CHAPTER III
_The Hope of Israel_
IT WAS midnight. Alroy slept upon the couch: his sleep was troubled.Jabaster stood by his side motionless, and gazing intently upon hisslumbering guest.
'The only hope of Israel,' murmured the Cabalist,' my pupil and myprince! I have long perceived in his young mind the seed of mightydeeds, and o'er his future life have often mused with a prophetic hope.The blood of David, the sacred offspring of a solemn race. There is amagic in his flowing veins my science cannot reach.
'When, in my youth, I raised our standard by my native Tigris, andcalled our nation to restore their ark, why, we were numerous, wealthy,potent; we were a people then, and they flocked to it boldly. Did welack counsel? Did we need a leader? Who can aver that Jabaster's brainor arm was ever wanting? And yet the dream dissolved, the gloriousvision! Oh! when I struck down Marvan, and the Caliph's camp flung itsblazing shadow over the bloody river, ah! then indeed I lived. Twentyyears of vigil may gain a pardon that I then forgot we lacked the chiefingredient in the spell, the blood that sleeps beside me.
'I recall the glorious rapture of that sacred strife amid the rocks ofCaucasus. A fugitive, a proscribed and outlawed wretch, whose life iscommon sport, and whom the vilest hind may slay without a bidding. I,who would have been Messiah!
'Burn thy books, Jabaster; break thy brazen tables; forget thy loftyscience, Cabalist, and read the stars no longer.[11] But last nightI stood upon the gulf which girds my dwelling: in one hand, I held mysacred talisman, that bears the name ineffable; in the other, the mysticrecord of our holy race. I remembered that I had evoked spirits, that Ihad communed with the great departed, and that the glowing heavens wereto me a natural language. I recalled, as consolation to my gloomy soul,that never had my science been exercised but for a sacred or a noblepurpose. And I remembered Israel, my brave, my chosen, and my antiquerace, slaves, wretched slaves. I was strongly tempted to fling me downthis perilous abyss, and end my learning and my life together.
'But, as I gazed upon the star of David, a sudden halo rose around itsrays, and ever and anon a meteor shot from out the silver veil. I readthat there was trouble in the holy seed; and now comes this boy, who hasdone a deed which----'
'The ark, the ark! I gaze upon the ark!' 'The slumberer speaks; thewords of sleep are sacred.' 'Salvation only from the house of David.''A mighty truth; my life too well has proved it. 'He is more calm. Itis the holy hour. I'll steal into the court, and gaze upon the star thatsways the fortunes of his royal house.'
The moonbeam fell upon the fountain; the pavement of the court was aflood of light; the rocks rose dark around. Jabaster, seated by thespring, and holding his talisman in his left hand, shaded his sight withthe other as he gazed upon the luminous heavens.
A shriek! his name was called. Alroy, wild and panting, rushed into thecourt with extended arms. The Cabalist started up, seized him, and heldhim in his careful grasp, foaming and in convulsions.
'Jabaster, Jabaster!'
'I am here, my child.'
'The Lord hath spoken.'
'The Lord is our refuge. Calm thyself, son of David, and tell me all.'
'I have been sleeping, master; is it not so?'
'Even so, my child. Exhausted by his flight and the exciting narrativeof his exploit, my Prince lay down upon the couch and slumbered; but Ifear that slumber was not repose.'
'Repose and I have naught in common now. Farewell for ever to that fatalword. I am the Lord's anointed.'
'Drink of the fountain, David: it will restore thee.'
'Restore the covenant, restore the ark, restore the holy city.'
'The Spirit of the Lord hath fallen upon him. Son of David, I adjurethee tell me all that hath passed. I am a Levite; in my hand I hold thename ineffable.'
'Take thy trumpet then, summon the people, bid them swiftly raise againour temple. "The bricks have fallen, but we will rebuild with marble."Didst hear that chorus, sir?'
'Unto thy chosen ear alone it sounded.'
