CHAPTER VIII
TOO LATE!
Esca, treading on air, hastened from Valeria's house with the commonselfishness of love, ignoring all the pain and disappointment he had leftbehind him. The young blood coursed merrily through his veins, and, inspite of his anxiety, he exulted in the sense of being at liberty oncemore. He was alive, doubtless, to the generosity and devotion of the womanwho had set him free, nor was he so blind as to be unaware of theaffection that had driven her to such desperate measures for his sake; andin the first glow of a gratitude, that had in it no vestige of tendererfeelings, he had resolved, when his mission was accomplished and Mariamneplaced in safety, he would return and throw himself at the Roman lady'sfeet once more. But the farther he left her stately porch behind, theweaker became this generous resolution, and ere long he had littledifficulty in persuading himself that his first duty was to the Jewess,and that in his future actions he must be guided by circumstances, or, inother words, follow the bent of his own inclinations. Meanwhile, in spiteof his wounded foot, he sped on towards the Tiber as fast as, in yearsgone by, he had followed the lean wolf, or the foam-flecked boar, over thegreen hills of Britain. The sun had not been down an hour when he enteredthe well-known street that was now enchanted ground; yet, while he lookedup into the darkening sky, his heart turned sick within him at the thoughtthat he might be too late, after all.
The garden-door was open, as she must have left it. She was not,therefore, in the house. He might find her at the riverside, and have thehappiness of a few minutes alone with her, ere he brought her back andplaced her, for the second time, in safety within her father's walls. Themore prudent course, he confessed to himself at the time, would have beento alarm Eleazar, and put him on the defensive at once; but he had been solong without seeing Mariamne, the peril in which she was placed had soendeared her to him, and his own near approach to death had stamped herimage so vividly on his heart, that he could not resist the temptation ofseeking her at the water-side, and telling her, unwatched by other ears oreyes, all he had felt and endured since they last parted, and how, forboth their sakes, they must never part again.
Full of such thoughts, he ran down to the water's edge, and sought thebroken column where she was accustomed to descend and fill her pitcherfrom the stream. In vain his eager eye watched for the dark-clad figureand the dear pale face. Once in the deepening twilight his heart leapt ashe thought he saw her crouching low beneath the bank, and sank again tofind he had been deceived by a fallen slab of stone. Then he turned forone more searching look ere he departed, and his glance rested on apitcher, broken into a dozen fragments, at his feet. He did not know thatit was Mariamne's. How should he, when a thousand pitchers carried by athousand women to the Tiber every evening were precisely alike? Yet hisblood ran cold through his veins and his fears hurried him back, almostinsensibly, to Eleazar's door, which he burst open without going throughthe ceremony of knocking.
Her father and his brother were in the house. The former leapt to his feetand snatched a javelin from the wall ere he recognised his visitor. Thelatter, less prone to do battle at a moment's notice, laid his hand onEleazar's arm, and calmly said--
"It is the friend who is always welcome, and whom we have expected day byday in vain."
Everything looked so much as usual that for a moment Esca felt almostreassured. It was possible Mariamne might be even now busied withhousehold affairs, safe in the inner chamber. A lover's bashfulnessbrought the blood to his cheeks, as he reflected if it were so it would bedifficult to account for his unceremonious entrance; but the recollectionof her danger soon stifled all such trivial considerations, and heconfronted her father impetuously, and asked him, almost in a threateningtone--
"Where is Mariamne?"
Eleazar looked first simply astonished, then somewhat offended. Heanswered, however, with more command of temper than was his wont.
"My daughter has but now left the house with her pitcher. She will be homeagain almost immediately; but what is this to thee?"
"What is it to me?" repeated Esca in a voice of thunder, catching hold ofhis questioner's arm at the same time with an iron grasp for which thefierce old Jew liked him none the worse--"What is it to thee, to him, toall of us? I tell thee, old man, whilst we are drivelling here, they arebearing her off into captivity ten thousand times worse than death! Iheard the plot--I heard it with my own ears, lying chained like a dog onthe hard stones. The wicked tribune was to make her his own this verynight, and though he has met his reward, the villains that do his biddinghave got her in their power ere this. The pure--the loved--thebeautiful--Mariamne--Mariamne!"
He hid his face in his hands, and his strong frame shook with agony fromhead to heel.
