Saul of Tarsus: A Tale of the Early Christians

  CHAPTER VI

  MARSYAS ASSUMES A CHARGE

  Agrippa crowded past the three that had preceded him into the blackpassage and, whispering a command to follow, led on. They kept trackof him by the sound of his shoes on the stone, but the absolutedarkness and the unfamiliar path made their steps uncertain and slow.Frequently the sure footfall before them receded and in fear of losingtheir guide they stumbled forward in nervous haste.

  Presently the darkness about them lifted; the sensation was not thatlight had entered in, but that the darkness had simply failed instrength. There was a perceptible increase in temperature and theatmosphere, changing from a chill, became muggy and oppressive.Marsyas, drawing in a full breath in search of freshness, told himselfthat this was the original air of chaos, penned in at the hour ofcreation.

  The floor under his feet became irregular, the instinctive realizationthat a roof was imminent overhead, passed, and, when the darknessbecame sufficiently feeble, they discovered that they were followingthrough an immense chamber. Light came in through air-holes in therock above.

  Agrippa spoke aloud.

  "This is a quarry-chamber. It was also my grandsire's secretstronghold, trial-chamber and tomb where many of his private grudgeswere satisfied. But there are no evidences, now. The place was opento the hill-jackals, by another passage which, if my memory has notfailed me, shall lead us out."

  One of the servitors, whose teeth had been chattering, made ashuddering sound. Agrippa laughed.

  "Thou, Eutychus?" he said. "Comfort thee; the jackals have ceased tohaunt the place since their hunger was last satisfied, thirty yearsago."

  An irregular spot of blackness in one of the walls swallowed up theprince as he spoke. Eutychus halted at the edge and drew back with awhimper. But the second servitor, who had not spoken since Marsyas hadfirst seen him, muttered contemptuously some inarticulate word andpushed Eutychus into the blackness. Marsyas followed.

  Thereafter it was only time which ensued. Sound, sight and, except forthe stone under their feet, feeling were defeated. They movedinterminably. Once or twice Eutychus became hysterical from thedepression, but the stolid servitor smote him and bundled him on.Ahead a light laugh floated back to them in appreciation of the humorin Eutychus' predicament.

  In time a yellow star with ragged points appeared ahead of them, highabove the level upon which they had been walking. Eutychus trembledbefore it, but Agrippa quickened his steps.

  "What a memory I have," he observed cheerfully. "Any other than myselfwould have been hopelessly entangled in these galleries and perishedmiserably some days hence."

  The star enlarged, lost substantiality and presently Eutychus with agasp of joy faltered that it was daylight. Several minutes later theyemerged through an open tomb into high noon over Judea.

  Before their blinded vision, the green hills swimming in sunlightupheaved between them and all points of the horizon. The City of Davidwas nowhere to be seen; the sun stood directly in the zenith. Marsyaswas lost; but the prince smiled in immense satisfaction and, seeking agrassy spot, sat down and breathed deeply. Presently he motioned tothe others to sit. Marsyas came close to him; the others remained at arespectful distance.

  For a long time no one spoke.

  At last Agrippa fell to inspecting his delicate hands and his garmentsfor marks of the long journey under the earth, and the embroideredshoes for evidences of contact with jagged rock. Satisfied that he wasclean and intact, he laughed a little.

  "By the hat of Hermes, this was noble apparel to wear through thebowels of the earth. _Eheu_! I was at my best, and not so much as ashe-bat saw me!"

  Eutychus, entirely recovered, chuckled, and a grin overspread the faceof Silas; but Marsyas was plunged in his own reflections.

  "This is the country-side west of Jerusalem," Agrippa resumedpresently, for the young Essene's information. "Yonder," pointingnorth, "the road runs which shall lead us hence. We are an hour'sjourney by daylight above ground, from the Tower of Hippicus. But weare not beyond the zone of danger yet."

