CHAPTER XI.
Pontius threw his pallium over the chiton he commonly wore at his workand went forward to meet the sovereign of the world, whose arrival hadbeen announced to him in the prefect's letter. He was perfectly calm,and if his heart beat a little faster than usual, it was only becausehe was pleased once more to meet the wonderful man whose personality hadmade a deep impression on him before.
In the happy consciousness of having done all that lay in his powerand of deserving no blame, he went through the ante-chambers and chiefentrance of the palace into the fore-court, where a crowd of slaves werebusied by torch-light in laying new marble slabs. Neither these workmennor their overseers had paid any heed to the barking of the dogs and theloud talking which had for some little time been audible in the vicinityof the gate-keeper's lodge; for a special rate of payment had beenpromised to the laborers and their foremen if they should have finisheda set piece of the new pavement by a certain hour, to the satisfactionof the architect. No one who heard the deep man's-voice ring through thecourt from the doorway guessed to whom it belonged.
The Emperor had been delayed by adverse winds and had not run into theharbor till a little before midnight.
Titianus, who was watching for him, he greeted as an old friendwith heartfelt warmth, and with him and Antinous he stepped intothe prefect's chariot, while Phlegon the secretary, Hermogenes hisphysician, and Mastor with the luggage, among which were their campbeds,were to follow in another vehicle. The harbor watchmen hastened to arraythemselves indignantly to oppose the chariot, as it rolled noisily alongthe street, and the huge dog that destroyed the peace of the night withits baying; but as soon as they recognized Titianus they respectfullymade way. The gate-keeper and his wife, obedient to the prefect'swarning, had remained up, and as soon as the singer heard thechariot approaching which bore the Emperor, he hastened to open thepalace-gates. The broken-up pavement and the swarms of men engaged inrepairing it, obliged Titianus and his companions to quit the chariothere and to pass close to the little gate-house. Hadrian, whoseobservation nothing ever escaped which came in his way and seemedworth noticing, stood still before Euphorion's door and looked into thecomfortable little room, with its decoration of flowers and birds andthe statue of Apollo; while dame Doris in her newest garments, stood onthe threshold to watch for the prefect. And Titianus greeted her warmly,for he was wont whenever he came to Lochias to exchange a few merryor wise words with her. The little dogs had already crept into theirbasket, but as soon as they caught sight of a strange dog they rushedpast their mistress into the open air, and dame Doris found herselfobliged, while she returned the kindly greeting of her patron, to shoutat Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaia more than once by their pretty names.
"Splendid, splendid!" cried Hadrian, pointing into the little house."An idyl, a perfect idyl. Who would have expected to find such a smilingnook of peace in the most restless and busy town in the empire."
"I and Pontius were equally surprised at this little nest, and wetherefore left it untouched," said the prefect.
"Intelligent people understand each other, and I owe you thanks forpreserving this little home," answered the Emperor. "What an omen, whata favorable, in every way favorable augury, it offers me. The Gracesreceive me here into these old walls, Aglaia, Thalia and Euphrosyne!"
"Good luck to you, Master," old Doris called out to the prefect.
"We come late," said Hadrian.
"That does not matter," said the old woman. "Here at Lochias for thelast week we have quite forgotten to distinguish day from night, and ablessing can never come too late."
"I have brought with me to-day an illustrious guest," said Titianus."The great Roman architect Claudius Venator. He only disembarked a fewminutes since."
"Then a draught of wine will do him good. We have in the house some goodwhite Mareotic from my daughter's garden by the lake. If your friendwill do us humble folks so much honor, I beg he will step into our room;it is clean, is it not sir? and the cup I will give him to drink it outof would not disgrace the Emperor himself. Who knows what you will findup in the midst of all the muddle yonder?"
"I will accept your invitation with pleasure," answered Hadrian. "I cansee by your face that you have a pleasure in entertaining us, and anyone might envy you your little house."
"When the climbing-rose and the honey-suckle are out it is muchprettier," said Doris, as she filled the cup. "Here is some water formixing."
The Emperor took the cup carved by Pollux, looked at it with admiration,and before putting it to his lips said:
"A masterpiece, dame; what would Caesar find to drink out of here wherethe gate-keeper uses such a treasure? Who executed this admirable work,pray?"
"My son carved it for me in his spare time."
"He is a highly-skilled sculptor," Titianus explained.
When the Emperor had half emptied the cup with much satisfaction he setit on the table, and said:
"A very noble drink! I thank you, mother."
"And I you, for styling me mother: there is no better title a woman canhave who has brought up good children; and I have three who need neverbe ashamed to be seen."
"I wish you all luck with them, good little mother," replied theEmperor.
"We shall meet again, for I am going to spend some days at Lochias."
"Now, in all this bustle?" asked Doris.
"This great architect," said Titianus, in explanation, "is to advise andhelp our Pontius."
"He needs no help!" cried the old woman. "He is a man of the best stamp.His foresight and energy, my son says, are incomparable. I have seen himgiving his orders myself, and I know a man when I see him!"
"And what particularly pleased you in him?" asked Hadrian, who was muchamused with the shrewd old woman's freedom.
"He never for a moment loses his temper in all the hurry, never speaksa word too much or too little; he can be stern when it is necessary, buthe is kind to his inferiors. What his merits are as an artist I am notcapable of judging, but I am quite certain that he is a just and ableman."
"I know him myself," replied Caesar, "and you describe him rightly; buthe seemed to me sterner than he has shown himself to you."