It was the turn of Calchas now to start to his feet, and look about him asif in search of a weapon. His first impulse was resistance to oppression,even by the strong hand. With Eleazar, on the contrary, the instincts ofthe soldier predominated, and the very magnitude of the emergency seemedto endow him with preternatural coolness and composure. He knit his thickbrows indeed, and there was a smothered glare in his eye that boded nogood to an enemy when the time for an outbreak should arrive, but hisvoice was low and distinct, as in a few sharp eager questions he gatheredthe outline of the plot that was to rob him of his daughter. Then hethought for a few seconds ere he spoke.
"The men that were to take her? What were they like? I would fain knowthem if I came across them."
His white teeth gleamed like a wild beast's with a smile ominous of hisintentions on their behalf.
"Damasippus and Oarses," replied the Briton. "The former stout, sleek,heavy, and beetle-browed. The latter pale, dark, and thin. An Egyptianwith an Egyptian's false face, and more than an Egyptian's cruelty andcunning."
"Where live they?" asked the Jew, buckling at the same time a formidabletwo-edged sword to his side.
"In the Flaminian Way," replied the other. "High up in some garret wherewe should never find them. But they will not take her there. She is bythis time at the other end of the city in the tribune's house." And againhe groaned in anguish of spirit at the thought.
"And that house?" asked Eleazar, still busied with his warlikepreparations. "How is it defended? I know its outside well, and an easyentrance from the wall to the inner court; but what resistance shall weencounter within? what force can the tribune's people raise at a moment'soutcry?"
"Alas!" answered Esca. "To-night of all nights, the house of Placidus isgarrisoned like a fortress. A chosen band of gladiators are to sup withthe tribune, and afterwards to take possession of the palace and dragCaesar from the throne. When they find the banquet prepared for them, Iknow them too well to think they will separate without partaking of it,even though their host be lying dead on the festal couch. She will becomethe prey of men like Hippias, Lutorius, and Euchenor. But if we cannotrescue her, at least we may die in the attempt."
Even in his anxiety for his daughter, such news as this could not butstartle the emissary of the Jewish nation. In an instant's time he had runover its importance, as it regarded his own mission and the probableinfluence on the destinies of his country. Should the conspiracy succeed,Vitellius might already be numbered with the dead, and instead of thateasy self-indulgent glutton, over whom he had already obtainedconsiderable influence, he would have to do with the bold, sagacious, far-seeing general, the remorseless enemy of his nation, whom neither he norany of his countrymen had ever succeeded in deceiving by stratagem orworsting by force of arms. When the purple descended on Vespasian the doomof Jerusalem was sealed. Nevertheless, Eleazar concentrated his mind onthe present emergency. In a few words he laid out his plan for the rescueof his daughter.
"The freedmen's garret must be our first point of attack," said he. "Thetribune would scarce have ordered them to bring their prize to his houseto-night, where there would be so many to dispute it with him, and wheredissension would be fatal to his great enterprise. Calchas and I wi
llproceed immediately to the dwelling of this Damasippus and his fellow-villain. Your directions will enable us to find it. You, Esca, speed offat once to the tribune's house. You will soon learn whether she has beenbrought there. If so, come to us without delay in the Flaminian Way. I amnot entirely without friends even here, and I will call on two or three ofmy people to help as I go along. Young man, you are bold and true. We willhave her out of the tribune's house if we pull the walls down with ournaked hands; and let me but come within reach of the villains who takeshelter there"--here his face darkened and his frame quivered in a paroxysmof suppressed fury--"may my father's tomb be dishonoured, and the name ofmy mother defiled, if I dip not my hands to the very elbows in theirhearts' blood!"
To be told he was brave and true by her father added fuel to Esca'senthusiasm. It was indeed much for Eleazar to confess on behalf of astranger and a heathen, but the fierce old warrior's heart warmed to akindred nature that seemed incapable of selfish fear, and he approvedhugely, moreover, of the implicit attention with which the Briton listenedto his directions, and his readiness for instantaneous action, howeverdesperate. Calchas, too, clasped the young man warmly by the hand.
"We are but three," said he, "three against a host. Yet I have no fear. Itrust in One who never failed His servants yet. One to whom emperors andlegions are as a handful of dust before the wind, or a few dried thorns onthe beacon-fire. And so do you, my son, so do you, though you know it not.But the time shall come when His very benefits shall compel you to confessyour Master, and when in sheer gratitude you shall enrol yourself amongstthose who serve Him faithfully even unto death."