  Marsyas did not answer. Reaction had set up within him against theforeign interest which had engaged his attention since sunrise. He hadthought of himself and had been concerned for Agrippa; he had plannedand had achieved ends. Entanglements straightened, immediate dangerpassed, the cloud of his sorrow embraced him wholly. He did not wantto see that Canaan was beautiful, indeed a land of milk and honey. Thewind laden with spring sweets struck a chill in his soul; the singingbirds hurt him with a pain greater than he could endure. His heart wasbruised, his every sensation sore and weighted with a numbconsciousness that a dread thing had happened and that it was uselessto pray and hope now. The presence of others was an obstacle, vaguelyrealized, that kept him from yielding to his desire to lie down on hisface and hate everything and give himself up to whatever chose tobefall him. Agrippa's hand, presently laid on his shoulder, irritatedhim. He had to restrain himself to keep from shaking it off. But theprince spoke, and his words were helpful.

  "Marsyas, I know thy pain. I, too, had a beloved friend foullymurdered, and the agony of helplessness against the power that did himto death sowed ashes on my heart. But the time of the Lord God, slowas it approaches, fell at last. The only bitterness in my cup offierce triumph was that it was another, and not I, who accomplished, atthe end, the undoing of the murderer."

  "The Lord God forfend any such misfortune from me!" was the bitterrejoinder. "Vengeance can not be vengeance, if it fall from any handbut mine!"

  "Thou speakest truly: be thy requital sweeter than mine!"

  It was good to find the reflection of his own hurt in another'sexperience. It did not lessen his pain; but it gave him expression andthe assurance of sympathy. Agrippa continued in his pleasant voice.

  "This persecution will cease ere long. It is only Jonathan's device tomake him noted as one zealous for the faith. He is much disliked. Itis reproach enough for a High Priest to be popular with the Sadducees:it is well-nigh unforgivable to be set up by Rome; it is aninsurmountable obstacle to be other than eligible, Levitically; butthis man hath been wholly undone by these and an offensive personality.Wherefore the people hate him with a fervor which Vitellius mustrespect. But Jonathan fancies that if he can make him a name as adefender of the faith, the rabble will applaud, and thou and I andVitellius and the discerning Jews will achieve no more against him thanflies whining about a wall! What folly! How oft we believe a thing tobe so, because we wish it to be so! Vitellius does not see how thestoning of blasphemers indorses a man whom he dislikes. So Jonathan'stime is short and the persecution will cease with him. His minion willbe discountenanced with the master, and thine opportunity is made. Beof hope; thy day is not distant."

  But Marsyas' brow blackened.

  "A noble reflection!" he exclaimed passionately, "and one that shouldsoothe the Tarsian's dreams! Binding and stoning and killing in hiszeal for an usurper of the robes of Aaron! Shedding sweet blood--doingirreparable deeds to serve a vain end, to further a useless attempt--athing to be given over to-morrow! O thou God of wrath! If it be notsin to pray it, let him stumble speedily in the Law!"

  Meanwhile Agrippa observed the sun, and after a little silence that hisreturn to spirits seem not to grate upon the young Essene's distress,arose briskly.

  "Up! up!" he said. "It is not at variance with Vitellius' extrememethods to empty the whole Praetorium into the hills in search of us.Up, fellows! To Ptolemais!"

  Marsyas arose with the others, but he hesitated and glanced down at thefine garments that covered him. He remembered that he had not broughthis soiled Essenic robes with him. He unslung his wallet and extendedit to Agrippa.

  "Take it, and forget not that I shall ask payment from the strength ofthat high place to which this may help thee! The vengeful spirit isnot of choice a patient thing! I shall wait--but to achieve mine ends.God prosper thee! If thy servants will lend me each a garment thoushalt have back thy dress once more and
I will depart."

  "Whither?" asked Agrippa without taking the purse.

  "To En-Gadi, for the present."

  "But the brotherhood will then be guilty of befriending thee and thouart a living example of that which befalls him who befriends one ofSaul's marked creatures."

  "So I am become as a pestilence," Marsyas said grimly. It was anothercount against the Pharisee.

  "Thou art much beset. Doubt not that Vitellius will seek for thee inEn-Gadi, and it were better for thee and for the brotherhood that thoube not found. Thou must leave Judea, for the arm of the Sanhedrim islong."