'Where am I? This is not our fountain. Yet thou didst say, "thefountain." Think me not wild. I know thee, I know all. Thou artnot Miriam. Thou art jabaster; I am Alroy. But thou didst say, "thefountain," and it distracted me, and called back my memory to----
'God of Israel, lo, I kneel before thee! Here, in the solitude ofwildest nature, my only witness here this holy man, I kneel and vow,Lord! I will do thy bidding. I am young, O God! and weak; but thou,Lord, art all-powerful! What God is like to thee? Doubt not my courage,Lord; and fill me with thy spirit! but remember, remember her, O Lord!remember Miriam. It is the only worldly thought I have, and it is pure.'
'Still of his sister! Calm thyself, my son.'
'Holy master, thou dost remember when I was thy pupil in this cavern.Thou hast not forgotten those days of tranquil study, those sweet, longwandering nights of sacred science! I was dutiful, and hung upon eachaccent of thy lore with the devotion that must spring from love.'
'I cannot weep, Alroy; but were it in my power, I would yield a tear ofhomage to the memory of those days.'
'How calmly have we sat on some high brow, and gazed upon the stars!'
''Tis very true, sweet child.'
'And if thou e'er didst chide me, 'twas half in jest, and only for mysilence.'
'What would he now infer? No matter, he grows calmer. How solemn is hisvisage in the moonlight! And yet not Solomon, upon his youthful throne,could look more beautiful.'
'I never told thee an untruth, Jabaster.'
'My life upon thy faith.'
'Fear not the pledge, and so believe me, on the mountain brow watchingthe starry heavens with thyself, I was not calmer than I feel, sir,now.'
'I do believe thee.'
'Then, Jabaster, believe as fully I am the Lord's anointed.'
'Tell me all, my child.'
'Know, then, that sleeping on the couch within, my sleep was troubled.Many dreams I had, indefinite and broken. I recall none of their images,except I feel a dim sensation 'twas my lot to live in brighter days thannow rise on our race. Suddenly I stood upon a mountain tall and grey,and gazed upon the stars. And, as I gazed, a trumpet sounded. Its notethrilled through my soul. Never have I heard a sound so awful. Thethunder, when it broke over the cavern here, and shivered the peak,whose ruins lie around us, was but a feeble worldly sound to thisalmighty music. My cheek grew pale, I panted even for breath. Aflaming light spread over the sky, the stars melted away, and I beheld,advancing from the bursting radiancy, the foremost body of a mightyhost.
'Oh! not when Saul led forth our fighting men against the Philistine,not when Joab numbered the warriors of my great ancestor, did humanvision gaze upon a scene of so much martial splendour. Chariots andcavalry, and glittering trains of plumed warriors too robust to need acourser's solace; streams of shining spears, and banners like a sunset;reverend priests swinging their perfumed censers, and prophets hymningwith their golden harps a most triumphant future.
'"Joy, joy," they say, "to Israel, for he cometh, he cometh in hissplendour and his might, the great Messiah of our ancient hopes."
'And, lo! a mighty chariot now appeared, drawn by strange beasts whoseforms were half obscured by the bright flames on which they seemed tofloat. In that glorious car a warrior stood, proud and immovable hisform, his countenance. Hold my hand, Jabaster, while I speak; thatchieftain was myself!'
'Proceed, proceed, my son.'
'I started in my dream, and I awoke. I found myself upsitting on mycouch. The pageantry had vanished. Naught was seen but the brightmoonlight and the gloomy cave. And, as I sighed to think I e'er hadwakened, and mused upon the strangeness of my vision, a still smallvoice descended from above and called, "Alroy!" I started, but Ianswered not. Methought it was my fancy. Again my name was called, andnow I murmured, "Lord, I am here, what wouldst thou?" Naught responded,and soon great dread came over me, and I rushed out and called to thee,my master.'
'It was "the Daughter of the Voice"[12] that spake. Since the Captiv
ity'tis the only mode by which the saints are summoned. Oft have I heardof it, but never in these sad degenerate days has its soft aspirationfallen upon us. These are strange times and tidings. The building of thetemple is at hand. Son of David, my heart is full. Let us to prayer!'
Day dawned upon Jabaster, still musing in solitude among his rocks.Within the cavern, Alroy remained in prayer.
