_CHAPTER V._
The orator received us with less coldness than I could have expected. Isuppose his knowledge that our morning had been spent in Rubellia'scompany, had in some measure softened his feelings of jealousy towards hisson; and perhaps he had given me credit for advice, to the merit of whichI had no claim. But he remained not long at table after supper wasconcluded, being summoned to discourse in private with a client:--so thatSextus and I were left to spend the evening as it might please ourselves;for as to Xerophrastes, he had not as yet made his appearance, and we tookit for granted he had remained at the mansion of Fabricius, for thepurpose of consoling with philosophical controversies his bereaved brotherof Ionia.
We retired, therefore, into the apartment of my young friend; but he couldnot read a page without coming upon some verse which made him throw downthe scroll to ruminate on the charms of his Sempronia. When he took up hislute, his fingers seemed to evoke only the most melancholy sounds. It wasonly in the exercise of the foil, that he succeeded in banishing from histhoughts the troubles of his situation; but both of us having contendedtill we were breathless, were soon compelled to sit down, and then theunhappy boy's exhausted body seemed to communicate a new debility to hismind. We sat for the most part in silence, (for I soon found that I couldnot say any thing capable of interesting him,) until the shades of eveninghad quite darkened the chamber, and then we walked together, not lesssilently, in the adjoining open gallery, until the moon had arisen fromabove the tall poplars around the Pantheon and Baths of Agrippa, anddiffused her radiance over all the beautiful gardens and noble edificesthat lay beneath us down to the brink of the river. Lassitude of spiritthen, if not expectation of sleep, rendered Sextus desirous of retiring tohis couch; so, having exhorted the youth to wrestle with his grief, and tocall hope to his aid, I at length left him to himself. But as for me, Ihad as yet no feeling of weariness, and, besides, I remembered the promiseI had made to Dromo in the morning.
I was very much surprised, indeed, that the Cretan had not as yet come tome, and made inquiry concerning him of Boto; but hearing that the man wasabsent from the house, I thought from this there was the more likelihoodof his being engaged in some scheme, the result of which I should by andby learn from his own lips. I dismissed my Briton, therefore, and preparedto read by my watch-light, and while I was considering what I should read,I remembered the scroll I had received from Tisias, which forthwith I tookfrom the place in which I had locked it up on the morning of the precedingday. There fell from out of it, as I unfolded it, a letter sealed, butwithout any superscription. This I of course considered as meant only forthe eye of Athanasia; so I kissed the parchment her fingers were destinedto touch, and, before I began to read, restored it to its receptacle.
More than one of you, my young friends, have already heard me speak, onanother occasion, of the impression which that night's reading made uponmy mind, and been told, from my own lips, what book it was that wascontained in the scroll of Tisias; the rest of you will judge foryourselves with what astonishment it was that I, who had at the bestexpected to unfold some obscure treatise of Asiatic lore, somesemi-barbarous exposition of mystical riddles, found myself engaged in theperusal of a plain and perspicuous narrative of facts, written evidentlyby a man of accomplishment and learning, and in Greek of which the mostelegant penman of these times could have had no occasion to be ashamed. Ina word, it was the Gospel of the holy physician St Luke which had been putinto my hands; and at this day I am still grateful that this was the firstof the Christian books which I had an opportunity of seeing; for such hadbeen my education, that I am afraid others, not less worthy of the truefaith, might have repelled me by the peculiarities of their composition,as well as by the acquaintance with many things, to me then entirelyunknown, which they take for granted in the style of their commencement.Here, however, there was enough only of mystery, the more effectually tostimulate my curiosity, while the eagerness with which I engaged myself inits gratification, was abundantly repaid from the beginning, both by thebeauty of the simple narrative itself, and the sublimity of theconceptions embodied and evolved in its course.