  To leave Judea meant to be banished among the Gentiles, to step out offour whitewashed walls into unknown turmoil; to leave the pleasures ofsolitude, the peoples of parchment, the events of old history, theambitions of the soul and go forth amid arrogant heathen godlessness tomeet precarious fortunes. The whole course of his life had beenentirely reversed in a few hours. Resolute and strong as the Essenewas, his face contracted painfully.

  Agrippa laid a hand on his arm.

  "Remember, it is our faith that this persecution will cease and thenthou canst return to thy study in safety," he said as gently as if hewere speaking to a child. But in that moment, Marsyas told himselfthat there would be no returning to his old peace.

  "Come with me," Agrippa continued. "I will afford thee protection andthou shalt provide me with funds."

  He paused and, taking Marsyas' arm, led him down to a little meanderingvale, sweet with blossoming herbs.

  "Look," he said, pointing back toward the east.

  The hills stood aside in a long, full-breasted series, and revealedthrough a narrow, green-walled aisle a distant view of Jerusalem, whiteand majestic on her heights. The morning blue that encroaches upon thenoon in early spring softened the spectacle with a tender atmosphere;distance glorified its splendors, and the light upon it was other thandaylight--it was a nimbus, the ineffable crown.

  Thus seen it was no longer the city of subjection, filled with wrongsand griefs and hopelessness. It was the Holy City, upright with thegodliness of David, lawful in the government of Solomon; sacred withthe presence of the Shekinah in the Holy of Holies. Here, Sheba mighthave stood first to be shown the glories of Solomon; here, Alexandermight have drawn up his Macedonian quadriga to behold what excellencehe was next to conquer. Marsyas felt emotion seize him, the mightywelling of tears in their springs.

  "Behold it!" Agrippa said. "We go forth beaten and ashamed, but thoushalt return to it justified; I shall return to it crowned. Believe inthat as thou believest in Jehovah!"

  He drew the young Essene away and signed to the servitors.

  In the days that followed, Agrippa tactfully and little by little wonMarsyas out of his brooding. Delicately, he sounded the young man'snature and discovered the channel into which his sorrowful thoughtscould be diverted. Stirring incidents of the Herod's own astoundinghistory, graphic accounts of great pageants, of contests of famousathletae, or of gorgeous cities, vivaciously told, engaged Marsyas'attention in spite of himself. Gradually his sharpened interest beganto choose for itself. Expectancy of things to come communicated byAgrippa presently possessed Marsyas.

  All this was a new and inviting experience for the young Essene, aswell as an alleviation. He had lived a placid, passionless life withthe old Essenic master and centered his broad loves on one or two.Evil happenings had wrenched these from him and his affections wanderedand wavered, lost only for an hour. By the time the journey toPtolemais was ended, Agrippa had stepped into his own place in theheart of the bereaved young man.

  Ptolemais was built for solidity and strength. Its houses weredefenses, its public buildings were fortifications; its mole, harborfront and wall the most unassailable on the Asiatic seaboard. From theplains of Esdraelon in their dip toward the sea, the city was seen, setbroadside to the waves, stanch, regular, square and bulky--embodieddefiance for ever uttered to whatever sea-faring nation turned itstriremes into her roadsteads.

  In a narrow street near the southernmost limits of the city, Agrippastopped. A house of a single story stood before them, its roof barelyhigher than its door; a heavy wall before it, a narrow gate in that.

  "Enter," said the prince to Marsyas, "into the unctuous hospitalitiesof Agrippa's palace."

  He unlatched the gate, and, leading his companion across a small court,knocked at the door, which after a little wait swung open.

  An uncommonly pretty waiting-woman stepped aside to let them enter.Marsyas put off his sandals and followed the prince into a small recesscut off by curtains from the interior of the house. A bronze lamp wasin a niche in the wall and a taboret stood in the corner. No otherfurniture was visible.

  The prince dismissed the two servitors and they passed behind thecurtains, Eutychus stumbling as he went, because his eyes were engagedin attempting to attract the attention of the pretty waiting-woman, whoseemed quite oblivious of his glances.

