +and every place would be filled long before the games began; indeed the +upper tiers of the tribune, which were built of wood and were free to +all comers, with standing-room behind, were commonly so crowded early in +the morning that the crush ended in a free fight. + +On this occasion, the storm of the previous night, the anxiety caused +by the conflict round the Serapeum, and the prevalent panic as to +the approaching end of the world, kept great numbers away from their +favorite diversion; but when the sky recovered its radiant blue, and +when it became known that the statue of Serapis had escaped uninjured +in the siege of his sanctuary--when Cynegius, the Imperial legate, and +Evagrius, the city-prefect, had entered the theatre with much +pomp, followed by several senators and ladies and gentlemen of +rank-Christians, Heathen, and Jews--the most timid took courage; the +games had been postponed for an hour, and before the first team was led +into the arched shed whence the chariots started, the seats, though less +densely packed than usual, were amply filled. + +The number of chariots entered for competition was by no means smaller +than on former occasions, for the heathen had strained every nerve to +show their fellow-citizens of different creeds, and especially Caesar's +representative, that, in spite of persecution and in defiance of +Imperial edicts, they were still a power worthy of consideration. The +Christians, on their part, did their utmost to outdo the idolaters on +the same ground where, not long since, they had held quite the second +place. + +The Bishop's epigram: That Christianity had ceased to be the religion of +the poor, was amply confirmed; the greater proportion of the places for +senators, officials and rich citizens were occupied by its adherents, +and the men and women who professed the Faith were by no means behind +their heathen peers in magnificence of dress and jewels. + +The horses, too, entered by the Christians could not fail to please +the connoisseur, as they punctually made their appearance behind the +starting-place, though he might have felt more confidence--and not +without reason--in the heathen steeds, and more particularly in their +drivers, each of whom had won on an average nine races out of ten. + +The horses in the quadriga with which Marcus, the son of Mary, made his +appearance in the arena had never before been driven in the Hippodrome. +Demetrius, the owner's brother, had bred and trained them--four +magnificent black Arabs--and they excited much interest among the +knowing judges who were wont to collect and lounge about the 'oppidum', +as it was called, behind the 'carceres'--[The covered sheds or stalls +in which the horses were brought to wait for the start.]--to inspect the +racers, predict the winner, offer counsel to the drivers, and make +bets. These perfect creatures were perhaps as fine as the famous team +of golden bays belonging to Iphicrates, which so often had proved +victorious; but the agitatores, or drivers, attracted even more interest +than the horses. Marcus, though he knew how to handle the reins--he +had already been seen in experimental races--could hardly hold his +own against Hippias, the handsome young heathen, who, like most of the +drivers in the arena, was an agitator by profession. A story was told +of his having driven over a bridge which was not quite as wide as the +outside edges of his chariot-wheels; and there were many witnesses +to the feat he had performed of writing his mistress' name with his +chariot-tracks in the sand of the Hippodrome. + +The betting was freest and the wagers highest on Hippias and the team +belonging to Iphicrates. Some few backed Marcus and his Arabs, but for +smaller sums; and when they compared the tall but narrow-shouldered +figure of the young Christian with the heroic breadth of Hippias' frame, +and his delicate features, dreamy blue eyes and downy black moustache +with the powerful Hermes-head of his rival, they were anxious about +their money. If his brother now, the farmer Demetrius--who was standing +by the horses' heads--or some well-known agitator had held the reins, it +would have been a pleasure and a profit to back such horses. Marcus had +been abroad, too, and men shrugged their shoulders over that, for it was +not till the last few days that he had been seen exercising his horses +in the Hippodrome. + +Time was going on, and the Imperial envoy, who had been elected to +preside as judge, at length took his place; Demetrius whispered a few +last words of advice to his brother and went back into the arena. He had +secured a good place on the stone podium and on the shady side, though +there were several seats vacant among those belonging to his family; but +he did not care to occupy one of these, preferring to keep out of the +way of his step-mother, who had made her appearance with a senator and +his wife to whom she was related. He had not seen her for two days; his +promise to Karnis that he would try to find Dada, had kept him fully +occupied, and he had done his best in all earnest to discover the girl. + +The honest indignation with which this young creature had refused his +splendid offers, in spite of the modest circumstances of her life, had +roused his respect, and he had felt it an insult to himself and to his +brother when Gorgo had spoken of her with contempt. For his part, he had +never met with any one more fascinating; he could not cease dreaming of +her, and the thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of +a great city made him miserable. His brother had the first claim on +her and he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly +in every resort of the young and gay--nay even in Canopus--he had only +meant to place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being +lost to the family, though, when at last its possession is secured, +it becomes the property of the member who can prove the best right +of ownership. But all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an +unhappy mood that he went at last to the Hippodrome. There the bitter +hostility and party-feeling which he had everywhere observed during his +present visit to his native city, were not less conspicuous than they +had been in the streets. The competing chariots usually arrived at +the amphitheatre in grand procession, but this had not been thought +advisable in the prevailing excitement; they had driven into the oppidum +singly and without any display; and the images of the gods, which in +former days had always been placed on the spina before the games began, +had long since fallen into disuse. + + [The spina was the division down the middle of the arena. At each + end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of + about 13 feet. The spina was originally constructed of wood, + subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29 + feet. The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet + long.] + +All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat +it was in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of +spectators. + +His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins +which was reserved for the family. Her tunic and skirt displayed the +color blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and +silver brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and +the olive-branch were elegantly combined. Her black hair was closely and +simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string +of large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals, +lying on her forehead. A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat +gazing into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were +folded and held a cross. This placid and demure attitude she deemed +becoming to a Christian matron and widow. Everyone might see that she +had not come for worldly pleasure, but merely to be present at a triumph +of her fellow-Christians--and especially her son--over the idolaters. +Everything about her bore witness to the Faith, even the pattern on her +dress and the shape of her ornaments; down to the embroidery on her silk +gloves, in which a cross and an anchor were so designed as to form a +Greek X, the initial letter of the name of Christ. Her ambition was to +appear simple and superior to all worldly vanities; still, all she wore +must be rich and costly, for she was here to do honor to her creed. She +would have regarded it as a heathen abomination to wear wreaths of fresh +and fragrant flowers, though for the money which that string of pearls +had cost she might have decked the circus with garlands from end to end, +or have fed a hundred poor for a twelvemonth. It seems so much easier to +cheat the omniscient Creator of the Universe than our fellow-fools! + +So Dame Maria sat there in sour and virtuous dignity, looking like +the Virgin Mary as painters and sculptors were at that time wont to +represent her; and her farmer-son shuddered whenever his eye fell on +his step-mother. It did him good, by contrast, to hear a hearty peal of +laughter that came up from the lowest ranks of the podium. When he had +discovered the spot from whence it proceeded he could hardly believe his +eyes, for there sat the long-sought Dada, between an old man and a +young woman, laughing as though something had just occurred to amuse her +extremely. Demetrius stretched his limbs with a feeling of relief and +satisfaction; then he rose, and seeing his city agent seated just behind +the girl, he begged him to change places with him, as he thought it +advisable not to lose sight of the game now it was caught; the old +man was very ready to oblige him and went up to the other seat with a +meaning smile. + +For the first time since she could recollect anything Dada had spent +a sleepless night. Whether the wind and thunder would have sufficed to +keep her awake who can tell; but the thoughts that had whirled through +her brain had been varied and exciting enough to rob her of sleep. Her +own people who were fighting for Serapis--how were they faring; and +Agne--what had become of her? Then her mind turned to the church, and +the worthy old priest's sermon; to the races that she was to see--and +the face and figure of the handsome young Christian rose vividly and +irresistibly before her fancy. Of course--of course, she wished his +horses to win; but it was strange enough that she, Karnis' niece, should +be on the side of the Christians. Stranger still that she had entirely +ceased to believe in all the abuse which, from her earliest childhood, +she had heard heaped on the followers of the crucified Jew. It could +only be that Karnis had never been able to forgive them for having +ruined his theatre at Tauromenium, and so, perhaps, had never known them +thoroughly. + +She had enjoyed many a happy hour at the festivals of the old gods; and +they were no doubt beautiful and festive divinities, or terrible when +they were wroth; still, in the depths of her soul there had for some +time lurked a vague, sweet longing which found no fulfilment in any +heathen temple. She knew no name for it and would have found it hard to +describe, but in the church, listening to the prayers and hymns and the +old deacon's discourse, it had for the first time been stilled; she had +felt then and there that, helpless and simple as she was, and even if +she were to remain parted from her foster parents, she need never feel +abandoned, but could rest and hope in a supreme, loving, and helpful +power. And indeed she needed such a protector; she was so easily +beguiled. Stephanion, a flute-player she had known in Rome, had wheedled +everything she had a fancy for out of poor Dada, and when she had +got into any mischief laid it all on Dada's shoulders. There must be +something particularly helpless about her, for everyone, as a matter of +course, took her in hand and treated her like a child, or said things +that made her angry. + +In the Hippodrome, however, she forgot everything in the present +pleasure, and was happy enough in finding herself in the lowest row +of places, in the comfortable seats on the shady side, belonging to +Posidonius, the wealthy Magian. This was quite different from her +experience in Rome, where once, in the Circus Maximus, she had stood in +the second tier of the wooden gallery and had been squeezed and pushed, +while no one had taken any notice of her and she had only seen the races +from a distance, looking down on the heads of the men and horses. Herse +never would take her a second time, for, as they came out, they had been +followed and spoken to by men, young and old; and after that her aunt +had fancied she never could be safe, scenting danger at every turn, and +would not allow her ever again to go out alone in the city. + +This was altogether a much finer place, for here she was parted from +the race-course only by a narrow watercourse which, as it happened, was +bridged over just in front of her; the horses would pass close to her; +and besides, it was pleasant to be seen and to feel conscious of a +thousand flattering glances centered on herself. + +Even the great Cynegius, Caesar's envoy and deputy, who had often +noticed her on board ship, turned again and again to look at her. He was +carried in on a golden litter by ten huge negroes, preceded by twelve +lictors bearing fasces wreathed with laurel; and he took his seat, robed +in purple and embroidery, on a magnificent throne in the middle of the +tribune above the starting sheds; however, Dada troubled herself no more +about the overdressed old man. + +Her eyes were everywhere, and she made Medius or his daughter name +everybody and explain everything. Demetrius was delighted with her eager +enjoyment; presently, nudging the singer, she whispered to him with much +satisfaction: + +"Look how the people down below are craning their necks to look at us! +My dress is so very pretty--I wonder where your friend Posidonius gets +these lovely roses. There are above a hundred buds in this garland +across my shoulders and down to my girdle, I counted them in the litter +as I came along. It is a pity they should die so soon; I shall dry the +leaves and make scent of them." + +Demetrius could not resist the temptation; he leaned forward and said +over her shoulder: "There are hardly enough for that." + +At this unexpected address Dada looked round, and she blushed as she +recognized Marcus' brother; he, however, hastened to assure her that he +deeply regretted his audacious proposals of two days since, and the girl +laughed, and said that he had come off worst, and that she might have +sent him away a little more civilly perhaps; but the truth was she +had been out of temper to begin with--any one would be cross that was +treated as Dame Herse had treated her: hiding her shoes and leaving +her a prisoner on the deck of a barge in the middle of a lake! Then +she introduced him to Medius, and finally enquired about Marcus and his +horses, and whether he had any chance of winning the race. + +The countryman answered all her questions; and when, presently, a +flower-girl came along the ranks of seats, selling wreaths of blue and +red flowers and ribbands, Demetrius bought two lovely olive-wreaths to +fling to the winner--his brother he hoped. Medius and his daughter wore +red knots--the color of the Heathen, and Dada, following their example, +had a similar bow on her shoulder; now, however, she accepted a blue +ribband that Demetrius bought for her and pinned it in the place of +the red one as being the color of Marcus, to the old singer's great +annoyance. Demetrius laughed loudly in his deep bass tones, declaring +that his brother was already most anxious to win, and that, when he saw +her with these ribbands he would strain every nerve, in gratitude +for her partisanship. He could assure her that Marcus thought of her +constantly. + +"I am glad of that," she said simply; and she added that it was the same +with her, for she had been thinking all night of Marcus and his horses. +Medius could not help remarking that Karnis and Herse would take it very +ill that she should display the Christian color to-day of all days; to +which she only replied that she was sorry for that, but that she +liked blue better than red. The answer was so abrupt and short that it +startled Demetrius, who had hitherto seen Dada gentle and pliant; and +it struck him at once how deep an aversion the girl felt for her present +protectors. + +There was music, as usual, in the towers at either end of the row +of carceres; but it was less stirring and cheerful than of yore, for +flutes, and several of the heathen airs had been prohibited. Formerly, +too, the Hippodrome had been a place where lovers could meet and where +many a love-affair had been brought to a happy climax; but to-day none +of the daughters of the more respectable families were allowed to quit +the women's apartments in their own homes, for danger was in the air; +the course of events in the Serapeum had kept many of the younger men +from witnessing the races, and some mysterious influence seemed to weigh +upon the gaiety and mirth of which the Hippodrome on a gala day was +usually the headquarters. + +Wild excitement, expectation strung to the highest pitch, and +party-feeling, both for and against, had always, of course, been rife +here; but to-day they were manifest in an acuter form--hatred had +added its taint and lent virulence to every emotion. The heathen were +oppressed and angered, their rights abridged and defied; they saw the +Christians triumphant at every point, and hatred is a protean monster +which rages most fiercely and most venomously when it has lurked in the +foul career of envy. + +The Christians could hate, too, and they hated the idolaters who gloried +with haughty self-sufficiency in their intellectual inheritance; the +traditions of a brilliant past. They, who had been persecuted and +contemned, now had the upper hand; they were in power, and the more +insolently they treated their opponents, the more injustice they +did them, and the less the victimized heathen were able to revenge +themselves, the more bitterly did the Christians detest the party they +contemned as superstitious idolaters. In their care for the soul--the +spiritual and divine part--the Christians had hitherto neglected the +graces of the body; thus the heathen had remained the undisputed masters +of the palaestra and the hippodrome. In the gymnasium the Christian +refused even to compete, for the exhibition of his naked body he +regarded as an abomination; but on the race-course he had lately been +willing to display his horses, and many times had disputed the crown +with the hereditary victors, so that, even here, the heathen felt +his time-honored and undisputed supremacy endangered. This was +intolerable--this must be averted--the mere thought of being beaten on +this ground roused the idolaters to wrath and malice. They displayed +their color in wreaths of scarlet poppies, pomegranate flowers and red +roses, with crimson ribbands and dresses; white and green, the colors +formerly adopted by the competitors, were abandoned; for all the heathen +were unanimous in combining their forces against the common foe. +The ladies used red sun-shades and the very baskets, in which the +refreshments were brought for the day, were painted red. + +The widow Mary, on the other hand, and all the Christians were robed in +blue from head to foot, their sandals being tied with blue ribbands; +and Dada's blue shoulder-knot was in conspicuous contrast to her bright +rose-colored dress. + +The vendors of food who wandered round the circus had eggs dyed blue +and red, cakes with sugared icing and refreshing drinks in jars of both +colors. When a Christian and a Heathen found themselves seated side by +side, each turned a shoulder to the other, or, if they were forced to +sit face to face, eyed each other with a scowl. + +Cynegius did all he could to postpone the races as long as possible; +he was anxious to wait till the Comes had finished his task in the +Serapeum, so that the troops might be free to act in any emergency that +might arise before the contests in the Hippodrome were fairly ended. +Time did not hang heavy on his hands for the vast multitude here +assembled interested him greatly, though he had frequently been a +spectator of similar festivities in Rome and Constantinople; but this +crowd differed in many particulars from the populace of those cities. +In the topmost tiers of free seats black and brown faces predominated +greatly over white ones; in the cushioned and carpeted ranks of the +stone podium--the lower portion of the amphitheatre--mingled with Greeks +and Egyptians, sat thousands of splendidly dressed men and women +with strongly-marked Semitic features: members of the wealthy Jewish +community, whose venerable head, the Alabarch, a dignified patriarch in +Greek dress, sat with the chief members of the senate, near the envoy's +tribune. + +The Alexandrians were not a patient race and they were beginning to +rebel against the delay, making no small noise and disturbance, when +Cynegius rose and with his white handkerchief waved the signal for the +races to begin. The number of spectators had gradually swelled from +fifty to sixty and to eighty thousand; and no less than thirty-six +chariots were waiting behind the carceres ready to start. + +Four 'missus' or races were to be run. In each of the three first twelve +chariots were to start, and in the fourth only the leaders in the +three former ones were to compete. The winner of the olive-wreath and +palmbranch in this final heat would bear the honors of the day; his +party would be victorious and he would quit the Hippodrome in triumph. + +Lots were now drawn in the oppidum to decide which shed each chariot was +to start from, and in which naissus each was to run. It was Marcus' fate +to start among the first lot, and, to the horror of those who had backed +his chances, Hippias, the hero of the Hippodrome, was his rival, with +the four famous bays. + +Heathen priests poured libations to Poseidon, and Phoebus Apollo, the +patron divinities of horses and of the Hippodrome--for sacrifices of +blood were prohibited; while Christian presbyters and exorcists blessed +the rival steeds in the name of the Bishop. A few monks had crept in, +but they were turned out by the heathen with bitter jeers, as unbidden +intruders. + +Cynegius repeated his signal. The sound of the tuba rang through the +air, and the first twelve chariots were led into the starting-sheds. A +few minutes later a machine was set in motion by which a bronze eagle +was made to rise with outspread wings high into the air, from an altar +in front of the carceres; this was the signal for the chariots to come +forth from their boxes. They took up their positions close behind a +broad chalk line, traced on the ground with diagonal slope, so as to +reduce the disadvantage of standing outermost and having a larger curve +to cover. + +Until this moment only the privileged possessors of the seats over the +carceres had been able, by craning backwards, to see the horses and +drivers; now the competitors were visible to the multitude which, +at their first appearance, broke out into vociferous applause. The +agitatores had to exert all their strength to hold in the startled and +eager teams, and make them stand even for a few short minutes; then +Cynegius signalled for the third time. A golden dolphin, which had been +suspended from a beam, and on which the eye of every charioteer was +fixed, dropped to the ground, a blast on the 'salpinx', or war-trumpet, +was sounded, and forty-eight horses flew forth as though thrown forward +by one impulsion. + +The strength of four fine horses whirled each light, two-wheeled chariot +over the hard causeway as though it were a toy. The down-pour of the +previous night had laid the dust; the bright sunshine sparkled and +danced in rapidly-changing flashes, mirrored in the polished gilding +of the bronze or the silver fittings of the elegantly-decorated, +semicircular cars in which the drivers stood. + +Five blue and seven red competitors had drawn the first lots. The eye +rested with pleasure on the sinewy figures whose bare feet seemed rooted +to the boards they stood on, while their eyes were riveted on the goal +they were striving to reach, though--as the eye of the archer sees +arrow, bow and mark all at once--they never lost sight of the horses +they were guiding. A close cap with floating ribbands confined their +hair, and they wore a short sleeveless tunic, swathed round the body +with wide bands, as if to brace their muscles and add to their strength. +The reins were fastened around the hips so as to leave the hands free, +not only to hold them but also to ply the whip and use the goad. Each +charioteer had a knife in his girdle, to enable him to release himself, +in case of accident, from a bond that might prove fatal. + +Before long the bay team was leading alone. Behind were two Christian +drivers, followed by three red chariots; Marcus was last of all, but it +was easy to see that it was by choice and not by necessity that he was +hanging back. He was holding in his fiery team with all his strength and +weight--his body thrown back, his feet firmly set with his knees against +the silver bar of the chariot, and his hands gripping the reins. In a +few minutes he came flying past Dada and his brother, but he did not +see them. He had not even caught sight of his own mother, while the +professional charioteers had not failed to bow to Cynegius and nod to +their friends. He could only keep his eyes and mind fixed on his horses +and on the goal. + +The multitude clapped, roared, shouted encouragement to their party, +hissed and whistled when they were disappointed--venting their utmost +indignation on Marcus as he came past behind the others; but he either +heard them not or would not hear. Dada's heart beat so wildly that she +thought it would burst. She could not sit still; she started to her +feet and then flung herself back on her cushions, shouting some spurring +words to Marcus in the flash of time when he might perhaps hear them. +When he had passed, her head fell and she said sadly enough: "Poor +fellow!--We have bought our wreaths for nothing after all, Demetrius!" + +But Demetrius shook his head and smiled. + +"Nay," he said, "the boy has iron sinews in that slight body. Look how +he holds the horses in! He is saving their strength till they need it. +Seven times, child, seven times he has to go round this great circus and +past the 'nyssa'. You will see, he will catch up what he has lost, yet. +Hippias, you see, is holding in his horses, too; it is his way of +giving himself airs at starting. Now he is close to the 'nyssa'--the +'kampter'--the 'meta' they call it at Rome; the smaller the bend he +can make round it the better for him, but it is risky work. There--you +see!--They drive round from right to left and that throws most of the +work on the lefthand beast; it has to turn almost in its own length. +Aura, our first horse, is as supple as a panther and I trained her to +do it, myself.--Now, look out there! that bronze figure of a rearing +horse--the 'Taraxippos' they call it--is put there to frighten the +horses, and Megaera, our third horse, is like a mad thing sometimes, +though she can go like a stag; every time Marcus gets her quietly past +the Taraxippos we are nearer to success.--Look, look,=-the first chariot +has got round the nyssa! It is Hippias! Yes, by Zeus, he has done it! He +is a detestable braggart, but he knows his business!" + +This was one of the decisive moments of the race. The crowd was silent; +expectation was at the utmost pitch of tension, and Dada's eyes were +fixed spell-bound on the obelisk and on the quadrigas that whirled round +the bourn. + +Next to Hippias came a blue team, and close behind were three red ones. +The Christian who had succeeded in reaching the nyssa second, boldly +took his horses close round the obelisk, hoping to gain space and get +past Hippias; but the left wheel of his chariot grazed the granite +plinth, the light car was overset, and the horses of the red chariot, +whose noses were almost on his shoulder, could not be pulled up short +in time. They fell over the Christian's team which rolled on the +ground; the red chariot, too, turned over, and eight snorting beasts lay +struggling in the sand. + +The horses in the next chariot bolted as they were being driven past +this mass of plunging and neighing confusion; they defied their driver's +impotent efforts and galloped across the course back into the caiceres. + +The rest had time and space enough to beware of the wreck and to give it +a wide berth, among them Marcus. The melee at the Meta had excited his +steeds almost beyond control, and as they tore past the Taraxippos the +third horse, Megaera, shied violently as Demetrius had predicted. She +flung herself on one side, thrust her hind quarters under the pole, and +kicked desperately, lifting the chariot quite off the ground; the young +charioteer lost his footing and slipped. Dada covered her face with her +hands, and his mother turned pale and knit her brows with apprehension. +The youth was still standing; his feet were on the sand of the arena; +but he had a firm grip on the right-hand spiral ornament that terminated +the bar round the chariot. Many a heart stood still with anxiety, and +shouts of triumph and mockery broke from the red party; but in less than +half a minute, by an effort of strength and agility, he had his knees on +the foot-board, and then, in the winking of an eye, he was on his feet +in the chariot, had gathered up the reins and was rushing onward. + +Meanwhile, however, Hippias had far outstripped all the rest, and as +he flew past the carceres he checked his pace, snatched a cup from +a lemonade-seller, tossed the contents down his throat with haughty +audacity amid the plaudits of the crowd, and then dashed on again. A +wide gap, indeed, still lay between him and Marcus. + +By the time the competitors again came round to the nyssa, the slaves in +attendance had cleared away the broken chariots and led off the horses. +A Christian still came next to Hippias followed by a red agitator; +Marcus had gained on the others and was now fourth. + +In the third round the chariot of the red driver in front of Marcus +made too sharp a turn and ran up against the granite. The broken car was +dragged on by the terrified beasts, and the charioter with it, till, by +the time they were stopped, he was a corpse. In the fifth circuit the +Christian who till now had been second to Hippias shared the same +fate, though he escaped with his life; and then Marcus drove past the +starting-sheds next to Hippias. + +Hippias had ceased to flout and dally. In spite of the delay that Marcus +had experienced from the Taraxippos, the space that parted his bays +from the black Arabs had sensibly diminished, round after round; and +the interest of the race now centered entirely in him and the young +Christian. Never before had so passionate and reckless a contest been +fought out on this venerable race-course, and the throng of spectators +were carried away by the almost frenzied rivalry of the two drivers. Not +a creature in the upper tiers had been able to keep his seat; men and +women alike had risen to their feet and were shouting and roaring to the +competitors. The music in the towers might have ceased, so completely +was it drowned by the tumult in the amphitheatre. + +Only the ladies, in the best places above the starting-sheds, preserved +their aristocratic calm; Still, when the seventh and decisive round was +begun, even the widow Mary leaned forward a little and clasped her hands +more tightly over the cross in her lap. Each time that Marcus had driven +round the obelisk or past the Taraxippos, Dada had clutched her head +with her hands and set her teeth in her lip; each time, as he happily +steered clear of the fatal stone and whirled past the dreadful bronze +statue, she had relaxed her grip and leaned back in her seat with a sigh +of relief. Her sympathy made her one with Marcus; she felt as if his +loss must be her death and his victory her personal triumph. + +During the sixth circuit Hippias was still a long way ahead of the young +Christian; the distance which lay between Marcus and the team of bays +seemed to have become a fixed quantity, for, do what he could, he could +not diminish it by a hand-breadth. The two agitatores had now completely +altered their tactics; instead of holding their horses in they urged +them onward, leaning over the front of their chariots, speaking to the +horses, Shouting at them with hoarse, breathless cries, and flogging +them unsparingly. Steamy sweat and lathering foam streaked the flanks of +the desperate, laboring brutes, while clouds of dust were flung up +from the dry, furrowed and trampled soil. The other chariots were left +further and further behind those of Hippias and Marcus, and when, for +the seventh and last time, these two were nearing the nyssa, the crowd +for a moment held its breath, only to break out into louder and wilder +cries, and then again to be hushed. It seemed as though their exhausted +lungs found renewed strength to shout with double energy when their +excitement had kept them silent for a while. + +Dada spoke no more; pale and gasping, she sat with her eyes fixed on the +tall obelisk and on the cloud of dust which, as the chariots neared the +nyssa, seemed to grow denser. At about a hundred paces from the nyssa +she saw, above the sandy curtain, the red cap of Hippias flash past, and +then--close behind it--the blue cap worn by Marcus. Then a deafening, +thundering roar from thousands of throats went up to heaven, while, +round the obelisk--so close to it that not a horse, not a wheel could +have found room between the plinth and the driver-the blue cap came +forward out of the cloud, and, behind it now--no longer in front, though +not more than a length behind--came the red cap of Hippias. When within +a few feet of the nyssa, Marcus had overtaken his antagonist, had passed +the point with a bold and perilously close turn, and had left the bays +behind him. + +Demetrius saw it all, as though his eye had power to pierce the +dust-cloud, and now he, too, lost his phlegmatic calm. He threw up his +arms as if in prayer and shouted, as though his brother could hear him: + +"Well done, splendid boy! Now for the kentron--the goad--drive it in, +send it home if they die for it! Give it them well!" + +Dada, who could only guess what was happening, looked round at him, +asking in tremulous tones: "Has he passed him? Is he gaining on him? +Will he win?" But Demetrius did not answer; he only pointed to the +foremost of the flying clouds on which the second was fast advancing, +and cried in a frenzy of excitement: + +"Death and Hades! The other is catching him up. The dog, the sneak! If +only the boy would use his goad. Give it them, Marcus! Give it them, +lad! Never give in now! Great Father Poseidon!--there--there!--no! I can +hardly stand--Yes, he is still in front, and now--now--this must settle +it! Thunder and lightning! They are close together again--may the dust +choke him! No--it is all right; my Arabs are in front! All is well, keep +it up, lad, well done! We have won!" + +The horses were pulled up, the dust settled; Marcus, the Christian, had +won the first missus. Cynegius held out the crown to the victor, +who bowed to receive it. Then he waved his hand to his mother, who +graciously waved hers in return, and he drove into the oppidurn and was +lost to sight. + +Hippias flung down his whip in a rage, but the triumphant shouts of the +Christians drowned the music, the trumpet-blasts and the angry murmurs +of the defeated heathen. Threatening fists were shaken in the air, while +behind the carceres the drivers and owners of the red party scolded, +squabbled and stormed; and Hippias, who by his audacious swagger +had given away the race to their hated foe--to the Blues, the +Christians--narrowly escaped being torn in pieces. + +The tumult and excitement were unparalleled; but Dada saw and heard +nothing. She sat in a blissful dream, gazing into her lap, while tears +of joyful reaction rolled down her cheeks. Demetrius saw her tears and +was glad; then, pointing out Mary to the girl, he informed her that she +was the mother of Marcus. And he registered a secret vow that, cost what +it might, he would bring his victorious brother and this sweet child +together. + +The second and third missus, like the first, were marked by serious +accidents; both, however, were won for the Red party. In the fourth, +the decisive race, there were but three competitors: Marcus and the two +heathen winners. Demetrius watched it with less anxiety; he knew that +his Arabs were far superior to the Egyptian breed in staying power, and +they also had the advantage of having had a longer rest. In fact, the +final victory was adjudged to the young Christian. + +Long before it was decided Dada had been impatiently fingering her +wreaths, and could hardly wait any longer to fling them into Marcus' +chariot. When it was all over she might perhaps have an opportunity of +speaking to him; and she thought how delightful his voice was and what +fine, kind eyes he had. If only he were to bid her be his, she would +follow him whither and wherever he desired, whatever Karnis and Herse +might say to the contrary. She thought no one could be so glad of his +success as she was; she felt as if she belonged to him, had always +belonged to him, and only some spiteful trick of Fate had come between +them. + +There was a fresh blast of trumpets; the victor, in obedience to a +time-honored custom, was to drive round the arena at a foot-pace and +show his brave team to the multitude. He came nearer and nearer, and +Demetrius proposed that they should cross the little watercourse that +parted the podium from the arena and follow the chariot, so as to +give his brother the wreaths instead of flinging them to him. The girl +colored and could say neither yes or no; but she rose, hung one of the +olive-crowns on her arm with a happy, bashful smile, and handed the +other to her new friend; then she followed him across the little bridge +on to the race-course which, now that the games were over, was crowded +with Christians. + +The brothers exchanged pleased greetings from afar, but Marcus did not +see Dada till she was close to him and stood, with a shy but radiant +glance of intense delight, holding out the olive-wreath for his +acceptance. He felt as though Heaven had wrought a miracle in his favor. +Never before had he thought her half so lovely. She seemed to have +grown since he had seen her last, to have gained a deeper and nobler +expression; and he observed, too, the blue favors on her shoulder and +among the roses that crowned her fair curls. Gladness and surprise +prevented his speaking; but he took the garland she offered him and, +seizing her hands, stammered out: "Thanks--thank you, Dada." + +Their eyes met, and as he gazed into her face he forgot where he was, +did not even wonder why his brother had suddenly turned away and, +beginning some long-winded speech, had rushed after a man who hastily +covered his head and tried to escape; he did not notice that thousands +of eyes were fixed on him, and among them his mother's; he could merely +repeat: "thanks" and "Dada"--the only words he could find. He would +perhaps have gone on repeating them, but that he was interrupted; the +'porta libitinaria'--the gate through which the dead or injured were +usually carried out, was thrown open, and a rabble of infuriated heathen +rushed in, crying: "Serapis is fallen! They have destroyed the image of +Serapis! The Christians are ruining the sanctuaries of the gods!" + +A sudden panic seized the assembled multitude; the Reds rushed down from +their places into the arena to hear the details and ask questions--ready +to fight for the god or to fly for safety. In an instant the victor's +chariot was surrounded by an angry mob; Dada clutched it for protection, +and Marcus, without pausing to reflect--indeed hardly master of his own +actions--turned and lifted her into it by his side; then, urging his +horses forward, he forced a way through the crowd, past the caiceres. He +glanced anxiously up at the seats but could nowhere see his mother, so +he guided the exhausted beasts, steaming with sweat and dappled with +foam, through the open gate and out of the circus. His stable-slaves had +run after him; he released himself from the reins on his hips and flung +them to the grooms. Then he helped Dada to leap from the car. + +"Will you come with me?" he asked her simply; and the girl's reply was: +"Wherever you bid me." + +At the news that Serapis was overthrown Dame Mary had started from +her seat with eager haste that ill-became her dignity and, under the +protection of the body-guard in attendance on Cynegius, had found her +way to her litter. + +In the Hippodrome the tumult rose to a riot; Reds and Blues rushed +from the upper tiers, down the ranks of the podium and into the dusty +race-course; falling on each other tooth and nail like wild beasts; +and the bloody fray--no uncommon termination to the day, even in more +peaceful times--lasted till the Imperial soldiery parted the unarmed +combatants. + +The Bishop was triumphant; his adherents had won the day at every point; +nor was he sorry to learn that Olympius, Helladius, Ainmonius and many +other spiritual leaders of the heathen world had succeeded in escaping. +They might come back; they might preach and harangue as much as they +chose: their power was broken. The Church had nothing now to fear +from them, and their philosophy and learning would still and always be +valuable in the mental training of her priests. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +The great Hippodrome of Alexandria was outside the Canopic gate, on the +northern side of the road leading to Eleusis which to-day was crowded +with passengers, all moving in the same direction. The tumult roused by +the intelligence that Serapis was overthrown made all the more peaceful +and peace-loving of the spectators hurry homewards; and as these, for +the most part, were of the richer classes, who came and went in litters +or chariots, their conveyances left but scanty space on the wide +causeway for foot passengers, still, there they were, in considerable +numbers, all wending their way towards the city, and the heathen who +came rushing towards the Hippodrome behind the first heralds of the +disaster, had great difficulty in making their way against the stream. + +Marcus and Dada allowed themselves to be carried onward by the throng +which was tending towards the city-walls and the Canopic gate. Phabis, +Mary's old steward, whose duty it had been to help his young master to +dress after the races were over, had snatched the agitator's cap from +the youth's head and flung a cloak over his shoulders, hastily following +him as he went off with the young girl by his side. The old man quite +understood what was in the wind for he it was who had conducted Dame +Herse to his mistress' presence. He had thought her a shrewd and +kind-hearted woman, and it now struck him that she must certainly have +been in the right when she accused Marcus of designs on her pretty +niece. At the time he had refused to believe it, for he had never in his +life detected his young master in any underhand or forbidden courses; +but, after all, Marcus was his father's son, and, in his younger +days, the old man had often and often had to risk his skin in Apelles' +love-intrigues. And now it was the Son's turn--and if he were to take +his fancy for that pretty chit as seriously as he did most things, if he +got the notion into his head of marrying the little singer--what a storm +there was brewing between him and his mother! + +The old man did his best to keep up with Marcus who did not see or heed +him, for his eyes and attention were centered on the fair companion who +was clinging to his arm, while he tried to force a passage through the +mob, towards the gate. Miracle on miracle seemed to him to have been +wrought in his behalf; for Heaven had not only sent him Dada, but she +was wearing blue ribbands; and when he asked her why, she had replied +"For your sake, and because I like your Faith." + +He was tired to death; but as soon as Dada had put her hand through his +arm he lead felt refreshed as if by magic. His swollen and blistered +hands, to be sure, were painful and his shoulders ached and winced from +stiffness; but as she pressed his arm to her side and looked up gladly +in his face--telling him how happy she was while he responded: "And how +I love you!"--he felt himself in Heaven, and pain and discomfort were +forgotten. The crush did not allow them to say more than a few words; +but the things their eyes and lips could smile were sweeter and dearer +than anything they had ever known before. + +They had got through the gate and were in the Canopic way when Dada +suddenly perceived that his lips were white, and felt the arm tremble +on which her hand was lying. She asked him what ailed him; he made +no reply, but put his hand to his head, so she led him aside into the +public garden that lay to their right between the little Stadium and the +Maeandrian circus. In this pretty spot, fresh with verdure and spring +flowers, she soon found a bench shaded by a semicircular screen of +dark-tufted tamarisk, and there she made him lie down. He yielded at +once, and his pale face and fixed gaze showed her that he was in a +fainting state. Indeed, he must be quite worn out by the terrible +struggle of the race, and after it was over he had not given himself +time to take a cup of drink or a scrap of food for refreshment. It was +only too natural that his strength should fail him, so, without feeling +at all alarmed but only very pitiful and anxious to help, she ran back +to a fruit-stall which they had passed at the entrance to the garden +from the street. + +How glad she was that she still had the four drachmae which she had +coaxed out of Karnis in the Xenodochium that evening; she could buy +whatever she liked for her lover. When she went back-loaded with +oranges, apples, hard-boiled eggs, bread and salt, in the skirt of her +dress that she gathered up with one hand, and with a flask of wine +and water, and a gourdbowl in the other-she found him still lying +unconscious. However, when she had moistened his forehead and lips he +opened his eyes, and then she peeled him an orange as daintily as she +could and begged him to try it, and as she was herself very hungry she +took a hearty share. She was enchanted at making him her guest, and at +finding that he enjoyed the simple meal and soon was quite revived. +In fact, in a few minutes he had altogether recovered his strength and +consciousness of satisfaction; and as he lay back with Dada's hand +in his, gazing happily and thankfully into her sweet eyes, a sense of +peace, rest and bliss came over him such as he had never before known. +He thought he had never tasted such delicious food, or such exquisite +wine as the wretched Mareotic from the fruitstall. He took the apple she +had begun eating out of her hand and bit it where her white teeth had +been; he made her drink first out of the gourd-cup, and, as one of the +three eggs she had brought with her was bad, they had quite a little +battle for the last, till he finally gave way and eat it. + +When they had finished Dada's purchases to the last mouthful she asked +him, for the first time, where he meant to take her, and he said he +intended placing her in the house of his former tutor, Eusebius, the +deacon, where she would be a welcome guest and find her old companion +Agne. Of this she was sincerely glad; and when, on hearing the title of +Deacon, she questioned Marcus further, and identified Eusebius as the +worthy old man whose discourse in the basilica had so deeply impressed +her, she told Marcus how she had gone into the church, and how, from +that hour, she had felt at peace. A quite new feeling had sprung up in +her soul, and since then she had constantly longed to see him again +and talk it all over with him:--The little she had learnt of Christian +doctrine did her heart good and had given her comfort and courage. The +world was so beautiful, and there were many more good men than bad. +It was a pleasure to love one's neighbor, and as for forgiving a +wrong--that she had never found difficult. It must be good to live on +earth if everyone loved his neighbor as she loved him and he loved her; +and life could not be a great hardship if in every trouble there was +some one who was always ready to hear our cry and help us, out of pure +beneficence. + +Her innocent talk was to Marcus the greatest marvel of this day of +miracles. The soul which he had dreamed that he was called to save had, +of its own accord, turned to walk in the path of salvation; he went on +to tell her of the things which he felt to be most sublime and glorious +in his creed, and at length he confessed that, though he had always +loved his neighbor for Christ's sake, never till now had true and +perfect love been revealed to him. No power on earth could now part +him from her, and when she should have been baptized there would be +no further difficulty; their love might last till, and beyond, death, +through all the ages of eternity. And she listened to him, perfectly +content; and said that she was his, wholly his, now, and for ever and +ever. + +There were to-day but few people in the garden which was usually full +in the afternoon, of idlers, and of children with their nurses; but the +disturbance in the streets had kept these at home, and the idlers had +found more to attract them at the Hippodrome and in the crowded roads. +This favored the lovers, who could sit hand in hand, looking into each +other's eyes; and when old Phabis, who had lost sight of them long +since, at length discovered them in the park, he could see from his +lurking-place as he crept closer, that his young master, after glancing +cautiously round, pressed a kiss on the little singer's hair, and then +on her eyes and at last on her lips. + +The hours flew fast between serious talk and delightful dalliance, and +when they tore themselves away from their quiet retreat it was already +dusk. They soon found themselves in the Canopic way, in the thick of the +crowd which they were now occasionally obliged to meet, for those who +were making homewards had long since dispersed, and thousands were still +crowding to the Hippodrome where a brisk fight was still going on. As +they passed his mother's house Marcus paused and, pointing it out to +Dada, told her that the day was not far distant when he should bring her +home hither. But the girl's face fell. + +"Oh no!" she exclaimed, in a low voice. "Not here-not to this great +palace in a street. Let us live in a little house, quite quietly, by +ourselves. A house with a garden, and a seat in the shade. Your mother +lives here!" + +And then she blushed scarlet and looked down. He guessed, however, what +was passing in her mind, and bid her only to have patience, for as soon +as she was a baptized Christian Eusebius would intercede for her. And +he spoke warmly of his mother's piety and virtues, and asked Dada if she +had seen her at the races. + +"Yes," she replied timidly; and when he went on to ask her if she had +not thought Mary very handsome and dignified, she answered frankly: +"Yes--very; but then she is so tall and grand-looking-she must wish for +a daughter-in-law very different from a poor, forsaken orphan like me--a +mere singer, looked down upon by every one! It is different with you; +you are satisfied with me as I am, and you know that I love you. If I +never find my uncle again I have no one on earth to care for me but you; +but I want no other, for you are my one and only hope, and to live for +you and with you is enough. Only you must never leave me or I shall die! +But you never can, for you told me that my soul was dearer to you than +your own life; and so long as I have you and your love I shall grow +better and better every day; but if you ever let me be parted from you +I shall be utterly lost. Yes, understand that once for all--ruined and +lost, body and soul!--I do not know what it is that terrifies me, but do +let us go on, away from this house. Suppose your mother were to see us!" + +He did as she wished and tried to soothe her, praising his mother's +virtues with the affectionate blindness of a son; but she only half +listened to his eulogy, for, as they approached Rhacotis the throng grew +denser, they had no opportunities for conversation, they could think +of nothing but battling their way through the crowd; still, they were +happy. + + [The quarter of the city inhabited by the Egyptians. It was the old + town close to which Alexander the Great built his splendid new + city.] + +They thus got to the street of the Sun--one of the main arteries of +the city cutting the Canopic way at right angles--and they went down it +towards the Gate of Helios in the south wall. The Serapeum lay to their +right, several streets leading to it from the street of the Sun. To +reach the house where Eusebius lived they ought to have turned down the +street of the Acropolis, but a compact mass of frenzied creatures came +storming down it from the Serapeum, and towards them. The sun was now +fast setting over the City of the Dead on the western horizon. Marcus +tried to get out of the middle of the road and place Dada in safety by +the house at the corner, but in vain; the rabble that came crowding out +of the side street was mad with excitement, and could think of nothing +but the trophies it had snatched from the temple. Several dozen men, +black and white alike--and among them some monks and even women, +had harnessed themselves to an enormous truck, commonly used for the +carriage of beams, columns, and heavy blocks of stone, on which they +had erected a huge but shapeless mass of wood, the core, and all that +remained, of the image of Serapis; this they were dragging through the +streets. + +"To the Hippodrome! Burn it! Down with the idols! Look at the divine +form of Serapis! Behold the god!" + +These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an +ear-splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity. + +The monks had torn the desecrated block from the niche in the Serapeum, +hauled it through the courts on to the steps, and were now taking it to +the arena where it was to be burnt. Others of their kidney, and some of +the Christian citizens who had caught the destructive mania, had forced +their way into the temple of Anubis, hard by the Serapeumn, where they +had overthrown and wrecked the jackal-headed idols and the Canopic +gods--four huge jars with lids representing respectively a man's head, +an ape's, a hawk's and a jackal's. They were now bearing these heads in +triumph, while others were shouldering the limbs of broken statues of +Apollo, of Athene, or of Aphrodite, or carrying the fragments in baskets +to cast them into the flames in the Hippodrome after the wooden stock +of the great Serapis. The mob had broken off the noses of all the heads, +had smeared the marble with pitch, or painted it grossly with the red +paint they had found in the writing-rooms of the Sera peum. Every one +who could get near enough to the remains of the statue, or to a fragment +of a ruined idol, spit upon it, struck it or thrust at it; and not a +heathen had, as yet, dared to interfere. + +Behind the oak block of the image of Serapis and the other trophies +of victory, came an endless stream of men of all ages, of monks and of +women, compelling a large carruca--[A four-wheeled chariot used in the +city and for travelling.]--that had fallen into their hands, and which +they had completely surrounded, to keep pace with them. The two fine +horses that drew it had to be led by the bridle; they were trembling +with terror and excitement and made repeated attempts to kick over the +pole or to rear. + +In this vehicle was Porphyrius, who had fully recovered consciousness, +and by his side sat Gorgo. Constantine had not stirred from the side of +the convalescent till Apuleius had pronounced him out of all danger; +but then the young officer's duty had called him away. The merchant +had hailed the news of his daughter's, union with the companion of her +childhood as a most satisfactory and long-expected event. + +A party of the Prefect's guards had been charged to bring the carriage +for Porphyrius to the door of the temple, and the abbot of a monastery +at Arsinoe, who was well known to the Prefect, undertook to escort them +on their road home and protect them from the attacks of the raving mob. +At the spot where the side street intersected the street of the Sun, and +where Marcus and Dada had been forced to stop, unable either to proceed +or to return, a troop of armed heathen had given the Christian rabble +a check at the very moment when the carruca came up, and falling on +the foe who had mocked and insulted their most sacred treasure, began +a furious fray. Quite close to the young lovers a heathen cut down a +Christian who was carrying the besmirched head of a Muse. Dada clung +in terror to Marcus, who was beginning to be seriously alarmed for her +when, looking round for aid or refuge, he caught sight of his brother +forcing his way through the throng, and gesticulating vehemently. The +farmer was telegraphing to the occupants of the carruca as well, and +when he at last reached Marcus he briefly explained to him that the +first thing to be done was to place Dada in safety. + +Only too glad to be out of the crush and danger, the girl nimbly climbed +into the chariot, and, after hastily greeting the father and daughter, +signed to Marcus to follow her; but Demetrius held his brother back, and +it was hurriedly agreed that Dada should be sent for that evening to +the house of Porphyrius. Demetrius whispered a few words of enthusiastic +praise of the little singer into Gorgo's ear; then the carriage moved +on again. Many of the heathen who had collected round it recognized +Porphyrius, the noble friend of the great Olympius, and cleared a +passage for him, so that at last he got out of the gate uninjured, and +turned into the quieter street of Euergetes which led to the temple of +Isis, the ship-yard and the merchant's residence. + +But few words were exchanged in the chariot, for it was only step by +step and with considerable difficulty that the horses could get along. +It was now quite dark and the mob had spread even into this usually +deserted quarter. + +A flaring glow that tinged the temple, the wharf and the deep sky itself +with a gorgeous crimson glare, showed very plainly what the populace +were employed in doing. The monks had set fire to the temple of Isis +and the flames had been driven by the northwest wind down into the +ship-yard, where they had found ample food in the enormous timber stacks +and the skeletons of ships. Tall jets of rushing and crackling sparks +were thrown skywards to mingle with the paler stars. Porphyrius could +see what danger his house was in; but thanks to the old steward's +foresight and the indefatigable diligence of the slaves, it escaped the +conflagration. + +The two brothers, meanwhile, had left the mob far behind them. Demetrius +was not alone, and as soon as he had introduced Marcus to his companion, +an abbot of friendly mien, the monk warmly expressed his pleasure at +meeting another son of Apelles, to whom he had once owed his life. +Demetrius then told his brother what his adventures had been during the +last few hours, and where he had met this worthy Father. + +While taking Dada down into the arena to join Marcus, he had caught +sight of Anubis, the Egyptian slave who had been his father's companion +in his last memorable journey to Syria, and who, since the death of +Apelles, had totally disappeared, the countryman had instantly followed +him, seized him--not without a struggle and some little danger--and then +had him led off by the city-guard to the prison by the Prefect's house. +Once secured he had been induced to speak, and his narrative proved +beyond a doubt that Apelles had perished in a skirmish with the +Saracens; the Egyptian slave had only taken advantage of his master's +death to make off with the money he had with him. He had found his way +to Crete, where he had purchased a plot of ground with his plunder; but +then, craving to see his wife and children once more, he had come back +to fetch them away to his new home. Finally, to confirm the truth of his +story, which--clearing him apparently of the murder of his master--did +not invite implicit belief, he told Demetrius that he had seen in +Alexandria, only the day before, a recluse who had been present when +Apelles fell, and Demetrius had at once set out to find this monk, +enquiring among those who had swarmed into the city. He had very soon +been successful; Kosnias, who since then had been elected abbot of the +monastery to which he belonged, now again told Marcus the story of his +father's heroic courage in the struggle with the freebooters who had +attacked his caravan. Apelles, he said, had saved his life and that of +two other anchorites, one of whom was in Alexandria at this very time. +They were travelling from Hebron to Aila, a party of seven, and had +placed themselves under the protection of the Alexandrian merchant's +escort; everything had gone well till the infidel Saracens had fallen +upon them in the high land south of Petra. Four of the monks had been +butchered out of hand; but Apelles, with a few of the more resolute +spirits in the company, had fought the heathen with the valor of a lion. +He, Kosmas, and his two surviving comrades had effected their escape, +while Apelles engaged the foe; but from a rocky height which they +climbed in their flight they saw him fall, and from that hour they +had always mentioned him in their prayers. It would be an unspeakable +satisfaction to him to do his utmost to procure for such a man as +Apelles the rank he deserved in the list of martyrs for the Faith. + +Marcus, only too happy, wanted to hurry away at once to his mother and +tell her what he had heard, but Demetrius detained him. The +Bishop-he told his brother--had desired his immediate presence, to be +congratulated on his victory; his first duty was to obey that mandate, +and he should at once avail himself of its favorable opportunity to +obtain for his deceased parent the honor he had earned. + +It rather startled Marcus to find his brother taking its interest in +a matter which, so lately, he had vehemently opposed; however, he +proceeded at once to the episcopal palace, accompanied by the abbot, and +half an hour later Demetrius, who had awaited his return, met him coming +out with sparkling eyes. The Prelate, he said, had received him very +graciously, had thanked him for his prowess and had bid him crave a +reward. He at once had spoken of his father, and called the recluse to +witness to the facts. The Bishop had listened his story, and had ended +by declaring himself quite willing to put the name of Apelles on the +list of the Syrian martyrs. Theophilus had been most unwilling hitherto +to reject the petitions of so good and illustrious Christian as Mary; +and now, after such ample testimony as to the manner of her husband's +death, it was with sincere satisfaction that he bestowed this high mark +of honor on the Christian victor and his admirable mother. "So now," +added the young man, "I shall fly home, and how happy my mother will +be...." + +But Demetrius would not allow him to finish his sentence. He laid his +hand on the young man's shoulder saying: "Patience, my dear fellow, +patience! You must stay with me for the present, and not go to your +mother till I have settled everything that is necessary. Do not +contradict me I entreat you, unless you want to deprive me of the +happiness of remedying an injustice to your pretty Dada. What you most +desire for yourself and her is your mother's blessing--and do you think +that will be easy to obtain? Far from it, lad! But I can manage it for +you; and I will, too, if only you will do as I bid you, and if the old +Heathen's niece can be induced to be baptized...." + +"She is a Christian already!" exclaimed Marcus eagerly. + +"Well then, she can be yours to-morrow," Demetrius went on calmly, "if +you listen to the advice of your older and wiser brother. It cannot be +very hard upon you, for you must own that if I had not fought it out +with Anubis--and the rascal bit all he could reach like a trapped +fox--if I had not got him locked up and almost run my legs off in +hunting down the worthy abbot, our father would never have enjoyed the +promotion which he is at last to obtain. Who would ever have believed +that I should get any satisfaction out of this 'Crown of Martyrdom'? +By the gods! It is by no means impossible, and I hope the manes of the +deceased will forgive me for your sake. But it is getting late, so only +one thing more: for my own share of the business all I claim is my right +to tell your mother myself of all that has occurred; you, on your part, +must go at once to Eusebius and beg him to receive Dada in his house. +If he consents--and he certainly will--take him with you to our uncle +Porphyrius and wait there till I come; then, if all goes well, I will +take you and Dada to your mother--or, if not, we will go with Eusebius." + +"Dada to my mother!" cried Marcus. "But what will she...." + +"She will receive her as a daughter," interrupted his brother, "if +you hold your tongue about the whole business till I give you leave to +speak.--There, the tall gate-keeper is closing the episcopal palace, +so nothing more can come out of there to-night. You are a lucky +fellow--well good-bye till we meet again; I am in a hurry." + +The farmer went off, leaving Marcus with a thousand questions still +unasked. However, the young man did his bidding and went, hopeful though +not altogether free from doubts, to find his old tutor and friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +While Marcus carried out his brother's instructions Dada was expecting +him and Eusebius with the greatest impatience. Gorgo had charged her +waiting-woman to conduct the girl into the music-room and to tell her +that she would join her there if her father was in such a state as to +allow of it. Some refreshments were brought in to her, all delicate and +tempting enough; but Dada would not touch them, for she fancied that the +merchant's daughter was avoiding her intentionally, and her heart ached +with a sense of bereavement and loneliness. To distract her thoughts she +wandered round the room, looking at the works of art that stood against +the walls, feeling the stuffs with which the cushions were covered and +striking a lute which was leaning against the pedestal of a Muse. She +only played a few chords, but they sufficed to call up a whole train of +memories; she sank on a divan in the darkest corner she could find in +the brilliantly-lighted room, and gave herself up to reviewing the many +events of the last few days. It was all so bright, so delightful, that +it hardly seemed real, and her hopes were so radiantly happy that for a +moment she trembled to think of their fulfilment--but only for a moment; +her young soul was full of confidence and elation, and if a doubt +weighed it down for an instant it was soon cast off and her spirit rose +with bold expectancy. + +Her heart overflowed with happiness and thankfulness as she thought of +Marcus and his love for her; her fancy painted the future always by his +side, and though her annoyance at Gorgo's continued absence, and her +dread of her lover's mother slightly clouded her gladness, the sense of +peace and rapture constantly came triumphantly to the front. She forgot +time as it sped, till at length Gorgo made her appearance. + +She had not deliberately kept out of the little singer's way; on the +contrary, she had been detained by her father, for not till now had she +dared to tell him that his mother, the beloved mistress of his +house, was no more. In the Serapeum she had not mentioned it, by the +physician's orders; and now, in addition, through the indiscretion of +a friend, he had received some terrible tidings which had already been +known for some hours in the city and which dealt him a serious blow. +His two sons were in Thessalonica, and a ship, just arrived from thence, +brought the news-only too well substantiated, that fifteen thousand of +the inhabitants of that town had been treacherously assassinated in the +Circus there. + +This hideous massacre had been carried out by the Imperial troops at +Caesar's command, the wretched citizens having been bidden to witness +the races and then ruthlessly butchered. A general of the Imperial +army--a Goth named Botheric--had been killed by the mob, and the Emperor +had thus avenged his death. + +Porphyrius knew only too well that his sons would never have been +absent from any races or games. They certainly must have been among the +spectators and have fallen victims to the sword of the slaughterer. His +mother and two noble sons were snatched from him in a day; and he would +again have had recourse to poison as a refuge from all, if a dim ray of +hope had not permitted him to believe in their escape. But all the same +he was sunk in despair, and behaved as though he had nothing on earth +left to live for. Gorgo tried to console him, encouraged his belief in +her brothers' possible safety, reminded him that it was the duty of a +philosopher to bear the strokes of Fate with fortitude; but he would not +listen to her, and only varied his lamentations with bursts of rage. + +At last he said he wished to be alone and reminded Gorgo that she ought +to go to Dada. His daughter obeyed, but against her will; in spite of +all that Demetrius had said in the young girl's favor she felt a little +shy of her, and in approaching her more closely she had something of +the feeling of a fine lady who condescends to enter the squalid hovel of +poverty. But her father was right: Dada was her guest and she must treat +her with kindness. + +Outside the door of the music-room she dried away her tears for her +brothers, for her emotion seemed to her too sacred to be confessed to a +creature who boldly defied the laws laid down by custom for the conduct +of women. From Dada's appearance she felt sure that all those lofty +ideas, which she herself had been taught to call "moral dignity" and +"a yearning for the highest things," must be quite foreign to this girl +with whom her cousin had condescended to intrigue. She felt herself +immeasurably her superior; but it would be ungenerous to allow her +to see this, and she spoke very kindly; but Dada answered timidly and +formally. + +"I am glad," Gorgo began, "that accident brought you in our way;" and +Dada replied hastily: "I owe it to your father's kindness, and not to +accident." + +"Yes, he is very kind," said Gorgo, ignoring Dada's indignant tone. "And +the last few hours have brought him terrible sorrows. You have heard, no +doubt, that he has lost his mother; you knew her--she had taken quite a +fancy to you, I suppose you know." + +"Oh! forget it!" cried Dada. + +"She was hard to win," Gorgo went on, "but she liked you. Do you not +believe me? You should have seen how carefully she chose the dress you +have on at this minute, and matched the ornaments to wear with it." + +"Pray, pray say no more about it," Dada begged. "She is dead, and I have +forgiven her--but she thought badly, very badly of me." + +"It is very bad of you to speak so," interrupted Gorgo, making no +attempt to conceal her annoyance at the girl's reply. "She--who is +dead--deserves more gratitude for her liberality and kindness!" + +Dada shook her head. + +"No," she said firmly. "I am grateful, even for the smallest kindness; I +have not often met with disinterested generosity. But she had an end in +view--I must say it once for all. She wanted to make use of me to bring +shame on Marcus and grief on his mother. You surely must know it; for +why should you have thought me too vile to sing with you if you did not +believe that I was a good-for-nothing hussy, and quite ready to do your +dead grandmother's bidding? Everybody, of course, looked down upon us +all and thought we must be wicked because we were singers; but you knew +better; you made a distinction; for you invited Agne to come to your +house and sing with you.--No, unless you wish to insult me, say no more +about my owing the dead lady a debt of gratitude!" + +Gorgo's eyes fell; but presently she looked up again and said: + +"You do not know what that poor soul had suffered. Mary, her son's +widow, had been very cruel to her, had done her injuries she could never +forgive--so perhaps you are right in your notion; but all the same, +my grandmother had a great liking for you--and after all her wish is +fulfilled, for Marcus has found you and he loves you, too, if I am not +mistaken!" + +"If you are not mistaken!" retorted Dada. "The gods forefend!--Yes, we +have found each other, we love each other. Why should I conceal it?" + +"And Mary, his mother--what has she to say to it?" asked Gorgo. + +"I do not know," replied Dada abashed. + +"But she is his mother, you know!" cried Gorgo severely. "And he will +never--never--marry against her will. He depends on her for all that he +has in the world." + +"Then let her keep it!" exclaimed Dada. "The smaller and humbler the +home he gives me the better I shall like it. I want his love and nothing +more. All--all he desires of me is right and good; he is not like other +men; he does not care for nothing but my pretty face. I will do whatever +he bids me in perfect confidence; and what he thinks about me you may +judge for yourself, for he is going to put me in the care of his tutor +Eusebius." + +"Then you have accepted his creed?" asked Gorgo. "Certainly I have," +said Dada. + +"I am glad of that for his sake," said the merchant's daughter. "And if +the Christians only did what their preachers enjoin on them one might be +glad to become one. But they make a riot and destroy everything that is +fine and beautiful. What have you to say to that--you, who were brought +up by Karnis, a true votary of the Muses?" + +"I?" said Dada. "There are bad men everywhere, and when they rise +to destroy what is beautiful I am very sorry. But we can love it and +cherish it all the same." + +"You are happy indeed if you can shut your eyes at the dictates of your +heart!" retorted Gorgo, but she sighed. "Happy are they and much to be +envied who can compel their judgment to silence when it is grief to +hear its voice. I--I who have been taught to think, cannot abandon +my judgment; it builds up a barrier between me and the happiness that +beckons me. And yet, so long as truth remains the highest aim of man, I +will bless the faculty of seeking it with all the powers of my mind. +My betrothed husband, like yours, is a Christian; and I would I could +accept his creed as unflinchingly as you; but it is not in my nature +to leap into a pool when I know that it is full of currents and +whirlpools.--However, the present question has to do with you and not +with me. Marcus, no doubt, will be happy to have won you; but if he does +not succeed in gaining his mother's consent he will not continue happy +you may rely upon it. I know these Christians! they cannot conceive of +any possible joy in married life without their parents' blessing, and +if Marcus defies his mother he will torture his conscience and lead a +death-in-life, as though he were under some heavy load of guilt." + +"For all that, and all that," Dada insisted, "he can no more be happy +without me than I can without him. I have never in my life paid court to +any one, but I have always met with kindness. Why then should I not be +able to win his mother's heart? I will wager anything and everything +that she will take kindly to me, for, after all, she must be glad when +she sees her son happy. Eusebius will speak for us and she will give +its her blessing! But if it is not to be, if I may never be his wife +honestly and in the face of the world, still I will not give him up, nor +he me. He may deal with me as he will--as if he were my god and I were +his slave!" + +"But, my poor child, do you know nothing of womanly honor and womanly +dignity?" cried Gorgo clasping her hands. "You complain of the lot of +a singing-girl, and the cruel prejudices of the world--and what are you +saying? Let me have my way, you would say, or I scorn your morality?" + +"Scorn!" exclaimed Dada firing up. "Do you say I scorn morality? No, +indeed no. I am an insignificant little person; there is nothing proud +or great about me, and as I know it full well I am quite humble; in all +my life I never dared to think of scorn, even of a child. But here, +in my heart, something was awoke to life--through Marcus, only through +him--something that makes me strong; and when I see custom and tradition +in league against me because I am a singer, when they combine to keep me +out of what I have a right to have--well, within these few hours I have +found the spirit to defend myself, to the death if need be! What you +call womanly honor I have been taught to hold as sacred as you yourself, +and I have kept it as untainted as any girl living. Not that I meant +to do anything grand, but you have no idea of what it is when every man +thinks he has a right to oppress and insult a girl and try to entrap +her. You, and others like you, know nothing of small things, for you are +sheltered by walls and privileges. We are every man's game, while they +approach you as humbly as if you were goddesses.--Besides! It is not +only what I have heard from Karnis, who knows the world and fine folks +like you; I have seen it for myself at Rome, in the senators' houses, +where there were plenty of young lords and great men's daughters--for +I have not gone through life with my eyes shut; with you love is like +lukewarm water in a bath, but it catches us like fire. Sappho of Lesbos +flung herself from the Leucadian rock because Phaon flouted her, and if +I could save Marcus from any calamity by doing the same, I would follow +her example.--You have a lover, too; but your feeling for him, with all +the 'intellect' and 'reflections,' and 'thought' of which you spoke, +cannot be the right one. There is no but or if in my love at any rate; +and yet, for all that, my heart aches so sorely and beats so wildly, +I will wait patiently with Eusebius and submit to whatever I am +bidden.--And in spite of it all you condemn me unheard, for you.... But +why do you stand and look like that? You look just like you did that +time when I heard you sing. By all the Muses! but you, too, like us, +have some fire in your veins, you are not one of the lukewarm sort; you +are an artist, and a better one than I; and if you ever should feel the +right love, then--then take care lest you break loose from propriety +and custom--or whatever name you give to the sacred powers that subdue +passion--even more wildly than I--who am an honest girl, and mean to +remain so, for all the fire and flame in my breast!" + +Gorgo remembered the hour in which she had, in fact, proffered to the +man of her choice as a free gift, the love which, by every canon of +propriety, she ought only to have granted to his urgent wooing. She +blushed and her eyes fell before the humble little singer; but while +she was considering what answer she could make men's steps were heard +approaching, and presently Eusebius and Marcus entered the room, +followed by Gorgo's lover. Constantine was in deep dejection, for one of +his brothers had lost his life in the burning of his father's ship-yard, +and as compared with this grief, the destruction of the timber stores +which constituted the chief part of his wealth scarcely counted as a +calamity. + +Gorgo had met him with a doubtful and embarrassed air; but when she +learnt of the blow that had fallen on him and his parents, she clung to +him caressingly and tried to comfort him. The others sympathized deeply +with his sorrow; but soon it was Dada's turn to weep, for Eusebius +brought the news of her foster-parent's death in the fight at the +Serapeum, and of Orpheus being severely wounded. + +The cheerful music-room was a scene of woe till Demetrius came to +conduct his brother and Dada to the widow Mary who was expecting them. +He had arrived in a chariot, for he declared his legs would no longer +carry him. "Men," said he, "are like horses. A swift saddle-horse is +soon tired when it is driven in harness and a heavy cart-horse when +it is made to gallop. His hoofs were spoilt for city pavements, and +scheming, struggling and running about the streets were too much for his +country brains and wore him out, as trotting under a saddle would weary +a plough-horse. He thanked the gods that this day was over. He would +not be rested enough till to-morrow to be really glad of all his +success."--But in spite of this assertion he was radiant with +overflowing satisfaction, and that in itself cheered the mourners whom +he tried to encourage. When he said they must be going, Gorgo kissed the +little singer; indeed, as soon as she saw how deeply she was grieved, +shedding bitter but silent tears, she had hastened to take her in her +arms and comfort her like a sister. + +Constantine, Gorgo and old Eusebius were left together, and the young +girl was longing to unburden her over-full heart. She had agreed to +her lover's request that she would at once accompany him to see his +sorrowing parents; still, she could not appear before the old Christian +couple and crave their blessing in her present mood. Recent events +had embittered her happy belief in the creed into which she had thrown +herself, and much as it pained her to add a drop to Constantine's cup of +sorrow, duty and honesty commanded that she should show him the secrets +of her soul and the doubts and questionings which had begun to trouble +her. The old priest's presence was a comfort to her; for her earnest +wish was to become a Christian from conviction; as soon as they were +alone she poured out before them all the accusations she had to bring +against the adherents of their Faith: They had triumphed in ruining the +creations of Art; the Temple of Isis and the ship-yard lay in ashes, +destroyed by Christian incendiaries; their tears were not yet dry +when they flowed afresh for the sons of Porphyrius--Christians +themselves--who, unless some happy accident had saved them, must have +perished with thousands of innocent sufferers--believers and infidels +together--by the orders of the Emperor whom Constantine had always +lauded as a wise sovereign and pious Christian, as the Defender of the +Faith, and as a faithful disciple of the Redeemer. + +When, at last, she came to an end of her indictment she appealed +to Constantine and Eusebius to defend the proceedings of their +co-religionists, and to give her good grounds for confessing a creed +which could sanction such ruthless deeds. + +Neither the Deacon nor his pupil attempted to excuse these acts; nay, +Constantine thought they were in plain defiance of that high law of +Love which the Christian Faith imposes on all its followers. The wicked +servant, he declared, had committed crimes in direct opposition to the +spirit and the letter of the Master. + +But this admission by no means satisfied Gorgo; she represented to +the young Christian that a master must be judged by the deeds of his +servant; she herself had turned from the old gods only because she felt +such intense contempt for their worshippers; but now it had been her lot +to see--the Deacon must pardon her for saying so--that many a Christian +far outdid the infidels in coarse brutality and cruelty. Such an +experience had filled her with distrust of the creed she was required to +subscribe to--she was shaken to the very foundations of her being. + +Eusebius had, till now, listened in silence; but as she ended he went +towards her, and asked her gently whether she would think it right +to turn the fertilizing Nile from its bed and leave its shores dry, +because, from time to time, it destroyed fields and villages in the +excess of its overflow? "This day and its deeds of shame," he went on +sadly, "are a blot on the pure and sublime book of the History of our +Faith, and every true Christian must bitterly bewail the excesses of +a frenzied mob. The Church must no less condemn Caesar's sanguinary +vengeance; it casts a shade on his honor and his fair name, and his +conscience no doubt will punish him for such a crime. Far be it from me +to defend deeds which nothing can justify..." + +But Gorgo interrupted him. "All this," she said, "does not alter the +fact that such crimes are just as possible and as frequent with you, as +with those whom I am expected to give up, and who..." + +"But it is not merely on account of their ill deeds that you are giving +them up, Gorgo," Constantine broke in. "Confess, dear girl, that your +wrath makes you unjust to yourself and your own heart. It was not out of +aversion for the ruthless and base adherents of the old gods but--as +I hope and believe--out of love for me that you consented to adopt my +faith--our faith." + +"True, true," she exclaimed, coloring as she remembered the doubts Dada +had cast on the truth of her love. + +"True, out of love for you--love of Love and of peace, I consented +to become a Christian. But with regard to the deeds committed by your +followers, tell me yourself--and I appeal to you reverend Father--what +inspired them: Love or Hate." + +"Hate!" said Constantine gloomily; and Eusebius added sorrowfully + +"In these dark days our Faith is seen under an aspect that by no means +fairly represents its true nature, noble lady; trust my words! Have you +not yourself seen, even in your short life, that what is highest and +greatest can in its excess, be all that is most hideous? A noble pride, +if not kept within bounds, becomes overweening ambition; the lovely +grace of humility degenerates into an indolent sacrifice of opinion and +will; high-hearted enterprise into a mad chase after fortune, in which +we ride down everything that comes in the way of success. What is nobler +than a mother's love, but when she fights for her child she becomes a +raving Megaera. In the same way the Faith--the consoler of hearts--turns +to a raging wild-beast when it stoops to become religious partisanship. +If you would really understand Christianity you must look neither down +to the deluded masses, and those ambitious worldlings who only use it +as a means to an end by inflaming their baser passions, nor up to the +throne, where power translates the impulse of a disastrous moment into +sinister deeds. If you want to know what true and pure Christianity is, +look into our homes, look at the family life of our fellow believers. +I know them well, for my humble functions lead me into daily and hourly +intercourse with them. Look to them if you purpose to give your hand to +a Christian and make your home with him. There, my child, you will +see all the blessings of the Saviour's teaching, love and soberness, +pitifulness to the poor and a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive +injuries. I have seen a Christian bestow his last crust on his hapless +foe, on the enemy of his house, on the Heathen or the Jew, because they, +too, are men, because our neighbor's woes should be as our own--I +have seen them taken in and cherished as though they were +fellow-Christians.--There you will find a striving after all that is +good, a never-fading hope in better days to come, even under the worst +afflictions; and when death requires the sacrifice of all that is +dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a firm assurance of the +forgiveness of sins through Christ. Believe me, mistress, there is no +home so happy as that of the Christian; for he who really apprehends the +Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar his own joys in this +life to the end that he may be a partaker of the bliss of the next. +On the contrary: He who called the erring to himself, who drew little +children to his heart, who esteemed the poor above the rich, who was +a cheerful guest at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain interest on the +spiritual talents in our care, who commanded us to remember Him at a +social meal, who opened hearts to love--He longed to release the life +of the humblest creature from want and suffering. Where love and peace +reign must there not be happiness? And as He preached love and peace +above all else, He cannot have desired that we should intentionally +darken our lives on earth and load them with sorrow and miseries in +order to will our share of Heaven. The soul that is full of the happy +confidence of being one with Him and his love, is released from the +bondage of sin and sorrow, even here below; for Jesus has taken all the +sins and pains of the world on himself; and if Fate visits the Christian +with the heaviest blows he bears them in silence and patience. Our Lord +is Love itself; neither hatred nor envy are known to Him as they are to +the gods of the Heathen; and when he afflicts us, it is as the wise and +tender pastor of our souls, and for our good. The omniscient Lord knows +his own counsel, and the Christian submits as a child does to a wise +father whose loving kindness he can always trust; nay, he can even thank +him for sorrow and pain as though they were pleasurable benefits." + +Gorgo shook her head. + +"That all sounds very beautiful and good; it is required of the +Christian, and sometimes, no doubt, fulfilled; but the Stoa demands the +same virtues of its disciples. You, Constantine, knew Damon the Stoic, +and you will remember how strictly he enjoined on all that they should +rise superior to pain and grief. And then, when his only daughter +lost her sight--she was a great friend of mine--he behaved like one +possessed. My father, too, has often spoken to you of philosophy as a +help to contemning the discomforts of life, and bearing the sports of +Fate with a lofty mind; and now? You should see the poor man, reverend +Father. What good have all the teachings of the great master done him?" + +"But he has lost so much--so much!" sighed Constantine thinking of his +own loss; and Eusebius shook his head. + +"In sorrow such as his, no philosophy, no mental effort can avail. The +blows that wound the affections can only be healed by the affections, +and not by the intellect and considerations of reason. Faith, child! +Faith is the true Herb of Grace. The intellect is its foe; the feelings +are its native soil where it finds constant nourishment; and however +deep the bleeding wound of the mourner may be, Faith can heal it and +reconcile the sufferer to his loss. You have been taught to value a fine +understanding, to measure everything by it, to build everything on its +decisions. To you the knowledge you have attained to by argument and +inference is supreme; but the Creator has given us a heart as well as +a brain; our affections, too, stir and grow in their own way, and the +knowledge they can attain to, my child, is Faith. You love--and Love +is part of your affections; and now take my advice; do not let that +reasoning intelligence, which has nothing to do with love, have anything +to say in the matter; cherish your love and nurture it from the +rich stores of your heart; thus only can it thrive to beauty and +harmony.--And this must suffice for to-day, for I have already kept the +wounded waiting too long in the Serapeum. If you desire it, another time +I will show you Christianity in all its depth and beauty, and your +love for this good man will prepare the way and open your heart to my +teaching. A day will come when you will be able to listen to the voice +of your heart as gladly as you have hitherto obeyed the dictates of your +intellect; something new will be born in you which you will esteem as +a treasure above all you ever acquired by reason and thought. That day +will assuredly dawn on you; for he whom you love has opened the path for +you that leads to the gates of Truth; and as you seek you will not fail +to find.--And so farewell. When you crave a teacher you have only to +come to him--and I know he will not have long to wait." + +Gorgo looked thoughtfully at the old man as he went away and then went +with Constantine to see his parents. It was in total silence that they +made their way along the short piece of road to the house of Clemens. +Lights were visible in the viridarium and the curtains of the doorway +were drawn back; as they reached the threshold Constantine pointed to +a bier which had been placed in the little court among the flower-beds; +his parents were on their knees by the side of it. + +Neither he nor Gorgo ventured to disturb their wordless devotions, but +presently the ship-master rose, drawing his fine, stalwart figure to its +full height; then turning his kind, manly, grave face to his wife, who +had also risen to her feet, he laid one hand on her still abundant white +hair and held out the other which she took in hers. Mariamne dried her +eyes and looked up, in her husband's face as he said firmly and calmly: + +"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away!' She hid her face on his +shoulder and responded sadly but fervently: + +"Blessed be the name of the Lord!" + +"Yea--Blessed!" repeated Clemens emphatically but he passed his arm +across his eyes. "For thirty-two years hath He lent him to us; and in +our hearts...." and he struck his broad breast, "in here, he will never +die for you or for me. As for the rest--and there was a deal of property +of our own and of other folks in these wood-piles--well, in time we +shall get over that. We may bless the Almighty for what we have left!" + +Gorgo felt her lover's hand grasp hers more tightly and she understood +what he meant; she clung closer to him and whispered softly: "Yes, that +is grand--that is the Truth." