CHAPTER I
Our story moves forward now thirty days from the night Ben-Hur leftAntioch to go out with Sheik Ilderim into the desert.
A great change has befallen--great at least as respects the fortunesof our hero. VALERIUS GRATUS HAS BEEN SUCCEEDED BY PONTIUS PILATE!
The removal, it may be remarked, cost Simonides exactly five talentsRoman money in hand paid to Sejanus, who was then in height of poweras imperial favorite; the object being to help Ben-Hur, by lesseninghis exposure while in and about Jerusalem attempting discovery ofhis people. To such pious use the faithful servant put the winningsfrom Drusus and his associates; all of whom, having paid their wagers,became at once and naturally the enemies of Messala, whose repudiationwas yet an unsettled question in Rome.
Brief as the time was, already the Jews knew the change of rulerswas not for the better.
The cohorts sent to relieve the garrison of Antonia made their entryinto the city by night; next morning the first sight that greeted thepeople resident in the neighborhood was the walls of the old Towerdecorated with military ensigns, which unfortunately consisted ofbusts of the emperor mixed with eagles and globes. A multitude,in passion, marched to Caesarea, where Pilate was lingering, andimplored him to remove the detested images. Five days and nightsthey beset his palace gates; at last he appointed a meeting withthem in the Circus. When they were assembled, he encircled themwith soldiers; instead of resisting, they offered him their lives,and conquered. He recalled the images and ensigns to Caesarea,where Gratus, with more consideration, had kept such abominationshoused during the eleven years of his reign.
The worst of men do once in a while vary their wickednesses by goodacts; so with Pilate. He ordered an inspection of all the prisonsin Judea, and a return of the names of the persons in custody,with a statement of the crimes for which they had been committed.Doubtless, the motive was the one so common with officials justinstalled--dread of entailed responsibility; the people, however,in thought of the good which might come of the measure, gave himcredit, and, for a period, were comforted. The revelations wereastonishing. Hundreds of persons were released against whom therewere no accusations; many others came to light who had long beenaccounted dead; yet more amazing, there was opening of dungeons notmerely unknown at the time by the people, but actually forgotten bythe prison authorities. With one instance of the latter kind wehave now to deal; and, strange to say, it occurred in Jerusalem.
The Tower of Antonia, which will be remembered as occupying two thirdsof the sacred area on Mount Moriah, was originally a castle builtby the Macedonians. Afterwards, John Hyrcanus erected the castleinto a fortress for the defence of the Temple, and in his day itwas considered impregnable to assault; but when Herod came withhis bolder genius, he strengthened its walls and extended them,leaving a vast pile which included every appurtenance necessaryfor the stronghold he intended it to be forever; such as offices,barracks, armories, magazines, cisterns, and last, though not least,prisons of all grades. He levelled the solid rock, and tapped itwith deep excavations, and built over them; connecting the wholegreat mass with the Temple by a beautiful colonnade, from the roofof which one could look down over the courts of the sacred structure.In such condition the Tower fell at last out of his hands into thoseof the Romans, who were quick to see its strength and advantages,and convert it to uses becoming such masters. All through theadministration of Gratus it had been a garrisoned citadel andunderground prison terrible to revolutionists. Woe when the cohortspoured from its gates to suppress disorder! Woe not less when a Jewpassed the same gates going in under arrest!
With this explanation, we hasten to our story.
* * * * * *
The order of the new procurator requiring a report of the persons incustody was received at the Tower of Antonia, and promptly executed;and two days have gone since the last unfortunate was brought upfor examination. The tabulated statement, ready for forwarding,lies on the table of the tribune in command; in five minutes moreit will be on the way to Pilate, sojourning in the palace up onMount Zion.
The tribune's office is spacious and cool, and furnished in astyle suitable to the dignity of the commandant of a post inevery respect so important. Looking in upon him about the seventhhour of the day, the officer appears weary and impatient; when thereport is despatched, he will to the roof of the colonnade for airand exercise, and the amusement to be had watching the Jews overin the courts of the Temple. His subordinates and clerks sharehis impatience.
