Hebrew Heroes: A Tale Founded on Jewish History

  CHAPTER XIV.

  A CRISIS.

  Lycidas, in the meantime, was chafing in wild impatience under thetrial of Zarah's almost perpetual absence. He could no longer watchher, no longer listen to her, except when his straining ear caught thefaint sound of her music floating down from an upper apartment. Whywas she away? why should she shun him? she whose presence alone hadrendered not only tolerable but delightful the kind of mild captivityin which he was retained, while the state of his wounds rendered theGreek unable, without assistance, to leave the dwelling of Hadassah.Lycidas had none of the scruples of Zarah regarding union with one of adifferent race and religion. The Greek had resolved on winning thefair Hebrew maid as his bride; he was conscious of possessing the giftof attractions such as few young hearts could resist, and asked fortuneonly for an opportunity of exerting all his powers to the utmost tosecure the most precious prize for which mortal had ever contended.

  Lycidas beguiled many tedious hours by the composition of a poem, ofsingular beauty, in honour of Zarah. Most melodious was the flow ofthe verse, most delicate the fragrance of the incense of praise. Therealms of nature, the kingdom of art, were ransacked for images ofbeauty. But Lycidas felt disgusted with his own work before he hadcompleted it. He seemed to himself like one decorating with gems andhanging rich garments on an exquisite statue, in the attempt to do ithonour only marring the perfection of its symmetry, and the grace ofits marble drapery. A few words which the Greek had heard Hadassahread from her sacred parchment, appeared to him to include more thanall his most laboured descriptions could convoy. Lycidas had thoughtof Zarah when he had listened to the expression, _the beauty ofholiness_.

  "I will not stay a prisoner here, if I am to be shut out in thisstifling little den not only from the world, but from her who is morethan the world to me," thought the Greek. After months of sufferingand weakness, strength, though but slowly, was returning to the frameof Lycidas; and when no one was near to watch him, when the door to thewest was closed, and the curtain to the east was drawn, he wouldoccasionally try how far that strength would enable him to go. Hewould raise himself on his feet, though not without a pang from hiswounded side. Then the Greek would take a few steps, from one end ofhis prison to the other, leaning for support against the wall. Thiswas something for a beginning; youth and love would soon enable him todo more. But Lycidas carefully concealed from Hadassah and Anna thathe could do as much. They never saw him but reclining on the floor.He feared that measures might be taken to clip the wings of the bird ifit were once guessed how nearly those wings were fledged.

  The day before the celebration of the great feast of the Passover,Hadassah was far from well. Whether her illness arose from the stateof the weather, for the month of Nisan was this year more than usuallyhot, or the effect of long fastings and prayer upon a frame enfeebledby age, or whether from secret grief preying on her health, Zarah knewnot,--perhaps from all these causes combined. The maiden grew uneasyabout her grandmother, and redoubled her tender ministrations to hercomfort.

  On the day mentioned, Anna had gone into Jerusalem to dispose of flaxspun by the Hebrew ladies, and procure a few necessary articles offood. Hadassah never suffered her beautiful girl to enter to walls ofthe city, nor, indeed, ever to quit the precincts of her home, savewhen on Sabbath-days and feast-days she went, closely veiled, to thedwelling of the elder Salathiel, about half a mile distant from that ofHadassah, to join in social worship. Hadassah with jealous careshrouded her white dove from the gaze of Syrian eyes.

  The aged lady had passed a very restless night. With thrillinginterest Zarah had heard her moaning in her sleep, "Abner! my son! mypoor lost son!" The sealed lips were opened, when the mind had nolonger power to control their utterance. Hadassah awoke in the morningfeverish and ill. She made a vain attempt to rise and pursue her usualavocations. Zarah entreated her to lie still. For hours the widow laystretched on a mat with her eyes half closed, while Zarah watchedbeside her, fanning her feverish brow.

  "Let me prepare for you a cooling drink, dear mother," said the maidenat last, rising and going to the water-jar, which stood in a corner ofthe apartment. "Alas! it is empty. Anna forgot to replenish it fromthe spring ere she set out for the city. I will go and fill it myself."

  Zarah lifted up the jar, and poising it on her head, lightly descendedthe rough steps of the outer stair, and proceeded to the spring at theback of the house. The spring was surrounded by oleanders, which atthis time of the year in Palestine are robed in their richest bloom.But the season had been singularly hot and dry, the latter rains hadnot yet fallen, and the spring was beginning to fail. Zarah placed herjar beneath the opening from which, pure and bright, the watertrickled, but the supply was so scanty that she could almost count thedrops as they fell. It would take a considerable time for the jar tobe filled by these drops.