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +In the great house in the Canopic street it was late ere all was quiet +for the night. Even Demetrius, in spite of his fatigue, broke through +his rule of "early to bed"; he felt he must see the reaping of the +harvest he had sown for his brother. + +It had been no easy task to persuade Mary to accede to his +importunities, but to his great joy he at last succeeded. + +He would have met with a rough dismissal if he had begun by praising +Dada and expressing his wish to see her married to Marcus; he had gained +his point inch by inch, very quietly; but when he had explained to her +that it was in his hands to secure the martyr's crown for her husband +she had turned suspicious and ironical, had made him swear that it was +true, threatening him with punishments in this world and in the next; +but he had let it all pass over his head, had solemnly sworn as she +desired him, pledging not merely the salvation of his soul but his +possessions in this world; till, at length, convinced that it really was +in his power to gratify the dearest wish of her heart, she had yielded +somewhat and altered her demeanor. Still, he had not spoken a word to +help her through her deliberations and bewilderment, but had left her +to fight out the hard struggle with her own soul; not without some +malicious enjoyment but also not without anxiety, till the first +decisive question was put to him by his stepmother. + +She had heard that Dada was quite resolved to be baptized, and having +once more made sure of the fact that the girl was anxious to become a +Christian, she next asked: + +"And it was Marcus who won her to the faith?" + +"He alone." + +"And you can swear that she is a pure-minded and well-conducted girl?" + +"Certainly, with the firmest conviction." + +"I saw her in the arena--she is pretty, uncommonly charming indeed--and +Marcus...?" + +"He has set his heart on the girl, and I am sure that his passion is +sincere and unselfish. On the other hand I need hardly remind you that +in this city there are many women, even among those of the first rank, +whose birth and origin are far more doubtful than those of your +son's little friend, for she, at any rate, is descended from free and +respectable parents. Her uncle's connections are among the best families +in Sicily; not that we need trouble ourselves about that, for the wife +of Philip's grandson would command respect even if she were only a +freed-woman." + +"I know, I know," murmured Mary, as though all this were of minor +importance in her eyes; and then for some little time she remained +silent. At last she looked up and exclaimed in a voice that betrayed the +struggle still going on in her soul: + +"What have I to care for but my child's happiness? In the sight of God +we are all equal--great and small alike; and I myself am but a weak +woman, full of defects and sins--but for all that I could have wished +that the only son of a noble house might have chosen differently. All +I can say is that I must look upon this marriage as a humiliation laid +upon me by the Almighty--still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and +I will do freely and with my whole heart if my son's bride brings as her +marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my +desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles. The martyr's crown will open +the gates of Heaven to him--who was your father, too, Demetrius. Gain +that and I myself will lead the singer to my son's arms." + +"That is a bargain!" cried Demetrius--and soon after midnight he had +retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental +blessing to the betrothed pair. + +A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the +name of Cecilia; and then, at Mary's special entreaty, Marcus' marriage +was solemnized with much pomp by the Bishop himself. + +Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly +affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a +stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way. When +Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he +should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she +jumped at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it +when his brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two, +helping him with his advice and instructions. + +Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for, +though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her +children, she soon acceded to her son's wishes and admitted that they +were kind and wise. She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of +the martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian +sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than +that of the family. She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors +of her daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her +gentleness; in fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she +herself had chosen her son's wife. But she did not care to keep this +"beloved daughter" with her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in +every department of social life was far more certain to be conceded to +the noble widow of a "martyred witness" in the absence of the pretty +little converted singer. + +So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning +to govern her husband's large estates with prudence and good sense. The +gay singing-girl became a capable housewife, and the idle horse-loving +Marcus a diligent farmer. For three years Demetrius staid with them as +adviser and superintendent; even afterwards he frequently visited them, +and for months at a time, and he was wont to say: + +"In Alexandria I am heart and soul, a Heathen, but in the house with +your Cecilia I am happy to be a Christian." + +Before they quitted the city a terrible blow fell on Eusebius. The +sermon he had delivered just before the overthrow of Serapes, to soothe +the excited multitude and guide them in the right way, had been regarded +by the Bishop of the zealot priests, who happened to be present, as +blasphemous and as pandering to the infidels; Theophilus, therefore, had +charged his nephew Cyril--his successor in the see--to verify the facts +and enquire into the deacon's orthodoxy. It thus came to light that +Agne, an Arian, was not only living under his roof, but had been trusted +by him to nurse certain sick persons among the orthodox; the old man +was condemned by Cyril to severe acts of penance, but Theophilus decided +that he must be deprived of his office in the city, where men of sterner +stuff were needed, and only allowed the charge of souls in a country +congregation. + +It was a cruel blow to the venerable couple to be forced to quit the +house and the little garden where they had been happy together for half +a lifetime; however, the change proved to be to their advantage, for +Marcus invited his worthy teacher to be the spiritual pastor of his +estates. The churches he built for his peasants were consecrated by +Eusebius, whose mild doctrine and kindly influence persuaded many +laborers and slaves to be baptized and to join his flock of disciples. +But the example and amiability of their young mistress was even more +effectual than his preaching. Men and women, slaves and free, all adored +and respected her; to imitate her in all she did could only lead to +honor and happiness, could only be right and good and wise. Thus by +degrees, and without the exertion of any compulsion, the temples and +shrines on the Martyr's inheritance were voluntarily abandoned, and fell +into ruin and decay. + +It was the same on the property of Constantine, which lay at no more +than a day's journey from that of Marcus; the two young couples were +faithful friends and good neighbors. The estate which had come into +Constantine's possession had belonged to Barkas, the Libyan, who, with +his troops, had been so anxiously and vainly expected to succor the +Serapeum. The State had confiscated his extensive and valuable lands, +and the young officer, after retiring from the service, had purchased +them with the splendid fortune left to Gorgo by her grandmother. + +The two sons of Porphyrius had, as it proved, been so happy as to escape +in the massacre at Thessalonica; and as they were Christians and piously +orthodox, the old man transferred to them, during his lifetime, +the chief share of his wealth; so that henceforth he could live +honestly--alienated from the Church and a worshipper of the old gods, +without anxiety as to his will. The treasures of art which Constantine +and Gorgo found in the house of Barkas they carefully preserved, though, +ere long, few heathen were to be found even in this neighborhood which +had formerly been the headquarters of rebellion on behalf of the old +religion. + +Papias was brought up with the children of Marcus and Dada Cecilia, +while his sister Agne, finding herself relieved of all care on his +account, sought and found her own way through life. + +Orpheus, after seeing his parents killed in the fight at the Serapeum, +was carried, sorely wounded, to the sick-house of which Eusebius was +spiritual director. Agne had volunteered to nurse him and had watched +by his couch day and night. Eusebius had also brought Dada and Papias +to visit them, and Dada had promised, on behalf of Marcus, that Agne and +her brother should always be provided for, even in the event of the good +Deacon's death. The little boy was for the moment placed in Eusebius' +care, and it was a cause of daily rejoicing to Agne to hear from the +kind old man of all the charming qualities he discovered in the child +who was perfectly happy with the old folks, and who, though he was +always delighted to see his sister, was quite content to part from her +and return home with Eusebius, or with Dada, to whom he was devoted. + +Orpheus recognized no one, neither Agne nor the child--and when +visitors had been to see him, in his fevered ravings he would talk more +vehemently than ever of great Apollo and other heathen divinities. Then +he would fancy that he was still fighting in the Serapeum and butchering +thousands of Christian foes with his own hand. Agne, whom he rarely +recognized for a moment, would talk soothingly to him, and even try to +say a few words about the Saviour and the life to come; but he always +interrupted her with blasphemous exclamations, and cursed and abused +her. Never had she gone through such anguish of soul as by his bed of +suffering, and yet she could not help gazing at his face; and when she +told herself that he must soon be no more, that the light of his eyes +would cease to shine on hers, she felt as though the sun were about +to be extinguished and the earth darkened for all time. However, his +healthy vigor kept him lingering for many days and nights. + +On the last evening of his life he took Agne for a Muse, and calling to +her to come to him seized her hand and sank back unconscious, never to +move again. She stood there as the minutes slowly passed, waiting in +agonized suspense till his hand should be cold in hers; and as she +waited she overheard a dialogue between two deaconesses who were +watching by a sleeping patient. One of them was telling the other that +her sister's husband, a mason, had died an obdurate heathen and a bitter +enemy of the Christian Church. Then Dorothea, his widow, had devoted +herself to saving his soul; she left her children, abandoning them to +the charity of the congregation, and had withdrawn to a cloister to +pray in silence and unceasingly for the soul of her deceased husband. +At first he used to appear to her in her dreams, with furious gestures, +accompanied by centaurs and goat-footed creatures, and had desired her +to go home to her children and leave his soul in peace, for that he was +in very good quarters with the jolly devils; but soon after she had +seen him again with scorched limbs, and he lead implored her to pray +fervently for mercy on him, for that they were torturing him cruelly in +hell. + +Dorothea had then retired into the desert of Kolzoum where she was still +living in a cave, feeding on herbs, roots, and shell-fish thrown up on +the sea-shore. She had schooled herself to do without sleep, and prayed +day and night for her husband's soul; and she lead obtained strength +never to think of anything but her own and her husband's salvation, and +to forget her children completely. Her fervid devotion had at length met +with full reward; for some little time her husband had appeared to her +in a robe of shining light and often attended by lovely angels. + +Agne had not lost a word of this narrative, and when, next morning, +she felt the cold hand of the dead youth and looked at his drawn and +pain-stricken features, she shuddered with vague terrors: he, she +thought, like Dorothea's husband, must have hell-torments to endure. +When she presently found herself alone with the corpse she bent over it +and kissed the pale lips, and swore to herself that she would save his +soul. + +That same evening she went back to Eusebius and told him of her wish +to withdraw to the desert of Koizoum and become a recluse. The old man +besought her to remain with him, to take charge of her little brother, +and not to abandon him and his old wife; for that it was a no less +lovely Christian duty to be compassionate and helpful, and cherish the +feeble in their old age. His wife added her entreaties and tears; but a +sudden chill had gripped Agne's heart; dry-eyed and rigid she resisted +their prayers, and took leave of her benefactors and of Papias. +Bare-foot and begging her way, she started for the south-east and +reached the shores of the Red Sea. There she found the stonemason's +widow, emaciated and haggard, with matted hair, evidently dying. Agne +remained with her, closed her eyes, and then lived on as Dorothea had +lived, in the same cave, till the fame of her sanctity spread far beyond +the boundaries of Egypt. + +When Papias had grown to man's estate and was installed as steward to +Demetrius, he sought his sister many times and tried to persuade her to +live with him in his new home; but she never would consent to quit her +solitary cell. She would not have exchanged it for a king's palace; for +Orpheus appeared to her in nightly visions, radiant with the glories of +Heaven; and time was passing and the hour drawing near when she might +hope to be with him once more. + +The widow Mary, in her later years, made many pilgrimages to holy places +and saintly persons, and among others to Agne, the recluse; but she +would never be induced to visit Cyrenaica, whither she was frequently +invited by her children and grandchildren; some more powerful excitant +was needed to prompt her to face the discomforts of a journey. + +The old Heathen cults had completely vanished from the Greek capital +long before her death. With it died the splendor and the power of the +second city in the world; and of all the glories of the city of +Serapis nothing now remains but a mighty column--[Known as Pompey's +Pillar.]--towering to the skies, the last surviving fragment of the +beautiful temple of the sovereign-god whose fall marked so momentous +an epoch in the life of the human race. But, like this pillar, outward +Beauty--the sense of form that characterized the heathen mind--has +survived through the ages. We can gaze up at the one and the other, and +wherever the living Truth--the Spirit of Christianity--has informed and +penetrated that form of Beauty, the highest hopes of old Eusebius have +been realized. Their union is solemnized in Christian Art. + + + + ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + + Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death + Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor + Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow + He may talk about the soul--what he is after is the girl + He spoke with pompous exaggeration + It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe + Love means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them + People who have nothing to do always lack time + Perish all those who do not think as we do + Pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts + Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line + Reason is a feeble weapon in contending with a woman + To her it was not a belief but a certainty + Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid + Very hard to imagine nothingness + Whether man were the best or the worst of created beings + Words that sounded kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Serapis, Complete, by Georg Ebers + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, COMPLETE *** + +***** This file should be named 5507.txt or 5507.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/0/5507/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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D.W.] + + + + + +SERAPIS, Complete + +By Georg Ebers + + + + +Translated from the German by Clara Bell + + + + +SERAPIS. + +CHAPTER I. + +The busy turmoil of the town had been hushed for some hours; the moon +and stars were keeping silent watch over Alexandria, and many of the +inhabitants were already in the land of dreams. It was deliciously fresh +--a truly gracious night; but, though peace reigned in the streets and +alleys, even now there was in this pause for rest a lack of the soothing +calm which refreshes and renews the spirit of man. For some few weeks +there had been an oppressive and fevered tension in the repose of night. +Every house and shop was closed as securely as though it were done, not +only to secure slumber against intrusion, but to protect life and +property from the spoiler; and instead of tones of jollity and mirth the +sleeping city echoed the heavy steps and ringing arms of soldiers. Now +and again, when the Roman word of command or the excited cry of some +sleepless monk broke the silence, shops and doors were cautiously opened +and an anxious face peered out, while belated wanderers shrunk into +gateways or under the black shadow of a wall as the watch came past. A +mysterious burden weighed on the Heart of the busy city and clicked its +pulses, as a nightmare oppresses the dreamer. + +On this night of the year of our Lord 391, in a narrow street leading +from the commercial harbor known as Kibotus, an old man was slinking +along close to the houses. His clothes were plain but decent, and he +walked with his head bent forward looking anxiously on all sides; when +the patrol came by he shrank into the shadow; though he was no thief he +had his reasons for keeping out of the way of the soldiery, for the +inhabitants, whether natives or strangers, were forbidden to appear in +the streets after the harbor was closed for the night. + +He stopped in front of a large house, whose long, windowless wall +extended from one side street to the next, and pausing before the great +gate, he read an inscription on which the light fell from a lamp above: +The House of the Holy Martyr. His widow here offers shelter to all who +need it. He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord." + +"At how much per cent I wonder?" mattered the old man and a satirical +smile curled his bearuless lips. A heavy thud with the knocker rang +through the silent street, and after a few short questions from within +and equally curt replies from without, a small door was opened in the +great gate. The stranger was on the point of crossing the vestibule when +a human creature crept up to him on all fours, and clutched his ancle +with a strong hand, exclaiming in a hoarse voice: "As soon as the door +is shut--an entrance fee; for the poor, you know." + +The old man flung a copper piece to the gatekeeper who tried it, and +then, holding on to the rope by which he was tied to a post like a watch- +dog, he whined out "Not a drop to wet a Christian's lips?" + +"It has not rained for some time," retorted the stranger, who proceeded +to open a second door which led into a vast court-yard open to the blue +vault of heaven. A few torches stuck against the pillars and a small +fire on the pavement added thin smoky, flickering light to the clear +glory of the stars, and the whole quadrangle was full of a heavy, reeking +atmosphere, compounded of smoke and the steam of hot food. + +Even in the street the wanderer had heard the dull buzz and roar which +now met his ear as a loud medley of noises and voices, rising from +hundreds of men who were encamped in the wide space before him--in groups +or singly, sleeping and snoring, or quarrelling, eating, talking and +singing as they squatted on the ground which was strewn with straw. + +The inn was full, and more than half of the humble guests were monks who, +during the last two days, had flowed into the city from every Cenoby, +Laura and hermitage in the desert, and from most of the monasteries in +the surrounding district--the 'Nitriote Nome'. Some of them had laid +their heads close together for confidential whispering, others squabbled +loudly, and a large group in the northern angle of the court had raised +a psalm which mingled strangely with the "three," "four," "seven," of +the men who were playing 'mora', and the cry of the cook inviting +purchasers to his stall spread with meat, bread, and onions. + +At the end of the court furthest from the gateway there was a covered +way, on to which a row of doors opened leading to the rooms devoted to +families of women and children, each apartment being divided into two by +a curtain across the middle. The stranger made his way into one of these +rooms, where he was warmly welcomed by a young man, who was occupied in +cutting a Kopais reed into a mouth-piece for a double flute, and by a +tall matronly woman. + +The new-comer's name was Karnis and he was the head of a family of +wandering singers who had arrived in Alexandria only the day before from +Rome. His surroundings were poor and mean, for their ship had been +attacked off the African coast by a band of pirates, and though they had +saved their lives they had lost everything they possessed. The young +owner of the vessel, to whom he owed his safety, had procured him +admission to this Xenodochium,--[a refuge or inn]--kept by his mother the +Widow Mary; Karnis had, however, found it far from comfortable, and had +gone forth at noon to seek other quarters. + +"All in vain!" said he, as he wiped the heat drops from his forehead. +"I have hunted Medius half the city through and found him at last at the +house of Posidonius the Magian, whose assistant he is. There was singing +behind a curtain--wretched rubbish; but there were some old airs too with +an accompaniment on the flutes, in the style of Olympus, and really not +so bad. + +"Then spirits appeared. By Sirius a queer business altogether! Medius +is in the midst of it all. I arranged the chorus and sang with them a +little. All I got for it was a little dirty silver--there! But as for +a lodging--free quarters!--there are none to be found here for anything +above an owl; and then there is the edict--that cursed edict!" + +During this speech the younger man had exchanged meaning glances with his +mother. He now interrupted Karnis, saying in a tone of encouragement: + +"Never mind, father; we have something good in view." + +"You have?" said the old man with an incredulous shrug, while his wife +served him with a small roast chicken, on a stool which did duty for a +table. + +"Yes father, we!" the lad went on, laying aside his knife. "You know we +vowed an offering to Dionysus for our escape, since he himself once fell +into the hands of pirates, so we went at once to his temple. Mother knew +the way; and as we--she, I mean, and Dada and myself. . ." + +"Heh! what is this?" interrupted Karnis, now for the first time noticing +the dish before him. "A fowl--when we are so miserably poor? A whole +fowl, and cooked with oil?" He spoke angrily, but his wife, laying her +hand on his shoulder, said soothingly: + +"We shall soon earn it again. Never a sesterce was won by fretting. +Enjoy to-day's gifts and the gods will provide for to-morrow." + +"Indeed?" asked Karnis in an altered key. "To be sure when a roast fowl +flies into one's mouth instead of a pigeon ... But you are right as +usual, Herse, as usual, only--here am I battening like a senator while +you--I lay a wager you have drunk nothing but milk all day and eaten +nothing but bread and radishes. I thought so? Then the chicken must +pretend to be a pheasant and you, wife, will eat this leg. The girls are +gone to bed? Why here is some wine too! Fill up your cup, boy. A +libation to the God! Glory to Dionysus !" The two men poured the +libation on the floor and drank; then the father thrust his knife into +the breast of the bird and began his meal with a will, while Orpheus, the +son, went on with his story: + +"Well, the temple of Dionysus was not to be found, for Bishop Theophilus +has had it destroyed; so to what divinity could we offer our wreath and +cake? Here in Egypt there is none but the great Mother Isis. Her +sanctuary is on the shore of Lake Mareotis and mother found it at once. +There she fell into conversation with a priestess who, as soon as she +learnt that my mother belonged to a family of musicians--though Dame +Herse was cautious in announcing this fact--and hoped to find employment +in Alexandria, led her away to a young lady who was closely veiled. This +lady," Orpheus went on--he not only played the flute but took the higher +parts for a man's voice and could also strike the lyre--"desired us to go +to her later at her own house, where she would speak with us. She drove +off in a fine carriage and we, of course followed her orders; Agne was +with us too. A splendid house! I never saw anything handsomer in Rome +or Antioch. We were kindly received, and with the lady there were +another very old lady and a tall grave man, a priest I should fancy or a +philosopher, or something of that kind." + +"Not some Christian trap?" asked Karnis suspiciously. "You do not know +this place, and since the edict. . ." + +"Never fear, father! There were images of the gods in the halls and +corridors, and in the room where we were received by Gorgo, the beautiful +daughter of Porphyrius, there was an altar before an image of Isis, quite +freshly anointed.--This Porphyrius is a very rich merchant; we learnt +that afterwards, and many other things. The philosopher asked us at once +whether we were aware that Theodosius had lately promulgated a new edict +forbidding young maidens to appear in public as singers or flute- +players." + +"And did Agne hear that?" said the old man in a low voice as he pointed +to the curtain. + +"No, she and Dada were in the garden on to which the room opened, and +mother explained at once that though Agne was a Christian she was a very +good girl, and that so long as she remained in our service she was bound +to sing with us whenever she was required. The philosopher exclaimed at +once: 'The very thing!' and they whispered together, and called the girls +and desired them to show what they could do." + +"And how did they perform?" asked the old man, who was growing excited. + +"Dada warbled like a lark, and Agne--well you know how it always is. Her +voice sounded lovely but it was just as usual. You can guess how much +there is in her and how deep her feeling is but she never quite brings +it out. What has she to complain of with us? And yet whatever she sings +has that mournful, painful ring which even you can do nothing to alter. +However, she pleased them better than Dada did, for I noticed that Gorgo +and the gentleman glanced at each other and at her, and whispered a word +now and then which certainly referred to Ague. When they had sung two +songs the young lady came towards us and praised both the girls, and +asked whether we would undertake to learn something quite new. I told +her that my father was a great musician who could master the most +difficult things at the first hearing." + +"The most difficult! Hm... that depends," said the old man. "Did she +show it you?" + +"No; it is something in the style of Linus and she sang it to us." + +"The daughter of the rich Porphyrius sang for your entertainment? +Yours?" said Karnis laughing. "By Sirius! The world is turning upside +down. Now that girls are forbidden to perform to the gentlefolks, art is +being cultivated by the upper classes; it cannot be killed outright. For +the future the listeners will be paid to keep quiet and the singers pay +for the right of torturing their ears--our ears, our luckless ears will +be victimized." + +Orpheus smiled and shook his head; then, again dropping his knife, he +went on eagerly: + +"But if you could only hear her! You would give your last copper piece +to hear her again." + +"Indeed!" muttered his father. "Well, there are very good teachers +here. Something by Linus did you say she sang?" + +"Something of that kind; a lament for the dead of very great power: +'Return, oh! return my beloved, came back--come home!' that was the +burthen of it. And there was a passage which said: 'Oh that each tear +had a voice and could join with me in calling thee!" And how she sang +it, father! I do not think I ever in my life heard anything like it. +Ask mother. Even Dada's eyes were full of tears." + +"Yes, it was beautiful," the mother agreed. "I could not help wishing +that you were there." + +Karnis rose and paced the little room, waving his arms and muttering: + +"Ah! so that is how it is! A friend of the Muses. We saved the large +lute--that is well. My chlamys has an ugly hole in it--if the girls were +not asleep... but the first thing to-morrow Ague... Tell me, is she +handsome, tall?" + +Herse had been watching her excitable husband with much satisfaction and +now answered his question: "Not a Hera--not a Muse--decidedly not. +Hardly above the middle height, slightly made, but not small, black eyes, +long lashes, dark straight eyebrows. I could hardly, like Orpheus, call +her beautiful. . ." + +"Oh yes, mother.--Beautiful is a great word, and one my father has taught +me to use but rarely; but she--if she is not beautiful who is?--when she +raised her large dark eyes and threw back her head to bring out her +lament; tone after tone seemed to come from the bottom of her heart and +rise to the furthest height of heaven. Ah, if Agne could learn to sing +like that! 'Throw your whole soul into your singing.'--You have told her +that again and again. Now, Gorgo can and does. And she stood there as +steady and as highly strung as a bow, every note came out with the ring +of an arrow and went straight to the heart, as clear and pure as +possible." + +"Be silent!" cried the old man covering his ears with his hands. +"I shall not close an eye till daylight, and then... Orpheus, take that +silver--take it all, I have no more--go early to market and buy flowers-- +laurel branches, ivy, violets and roses. But no lotuses though the +market here is full of them; they are showy, boastful things with no +scent, I cannot bear them. We will go crowned to the Temple of the +Muses." + +"Buy away, buy all you want!" said Herse laughing, as she showed her +husband some bright gold pieces. "We got that to-day, and if all is +well. . ." Here she paused, pointed to the curtain, and went on again in +a lower tone: "It all depends of course, on Agne's playing us no trick." + +"How so? Why? She is a good girl and I will. . ." + +"No, no," said Herse holding him back. "She does not know yet what the +business is. The lady wants her. . ." + +"Well?" + +"To sing in the Temple of Isis." + +Karnis colored. He was suddenly called from a lovely dream back to the +squalid reality. "In the Temple of Isis," he said gloomily. "Agne? In +the face of all the people? And she knows nothing about it?" + +"Nothing, father." + +"No? Well then, if that is the case . . . Agne, the Christian, in the +Temple of Isis--here, here, where Bishop Theophilus is destroying all our +sanctuaries and the monks outdo their master. Ah, children, children, +how pretty and round and bright a soap-bubble is, and how soon it bursts. +Do you know at all what it is that you are planning? If the black flies +smell it out and it becomes known, by the great Apollo! we should have +fared better at the hands of the pirates. And yet, and yet.--Do you know +at all how the girl...?" + +"She wept at the lady's singing," interrupted Herse eagerly, "and, silent +as she generally is, on her way home she said: 'To sing like that! She +is a happy girl!'" + +Karnis looked up with renewed confidence. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "that is my Agne. Yes, yes, she truly loves her +divine art. She can sing, she will sing! We will venture it, if you, I, +all of us die for it! + +"Herse, Orpheus, what have we to lose? Our gods, too, shall have their +martyrs. It is a poor life that has no excitement. Our art--why, +all I have ever had has been devoted to it. I make no boast of having +sacrificed everything, and if gold and lands were again to be mine I +would become a beggar once more for the sake of art: We have always held +the divine Muse sacred, but who can keep up a brave heart when he sees +her persecuted! She may only be worshipped in darkness in these days, +and the Queen of Gods and men shuns the light like a moth, a bat, an owl. +If we must die let it be with and for Her! Once more let pure and +perfect song rejoice this old heart, and if afterwards . . . My +children, we have no place in this dim, colorless world. While the Arts +lived there was Spring on the earth. Now they are condemned to death and +it is Winter. The leaves fall from all the trees, and we piping birds +need groves to sing in. How often already has Death laid his hand on our +shoulder, every breath we draw is a boon of mercy--the extra length +given in by the weaver, the hour of grace granted by the hangman to his +victim! Our lives are no longer our own, a borrowed purse with damaged +copper coins. The hard-hearted creditor has already bent his knuckles, +and when he knocks the time is up. Once more let us have one hour of +pure and perfect enjoyment, and then we will pay up capital and interest +when we must." + +"It cannot and will not be yet," said Herse resolutely, but she wiped her +eyes with her band. "If Agne sings even, so long as she does it without +coercion and of her own free-will no Bishop can punish us." + +"He cannot, he dare not!" cried the old man. There are still laws and +judges." + +"And Gorgo's family is influential as well as rich. Porphyrius has power +to protect us, and you do not yet know what a fancy he has taken to us. +Ask mother." + +"It is like a story," Herse put in. "Before we left, the old lady--she +must be eighty or more--took me aside and asked me where we were lodging. +I told her at the Widow Mary's and when she heard it she struck her +crutch on the floor. 'Do you like the place?' she asked. I told her not +at all, and said we could not possibly stop here." + +"Quite right!" cried Karnis. "The monks in the court-yard will kill us +as dead as rats if they hear us learning heathen hymns." + +"That is what I told her; but the old lady did not allow me to finish; +she drew me close to her and whispered, 'only do as my granddaughter +wishes and you shall be safely housed and take this for the present'-- +and she put her hand into the purse at her girdle, gave the gold into my +hand, and added loud enough for the others to hear: 'Fifty gold pieces +out of my own pocket if Gorgo tells me that she is satisfied with your +performance.'" + +"Fifty gold pieces!" cried Karnis clasping his hands. "That brightens +up the dull grey of existence. Fifty, then, are certain. If we sing six +times that makes a talent--[estimated in 1880 at $1100]--and that will +buy back our old vineyard at Leontium. I will repair the old Odeum--they +have made a cowhouse of it--and when we sing there the monks may come and +listen! You laugh? But you are simpletons--I should like to see who +will forbid my singing on my own land and in my own country. A talent of +gold! + +"It is quite enough to pay on account, and I will not agree to any bargain +that will not give me the field-slaves and cattle. Castles in the air, +do you say? But just listen to me: We are sure you see of a hundred +gold pieces at least. . ." He had raised his voice in his eagerness and +while he spoke the curtains had been softly opened, and the dull glimmer +of the lamp which stood in front of Orpheus fell on a head which was +charming in spite of its disorder. A quantity of loose fair hair curled +in papers stuck up all over the round head and fell over the forehead, +the eyes were tired and still half shut, but the little mouth was wide +awake and laughing with the frank amusement of light-hearted youth. + +Karnis, without noticing the listener, had gone on with his visionary +hopes of regaining his estates by his next earnings, but at this point +the young girl, holding the curtain in her right hand, stretched out her +plump left arm and begged in a humble whine: + +"Good father Karnis, give me a little of your wealth; five poor little +drachmae!" + +The old man started; but he instantly recovered himself and answered +good-naturedly enough: + +"Go back to bed, you little hussy. You ought to be asleep instead of +listening there!" + +"Asleep?" said the girl. "While you are shouting like an orator against +the wind! Five drachmae, father. I stick to that. A new ribband for me +will cost one, and the same for Agne, two. Two I will spend on wine for +us all, and that makes the five." + +"That makes four--you are a great arithmetician to be sure!" + +"Four?" said Dada, as much amazed as though the moon had fallen. "If +only I had a counting-frame. No, father, five I tell you--it is five." + +"No, child, four; and you shall have four," replied her father. "Plutus +is at the door and to-morrow morning you shall both have garlands." + +"Yes, of violets, ivy and roses," added Dame Herse. "Is Agne asleep?" + +"As sound as the dead. She always sleeps soundly unless she lies wide +awake all the night through. But we were both so tired--and I am still. +It is a comfort to yawn. Do you see how I am sitting?" + +"On the clothes-chest?" said Herse. + +"Yes, and the curtain is not a strong back to the seat. Fortunately if I +fall asleep I shall drop forwards, not backwards." + +"But there is a bed for each of you," said the mother, and giving the +girl a gentle push she followed her into the sleeping-alcove. In a few +minutes she came out again. + +"That is just like Dada!" she exclaimed. "Little Papias had rolled off +the chest on which he was sleeping, so the good girl had put him into her +bed and was sitting on the chest herself, tired as she was." + +"She would do anything for that boy," said Karnis. "But it is past +midnight. Come, Orpheus, let us make the bed!" + +Three long hen-coops which stood piled against the wall were laid on the +ground and covered with mats; on these the tired men stretched their +limbs, but they could not sleep. + +The little lamp was extinguished, and for an hour all was still in the +dark room. Then, suddenly, there was a loud commotion; some elastic +object flew against the wall with a loud flap, and Karnis, starting up, +called out: "Get out--monster!" + +"What is it?" cried Herse who had also been startled, and the old man +replied angrily: + +"Some daemon, some dog of a daemon is attacking me and giving me no +peace. Wait, you villain--there, perhaps that will settle you," and he +flung his second sandal. Then, without heeding the rustling fall of some +object that he had hit by accident, he gasped out: + +"The impudent fiend will not let me be. It knows that we need Agne's +voice, and it keeps whispering, first in one ear and then in the other, +that I should threaten to sell her little brother if she refuses; but I-- +I--strike a light, Orpheus!--She is a good girl and rather than do such a +thing. . ." + +"The daemon has been close to me too," said the son as he blew on the +spark he had struck. + +"And to me too," added Herse nervously. "It is only natural. There are +no images of the gods in this Christian hovel. Away, hateful serpent! +We are honest folks and will not agree to any vile baseness. Here is my +amulet, Karnis; if the daemon comes again you must turn it round--you +know how." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +Early next morning the singers set out for the house of Porphyrius. The +party was not complete, however, for Dada had been forced to remain at +home. The shoes that the old man had flung to scare away the daemon had +caught in the girl's dress which she had just washed, and had dragged it +down on to the earth; she had found it in the morning full of holes burnt +by the ashes into the damp material. Dada had no other presentable +garment, so, in spite of her indignant refusal and many tears, she had to +remain indoors with Papias. Agne's anxious offers to stay in her place +with the little boy and to lend Dada her dress, both Karnis and his wife +had positively refused; and Dada had lent her aid--at first silently +though willingly and then with her usual merriment--in twining garlands +for the others and in dressing Agne's smooth black plaits with a wreath +of ivy and violets. + +The men were already washed, anointed and crowned with poplar and laurel +when a steward arrived from Porphyrius to bid them follow him to his +master's house. But a small sacrifice was necessary, for the messenger +desired them to lay aside their wreaths, which would excite ill-feeling +among the monks, and certainly be snatched off by the Christian mob. +Karnis when he started was greatly disappointed, and as much depressed as +he had been triumphant and hopeful a short time before. + +The monks, who had gathered outside the Xenodochium, glanced with +scowling suspicion at the party, who could not recover the good spirits +with which they had begun the day till they were fairly out of the +narrow, gloomy alleys, reeking with tar and salt fish, that adjoined the +harbor, and where they had to push their way through a dense throng. The +steward led the van with Herse, talking freely in reply to her enquiries. + +His master, he said, was one of the great merchants of the city, whose +wife had died twenty years since in giving birth to Gorgo. His two sons +were at present absent on their travels. The old lady who had been so +liberal in her treatment of the singers was Damia, the mother of +Porphyrius. She had a fine fortune of her own, and notwithstanding her +great age was still respected as the soul of business in the household, +and as a woman deeply versed in the mysterious sciences. Mary, the pious +Christian, who had founded the "House of the Holy Martyr," was the widow +of Apelles, the brother of Porphyrius, but she had ceased all intercourse +with her husband's family. This was but natural, as she was at the head +of the Christian women of Alexandria, while the household of Porphyrius-- +though the master himself had been baptized--was as thoroughly heathen as +any in Alexandria. + +Karnis heard nothing of all this, for he came last of the party. Orpheus +and Agne followed next to Herse and the steward, and after them came two +slaves, carrying the lutes and pipes. Agne walked with downcast eyes, as +if she desired to avoid seeing all that surrounded her, though when +Orpheus addressed her she shyly glanced up at him and answered briefly +and timidly. They presently came out of an obscure alley by the canal +connecting Kibotus with Lake Mareotis where the Nile-boats lay at anchor. +Karnis drew a deeper breath, for here the air was clear and balmy; a +light northerly breeze brought the refreshing fragrance of the sea, and +the slender palm-trees that bordered the canal threw long shadows +mingling with the massive shade of the sycamores. The road was astir +with busy groups, birds sang in the trees, and the old musician drank in +the exciting and aromatic atmosphere of the Egyptian Spring with keen +enjoyment. + +As they reached the middle of the steep bridge across the canal he +involuntarily stood still, riveted by the view of the southwest. In his +excitement he threw up his arms, his eyes glistened with moisture and +with the enthusiasm of youth, and, as was always the case when his +emotions were stirred by some glorious work of God or man, an image rose +to his mind, all unbidden--the image of his eldest son, now dead, but in +life his closest and most sympathetic comrade. He felt as though his +hand could grasp the shoulder of that son, too early snatched away, whose +gifts had far transcended those of the surviving Orpheus--as though he +too could gaze with him on the grand scene that lay before him. + +On a platform of rocks and mighty masonry rose a structure of wonderful +magnificence and beauty, so brilliantly illuminated by the morning sun +that its noble proportions and gorgeous colors showed in dazzling +splendor and relief. Over the gilt dome bent the cloudless blue of the +African sky, and the polished hemisphere shone, as radiant as the sun +whose beams it reflected. Sloping planes for vehicles, and flights of +steps for pedestrians led up to the gates. The lower part of this +wonderful edifice--the great Temple of Serapis--was built to stand +forever, and the pillars of the vestibule supported a roof more fitted to +the majesty of the gods than to the insignificance of mortals; priests +and worshippers moved here like children among the trunks of some +gigantic forest. Round the cornice, in hundreds of niches, and on every +projection, all the gods of Olympus and all the heroes and sages of +Greece seemed to have met in conclave, and stood gazing down on the world +in gleaming brass or tinted marble. Every portion of the building blazed +with gold and vivid coloring; the painter's hand had added life to the +marble groups in high relief that filled the pediments and the smaller +figures in the long row of metopes. All the population of a town might +have found refuge in the vast edifice and its effect on the mind was like +that of a harmonious symphony of adoration sung by a chorus of giants. + +"All hail! Great Serapis! I greet thee in joyful humility, thankful +that Thou hast granted to my old eyes to see Thy glorious and eternal +temple once again!" murmured Karnis in devout contemplation. Then, +appealing to his wife and son, he pointed in silence to the building. +Presently, however, as he watched Orpheus gazing in speechless delight at +its magnificent proportions he could not forbear. + +"This," he began with fervid enthusiasm, "is the stronghold of Serapis +the King of the Gods! A work for all time. Its youth has lasted five +hundred years, its future will extend to all eternity.--Aye, so it is; +and so long as it endures in all its glory the old gods cannot be +deposed!" + +"No one will ever dare to touch a stone of it," said the steward. "Every +child in Alexandria knows that the world will crumble into dust and ashes +if a finger is laid on that Temple, and the man who ventures to touch the +sacred image. . ." + +"The god can protect himself!" interrupted the singer. "But you--you +Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death--if you +really long so vehemently for the end of all things, you have only to +fall upon this glorious structure.--Do that, do that--only do that!" + +The old man shook his fist at the invisible foe and Herse echoed his +words: + +"Aye, aye, only do that!" Then she added more calmly: "Well, if +everything comes to an end at once the enemies of the gods will die with +us; and there can be nothing terrible in perishing at the same time with +everything that is beautiful or dear to us." + +"Nevertheless," said the steward, "the Bishop has put out his hand to +touch the sanctuary. But our noble Olympius would not suffer the +sacrilegious host to approach, and they had to retire with broken heads. +Serapis will not be mocked; he will stand though all else perish. +'Eternity,' the priest tells us, 'is to him but as an instant, and while +millions of generations bloom and fade, he is still and forever the +same!'" + +"Hail, all hail to the great god!" cried Orpheus with hands outstretched +towards the temple. + +"Yea, hail! for everlasting glory shall be his!" repeated his father. +"Great is Serapis, and his house and his image shall last. . ." + +"Till the next full moon!" said a passer-by in a tone of sinister +mockery, shaking his fist in the face, as it were, of the god. Orpheus +turned quickly to punish the prophet of evil; but he had disappeared in +the crowd and the tide of men had borne him onwards. "Till the next full +moon!" murmured Agne, who had shuddered at her companion's rapturous +ejaculations, and she glanced uneasily at Orpheus; but by the time Herse +addressed her a minute or two later she had controlled the expression of +her features, and the matron's heart was gladdened by her bright smile. +Nay, many a young Alexandrian, passing the group on foot or in a +carriage, looked at her a second time, for that smile lent a mysterious +charm to her pale, calm face. Nor had it faded away when they had +crossed the bridge and were nearing the shores of the lake, for an idea +once conceived lingered long in Agne's mind; and as she walked on in the +bright glory of the morning's sun her mind's eye was fixed on a nocturnal +scene--on the full moon, high in the sky--on the overthrow of the great +idol and a glittering army among the marble ruins of the Serapeum. +Apostles and martyrs soared around, the Saviour sat enthroned in glory +and triumph, while angels, cradled on the clouds that were his footstool, +were singing beatific hymns which sounded clearly in her ear above the +many-voiced tumult of the quays. The vision did not vanish till she was +desired to get into the boat. + +Herse was a native of Alexandria and Karnis had passed some of the best +years of his life there; but to Orpheus and Agne all was new, and even +the girl, when once she had escaped from the crowd and noise which +oppressed her, took an interest in the scene and asked a question now and +then. The younger man had not eyes enough to see all that claimed his +attention and admiration. + +There were the great sluice-gates at the entrance to the canal that +joined the lake to the sea--there, in a separate dock, lay the splendid +imperial Nile-boats which served to keep up communication between the +garrison of Alexandria and the military stations on the river--there, +again, were the gaudy barges intended for the use of the 'comes', the +prefect and other high officials--and there merchant-vessels of every +size lay at anchor in countless number. Long trains of many-colored +sails swept over the rippling lake like flights of birds across a +cornfield, and every inch of the shore was covered with stores or +buildings. Far away to the south long trellices of vine covered the +slopes, broken by the silvery glaucous tones of the olive-groves, and by +clumps of towering palms whose crowns mingled to form a lofty canopy. +White walls, gaudily-painted temples and private villas gleamed among the +green, and the slanting rays of the low sun, shining on the drops that +fell from the never-resting wheels and buckets that irrigated the land, +turned them into showers of diamonds. These water-works, of the most +ingenious construction, many of them invented and contrived by scientific +engineers, were the weapons with which man had conquered the desert that +originally surrounded this lake, forcing it into green fertility and +productiveness of grain and fruit. Nay, the desert had, for many +centuries, here ceased to exist. Dionysus the generous, and the kindly +garden-gods had blest the toil of men, and yet, now, in many a plot--in +all which belonged to Christian owners--their altars lay scattered and +overthrown. + +During the last thirty years much indeed was changed, and nothing to the +satisfaction of old Karnis; Herse, too, shook her head, and when the +rowers had pulled them about half-way across, she pointed to a broad +vacant spot on the bank where a new building was just rising above the +soil, and said sadly to her husband: + +"Would you know that place again? Where is our dear old temple gone? +The temple of Dionysus." Karnis started up so hastily that he almost +upset the boat, and their conductor was obliged to insist on his keeping +quiet; he obeyed but badly, however, for his arms were never still as he +broke out: + +"And do you suppose that because we are in Egypt I can keep my living +body as still as one of your dead mummies? Let others keep still if they +can! I say it is shameful, disgraceful; a dove's gall might rise at it! +That splendid building, the pride of the city and the delight of men's +eyes, destroyed--swept away like dust from the road! Do you see? Do you +see, I say? Broken columns, marble capitals, here, there and everywhere +at the bottom of the lake--here a head and there a torso! Great and +noble masters formed those statues by the aid of the gods, and they-- +they, small and ignoble as they are, have destroyed them by the aid of +evil daemons. They have annihilated and drowned works that were worthy +to live forever! And why? Shall I tell you? Because they shun the +Beautiful as an owl shuns light. Aye, they do! There is nothing they +hate or dread so much as beauty; wherever they find it, they deface and +destroy it, even if it is the work of the Divinity. I accuse them before +the Immortals--for where is the grove even, not the work of man but the +special work of Heaven itself? Where is our grove, with its cool +grottos, its primaeval trees, its shady nooks, and all the peace and +enjoyment of which it was as full as a ripe grape is full of sweet +juice?" + +"It was cut down and rooted up," replied the steward. "The emperor gave +the sanctuary over to Bishop Theophilus and he set to work at once to +destroy it. The temple was pulled down, the sacred vessels went into the +melting-pot, and the images were mutilated and insulted before they were +thrown into the lime-kiln. The place they are building now is to be a +Christian church. Oh! to think of the airy, beautiful colonnades that +once stood there, and then of the dingy barn that is to take their +place!" + +"Why do the gods endure it? Has Zeus lost his thunderbolts?" cried +Orpheus clenching his hands, and paying no heed to Agne who sat pale and +sternly silent during this conversation. + +"Nay, he only sleeps, to wake with awful power," said the old man. +"See those blocks of marble and ruins under the waves. Swift work is +destruction! And men lost their wits and looked on at the crime, +flinging the delight of the gods into the water and the kiln. They were +wise, very wise; fishes and flames are dumb and cannot cry to heaven. +One barbarian, in one hour can destroy what it has taken the sublimest +souls years, centuries, to create. They glory in destruction and ruin +and they can no more build up again such a temple as stood there than +they can restore trees that have taken six hundred years to grow. There +--out there, Herse, in the hollow where those black fellows are stirring +mortar--they have given them shirts too, because they are ashamed of the +beauty of men's bodies--that is where the grotto was where we found your +poor father." + +"The grotto?" repeated his wife, looking at the spot through her tears, +and thinking of the day when, as a girl, she had hurried to the feast of +Dionysus and sought her father in the temple. He had been famous as a +gem-cutter. In obedience to the time-honored tradition in Alexandria, +after intoxicating himself with new wine in honor of the god, he had +rushed out into the street to join the procession. The next morning he +had not returned; the afternoon passed and evening came and still he did +not appear, so his daughter had gone in search of him. Karnis was at +that time a young student and, as her father's lodger, had rented the +best room in the house. He had met her going on her errand and had been +very ready to help her in the search; before long they had found the old +man in the ivy-grown grotto in the grove of Dionysus--motionless and +cold, as if struck by lightning. The bystanders believed that the god +had snatched him away in his intoxicated legion. + +In this hour of sorrow Karnis had proved himself her friend, and a few +months after Herse had become his wife and gone with him to Tauromenium +in Sicily. + +All this rose before her mind, and even Karnis sat gazing dumbly at the +waves; for every spot where some decisive change has occurred in our +lives has power to revive the past when we see it again after a long +absence. Thus they all sat in silence till Orpheus, touching his father, +pointed out the temple of Isis where he had met the fair Gorgo on the +previous day. The old man turned to look at the sanctuary which, as yet, +remained intact. + +"A barbarous structure!" he said bitterly. "The art of the Egyptians +has long been numbered with the dead and the tiger hungers only for the +living!" + +"Nay, it is not such a bad piece of work," replied the steward, "but it +is out of their reach; for the ground on which it stands belongs to my +old mistress, and the law protects private property.--You must at your +leisure inspect the ship-yard here; it is perhaps the most extensive in +the world. The timber that is piled there--cedar of Lebanon, oak from +Pontus and heavy iron-wood from Ethiopia--is worth hundreds of +talents." + +"And does all that belong to your master?" + +"No; the owner is the grandson of a freedman, formerly in his family. +Now they are very rich and highly respected, and Master Clemens sits in +the Senate. There he is--that man in a white robe." + +"A Christian, I should imagine," observed the singer. + +"Very true;" replied the steward. "But what is good remains good, and he +is a worthy and excellent man notwithstanding. He keeps a tight hand +over the ship-yard here and over the others too by the harbor of +Eunostus. Only Clemens can never let other people have their own +opinions; in that he is just like the rest of them. Every slave he buys +must become a Christian and his sons are the same; even Constantine, +though he is an officer in the imperial army and as smart and clever a +soldier as lives.--As far as we are concerned we leave every man to his +own beliefs. Porphyrius makes no secret of his views and all the vessels +we use in the corn-trade are built by Christians.--But here we are." + +The boat stopped at a broad flight of marble steps which led from the +lake into the garden of Porphyrius' house. Karnis as he walked through +the grounds felt himself at greater ease, for here the old gods were at +home; their statues gleamed among the dark clumps of evergreens, and were +mirrored in the clear tanks, while delicious perfumes were wafted from +the garlanded shrines and freshly anointed altars, to greet the +newcomers. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +The family of musicians were kindly received, but they were not +immediately called upon to perform, for as soon as Damia heard that the +pretty fair-haired child who had pleased her so much the day before had +been obliged to remain at home, she had one of her granddaughter's +dresses brought out, and requested Herse to go back to fetch her. Some +slaves were to accompany Herse and transfer all her little property on +board a Nile-boat belonging to Porphyrius, which was lying at anchor just +off the ship-yard. In this large barge there were several cabins which +had often accommodated guests, and which would now serve very well as a +residence for Karnis and his party. Indeed, it was particularly well +suited for a family of musicians, for they could practise there +undisturbed, and Gorgo could at any time pay them a visit. + +Herse went back to the Xenodochium with a lighter heart; her son also +returned to the city to replace a number of necessaries that had been +lost on board ship, and Karnis, rejoicing to be out of the monk-haunted +asylum had remained in the men's room in the house of his new patron, +enjoying the good things which abounded there. He felt as though he was +here once more at home after years of exile. Here dwelt the spirit of +his fathers; here he found men who enjoyed life after his own fashion, +who could share his enthusiasms and his hatreds. He drank noble liquor +out of an elegantly carved onyx cup, all that he heard soothed his ears, +and all that he said met with entire sympathy. The future prospects of +his family, till now so uncertain, were hardly inferior to those which +his vivid imagination had painted the night before. And even if Fortune +should again desert him, the hours of present enjoyment should be written +down to the profit side of life, and remain a permanent gain at any rate +in memory. + +The venerable Damia, her son Porphyrius, and the fair Gorgo were in fact +a trio such as are rarely met with. The master of the house, more +cautious than the women, was inclined to think that his mother and +daughter had been somewhat overhasty and imprudent in their advances and +he had at first received Karnis with considerable reserve; but after a +short interview he had convinced himself that the musician was a man of +unusual culture and superior stamp. The old lady had, from the first, +been predisposed in his favor, for she had read in the stars last night +that the day was to bring her a fortunate meeting. Her wish was law, and +Karnis could not help smiling when she addressed her son, whose hair had +long been grey and who looked fully competent to manage his own +household, as "my child," not hesitating to scold and reprove him. Her +cathedra was a high arm-chair which she never quitted but to be carried +to her observatory on the roof of the house, where she kept her +astrological tablets and manuscripts. The only weakness about her was in +her feet; but strong, and willing arms were always at her disposal to +carry her about--to table, into her sleeping-room, and during the daytime +out to sunny spots in the garden. She was never so happy as when Helios +warmed her back with his rays, for her old blood needed it after the long +night-watches that she still would keep in her observatory. Even during +the hottest noon she would sit in the sun, with a large green umbrella to +shade her keen eyes, and those who desired to speak with her might find +shade as best they could. As she stood, much bent, but propped on her +ivory crutches, eagerly following every word of a conversation, she +looked as though she were prepared at any moment to spring into the +middle of it and interrupt the speaker. She always said exactly what she +meant without reserve or ruth; and throughout her long life, as the +mistress of great wealth, she had always been allowed to have her own +way. She asserted her rights even over her son, though he was the centre +of a web whose threads reached to the furthest circumference of the known +world. The peasants who tilled the earth by the Upper and Lower Nile, +the shepherds who kept their flocks in the Arabian desert, in Syria, or +on the Silphium meads of Cyrenaica, the wood-cutters of Lebanon and +Pontus, the mountaineers of Hispania and Sardinia, the brokers, +merchants, and skippers of every port on the Mediterranean, were bound by +these threads to the villa on the shore of Mareotis, and felt the tie +when the master there--docile as a boy to his mother's will--tightened or +released his hold. + +His possessions, even in his youth, had been so vast that their increment +could bring no added enjoyment to him or his family, and yet their +increase had become his life's task. He strove for a higher sum to +figure on the annual balance sheet, as eagerly as an athlete strives for +a prize; and his mother not only inspected the account, but watched every +important undertaking with keen interest. When her son and his +colleagues doubted over some decision it was she who gave the casting +vote; but though her advice in most cases proved sound and profitable, +she herself ascribed this less to her own acumen and knowledge of the +world than to the hints she obtained from the stars and from magical +calculations. Her son did not follow her in these speculations, but he +rarely disputed the conclusions that she drew from her astrological +studies. While she was turning night into day he was glad to entertain a +few learned friends, for all the hours of leisure that he could snatch +from his pursuit of fortune, he devoted to philosophy, and the most +distinguished thinkers of Alexandria were happy to be received at the +hospitable table of so rich a patron. He was charmed to be called +"Callias," + + [The noble Athenian family of Callias was famed for its wealth and + splendor.] + +and the heathen teachers at the schools of the Museum and Serapeum +regarded him as a faithful ally. It was known that he had been baptized, +but he never liked to hear the fact mentioned. He won all hearts by his +perfect modesty, but even more perhaps by a certain air of suffering and +melancholy which protected the wealthy merchant against the envy of +detractors. + +In the course of her conversation with Karnis the old lady enquired +particularly as to the antecedent history of Agne, for if there had been +a stain on her character, or if she were by birth a slave, Gorgo could +not of course be seen with her in public, and in that case Karnis would +have to teach the lament of Isis to some freeborn singer. Karnis in +reply could only shrug his shoulders, and beg the ladies and Porphyrius +to judge for themselves when he should have related the young girl's +story. + +Three years since, he said, he had been staying at Antioch at the time of +a violent outbreak against the levying of certain taxes. There had been +much bloodshed, and he and his family had got out of the city as quickly +as they could. It was growing dusk when they turned into a wayside inn, +where they found Agne and her little brother captives to a soldier. +During the night the girl had crept up to the little boy's bed, and to +comfort and lull him had begun to sing him a simple song. The singer's +voice was so pure and pathetic that it had touched both him and his wife +and they had at once purchased the girl and her brother for a small sum. +He had simply paid what the soldier asked, not regarding the children in +the light of slaves; nor had he had any description of them written out, +though it was, no doubt, in his power to treat them as slaves and to sell +them again, since the sale had taken place before witnesses who might +still be found. He had afterwards learnt from the girl that her parents +were Christians and had settled in Antioch only a few years previously; +but she had no friends nor relatives there. Her father, being a tax- +collector in the service of the Emperor, had moved about a great deal, +but she remembered his having spoken of Augusta Treviroruin in Belgica +prima, as his native place.--[Now Trier or Treves, on the Moselle.] + +Agne had witnessed the attack on her father's house by the angry mob who +had killed her parents, their two slaves, and her elder brother. Her +father must certainly have been an official of some rank, and probably, +as it would seem, a Roman citizen, in which case--as Porphyrius agreed-- +both the young girl and her little brother could legally claim their +freedom. The insurgents who had dragged the two children out into the +street had been driven off by the troops, and it was from them that +Karnis had rescued them. "And I have never regretted it," added the old +musician, "for Agne is a sweet, gentle soul. Of her voice I need say +nothing, since you yourselves heard it yesterday." + +"And were quite delighted with it!" cried Gorgo. "If flowers could sing +it would be like that!" + +"Well, well," said Karnis. "She has a lovely voice--but she wants wings. +Something--what, I know not, keeps the violet rooted to the soil." + +"Christian scruples," said the merchant, and Damia added: + +"Let Eros touch her--that will loosen her tongue." + +"Eros, always Eros!" repeated Gorgo shrugging her shoulders. "Nay, love +means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them. To do the best +of which he is capable man needs only to be free, true, and in health." + +"That is a great deal, fair mistress," replied Karnis eagerly. "With +these three gifts the best work is done. But as to Agne--what can be +further from freedom than a girl bound to service? her body, to be sure +is healthy, but her spirit suffers; she can get no peace for dread of the +Christian's terrors: Sin, Repentance, and Hell. . . ." + +"Oh, we know how their life is ruined!" interrupted the old lady. +"Was it Agne who introduced you to Mary's Asylum?" + +"No, noble lady." + +"But how then--that prudent saint generally selects her guests, and +those that are not baptized . . ." + +"She certainly sheltered heathens on this occasion." + +"I am much surprised. Tell me how it happened." + +"We were at Rome," began Karnis, "and my patron there persuaded Marcus, +Mary's son, to take us on board his ship at Ostia. We dropped anchor at +Cyrene, where the young master wanted to pick up his brother and bring +him also to Alexandria." + +"Then is Demetrius here?" asked Porphyrius. + +"Yes, sir. He came on board at Cyrene. Hardly had we got fairly to sea +again when we saw two pirate ships. Our trireme was at once turned +round, but in our hurry to regain the harbor we stuck fast on a sand +bank; the boats were at once put out to save the passengers and Cynegius, +the consul. . ." + +"Cynegius--on his way here!" exclaimed Porphyrius, much excited. + +"He landed yesterday with us in the harbor of Eunostus. The secretaries +and officers of his suite filled one boat and Marcus and his brother were +getting into the other with their men. We, and others of the free +passengers, should have been left behind if Dada . . ." + +"That pretty little blonde?" asked Damia. + +"The very same. Marcus had taken a great fancy to her prattle and her +songs during the voyage--no nightingale can sing more clearly--and when +she begged and prayed him he gave way at once, and said: he would take +her in his boat. But the brave child declared that she would jump into +the sea before she would leave without us." + +"Well done!" cried the old lady, and Porphyrius added: + +"That speaks well for her and for you." + +"So after all Marcus found room for us in the boat--for all of us, and we +got safely to land. A few days after we all came on in a troop-ship: +Cynegius, the two brothers and the rest, all safe and sound; and, as we +had lost everything we possessed, Marcus gave us a certificate which +procured our admission into his mother's Xenodochium. And then the gods +brought me and mine under the notice of your noble daughter." + +"Then Cynegius is here, positively here?" asked Porphyrius once more. +Karnis assured him that he was, and the merchant, turning to his mother, +went on: + +"And Olympius has not yet come home. It is always the same thing; he is +as rash as a boy. If they should take him! The roads are swarming with +monks. There is something astir. Bring out the chariot, Syrus, at once; +and tell Atlas to be ready to accompany me. Cynegius here!--Ha, ha! +I thank the gods!" + +The last exclamation was addressed to a man who at this instant came into +the room, muffled up to the eyes. He threw off the hood of his cloak and +the wrapper that went round his throat, concealing his long white beard, +and as he did so he exclaimed with a gasp for breath: + +"Here I am once more!--Cynegius is here and matters look serious my +friend." + +"You have been to the Museum?" + +"Without any obstruction. I found them all assembled. Brave lads. They +are all for us and the gods. There are plenty of weapons. The Jews-- +[At that time about two-fifths of the whole population.]--are not +stirring, Onias thinks he may vouch for that; and we must surely be a +match for the monks and the imperial cohorts." + +"If the gods only stand by us to-day and tomorrow," replied Porphyrius +doubtfully. + +"For ever, if only the country people do their duty!" cried the other. +"But who is this stranger?" + +"The chief of the singers who were here yesterday," replied Gorgo. + +"Karnis, the son of Hiero of Tauromenium," said the musician, bowing to +the stranger, whose stately figure and handsome, thoughtful head struck +him with admiration. + +"Karnis of Tauromenium!" exclaimed the newcomer with glad surprise. +"By Hercules! a strange meeting. Your hand, your hand, old man. How +many years is it since we last emptied a wine-jar together at the house +of old Hippias? Seven lustres have turned our hair grey, but we still +can stand upright. Well, Karnis son of Hiero--and who am I?" + +"Olympius--the great Olympius!" cried Karnis, eagerly grasping the +offered hand. "May all the gods bless this happy day!" + +"All the gods?" repeated the philosopher. "Is that what you say? Then +you have not crawled under the yoke of the cross?" + +"The world can rejoice only under the auspices of the gods!" cried +Karnis excitedly. + +"And it shall rejoice still, we will save it from gloom!" added the +other with a flash of vehemence. + +"The times are fateful. We must fight; and no longer over trifles; we +cannot now break each other's heads over a quibble, or believe that the +whole world hangs on the question whether the instant of death is the +last minute of this life or the first of the next. No--what now remains +to be decided is whether the old gods shall be victorious, whether we +shall continue to live free and happy under the rule of the Immortals, +or whether we shall bow under the dismal doctrine of the carpenter's +crucified son; we must fight for the highest hopes and aims of humanity." + +"I know," interrupted Karnis, "you have already done battle valiantly for +great Serapis. They wanted to lay hands on his sanctuary but you and +your disciples put them to rout. The rest got off scot-free . . ." + +"But they have taught me the value of my head," said Olympius laughing. +"Evagrius prices it at three talents. Why, you might buy a house with +the money and a modest man could live upon the interest. This worthy man +keeps me concealed here. We must talk over a few things, Porphyrius; and +you, Gorgo, do not forget the solemn festival of Isis. Now that Cynegius +is here it must be made as splendid as possible, and he must tell the +Emperor, who has sent him, what temper we Alexandrians are in. But where +is the dark maiden I saw yesterday?" + +"In the garden," replied Gorgo. + +"She is to sing at the foot of the bier!" cried Olympius. "That must not +be altered." + +"If I can persuade her--she is a Christian," said Karnis doubtfully. + +"She must," said the philosopher positively. "It will be a bad lookout +indeed for the logic and rhetoric of Alexandria if an old professor and +disputant cannot succeed in turning a young girl's resolutions upside +down. Leave that to me. I shall find time for a chat with you by and +bye, friend Karnis. How in the world does it happen that you, who so +often have helped us with your father's coin, have come down to be the +chief of a band of travelling musicians? You will have much to tell me, +my good friend; but even such important matters must give way to those +that are more pressing. One word with you, Porphyrius." + +Agne had been all this time awaiting Herse's return in the colonnade that +ran along the garden-front of the house. She was glad to be alone, and +it was very comfortable to rest on the soft cushions under the gilt- +coffered ceiling of the arcade. At each end stood large shrubs covered +with bunches of violet-blue flowers and the spreading branches cast a +pleasant shade on the couch where she sat; the beautiful flowers, which +were strange to her, were delightfully fragrant, and from time to time +she helped herself to the refreshments which Gorgo herself had brought +out to her. All she saw, heard, and felt, was soothing to her mind; +never had she seen or tasted juicier peaches, richer bunches of grapes, +fresher almonds or more tempting cakes; on the shrubs in the garden and +on the grass-plots between the paths there was not a dead leaf, not a dry +stem, not the tiniest weed. The buds were swelling on the tall trees, +shrubs without end were covered with blossoms--white, blue, yellow, and +red--while, among the smooth, shining leaves of the orange and lemon +trees, gleamed the swelling fruit. On a round tank close at hand some +black swans were noiselessly tracing evanescent circles and uttering +their strange lament. The song of birds mingled with the plash of +fountains, and even the marble statues, for all that they were dumb, +seemed to be enjoying the sweet morning air and the stir and voice of +nature. + +Yes, she could be happy here; as she peeled a peach and slowly swallowed +the soft fragrant mouthfuls, she laughed to remember the hard ship's- +biscuit, of the two previous days' fare. And it was Gorgo's privilege to +revel in these good things day after day, year after year. It was like +living in Eden, in the perpetual spring of man's first blissful home on +earth. There could be no suffering here; who could cry here, who could +be sorrowful, who could die? . . . Here a new train of thought forced +itself upon her. She was still so young, and yet she was as familiar +with the idea of death as she was with life; for whenever she had +happened to tell any minister of her creed that she was an orphan and a +slave, and deeply sad and sorrowful, the joys of eternity in Paradise had +always been described to her for her consolation, and it was in hopes of +Heaven that her visionary nature found such a modicum of comfort as might +suffice to keep the young artist-soul from despair. And now it struck +her that it must be hard, very hard to die, in the midst of all this +splendor. Living here must be a foretaste of the joys of Paradise-- +and in the next world, among the angels of Heaven, in the presence of the +Saviour--would it not be a thousand times more beautiful even than this? +She shuddered, for, sojourning here, she was no longer to be counted as +one of the poor and humble sufferers to whom Christ had promised the +Kingdom of Heaven--here she was one of the rich, who had nothing +to hope for after death. + +She pushed the peaches away with a feeling of oppression, and closed +her eyes that she might no longer see all these perishable splendors +and sinful works of the heathen, which pandered only to the senses. +She longed to remain miserable and poor on earth, that she might rejoin +her parents and dwell with them eternally. + +To her it was not a belief but a certainty that her father and mother +were dwelling in Heaven, and she had often felt moved to pray that she +might die and be reunited to them; but she must not die yet, for her +little brother still needed her care. The kind souls whom she served +let him lack for nothing, it is true, that could conduce to his bodily +welfare; still, she could not appear before her parents without the +little one in her hand, and he would be lost eternally if his soul fell +into the power of the enemies of her faith. Her heart ached when she +reflected that Karnis, who was certainly not one of the reprobate and +whom she affectionately revered as a master in the art she loved--that +Herse, and the light-hearted Dada, and Orpheus even, must all be doomed +to perish eternally; and to save Orpheus she would willingly have +forfeited half the joys of Paradise. She saw that he was no less an +idolater than his parents; and yet, day by day, she prayed that his soul +might be saved, and she never ceased to hope for a miracle--that he too +might see a vision, like Paul, and confess the Saviour. She was so happy +when she was with him, and never happier than when it was her fortune to +sing with him, or to his admirable accompaniment on the lute. When she +could succeed in forgetting herself completely, and in giving utterance +by her lovely voice to all that was highest and best in her soul, he, +whose ear was no less sensitive and appreciative than his father's, would +frankly express his approval, and in these moments life was indeed fair +and precious. + +Music was the bond between her and Orpheus, and when her soul was stirred +she could feel and express herself in music. Song was the language of +her heart, and she had learnt by experience that it was a language which +even the heathen could both use and understand. The Eternal Father +himself must find joy in such a voice as Gorgo's. She was a heathen, and +yet she had thrown into her song all that Agne herself could feel when +she lifted up her heart in passionate prayer. The Christian--so she had +often been taught--must have no part with the idolaters; but it was God +himself who had cast her on the hands of Karnis, and the Church commanded +that servants should obey their masters. Singing seemed to her to be a +language in itself, bestowed by God on all living creatures, even on the +birds, wherein to speak to Him; so she allowed herself to look forward +with pleasure to an opportunity of mingling her own voice with that of +the heathen lady. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +Not long after Porphyrius and the philosopher had retired to a private +room Herse returned with Dada. Gorgo's blue spangled dress, which Damia +had sent her, suited the girl to perfection; but she was quite out of +breath, and her hair was in disorder. Herse, too, looked agitated, her +face was red and she dragged little Papias, whose hand she held, rather +roughly at her heels. + +Dada was evidently abashed; less by reason of the splendor that +surrounded her than because her foster-mother had strictly enjoined her +to be very quiet and mannerly in the presence of their patrons. She felt +shy and strange as she made her low courtesy to the old lady; but Damia +seemed to be pleased with the timid grace of her demeanor, for she +offered her her hand--an honor she usually conferred only on her +intimates, bid her stoop, and gave her a kiss, saying kindly: "You are a +good brave girl. Fidelity to your friends is pleasing in the sight of +the gods, and finds its reward even among men." + +Dada, obeying a happy impulse, threw herself on her knees before the old +woman, kissed her hands, and then, sitting on her heels, nestled at her +feet. + +Gorgo, however, noticing Herse's agitation, asked what had happened to +them. Some monks, Herse explained, had followed them on the road hither, +had snatched Dada's lyre from the slave who was carrying it and pulled +the wreath out of her hair. Damia was furious as she heard it, and +trembled with rage as she railed at the wild hordes who disgraced and +desecrated Alexandria, the sacred home of the Muses; then she began to +speak once more of the young captain, Mary's son, to whom the troupe of +singers owed their lives. + +"Marcus," said she, "is said to be a paragon of chastity. He races in +the hippodrome with all the gallants of the town and yet--if it is true +it is a miracle--he shuns women as though he were a priest already. His +mother is very anxious that he should become one; but he, by the grace of +Aphrodite, is the son of my handsome Appelles, who, if he had gazed into +those blue eyes all the way from Rome to Alexandria, would have +surrendered at mercy; but then he would also have conquered them--as +surely as I hope to live till autumn. You need not blush so, child. +After all, Marcus is a man like other men. Keep your eyes open, Dame +Herse!" + +"Never fear!" cried Herse. "And I have need to keep them open I am +sorry to say. The young captain, who on board ship was so bashful and +retiring, as soon as he was on land altered his time. While we were away +this morning he crept into his own mother's inn like a ferret, opened the +door of our room with the keys of which he has the command--it is +shameful!--and proposed to the girl to fly, to leave us--she is the +daughter of a dear sister of mine--and go with him; who but he knows +where!" + +Damia struck the floor with her crutch and, interrupting the indignant +matron with a spiteful laugh, exclaimed: + +"Ha, ha! The saintly Mary's most saintly son! Such wonders do not +happen every day! Here, Dada--here; take this ring, it has been worn by +a woman who once was young and who has had many lovers. Close--come +close, my sweet child." + +Dada looked up at the old lady with puzzled eyes; Damia bent her head +close to the girl's, and whispered, softly but vehemently in her ear: + +"Only turn that milksop's head, make him so madly and desperately in love +with you that he does not know which way to turn for delicious torment. +You can do it I know, and if you do--well, I make no promises; but on the +day when all Alexandria is talking of that woman's son as wandering out, +night after night, to watch under the window of the fair Dada, the +heathen singer--when he drives you out in the face of day and in his own +chariot, down the Canopic Way and past his mother's door--then child, +ask, claim whatever you will, and old Damia will not refuse it." + +Then raising her head she added to the others: + +"In the afternoon, my friends, you can take possession of your new +quarters. Go with them, Dada. By-and-bye we will find you a pretty room +in the tower. Come and see me very often, sweet one, and tell me all +your prettiest tales. When I am not too busy I shall always be glad to +see you, for you and I have a secret you know." + +The girl stood up, looking uneasily at the old woman; Damia nodded +knowingly, as much as to say that they quite understood each other and +again offered her hand to Dada; but Dada could not kiss it; she turned +and followed the others more gravely than usual. + +Gorgo guessed what the old lady would be at with Dada; as soon as the +party of singers had taken leave she went up to her grandmother and said +reproachfully: + +"That little fair thing will find no difficulty in making a fool of +Marcus; for my part I hardly know him, but why should he pay for his +mother's sins against you? How can he help. . ." + +"He cannot help it," interrupted Damia with decisive abruptness. "He can +do nothing to save his mother, any more than you can help being a child +of twenty and bound to hold your tongue till your opinion is asked." + + ........................... + +The family of musicians had all met on board the barge which was lying at +anchor in the lake, off the ship-yard. Orpheus had just been an eye- +witness of the disturbance which prevailed throughout the city, and the +wild howls and cries that were audible in the distance confirmed his +report; but the waters of the lake were an unruffled mirror of blue, the +slaves in the ship-yard were at work as usual, and the cooing turtle- +doves flew from palm to palm. + +No signs of troubled times were to be seen in the floating home of the +wanderers. The steward had provided for everything. There were rooms +and beds to spare in the vessel; the large deck-cabin was a comfortable +sitting-room, and from the little galley at the prow came a savory smell +of cooking and a cheerful clang of pots and pans. + +"This is living!" exclaimed Karnis, stretching himself comfortably on a +divan. "This abode seems made on purpose for our noble selves! Sit +down, mother, make yourself at home. Here we are people of consequence, +and if it were only to make things pleasant for the slaves we must behave +as though we had never known people who take their meals squatted round +an earthen bowl, and clawing out the broken meat. Enjoy the gifts of the +present--who knows how long this golden hour may last! Ah, wife, it +reminds us of former times! It would be very pleasant to be like this, +side by side, and help ourselves from a table all our own to dainty +dishes which we had not assisted in cooking. For you, old woman, have +done everything with your own hands for so long, that you deserve to have +some one to wait on you for once." + +A little table was placed by each divan and covered with appetizing food; +the steward mixed some fine wine of the country with fresh, clear water, +Orpheus offered the libation, and Karnis spiced the meal with jests and +tales of his youth, of which he had been reminded by his meeting with his +old friend and comrade Olympius. + +Dada interrupted him frequently, laughing more loudly and recklessly than +usual; she was in a fever of excitement and Herse did not fail to remark +it. The good woman was somewhat uneasy. The very fact that her husband +always gave himself up heart and soul to the influences of the hour-- +though she was glad that he should enjoy this good fortune to the utmost- +-made her look beyond the present into the future. She had seen with her +own eyes the tumult that was rife in Alexandria, and felt that they had +arrived at an inauspicious moment. If it should come to a struggle +between the Christians and the Heathen, Karnis, finding that his old +friend Olympius was the head of his party, would infallibly seize the +sword, and if, then, the victory remained with the Christians no mercy +would be shown to those who had fought for the old gods. Gorgo's wish +that Agne should sing in the temple of Isis was another source of +anxiety; for if it came to that they might, only too probably, be accused +of perverting a Christian to heathen worship, and be condemned to a +severe penalty. All this had worn a very different aspect yesterday when +she had thought of Alexandria as the gay home of her youth; but now she +saw what a change had taken place in these thirty years. The Church had +risen on the ruins of the Temple, and monks had forced the sacrificing +priests into the background. + +Karnis and his troupe were musicians of no ordinary stamp; still the law +concerning singing-girls might place him in peril, especially now that-- +to make matters worse--a young Christian was paying court to his pretty +niece. What catastrophes might not be called down on his hapless head if +so influential a woman as Marcus' mother Mary should come to know of her +son's backsliding! Herse had long perceived how attractive that little +simpleton was to all men--old and young--and when one of the lovers, of +whom she had no lack, happened to take her fancy she was apt to forget +herself and play a too audacious game; but as soon as she found she had +gone too far and somewhat committed herself she would draw back and meet +him, if she could not avoid him, with repellent and even unmannerly +coldness. Again and again had Herse scolded and warned her, but Dada +always answered her reproofs by saying that she could not make herself +different from what she was, and Herse had never been able to remain +stern and severe in the face of the foolish excuses that Dada put forward +so convincingly. + +To-day the good woman could not quite make up her mind whether it would +be wiser to warn Dada against Marcus and desire her to repel any advances +he might attempt to make, or to let bygones be bygones. She knew full +well how a trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid +on it; she therefore had merely asked the girl what secret she could have +with old Damia and had accepted some evasive subterfuge in reply, while, +at the same time, she guessed the truth and was quite determined not to +remit her watchfulness. For a time, at any rate, she thought she would +let matters go their own way, and never mention the young fellow's name; +but her husband spoilt this plan, for with the eager jollity of a man +very much at his ease after a good dinner he called upon Dada to tell +their the whole history of the young Christian's invasion in the morning. +Dada at first was reticent, but the old man's communicative humor proved +infectious and she presently told her story: + +"I was sitting alone with the poor little boy, like--well I do not know +what like--you must find a comparison for yourselves. I was comforting +myself with the reflection that the key was on the inside and the door +locked, for I was getting frightened as the monks began to sing in the +yard below, one part going off to the left, as it were, and the other +part to the right. Did you ever see two drunken men walking arm in arm, +and lurching first to one side and then to the other? You may laugh, +but by the nine Muses it was just like that. Then Papias grew tired and +cross and kept asking where Agne was, till at last he began to cry. When +I asked him what he was crying for, he said he had forgotten, I really am +patient--you must all allow that--I did not do anything to him, but, just +to give him something to play with, I took out the key, for there was +nothing else at hand that he could not break, and gave it to him and told +him to play a tune on it. This delighted him, and he really did it quite +prettily. Then I looked over my burnt dress and was horrified to see how +large the holes were, and it struck me that I might turn it, because when +you turn a thing the spots, you know, do not show." + +"You have invented that this very minute," cried Orpheus laughing. +"We know you. If you can only turn the laugh against yourself. . ." + +"No, really," cried Dada, "the idea flew through my head like a bird +through a room; but I remembered at once that a hole burnt through shows +on both sides, so I threw the dress aside as past mending and sat down on +the low stool to peep through the wicket by the door out at the yard; the +singing had stopped and the silence frightened me almost as much. Papias +had stopped his piping too, and was sitting in the corner where Orpheus +sat to write his letter to Tauromenium." + +"I know," said Orpheus, "the inkstand was there, that the steward of the +inn had lent us the day before." + +"Just so; and when mother came in, there he was, dipping his finger in +the ink, and painting his white dress--you can study the pattern at your +leisure.--But no not interrupt me.--Well, I was looking into the court- +yard; it was quite empty; all the monks were gone. Suddenly a tall young +man in a white dress with a beautiful sky-blue border appeared through +the great gate. The gate-keeper crawled after him very humbly as far as +his rope would allow and even the steward spoke to him with both hands +pressed to his breast as if he had a faithful heart on the right side as +well as the one on the left. This young man--it was our kind friend +Marcus, of course--crossed the court, taking a zigzag at first, as a +snipe flies, and then came towards our door. The steward and the gate- +keeper had both vanished.