CHAPTER XIII
About three o'clock, speaking in modern style, the program wasconcluded except the chariot-race. The editor, wisely considerateof the comfort of the people, chose that time for a recess. At oncethe vomitoria were thrown open, and all who could hastened to theportico outside where the restaurateurs had their quarters. Those whoremained yawned, talked, gossiped, consulted their tablets, and,all distinctions else forgotten, merged into but two classes--thewinners, who were happy, and the losers, who were grum and captious.
Now, however, a third class of spectators, composed of citizens whodesired only to witness the chariot-race, availed themselves of therecess to come in and take their reserved seats; by so doing theythought to attract the least attention and give the least offence.Among these were Simonides and his party, whose places were in thevicinity of the main entrance on the north side, opposite the consul.
As the four stout servants carried the merchant in his chair upthe aisle, curiosity was much excited. Presently some one calledhis name. Those about caught it and passed it on along the benchesto the west; and there was hurried climbing on seats to get sight ofthe man about whom common report had coined and put in circulationa romance so mixed of good fortune and bad that the like had neverbeen known or heard of before.
Ilderim was also recognized and warmly greeted; but nobody knewBalthasar or the two women who followed him closely veiled.
The people made way for the party respectfully, and the ushersseated them in easy speaking distance of each other down by thebalustrade overlooking the arena. In providence of comfort,they sat upon cushions and had stools for footrests.
The women were Iras and Esther.
Upon being seated, the latter cast a frightened look overthe Circus, and drew the veil closer about her face; while theEgyptian, letting her veil fall upon her shoulders, gave herselfto view, and gazed at the scene with the seeming unconsciousnessof being stared at, which, in a woman, is usually the result oflong social habitude.
The new-comers generally were yet making their first examination ofthe great spectacle, beginning with the consul and his attendants,when some workmen ran in and commenced to stretch a chalked ropeacross the arena from balcony to balcony in front of the pillarsof the first goal.
About the same time, also, six men came in through the Porta Pompaeand took post, one in front of each occupied stall; whereat therewas a prolonged hum of voices in every quarter.
"See, see! The green goes to number four on the right; the Athenianis there."
"And Messala--yes, he is in number two."
"The Corinthian--"
"Watch the white! See, he crosses over, he stops; number one itis--number one on the left."
"No, the black stops there, and the white at number two."
"So it is."
These gate-keepers, it should be understood, were dressed in tunicscolored like those of the competing charioteers; so, when they tooktheir stations, everybody knew the particular stall in which hisfavorite was that moment waiting.
"Did you ever see Messala?" the Egyptian asked Esther.
The Jewess shuddered as she answered no. If not her father's enemy,the Roman was Ben-Hur's.
"He is beautiful as Apollo."
As Iras spoke, her large eyes brightened and she shook her jeweledfan. Esther looked at her with the thought, "Is he, then, so muchhandsomer than Ben-Hur?" Next moment she heard Ilderim say toher father, "Yes, his stall is number two on the left of thePorta Pompae;" and, thinking it was of Ben-Hur he spoke, her eyesturned that way. Taking but the briefest glance at the wattled faceof the gate, she drew the veil close and muttered a little prayer.
Presently Sanballat came to the party.
"I am just from the stalls, O sheik," he said, bowing gravely toIlderim, who began combing his beard, while his eyes glittered witheager inquiry. "The horses are in perfect condition."
Ilderim replied simply, "If they are beaten, I pray it be by someother than Messala."
Turning then to Simonides, Sanballat drew out a tablet, saying,"I bring you also something of interest. I reported, you willremember, the wager concluded with Messala last night, and statedthat I left another which, if taken, was to be delivered to me inwriting to-day before the race began. Here it is."
Simonides took the tablet and read the memorandum carefully.
"Yes," he said, "their emissary came to ask me if you had so muchmoney with me. Keep the tablet close. If you lose, you know whereto come; if you win"--his face knit hard--"if you win--ah, friend,see to it! See the signers escape not; hold them to the last shekel.That is what they would with us."
"Trust me," replied the purveyor.
"Will you not sit with us?" asked Simonides.
"You are very good," the other returned; "but if I leave the consul,young Rome yonder will boil over. Peace to you; peace to all."
At length the recess came to an end.