Considering the book which I was reading, as one merely of human originand invention, I could not help regarding it with such admiration, that itappeared to me above all things wonderful, I had never seen it mentionedby any of the writers of the age, or heard it spoken of by any of thosewho, in my presence, since I came to Rome, had talked concerning the faithand doctrines of the persecuted Christians. But this was not all. Atleast, said I to myself, there is something here which deserves to beinquired into and examined. Of things such as these, if told falsely, itmust needs have been--nay, it must still be, easy to prove the falsehood.It is impossible that, in the days of Tiberius, any such events shouldhave occurred in Palestine, without being more or less submitted to theinspection of Roman eyes. This is no wild tale, handed down from the darkages of a barbarous race. Here I have a Roman Centurion described as amongthe witnesses of this man's miraculous power, and acknowledging thedivinity of his benevolence. Here, at least, must have been one spectatorwithout prejudices, otherwise than against this Prophet of Nazareth. Of asurety, the legends of Rome herself contain many tales which demand a muchgreater measure of indulgence; since the wonders they narrate appear tohave been oftentimes attended with no beneficial consequences, either toindividuals or to the state; whereas here the occasion seems always tohave been such as might justify the interference of supernatural might.The power of this person seems to have been exerted only for good; and hisprecepts are full of such godlike loftiness as neither Socrates, norPlato, nor any of those Greek sages, who bowed in reverence to the hoarywisdom of Egypt and India, would have disdained to admire.
The doubts, suspicions, and distrusts, with which such thoughts weremingled,--the under-current of reluctance with which I felt myself allalong contending,--were such as you may more easily imagine than I candescribe.
As the narrative went on, however, you will have no difficulty insupposing that my attention became more and more rivetted, and that,occupied with the strange events and sublime scenes it unfolds--andagitated by turns with the pity, the wonder, the terror, and theadmiration that matchless story must ever awaken,--I had forgotten everything beyond the page of the volume on which my finger was fixed.
It was only the rustling of Dromo's cloak against the edge of my chair,that made me aware my privacy was disturbed. His hands seemed to be busiedin tightening his girdle even before he was able to speak, and the firstwords he uttered, were--"Come, sir--this is no time for study. I haveacquaintance with some of the soldiers at the Capene Gate, and they willlet us pass through; but they are relieved at the next watch, and then weshall have no chance."--"And why," said I, hastily thrusting the scrollinto my bosom--"why, Dromo, or for what purpose should we desire to passthrough the Capene Gate at the dead hour of night?"--"Come," said he;"there is no time for explanation. It is simply because it is the deadhour of night that we must pass through the gate; for it would do nobodyany good to pass through at any other time. Come--or abandon Sextus to hisfate."
Thus adjured, I could not oppose any obstacle to his zeal. The chainedporter was lying asleep across the threshold; but Dromo had already foundmeans to have the door opened, so he leaped lightly over the man, and Iimitated his agility. The Cretan then locked the gate on the outside, bymeans of a key which he carried in his bosom; and I followed his rapidsteps without farther question.
This cunning varlet, (who seemed, indeed, to move as if he had a naturalaversion to every open place,) threaded one obscure lane after another,keeping always, where the moonlight had any access, to the dark side ofthe way; a person better skilled than myself might well have been somewhatpuzzled; as for me, I had not the least conception whither I was going.Close, however, did I adhere to him; and we reached the Capene Port, whichis on the south side of the city, not many bow-shots from the Anio, beforeI could have imagined it possible to traverse so great a spac
e.
Here Dromo told me to wait for him a single moment, and stepped down intoa cellar, in which a light was burning; but he staid not long, and when hereturned to me, I observed that his style of walking was more clumsy thanusual, which, indeed, was not to be wondered at, considering that he hadnow to carry, not only himself, but two huge skins of wine, intended, as Iat once suspected, for the purpose of facilitating our passage. I told himmy suspicion in a whisper; but he made no answer, except by handing to meone of his burdens. So laden, we crept on as well as we could to theportal, beneath the shadow of which two Praetorians were pacing, theirarmour ringing audibly upon them amidst the silence of the night.--Silentlydid the well-oiled hinges turn, and very silently stooping did we stepbeneath the lintel of the Capene Gate, which as silently was again madefast.
As we advanced among the funereal monuments which line the Appian Way oneither side, Dromo stood still every now and then for a moment, as if tolisten; but whatever he might have heard, or expected to hear, I perceivednothing, except here and there the howl of a dog, or the lazy hooting ofthe night-owl, from the top of some of the old cypresses that rose betweenus and the moon.
At last he seemed to catch the sound he had been expecting, for he startedsuddenly; and laying his finger on his lip, crept to the parapet.