--Do you remember the young Goths whom their +father took to bathe in the Tiber last winter, when it was so cold? And +how they first stood on the brink and dipped their toes in, and then ran +away and when they came back again just wetted their heads and chests? +But they had to jump in at last when their father shouted some barbaric +words to them--I can see them now. Well, Marcus was exactly like those +boys; but at last he suddenly walked straight up to our door and +knocked." + +"He remembered your pretty face no doubt," laughed Karnis. + +"May be. However, I did not stir. I kept as still as a mouse, sitting +on my stool and watching him through the key-hole, till presently he +called out: 'Is no one there?' Then I forgot and answered: 'They are all +out!' Of course I had betrayed myself--but it is impossible to think of +everything at once. Oh! yes--you may laugh. And he smiled too--he is a +very handsome fellow--and desired me most pressingly to open the door as +he had something of the greatest importance to say to me. I said he +could talk very well through the gap at the top; that Pyramus and Thisbe +had even kissed through a chink in a wall. But he would not see the +joke; he got graver and more earnest, and insisted, saying that our fate, +his and mine, hung on that hour, and that not a soul must overhear what +he had to say. The top of the door was too high to whisper through, so +there was nothing for it but to ask Papias for the key; however, he did +not know where he had put it. I afterwards thought of asking him what he +had done with his flute and he fetched it then at once.--In short, the +key was nowhere to be found. I told Marcus this and he wrung his hands +with vexation; but in a few minutes the inn-steward, who must have been +hiding to listen behind a pillar, suddenly appeared as if he had dropped +from the skies, took a key out of his girdle, threw the door wide open, +and vanished as if the earth had swallowed him. + +"There we stood, Marcus and I, face to face. He was quite agitated; I +really believe the poor fellow was trembling, and I did not feel very +confident; however, I asked him what it was that he wanted. Then he +recovered himself a little: 'I wished,'--he began; so I went on: 'Thou +wishedst,'--and it might have gone on to the end: 'he wished, we wished' +---and so forth, like the children at school at Rome, when we were +learning Greek; but, Papias came to the rescue, for he ran up to Marcus +and asked him to toss him up high, as he used to do on board ship. +Marcus did as he was asked, and then he suddenly broke out into such a +torrent of words that I was quite terrified. First he said so many fine +things that I quite expected a declaration of love, and was trying to +make up my mind whether I would laugh him out of it or throw myself into +his arms--for he really is a dear, good, handsome fellow--and if you +would like to know the truth I should have been very willing to oblige +him--to a certain extent. But he asked me nothing, and from talking of +me--listen to this Father Karnis--and saying that the great Father in +Heaven had granted me every good gift, he went on to speak of you as a +wicked, perverse and reprobate old heathen." + +"I will teach him!" exclaimed Karnis shaking his fist. + +"Nay, but listen," Dada went on. "He praised you and mother for a great +many things; but do you know what he says is wrong? He says you will +imperil my psyche--my soul, my immortal soul. As if I had ever heard of +any Psyche but the Psyche whom Eros loved!" + +"That is quite another thing," said Karnis very seriously. "In many +songs, you know, I have tried to make you uplift your soul to a higher +flight. You have learnt to sing, and there is no better school for a +woman's soul than music and singing. If that conceited simpleton--why, +he is young enough to be my grandson--if he talks any such nonsense to +you again you may tell him from me . . ." + +"You will tell him nothing," cried Herse, "for we can have nothing +whatever to do with the Christian. You are my own sister's child and I +desire and order you--do you hear--to keep out of his way, if he ever +tries to come near you again . . ." + +"Who is likely to find us here?" said Dada. "Besides, he has no such +ideas and motives as you suppose. It is what he calls my soul that he +cares for and not myself; and he wanted to take me away, not to his own +house, but to some man who would be the physician of my soul, he said. +I am generally ready enough to laugh, but what he said was so impressive +and solemn, and so wonderfully earnest and startling that I could not +jest over it. At last I was more angry at his daring to speak to me in +such a way than any of you ever thought I could be, and that drove him +half mad. You came in, mother, just as the gentleman had fallen on his +knees to implore me to leave you." + +"And I gave him my mind on the subject," retorted Herse with grim +satisfaction. "I let him know what I thought of him. He may talk about +the soul--what he is after is the girl. I know these Christians and I +know what the upshot will be. He will take advantage of the edict to +gain his ends, and then you will be separated from us and shut up in a +reformatory or a refuge or a cloister or whatever they call their dismal +prisons, and will learn more about your soul than you will care to know. +It will be all over then with singing, and laughter, and amusement. Now +you know the truth, and if you are wise you will keep out of his way till +we leave Alexandria; and that will be as soon as possible, if you listen +to reason, Karnis." + +She spoke with such earnest conviction that Dada remained silent with +downcast eyes, and Karnis sat up to think the matter over. + +However, there was no time now for further reflection; the steward came +in and desired that he, with his son and Agne should go at once to Gorgo +to practise the lament of Isis. + +This command did not include Herse and Dada, who remained on the barge. +Herse having plenty to occupy her in the lower rooms, Dada went on deck +and watched the others on their way to the house; then she sat looking at +the shipwrights at their work and tossed fruit and sweetmeats, the +remains of their dessert, for the children to catch who were playing on +the shore. Meanwhile she thought over Marcus' startling speech, Damia's +injunctions and Herse's warnings. + +At first it seemed to her that Herse might be right, but by degrees she +fell back into her old conviction that the young Christian could mean no +harm by her; and she felt as sure that he would find her out wherever she +might hide herself, as that it was her pretty and much-admired little +person that he sought to win, and not her soul--for what could such an +airy nothing as a soul profit a lover? How rapturously he had described +her charms, how candidly he had owned that her image was always before +him even in his dreams, that he could not and would not give her up--nay, +that he was ready to lay down his life to save her soul. Only a man in +love could speak like this and a man so desperately in love can achieve +whatever he will. On her way from the Xenodochium to the house of +Porphyrius she had passed him in his chariot, and had admired the +splendid horses which he turned and guided with perfect skill and grace. +He was scarcely three years older than herself; he was eighteen--but in +spite of his youth and simplicity he was not unmanly; and there was +something in him--something that compelled her to be constantly thinking +of him and asking herself what that something was. Old Damia's +instructions troubled her; they took much of the charm from her dream +of being loved by Marcus, clasped in his arms, and driven through the +city in his chariot. + +It was impossible--yes, quite impossible, she was sure--that they should +have parted forever; as she sat, thinking still of him and glancing from +time to time at the toiling carpenters, a boat pulled up at the landing +close to the barge out of which jumped an officer of the imperial guard. +Such a handsome man! with such a noble, powerful, sunburnt face, a +lightly waving black beard, and hair that fell from under his gold +helmet! The short-sword at his side showed him to be a tribune or +prefect of cavalry, and what gallant deeds must not this brilliant and +glittering young warrior have performed to have risen to such high rank +while still so young! He stood on the shore, looking all round, his eyes +met hers and she felt herself color; he seemed surprised to see her there +and greeted her respectfully with a military salute; then he went on +towards the unfinished hulk of a large ship whose bare curved ribs one +or two foremen were busily measuring with tape and rule. + +An elderly man of dignified aspect was standing close by, who, as Dada +had already discovered, was the head of the ship-yard, and the warrior +hastened towards him. She heard him say: "Father," and in the next +instant she saw the old man open his arms and the officer rush to +embrace him. + +Dada never took her eyes off the couple who walked on, arm in arm and +talking eagerly, till they disappeared into a large house on the further +side of the dockyard. + +"What a handsome man!" Dada repeated to herself, but while she waited to +see him return she gazed across the lake by which Marcus might find his +way to her. And as she lingered, idly dreaming, she involuntarily +compared the two men. There were fine soldiers in plenty in Rome, and +the ship-builder's son was in no particular superior to a hundred others; +but such a man as Marcus she had never before seen--there could hardly +be such another in the world. The young guard was one fine tree among a +grove of fine trees; but Marcus had something peculiar to himself, that +distinguished him from the crowd, and which made him exceptionally +attractive and lovable. His image at length so completely filled her +mind that she forgot the handsome officer, and the shipmaster and every +one else. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death +He may talk about the soul--what he is after is the girl +Love means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them +To her it was not a belief but a certainty +Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid + + + + + + +SERAPIS + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 2. + + +CHAPTER V. + +Karnis and his two companions were a long time away. Dada had almost +forgotten her wish to see the young soldier once more, and after playing +with little Papias for some time, as she might have played with a dog, +she began to feel dull and to think the quiet of the boat intolerable. +The sun was sinking when the absentees returned, but she at once reminded +Karnis that he had promised to take her for a walk and show her +Alexandria. Herse, however, forbid her going on such an expedition +till the following day. Dada, who was more irritable and fractious than +usual, burst into tears, flung the distaff that her foster-mother put +into her hand over the side of the ship, and declared between her sobs +that she was not a slave, that she would run away and find happiness +wherever it offered. In short she was so insubordinate that Herse lost +patience and scolded her severely. The girl sprang up, flung on a +handkerchief and in a moment would have crossed the plank to the shore; +Karnis, however, held her back. + +"Why, child," he said, "do you not see how tired I am?" The appeal had +its effect; Dada recovered her reason and tried to look up brightly, but +her eyes were still tearful and heavy and she could only creep away into +a corner and cry in silence. The old man's heart was very soft towards +the girl; he would have been glad only to speak a few kind words to her +and smoothe down her hair; however, he made an effort, and whispering a +few words to his wife said he was ready, if Dada wished it, to take her +as far as the Canopic way and the Bruchium. + +Dada laughed with delight, wiped away her tears, flung her arms round the +musician's neck and kissed his brown cheeks, exclaiming: + +"You are the best of them all! Make haste, and Agne shall come too; she +must see something of the city." + +But Agne preferred to remain on board, so Karnis and Dada set out +together. Orpheus followed them closely for, though the troops had +succeeded in quelling the uproar, the city was still in a state of +ferment. Closely veiled, and without any kind of adornment--on this +Herse had positively insisted--the girl, clinging to the old man's arm, +made her way through the streets, asking questions about everything she +saw; and her spirits rose, and she was so full of droll suggestions that +Karnis soon forgot his fatigue and gave himself up to the enjoyment of +showing her the old scenes that he knew and the new beauties and +improvements. + +In the Canopic way Dada was fairly beside herself with delight. Houses +like palaces stood arrayed on each side. Close to the buildings ran a +covered arcade, and down the centre of the roadway there was a broad +footpath shaded by sycamores. This fine avenue swarmed with pedestrians, +while on each side chariots, drawn by magnificent horses, hurried past, +and riders galloped up and down; at every step there was something new +and interesting to be seen. + +Rome, even, could not boast of a handsomer street, and Dada expressed her +delight with frank eagerness; but Karnis did not echo her praises; he was +indignant at finding that the Christians had removed a fine statue of the +venerable Nile-god surrounded by the playful forms of his infant +children, which had formerly graced the fountain in the middle of the +avenue, and had also overthrown or mutilated the statues of Hermes that +had stood by the roadside. Orpheus sympathized in his wrath which +reached its climax when, on looking for two statues, of Demeter and of +Pallas Athene, of which Karnis had spoken to his son as decorating the +gateway of one of the finest houses in the city, they beheld instead, +mounted on the plinths, two coarsely-wrought images of the Lamb with its +Cross. + +"Like two rats that have been caught under a stone!" cried the old man. +"And what is most shameful is that I would wager that they have destroyed +the statues which were the pride of the town and thrown them on a rubbish +heap. In my day this house belonged to a rich man named Philippus. But +stop--was not he the father of our hospitable protector . . ." + +"The steward spoke of Porphyrius as the son of Philippus," Orpheus said. + +"And Philippus was a corn merchant, too," added Karnis. "Demeter was +figurative of a blessing on the harvest, for it was from that the house +derived its wealth, and Pallas Athene was patroness of the learning that +was encouraged by its owners. When I was a student here every wealthy +man belonged to some school of philosophy. The money-bag did not count +for everything. Heathen or Jew, whether engaged in business or enjoying +the revenues of an inherited fortune, a man was expected to be able to +talk of something besides the price of merchandise and the coming and +sailing of vessels." + +During this conversation Dada had withdrawn her hand from the old man's +arm to raise her veil, for two men had gone up to the gate between the +images that had roused Karnis to wrath, and one of them, who at this +instant knocked at the door, was Mary's son. + +"Father, see, there he is!" cried Dada, as the door was opened, speaking +louder than was at all necessary to enable her companion to hear her; the +musician at once recognized Marcus, and turning to his son he said: + +"Now we may be quite sure! Porphyrius and this young Christian's father +were brothers. Philippus must have left his house to his eldest son who +is the one that is dead, and it now belongs no doubt to Mary, his widow. +I must admit, child, that you choose your adorers from respectable +families!" + +"I should think so," said the girl laughing. "And that is why he is so +proud. My fine gentleman has not even a glance to cast at us. Bang! +the door is shut. Come along, uncle!" + +The young man in question entered the hall of his father's house with his +companion and paused there to say in a tone of pressing entreaty: "Only +come and speak with my mother; you really must not leave like this." + +"How else?" said the other roughly. "You stick to your way, I will +go mine. You can find a better steward for the estate--I go to-morrow. +May the earth open and swallow me up if I stay one hour longer than is +absolutely necessary in this demented place. And after all Mary is your +mother and not mine." + +"But she was your father's wife," retorted Marcus. + +"Certainly, or you would not be my brother. But she--I have amply repaid +any kindness she ever did me by ten years of service. We do not +understand each other and we never shall." + +"Yes, yes, you will indeed. I have been in church and prayed--nay, +do not laugh--I prayed to the Lord that he would make it all work right +and He--well, you have been baptized and made one of His flock." + +"To my misfortune! You drive me frantic with your meek and mild ways," +cried the other passionately. "My own feet are strong enough for me to +stand on and my hand, though it is horny, can carry out what my brain +thinks right." + +"No, no, Demetrius, no. You see, you believe in the old gods. . ." + +"Certainly," said the other with increasing irritation. "You are merely +talking to the winds, and my time is precious. I must pack up my small +possessions, and for your sake I will say a few words of farewell when I +take the account-books to your mother. I have land enough belonging to +myself alone, at Arsinoe; I know my own business and am tired of letting +a woman meddle and mar it. Good-bye for the present, youngster. Tell +your mother I am coming; I shall be with her in just an hour." + +"Demetrius!" cried the lad trying once more to detain his brother; but +Demetrius freed himself with a powerful wrench and hurried across the +court-yard--gay with flowers and with a fountain in the middle--into +which the apartments of the family opened, his own among the number. + +Marcus looked after him sadly; they differed too widely in thought and +feeling ever to understand each other completely, and when they stood +side by side no one would have imagined that they were the sons of one +father, for even in appearance they were strongly dissimilar. Marcus was +slight and delicate, Demetrius, on the contrary, broad-shouldered and +large-boned. + +After this parting from his half-brother Marcus betook himself to the +women's rooms where Mary, after superintending the spinning and other +work of the slave-girls, in the rooms at the back, was wont to sit during +the evening. He found his mother in eager conversation with a Christian +priest of advanced age, an imposing personage of gentle and dignified +aspect. The widow, though past forty, might still pass for a handsome +woman: it was from her that her son had inherited his tall, thin figure +with narrow shoulders and a slight stoop, his finely-cut features, white +skin and soft, flowing, raven-black hair. Their resemblance was rendered +all the more striking by the fact that each wore a simple, narrow circlet +of gold-round the head; nay it would have seemed some unusual trick of +Nature's but that their eyes were quite unlike. Hers were black, and +their gaze was shrewd and sharp and sometimes sternly hard; while the +dreamy lustre of her son's, which were blue, lent his face an almost +feminine softness. + +She must have been discussing some grave questions with the old man, for, +as the young man entered the room, she colored slightly and her long, +taper fingers impatiently tapped the back of the couch on which she was +lounging. + +Marcus kissed first the priest's hand and then his mother's, and, after +enquiring with filial anxiety after her health, informed her that +Demetrius would presently be coming to take leave of her. + +"How condescending?" she said coldly. "You know reverend Father what it +is that I require of him and that he refuses. His peasants--always his +peasants! Now can you tell me why they, who must feel the influence and +power of their masters so much more directly than the lower class in +towns, they, whose weal or woe so obviously depends on the will of the +Most High, are so obstinately set against the Gospel of Salvation?" + +"They cling to what they are used to," replied the old man. "The seed +they sow bore fruit under the old gods; and as they cannot see nor handle +our Heavenly Father as they can their idols, and at the same time have +nothing better to hope for than a tenth or a twentieth of the grain. . ." + +"Yes, mine and thine--the miserable profit of this world!" sighed the +widow. "Oh! Demetrius can defend the idolatry of his favorites warmly +enough, never fear. If you can spare the time, good Father, stay and +help me to convince him." + +"I have already stayed too long," replied the priest, "for the Bishop has +commanded my presence. I should like to speak to you, my dear Marcus; +to-morrow morning, early, will you come to me? The Lord be with you, +beloved!" + +He rose, and as he gave Mary his hand she detained him a moment signing +to her son to leave them, and said in a low tone: + +"Marcus must not suspect that I know of the error into which he has been +led; speak roundly to his conscience, and as to the girl, I will take her +in hand. Will it not be possible for Theophilus to grant me an +interview?" + +"Hardly, at present," replied the priest. "As you know, Cynegius is here +and the fate of the Bishop and of our cause hangs on the next few days. +Give up your ambitious desires I beseech you, daughter, for even if +Theophilus were to admit you I firmly believe, nay--do not be angry-- +I can but hope that he would never give way on this point." + +"No?" said the widow looking down in some embarrassment; but when her +visitor was gone she lifted her head with a flash of wilful defiance. + +She then made Marcus, who had on the previous day given her a full +account of his voyage from Rome, tell her all that had passed between +himself and Demetrius; she asked him how he liked his horse, whether he +hoped to win the approaching races, and generally what he had been doing +and was going to do. But it did not escape her notice that Marcus was +more reticent than usual and that he tried to bring the conversation +round to his voyage and to the guests in the Xenodochium; however, she +always stopped him, for she knew what he was aiming at and would not +listen to anything on that subject. + +It was not till long after the slaves had lighted the three-branched +silver lamps that Demetrius appeared. His stepmother received him kindly +and began to talk on indifferent subjects; but he replied with ill- +disguised impatience, for he had not come to chatter and gossip. She +fully understood this; but it pleased her to check and provoke him and +she did it in a way which vividly reminded him of his early days, of the +desolation and unhappiness that had blighted his young life when this +woman had taken the place of his own tender gentle mother, and come +between him and his father. Day after day, in that bygone time, she had +received him just as she had this evening: with words that sounded +kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart. He knew that she had always +seen his boyish errors and petty faults in the worst light, attributing +them to bad propensities and innate wickedness, that she had injured him +in his father's eyes by painting a distorted image of his disposition and +doings--and all these sins he could not forgive her. At the time of his +father's assassination Demetrius was already grown to man's estate, and +as the eldest son it would have been his right and duty to take part with +his uncle Porphyrius in the management of the business; but he could not +endure the idea of living in the same place with his stepmother, so, +having a pronounced taste for a country life, he left the widow in +possession of the house in the Canopic street, persuaded his uncle to pay +over his father's share in the business in hard cash and then had quitted +Alexandria to take entire charge of the family estates in Cyrenaica. +In the course of a few years he had become an admirable farmer; the +landowners throughout the province were glad to take his advice or follow +his example, and the accounts which he now laid on the table by the side +of Mary's couch--three goodly rolls--proved by the irrefragable evidence +of figures that he had actually doubled their revenues from the estates +of which he had been the manager. He had earned his right to claim his +independence, to persist in his own determinations and to go his own way; +he was animated by the pride of an independent nature that recklessly +breaks away from a detested tie when it has means at command either to +rest without anxiety or to devote its energies to new enterprise. + +When Demetrius had allowed his stepmother time enough for subjects in +which he took no interest, he laid his hand on the account-books and +abruptly observed that it was now time to talk seriously. He had already +explained to Marcus that he could no longer undertake to meet her +requirements; and as, with him, to decide was to act, he wished at once +to come to a decision as to whether he should continue to manage the +family estates in the way he thought proper, or should retire and devote +himself to the care of his own land. If Mary accepted the latter +alternative he would at once cancel their deed of agreement, but even +then he was very willing to stay on for a time in Cyrenaica, and put the +new steward, when she had appointed one, in the way of performing his +onerous duties. After that he would have nothing more to do with the +family estates. This was his last word; and whichever way she decided, +they might part without any final breach, which he was anxious to avoid +if only for the sake of Marcus. + +Demetrius spoke gravely and calmly; still, the bitterness that filled his +soul imparted a flavor to his speech that did not escape the widow, and +she replied with some emphasis that she should be very sorry to think +that any motives personal to herself had led to his decision; she owed +much, very much, to his exertions and had great pleasure in expressing +her obligations. He was aware, of course, that the property he had been +managing had been purchased originally partly with her fortune and partly +out of her husband's pocket, and that half of it was therefore hers and +half of it the property of Marcus and himself; but that by her husband's +will the control and management were hers absolutely. She had endeavored +to carry out the intentions of her deceased husband by entrusting the +stewardship of the estate to Demetrius while he was still quite young; +under his care the income had increased, and she had no doubt that in the +future he might achieve even greater results; at the same time, the +misunderstandings that the whole business had given rise to were not to +be endured, and must positively be put an end to, even if their income +were to diminish by half. + +"I," she exclaimed, "am a Christian, with my whole heart and soul. +I have dedicated my body and life to the service of my Saviour. What +shall all the treasures of the world profit me if I lose my soul; and +that, which is my immortal part, must inevitably perish if I allow my +pockets to be filled by the toil of heathen peasants and slaves. I +therefore must insist--and on this point I will not yield a jot--that our +slaves in Cyrenaica, a flock of more than three thousand erring sheep, +shall either submit to be baptized or be removed to make way for +Christians." + +"That is to say . . ." began Demetrius hastily. + +"I have not yet done," she interrupted. "So far as the peasants are +concerned who rent and farm our land they all, without exception--as you +said yesterday--are stiff-necked idolaters. We must give them time to +think it over, but the annual agreement will not be renewed with any who +will not pledge themselves to give up the old sacrifices and to worship +the Redeemer. If they submit they will be safe--in this world and the +next; if they refuse they must go, and the land must be let to Christians +in their stead." + +"Just as I change this seat for another!" said Demetrius with a laugh, +and lifting up a heavy bronze chair he flung it down again on the hard +mosaic pavement so that the floor shook. + +Maria started violently. + +"My body may tremble," she said in great excitement, "but my soul is firm +when its everlasting bliss is at stake. I insist--and my representative, +whether he be you or another, must carry my orders into effect without an +hour's delay--I insist that every heathen shrine, every image of the +field and garden-gods, every altar and sacred stone which the heathens +use for their idolatrous practices shall be pulled down, overthrown, +mutilated and destroyed. That is what I require and insist on." + +"And that is what I will never consent to," cried Demetrius in a voice +like low thunder. "I cannot and will not. These things have been held +precious and sacred to men for thousands of years and I cannot, will not, +blow them off the face of the earth, as you blow a feather off your +cloak. You may go and do it yourself; you may be able to achieve it." + +"What do you mean?" asked Mary drawing herself up with a glance of +indignant protest. + +"Yes--if any one can do it you can!" repeated Demetrius imperturbably. +"I went to-day to seek the images of our forefathers--the venerable +images that were clear to our infancy, the portraits of our fathers' +fathers and mothers, the founders of the honor of our race. And where +are they? They have gone with the protectors of our home, the pride and +ornament of this house--of the street, of the city--the Hermes and Pallas +Athene that you--you flung into the lime-kiln. Old Phabis told me with +tears in his eyes. Alas poor house that is robbed of its past, of its +glory, and of its patron deities!" + +"I have placed it under a better safeguard," replied Maria in a tremulous +voice, and she looked it Marcus with an appeal for sympathy. "Now, for +the last time, I ask you: Will you accede to my demands or will you +not?" + +"I will not," said Demetrius resolutely. + +"Then I must find a new agent to manage the estates." + +"You will soon find one; but your land--which is our land too--will +become a desert. Poor land! If you destroy its shrines and sanctuaries +you will destroy its soul; for they are the soul of the land. The first +inhabitants gathered round the sanctuary, and on that sanctuary and the +gods that dwell there the peasant founds his hopes of increase on what he +sows and plants, and of prosperity for his wife and children and cattle +and all that he has. In destroying his shrines you ruin his hopes, and +with them all the joy of life. I know the peasant; he believes that his +labors must be vain if you deprive him of the gods that make it thrive. +He sows in hope, in the swelling of the grain he sees the hand of the +gods who claim his joyful thanksgiving after the harvest is gathered in. +You are depriving him of all that encourages and uplifts and rejoices his +soul when you ruin his shrines and altars!" + +"But I give him other and better ones," replied Mary. + +"Take care then that they are such as he can appreciate," said Demetrius +gravely. "Persuade him to love, to believe, to hope in the creed you +force upon him; but do not rob him of what he trusts in before he is +prepared to accept the substitute you offer him.--Now, let me go; we are +neither of us in the temper to make the best arrangements for the future. +One thing, at any rate, is certain: I have nothing more to do with the +estate." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +After leaving his stepmother Demetrius made good use of his time and +dictated a number of letters to his secretary, a slave he had brought +with him to Alexandria, for the use of the pen was to him unendurable +labor. The letters were on business, relating to his departure from +Cyrenaica and his purpose of managing his own estates for the future, and +when they lay before him, finished, rolled up and sealed, he felt that he +had come to a mile-stone on his road, a landmark in his life. He paced +the room in silence, trying to picture to himself the fate of the slaves +and peasants who, for so many years, had been his faithful servants and +fellow-laborers, whose confidence he had entirely won, and many of whom +he truly loved. But he could not conceive of their life, their toil or +their festivals, bereft of images, offerings, garlands, and hymns of +rejoicing. To him they were as children, forbidden to laugh and play, +and he could not help once more recurring to his boyhood and the day of +his going to school, when, instead of running and shouting in his +father's sunny garden, he had been made to sit still and silent in a dull +class-room. And now had the whole world reached such a boundary line in +existence beyond which there was to be no more freedom and careless joy-- +where a ceaseless struggle for higher things must begin and never end? + +If the Gospel were indeed true, and if all it promised could ever find +fulfilment, it might perhaps be prudent to admit the sinfulness of man +and to give up the joys and glories of this world to win the eternal +treasure that it described. Many a good and wise man whom he had known +--nay the Emperor, the great and learned Theodosius himself--was devoted +heart and soul to the Christian faith, and Demetrius knew from his own +experience that his mother's creed, in which he had been initiated as a +boy and from which his father, after holding him at the font had +perverted him at an early age, offered great consolations and enduring +help to those whose existence was one of care, poverty, and suffering. +But his laborers and servants? They were healthy and contented. What +power on earth could induce them--a race that clung devotedly to custom +--to desert the faith of their fathers, and the time-honored traditions +to which they owed all the comforts and pleasures of life, or to seek in +a strange creed the aid which they already believed that they possessed. + +He did not repent of his determination; but he nevertheless said to +himself that, when once he was gone, Mary would proceed only too soon on +the work of extermination and destruction; and every temple on the +estate, every statue, every whispering grotto, every shrine and stone +anointed by pious hands, doomed now to perish, rose before his fancy. + +Demetrius was accustomed to rise at cock-crow and go to bed at an early +hour, and he was on the point of retiring even before the usual time, +when Marcus came to his room and begged him to give him yet an hour. + +"You are angry with my mother," said the younger man with a look of +melancholy entreaty, "but you know there is nothing that she would not +sacrifice for the faith. And you can smile so bitterly! But only put +yourself in my place. Loving my mother as I do, it is acutely painful +to me to see another person--to see you whom I love, too, for you are +my friend and brother--to see you, I say, turn your back on her so +completely. My heart is heavy enough to-day I can tell you." + +"Poor boy!" said the countryman. "Yes, I am truly your friend, and am +anxious to remain so; you are not to blame in this business--and for that +matter, I am anything but cheerful. You have chosen to say: Down with +the shrines! Perish all those who do not think as we do! Still, look at +the thing as you will, in some cases certainly violence must ensue--nay, +if no blood is shed it will be a wonder! You sum up the matter in one +common term: The heathen peasants on the estate. My view of it is +totally different; I know these farmers and their wives and children, +each one by name and by sight. There is not one but is ready to bid me +good day and shake my hand or kiss my dress. Many a one has come to me +in tears and left me happy.--By the great Zeus! no one ever accused me of +being soft-hearted, but I could wish this day that I were harder; and my +blood turns to gall as I ask--What is all this for--to what possible +end?" + +"For the sake and honor of the faith, Demetrius; for the eternal +salvation of our people." + +"Indeed!" retorted Demetrius with a drawl, "I know better. If that and +that alone were intended you would build churches and chapels and send us +worthy priests--Eusebius and the like--and would try to win men's hearts +to your Lord by the love you are always talking so much about. That was +my advice to your mother, only this morning. I believe the end might be +attained by those means, among us as elsewhere; ultimately it will, no +doubt, be gained--but not to-day nor to-morrow. A peasant, when he had +become accustomed to the church and grasped a trust in the new God, would +of his own accord give up the old gods and their sanctuaries; I could +count you off a dozen such instances. That I could have looked on at +calmly, for I want only men's arms and legs and do not ask for their +souls; but to burn down the old house before you have collected wood and +stone to build a new one I call wicked.--It is cruelty and madness, and +when so shrewd a woman as your mother is bent on carrying through such a +measure, come what may, there is something more behind it." + +"You think she wants to get rid of you--you, Demetrius!" interrupted +Marcus eagerly. "But you are mistaken, you are altogether wrong. What +you have done for the estate . . ." + +"Oh! as for that!" cried the other, "what has my work to do with all +this? Ere the year is out everything that can remind us of the heathen +gods is to be swept away from the hamlets and fields of the pious Mary. +That is what is intended! Then they will hurry off to the Bishop with +the great news and to crown one marvel with another, the reversion will +be secured of a martyr's nimbus. And this is what all this zeal is for +--this and nothing else!" + +"You are speaking of my mother, remember!" cried Marcus, looking at his +brother with a touching appeal in his eyes. Demetrius shook his shaggy +head and spoke more temperately as he went on: + +"Yes, child, I had forgotten that--and I may be mistaken of course, for I +am no more than human. Here one thing follows so close on another, and +in this house I feel so battered and storm-tossed, that I hardly know +myself. But old Phabis tells me that steps are being seriously taken to +procure the title of Martyr for our father Apelles." + +"My mother is quite convinced that he died for the faith, and she loved +him devotedly . . ." + +"Then it is so!" cried Demetrius, grinding his teeth and thumping his +fist down on the table. "The lies sown by one single man have produced a +deadly weed that is smothering this miserable house! You--to be sure, +what can you know of our father? I knew him; I have been present when he +and his friends, the philosophers, have laughed to scorn things which not +only you Christians but even pious heathen regard as sacred. Lucretius +was his evangelist, and the Cosmogony of that utter atheist lay by his +pillow and was his companion wherever he went." + +"He admired the heathen poets, but he was a Christian all the same," +replied Marcus. + +"Neither more nor less than Porphyrius, our uncle, or myself," retorted +his brother. "Since the day when our grandfather Philippus was baptized, +wealth and happiness have deserted this house. He gave up the old gods +solely that he might not lose the right of supplying the city and the +Emperor with corn, and became a Christian and made his sons Christians. +But he had us educated by his heathen friends, and though we passed for +Christians we were not so in fact. When it was absolutely necessary he +showed himself in church with us; but our daily life, our pleasures, our +pastimes were heathen, and when life began for us in earnest we offered a +bleeding sacrifice to the gods. It was impossible to retract honestly, +since a renegade Christian returning to the worship of the old gods is +incapacitated by law from making a will. You know this; and when you ask +me why I am content to live alone, without either wife or child--and I +love children, even those of other people--a solitary man dragging out my +days and nights joylessly enough--I tell you: I am openly and honestly a +worshipper of our old gods, and I will not go to church because I scorn +a lie. What should I do with children who, in consequence of my +retractation, must forfeit all I might leave them? It was this question +of inheritance only that induced my father to have us baptized and to +make a pretense of Christianity. He set out for Petra with his Lucretius +in his satchel--I packed it with my own hands into his money-bag--to put +in a claim to supply grain to the 'Rock city.' He was slain on his way. +home; most likely by his servant Anubis, who certainly knew what money he +had with him, and who vanished and left no trace. Because--about the +same time--a band of Saracens had fallen on some Christian anchorites and +travellers, in the district between Petra and Aila, your mother chose to +assume a right to call our father a martyr! But she knew his opinions +full well, I tell you, and shed many a tear over them, too.--Now she has +expended vast sums on church-building, she has opened the Xenodochium and +pours her money by lavish handfuls clown the insatiable throats of monks +and priests. To what end? To have her husband recognized as a martyr. +Hitherto her toil and money have been wasted. In my estimation the +Bishop is a perfectly detestable tyrant, and if I know him at all he will +take all she will give and never grant her wish. Now she is preparing +her great move, and hopes to startle him into compliance by a new marvel. +She thinks that, like a juggler who turns a white egg black, she can turn +a heathen district into a Christian one by a twist of her finger. Well-- +so far as I am concerned I will have nothing to do with the trick." + +During this harangue Marcus had alternately gazed at the floor and fixed +his large eyes in anguish on his brother's face. For some minutes he +found nothing to reply, and he was evidently going through a bitter +mental struggle. Demetrius spoke no more, but arranged the sheets of +papyrus that strewed the table. At length Marcus, after a deep sigh, +broke out in a tone of fervent conviction and with a blissful smile that +lighted up his whole face: + +"Poor mother! And others misunderstand her just as you do; I myself was +in danger of doubting her. But I think that now I understand her +perfectly. She loved my father so completely that she hopes now to win +for his immortal soul the grace which he, in the flesh, neglected to +strive after. He was baptized, so she longs to win, by her prayers and +oblations, the mercy of the Lord who is so ready to forgive. She herself +firmly believes in the martyrdom of her beloved dead, and if only the +Church will rank him among those who have died for Her, he will he saved, +and she will find him standing in the pure radiance of the realms above, +with open arms, overflowing with fervent love and gratitude, to welcome +the faithful helpmate who will have purged his soul. Yes, now I quite +understand; and from this day forth I will aid and second her; the +hardest task shall not be too hard, the best shall not be too good, if +only we may open the gates of Heaven to my poor father's imperilled +soul." + +As he spoke his eye glistened with ecstatic light; his brother, too, was +touched, and to hide his emotion, he exclaimed, more recklessly and +sharply than was his wont: + +"That will come all right, never fear, lad!" But he hastily wiped his +eyes with his hand, slapped Marcus on the shoulder, and added gaily: "It +is better to choke than to swallow down the thing you think right, and it +never hurt a man yet to make a clean breast of his feelings, even if we +do not quite agree we understand each other the better for it. I have my +way of thinking, you have yours; thus we each know what the other means; +but after the tragedy comes the satyr play, and we may as well finish +this agitating evening with an hour's friendly chat." + +So saying Demetrius stretched himself on a divan and invited Marcus to do +the same, and in a few minutes their conversation had turned, as usual, +to the subject of horses. Marcus was full of praises of the stallions +his brother had bred for him, and which he had ridden that very day round +the Myssa--[The Myssa was the Meta, or turning-post]--in the Hippodrome, +and his brother added with no small complacency: + +"They were all bred from the same sire and from the choicest mares. I +broke them in myself, and I only wish.... But why did you not come to +the stables this morning?" + +"I could not," replied Marcus coloring slightly. Then we will go +to-morrow to Nicopolis and I will show you how to get Megaera past the +Taraxippios."--[The terror of the horses.] + +"To-morrow?" said Marcus somewhat embarrassed. "In the morning I must +go to see Eusebius and then. . . ." + +"Well, then?" + +"Then I must--I mean I should like. . . ." + +"What?" + +"Well, to be sure I might, all the same.--But no, it is not to be done--I +have. . . ." + +"What, what?" cried Demetrius with increasing impatience: "My time is +limited and if you start the horses without knowing my way of managing +them they will certainly not do their best. As soon as the market +begins to fill we will set out. We shall need a few hours for the +Hippodrome, then we will dine with Damon, and before dark. . . ." + +"No, no," replied Marcus, "to-morrow, certainly, I positively cannot...." + +"People who have nothing to do always lack time," replied the other. +"Is to-morrow one of your festivals?" + +"No, not that=-and Good Heavens! If only I could. . . ." + +"Could, could!" cried Demetrius angrily and standing close in front of +his brother with his arms folded. "Say out honestly: 'I will not go,' or +else, 'my affairs are my own secret and I mean to keep it.'--But give me +no more of your silly equivocations." + +His vehemence increased the younger man's embarrassment, and as he stood +trying to find an explanation which might come somewhat near the truth +and yet not betray him, Demetrius, who had stood watching him closely, +suddenly exclaimed: + +"By Aphrodite, the daughter of the foam! it is a love affair--an +assignation.--Woman, woman, always woman!" + +"An assignation!" cried Marcus shaking his head. "No indeed, no one +expects me; and yet--I had rather you should misunderstand me than think +that I had lied. Yes--I am going to seek a woman; and if I do not find +her to-morrow, if in the course of tomorrow I do not succeed in my +heart's desire, she is lost--not only to me, though I cannot give up the +heavenly love for the sake of the earthly and fleshly--but to my Lord and +Saviour. It is the life--the everlasting life or death of one of God's +loveliest creatures that hangs on to-morrow's work." + +Demetrius was greatly astonished, and it was with an angry gesture of +impatience that he replied: + +"Again you have overstepped the boundary within which we can possibly +understand each other. In my opinion you are hardly old enough to +undertake the salvation of the imperilled souls of pretty women. Take +care what you are about, youngster! It is safe enough to go into the +water with those who can swim, but those who sink are apt to draw you +down with them. You are a good-looking young fellow, you have money and +fine horses, and there are women enough who are only too ready to spread +their nets abroad. . ." + +"What are you thinking of?" cried Marcus passionately. "It is I who am +the fisher--a fisher of souls, and so every true believer ought to be. +She--she is innocence and simplicity itself, in spite of her roguish +sauciness. But she has fallen into the hands of a reprobate heathen, and +here, where vice prowls about the city like a roaring lion, she will be +lost--lost, if I do not rescue her. Twice have I seen her in my dreams; +once close to the cavern of a raging dragon, and again on the edge of a +precipitous cliff, and each time an angel called out to me and bid me +save her from the jaws of the monster, and from falling into the abyss. +Since then I seem to see her constantly; at meals, when I am in company, +when I am driving,--and I always hear the warning voice of the angel. +And now I feel it a sacred duty to save her--a creature on whom the +Almighty has lavished every gift he ever bestowed on the daughters of +Eve--to lead her into the path of Salvation." + +Demetrius had listened to his brother's enthusiastic speech with growing +anxiety, but he merely shrugged his shoulders and said: + +"I almost envy you your acquaintance with this favorite of the gods; but +you might, it seems to me, postpone the work of salvation. You were away +from Alexandria for half a year, and if she could hold out so long as +that . . ." + +"Do not speak so; you ought not to speak so!" cried Marcus, pressing his +hand on his heart as though in physical pain. "But I have no time to +lose, for I must at once find out where the old singer has taken her. I +am not so inexperienced as you seem to think. He has brought her here to +trade in her beauty, and enrich himself. Why, you, too, saw her on board +ship; I, as you know, had arranged for them to be taken in at my mother's +Xenodochium." + +"Whom?" asked Demetrius folding his hands. + +"The singers whom I brought with me from Ostia. And now they have +disappeared from thence, and Dada . . ." + +"Dada!" cried Demetrius, bursting into a loud laugh without heeding +Marcus who stepped up to him, crimson with rage. "Dada! that little +fair puss! You see her day and night and an angel calls upon you to save +that child's merry soul? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, boy! Why, +what shall I wager now? I will stake this roll of gold that I could make +her come with me to-morrow--with me, a hard-featured countryman, freckled +all over like a plover's egg, where my clothes do not protect my skin, +and with hair on end like the top of a broom--yes, that she will follow +me to Arsinoe or wherever I choose to bid her. Let the hussy go, you +simple innocent. Such a Soul as hers is of small account even in a less +exclusive Heaven than yours is." + +"Take back those words!" cried Marcus, beside himself and clenching his +fist. "But that is just like you! Your impure eyes and heart defile +purity itself, and see spots even in the sun. Nothing is too bad for +a 'singing girl,' I know. But that is just the marrow of the matter; it +is from that very curse that I mean to save her. If you can accuse her +of anything, speak; if not, and if you do not want to appear a base +slanderer in my eyes, take back the words you have just spoken!" + +"Oh! I take them back of course," said Demetrius indifferently. "I know +nothing of your beauty beyond what she has herself said to me and you and +Cynegius and his Secretaries--with her pretty, saucy eyes. But the +language of the eye, they say, is not always to be depended on; so take +it as unsaid. And, if I understood you rightly, you do not even know +where the singers are hiding? If you have no objection, I will help you +to seek them out." + +"That is as you please," answered Marcus hotly. "All your mockery will +not prevent my doing my duty." + +"Very right, very right," said his brother. "Perhaps this damsel is +unlike all the other singing-girls with whom I used so often to spend a +jolly evening in my younger days. Once, at Barca, I saw a white raven-- +but perhaps after all it was only a dove. Your opinion, in this case, is +at any rate better founded than mine, for I never thought twice about the +girl and you did.--But it is late; till to-morrow, Marcus." + +The brothers parted for the night, but when Demetrius found himself alone +he walked up and down the room, shaking his head doubtfully. Presently, +when his body-slave came in to pack for him, he called out crossly: + +"Let that alone--I shall stay in Alexandria a few days longer." + +Marcus could not go to bed; his brother's scorn had shaken his soul to +the foundations. An inward voice told him that his more experienced +senior might be right, but at the same time he hated and contemned +himself for listening to its warnings at all. The curse that rested on +Dada was that of her position; she herself was pure--as pure as a lily, +as pure as the heart of a child, as pure as the blue of her eyes and the +ring of her voice. He would obey the angel's behest! He could and he +must save her! + +In the greatest excitement he went out of the house, through the great +gate, into the Canopic way, and walked on. As he was about to turn down +a side street to go to the lake he found the road stopped by soldiers, +for this street led past the prefect's house where Cynegius, the +Emperor's emissary, was staying; he had come, it was said, to close the +Temples, and the excited populace had gathered outside the building, +during the afternoon, to signify their indignant disapprobation. At +sundown an armed force had been called out and had dispersed the crowd; +but it was by another road that the young Christian at length made his +way to the shore. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +While Marcus was restlessly wandering on the shore of Mareotis, dreaming +of Dada's image and arranging speeches of persuasive eloquence by which +to touch her heart and appeal to her soul, silence had fallen on the +floating home of the singers. A light white mist, like a filmy veil--a +tissue of clouds and moonbeams--hung over the lake. Work was long since +over in the ship-yard, and the huge skeletons of the unfinished ships +threw weird and ghostly shadows on the silvered strand-forms like black +visions of crayfish, centipedes, or enormous spiders. + +From the town there came not a sound; it lay in the silence of +intoxicated sleep. The Roman troops had cleared the streets, the lights +were dead in every house, and in all the alleys and squares; only the +moon shone over the roofs of Alexandria, while the blazing beacon of the +light-house on the north-eastern point of the island of Pharos shone like +a sun through the darkness. + +In a large cabin in the stern of the vessel lay the two girls, on soft +woollen couches and covered with rugs. Agne was gazing wide-eyed into +the darkness; Dada had long been asleep, but she breathed painfully and +her rosy lips were puckered now and then as if she were in some distress. +She was dreaming of the infuriated mob who had snatched the garland from +her hair--she saw Marcus suddenly interfere to protect her and rescue her +from her persecutors--then she thought she had fallen off the gangway +that led from the land to the barge, and was in the water while old Damia +stood on the shore and laughed at her without trying to help her. Night +generally brought the child sound sleep or pleasant dreams, but now one +hideous face after another haunted her. + +And yet the evening had brought her a great pleasure. Not long after +their return from their walk the steward had come down to the boat and +brought her a very beautiful dress, with greetings from his old mistress; +he had at the same time brought an Egyptian slave-woman, well skilled in +all the arts of the toilet, who was to wait upon her so long as she +remained in Alexandria. Dada had never owned such a lovely dress! The +under-robe was of soft sea-green bombyx silk, with a broad border, +delicately embroidered, of a garland of roses and buds. The peplos was +of the same color and decorated to match; costly clasps of mosaic, +representing full-blown roses and set in oval gold settings, fastened it +on the shoulders. In a separate case were a gold girdle, a bracelet, +also of gold, in the shape of a snake, a gold crescent with a rose, like +those on the shoulder-clasps, in its centre, and a metal mirror of +spotless lustre. + +The slave, a middle-aged woman with a dark cunning face, had helped her +to put on this new garment; she had also insisted on dressing her hair, +and all the time had never ceased praising the charms that nature had +bestowed on her young mistress, with the zeal of a lover. + +Agne had looked on smiling, good-naturedly handing the slave the pins and +ribbands she had needed, and sincerely rejoicing in her companion's +beauty and delight. + +At last Dada had made her appearance in the deckroom and was greeted by +many an Ah! and Oh! of admiration from the men of the party, including +Medius, the singer whom Karnis had met in the street. Even Herse, who +had received her quite disagreeably on her return from the city, could +not suppress a smile of kindly approval, though she shook her finger at +her saying: + +"The old lady has set her heart on turning your head completely I see. +All that is very pretty, but all the good it will do will be to rouse +spiteful tongues. Remember, Dada, that you are my sister's child; I +promise you I shall not forget it, and I shall keep my eye upon you." + +Orpheus made haste to light every lamp and taper, of which there were +plenty, for the barge was handsomely furnished, and when Dada was plainly +visible in the brilliant illumination Karnis exclaimed: + +"You look like a senator's daughter! Long live the Fair!" + +She ran up to him and kissed him; but when Orpheus walked all round her, +examining the fineness of the tissue and the artistic finish of the +clasps, and even turned the snake above her round elbow, she sharply bid +him let her be. + +Medius, a man of the age of Karnis who had formerly been his intimate +companion, never took his eyes off the girl, and whispered to the old +musician that Dada would easily carry off the palm for beauty in +Alexandria, and that with such a jewel in his keeping he might recover +wealth and position and by quite honest means. At his suggestion she +then assumed a variety of attitudes; she stood as Hebe, offering nectar +to the gods--as Nausicae, listening to the tale of Odysseus--and as +Sappho, singing to her lyre. The girl was delighted at all this, and +when Medius, who kept close to her, tried to persuade her to perform in a +similar manner in the magical representations at the house of Posidonius, +before a select company of spectators, she clapped her hands exclaiming: + +"You took me all round the city, father, and as your reward I should like +to earn back your pretty vineyards, I should stand like this, you know, +and like this--to be stared at. I only hope I might not be seized with a +sudden impulse to make a face at the audience. But if they did not come +too close I really might . . ." + +"You could do no better than to play the parts that Posidonius might give +you," interrupted Medius. "His audiences like to see good daemons, the +kindly protecting spirits, and so forth. You would have to appear among +clouds behind a transparent veil, and the people would hail you with +acclamations or even raise their hands in adoration." + +All this seemed to Dada perfectly delightful, and she was on the point of +giving her hand to Medius in token of agreement, when her eye caught the +anxious gaze of the young Christian girl who stood before her with a deep +flush on her face. Agne seemed to be blushing for her. The color rushed +to her own cheeks, and shortly saying: "No--after all, I think not," she +turned her back on the old man and threw herself on the cushions close to +where the wine-jug was standing. Medius now began to besiege Karnis and +Herse with arguments, but they refused all his offers as they intended +quitting Alexandria in a few days, so he had no alternative but to +submit. Still, he did not altogether throw up the game, and to win +Dada's consent, at any rate, he made her laugh with a variety of comical +pranks and showed her some ingenious conjuring tricks, and ere long their +floating home echoed with merriment, with the clinking of wine-cups and +with songs, in which even Agne was obliged to take part. Medius did not +leave till near midnight and Herse then sent them all to bed. + +As soon as the slave had undressed her young mistress and left the girls +alone, Dada threw herself into the arms of Agne who was on the point of +getting into bed, and kissed her vehemently, exclaiming: "You are much-- +so much better than I! How is that you always know what is right?" + +Then she lay down; but before she fell asleep she once more spoke to +Agne: "Marcus will find us out, I am certain," she said, "and I should +really like to know what he has to say to me." + +In a few minutes sleep had sealed her eyes, but the Christian girl lay +awake; her thoughts would not rest, and Sleep, who the night before had +taken her to his heart, to-night would not come near her pillow; so much +to agitate and disturb her soul had taken place during the day. + +She had often before now been a silent spectator of the wild rejoicings +of the musician's family, and she had always thought of these light- +hearted creatures as spendthrifts who waste all their substance in a few +days to linger afterwards through years of privation and repentance. +Troubled, as she could not fail to be, as to the eternal salvation of +these lost souls, though happy in her own faith, she had constantly +turned for peace to her Saviour and always found it; but to-night it was +not so, for a new and unexpected temptation had sprung up for her in the +house of Porphyrius. + +She had heard Gorgo sing again, and joined her own voice with hers. +Dirges, yearning hymns, passionate outpourings in praise of the mighty +and beautiful divinity had filled her ear and stirred her soul with an +ecstatic thrill, although she knew that they, were the composition of +heathen poets and had first been sung to the harmony of lutes by +reprobate idolaters. And yet, and yet they had touched her heart, and +moved her soul to rapture, and filled her eyes with tears. + +She could not but confess to herself that she could have given no purer, +sweeter, or loftier expression to her own woes, thankfulness, +aspirations, and hopes of ever lasting life and glory, than this gifted +creature had given to the utterance of her idolatry. Surprise, unrest, +nay, some little jealousy had been mingled with her delight at Gorgo's +singing. How was it that this heathen could feel and utter emotions +which she had always conceived of as the special privilege of the +Christian, and, for her own part, had never felt so fervently as in the +hours when she had drawn closest to her Lord? Were not her own +sentiments the true and right ones; had her intercourse with these +heathens tainted her? + +This doubt disturbed her greatly; it must be based on something more than +mere self-torture, for she had not once thought of asking to whom the +two-part hymn, with its tender appeal, was addressed, when Karnis had +first gone through it with her alone; nor even subsequently, when she had +sung it with Gorgo--timidly at first, more boldly the second time, and +finally without a mistake, but carried completely away by the beauty and +passion of the emotions it expressed. + +She knew now, for Karnis himself had told her. It was the Lament of Isis +for her--lost husband and brother--oh that horrible heathen confusion!-- +The departed Osiris. The wailing widow, who called on him to return with +"the silent speech of tears," was that queen of the idolater's devils +whose shameful worship her father had often spoke of with horror. Still, +this dirge was so true and noble, so penetrated with fervent, agonized +grief, that it had gone to her heart. The sorrowing Mother of God, Mary +herself, might thus have besought the resurrection of her Son; just thus +must the "God-like maid"--as she was called in the Arian confession of +her father--have uttered her grief, her prayers, and her longings. + +But it was all a heathen delusion, all the trickery and jugglery of the +Devil, though she had failed to see through it, and had given herself up +to it, heart and soul. Nay, worse! for after she had learnt that Gorgo +was to represent Isis and she herself Nephthys, the sister of the divine +pair, she had opposed the suggestion but feebly, even though she knew +that they were to sing the hymn together in the Temple of Isis; and when +Gorgo had clasped her in her arms with sisterly kindness, begging her not +to spoil her plans but to oblige her in this, she had not repulsed the +tempter with firm decision, but merely asked for time to think it over. + +How indeed could she have found the heart to refuse the noble girl, whose +beauty and voice had so struck and fascinated her, when she flung her +arms round her neck, looked into her eyes and earnestly besought her: + +"Do it for my sake, to please me. I do not ask you to do anything +wicked. Pure song is acceptable to every god. Think of your lament, if +you like, as being for your own god who suffered on the cross. But I +like singing with you so much; say yes. Do not refuse, for my sake!" + +She had thrown her arms so gladly, so much too gladly round the heathen +lady--for she had a loving heart and no one else had ever made it a +return in kind--and clinging closely to her she had said: + +"As you will; I will do whatever you like." + +Then Orpheus, too, had urged her to oblige Gorgo, and himself, and all of +them; and it had seemed almost impossible to refuse the first request +that the modest youth--to whom she would willingly have granted anything +and everything--had ever made. Still, she had held back; and in her +anxious bewilderment, not daring to think or act, she had tried every +form of excuse and postponement. She would probably have been awkward +enough about this, but Gorgo was content to press her no further, and +when, after leaving the house, she had summoned up courage to refuse to +enter the Temple of Isis, Karnis had only said: "Be thankful that this +gifted lady, the favorite of the Muses, should think you worthy to sing +with her. We will see about the rest by-and-bye." + +Now, in the watches of the sleepless night, she saw clearly the abyss +above which she was standing. She, like Judas, was on the point of +betraying her Saviour; not indeed for money, but in obedience to the +transient sound of an earthly voice, for the pleasure of exercising her +art, to indulge a hastily-formed liking; nay, perhaps because it +satisfied her childish vanity to find herself put on an equality with a +lady of rank and wealth, and matched with a singer who had roused Karnis +and Orpheus to such ardent admiration. + +She was an enigma to herself; while passages out of the Bible crowded on +her memory to reproach her conscience. + +There lay Dada's embroidered dress. Worn for the first time this day, in +a month it would be unpresentably shabby and then, ere long, flung aside +as past wearing. Like this--just like this--was every earthly pleasure, +every joy of this brief existence. Alas, she certainly was not happy +here in Karnis' sense of the word; but in the other world there were joys +eternal, and she had only to deny herself the petty enjoyments of this +life to secure unfailing and everlasting happiness in the next. There +she would find an endless flow of all her soul could desire, there +perhaps she might be allowed to cool the lips of Gorgo, as Lazarus cooled +those of the rich man. + +She was quite clear now what her answer would be to-morrow, and, firmly +resolved not to allow herself to think of singing in the Temple of Isis, +she at last fell asleep just as the light began to dawn in the east. She +did not wake till late, and it was with downcast eyes and set lips that +she went with Karnis and Orpheus to the house of Porphyrius. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +When the steward went to summons the musicians to his master's house he +had again had no bidding for Dada, and she was very indignant at being +left behind. "That old cornsack's daughter," she said, "was full of her +airs, and would have nothing to say to them excepting to make use of them +for her own purposes!" If she had not been afraid of being thought +intrusive she would have acted on old Damia's invitation to visit her +frequently, and have made her appearance, in defiance of Gorgo, dropping +like a shooting-star into the midst of their practising. It never +occurred to her to fancy that the young lady had any personal dislike to +her, for, though she might be ignored and forgotten, who had ever had any +but a kind word for her. At the same time she assumed the right of +feeling that "she could not bear" the haughty Gorgo, and as the party set +out she exclaimed to Agne, "Well, you need not kill her for me, but at +any rate, I send her no greeting; it is a shame that I should be left to +mope alone with Herse. Do not be surprised if you find me turned to a +stark, brown mummy--for we are in Egypt, you know, the land of mummies. +I bequeath my old dress to you, my dear, for I know you would never put +on the new one. If you bewail me as you ought I will visit you in a +dream, and put a sugarplum in your mouth--a cake of ambrosia such as the +gods eat. You are not even leaving me Papias to tease!" + +For in fact Agne's little brother, dressed in a clean garment, was to be +taken to Gorgo who had expressed a wish to see him. + +When they had all left the ship Dada soon betrayed how superficial her +indignation had been; for, presently spying through the window of the +cabin the young cavalry officer's grey-bearded father, she sprang up the +narrow steps--barefoot as she was accustomed to be when at home--and +threw herself on a cushion to lean over the gunwale of the upper deck, +which was shaded by a canvas awning, to watch the ship-yard and the +shore-path. Before she had begun to weary of this occupation the +waiting-slave, who had been up to the house to put various matters in +order, came back to the vessel, and squatting down at her feet was ready +to give her all the information she chose to require. Dada's first +questions naturally related to Gorgo. The young mistress, said the +slave, had already dismissed many suitors, the sons of the greatest +families of Alexandria, and if her suspicions--those of Sachepris, the +slave--were well founded, all for the sake of the old shipbuilder's son, +whom she had known from childhood and who was now an officer in the +Imperial guard. However, as she opined, this attachment could hardly +lead to marriage, since Constantine was a zealous Christian and his +family were immeasurably beneath that of Porphyrius in rank; and though +he had distinguished himself greatly and risen to the grade of Prefect, +Damia, who on all occasions had the casting-vote, had quite other views +for her granddaughter. + +All this excited Dada's sympathies to the highest pitch, but she listened +with even greater attention when her gossip began to speak of Marcus, his +mother, and his brother. In this the Egyptian slave was the tool of old +Damia. She had counted on being questioned about the young Christian, +and as soon as Dada mentioned his name she shuffled on her knees close up +to the girl, laid her hand gently on her arm and looking up into her eyes +with a meaning flash, she whispered in broken Greek--and hastily, for +Herse was bustling about the deck: "Such a pretty mistress, such a young +mistress as you, and kept here like a slave! If the young mistress only +chose she could easily--quite easily--have as good a lover as our Gorgo, +and better; so pretty and so young! And I know some one who would dress +the pretty mistress in red gold and pale pearls and bright jewels, if +sweet Dada only said the word." + +"And why should sweet Dada not say the word?" echoed the girl gaily. +"Who is it that has so many nice things and all for me? You--I shall +never remember your name if I live to be as old as Damia. . . ." + +"Sachepris, Sachepris is my name," said the woman, but call me anything +else you like. The lover I mean is the son of the rich Christian, Mary. +A handsome man, my lord Marcus; and he has horses, such fine horses, and +more gold pieces than the pebbles on the shore there. Sachepris knows +that he has sent out slaves to look for the pretty mistress. Send him a +token--write to my lord Marcus." + +"Write?" laughed Dada. "Girls learn other things in my country; but if +I could--shall I tell you something? I would not write him a line. +Those who want me may seek me!" + +"He is seeking, he is trying to find the pretty mistress," declared the +woman; "he is full of you, quite full of you, and if I dared...." + +"Well?" + +"I would go and say to my lord Marcus, quite in a secret. . . ." + +"Well, what? Speak out, woman." + +"First I would tell him where the pretty mistress is hidden; and then say +that he might hope once--this evening perhaps--he is not far off, he is +quite near this. . . over there; do you see that little white house? +It is a tavern and the host is a freedman attached to the lady Damia, and +for money he would shut his shop up for a day, for a night, for many +days.--Well, and then I would say--shall I tell you all? My lord Marcus +is there, waiting for his pretty mistress, and has brought her dresses +that would make the rose-garment look a rag. You would have gold too, as +much gold as heart can wish. I can take you there, and he will meet you +with open arms." + +"What, this evening?" cried Dada, and the blue veins swelled on her +white forehead. "You hateful, brown serpent! Did Gorgo teach you such +things as this? It is horrible, disgraceful, sickening!" + +So base a proposal was the last thing she would ever have expected from +Marcus--of all men in the world, Marcus, whom she had imagined so good +and pure! She could not believe it; and as her glance met the cunning +glitter of the Egyptian's eyes her own sparkled keenly, and she exclaimed +with a vehemence and decision which her attendant had never suspected in +her: + +"It is deceit and falsehood from beginning to end! Go, woman, I will +hear no more of it. Why should Marcus have come to you since yesterday +if he does not know where I am? You are silent--you will not say?.... +Oh! I understand it all. He--I know he would never have ventured it. +But it is your 'noble lady Damia'--that old woman, who has told you what +to say. You are her echo, and as for Marcus ... Confess, confess at +once, you witch . . ." + +"Sachepris is only a poor slave," said the woman raising her hands in +entreaty. "Sachepris can only obey, and if the pretty mistress were to +tell my lady Damia . . ." + +"It was she then who sent for me to go to the little tavern?" + +The woman nodded. "And Marcus?" + +"If the pretty mistress had consented . . ." + +"Well?" + +"Then--but Great Isis! if you tell of me!" + +"I will not tell; go on." + +"I should have gone to my lord Marcus and invited him, from you . . ." + +"It is shameful!" interrupted Dada, and a shudder ran through her slight +frame. "How cruel, how horrible it is! You--you will stay here till the +others come home and then you will go home to the old woman. I thank the +gods, I have two hands and need no maid to wait upon me! But look there +--what is the meaning of that? That pretty litter has stopped and there +is an old man signing to you." + +"It is the widow Mary's house steward," whined the woman, while Dada +turned pale, wondering what a messenger from Marcus' mother could want +here. + +Herse, who had kept a watchful eye on the landing-plank, on Dada's +account, had also seen the approach of the widow's messenger and +suspected a love-message from Marcus; but she was utterly astounded when +the old man politely but imperiously desired her--Herse to get into the +litter which would convey her to his mistress's house. Was this a trap? +Did he merely want to tempt her from the vessel so as to clear the way +for his young master? No--for he handed her a tablet on which there was +a written message, and she, an Alexandrian, had been well educated and +could read: + +"Mary, the widow of Apelles, to the wife of Karnis, the singer." And +then followed the same urgent request as she had already received by word +of mouth. To reassure herself entirely she called the slave-woman aside, +and asked her whether Phabis was indeed a trust worthy servant of the +widow's. Evidently there was no treason to be apprehended and she must +obey the invitation, though it disturbed her greatly; but she was a +cautious woman, with not only her heart but her brains and tongue in the +right place, and she at once made up her mind what must be done under the +circumstances. While she gave a few decorative touches to her person she +handed the tablet to the waiting-woman, whom she had taken into her own +room, and desired her to carry it at once to her husband, and tell him +whither she had gone, and to beg him to return without delay to take +care of Dada. But what if her husband and son could not come away? The +girl would be left quite alone, and then. . . The picture rose before +her anxious mind of Marcus appearing on the scene and tempting Dada on +shore--of her niece stealing away by herself even, if the young Christian +failed to discover her present residence--loitering alone along the +Canopic way or the Bruclumn, where, at noon, all that was most +disreputable in Alexandria was to be seen at this time of year--she saw, +shuddered, considered--and suddenly thought of an expedient which seemed +to promise an issue from the difficulty. It was nothing new and a +favorite trick among the Egyptians; she had seen is turned to account by +a lame tailor at whose house her father had lodged, when he had to go out +to his customers and leave his young negress wife alone at home. Dada +was lying barefoot on the deck: Herse would hide her shoes. + +She hastily acted on this idea, locking up not only Dada's sandals, but +also Agne's and her own, in the trunk they had saved; a glance at the +slave's feet assured her that hers could be of no use. + +"Not if fire were to break out," thought she, "would my Dada be seen in +the streets with those preposterous things on her pretty little feet." + +When this was done Herse breathed more freely, and as she took leave of +her niece, feeling perhaps that she owed her some little reparation, she +said in an unusually kind tone: + +"Good bye, child. Try to amuse yourself while I am gone. There is +plenty to look at here, and the others will soon be back again. If the +city is fairly quiet this evening we will all go out together, to +Canopus, to eat oysters. Good bye till we meet again, my pet!" She +kissed the child, who looked up at her in astonishment, for her adopted +mother was not usually lavish of such endearments. + +Before long Dada was alone, cooling herself with her new fan and eating +sweetmeats; but she could not cease thinking of the shameful treachery +planned by old Damia, and while she rejoiced to reflect that she had not +fallen into the net, and had seen through the plot, her wrath against the +wicked old woman and Gorgo--whom she could not help including--burnt +within her. Meanwhile she looked about her, expecting to see Marcus, or +perhaps the young officer. Finding it impossible to think any evil of +the young Christian, and having already trusted him so far, her fancy +dwelt on him with particular pleasure; but she was curious, too, about +the prefect, the early love of the proud merchant's daughter. + +Time went on; the sun was high in the heavens, she was tired of staring, +wondering and thinking, and, yawning wearily, she began to consider +whether she would make herself comfortable for a nap, or go down stairs +and fill up the time by dressing herself up in her new garments. +However, before she could do either, the slave returned from her errand +to the house, and a few moments after she espied the young officer +crossing the ship-yard towards the lake; she sat up, set the crescent +straight that she wore in her hair, and waved her fan in a graceful +greeting. + +The cavalry prefect, who knew that, of old, the barge was often used by +Porphyrius' guests, though he did not happen to have heard who were its +present occupants--bowed, with military politeness and precision, to the +pretty girl lounging on the deck. Dada returned the greeting; but this +seemed likely to be the end of their acquaintance, for the soldier walked +on without turning round. He looked handsomer even than he had seemed +the day before; his hair was freshly oiled and curled, his scale-armor +gleamed as brightly, and his crimson tunic was as new and rich as if he +were going at once to guard the Imperial throne. The merchant's daughter +had good taste, but her friend looked no less haughty than herself. Dada +longed to make his acquaintance and find out whether he really had no +eyes for any one but Gorgo. To discover that it was not so, little as +she cared about him personally, would have given her infinite +satisfaction, and she decided that she must put him to the test. But +there was no time to lose, so, as it would hardly do to call after him, +she obeyed a sudden impulse, flung overboard the handsome fan which had +been in her possession but one day, and gave a little cry in which alarm +and regret were most skilfully and naturally expressed. + +This had the wished-for effect. The officer turned round, his eyes met +hers, and Dada leaned far over the boat's side pointing to the water and +exclaiming: + +"It is in the water--it has fallen into the lake!--my fan!" + +The officer again bowed slightly; then he walked from the path down to +the water's edge, while Dada went on more quietly: + +"There, close there! Oh, if only you would! ... + +"I am so fond of the fan, it is so pretty. Do you see, it is quite +obliging? it is floating towards you!" Constantine had soon secured the +fan, and shook it to dry it as he went across the plank to the vessel. +Dada joyfully received it, stroked the feathers smooth, and warmly +thanked its preserver, while he assured her that he only wished he could +have rendered her some greater service. He was then about to retire with +a bow no less distant than before, but he found himself unexpectedly +detained by the Egyptian slave who, placing herself in his way, kissed +the hem of his tunic and exclaimed: + +"What joy for my lord your father and the lady your mother, and for poor +Sachepris! My lord Constantine at home again!" + +"Yes, at home at last," said the soldier in a deep pleasant voice. "Your +old mistress is still hale and hearty? That is well. I am on my way to +the others." + +"They know that you have come," replied the slave. "Glad, they are all +glad. They asked if my lord Constantine forgot old friends." + +"Never, not one!" + +"How long now since my lord Constantine went away--two, three years, and +just the same. Only a cut over the eyes--may the hand wither that gave +the blow!" + +Dada had already observed a broad scar which marked the soldier's brow as +high up as she could see it for the helmet, and she broke in: + +"How can you men like to slash and kill each other? Just think, if that +cut had been only a finger's breadth lower--you would have lost your +eyes, and oh! it is better to be dead than blind. When all the world is +bright not to be able to see it; what must that be! The whole earth in +darkness so that you see nothing--no one; neither the sky, nor the lake, +nor the boat, nor even me." + +"That would indeed be a pity," said the prefect with a laugh and a shrug. + +"A pity!" exclaimed Dada. "As if it were nothing at all! I should find +something else to say than that. It gives me a shudder only to think of +being blind. How dreadfully dull life can be with one's eyes open! so +what must it be when they are of no use and one cannot even look about +one. Do you know that you have done me not one service only, but two at +once?" + +"I?" said the officer. + +"Yes, you. But the second is not yet complete. Sit down awhile, I beg-- +there is a seat. You know it is a fatal omen if a visitor does not sit +down before he leaves.--That is well.--And now, may I ask you: do you +take off your helmet when you go into battle? No.--Then how could a +swordcut hurt your forehead?" + +"In a hand to hand scuffle," said the young man, "everything gets out of +place. One man knocked my helmet off and another gave me this cut in my +face." + +"Where did it happen?" + +"On the Savus, where we defeated Maximus." + +"And had you this same helmet on?" + +"Certainly." + +"Oh! pray let me look at it! I can still see the dent in the metal; how +heavy such a thing must be to wear!" + +Constantine took off his helmet with resigned politeness and put it into +her hands. She weighed it, thought it fearfully heavy, and then lifted +it up to put it on her own fair curls; but this did not seem to please +her new acquaintance, and saying rather shortly: "Allow me--" he took it +from her, set it on his head and rose. + +But Dada pointed eagerly to the seat. + +"No, no," she said, "I have not yet had enough of your second kindness. +I was on the point of death from sheer tedium; then you came, just in +time; and if you want to carry out your work of mercy you must tell me +something about the battle where you were wounded, and who took care of +you afterwards, and whether the women of Pannonia are really as handsome +as they are said to be. . ." + +"I am sorry to say that I have not time," interrupted the officer. +"Sachepris here is far better qualified to amuse you than I; some years +since, at any rate, she lead a wonderful store of tales. I wish you a +pleasant day!" + +And with this farewell greeting, Constantine left the vessel, nor did he +once look back at it or its pretty inhabitant as he made his way towards +the house of Porphyrius. + +Dada as she gazed after him colored with vexation; again she had done a +thing that Herse and--which she regretted still more--that Agne would +certainly disapprove of. The stranger whom she had tried to draw into a +flirtation was a really chivalrous man. Gorgo might be proud of such a +lover; and if now, he were to go to her and tell her, probably with some +annoyance, how provokingly he had been delayed by that pert little +singing-girl, it would be all her own fault. She felt as though there +were something in her which forced her to seem much worse than she really +was, and wished to be. Agne, Marcus, the young soldier--nay, even Gorgo, +were loftier and nobler than she or her people, and she was conscious for +the first time that the dangers from which Marcus had longed to protect +her were not the offspring of his fancy. She could not have found a name +for them, but she understood that she was whirled and tossed through life +from one thing to another, like a leaf before the wind, bereft of every +stay or holdfast, defenceless even against the foolish vagaries of her +own nature. Everyone, thought the girl to herself, distrusted and +suspected her, and, solely because she was one of a family of singers, +dared to insult and dishonor her. A strange spite against Fate, against +her uncle and aunt, against herself even, surged up in her, and with it +a vague longing for another and a better life. + +Thus meditating she looked down into the water, not noticing what was +going on around her, till the slave-woman, addressing her by name, +pointed to a carriage drawn up at the side of the road that divided the +grove of the Temple of Isis from the ship-yard, and which the Egyptian +believed that she recognized as belonging to Marcus. Dada started up and +ran off to the cabin to fetch her shoes, but everything in the shape of a +sandal had vanished, and Herse had been wise when she had looked at those +of the Egyptian, for Dada did the same and would not have hesitated to +borrow them if they had been a little less dirty and clumsy. + +Herse, no doubt, had played her this trick, and it was easy to guess why! +It was only to divert her suspicions that the false woman had been so +affectionate at parting. It was cheating, treachery-cruel and shameful! +She, who had always submitted like a lamb--but this was too much--this +she could not bear--this!... The slave-woman now followed her to desire +her to come up on deck; a new visitor had appeared on the scene, an old +acquaintance and fellow-voyager: Demetrius, Marcus' elder brother. + +At any other time she would have made him gladly welcome, as a companion +and comfort in her solitude; but he had chosen an evil hour for his visit +and his proposals, as the girl's red cheeks and tearful eyes at once told +him. + +He had come to fetch her, cost him what it might, and to carry her away +to his country-home, near Arsinoe on the coast. It was not that he had +any mad desire to make her his own, but that he thought it his most +urgent duty to preserve his inexperienced brother from the danger into +which his foolish passion for the little singing-girl was certain to +plunge him. A purse full of gold, and a necklace of turquoise and +diamonds, which he had purchased from a jeweller in the Jews' quarter for +a sum for which he had often sold a ship-load of corn or a whole cellar +full of wine or oil, were to supplement his proposals; and he went +straight to the point, asking the girl simply and plainly to leave her +friends and accompany him to Arsinoe. When she asked him, in much +astonishment, "What to do there?" he told her he wanted a cheerful +companion; he had taken a fancy to her saucy little nose, and though he +could not flatter himself that he had ever found favor in her eyes he had +brought something with him which she would certainly like, and which +might help him to win her kindness. He was not niggardly, and if this-- +and this--and he displayed the sparkling necklace and laid the purse on +her pillow--could please her she might regard them as an earnest of more, +as much more as she chose, for his pockets were deep. + +Dada did not interrupt him, for the growing indignation with which she +heard him took away her breath. This fresh humiliation was beyond the +bounds of endurance; and when at last she recovered her powers of speech +and action, she flung the purse off the divan, and as it fell clattering +on the floor, she kicked it away as far as possible, as though it were +plague-tainted. Then, standing upright in front of her suitor, she +exclaimed: + +"Shame upon you all! You thought that because I am a poor girl, a +singing-girl, and because you have filthy gold... Your brother Marcus +would never have done such a thing, I am very sure!... And you, a horrid +peasant!. . . If you ever dare set foot on this vessel again, Karnis and +Orpheus shall drive you away as if you were a thief or an assassin! +Eternal Gods! what is it that I have done, that everyone thinks I must be +wicked? Eternal Gods . . ." + +And she burst into loud spasmodic sobs and vanished down the steps that +led below. + +Demetrius called after her in soothing words and tones, but she would not +listen. Then he sent down the slave to beg Dada to grant him a hearing, +but the only answer he received was an order to quit the barge at once. + +He obeyed, and as he picked up the purse he thought to himself: + +"I may buy ship and vineyard back again; but I would send four more +after those if I could undo this luckless deed. If I were a better and +a worthier man, I might not so easily give others credit for being evil +and unworthy." