by Felix Dahn
CHAPTER VIII.
In spite of all this, it was said by the Romans that the Goths wouldlong since have climbed the walls, had it not been for the Prefect's"Egeria."
For, strange to say, each time the barbarians prepared an assault,Cethegus went to Belisarius and warned him of the day and hour.
Whenever Teja or Hildebad attempted to carry a gate by storm or sweepaway a redoubt--Cethegus foretold their coming, and the assaulters metwith double the usual number of defenders at that particular point.
Whenever the chains across the Tiber were to be broken in a nightsurprise--Cethegus seemed to have guessed it, and sent fire-brands andfire-ships against the boats of the enemy.
So passed many months.
The Goths could not hide from themselves the fact that, in spite ofcontinual assaults, they had made no progress since the commencement ofthe siege.
For a long time they bore with patience the betrayal and frustration oftheir plans.
But by degrees discontent not only began to spread in the army,especially as now the scarcity of provisions made itself felt, but alsothe King's mind was darkened with deep melancholy when he found all hisstrength, perseverance, and military science rendered vain. And when hereturned to his royal tent from some thwarted undertaking, someabortive assault, the haughty eyes of his Queen rested on him with amysterious and terrible expression, from which he turned away with ashudder.
"All has happened as I foretold," Witichis said gloomily to Teja; "withRauthgundis my good-fortune has forsaken me, as joy has forsaken myheart. It is if a curse rested upon my crown. And this daughter of theAmelungs, silent and gloomy, follows me like misfortune personified."
"Thou mayst be right," answered Teja; "perhaps I can break the spell.Grant me leave of absence to-night."
On the same day, almost at the same hour, Johannes, in Rome, askedBelisarius for leave of absence for that night. Belisarius refused togrant it.
"It is no time for midnight pleasures," said he.
"It will be small pleasure to spy amongst damp old walls and Gothiclances for a fox who is ten times slyer than either of us."
"What do you think of doing?" asked Belisarius, becoming attentive.
"What do I intend to do? To make an end of the cursed position in whichwe are all placed, and you, O General, not the least. All goes well.For months the barbarians have been encamped before these walls, andhave accomplished nothing. We shoot them as easily as boys shoot crowsfrom behind a hedge, and can laugh at them and all their efforts. Butwho has accomplished all this? Not, as would be right, you, theEmperor's commander-in-chief, not the Emperor's army, but this icyRoman, who can only laugh when he scoffs. He sits up there in theCapitol and mocks at the Emperor, the Goths and us, and most of all,give me leave to say, at you. How does this Ulysses and Ajax in oneperson know so exactly all the plans of the Goths? By means of hisdemons, say some. Through his Egeria, say others. And some maintainthat he has a raven which can speak and understand like a human being,and that he sends it every night into the Gothic camp. Old women andRomans may believe such things, but not the son of my mother! I think Iknow both the raven and the demons. It is certain that the Prefect canonly learn what he knows in the Gothic camp; let us see if we cannotuse that source as well as he."
"I thought of this long since, but I saw no possibility of carrying outmy idea."
"My Huns have watched all the Prefect's movements. It is cursedlydifficult, for his brown Moor follows him like his shadow. Butsometimes Syphax is absent for days together, and then it is easier: soI have found out that Cethegus often leaves the city at night,sometimes by the Gate of Portuensis, sometimes by the Gate of St. Paul.He commands the guard of both these gates. Farther my spies dared notfollow him. But to-night--for to-night the time has come again--I havea mind to stick to his heels. But I must wait for him _outside_ thegate, for his Isaurians would never let me pass. I shall make a roundof the walls, and remain behind in one of the trenches."
"'Tis well. But, as you say, there are two gates to be watched."
"Yes; and so I have engaged Perseus, my brother, to be my fellow-spy.He will watch the Gate of St. Paul, I the Portuensian Gate. You maydepend upon it, that before sunrise to-morrow one or other of us willknow who is the Prefect's Egeria."
Exactly opposite the Gate of St. Paul, at about three arrow-shots,distance from the outermost trench of the city, lay a large and ancientbuilding, the Basilica Sancti Pauli extra muros, or St. Paul's outsidethe walls, which only completely disappeared at the time of the siegeof Rome by the Connetable of Bourbon.
Originally a temple dedicated to Jupiter Stator, it had beenconsecrated to the Apostle two centuries before the time of which wespeak, but the bronze colossal statue of the bearded god still stooderect; only the flaming thunderbolts had been taken from its righthand, and a crucifix put in their place; otherwise the sturdy andbearded figure was well suited to its new name.
It was the sixth hour of the night.
The moon shone brightly above the Eternal City, and shed her silverlight upon the battlements and the plain between the Roman ramparts andthe Basilica, the black shadow of which fell towards the Gothic camp.
The guard at the Gate of St. Paul had just been relieved. But seven menhad gone out, and only six re-entered.
The seventh turned his back to the gate and walked out into the openfield.
Cautiously he chose his path: cautiously he avoided the numeroussteel-traps, covered pits and self-shooting poisoned arrows which werestrewn everywhere about, and which had already brought destruction tomany a Goth while assaulting the city.