The ground behind was more desolate of aspect than any part of that whichwe had traversed--stoney and hard, with here and there tufts of witheredfern; and immediately below the wall two human figures were visible. Theone was sitting on the ground, wrapped in a dark cloak which entirelyconcealed the countenance: the other was a half-naked boy, holding in astring a little new-shorn lamb, which with one of his hands he continuallycaressed. But forthwith the sitter arose, and throwing away the cloak,displayed the gray tangled tresses of an old woman, and two strong boneyarms, one of which was stretched forth with an impatient gesture towardsthe stripling, while the other was pointed upwards to the visible moon."Strike," said she, "strike deeply--beware lest the blood tinge your feetor your hands;"--and I recognized at once the voice of the same Pona thathad attracted my notice in the morning, at the foot of the Palatine.
The boy drew forth instantly a knife from his bosom, whose glitteringblade was buried in the throat of the yearling, and it was then first thatI perceived a small ditch dug between the boy and the woman, into which,the lamb's throat being held over it, the blood was made to drop from thewound. So surely had the blow been given, that not one bleat escaped fromthe animal, and so deeply, that the blood flowed in a strong stream,dashing audibly upon the bottom of the trench. And while it was dropping,the old woman muttering a sort of chant to Hecate, as I gathered, showeredfrom her girdle I know not what of bones or sticks, mingled with leavesand roots, which afterwards she seemed to be stirring about in the bloodwith one of the tall strong stems of the fern that grew there. Thewildness of her gestures was such, that I could not doubt she had herselfsome faith in the efficacy of the foul charms to which she had resorted;nor could I see her stirring that trench of innocent blood, withoutremembering the still more ruthless charms, whose practice the poets ofItaly have ascribed to such hoary enchantresses. The dreariness of themidnight wind, too, as it whistled along the bare and steril soil aroundus, and the perpetual variations in the light, by reason of the careeringof those innumerable clouds, and the remembrance of the funereal purposesfor which, as it seemed, all this region was set apart--the whole of thistogether produced, I know not how, a certain pressure upon my spirits, andI confess to you, I felt, kneeling there by the side of my now tremblingCretan, as if I owed him no great thanks for having brought me that nightbeyond the Capene Gate.
It seemed as if the goddess, to whom the witch's song had been addressed,did not listen to it with favourable ear; for the clouds gatheredthemselves more thickly than ever, while the wind howled only more loudlyamong the tombs, and the half-scared owl sent up a feebler hooting.Notwithstanding, the old woman continued fixed in the same attitude ofexpectation, and the stripling still held the well-nigh drained throat ofhis lamb above the trench. By degrees, however, the patience of bothseemed to be exhausted; and there arose between them an angry altercation."Infernal brat of Hades!" quoth the witch, "look ye, if you have notstained your filthy hands, and if the thirsty shadows be not incensed,because you have deprived them of some of the sweet blood which theylove!"--"Curse not me, mother," replied the boy--"Did you think, in truth,that the blood of a stolen lamb would ever propitiate Hecate?"--"Imp!"quoth she, "Hold thy peace, or I will try whether no other blood may makethe charm work better!"--"Beware!" quoth the boy, leaping backwards--"bewarewhat you do! I am no longer so weak that I must bear all your blows."
"Stop," cried I, "for there are eyes that you think not of, to take noteof your wickedness;" and in my vehemence I shook one of the great loosestones that were on the top of the wall, which rolled down and boundedinto the ditch beside them; and the woman, huddling her cloak over herhead, began to run swiftly away from us, along the wall over which we wereleaning. The boy only stood still for a moment, and looked upwards towardsthe place where we were, and then he also fled, but in the oppositedirection; and Dromo said to me in a very piteous whisper, but not tillboth were out of sight,--"Heaven and earth! was ever such madness as toscare the witch from her incantation? Alas! for you and for me, sir--and,most of all, alas for Sextus--for I fear me after this we shall have noluck in counteracting the designs of Rubellia."
"Rubellia! what? can you possibly imagine Rubellia to have any thing to dowith this madness?"
"Imagine?" quoth he; "do you need to be told, that if things had gone wellwith that woman and her ditch, we should never have been able to preserveSextus from her clutches?"
"By the rod of Hermes, good Dromo!" said I, "this will never do. I shallbelieve much on your credit, but not things quite so extravagant as this."