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +The town of Alexandria was stirred to its very foundations. From dawn +till night every centre of public traffic and intercourse was the scene +of hostile meetings between Christians and heathen, with frequent frays +and bloodshed, only stopped by the intervention of the soldiery. Still, +as we see that the trivial round of daily tasks is necessarily fulfilled, +even when the hand of Fate lies heaviest on a household, and that +children cannot forego their play even when their father is stretched on +his death-bed, so the minor interests of individual lives pursued their +course, even in the midst of the general agitation and peril. + +The current of trade and of public business was, of course, checked at +many points, but they never came to a stand-still. The physician visited +the sick, the convalescent made his first attempt, leaning on a friendly +arm, to walk from his bedroom to the "viridarium," and alms were given +and received. Hatred was abroad and rampant, but love held its own, +strengthening old ties and forming new ones. Terror and grief weighed +on thousands of hearts, while some tried to make a profit out of the +prevailing anxiety, and others--many others--went forth, as light-hearted +as ever, in pursuit of pleasure and amusement. + +Horses were ridden and driven in the Hippodrome, and feasts were held in +the pleasure-houses of Canopus, with music and noisy mirth; in the public +gardens round the Paneum cock-fighting and quail-fighting were as popular +as ever, and eager was the betting in new gold or humble copper. Thus +may we see a child, safe on the roof of its father's house, floating its +toy boat on the flood that has drowned them all out; thus might a boy fly +his gaudy kite in the face of a gathering storm; thus does the miser, on +whom death has already laid its bony hand, count his hoarded coin; thus +thoughtless youth dances over the heaving soil at the very foot of +a volcano. What do these care for the common weal? Each has his +separate life and personal interests. What he himself needs or desires +--the greatest or the least--is to him more important and more absorbing +than the requirements of the vast organism in which he is no more than a +drop of blood or the hair of an eyelash. + +Olympius was still in concealment in the house of Porphyrius--Olympius, +whose mind and will had formerly had such imperious hold on the fate of +the city, and to whose nod above half of the inhabitants were still +obedient. Porphyrius and his family shared his views and regarded +themselves as his confederates; but, even among them, the minor details +of life claimed their place, and Gorgo, who entered into the struggle for +the triumph of the old gods, gave but a half-hearted attention to the +great cause to which she was enthusiastically devoted, because a +companion of her childhood, to whose attentions she had every claim, +delayed his visit longer than was kind. + +She had performed her 'Isis' lament the day before with all her heart and +soul, and had urgently claimed Agne's assistance; but to-day, though she +had been singing again and well, she had stopped to listen whenever she +heard a door open in the adjoining room or voices in the garden, and had +sung altogether with so much less feeling and energy than before that +Karnis longed to reprove her sharply enough. This, however, would have +been too indiscreet, so he could only express his annoyance by saying to +his son, in a loud whisper: + +"The most remarkable gifts, you see, and the highest abilities are of no +avail so long as Art and Life are not one and the same--so long as Art is +not the Alpha and Omega of existence, but merely an amusement or a +decoration." + +Agne had been true to herself, and had modestly but steadfastly declared +that she could not possibly enter the temple of Isis, and her refusal had +been accepted quite calmly, and without any argument or controversy. She +had not been able to refuse Gorgo's request that she would repeat to-day +the rehearsal she had gone through yesterday, since, to all appearance, +her cooperation at the festival had been altogether given up. How could +the girl guess that the venerable philosopher, who had listened with +breathless admiration to their joint performance, had taken upon himself +to dissipate her doubts and persuade her into compliance? + +Olympius laid the greatest stress on Agne's assistance, for every one who +clung to the worship of the old gods was to assemble in the sanctuary of +Isis; and the more brilliant and splendid the ceremony could be made the +more would that enthusiasm be fired which, only too soon, would be put to +crucial proof. On quitting the temple the crowd of worshippers, all in +holiday garb, were to pass in front of the Prefect's residence, and if +only they could effect this great march through the city in the right +frame of mind, it might confidently be expected that every one who was +not avowedly Jew or Christian, would join the procession. It would thus +become a demonstration of overwhelming magnitude and Cynegius, the +Emperor's representative, could not fail to see what the feeling was +of the majority of the towns folk, and what it was to drive matters +to extremes and lay hands on the chief temples of such a city. + +To Olympius the orator, grown grey in the exercise of logic and +eloquence, it seemed but a small matter to confute the foolish doubts of +a wilful girl. He would sweep her arguments to the winds as the storm +drives the clouds before it; and any one who had seen the two together-- +the fine old man with the face and front of Zeus, with his thoughtful +brow and broad chest, who could pour forth a flood of eloquence +fascinatingly persuasive or convincingly powerful, and the modest, timid +girl--could not have doubted on which side the victory must be. + +To-day, for the first time, Olympius had found leisure for a prolonged +interview with his old friend Karnis, and while the girls were in the +garden, amusing little Papias by showing him the swans and tame gazelles, +the philosopher had made enquiries as to the Christian girl's history and +then had heard a full account of the old musician's past life. Karnis +felt it as a great favor that his old friend, famous now for his +learning--the leader of his fellow-thinkers in the second city of the +world, the high-priest of Serapis, to whose superior intellect he himself +had bowed even in their student days--should remember his insignificant +person and allow him to give him the history of the vicissitudes which +had reduced him--the learned son of a wealthy house--to the position of a +wandering singer. + +Olympius had been his friend at the time when Karnis, on leaving college, +instead of devoting himself to business and accounts, as his father +wished, had thrown himself into the study of music, and at once +distinguished himself as a singer, lute-player and leader of heathen +choirs. Karnis was in Alexandria when the news reached him of his +father's death. Before quitting the city he married Herse, who was +beneath him alike in birth and in fortune, and who accompanied him on his +return to Tauromenium in Sicily, where he found himself the possessor of +an inheritance of which the extent and importance greatly astonished him. + +At Alexandria he had been far better acquainted with the theatre than +with the Museum or the school of the Serapeum; nay, as an amateur, he had +often sung in the chorus there and acted as deputy for the regular +leader. The theatre in his native town of Tauromenium had also been a +famous one of old, but, at the time of his return, it had sunk to a very +low ebb. Most of the inhabitants of the beautiful city nestling at the +foot off Etna, had been converted to Christianity; among them the wealthy +citizens at whose cost the plays had been performed and the chorus +maintained. Small entertainments were still frequently given, but the +singers and actors had fallen off, and in that fine and spacious theatre +nothing was ever done at all worthy of its past glories. This Karnis +deeply regretted, and with his wonted energy and vigor he soon managed to +win the interest of those of his fellow-citizens who remained faithful to +the old gods and had still some feeling for the music and poetry of the +ancient Greeks, in his plans for their revival. + +His purpose was to make the theatre the centre of a reaction against the +influence of the Christians, by vieing with the Church in its efforts to +win back the renegade heathen and confirming the faithful in their +adhesion. The Greeks of Tauromenium should be reminded from the stage- +boards of the might of the old gods and the glories of their past. To +this end it was needful to restore the ruined theatre, and Karnis, after +advancing the greater part of the money required, was entrusted with the +management. He devoted himself zealously to the task, and soon was so +successful that the plays at Tauromenium, and the musical performances in +its Odeum, attracted the citizens in crowds, and were talked of far and +wide. Such success was of course only purchased at a heavy cost, and in +spite of Herse's warnings, Karnis would never hesitate when the object in +view was the preservation or advancement of his great work. + +Thus passed twenty years; then there came a day when his fine fortune +was exhausted, and a time when the Christian congregation strained every +nerve to deal a death-blow to the abomination of desolation in their +midst. Again and again, and with increasing frequency, there were +sanguinary riots between the Christians who forced their way into the +theatre and the heathen audience, till at last a decree of the Emperor +Theodosius prohibited the performance of heathen plays or music. + +Now, the theatre at Tauromenium, for which Karnis had either given or +advanced his whole inheritance, had ceased to exist, and the usurers who, +when his own fortune was spent, had lent him moneys on the security of +the theatre itself--while it still flourished--or on his personal +security, seized his house and lands and would have cast him into the +debtor's prison if he had not escaped that last disgrace by flight. Some +good friends had rescued his family and helped them to follow him, and +when they rejoined him he had begun his wanderings as a singer. Many a +time had life proved miserable enough; still, be had always remained true +to his art and to the gods of Olympus. + +Olympius had listened to his narrative with many tokens of sympathy and +agreement, and when Karnis, with tears in his eyes, brought his story to +a close, the philosopher laid his hand on his friend's shoulder and +drawing him towards him, exclaimed: + +"Well done, my brave old comrade! We will both be faithful to the same +good cause! You have made sacrifices for it as I have; and we need not +despair yet. If we triumph here our friends in a thousand towns will +begin to look up. The reading of the stars last night, and the auguries +drawn from this morning's victims, portend great changes. What is down +to the ground to-day may float high in the air to-morrow. All the signs +indicate: 'A fall to the Greatest;' and what can be greater than Rome, +the old tyrant queen of the nations? The immediate future, it is true, +can hardly bring the final crash, but it is fraught with important +consequences to us. I dreamed of the fall of the Caesars, and of a great +Greek Empire risen from the ruins, powerful and brilliant under the +special protection of the gods of Olympus; and each one of us must labor +to bring about the realization of this dream. You have set a noble +example of devotion and self-sacrifice, and I thank you in the name of +all those who feel with us--nay, in the name of the gods themselves whom +I serve! The first thing to be done now is to avert the blow which the +Bishop intends shall strike us by the hand of Cynegius--it has already +fallen on the magnificent sanctuary of the Apamaean Zeus. If the +ambassador retires without having gained his purpose the balance will be +greatly--enormously, in our favor, and it will cease to be a folly to +believe in the success of our cause." + +"Ah! teach us to hope once more," cried the musician. "That in itself is +half the victory; still, I cannot see how this delay. . ." + +"It would give us time, and that is what we want,' replied Olympius. +"Everything is in preparation, but nothing is ready. Alexandria, Athens, +Antioch, and Neapolis are to be the centres of the outbreak. The great +Libanius is not a man of action, and even he approves of our scheme. No +less a man than Florentin has undertaken to recruit for our cause among +the heathen officers in the army. Messala, and the great Gothic captains +Fraiut and Generid are ready to fight for the old gods. Our army will +not lack leaders. . ." + +"Our army!" exclaimed Karnis in surprise. "Is the matter so far +advanced?" + +"I mean the army of the future," cried Olympius enthusiastically. "It +does not count a man as yet, but is already distributed into several +legions. The vigor of mind and body--our learned youth on one hand and +strong-armed peasantry on the other--form the nucleus of our force. +Maximus could collect, in the utmost haste, the army which deprived +Gratian of his throne and life, and was within a Hair-breadth of +overthrowing Theodosius; and what was he but an ambitious rebel, and what +tempted his followers but their hopes of a share in the booty? But we-- +we enlist them in the name of the loftiest ideas and warmest desires of +the human heart, and, as the prize of victory, we show them the ancient +faith with freedom of thought--the ancient loveliness of life. The +beings whom the Christians can win over--a patch-work medley of loathsome +Barbarians--let them wear out their lives as they choose! We are Greeks +--the thinking brain, the subtle and sentient soul of the world. The +polity, the empire, that we shall found on the overthrow of Theodosius +and of Rome shall be Hellenic, purely Hellenic. The old national spirit, +which made the Greeks omnipotent against the millions of Darius and +Xerxes, shall live again, and we will keep the Barbarians at a distance +as a Patrician forbids his inferiors to count themselves as belonging to +his illustrious house. The Greek gods, Greek heroism, Greek art and +Greek learning, under our rule shall rise from the dust--all the more +promptly for the stringent oppression under which their indomitable +spirit has so long languished." + +"You speak to my heart!" cried Karnis. "My old blood flows more swiftly +already, and if I only had a thousand talents left to give. . ." + +"You would stake them on the future Greek Empire," said Olympius +eagerly. "And we have adherents without number who feel as you do, +my trusty friend. We shall succeed--as the great Julian would have +succeeded but for the assassins who laid him low at so early an age; +for Rome. . ." + +"Rome is still powerful." + +"Rome is a colossus built up of a thousand blocks; but among them a +hundred and more be but loosely in their places, and are ready to drop +away from the body of the foul monster--sooner rather than later. Our +shout alone will shake them down, and they will fall on our side, we may +choose the best for our own use. Ere long--a few months only--the hosts +will gather in the champaign country at the foot of Vesuvius, by land and +by sea; Rome will open its gates wide to us who bring her back her old +gods; the Senate will proclaim the emperor deposed and the Republic +restored. Theodosius will come out against us. But the Idea for which +we go forth to fight will hover before us, will stir the hearts of those +soldiers and officers who would gladly--ah! how gladly-sacrifice to the +Olympian gods and who only kiss the wounds of the crucified Jew under +compulsion. They will desert from the labarum, which Constantine carried +to victory, to our standards; and those standards are all there, ready +for use; they have been made in this city and are lying hidden in the +house of Apollodorus. Heaven-sent daemons showed them in a vision to my +disciple Ammonius, when he was full of the divinity and lost in ecstasy, +and I have had them made from his instructions." + +"And what do they represent?" + +"The bust of Serapis with the 'modius' on his head. It is framed in a +circle with the signs of the zodiac and the images of the great Olympian +deities. We have given our god the head of Zeus, and the corn-measure on +his head is emblematic of the blessing that the husbandman hopes for. +The zodiac promises us a good star, and the figures representing it are +not the common emblems, but each deeply significant. The Twins, for +instance, are the mariner's divinities, Castor and Pollux; Hercules +stands by the Lion whom he has subdued; and the Fishes are dolphins, +which love music. In the Scales, one holds the cross high in the air +while the other is weighed down by Apollo's laurel-wreath and the bolts +of Zeus; in short, our standard displays everything that is most dear to +the soul of a Greek or that fills him with devotion. Above all, Nike +hovers with the crown of victory. If only fitting leaders are to be +found at the centres of the movement, these standards will at once be +sent out, and with them arms for the country-folk. A place of meeting +has already been selected in each province, the pass-word will be given, +and a day fixed for a general rising." + +"And they will flock round you!" interrupted Karnis, "and--I, my son, +will not be absent. Oh glorious, happy, and triumphant day! Gladly will +I die if only I may first live to see the smoking offerings sending up +their fragrance to the gods before the open doors of every temple in +Greece; see the young men and maidens dancing in rapt enthusiasm to the +sound of lutes and pipes, and joining their voices in the chorus! Then +light will shine once more on the world, then life will once more mean +joy, and death a departure from a scene of bliss." + +"Aye, and thus shall it be!" cried Olympius, fired by this eager +exposition of his own excitement, and he wrung the musician's hand. +"We will restore life to the Greeks and teach them to scorn death as of +yore. Let the Christians, the Barbarians, make life miserable and seek +joy in death, if they list! But the girls have ceased singing. There is +still much to be done to-day, and first of all I must confute the +objections of your recalcitrant pupil." + +"You will not find it an easy task," said Karnis. "Reason is a feeble +weapon in contending with a woman." + +"Not always," replied the philosopher. "But you must know how to use it. +Leave me to deal with the child. There are really no singing-women left +here; we have tried three, but they were all vulgar and ill taught. This +girl, when she sings with Gorgo, has a voice that will go to the heart of +the audience. What we want is to fire the crowd with enthusiasm, and she +will help us to do it." + +"Well, well. But you, Olympius, you who are the very soul of the +revulsion we hope for, you must not be present at the festival. Indeed, +sheltered as you are under Porphyrius' roof, there is a price on your +head, and this house swarms with slaves, who all know you; if one of +them, tempted by filthy lucre . . ." + +"They will not betray me," smiled the philosopher. "They know that their +aged mistress, Damia, and I myself command the daemons of the upper and +lower spheres, and that at a sign from her or from me they would +instantly perish; and even if there were an Ephialtes among them, +a spring through that loop-hole would save me. Be easy, my friend. +Oracles and stars alike foretell me death from another cause than the +treason of a slave." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +Olympius followed Agne into the garden where he found her sitting by the +marble margin of a small pool, giving her little brother pieces of bread +to feed the swans with. He greeted her kindly and, taking up the child, +showed him a ball which rose and fell on the jet of water from the +fountain. Papias was not at all frightened by the big man with his white +beard, for a bright and kindly gleam shone in his eyes, and his voice was +soft and attractive as he asked him whether he had such another ball and +could toss it as cleverly as the fountain did. + +Papias said: "No," and Olympius, turning to Agne, went on: + +"You should get him a ball. There is no better plaything, for play ought +to consist in pleasant exertion which is in itself its object and gain. +Play is the toil of a little child; and a ball, which he can throw and +run after or catch, trains his eye, gives exercise to his limbs and +includes a double moral which men of every age and position should act +upon: To look down on the earth and keep his gaze on the heavens." + +Agne nodded agreement and thanks, while Olympius set the child down and +bid him run away to the paddock where some tame gazelles were kept. +Then, going straight to the point, he said: + +"I hear you have declined to sing in the temple of Isis; you have been +taught to regard the goddess to whom many good men turn in faith and +confidence, as a monster of iniquity, but, tell me, do you know what she +embodies?" + +"No," replied Agne looking down; but she hastily rose from her seat and +added with some spirit: "And I do not want to know, for I am a Christian +and your gods are not mine." + +"Well, well; your beliefs, of course, differ from ours in many points: +still, I fancy that you and I have much in common. We belong to those +who have learnt to 'look upwards'--there goes the ball, up again!--and +who find comfort in doing so. Do you know that many men believe that the +universe was formed by concurrence of mechanical processes and is still +slowly developing, that there is no divinity whose love and power guard, +guide and lend grace to the lives of men?" + +"Oh! yes, I have been obliged to hear many such blasphemous things in +Rome!" + +"And they ran off you like water off the silvery sheen of that swan's +plumage as he dips and raises his neck. Those who deny a God are, in +your estimation, foolish or perhaps abominable?" + +"I pity them, with all my heart." + +"And with very good reason. You are an orphan and what its parents are +to a child the divinity is to every member of the human race. In this +Gorgo, and I, and many others whom you call heathen, feel exactly as you +do; but you--have you ever asked yourself why and how it is that you, to +whom life has been so bitter, have such a perfect conviction that there +is a benevolent divinity who rules the world and your own fate to kindly +ends? Why, in short, do you believe in a God?" + +"I?" said Ague, looking puzzled, but straight into his face. "How could +anything exist without God? You ask such strange questions. All I can +see was created by our Father in Heaven." + +"But there are men born blind who nevertheless believe in Him." + +"They feel Him just as I see Him." + +"Nay you should say: 'As I believe that I see and feel Him.' But I, for +my part, think that the intellect has a right to test what the soul only +divines, and that it must be a real happiness to see this divination +proved by well-founded arguments, and thus transformed to certainty. +Did you ever hear of Plato, the philosopher?" + +"Yes, Karnis often speaks of him when he and Orpheus are discussing +things which I do not understand." + +"Well, Plato, by his intellect, worked out the proof of the problem which +our feelings alone are so capable of apprehending rightly. Listen to me: +If you stand on a spit of land at the entrance to a harbor and see a ship +in the distance sailing towards you--a ship which carefully avoids the +rocks, and makes straight for the shelter of the port--are you not +justified in concluding that there is, on board that ship, a man who +guides and steers it? Certainly. You not only may, but must infer that +it is directed by a pilot. And if you look up at the sky and contemplate +the well-ordered courses of the stars--when you see how everything on +earth, great and small, obeys eternal laws and unerringly tends to +certain preordained ends and issues, you may and must infer the existence +of a ruling hand. Whose then but that of the Great Pilot of the +universe--the Almighty Godhead.--Do you like my illustration?" + +"Very much. But it only proves what I knew before." + +"Nevertheless, you must, I think, be pleased to find it so beautifully +expressed." + +"Certainly." + +"And must admire the wise man who thought out the comparison. Yes?-- +Well, that man again was one of those whom you call heathen, who believed +as we believe, and who at the same time worked out the evidence of the +foundations of his faith for you as well as himself. And we, the later +disciples of Plato--[Known as the school of the Neo-Platonists]--have +gone even further than our master, and in many respects are much nearer +to you Christians than you perhaps suspect. You see at once, of course, +that we are no more inclined than you to conceive of the existence of the +world and the destiny of man as independent of a God? However, I dare +say you still think that your divinity and ours are as far asunder as the +east from the west. But can you tell me where any difference lies?" + +"I do not know," said Ague uneasily. "I am only an ignorant girl; and +who can learn the names even of all your gods?" + +"Very true," said Olympius. "There is great Serapis, whose temple you +saw yesterday; there is Apollo, to whom Karnis prefers to offer +sacrifice; there is Isis the bountiful, and her sister Nephthys, whose +lament you and my young friend sing together so thrillingly; and besides +these there are more immortals than I could name while Gorgo--who is +leading your little brother to the lake out there--walked ten times from +the shore to us and back; and yet--and yet my child, your God is ours and +ours is yours." + +"No, no, He is not, indeed!" cried Agne with increasing alarm. + +"But listen," Olympius went on, with the same kind urgency but with +extreme dignity, "and answer my questions simply and honestly. We are +agreed, are we not?--that we perceive the divinity in the works of his +creation, and even in his workings in our own souls. Then which are the +phenomena of nature in which you discern Him as especially near to you? +You are silent. I see, you have outlived your school-days and do not +choose to answer to an uninvited catechism. And yet the things I wish +you to name are lovely in themselves and dear to your heart; and if only +you did not keep your soft lips so firmly closed, but would give me the +answer I ask for, you would remember much that is grand and beautiful. +You would speak of the pale light of dawn, the tender flush that tinges +the clouds as the glowing day-star rises from the waves, of the splendor +of the sun-as glorious as truth and as warm as divine love. You would +say: In the myriad blossoms that open to the morning, in the dew that +bathes them and covers them with diamonds, in the ripening ears in the +field, in the swelling fruit on the trees--in all these I see the mercy +and wisdom of the divinity. I feel his infinite greatness as I gaze on +the wide expanse of deep blue sea; it comes home to me at night when I +lift my eyes to the skies and see the sparkling hosts of stars roll over +my head. Who created that countless multitude, who guides them so that +they glide past in glorious harmony, and rise and set, accurately timed +to minutes and seconds, silent but full of meaning, immeasurably distant +and yet closely linked with the fate of individual men?--All this bears +witness to the existence of a God, and as you contemplate it and admire +it with thankful emotion, you feel yourself drawn near to the Omnipotent. +Aye, and even if you were deaf and blind, and lay bound and fettered in +the gloom of a closely-shut cavern, you still could feel if love and pity +and hope touched your heart. Rejoice then, child! for the immortals have +endowed you with good gifts, and granted you sound senses by which to +enjoy the beauty of creation. You exercise an art which binds you to the +divinity like a bridge; when you give utterance to your whole soul in +song that divinity itself speaks through you, and when you hear noble +music its voice appeals to your ear. All round you and within you, you +can recognize its power just as we feel it--everywhere and at all times. + +"And this incomprehensible, infinite, unfettered, bountiful and +infallibly wise Power, which penetrates and permeates the life of the +universe as it does the hearts of men, though called by different names +in different lands, is the same to every race, wherever it may dwell, +whatever its language or its beliefs. You Christians call him the +Heavenly Father, we give him the name of the Primal One. To you, too, +your God speaks in the surging seas, the waving corn, the pure light of +day; you, too, regard music which enchants your heart, and love which +draws man to man, as his gifts; and we go only a step further, giving a +special name to each phenomenon of nature, and each lofty emotion of the +soul in which we recognize the direct influence of the Most High; calling +the sea Poseidon, the corn-field Demeter, the charm of music Apollo, and +the rapture of love Eros. When you see us offering sacrifice at the foot +of a marble image you must not suppose that the lifeless, perishable +stone is the object of our adoration. The god does not descend to inform +the statue; but the statue is made after the Idea figured forth by the +divinity it is intended to represent; and through that Idea the image is +as intimately connected with the Godhead, as, by the bond of Soul, +everything else that is manifest to our senses is connected with the +phenomena of the supersensuous World. But this is beyond you; it will be +enough for you if I assure you that the statue of Demeter, with the sheaf +in her arms, is only intended to remind us to be grateful to the Divinity +for our daily bread--a hymn of praise to Apollo expresses our thanks to +the Primal One for the wings of music and song, on which our soul is +borne upwards till it feels the very presence of the Most High. These +are names, mere names that divide us; but if you were called anything +else than Agne--Ismene, for instance, or Eudoxia--would you be at all +different from what you are?--There you see--no, stay where you are--you +must listen while I tell you that Isis, the much--maligned Isis, is +nothing and represents nothing but the kindly influences of the Divinity, +on nature and on human life. What she embodies to us is the abstraction +which you call the loving-kindness of the Father, revealed in his +manifold gifts, wherever we turn our eyes. The image of Isis reminds us +of the lavish bounties of the Creator, just as you are reminded by the +cross, the fish, and the lamb, of your Redeemer. Isis is the earth from +whose maternal bosom the creative God brings forth food and comfort for +man and beast; she is the tender yearning which He implants in the hearts +of the lover and the beloved one; she is the bond of affection which +unites husband and wife, brother and sister, which is rapture to the +mother with a child at her breast and makes her ready and able for any +sacrifice for the darling she has brought into the world. She shines, a +star in the midnight sky, giving comfort to the sorrowing heart; she, who +has languished in grief, pours balm into the wounded souls of the +desolate and bereaved, and gives health and refreshment to the suffering. +When nature pines in winter cold or in summer drought and lacks power to +revive, when the sun is darkened, when lies and evil instincts alienate +the soul from its pure first cause, then Isis uplifts her complaint, +calling on her husband, Osiris, to return, to take her once more in his +arms and fill her with new powers, to show the benevolence of God once +more to the earth and to us men. You have learnt that lament; and when +you sing it at her festival, picture yourself as standing with the Mother +of Sorrows--the mother of your crucified divinity, by his open grave, and +cry to your God that he may let him rise from the dead." + +Olympius spoke the last words with excited enthusiasm as though he were +certain of the young girl's consent; but the effect was not what he +counted on; for Agne, who had listened to him, so far, with increasing +agitation, setting herself against his arguments like a bird under the +fascinating glare of the snake's eye, at this last address seemed +suddenly to shake off the spell of his seductive eloquence as the leaves +drop from the crown of a tree shaken by the blast; the ideas of her +Saviour and of the hymn she was to sing were utterly irreconcilable in +her mind; she remembered the struggle she had fought out during the +night, and the determination with which she had come to the house this +morning. All the insidious language she had just heard was forgotten, +swept away like dust from a rocky path, and her voice was firmly +repellent as she said: + +"Your Isis has nothing in common with the Mother of our God, and how can +you dare to compare your Osiris with the Lord who redeemed the world from +death?" + +Olympius, startled at the decision of her tone, rose from his seat, but +he went on, as though he had expected this refusal: + +"I will tell you--I will show you. Osiris--we will take him as being an +Egyptian god, instead of Serapis in whose mysterious attributes you would +find much to commend itself even to a Christian soul--Osiris, like your +Master, voluntarily passed through death--to redeem the world from death +--in this resembling your Christ. He, the Risen One, gives new light, +and life, and blossom, and verdure to all that is darkened, dead and +withered. All that seems to have fallen a prey to death is, by him, +restored to a more beautiful existence; he, who has risen again, can +bring even the departed soul to a resurrection; and when during this life +its high aims have kept it unspotted by the dust of the sensual life, and +he, as the judge, sees that it has preserved itself worthy of its pure +First Cause, he allows it to return to the eternal and supreme Spirit +whence it originally proceeded. + +"And do not you, too, strive after purification, to the end that your +soul may find an everlasting home in the radiant realms? Again and again +do we meet with the same ideas, only they bear different forms and +names. Try to feel the true bearing of my words, and then you will +gladly join in the pathetic appeal to the sublime god to return. How +like he is to your Lord! Is he not, like your Christ, a Saviour, and +risen from the dead? The Temple or the Church--both are the sanctuaries +of the Deity. By the ivy-wreathed altar of the weeping goddess, at the +foot of the tall cypresses which cast their mysterious shadows on the +snowy whiteness of the marble steps on which lies the bier of the god, +you will feel the sacred awe which falls upon every pure soul when it is +conscious of the presence of the Deity--call Him what you will. + +"Isis, whom you now know, and who is neither more nor less than a +personification of divine mercy, will make you a return by restoring you +to the freedom for which you pine. She will allow you to find a home in +some Christian house through our intervention, in acknowledgment of the +pious service you are rendering, not to her but to the faith in divine +goodness. There you may live with your little brother, as free as +heart can desire. To-morrow you will go with Gorgo to the temple of the +goddess . . ." + +But Agne broke in on his speech: "No, I will not go with her!" + +Her cheeks were scarlet and her breath came short and fast with +excitement as she went on: + +"I will not, I must not, I cannot! Do what you will with me: sell me and +my brother, put us to turn a mill--but I will not sing in the temple!" + +Olympius knit his brows; his beard quivered and his lips parted in wrath, +but he controlled himself and going close to the girl he laid his hand on +her shoulder and said in a deep grave tone of fatherly admonition: + +"Reflect, child, pause; think over what I have been saying to you; +remember, too, what you owe the little one you love, and to-morrow +morning tell us that you have duly weighed your answer. Give me your +hand, my daughter; believe me, Olympius is one of your sincerest well- +wishers." + +He turned his back on her and was going in doors. In front of the house +Porphyrius and Karnis were standing in eager colloquy. The news that +Marcus' mother Mary had sent for Herse had reached the singer, and his +vivid fancy painted his wife as surrounded by a thousand perils, +threatened by the widow, and carried before the judges. The merchant +advised him to wait and see what came of it, as did Damia and Gorgo who +were attracted to the spot by the vehemence of the discussion; but Karnis +would not be detained, and he and Orpheus hurried off to the rescue. +Thus Agne was left alone in the garden with her little brother, and +perceiving that no one paid any further attention to their proceedings, +she fell on her knees, clasped the child closely to her and whispered: + +"Pray with me, Papias; pray, pray that the Lord will protect us, and that +we may not be turned out of the way that leads us to our parents! Pray, +as I do!" + +For a minute she remained prostrate with the child by her side. Then, +rising quickly, she took him by the hand and led him in almost breathless +haste through the garden-gate out into the road, bending her steps +towards the lake and then down the first turning that led to the city. + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +People who have nothing to do always lack time +Perish all those who do not think as we do +Reason is a feeble weapon in contending with a woman +Words that sounded kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart + + + + + + +SERAPIS + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 3. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Agne's flight remained unperceived for some little time, for every member +of the merchant's household was at the moment intent on some personal +interest. When Karnis and Orpheus had set out Gorgo was left with her +grandmother and it was not till some little time after that she went out +into the colonade on the garden side of the house, whence she had a view +over the park and the shore as far as the ship-yard. There, leaning +against the shaft of a pillar, under the shade of the blossoming shrubs, +she stood gazing thoughtfully to the southward. + +She was dreaming of the past, of her childhood's joys and privations. +Fate had bereft her of a mother's love, that sun of life's spring. Below +her, in a splendid mausoleum of purple porphyry, lay the mortal remains +of the beautiful woman who had given her birth, and who had been snatched +away before she could give her infant a first caress. But all round the +solemn monument gardens bloomed in the sunshine, and on the further side +of the wall covered with creepers, was the ship-yard, the scene of +numberless delightful games. She sighed as she looked at the tall hulks, +and watched for the man who, from her earliest girlhood, had owned her +heart, whose image was inseparable from every thing of joy and beauty +that she had ever known, and every grief her young soul had suffered +under. + +Constantine, the younger son of Clemens the shipbuilder, had been her +brothers' companion and closest friend. He had proved himself their +superior in talents and gifts, and in all their games had been the +recognized leader. While still a tiny thing she would always be at their +heels, and Constantine had never failed to be patient with her, or to +help and protect her, and then came a time when the lads were all eager +to win her sympathy for their games and undertakings. When her +grandmother read in the stars that some evil influences were to cross +the path of Gorgo's planet, the girl was carefully kept in the house; +at other times she was free to go with the boys in the garden, on the +lake or to the ship-yard. There the happy playmates built houses or +boats; there, in a separate room, old Melampus modelled figure-heads for +the finished vessels, and he would supply them with clay and let them +model too. Constantine was an apt pupil, and Gorgo would sit quiet while +he took her likeness, till, out of twenty images that he had made of her, +several were really very like. Melampus declared that his young master +might be a very distinguished sculptor if only he were the son of poor +parents, and Gorgo's father appreciated his talent and was pleased when +the boy attempted to copy the beautiful busts and statues of which the +house was full; but to his parents, and especially his mother, his +artistic proclivities were an offence. He himself, indeed, never +seriously thought of devoting himself to such a heathenish occupation, +for he was deeply penetrated by the Christian sentiments of his family, +and he had even succeeded in inflaming the sons of Porphyrius, who had +been baptized at an early age, with zeal for their faith. The merchant +perceived this and submitted in silence, for the boys must be and remain +Christians in consequence of the edict referring to wills; but the +necessity for confessing a creed which was hateful to him was so painful +and repulsive to a nature which, though naturally magnanimous was not +very steadfast, that he was anxious to spare his sons the same +experience, and allowed them to accompany Constantine to church and to +wear blue--the badge of the Christians--at races and public games, with a +shrug of silent consent. + +With Gorgo it was different. She was a woman and need wear no colors; +and her enthusiasm for the old gods and Greek taste and prejudices were +the delight of her father. She was the pride of his life, and as he +heard his own convictions echoed in her childish prattle, and later in +her conversation and exquisite singing, he was grateful to his mother and +to his friend Olympius who had implanted and cherished these feelings in +his daughter. Constantine's endeavors to show her the beauty of his +creed and to win her to Christianity were entirely futile; and the older +they grew, and the less they agreed, the worse could each endure the +dissent of the other. + +An early and passionate affection attracted the young man to his charming +playfellow; the more ardently he cherished his faith the more fervently +did he desire to win her for his wife. But Olympius' fair pupil was not +easy of conquest; nay, he was not unfrequently hard beset by her +questions and arguments, and while, to her, the fight for a creed was no +more than an amusing wrestling match, in which to display her strength, +to him it was a matter in which his heart was engaged. + +Damia and Porphyrius took a vain pleasure in their eager discussions, and +clapped with delight, as though it were a game of skill, when Gorgo +laughingly checkmated her excited opponent with some unanswerable +argument. + +But there came a day when Constantine discovered that his eager defence +of that which to him was high and holy, was, to his hearers, no more than +a subject of mockery, and henceforth the lad, now fast growing to +manhood, kept away from the merchant's house. Still, Gorgo could always +win him back again, and sometimes, when they were alone together, the old +strife would be renewed, and more seriously and bitterly than of old. +But while he loved her, she also loved him, and when he had so far +mastered himself as to remain away for any length of time she wore +herself out with longing to see him. They felt that they belonged to +each other, but they also felt that an insuperable gulf yawned between +them, and that whenever they attempted to clasp hands across the abyss a +mysterious and irresistible impulse drove them to open it wider, and to +dig it deeper by fresh discussions, till at last Constantine could not +endure that she, of all people, should mock at his Holy of Holies and +drag it in the dust. + +He must go--he must leave Gorgo, quit Alexandria, cost what it might. +The travellers' tales that he had heard from the captains of trading- +vessels and ships of war who frequented his father's house had filled him +with a love of danger and enterprise, and a desire to see distant lands +and foreign peoples. His father's business, for which he was intended, +did not attract him. Away--away--he would go away; and a happy +coincidence opened a path for him. + +Porphyrius had taken him one day on some errand to Canopus; the elder man +had gone in his chariot, his two sons and Constantine escorting him on +horseback. At the city-gates they met Romanus, the general in command of +the Imperial army, with his staff of officers, and he, drawing rein by +the great merchant's carriage, had asked him, pointing to Constantine, +whether that were his son. + +"No," replied Porphyrius, "but I wish he were." At these words the ship- +master's son colored deeply, while Romanus turned his horse round, laid +his hand on the young man's arm and called out to the commander of the +cavalry of Arsinoe: "A soldier after Ares' own heart, Columella! Do not +let him slip." + +Before the clouds of dust raised by the officers' horses as they rode +off, had fairly settled, Constantine had made up his mind to be a +soldier. In his parents' house, however, this decision was seen under +various aspects. His father found little to say against it, for he had +three sons and only two shipyards, and the question seemed settled by the +fact that Constantine, with his resolute and powerful nature, was cut out +to be a soldier. His pious mother, on the other hand, appealed to the +learned works of Clemens and Tertullian, who forbid the faithful +Christian to draw the sword; and she related the legend of the holy +Maximilianus, who, being compelled, under Diocletian, to join the army, +had suffered death at the hands of the executioner rather than shed his +fellow-creatures' blood in battle. The use of weapons, she added, was +incompatible with a godly and Christian life. + +His father, however, would not listen to this reasoning; new times, he +said, were come; the greater part of the army had been baptized; the +Church prayed for, victory, and at the head of the troops stood the great +Theodosius, an exemplar of an orthodox and zealous Christian. + +Clemens was master in his own house, and Constantine joined the heavy +cavalry at Arsinoe. In the war against the Blemmyes he was so fortunate +as to merit the highest distinction; after that he was in garrison at +Arsinoe, and, as Alexandria was within easy reach of that town, he was in +frequent intercourse with his own family and that of Porphyrius. Not +quite three years previously, when a revolt had broken out in favor of +the usurper Maximus in his native town, Constantine had assisted in +suppressing it, and almost immediately afterwards he was sent to Europe +to take part in the war which Theodosius had begun, again against +Maximus. + +An unpleasant misunderstanding had embittered his parting from Gorgo; +old Damia, as she held his hand had volunteered a promise that she and +her granddaughter would from time to time slay a beast in sacrifice on +his behalf. Perhaps she had had no spiteful meaning in this, but he had +regarded it as an insult, and had turned away angry and hurt. +Gorgo, however, could not bear to let him go thus; disregarding her +grandmother's look of surprise, she had called him back, and giving him +both hands had warmly bidden him farewell. Damia had looked after him in +silence and had ever afterwards avoided mentioning his name in Gorgo's +presence. + +After the victory over Maximus, Constantine, though still very young, was +promoted to the command of the troop in the place of Columella, and he +had arrived in Alexandria the day before at the head of his 'ala +miliaria'. + + [The ala miliaria consisted of 24 'turmae' or 960 mounted troopers + under the conduct of a Prefect.] + +Gorgo had never at any time ceased to think of him, but her passion had +constantly appeared to her in the light of treason and a breach of faith +towards the gods, so, to condone the sins she committed on one side by +zeal on another, she had come forth from the privacy of her father's +house to give active support to Olympius in his struggle for the faith of +their ancestors. She had become a daily worshipper at the temple of +Isis, and the hope of hearing her sing had already mere than once filled +it to overflowing at high festivals. Then, while Olympius was defending +the sanctuary of Serapis against the attacks of the Christians, she and +her grandmother had become the leaders of a party of women who made it +their task to provide the champions of the faith with the means of +subsistence. + +All this had given purpose to her life; still, every little victory in +this contest had filled her soul with regrets and anxieties. For months +and years she had been conspicuous as the opponent of her lover's creed, +and the bright eager child had developed into a grave girl a clear-headed +and resolute woman. She was the only person in the house who dared to +contradict her grandmother, and to insist on a thing when she thought it +right. The longing of her heart she could not still, but her high spirit +found food for its needs in all that surrounded her, and, by degrees, +would no doubt have gained the mastery and have been supreme in all her +being and doing, but that music and song still fostered the softer +emotions of her strong, womanly nature. + +The news of Constantine's return had shaken her soul to the foundations. +Would it bring her the greatest happiness or only fresh anguish and +unrest? + +She saw him coming!--The plume of his helmet first came in sight above +the bushes, and then his whole figure emerged from among the shrubbery. +She leaned against the pillar for support now, for her knees trembled +under her. Tall and stately, his armor blazing in the sunshine, he came +straight towards her--a man, a hero--exactly as her fancy had painted him +in many a dark and sleepless hour. As he passed her mother's tomb, she +felt as though a cold hand laid a grip on her beating heart. In a swift +flash of thought she saw her own home with its wealth and splendor, and +then the ship-builder's house-simple, chillingly bare, with its +comfortless rooms; she felt as though she must perish, nipped and +withered, in such a home. Again she thought of him standing on his +father's threshold, she fancied she could hear his bright boyish laugh +and her heart glowed once more. She forgot for the moment--clear-headed +woman though she was, and trained by her philosopher to "know herself"-- +she forgot what she had fully acknowledged only the night before: That he +would no more give up his Christ than she would her Isis, and that if +they should ever reach the dreamed-of pinnacle of joy it must be for an +instant only, followed by a weary length of misery. Yes--she forgot +everything; doubts and fears were cast aside; as his approaching +footsteps fell on her ear, she could hardly keep herself from flying, +open armed, to meet him. + +He was standing before her; she offered him her hand with frank gladness, +and, as he clasped it in his, their hearts were too full for words. +Only their eyes gave utterance to their feelings, and when he perceived +that hers were sparkling through tears, he spoke her name once, twice-- +joyfully and yet doubtfully, as if he dared not interpret her emotion as +he would. She laid her left hand lightly on his which still grasped her +right, and said with a brilliant smile: "Welcome, Constantine, welcome +home! How glad I am to see you back again!" + +"And I--and I..." he began, greatly moved. + + +"O Gorgo! Can it really be years since we parted?" + +"Yes, indeed," she said. "Anxious, busy, struggling years!" + +"But to-day we celebrate the festival of Peace," he exclaimed fervently. +"I have learnt to leave every man to go his own way so long as I am +allowed to go mine. The old strife is buried; take me as I am and I, for +my part, will think only of the noble and beautiful traits in which your +nature is so rich. The fruit of all wholesome strife must be peace; let +us pluck that fruit, Gorgo, and enjoy it together. Ah! as I stand here +and gaze out over the gardens and the lake, hearing the hammers of the +shipwrights, and rejoicing in your presence, I feel as though our +childhood might begin all over again--only better, fuller and more +beautiful!" + +"If only my brothers were here!" + +"I saw them," + +"Oh! where?" + +"At Thessalonica, well and happy--I have letters for you from them." + +"Letters!" cried Gorgo, drawing away her hand. "Well, you are a tardy +messenger! Our houses are within a stone's throw, and yet in a whole +day, from noon till noon, so old a friend could not find a few minutes +to deliver the letters entrusted to him, or to call upon such near +neighbors . . ." + +"First there were my parents," interrupted the young soldier. +"And then the tyrant military duty, which kept me on the stretch from +yesterday afternoon till an hour or two since. Romanus robbed me even of +my sleep, and kept me in attendance till the morn had set. However, +I lost but little by that, for I could not have closed my eyes till they +had beheld you! This morning again I was on duty, and rarely have I +ridden to the front with such reluctance. After that I was delayed by +various details; even on my way here--but for that I cannot be sorry for +it gave me this chance of finding you alone. All I ask now is that we +may remain so, for such a moment is not likely to be repeated.--There, +I heard a door . . ." + +"Come into the garden," cried Gorgo, signing to him to follow her. +"My heart is as full as yours. Down by the tank under the old sycamores +--we shall be quietest there." + +Under the dense shade of the centenarian trees was a rough-hewn bench +that they themselves had made years before; there Gorgo seated herself, +but her companion remained standing. + +"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Here--here you must hear me! Here where we have +been so happy together!" + +"So happy!" she echoed softly, + +"And now," he went on, "we are together once more. My heart beats +wildly, Gorgo; it is well that this breastplate holds it fast, for I feel +as though it would burst with hope and thankfulness." + +"Thankfulness?" said Gorgo, looking down. + +"Yes, thankfulness--sheer, fervent passionate gratitude! What you have +given me, what an inestimable boon, you yourself hardly know; but no +emperor could reward love and fidelity more lavishly than you have done-- +you, the care and the consolation, the pain and the joy of my life! My +mother told me--it was the first thing she thought of--how you shed tears +of grief on her bosom when the false report of my death reached home. +Those tears fell as morning dew on the drooping hopes in my heart, they +were a welcome such as few travellers find on their return home. I am no +orator, and if I were, how could speech in any way express my feelings? +But you know them--you understand what it is, after so many years . . ." + +"I know," she said looking up into his eyes, and allowing him to seize +her hand as he dropped on the bench by her side. "If I did not I could +not bear this--and I freely confess that I shed many more tears over you +than you could imagine. You love me, Constantine . . ." + +He threw his arm round her; but she disengaged herself, exclaiming: + +"Nay--I implore you, not so--not yet, till I have told you what troubles +me, what keeps me from throwing myself wholly, freely into the arms of +happiness. I know what you will ask--what you have a right to ask; but +before you speak, Constantine, remember once more all that has so often +saddened our life, even as children, that has torn us asunder like a +whirlwind although, ever since we can remember, our hearts have flowed +towards each other. But I need not remind you of what binds us--that we +both know well, only too well..." + +"Nay," he replied boldly: "That we are only beginning to know in all its +fullness and rapture. The other thing the whirlwind of which you speak, +has indeed tossed and tormented me, more than it has you perhaps; but +since I have known that you could shed tears for me and love me I have +had no more anxieties; I know for certain that all must come right! You +love me as I am, Gorgo. I am no dreamer nor poet; but I can look forward +to finding life lovely and noble if shared with you, so long as one--only +one thing is sure. I ask you plainly and truly: Is your heart as full of +love for me as mine is for you? When I was away did you think of me +every day, every night, as I thought of you, day and night without fail?" + +Gorgo's head sank and blushes dyed her cheeks as she replied: "I love +you, and I have never even thought of any one else. My thoughts and +yearnings followed you all the while you were away... and yet... oh, +Constantine! That one thing . . ." + +"It cannot part us," said the young man passionately, "since we have +love--the mighty and gracious power which conquers all things! When love +beckon: the whirlwind dies away like the breath from a child's lips; it +can bridge over any abyss; it created the world and preserves the +existence of humanity, it can remove mountains--and these are the most +beautiful words of the greatest of the apostles: 'It is long suffering +and kind, it believes all things, hopes all things' and it knows no end. +It remains with us till death and will teach us to find that peace whose +bulwark and adornment, whose child and parent it is!" + +Gorgo had looked lovingly at him while he spoke, and he, pressing her +hand to his lips went on with ardent feeling: + +"Yes, you shall be mine--I dare, and I will go to ask you of your father. +There are some words spoken in one's life which can never be forgotten. +Once your father said that he wished that I was his son. On the march, +in camp, in battle, wherever I have wandered, those words have been in my +mind; for me they could have but one meaning: I would be his son--I shall +be his son when Gorgo is my wife!--And now the time has come . . ." + +"Not yet, not to-day," she interrupted eagerly. "My hopes are the same +as yours. I believe with you that our love can bring all that is +sweetest into our lives. What you believe I must believe, and I will +never urge upon you the things that I regard as holiest. I can give up +much, bear much, and it will all seem easy for your sake. We can agree, +and settle what shall be conceded to your Christ and what to our gods-- +but not to-day; not even to-morrow. For the present let me first carry +out the task I have undertaken--when that is done and past, then... You +have my heart, my love; but if I were to prove a deserter from the cause +to-day or to-morrow it would give others--Olympius--a right to point at +me with scorn." + +"What is it then that you have undertaken?" asked Constantine with grave +anxiety. + +"To crown and close my past life. Before I can say: I am yours, wholly +yours . . ." + +"Are you not mine now, to-day, at once?" he urged. + +"To day-no," she replied firmly. "The great cause still has a claim upon +me; the cause which I must renounce for your sake. But the woman who +gives only one person reason to despise her signs the death-warrant of +her own dignity. I will carry out what I have undertaken... Do not ask +me what it is; it would grieve you to know.--The day after tomorrow, when +the feast of Isis is over . . ." + +"Gorgo, Gorgo!" shouted Damia's shrill voice, interrupting the young +girl in her speech, and half a dozen slave-women came rushing out in +search of her. + +They rose, and as they went towards the house Constantine said very +earnestly: + +"I will not insist; but trust my experience: When we have to give +something up sooner or later, if the wrench is a painful one, the sooner +and the more definitely it is done the better. Nothing is gained by +postponement and the pain is only prolonged. Hesitation and delay, +Gorgo, are a barrier built up by your own hand between us and our +happiness. You always had abundance of determination; be brave then, +now, and cut short at once a state of things that cannot last." + +"Well, well," she said hurriedly. "But you must not, you will not +require me to do anything that is beyond my strength, or that would +involve breaking my word. To-morrow is not, and cannot be yours; it must +be a day of leave-taking and parting. After that I am yours, I cannot +live without you. I want you and nothing else. Your happiness shall be +mine; only, do not make it too hard to me to part from all that has been +dear to me from my infancy. Shut your eyes to tomorrow's proceedings, +and then--oh! if only we were sure of the right path, if only we could +tread it together! We know each other so perfectly, and I know, I feel, +that it will perhaps be a comfort to our hearts to be patient with each +other over matters which our judgment fails to comprehend or even to +approve. I might be so unutterably happy; but my heart trembles within +me, and I am not, I dare not be quite glad yet." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +The young soldier was heartily welcomed by his friends of the merchant's +family; but old Damia was a little uneasy at the attitude which he and +Gorgo had taken up after their first greeting. He was agitated and +grave, she was eager and excited, with an air of determined enterprise. + +Was Eros at the bottom of it all? Were the young people going to carry +out the jest of their childhood in sober earnest? The young officer was +handsome and attractive enough, and her granddaughter after all was but a +woman. + +So far as Constantine was concerned the old lady had no personal +objection to him; nay, she appreciated his steady, grave manliness and, +for his own sake, was very glad to see him once more; but to contemplate +the ship-builder's son--the grandson of a freedman--a Christian and +devoted to the Emperor, even though he were a prefect or of even higher +grade--as a possible suitor for her Gorgo, the beautiful heiress of the +greater part of her wealth--the centre of attraction to all the gilded +youth of Alexandria--this was too much for her philosophy; and, as she +had never in her life restrained the expression of her sentiments, though +she gave him a friendly hand and the usual greeting, she very soon showed +him, by her irony and impertinence, that she was as hostile to his creed +as ever. + +She put her word in on every subject, and when, presently, Demetrius-- +who, after Dada's rebuff, had come on to see his uncle--began speaking of +the horses he had been breeding for Marcus, and Constantine enquired +whether any Arabs from his stables were to be purchased in the town, +Damia broke out: + +"You out-do your crucified God in most things I observe! He could ride +on an ass, and a stout Egyptian nag is not good enough for you." + +However, the young officer was not to be provoked; and though he was very +well able to hold his own in a strife of words, he kept himself under +control and pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts but +harmless jesting. + +Gorgo triumphed in his temperate demeanor, and thanked him with grateful +glances and a silent grasp of the hand when opportunity offered. + +Demetrius, who had also known Constantine as a boy, and who, through +Porphyrius, had sold him his first charger, met him very warmly and told +him with a laugh that he had seen him before that day, that he had +evidently learnt something on his travels, that he had tracked the +prettiest head of game in all the city; and he slapped him on the +shoulder and gave him what he meant to be a very knowing glance. +Constantine could not think where Demetrius had seen him or what he +meant; while Gorgo supposed that he alluded to her, and thought him +perfectly odious. + +Porphyrius pelted the prefect with questions which Constantine was very +ready to answer, till they were interrupted by some commotion in the +garden. On looking out they saw a strange and unpleasing procession, +headed by Herse who was scolding, thumping and dragging Dada's Egyptian +slave, while her husband followed, imploring her to moderate her fury. +Behind them came Orpheus, now and then throwing out a persuasive word to +soothe the indignant matron. This party soon came up with the others, +and Herse, unasked, poured out an explanation of her wrath. + +She had had but a brief interview with Mary, Marcus' mother, for she had +positively opposed the Christian lady's suggestion that Karnis and his +family would do well to quit Alexandria as soon as possible, accepting an +indemnification from Mary herself. To the widow's threats of seeking the +intervention of the law, she had retorted that they were not public +singers but free citizens who performed for their own enjoyment; to the +anxious mother's complaints that Dada was doing all she could to attract +Marcus, she had answered promptly and to the point that her niece's good +name would certainly out-weigh anything that could be said against a +young man to whom so much license was allowed in Alexandria. She would +find some means of protecting her own sister's child. Mary had replied +that Herse would do well to remember that she--Mary--had means at her +command of bringing justice down on those who should attempt to entrap +a Christian youth, and tempt him into the path of sin. + +This had closed the interview. Herse had found her husband and son +waiting for her at the door of Mary's house and had at once returned with +them to the ship. There an unpleasant surprise awaited them; they had +found no one on board but the Egyptian slave, who told them that Dada had +sent her on shore to procure her some sandals; on her return the girl had +vanished. The woman at the same time declared that she had seen Agne and +her brother leave the garden and make for the high-road. + +So far as the Christian girl was concerned Herse declared there would be +no difficulty; but Dada, her own niece, had always clung to them +faithfully, and though Alexandria was full of sorcerers and Magians they +could hardly succeed in making away with a fullgrown, rational, and +healthy girl. In her inexperience she had, no doubt, gone at the bidding +of some perfidious wretch, and the Egyptian witch, the brown slave had, +of course, had a finger in the trick. She would accuse no one, but she +knew some people who would be only too glad if Dada and that baby-faced +young Christian got into trouble and disgrace together. She delivered +herself of this long story with tears of rage and regret, angrily +refusing to admit any qualifying parentheses from her husband, to whose +natural delicacy her rough and vociferous complaints were offensive in +the presence of the high-bred ladies of the house. Old Damia, however, +had listened attentively to her indignant torrent of words, and had only +shrugged her shoulders with a scornful smile at the implied accusation of +herself. + +Porphyrius, to whom the whole business was simply revolting, questioned +Herse closely and when the facts were clearly established, and it also +was plainly proved that Agne had escaped from the garden, he desired the +slave-woman to tell her story of all that had occurred during the absence +of Karnis, promising her half a dozen stripes from the cane on the soles +of her feet for every false word she might utter. The threat was enough +to raise a howl from the Egyptian; but this Porphyries soon put a stop +to, and Sachepris, with perfect veracity, told her tale of all that had +happened till Herse's return to the vessel. The beginning of the +narrative was of no special interest, but when she was pressed to go +faster to the point she went on to say: + +"And then--then my lord Constantine came to us on the ship, and the +pretty mistress laughed with him and asked him to take off his helmet, +because the pretty mistress wanted to see the cut, the great sword-cut +above his eyes, and my lord Constantine took it off." + +"It is a lie!" exclaimed Gorgo. + +"No, no; it is true. Sachepris does not want her feet flayed, mistress," +cried the slave. "Ask my lord Constantine himself." + +"Yes, I went on board," said Constantine. "Just as I was crossing the +ship-yard a young girl dropped her fan into the lake. I fished it out at +her request, and carried it back to her." + +"Yes, that was it," cried Sachepris. "And the pretty mistress +laughed with my lord Constantine--is it not true?--and she took his +helmet out of his hand and weighed it in hers . . ." + +"And you could stop on your way here to trifle with that child?" cried +Gorgo wrathfully. "Pah! what men will do!" + +These words portended rage and intense disgust to Constantine. "Gorgo!" +he cried with a reproachful accent, but she could not control her +indignation and went on more vehemently than ever: + +"You stopped--with that little hussy--on your way to me--stopped to +trifle and flirt with her! Shame! Yes, I say shame! Men are thought +lucky in being light-hearted, but, for my part, may the gods preserve me +from such luck! Trifling, whispering, caressing--a tender squeeze of the +hand--solemnly, passionately earnest!--And what next? Who dares warrant +that it will not all be repeated before the shadows are an ell long on +the shore!" + +She laughed, a sharp, bitter laugh; but it was a short one. She ceased +and turned pale, for her lover's face had undergone a change that +terrified her. The scar on his forehead was purple, and his voice was +strange, harsh and hoarse as he leaned forward to bring his face on a +level with hers, and said: + +"Even if you had seen me with your own eyes you ought not to have +believed them! And if you dare to say that you do believe it, I can say +Shame! as well as you. My life may be at stake but I say: Shame!" + +As he spoke he clutched the back of a chair with convulsive fury and +stood facing the girl like an avenging god of war, his eyes flashing to +meet hers. This was too much for old Damia; she could contain herself no +longer, and striking her crutch on the floor she broke out: + +"What next shall we hear! You threaten and storm at the daughter of this +house as if she were a soldier in your camp! Listen to me, my fine +gentleman, and mind what I say: In the house of a free Alexandrian +citizen no one has any right to give his orders--be he Caesar, Consul or +Comes; he has only to observe the laws of good manners." Then turning to +Gorgo she shook her head with pathetic emphasis; "This, my love, is the +consequence of too much familiar condescension. Come, an end of this! +Greeting and parting often go hand in hand." + +The prefect turned on his heel and went towards the steps leading to the +garden; but Gorgo flew after him and seized his hand, calling out to the +old woman: + +"No, no, grandmother; he is in the right, I am certain he is in the +right. Stop, Constantine--wait, stay, and forgive my folly! If you +love me, mother, say no more--he will explain it all presently." + +The soldier heaved a sigh of relief and assented in silence, while the +slave went on with her story: "And when my lord Constantine was gone, my +lord Demetrius came and he--but what should poor Sachepris say--ask my +lord Demetrius himself to tell you." + +"That is soon done," replied Demetrius, who had failed to understand a +great deal of all that had been going forward. My brother Marcus is over +head and ears in love with the little puss--she is a pretty creature--and +to save that simple soul from mischief I thought I would take the +business on my own shoulders which are broader and stronger than his. +I went boldly to work and offered the girl--more shame for me, I must +say--the treasures of Midas; however, offering is one thing and accepting +is another, and the child snapped me up and sent me to the right about-- +by Castor and Pollux! packed me off with my tail between my legs! My +only comfort was that Constantine had just quitted the pretty little +hussy. By the side of the god of war, thought I, a country Pan makes but +a poor figure; but this Ares was dismissed by Venus, and so, if only to +keep up my self-respect, I was forced to conclude that the girl, with all +her pertness, was of a better sort than we had supposed. My presents, +which would have tempted any other girl in Alexandria to follow a cripple +to Hades, she took as an insult; she positively cried with indignation, +and I really respect pretty little Dada!" + +"She is my very own sister's child," Herse threw in, honestly angered by +the cheap estimation in which every one seemed to hold her adopted child. +"My own sister's," she insisted, with an emphasis which seemed to imply +that she had a whole family of half-sisters. "Though we now earn our +bread as singers, we have seen better days; and in these hard times +Croesus to-day may be Irus to-morrow. As for us, Karnis did not +dissipate his money in riotous living. It was foolish perhaps but it +was splendid--I believe we should do the same again; he spent all his +inheritance in trying to reinstate Art. However, what is the use of +looking after money when it is gone! If you can win it, or keep it you +will be held of some account, but if you are poor the dogs will snap at +you!--The girl, Dada--we have taken as much care of her as if she were +our own, and divided our last mouthful with her before now. Karnis used +to tease her about training her voice--and now, when she could really do +something to satisfy even good judges--now, when she might have helped us +to earn a living-now. . ." + +The good woman broke down and burst into tears, while Karnis tried to +soothe and comfort her. + +"We shall get on without them somehow," he said. "'Nil desperandum' says +Horace the Roman. And after all they are not lizards that can hide in +the cracks of the walls; I know every corner of Alexandria and I will go +and hunt them up at once." + +"And I will help you, my friend," said Demetrius, "We will go to the +Hippodrome--the gentry you will meet with there are capital blood-hounds +after such game as the daughter of your 'own sister,' my good woman. As +to the black-haired Christian girl--I have seen her many a time on board +ship. . ." + +"Oh! she will take refuge with some fellow-Christians," remarked +Porphyrius. "Olympius told me all about her. I know plenty of the same +sort in the Church. They fling away life and happiness as if they were +apple-peelings to snatch at something which they believe to constitute +salvation. It is folly, madness! pure unmitigated madness! To have sung +in the temple of the she-devil Isis with Gorgo and the other worshippers +would have cost her her seat in Paradise. That, as I believe, is the +cause of her flight." + +"That and nothing else!" cried Karnis. "How vexed the noble Olympius +will be. Indeed, Apollo be my witness! I have not been so disturbed +about anything for many a day. Do you happen to recollect," he went on, +turning to Demetrius, "our conversation on board ship about a dirge for +Pytho? Well, we had transposed the lament of Isis into the Lydian mode, +and when this young lady's wonderful voice gave it out, in harmony with +Agne's and with Orpheus' flute, it was quite exquisite! My old heart +floated on wings as I listened! And only the day after to-morrow the +whole crowd of worshippers in the temple of Isis were to enjoy that +treat!--It would have roused them to unheard-of enthusiasm. Yesterday +the girl was in it, heart and soul; nay, only this morning she and the +noble Gorgo sang it through from beginning to end. One more rehearsal +to-morrow, and then the two voices would have given such a performance as +perhaps was never before heard within the temple walls." + +Constantine had listened to this rhapsody with growing agitation; he was +standing close to Gorgo, and while the rest of the party held anxious +consultation as to what could be done to follow up and capture the +fugitives, he asked Gorgo in a low voice, but with gloomy looks: + +"You intended to sing in the temple of Isis? Before the crowd, and with +a girl of this stamp?" + +"Yes," she said firmly. + +"And you knew yesterday that I had come home?" She nodded. + +"And yet, this morning even, while you were actually expecting me, you +could practise the hymn with such a creature?" + +"Agne is not such another as the girl who played tricks with your +helmet," replied Gorgo, and the black arches of her eyebrows knit into +something very like a scowl. "I told you just now that I was not yours +today, nor to-morrow. We still serve different gods." + +"Indeed we do!" he exclaimed, so vehemently that the others looked +round, and old Damia again began to fidget in her chair. + +Then with a strong effort he recovered himself and, after standing for +some minutes gazing in silence at the ground, he said in a low tone: + +"I have borne enough for to-day. Gorgo, pause, reflect. God preserve me +from despair!" + +He bowed, hastily explained that his duties called him away, and left the +spot. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The amateurs of horse-racing who assembled in the Hippodrome could afford +no clue to Dada's hiding-place, because she had not, in fact, run away +with any gay young gallant. Within a few minutes of her sending +Sachepris to fetch her a pair of shoes, Medius had hailed her from the +shore; he wanted to speak with Karnis, and having come on an ass it was +not in vain that the incensed damsel entreated him to take her with him. +He had in fact only come to try to persuade Karnis and his wife to spare +Dada for a few performances, such as he had described, in the house of +Posidonius. His hopes of success had been but slender; and now the whole +thing had settled itself, and Dada's wish that her people should not, for +a while, know where to find her was most opportune for his plans. + +In the days when Karnis was the manager of the theatre at Tauromenium +Medius had led the chorus, and had received much kindness at the hands of +the girl's uncle. All this, he thought, he could now repay, for +certainly his old patron was poor enough, and he intended honestly to +share with his former benefactor the profits he expected to realize with +so fair a prodigy as Dada. No harm could come to the girl, and gold-- +said he to himself--glitters as brightly and is just as serviceable, even +when it has been earned for us against our will. + +Medius, being a cautious man, made the girl bring her new dress away with +her, and the girdle and jewels belonging to it, and his neat hands packed +everything into the smallest compass. He filled up the basket which he +took for the purpose with sweetmeats, oranges and pomegranates "for the +children at home," and easily consoled Dada for the loss of her shoes. +He would lead the ass and she should ride. She covered her face with a +veil, and her little feet could be hidden under her dress. When they +reached his house he would at once have "a sweet little pair of sandals" +made for her by the shoemaker who worked for the wife of the Comes and +the daughters of the Alabarch--[The chief of the Jewish colony in +Alexandria.]--These preparations and the start only took a few minutes; +and their rapid search and broken conversation caused so much absurd +confusion that Dada had quite recovered her spirits and laughed merrily +as she tripped bare-foot across the strand. She sprang gaily on to the +little donkey and as they made their way along the road, the basket +containing her small wardrobe placed in front of her on the ass's +shoulders, she remarked that she should be mistaken for the young wife of +a shabby old husband, returning from market with a load of provisions. + +She was delighted to think of what Herse's face would be when, on her +return home, she should discover that the prisoner could make her escape +even without shoes. + +"Let her have a good hunt for me!" she cried quite enchanted. "Why +should I always be supposed to be ready for folly and wickedness! But +one thing I warn you: If I am not comfortable and happy with you, and if +I do not like the parts you want me to fill, we part as quickly as we +have come together.--Why are you taking me through all these dirty +alleys? I want to ride through the main streets and see what is going +on." But Medius would not agree to this, for in the great arteries of +the town there were excitement and tumult, and they might think +themselves fortunate if they reached his house unmolested. + +He lived in a little square, between the Greek quarter and Rhacotis where +the Egyptians lived, and his house, which was exactly opposite the church +of St. Marcus, accommodated Medius himself, his wife, his widowed +daughter and her five children, besides being crammed from top to bottom +with all sorts of strange properties, standing or hanging in every +available space. Dada's curiosity had no rest, and by the time she had +spent a few hours in the house her host's pretty little grandchildren +were clinging to her with devoted affection. + +Agne had not been so fortunate as to find a refuge so easily. With no +escort, unveiled, and left entirely to her own guidance, leading the +little boy, she hurried forward, not knowing whither. All she thought +was to get away--far away from these men who were trying to imperil her +immortal soul. + +She knew that Karnis had actually bought her, and that she was, +therefore, his property and chattel. Even Christian doctrine taught her +that the slave must obey his master; but she could not feel like a slave, +and if indeed she were one her owner might destroy and kill her body, but +not her soul. The law, however, was on the side of Karnis, and it +allowed him to pursue her and cast her into prison. This idea haunted +her, and for fear of being caught she avoided all the chief thoroughfares +and kept close to the houses as she stole through the side streets and +alleys. Once, in Antioch, she had seen a runaway slave, who, having +succeeded in reaching a statue of the Emperor and laying his hand on it, +was by that act safe from his pursuers. There must surely be such a +statue somewhere in Alexandria--but where? A woman, of whom she +enquired, directed her down a wider street that would take her into the +Canopic Way. If she crossed that and went down the first turning to the +left she would reach a large open square in the Bruchium, and there, in +front of the Prefect's residence and by the side of the Bishop's house, +stood the new statue of Theodosius. + +This information, and the mention of the Bishop, gave a new course to her +proceedings. It was wrong to defy and desert her master, but to obey him +would be deadly sin. Which must she choose and which avoid? Only one +person could advise in such a case--only one could relieve her mind of +its difficulties and terrors: The Shepherd of souls in the city--the +Bishop himself. She too was a lamb of his flock; to him and to no one +else could she turn. + +This thought fell on her heart like a ray of light dispersing the clouds +of uncertainty and alarm. With a deep breath of relief she took the +child in her arms and told him--for he was whimpering to know where she +was taking him, and why he might not go back to Dada--that they were +going to see a good, kind man who would tell them the way home to their +father and mother. Papias, however, still wailed to go to Dada and not +to the man. + +Half insisting and half coaxing him with promises, she dragged him along +as far as the main street. This was full of an excited throng; soldiers +on foot and on horseback were doing what they could to keep the peace, +and the bustle amused the little boy's curiosity so that he soon forgot +his homesickness. When, at length, Ague found the street that led to the +Prefect's house she was fairly carried along by the surging, rushing mob. +To turn was quite impossible; the utmost she could do was to keep her +wits about her, and concentrate her strength so as not to be parted from +the child. Pushed, pulled, squeezed, scolded, and abused by other women +for her folly in bringing a child out into such a crowd, she at last +found herself in the great square. A hideous hubbub of coarse, loud +voices pierced her unaccustomed ears; she could have sunk on the earth +and cried; but she kept up her courage and collected all her energies, +for she saw in the distance a large gilt cross over a lofty doorway. It +was like a greeting and welcome home. Under its protection she would +certainly, find rest, consolation and safety. + +But how was she to reach it? The space before her was packed with men as +a quiver is packed with arrows; there was not room for a pin between. +The only chance of getting forward was by forcing her way, and nine- +tenths of the crowd were men--angry and storming men, whose wild and +strange demeanor filled her with terror and disgust. Most of them were +monks who had flocked in at the Bishop's appeal from the monasteries of +the desert, or from the Lauras and hermitages of Kolzum by the Red Sea, +or even from Tabenna in Upper Egypt, and whose hoarse voices rent the air +with vehement cries of: "Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Death +to the heathen!" + +This army of the Saviour whose very essence was gentleness and whose +spirit was love, seemed indeed to have deserted from his standard of +light and grace to the blood-stained banner of murderous hatred. Their +matted locks and beards fringed savage faces with glowing eyes; their +haggard or paunchy nakedness was scarcely covered by undressed hides of +sheep and goats; their parched skins were scarred and striped by the use +of the scourges that hung at their girdles. One--a "crown bearer"--had +a face streaming with blood, from the crown of thorns which he had vowed +to wear day and night in memory and imitation of the Redeemer's +sufferings, and which on this great occasion he pressed hard into the +flesh with ostentatious martyrdom. One, who, in his monastery, had +earned the name of the "oil-jar," supported himself on his neighbors' +arms, for his emaciated legs could hardly carry his dropsical carcass +which, for the last ten years, he had fed exclusively on gourds, snails, +locusts and Nile water. Another was chained inseparably to a comrade, +and the couple dwelt together in a cave in the limestone hills near +Lycopolis. These two had vowed never to let each other sleep, that so +their time for repentance might be doubled, and their bliss in the next +world enhanced in proportion to their mortifications in this. + +One and all, they were allies in a great fight, and the same hopes, +ideas, and wishes fired them all. The Abominable Thing--which imperilled +hundreds of thousands of souls, which invited Satan to assert his +dominion in this world--should fall this day and be annihilated forever! +To them the whole heathen world was the "great whore;" and though the +gems she wore were beautiful to see and rejoiced the mind and heart of +fools, they must be snatched from her painted brow; they would scourge +her from off the face of the redeemed earth and destroy the seducer of +souls forever. "Down with the idols! Down with Serapis! Down with the +heathen!" Their shouts thundered and bellowed all about Agne; but, just +as the uproar and crush were at the worst, a tall and majestic figure +appeared on a balcony above the cross and extended his hand in calm and +dignified benediction towards the seething mass of humanity. As he +raised it all present, including Ague, bowed and bent the knee. + +Agne felt, knew, that this stately man was the Bishop whom she sought, +but she did not point him out to her little brother, for his aspect was +that of some proud sovereign rather than of "the good, kind man" of whom +she had dreamed. She could never dare to force her way into the presence +of this great lord! How should the ruler over a million souls find time +or patience for her and her trivial griefs? + +However, there must be within his dwelling sundry presbyters and deacons, +and she would address herself to one of them, as soon as the crowd had +dispersed enough for her to make her way to the door beneath the cross. +Twenty times at least did she renew her efforts, but she made very small +progress; most of the monks, as she tried to squeeze past them, roughly +pushed her back; one, on whose arm she ventured to lay her hand, begging +him to make way for her, broke out into shrieks as though a serpent had +stung him, and when the crush brought her into contact with the crown- +bearer he thrust her away exclaiming: + +"Away woman! Do not touch me, spawn of Satan tool of the evil one! or I +will tread you under foot!" + +Retreat had been as impossible as progress, and long hours went by which +to her seemed like days; still she felt no fatigue, only alarm and +disgust, and, more than anything else, an ardent desire to reach the +Bishop's palace and take counsel of a priest. It was long past noon when +a diversion took place which served at any rate to interest and amuse the +crying child. + +On the platform above the doorway Cynegius came forth--Cynegius, the +Emperor's delegate; a stout man of middle height, with a shrewd round +head and a lawyer's face. State dignitaries, Consuls and Prefects had, +at this date, ceased to wear the costume that had marked the patricians +of old Rome--a woollen toga that fell in broad and dignified folds from +the shoulders; a long, close-fitting robe had taken its place, of purple +silk brocade with gold flowers. On the envoy's shoulder blazed the badge +of the highest officials, a cruciform ornament of a peculiarly thick and +costly tissue. He greeted the crowd with a condescending bow, a herald +blew three blasts on the tuba, and then Cynegius, with a wave of his hand +introduced his private secretary who stood by his side, and who at once +opened a roll he held and shouted at the top of a ringing voice: + +"Silence in Caesar's name!" + +The trumpet then sounded for the fourth time, and silence so complete +fell on the crowded square that the horses of the mounted guard in front +of the Prefect's house could be heard snorting and champing. + +"In Caesar's name," repeated the official, who had been selected for the +duty of reading the Imperial message. Cynegius himself bent his head, +again waved his hand towards his secretary, and then towards the statues +of the Emperor and Empress which, mounted on gilt standards, were +displayed to the populace on each side of the balcony; then the reading +began: + +"Theodosius Caesar greets the inhabitants of the great and noble city of +Alexandria, by Cynegius, his faithful ambassador and servant. He knows +that its true and honest citizens confess the Holy Faith in all piety and +steadfastness, as delivered to believers in the beginning by Peter, the +prince of the Apostles; he knows that they hold the true Christian faith, +and abide by the doctrine delivered by the Holy Ghost to the Fathers of +the Church in council at Nicaea. + +"Theodosius Caesar who, in all humility and pride, claims to be the sword +and shield, the champion and the rampart of the one true faith, +congratulates his subjects of the great and noble city of Alexandria +inasmuch as that most of them have turned from the devilish heresy of +Arius, and have confessed the true Nicaean creed; and he announces to +them, by his faithful and noble servant Cynegius, that this faith and no +other shall be recognized in Alexandria, as throughout his dominions. + +"In Egypt, as in all his lands and provinces, every doctrine opposed to +this precious creed shall be persecuted, and all who confess, preach or +diffuse any other doctrine shall be considered heretics and treated as +such." + +The secretary paused, for loud and repeated shouts of joy broke from the +multitude. Not a dissentient word was heard-indeed, the man who should +have dared to utter one would certainly not have escaped unpunished. It +was not till the herald had several times blown a warning blast that the +reader could proceed, as follows: + +"It has come to the ears of your Caesar, to the deep grieving of his +Christian soul, that the ancient idolatry, which so long smote mankind +with blindness and kept them wandering far from the gates of Paradise, +still, through the power of the devil, has some temples and altars in +your great and noble city. But because it is grievous to the Christian +and clement heart of the Emperor to avenge the persecutions and death +which so many holy martyrs have endured at the hands of the bloodthirsty +and cruel heathen on their posterity, or on the miscreant and-- +misbelieving enemies of our holy faith--and because the Lord hath said +'vengeance is mine'--Theodosius Caesar only decrees that the temples of +the heathen idols in this great and noble city of Alexandria shall be +closed, their images destroyed and their altars overthrown. Whosoever +shall defile himself with blood, or slay an innocent beast for sacrifice, +or enter a heathen temple, or perform any religious ceremony therein, or +worship any image of a god made by hands-nay, or pray in any temple in +the country or in the city, shall be at once required to pay a fine of +fifteen pounds of gold; and whosoever shall know of such a crime being +committed without giving information of it, shall be fined to the same +amount."--[Codex Theodosianus XVI, 10, 10.] + +The last words were spoken to the winds, for a shout of triumph, louder +and wilder than had ever before been heard even on this favorite meeting- +place of the populace, rent the very skies. Nor did it cease, nor yield +to any trumpet-blast, but rolled on in spreading waves down every street +and alley; it reached the ships in the port, and rang through the halls +of the rich and the hovels of the poor; it even found a dull echo in the +light-house at the point of Pharos, where the watchman was trimming the +lamp for the night; and in an incredibly short time all Alexandria knew +that Caesar had dealt a death-blow to the worship of the heathen gods. + +The great and fateful rumor was heard, too, in the Museum and the +Serapeum; once more the youth who had grown up in the high schools of the +city, studying the wisdom of the heathen, gathered together; men who had +refined and purified their intellect at the spring of Greek philosophy +and fired their spirit with enthusiasm for all that was good and lovely +in the teaching of ancient Greece--these obeyed the summons of their +master, Olympius, or flew to arms under the leadership of Orestes, the +Governor, for the High-Priest himself had to see to the defences of the +Serapeum.