In the spell of waiting a man appeared in a doorway leading to anadjoining apartment. He rattled a bunch of keys, each heavy as ahammer, and at once attracted the chief's attention.
"Ah, Gesius! come in," the tribune said.
As the new-comer approached the table behind which the chief satin an easy-chair, everybody present looked at him, and, observing acertain expression of alarm and mortification on his face, became silentthat they might hear what he had to say.
"O tribune!" he began, bending low, "I fear to tell what now Ibring you."
"Another mistake--ha, Gesius?"
"If I could persuade myself it is but a mistake, I would not beafraid."
"A crime then--or, worse, a breach of duty. Thou mayst laugh atCaesar, or curse the gods, and live; but if the offence be tothe eagles--ah, thou knowest, Gesius--go on!"
"It is now about eight years since Valerius Gratus selected me to bekeeper of prisoners here in the Tower," said the man, deliberately."I remember the morning I entered upon the duties of my office.There had been a riot the day before, and fighting in the streets.We slew many Jews, and suffered on our side. The affair came, it wassaid, of an attempt to assassinate Gratus, who had been knocked fromhis horse by a tile thrown from a roof. I found him sitting whereyou now sit, O tribune, his head swathed in bandages. He told meof my selection, and gave me these keys, numbered to correspondwith the numbers of the cells; they were the badges of my office,he said, and not to be parted with. There was a roll of parchmenton the table. Calling me to him, he opened the roll. 'Here are maps ofthe cells,' said he. There were three of them. 'This one,' he went on,'shows the arrangement of the upper floor; this second one gives youthe second floor; and this last is of the lower floor. I give themto you in trust.' I took them from his hand, and he said, further,'Now you have the keys and the maps; go immediately, and acquaintyourself with the whole arrangement; visit each cell, and seeto its condition. When anything is needed for the security ofa prisoner, order it according to your judgment, for you arethe master under me, and no other.'
"I saluted him, and turned to go away; he called me back. 'Ah,I forgot,' he said. 'Give me the map of the third floor.' I gaveit to him, and he spread it upon the table. 'Here, Gesius,' he said,'see this cell.' He laid his finger on the one numbered V. 'There arethree men confined in that cell, desperate characters, who by somemeans got hold of a state secret, and suffer for their curiosity,which'--he looked at me severely--'in such matters is worse than acrime. Accordingly, they are blind and tongueless, and are placedthere for life. They shall have nothing but food and drink, to begiven them through a hole, which you will find in the wall coveredby a slide. Do you hear, Gesius?' I made him answer. 'It is well,'he continued. 'One thing more which you shall not forget, or'--helooked at me threateningly--'The door of their cell--cell numberV. on the same floor--this one, Gesius'--he put his finger on theparticular cell to impress my memory--'shall never be opened forany purpose, neither to let one in nor out, not even yourself.''But if they die?' I asked. 'If they die,' he said, 'the cellshall be their tomb. They were put there to die, and be lost.The cell is leprous. Do you understand?' With that he let me go."
Gesius stopped, and from the breast of his tunic drew three parchments,all much yellowed by time and use; selecting one of them, he spreadit upon the table before the tribune, saying, simply, "This is thelower floor."
The whole company looked at
THE MAP __________________________________________ | | |
Passage | | | |--][---+---][---+---][---+---][---+---][--| | | | | | | | V | IV | III | II | I | |_______|________|________|________|_______|
"This is exactly, O tribune, as I had it from Gratus. See, there iscell number V.," said Gesius.
"I see," the tribune replied. "Go on now. The cell was leprous,he said."
"I would like to ask you a question," remarked the keeper, modestly.
The tribune assented.
"Had I not a right, under the circumstances, to believe the mapa true one?"
"What else couldst thou?"
"Well, it is not a true one."
The chief looked up surprised.
"It is not a true one," the keeper repeated. "It shows but fivecells upon that floor, while there are six."
"Six, sayest thou?"
"I will show you the floor as it is--or as I believe it to be."