  "Send hither your mistress, Drumah," Agrippa said to her. She bowedand departed and presently one of the curtains lifted and a womanhastened into the apartment.

  With a low cry of joy she ran to the prince and flung herself on hisbreast.

  "Oh, that thou shouldst come and none to watch for thee!" sheexclaimed. "That thou shouldst enter thy house and none but thyhireling to meet thee!"

  He laughed lightly and kissed her.

  "I have brought also a guest, Cypros," he said. For the first time hereyes lighted on Marsyas and blushing she drew away from her husband.

  "I pray thy pardon," she murmured.

  The light from the day without shone full on her through a lattice, andsince his journey to Nazareth Marsyas had learned to look on women withan interested eye.

  She was small, but her figure showed the perfect outlines of thematron, and the Jewish dress, bound about the hips with a broad scarf,let no single grace lose itself under drapery. But it was the facethat held the young Essene's attention. There, too, was the blood ofthe Herod, for Agrippa had married his cousin, but its attributes wererefined almost to ethereal extremes. Flesh could not have been whiternor coloring more delicate. The effect rendered was an impression ofexquisite frailty, produced as much by the pathos in the over-largeblack eyes and the serious cut of the tender mouth as by thetransparency of the exceedingly small hand which lay on her breast asif to still a fluttering heart. Her beauty was not aided by strengthof character or intellectuality; it was distinctly the simple,defenseless, appealing type which is an invincible conqueror of men.

  "This is Marsyas of Nazareth, an Essene in distress, yet not sounfortunate that he is not willing to help us. What comfort canst thouoffer him from thy housekeeping?"

  The Essenes were the holy men of Israel; the large eyes filled withdeference and she bowed.

  "Welcome in God's name. My lord has bread and a roof-tree. I praythee share them freely with us."

  Marsyas' formality so serviceable among the women of Nazareth suddenlyseemed infelicitous here, but it was all he had for response to thisdifferent personage.

  "The blessing of God be with thee; I give thee thanks."

  She summoned the pretty waiting-woman.

  "Let my lord and his guest be given food and drink; set wine and suchmeats as we have, and let the children come and greet their father."

  The prince thrust the curtains aside and, motioning to Marsyas', waiteduntil his princess and the young man had passed within.

  The apartment was a second recess larger than the first, shut in byhangings of sackcloth and furnished with rough seats and tables ofunoiled cedar. It was a cheerless room, fit for the humblest man inPtolemais, but the unconquered Herod and his lovely princess ennobledit.

  There was a scarf of damask thrown over one of the tables and two orthree pieces of magnificent plate sat upon it.

  "That," said Agrippa, pointing to the silver, "hath been my moneyer foryears. I have lived a month on a flagon."

  Cypros sighed, but three pretty child
ren, a boy and two girls, rushedin from the rear of the house and engaged the prince's attention.

  Meanwhile, the attractive servant entered with plates for the table andEutychus followed with a platter of food. As she passed the youngEssene she tripped on an unevenness in the floor and would have fallen,but Marsyas, with a quick movement, more instinctive than gallant,threw out a hand and stayed her.

  She thanked him composedly and went about her work, but Marsyas,chancing to raise his eyes to Eutychus' face, caught a look from theservitor that was livid with hate. Shocked and astonished, Marsyasturned his back and wondered how he had crossed the creature.

  Agrippa sat at the table, and, with Cypros at his left, bade Marsyassit beside him. The children were carried protesting away.

  The prince filled a goblet of silver with a pale wine, slightlyeffervescent and exhaling a bouquet peculiarly subtle and penetrating.He raised the frosty cup between his fingers--drink, drinker and cup ofa type--and looked at the strip of sky visible through the lattice.

  "This to the gods," he said, "or whatever power hath fortune to give,and a heart to be won of libation. I yield you my soul for a laurel!"

  The princess leaned her forehead against his arm and whispered:

  "It is wicked--forbidden!"

  "I poured but one glass: I make the prayer; I have not asked thee orour young friend to pray it with me. But my devices are exhausted. Imake appeal now, haphazard, for I grope!"