--Olympius had weapons ready in abundance, and the youths +rapidly collected round the standards he had prepared, and rushed into +the square before the Prefect's house to drive away the monks and to +insist that Cynegius should return forthwith to Rome with the Emperor's +edict. + +Young and noble lads were they who marched forth to the struggle, +equipped like the Helleman soldiers of the palmy days of Athens; and as +they went they sang a battle-song of Callinus which some one--who, no one +could tell--had slightly altered for the occasion: + + "Come, rouse ye Greeks; what, sleeping still! + Is courage dead, is shame unknown? + Start up, rush forth with zealous will, + And smite the mocking Christians down!" + +Everything that opposed their progress was overthrown. Two maniples +of foot-soldiers who held the high-road across the Bruchium attempted +to turn them, but the advance of the inflamed young warriors was +irresistible and they reached the street of the Caesareum and the square +in front of the Prefect's residence. Here they paused to sing the last +lines of their battlesong: + + "Fate seeks the coward out at home, + He dies unwept, unknown to fame, + While by the hero's honored tomb + Our grandsons' grandsons sliall proclaim: + 'In the great conflict's fiercest hour + He stood unmoved, our shield and tower.'" + +It was here, at the wide opening into the square, that the collision took +place: on one side the handsome youths, crowned with garlands, with their +noble Greek type of heads, thoughtful brows, perfumed curls, and anointed +limbs exercised in the gymnasium--on the other the sinister fanatics in +sheep-skin, ascetic visionaries grown grey in fasting, scourging, and +self-denial. + +The monks now prepared to meet the onset of the young enthusiasts who +were fighting for freedom of thought and enquiry, for Art and Beauty. +Each side was defending what it felt to be the highest Good, each was +equally in earnest as to its convictions, both fought for something +dearer and more precious than this earthly span of existence. But the +philosophers' party had swords; the monks' sole weapon was the scourge, +and they were accustomed to ply that, not on each other but on their own +rebellious flesh. A wild and disorderly struggle began with swingeing +blows on both sides; prayers and psalms mingling with the battle-song of +the heathen. Here a monk fell wounded, there one lay dead, there again +lay a fine and delicate-looking youth, felled by the heavy fist of a +recluse. A hermit wrestled hand to hand with a young philosopher who, +only yesterday had delivered his first lecture on the Neo-Platonism of +Plotinus to an interested audience. + +And in the midst of this mad struggle stood Agne with her little brother, +who clung closely to her skirts and was too terrified to shed a tear or +utter a cry. The girl was resolutely calm, but she was too utterly +terror-stricken even to pray. Fear, absorbing fear had stunned her +thoughts; it overmastered her like some acute physical pain which began +in her heart and penetrated every fibre of her frame. + +Even while the Imperial message was being read she had been too +frightened to take it all in; and now she simply shut her eyes tight and +hardly understood what was going on around her, till a new and different +noise sounded close in her ears: the clatter of hoofs, blare of trumpets +and shouts and screams. At last the tumult died away and, when she +ventured to open her eyes and look about her, the place all round her was +as clear as though it had been swept by invisible hands; here and there +lay a dead body and there still was a dense crowd in the street leading +to the Caesareum, but even that was dispersing and retreating before the +advance of a mounted force. + +She breathed freely once more, and released the child's head from the +skirt of her dress in which he had wrapped and buried it. The end of her +alarms was not yet come, however, for a troop of the young heathen came +flying across the square in wild retreat before a division of the heavy +cavalry, which had intervened to part the combatants. + +The fugitives came straight towards her; again she closed her eyes +tightly, expecting every instant to find herself under the horses' feet. +Then one of the runaways knocked down Papias, and she could bear no more; +her senses deserted her, her knees failed under her, she lost +consciousness, and with a dull groan she fell on the dusty pavement. +Close to her, as she lay, rushed the pursued and the pursuers--and at +last, how long after she knew not, when she recovered her senses she felt +as if she were floating in the air, and presently perceived that a +soldier had her in his arms and was carrying her like a child. + +Fresh alarms and fresh shame overwhelmed the poor girl; she tried to free +herself and found him quite ready to set her down. When she was once +more on her feet and felt that she could stand she glanced wildly round +her with sudden recollection, and then uttered a hoarse cry, for her +mouth and tongue were parched: + +"Christ Jesus! Where is my brother?" She pushed back her hair with a +desperate gesture, pressing her hands to her temples and peering all +round her with a look of fevered misery. + +She was still in the square and close to the door of the Prefect's house; +a man on horseback, in all probability her preserver's servant, was +following them, leading his master's horse. On the pavement lay wounded +men groaning with pain; the street of the Caesareum was lined with a +double row of footsoldiers of Papias no sign! + +Again she called him, and with such deep anguish in her voice, which was +harsh and shrill with terror, that the young officer looked at her with +extreme compassion. + +"Papias, Papias--my little brother! O God my Saviour!--where, where is +the child?" + +"We will have him sought for," said the soldier whose voice was gentle +and kind. "You are too young and pretty--what brought you into this +crowd and amid such an uproar?" + +She colored deeply and looking down answered low and hurriedly: "I was +going to see the Bishop." + +"You chose an evil hour," replied Constantine, for it was he who had +found her lying on the pavement and who had thought it only an act of +mercy not to trust so young and fair a girl to the protection of his +followers. "You may thank God that you have got off so cheaply. Now, I +must return to my men. You know where the Bishop lives? Yes, here. And +with regard to your little brother.... Stay; do you live in Alexandria?" +"No, my lord." + +"But you have some relation or friend whom you lodge with?" + +"No, my lord. I am... I have... I told you, I only want to see my lord +the Bishop." + +"Very strange! Well, take care of yourself. My time is not my own; but +by-and-bye, in a very short time, I will speak to the city watchmen; how +old is the boy?" + +"Nearly six." + +"And with black hair like yours?" + +"No, my lord--fair hair," and as she spoke the tears started to her eyes. +"He has light curly hair and a sweet, pretty little face." + +The prefect smiled and nodded. "And if they find him," he went on, +"Papias, you say, is his name where is he to be taken?" + +"I do not know, my lord, for--and yet! Oh! my head aches, I cannot +think--if only I knew... If they find him he must come here--here to my +lord the Bishop." + +"To Theophilus?" said Constantine in surprise. "Yes, yes--to him," she +said hastily. "Or--stay--to the gate-keeper at the Bishop's palace." + +"Well, that is less aristocratic, but perhaps it is more to the purpose," +said the officer; and with a sign to his servant, he twisted his hand in +his horse's mane, leaped into the saddle, waved her a farewell, and +rejoined his men without paying any heed to her thanks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +There was much bustle and stir in the hall of the Episcopal palace. +Priests and monks were crowding in and out; widows, who, as deaconesses, +were entrusted with the care of the sick, were waiting, bandages in hand, +and discussing their work and cases, while acolytes lifted the wounded on +to the litters to carry them to the hospitals. + +The deacon Eusebius, whom we have met as the spiritual adviser of Marcus, +was superintending the good work, and he took particular care that as +much attention should be shown to the wounded heathen as to the +Christians. + +In front of the building veterans of the twenty-first legion paced up and +down in the place of the ordinary gate-keepers, who were sufficient +protection in times of peace. + +Agne looked in vain for any but soldiers, but at last she slipped in +unobserved among the men and women who were tending the wounded. She was +terribly thirsty, and seeing one of the widows mixing some wine and water +and offer it to one of the wounded men who pushed it away, she took +courage and begged the deaconess to give her a drink. The woman handed +her the cup at once, asking to whom she belonged that she was here. + +"I want to see my lord, the Bishop," replied Agne, but then correcting +herself, she added hastily: "If I could see the Bishop's gate-keeper, I +might speak to him." + +"There he is," said the deaconess, pointing to an enormously tall man +standing in the darkest and remotest corner of the hall. The darkness +reminded her for the first time that it was now evening. Night was +drawing on, and then where could she take refuge and find shelter? She +shuddered and simply saying: "Thank you," she went to the man who had +been pointed out to her and begged that if her little brother should be +found and brought to him, he would take charge of him. + +"To be sure," said the big man good-naturedly. "He can be taken to the +orphanage of the 'Good Samaritan' if they bring him here, and you can +enquire for him there." + +She then made so bold as to ask if she could see a priest; but for this +she was directed to go to the church, as all those who were immediately +attached to the Bishop were to-day fully occupied, and had no time for +trifles. Agne, however, persisted in her request till the man lost +patience altogether and told her to be off at once; but at this instant +three ecclesiastics came in at the door by which her friend was on guard, +and Agne, collecting all her courage, went up to one of them, a priest of +advanced age, and besought him urgently: + +"Oh! reverend Father, I beg of you to hear me. I must speak to a priest, +and that man drives me away and says you none of you have time to attend +to me!" + +"Did he say that!" asked the priest, and he turned angrily on the +culprit saying: "The Church and her ministers never lack time to attend +to the needs of any faithful soul--I will follow you, brothers.--Now, my +child, what is it that you need?" + +"It lies so heavily on my soul," replied Agne, raising her eyes and hands +in humble supplication. "I love my Saviour, but I cannot always do +exactly as I should wish, and I do not know how I ought to act so as not +to fall into sin." + +"Come with me," said the priest, and leading the way across a small +garden, he took her into a wide open court and from thence in at a side +door and up a flight of stairs which led to the upper floor. As she +followed him her heart beat high with painful and yet hopeful excitement. +She kept her hands tightly clasped and tried to pray, but she could +hardly control her thoughts of her brother and of all she wanted to say +to the presbyter. + +They presently entered a lofty room where the window-shutters were +closed, and where a number of lamps, already lighted, were hanging over +the cushioned divans on which sat rows of busy scribes of all ages. + +"Here we are," said the priest kindly, as he seated himself in an easy- +cliair at some little distance from the writers. "Now, tell me fully +what troubles you; but as briefly as you can, for I am sparing you these +minutes from important business." + +"My lord," she began, "my parents were freeborn, natives of Augusta +Trevirorum. My father was a collector of tribute in the Emperor's +service . . ." + +"Very good--but has this anything to do with the matter?" + +"Yes, yes, it has. My father and mother were good Christians and in the +riots at Antioch--you remember, my lord, three years ago--they were +killed and I and my brother--Papias is his name . . ." + +"Yes, yes--go on." + +"We were sold. My master paid for us--I saw the money; but he did not +treat us as slaves. But now he wants me--he, Sir, is wholly devoted to +the heathen gods-and he wants me . . ." + +"To serve his idols?" + +"Yes, reverend Father, and so we ran away." + +"Quite right, my child." + +"But the scriptures say that the slave shall obey his master?" + +"True; but higher than the master in the flesh is the Father in Heaven, +and it is better a thousand times to sin against man than against God." + +This conversation had been carried on in an undertone on account of the +scribes occupied at the desks; but the priest raised his voice with his +last words, and he must have been heard in the adjoining room, for a +heavy curtain of plain cloth was opened, and an unusually deep and +powerful voice exclaimed: + +"Back again already, Irenaeus! That is well; I want to speak with you." + +"Immediately, my lord--I am at your service in a moment.--Now, my child," +he added, rising, "you know what your duty is. And if your master looks +you up and insists on your assisting at the sacrifice or what ever it may +be, you will find shelter with us. My name is Irenaeus." + +Here he was again interrupted, for the curtain was lifted once more and a +man came out of the inner room whom no one could forget after having once +met him. It was the Bishop whom Agne had seen on the balcony; she +recognized him at once, and dropped on her knees to kiss the hem of his +robe in all humility. Theophilus accepted the homage as a matter of +course, hastily glancing at the child with his large keen eyes; Agne not +daring to raise hers, for there was certainly something strangely +impressive in his aspect. Then, with a wave of his long thin hand to +indicate Agne, he asked: + +"What does this girl want?" + +"A freeborn girl--parents Christian--comes from Antioch. . ." replied +Irenaeus. "Sold to a heathen master--commanded to serve idols--has run +away and now has doubts. . ." + +"You have told her to which Lord her service is due?" interrupted the +Bishop. Then, turning to Agne, he said: "And why did you come here +instead of going to the deacon of your own church?" + +"We have only been here a few days," replied the girl timidly, as she +ventured to raise her eyes to the handsome face of this princely prelate, +whose fine, pale features looked as if they had been carved out of +marble. + +"Then go to partake of the sacred Eucharist in the basilica of Mary," +replied the Bishop. "It is just now the hour--but no, stop. You are a +stranger here you say; you have run away from your master--and you are +young, very young and very... It is dark too. Where are you intending +to sleep?" + +"I do not know," said Agne, and her eyes filled with tears. + +"That is what I call courage!" murmured Theophilus to the priest, and +then he added to Agne: "Well, thanks to the saints, we have asylums for +such as you, here in the city. That scribe will give you a document +which will secure your admission to one. So you come from Antioch? Then +there is the refuge of Seleucus of Antioch. To what parish--[Parochia in +Latin]--did your parents belong?" + +"To that of John the Baptist?" + +"Where Damascius was the preacher?" + +"Yes, holy Father. He was the shepherd of our souls." + +"What! Damascius the Arian?" cried the Bishop. He drew his fine and +stately figure up to its most commanding height and closed his thin lips +in august contempt, while Irenaeus, clasping his hands in horror, asked +her: + +"And you--do you, too, confess the heresy of Arius?" + +"My parents were Arians," replied Agne in much surprise. "They taught me +to worship the godlike Saviour." + +"Enough!" exclaimed the Bishop severely. "Come Irenaeus." + +He nodded to the priest to follow him, opened the curtain and went in +first with supreme dignity. + +Agne stood as if a thunderbolt had fallen, pale, trembling and desperate. +Then was she not a Christian? Was it a sin in a child to accept the +creed of her parents? And were those who, after charitably extending a +saving hand, had so promptly withdrawn it--were they Christians in the +full meaning of the All-merciful Redeemer? + +Agonizing doubts of everything that she had hitherto deemed sacred and +inviolable fell upon her soul; doubts of everything in heaven and earth, +and not merely of Christ and of his godlike, or divine goodness--for what +difference was there to her apprehension in the meaning of the two words +which set man to hunt and persecute man? In the distress and hopeless +dilemma in which she found herself, she shed no tears; she simply stood +rooted to the spot where she had heard the Bishop's verdict. + +Presently her attention was roused by the shrill voice of an old writer +who called out to one of the younger assistants. + +"That girl disturbs me, Petubastis; show her out." Petubastis, a pretty +Egyptian lad, was more than glad of an interruption to his work which +somehow seemed endless to-day; he put aside his implements, stroked back +the black hair that had fallen over his face, and removing the reed-pen +from behind his ear, stuck in a sprig of dark blue larkspur. Then he +tripped to the door, opened it, looked at the girl with the cool +impudence of a connoisseur in beauty, bowed slightly, and pointing the +way out said with airified politeness: + +"Allow me!" + +Agne at once obeyed and with a drooping head left the room; but the young +Egyptian stole out after her, and as soon as the door was shut he seized +her hand and said in a whisper: "If you can wait half an hour at the +bottom of the stairs, pretty one, I will take you somewhere where you +will enjoy yourself." + +She had stopped to listen, and looked enquiringly into his face, for she +had no suspicion of his meaning; the young fellow, encouraged by this, +laid his hand on her shoulder and would have drawn her towards him but +that she, thrusting him from her as if he were some horrible animal, flew +down the steps as fast as her feet could carry her, and through the +courtyard back into the great entrance-hall. + +Here all was, by this time, dark and still; only a few lamps lighted the +pillared space and the flare of a torch fell upon the benches placed +there for the accommodation of priests, laymen and supplicants generally. + +Utterly worn out--whether by terror or disappointment or by hunger and +fatigue she scarcely knew--she sank on a seat and buried her face in her +hands. + +During her absence the wounded had been conveyed to the sick-houses; one +only was left whom they had not been able to move. He was lying on a +mattress between two of the columns at some little distance from Agne, +and the light of a lamp, standing on a medicine-chest, fell on his +handsome but bloodless features. A deaconess was kneeling at his head +and gazed in silence in the face of the dead, while old Eusebius crouched +prostrate by his side, resting his cheek on the breast of the man whose +eyes were sealed in eternal sleep. Two sounds only broke the profound +silence of the deserted hall: an occasional faint sob from the old man +and the steady step of the soldiers on guard in front of the Bishop's +palace. The widow, kneeling with clasped hands, never took her eyes off +the face of the youth, nor moved for fear of disturbing the deacon who, +as she knew, was praying--praying for the salvation of the heathen soul +snatched away before it could repent. Many minutes passed before the old +man rose, dried his moist eyes, pressed his lips to the cold hand of the +dead and said sadly: + +"So young--so handsome--a masterpiece of the Creator's hand!... Only +to-day as gay as a lark, the pride and joy of his mother-and now! How +many hopes, how much triumph and happiness are extinct with that life. +O Lord my Saviour, Thou hast said that not only those who call Thee Lord, +Lord, shall find grace with our Father in Heaven, and that Thou hast shed +Thy blood for the salvation even of the heathen--save, redeem this one! +Thou that are the Good Shepherd, have mercy on this wandering sheep!" + +Stirred to the bottom of his soul the old man threw up his arms and gazed +upwards rapt in ecstasy. But presently, with an effort, he said to the +deaconess: + +"You know, Sister, that this lad was the only son of Berenice, the widow +of Asclepiodorus, the rich shipowner. Poor, bereaved mother! Only +yesterday he was driving his guadriga out of the gate on the road to +Marea, and now--here! Go and tell her of this terrible occurrence. I +would go myself but that, as I am a priest, it might he painful to her to +learn of his tragic end from one of the very men against whom the poor +darkened youth had drawn the sword. So do you go, Sister, and treat the +poor soul very tenderly; and if you find it suitable show her very gently +that there is One who has balm for every wound, and that we--we and all +who believe in Him--lose what is dear to us only to find it again. Tell +her of hope: Hope is everything. They say that green is the color of +hope, for it is the spring-tide of the heart. There may be a Spring for +her yet." + +The deaconess rose, pressed a kiss on the eyes of the dead youth, +promised Eusebius that she would do her best and went away. He, too, +was about to leave when he heard a sound of low sobbing from one of the +benches. He stood still to listen, shook his old head, and muttering to +himself: + +"Great God--merciful and kind.... Thou alone canst know wherefore Thou +hast set the rose-garland of life with so many sharp thorns," he went up +to Agne who rose at his approach. + +"Why, my child," he said kindly, "what are you weeping for? Have you, +too, lost some dear one killed in the fray?" + +"No, no," she hastily replied with a gesture of terror at the thought. + +"What then do you want here at so late an hour?" + +"Nothing--nothing," she said. "That is all over! Good God, how long I +must have been sitting here--I--I know I must go; yes, I know it." + +"And are you alone-no one with you?" + +She shook her head sadly. The old man looked at her narrowly. + +"Then I will take you safe home," he said. "You see I am an old man and +a priest. Where do you live, my child?" + +"I? I. . ." stammered Agne, and a torrent of scalding tears fell down +her cheeks. "My God! my God! where, where am I to go?" + +"You have no home, no one belonging to you?" asked the old man. "Come, +child, pluck up your courage and tell me truly what it is that troubles +you; perhaps I may be able to help you." + +"You?" she said with bitter melancholy. "Are not you one of the +Bishop's priests?" + +"I am a deacon, and Theophilus is the head of my church; but for that +very reason . . ." + +"No," said Agne sharply, "I will deceive no one. My parents were Arians, +and as my beliefs are the same as theirs the Bishop has driven me away as +an outcast, finally and without pity." + +"Indeed," said Eusebius. "Did the Bishop do that? Well, as the head of +a large community of Christians he, of course, is bound to look at things +in their widest aspect; small things, small people can be nothing to him. +I, on the contrary, am myself but a small personage, and I care for small +things. You know, child, that the Lord has said 'that in his Father's +kingdom there are many mansions,' and that in which Arius dwells is not +mine; but it is in the Father's kingdom nevertheless. It cannot be so +much amiss after all that you should cling to the creed of your parents. +What is your name?" + +"Agne." + +"Agne, or the lamb. A pretty, good name! It is a name I love, as I, +too, am a shepherd, though but a very humble one, so trust yourself to +me, little lamb. Tell me, why are you crying? And whom do you seek +here? And how is it that you do not know where to find a home?" + +Eusebius spoke with such homely kindness, and his voice was so full of +fatherly sympathy that hope revived in Agne's breast, and she told him +with frank confidence all he wanted to know. + +The old man listened with many a "Hum" and "Ha"--then he bid her +accompany him to his own house, where his wife would find a corner that +she might fill. + +She gladly agreed, and thanked him eagerly when he also told the +doorkeeper to bring Papias after them if he should be found. Relieved of +the worst of her griefs, Agne followed her new friend through the streets +and lanes, till they paused at the gate of a small garden and he said: +"Here we are. What we have we give gladly, but it is little, very +little. Indeed, who can bear to live in luxury when so many are +perishing in want and misery?" + +As they went across the plot, between the little flower-beds, the deacon +pointed to a tree and said with some pride: "Last year that tree bore me +three hundred and seven peaches, and it is still healthy and productive." + +A hospitable light twinkled in the little house at the end of the garden, +and as they entered a queer-looking dog came out to meet his master, +barking his welcome. He jumped with considerable agility on his fore- +legs, but his hind legs were paralyzed and his body sloped away and stuck +up in the air as though it were attached to an invisible board. + +"This is my good friend Lazarus," said the old man cheerfully. +"I found the poor beggar in the road one day, and as he was one of God's +creatures, although he is a cripple, I comfort myself with the verse from +the Psalms: 'The Lord has no joy in the strength of a horse, neither +taketh he pleasure in any man's legs.'" + +He was so evidently content and merry that Agne could not help laughing +too, and when, in a few minutes, the deacon's wife gave her a warm and +motherly reception she would have been happier than she had been for a +long time past, if only her little brother had not been a weight on her +mind and if she had not longed so sadly to have him safe by her side. +But even that anxiety presently found relief, for she was so weary and +exhausted that, after eating a few mouthfuls, she was thankful to lie +down in the clean bed that Elizabeth had prepared for her, and she +instantly fell asleep. She was in the old deacon's bed, and he made +ready to pass the night on the couch in his little sitting-room. + +As soon as the old couple were alone Eusebius told his wife how and where +he had met the girl and ended by saying: + +"It is a puzzling question as to these Arians and other Christian +heretics. I cannot be hard on them so long as they cling faithfully to +the One Lord who is necessary to all. If we are in the right--and I +firmly believe that we are--and the Son is of one substance of the +Father, he is without spot or blemish; and what can be more divine than +to overlook the error of another if it concerns ourselves, or what more +meanly human than to take such an error amiss and indulge in a cruel or +sanguinary revenge on the erring soul? Do not misunderstand me. +I, unfortunately--or rather, I say, thank God!--I have done nothing great +here on earth, and have never risen to be anything more than a deacon. +But if a boy comes up to me and mistakes me for an acolyte or something +of that kind, is that a reason why I should flout or punish him? Not a +bit of it. + +"And to my belief our Saviour is too purely divine to hate those who +regard Him as only 'God-like.' He is Love. And when Arius goes to +Heaven and sees Jesus Christ in all His divine glory, and falls down +before Him in an ecstasy of joy and repentance, the worst the Lord will +do to him will be to take him by the ear and say: 'Thou fool! Now thou +seest what I really am; but thine errors be forgiven!'" + +Elizabeth nodded assent. "Amen," she said, "so be it.--And so, no doubt, +it will be. Did the Lord cast out the woman taken in adultery? Did he +not give us the parable of the Samaritan?--Poor little girl! We have +often wished for a daughter and now we have found one; a pretty creature +she is too. God grants us all our wishes! But you must be tired, old +man; go to rest now." + +"Directly, directly," said Eusebius; but then, striking his forehead with +his hand, he went on in much annoyance: "And with all this tumult and +worry I had quite forgotten the most important thing of all: Marcus! He +is like a possessed creature, and if I do not make a successful appeal to +his conscience before he sleeps this night mischief will come of it. +Yes, I am very tired; but duty before rest. It is of no use to +contradict me, Mother. Get me my cloak; I must go to the lad." And a +few minutes later the old man was making his way to the house in the +Canopic street. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Dread and anxiety had taken possession of the merchant's household after +Constantine had left them. Messengers came hurrying in, one after +another, to request the presence of Olympius. A heathen secretary of +Evagrius the Governor, had revealed what was astir, and the philosopher +had at once prepared to return to the Serapeum. Porphyrius himself +ordered his closed harmamaxa to be brought out, and undertook to fetch +weapons and standards to the temple from a storehouse where they were +laid by. This building stood on a plot of ground belonging to him in +Rhacotis, behind a timber-yard which was accessible from the streets in +front and behind, but sheltered from the public gaze by sheds and wood- +stacks. + +The old aqueduct, which supplied the courts of sacrifice and the +Subterranean crypts of the temple where the mysteries of Serapis were +celebrated, passed close by the back-wall of this warehouse. Since the +destruction of the watercourse, under the Emperor Julian, the underground +conduit had been dry and empty, and a man by slightly stooping could +readily pass through it unseen into the Serapeum. This mysterious +passage had lately been secretly cleared out, and it was now to be used +for the transport of the arms to the temple precincts. + +Damia had been present at the brief but vehement interview between her +son and Olympius, and had thrown in a word now and again: "It is serious, +very serious!" or, "Fight it out--no quarter!" + +The parting was evidently a very painful one to Olympius; when the +merchant held out both his hands the older man clasped them in his and +held them to his breast, saying: "Thanks, my friend; thanks for all you +have done. We have lived--and if now we perish it is for the future +happiness of our grandchildren. What would life be to you and me if it +were marred by scourgings and questionings?--The omens read ill, and if I +am not completely deceived we are at the beginning of the end. What lies +beyond...! we as philosophers must meet it calmly. The supreme Mind +that governs us has planned the universe so well, that it is not likely +that those things of which we now have no knowledge should not also be +ordered for the best. The pinions of my soul beat indeed more freely and +lightly as I foresee the moment when it shall be released from the burden +of this flesh!" + +The High-Priest raised his arms as though indeed he were prepared to soar +and uttered a fervent and inspired prayer in which he rehearsed to the +gods all that he and his had done in their honor and vowed to offer them +fresh sacrifices. His expressions were so lofty, and his flow of +language so beautiful and free, that Porphyrius did not dare to interrupt +him, though this long delay on the part of the leader of the cause made +him intolerably anxious. When the old man--who was as emotional as a +boy--ceased speaking, his white beard was wet with tears, and seeing that +even Damia's and Gorgo's eyes were moist, he was preparing to address +them again; but Porphyrius interposed. He gave him time only to press +his lips to Datnia's hand and to bid Gorgo farewell. + +"You were born into stirring times," he said to her, "but under a good +sign. Two worlds are in collision; which shall survive?--For you, my +darling, I have but one wish: May you be happy!" + +He left the room and the merchant paced up and down lost in gloomy +thoughts. Presently, as he caught his mother's eye fixed uneasily upon +him, he murmured, less to her than to himself: "If he can think thus of +what the end will be, who can still dare to hope?" Damia drew herself up +in her chair. + +"I," she exclaimed passionately, "I--I dare, and I do hope and trust in +the future. Is everything to perish which our forefathers planned and +founded? Is this dismal superstition to overwhelm and bury the world and +all that is bright and beautiful, as the lava stream rolled over the +cities of Vesuvius? No, a thousand times no! Our retrograde and +cowardly generation, which has lost all heart to enjoy life in sheer +dread of future annihilation, may perhaps be doomed by the gods, as was +that of Deucalion's day. Well--if so, what must be must! But such a +world as they dream of never can, never will last. Let them succeed in +their monstrous scheme! if the Temple of temples, the House of Serapis, +were to be in ashes and the image of the mighty god to be dashed to +pieces, what then... I say what then? Then indeed everything will be at +an end--we, everybody; but they too, they, too, will perish." + +She clenched her fist with hatred and revenge and went on: "I know what I +know--there are legible and infallible signs, and it is given to me to +interpret them, and I tell you: It is true, unerringly true, as every +Alexandrian child has learnt from its nurse: When Serapis falls the earth +will collapse like a dry puff-ball under a horse's hoof. A hundred +oracles have announced it, it is written in the prophecies of the +heavenly bodies, and in the scroll of Fate. Let them be! Let it come! +The end is sweet to those who, in the hour of death, can see the enemy +thrust the sword into his own breast." + +The old woman sank back panting and gasping for breath, but Gorgo +hastened to support her in her arms and she soon recovered. Hardly had +she opened her eyes again than, seeing her son still in the room, she +went on angrily: + +"You--here still? Do you think there is any time to spare? They will be +waiting, waiting for you! You have the key and they need weapons." + +"I know what I am about," replied Porphyrius calmly. "All in good time. +I shall be on the spot long before the youngsters have assembled. Cyrus +will bring me the pass-words and signs; I shall send off the messengers, +and then I shall still be in time for action." + +"Messengers! To whom?" + +"To Barkas. He is at the head of more than a thousand Libyan peasants +and slaves. I shall send one, too, to Pachomius to bid him win us over +adherents among the Biamite fishermen and the population of the eastern +Delta." + +"Right, right--I know. Twenty talents--Pachomius is poor--twenty talents +shall be his, out of my private coffer, if only they are here in time." + +"I would give ten, thirty times as much if they were only here now!" +cried the merchant, giving way for the first time to the expression of +his real feelings. "When I began life my father taught me the new +superstitions. Its chains still hang about me; but in this fateful hour +I feel more strongly than ever, and I mean to show, that I am faithful to +the old gods. We will not be wanting; but alas! there is no escape for +us now if the Imperial party are staunch. If they fall upon us before +Barkas can join us, all is lost; if, on the contrary, Barkas comes at +once and in time, there is still some hope; all may yet be well. What +can a party of monks do? And as yet only our Constantine's heavy cavalry +have come to the assistance of the two legions of the garrison." + +"Our Constantine!" shrieked Damia. "Whose? I ask you, whose? We have +nothing to do with that miserable Christian!" + +But Gorgo turned upon her at once: + +"Indeed, grandmother," she exclaimed, quivering with rage, "but we have! +He is a soldier and must do his duty; but he is fondly attached to us." + +"Us, us?" retorted the old woman with a laugh. "Has he sworn love to +you, let me ask? Has he? and you-do you believe him, simple fool? I +know him, I know him! Why, for a scrap of bread and a drop of wine from +the hand of his priest he would see you and all of us plunged into +misery! But see, here are the messengers." + +Porphyrius gave his instructions to the young men who now entered the +hall, hurried them off, clasped Gorgo in a tender embrace and then bent +over his mother to kiss her--a thing he had not done for many a day. +Old Damia laid aside her stick, and taking her son's face in both her +withered hands, muttered a few words which were half a fond appeal and +half a magical formula, and then the women were alone. For a long while +both were silent. The old woman sat sunk in her arm-chair while Gorgo +stood with her back against the pedestal of a bust of Plato, gazing +meditatively at the ground. At last it was Damia who spoke, asking to be +carried into the women's rooms. + +Gorgo, however, stopped her with a gesture, went close to her and said: +"No, wait a minute, mother; first you must hear what I have to say." + +"What you have to say?" asked her grandmother, shrugging her shoulders. + +"Yes. I have never deceived you; but one thing I have hitherto concealed +from you because I was never till this morning sure of it myself--now I +am. Now I know that I love him." + +"The Christian?" said the old woman, pushing aside a shade that screened +her eyes. + +"Yes, Constantine; I will not hear you abuse him." Damia laughed +sharply, and said in a tone of supreme scorn: + +"You will not? Then you had better stop your ears, my dear, for as long +as my tongue can wag. . . ." + +"Hush, grandmother, say no more," said the girl resolutely. "Do not +provoke me with more than I can bear. Eros has pierced me later than he +does most girls and has done it but once, but how deeply you can never +know. If you speak ill of him you only aggravate the wound and you would +not be so cruel! Do not--I entreat you; drop the subject or else. . ." + +"Or else?" + +"Or else I must die, mother--and you know you love me." + +Her tone was soft but firm; her words referred to the future, but that +future was as clear to Gorgo's view as if it were past. Damia gave a +hasty, sidelong glance at her grandchild, and a cold chill ran through +her; the--girl stood and spoke with an air of inspiration--she was full +of the divinity as Damia thought, and the old woman herself felt as +though she were in a temple and in the immediate presence of the +Immortals. + +Gorgo waited for a reply, but in vain; and as her grandmother remained +silent she went back to her place by the pedestal. At last Damia raised +her wrinkled face, looked straight in the girl's eyes and asked: + +"And what is to be the end of it?" + +"Aye--what?" said Gorgo gloomily and she shook her head. "I ask myself +and can find no answer, for his image is ever present to me and yet walls +and mountains stand between us. That face, that image--I might perhaps +force myself to shatter it; but nothing shall ever induce me to let it be +defiled or disgraced! Nothing!" + +The old woman sank into brooding thought once more; mechanically she +repeated Gorgo's last word, and at intervals that gradually became longer +she murmured, at last scarcely audibly: "Nothing--nothing!" + +She had lost all sense of time and of her immediate surroundings, and +long-forgotten sorrows crowded on her memory: The dreadful day when a +young freedman--a gifted astronomer and philosopher who had been +appointed her tutor, and whom she had loved with all the passion of a +vehement nature--had been kicked out of her father's house by slaves, for +daring to aspire to her hand. She had given him up--she had been forced +to do so; and after she was the wife of another and he had risen to fame, +she had never given him any token that she had not forgotten him. Two +thirds of a century lay between that happy and terrible time, and the +present. He had been dead many a long year, and still she remembered +him, and was thinking of him even now. A singular effort of fancy showed +her herself, as she had then been, and Gorgo--whom she saw not with her +bodily eyes, though the girl was standing in front of her--two young +creatures side by side. The two were but one in her vision; the same +anguish that embittered one life now threatened the other. But after all +she, Damia, had dragged this grief after her through the weary decades, +like the iron ball at the end of a chain which keeps the galley-slave to +his place at the oar, and from which he can no more escape than from a +ponderous and ever-present shadow; and Gorgo's sorrow could not at any +rate be for long, since the end of all things was at hand--it was coming +slowly but with inevitable certainty, nearer and nearer every hour. + +When had a troop of enthusiastic students and hastily-collected peasant- +soldiers ever been able to snake an effectual stand against the hosts of +Rome? Damia, who only a few minutes since had spoken with such +determined encouragement to her son, had terrible visions of the Imperial +legions putting Olympius to rout, with the Libyans under Barkas and the +Biamite rabble under Pachomius; storming the Serapeum and reducing it to +ruin: Firebrands flying through its sacred halls, the roof giving way, +the vaults falling in; the sublime image of the god--the magnificent work +of Bryaxis--battered by a hail of stones, and sinking to mingle with the +reeking dust. Then a cry rose up from all nature, as though every star +in heaven, every wave of ocean, every leaf of the forest, every blade in +the meadow, every rock on the shore and every grain of sand in the +measureless desert had found a voice; and this universal wail of "Woe, +woe!" was drowned by rolling thunder such as the ear of man had never +heard, and no mortal creature could hear and live. The heavens opened, +and out of the black gulf of death-bearing clouds poured streams of fire; +consuming flaines rose to meet it from the riven womb of earth, rushing +up to lick the sky. What had been air turned to fire and ashes, the +silver and gold stars fell crashing fronn the firmament, and the heavens +themselves bowed and collapsed, burying the ruined earth. Ashes, ashes, +fine grey dusty ashes pervaded space, till presently a hurricane rose and +swept away the chaos of gloom, and vast nothingness yawned before her: a +bottomless abyss--an insatiable throat, swallowing down with greedy +thirst all that was left; till where the world had been, with gods and +men and all their works, there was only nothingness; hideous, inscrutable +and unfathomable. And in it, above it, around it--for what are the +dimensions of nothingness?--there reigned the incomprehensible Unity of +the Primal One, in calm and pitiless self-concentration, beyond--the +Real, nay even beyond the Conceivable--for conception implies plurality +--the Supreme One of the Neo-Platonists to whose school she belonged. + +The old woman's blood ran cold and hot as she pictured the scene; but she +believed in it, and chose to believe in it; "Nothing, nothing. . ." +which she had begun by muttering, insensibly changed to "Nothingness, +nothingness!" and at last she spoke it aloud. + +Gorgo stood spellbound as she gazed at her grandmother. What had come +over her? What was the meaning of this glaring eye, this gasping breath, +this awful expression in her face, this convulsive action of her hands? +Was she mad? And what did she mean by "Nothingness, nothingness. . ." +repeated in a sort of hollow cry? + +Terrified beyond bearing she laid her hand on Dalnia's shoulder, saying: +"Mother, mother! wake up! What do you mean by saying 'nothingness, +nothingness' in that dreadful way?" + +Dainia collected her scattered wits, shivered with cold and then said, +dully at first, but with a growing cheerfulness that made Gorgo's blood +run cold: "Did I say 'nothingness'? Did I speak of the great void, my +child? You are quick of hearing. Nothingness--well, you have learnt to +think; are you capable of defining the meaning of the word--a monster +that has neither head nor tail, neither front nor back--can you, I say, +define the idea of nothingness?" + +"What do you mean, mother?" said Gorgo with growing alarm. + +"No, she does not know, she does not understand," muttered the old woman +with a dreary smile. "And yet Melampus told me, only yesterday, that +you understood his lesson on conic sections better than many men. Aye, +aye, child; I, too, learnt mathematics once, and I still go through +various calculations every night in my observatory; but to this day I +find it difficult to conceive of a mathematical point. It is nothing and +yet it is something. But the great final nothingness!--And that even is +nonsense, for it can be neither great nor small, and come neither sooner +nor later. Is it not so, my sweet? Think of nothing--who cannot do +that; but it is very hard to imagine nothingness. We can neither of us +achieve that. Not even the One has a place in it. But what is the use +of racking our brains? Only wait till to-morrow or the day after; +something will happen then which will reduce our own precious persons and +this beautiful world to that nothingness which to-day is inconceivable. +It is coming; I can hear from afar the brazen tramp of the airy and +incorporeal monster. A queer sort of giant--smaller than the +mathematical point of which we were speaking, and yet vast beyond all +measurement. Aye, aye; our intelligence, polyp-like, has long arms and +can apprehend vast size and wide extent; but it can no more conceive of +nothingness than it can of infinite space or time. + +"I was dreaming that this monstrous Nought had come to his kingdom and +was opening a yawning mouth and toothless jaws to swallow its all down +into the throat that it has not got--you, and me, and your young officer, +with this splendid, recreant city and the sky and the earth. Wait, only +wait! The glorious image of Serapis still stands radiant, but the cross +casts an ominous shadow that has already darkened the light over half the +earth! Our gods are an abomination to Caesar, and Cynegius only carries +out his wishes. . ." + +Here Damia was interrupted by the steward, who rushed breathless into the +room, exclaiming: + +"Lost! All is lost! An edict of Theodosius commands that every temple +of the gods shall be closed, and the heavy cavalry have dispersed our +force." + +"Ah ha!" croaked the old woman in shrill accents. "You see, you see! +There it is: the beginning of the end! Yes--your cavalry are a powerful +force. They are digging a grave--wide and deep, with room in it for +many: for you, for me, and for themselves, too, and for their Prefect. +--Call Argus, man, and carry me into the Gynaeconitis--[The women's +apartment]--and there tell us what has happened." In the women's room +the steward told all he knew, and a sad tale it was; one thing, however, +gave him some comfort: Olympius was at the Serapeunt and had begun to +fortify the temple, and garrison it with a strong force of adherents. + +Damia had definitively given up all hope, and hardly heeded this part of +his story, while on Gorgo's mind it had a startling effect. She loved +Constantine with all the fervor of a first, and only, and long-suppressed +passion; she had repented long since of her little fit of suspicion, and +it would have cost her no perceptible effort to humble her pride, to fly +to him and pray for forgiveness. But she could not--dared not--now, when +everything was at stake, renounce her fidelity to the gods for whose sake +she had let him leave her in anger, and to whom she must cling, cost what +it might; that would be a base desertion. If Olympius were to triumph in +the struggle she might go to her lover and say: "Do you remain a +Christian, and leave me the creed of my childhood, or else open my heart +to yours." But, as matters now stood, her first duty was to quell her +passion and retrain faithful to the end, even though the cause were lost. +She was Greek to the backbone; she knew it and felt it, and yet her eye +had sparkled with pride as she heard the steward's tale, and she seemed +to see Constantine at the head of his horsemen, rushing upon the heathen +and driving them to the four winds like a flock of sheep. Her heart beat +high for the foe rather than for her hapless friends--these were but +bruised reeds--those were the incarnation of victorious strength. + +These divided feelings worried and vexed her; but her grandmother had +suggested a way of reconciling them. Where he commanded victory +followed, and if the Christians should succeed in destroying the image of +Serapis the joints of the world would crack and the earth would crumble +away. She herself was familiar with the traditions and the oracles which +with one consent foretold this doom; she had learnt them as an infant +from her nurse, from the slave-women at the loom, from learned men and +astute philosophers--and to her the horrible prophecy meant a solution of +every contradiction and the bitter-sweet hope of perishing with the man +she loved. + +As it grew dark another person appeared: the Moschosphragist--[The +examiner of sacrificed animals]--from the temple of Serapis, who, every +day, examined the entrails of a slaughtered beast for Damia; to-day the +augury had been so bad that he was almost afraid of revealing it. But +the old woman, sure of it beforehand, took his soothsaying quite calmly, +and only desired to be carried up to her observatory that she might watch +the risings of the stars. + +Gorgo remained alone below. From the adjoining workrooms came the +monotonous rattle of the loom at which, as usual, a number of slaves were +working. + +Suddenly the clatter ceased. Damia had sent a slave-girl down to say +that they might leave off work and rest till next day if they chose. She +had ordered that wine should be distributed to them in the great hall, as +freely as at the great festival of Dionysus. + +All was silent in the Gynaeconitis. The garlands of flowers, which Gorgo +herself had helped some damsels of her acquaintance to twine for the +temple of Isis, lay in a heap-the steward had told her that the venerable +sanctuary was to be closed and surrounded by soldiers. This then put an +end to the festival; and she could have been heartily glad, for it +relieved her of the necessity of defying Constantine; still, it was +with tender melancholy that she thought of the gentle goddess in whose +sanctuary she had so often found comfort and support. She could +remember, as a tiny child, gathering the first flowers in her little +garden, and sticking them in the ground near the tank from which water +was fetched for libations in the temple; with the pocketmoney given her +by her elders, she had bought perfumes to pour on the altars of the +divinity; and often when her heart was heavy she had found relief in +prayer before the marble statue of the goddess. How splendid had the +festivals of Isis been, how gladly and rapturously had she sung in their +honor! Almost everything that had lent poetry and dignity to her +childhood had been bound up with Isis and her sanctuary--and now it was +closed and the image of the divine mother was perhaps lying in fragments +in the dirt! + +Gorgo knew all the lofty ideals which lay at the foundation of the +worship of this goddess; but it was not to them that she had turned for +help, but to the image in whose mystical strength she trusted. And what +had already been done to Isis and her temple might soon be done to +Serapis and to his house. + +She could not bear the thought, for she had been accustomed to regard +the Serapeum as the very heart of the universe--the centre and fulcrum +on which the balance of the earth depended; to her, Serapis himself was +inseparable from his temple and its atmosphere of magical and mystical +power. Every prophecy, every Sibylline text, every oracle must be +false if the overthrow of that image could remain unpunished--if the +destruction of the universe failed to follow, as surely as a, flood +ensues from a breach in a dyke. How indeed could it be otherwise, +according to the explanation which her teacher had given her of the Neo- +Platonic conception of the nature of the god? + +It was not Serapis but the great and unapproachable One--supreme above +comprehension and sublime beyond conception, for whose majesty every name +was too mean, the fount and crown of Good and Beauty, in whole all that +exists ever has been and ever shall be. He it was who, like a brimful +vessel, overflowed with the quintessence of what we call divine; and from +this effluence emanated the divine Mind, the pure intelligence which is +to the One what light is to the sun. This Mind with its vitality--a life +not of time but of eternity--could stir or remain passive as it listed; +it included a Plurality, while the One was Unity, and forever +indivisible. The concept of each living creature proceeded from the +second: The eternal Mind; and this vivifying and energizing intelligence +comprehended the prototypes of every living being, hence, also, of the +immortal gods--not themselves but their idea or image. And just as the +eternal Mind proceeded from the One, so, in the third place, did the Soul +of the universe proceed from the second; that Soul whose twofold nature +on one side touched the supreme Mind, and, on the other, the baser world +of matter. This was the immortal Aphrodite, cradled in bliss in the pure +radiance of the ideal world and yet unable to free herself from the gross +clay of matter fouled by sensuality and the vehicle of sin. + +The head of Serapis was the eternal Mind; in his broad breast slept the +Soul of the Universe, and the prototypes of all created things; the world +of matter was the footstool under his feet. All the subordinate forces +obeyed him, the mighty first Cause, whose head towered up to the realm of +the incoinprellensible and inconceivable One. He was the sum total of +the universe, the epitome of things created; and at the same time he was +the power which gave them life and intelligence and preserved them from +perishing by perpetual procreation. It was his might that kept the +multiform structure of the material and psychical world in perennial +harmony. All that lived--Nature and its Soul as much as Man and his +Soul--were inseparably dependent on him. If he--if Serapis were to fall, +the order of the universe must be destroyed; and with him: The Synthesis +of the Universe--the Universe itself must cease to exist. + +But what would survive would not be the nothingness--the void of which +her grandmother had spoken; it would be the One--the cold, ineffable, +incomprehensible One! This world would perish with Serapis; but perhaps +it might please that One to call another world into being out of his +overflowing essence, peopled by other and different beings. + +Gorgo was startled out of these meditations by a wild tumult which came +up from the slaves' hall some distance off and reached her ears in the +women's sitting-room. Could her grandmother have opened the wine stores +all too freely; were the miserable wretches already drunk? + +No, the noise was not that of a troop of slaves who have forgotten +themselves, and given the rein to their wild revelry under the influence +of Dionysus! She listened and could distinctly hear lamentable howls and +wild cries of grief. Something frightful must have happened! Had +some evil befallen her father? Greatly alarmed she flew across the +courtyard to the slaves' quarters and found the whole establishment, +black and white alike, in a state of frenzy. The women were rushing +about with their hair unbound over their faces, beating their breasts and +wailing, the men squatted in silence with their wine-cups before them +untouched, softly sobbing and whining. + +What had come upon them--what blow had fallen on the house? + +Gorgo called her old nurse and learnt from her that the Moschosphragist +had just told them that the troops had been placed all round the Serapeum +and that the Emperor had commanded the Prefect of the East to lay violent +hands on the temple of the King of gods. Today or to-morrow the crime +was to be perpetrated. They had been warned to pray and repent of their +sins, for at the moment when the holiest sanctuary on earth should fall +the whole world would crumble into nothingness. The entrails of the +beast sacrificed by Damia had been black as though scorched, and a +terrific groan had been heard from the god himself in the great shrine; +the pillars of the great hypostyle had trembled and the three heads of +Cerberus, lying at the feet of Serapis; had opened their jaws. + +Gorgo listened in silence to the old woman's story; and all she said in +reply was: "Let them wail." + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts +Very hard to imagine nothingness + + + + + + +SERAPIS + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 4. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +The day had flown swiftly for Dada under the roof of Medius; there were +costumes and scenery in wonderful variety for her to look over; the +children were bright and friendly, and she had enjoyed playing with them, +for all her little tricks and rhymes, which Papias was familiar with by +this time, were to them new and delightful. It amused her, too, to see +what the domestic difficulties were of which the singer had described +himself as being a victim. + +Medius was one of those men who buy everything that strikes them as +cheap--for instance, that very morning, at Kibotus he had stood to watch +a fish auction and had bought a whole tub-full of pickled fish for "a +mere trifle;" but when, presently, the cargo was delivered, his wife flew +into a great rage, which she vented first on the innocent lad who brought +the fish, and then on the less innocent purchaser. They would not get to +the bottom of the barrel and eat the last herring, she asserted, till +they were a century old. Medius, while he disputed so monstrous a +statement, vehemently declared that such wholesome and nutritious food as +those fish was undoubtedly calculated to prolong the lives of the whole +family to an exceptionally great age. + +This discussion, which was not at all by way of a jest, amused Dada +far more than the tablets, cylinders and cones covered with numbers +and cabalistic signs, to which Medius tried to direct her attention. +She darted off in the midst of his eager explanations to show his +grandchildren how a rabbit sniffs and moves his ears when he is offered +a cabbage-leaf. + +The report, which reached them in the afternoon, of the proceedings in +the square by the Prefect's house, disturbed Medius greatly, and he set +off at once for the scene of action. + +He did not return till evening, and then he looked like an altered man. +He must have witnessed something very terrible, for his face was as pale +as death, and his usually confident and swaggering manner had given place +to a stricken and care-worn air. He walked up and down the room, +groaning as he went; he flung himself on the divan and stared fixedly at +the ground; he wandered into the atrium and gazed cautiously out on the +street. Dada's presence seemed suddenly to be the source of much anxiety +to him, and the girl, painfully conscious of this, hastened to tell him +that she would prefer to return home at once to her uncle and aunt. + +"You can please yourself," was all he said, with a shrug and a sigh. +"You may stay for aught I care. It is all the same now!" + +So far his wife had left him to himself, for she was used to his violent +and eccentric behavior whenever anything had crossed him; but now she +peremptorily desired to be informed what had happened to him and he at +once acceded. He had been unwilling to frighten them sooner than was +needful, but they must learn it sooner or later: Cynegius had arrived to +overthrow the image of Serapis, and what must ensue they knew only too +well. "To-day," he cried, "we will live; but by to-morrow--a thousand to +one-by to-morrow there will be an end of all our joys and the earth will +swallow up the old home and us with it!" + +His words fell on prepared ground; his wife and daughter were appalled, +and as Medius went on to paint the imminent catastrophe in more vivid +colors, his energy growing in proportion to its effect on them, they +began at first to sob and whimper and then to wail loudly. When the +children, who by this time were in bed, heard the lamentations of their +elders, they, too, set up a howl, and even Dada caught the infection. +As for Medius himself, he had talked himself into such a state of terror +by his own descriptions of the approaching destruction of the world that +he abandoned all claim to his proud reputation as a strong-minded man, +and quite forgot his favorite theory that everything that went by the +name of God was a mere invention of priests and rulers to delude and +oppress the ignorant; at last he even went so far as to mutter a, prayer, +and when his wife begged to be allowed to join a family of neighbors in +sacrificing a black lamb at daybreak, he recklessly gave her a handful +of money. + +None of the party closed an eye that night. Dada could not bear to +remain in the house. Perhaps all these horrors existed only in Medius' +fancy; but if destruction were indeed impending, she would a thousand +times rattier perish with her own relations than with these people, in +whom there was something--she did not know what--for which she felt a +deep aversion. This she explained to her host early in the day and he +was ready to set out at once and restore her to the care of Karnis. + +In fact, the purpose for which he had needed her must certainly come to +nothing. He himself was attached to the service of Posidonius, a great +magician and wizard, to whom half Alexandria flocked--Christians, Jews, +and heathens--in order to communicate with the dead, with gods and with +demons, to obtain spells and charms by which to attract lovers or injure +foes, to learn the art of becoming invisible, or to gain a glimpse into +the future. In the performance which was being planned Dada was to have +appeared to a bereaved mother as the glorified presence of her lost +daughter; but the disturbance in the city had driven the matron, who was +rich, to take refuge in the country the previous afternoon. Nor was it +likely that the sorcerer's other clients--even if all turned out better +than could be hoped--would venture into the streets by night. Rich +people were timid and suspicious; and as the Emperor had lately +promulgated fresh and more stringent edicts against the magic arts, +Posidonius had thought it prudent to postpone the meeting. Hence Medius +had at present no use for the girl; but he affected to agree so readily +to her wishes merely out of anxiety to relieve Isarnis as soon as +possible of his uneasiness as to her fate. + +The morning was bright and hot, and the town was swarming with an excited +mob soon after sunrise. Terror, curiosity and defiance were painted on +every face; however, Medius and his young companion made their way +unhindered as far as the temple of Isis by the lake. The doors of the +sanctuary were closed, and guarded by soldiers; but the southern and +western walls were surrounded by thousands and thousands of heathen. +Some hundreds, indeed, had passed the night there in prayer, or in sheer +terror of the catastrophe which could not fail to ensue, and they were +kneeling in groups, groaning, weeping, and cursing, or squatting in +stolid resignation, weary, crushed and hopeless. It was a heart-rending +sight, and neither Dada--who till this moment had been dreading Dame +Herse's scolding tongue far more than the destruction of the world--nor +her companion could forbear joining in the wail that rose from this vast +multitude. Medius fell on his knees groaning aloud and pulled the girl +down beside him; for, upon the wall that enclosed the temple precincts, +they now saw a priest who, after holding the sacred Sistrum up to view +and muttering some unintelligible prayers and invocations, proceeded to +address the people. + +He was a short stout man, and the sweat streamed down his face as he +stood under the blazing sun to sketch a fearful picture of the monstrous +doom which was hanging over the city and its inhabitants. He spoke with +pompous exaggeration, in a shrill, harsh voice, wiping his face meanwhile +with his white linen robe or gasping for air, when breath failed him, +like a fish stranded on the beach. All this, however, did not trouble +his audience, for the hatred that inspired his language, and the terror +of the immediate future which betrayed itself in every word exactly +reflected their feelings. Dada alone was moved to mirth; the longer she +looked at him the more she felt inclined to laugh; besides, the day was +so bright--a pigeon on the wall pattered round his mate, nodding and +wriggling after the funny manner of pigeons in love--and, above all, her +heart beat so high and she had such a happy instinctive feeling that all +was ordered for the best, that the world seemed to her a beautiful and +fairly secure dwelling-place, in spite of the dark forebodings of the +zealous preacher. On the eve of destruction the earth must surely look +differently from this; and it struck her as highly improbable that the +gods should have revealed their purpose to such a queer old driveller as +this priest, and have hidden it from other men. The very fact that this +burly personage should prophesy evil with such conviction made her doubt +it; and presently, when the plumes of three or four helmets became +visible behind the speaker, and a pair of strong hands grasped his thick +ancles and suddenly dragged him down from his eminence and back into the +temple, she could hardly keep herself from laughing outright. + +Now, however, there was more real cause for alarm a trumpet-blast was +heard, and a maniple of the twenty-second legion marched down in close +order on the crowd who fled before them. Medius was one of the first to +make off; Dada kept close to his side, and when, in his alarm, he fairly +took to his heels, she did the same; for, in spite of the reception she +apprehended, she felt that the sooner she could rejoin her own people the +better. Never till now had she known how dear they were to her. Herse +might scold; but her sharpest words were truer and better than the smooth +flattery of Medius. It was a joy to think of seeing them again--Agne, +too, and little Papias--and she felt as though she were about to meet +them after years of separation. + +By this time they were at the ship-yard, which was divided only by a lane +from the Temple-grove; there lay the barge. Dada pulled off her veil and +waved it in the air, but the signal met with no response. They were at +the house, no doubt, for some men were in the very act of drawing up the +wooden gangway which connected the vessel with the land. Medius hurried +forward and was so fortunate as to overtake the steward, who had been +superintending the operation, before he reached the garden-gate. + +The old man was rejoiced to see them, and told them at once that his old +mistress had promised Herse to give Dada shelter if she should return to +them. But Dada was proud. She had no liking for Gorgo or her +grandmother; and when she had caught up to Medius, quite out of breath, +she positively refused the old lady's hospitality. + +The barge was deserted. Karnis--so the steward informed her--had +withdrawn to the temple of Serapis with his son, intending to assist in +its defence; and Herse had accompanied them, for Olympius had said that +women would be found useful in the beleaguered sanctuary, in preparing +food for the combatants and in nursing the wounded. + +Dada stood looking at their floating home, utterly disappointed and +discouraged. She longed to follow her aunt and to gain admission to the +Serapeutn; but how could she do this now, and of what use could she hope +to be? There was nothing heroic in her composition, and from her infancy +she had always sickened at the sight of blood. She had no alternative +but to return with Medius, and take refuge under his roof. + +The singer gave her ample time for reflection; he had seated himself, +with the steward, under the shade of a sycamore, and the two men were +absorbed in convincing each other, by a hundred arguments which they had +picked up during the last day or two, how inevitably the earth must be +annihilated if the statue of Serapis should be overthrown. In the warmth +of their discussion they paid no heed to the young girl, who was sitting +on a fallen Hermes by the road-side. Her vigorous and lively temperament +rendered her little apt to dream, or even meditate, in broad daylight; +but the heat and tie recent excitement had overwrought her and she felt +into a drowsy reverie. Now and again, as her heavy head drooped on her +breast, she fancied the Serapeum had actually fallen; then, as she raised +it again, she recovered her consciousness that it was hot, that she had +lost her home, and that she must, however unwillingly, return with +Medius. But at length her eyelids closed, and as she sat in the full +blaze of the sun, a rosy light filled her eyes and a bright vision +floated before her: Marcus took the modius--the corn measure--from the +head of the statue of Serapis and offered it to her; it was quite full of +lilies and roses and violets, and she was delighted with the flowers and +thanked him warmly when he set the modius down before her. He held out +his hands to her calmly and kindly, and she gave him hers, feeling very +happy under the steady, compassionate gaze of his large eyes which had +often watched her, on board ship, for some minutes at a time. She longed +to say something to him, but she could not speak; and she looked on quite +unmoved as the statue of the god and the hall in which it stood were +wrapt in flames. No smoke mingled with this clear and genial blaze, but +it compelled her to shade her dazzled eyes; and as she lifted her hand +she woke to see Medius standing in front of her. + +He desired her to come home with him at once, and she rose to obey, +listening in silence to his assurances that the lives of Karnis and +Orpheus would not be worth a sesterce if they fell into the hands of the +Roman soldiers. + +She walked on, more hopeless and depressed than she had ever felt in her +life before, past the unfinished hulks in the ship-yard where no one was +at work to-day when, coming down the lane that divided the wharf from the +temple precincts, she saw an old man and a little boy. She had not time +to ask herself whether she saw rightly or was mistaken before the child +caught sight of her, snatched his hand away from that of his companion, +and flew towards her, shouting her name. In the next moment little +Papias had rushed rapturously into her arms and, as she lifted him up, +had thrown his hands round her neck, clinging to her as if he would never +leave go again, while she hugged him closely for joy, and kissed him with +her eyes full of tears. She was herself again at once; the sad and +anxious girl was the lively Dada once more. + +The man who had been leading the little boy was immediately besieged with +questions, and from his answers they learnt that he had found the child +the evening before at the corner of a street, crying bitterly; that he +had taken him home, and with some little difficulty had ascertained from +him that he belonged to some people who were living on board a barge, +close to a ship-yard. In spite of the excitement that prevailed he had +brought the child home as soon as possible, for he could fancy how +anxious his parents must be. Dada thanked the kind-hearted artisan with +sincere warmth, and the man, seeing how happy the girl and the child were +at having met, went his way quite satisfied. + +Medius had stood by and had said nothing, but he looked on the pretty +little boy with much favor. If the earth were not to crumble into +nothingness after all, this child would be a real treasure trove; and +when Dada begged him to find a corner for Papias in his house, though he +hinted at the smallness of his earnings and the limited space at his +command, he yielded, if reluctantly, to her entreaties, on her offering +him her gold brooch to cover his expenses. + +As they made their way back she cast many loving glances at the child; +she was extremely fond of him, and he seemed a link to bind her to her +own people. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The singer's wife and daughter had joined some neighbors in sacrificing +a black lamb to Zeus, a ceremony that was usual on the occasion of +earthquakes or very severe storms; but it was done very secretly, for the +edicts prohibiting the sacrifice of victims to the gods were promptly and +rigidly enforced. The more the different members of the family came into +contact with other citizens, the more deeply rooted was their terror that +the end of all things was at hand. As soon as it was dark the old man +buried all his savings, for even if everyone else were to perish, he felt +that he--though how or why he knew not--might be exempt from the common +doom. + +The night was warm, and great and small alike slept--or lay awake--under +the stars so as not to be overwhelmed by the crash of roofs and walls; +the next day was oppressively hot, and the family cowered in a row in the +scanty shade of a palm and of a fig-tree, the only growth of any size in +the singer's garden. Medius himself, in spite of the scorching sun, +could not be still. + +He rushed off to the town again and again, but only to return each time +to enhance the anguish of the household by relating all sorts of horrors +which he had picked up in his wanderings. They were obliged to satisfy +their hunger with bread, cheese, and fruit, for the two slave-women +positively refused to risk their lives by cooking in the house. + +Medius' temper varied as he came and went; now he was gentle and +affectionate, and then again he raged like a madman; and his wife outdid +him. At one moment she would abandon him and the children, while she +anointed the household altar and put up prayers; at the next she railed +at the baseness and cruelty of the gods. When her husband brought the +news that the Serapeum was surrounded by the Imperial troops, she scoffed +and spit at the sacred images, and five minutes later she was vowing a +sacrifice to the deities of Olympus. The general confusion was +distracting; as the sun rose, the anguish, physical and mental, of the +whole family greatly increased, and by noon had reached an appalling +pitch. + +Dada looked on intensely disgusted, and only shook her head when one or +another of her companions was sure she felt a shock of earthquake or +heard the roll of distant thunder. She could not explain to herself why +she, who was usually timid enough, was exempt from the universal panic +though she felt deeply pitiful towards the terrified women and children. +None of them troubled themselves about her; the day dragged on with +intolerable slowness, quenching all her gay vivacity, while she was +utterly exhausted by the scorching African sun, of which, till now, she +had never known the power. At last, in the afternoon, she found the +little garden, which was by this time heated like an oven, quite +unbearable, and she looked round for Papias. The child was sitting on +the wall looking at the congregation streaming into the basilica of St. +Mark. Dada followed his example, and when the many-voiced psalms rang +out of the open door of the church, she listened to the music, for it +seemed long since she had heard any, and after wiping the perspiration +from the little boy's face with her peplos, she pointed to the building +and said: "It must be nice and cool in there." + +"Of course it is," said Papias. + +"It is never too hot in church. I will tell you what--we will go there." +This was a bright idea; for, thought Dada, any place must be pleasanter +than this; and she felt strongly tempted, too, to see the inside of one +of Agne's temples and to sing once more, or, at any rate, hear others +sing. + +"Come along," she said, and they stole through the deserted house to get +into the street by the atrium. Medius saw them, but he made no attempt +to detain them; he had sunk into lethargic indifference. It was not an +hour since he had taken stock of his life and means, setting the small +figure of his average income against his hospitality to Dada and her +little companion; but then, again, he had calculated that, if all went +well, he might make considerable profits out of the girl and the child. +Now, he felt it was all the same to him whether he and his family and +Dada met their doom in the house or out of it. + +Dada and Papias soon reached the church of St. Mark, the oldest Christian +basilica in the city. It consisted of a vestibule--the narthex--and the +body of the church, a very long hall, with a flat roof ceiled with +stained wood and supported on a double row of quite simple columns. This +space was divided into two parts by a screen of pierced work; the +innermost portion had a raised floor or podium, on which stood a table +with chairs placed round it in a semicircle. The centre seat was higher +and more richly decorated than the others. These chairs were unoccupied; +a few deacons in 'talares' of light-colored brocade were busied about the +table. + +In the middle of the vestibule there was a small tank; here a number of +penitents had collected who, with their flayed ribs and abject +lamentations, offered a more melancholy spectacle than even the terrified +crowd whom Dada had seen the day before, gathered round the temple of +Isis. Indeed, site would have withdrawn at once but that Papias dragged +her forward, and when she had passed through the great door into the nave +she breathed a sigh of relief. A soothing sense of respite came over +her, such as she had rarely felt; for the lofty building, which was only +half full, was deliciously cool and the subdued light was restful to her +eyes. The slight perfume of incense and the sober singing of the +assembled worshippers were soothing to her senses, and, as she took a +seat on one of the benches, she felt sheltered and safe. + +The old church struck her as a home of perfect peace; in all the city, +she thought, there could hardly be another spot where she might rest so +quietly and contentedly. So for some little time she gave herself up, +body and soul, to the refreshing influences of the coolness, the +solemnity, the fragrance and the music; but presently her attention was +attracted to two women in the seats just in front of her. + +One of them, who had a child on her arm, whispered to her neighbor: + +"You here, Hannah, among the unbaptized? How are you going on at home?" + +"I cannot stay long," was the answer. "It is all the same where one +sits, and when I leave I shall disturb no one. But my heart is heavy; +the child is very bad. The doctor says he cannot live through the day, +and I felt as if I must come to church." + +Very right, very right. Do you stay here and I will go to your house at +once; my husband will not mind waiting." + +"Thank you very much, but Katharine is staying with the boy and he is +quite safe there." + +"Then I will stay and pray with you for the dear little child." + +Dada had not missed a word of this simple dialogue. The woman whose +child was ill at home, and who had come here to pray for strength or +mercy, had a remarkably sweet face; as the girl saw the two friends bow +their heads and fold their hands with downcast eyes, she thought to +herself: "Now they are praying for the sick child. . ." and +involuntarily she, too, bent her curly head, and murmured softly: "O ye +gods, or thou God of the Christians, or whatever thou art called that +hast power over life and death, make this poor woman's little son well +again. When I get home again I will offer up a cake or a fowl--a lamb is +so costly." + +And she fancied that some invisible spirit heard her, and it gave her a +vague satisfaction to repeat her simple supplication over and over again. + +Meanwhile a miserable blind dwarf had seated himself by her side; near +him stood the old dog that guided him. He held him by a string and had +been allowed to bring his indispensable comrade into the church. The old +man joined loudly and devoutly in the psalm which the rest of the +congregation were singing; his voice had lost its freshness, no doubt, +but he sang in perfect tune. It was a pleasure to Dada to listen, and +though she only half understood the words of the psalm she easily caught +the air and began to sing too, at first timidly and hardly audibly; but +she soon gained courage and, following the example of little Papias, +joined in with all her might. + +She felt as though she had reached land after a stormy and uncomfortable +voyage, and had found refuge in a hospitable home; she looked about her +to discover whether the news of the approaching destruction of the world +had not penetrated even here, but she could not feel certain; for, though +many faces expressed anguish of mind, contrition, and a passionate +desire--perhaps for help or, perhaps, for something quite different-- +not a cry of lamentation was to be heard, such as had rent the air by +the temple of Isis, and most of the men and women assembled here were +singing, or praying in silent absorption. There were none of the +frenzied monks who had terrified her in the Xenodochium and in the +streets; on this day of tumult and anxiety they are devoting all their +small strength and great enthusiasm to the service of the Church +militant. + +This meeting, at so unusual an hour, had been convened by Eusebius, the +deacon of the district, with the intention of calming the spirits of +those who had caught the general infection of alarm. Dada could see +the old man step up into a raised pulpit on the inner side of the screen +which parted the baptized from the unbaptized members of the +congregation; his silvery hair and beard, and the cheerful calm of his +face, with the high white forehead and gentle, loving gaze, attracted her +greatly. She had heard Karnis speak of Plato, and knew by heart some +axioms of his doctrine, and she had always thought of the sage as a young +man; but in advanced age, she fancied, he might have looked like +Eusebius. Aye, and it would have well beseemed this old man to die, +like the great Athenian, at a mirthful wedding-feast. + +The priest was evidently about to give a discourse, and much as she +admired him, this idea prompted her to quit the church; for, though she +could sit still for hours to hear music, she found nothing more irksome +than to be compelled to listen for any length of time to a speech she +might not interrupt. She was therefore rising to leave; but Papias held +her back and entreated her so pathetically with his blue baby-eyes not +to take him away and spoil his pleasure that she yielded, though the +opportunity was favorable for moving unobserved, as the woman in front of +her was preparing to go and was shaking hands with her neighbor. She had +indeed risen from her seat when a little girl came in behind her and +whispered, loud enough for Dada's keen ears to catch the words: "Come +mother, come home at once. He has opened his eyes and called for you. +The physician says all danger is over." + +The mother in her turn whispered to her friend in glad haste: "All is +well!" and hurried away with the girl. The friend she had left raised +her hands and eyes in thanksgiving, and Dada, too, smiled in sympathy and +pleasure. Had the God of the Christian heard her prayer with theirs. + +Meanwhile the preacher had ended his preliminary prayer and began to +explain to his hearers that he had bidden them to the church in order to +warn them against foolish terrors, and to lead them into the frame of +mind in which the true Christian ought to live in these momentous times +of disturbance. He wished to point out to his brethren and sisters in +the Lord what was to be feared from the idols and their overthrow, what +the world really owed to the heathen, and what he expected from his +fellow-believers when the splendid and imminent triumph of the Church +should be achieved. + +"Let us look back a little, my beloved," he said, after this brief +introduction. "You have all heard of the great Alexander, to whom this +noble city owes its existence and its name. He was a mighty instrument +in the hand of the Lord, for he carried the tongue and the wisdom of the +Greeks throughout all lands, so that, in the fulness of time, the +doctrine which should proceed from the only Son of God might be +understood by all nations and go home to all hearts. In those days +every people had its own idols by hundreds, and in every tongue on earth +men put up their prayers to the supreme Power which makes itself felt +wherever mortal creatures dwell. Here, by the Nile, after Alexander's +death, reigned the Ptolemies; and the Egyptian citizens of Alexandria +prayed to other gods than their Greek neighbors, so that they could never +unite in worshipping their divinities; but Philadelphus, the second +Ptolemy, a very wise man, gave them a god in common. In consequence of a +vision seen in a dream he had the divinity brought from Sinope, on the +shores of Pontus, to this town. This idol was Serapis, and he was raised +to the throne of divinity here, not by Heaven, but by a shrewd and +prudent man; a grand temple was built for him, which is to this day one +of the wonders of the world, and a statue of him was made, as beautiful +as any image ever formed by the hand of man. You have seen and know +them both, and you know too, how, before the gospel was preached in +Alexandria, crowds of all classes, excepting the Jews, thronged the +Serapeum. + +"A dim perception of the sublime teaching of the Lord by whom God has +redeemed the world had dawned, even before His appearance on earth, on +the spirit of the best of the heathen, and in the hearts of those wise +men who--though not born into the state of grace--sought and strove after +the truth, after inward purity, and an apprehension of the Almighty. +The Lord chose them out to prepare the hearts of mankind for the good +tidings, and make them fit to receive the gospel when the Star should +rise over Bethlehem. + +"Many of these sages had infused precious doctrine into the worship of +Serapis before the hour of true redemption had come. They enjoined the +servants of Serapis to be more zealous in the care of the soul than in +that of the body, for they had detected the imperishable nature of the +spiritual and divine part of man; they saw that we are brought into +existence by sin and love, and we must therefore die to our sinful love +and rise again through the might of love eternal. These Hellenes, like +the Egyptian sages of the times of the Pharaohs, divined and declared +that the soul was held responsible after death for all it had done of +good or evil in its mortal body. They distinguished virtue and sin by +the eternal law, which was written in the hearts even of the heathen, to +the end that they, by nature, might do the works of the law; nay, there +were some of their loftiest spirits who, though they knew not the Lord, +it is true, required the repentance in the sinner, in the name of +Serapis, and pronounced that it was good to give up the delusive joys and +vain pleasures of the flesh and to break away from the evil--whether of +body or of soul--which we are led into by the senses. They called upon +their disciples to hold meetings for meditation whereby they might +discern truth and the divinity; and the vast precincts of the Serapeum +contained cells and alcoves for penitents and devotees, in which many a +soul touched by grace, dead to the world and absorbed in the +contemplation of such things as they esteemed high and heavenly, has +ripened to old age and death. + +"But, my beloved, the Light in which we rejoice, through no merits or +deserts of our own, had not yet been shed on the lost children of those +days of darkness; and all those noble, and indeed most admirable efforts +were polluted by an admixture, even here, of coarse superstition, bloody +sacrifices, and foolish adoration of perishable stone idols and beasts +without understanding; and in other places by the false and delusive arts +of Magians and sorcerers. Even the dim apprehension of true salvation +was darkened and distorted by the subtleties of a vain and inconsistent +philosophy, which held a theory as immutably true one day and overthrew +or denied it the next. Thus, by degrees, the temple of the idol of +Sinope degenerated into a stronghold of deceit and bloodshed, of the +basest superstition, the pleasures of the flesh, and abominations that +cried to Heaven. Learning, to be sure, was still cherished in the halls +of the Serapeum; but its disciples turned with hardened hearts from the +truth which was sent into the world by the grace of God, and they +remained the prophets of error. The doctrines which the sages had +associated with the idea of Serapis, debased and degraded by the most +contemptible trivialities; lost all their worth and dignity; and after +the great Apostle to whom this basilica is dedicated, had brought the +gospel to Alexandria, the idol's throne began to totter, and the tidings +of salvation shook its foundations and brought it to the verge of +destruction in spite of the persecutions, in spite of the edicts of the +apostate Julian, in spite of the desperate efforts of the philosophers, +sophists, and heathen--for our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, has given +certainty and actuality to the fleeting shadow of half-divined truth +which lies in the core of the worship of Serapis. The pure and radiant +star of Christian love has risen in the place of the dim nebulous mist of +Serapis; and just as the moon pales when the sun appears triumphant, the +worship of Serapis has died away in a thousand places where the gospel +has been received. Even here, in Alexandria, its feeble flame is kept +alive only by infinite care, and if the might of our pious and Christian +Emperor makes itself felt-tomorrow, or next day--then, my beloved, it +will vanish in smoke, and no power on earth can fan it into life again. +Not our grandsons, no, but our own children will ask: Who--what was +Serapis? For he who shall be overthrown is no longer a mighty god but +an idol bereft of his splendor and his dignity. This is no struggle of +might against might; it is the death-stroke given to a wounded and +vanquished foe. The tree is rotten to the core and can crush no one in +its fall, but it will cover all who stand near it with dust and rubbish. +The sovereign has outlived his dominion, and when his fingers drop the +sceptre few indeed will bewail him, for the new King has already mounted +the throne and His is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever! +Amen." + +Dada had listened to the deacon's address with no particular interest, +but the conclusion struck her attention. The old man looked dignified +and honest; but Father Karnis was a well-meaning man, no doubt, and one +of those who are wont to keep on the winning side. How was it that the +preacher could draw so pitiable a picture of the very same god whose +greatness her uncle had praised in such glowing terms only two days +since? How could the same thing appear so totally different to two +different people? + +The priest looked more sagacious than the musician; Marcus, the young +Christian, had a most kind heart; there was not a better or gentler +creature under the sun than Agne--it was quite possible that Christianity +was something very different in reality from what her foster parents +chose to represent. As to the frightful consequences of the overthrow of +the temple of Serapis, on that point she was completely reassured, and +she prepared to listen with greater attention as Eusebius went on: + +"Let us rejoice, beloved! The great idol's days are numbered! Do you +know what that false worship has been in our midst? It has been like a +splendid and richly-dressed trireme sailing, plague-stricken, into a +harbor full of ships and boats. Woe to those who allow themselves to be +tempted on board by the magnificence of its decorations! How great is +their chance of infection, how easily they will carry it from ship to +ship, and from the ships on to the shore, till the pestilence has spread +from the harbor to the city! Let us then be thankful to those who +destroy the gorgeous vessel, who drive it from amongst us, or sink or +burn it. May our Father in Heaven give courage to their hearts, strength +to their hands and blessing on their deeds! When we hear: "Great Serapis +has fallen to the earth and is no more, we and the world are free from +him! then, in this city, and wherever Christians dwell and worship, let a +solemn festival be held. + +"But still let us be just, still let us bear in mind all the great and +good gifts that the trireme brought to our parents when it rode the waves +manned by a healthy crew. If we do, it will be with sincere pity that we +shall watch the proud vessel sink to the bottom, and we shall understand +the grief of those whom once it bore over ebb and flow, and who believe +they owe every thing to it. We shall rejoice doubly, too, to think that +we ourselves have a safe bark with stout planks and strong masts, and a +trustworthy pilot at the helm; and that we may confidently invite others +to join us on board as soon as they have purified themselves of the +plague with which they have been smitten. + +"I think you will all have understood this parable. When Serapis falls +there will be lamentation and woe among the heathen; but we, who are true +Christians, ought not to pass them by, but must strive to heal and save +the wounded and sick at heart. When Serapis falls you must be the +physicians--healers of souls, as the Lord hath said; and if we desire to +heal, our first task must be to discover in what the sufferings consist +of those we wish to succor, for our choice of medicine must depend on the +nature of the injury. + +"What I mean is this: None can give comfort but those who know how to +sympathize with the soul that craves it, who feel the sorrows of others +as keenly as though they were their own. And this gift, my brethren, is, +next to faith, the Christian grace which of all others best pleases our +Heavenly Master. + +"I see it in my mind's eye! The ruined edifice of the Serapeum, the +masterpiece of Bryaxis laid in fragments in the dust, and thousands of +wailing heathen! As the Jews wept and hung their harps on the trees by +the waters of Babylon when they remembered Zion, so do I see the heathen +weep as they think of the perished splendor. They themselves, indeed, +ruined and desecrated the glory they bewail; and when something higher +and purer took its place they hardened their hearts, and, instead of +leaving the dead to bury their dead and throwing themselves hopefully +into the new life, they refused to be parted from the putrefying corpse. +They were fools, but their folly was fidelity; and if we can win them +over to our holy faith they will be faithful unto death, as they have +been to their old gods, clinging to Jesus and earning the crown of life. +'There will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth than +over ninety and nine that need no repentance,'--that you have heard; and +whichever among you loves the Saviour can procure him a great joy if he +guides only one of these weeping heathen into the Kingdom of Heaven. + +"But perhaps you will ask: Is not the sorrow of the heathen a vain thing? +What is it after all that they bewail? To understand that, try to +picture to yourselves what it is that they think they are losing. Verily +it is not a small matter, and it includes many things for which we and +all mankind owe them a debt of gratitude. We call ourselves Christians +and are proud of the name; but we also call ourselves Hellenes, and are +proud of that name too. It was under the protection of the old gods, +whose fall is about to be consummated, that the Greeks achieved +marvellous deeds, nurturing the gifts of the intellect which the Almighty +bestowed on their race, like faithful gardeners, and making them bring +forth marvellous fruit. In the realm of thought the Greek is sovereign +of the nations, and he has given to perishable matter a perfection of +form which has elevated and vivified it to immortality. Nothing more +beautiful has ever been imagined or executed, before or since, or by any +other people, than was produced by Greece in its prime. But perhaps you +will ask, why did not the Redeemer come down among our fathers in those +glorious days? Because beauty, as they conceived and still conceive of +it, is a mere perishable accident of matter, and because a race which +thus devoted every thought and feeling to an inspired and fervent worship +of beauty--which was so absorbed in the contemplation of the visible, +could have no longing for the invisible which is the real life that came +down among us with the only-begotten Son of God. Nevertheless Beauty is +beautiful; and when the time shall come when the visible is married to +the invisible, when eternal Truth is clothed in perfect form, then, and +not till then, will the ideal which our fathers strove after in the great +old days be realized, by the grace of the Saviour. + +"But this visible beauty, which they so passionately cherished, does us +good service too, so long as we do not allow it to dazzle us and lead us +astray from the one thing needful. To whom, if not to the heathen +Hellenes, do our great teachers owe, under God, the noble art of +coordinating their loftiest feelings, and casting them in forms which are +intelligible to the Christian and at once instruct, delight, and edify +him? It was in a heathen school that each one of your pastors--that even +I, the humblest of them--studied that rhetoric which enables me to utter +with a flowing tongue the things which the Spirit gives me to speak to +you; and if some day there are Christian schools, in which our sons may +acquire the same power, they must adopt many of the laws devised by the +heathen. If in the future we are rich enough to raise churches to the +Almighty, to the Virgin Mary and the great Saints, in any way worthy of +their sublime merits, we shall owe our skill to the famous architects of +heathen Hellas. We are indebted to the arts of the heathen for a +thousand things in daily use, beside numberless others that lend charm to +existence. Yes, my beloved, when we consider all they did for us we +cannot in justice withhold our tribute of gratitude and admiration. + +"Nor can we doubt that the best of them were acceptable to the Almighty +himself, for he granted to them to see darkly and from afar what he has +brought nigh to us, and poured into our hearts by divine revelation. +You all know the name of Plato. He, from whom Salvation was hidden, +saw remotely, by presentiment as it were, many things which to us, the +Redeemed, are clear and plain and near. He perceived the relation of +earthly beauty and heavenly truth. The great gift of Love binds and +supports us all and Plato gave the name of the divine Eros, that is +divine love, to an inspired devotion to the Imperishable. He placed +goodness--the Good--at the top of the great scale of Ideas which he +constructed. The Good was, to him, the highest Idea and the uttermost of +which we can conceive:--Good, whose properties he made manifest by every +means his lofty and lucid mind could command. This heathen, my brethren +and sisters, was well worthy of the grace bestowed on us. Do justice +then to the blinded souls, justice in Plato's sense of the word; he calls +the virtue of reason Wisdom; the virtue of spirit Courage, and the virtue +of the senses Temperance. Well, well! 