He made no reply save a long, incredulous, and, I think, contemptuouswhistle, which seemed to reach the ears of every owl between us and theAppian; with such a hooting and screeching did they echo its note fromevery cypress. And when Dromo heard that doleful concert, his dreadredoubled within him, for he shook from head to foot, while I held his armin mine; until, at last, he seemed to make one violent effort, andspringing on his feet, said--"Come, Master Valerius, let us behave afterall like men!"--I smiled when he said so--"The hour has not yet come, if myCalabrian friend is to be trusted, at which the lady was to visit Pona inher dwelling. It is but daring a little more. If she has seen and known usalready, then nothing can endanger us farther; and if she hath not, we mayescape again."--"Well spoken," said I, "most shrewd Dromo, and likeyourself; but what is it that you would have us to do?"--"The first thing,"he replied, "is what has already been too long delayed."
The Cretan produced from under his cloak a long fictitious beard, which heimmediately proceeded to fix upon his own face with a string. A thin tallcap of black cloth was next brought forth, which he fastened in likemanner around his brows; and a little piece of chalk, with which he onceor twice rubbed over his black bushy eye-brows, completed a disguisebeneath which I should certainly have sought in vain to discover any traceof the natural countenance of Dromo. In short, after a few changes in thefolding of his cloak, there stood before me a figure so venerablymysterious, that had I met it unawares at midnight, in the neighbourhoodof so many tombs, I am not sure, although of no superstitious temper, thatI could have regarded it without awe.
"Come now, good Master," quoth he, "you are taller than I, pluck me abranch from the nearest tree, and I think you shall confess I make adecent Soothsayer." In this it was easy to gratify him; for there was anold willow just a few yards off, and its boughs were so dry with age, thatI soon abstracted a very proper wand for him. After receiving which, hestood for a moment leaning on it in a dignified fashion, as if to rehearsean attitude worthy of his new vocation; and then said--"Well, sir, I thinkif the Lady Rubellia comes now, we shall be tolerably prepared for her.But I have no disguise for you; therefore, the moment you hear a f
ootstep,be sure you wrap your face in your gown, and stand behind me, for so shallyou best consult both your own concealment, and the dignity of thisAssyrian. There is no other way by which she can come from the Suburra,therefore we might stay very well where we are; but I think it might bestill better to await her coming where there are either tombs or largertrees to cast a shade over our equipage, in case the moon should take itinto her head to be more kind to us than she was to Pona."--"By all means,"said I, "most venerable man--and besides, the wind is rather chilly,therefore I shall be well pleased to have shelter as well as shade."
"You shall have both," quoth he; "there is a thick grove of pines only alittle way on. I believe there is a very grand tomb in the midst of them,in case you should prefer to sit under it.--By the bye," he continued,after some little pause, "it is odd enough that it should be so; but Ibelieve it is the very place where all that race of the Sempronii, towhich a certain young damsel belongs, have been burnt and buried eversince Rome was a city. You cannot see their tomb yet; but that is onlyfrom the thickness of the trees, some of which are, I suppose, even olderthan itself. Now I remember me, it was just there that they set up twowinters ago the funeral pile of old Caius--I mean the father of the LadyAthanasia, whom you saw at Capito's villa. They are a very noble race, andalthough none of the richest now-a-days, there is not a prouder in Rome. Isaw the procession at that old man's funeral myself, and I think theimages of his ancestors that they carried before him, would have reachedhalf way from hence to the Great Road. Grim, dusty figures, I trow theywere; but I doubt not there had been many a haughty captain among themwhen they were alive."
These words were spoken as we were moving onwards towards this same groveof pines, and before he had made an end of speaking, we could clearly hearthe wind sighing among their branches, and along the dry underground. Andon coming to them I found that he had said truly there was a tomb in themidst of them, for a very noble, high, circular tower was indeed there,which, from the grayness of its walls, and luxuriance of ivy, had theappearance of being at least as ancient as any of the surrounding trees.The only method of access to the inside, seemed to be by means of awinding stair, which rose on the exterior from the ground to the summit--amethod not unusual in Roman sepulchres--and it was on one of the steps ofthis stair that I seated myself, where, between the shaded wall on the oneside, and the pine branches on the other, I was effectually concealed. Asfor Dromo, I know not whether it was that he coveted not exactly suchclose proximity to the stones of such an edifice; but instead of ascendingwith me, he took up a position beside one of the largest pines overagainst me.