  "Ah! methinks my earthly joys are even as this failing spring!" thoughtthe maiden, sadly, as she watched the slow drip of the water. "Allwill be dried up soon. My loved grandmother's strength is sinking; shewill be unable to-morrow to keep the holy feast in Salathiel's house,though her heart will be with the worshippers there. How different,oh! how different is this Passover from that which we celebrated lastyear! Then, indeed, there was an idol in the Temple of the Lord, andholy sacrifice could not be offered in the appointed place, but thefierce storm of persecution had not arisen in all its terrors. Thenaround the table of Salathiel how many gathered whom I never againshall behold upon earth! Solomona, my kinswoman, and her seven sonsall met in that solemn assembly; the bright-eyed Asahel, the fearlessMahali, young Joseph, who was my merry playmate when ten years ago wecame from Bethsura hither! I remember that when Hadassah looked onthat cluster of brothers, she said that they were like thePleiades--they are more like those star-gems now, for they shine not onearth but in heaven! And Solomona looked proudly on her boys--hernoble sons, and said that not one of them had ever raised a blush onthe cheek of their mother; and then, methinks, she regretted havinguttered the boast, and I fancied that I heard a stifled sigh fromHadassah. Was it that the spirit of prophecy came upon her then, thatshe foresaw the terrible future, or was it--alas! alas! I dare notthink wherefore she sighed! And old Mattathias, he who now sleeps inthe sepulchre of his fathers, he and his sons kept that Passover feastwith Salathiel, having come up to Jerusalem to worship, according tothe law of Moses. How venerable looked the old man with his long snowybeard! it seemed to me that so Abraham must have looked, when hisearthly pilgrimage was well-nigh ended. Mattathias laid his hand on myhead and blessed me, and called me daughter. Ah! can it be that hethought of me then as his daughter indeed! The princely Judas stoodnear, and when I raised my head I met the gaze of his eyes, and Ithought--no, I never then fully grasped the meaning expressed in thatgaze, it was to me as the tender glance of a brother. Mattathias isgone; Solomona and her children are all gone; Judas, with his gallantband, is like a lion at bay with the hunters closing in anever-narrowing circle around him. Apollonius has been vanquished,Seron defeated by our hero; but now Nicanor and Giorgias, with theforces of Ptolemy, upwards of forty thousand men, are combining tocrush him by their overwhelming numbers! What can the devotion of ourpatriots avail but to swell the band of martyrs who have already laiddown their lives in defence of our faith and our laws! Alas! theirswill be a stern keeping of the holy feast; other blood will flowbesides that of the Paschal lamb! And a sad keeping of the feast willbe mine; I shall see scarce a familiar face, that of no relative saveAbishai; and I owe him but little affection. And oh! worst of all, Ifear me that I have an unholy leaven in my heart, which I in vain seekto put entirely away. I am secretly cherishing the forbidden thing,though not wilfully, not wilfully, as He knows to whom I constantlypray for strength to give up all that is displeasing in His sight!"

  The jar was now full; Zarah turned to raise it as the last thoughtpassed through her mind, and started as she did so! Lycidas, with allhis soul beaming in his eyes, was close beside
her! The maiden uttereda faint exclamation, and endeavoured to pass him, and return to thehouse.

  "Stay, Zarah, idol of my soul!" exclaimed the Athenian, seizing herhand; "you must not fly me, you shall listen to me once--only once!"and with a passionate gush of eloquence the young Greek laid his hopes,his fortunes, his heart at her feet.

  Zarah turned deadly pale; her frame trembled. "Oh, Lycidas, have mercyupon me!" she gasped. "It is sin in me even to listen; it were crueltyto suffer you to hope. Our law forbids a daughter of Abraham to wed aGentile; to return your love would be rebellion against my God,apostasy from the faith of my fathers; better to suffer--better todie!"--and with an effort releasing her icy-cold hand from the clasp ofthe man whom she loved, Zarah sprang hurriedly past him, and with thespeed of a frightened gazelle fled up the staircase, and back into thechamber in which she had left Hadassah.

  Lycidas stood bewildered by the maiden's sudden retreat. He felt as ifthe gate of a paradise had been suddenly closed against him.