Upon a page of his tablets, Gesius drew the following diagram,and gave it to the tribune:
__________________________________________ | | |--][---+---][---+---][---+---][---+---][--| | | | | | | | V | IV | III | II | I | |--][---+--------+--------+--------+-------| | VI | |__________________________________________|
"Thou hast done well," said the tribune, examining the drawing,and thinking the narrative at an end. "I will have the map corrected,or, better, I will have a new one made, and given thee. Come for itin the morning."
So saying, he arose.
"But hear me further, O tribune."
"To-morrow, Gesius, to-morrow."
"That which I have yet to tell will not wait."
The tribune good-naturedly resumed his chair.
"I will hurry," said the keeper, humbly, "only let me ask anotherquestion. Had I not a right to believe Gratus in what he furthertold me as to the prisoners in cell number V.?"
"Yes, it was thy duty to believe there were three prisoners in thecell--prisoners of state--blind and without tongues."
"Well," said the keeper, "that was not true either."
"No!" said the tribune, with returning interest.
"Hear, and judge for yourself, O tribune. As required, I visited allthe cells, beginning with those on the first floor, and ending withthose on the lower. The order that the door of number V. should notbe opened had been respected; through all the eight years food anddrink for three men had been passed through a hole in the wall.I went to the door yesterday, curious to see the wretches who,against all expectation, had lived so long. The locks refusedthe key. We pulled a little, and the door fell down, rusted fromits hinges. Going in, I found but one man, old, blind, tongueless,and naked. His hair dropped in stiffened mats below his waist.His skin was like the parchment there. He held his hands out,and the finger-nails curled and twisted like the claws of a bird.I asked him where his companions were. He shook his head in denial.Thinking to find the others, we searched the cell. The floor was dry;so were the walls. If three men had been shut in there, and two of themhad died, at least their bones would have endured."
"Wherefore thou thinkest--"
"I think, O tribune, there has been but one prisoner there in theeight years."
The chief regarded the keeper sharply, and said, "Have a care;thou art more than saying Valerius lied."
Gesius bowed, but said, "He might have been mistaken."
"No, he was right," said the tribune, warmly. "By thine own statementhe was right. Didst thou not say but now that for eight years foodand drink had been furnished three men?"
The bystanders approved the shrewdness of their chief; yet Gesiusdid not seem discomfited.
"You have but half the story, O tribune. When you have it all,you will agree with me. You know what I did with the man: that Isent him to the bath, and had him shorn and clothed, and then tookhim to the gate of the Tower, and bade him go free. I washed myhands of him. To-day he came back, and was brought to me. By signsand tears he at last made me understand he wished to return to hiscell, and I so ordered. As they were leading him off, he broke awayand kissed my feet, and, by piteous dumb imploration, insisted Ishould go with him; and I went. The mystery of the three men stayedin my mind. I was not satisfied about it. Now I am glad I yieldedto his entreaty."
The whole company at this point became very still.
"When we were in the cell again, and the prisoner knew it, he caughtmy hand eagerly, and led me to a hole like that through whichwe were accustomed to pass him his food. Though large enough topush your helmet through, it escaped me yesterday. Still holdingmy hand, he put his face to the hole and gave a beast-like cry.A sound came faintly back. I was astonished, and drew him away,and called out, 'Ho, here!' At first there was no answer. I calledagain, and received back these words, 'Be thou praised, O Lord!' Yetmore astonishing, O tribune, the voice was a woman's. And I asked,'Who are you?' and had reply, 'A woman of Israel, entombed herewith her daughter. Help us quickly, or we die.' I told them tobe of cheer, and hurried here to know your will."
The tribune arose hastily.
"Thou wert right, Gesius," he said, "and I see now. The map was alie, and so was the tale of the three men. There have been betterRomans than Valerius Gratus."
"Yes," said the keeper. "I gleaned from the prisoner that he hadregularly given the women of the food and drink he had received."
"It is accounted for," replied the tribune, and observing thecountenances of his friends, and reflecting how well it would beto have witnesses, he added, "Let us rescue the women. Come all."
Gesuis was pleased.
"We will have to pierce the wall," he said. "I found where adoor had been, but it was filled solidly with stones and mortar."
The tribune stayed to say to a clerk, "Send workmen after me withtools. Make haste; but hold the report, for I see it will have tobe corrected."
In a short time they were gone.