This man appeared to know them all, and easily avoided them. He alsocarefully shunned the moonlight, seeking the shade of the juttingbastions, and springing from one tree to another.
After crossing the outermost trench, he remained standing in the shadowof a cypress, the boughs of which, had been shattered by a catapult,and looked about him.
He could see nothing far and near, and at once hurried with rapid stepstowards the church.
Had he looked round once more, he surely would not have done so.
For, as soon as he left the tree, a second figure rose from the trench,and reached the shade of the cypress in three leaps.
"I have won, Johannes! This time fortune favours the younger brother!"said this personage.
And he cautiously followed the man, who was rapidly walking on.
But suddenly he lost sight of him; it seemed as if the earth hadswallowed him up.
And when he had reached the outer wall of the church, where the man haddisappeared, the Armenian (for it was Perseus) could discover neitherdoor nor any other opening.
"No doubt about it," he said to himself, "the appointment has been madewithin the temple. I must follow."
But at that place the wall could not be climbed.
The spy turned a corner, feeling the stones.
In vain. The wall was of the same height everywhere.
He lost about a quarter of an hour in this search.
At last he found a gap; with difficulty he squeezed himself through.
And now he found himself in the outer court of the old temple, acrosswhich the thick Doric columns threw broad shadows, under cover of whichhe succeeded in reaching the centre and principal building.
He peeped through a chink in the wall, which a current of air hadbetrayed to him. Within all was dark.
But suddenly he was blinded by a dazzling light.
When he again opened his eyes, he saw a bright stripe amid thedarkness; it issued from a dark lantern, the light of which had beensuddenly uncovered.
He could distinctly see whatever stood in the line of light; but notthe bearer of the lantern.
He saw Cethegus the Prefect, who stood close to the statue of theApostle, and appeared to be leaning against it. In front of him stood asecond form, that of a slender woman, upon whose auburn hair fell theglittering light of the lantern.
"The lovely Queen
of the Goths, by Eros and Anteros!" said the spy tohimself. "No disagreeable meeting, be it for love or politics! Hark!she speaks. What a pity that I came too late to hear the beginning ofthe conversation!"
"Therefore, mark well," he heard the Queen say, "the day afterto-morrow some great danger is planned to take place on the road beforethe Tiburtinian Gate."
"Good; but what!" asked the voice of the Prefect.
"I could learn nothing more exactly. And I can communicate nothing moreto you, even if I should hear anything. I dare not meet you here again,for----"
She now spoke in a lower tone.
Perseus pressed his ear hard against the chink; his sword rattledagainst the stone, and immediately a ray of the lantern fell upon him.
"Hark!" cried a third voice--it was a female voice, that of the bearerof the lantern, who now showed herself in its rays as she quicklyturned in the direction of the wall where stood the spy.
Perseus recognised a slave in Moorish costume.
For one moment all in the temple were silent.
Perseus held his breath. He felt that his life was at stake. ForCethegus grasped his sword.
"All is quiet," said the slave; "it must have been a stone falling onthe iron-work outside."
"I can also go no more into the grave outside the Portuensian Gate. Ifear that we have been followed."
"By whom?"
"By one who, as it seems, never sleeps--Earl Teja."
The Prefect's lips twitched.
"And he is also one of a secret company who have sworn an oath againstthe life of Belisarius; the attack on the Gate of St. Paul will be onlya feint."
"'Tis well," said Cethegus reflectively.
"Belisarius could never escape, if he were not warned," continued theQueen. "They lie somewhere, I fear--but I do not know where--in ambush.They have a superior force, Earl Totila commands them."
"I will take care to warn him!" said Cethegus slowly.
"If the plan should succeed!"
"Be not anxious. Queen. Rome is not less dear to me than to you. And ifthe next assault fail--they must renounce the siege, be they never sotough. And this Queen, is your doing. Let me this night--perhaps thelast on which we meet--reveal to you my wonder and admiration. Cethegusdoes not easily admire, and where he must, he does not easily confessit. But--I admire you, Queen! With what death-despising temerity, withwhat demoniac cunning you have frustrated all the plots of thebarbarians! Truly, Belisarius has done much--Cethegus more--butMataswintha most."
"Would that you spoke truth!" said Mataswintha with sparkling eyes."And if the crown falls from the head of this culprit----"
"It is _your_ hand which has decided the fate of Rome. But, Queen, youcannot be satisfied with this alone. I have learned to know you theselast few months--you must not be taken, a conquered Gothic Queen, toByzantium. Such beauty, such a mind, such force of will must rule, andnot serve, in Byzantium. Therefore reflect--when your tyrant isoverthrown--will you not then follow the course which I have pointedout to you?"
"I have never yet thought of what will follow," she answered gloomily.
"But I have thought for you. Truly, Mataswintha"--and his eyes restedupon her with fervent admiration--"you are marvellously beautiful. Iconsider it as my greatest merit that even your beauty is not able tokindle my passions and seduce me from my plans. But you are toobeautiful, too charming, to live alone for hatred and revenge. Whenour aim is reached, then to Byzantium! You will then be more thanEmpress--you will be the vanquisher of the Empress!"