Although the moon had got rid of her clouds, and the sky, where any of itcould be seen, was abundantly brilliant, the natural darkness of thatfunereal grove was such, that very little difference could be produced inthe midst of it by any variation on the face of any nightly luminary. Thetower itself received some of the moonbeams on its carved surface; but itscontemporary trees participated not in any such illumination,--one solemnshade covering all things beneath the influence of their growth. "I canscarcely see you, Dromo," said I; "but I think that speck must be yourbeard, and if so, I beg you would tell me what it is you really have inview by all this preparation? Do you expect me to stay here on atomb-stone all night, merely because you wish to have an opportunity ofterrifying poor Rubellia by some ghost-like howl or other when she passesyou?--which, by the way, it seems by no means certain she will do at all.Or what is your purpose?"--"Hush!" was his answer; "ask no questions, buthem thrice if you hear a footstep--for young ears are the keenest."Accordingly silence was kept so strictly, that, in spite of the chillnessof the stone on which I sate, I presently fell into a sort of dozingslumber.
By degrees, however,--nor, considering the hour and the fatigue I hadundergone, is it wonderful that it should have been so,--my sleep must havebecome sufficiently profound, for I did not at first, on waking from it,very well remember either where I was, or for what purpose I had comethither. And, indeed, I have little doubt my slumbers might have continuedtill day-break, but for the interruption I am now to mention.
And yet it seemed as if even in my sleep I had been prepared for this bysome strange anticipation, for although it was a near sound of singingvoices that dispelled my slumbers, and made me start from the stone onwhich I had placed myself, I could not help feeling as if that sound werenot altogether new to me;--whether it were that the half-sensible ear hadbeen already ministering indistinctly to the dreaming spirit, or that somepurely fantastic prelude had been vouchsafed to the real music. I startedup suddenly, that much is certain, and listened with astonishment, yet notaltogether with such surprise as might have been expected to attend atransition so hasty from sleep to waking, and from silence to the nearneighbourhood of sounds at once so strange and so sweet. With breathlesscuriosity, nevertheless, with awe, and not entirely I think withoutterror, did I listen to the notes which seemed to ascend out of thehabitation of the noble dead into the nightly air--wild, yet solemn, as ifbreathed from the bosom of a stately repose and a pensive felicity;insomuch, that almost I persuaded myself I was hearing the forbiddensounds of another world, and the thought came over me,--yet almost I thinkat that moment without farther disturbing me,--what fearful interpretationsthe old poets have affixed to such untimely communion, and how thesuperstition of all antiquity has shrunk from its omen.
My first impulse, after a moment had elapsed, was to call on Dromo, and Idid so, at first in a low whisper, and then two or three times moreloudly--but all equally in vain, for no answer was returned; and though Istrained my eyes in gazing on the place where I had last seen him, yetthere I could perceive no trace whatever of any human figure. Themoonlight indeed shewed with more distinctness than before the tall stemof the old pine-tree against which he had been leaning; but no motion, northe least appearance of whiteness, could either my eyes or my imaginationdiscover there. I might easily, you will say, have stept across the road,and entirely satisfied myself; but I know not well what it was that nailedme to the place where I stood, and prevented me even from once thinking ofdoing so. The calm sepulchral music, my friends, still continued to streamfrom the recess of the mausoleum, and painless awe held me there, as if bya charm incontrollable. I gazed upwards, and beheld the moon riding abovethe black pine tops, in a now serene and cloudless heaven. The wind alsohad passed away, as it appeared, with the clouds it had agitated. The birdof night was asleep on her unseen bough; and all was silent as death,except only the dwelling of the departed; and a certain indescribabledelight was beginning, as I gazed and listened, to be mixed with theperturbation wherewith at first I had been inspired.