  "And didst thou fail in Jerusalem?"

  "As I have failed from Rome to Idumea."

  She drew in a little sobbing breath and hid her eyes against hissleeve. Marsyas sat silent. This first evidence of despair on theprince's part was most unwelcome. His own fortunes were too muchentangled with Agrippa's for him to contemplate their fall. He feltthe prince's eyes upon him. The silver cup had been refilled and wasextended to him.

  Marsyas took it.

  "This to success," he said, "not fortune!"

  Cypros stirred. "Success is so deliberate!" she sighed.

  Marsyas made no answer; would it be long before he should have hisbitter wish?

  "Thou seest Judea," Agrippa began, "thou heardest me aspire to it andthou didst abet me in mine ambition. But learn, for thy own comfort,Marsyas, the vagabond to whom thou hast attached thyself doth not graspafter another man's portion. Judea is mine! And Rome must yield memine inheritance!" The prince's eyes glowed with youth's ambition.

  Marsyas listened intently.

  "A Herod's word is in disrepute," the prince continued. "Hence I amlimited to action to prove myself. But look thou here, Marsyas. Judeais pillaged: so am I. Judea is despised: so am I! Judea weltereth inher own blood: am I not sprung from a murdered sire, who was son of amurdered mother--each dead by the same hand of father and husband?Dear Lord, I am an offspring of the shambles, mother-marked withwounds!"

  He shuddered and drew his hand across his forehead.

  "Having thus suffered the same miseries which are Judea's, is it notnatural that I should relieve her when I, myself, am relieved? Ishould rule Judea as Judea would rule herself--"

  He broke off with a gesture of impatience.

  "How I hate the blatant vower of vows! Help me to mine opportunity,Marsyas."

  As between Rome and Herod the Great as sovereign, there was no choice.Though the Asmonean Slave, as the Jewish patriots named the capablefiend, gave Judea the most brilliant reign since the glories of Solomonand the most monstrous since Ahab, the nominal independence offered byhis administration was absolutely submerged and lost in the terror ofhis absolutism and the devilish genius in him for oppression.

  Herod and Abaddon were names synonymous in Judea, and the mildness ofhis sons or their inefficiency had not been able to set the reproachaside. No able Herod had arisen since the founder of the house,except, as Marsyas hopefully believed, this man before him. HerodAgrippa was the son of Aristobolus, who was murdered in his youthbefore his capabilities developed. The Herods, Philip and Antipas, hadbeen mild because they were incapable. The recurrence of mentalstrength in the blood was an untried contingency. All this came toMarsyas, now, suggested by the implied self-defense in the prince'swords, and for a moment he wavered between concern for his people andanxiety for his own cause. Agrippa and Cypros watched him.

  "Thou art a just youth," the prince went on in the winning voice thathad already made its conquest over the Essene. "I can not prove myselfuntil I am given trial, and judgment without trial is an abominationeven unto the tyrant Rome!"

  "I have not judged, lord," Marsyas protested.

  "And thou wilt not until I have shown myself unworthy of thyconfidence. Thou hast even now bespoken God's favor for me--be then,His instrument! Thou art the first ray of light in a decade ofdarkness that has enveloped me and mine!"

  Marsyas put out his hand to the prince. The peril in the Herod blood,in his calculations, had dropped out of sight.

  "What dost thou say to me, my prince?" he said. "How is it that thoubeseechest me--me, the suppliant, praying thy help for mine own ends?But hear me! Thou aspirest to that place of which I have no knowledge,among peoples whose paths I never cross, into the calling of the great!Yet, though most unequipped to yield thee support, I am thy substance.Use me! Thou knowest my price."

  Agrippa smiled.

  "Though I die owing even mine embalmer, I shall pay thee that debt. Ihave said. And now to the process. What money hast thou?"

  Agrippa was silent and Marsyas, watching his face, waited.

  "I need," the prince said slowly, "twenty thousand."

  Marsyas got upon his feet, and for a moment there was silence.

  "I will get it for thee," he said.