"Being a man he must be able to be severe; but he is so only when itis necessary, and how kind he can be he shows himself every day. A mangrows to the mould of his own mind when he is a great deal alone; andthis I have noticed, that a man who is repellant and sharp to thosebeneath him is not in himself anything really great; for it shows thathe considers it necessary to guard against the danger of being lookedupon as of no more consequence than the poorer folks he deals with. Now,a man of real worth knows that it can be seen in his bearing, even whenhe treats one of us as an equal. Pontius does so, and Titianus, and youwho are his friend, no less. It is a good thing that you should havecome--but, as I said before, the architect up there can do very wellwithout you."
"You do not seem to rate my capacity very highly, and I regret it,for you have lived with your eyes open and have learned to judge menkeenly."
Doris looked shrewdly at the Emperor with her kindly glance, as iftaking his mental measure, and then answered confidently:
"You--you are a great man too--it is quite possible that you might seethings that would escape Pontius. There are a few choice souls whom theMuses particularly love and you are one of them."
"What leads you to suppose so?"
"I see it in your gaze--in your brow."
"You have the gift of divination, then?"
"No, I am not one of that sort; but I am the mother of two sons onwhom also the Immortals have bestowed the special gift, which I cannotexactly describe. It was in them I first saw it, and wherever I havemet with it since in other men and artists--they have been the elect oftheir circle. And you too--I could swear to it, that you are foremost ofthe men among whom you live."
"Do not swear lightly," laughed the Emperor. "We will meet and talktogether again little mother, and when I depart I will ask you againwhether you have not be
en deceived in me. Come now, Telemachus, thedame's birds seem to delight you very much."
These words were addressed to Antinous, who had been going from cage tocage contemplating the feathered pets, all sleeping snugly, with muchcuriosity and pleasure.
"Is that your son?" asked Doris.
"No, dame, he is only my pupil; but I feel as if he were my son."
"He is a beautiful lad!"
"Why, the old lady still looks after the young men!"
"We do not give that up till we are a hundred or till the Parcae cut thethread of life."
"What a confession!"
"Let me finish my speech.--We never cease to take pleasure in seeing ahandsome young fellow, but so long as we are young we ask ourselveswhat he may have in store for us, and as we grow old we are perfectlysatisfied to be able to show him kindness. Listen young master. You willalways find me here if you want anything in which I can serve you. I amlike a snail and very rarely leave my shell."
"Till our next meeting," cried Hadrian, and he and his companions wentout into the court.
There the difficulty was to find a footing on the disjointed pavement.Titianus went on in front of the Emperor and Antinous, and so but fewwords of friendly pleasure could be exchanged by the monarch and hisvicegerent on the occasion of their meeting again. Hadrian steppedcautiously forward, his face wearing meanwhile a satisfied smile. Theverdict passed by the simple shrewd woman of the people had given himfar greater pleasure than the turgid verse in which Mesomedes and hiscompeers were wont to sing his praises, or the flattering speeches withwhich he was loaded by the sophists and rhetoricians.
The old woman had taken him for no more than an artist; she couldnot know who he was, and yet she had recognized--or had Titianus beenindiscreet? Did she know or suspect whom she was talking to? Hadrian'sdeeply suspicious nature was more and more roused; he began to fancythat the gate-keeper's wife had learnt her speech by heart, and thather welcome had been preconcerted; he suddenly paused and desired theprefect to wait for him, and Antinous to remain behind with the clog. Heturned round, retraced his steps to the gatehouse and slipped close upto it in a very unprincely way. He stood still by the door of the littlehouse which was still open, and listened to the conversation betweenDoris and her husband.
"A fine tall man," said Euphorion, "he is a little like the Emperor."
"Not a bit," replied Doris. "Only think of the full-length statue ofHadrian in the garden of the Paneum; it has a dissatisfied satiricalexpression, and the architect has a grave brow, it is true, but purefriendly kindness lights up his features. It is only the beard thatreminds you of the one when you look at the other. Hadrian might be veryglad if he were like the prefect's guest."
"Yes, he is handsomer--how shall I say it--more like the gods than thatcold marble figure," Euphorion declared. "A grand noble, he is no doubt,but still an artist too; I wonder whether he could be induced by Pontiusor Papias or Aristeas or one of the great painters to take the part ofCalchas the soothsayer in our group at the festival? He would perform itin quite another way than that dry stick Philemon the ivory carver. Handme my lute; I have already forgotten again the beginning of the lastverse. Oh! my wretched memory! Thank you."
Euphorion loudly struck the strings and sang in a voice that was stilltolerably sweet and very well trained:
"'Sabina hail! Oh Sabina!--Hail; victorious hail to the conqueringgoddess Sabina!' If only Pollux were here he would remind me of theright words. 'Hail; victorious hail, to the thousand-fold Sabina!'--Thatis nonsense. 'Hail, hail! divine hail to thee O all-conquering Sabina.'No it was not that either. If a crocodile would only swallow this SabinaI would give him that hot cake in yonder dish with pleasure, forhis pudding. But stay--I have it. 'Hail, a thousand-fold hail to theconquering goddess Sabina!'"
Hadrian had heard all he wanted; while Euphorion went on repeating hisline a score or more of times to impress it on his recalcitrantmemory. Caesar turned his back on the gate-house, and while he and hiscompanions picked their way not without difficulty through the workmenwho squatted here and there and everywhere on the ground, he clappedTitianus more than once on his shoulder, and after he had been receivedand welcomed by Pontius, he exclaimed:
"I bless my decision to come here now! I have had a good evening, aquite delightful evening."
The Emperor had not felt so cheerful and free from care for years as onthis occasion, and when in spite of the late hour he found the workmenstill busy everywhere, and saw all that had already been restored in theold palace and what was being done for its renovation, the restless mancould not resist expressing his satisfaction, and exclaimed to Antinous:
"Here we may see that even in our sordid times miracles may be wroughtby good-will, industry, and skill. Explain to me my good Pontius how youwere able to construct that enormous scaffold."