And I know not how long I might have stood so, but while I was yetlistening to this mysterious music, there was mingled with its expiringcadence the sound of a heavy footstep on the staircase above me, andlooking up, I perceived in the moonlight the figure of a man, clad in awhite gown, but having a naked sword stretched forth in his hand,immediately over the place whereon I was standing. I obeyed the firstnatural impulse, and leaped downwards swiftly on seeing him; but thisavailed me nothing, for he also leaped, and almost before my feet hadtouched the ground, I felt the grasp of his hand upon my shoulder, andthat so strongly, that I perceived plainly there was as little possibilityof escape as of resistance. I made therefore no farther effort, butsuffered him to do with me as he pleased; and he, on his part, said not asingle word, but still retaining his hold, pointed with his sword to thesame steps from which I had descended, and compelled me to mount thembefore him, up to the very summit of the round tower.
"Why is this, sir?" said I; "and whither do you conduct me?"
"Peace," was all his answer; and, in like manner as he had made me climbthe exterior, so also he compelled me to begin the descent of a similarflight of steps, which led down from an aperture above, into the interiorof the edifice. And although I must confess to you that I obeyed not thissilent guidance without considerable fear, yet I strove as well as I couldto control myself. I moved w
ith a step in which I think not there could beperceived any trembling.
Yet you will admit that even had I been master at that moment of lessfirmness, I might have been excusable; for looking down, I perceived thata lamp was burning in the midst of the sepulchral tower far below me, andsaw sitting around it a company of eight or ten persons, at whose mercy,it was quite visible, I must be placed. Neither, if I might judge from thedemeanour of the person that was bringing me into their assembly, didthere appear to be any great room for dependance on them; for, as tothemselves, not one of them looked up towards me as I was stepping down,and being wrapped in their cloaks, I had no means of discovering whatmanner of persons they were. The way in which I had been treated, however,by one of their number, was a sufficient evidence, either that theyconceived themselves to have been injured by my being there, or that theywere capable of taking some undue advantage of my helpless condition. Thecalmness of their attitudes, and the recollection of the sounds that I hadheard, inclined me to the former of these suppositions; and when Iperceived that not one of them stirred, even till I had reached thelowmost step of the interior staircase, in this, without question, Ialready felt myself considerably strengthened.
"Behold," said my guide, as I at length touched the marble floor of themausoleum itself--"Behold proof, and that living, that my suspicions werenot quite so groundless as you were pleased to imagine. Here is a man whomI found listening, even on the very steps of this tower. It is for you todecide what shall be done with the eaves-dropper."
With this the whole company sprung at once to their feet, and I perceivedevidently, from the surprise expressed in their looks and attitudes, thatuntil that moment not one of them had been aware of my approach. I wasabout to speak, and declare my innocence of any treachery, or even of anyknowledge concerning the purpose of their meeting; but before I could doso, one of them, and I think the oldest of all that were present, havingin an instant recovered the tranquillity which my arrival had disturbed,said to me in a voice of the utmost gentleness, "Young man, what hasbrought thee hither, or who sent thee? Art thou indeed a spy, and was itthy purpose to betray our assembly?"
"Sir," said I, "I know nothing of your assembly, or of its purpose; I fellasleep by accident on the outside of this tower, and, when I awoke, themusic that I heard detained me."
"Examine the stripling," quoth he that had conducted me--"examine hisperson."--"His looks belie him," replied the senior, "if you have cause forsuspicion. But if you will it so, search the young man." And with that myguide, laying his unsheathed sword upon a table, or altar of black marble,proceeded to search my garments, and finding in my bosom the scroll whichI had received from Tisias, he glanced on it for a moment, and thenhanding it to the senior, said, "Now, sirs, doubt ye if ye will."--"Beforeheaven--it is the book of the holy Luke!" said the other; "this is indeedsuspicious. How came this scroll into thy hands, young man? Art thou awarethat one of the books of the Christians has been found in thy bosom?"--"Iknow it," said I; "it is one of the books of their faith, and I have readin it this evening for the first time."--"Then thou art not thyself aChristian?"--"I received the book from one Christian," said I, waiving thequestion; "and I made promise to deliver it into the hands ofanother?"--"Name the Christian who gave thee this book!" said my sternguide.--"Tisias of Antioch," I replied; "the same who died yesterday in theAmphitheatre."--"Yes," quoth he, again; "and I suppose it was there he gaveit to you. Every one knows the name of Tisias. Name, if you please, theperson to whom you are to deliver the book."--"You shall pardon me," saidI, "that I will not. You may call me an eaves-dropper, if you will; butyou shall find I am no traitor. It is a Roman--a noble Roman lady to whom Imust give this book; and I would not tell you her name although you shouldslaughter me here in this tomb, which I have entered living and withoutguilt." And having said this, I folded my arms, and stood still, abidingtheir will.