Often and anxiously the Cabalist shot a glance at his companion, andthen again relapsed into reverie.
'The time is come that I must to this youth reveal the secrets of myearly life. Much will he hear of glory, much of shame. Naught must Iconceal, and naught gloss over.
'I must tell how in the plains of Tigris I upraised the sacred standardof our chosen race, and called them from their bondage; how, despairingof his recreant fathers, and inspired by human power alone, I vainlyclaimed the mighty office for his sacred blood alone reserved. God ofmy fathers, grant that future service, the humble service of acontrite soul, may in the coming glory that awaits us, atone for pastpresumption!
'But for him great trials are impending. Not lightly must that votarybe proved, who fain would free a people. The Lord is faithful to hispromise, but the Lord will choose his season and his minister. Courage,and faith, and deep humility, and strong endurance, and the watchfulsoul temptation cannot sully, these are the fruits we lay upon hisaltar, and meekly watch if some descending flame will vouchsafe toaccept and brightly bless them.
'It is written in the dread volume of our mystic lore, that not alonethe Saviour shall spring from out our house of princes, but that noneshall rise to free us, until, alone and unassisted, he have gained thesceptre which Solomon of old wielded within his cedar palaces.
'That sceptre must he gain. This fragile youth, untried and delicate,unknowing in the ways of this strange world, where every step is danger,how much hardship, how much peril, what withering disappointment, whatdull care, what long despondency, what never-ending lures, now lie inambush for this gentle boy! O my countrymen, is this your hope? And I,with all my lore, and all my courage, and all my deep intelligence ofman; unhappy Israel, why am I not thy Prince?
'I check the blasphemous thought. Did not his great ancestor, as youngand as untried, a beardless stripling, with but a pebble, a smallsmoothed stone, level a mailed giant with the ground, and save hispeople?
'He is clearly summoned. The Lord is with him. Be he with the Lord, andwe shall prosper.'
It was at sunset, on the third day after the arrival of Alroy at thecave of the Cabalist, that the Prince of the Captivity commenced hispilgrimage in quest of the sceptre of Solomon.
Silently the pilgrim and his master took their way to the brink of theravine, and there they stopped to part, perhaps forever.
'It is a bitter moment, Alroy. Human feelings are not for beings likeus, yet they will have their way. Remember all. Cherish the talisman asthy life: nay! welcome death with it pressing against thy heart, ratherthan breathe without it. Be firm, be pious. Think of thy ancestors,think of thy God.'
'Doubt me not, dear master; if I seem not full of that proud spirit,which was perhaps too much my wont, ascribe it not to fear, Jabaster,nor even to the pain of leaving thee, dear friend. But ever since thatsweet and solemn voice summoned me so thrillingly, I know not how it is,but a change has come over my temper; yet I am firm, oh! firmer far thanwhen I struck down the Ishmaelite. Indeed, indeed, fear not for me. TheLord, that knoweth all things, knows full well I am prepared even to thedeath. Thy prayers, Jabaster, and----'
'Stop, stop. I do remember me. See this ring: 'tis a choice emerald.Thou mayst have wondered I should wear a bauble. Alroy, I had a brotheronce: still he may live. When we parted, this was the signal of hislove: a love, my child, strong, though we greatly differed. Take it. Thehour may come that thou mayst need his aid. It will command it. If helive, he prospers. I know his temper well. He was made for what theworldly deem prosperity. God be with thee, sacred boy: the God of ourgreat fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob!'
They embraced.
'We linger,' exclaimed the Cabalist, 'we linger. Oh! in vain we quellthe feelings of our kind. God, God bless and be with thee! Art sure thouhast all? thy dagger and thy wallet? That staff has seen some service.I cut it on the Jordan. Ah! that I could be thy mate! 'Twould be nothingthen. At the worst to die together. Such a fate seems sweeter now thanparting. I'll watch thy star, my child. Thou weepest! And I too. Why!what is this? Am I indeed Jabaster? One more embrace, and so----we'llnot say farewell, but only think it.'