The Gladiators. A Tale of Rome and Judæa
Page 42
CHAPTER XX
THE FAIR HAVEN
In a land-locked bay sheltered by wooded hills, under a calm cloudlesssky, and motionless as some sleeping seabird, a galley lay at anchor onthe glistening surface of the Mediterranean. Far out at sea, against aclear horizon the breeze just stirred the waters to a purer deeper blue,but here, behind the sharp black point, that shot boldly from the shore,long sheets of light, unshadowed by a single ripple traversed the bay,basking warm and still in the glaring sunshine. The very gulls thatusually flit so restless to and fro, had folded their wings for aninterval of repose, and the hush of the hot southern noon lay drowsily onthe burnished surface of the deep.
The galley had obviously encountered her share of wind and weather. Sparswere broken and tackle strained. Her large square sail, rent and patched,was under process of repair; heaped up, neglected for the present, andhalf unfurled upon the deck, while the double-banked seats of her rowerswere unoccupied, and the long oars shipped idly in her sides. Like theseabird she resembled, and whose destiny she shared, it seemed as thoughshe also had folded her wings, and gone peacefully to sleep.
Two figures were on the deck of the galley, drinking in the beauty thatsurrounded them, with the avidity of youth, and health, and love. Theythought not of the dangers they had so narrowly escaped--of the perils bysea and perils by land that were in store for them yet, of the sorrowsthey must undergo, the difficulties they must encounter, the frail threadon which their present happiness depended. It was enough for them thatthey were gazing on the loveliness of one of the fairest isles in theAEgean, and that they were together.
Surely there is a Fair Haven in the voyage of each of us, to which wereach perhaps once in a lifetime, where we pause and furl the sail andship the oar, not that we are weary indeed, nor unseaworthy, but that wecannot resist, even the strongest and bravest of us, the longing of poorhumanity for rest. Such seasons as these come to remind us of our nobledestiny, and our inherent unworthiness--of our capacity for happiness, andour failure in attaining it--of the sordid casket, and the priceless jewelwe are sure that it contains. At such seasons shall we not rejoice andrevel in the happiness they bring? Shall we not bathe in the glorioussunshine, and snatch at the glowing fruit, and empty the golden cup, ay tothe very dregs? What though there be a cloud behind the hill, a bittermorsel at the fruit's core, a drop of wormwood in the sparkling draught?--aconsciousness of insecurity, a foresight of sorrow, a craving for theinfinite and the eternal, which goads and guides us at once on the upwardway? Would we be without it if we could? We cannot be more than human; wewould not willingly be less. Is not failure the teacher of humility? Isnot humility the first step to wisdom? Where is least of self-dependence,there is surely most of faith; and are not pain and sorrow the title-deedsof our inheritance hereafter?
It is a false moral, it is a morbid and unreal sentiment, beautifully asit is expressed, which teaches us that "a sorrow's crown of sorrows, isremembering happier things." All true happiness is of spiritual origin.When we have been brushed, though never so lightly by the angel's wing, wecannot afterwards entirely divest ourselves of the fragrance breathed bythat celestial presence. Even in those blissful moments, something warnedus they would pass away; now that they have faded here, something assuresus that they will come again, hereafter. Hope is the birthright ofimmortality. Without winter there would be no spring. In decay is the verygerm of life, and while suffering is transitory, mercy is infinite, andjoy eternal.
The sailors were taking their noonday rest below, to escape the heat.Eleazar, the Jew, sat at the stern of the vessel, deep in meditation,pondering on his country's resources and his nation's wrongs--thedissensions that paralysed the Lion of Judah, and the formidable qualitiesof the princely hunter who was bringing him warily and gradually to bay.It would be hard enough to resist Titus with both hands free, how hopelessa task when one neutralised the efforts of the other! Eleazar's outwardeye, indeed, took in the groves of olives, and the dazzling porches, thejagged rocks and the glancing water; but his spirit was gazing the whileupon a very different scene. He saw his tumultuous countrymen armed withsword and spear, brave, impetuous, full of the headlong courage which madetheir race irresistible for attack, but lacking the cool methodicaldiscipline, the stern habitual self-reliance so indispensable for awearing and protracted defence; and he saw also the long even lines underthe eagles, the impregnable array of the legions; their fortified camp,their mechanical discipline, their exact manoeuvres, and the calm confidentstrength that was converging day by day for the downfall and destructionof his people. Then he moved restlessly, like a man impatient of actualfetters about his limbs, for he would fain be amongst them again, with hisarmour on and his spear in his hand. Calchas, too, was on board theanchored galley. He looked on the fair scene around as those look who seegood in everything. And then his eye wandered from the glowing land, andthe cloudless heaven, and the sparkling sea, to the stately form of Esca,and Mariamne with her gentle loving face, ere it sought his task again,the perusal of his treasured Syriac scroll; for the old man, who took hisshare of all the labours and hardships incidental to a sea-voyage, spentin sacred study many of the hours devoted by others to rest; his lipsmoved in prayer, and he called down a blessing on the head of theproselyte he had gained over, and the kinsman he loved.
After the success of the tribune's plot, and the escape of Esca from theimperial palace, Rome was no longer a place in which the Briton mightremain in safety. Julius Placidus, although, from the prominent part takenby Domitian in public affairs, he had not attained such power as heanticipated, was yet sufficiently formidable to be a fatal enemy, and itwas obvious that the only chance of life was immediately to leave theneighbourhood of so implacable an adversary. The murder, too, ofVitellius, and the accession of Vespasian, rendered Eleazar's further stayat Rome unnecessary, and even impolitic, while the services rendered toMariamne by her champion and lover, had given him a claim to theprotection of the Jewish household, and the intimacy of its members. Oncondition of his conforming to certain fasts and observances, Eleazartherefore willingly gave Esca the shelter of his roof, concealed himwhilst he himself made preparations for a hasty departure, and sufferedhim to accompany the other two members that constituted his family, ontheir voyage home to Jerusalem. After many storms and casualties, half ofthat voyage was completed, and the attachment between Esca and Mariamnewhich sprang up so unexpectedly at the corner of a street in Rome, had nowgrown to the engrossing and abiding affection which lasts for life,perhaps for eternity. Floating in that fair haven, with the glow of loveenhancing the beauty of an earthly paradise, they quaffed at the cup ofhappiness without remorse or misgiving, thankful for the present andtrusting for the future. As shipwreck had threatened them but yesterday,as to-morrow they might again be destined to weather stormy skies, andride through raging seas, so, although they had suffered great dangers andhardships in life, greater were yet probably in store. Nevertheless, to-day all was calm and sunshine, contentment, security, and repose. Theytook it as it came, and standing together on the galley's deck, the beautyof those two young creatures seemed god-like, in the halo of their greatjoy.
"We shall never be parted here," whispered Esca, while they stooped overthe bulwark, and his hand stealing to his companion's, pressed it in agentle timid clasp.
With her large loving eyes full of tears, she leaned towards him, nearer,nearer, till her cheek touched his shoulder, and, pointing upward, sheanswered in the low earnest tones that acknowledge neither doubt nor fear:"Esca, we shall never be parted hereafter."
*MOIRA*