The trumpeters blew a call at which the absentees rushed backto their places. At the same time, some attendants appearedin the arena, and, climbing upon the division wall, went to anentablature near the second goal at the west end, and placed uponit seven wooden balls; then returning to the first goal, upon anentablature there they set up seven other pieces of wood hewn torepresent dolphins.
"What shall they do with the balls and fishes, O sheik?" askedBalthasar.
"Hast thou never attended a race?"
"Never before; and hardly know I why I am here."
"Well, they are to keep the count. At the end of each round runthou shalt see one ball and one fish taken down."
The preparations were now complete, and presently a trumpeter ingaudy uniform arose by the editor, ready to blow the signal ofcommencement promptly at his order. Straightway the stir of thepeople and the hum of their conversation died away. Every facenear-by, and every face in the lessening perspective, turned tothe east, as all eyes settled upon the gates of the six stallswhich shut in the competitors.
The unusual flush upon his face gave proof that even Simonideshad caught the universal excitement. Ilderim pulled his beardfast and furious.
"Look now for the Roman," said the fair Egyptian to Esther, who didnot hear her, for, with close-drawn veil and beating heart, she satwatching for Ben-Hur.
The structure containing the stalls, it should be observed, wasin form of the segment of a circle, retired on the right so thatits central point was projected forward, and midway the course,on the starting side of the first goal. Every stall, consequently,was equally distant from the starting-line or chalked rope abovementioned.
The trumpet sounded short and sharp; whereupon the starters, onefor each chariot, leaped down from behind the pillars of the goal,ready to give assistance if any of the fours proved unmanageable.
Again the trumpet blew, and simultaneously the gate-keepers threwthe stalls open.
First appeared the mounted attendants of the charioteers, five in all,Ben-Hur having rejected the service. The chalked line was lowered tolet them pass, then raised again. They were beautifully mounted,yet scarcely observed as they rode forward; for all the time thetrampling of eager horses, and the voices of drivers scarcelyless eager, were heard behind in the stalls, so that one mightnot look away an instant from the gaping doors.
The chalked line up again, the gate-keepers called their men;instantly the ushers on the balcony waved their hands, and shoutedwith all their strength, "Down! down!"
As well have whistled to stay a storm.
Forth from each stall, like missiles in a volley from so many greatguns, rushed the six fours; and up the vast assemblage arose,electrified and irrepressible, and, leaping upon the benches,filled the Circus and the air above it with yells and screams.This was the time for which they had so patiently waited!--thisthe moment of supreme interest treasured up in talk and dreamssince the proclamation of the games!
"He is come--there--look!" cried Iras, pointing to Messala.
"I see him," answered Esther, looking at Ben-Hur.
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p; The veil was withdrawn. For an instant the little Jewess was brave.An idea of the joy there is in doing an heroic deed under the eyesof a multitude came to her, and she understood ever after how,at such times, the souls of men, in the frenzy of performance,laugh at death or forget it utterly.
The competitors were now under view from nearly every part ofthe Circus, yet the race was not begun; they had first to makethe chalked line successfully.
The line was stretched for the purpose of equalizing the start.If it were dashed upon, discomfiture of man and horses mightbe apprehended; on the other hand, to approach it timidly wasto incur the hazard of being thrown behind in the beginning ofthe race; and that was certain forfeit of the great advantagealways striven for--the position next the division wall on theinner line of the course.
This trial, its perils and consequences, the spectators knewthoroughly; and if the opinion of old Nestor, uttered that timehe handed the reins to his son, were true--
"It is not strength, but art, obtained the prize, And to be swift is less than to be wise"--
all on the benches might well look for warning of the winner tobe now given, justifying the interest with which they breathlesslywatched for the result.
The arena swam in a dazzle of light; yet each driver looked firstthing for the rope, then for the coveted inner line. So, all sixaiming at the same point and speeding furiously, a collision seemedinevitable; nor that merely. What if the editor, at the last moment,dissatisfied with the start, should withhold the signal to drop therope? Or if he should not give it in time?
The crossing was about two hundred and fifty feet in width. Quick theeye, steady the hand, unerring the judgment required. If now one lookaway! or his mind wander! or a rein slip! And what attraction in theensemble of the thousands over the spreading balcony! Calculatingupon the natural impulse to give one glance--just one--in soothof curiosity or vanity, malice might be there with an artifice;while friendship and love, did they serve the same result, might beas deadly as malice.