"When my aim is reached, my life is completed. Do you think I couldbear the thought of having destroyed my people for mere ambition, forprudent ends? No--I did it only because I could no other. Revenge isnow all to me, and----"
Just then there sounded loud and shrill from the front of the building,but yet within the walls, the cry of the screech-owl; once--twice--inrapid succession.
How amazed was Perseus to see the Prefect hurriedly press his fingerupon the throat of the statue against which he was leaning, and to seeit immediately and noiselessly divide into two parts.
Cethegus slipped, into the opening, which slowly closed again.
Mataswintha and Aspa sank upon the steps of the altar, as if in prayer.
"So it was a signal! Danger is near," thought the spy. "But where isthe danger? and where the warner?"
And he turned and stepped from beneath the wall, looking to the left,on which side the Gothic camp was situated.
But in doing so he stepped into the moonlight, and in sight of Syphax,the Moor, who stood in an empty niche before the entrance of thebuilding, and who, until now, had also been looking sharply in thedirection of the camp.
From thence a man walked slowly forward.
His battle-axe glittered in the moonlight.
But Perseus saw a second weapon flash; it was the sword of the Moor, ashe softly drew it from its sheath.
"Ha!" laughed Perseus; "before those two have done with each other, Ishall be in Rome with my secret."
And he ran towards the gap in the wall of the court by which he hadentered.
For a moment Syphax looked doubtfully to right and left. To the righthe saw a man escaping, whom he had only now discovered; to the left aGothic warrior, who was just entering the court of the temple. It wasimpossible to reach and kill both.
He suddenly called aloud:
"Teja, Earl Teja! Help, help! A Roman! Save the Queen! There, near thewall on the right--a Roman!"
In a moment Teja stood at Syphax's side.
"There!" cried Syphax. "I will protect the women in the church!" and herushed into the temple.
"Stand, Roman!" cried Teja, and rushed after Perseus.
But Perseus would not stand. He ran along the wall; he reached thegap, but in his hurry he could not force himself through. With thestrength of despair he swung himself up upon the wall, and was alreadydrawing up his feet to jump down on the other side, when Teja cast hisbattle-axe, and struck him on the head.
Perseus, together with his secret, fell back dead.
Teja bent over him; he could distinctly see the features of the deadman.
"The Archon Perseus," he said, "the brother of Johannes."
He left the corpse, and at once ascended the steps which led into thechurch.
On the threshold he was met by Mataswintha. Behind her came Syphax, andAspa with the lantern.
For a moment Teja and Mataswintha measured each other with distrustfullooks.
"I must thank thee, Earl Teja of Tarentum," at last the Princess said."I was in danger while pursuing my lonely devotions."
"A strange place and time for thee to choose for thy prayers. Let ussee if this Roman was the only enemy."
He took the light from Aspa's hand, and went into the chapel.
Presently he returned, a leathern shoe, inlaid with gold, in his hand.
"I found nothing--but this sandal by the altar, close to the statue ofthe Apostle. It is a man's shoe."
"A votive offering of mine," said Syphax quickly. "The Apostle healedmy foot, which a thorn had wounded."
"I thought the Snake-god was thine only god?"
"I worship whatever can help me."
"In which foot did the thorn wound thee?"
For a moment Syphax hesitated.
"In the right foot," he then answered.
"It is a pity," said Teja, "the sandal is for the left foot." And heput it into his belt. "I warn thee, Queen, against such midnightdevotions."
"I shall do my duty," answered Mataswintha harshly.
"And I mine!"
With these words Teja turned, and led the way to the camp. Silently theQueen and her slaves followed.
At sunrise Teja stood before the King and told him everything.
"What thou sayest is no proof," said Witichis.
"But a strong cause of suspicion. And thou thyself hast told me thatthe conduct of the Queen was mysterious."
"Just for that reason I must guard myself against acting on meresuspi
cion. I often fear that we have acted wrongly by her, almost asmuch so as by Rauthgundis."
"Possibly. But these midnight walks?"
"I shall put an end to them, were it only for her own sake."
"And the Moor? I mistrust him. I know that he is often absent for daystogether; afterwards appearing again in the camp. He is a spy."
"Yes, friend," said Witichis, with a smile; "but he is my spy. He goesin and out of Rome with my knowledge. It is he who betrays all theirplans to me."
"And yet it has done no good? And the false sandal?"
"It is really a votive offering. Before thou camest, Syphax confessedall to me. Once, as he was waiting for the Queen, he got weary, andbegan to rummage in a vault of the church; and there he found, amongstall sorts of things, some priestly garments and hidden treasures, whichhe stole. Later, fearing the wrath of the saint, he wished to atone,and offered up in his heathen manner this golden sandal from his booty.He described it to me exactly. With golden side-stripes, and an agatebutton engraved with the letter C. Thou seest that it is so. Thereforehe knew it well, and it cannot have been dropped by a fugitive. He haspromised to bring the fellow-shoe as a proof. But, more than all, hehas discovered to me a new plan, which will put an end to all ourtrouble, and deliver Belisarius himself into our hands."