'Prove all things and hold fast +that which is good.' That is to say: consider what may be worth anything +in the works of the heathen that it may be duly preserved; but, on the +other hand, tread all that is idolatry in the dust, all that brings the +unclean thing among us, all that imperils our souls and bodies, or +anything that is high and pure in life; but do not forget, my beloved, +all that the heathen have done for us. Be temperate in all things; avoid +excess of zeal; for thus, and thus only, can we be just. 'It is not to +hate, but to love each other that we are here.' It was not a Christian +but Sophocles, one of the greatest of the heathen, who uttered those +words, and he speaks them still to us!" + +Eusebius paused and drew a deep breath. + +Dada had listened eagerly, for it pleased her to hear all that she had +been wont to prize spoken of here with due appreciation. But since +Eusebius had begun to discourse about Plato she had been disturbed by two +men sitting just in front of her. One was tall and lean, with a long +narrow head, and the other a shorter and more comfortable-looking +personage. The first fidgeted incessantly, nudging and twitching his +companion, and looking now and then as if he were ready to start up and +interrupt the preacher. This behavior evidently annoyed his neighbors +who kept signing to him to be quiet and hushing him down, while he took +no notice of their demonstrations but kept clearing his throat with +obtrusive emphasis and at last scraped and shuffled his feet on the +floor, though not very noisily. But Eusebius began again: + +"And now, my brethren, how ought we to demean ourselves in these fateful +times of disturbance? As Christians; only--or rather, by God's aiding +grace as Christians in the true sense of our Lord and Master, according +to the precepts given by Him through the Apostles. Their words shall be +mine. They say there are two paths--the path of Life and the path of +Death, and there is a great difference between them. The path of Life is +this: First, Thou shalt love God who hath created thee; next thou shalt +love thy neighbor as thyself, and whatsoever thou wouldst men should do +unto thee even so do unto them; but what thou wouldst not have done unto +thee do thou not to them. And the sum of the doctrine contained in these +words is this: Bless those that curse you, pray for your enemies and +repent for those who persecute you, for 'if ye love them that love you +what thank have ye? Do not even the heathen the same?' Love those that +hate you and you will have no enemies. + +"Take this teaching of the holy Apostles to heart this day. Beware of +mocking or persecuting those who have been your enemies. Even the nobler +heathen regarded it as an act of grace to respect the conquered foe, and +to you, as Christians, it should be a law. It is not so hard to forgive +an enemy when we regard him as a possible friend in the future; and the +Christian can go so far as to love him when he remembers that every man +is his brother and neighbor, and equally precious in the sight of the +Saviour who is dearer to us than life. + +"The heathen, the idolater, is the Christian's archfoe; but soon he will +he in fetters at our feet. And, then, my brethren, pray for him; for +if the Almighty, who is without spot or stain and perfect beyond words, +can forgive the sinner, ye who are base and guilty may surely forgive. +'Fishers of souls' we all should be; try to fulfil the injunction. Draw +the enemy to you by kindness and love; show him by your example the +beauty of the Christian life; let him perceive the benefits of Salvation; +lead those whose gods and temples we have overthrown, into our churches; +and when, after triumphing over those blind souls by the sword, we have +also conquered them by love, faith and prayer--when they can rejoice with +us in the Redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ--then shall we all be as +one fold under one shepherd, and peace and joy shall reign in the city +which is now torn by dissension and strife." + +At this point the preacher was interrupted, for a loud uproar broke out +in the Narthex--[The vestibule of the early Christian basilica which was +open to penitents.]--shouts and cries of men fighting, mingled with the +dull roar of a bull. + +The congregation started to their feet in extreme consternation, and the +door was flung open and a host of heathen youths rushed into the nave, +followed by an overwhelming force of Christians from whom they had sought +refuge in the sanctuary. Here they turned at bay to make a last +desperate resistance. Garlands, stripped of their leaves and flowers, +still crowned their heads and hung over their shoulders. They had been +attacked close to the church, by a party of monks when in the act of +driving a gaily-decorated steer to the temple of Apollo, in defiance of +the Imperial edict; and the beast, terrified by the tumult, had rushed +into the narthex for shelter. + +The fight in the church was a short one; the idolaters were soon +vanquished; but Eusebius threw himself between them and the monks, and +tried to save the victims from the revengeful fury of the conquerors. +The women had all made for the door, but they did not venture out into +the vestibule, for the young bull was still raging there, trampling or +tossing everything that came in his way. At last, however, a soldier of +the city-watch dealt him a sword-thrust in the neck, and he fell rolling +in his own blood. At once the congregation forced their way out, +shrieking with alarm and excitement, Dada among the number, dragging the +child with her. Papias pulled with all his might to keep her back, +declaring with vehement insistence that he had seen Agne in the church +and wanted to go back to her. Dada, however, neither heard nor heeded; +frightened out of her wits she went on with the crowd, taking him with +her. + +She never paused till she reached the house of Medius, quite out of +breath; but then, as the little boy still asserted that he had seen his +sister in the sanctuary, she turned back with him, as soon as the throng +had dispersed. In the church there was no one to hinder them; but they +got no further than the dividing screen, for on the floor beyond lay the +mutilated and bleeding bodies of many a youth who had fallen in the +contest. + +How she made her way back to the house of Medius once more she never +knew. For the first time she had been brought face to face with life in +hideous earnest, and when the singer went to look for her in her room, at +dusk, he was startled to find her bright face clouded and her eyes dim +with tears. How bitterly she had been weeping Medius indeed could not +know; he ascribed her altered appearance to fear of the approaching +cataclysm and was happy to be able to tell her, in all good faith, that +the danger was as good as over. Posidonius, the Magian, had been to see +him, and had completely reassured him. This man, whose accomplice he had +been again and again in producing false apparitions of spirits and +demons, had once gained an extraordinary influence over him by casting +some mysterious spell upon him and reducing his will to abject subjection +to his own; and this magician, who had recovered his own self-possession, +had assured him, with an inimitable air of infallibility, that the fall +of the Temple of Serapis would involve no greater catastrophe than that +of any old worn-out statue. Since this announcement Medius had laughed +at his own alarms; he had recovered his "strong-mindedness," and when +Posidonius had given him three tickets for the Hippodrome he had jumped +at the offer. + +The races were to be run next day, in spite of the general panic that had +fallen on the citizens; and Dada, when he invited her to join him and his +daughter in-the enjoyment of so great a treat, dried her eyes and +accepted gleefully. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Alarming as was the outlook in Alexandria, the races, were to be held as +usual. This had been decided only a few hours since at the Bishop's +palace, and criers had been sent abroad throughout the streets and +squares of the city to bid the inhabitants to this popular entertainment. +In the writing-office of the Ephemeris, which would be given to the +public the first thing in the morning, five hundred slaves or more were +occupied in writing from dictation a list of the owners of the horses, of +the 'agitatores' who would drive them, and of the prizes offered to the +winners, whether Christians or heathen. + + [Ephemeris--The news-sheet, which was brought out, not only in Rome, + but in all the cities of the Empire, and which kept the citizens + informed of all important events.] + +The heat in the Episcopal council-hall had been oppressive, and not less +so the heat of temper among the priests assembled there; for they had +fully determined, for once, not to obey their prelate with blind +submission, and they knew full well that Theophilus, on occasion, if his +will were opposed, could not merely thunder but wield the bolt. + +Besides the ecclesiastical members of the council, Cynegius, the Imperial +legate--Evagrius, the Prefect--and Romanus, the commander-in-chief and +Comes of Egypt,--had all been present. The officials of the Empire-- +Roman statesmen who knew Alexandria and her citizens well, and who had +often smarted under the spiritual haughtiness of her Bishop--were on the +prelate's side. Cynegius was doubtful; but the priests, who had not +altogether escaped the alarms that had stricken the whole population, +were so bold as to declare against a too hasty decision, and to say that +the celebration of the games at a time of such desperate peril was not +only presumptuous but sinful, and a tempting of God. + +In answer to a scornful enquiry from Theophilus as to where the danger +lay if--as the Comes promised--Serapis were to be overthrown on the +morrow, one of the assembly answered in the name of his colleagues. This +man, now very old, had formerly been a wonderfully successful exorcist, +and, notwithstanding that he was a faithful Christian, he was the leader +of a gnostic sect and a diligent student of magic. He proceeded to +argue, with all the zeal and vehemence of conviction, that Serapis was +the most terrible of all the heathen daemons, and that all the oracles +of antiquity, all the prophecies of the seers, and all the conclusions +of the Magians and astrologers would be proved false if his fall--which +the present assembly could only regard as a great boon from Heaven--did +not entail some tremendous convulsion of nature. + +At this Theophilus gave the reins to his wrath; he snatched a little +crucifix from the wall above his episcopal throne, and broke it in +fragments, exclaiming in deep tones that quavered with wrath: + +"And which do you regard as the greater: The only-begotten Son of God, +or that helpless image?" And he flung the pieces of the broken crucifix +down on the table round which they were sitting. Then, as though horror- +stricken at his own daring act, he fell on his knees, raised his eyes and +hands in prayer, and gathering up the broken image, kissed it devoutly. + +This rapid scene had a tremendous effect. Amazement and suspense were +painted on every face, not a hand, not a lip moved as Theophilus rose +again and cast a glance of proud and stern defiance round the assembly, +which each man took to himself. For some moments he remained silent, as +though awaiting a reply; but his repellent mien and majestic bearing made +it sufficiently clear that he was ready to annihilate any opponent. In +fact none of the priests contradicted him; and, though Evagrius looked at +him with a doubting shake of his shrewd head, Cynegius on the other hand +nodded assent. The Bishop, however, seemed to care for neither dissent +nor approval, and it was in brief and cutting terms, with no flourish of +rhetoric, that he laid it down that wood and stone had nothing to do with +the divine Majesty, even though they were made in the image of all that +was Holy and worshipful or were most lavishly beautified by the hand of +man with the foul splendors of perishable wealth. The greater the power +ascribed by superstition to the base material--whatever form it bore--the +more odious must it be to the Christian. Any man who should believe that +a daemon could turn even a breath of the Most High to its own will and +purpose, would do well to beware of idolatry, for Satan had already laid +his clutches somewhere on his robe. + +At this sweeping accusation many a cheek colored wrathfully, and not a +word was spoken when the Bishop proceeded to require of his hearers that, +if the Serapeum should fall into the hands of the Imperial troops, it +should be at once and ruthlessly destroyed, and that his hearers should +not cease from the work of ruin till this scandal of the city should be +swept from the face of the earth. + +"If then the world crumbles to atoms!" he cried, "well and good--the +heathen are right and we are wrong, and in that case it were better to +perish; but as surely as I sit on this throne by the grace of God, +Serapis is the vain imagining of fools and blind, and there is no god +but the God whose minister I am!" + +"Whose Kingdom is everlasting, Amen!" chanted an old priest; and +Cynegius rose to explain that he should do nothing to hinder the total +overthrow of the temple and image. + +Then the Comes spoke in defence of the Bishop's resolution to allow the +races to be held, as usual, on the morrow. He sketched a striking +picture of the shallow, unstable nature of the Alexandrians, a people +wholly given over to enjoyment. The troops at his command were few in +number in comparison with the heathen population of the city, and it was +a very important matter to keep a large proportion of the worshippers of +Serapis occupied elsewhere at the moment of the decisive onset. +Gladiator-fights were prohibited, and the people were tired of wild +beasts; but races, in which heathen and Christian alike might enter their +horses for competition, must certainly prove most attractive just at this +time of bitter rivalry and oppugnancy between the two religions, and +would draw thousands of the most able-bodied idolaters to the Hippodrome. +All this he had already considered and discussed with the Bishop and +Cynegius; nay, that zealous destroyer of heathen worship had come to +Alexandria with the express purpose of overthrowing the Serapeum; but, +as a prudent statesman, he had first made sure that the time and +circumstances were propitious for the work of annihilation. All that +he had here seen and heard had only strengthened his purpose; so, after +suggesting a few possible difficulties, and enjoining moderation and +mercy as the guiding principles of his sovereign, he commanded, in the +Emperor's name, that the sanctuary of Serapis should be seized by force +of arms and utterly destroyed, and that the races should be held on the +morrow. + +The assembled council bowed low; and when Theophilus had closed the +meeting with a prayer he withdrew to his ungarnished study, with his head +bent and an air of profound humility, as though he had met with a defeat +instead of gaining a victory. + + ....................... + +The fate of the great god of the heathen was sealed, but in the wide +precincts of the Serapeum no one thought of surrender or of prompt +defeat. The basement of the building, on which stood the grandest temple +ever erected by the Hellenes, presented a smooth and slightly scarped +rampart of impregnable strength to the foe. A sloping way extended up +over a handsomely-decorated incline, and from the middle of the grand +curve described by this road, two flights of steps led up to the three +great doors in the facade of the building. + +The heathen had taken care to barricade this approach in all haste, +piling the road and steps with statuary-images of the gods of the finest +workmanship, figures and busts of kings, queens, and heroes, Hermes, +columns, stelae, sacrificial stones, chairs and benches-torn from their +places by a thousand eager hands. The squared flags of the pavement and +the granite blocks of the steps had been built up into walls and these +were still being added to after the besiegers had surrounded the temple; +for the defenders tore down stones, pilasters, gutters and pieces of the +cornice, and flung them on to the outworks, or, when they could, on to +the foe who for the present were not eager to commence hostilities. + +The captains of the Imperial force had miscalculated the strength of the +heathen garrison. They supposed a few hundreds might have entrenched +themselves, but on the roof alone above a thousand men were to be seen, +and every hour seemed to increase the number of men and women crowding +into the Serapeum. The Romans could only suppose that this constantly +growing multitude had been concealed in the secret halls and chambers of +the temple ever since Cynegius had first arrived, and had no idea that +they were still being constantly reinforced. + +Karnis, Herse, and Orpheus, among others, had made their way thither from +the timber-yard, down the dry conduit, and an almost incessant stream of +the adherents of the old gods had preceded and followed them. + +While Eusebius had been exhorting his congregation in the church of St. +Mark to Christian love towards the idolaters, these had collected in the +temple precincts to the number of about four thousand, all eager for the +struggle. A vast multitude! But the extent of the Serapeum was so +enormous that the mass of people was by no means densely packed on the +roof, in the halls, and in the underground passages and rooms. There was +no crowding anywhere, least of all in the central halls of the temple +itself; indeed, in the great vestibule crowned with a dome which formed +the entrance, in the vast hall next to it, and in the magnificent +hypostyle with a semicircular niche on the furthest side in which stood +the far-famed image of the god, there were only scattered groups of men, +who looked like dwarfs as the eye compared them with the endless rows of +huge columns. + +The full blaze of day penetrated nowhere but into the circular vestibule, +which was lighted by openings in the drum of the cupola that rested on +four gigantic columns. In the inner hall there was only dim twilight; +while the hypostyle was quite dark, but for a singularly contrived shaft +of light which produced a most mysterious effect. + +The shadows of the great columns in the fore hall, and of the double +colonnade on each side of the hypostyle, lay like bands of crape on the +many-colored pavement; borders, circles, and ellipses of mosaic +diversified the smooth and lucent surface, in which were mirrored the +astrological figures which sparkled in brighter hues on the ceiling, the +trophies of symbols and mythological groups that graced the walls in +tinted high relief, and the statues and Hermes between the columns. A +wreath of lovely forms and colors dazzled the eye with their multiplicity +and profusion, and the heavy atmosphere of incense which filled the halls +was almost suffocating, while the magical and mystical signs and figures +were so many and so new that the enquiring mind, craving for an +explanation and an interpretation of all these incomprehensible +mysteries, hardly dared investigate them in detail. + +A heavy curtain, that looked as though giants must have woven it on a +loom of superhuman proportions, hung, like a thick cloud shrouding a +mountain-peak, from the very top of the hypostyle, in grand folds over +the niche containing the statue, and down to the floor; and while it hid +the sacred image from the gaze of the worshipper it attracted his +attention by the infinite variety of symbolical patterns and beautiful +designs which were woven in it and embroidered on it. + +The gold and silver vessels and precious jewels that lay concealed by +this hanging were of more value than many a mighty king's treasure; and +everything was on so vast a scale that man shuddered to feel his own +littleness, and the mind sought some new standard of measurement by which +to realize such unwonted proportions. The finite here seemed to pass +into the infinite; and as the spectator gazed up, with his head thrown +back, at the capitals of the lofty columns and the remote height of the +ceiling, his sight failed him before he had succeeded in distinguishing +or even perceiving a small portion only of the bewildering confusion of +figures and emblems that were crowded on to the surface. Greek feeling +for beauty had here worked hand in hand with Oriental taste for gorgeous +magnificence, and every detail could bear examination; for there was not +a motive of the architecture, not a work of sculpture, painting, or +mosaic, not a product of the foundry or the loom, which did not bear the +stamp of thorough workmanship and elaborate finish. The ruddy, flecked +porphyry, the red, white, green, or yellow marbles which had been used +for the decorations were all the finest and purest ever wrought upon by +Greek craftsmen. Each of the hundreds of sculptured works which here had +found a home was the masterpiece of some great artist; as the curious +visitor lingered in loving contemplation of the mosaics on the polished +floor, or examined the ornamental mouldings that framed the reliefs, +dividing the walls into panels, he was filled with wonder and delight at +the beauty, the elegance and the inventiveness that had given charm, +dignity, and significance to every detail. + +Adjoining these great halls devoted especially to the worship of the god, +were hundreds of courts, passages, colonnades and rooms, and others not +less numerous lay underground. There were long rows of rooms containing +above a hundred thousand rolls of books, the famous library of the +Serapeum, with separate apartments for readers and copyists; there were +store-rooms, refectories and assembly-rooms for the high-priests of the +temple, for teachers and disciples; while acrid odors came up from the +laboratories, and the fragrance of cooking from the kitchen and bake- +houses. In the very thickness of the walls of the basement were cells +for penitents and recluses, long since abandoned, and rooms for the +menials and slaves, of whom hundreds were employed in the precincts; +under ground spread the mystical array of halls, grottoes, galleries and +catacombs dedicated to the practice of the Mysteries and the initiation +of neophytes; on the roof stood various observatories--among them one +erected for the study of the heavens by Eratosthenes, where Claudius +Ptolemaeus had watched and worked. Up here astronomers, star-gazers, +horoscopists and Magians spent their nights, while, far below them, in +the temple-courts that were surrounded by store-houses and stables, the +blood of sacrificed beasts was shed and the entrails of the victims were +examined. + +The house of Serapis was a whole world in little, and centuries had +enriched it with wealth, beauty, and the noblest treasures of art and +learning. Magic and witchcraft hedged it in with a maze of mystical and +symbolical secrets, and philosophy had woven a tissue of speculation +round the person of the god. The sanctuary was indeed the centre of +Hellenic culture in the city of Alexander; what marvel then, that the +heathen should believe that with the overthrow of Serapis and his temple, +the earth, nay the universe itself must sink into the abyss? + +Anxious spirits and throbbing hearts were those that now sought shelter +in the Serapeum, fully prepared to perish with their god, and yet eager +with enthusiasm to avert his fall if possible. + +A strange medley indeed of men and women had collected within these +sacred precincts! Grave sages, philosophers, grammarians, +mathematicians, naturalists, and physicians clung to Olympius and obeyed +him in silence. Rhetoricians with shaven faces, Magians and sorcerers, +whose long beards flowed over robes embroidered with strange figures; +students, dressed after the fashion of their forefathers in the palmy +days of Athens; men of every age, who dubbed themselves artists though +they were no more than imitators of the works of a greater epoch, unhappy +in that no one at this period of indifference to beauty called upon them +to prove what they could do, or to put forth their highest powers. +Actors, again, from the neglected theatres, starving histrions, to whom +the stage was prohibited by the Emperor and Bishop, singers and flute- +players; hungry priests and temple-servitors expelled from the closed +sanctuaries; lawyers, scribes, ships' captains, artisans, though but very +few merchants, for Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor, +and the wealthy attached themselves to the faith professed by those in +authority. + +One of the students had contrived to bring a girl with him, and several +others, seeing this, went back into the streets by the secret way and +brought in damsels of no very fair repute, till the crowd of men was +diversified by a considerable sprinkling of wreathed and painted girls, +some of them the outcast maids of various temples, and others priestesses +of higher character, who had remained faithful to the old gods or who +practised magic arts. + +Among these women one, a tall and dignified matron in mourning robes, was +a conspicuous figure. This was Berenice, the mother of the young heathen +who had been ridden down and wounded in the skirmish near the Prefect's +house, and whose eyes Eusebius had afterwards closed. She had come to +the Serapeum expressly to avenge her son's death and then to perish with +the fall of the gods for whom he had sacrificed his young life. But the +mad turmoil that surrounded her was more than she could bear; she stood, +hour after hour, closely veiled and absorbed in her own thoughts, neither +raising her eyes nor uttering a word, at the foot of a bronze statue of +justice dispensing rewards and punishments. + +Olympius had entrusted the command of the little garrison of armed men to +Memnon, a veteran legate of great experience, who had lost his left arm +in the war against the Goths. The high-priest himself was occupied +alternately in trying to persuade the hastily-collected force to obey +their leader, and in settling quarrels, smoothing difficulties, +suppressing insubordination, and considering plans with reference to +supplies for his adherents, and the offering of a great sacrifice at +which all the worshippers of Serapis were to assist. Karnis kept near +his friend, helping him so far as was possible; Orpheus, with others of +the younger men, had been ordered to the roof, where they were employed-- +under the scorching sun, reflected from the copper-plated covering and +the radiating surface of the dome--in loosening blocks of stone from the +balustrade to be hurled down to-morrow on the besieging force. + +Herse devoted herself to the sick and wounded, for a few who had ventured +forth too boldly to aid in barricading the entrance, had been hurt by +arrows and lances flung by the idle soldiery; and a still greater number +were suffering from sun-stroke in consequence of toiling on the top of +the building. + +Inside the vast, thick-walled halls it was much cooler than in the +streets even, and the hours glided fast to the besieged heathen. Many of +them were fully occupied, or placed on guard; others were discussing the +situation, and disputing or guessing at what the outcome might, or must +be. Numbers, panic-stricken or absorbed in pious awe, sat huddled on the +ground, praying, muttering magical formulas, or wailing aloud. The +Magians and astrologers had retired with knots of followers into the +adjoining studies, where they were comparing registers, making +calculations, reading signs, devising new formulas and defending them +against their opponents. + +An incessant bustle went on, to and fro between these rooms and the great +library, and the tables were covered with rolls and tablets containing +ancient prophecies, horoscopes and potent exorcisms. Messengers, one +after another, were sent out from thence to command silence in the great +halls, where the assembled youths and girls were kissing, singing, +shouting and dancing to the shrill pipe of flutes and twang of lutes, +clapping their hands, rattling tambourines--in short, enjoying to the +utmost the few hours that might yet be theirs before they must make the +fatal leap into nothingness, or at least into the dim shades of death. + +The sun was sinking when suddenly the great brazen gong was loudly +struck, and the hard, blatant clatter rent the air of the temple-hall. +The mighty waves of sound reverberated from the walls of the sanctuary +like the surge of a clangorous sea, and sent their metallic vibration +ringing through every room and cell, from the topmost observatory-turret +to the deepest vault beneath, calling all who were within the precincts +to assemble. The holy places filled at once; the throng poured in +through the vestibule, and in a few minutes even the hypostyle, the +sanctum of the veiled statue, was full to overflowing. Without any +distinction of rank or sex, and regardless of all the usual formalities +or the degrees of initiation which each had passed through, the +worshippers of Serapis crowded towards the sacred niche, till a chain, +held up by neokores--[Temple-servants]--at a respectful distance from the +mystical spot, checked their advance. Densely packed and in almost +breathless silence, they filled the nave and the colonnades, watching for +what might befall. + +Presently a dull low chant of men's voices was heard. This went on for a +few minutes, and then a loud pean in honor of the god rang through the +temple with an accompaniment of flutes, cymbals, lutes and trumpets. + +Karnis had found a place with his wife and son; all three, holding hands, +joined enthusiastically in the stirring hymn; and, with them, Porphyrius, +who by accident was close to them, swelling the song of the multitude. +All now stood with hands uplifted and eyes fixed in anxious expectancy on +the curtain. The figures and emblems on the hanging were invisible in +the gloom--but now-now there was a stir, as of life, in the ponderous +folds,--they moved--they began to ripple like streams, brooks, water- +falls, recovering motion after long stagnation--the curtain slowly sank, +and at length it fell so suddenly that the eye could scarcely note the +instant. From every lip, as but one voice, rose a cry of admiration, +amazement, and delight, for Serapis stood revealed to his people. + +The noble manhood of the god sat with dignity on a golden throne that was +covered with a blaze of jewels; his gracious and solemn face looked down +on the crowd of worshippers. The hair that curled upon his thoughtful +brow, and the kalathos that crowned it were of pure gold At his feet +crouched Cerberus, raising his three fierce heads with glistening ruby +eyes. The body of the god--a model of strength in repose--and the +drapery were of gold and ivory. In its perfect harmony as a whole, and +the exquisite beauty of every detail, this statue bore the stamp of +supreme power and divine majesty. When such a divinity as this should +rise from his throne the earth indeed might quake and the heavens +tremble! Before such a Lord the strongest might gladly bow, for no +mortal ever shone in such radiant beauty. This Sovereign must triumph +over every foe, even over death--the monster that lay writhing in +impotent rage at his feet! + +Gasping and thrilled with pious awe, enraptured but dumb with reverent +fear, the assembled thousands gazed on the god dimly revealed to them in +the twilight, when suddenly, for a moment of solemn glory, a ray of the +setting sun--a shaft of intense brightness--pierced the star-spangled +apse of the niche and fell on the lips of the god as though to kiss its +Lord and Father. + +A shout like a thunder-clap-like the roar of breakers on a reef, burst +from the spectators; a shout of triumph so mighty that the statues +quivered, the brazen altars rang, the hangings swayed, the sacred vessels +clattered and the lamps trembled and swung; the echo rolled round the +aisles like a whirlpool at the flood, and was dashed from pillar to +column in a hundred wavelets of sound. The glorious sun still recognized +its lord; Serapis still reigned in undiminished might; he had not yet +lost the power to defend himself, his world and his children! + +The sun was gone, night fell on the temple and suddenly there was a +swaying movement of the apse above the statue; the stars were shaken by +invisible hands, and colored flames twinkled with dazzling brightness +from a myriad five-rayed perforations. Once more the god was revealed to +his worshippers under a flood of magical glory, and now fully visible in +his unique beauty. Again the great halls rang with the acclamations of +the delirious throng; Olympius stepped forth, arrayed in a flowing robe +with the insignia and decorations of the high-priesthood; standing in +front of the image he poured on the pedestal a libation to the gods out +of a golden cup, and waved a censer of the costliest incense. Then, in +burning words, he exhorted all the followers of Serapis to fight and +conquer for their god, or--if need must--to perish for and with him. He +added a fervent prayer in a loud ringing voice--a cry for help that came +from the bottom of his heart, and went to the souls of his hearers. + +Then a solemn hymn was chanted as the curtain was raised; and while the +assembled multitude watched it rise in reverent silence, the temple- +servants lighted the lamps that illuminated the sanctuary from every +cornice and pillar. + +Karnis had left hold of his companions' hands, for he wanted to wipe away +the tears of devotional excitement that flowed down his withered cheeks; +Orpheus had thrown his arms round his mother, and Porphyrius, who had +joined a group of philosophers and sages, sent a glance of sympathy to +the old musician. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +By an hour after sunset the sacrifice of a bull in the great court of the +Serapeum was consummated, and the Moscosphragist announced that the god +had graciously accepted it--the examination of the entrails showed more +favorable indications than it had the day before. The flesh of the +slaughtered beast went forthwith to the kitchen; and, if the savor of +roast beef that presently rose up was as grateful to Serapis as to his +worshippers, they might surely reckon on a happy issue from the struggle. + +The besieged, indeed, were, ere long, in excellent spirits; for Olympius +had taken care to store the cellars of the sanctuary with plenty of good +wine, and the happy auguries drawn from the appearance of the god and the +state of the victim had filled them with fresh confidence. As there was +not sleeping accommodation for nearly all the men, they had to turn night +into day; and as, to most of them, life consisted wholly in the enjoyment +of the moment, and all was delightful that was new or strange, they soon +eat and drank themselves into a valiant frame of mind. + +Couches, such as they were wont to be on at meals, there were not, so +each man snatched up the first thing he could lay his hands on to serve +as a seat. When cups were lacking the jugs and vessels from the +sanctuary were sent for, and passed from one to another. Many a youth +lounged with his head in some fair one's lap; many a girl leaned back to +back with some old man; and as flowers were not to be had, messengers +were sent to the town to buy them, with vine-wreaths and other greenery. + +They were easily procured, and with them came the news that the races +were to be held next morning. + +This information was regarded by many as being of the first importance; +Nicarchus, the son of the rich Hippocleides, and Zenodotus a weaver of +tapestry--whose quadriga had once proved victorious--hastily made their +way into the town to give the requisite orders in their stables, and they +were closely followed by Hippias, the handsome agitator, who was the +favorite driver in the arena for the horses belonging to wealthy owners. +In the train of these three every lover of horses vanished from the +scene, with a number of Hippias' friends, and of flower-sellers, door- +keepers, and ticket-holders-in short, of all who expected to derive +special pleasure or profit from the games. Each man reflected that one +could not be missed, and as the god was favorably disposed he might +surely contrive to defend his own temple till after the races were over; +they would then return to conquer or die with the rest. + +Then some others began to think of wives and children in bed at home, +and they, too, departed; still, by far the larger proportion remained +behind--above three thousand in all, men and women. These at once +possessed themselves of the half-emptied wine-jars left by the deserters; +gay music was got up, and then, wreathed with garlands on their heads and +shoulders, and 'filled with the god' they drank, shouted and danced far +into the night. The merry feast soon became a wild orgy; loud cries of +Evoe, and tumultuous singing reached the ears of the Magians, who had +once more settled down to calculations and discussions over their rolls +and tablets. + +The mother of the youth that had been killed still sat huddled at the +foot of the statue of justice, enduring the anguish of listening to these +drunken revels with dull resignation. Every shout of laughter, every +burst of mad mirth from the revellers above cut her to the heart--and +yet, how they would have gladdened her if only one other voice could have +mingled with those hundreds! When Olympius, still in his fullest dress, +and carrying his head loftily as became him, made his way through the +temple at the head of his subordinates, he noticed Berenice--whom he had +known as a proud and happy mother--and begged her to join the friends +whom he had bidden to his own table; but she dreaded any social contact +with men whom she knew, and preferred to remain where she was at the feet +of the goddess. + +Wherever the high-priest went he was hailed with enthusiasm: "Rejoice," +he would say to encourage the feasters, cheering them with wise and +fervid exhortations, reminding them of Pharaoh Mycerinus who, having been +told by an oracle that he had only six years to live, determined to prove +the prophecy false, and by carousing through every night made the six +years allotted to him a good dozen. + +"Imitate him!" cried Olympius as he raised a cup to his lips, "crowd the +joys of a year into the few hours that still are left us, and pour a +libation to the god as I do, out of every cup ere you drink." + +His appeal was answered by a rapturous shout; the flutes and cymbals +piped and clanged, metal cups rang sharply as the drinkers pledged each +other, and the girls thumped their tambourines, till the calf-skin droned +and the bells in the frames tinkled shrilly. + +Olympius thanked them, and bowed on all sides, as he walked from group to +group of his adherents. Seldom, indeed, had his heart beat so high! His +end perhaps was very near, but it should at least be worthy of his life. + +He knew how the sunbeam had been reflected so as to kiss the statue's +lips. For centuries had this startling little scene and the sudden +illumination of the niche round the head of the god been worked in +precisely the same way at high festivals--[They are mentioned by +Rufinus.]--these were mere stimulants to the dull souls of the vulgar who +needed to be stirred up by the miraculous power of the god, which the +elect recognized throughout the universe, in the wondrous co-operation of +forces and results in nature, and in the lives of men. He, for his part, +firmly believed in Serapis and his might, and in the prophecies and +calculations which declared that his fall must involve the dissolution +of the organic world and its relapse into chaos. + +Many winds were battling in the air, each one driving the ship of life +towards the whirlpool. To-day or to-morrow--what matter which? The +threatened cataclysm had no terrors for Olympius. One thing only was a +pang to his vanity: No succeeding generations would preserve the memory +of his heroic struggle and death for the cause of the gods. But all was +not yet lost, and his sunny nature read in the glow of the dying clay the +promise and dawn of a brilliant morrow. If the expected succor should +arrive--if the good cause should triumph here in Alexandria--if the +rising were to be general throughout Greek heathendom, then indeed had he +been rightly named Olympius by his parents--then he would not change +places with any god of Olympus--then the glory of his name, more lasting +than bronze or marble, would shine forth like the sun, so long as one +Greek heart honored the ancient gods and loved its native land. + +This night--perhaps its last--should see a grand, a sumptuous feast; he +invited his friends and adherents--the leaders of spiritual life in +Alexandria--to a 'symposium', after the manner of the philosophers and +dilettanti of ancient Athens, to be held in the great concert-hall of the +Serapeum. + +How different was its aspect from that of the Bishop's council-chamber! +The Christians sat within bare walls, on wooden benches, round a plain +table; the large room in which Olympius received his supporters was +magnificently decorated, and furnished with treasures of art in fine +inlaid work, beaten brass and purple stuffs-a hall for kings to meet in. +Thick cushions, covered with lion and panther-skins, tempted fatigue or +indolence; and when the hero of the hour joined his guests, after his +progress through the precincts, every couch was occupied. To his right +lay Helladius, the famous grammarian and high-priest of Zeus; Porphyrius, +the benefactor of the Serapeum, was on his left; even Karnis had been +allotted a place in his old friend's social circle, and greatly +appreciated the noble juice of the grape, that was passed round, as well +as the eager and intelligent friction of minds, from which he had long +been cut off. + +Olympius himself was unanimously chosen Symposiarch, and he invited the +company to discuss, in the first instance, the time-honored question: +Which was the highest good? + +One and all, he said, they were standing on a threshold, as it were; +and as travellers, quitting an old and beloved home to seek a new and +unknown one in a distant land, pause to consider what particular joy that +they have known under the shelter of the old Penates has been the +dearest, so it would beseem them to reflect, at this supreme moment, what +had been the highest good of their life in this world. They were on the +eve, perhaps, of a splendid victory; but, perchance, on the other hand, +their foot was already on the plank that led from the shore of life to +Charon's bark. + +The subject was a familiar one and a warm discussion was immediately +started. The talk was more flowery and brilliant, no doubt, than in old +Athens, but it led to no deeper views and threw no clearer light on the +well-worn question. The wranglers could only quote what had been said +long since as to the highest Good, and when presently Helladius called +upon them to bring their minds to bear on the nature of humanity, a +vehement disputation arose as to whether man were the best or the worst +of created beings. This led to various utterances as to the mystical +connection of the spiritual and material worlds, and nothing could be +more amazing than the power of imagination which had enabled these +mystical thinkers to people with spirits and daemons every circle of the +ladder-like structure which connected the incomprehensible and self- +sufficing One with the divine manifestation known as Man. It became +quite intelligible that many Alexandrians should fear to fling a stone +lest it might hit one of the good daemons of which the air was full-- +a spirit of light perhaps, or a protecting spirit. The more obscure +their theories, the more were they overloaded with image and metaphor; +all simplicity of statement was lost, and yet the disputants prided +themselves on the brilliancy of their language and the wealth of their +ideas. They believed that they had brought the transcendental within the +grasp of intelligent sense, and that their empty speculations had carried +them far beyond the narrow limits of the Ancients. + +Karnis was in raptures; Porphyrius only wished for Gorgo by his side, +for, like all fathers, he would rather that his child should have enjoyed +this supreme intellectual treat than himself. + + ........................ + +In Porphyrius' house, meanwhile, all was gloom and anxiety. In spite of +the terrific heat Damia would not be persuaded to come down from the +turret-room where she had collected all the instruments, manuals and +formulas used by astrologers and Magians. A certain priest of Saturn, +who had a great reputation as a master of such arts, and who, for many +years, had been her assistant whenever she sought to apply her science +to any important event, was in attendance--to give her the astrological +tables, to draw circles, ellipses or triangles at her bidding, to +interpret the mystical sense of numbers or letters, which now and then +escaped her aged memory; he made her calculations or tested those she +made herself, and read out the incantations which she thought efficacious +under the circumstances. Occasionally, too, he suggested some new method +or fresh formula by which she might verify her results. + +She had fasted, according to rule, the whole forenoon, and was frequently +so far overcome by the heat as to drop asleep in the midst of her +studies; then, when she woke with a start, if her assistant had meanwhile +worked out his calculation to a result contrary to her anticipations, she +took him up sharply and made him begin again from the beginning. Gorge, +went up from time to time; but, though she offered the old woman +refreshment prepared by her own hand, she could not persuade her even to +moisten her lips with a little fruitsyrup, for to break the prescribed +fast might endanger 3the accuracy of her prognostications and the result +of all her labor. However, when she seemed to doze, her granddaughter +sprinkled strong waters about the room to freshen the air, poured a few +drops on the old lady's dress, wiped the dews from her brow, and fanned +her to cool her. Damia submitted to all this; and though she had only +closed her weary eyes, she pretended to be asleep in order to have the +pleasure of being cared for by her darling. + +Towards noon she dismissed the Magian and allowed herself a short +interval of rest and sleep; but as soon as she woke she collected her +wits, and set to work again with fresh zeal and diligence. When, at +last, she had mastered all the signs and omens, she knew for certain that +nothing could avert the awful doom foretold by the oracles of old. + +The fall of Serapis and the end of the world were at hand. + +The Magian covered his head as he saw, plainly demonstrated, how she had +reached this conclusion, and he groaned in sincere terror; she, however, +dismissed him with perfect equanimity, handing him her purse, which she +had filled in the morning, and saying: + +"To last till the end." + +The sun was now long past the meridian and the old woman, quite worn out, +threw herself back in her chair and desired Gorgo to let no one disturb +her; nay, not to return herself till she was sent for. As soon as Damia +was alone she gazed at herself in a mirror for some little time, +murmuring the seven vocables incessantly while she did so; and then she +fixed her eyes intently on the sky. These strange proceedings were +directed to a particular end, she was endeavoring to close her senses to +the external world, to become blind, deaf, and impervious to everything +material--the polluting burthen which divided her divine and spiritual +part from the celestia fount whence it was derived; to set her soul free +from its earthly shroud--free to gaze on the god that was its father. +She had already more than once nearly attained to this state by long +fasting and resolute abstraction and once, in a moment she could never +forget, had enjoyed the dizzy ecstasy of feeling herself float, as it +were through infinite space, like a cloud, bathed in glorious radiance. +The fatigue that had been gradually over powering her now seconded her +efforts; she soon felt slight tremor; a cold sweat broke out all over +her; she lost all consciousness of her limbs, and all sense of sighs and +hearing; a fresher and cooler air seemed to revive not her lungs only, +but every part of her body, while undulating rays of red and violet light +danced before her eyes. Was not their strange radiance an emanation +from the eternal glory that she sought? Was not some mysterious power +uplifting her, bearing her towards the highest goal? Was her soul +already free from the bondage of the flesh? Had she indeed become +one with God and had her earnest seeking for the Divinity ended in +glorification? No; her arms which she had thrown up as if to fly, +fell by her side it was all in vain. A pain--a trifling pain in her +foot, had brought her down again to the base world of sense which she +so ardently strove to soar away from. + +Several times she took up the mirror, looked in it fixedly as before, +and then gazed upwards; but each time that she lost consciousness of the +material world and that her liberated soul began to move its unfettered +pinions, some little noise, the twitch of a muscle, a fly settling on her +hand, a drop of perspiration falling from her brow on to her cheek, +roused her senses to reassert themselves. + +Why--why was it so difficult to shake off this burthen of mortal clay? +She thought of herself as of a sculptor who chisels away all superfluous +material froth his block of marble, to reveal the image of the god +within; but it was easier to remove the enclosing stone than to release +the soul from the body to which it was so closely knit. Still, she did +not give up the struggle to attain the object which others had achieved +before her; but she got no nearer to it--indeed, less and less near, for, +between her and that hoped-for climax, rose up a series of memories and +strange faces which she could not get rid of. The chisel slipped aside, +went wrong or lost its edge before the image could be extracted from the +block. + +One illusion after another floated before her eyes first it was Gorgo, +the idol of her old heart, lying pale and fair on a sea of surf that +rocked her on its watery waste--up high on the crest of a wave and then +deep down in the abyss that yawned behind it. She, too--so young, a +hardly-opened blossom--must perish in the universal ruin, and be crushed +by the same omnipotent hand that could overthrow the greatest of the +gods; and a glow of passionate hatred snatched her away from the aim of +her hopes. Then the dream changed she saw a scattered flock of ravens +flying in wide circles, at an unattainable height, against the clouds; +suddenly they vanished and she saw, in a grey mist, the monument to +Porphyrius' wife, Gorgo's long-departed mother. She had often visited +the mausoleum with tender emotion, but she did not want to see it now-- +not now, and she shook it off; but in its place rose up the image of her +daughter-in-law herself, the dweller in that tomb, and no effort of will +or energy availed to banish that face. She saw the dead woman as she had +seen her on the last fateful occasion in her short life. A solemn and +festal procession was passing out through the door of their house, headed +by flute-players and singing-girls; then came a white bull; a garland of +the scarlet flowers of the pomegranate--[This tree was regarded as the +symbol of fertility, on account of its many-seeded fruit.]--hung round +its massive neck, and its horns were gilt. By its side walked slaves, +carrying white baskets full of bread and cakes and heaps of flowers, and +these were followed by others, bearing light-blue cages containing geese +and doves. The bull, the calves, the flowers and the birds were all to +be deposited in the temple of Eileithyia, as a sacrifice to the +protecting goddess of women in child-birth. Close behind the bull came +Gorgo's mother, dressed with wreaths, walking slowly and timidly, with +shy, downcast eyes-thinking perhaps of the anguish to come, and putting +up a silent prayer. + +Damia followed with the female friends of the house, the clients and +their wives and some personal attendants, all carrying pomegranates in +the right hand, and holding in the left a long wreath of flowers which +thus connected the whole procession. + +In this order they reached the ship-yard; but at that spot they were met +by a band of crazy monks from the desert monasteries, who, seeing the +beast for sacrifice, abused them loudly, cursing the heathen. The slaves +indignantly drove them off, but then the starveling anchorites fell upon +the innocent beast which was the chief abomination in their eyes. The +bull tossed his huge head, snuffing and snorting to right and left, stuck +out his tail and rushed away from the boy whose guidance he had till now +meekly followed, flung a monk high in the air with his huge horns, and +then turned in his fury on the women who were behind. + +They fled like a flock of doves on which a hawk comes swooping down; some +were driven quite into the lake and others up against the paling of the +shipyard, while Damia herself--who was going through it all again in the +midst of her efforts to rise to the divinity--and the young wife whom she +had vainly tried to shelter and support, were both knocked down. To that +hour of terror Gorgo owed her birth, while to her mother it was death. + +On the following day Alexandria beheld a funeral ceremony as solemn, +as magnificent, and as crowded as though a conquering hero were being +entombed; it was that of the monk whom the bull had gored; the Bishop had +proclaimed that by this attack on the abomination of desolation--the +blood-sacrifice of idolatry--he had won an eternal crown in Paradise. + +But now the black ravens crossed Damia's vision once more, till presently +a handsome young Greek gaily drove them off with his thyrsus. His +powerful and supple limbs shone with oil, applied in the gymnasium of +Timagetes, the scene of his frequent triumphs in all the sports and +exercises of the youthful Greeks. His features and waving hair were +those of her son Apelles; but suddenly his aspect changed: he was an +emaciated penitent, his knees bent under the weight of a heavy cross; his +widow, Mary, had declared him a martyr to the cause of the crucified Jew +and defamed his memory in the eyes of his own son and of all men. Damia +clenched her trembling hands. Again those ravens came swirling round, +flapping their wings wildly over the prostrate penitent. + +Then her husband appeared to her, calmly indifferent to the birds of ill- +omen. He looked just as she remembered him many--so many years ago, when +he had come in smiling and said: "The best stroke of business I ever did! +For a sprinkling of water I have secured the corn trade with Thessalonica +and Constantinople; that is a hundred gold solidi for each drop." + +Yes, he had made a good bargain. The profits of that day's work were +multiplied by tens, and water, nothing in the world but Nile water-- +Baptismal water the priest had called it--had filled her son's money- +bags, too, and had turned their plot of land into broad estates; but it +had been tacitly understood that this sprinkling of water established a +claim for a return, and this both father and son had solemnly promised. +Its magic turned everything they touched to gold, but it brought a blight +on the peace of the household. One branch, which had grown up in the +traditions of the old Macedonian stock, had separated from the other; and +her husband's great lie lay between them and the family still living in +the Canopic way, like a wide ocean embittered with the salt of hatred. +That he had infused poison into his son's life and compelled him, proud +as he was, to forfeit the dignity of a free and high-minded man. Though +devoted in his heart to the old gods he had humbled himself, year after +year, to bow the knee with the hated votaries of the Christian faith, and +in their church, to their crucified Lord, and had publicly confessed +Christ. The water--the terrible thaumaturgic stream--clung to him more +inseparably than the brand-mark on a slave's arm. It could neither be +dried up nor wiped away; for if the false Christian, who was really a +zealous heathen, had boldly confessed the Olympian gods and abjured the +odious new faith, the gifts of the all-powerful water and all the +possessions of their old family would be confiscated to the State and +Church, and the children of Porphyrius, the grandchildren of the wealthy +Damia, would be beggars. And this--all this--for the sake of a crucified +Jew. + +The gods be praised the end of all this wretchedness was at hand! A +thrill of ecstasy ran through her as she reflected that with herself and +her children, every soul, everything that bore the name of Christian +would be crushed, shattered and annihilated. She could have laughed +aloud but that her throat was so dry, her tongue so parched; but her +scornful triumph was expressed in every feature, as her fancy showed her +Marcus riding along the Canopic street with that little heathen hussy +Dada, the singing girl, while her much-hated daughter-in-law looked +after them, beating her forehead in grief and rage. + +Quite beside herself with delight the old woman rocked backwards and +forwards in her chair; not for long, however, for the black birds seemed +to fill the whole room, describing swift, interminable spirals round her +head. She could not hear them, but she could see them, and the whirling +vortex fascinated her; she could not help turning her head to follow +their flight; she grew giddy and she was forced to try to recover her +balance. + +The old woman sat huddled in her chair, her hands convulsively clutching +the arms, like a horseman whose steed has run away with him round and +round the arena; till at length, worn out by excitement and exhaustion, +she became unconscious, and sank in a heap on the ground, rigid and +apparently lifeless. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor +He spoke with pompous exaggeration +Whether man were the best or the worst of created beings + + + + + + +SERAPIS + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 5. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +Gorgo, when she had left her grandmother, could not rest. Her lofty +calmness of demeanor had given way to a restless mood such as she had +always contemned severely in others, since she had ceased to be a +vehement child and grown to be a woman. She tried to beguile the alarm +that made her pulses beat so quickly, and the heart-sickness that ached +like a wound, by music and singing; but this only added to her torment. +The means by which she could usually recover her equanimity of mind had +lost their efficacy, and Sappho's longing hymn, which she began to sing, +had only served to bring the fervid longing of her own heart to light-- +to set it, as it were, in the full glare of the sun. She had become +aware that every fibre, every nerve of her being yearned for the man she +loved; she would have thrown away her life like a hollow nut for one +single hour of perfect joy with him and in him. The faith in the old +gods, the heathen world which contained the ideal of her young soul, her +detestation of Christianity, her beautiful art--everything, in short, +that had filled the spiritual side of her life, was cast into the shade +by the one absorbing passion that possessed her soul. Every feeling, +every instinct, urged her to abandon herself entirely to her lover, and +yet she never for one instant doubted which side she would take in the +approaching conflict of the great powers that ruled the world. The last +few hours had only confirmed her conviction that the end of all things +was at hand. The world was on the eve of destruction; she foresaw that +she must perish--perish with Constantine, and that, in her eyes, was a +grace from the gods. + +While Damia was vainly struggling to liberate her soul from the bondage +of the flesh, Gorgo had been wandering uneasily about the house; now +going to the slaves, encouraging them with brave words, and giving them +employment to keep them from utter desperation, and then stealing up to +see whether her grandmother might not by this time be in need of her. +As it grew dark she observed that several of the women, and even some of +the men, had made their escape. These were such as had already shown a +leaning towards the new faith, and who now made off to join their fellow- +Christians, or to seek refuge in the churches under the protection of the +crucified God whose supreme power might, perhaps, even yet, avert the +impending catastrophe. + +Twice had Porphyrius sent a messenger to assure his mother and daughter +that all was well with him, that a powerful party was prepared to defend +the Serapeum, and that he should pass the night in the temple. The +Romans were evidently hesitating to attack it, and if, next morning, the +heathen should succeed in repelling the first onset, reinforcements might +yet be brought up in time. Gorgo could not share these hopes; a client +of her father's had brought in a rumor that the Biamites, after advancing +as far as Naucratis, had been dispersed by a few of the Imperial +maniples. Fate was stalking on its way, and no one could give it pause. + +The evening brought no coolness, and when it was already quite dark, +as her grandmother had not yet called her, Gorgo could no longer control +her increasing anxiety, so, after knocking in vain at the door of the +observatory, she went in. Her old nurse preceded her with a lamp, and +the two women stood dumb with consternation, for the old lady lay +senseless on the ground. Her head was thrown back against the seat of +the chair off which she had slipped, and her pale face was lifeless and +horrible to look at, with its half-closed eyes and dropped jaw. Wine, +water, and strong essences were all at hand, and they laid the +unconscious woman on a couch intended for the occasional use of the +wearied observer. In a few minutes they had succeeded in reviving the +old lady; but her eyes rested without recognition on the girl who knelt +by her side, and she murmured to herself: "The ravens--where are they +gone? Ravens!" + +Her glance wandered round the room, to the tablets and rolls which had +been tossed off the couch and the table to make room for her, and for the +lamps and medicaments. They lay in disorder on the floor, and the sight +of this confusion produced a favorable excitement and reaction; she +succeeded in expressing herself in husky accents and broken, hardly +intelligible sentences, so far as to scold them sharply for their +irreverence for the precious documents, and for the disorder they had +created. The waiting-woman proceeded to pick them up: but Damia again +became unconscious. Gorgo bathed her brow and tried to pour some wine +between her teeth, but she clenched them too firmly, till the slave-woman +came to her assistance and they succeeded in making Damia swallow a few +drops. The old woman opened her eyes, smacking her tongue feebly; but +she took the cup into her own hand to hold it to her lips; and though she +trembled so that half the contents were spilt, she drank eagerly till it +was quite empty. "More," she gasped with the eagerness of intense +thirst, "more--I want drink !" + +Gorgo gave her a second and a third draught which Damia drank with equal +eagerness; then, with a deep breath, she looked up fully conscious, at +her granddaughter. + +"Thank you, child," she said. "Now I shall do very well for a little +while. The material world and all that belongs to it weighs us down and +clings to us like iron fetters. We may long and strive to be free, but +it pursues us and holds us fast. Only those who are content with their +miserable humanity can enjoy it. They laugh, as you know, at Praxilla, +the poetess, because she makes the dying Adonis lament, when face to face +with death, that he is forced to leave the apples and pears behind him. +But is not that subtly true? Yes, yes; Praxilla is right! We fast, we +mortify ourselves--I have felt it all myself--to partake of divinity. We +almost perish of hunger and thirst, when we might be so happy if only we +would be satisfied with apples and pears! No man has ever yet succeeded +in the great effort; those who would be truly happy must be content with +small things. That is what makes children so happy. Apples and pears! +Well, everything will be at an end for me ere long--even those. But if +the great First Cause spares himself in the universal crash, there is +still the grand idea of Apples and Pears; and who knows but that it may +please Him, when this world is destroyed, to frame another to come after +it. Will He then once more embody the ideas of Man--and Apples and +Pears? It would be plagiarism from himself. Nay, if He is merciful, He +will never again give substance to that hybrid idea called Man; or, if He +does, He will let the poor wretch be happy with apples and pears--I mean +trivial joys; for all higher joys, be they what they may, are vanity and +vexation.... Give me another draught. Ah, that is good! And to-morrow +is the end. I could find it in my heart to regret the good gifts of +Dionysus myself; it is better than apples and pears; next to that comes +the joy that Eros bestows on mortals, and there must be an end to all +that, too. That, however, is above the level of apples and pears. It is +great, very great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow. +Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line that divides them? +Smiles and tears alike belong to both. And you are weeping? Aye, aye-- +poor child! Come here and kiss me." Damia drew the head of the kneeling +girl close to her bosom and pressed her lips to Gorge's brow. Presently, +however, she relaxed her embrace and, looking about the room, she +exclaimed: + +"How you have mixed and upset the book-rolls! If only I could show you +how clearly everything agrees and coincides. We know now exactly how it +will all happen. By the day after to-morrow there will be no more earth, +no more sky; and I will tell you this, child: If, when Serapis falls, the +universe does not crumble to pieces like a ruinous hovel, then the wisdom +of the Magians is a lie, the course of the stars has nothing to do with +the destinies of the earth and its inhabitants, the planets are mere +lamps, the sun is no more than a luminous furnace, the old gods are +marsh-fires, emanations from the dark bog of men's minds--and the great +Serapis... But why be angry with him? There is no doubt--no if nor but +....Give me the diptychon and I will show you our doom. There--just +here--my sight is so dazzled, I cannot make it out.--And if I could, what +matter? Who can alter here below what has been decided above? Leave me +to sleep now, and I will explain it all to you to-morrow if there is +still time. Poor child, when I think how we have tormented you to learn +what you know, and how industrious you have been! And now--to what end? +I ask you, to what end? The great gulf will swallow up one and all." + +"So be it, so be it !" cried Gorgo interrupting her. "Then, at any +rate, nothing that I love on earth will be lost to me before I die!" + +"And the enemy will perish in the same ruin!" continued Damia, her eyes +sparkling with revived fire. "But where shall we go to--where? The +soul is divine by nature and cannot be destroyed. It must return--say, +am I right or wrong?--It will return to its first fount and cause; for +like attracts and absorbs like, and thus our deification, our union with +the god will be accomplished." + +"I believe it--I am sure of it!" replied Gorgo with conviction. + +"You are sure of it?" retorted the old woman. "But I am not. For our +clearest knowledge is but guesswork when it is not based on numbers. +Nothing is proved or provable but by numbers, but they are surer than the +rocks in the sea; that is why I believe in our coming doom, for, on those +tablets, we have calculated it to a certainty. But who can calculate +evidence of the future fate of the soul? If, indeed, the old order +should not pass away--if the depths should remain below and the empyrean +still keep its place above--then, to be sure, your studies would not be +in vain; for then your soul, which is fixed on spiritual, supernatural +and sublime conceptions, would be drawn upwards to the great Intelligence +of which it is the offspring, to the very god, and become one with him-- +absorbed into him, as the rain-drop fallen from a cloud rises again +and is reunited to its parent vapor. Then--for there may be a +metempsychosis--your songful spirit might revive to inform +a nightingale, then . . ." + +Damia paused; and gazed upwards as if in ecstasy, and it was not till a +few minutes later that she went on, with a changed expression in her +face: "Then my son's widow, Mary, would be hatched out of a serpent's egg +and would creep a writhing asp... Great gods! the ravens! What can they +mean? They come again. Air, air! Wine! I cannot--I am choking--take +it away!--To-morrow--to-day... Everything is going; do you see--do you +feel? It is all black--no, red; and now black again. Everything is +sinking; hold me, save me; the floor is going from under me.--Where is +Porphyrius? Where is my son?--My feet are so cold; rub them. It is the +water! rising--it is up to my knees. I am sinking--help! save me! +help!" The dying woman fought with her arms as if she were drowning; her +cries for help grew fainter, her head drooped on her laboring chest, and +in a few minutes she had breathed her last in her grandchild's arms, and +her restless, suffering soul was free. + +Never before had Gorgo seen death. She could not persuade herself that +the heart which had been so cold for others, but had throbbed so warmly +and tenderly for her, was now stilled for ever; that the spirit which, +even in sleep, had never been at rest, had now found eternal peace. The +slave-woman had hastily taken her place, had closed the dead woman's eyes +and mouth, and done all she could to diminish the horror of the scene, +and the terrible aspect of the dead in the sight of the girl who had been +her one darling. But Gorgo had remained by her side, and, while she did +everything in her power to revive the stiffening body, the overwhelming +might of Death had come home to her with appalling clearness. She felt +the limbs of one she had loved growing cold and rigid under her hands, +and her spirit rose in obstinate rebellion against the idea that +annihilation stood between her and the woman who had so amply filled +a mother's place. She insisted on having every method of resuscitation +tried that had ever been heard of, and made her nurse send for +physicians, though the woman solemnly assured her that human help was of +no avail: then she sent for the priest of Saturn who--as the dead woman +herself had told her--knew mighty spells which had called back many a +departed spirit to the body it had quitted. + +When, at last, she was alone and gazed on the hard, set features of the +dead, though she shuddered with horror, she so far controlled herself as +to press her lips in sorrow and gratitude to the thin hand whose caresses +she had been wont to accept as a mere matter of course. How cold and +heavy it was! She shivered and dropped it, and the large rings on the +fingers rattled on the wooden frame of the couch. There was no hope; she +understood that her friend and mother was indeed dead and silent forever. + +Deep and bitter grief overwhelmed her completely, with the sense of +abandoned loneliness, the humiliating feeling of helplessness against a +brutal power that marches on, scorning humanity, as a warrior treads down +the grass and flowers in his path. She fell on her knees by the corpse, +sobbing passionately, and crying like an indignant child when a stronger +companion has robbed it of some precious possession. She wept with rage +at her own impotence; and her tears flowed faster and faster as she more +fully realized how lonely she was, and what a blow this must be to her +father. In this hour no pleasant reminiscences of past family happiness +came to infuse a drop of sweetness into the bitterness of her grief. +Only one reflection brought her any comfort, and that was the thought +that the grave which had yawned already for her grandmother would soon, +very soon, open for herself and all living souls. On the table, close at +hand, lay the evidence of their impending doom, and a longing for that +end gradually took complete possession of her, excluding every other +feeling. Thinking of this she rose from her knees and ceased to weep. + +When, presently, her waiting-woman should return, she was resolved to +leave the house at once; she could not bear to stay; her feelings and +duty alike indicated the place where she might find the last hour's +happiness that she expected or desired of life. Her father must learn +from herself, and not from a stranger, of the loss that had befallen +them, and she knew that he was in the Serapeum--on the very spot where +she might hope next morning to meet Constantine. It would be her lover's +duty to open the gate to destruction, and she would be there to pass +through it at his side. + +She waited a long, long time, but at last there was a noise on the +stairs. That was her nurse's step, but she was not alone. Had she +brought the leech and the exorciser? The door opened and the old steward +came in, carrying a three-branched lamp; then followed the slave-woman, +and then--her heart stood still then came Constantine and his mother. + +Gorgo, pale and speechless, received her unexpected visitors. The nurse +had failed to find the physician, whose aid would, at any rate, have come +too late; and as the housekeeper had taken herself off with others of the +Christian slaves, the faithful soul had said to herself that "her child" +would want some womanly help and comfort in her trouble, and had gone to +the house of their neighbor Clemens, to entreat his wife to come with her +to see the dead, and visit her forlorn young mistress. Constantine, who +had come home a short time previously, had said nothing, but had +accompanied the two women. + +While Constantine gazed with no unkindly feelings at the still face of +Damia--to whom, after all, he owed many a little debt of kindness--and +then turned to look at Gorgo who stood downcast, pale, and struggling +to breathe calmly, Dame Marianne tried to proffer a few words of +consolation. She warmly praised everything in the dead woman which +was not in her estimation absolutely reprobate and godless, and brought +forward all the comforting arguments which a pious Christian can command +for the edification and encouragement of those who mourn a beloved +friend; but to Gorgo all this well-meant discourse was as the babble of +an unknown tongue; and it was only when, at length, Marianne went up to +her and drew her to her motherly bosom, to kiss her, and bid her be +welcome under Clelnens' roof till Porphyrius should be at home again, +that she understood that the good woman meant kindly, and honestly +desired to help and comfort her. + +But the allusion to her father reminded her of the first duty in her +path; she roused her energies, thanked Marianne warmly, and begged her +only to assist her in carrying the corpse into the thalamos, and then to +take charge of the keys. She herself, she explained, meant at once to +seek her father, since he ought to learn from no one but herself of his +mother's death. Nor would she listen for a moment to her friend's +pressing entreaties that she would put off this task, and pass the night, +at any rate, under her roof. + +Constantine had kept in the background; it was not till Gorgo approached +the dead and gave the order to carry the body down into the house that he +came forward, and with simple feeling offered her his hand. The girl +looked frankly in his face, and, as she put her hand in his, she said in +a low voice: "I was unjust to you, Constantine. I insulted and hurt you; +but I repented sincerely, even before you had left the house. And you +owe me no grudge, I know, for you understood how forlorn I must be and +came to see me. There is no ill-feeling, is there, nothing to come +between us?" + +"Nothing, nothing!" he eagerly exclaimed, seizing her other hand with +passionate fervor. + +She felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed in a full tide to her +heart--as if he were some part of her very being, that had been torn out, +snatched from her, and that she must have back again, even if it cost +them both their life and happiness. The impulse was irresistible; she +drew away her hands from his grasp and flung them round his neck, +clinging to him as a weary child clings to its mother. She did not know +how it had come about--how such a thing was possible, but it was done; +and without paying any heed to Marianne, who looked on in dismay while +her son's lips were pressed to the brow and lips of the lovely +idolatress, she wept upon her lover's shoulders, feeling a thousand +roses blossoming in her soul and a thousand thorns piercing and +tearing her heart. + +It had to be, that she felt; it was at once their union and their +parting. Their common destiny was but for a moment, and that moment had +come and gone. All that now retrained for them was death--destruction, +with all things living; and she looked forward to this, as a man watches +for the dawn after a sleepless night. Marianne stood aside; she dimly +perceived that something vital was going on, that something inevitable +had happened which would admit of no interference. Gorgo, as she freed +herself from Constantine's embrace, stood strangely solemn and +unapproachable. To the simple matron she was an inscrutable riddle to +which she could find no clue; but she was pleased, nevertheless, when +Gorgo came up to her and kissed her hand. She could not utter a word, +for she felt that whatever she might say, it would not be the right +thing; and it was a real relief to her to busy herself over the removal +of the body, in which she could be helpful. + +Gorgo had covered the dead face; and when old Damia had been carried down +to the thalamos and laid in state on the bridal bed, she strewed the +couch with flowers. + +Meanwhile, the priest of Saturn had been found, and he declared in all +confidence that no power on earth could have recalled this departed soul. +Damia's sudden end and the girl's great grief went to his faithful heart, +and he gladly acceded to Gorgo's request that he would wait for her by +the garden-gate and escort her to the Serapeum. When he had left them +she gave the keys of her grandmother's chests and cupboards into +Marianne's keeping; then she went into the adjoining room, where +Constantine had been waiting while she decked the bed of death, and bid +him a solemn, but apparently calm, farewell. He put out his arm to clasp +her to his heart, but this she would not permit; and when he besought her +to go home with them she answered sadly, "No, my dearest... I must not; +I have other duties to fulfil." + +"Yes," he replied emphatically, "and I, too--I have mine. But you have +given yourself to me. You are my very own; you belong to me only, and +not to yourself; and I desire, I command you to yield to my first +request. Go with my mother, or stay here, if you will, with the dead. +Wherever your father may be, it is not, cannot be, the right place for +you--my betrothed bride. I can guess where be is. Oh! Gorgo, be +warned. + +"The fate of the old gods is sealed. We are the stronger and to-morrow, +yes to-morrow--by your own head, by all I hold dear and sacred!--Serapis +will fall!" + +"I know it," she said firmly. "And you are charged to lay hands on the +god?" + +"I am, and I shall do it." + +She nodded approbation and then said submissively and sweetly: "It is +your duty, and you cannot do otherwise. And come what may we are one, +Constantine, forever one. Nothing can part us. Whatever the future may +bring, we belong to each other, to stand or fall together. I with you, +you with me, till the end of time." She gave him her hand and looked +lovingly into his eyes; then she threw herself into his mother's arms and +kissed her fondly. + +"Come, come with me, my child," said Marianne; but Gorgo freed herself, +exclaiming: "Go, go; if you love me leave me; go and let me be alone." + +She went back into the thalamos where the dead lay at peace, and before +the others could follow her she had opened a door hidden behind some +tapestry near the bed, and fled into the garden. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +The night was hot and gloomy. Heavy clouds gathered in the north, and +wreaths of mist, like a hot vapor-bath, swayed over the crisply-foaming +wavelets that curled the lustreless waters of the Mareotis Lake. The +moon peeped, pale and shrouded, out of a russet halo, and ghostly +twilight reigned in the streets, still heated by the baked walls of the +houses. + +To the west, over the desert, a dull sulphurous yellow streaked the black +clouds, and from time to time the sultry air was rent by a blinding flash +sent across the firmament from the north. There was a hot, sluggish wind +blowing from the southwest, which drove the sand across the lake into the +streets; the fine grit stung: and burnt the face of the wanderer who +hurried on with half-closed eyes and tightly-shut lips. A deep +oppression seemed to have fallen on nature and on man; the sudden gusts +of the heated breeze, the arrow-like shafts of lightning, the weird +shapes and colors of the clouds, all combined to give a sinister, baleful +and portentous aspect to this night, as though skies and waters, earth +and air were brooding over some tremendous catastrophe. + +Gorgo had thrown a veil and handkerchief round her head and followed the +priest with an aching brow and throbbing heart. When she heard a step +behind her she started-for it might be Constantine following her up; when +a gust of wind flung the stinging sand in her face, or the storm-flash +threw a lurid light on the sky, her heart stood still, for was not this +the prelude to the final crash. + +She was familiar with the way they were going, but its length seemed to +have stretched tenfold. At last, however, they reached their +destination. She gave the pass-word at the gate of her father's timber- +yard and exchanged the signs agreed upon; in a few minutes she had made +her way through the piles of beams and planks that screened the entrance +to the aqueduct--a slave who knew her leading the way with a light--and +she and her companion entered the underground passage. + +It was hot and close; bats, scared by the flare of the torch, fluttered +round her with a ghostly rustle, startling and disgusting her; still, +she felt less alarm here than outside; and when, as she went forward she +thought of the great temple she was coming to, of its wonderful beauty +and solemn majesty, she only cared to press onward to that refuge of +ineffable splendor where all would be peace. To die there, to perish +there with her lover, did not seem hard; nay, she felt proud to think +that she might await death in the noblest edifice ever raised to a god by +mortal hands. Here Fate might have its way; she had known the highest +joy she had ever dreamed of, and where on earth was there a sublimer tomb +than this sanctuary of the sovereign of the universe, whose supremacy +even the other gods acknowledged with trembling! + +She had known the sacred halls of the temple from her childhood, and she +pictured them as filled with thousands of lofty souls, united in this +supreme hour by one feeling and one purpose. She even fancied she could +hear the inspired and heartfelt strains of the enthusiasts who were +prepared to give their lives for the god of their fathers, that she +breathed the odor of incense and burnt sacrifices, that she saw the +chorus of youths and maidens, led by priests and dancing with solemn +grace in mazy circles round the flower-decked altars. There among the +elders who had gathered round Olympius to meditate devoutly on the coming +doom and on the inmost meaning of the mysteries--among the adepts who +were anxiously noting, in the observatories of the Serapeum, the fateful +courses of the stars, the swirling of the clouds and the flight of birds, +she would doubtless find her father; and the fresh wound bled anew as she +remembered that she was the bearer of news which must deeply shock and +grieve him. Still, no doubt, she would find him wrapped in dignified +readiness for the worst, sorrowing serenely for the doomed world, and so +her melancholy message would come to a prepared and resigned heart. + +She had no fear of the crowd of men she would find in the Serapeum. +Her father and Olympius were there to protect her, and Dame Herse, too, +would be a support and comfort; but even without those three, on such a +night as this--the last perhaps that they might ever see--she would have +ventured without hesitation among thousands, for she firmly believed that +every votary of the gods was awaiting his own end and the crash of +falling skies with devout expectancy, and perhaps with not less terror +than herself. + +These were her thoughts as she and her guide stopped at a strong door. +This was presently opened and they found themselves in an underground +chamber, devoted to the mysteries of the worship of Serapis, in which the +adepts were required to go through certain severe ordeals before they +were esteemed worthy to be received into the highest order of the +initiated--the Esoterics. The halls and corridors which she now went +through, and which she had never before seen, were meagrely lighted with +lamps and torches, and all that met her eye filled her with reverent awe +while it excited her imagination. Everything, in fact--every room and +every image--was as unlike nature, and as far removed from ordinary types +as possible, in arrangement and appearance. After passing through a +pyramidal room, with triangular sides that sloped to a point, she came to +one in the shape of a polygonal prism. In a long, broad corridor she had +to walk on a narrow path, bordered by sphinxes; and there she clung +tightly to her guide, for on one side of the foot-way yawned a gulf of +great depth. In another place she heard, above her head, the sound of +rushing waters, which then fell into the abyss beneath with a loud roar. +After this she came upon a large grotto, hewn in the living rock and +defended by a row of staring crocodiles' heads, plated with gold; the +heavy smell of stale incense and acrid resins choked her, and her way now +lay over iron gratings and past strangely contrived furnaces. The walls +were decorated with colored reliefs: Tantalus, Ixion, and Sisyphus +toiling at his stone, looked down on her in hideous realism as she went. +Rock chambers, fast closed with iron doors, as though they enclosed +inestimable treasures or inscrutable secrets, lay on either hand, and her +dress swept against numerous images and vessels closely shrouded in +hangings. + +When she ventured to look round, her eye fell on monstrous forms and +mystical signs and figures; if she glanced upwards, she saw human and +animal forms, and mixed with these the various constellations, sailing in +boats--the Egyptian notion of their motions--along the back of a woman +stretched out to an enormous length; or, again, figures by some Greek +artist: the Pleiades, Castor and Pollux as horsemen with stars on their +heads, and Berenice's star-gemmed hair. + +The effect on the girl was bewildering, overpowering, as she made her way +through this underground world. The things she had glimpses of were very +sparely illuminated, nay scarcely discernible, and yet appallingly real; +what mysteries, what spells might not he hidden in all she did not see! +She felt as if the end of life, which she was looking for, had already +begun, as if she had already gone down, alive, into Hades. + +The path gradually sloped upwards and at last she ascended, by a spiral +staircase, to the ground-floor of the temple. Once or twice she had met +a few men, but solemn silence reigned in those subterranean chambers. + +The sound of their approaching and receding steps had only served to make +her aware of the complete stillness. This was just as it should be--just +as she would have it. This peace reminded her of the profound silence of +nature before a tempest bursts and rages. + +Gorgo took off her veil as she went up the stairs, shook out the folds of +her dress, and assumed the dignified and reverent demeanor which became a +young girl of rank and position when approaching the altars of the +divinity. But as she reached the top a loud medley of noises and voices +met her ear-flutes, drums?