The divine last touch in perfecting the beautiful is animation. Can weaccept the saying, then these latter days, so tame in pastime anddull in sports, have scarcely anything to compare to the spectacleoffered by the six contestants. Let the reader try to fancy it;let him first look down upon the arena, and see it glisteningin its frame of dull-gray granite walls; let him then, in thisperfect field, see the chariots, light of wheel, very graceful,and ornate as paint and burnishing can make them--Messala's richwith ivory and gold; let him see the drivers, erect and statuesque,undisturbed by the motion of the cars, their limbs naked, and freshand ruddy with the healthful polish of the baths--in their righthands goads, suggestive of torture dreadful to the thought--intheir left hands, held in careful separation, and high, that theymay not interfere with view of the steeds, the reins passing tautfrom the fore ends of the carriage-poles; let him see the fours,chosen for beauty as well as speed; let him see them in magnificentaction, their masters not more conscious of the situation and allthat is asked and hoped from them--their heads tossing, nostrils inplay, now distent, now contracted--limbs too dainty for the sandwhich they touch but to spurn--limbs slender, yet with impactcrushing as hammers--every muscle of the rounded bodies instinctwith glorious life, swelling, diminishing, justifying the world intaking from them its ultimate measure of force; finally, along withchariots, drivers, horses, let the reader see the accompanyingshadows fly; and, with such distinctness as the picture comes,he may share the satisfaction and deeper pleasure of those towhom it was a thrilling fact, not a feeble fancy. Every age hasits plenty of sorrows; Heaven help where there are no pleasures!
The competitors having started each on the shortest line for theposition next the wall, yielding would be like giving up the race;and who dared yield? It is not in common nature to change a purposein mid-career; and the cries of encouragement from the balcony wereindistinguishable and indescribable: a roar which had the same effectupon all the drivers.
The fours neared the rope together. Then the trumpeter by theeditor's side blew a signal vigorously. Twenty feet away itwas not heard. Seeing the action, however, the judges droppedthe rope, and not an instant too soon, for the hoof of one ofMessala's horses struck it as it fell. Nothing daunted, the Romanshook out his long lash, loosed the reins, leaned forward, and,with a triumphant shout, took the wall.
"Jove with us! Jove with us!" yelled all the Roman faction, in afrenzy of delight.
As Messala turned in, the bronze lion's head at the end of hisaxle caught the fore-leg of the Athenian's right-hand trace-mate,flinging the brute over against its yoke-fellow. Both staggered,struggled, and lost their headway. The ushers had their will atleast in part. The thousands held their breath with horror; only upwhere the consul sat was there shouting.
"Jove with us!" screamed Drusus, frantically.
"He wins! Jove with us!" answered his associates, seeing Messalaspeed on.
Tablet in hand, Sanballat turned to them; a crash from the coursebelow stopped his speech, and he could not but look that way.
Messala having passed, the Corinthian was the only contestant onthe Athenian's right, and to that side the latter tried to turn hisbroken four; and then; as ill-fortune would have it, the wheel ofthe Byzantine, who was next on the left, struck the tail-piece ofhis chariot, knocking his feet from under him. There was a crash,a scream of rage and fear, and the unfortunate Cleanthes fell underthe hoofs of his own steeds: a terrible sight, against which Esthercovered her eyes.
On swept the Corinthian, on the Byzantine, on the Sidonian.
Sanballat looked for Ben-Hur, and turned again to Drusus and hiscoterie.
"A hundred sestertii on the Jew!" he cried.
"Taken!" answered Drusus.
"Another hundred on the Jew!" shouted Sanballat.
Nobody appeared to hear him. He called again; the situation belowwas too absorbing, and they were too busy shouting, "Messala! Messala!Jove with us!"
When the Jewess ventured to look again, a party of workmen wereremoving the horses and broken car; another party were taking offthe man himself; and every bench upon which there was a Greek wasvocal with execrations and prayers for vengeance. Suddenly she droppedher hands; Ben-Hur, unhurt, was to the front, coursing freely forwardalong with the Roman! Behind them, in a group, followed the Sidonian,the Corinthian, and the Byzantine.
The race was on; the souls of the racers were in it; over thembent the myriads.