Many a time during that eventful and anxious night had Esca occasion toremember the old man's solemn words. Its horrors, its catastrophes, itsalternations of hope and fear, might have driven one mad, who had nothingto depend upon but his own unaided strength and resolution. Few greatactions have been performed, few tasks exacting the noble heroism ofendurance fulfilled successfully, without extraneous aid, without the helpof some leading principle out of, and superior to, the man. Honour,patriotism, love, loyalty, all have supported their votaries throughsuperhuman exertions and difficulties that seemed insurmountable, teachingthem to despise dangers and hardships with a courage sterner than mortalsare expected to possess; but none of these can impart that confidencewhich is born of faith in the believer's breast;--that confidence whichenables him to take good and evil with an equal mind, to look back on thepast without a sigh, forward on the future without a fear; and though thepresent may be all a turmoil of peril, uncertainty, and confusion, tostand calmly in the midst, doing the best he can with a stout heart and anunruffled brow, while he leaves the result fearlessly and trustfully inthe hand of God.
Eleazar and Calchas were already equipped for the pursuit. The one armedto the teeth, and looking indeed a formidable enemy; the other mild andhopeful as usual, venerable with his white hair and beard, and carryingbut a simple staff for his weapon. In grave silence, but with a grasp ofthe hand more emphatic than any spoken words, the three parted on theirsearch; Esca threading his way at once through the narrow and deviousstreets that led towards the tribune's house--that house which he had leftso gladly but a few short hours ago when, rescued by Valeria, he bade herfarewell, exulting in the liberty that enabled him to seek Mariamne's sideonce more. He soon reached the hated dwelling. All there seemed quiet asthe grave. From other quarters of the city indeed there came, now andagain, the roar of distant voices which rose and fell at intervals as thetide of tumult ebbed and flowed, but, preoccupied as he was, Esca tooklittle heed of these ominous sounds, for they bore him no intelligence ofMariamne. All was silent in the porch, all was silent in the vestibule andouter hall, but as he ventured across its marble pavement, he heard thebustle of preparation, and the din of flagons within.
It was at the risk of liberty and life, that he crept noiselessly forward,and peeped into the banqueting-hall, which was already partially lightedup for the feast. Shrinking behind a column, he observed the slaves, manyof whom he knew well by sight, laying covers, burnishing vases, andotherwise making ready for a sumptuous entertainment. He listened for afew moments, hoping to gather from their conversation some news of theJewess and her captors. All at once he started and trembled violently.Bold as he was, in common with his northern countrymen a vein ofsuperstition ran through his nature, and though he feared nothing tangibleor corporeal, he held in considerable dread all that touched upon theconfines of the spiritual and the unknown. There within ten paces of him,ghastly pale, with dark circles round his eyes, and clad in white, stoodthe figure of the tribune, pointing, as it seemed to him, with shadowyhand at the different couches, and giving directions in a low sepulchralvoice for the order of the banquet.
"Not yet!" he heard the apparition exclaim in tones of languid, fretfulimpatience. "Not come yet! the idle loiterers! Well, she must presidethere at the supper-table and take her place at once as mistress here. Ho!slaves! bring more flowers! Fill the tall golden cup with Falernian andset it next to mine!"
Well did Esca know to whom these directions must refer. Though his bloodhad been chilled for an instant by this reappearance, as he believed it,of his enemy from the grave, he soon collected his scattered energies andsummoned his courage back, with the hateful conviction that, alive ordead, the tribune was resolved to possess himself of Mariamne. And this hevowed to prevent, ay, though he should slay his dark-eyed love with hisown hand.
It was obvious now that Damasippus and Oarses would bring the captivestraight to their patron's house, that Eleazar and Calchas had gone upon afool's errand to the freedmen's garret in the Flaminian Way. What would hehave given to be cheered by the wise counsels of the one, and backed bythe strong arm of the other! Would there be time for him to slip from hereunobserved, and to summon them to his aid? Three desperate men might cuttheir way through all the slaves that Placidus could muster, and if theyhad any chance of success at all it must be before the arrival of thegladiators. But then she was obviously expected every minute. She mightarrive--horrible thought!--while he was gone for help, and once in thetribune's power it would be too late. In his despair the words of Calchasrecurred forcibly to his mind. "We are but three," said the old man,"three against a host, yet I have no fear." And Esca resolved that thoughhe was but one, he too would have no fear, but would trust implicitly inthe award of eternal justice, which would surely interfere to prevent thisunholy sacrifice.
Feeling that his sword was loose in its sheath and ready to his hand,holding his breath, and nerving himself for the desperate effort he mightbe called upon at any moment to make, the Briton stole softly back throughthe vestibule, and concealed himself behind a marble group in the darkestcorner of the porch. Here, with the dogged courage of his race, he made uphis mind that he would await the arrival of Mariamne, and rescue her atall hazards, against any odds, or die with her in the attempt.