--The sacred dance, she supposed, must be going +on. + +She came out into a room on one side of the hypostyle; her companion +opened a high door, plated with gilt bronze and silver, and Gorgo +followed him, walking gravely with her head held high and her eyes fixed +on the ground, into the magnificent hall where the sacred image sat +enthroned in veiled majesty. They crossed the colonnade at the side of +the hypostyle and went down two steps into the vast nave of the temple. + +The wild tumult that she had heard on first opening the door had +surprised and puzzled her; but now, as she timidly looked up and around +her, she felt a shock of horror and revulsion such as might come over a +man who, walking by night and believing that he is treading on flowers, +suddenly finds that the slimy slope of a bottomless bog is leading him to +perdition. She tottered and clutched at a statue, gazing about her, +listening to the uproar, and wondering whether she were awake or +dreaming. + +She tried not to see and hear what was going on there; it was revolting, +loathsome, horrible; but it was too manifest to be overlooked or ignored; +its vulgarity and horror forced it on her attention. For some time she +stood spell-bound, paralyzed; but then she covered her face with her +hands; maidenly shame, bitter disillusion, and pious indignation at the +gross desecration of all that she deemed most sacred and inviolable +surged up in her stricken soul, and she burst into tears, weeping as she +had never wept in all her life before. Sobbing bitterly, she wrapped her +face in her veil, as though to protect herself from storm and chill. + +No one heeded her; her companion had left her to seek her father. She +could only await his return, and she looked round for a hiding place. +Then she observed a woman in mourning garb sitting huddled at the foot of +the statue of justice; she recognized her as the widow of Asclepiodorus +and breathed more freely as she went up to her and said, between her sobs +"Let me sit by you; we can mourn together." + +"Yes, yes, come," said the other; and without enquiring what Gorgo's +trouble might be, moved only by the mysterious charm of finding another +in like sorrow with herself, she drew the girl to her and bending over +her, at length found relief in tears. + +The two weeping women sat in silence, side by side, while in front of +them the orgy went on its frantic course. A party of men and women were +dancing down the hall, singing and shouting. Flutes yelled, cymbals +clanged, drums rattled and droned, without either time or tune. Drunken +pastophori had flung open the rooms where the vestments and sacred +vessels were kept, and from these treasuries the ribald mob had dragged +forth panther-skins such as the priests wore when performing the sacred +functions, brass cars for carrying sacrifices, wooden biers on which the +images of the gods were borne in solemn processions, and other precious +objects. In a large room adjoining, a party of students and girls were +concocting some grand scheme for which they needed much time and large +supplies of wine; but most of those who had possessed themselves of the +plunder had taken it into the hypostyle and were vying with each other in +extravagant travesties. + +A burly wine-grower was elected to represent Dionysus and was seated with +nothing but some wreaths of flowers to cover his naked limbs, in a four- +wheeled sacrificial car of beaten brass. An alabaster wine-jar stood +between his fat knees, and his heavy body rolled with laughter as he was +drawn in triumph through the sacred arcades by a shouting rabble, as fast +as they could run. Numbers of the intoxicated crew, mad with excitement +and wine, had cast off their clothes which lay in heaps between the +pillars, soaking in puddles of spilt wine. In their wild dance the +girls' hair had fallen about their heated faces, tangled with withered +leaves and faded flowers, and the men, young and old alike, leaped and +waltzed like possessed creatures, flourishing thyrsus-staves and the +emblems of the lusty wine-god. + +A small band of priests and philosophers ventured into the chaos in the +hope of quelling the riot, but a tipsy flute-player placed himself in +front of them and throwing back his head blew a furious blast to heaven +on his double pipe, shrill enough to wake the dead, while a girl seconded +him by flinging her tambourine in the face of the intruding pacificators. +It bounced against the shaft of a column, and then fell on the shaven +head of a priestling, who seized it and tossed it back. The game was +soon taken up, and before long, one tambourine after another was flying +over the heads of the frenzied crew. Every one was eager to have one, +and sprung to catch them, scuffling and struggling and making the +parchment sound on his neighbor's head. + +Some of the women had jumped on to the processional biers and were being +carried round the hall by staggering youths, screaming with alarm and +laughter; if one of them lost her balance and fell she was captured with +shrieks of merriment and forced to mount her insecure eminence again. +Presently the car of Dionysus came to wreck over the body of an +unconscious toper, but no one stopped to set it right; and though the +hapless representative of the god howled loudly to them to stop while he +extricated himself from the machine, in which he had stuck, it was in +vain; the score or so of youths who were dragging it tore on, passing +close by Gorgo, who noted with indignation, that the brasswork of the +axles was cutting deeply into the splendid mosaic of the pavement. At +last the burly god fell out by his sheer weight, and his followers +restored him to consciousness by taking him by the heels and dipping his +towzled and bleeding head into a huge jar of wine and water. Then some +hundreds of his drunken votaries danced madly round the rescued god; and +as all the tambourines were split and the flute-players had no breath +left, time was kept by beating with thyrsus-staves against the pillars, +while three men, who had found the brazen tubas among the temple vessels, +blew with all their might and main. + +Strong opposition, however, was roused by this mad uproar. A party of +worshippers, in the first place, rebelled against it; these had been +standing with veiled heads, near the statue of Serapis, muttering +exorcisms after a Magian and howling lamentably at intervals; then a +preacher, who had succeeded in collecting a little knot of listeners, bid +the trumpeters cease; and finally, a party of actors and singers, who had +assembled in the outer hall to perform a satira play, tried to stop them, +though they themselves were making such a noise that the trumpet-blast +could have affected them but little. When the players found that +remonstrance had no effect they rushed into the hypostyle and tried to +reduce the musicians to silence by force. + +Then a frenzied contest began; but the combatants were soon separated; +the actors and their antagonists fell on each other's necks, and a +Homeric poet, who had compiled an elegy for the evening on the "Gods +coerced by the hosts of the new superstition," made up simply of lines +culled from the Iliad and Odyssey, seized this favorable opportunity. He +had begun to read it at the top of his voice, screaming down the general +din, when everything was forgotten in the excitement caused by the +entrance of a procession which was the successful result of many raids on +the temple-treasuries and lumber-rooms. + +A storm of applause greeted its appearance; the tipsiest stammered out +his approval, and the picture presented to drunken eyes was indeed a +beautiful and gorgeous one. On a high platform-intended for the display +of a small image of Serapis and certain symbols of the god, at great +festivals--Glycera, the loveliest hetaira of the town, was drawn in +triumph through the temple. She reclined in a sort of bowl representing +a shell, placed at the top of the platform, and on the lower stages sat +groups of fair girls, swaying gently with luxurious grace, and flinging +flowers down to the crowd who, with jealous rivalry, strove to catch +them. Everyone recognized the beautiful hetaira as Aphrodite, and she +was hailed, as with one voice, the Queen of the World. The men rushed +forward to pour libations in her honor, and to join hands and dance in a +giddy maze round her car. + +"Take her to Serapis!" shouted a drunken student. "Marry her to the +god. Heavenly Love should be his bride!" + +"Yes--take her to Serapis," yelled another. "It is the wedding of +Serapis and Glycera." + +The crazy rabble pushed the machine towards the curtain, with the +beautiful, laughing woman on the top, and her bevy of languishing +attendants. + +Until this instant the vivid lightning outside, and the growling of +distant thunder had not been heeded by the revellers, but now a blinding +flash lighted up the hall and, at the same instant, a tremendous peal +crashed and rattled just above them, and shook the desecrated shrine. A +sulphurous vapor came rolling in at the openings just below the roof, and +this first flash was immediately followed by another which seemed to have +rent the vault of heaven, for it was accompanied by a deafening and +stunning roar and a terrific rumbling and creaking, as though the metal +walls of the firmament had burst asunder and fallen in on the earth--on +Alexandria--on the Serapeum. + +The whole awful force of an African tempest came crashing down upon them; +the wild revel was stilled; the trembling topers dropped their cups, +fevered checks turned pale, the dancers parted and threw up their hands +in agonized supplication, words of lust and blasphemy died on their lips +and turned to prayers and muttered charms. The terrified nymphs that +surrounded Venus sprang from the car, and the foam-born goddess in the +shell tried to free herself from the garlands and gauzes in which she was +involved, shrieking aloud when she perceived that she could not descend +unaided from her elevated position. Other voices mingled with hers-- +lamenting, cursing, and entreating; for now the rainclouds burst, and +through the window-openings poured a cold flood, chilling and wetting the +drunken mob within. + +The storm raved through the halls and corridors; lightning and thunder +raged fiercely overhead; and the terrified wretches, suddenly sobered, +rushed about or huddled together, like ants whose nest has been upturned. +And into the midst of this dismayed throng rushed Orpheus, the son of +Karnis, who had been till now on guard on the roof, crying out: "The +world is coming to an end, the heavens are opening! Father--where is my +father?" + +And everyone believed him; they snatched off their garlands, tore their +hair and gave themselves up to the utmost despair. Wailing, sobbing, +howling-furious, but impotent, they appealed to each other; and though +they had no hope of living to see another morning, or perhaps another +hour, each one thought only of himself, of his garments, and of how he +might best cover his limbs that shivered with terror and cold. From the +Scuffling mob round the heaps of cast-off clothes came deep groans, +piteous weeping, the shrieks of women, and the despairing moans of the +panic-stricken wretches. + +It was a fearful scene, at once heart-rending and revolting; Gorgo looked +on, gnashing her teeth with rage and disgust, and only wishing for the +end of the world and of her own life as a respite from it all. These +crazed and miserable wretches, cowardly fools, these beasts in the guise +of human beings, deserved no better than to perish; but was it +conceivable that the supreme being should destroy the whole of the +beautiful and wisely-planned world for the sake of this base and +loathsome rabble. + +It thundered, it lightened, the foundations of the temple shook--but she +no longer looked for the final crash; she had ceased to believe in the +majesty, the power and the purity of the divinity behind the veil. Her +cheeks burnt with shame, she felt it a disgrace ever to have been +numbered among his adherents; and, as the howling of the terrified crowd +grew every moment louder and wilder, the memory of Constantine's grave +and fearless manliness rose before her, in all its strength and beauty. +She was his, his wholly and forever; and for the future all that was his +should be hers: his love, his home, his noble purpose--and his God. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +The doubtful light of dawn was beginning to break through the storm- +clouds as they exhausted their fury on the Serapeum, but the terrified +heathen did not notice it. No captain, no prophet, no comforter had come +to revive their courage and hopes; for Olympius and his guests, the +leaders of the intellectual life of Alexandria--and among them the chief +priests of the sanctuary--were tardy in making their appearance. + +The lightning-flash which had fallen on the brassplated cupola, and then +discharged its force along a flagstaff, had alarmed even the sages and +philosophers; and the Symposium had come to an abrupt end but little more +dignified than the orgy in the temple-halls. Few, to be sure, of the +high-priest's friends had allowed themselves to be so far scared as to +betray their terrors frankly; on the contrary, when the crack of doom +really seemed to have sounded, rhetoric and argument grew even more eager +than before round Olympius' table; and Gorgo's opinion of her fellow- +heathen might not have been much raised if she could have heard +Helladius, the famous philologist and biographer, reciting verses from +"Prometheus bound," his knees quaking and lips quivering as he heard the +thunder; or seen Ammonius, another grammarian who had written a +celebrated work on "The Differences of Synonyms," rending his robe and +presenting his bared breast as a target to the lightning, with a glance +round at the company to challenge their admiration. His heroic display +was, unfortunately, observed by few; for most of them, including +Eunapius, a neo-platonic philosopher distinguished as a historian and an +implacable foe of the Christians, had wrapped their heads in their robes +and were awaiting the end in sullen resignation. Some had dropped on +their knees and were praying with uplifted hands, or murmuring +incantations; and a poet, who had been crowned for a poem entitled: +"Man the Lord and Master of the Gods," had fainted with fear, and his +laurel-wreath had fallen into a dish of oysters. + +Olympius had risen from his place as Symposiarch and was leaning against +a door-post awaiting death with manly composure. Father Karnis, who had +made rather too free with the wine-cup, but had been completely sobered +by the sudden fury of the storm, had sprung up and hastened past the +high-priest to seek his wife and son; he knew they could not be far off, +and desired to perish with them. + +Porphyrius and his next neighbor, Apuleius, the great physician, were +among those who had covered their faces. Porphyrius could look forward +more calmly than many to the approaching crisis; for, as a cautious man +and far-seeing merchant, he had made provision for every contingency. +If, in spite of a Christian victory, the world should still roll on, and +if the law which declared invalid the will of an apostate should be +enforced against him, a princely fortune, out of the reach of Church or +State, lay safe in the hands of a wealthy and trustworthy friend for his +daughter's use; if, on the other hand, heaven and earth met in a common +doom, he had by him an infallible remedy against a lingering and +agonizing death. + +The whole party had sat during some long and anxious minutes, listening +to the appalling thunder-claps, when Orpheus rushed into the banqueting- +room, with the same frenzied and terror-stricken haste as before, among +the revellers, crying: "It is the end-all is over! The world is falling +asunder! Fire is come down from heaven! The earth is in flames already +--I saw it with my own eyes! I have come down from the roof. . . . + +"Father! Where is my father?" + +At this news the company started up in fresh alarm, Pappus, the +mathematician, cried out: "The conflagration has begun! Flame and fire +are falling from the skies!" + +"Lost-lost!" wailed Eunapius; while Porphyrius hastily felt in the folds +of his purple garment, took out a small crystal phial and went, pale but +calm, up to the high-priest. He laid his hand on the arm of the friend +whom he had looked up to all his life with affectionate admiration, and +said with an expression of tender regret: + +"Farewell. We have often disputed over the death of Cato--you +disapproving and I approving it. Now I follow his example. Look--there +is enough for us both." + +He hastily put the phial to his mouth, and part of the liquid had passed +his lips before Olympius understood the situation and seized his arm. +The effect of the deadly fluid was instantly manifest; but Porphyrius had +hardly lost consciousness when Apuleius had rushed to his side. The +physician had succumbed to the universal panic and resigned himself +doggedly to Fate; but as soon as an appeal was made to his medical skill +and he heard a cry for help, he had thrown off the wrapper from his head +and hastened to the merchant's side to combat the effects of the poison, +as clear-headed and decisive as in his best hours by the bed of sickness +or in the lecture-room. + +When the very backbone of the soul seems to be broken, a sense of duty is +the one and last thing that holds it together and keeps it upright; and +nature has implanted in us such a strong and instinctive regard for life +--which we are so apt to contemn--that even within a few paces of the +grave we cherish and foster it as carefully as in its prime, when the end +seems still remote. + +The merchant's desperate deed had been done under the very eyes of +Orpheus, and the newer horror so completely overshadowed the older, that +he hastened unbidden to help the physician lay the unconscious man on the +nearest couch; but then he went off again in search of his parents. +Olympius, however, who at the sight of his friend's weakness had suddenly +comprehended how much depended, in these last hours, on his own resolute +demeanor, detained the youth, and sternly desired him to give an exact +and clear account of what had happened on the roof. The young musician +obeyed; and his report was certainly far from reassuring. + +A ball of fire had fallen with a terrific noise on the cupola, mingling +with flames that seemed to rise like streams of fire from the earth. +Then, again the heavens had opened with a blinding flash and Orpheus had +seen--with his own eyes seen--a gigantic monster--an uprooted mountain +perhaps--which had slowly moved towards the back-wall of the Serapeum +with an appalling clatter; and not rain, but rivers, rushing torrents of +water, had poured down on the men on guard. + +"It is Poseidon," cried the lad, "bringing up the ocean against the +temple, and I heard the neighing of his horses. It was not an illusion, +I heard it with my own ears...." + +"The horses of Poseidon!" interrupted Olympius. "The horses of the +Imperial cavalry were what you heard!" + +He ran to the window with the activity of a younger man and, lifting the +curtain, looked out to the eastward. The storm had vanished as rapidly +as it had come up and it was day. Over the rosy skirts of Eos hung a +full and heavy robe of swelling grey and black clouds, edged with a +fringe of sheeny gold. To the north a sullen flash now and then +zigzagged across the dark sky, and the roll of the thunder was faint +and distant; but the horses whose neighing had affrighted Orpheus were +already near; they were standing close to the southern or back-wall of +the temple, in which there was no gate or entrance of any kind. What +object could the Imperial cavalry have in placing themselves by that +strong and impenetrable spot? + +But there was no time for much consideration, for at this instant the +gong, which was sounded to call the defenders of the Serapeum together, +rang through the precincts. + +Olympius needed no spur or encouragement. He turned to his guests with +the passion and fire of a fanatical leader, of the champion of a great +but imperilled cause, and bid them be men and stand by him to resist the +foe till death. His voice was husky with excitement as he spoke his +brief but vehement call to arms, and the effect was immense, precisely +because the speaker, carried away by the tide of feeling, had not tried +to impress the learned and eloquent men whom he addressed by any tricks +of elocution or choice of words. They, too, were fired by the spark of +the old man's enthusiasm; they gathered round him, and followed him at +once to the rooms where the weapons had been deposited for use. + +Breastplates girt on to their bodies, and swords wielded in their hands +made soldiers of the sages at once, and inspired them with martial ardor. +Little was spoken among these heroes of "the mighty word." They were +bent on action. Olympius Had desired Apuleius to go into his private +room adjoining the hypostyle with Porphyrius, on whose senseless and +rigid state no treatment had as yet had any effect. Some of the temple- +servants carried the merchant down a back staircase, while Olympius +hastily and silently led his comrades in arms up the main steps into the +great halls of the temple. + +Here the chivalrous host were doomed to surprise and disappointment +greater than the most hopeless of them was prepared to meet. Olympius +himself for a moment despaired; for his ecstatic adherents had during the +night turned to poltroons and tipplers, and the sacred precincts of the +sanctuary looked as if a battle had been fought and lost there. Broken +and bruised furniture, smashed instruments, garments torn and wet, +draggled wreaths, and faded flowers were strewn in every direction. The +red wine lay in pools like blood on the scarred beauties of the inlaid +pavement; here and there, at the foot of a column, lay an inert body-- +whether dead or merely senseless who could guess?--and the sickening reek +of hundreds of dying lamps filled the air, for in the confusion they had +been left to burn or die as they might. + +And how wretched was the aspect of the sobered, terror-stricken, worn-out +men and women. An obscure consciousness of having insulted the god and +incurred his wrath lurked in every soul. To many a one prompt death +would have seemed most welcome, and one man--a promising pupil of +Helladius, had actually taken the leap from existence into the non- +existence which, as he believed, he should find beyond the grave; he had +run his had violently against a pillar, and lay at the foot of it with a +broken skull. + +With reeling brains, aching brows, and dejected hearts, the unhappy +creatures had got so far as to curse the present; and those who dared to +contemplate the future thought of it only as a bottomless abyss, towards +which the flying hours were dragging them with unfelt but irresistible +force. Time was passing--each could feel and see that; night was gone, +it would soon be day; the storm had passed over, but instead of the +inexorable powers of nature a new terror now hung over them: the no less +inexorable power of Caesar. To the struggle of man against the gods +there was but one possible end: Annihilation. In the conflict of man +against man there might yet be, if not victory, at least escape. The +veteran Memnon, with his one arm, had kept watch on the temple-roof +during that night's orgy, planning measures for repulsing the enemy's +attack, till the storm had burst on him and his adherents with the +"artillery of heaven." Then the greater portion of the garrison had +taken refuge in the lower galleries of the Serapeum, and the old general +was left alone at his post, in the blinding and deafening tempest. He +threw his remaining arm round a statue that graced the parapet of the +roof to save himself from being swept or washed away; and he would still +have shouted his orders, but that the hurricane drowned his voice, and +none of his few remaining adherents could have heard him speak. He, too, +had heard the champing of horses and had seen the moving mountain which +Orpheus had described. It was in fact a Roman engine of war; and, +faithful though he was to the cause he had undertaken, something like a +feeling of joy stirred his warrior's soul, as he looked down on the fine +and well-drilled men who followed the Imperial standards under which he +had, ere now, shed his best blood. His old comrades in arms had not +forgotten how to defy the tempest, and their captains had been well +advised in preparing to attack first what seemed the securest side of the +temple. The struggle, he foresaw, would be against tried soldiers, and +it was with a deep curse and a smile of bitter scorn that he thought of +the inexperienced novices under his command. It was only yesterday that +he had tried to moderate Olympius' sanguine dreams, and had said to him: +"It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe!" + +The skill and experience he had to contend with were in no respect +inferior to his own; and he would know, only too soon, what the practical +worth might be of the daring and enthusiastic youths whom he had +undertaken to command, and of whom he still had secret hopes for the +best. + +The one thing to do was to prevent the Christians from effecting the +breach which they evidently intended to make in the back-wall, before the +Libyan army of relief should arrive; and, at the same time, to defend the +front of the temple from the roof. There was a use for every one who +could heave a stone or flourish a sword; and when he thought over the +number of his troops he believed he might succeed in holding the building +for some considerable time. But he was counting on false premises, for +he did not know how attractive the races had proved to his "enthusiastic +youth" and how great a change had come over most of them. + +As soon as the wind had so far subsided that he could stand alone, he +went to collect those that still remained, and to have the brass gong +sounded which was to summon the combatants to their posts. Its metallic +clang rang loud and far through the dim dawn; a deaf man might have heard +it in the deepest recess of the sanctuary--and yet the minutes slipped +by--a quarter of an hour--and no one had come at its call. The old +captain's impatience turned to surprise, his surprise became wrath. The +messengers he sent down did not return and the great moving shed of the +Romans was brought nearer and nearer to the southern side of the temple, +screening the miners from the rare missiles which the few men remaining +with him cast clown by his orders. + +The enemy were evidently making a suitable foundation on which to place +the storming engine--a beam with a ram's head of iron-to make a breach in +the temple-wall. Every minute's delay on the part of the besieged was an +advantage to the enemy. A hundred-two hundred more hands on the roof, +and their tactics might yet be defeated. + +Tears of rage, of the bitter sense of impotence, started to the old +soldier's eyes; and when, at length, one of his messengers came back and +told him that the men and women alike seemed quite demented, and all and +each refused to come up on the roof, he uttered a wrathful curse and +rushed down-stairs himself. + +He stormed in on the trembling wretches; and when he beheld with his own +eyes all that his volunteers had done dining that fateful night, he raved +and thundered; asked them, rather confusedly perhaps, if they knew what +it was to be expected to command and find no obedience; scolded the +refractory, driving some on in front of him; and then, as he perceived +that some of them were making off with the girls through the door leading +to the secret passage, he placed himself on guard with his sword drawn, +and threatened to cut down any who attempted to escape. + +In the midst of all this Olympius and his party had come into the ball +and seeing the commander struggling, sword in hand, with the recalcitrant +fugitives, where the noise was loudest, he and his guests hastened to the +rescue and defended the door against the hundreds who were crowding to +fly. The old man was grieved to turn the weapons they had seized in +their sacred ardor, against the seceders from their own cause; but it had +to be. While the loyal party--among them Karnis and Orpheus--guarded the +passage to the underground rooms with shield and lance, Olympius took +council of the veteran captain, and they rapidly decided to allow all the +women to depart at once and to divide the men into two parties-one to be +sent to fight on the roof, and the other to defend the wall where the +Roman battering-ram was by this time almost ready to attack. + +The high-priest took his stand boldly between his adherents and the +would-be runaways and appealed to them in loud and emphatic tones to do +their duty. They listened to him silently and respectfully; but when he +ended by stating that the women were commanded to withdraw, a terrific +outcry was raised, some of the girls clung to their lovers, while others +urged the men to fight their way out. + +Several, however, and among them the fair Glycera who a few hours since +had smiled down triumphantly on her worshippers as Aphrodite, availed +themselves at once of the permission to quit this scene of horrors, and +made their way without delay to the subterranean passages. They had +adorers in plenty in the city. But they did not get far; they were met +by a temple-servant flying towards the great hall, who warned them to +return thither at once: the Imperial soldiers had discovered the entrance +to the aqueduct and posted sentries in the timber-yard. They turned and +followed him with loud lamentations, and hardly had they got back into +the temple when a new terror came upon them: the iron battering-ram came +with a first heavy shock, thundering against the southern wall. + +The Imperial troops were in fact masters of the secret passage; and they +had begun the attack on the Serapeum in earnest. It was serious--but all +was not yet lost; and in this fateful hour Olympius and Memnon proved +their mettle. The high-priest commanded that the great stone trap-doors +should be dropped into their places, and that the bridges across the +gulfs, in the underground rooms reserved for the initiated, should be +destroyed; and this there was yet time to do, for the soldiers had not +yet ventured into those mysterious corridors, where there could not fail +to be traps and men in ambush. Memnon meanwhile had hurried to the spot +where the battering-ram had by this time dealt a second blow, shouting as +he went to every man who was not a coward to follow him. + +Karnis, Orpheus and the rest of the high-priest's guests obeyed his call +and gathered round him; he commanded that everything portable should be +brought out of the temple to be built into a barricade behind the point +of attack, and that neither the most precious and beautiful statues, nor +the brass and marble stelae and altar-slabs should be spared. Screened +by this barricade, and armed with lances and bows--of which there were +plenty at hand--he proposed, when the breach was made, to check the +further advance of the foe. + +He was not ill-pleased that the only way of escape was cut off; and as +soon as he had seen the statues dragged from their pedestals, the altar- +stones removed from the sacred places they had filled for half a century, +benches and jars piled together and a stone barricade thus fairly +advanced towards completion, he drafted off a small force for the +defences on the roof. There was no escape now; and many a one who, to +the very last, had hoped to find himself free, mounted the stairs +reluctantly, because he would there be more immediately in the face of +the foe than when defending the breach. + +Olympius distributed weapons, and went from one to another, speaking +words of encouragement; presently he found Gorgo who, with the bereaved +widow, was still sitting at the foot of the statue of justice. He told +her that her father was ill, and desired a servant to show her the way to +his private room, that she might help the leech in attending on him. +Berenice could not be induced to stir; she longed only for the end and +was persuaded that it could not be far off. She listened eagerly to the +blows of the battering-engine; each one sounded to her like a shock to +the very structure of the universe. Another--and another--and at last +the ancient masonry must give way and the grave that had already opened +for her husband and her son would yawn to swallow her up with her +sorrows. She shuddered and drew her hood over her face to screen it from +the sun which now began to shine in. Its light was a grievance to her; +she had hoped never to see another day. + +The women, and with them a few helpless weaklings, had withdrawn to the +rotunda, and before long they were laughing as saucily as ever. + +From the roof blocks of stone and broken statues were hailing down on the +besiegers, and in the halls below, the toiler who paused to wipe the +sweat from his brow would brook no idleness in his comrade; the most +recalcitrant were forced to bestir themselves, and the barricade inside +the southern wall soon rose to a goodly height. No rampart was ever +built of nobler materials; each stone was a work of art and had been +reverenced for centuries as something sacred, or bore in an elegant +inscription the memorial of noble deeds. This wall was to protect the +highest of the gods, and among the detachment told off to defend it, were +Karnis, his son, and his wife. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +Gorgo sat by the bed of her apparently lifeless father, gazing fondly at +the worn and wax-like features, and listening to his breathing, now soft +and easy and again painful and convulsive, as it fluttered through his +nostrils. She held his cold damp hand tightly clasped, or stroked it +gently, or now and then, when his closed eyelids quivered, raised it +tenderly to her lips. + +The room in which they were lay on one side of the hypostyle and behind +the right-hand--or western--colonnade; more forward, therefore, than the +veiled statue and to its left hand. The noise of the toilers at the +barricade and the crash of the blows of the battering-ram came up from +just below, and at each thud of the engine the senseless man started +convulsively and a look of intense pain crossed his face. But, though it +was indeed grievous to Gorgo to see her father suffering, though she told +herself again and again that, ere long, the sanctuary must fall into the +hands of the Christians, she felt safe, thankful and sheltered up here, +in her old friend's half-lighted and barely-furnished room, shut off, at +any rate, from the frenzied wretches of whom she thought only with +loathing and fear. + +She was wearied out with her night of unrest, but the agitation and +excitement she had gone through were still vividly present to her mind, +and even on the comfortable couch in her own snug room at home her +perturbed spirit would have prevented her sleeping. Her brain was still +in a ferment, and here, in comparative peace, she had time to think over +all she had gone through during the last few hours, and the catastrophes +that had befallen her grandmother and her father. She had exchanged but +few words with the physician, who was still unceasingly busy in trying to +restore his patient to consciousness, and who had assured her that he had +every hope of her father's recovery. + +But at length the girl looked up with an eager gaze and said, sadly +enough: "You said something about an antidote to poison, Apuleius? Then +my father tried to escape the final destruction by attempting to kill +himself.--Is it so?" + +The leech looked at her keenly, and after confirming her suspicion and +explaining to her exactly how the fateful deed had been accomplished, he +went on: + +"The storm had completely unnerved him--it unmanned us all--and yet that +was only the prelude to the tremendous doom which is hanging over the +universe. It is at hand; we can hear its approach; the stones are +yielding! the Christian's engines are opening the way for it to enter!" + +Apuleius spoke in a tone of sinister foreboding, and the falling stones +dislodged by the battering-ram thundered a solemn accompaniment to his +prophecy. Gorgo, turned pale; but it was not the physician's ominous +speech that alarmed her, but the quaking of the walls of the room. +Still, the Serapeum was built for eternity; the ram might bring down a +wall, but it could not destroy or even shake the building itself. + +Outside, the hubbub of fighting men grew louder and louder every minute, +and Apuleius, increasingly anxious, went to the door to listen. Gorgo +could see that his hands trembled! he--a man--was frightened, while she +felt no anxiety but for her suffering father! Through that breach +Constantine would enter--and where he commanded she was safe. As to the +destruction of the universe--she no longer believed in it. When the +physician turned round and saw her calmly and quietly wiping the cold +drops from the sick man's brow, he said gloomily: "Of what use is it to +shut our eyes like the ostrich. They are fighting down there for life or +death--we had better prepare for the end. If they venture--and they +will--to lay a sacrilegious hand on the god, besiegers and besieged +alike--the whole world together, must perish." + +But Gorgo shook her head. "No, no," she cried, with zealous confidence. +"No, Apuleius, Serapis is not what you believe him to be; for, if he +were, would he suffer his enemies to overthrow his temple and his image? +Why does he not, at this supreme moment, inspire his worshippers with +courage? I have seen the men--mere boys--and the women who have +assembled here to fight for him. They are nothing but drivellers and +triflers. If the master is like his men it serves him right if he is +overthrown; to weep for him would be waste of woe!" + +"And can the daughter of Porphyrius say this?" exclaimed the leech. + +"Yes, Apuleius, yes. After what I have seen, and heard, and endured this +night, I cannot speak otherwise. It was shameful, horrible, sickening; +I could rage at the mere thought of being supposed to be one of that +debased crew. It is disgrace and ignominy even to be named in the same +breath! A god who is served as this god has been is no god of mine! And +you--you are learned--a sage and a philosopher--how can you believe that +the God of the Christians when he has conquered and crippled yours, will +ever permit Serapis to destroy His world and the men He created?" + +Apuleius drew himself up. "Are you then a Christian?" he asked swiftly +and sternly. + +But Gorgo could not reply; she colored deeply and Apuleius vehemently +repeated his question: "Then you really are a Christian?" + +She looked frankly in his face: "No," she said, "I am not; but I wish I +were." + +The physician turned away with a shrug; but Gorgo drew a breath of +relief, feeling that her avowal had lifted a heavy burthen from her soul. +She hardly knew how the bold and momentous confession had got itself +spoken, but she felt that it was the only veracious answer to the +physician's question. + +They spoke no more; she was better pleased to remain silent, for her own +utterance had opened out to her a new land of promise--of feeling and of +thought. + +Her lover henceforth was no longer her enemy; and as the tumult of the +struggle by the breach fell on her ear, she could think with joy of his +victorious arms. She felt that this was the purer, the nobler, the +better cause; and she rejoiced in the love of which he had spoken as the +support and the stay of their future life together--as sheltering them +like a tower of strength and a mighty refuge. Compared with that love +all that she had hitherto held dear or indispensable as gracing life, now +seemed vain and worthless; and as she looked at her father's still face, +and remembered how he had lived and what he had suffered, she applied +those words of Paul which Constantine had spoken at their meeting after +his return, to him, too; and her heart overflowed with affection towards +her hapless parent. She knew full well the meaning of the deep lines +that marked his lips and brow; for Porphyrius had never made any secret +of his distress and vexation whenever he found himself compelled to +confess a creed in which he did not honestly believe. This great +falsehood and constant duplicity, this divided allegiance to two masters, +had poisoned the existence of a man by nature truthful; and Gorgo knew +for whose sake and for what reasons he had subjected himself to this +moral martyrdom. It was a lesson to her to see him lying there, and his +look of anguish warned her to become, heart and soul, a Christian as she +felt prompted. She would confess Christ for love's sake-aye, for love's +sake; for in this hour the thing she saw most clearly in the faith which +she purposed to adopt, and of which Constantine had so often spoken to +her with affectionate enthusiasm, was Everlasting Love. + +Never in her life had she felt so much at peace, so open to all that was +good and beautiful; and yet, outside, the strife grew louder and more +furious; the Imperial tuba sounded above the battle-cry of the heathen, +and the uproar of the struggle came nearer and nearer. + +The battering-ram had made a large breach in the southern wall, and, +protected by their shed, the heavy-armed infantry of the twenty-second +legion had forced their way up; but many a veteran had paid for his +rashness with his life, for the storming party had been met by a perfect +shower of arrows and javelins. Still, the great shield had turned many a +spear, and many an arrow had glanced harmless from the brazen armor and +helmets; the men that had escaped pressed onwards, while fresh ranks of +soldiers made their way in, over the bodies of the fallen. The well- +drilled foe came creeping up to the barricade on their knees, and +protected by bronze bucklers, while others, in the rear, flung lances and +arrows over their heads at the besieged. A few of the heathen fell, and +the sight of their blood had a wonderful effect on their comrades. Rage +surged up in the breasts of the most timid, and fear vanished before the +passion for revenge; cowardice turned to martial ardor, and philosophers +and artists thirsted for blood. The red glare of strife danced before +the eyes of the veriest book-worm; fired by the terrible impulse to kill, +to subdue, to destroy the foe, they fought desperately and blindly, +staking their lives on the issue. + +Karnis, that zealous votary of the Muses, stood with Orpheus, on the very +top of the barricade throwing lance after lance, while he sang at the top +of his voice snatches of the verses of Tyrtaeus, in the teeth, as it +were, of the foe who were crowding through the breach; the sweat streamed +from his bald head and his eye flashed fire. By his side stood his son, +sending swift arrows from an enormous bow. The heavy curls of his hair +had come unbound and fell over his flushed face. When he hit one of the +Imperial soldiers his father applauded him eagerly; then, collecting all +his strength, flung another lance, chanting a hexameter or a verse of an +ode. Herse crouched half hidden behind a sacrificial stone which lay at +the top of the hastily-constructed rampart, and handed weapons to the +combatants as they needed them. Her dress was torn and blood-stained, +her grey hair had come loose from the ribbands and crescent that should +have confined it; the worthy matron had become a Megaera and shrieked to +the men: "Kill the dogs! Stand steady! Spare never a Christian!" + +But the little garrison needed no incitement; the fevered zeal which +possessed them wholly, seconded their thirst for blood and doubled their +strength. + +An arrow, shot by Orpheus, had just glanced over the breastplate and into +the throat of a centurion who had already set foot on the lowest step, +when Karnis suddenly dropped the spear he was preparing to fling and fell +without a cry. A Roman lance had hit him, and he lay transfixed by the +side of a living purple fount, like a rock in the surf from which a +sapling has sprung. Orpheus saw his father's life-blood flowing and fell +on his knees by his side; but the old man pointed to the bow that his son +had cast aside and murmured eagerly: "Leave me--let me be. What does it +matter about me? Fight--for the gods--I say. For the gods! Go on, aim +truly!" + +But the lad would not leave the dying man, and seeing how deeply the +spear had struck to the old man's heart he groaned aloud, throwing up his +arms in despair. Then an arrow hit his shoulder, another pierced his +neck, and he, too, fell gasping for breath. Karnis saw him drop, and +painfully raised himself a little to help him; but it was too much for +him; he could only clench his fist in helpless fury and chant, half- +singing, half-speaking, as loud he was able, Electra's curse: + + "This my last prayer, ye gods, do not disdain! + For them turn day to night and joy to pain!" + +But the heavy infantry, who by this time were crowding through the +breach, neither heard nor heeded his curse. He lost consciousness and +did not recover it till Herse, after lifting up her son and propping him +against a plinth, pressed a cloth against the stump of the lance still +remaining in the wound to staunch the swiftly flowing blood, and +sprinkled his brow with wine. He felt her warm tears on his face, and as +he looked up into her kind, faithful eyes, brimming over with tears of +sympathy and regret, his heart melted to tenderness. All the happiest +hours of the life they had spent together crowded on his memory; he +answered her glance with a loving and grateful gaze and painfully held +out his hand. Herse pressed it to her lips, weeping bitterly; but he +smiled up at her, nodding his head and repeating again and again the line +from Lucian: "Be comforted: you, too, must soon follow." + +"Yes, yes--I shall follow soon," she repeated with sobs. "Without you, +without either of you, without the gods--what would become of me here." + +And she turned to her son who, fully conscious, had followed every word +and every gesture of his parents and tried himself to say something. But +the arrow in his neck choked his breath, and it was such agony to speak +that he could only say hoarsely: "Father mother!" But these poor words +were full of deep love and gratitude, and Karnis and Herse understood all +he longed to express. + +Tears choked the poor woman's utterance so that neither of the three +could say another word, but they were at any rate close together, and +could look lovingly in each other's eyes. Thus passed some few minutes +of peace for them, in spite of the blare of trumpets, and shrieks and +butchery; but Herse's kerchief was dyed and soaked with her husband's +blood, and the old man's eyes were glazed and staring as they wandered +feebly on the scene, as though to get a last general picture of the world +in which they had always sought to see only what was fair. Suddenly they +remained fixed on the face of a statue of Apollo, which had been flung on +to the barricade; and the longer they dwelt on the beautiful countenance +of the god the more they sparkled with a clear transfigured gleam. Once +more, with a final effort, he raised his heavy hand and pointed to the +sun-crowned head of the immortal youth while he softly murmured: + +"He--he--all that was fair in existence--Orpheus, Herse--we owe it all to +him. He dies with us.--They--the enemy--in conquering us conquer thee! +They dream of a Paradise beyond death; but where thou reignest, O +Phoebus, there is bliss even on earth! They boast that they love death +and hate life; and when they are the victors they will destroy lute and +pipe, nay, if they could, would exterminate beauty and extinguish the +sun. This beautiful happy world they would have dark, gloomy, +melancholy, hideous; thy kingdom, great Phoebus, is sunny, joyful and +bright...!" Here his strength failed him; but presently he rallied once +more and went on, with eager eyes: "We crave for light, for music, lutes +and pipes--for perfumed flowers on careless brows--we--hold me up Herse-- +and thou, heal me, O Phoebus Apollo!--Hail, all hail! I thank thee--thou +hast accepted much from me and hast given me all! Come, thou joy of my +soul! Come in thy glorious chariot, attended by Muses and Hours! See, +Orpheus, Herse--do you see Him coming?" + +He pointed with a confident gesture to the distance; and his anxious eyes +followed the indication of his hand; he raised himself a little by a last +supreme effort; but instantly fell back; his head sank on the bosom of +his faithful partner and a stream of blood flowed from his quivering +lips. The votary of the Muses was dead; and a few minutes after Orpheus, +too, fell senseless. + +War-cries and trumpet-calls rang and echoed through the Serapeum. The +battle was now a hand-to-hand fight; the besiegers had surmounted the +barricade and stood face to face with the heathen. Herse saw them +coming; she snatched the dart from her husband's wound, and fired by +hatred and a wild thirst for vengeance, she rushed upon the besiegers +with frantic and helpless fury, cursing them loudly. She met the death +she craved; a javelin struck her and she fell close to her husband and +son. Her death struggle was a short one; she had only time and strength +to extend a hand to lay on each before she herself was a corpse. + +The battle raged round the heap of dead; the Imperial troops drove the +garrison backwards into the temple-halls, and the plan of attack which +had been agreed upon at a council of war held in the palace of the Comes, +was carried out, point by point, with cool courage and irresistible +force. A few maniples pursued the fugitives into the main entrance hall, +helped them to force the gates open, and then drove them down the slope +and steps, over the stones that had been heaped up for protection, and +into the very arms of the division placed in front of the temple. These +at once surrounded them and took them prisoners, as the hunter traps the +game that rushes down upon him when driven by the dogs and beaters. +Foremost to fly were the women from the rotunda, who were welcomed with +acclamations by the soldiers. + +But those who now tried to defend themselves found no quarter. Berenice +had picked up a sword that was lying on the ground and had opened a vein +with the point of it; her body, bathed in blood, was found at the foot of +the statue of justice. + +No sooner had the Christians mastered the barricade than a few maniples +had been sent up to the roof, and the defenders had been compelled to +surrender or to throw themselves from the parapet. Old Memnon, who had +been fighting against his Imperial master and could hope for no mercy, +sprang at once into the gulf below, and others followed his example; for +the end of all things was now close at hand, and to the nobler souls to +die voluntarily in battle for great Serapis seemed finer and worthier +than to languish in the enemy's chains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The terrific storm of the preceding night had thrown the whole city into +dismay. Everyone knew the danger that threatened Serapis, and what must +ensue if he were overthrown; and everyone had thought that the end of the +world had indeed come. But the tempest died away; the sun's bright glow +dispersed the clouds and mist; sea and sky smiled radiantly blue, and the +trees and herbage glistened in revived freshness. + +Not yet had the Romans dared to lay hands on the chief of the gods, +the patron and protector of the city. Serapis had perhaps sent the +lightning, thunder and rain as a message to warn his foes. If only +they might abstain from the last, worst crime of desecrating his image! + +Nor was this the hope of the heathen only; on the contrary: Jews and +Christians no less dreaded the fall of the god and of his temple. He was +the pride, the monumental glory of the city of Alexander; the centre of +foundations and schools which benefited thousands. The learning which +was the boast of Alexandria dwelt under his protection; to the Serapeum +was attached a medical Faculty which enjoyed the reputation of being the +first in the world; from its observatory the course of the year was +forecast and the calendar was promulgated. An hour's slumber in its +halls brought prophetic dreams, and the future must remain undivined if +Serapis were to fall, for the god revealed it to his priests, not merely +by the courses and positions of the stars, but by many other signs; and +it was a delight and a privilege to look forward from the certain, +tangible present to the mysteries of the morrow. + +Even Christian seers answered the questionings of their followers in a +way which portended the worst, and it was a grief to many of the baptized +to think of their native city without Serapis and the Serapeum, just as +we cannot bear to cut down a tree planted by the hand of an ancestor, +even though it may darken our home. The temple ought to be closed, +bloody sacrifices to the god should be prohibited--but his image--the +noblest work of Bryaxis--to mutilate, or even to touch that would be a +rash, a fateful deed, treason to the city and an outrage on the world. + +Thus thought the citizens; thus, too, thought the soldiers, who were +required by military discipline to draw the sword against the god in whom +many of them believed. + +As the news spread that the troops were to attack the Serapeum early next +morning, thousands of spectators collected, and filled the temple itself +in breathless anxiety to watch the issue of the struggle. + +The sky was as clear and blue as on any other fine day; but over the sea +to the north lay a light stratum of clouds--the harbingers perhaps of the +appalling blackness which the god would presently bring up against his +enemies. + +The men who had defended the Serapeum were led away; it had been +determined in a council of war that they should be treated with clemency, +and Cynegius had proclaimed free and full pardon to every prisoner who +would swear never, for the future, to sacrifice to the god or worship in +his temple. + +Not one of the hundreds who had fallen into the hands of the Romans had +refused to take the oath; they dispersed at once, though with suppressed +fury, many of them joining the crowd who stood waiting and watching for +the next step to be taken by the Romans--for the final crash of the +universe, perhaps. + +The doors of the temple were thrown wide open; the temple-servants and +hundreds of soldiers were busied in clearing the steps and approaches of +the stones and fragments of statuary with which the heathen had +encumbered them. As soon as this task was finished the dead and wounded +were removed; among those who still breathed was Orpheus, the son of +Karnis. Those who had been so happy as to escape in the defence of the +sanctuary and had mingled with the crowd were besieged with questions, +and all agreed that the statue of the god was as yet inviolate. + +The citizens were relieved, but ere long were startled by a new alarm; an +Ala of heavy cavalry came upon the scene, opening a way for an immensely +long procession whose chanted psalms rang out from afar, loud above the +cries and murmurs of the mob, the clatter of harness, and stamping of +horses. It was clear now where the monks had been. They were not +usually absent when there was a skirmish with the heathen; but, till this +moment, they had been seen only in twos or threes about the Serapeum. +Now they came forward shouting a psalm of triumph, their eyes glaring, +wilder and more ruthless than ever. + +The Bishop marched at their head, in his vestments, under a magnificent +canopy; his lofty stature was drawn to its full height and his lips were +firmly closed. + +He looked like a stern judge about to mount the tribunal to pronounce +sentence with inexorable severity on some execrable crime. + +The crowd quailed. + +The Bishop and the monks in the Serapeum, meant the overthrow of the +statue of the sovereign god--death and destruction. The boldest turned +pale; many who had left wife and children at home stole away to await the +end of the world with those they loved; others remained to watch the +menaced sanctuary, cursing or praying; but the greater number, men and +women alike, crowded into the temple, risking their lives to be present +at the stupendous events about to be enacted there and which promised to +be a drama of unequalled interest. + +At the bottom of the ascent the Comes rode forth to meet the Bishop, +leaped from his saddle and greeted him with reverence. The Imperial +legate had not made his appearance; he had preferred to remain for the +present at the prefect's house, intending to preside, later in the day, +at the races as the Emperor's representative, side by side with the +Prefect Evagrius--who also kept aloof during the attack on the Serapeum. +After a brief colloquy, Romanus signed to Constantine, the captain of the +cavalry; the troop dismounted, and, led by their officer, marched up the +slope that led to the great gate of the Serapeum. They were followed by +the Comes with his staff; next to him pale and somewhat tremulous came +some of the city officials and a few Christian members of the senate; and +then the Bishop--who had preferred to come last--with all the Christian +priesthood and a crowd of chanting monks. The train was closed by a +division of heavy-armed infantry; and after them the populace rushed in, +unchecked by the soldiers who stood outside the temple. + +The great halls of the Serapeum had been put in order as well as possible +in so short a time. Of all those who, the day before, had crowded in to +defend the god and his house, none were left but Porphyrius and those who +were nursing him. After a long and agonizing period of silence heavy +fists came thundering at the door. Gorgo started up to unbolt it, but +Apuleius held her back; so it was forced off its hinges and thing into +the temple-aisle on which the room opened. At the same instant a party +of soldiers entered the room and glanced round it enquiringly. + +The physician turned as pale as death, and sank incapable of speech on a +seat by his patient's couch; but Gorgo turned with calm dignity to the +centurion who led the intruders, and explained to him who she was, and +that she was here under the protection of the leech to tend her suffering +father. She concluded by asking to speak with Constantine the prefect of +cavalry, or with the Comes Romanus, to whom she and her father were well +known. + +There was nothing unusual in a sick man being brought into the Serapeum +for treatment, and the calm, undoubting superiority of Gorgo's tone as +well as the high rank of the men whose protection she appealed to, +commanded the centurion's respectful consideration; however, his orders +were to send every one out of the temple who was not a Roman soldier, so +he begged her to wait a few minutes, and soon returned with the legate +Volcatius, the captain of his legion. This knightly patrician well knew +--as did every lover of horses--the owner of the finest stable in +Alexandria, and was quite willing to allow Gorgo and Apuleius to remain +with their patient; at the same time he warned them that a great +catastrophe was imminent. Gorgo, however, persisted in her wish to be by +her father's side, so he left her a guard to protect them. + +The soldiers were too busy to linger; instead of replacing the door they +had torn down, they pushed it out of their way; and Gorgo, seeing that +her father remained in precisely the same condition, drew back the +curtain which was all that now divided them from the hypostyle, and +looked out over the heads of a double row of soldiers. They were posted +close round the lower step of the platform that raised the hypostyle +above the nave and the colonnades on each side of it. + +In the distance Gorgo could see a vast body of men slowly approaching in +detachments, and with long pauses at intervals. They stopped for some +time in the outer hall, and before they entered the basilica twenty +Christian priests came in with strange gestures and a still stranger +chant; these were exorcists, come to bann the evil spirits and daemons +that must surely haunt this high place of idolatry and abominations. +They carried crosses which they flourished like weapons against an unseen +foe, and touched the columns with them, the pavement and the few +remaining statues; they fell on their knees, making the sign of the cross +with the left hand; and, finally, they ranged themselves like soldiers in +three ranks in front of the niche containing the statue, pointed their +crosses at the god, and recited in loud, angry, and commanding tones the +potent anathemas and mysterious formulas which they thought calculated to +expel the most reprobate and obdurate of all the heathen devils. A host +of acolytes, following at their heels, swung their censers about the +plague-spot--the shrine of the king of idols; while the exorcists dipped +wands into a cauldron carried by their attendants, and sprinkled the +mystical figures on the hanging and on the mosaic pavement. + +All this occupied several minutes. Then--and Gorgo's heart beat high-- +then Constantine came in, armed and equipped, and behind him an Ala of +picked men, the elite of his troop; bearded men with tanned and scarred +faces. Instead of swords they carried axes, and they were followed by +sappers bearing tall ladders which, by Constantine's orders, they leaned +up against the niche. The infantry ranged under the colonnades at the +sides were evidently startled at the sight of these ladders, and Gorgo +could perceive by the trembling of the curtain near which she and +Apuleius were standing, how deeply the physician was agitated. It was as +though the axe had been displayed with which a king was about to be +decapitated. + +Now the Bishop came in with the municipal dignitaries; priests and monks, +chanting as they walked, filled the broad hall, incessantly making the +sign of the cross; and the crowd that poured into the hypostyle pressed +as far forward as they were allowed by the chain which the soldiers held +outstretched between them and their superiors. + +The populace-heathen and Christian of every sect and degree-filled the +aisles, too; but the chain also kept them off the upper end, on to which +the room opened in which Porphyrius lay; so that Gorgo's view of the +curtain and apse remained unhindered. + +The psalm rang loudly through the temple-courts above the murmur and +grumble of the angry, terrified and expectant mob. They were prepared +for the worst; each one knew the crime which was to be perpetrated, and +yet few, perhaps, really believed that any one would dare to commit it. +Whichever way she looked Gorgo saw only white faces, stamped with +passion, dismay, and dread. The very priests and soldiers themselves had +turned pale, and stood with bloodless cheeks and set teeth, staring at +the ground; some, to disguise their alarm, cast wrathful and defiant +glances at the rebellious mob, who tried to drown the psalm-singing in +loud menaces and curses, and the echoes of the great building doubled +their thousand voices. + +A strange unrest seethed in this dense mass of humanity. The heathen +were trembling with rage, clutching their amulets and charms, or shaking +angry fists; the Christians thrilled with anxiety and pious zeal, and +used their hands to lift the cross or to ward off the evil one with +outstretched fingers. Every face and every gesture, the muttered curses +and pious hymns--all showed that some terrible and fateful event was +impending over all. Gorgo herself felt as though she were standing on +the brink of a crater, while air and earth heaved around her; she felt +and saw the eruption of the volcano threatening, every instant, to burst +at her feet, and to choke and ruin every living thing. + +The uproar among the heathen grew louder and louder; fragments of stone +and wood came flying towards the spot where the Bishop and officials were +standing; but, suddenly, the tumult ceased, and, as if by a miracle, +there was silence--perfect silence--in the temple. It was as though at a +sign from the Omnipotent Ruler the storm-lashed ocean had turned to the +calm of a land-locked lake. At a nod from the Bishop some acolytes had +stepped up to the niche where the statue of the god was shrouded and the +curtain, which till now had hidden it, slowly began to fall. + +There sat Serapis, looking down in majestic indifference, as cold and +unapproachable as if his sublime dignity was far removed above the petty +doings of the crawling humanity at his feet; and the effect was as +impressive now as it had been the evening before. How beautiful--how +marvellously grand and lofty was this work of human hands! Even the +Christians could not repress a low, long-drawn murmur of surprise, +admiration, and astonishment. The heathen were at first silent, overcome +by pious awe and ecstasy; but then they broke out in a loud and +triumphant shout, and their cries of "Hail to Serapis!" "Serapis, reign +forever!" rang from pillar to pillar and echoed from the stony vault of +the apse and ceiling. + +Gorgo crossed her hands over her bosom as she saw the god revealed in his +glorious beauty. Spotlessly pure, complete and perfect, the noble statue +stood before her; an idol indeed, and perishable--but still divine as a +matchless work, wrought by the loving hands of a votary of the god, +inspired by the immortals. She gazed spell-bound on the form which, +though human, transcended humanity as eternity transcends time, as the +light of the sun transcended the blazing beacon on Pharos; and she said +to herself that it was impossible that an irreverent hand should be laid +on this supremely lovely statue, crowned with the might of undying +beauty. + +She saw that even the Bishop drew back a step when the curtain had +fallen, and his lips parted involuntarily to utter a cry of admiration +like the others; but she saw, too, that he closed them again and pressed +them more firmly together; that his eye sparkled with a fiercer light as +the shout of the heathen rose to heaven, that the knotted veins on his +high forehead swelled with rage as he heard the cry of "Serapis, Hail, +all hail!" Then she noted the Comes, as he whispered soothing words in +the prelate's ear, praying him perhaps to spare the statue--not as an +idol, but as a work of art; as he turned from Theophilus with a shrug; +and then--her heart stood still, and she had to cling to the curtain--he +pointed to the statue, with a nod of intelligence to Constantine. The +young officer bowed with military formality and gave a word of command to +his men, which was drowned by the wild cries of the heathen as soon as +they apprehended with dismay what its import was. + +The veterans were stirred. A subaltern officer, putting the standard he +bore into the hands of the man next to him and taking his axe from him +instead, rushed towards the statue, gazed up at it--and then, letting the +axe sink, withdrew slowly to rejoin the others who still stood +hesitating, looking at each other with doubting and defiant eyes. + +Once more Constantine shouted his order, louder and more positively than +before; but the men did not move. The subaltern flung his axe on the +ground and the rest followed his example, pointing eagerly to the god, +and vehemently adjuring their prefect--refusing apparently to obey his +commands--for he went to the recalcitrant standard-bearer, a grey-haired +veteran, and laying his hand on the man's shoulder shook him angrily, +evidently threatening him and his comrades. + +In these brave souls a struggle was going on, between their sense of +discipline and devotion to their fine young leader, and their awe of the +god; it was visible in their puzzled faces, in their hands raised in +supplication. Constantine, however, relentlessly repeated his order; +and, when they still refused to obey, he turned his back on their ranks +with a gesture of bitter contempt, and shouted his commands to the +infantry posted by the colonnade behind which Gorgo was watching all +these proceedings. + +But these also were refractory. The heathen were triumphant, and +encouraged the soldiers with loud cries to persist. + +Constantine turned once more to his own men, and finding them obstinate +in their disobedience, he went forward himself to where the ladders were +standing, moved one of them from the wall and leaned it up against the +body of the statue, seized the axe that lay nearest, and mounted from +rung to rung. The murmurs of the heathen were suddenly silenced; the +multitude were so still that the least sound of one plate of armor +against another was audible, that each man could hear his neighbor +breathe, and that Gorgo fancied she could hear her own heart throb. + +The man and the god stood face to face, and the man who was about to lay +hands on the god was her lover. She watched his movements with +breathless interest; she longed to call out to him, to follow him as he +mounted the ladder, to fall on his neck and keep him from committing such +sacrilege--not out of fear of the ruin he might bring upon the world, but +only because she felt that the first blow he should deal to this +beautiful and unique work of art might wreck her love for him, as his +axe would wreck the ivory. She was not afraid for him; he seemed to her +inviolable and invulnerable; but her whole soul shuddered at the deed +which he was steeling himself to perpetrate. She remembered their happy +childhood together, his own artistic attempts, the admiration with which +he had gazed at the great works of the ancient sculptors--and it seemed +impossible that he, of all men he, should lay hands on that masterpiece, +that he, of all men, should be the one to insult, mutilate and ruin it. +It was not--could not be true! + +But there he was, at the top of the ladder; he passed the axe from his +left hand to his right, and leaning back a little, looked at the head of +the god from one side. She could see his face plainly, and note every +movement and look; she watched him keenly, and saw the loving and +compassionate expression with which he fixed his gaze on the noble +features of Serapis, saw him clutch his left hand to his heart as if in +pain. The crowd below might fancy that he lacked courage, that he was +absorbed in prayer, or that his soul shrank from dealing the fateful blow +to the great divinity; but she could see that he was bidding a silent +farewell, as it were, to the sublime work of an inspired artist, which it +pained and shocked him to destroy. And this comforted her; it gave her +views of the situation a new direction, and suggested the question +whether he, a soldier and a Christian, when commanded by his superior to +do this deed ought to shrink or hesitate, if he were indeed, heart and +soul, what, after all, he was. Her eyes clung to him, as a frightened +child clings to its mother's neck; and the expectant thousands, in an +agony of suspense, like her, saw nothing but him. + +Stillness more profound never reigned in the heart of the desert than now +in this vast and densely-crowded hall. Of all man's five senses only one +was active: that of sight; and that was concentrated on a single object a +man's hand holding an axe. The hearts of thousands stood still, their +breath was suspended, there was a singing in their ears, a dazzling light +in their eyes--eyes that longed to see, that must see--and that could +not; thousands stood there like condemned criminals, whose heads are on +the block, who hear the executioner behind them, and who still, on the +very threshold of death, hope for respite and release. + +Gorgo found no answer to her own questionings; but she, too, wanted to +see--must see. And she saw Constantine close his eyes, as though he +dared not contemplate the deed that Fate had condemned him to do; she saw +him lay his left hand on the god's sacred beard, saw him raise his right +for the fatal blow--saw, heard, felt the axe crash again and again on the +cheek of Serapis--saw the polished ivory fall in chips and shavings, +large and small, on the stone floor, and leap up with an elastic rebound +or shiver into splinters. She covered her face with her hands and hid +her head in the curtain, weeping aloud. She could only moan and sob, and +feel nothing, think nothing but that a momentous and sinister act had +been perpetrated. An appalling uproar like the noise of thunder and the +beating of surf rose up on every side, but she heeded it not; and when at +length the physician called her by her name, when she turned from the +curtain and once more looked out, instead of the sublime image of the god +she saw in the niche a shapeless log of wood, a hideous mass against +which several ladders were propped, while the ground was heaped and +strewed with scraps of ivory, fragments of gold-plate, and chips of +marble. Constantine had disappeared; the ladders and the plinth of the +statue were covered with a swarm of soldiers and monks who were finishing +the work of destruction. As soon as the young officer had struck the +first blow, and the god had submitted in abject impotence, they had +rushed upon him and saved their captain the trouble of ending the task he +had begun. + +The great idol was desecrated. Serapis was no more--the heaven of the +heathen had lost its king. The worshippers of the deposed god, sullen, +furious, and bitterly disabused, made their way out of the temple and +looked up at the serene blue sky, the unclouded sunshine, for some +symptoms of an avenging tempest; but in vain. + +Theophilus had also quitted the scene with the Comes, leaving the work of +devastation in the competent hands of the monks. He knew his skin-clad +adherents well; and he knew that within a very few days not an idol, not +a picture, not a token would remain intact to preserve the memory of the +old gods; a thousand slaves charged to sweep the Serapeum from the face +of the earth would have given his impatience twenty times as long to +wait. The Comes went off at once to the Hippodrome, preceded by hundreds +who had hurried off to tell the assembled multitude that Alexandria had +lost her god. + +Constantine, however, had not left the temple; he had withdrawn into one +of the aisles and seated himself on the steps, where he remained, sunk in +thought and gazing at the ground. He was a soldier and took service and +discipline in earnest. What he had done he had been forced to do; but no +one could guess how hard it had been to him to fulfil this terrible duty. +His own act was abominable in his eyes, and yet he would have done it +again to-morrow, if it had again been required of him under similar +circumstances. He bewailed the beautiful statue as a lost treasure of +art; but he felt that it was indispensable that it should perish out of +the world. And at the same time he thought of Gorgo, wondering how she +--who had only the day before pledged herself to him, whom he loved with +fervent passion, to whom, as he well knew, his faith was something +monstrous in its contempt for beauty--would bear to learn that he, her +lover, was the man who, like some coarse barbarian, had defaced this +noble work and ruined this vision of beauty, no less dear to him than it +was to her. Still, as he sat brooding and searching the very depths of +his soul, he could not help feeling that he had certainly acted rightly +and would do the same again, even at the risk of losing her. To him +Gorgo, was the noblest of God's creatures, and how could he have borne to +go through life at her side with a stain on his honor? But he did not +conceal from himself the fact that his deed had opened a wide gulf +between them; and it was with deep pathos that his thoughts recurred to +the antique conception of tragedy--of fate which pursues its innocent +victims as though they were guilty. This day perhaps would witness the +sunset of his life's joy, would drive him forth once more to war--to +fight, and do nothing but fight, till death should meet him on the +battle-field. And as he sat there his eyes grew dim and heavy and his +head fell on his heaving breast. + +Suddenly he felt a light touch on his shoulder, and turning round, he saw +Gorgo standing with her hand outstretched; he started to his feet, seized +it with eager passion and looking sadly into the young girl's eyes said, +with deep emotion: + +"I would I might hold this hand forever--but you will leave me, you will +turn from me when I tell you of the deed that mine has done." + +"I know it," she said firmly. "And it was a hard task even for you--a +painful duty--was it not?" + +"Terrible! horrible!" he exclaimed with a shudder, as he recalled the +feelings of that momentous instant. She looked sympathetically into his +eyes. + +"And you did it," she cried, "because you felt that you must and will be +wholly what you profess to be? It is right--the only right; I feel it +so. I will try to imitate you, and rise above the half-heartedness which +is the bane of existence, and which makes the firm path of life a +trembling, swaying bridge. I am yours, wholly yours; I have none other +gods but yours, and for love of you I will learn to love your God--for +you have often and often called him a God of Love." + +"And He is a God of Love!" cried Constantine, "and you will know him and +confess him even without teaching; for our Saviour lives in every heart +that is filled with love. Oh! Gorgo, I have destroyed that beautiful +idol, but I will let you see that even a Christian can duly value and +cherish beauty in his home and in his heart." + +"I am sure of it," she exclaimed joyfully. "The world goes on its way +and does not quake, in spite of the fall of Serapis; but I feel as though +in my inmost soul a world had perished and a new one was created, nobler +and purer, and perhaps even more lovely than the old one!" + +He pressed her hand to his lips; she signed to him to follow her and led +the way to her father's couch. Porphyrius was sitting up, supported in +the physician's arms; his eyes were open, and as they entered he greeted +them with a faint smile. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow +It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe +Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line + + + + + + +SERAPIS + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 6. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +The spacious Hippodrome was filled with some thousands of spectators. +At first many rows of seats had been left vacant, though usually on the +eve of the great races, the people would set out soon after midnight and +every place would be filled long before the games began; indeed the upper +tiers of the tribune, which were built of wood and were free to all +comers, with standing-room behind, were commonly so crowded early in the +morning that the crush ended in a free fight. + +On this occasion, the storm of the previous night, the anxiety caused by +the conflict round the Serapeum, and the prevalent panic as to the +approaching end of the world, kept great numbers away from their favorite +diversion; but when the sky recovered its radiant blue, and when it +became known that the statue of Serapis had escaped uninjured in the +siege of his sanctuary--when Cynegius, the Imperial legate, and Evagrius, +the city-prefect, had entered the theatre with much pomp, followed by +several senators and ladies and gentlemen of rank-Christians, Heathen, +and Jews--the most timid took courage; the games had been postponed for +an hour, and before the first team was led into the arched shed whence +the chariots started, the seats, though less densely packed than usual, +were amply filled. + +The number of chariots entered for competition was by no means smaller +than on former occasions, for the heathen had strained every nerve to +show their fellow-citizens of different creeds, and especially Caesar's +representative, that, in spite of persecution and in defiance of Imperial +edicts, they were still a power worthy of consideration. The Christians, +on their part, did their utmost to outdo the idolaters on the same ground +where, not long since, they had held quite the second place. + +The Bishop's epigram: That Christianity had ceased to be the religion of +the poor, was amply confirmed; the greater proportion of the places for +senators, officials and rich citizens were occupied by its adherents, and +the men and women who professed the Faith were by no means behind their +heathen peers in magnificence of dress and jewels. + +The horses, too, entered by the Christians could not fail to please the +connoisseur, as they punctually made their appearance behind the +starting-place, though he might have felt more confidence--and not +without reason--in the heathen steeds, and more particularly in their +drivers, each of whom had won on an average nine races out of ten. + +The horses in the quadriga with which Marcus, the son of Mary, made his +appearance in the arena had never before been driven in the Hippodrome. +Demetrius, the owner's brother, had bred and trained them--four +magnificent black Arabs--and they excited much interest among the knowing +judges who were wont to collect and lounge about the 'oppidum', as it was +called, behind the 'carceres'--[The covered sheds or stalls in which the +horses were brought to wait for the start.]--to inspect the racers, +predict the winner, offer counsel to the drivers, and make bets. These +perfect creatures were perhaps as fine as the famous team of golden bays +belonging to Iphicrates, which so often had proved victorious; but the +agitatores, or drivers, attracted even more interest than the horses. +Marcus, though he knew how to handle the reins--he had already been seen +in experimental races--could hardly hold his own against Hippias, the +handsome young heathen, who, like most of the drivers in the arena, was +an agitator by profession. A story was told of his having driven over a +bridge which was not quite as wide as the outside edges of his chariot- +wheels; and there were many witnesses to the feat he had performed of +writing his mistress' name with his chariot-tracks in the sand of the +Hippodrome. + +The betting was freest and the wagers highest on Hippias and the team +belonging to Iphicrates. Some few backed Marcus and his Arabs, but for +smaller sums; and when they compared the tall but narrow-shouldered +figure of the young Christian with the heroic breadth of Hippias' frame, +and his delicate features, dreamy blue eyes and downy black moustache +with the powerful Hermes-head of his rival, they were anxious about their +money. If his brother now, the farmer Demetrius--who was standing by the +horses' heads--or some well-known agitator had held the reins, it would +have been a pleasure and a profit to back such horses. Marcus had been +abroad, too, and men shrugged their shoulders over that, for it was not +till the last few days that he had been seen exercising his horses in the +Hippodrome. + +Time was going on, and the Imperial envoy, who had been elected to +preside as judge, at length took his place; Demetrius whispered a few +last words of advice to his brother and went back into the arena. He had +secured a good place on the stone podium and on the shady side, though +there were several seats vacant among those belonging to his family; but +he did not care to occupy one of these, preferring to keep out of the way +of his step-mother, who had made her appearance with a senator and his +wife to whom she was related. He had not seen her for two days; his +promise to Karnis that he would try to find Dada, had kept him fully +occupied, and he had done his best in all earnest to discover the girl. + +The honest indignation with which this young creature had refused his +splendid offers, in spite of the modest circumstances of her life, had +roused his respect, and he had felt it an insult to himself and to his +brother when Gorgo had spoken of her with contempt. For his part, he had +never met with any one more fascinating; he could not cease dreaming of +her, and the thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of a +great city made him miserable. His brother had the first claim on her +and he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly in every +resort of the young and gay--nay even in Canopus--he had only meant to +place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being lost to the +family, though, when at last its possession is secured, it becomes the +property of the member who can prove the best right of ownership. But +all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an unhappy mood that he +went at last to the Hippodrome. There the bitter hostility and party- +feeling which he had everywhere observed during his present visit to his +native city, were not less conspicuous than they had been in the streets. +The competing chariots usually arrived at the amphitheatre in grand +procession, but this had not been thought advisable in the prevailing +excitement; they had driven into the oppidum singly and without any +display; and the images of the gods, which in former days had always been +placed on the spina before the games began, had long since fallen into +disuse. + + [The spina was the division down the middle of the arena. At each + end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of + about 13 feet. The spina was originally constructed of wood, + subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29 + feet. The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet + long.] + +All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat it +was in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of +spectators. + +His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins +which was reserved for the family. Her tunic and skirt displayed the +color blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and +silver brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and +the olive-branch were elegantly combined. Her black hair was closely and +simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string of +large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals, +lying on her forehead. A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat +gazing into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were +folded and held a cross. This placid and demure attitude she deemed +becoming to a Christian matron and widow. Everyone might see that she +had not come for worldly pleasure, but merely to be present at a triumph +of her fellow-Christians--and especially her son--over the idolaters. +Everything about her bore witness to the Faith, even the pattern on her +dress and the shape of her ornaments; down to the embroidery on her silk +gloves, in which a cross and an anchor were so designed as to form a +Greek X, the initial letter of the name of Christ. Her ambition was to +appear simple and superior to all worldly vanities; still, all she wore +must be rich and costly, for she was here to do honor to her creed. She +would have regarded it as a heathen abomination to wear wreaths of fresh +and fragrant flowers, though for the money which that string of pearls +had cost she might have decked the circus with garlands from end to end, +or have fed a hundred poor for a twelvemonth. It seems so much easier to +cheat the omniscient Creator of the Universe than our fellow-fools! + +So Dame Maria sat there in sour and virtuous dignity, looking like the +Virgin Mary as painters and sculptors were at that time wont to represent +her; and her farmer-son shuddered whenever his eye fell on his step- +mother. It did him good, by contrast, to hear a hearty peal of laughter +that came up from the lowest ranks of the podium. When he had discovered +the spot from whence it proceeded he could hardly believe his eyes, for +there sat the long-sought Dada, between an old man and a young woman, +laughing as though something had just occurred to amuse her extremely. +Demetrius stretched his limbs with a feeling of relief and satisfaction; +then he rose, and seeing his city agent seated just behind the girl, he +begged him to change places with him, as he thought it advisable not to +lose sight of the game now it was caught; the old man was very ready to +oblige him and went up to the other seat with a meaning smile. + +For the first time since she could recollect anything Dada had spent a +sleepless night. Whether the wind and thunder would have sufficed to +keep her awake who can tell; but the thoughts that had whirled through +her brain had been varied and exciting enough to rob her of sleep. Her +own people who were fighting for Serapis--how were they faring; and Agne +--what had become of her? Then her mind turned to the church, and the +worthy old priest's sermon; to the races that she was to see--and the +face and figure of the handsome young Christian rose vividly and +irresistibly before her fancy. Of course--of course, she wished his +horses to win; but it was strange enough that she, Karnis' niece, should +be on the side of the Christians. Stranger still that she had entirely +ceased to believe in all the abuse which, from her earliest childhood, +she had heard heaped on the followers of the crucified Jew. It could +only be that Karnis had never been able to forgive them for having ruined +his theatre at Tauromenium, and so, perhaps, had never known them +thoroughly. + +She had enjoyed many a happy hour at the festivals of the old gods; and +they were no doubt beautiful and festive divinities, or terrible when +they were wroth; still, in the depths of her soul there had for some time +lurked a vague, sweet longing which found no fulfilment in any heathen +temple. She knew no name for it and would have found it hard to +describe, but in the church, listening to the prayers and hymns and the +old deacon's discourse, it had for the first time been stilled; she had +felt then and there that, helpless and simple as she was, and even if she +were to remain parted from her foster parents, she need never feel +abandoned, but could rest and hope in a supreme, loving, and helpful +power. And indeed she needed such a protector; she was so easily +beguiled. Stephanion, a flute-player she had known in Rome, had wheedled +everything she had a fancy for out of poor Dada, and when she had got +into any mischief laid it all on Dada's shoulders. There must be +something particularly helpless about her, for everyone, as a matter of +course, took her in hand and treated her like a child, or said things +that made her angry. + +In the Hippodrome, however, she forgot everything in the present +pleasure, and was happy enough in finding herself in the lowest row of +places, in the comfortable seats on the shady side, belonging to +Posidonius, the wealthy Magian. This was quite different from her +experience in Rome, where once, in the Circus Maximus, she had stood in +the second tier of the wooden gallery and had been squeezed and pushed, +while no one had taken any notice of her and she had only seen the races +from a distance, looking down on the heads of the men and horses. Herse +never would take her a second time, for, as they came out, they had been +followed and spoken to by men, young and old; and after that her aunt had +fancied she never could be safe, scenting danger at every turn, and would +not allow her ever again to go out alone in the city. + +This was altogether a much finer place, for here she was parted from the +race-course only by a narrow watercourse which, as it happened, was +bridged over just in front of her; the horses would pass close to her; +and besides, it was pleasant to be seen and to feel conscious of a +thousand flattering glances centered on herself. + +Even the great Cynegius, Caesar's envoy and deputy, who had often noticed +her on board ship, turned again and again to look at her. He was carried +in on a golden litter by ten huge negroes, preceded by twelve lictors +bearing fasces wreathed with laurel; and he took his seat, robed in +purple and embroidery, on a magnificent throne in the middle of the +tribune above the starting sheds; however, Dada troubled herself no more +about the overdressed old man. + +Her eyes were everywhere, and she made Medius or his daughter name +everybody and explain everything. Demetrius was delighted with her eager +enjoyment; presently, nudging the singer, she whispered to him with much +satisfaction: + +"Look how the people down below are craning their necks to look at us! +My dress is so very pretty--I wonder where your friend Posidonius gets +these lovely roses. There are above a hundred buds in this garland +across my shoulders and down to my girdle, I counted them in the litter +as I came along. It is a pity they should die so soon; I shall dry the +leaves and make scent of them." + +Demetrius could not resist the temptation; he leaned forward and said +over her shoulder: "There are hardly enough for that." + +At this unexpected address Dada looked round, and she blushed as she +recognized Marcus' brother; he, however, hastened to assure her that he +deeply regretted his audacious proposals of two days since, and the girl +laughed, and said that he had come off worst, and that she might have +sent him away a little more civilly perhaps; but the truth was she had +been out of temper to begin with--any one would be cross that was treated +as Dame Herse had treated her: hiding her shoes and leaving her a +prisoner on the deck of a barge in the middle of a lake! Then she +introduced him to Medius, and finally enquired about Marcus and his +horses, and whether he had any chance of winning the race. + +The countryman answered all her questions; and when, presently, a flower- +girl came along the ranks of seats, selling wreaths of blue and red +flowers and ribbands, Demetrius bought two lovely olive-wreaths to fling +to the winner--his brother he hoped. Medius and his daughter wore red +knots--the color of the Heathen, and Dada, following their example, had a +similar bow on her shoulder; now, however, she accepted a blue ribband +that Demetrius bought for her and pinned it in the place of the red one +as being the color of Marcus, to the old singer's great annoyance. +Demetrius laughed loudly in his deep bass tones, declaring that his +brother was already most anxious to win, and that, when he saw her with +these ribbands he would strain every nerve, in gratitude for her +partisanship. He could assure her that Marcus thought of her constantly. + +"I am glad of that," she said simply; and she added that it was the same +with her, for she had been thinking all night of Marcus and his horses. +Medius could not help remarking that Karnis and Herse would take it very +ill that she should display the Christian color to-day of all days; to +which she only replied that she was sorry for that, but that she liked +blue better than red. The answer was so abrupt and short that it +startled Demetrius, who had hitherto seen Dada gentle and pliant; and it +struck him at once how deep an aversion the girl felt for her present +protectors. + +There was music, as usual, in the towers at either end of the row of +carceres; but it was less stirring and cheerful than of yore, for flutes, +and several of the heathen airs had been prohibited. Formerly, too, the +Hippodrome had been a place where lovers could meet and where many a +love-affair had been brought to a happy climax; but to-day none of the +daughters of the more respectable families were allowed to quit the +women's apartments in their own homes, for danger was in the air; the +course of events in the Serapeum had kept many of the younger men from +witnessing the races, and some mysterious influence seemed to weigh upon +the gaiety and mirth of which the Hippodrome on a gala day was usually +the headquarters. + +Wild excitement, expectation strung to the highest pitch, and party- +feeling, both for and against, had always, of course, been rife here; but +to-day they were manifest in an acuter form--hatred had added its taint +and lent virulence to every emotion. The heathen were oppressed and +angered, their rights abridged and defied; they saw the Christians +triumphant at every point, and hatred is a protean monster which rages +most fiercely and most venomously when it has lurked in the foul career +of envy. + +The Christians could hate, too, and they hated the idolaters who gloried +with haughty self-sufficiency in their intellectual inheritance; the +traditions of a brilliant past. They, who had been persecuted and +contemned, now had the upper hand; they were in power, and the more +insolently they treated their opponents, the more injustice they did +them, and the less the victimized heathen were able to revenge +themselves, the more bitterly did the Christians detest the party they +contemned as superstitious idolaters. In their care for the soul--the +spiritual and divine part--the Christians had hitherto neglected the +graces of the body; thus the heathen had remained the undisputed masters +of the palaestra and the hippodrome. In the gymnasium the Christian +refused even to compete, for the exhibition of his naked body he regarded +as an abomination; but on the race-course he had lately been willing to +display his horses, and many times had disputed the crown with the +hereditary victors, so that, even here, the heathen felt his time-honored +and undisputed supremacy endangered. This was intolerable--this must be +averted--the mere thought of being beaten on this ground roused the +idolaters to wrath and malice. They displayed their color in wreaths of +scarlet poppies, pomegranate flowers and red roses, with crimson ribbands +and dresses; white and green, the colors formerly adopted by the +competitors, were abandoned; for all the heathen were unanimous in +combining their forces against the common foe. The ladies used red sun- +shades and the very baskets, in which the refreshments were brought for +the day, were painted red. + +The widow Mary, on the other hand, and all the Christians were robed in +blue from head to foot, their sandals being tied with blue ribbands; and +Dada's blue shoulder-knot was in conspicuous contrast to her bright rose- +colored dress. + +The vendors of food who wandered round the circus had eggs dyed blue and +red, cakes with sugared icing and refreshing drinks in jars of both +colors. When a Christian and a Heathen found themselves seated side by +side, each turned a shoulder to the other, or, if they were forced to sit +face to face, eyed each other with a scowl. + +Cynegius did all he could to postpone the races as long as possible; he +was anxious to wait till the Comes had finished his task in the Serapeum, +so that the troops might be free to act in any emergency that might arise +before the contests in the Hippodrome were fairly ended. Time did not +hang heavy on his hands for the vast multitude here assembled interested +him greatly, though he had frequently been a spectator of similar +festivities in Rome and Constantinople; but this crowd differed in many +particulars from the populace of those cities. In the topmost tiers of +free seats black and brown faces predominated greatly over white ones; in +the cushioned and carpeted ranks of the stone podium--the lower portion +of the amphitheatre--mingled with Greeks and Egyptians, sat thousands of +splendidly dressed men and women with strongly-marked Semitic features: +members of the wealthy Jewish community, whose venerable head, the +Alabarch, a dignified patriarch in Greek dress, sat with the chief +members of the senate, near the envoy's tribune. + +The Alexandrians were not a patient race and they were beginning to rebel +against the delay, making no small noise and disturbance, when Cynegius +rose and with his white handkerchief waved the signal for the races to +begin. The number of spectators had gradually swelled from fifty to +sixty and to eighty thousand; and no less than thirty-six chariots were +waiting behind the carceres ready to start. + +Four 'missus' or races were to be run. In each of the three first twelve +chariots were to start, and in the fourth only the leaders in the three +former ones were to compete. The winner of the olive-wreath and +palmbranch in this final heat would bear the honors of the day; his party +would be victorious and he would quit the Hippodrome in triumph. + +Lots were now drawn in the oppidum to decide which shed each chariot was +to start from, and in which naissus each was to run. It was Marcus' fate +to start among the first lot, and, to the horror of those who had backed +his chances, Hippias, the hero of the Hippodrome, was his rival, with the +four famous bays. + +Heathen priests poured libations to Poseidon, and Phoebus Apollo, the +patron divinities of horses and of the Hippodrome--for sacrifices of +blood were prohibited; while Christian presbyters and exorcists blessed +the rival steeds in the name of the Bishop. A few monks had crept in, +but they were turned out by the heathen with bitter jeers, as unbidden +intruders. + +Cynegius repeated his signal. The sound of the tuba rang through the +air, and the first twelve chariots were led into the starting-sheds. A +few minutes later a machine was set in motion by which a bronze eagle was +made to rise with outspread wings high into the air, from an altar in +front of the carceres; this was the signal for the chariots to come forth +from their boxes. They took up their positions close behind a broad +chalk line, traced on the ground with diagonal slope, so as to reduce the +disadvantage of standing outermost and having a larger curve to cover. + +Until this moment only the privileged possessors of the seats over the +carceres had been able, by craning backwards, to see the horses and +drivers; now the competitors were visible to the multitude which, at +their first appearance, broke out into vociferous applause. The +agitatores had to exert all their strength to hold in the startled and +eager teams, and make them stand even for a few short minutes; then +Cynegius signalled for the third time. A golden dolphin, which had been +suspended from a beam, and on which the eye of every charioteer was +fixed, dropped to the ground, a blast on the 'salpinx', or war-trumpet, +was sounded, and forty-eight horses flew forth as though thrown forward +by one impulsion. + +The strength of four fine horses whirled each light, two-wheeled chariot +over the hard causeway as though it were a toy. The down-pour of the +previous night had laid the dust; the bright sunshine sparkled and danced +in rapidly-changing flashes, mirrored in the polished gilding of the +bronze or the silver fittings of the elegantly-decorated, semicircular +cars in which the drivers stood. + +Five blue and seven red competitors had drawn the first lots. The eye +rested with pleasure on the sinewy figures whose bare feet seemed rooted +to the boards they stood on, while their eyes were riveted on the goal +they were striving to reach, though--as the eye of the archer sees arrow, +bow and mark all at once--they never lost sight of the horses they were +guiding. A close cap with floating ribbands confined their hair, and +they wore a short sleeveless tunic, swathed round the body with wide +bands, as if to brace their muscles and add to their strength. The reins +were fastened around the hips so as to leave the hands free, not only to +hold them but also to ply the whip and use the goad. Each charioteer had +a knife in his girdle, to enable him to release himself, in case of +accident, from a bond that might prove fatal. + +Before long the bay team was leading alone. Behind were two Christian +drivers, followed by three red chariots; Marcus was last of all, but it +was easy to see that it was by choice and not by necessity that he was +hanging back. He was holding in his fiery team with all his strength and +weight--his body thrown back, his feet firmly set with his knees against +the silver bar of the chariot, and his hands gripping the reins. In a +few minutes he came flying past Dada and his brother, but he did not see +them. He had not even caught sight of his own mother, while the +professional charioteers had not failed to bow to Cynegius and nod to +their friends. He could only keep his eyes and mind fixed on his horses +and on the goal. + +The multitude clapped, roared, shouted encouragement to their party, +hissed and whistled when they were disappointed--venting their utmost +indignation on Marcus as he came past behind the others; but he either +heard them not or would not hear. Dada's heart beat so wildly that she +thought it would burst. She could not sit still; she started to her feet +and then flung herself back on her cushions, shouting some spurring words +to Marcus in the flash of time when he might perhaps hear them. When he +had passed, her head fell and she said sadly enough: "Poor fellow!--We +have bought our wreaths for nothing after all, Demetrius!" + +But Demetrius shook his head and smiled. + +"Nay," he said, "the boy has iron sinews in that slight body. Look how +he holds the horses in! He is saving their strength till they need it. +Seven times, child, seven times he has to go round this great circus and +past the 'nyssa'. You will see, he will catch up what he has lost, yet. +Hippias, you see, is holding in his horses, too; it is his way of giving +himself airs at starting. Now he is close to the 'nyssa'--the 'kampter' +--the 'meta' they call it at Rome; the smaller the bend he can make round +it the better for him, but it is risky work. There--you see!--They drive +round from right to left and that throws most of the work on the lefthand +beast; it has to turn almost in its own length. Aura, our first horse, +is as supple as a panther and I trained her to do it, myself.--Now, look +out there! that bronze figure of a rearing horse--the 'Taraxippos' they +call it--is put there to frighten the horses, and Megaera, our third +horse, is like a mad thing sometimes, though she can go like a stag; +every time Marcus gets her quietly past the Taraxippos we are nearer to +success.--Look, look,=-the first chariot has got round the nyssa! It is +Hippias! Yes, by Zeus, he has done it! He is a detestable braggart, but +he knows his business!" + +This was one of the decisive moments of the race. The crowd was silent; +expectation was at the utmost pitch of tension, and Dada's eyes were +fixed spell-bound on the obelisk and on the quadrigas that whirled round +the bourn. + +Next to Hippias came a blue team, and close behind were three red ones. +The Christian who had succeeded in reaching the nyssa second, boldly took +his horses close round the obelisk, hoping to gain space and get past +Hippias; but the left wheel of his chariot grazed the granite plinth, the +light car was overset, and the horses of the red chariot, whose noses +were almost on his shoulder, could not be pulled up short in time. They +fell over the Christian's team which rolled on the ground; the red +chariot, too, turned over, and eight snorting beasts lay struggling in +the sand. + +The horses in the next chariot bolted as they were being driven past this +mass of plunging and neighing confusion; they defied their driver's +impotent efforts and galloped across the course back into the caiceres. + +The rest had time and space enough to beware of the wreck and to give it +a wide berth, among them Marcus. The melee at the Meta had excited his +steeds almost beyond control, and as they tore past the Taraxippos the +third horse, Megaera, shied violently as Demetrius had predicted. She +flung herself on one side, thrust her hind quarters under the pole, and +kicked desperately, lifting the chariot quite off the ground; the young +charioteer lost his footing and slipped. Dada covered her face with her +hands, and his mother turned pale and knit her brows with apprehension. +The youth was still standing; his feet were on the sand of the arena; but +he had a firm grip on the right-hand spiral ornament that terminated the +bar round the chariot. Many a heart stood still with anxiety, and shouts +of triumph and mockery broke from the red party; but in less than half a +minute, by an effort of strength and agility, he had his knees on the +foot-board, and then, in the winking of an eye, he was on his feet in the +chariot, had gathered up the reins and was rushing onward. + +Meanwhile, however, Hippias had far outstripped all the rest, and as he +flew past the carceres he checked his pace, snatched a cup from a +lemonade-seller, tossed the contents down his throat with haughty +audacity amid the plaudits of the crowd, and then dashed on again. A +wide gap, indeed, still lay between him and Marcus. + +By the time the competitors again came round to the nyssa, the slaves in +attendance had cleared away the broken chariots and led off the horses. +A Christian still came next to Hippias followed by a red agitator; Marcus +had gained on the others and was now fourth. + +In the third round the chariot of the red driver in front of Marcus made +too sharp a turn and ran up against the granite. The broken car was +dragged on by the terrified beasts, and the charioter with it, till, by +the time they were stopped, he was a corpse. In the fifth circuit the +Christian who till now had been second to Hippias shared the same fate, +though he escaped with his life; and then Marcus drove past the starting- +sheds next to Hippias. + +Hippias had ceased to flout and dally. In spite of the delay that Marcus +had experienced from the Taraxippos, the space that parted his bays from +the black Arabs had sensibly diminished, round after round; and the +interest of the race now centered entirely in him and the young +Christian. Never before had so passionate and reckless a contest been +fought out on this venerable race-course, and the throng of spectators +were carried away by the almost frenzied rivalry of the two drivers. +Not a creature in the upper tiers had been able to keep his seat; men and +women alike had risen to their feet and were shouting and roaring to the +competitors. The music in the towers might have ceased, so completely +was it drowned by the tumult in the amphitheatre. + +Only the ladies, in the best places above the starting-sheds, preserved +their aristocratic calm; Still, when the seventh and decisive round was +begun, even the widow Mary leaned forward a little and clasped her hands +more tightly over the cross in her lap. Each time that Marcus had driven +round the obelisk or past the Taraxippos, Dada had clutched her head with +her hands and set her teeth in her lip; each time, as he happily steered +clear of the fatal stone and whirled past the dreadful bronze statue, she +had relaxed her grip and leaned back in her seat with a sigh of relief. +Her sympathy made her one with Marcus; she felt as if his loss must be +her death and his victory her personal triumph. + +During the sixth circuit Hippias was still a long way ahead of the young +Christian; the distance which lay between Marcus and the team of bays +seemed to have become a fixed quantity, for, do what he could, he could +not diminish it by a hand-breadth. The two agitatores had now completely +altered their tactics; instead of holding their horses in they urged them +onward, leaning over the front of their chariots, speaking to the horses, +Shouting at them with hoarse, breathless cries, and flogging them +unsparingly. Steamy sweat and lathering foam streaked the flanks of the +desperate, laboring brutes, while clouds of dust were flung up from the +dry, furrowed and trampled soil. The other chariots were left further +and further behind those of Hippias and Marcus, and when, for the seventh +and last time, these two were nearing the nyssa, the crowd for a moment +held its breath, only to break out into louder and wilder cries, and then +again to be hushed. It seemed as though their exhausted lungs found +renewed strength to shout with double energy when their excitement had +kept them silent for a while. + +Dada spoke no more; pale and gasping, she sat with her eyes fixed on the +tall obelisk and on the cloud of dust which, as the chariots neared the +nyssa, seemed to grow denser. At about a hundred paces from the nyssa +she saw, above the sandy curtain, the red cap of Hippias flash past, and +then--close behind it--the blue cap worn by Marcus. Then a deafening, +thundering roar from thousands of throats went up to heaven, while, round +the obelisk--so close to it that not a horse, not a wheel could have +found room between the plinth and the driver-the blue cap came forward +out of the cloud, and, behind it now--no longer in front, though not more +than a length behind--came the red cap of Hippias. When within a few +feet of the nyssa, Marcus had overtaken his antagonist, had passed the +point with a bold and perilously close turn, and had left the bays behind +him. + +Demetrius saw it all, as though his eye had power to pierce the dust- +cloud, and now he, too, lost his phlegmatic calm. He threw up his arms +as if in prayer and shouted, as though his brother could hear him: + +"Well done, splendid boy! Now for the kentron--the goad--drive it in, +send it home if they die for it! Give it them well!" + +Dada, who could only guess what was happening, looked round at him, +asking in tremulous tones: "Has he passed him? Is he gaining on him? +Will he win?" But Demetrius did not answer; he only pointed to the +foremost of the flying clouds on which the second was fast advancing, and +cried in a frenzy of excitement: + +"Death and Hades! The other is catching him up. The dog, the sneak! If +only the boy would use his goad. Give it them, Marcus! Give it them, +lad! Never give in now! Great Father Poseidon!--there--there!--no! I +can hardly stand--Yes, he is still in front, and now--now--this must +settle it! Thunder and lightning! They are close together again--may +the dust choke him! No--it is all right; my Arabs are in front! All is +well, keep it up, lad, well done! We have won!" + +The horses were pulled up, the dust settled; Marcus, the Christian, had +won the first missus. Cynegius held out the crown to the victor, who +bowed to receive it. Then he waved his hand to his mother, who +graciously waved hers in return, and he drove into the oppidurn and was +lost to sight. + +Hippias flung down his whip in a rage, but the triumphant shouts of the +Christians drowned the music, the trumpet-blasts and the angry murmurs of +the defeated heathen. Threatening fists were shaken in the air, while +behind the carceres the drivers and owners of the red party scolded, +squabbled and stormed; and Hippias, who by his audacious swagger had +given away the race to their hated foe--to the Blues, the Christians-- +narrowly escaped being torn in pieces. + +The tumult and excitement were unparalleled; but Dada saw and heard +nothing. She sat in a blissful dream, gazing into her lap, while tears +of joyful reaction rolled down her cheeks. Demetrius saw her tears and +was glad; then, pointing out Mary to the girl, he in formed her that she +was the mother of Marcus. And he registered a secret vow that, cost what +it might, he would bring his victorious brother and this sweet child +together. + +The second and third missus, like the first, were marked by serious +accidents; both, however, were won for the Red party. In the fourth, the +decisive race, there were but three competitors: Marcus and the two +heathen winners. Demetrius watched it with less anxiety; he knew that +his Arabs were far superior to the Egyptian breed in staying power, and +they also had the advantage of having had a longer rest. In fact, the +final victory was adjudged to the young Christian. + +Long before it was decided Dada had been impatiently fingering her +wreaths, and could hardly wait any longer to fling them into Marcus' +chariot. When it was all over she might perhaps have an opportunity of +speaking to him; and she thought how delightful his voice was and what +fine, kind eyes he had. If only he were to bid her be his, she would +follow him whither and wherever he desired, whatever Karnis and Herse +might say to the contrary. She thought no one could be so glad of his +success as she was; she felt as if she belonged to him, had always +belonged to him, and only some spiteful trick of Fate had come between +them. + +There was a fresh blast of trumpets; the victor, in obedience to a time- +honored custom, was to drive round the arena at a foot-pace and show his +brave team to the multitude. He came nearer and nearer, and Demetrius +proposed that they should cross the little watercourse that parted the +podium from the arena and follow the chariot, so as to give his brother +the wreaths instead of flinging them to him. The girl colored and could +say neither yes or no; but she rose, hung one of the olive-crowns on her +arm with a happy, bashful smile, and handed the other to her new friend; +then she followed him across the little bridge on to the race-course +which, now that the games were over, was crowded with Christians. + +The brothers exchanged pleased greetings from afar, but Marcus did not +see Dada till she was close to him and stood, with a shy but radiant +glance of intense delight, holding out the olive-wreath for his +acceptance. He felt as though Heaven had wrought a miracle in his favor. +Never before had he thought her half so lovely. She seemed to have grown +since he had seen her last, to have gained a deeper and nobler +expression; and he observed, too, the blue favors on her shoulder and +among the roses that crowned her fair curls. Gladness and surprise +prevented his speaking; but he took the garland she offered him and, +seizing her hands, stammered out: "Thanks--thank you, Dada." + +Their eyes met, and as he gazed into her face he forgot where he was, did +not even wonder why his brother had suddenly turned away and, beginning +some long-winded speech, had rushed after a man who hastily covered his +head and tried to escape; he did not notice that thousands of eyes were +fixed on him, and among them his mother's; he could merely repeat: +"thanks" and "Dada"--the only words he could find. He would perhaps have +gone on repeating them, but that he was interrupted; the 'porta +libitinaria'--the gate through which the dead or injured were usually +carried out, was thrown open, and a rabble of infuriated heathen rushed +in, crying: "Serapis is fallen! They have destroyed the image of +Serapis! The Christians are ruining the sanctuaries of the gods!" + +A sudden panic seized the assembled multitude; the Reds rushed down from +their places into the arena to hear the details and ask questions--ready +to fight for the god or to fly for safety. In an instant the victor's +chariot was surrounded by an angry mob; Dada clutched it for protection, +and Marcus, without pausing to reflect--indeed hardly master of his own +actions--turned and lifted her into it by his side; then, urging his +horses forward, he forced a way through the crowd, past the caiceres. He +glanced anxiously up at the seats but could nowhere see his mother, so he +guided the exhausted beasts, steaming with sweat and dappled with foam, +through the open gate and out of the circus. His stable-slaves had run +after him; he released himself from the reins on his hips and flung them +to the grooms. Then he helped Dada to leap from the car. + +"Will you come with me?" he asked her simply; and the girl's reply was: +"Wherever you bid me." + +At the news that Serapis was overthrown Dame Mary had started from her +seat with eager haste that ill-became her dignity and, under the +protection of the body-guard in attendance on Cynegius, had found her way +to her litter. + +In the Hippodrome the tumult rose to a riot; Reds and Blues rushed from +the upper tiers, down the ranks of the podium and into the dusty race- +course; falling on each other tooth and nail like wild beasts; and the +bloody fray--no uncommon termination to the day, even in more peaceful +times--lasted till the Imperial soldiery parted the unarmed combatants. + +The Bishop was triumphant; his adherents had won the day at every point; +nor was he sorry to learn that Olympius, Helladius, Ainmonius and many +other spiritual leaders of the heathen world had succeeded in escaping. +They might come back; they might preach and harangue as much as they +chose: their power was broken. The Church had nothing now to fear from +them, and their philosophy and learning would still and always be +valuable in the mental training of her priests. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +The great Hippodrome of Alexandria was outside the Canopic gate, on the +northern side of the road leading to Eleusis which to-day was crowded +with passengers, all moving in the same direction. The tumult roused by +the intelligence that Serapis was overthrown made all the more peaceful +and peace-loving of the spectators hurry homewards; and as these, for the +most part, were of the richer classes, who came and went in litters or +chariots, their conveyances left but scanty space on the wide causeway +for foot passengers, still, there they were, in considerable numbers, +all wending their way towards the city, and the heathen who came rushing +towards the Hippodrome behind the first heralds of the disaster, had +great difficulty in making their way against the stream. + +Marcus and Dada allowed themselves to be carried onward by the throng +which was tending towards the city-walls and the Canopic gate. Phabis, +Mary's old steward, whose duty it had been to help his young master to +dress after the races were over, had snatched the agitator's cap from the +youth's head and flung a cloak over his shoulders, hastily following him +as he went off with the young girl by his side. The old man quite +understood what was in the wind for he it was who had conducted Dame +Herse to his mistress' presence. He had thought her a shrewd and kind- +hearted woman, and it now struck him that she must certainly have been +in the right when she accused Marcus of designs on her pretty niece. +At the time he had refused to believe it, for he had never in his life +detected his young master in any underhand or forbidden courses; but, +after all, Marcus was his father's son, and, in his younger days, the old +man had often and often had to risk his skin in Apelles' love-intrigues. +And now it was the Son's turn--and if he were to take his fancy for that +pretty chit as seriously as he did most things, if he got the notion into +his head of marrying the little singer--what a storm there was brewing +between him and his mother! + +The old man did his best to keep up with Marcus who did not see or heed +him, for his eyes and attention were centered on the fair companion who +was clinging to his arm, while he tried to force a passage through the +mob, towards the gate. Miracle on miracle seemed to him to have been +wrought in his behalf; for Heaven had not only sent him Dada, but she was +wearing blue ribbands; and when he asked her why, she had replied "For +your sake, and because I like your Faith." + +He was tired to death; but as soon as Dada had put her hand through his +arm he lead felt refreshed as if by magic. His swollen and blistered +hands, to be sure, were painful and his shoulders ached and winced from +stiffness; but as she pressed his arm to her side and looked up gladly in +his face--telling him how happy she was while he responded: "And how I +love you!"--he felt himself in Heaven, and pain and discomfort were +forgotten. The crush did not allow them to say more than a few words; +but the things their eyes and lips could smile were sweeter and dearer +than anything they had ever known before. + +They had got through the gate and were in the Canopic way when Dada +suddenly perceived that his lips were white, and felt the arm tremble on +which her hand was lying. She asked him what ailed him; he made no +reply, but put his hand to his head, so she led him aside into the public +garden that lay to their right between the little Stadium and the +Maeandrian circus. In this pretty spot, fresh with verdure and spring +flowers, she soon found a bench shaded by a semicircular screen of dark- +tufted tamarisk, and there she made him lie down. He yielded at once, +and his pale face and fixed gaze showed her that he was in a fainting +state. Indeed, he must be quite worn out by the terrible struggle of the +race, and after it was over he had not given himself time to take a cup +of drink or a scrap of food for refreshment. It was only too natural +that his strength should fail him, so, without feeling at all alarmed but +only very pitiful and anxious to help, she ran back to a fruit-stall +which they had passed at the entrance to the garden from the street. + +How glad she was that she still had the four drachmae which she had +coaxed out of Karnis in the Xenodochium that evening; she could buy +whatever she liked for her lover. When she went back-loaded with +oranges, apples, hard-boiled eggs, bread and salt, in the skirt of her +dress that she gathered up with one hand, and with a flask of wine and +water, and a gourdbowl in the other-she found him still lying +unconscious. However, when she had moistened his forehead and lips he +opened his eyes, and then she peeled him an orange as daintily as she +could and begged him to try it, and as she was herself very hungry she +took a hearty share. She was enchanted at making him her guest, and at +finding that he enjoyed the simple meal and soon was quite revived. In +fact, in a few minutes he had altogether recovered his strength and +consciousness of satisfaction; and as he lay back with Dada's hand in +his, gazing happily and thankfully into her sweet eyes, a sense of peace, +rest and bliss came over him such as he had never before known. He +thought he had never tasted such delicious food, or such exquisite wine +as the wretched Mareotic from the fruitstall. He took the apple she had +begun eating out of her hand and bit it where her white teeth had been; +he made her drink first out of the gourd-cup, and, as one of the three +eggs she had brought with her was bad, they had quite a little battle for +the last, till he finally gave way and eat it. + +When they had finished Dada's purchases to the last mouthful she asked +him, for the first time, where he meant to take her, and be said he +intended placing her in the house of his former tutor, Eusebius, the +deacon, where she would be a welcome guest and find her old companion +Agne. Of this she was sincerely glad; and when, on hearing the title of +Deacon, she questioned Marcus further, and identified Eusebius as the +worthy old man whose discourse in the basilica had so deeply impressed +her, she told Marcus how she had gone into the church, and how, from that +hour, she had felt at peace. A quite new feeling had sprung up in her +soul, and since then she had constantly longed to see him again and talk +it all over with him:--The little she had learnt of Christian doctrine +did her heart good and had given her comfort and courage. The world was +so beautiful, and there were many more good men than bad. It was a +pleasure to love one's neighbor, and as for forgiving a wrong--that she +had never found difficult. It must be good to live on earth if everyone +loved his neighbor as she loved him and he loved her; and life could not +be a great hardship if in every trouble there was some one who was always +ready to hear our cry and help us, out of pure beneficence. + +Her innocent talk was to Marcus the greatest marvel of this day of +miracles. The soul which he had dreamed that he was called to save had, +of its own accord, turned to walk in the path of salvation; he went on to +tell her of the things which he felt to be most sublime and glorious in +his creed, and at length he confessed that, though he had always loved +his neighbor for Christ's sake, never till now had true and perfect love +been revealed to him. No power on earth could now part him from her, and +when she should have been baptized there would be no further difficulty; +their love might last till, and beyond, death, through all the ages of +eternity. And she listened to him, perfectly content; and said that she +was his, wholly his, now, and for ever and ever. + +There were to-day but few people in the garden which was usually full in +the afternoon, of idlers, and of children with their nurses; but the +disturbance in the streets had kept these at home, and the idlers had +found more to attract them at the Hippodrome and in the crowded roads. +This favored the lovers, who could sit hand in hand, looking into each +other's eyes; and when old Phabis, who had lost sight of them long since, +at length discovered them in the park, he could see from his lurking- +place as he crept closer, that his young master, after glancing +cautiously round, pressed a kiss on the little singer's hair, +and then on her eyes and at last on her lips. + +The hours flew fast between serious talk and delightful dalliance, and +when they tore themselves away from their quiet retreat it was already +dusk. They soon found themselves in the Canopic way, in the thick of the +crowd which they were now occasionally obliged to meet, for those who +were making homewards had long since dispersed, and thousands were still +crowding to the Hippodrome where a brisk fight was still going on. As +they passed his mother's house Marcus paused and, pointing it out to +Dada, told her that the day was not far distant when he should bring her +home hither. But the girl's face fell. + +"Oh no!" she exclaimed, in a low voice. "Not here-not to this great +palace in a street. Let us live in a little house, quite quietly, by +ourselves. A house with a garden, and a seat in the shade. Your mother +lives here!" + +And then she blushed scarlet and looked down. He guessed, however, what +was passing in her mind, and bid her only to have patience, for as soon +as she was a baptized Christian Eusebius would intercede for her. And he +spoke warmly of his mother's piety and virtues, and asked Dada if she had +seen her at the races. + +"Yes," she replied timidly; and when he went on to ask her if she had not +thought Mary very handsome and dignified, she answered frankly: "Yes-- +very; but then she is so tall and grand-looking-she must wish for a +daughter-in-law very different from a poor, forsaken orphan like me--a +mere singer, looked down upon by every one! It is different with you; +you are satisfied with me as I am, and you know that I love you. If I +never find my uncle again I have no one on earth to care for me but you; +but I want no other, for you are my one and only hope, and to live for +you and with you is enough. Only you must never leave me or I shall die! +But you never can, for you told me that my soul was dearer to you than +your own life; and so long as I have you and your love I shall grow +better and better every day; but if you ever let me be parted from you +I shall be utterly lost. Yes, understand that once for all--ruined and +lost, body and soul!--I do not know what it is that terrifies me, but do +let us go on, away from this house. Suppose your mother were to see us!" + +He did as she wished and tried to soothe her, praising his mother's +virtues with the affectionate blindness of a son; but she only half +listened to his eulogy, for, as they approached Rhacotis the throng grew +denser, they had no opportunities for conversation, they could think of +nothing but battling their way through the crowd; still, they were happy. + + [The quarter of the city inhabited by the Egyptians. It was the old + town close to which Alexander the Great built his splendid new + city.] + +They thus got to the street of the Sun--one of the main arteries of the +city cutting the Canopic way at right angles--and they went down it +towards the Gate of Helios in the south wall. The Serapeum lay to their +right, several streets leading to it from the street of the Sun. To +reach the house where Eusebius lived they ought to have turned down the +street of the Acropolis, but a compact mass of frenzied creatures came +storming down it from the Serapeum, and towards them. The sun was now +fast setting over the City of the Dead on the western horizon. Marcus +tried to get out of the middle of the road and place Dada in safety by +the house at the corner, but in vain; the rabble that came crowding out +of the side street was mad with excitement, and could think of nothing +but the trophies it had snatched from the temple. Several dozen men, +black and white alike--and among them some monks and even women, had +harnessed themselves to an enormous truck, commonly used for the carriage +of beams, columns, and heavy blocks of stone, on which they had erected a +huge but shapeless mass of wood, the core, and all that remained, of the +image of Serapis; this they were dragging through the streets. + +"To the Hippodrome! Burn it! Down with the idols! Look at the divine +form of Serapis! Behold the god!" + +These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an ear- +splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity. + +The monks had torn the desecrated block from the niche in the Serapeum, +hauled it through the courts on to the steps, and were now taking it to +the arena where it was to be burnt. Others of their kidney, and some of +the Christian citizens who had caught the destructive mania, had forced +their way into the temple of Anubis, hard by the Serapeumn, where they +had overthrown and wrecked the jackal-headed idols and the Canopic gods +--four huge jars with lids representing respectively a man's head, an +ape's, a hawk's and a jackal's. They were now bearing these heads in +triumph, while others were shouldering the limbs of broken statues of +Apollo, of Athene, or of Aphrodite, or carrying the fragments in baskets +to cast them into the flames in the Hippodrome after the wooden stock of +the great Serapis. The mob had broken off the noses of all the heads, +had smeared the marble with pitch, or painted it grossly with the red +paint they had found in the writing-rooms of the Sera peum. Every one +who could get near enough to the remains of the statue, or to a fragment +of a ruined idol, spit upon it, struck it or thrust at it; and not a +heathen had, as yet, dared to interfere. + +Behind the oak block of the image of Serapis and the other trophies of +victory, came an endless stream of men of all ages, of monks and of +women, compelling a large carruca--[A four-wheeled chariot used in the +city and for travelling.]--that had fallen into their hands, and which +they had completely surrounded, to keep pace with them. The two fine +horses that drew it had to be led by the bridle; they were trembling with +terror and excitement and made repeated attempts to kick over the pole or +to rear. + +In this vehicle was Porphyrius, who had fully recovered consciousness, +and by his side sat Gorgo. Constantine had not stirred from the side of +the convalescent till Apuleius had pronounced him out of all danger; but +then the young officer's duty had called him away. The merchant had +hailed the news of his daughter's, union with the companion of her +childhood as a most satisfactory and long-expected event. + +A party of the Prefect's guards had been charged to bring the carriage +for Porphyrius to the door of the temple, and the abbot of a monastery at +Arsinoe, who was well known to the Prefect, undertook to escort them on +their road home and protect them from the attacks of the raving mob. At +the spot where the side street intersected the street of the Sun, and +where Marcus and Dada had been forced to stop, unable either to proceed +or to return, a troop of armed heathen had given the Christian rabble a +check at the very moment when the carruca came up, and falling on the foe +who had mocked and insulted their most sacred treasure, began a furious +fray. Quite close to the young lovers a heathen cut down a Christian who +was carrying the besmirched head of a Muse. Dada clung in terror to +Marcus, who was beginning to be seriously alarmed for her when, looking +round for aid or refuge, he caught sight of his brother forcing his way +through the throng, and gesticulating vehemently. The farmer was +telegraphing to the occupants of the carruca as well, and when he at last +reached Marcus he briefly explained to him that the first thing to be +done was to place Dada in safety. + +Only too glad to be out of the crush and danger, the girl nimbly climbed +into the chariot, and, after hastily greeting the father and daughter, +signed to Marcus to follow her; but Demetrius held his brother back, and +it was hurriedly agreed that Dada should be sent for that evening to the +house of Porphyrius. Demetrius whispered a few words of enthusiastic +praise of the little singer into Gorgo's ear; then the carriage moved on +again. Many of the heathen who had collected round it recognized +Porphyrius, the noble friend of the great Olympius, and cleared a passage +for him, so that at last he got out of the gate uninjured, and turned +into the quieter street of Euergetes which led to the temple of Isis, the +ship-yard and the merchant's residence. + +But few words were exchanged in the chariot, for it was only step by step +and with considerable difficulty that the horses could get along. It was +now quite dark and the mob had spread even into this usually deserted +quarter. + +A flaring glow that tinged the temple, the wharf and the deep sky itself +with a gorgeous crimson glare, showed very plainly what the populace were +employed in doing. The monks had set fire to the temple of Isis and the +flames had been driven by the northwest wind down into the ship-yard, +where they had found ample food in the enormous timber stacks and the +skeletons of ships. Tall jets of rushing and crackling sparks were +thrown skywards to mingle with the paler stars. Porphyrius could see +what danger his house was in; but thanks to the old steward's foresight +and the indefatigable diligence of the slaves, it escaped the +conflagration. + +The two brothers, meanwhile, had left the mob far behind them. Demetrius +was not alone, and as soon as he had introduced Marcus to his companion, +an abbot of friendly mien, the monk warmly expressed his pleasure at +meeting another son of Apelles, to whom he had once owed his life. +Demetrius then told his brother what his adventures had been during the +last few hours, and where he had met this worthy Father. + +While taking Dada down into the arena to join Marcus, he had caught sight +of Anubis, the Egyptian slave who had been his father's companion in his +last memorable journey to Syria, and who, since the death of Apelles, had +totally disappeared, the countryman had instantly followed him, seized +him--not without a struggle and some little danger--and then had him led +off by the city-guard to the prison by the Prefect's house. Once secured +he had been induced to speak, and his narrative proved beyond a doubt +that Apelles had perished in a skirmish with the Saracens; the Egyptian +slave had only taken advantage of his master's death to make off with the +money he had with him. He had found his way to Crete, where he had +purchased a plot of ground with his plunder; but then, craving to see his +wife and children once more, he had come back to fetch them away to his +new home. Finally, to confirm the truth of his story, which--clearing +him apparently of the murder of his master--did not invite implicit +belief, he told Demetrius that he had seen in Alexandria, only the day +before, a recluse who had been present when Apelles fell, and Demetrius +had at once set out to find this monk, enquiring among those who had +swarmed into the city. He had very soon been successful; Kosnias, who +since then had been elected abbot of the monastery to which he belonged, +now again told Marcus the story of his father's heroic courage in the +struggle with the freebooters who had attacked his caravan. Apelles, he +said, had saved his life and that of two other anchorites, one of whom +was in Alexandria at this very time. They were travelling from Hebron to +Aila, a party of seven, and had placed themselves under the protection of +the Alexandrian merchant's escort; everything had gone well till the +infidel Saracens had fallen upon them in the high land south of Petra. +Four of the monks had been butchered out of hand; but Apelles, with a few +of the more resolute spirits in the company, had fought the heathen with +the valor of a lion. He, Kosmas, and his two surviving comrades had +effected their escape, while Apelles engaged the foe; but from a rocky +height which they climbed in their flight they saw him fall, and from +that hour they had always mentioned him in their prayers. It would be an +unspeakable satisfaction to him to do his utmost to procure for such a +man as Apelles the rank he deserved in the list of martyrs for the Faith. + +Marcus, only too happy, wanted to hurry away at once to his mother and +tell her what he had heard, but Demetrius detained him. The Bishop-he +told his brother--had desired his immediate presence, to be congratulated +on his victory; his first duty was to obey that mandate, and he should at +once avail himself of its favorable opportunity to obtain for his +deceased parent the honor he had earned. + +It rather startled Marcus to find his brother taking its interest in a +matter which, so lately, he had vehemently opposed; however, he proceeded +at once to the episcopal palace, accompanied by the abbot, and half an +hour later Demetrius, who had awaited his return, met him coming out with +sparkling eyes. The Prelate, he said, had received him very graciously, +had thanked him for his prowess and had bid him crave a reward. He at +once had spoken of his father, and called the recluse to witness to the +facts. The Bishop had listened his story, and had ended by declaring +himself quite willing to put the name of Apelles on the list of the +Syrian martyrs. Theophilus had been most unwilling hitherto to reject +the petitions of so good and illustrious Christian as Mary; and now, +after such ample testimony as to the manner of her husband's death, it +was with sincere satisfaction that he bestowed this high mark of honor on +the Christian victor and his admirable mother. "So now," added the young +man, "I shall fly home, and how happy my mother will be...." + +But Demetrius would not allow him to finish his sentence. He laid his +hand on the young man's shoulder saying: "Patience, my dear fellow, +patience! You must stay with me for the present, and not go to your +mother till I have settled everything that is necessary. Do not +contradict me I entreat you, unless you want to deprive me of the +happiness of remedying an injustice to your pretty Dada. What you most +desire for yourself and her is your mother's blessing--and do you think +that will be easy to obtain? Far from it, lad! But I can manage it for +you; and I will, too, if only you will do as I bid you, and if the old +Heathen's niece can be induced to be baptized...." + +"She is a Christian already!" exclaimed Marcus eagerly. + +"Well then, she can be yours to-morrow," Demetrius went on calmly, "if +you listen to the advice of your older and wiser brother. It cannot be +very hard upon you, for you must own that if I had not fought it out with +Anubis--and the rascal bit all he could reach like a trapped fox--if I +had not got him locked up and almost run my legs off in hunting down the +worthy abbot, our father would never have enjoyed the promotion which he +is at last to obtain. Who would ever have believed that I should get any +satisfaction out of this 'Crown of Martyrdom'? By the gods! It is by no +means impossible, and I hope the manes of the deceased will forgive me +for your sake. But it is getting late, so only one thing more: for my +own share of the business all I claim is my right to tell your mother +myself of all that has occurred; you, on your part, must go at once to +Eusebius and beg him to receive Dada in his house. If he consents--and +he certainly will--take him with you to our uncle Porphyrius and wait +there till I come; then, if all goes well, I will take you and Dada to +your mother--or, if not, we will go with Eusebius." + +"Dada to my mother!" cried Marcus. "But what will she ......" + +"She will receive her as a daughter," interrupted his brother, "if you +hold your tongue about the whole business till I give you leave to +speak.--There, the tall gate-keeper is closing the episcopal palace, +so nothing more can come out of there to-night. You are a lucky fellow +--well good-bye till we meet again; I am in a hurry." + +The farmer went off, leaving Marcus with a thousand questions still +unasked. However, the young man did his bidding and went, hopeful though +not altogether free from doubts, to find his old tutor and friend. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +While Marcus carried out his brother's instructions Dada was expecting +him and Eusebius with the greatest impatience. Gorgo had charged her +waiting-woman to conduct the girl into the music-room and to tell her +that she would join her there if her father was in such a state as to +allow of it. Some refreshments were brought in to her, all delicate and +tempting enough; but Dada would not touch them, for she fancied that the +merchant's daughter was avoiding her intentionally, and her heart ached +with a sense of bereavement and loneliness. To distract her thoughts she +wandered round the room, looking at the works of art that stood against +the walls, feeling the stuffs with which the cushions were covered and +striking a lute which was leaning against the pedestal of a Muse. She +only played a few chords, but they sufficed to call up a whole train of +memories; she sank on a divan in the darkest corner she could find in the +brilliantly-lighted room, and gave herself up to reviewing the many +events of the last few days. It was all so bright, so delightful, that +it hardly seemed real, and her hopes were so radiantly happy that for a +moment she trembled to think of their fulfilment--but only for a moment; +her young soul was full of confidence and elation, and if a doubt weighed +it down for an instant it was soon cast off and her spirit rose with bold +expectancy. + +Her heart overflowed with happiness and thankfulness as she thought of +Marcus and his love for her; her fancy painted the future always by his +side, and though her annoyance at Gorgo's continued absence, and her +dread of her lover's mother slightly clouded her gladness, the sense of +peace and rapture constantly came triumphantly to the front. She forgot +time as it sped, till at length Gorgo made her appearance. + +She had not deliberately kept out of the little singer's way; on the +contrary, she had been detained by her father, for not till now had she +dared to tell him that his mother, the beloved mistress of his house, was +no more. In the Serapeum she had not mentioned it, by the physician's +orders; and now, in addition, through the indiscretion of a friend, he +had received some terrible tidings which had already been known for some +hours in the city and which dealt him a serious blow. His two sons were +in Thessalonica, and a ship, just arrived from thence, brought the news- +only too well substantiated, that fifteen thousand of the inhabitants of +that town had been treacherously assassinated in the Circus there. + +This hideous massacre had been carried out by the Imperial troops at +Caesar's command, the wretched citizens having been bidden to witness the +races and then ruthlessly butchered. A general of the Imperial army--a +Goth named Botheric--had been killed by the mob, and the Emperor had thus +avenged his death. + +Porphyrius knew only too well that his sons would never have been +absent from any races or games. They certainly must have been among the +spectators and have fallen victims to the sword of the slaughterer. His +mother and two noble sons were snatched from him in a day; and he would +again have had recourse to poison as a refuge from all, if a dim ray of +hope had not permitted him to believe in their escape. But all the same +he was sunk in despair, and behaved as though he had nothing on earth +left to live for. Gorgo tried to console him, encouraged his belief in +her brothers' possible safety, reminded him that it was the duty of a +philosopher to bear the strokes of Fate with fortitude; but he would not +listen to her, and only varied his lamentations with bursts of rage. + +At last he said he wished to be alone and reminded Gorgo that she ought +to go to Dada. His daughter obeyed, but against her will; in spite of +all that Demetrius had said in the young girl's favor she felt a little +shy of her, and in approaching her more closely she had something of the +feeling of a fine lady who condescends to enter the squalid hovel of +poverty. But her father was right: Dada was her guest and she must treat +her with kindness. + +Outside the door of the music-room she dried away her tears for her +brothers, for her emotion seemed to her too sacred to be confessed to a +creature who boldly defied the laws laid down by custom for the conduct +of women. From Dada's appearance she felt sure that all those lofty +ideas, which she herself had been taught to call "moral dignity" and +"a yearning for the highest things," must be quite foreign to this girl +with whom her cousin had condescended to intrigue. She felt herself +immeasurably her superior; but it would be ungenerous to allow her to see +this, and she spoke very kindly; but Dada answered timidly and formally. + +"I am glad," Gorgo began, "that accident brought you in our way;" and +Dada replied hastily: "I owe it to your father's kindness, and not to +accident." + +"Yes, he is very kind," said Gorgo, ignoring Dada's indignant tone. +"And the last few hours have brought him terrible sorrows. You have +heard, no doubt, that he has lost his mother; you knew her--she had taken +quite a fancy to you, I suppose you know." + +"Oh! forget it!" cried Dada. + +"She was hard to win," Gorgo went on, "but she liked you. Do you not +believe me? You should have seen how carefully she chose the dress you +have on at this minute, and matched the ornaments to wear with it." + +"Pray, pray say no more about it," Dada begged. "She is dead, and I have +forgiven her--but she thought badly, very badly of me." + +"It is very bad of you to speak so," interrupted Gorgo, making no attempt +to conceal her annoyance at the girl's reply. "She--who is dead-- +deserves more gratitude for her liberality and kindness!" + +Dada shook her head. + +"No," she said firmly. "I am grateful, even for the smallest kindness; +I have not often met with disinterested generosity. But she had an end +in view--I must say it once for all. She wanted to make use of me to +bring shame on Marcus and grief on his mother. You surely must know it; +for why should you have thought me too vile to sing with you if you did +not believe that I was a good-for-nothing hussy, and quite ready to do +your dead grandmother's bidding? Everybody, of course, looked down upon +us all and thought we must be wicked because we were singers; but you +knew better; you made a distinction; for you invited Agne to come to your +house and sing with you.--No, unless you wish to insult me, say no more +about my owing the dead lady a debt of gratitude!" + +Gorgo's eyes fell; but presently she looked up again and said: + +"You do not know what that poor soul had suffered. Mary, her son's +widow, had been very cruel to her, had done her injuries she could never +forgive--so perhaps you are right in your notion; but all the same, +my grandmother had a great liking for you--and after all her wish is +fulfilled, for Marcus has found you and he loves you, too, if I am not +mistaken!" + +"If you are not mistaken!" retorted Dada. "The gods forefend!--Yes, we +have found each other, we love each other. Why should I conceal it?" + +"And Mary, his mother--what has she to say to it?" asked Gorgo. + +"I do not know," replied Dada abashed. + +"But she is his mother, you know!" cried Gorgo severely. "And he will +never--never--marry against her will. He depends on her for all that he +has in the world." + +"Then let her keep it!" exclaimed Dada. "The smaller and humbler the +home he gives me the better I shall like it. I want his love and nothing +more. All--all he desires of me is right and good; he is not like other +men; he does not care for nothing but my pretty face. I will do whatever +he bids me in perfect confidence; and what he thinks about me you may +judge for yourself, for he is going to put me in the care of his tutor +Eusebius." + +"Then you have accepted his creed?" asked Gorgo. "Certainly I have," +said Dada. + +"I am glad of that for his sake," said the merchant's daughter. "And if +the Christians only did what their preachers enjoin on them one might be +glad to become one. But they make a riot and destroy everything that +is fine and beautiful. What have you to say to that--you, who were +brought up by Karnis, a true votary of the Muses?" + +"I?" said Dada. "There are bad men everywhere, and when they rise to +destroy what is beautiful I am very sorry. But we can love it and +cherish it all the same." + +"You are happy indeed if you can shut your eyes at the dictates of your +heart!" retorted Gorgo, but she sighed. "Happy are they and much to be +envied who can compel their judgment to silence when it is grief to hear +its voice. I--I who have been taught to think, cannot abandon my +judgment; it builds up a barrier between me and the happiness that +beckons me. And yet, so long as truth remains the highest aim of man, +I will bless the faculty of seeking it with all the powers of my mind. +My betrothed husband, like yours, is a Christian; and I would I could +accept his creed as unflinchingly as you; but it is not in my nature to +leap into a pool when I know that it is full of currents and whirlpools. +--However, the present question has to do with you and not with me. +Marcus, no doubt, will be happy to have won you; but if he does not +succeed in gaining his mother's consent he will not continue happy you +may rely upon it. I know these Christians! they cannot conceive of any +possible joy in married life without their parents' blessing, and if +Marcus defies his mother he will torture his conscience and lead a death- +in-life, as though he were under some heavy load of guilt." + +"For all that, and all that," Dada insisted, "he can no more be happy +without me than I can without him. I have never in my life paid court to +any one, but I have always met with kindness. Why then should I not be +able to win his mother's heart? I will wager anything and everything +that she will take kindly to me, for, after all, she must be glad when +she sees her son happy. Eusebius will speak for us and she will give its +her blessing! But if it is not to be, if I may never be his wife +honestly and in the face of the world, still I will not give him up, nor +he me. He may deal with me as he will--as if he were my god and I were +his slave!" + +"But, my poor child, do you know nothing of womanly honor and womanly +dignity?" cried Gorgo clasping her hands. "You complain of the lot of a +singing-girl, and the cruel prejudices of the world--and what are you +saying? Let me have my way, you would say, or I scorn your morality?" + +"Scorn!" exclaimed Dada firing up. "Do you say I scorn morality? No, +indeed no. I am an insignificant little person; there is nothing proud +or great about me, and as I know it full well I am quite humble; in all +my life I never dared to think of scorn, even of a child. But here, in +my heart, something was awoke to life--through Marcus, only through him +--something that makes me strong; and when I see custom and tradition in +league against me because I am a singer, when they combine to keep me out +of what I have a right to have--well, within these few hours I have found +the spirit to defend myself, to the death if need be! What you call +womanly honor I have been taught to hold as sacred as you yourself, and +I have kept it as untainted as any girl living. Not that I meant to do +anything grand, but you have no idea of what it is when every man thinks +he has a right to oppress and insult a girl and try to entrap her. You, +and others like you, know nothing of small things, for you are sheltered +by walls and privileges. We are every man's game, while they approach +you as humbly as if you were goddesses.--Besides! It is not only what I +have heard from Karnis, who knows the world and fine folks like you; I +have seen it for myself at Rome, in the senators' houses, where there +were plenty of young lords and great men's daughters--for I have not gone +through life with my eyes shut; with you love is like lukewarm water in a +bath, but it catches us like fire. Sappho of Lesbos flung herself from +the Leucadian rock because Phaon flouted her, and if I could save Marcus +from any calamity by doing the same, I would follow her example.--You +have a lover, too; but your feeling for him, with all the 'intellect' +and 'reflections,' and 'thought' of which you spoke, cannot be the right +one. There is no but or if in my, love at any rate; and yet, for all +that, my heart aches so sorely and beats so wildly, I will wait patiently +with Eusebius and submit to whatever I am bidden.--And in spite of it +all you condemn me unheard, for you. . . . But why do you stand and look +like that? You look just like you did that time when I heard you sing. +By all the Muses! but you, too, like us, have some fire in your veins, +you are not one of the lukewarm sort; you are an artist, and a better one +than I; and if you ever should feel the right love, then--then take care +lest you break loose from propriety and custom--or whatever name you give +to the sacred powers that subdue passion--even more wildly than I--who am +an honest girl, and mean to remain so, for all the fire and flame in my +breast!" + +Gorgo remembered the hour in which she had, in fact, proffered to the +man of her choice as a free gift, the love which, by every canon of +propriety, she ought only to have granted to his urgent wooing. She +blushed and her eyes fell before the humble little singer; but while she +was considering what answer she could make men's steps were heard +approaching, and presently Eusebius and Marcus entered the room, followed +by Gorgo's lover. Constantine was in deep dejection, for one of his +brothers had lost his life in the burning of his father's ship-yard, and +as compared with this grief, the destruction of the timber stores which +constituted the chief part of his wealth scarcely counted as a calamity. + +Gorgo had met him with a doubtful and embarrassed air; but when she +learnt of the blow that had fallen on him and his parents, she clung to +him caressingly and tried to comfort him. The others sympathized deeply +with his sorrow; but soon it was Dada's turn to weep, for Eusebius +brought the news of her foster-parent's death in the fight at the +Serapeum, and of Orpheus being severely wounded. + +The cheerful music-room was a scene of woe till Demetrius came to conduct +his brother and Dada to the widow Mary who was expecting them. He had +arrived in a chariot, for he declared his legs would no longer carry him. +"Men," said he, "are like horses. A swift saddle-horse is soon tired +when it is driven in harness and a heavy cart-horse when it is made to +gallop. His hoofs were spoilt for city pavements, and scheming, +struggling and running about the streets were too much for his country +brains and wore him out, as trotting under a saddle would weary a plough- +horse. He thanked the gods that this day was over. He would not be +rested enough till to-morrow to be really glad of all his success."--But +in spite of this assertion he was radiant with overflowing satisfaction, +and that in itself cheered the mourners whom he tried to encourage. When +he said they must be going, Gorgo kissed the little singer; indeed, as +soon as she saw how deeply she was grieved, shedding bitter but silent +tears, she had hastened to take her in her arms and comfort her like a +sister. + +Constantine, Gorgo and old Eusebius were left together, and the young +girl was longing to unburden her over-full heart. She had agreed to her +lover's request that she would at once accompany him to see his sorrowing +parents; still, she could not appear before the old Christian couple and +crave their blessing in her present mood. Recent events had embittered +her happy belief in the creed into which she had thrown herself, and much +as it pained her to add a drop to Constantine's cup of sorrow, duty and +honesty commanded that she should show him the secrets of her soul and +the doubts and questionings which had begun to trouble her. The old +priest's presence was a comfort to her; for her earnest wish was to +become a Christian from conviction; as soon as they were alone she poured +out before them all the accusations she had to bring against the +adherents of their Faith: They had triumphed in ruining the creations of +Art; the Temple of Isis and the ship-yard lay in ashes, destroyed by +Christian incendiaries; their tears were not yet dry when they flowed +afresh for the sons of Porphyrius--Christians themselves--who, unless +some happy accident had saved them, must have perished with thousands of +innocent sufferers--believers and infidels together--by the orders of the +Emperor whom Constantine had always lauded as a wise sovereign and pious +Christian, as the Defender of the Faith, and as a faithful disciple of +the Redeemer. + +When, at last, she came to an end of her indictment she appealed to +Constantine and Eusebius to defend the proceedings of their co- +religionists, and to give her good grounds for confessing a creed +which could sanction such ruthless deeds. + +Neither the Deacon nor his pupil attempted to excuse these acts; nay, +Constantine thought they were in plain defiance of that high law of Love +which the Christian Faith imposes on all its followers. The wicked +servant, he declared, had committed crimes in direct opposition to the +spirit and the letter of the Master. + +But this admission by no means satisfied Gorgo; she represented to the +young Christian that a master must be judged by the deeds of his servant; +she herself had turned from the old gods only because she felt such +intense contempt for their worshippers; but now it had been her lot to +see--the Deacon must pardon her for saying so--that many a Christian far +outdid the infidels in coarse brutality and cruelty. Such an experience +had filled her with distrust of the creed she was required to subscribe +to--she was shaken to the very foundations of her being. + +Eusebius had, till now, listened in silence; but as she ended he went +towards her, and asked her gently whether she would think it right to +turn the fertilizing Nile from its bed and leave its shores dry, because, +from time to time, it destroyed fields and villages in the excess of its +overflow? "This day and its deeds of shame," he went on sadly, "are a +blot on the pure and sublime book of the History of our Faith, and every +true Christian must bitterly bewail the excesses of a frenzied mob. The +Church must no less condemn Caesar's sanguinary vengeance; it casts a +shade on his honor and his fair name, and his conscience no doubt will +punish him for such a crime. Far be it from me to defend deeds which +nothing can justify. . ." + +But Gorgo interrupted him. "All this," she said, "does not alter the +fact that such crimes are just as possible and as frequent with you, as +with those whom I am expected to give up, and who. . ." + +"But it is not merely on account of their ill deeds that you are giving +them up, Gorgo," Constantine broke in. "Confess, dear girl, that your +wrath makes you unjust to yourself and your own heart. It was not out of +aversion for the ruthless and base adherents of the old gods but--as I +hope and believe--out of love for me that you consented to adopt my +faith--our faith." + +"True, true," she exclaimed, coloring as she remembered the doubts Dada +had cast on the truth of her love. + +"True, out of love for you--love of Love and of peace, I consented to +become a Christian. But with regard to the deeds committed by your +followers, tell me yourself--and I appeal to you reverend Father--what +inspired them: Love or Hate." + +"Hate!" said Constantine gloomily; and Eusebius added sorrowfully + +"In these dark days our Faith is seen under an aspect that by no means +fairly represents its true nature, noble lady; trust my words! Have you +not yourself seen, even in your short life, that what is highest and +greatest can in its excess, be all that is most hideous? A noble pride, +if not kept within bounds, becomes overweening ambition; the lovely grace +of humility degenerates into an indolent sacrifice of opinion and will; +high-hearted enterprise into a mad chase after fortune, in which we ride +down everything that comes in the way of success. What is nobler than a +mother's love, but when she fights for her child she becomes a raving +Megaera. In the same way the Faith--the consoler of hearts--turns to a +raging wild-beast when it stoops to become religious partisanship. If +you would really understand Christianity you must look neither down to +the deluded masses, and those ambitious worldlings who only use it as a +means to an end by inflaming their baser passions, nor up to the throne, +where power translates the impulse of a disastrous moment into sinister +deeds. If you want to know what true and pure Christianity is, look into +our homes, look at the family life of our fellow believers. I know them +well, for my humble functions lead me into daily and hourly intercourse +with them. Look to them if you purpose to give your hand to a Christian +and make your home with him. There, my child, you will see all the +blessings of the Saviour's teaching, love and soberness, pitifulness to +the poor and a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive injuries. I have +seen a Christian bestow his last crust on his hapless foe, on the enemy +of his house, on the Heathen or the Jew, because they, too, are men, +because our neighbor's woes should be as our own--I have seen them taken +in and cherished as though they were fellow-Christians.--There you will +find a striving after all that is good, a never-fading hope in better +days to come, even under the worst afflictions; and when death requires +the sacrifice of all that is dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a +firm assurance of the forgiveness of sins through Christ. Believe me, +mistress, there is no home so happy as that of the Christian; for he who +really apprehends the Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar +his own joys in this life to the end that he may be a partaker of the +bliss of the next. On the contrary: He who called the erring to himself, +who drew little children to his heart, who esteemed the poor above the +rich, who was a cheerful guest at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain +interest on the spiritual talents in our care, who commanded us to +remember Him at a social meal, who opened hearts to love--He longed to +release the life of the humblest creature from want and suffering. Where +love and peace reign must there not be happiness? And as He preached +love and peace above all else, He cannot have desired that we should +intentionally darken our lives on earth and load them with sorrow and +miseries in order to will our share of Heaven. The soul that is full of +the happy confidence of being one with Him and his love, is released from +the bondage of sin and sorrow, even here below; for Jesus has taken all +the sins and pains of the world on himself; and if Fate visits the +Christian with the heaviest blows he bears them in silence and patience. +Our Lord is Love itself; neither hatred nor envy are known to Him as they +are to the gods of the Heathen; and when he afflicts us, it is as the +wise and tender pastor of our souls, and for our good. The omniscient +Lord knows his own counsel, and the Christian submits as a child does to +a wise father whose loving kindness he can always trust; nay, he can even +thank him for sorrow and pain as though they were pleasurable benefits." + +Gorgo shook her head. + +"That all sounds very beautiful and good; it is required of the +Christian, and sometimes, no doubt, fulfilled; but the Stoa demands the +same virtues of its disciples. You, Constantine, knew Damon the Stoic, +and you will remember how strictly he enjoined on all that they should +rise superior to pain and grief. And then, when his only daughter lost +her sight--she was a great friend of mine--he behaved like one possessed. +My father, too, has often spoken to you of philosophy as a help to +contemning the discomforts of life, and bearing the sports of Fate with a +lofty mind; and now? You should see the poor man, reverend Father. What +good have all the teachings of the great master done him?" + +"But he has lost so much--so much!" sighed Constantine thinking of his +own loss; and Eusebius shook his head. + +"In sorrow such as his, no philosophy, no mental effort can avail. The +blows that wound the affections can only be healed by the affections, and +not by the intellect and considerations of reason. Faith, child! Faith +is the true Herb of Grace. The intellect is its foe; the feelings are +its native soil where it finds constant nourishment; and however deep the +bleeding wound of the mourner may be, Faith can heal it and reconcile +the sufferer to his loss. You have been taught to value a fine +understanding, to measure everything by it, to build everything on its +decisions. To you the knowledge you have attained to by argument and +inference is supreme; but the Creator has given us a heart as well as +a brain; our affections, too, stir and grow in their own way, and the +knowledge they can attain to, my child, is Faith. You love--and Love +is part of your affections; and now take my advice; do not let that +reasoning intelligence, which has nothing to do with love, have anything +to say in the matter; cherish your love and nurture it from the rich +stores of your heart; thus only can it thrive to beauty and harmony.--And +this must suffice for to-day, for I have already kept the wounded waiting +too long in the Serapeum. If you desire it, another time I will show you +Christianity in all its depth and beauty, and your love for this good man +will prepare the way and open your heart to my teaching. A day will come +when you will be able to listen to the voice of your heart as gladly as +you have hitherto obeyed the dictates of your intellect; something new +will be born in you which you will esteem as a treasure above all you +ever acquired by reason and thought. That day will assuredly dawn on +you; for he whom you love has opened the path for you that leads to the +gates of Truth; and as you seek you will not fail to find.--And so +farewell. When you crave a teacher you have only to come to him +--and I know he will not have long to wait." + +Gorgo looked thoughtfully at the old man as he went away and then went +with Constantine to see his parents. It was in total silence that they +made their way along the short piece of road to the house of Clemens. +Lights were visible in the viridarium and the curtains of the doorway +were drawn back; as they reached the threshold Constantine pointed to a +bier which had been placed in the little court among the flower-beds; his +parents were on their knees by the side of it. + +Neither he nor Gorgo ventured to disturb their wordless devotions, but +presently the ship-master rose, drawing his fine, stalwart figure to its +full height; then turning his kind, manly, grave face to his wife, who +had also risen to her feet, he laid one hand on her still abundant white +hair and held out the other which she took in hers. Mariamne dried her +eyes and looked up, in her husband's face as he said firmly and calmly: + +"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away!' She hid her face on his +shoulder and responded sadly but fervently: + +"Blessed be the name of the Lord!" + +"Yea--Blessed!" repeated Clemens emphatically but he passed his arm +across his eyes. "For thirty-two years hath He lent him to us; and in +our hearts . . . ." and he struck his broad breast, "in here, he will +never die for you or for me. As for the rest--and there was a deal of +property of our own and of other folks in these wood-piles--well, in time +we shall get over that. We may bless the Almighty for what we have +left!" + +Gorgo felt her lover's hand grasp hers more tightly and she understood +what he meant; she clung closer to him and whispered softly: "Yes, that +is grand--that is the Truth." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +In the great house in the Canopic street it was late ere all was quiet +for the night. Even Demetrius, in spite of his fatigue, broke through +his rule of "early to bed"; he felt he must see the reaping of the +harvest he had sown for his brother. + +It had been no easy task to persuade Mary to accede to his importunities, +but to his great joy he at last succeeded. + +He would have met with a rough dismissal if he had begun by praising Dada +and expressing his wish to see her married to Marcus; he had gained his +point inch by inch, very quietly; but when he had explained to her that +it was in his hands to secure the martyr's crown for her husband she had +turned suspicious and ironical, had made him swear that it was true, +threatening him with punishments in this world and in the next; but he +had let it all pass over his head, had solemnly sworn as she desired him, +pledging not merely the salvation of his soul but his possessions in this +world; till, at length, convinced that it really was in his power to +gratify the dearest wish of her heart, she had yielded somewhat and +altered her demeanor. Still, he had not spoken a word to help her +through her deliberations and bewilderment, but had left her to fight +out the hard struggle with her own soul; not without some malicious +enjoyment but also not without anxiety, till the first decisive +question was put to him by his stepmother. + +She had heard that Dada was quite resolved to be baptized, and having +once more made sure of the fact that the girl was anxious to become a +Christian, she next asked: + +"And it was Marcus who won her to the faith?" + +"He alone." + +"And you can swear that she is a pure-minded and well-conducted girl?" + +Certainly, with the firmest conviction." + +"I saw her in the arena--she is pretty, uncommonly charming indeed--and +Marcus...?" + +"He has set his heart on the girl, and I am sure that his passion is +sincere and unselfish. On the other hand I need hardly remind you that +in this city there are many women, even among those of the first rank, +whose birth and origin are far more doubtful than those of your son's +little friend, for she, at any rate, is descended from free and +respectable parents. Her uncle's connections are among the best families +in Sicily; not that we need trouble ourselves about that, for the wife of +Philip's grandson would command respect even if she were only a freed- +woman." + +"I know, I know," murmured Mary, as though all this were of minor +importance in her eyes; and then for some little time she remained +silent. At last she looked up and exclaimed in a voice that betrayed the +struggle still going on in her soul: + +"What have I to care for but my child's happiness? In the sight of God +we are all equal--great and small alike; and I myself am but a weak +woman, full of defects and sins--but for all that I could have wished +that the only son of a noble house might have chosen differently. All I +can say is that I must look upon this marriage as a humiliation laid upon +me by the Almighty--still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and I will +do freely and with my whole heart if my son's bride brings as her +marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my +desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles. The martyr's crown will open +the gates of Heaven to him--who was your father, too, Demetrius. Gain +that and I myself will lead the singer to my son's arms." + +"That is a bargain!" cried Demetrius--and soon after midnight he had +retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental +blessing to the betrothed pair. + +A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the name +of Cecilia; and then, at Mary's special entreaty, Marcus' marriage was +solemzed with much pomp by the Bishop himself. + +Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly +affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a +stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way. When +Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he +should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she +jumped at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it when +his brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two, +helping him with his advice and instructions. + +Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for, +though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her +children, she soon acceded to her son's wishes and admitted that they +were kind and wise. She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of +the martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian +sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than +that of the family. She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors of +her daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her gentleness; +in fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she herself had +chosen her son's wife. But she did not care to keep this "beloved +daughter" with her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in every +department of social life was far more certain to be conceded to the +noble widow of a "martyred witness" in the absence of the pretty little +converted singer. + +So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning to +govern her husband's large estates with prudence and good sense. The gay +singing-girl became a capable housewife, and the idle horse-loving Marcus +a diligent farmer. For three years Demetrius staid with them as adviser +and superintendent; even afterwards he frequently visited them, and for +months at a time, and he was wont to say: + +"In Alexandria I am heart and soul, a Heathen, but in the house with your +Cecilia I am happy to be a Christian." + +Before they quitted the city a terrible blow fell on Eusebius. The +sermon he had delivered just before the overthrow of Serapes, to soothe +the excited multitude and guide them in the right way, had been regarded +by the Bishop of the zealot priests, who happened to be present, as +blasphemous and as pandering to the infidels; Theophilus, therefore, had +charged his nephew Cyril--his successor in the see--to verify the facts +and enquire into the deacon's orthodoxy. It thus came to light that +Agne, an Arian, was not only living under his roof, but had been trusted +by him to nurse certain sick persons among the orthodox; the old man was +condemned by Cyril to severe acts of penance, but Theophilus decided that +he must be deprived of his office in the city, where men of sterner stuff +were needed, and only allowed the charge of souls in a country +congregation. + +It was a cruel blow to the venerable couple to be forced to quit the +house and the little garden where they had been happy together for half a +lifetime; however, the change proved to be to their advantage, for Marcus +invited his worthy teacher to be the spiritual pastor of his estates. +The churches he built for his peasants were consecrated by Eusebius, +whose mild doctrine and kindly influence persuaded many laborers and +slaves to be baptized and to join his flock of disciples. But the +example and amiability of their young mistress was even more effectual +than his preaching. Men and women, slaves and free, all adored and +respected her; to imitate her in all she did could only lead to honor and +happiness, could only be right and good and wise. Thus by degrees, and +without the exertion of any compulsion, the temples and shrines on the +Martyr's inheritance were voluntarily abandoned, and fell into ruin and +decay. + +It was the same on the property of Constantine, which lay at no more than +a day's journey from that of Marcus; the two young couples were faithful +friends and good neighbors. The estate which had come into Constantine's +possession had belonged to Barkas, the Libyan, who, with his troops, had +been so anxiously and vainly expected to succor the Serapeum. The State +had confiscated his extensive and valuable lands, and the young officer, +after retiring from the service, had purchased them with the splendid +fortune left to Gorgo by her grandmother. + +The two sons of Porphyrius had, as it proved, been so happy as to escape +in the massacre at Thessalonica; and as they were Christians and piously +orthodox, the old man transferred to them, during his lifetime, the chief +share of his wealth; so that henceforth he could live honestly--alienated +from the Church and a worshipper of the old gods, without anxiety as to +his will. The treasures of art which Constantine and Gorgo found in the +house of Barkas they carefully preserved, though, ere long, few heathen +were to be found even in this neighborhood which had formerly been the +headquarters of rebellion on behalf of the old religion. + +Papias was brought up with the children of Marcus and Dada Cecilia, while +his sister Agne, finding herself relieved of all care on his account, +sought and found her own way through life. + +Orpheus, after seeing his parents killed in the fight at the Serapeum, +was carried, sorely wounded, to the sick-house of which Eusebius was +spiritual director. Agne had volunteered to nurse him and had watched by +his couch day and night. Eusebius had also brought Dada and Papias to +visit them, and Dada had promised, on behalf of Marcus, that Agne and her +brother should always be provided for, even in the event of the good +Deacon's death. The little boy was for the moment placed in Eusebius' +care, and it was a, cause of daily rejoicing to Agne to hear from the +kind old man of all the charming qualities he discovered in the child who +was perfectly happy with the old folks, and who, though he was always +delighted to see his sister, was quite content to part from her and +return home with Eusebius, or with Dada, to whole he was devoted. + +Orpheus recognized no one, neither Agne nor the child--and when visitors +had been to see him, in his fevered ravings he would talk more vehemently +than ever of great Apollo and other heathen divinities. Then he would +fancy that he was still fighting in the Serapeum and butchering thousands +of Christian foes with his own hand. Agne, whom he rarely recognized for +a moment, would talk soothingly to him, and even try to say a few words +about the Saviour and the life to come; but he always interrupted her +with blasphemous exclamations, and cursed and abused her. Never had she +gone through such anguish of soul as by his bed of suffering, and yet she +could not help gazing at his face; and when she told herself that he must +soon be no more, that the light of his eyes would cease to shine on hers, +she felt as though the sun were about to be extinguished and the earth +darkened for all time. However, his healthy vigor kept him lingering for +many days and nights. + +On the last evening of his life he took Agne for a Muse, and calling to +her to come to him seized her hand and sank back unconscious, never to +move again. She stood there as the minutes slowly passed, waiting in +agonized suspense till his hand should be cold in hers; and as she waited +she overheard a dialogue between two deaconesses who were watching by a +sleeping patient. One of them was telling the other that her sister's +husband, a mason, had died an obdurate heathen and a bitter enemy of the +Christian Church. Then Dorothea, his widow, had devoted herself to +saving his soul; she left her children, abandoning them to the charity of +the congregation, and had withdrawn to a cloister to pray in silence and +unceasingly for the soul of her deceased husband. At first he used to +appear to her in her dreams, with furious gestures, accompanied by +centaurs and goat-footed creatures, and had desired her to go home to +her children and leave his soil in peace, for that he was in very good +quarters with the jolly devils; but soon after she had seen him again +with scorched limbs, and he lead implored her to pray fervently for mercy +on him, for that they were torturing him cruelly in hell. + +Dorothea had then retired into the desert of Kolzoum where she was still +living in a cave, feeding on herbs, roots, and shell-fish thrown up on +the sea-shore. She had schooled herself to do without sleep, and prayed +day and night for her husband's soul; and she lead obtained strength +never to think of anything but her own and her husband's salvation, and +to forget her children completely. Her fervid devotion had at length met +with full reward; for some little time her husband had appeared to her in +a robe of shining light and often attended by lovely angels. + +Agne had not lost a word of this narrative, and when, next morning, she +felt the cold hand of the dead youth and looked at his drawn and pain- +stricken features, she shuddered with vague terrors: he, she thought, +like Dorothea's husband, must have hell-torments to endure. When she +presently found herself alone with the corpse she bent over it and kissed +the pale lips, and swore to herself that she would save his soul. + +That same evening she went back to Eusebius and told him of her wish to +withdraw to the desert of Koizoum and become a recluse. The old man +besought her to remain with him, to take charge of her little brother, +and not to abandon him and his old wife; for that it was a no less lovely +Christian duty to be compassionate and helpful, and cherish the feeble in +their old age. His wife added her entreaties and tears; but a sudden +chill had gripped Agne's heart; dry-eyed and rigid she resisted their +prayers, and took leave of her benefactors and of Papias. Bare-foot and +begging her way, she started for the south-east and reached the shores of +the Red Sea. There she found the stonemason's widow, emaciated and +haggard, with matted hair, evidently dying. Agne remained with her, +closed her eyes, and then lived on as Dorothea had lived, in the same +cave, till the fame of her sanctity spread far beyond the boundaries of +Egypt. + +When Papias had grown to man's estate and was installed as steward to +Demetrius, he sought his sister many times and tried to persuade her to +live with him in his new home; but she never would consent to quit her +solitary cell. She would not have exchanged it for a king's palace; for +Orpheus appeared to her in nightly visions, radiant with the glories of +Heaven; and time was passing and the hour drawing near when she might +hope to be with him once more. + +The widow Mary, in her later years, made many pilgrimages to holy places +and saintly persons, and among others to Agne, the recluse; but she would +never be induced to visit Cyrenaica, whither she was frequently invited +by her children and grandchildren; some more powerful excitant was needed +to prompt her to face the discomforts of a journey. + +The old Heathen cults had completely vanished from the Greek capital long +before her death. With it died the splendor and the power of the second +city in the world; and of all the glories of the city of Serapis nothing +now remains but a mighty column--[Known as Pompey's Pillar.]--towering to +the skies, the last surviving fragment of the beautiful temple of the +sovereign-god whose fall marked so momentous an epoch in the life of the +human race. But, like this pillar, outward Beauty--the sense of form +that characterized the heathen mind--has survived through the ages. We +can gaze up at the one and the other, and wherever the living Truth--the +Spirit of Christianity--has informed and penetrated that form of Beauty, +the highest hopes of old Eusebius have been realized. Their union is +solemnized in Christian Art. + + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS FOR THE ENTIRE SERAPIS: + +Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death +Christianity had ceased to be the creed of the poor +Faith is the true Herb of Grace. The intellect is its foe +Great happiness, and mingled therefor with bitter sorrow +He may talk about the soul--what he is after is the girl +He spoke with pompous exaggeration +It is not by enthusiasm but by tactics that we defeat a foe +Love means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them +People who have nothing to do always lack time +Perish all those who do not think as we do +Pretended to see nothing in the old woman's taunts +Rapture and anguish--who can lay down the border line +Reason is a feeble weapon in contending with a woman +To her it was not a belief but a certainty +Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid +Very hard to imagine nothingness +What have I to care for but my child's happiness? +Whether man were the best or the worst of created beings +Words that sounded kindly, but with a cold, unloving heart + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, BY EBERS, COMPLETE *** + +******** This file should be named ge68v10.txt or ge68v10.zip ******** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, ge68v11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, ge68v10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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