But scarcely had I finished these words, ere I felt a small trembling handlaid upon my shoulder, and looking round, I perceived Athanasia herself,who whispered into my ear,--"Valerius, was the book for me? If so, you maysay it boldly, and I will vouch for your word."--"For you, lady," Ianswered in the same tone, "and for none other. You well know that I waspresent in his prison the night before his death; so far at least you canconfirm what I have said."
"Sir," said she, addressing the old man that had before questioned me, "Iknow this young man: and I believe what he has said, and will beanswerable for his fidelity. It was he that went in to our friend theother night in his prison, and the book was intrusted to him by the oldman, that it might be given into my hands. His name is Valerius--CaiusValerius--and he is by birth a noble Roman."
"Say you so, lady?" interrupted my original conductor; "then I ask hispardon. I have wronged Caius Valerius; but both you and he must forgiveme, for it must be confessed he was found in a very extraordinarysituation."
"Even so," I replied, "I have nothing to complain of. I perceive that I ampresent in an assembly of Christians; but he shall do me much wrong thatthinks I bear any enmity to them,--or, from all that I have yet seen orread, to the faith which they profess. I have read part of that book," Icontinued, "for I made promise to Tisias that I should do so before givingit to Athanasia; and I trust I shall still be permitted by her to readmore of it before it is finally demanded from me."--"Oh, read it!" saidAthanasia, gently again whispering to me. "Oh yes, read the book,Valerius, and may God enlighten the reader." And so saying, she herselftook up the scroll from the table on which it was lying, and gave it againinto my hands.--"There was also a letter for you," said I, receiving it,"but that I left at home."--"No matter," said Athanasia, "you shall give methe letter and the book both together hereafter."
"In the meantime," said I, "I suppose it were better I should retire."
"Young sir," said the senior, "that is as you please; in a little while weshall all be moving towards the city. Stay with us till then, if such beyour will; that which you may hear, can at least do you no harm. Already,I doubt not, you have seen enough to despise the ignorant calumnies of ourenemies."
When he had said so, the old man walked to the side of the sepulchre, andtook out from behind one of the urns that stood there, (ranged in theirniches,) a small casquet, which, returning, he placed before him on themarble table. Then, opening the casquet, he brought forth a silver goblet,and a salver containing some little pieces of bread; and, untying from hisneck a massive cross of gold, he set that also on the table, between thecup and the salver. In brief, the Christian priest, (for such, as youalready see, he was,) had finished his preparation, and was about tocommence the administration of the blessed Eucharist. And when all therest were kneeling before the table, Athanasia, laying her hand upon myarm, beckoned to me to kneel by her side; and so indeed I would have donein my ignorance, had not the priest himself pointed to a station a fewyards behind the lady, to which, accordingly, I drew back--apart from thosewho were to be privileged with the participation of those holy symbols.
Scarcely had they composed themselves in their places, and listened to thefirst words of the appointed service, when I, standing there by myself,thought, unless my ears deceived me, there must be some one on the outerstair-case of the tower; and my eyes instinctively, I suppose, were fixedupon the aperture, which, as I have told you, was in the high roof abovethe circle of the niched walls. Here, however, when I first looked, therewas nothing to be seen, but the round spot of the sky, far up in the midstof the marble roof; but while I was looking steadfastly, that space wassuddenly diminished; and a dog bayed, and at the same moment a voice whichI well knew, screamed, "I have them--I hold them--let them burst the net ifthey can."
The cry of Pona disturbed effectually the Christian priest, and the wholeof those that were with him. Rising up hastily from their knees, theystood all together around the table, while the old man, having kissed boththe cup and the cross, restored them as quickly as he could to the casketfrom which they had been taken. But while the priest was doing this, hethat found me o
n the stair appearing to revert into his suspicion, andlooking sternly upon me where I stood, said, "Is this then the innocencewhich we spared! Is this the noble Roman for whom Athanasia pledgedherself? Speak, brethren, what shall be done to this traitor, by whom,even more than by those dogs of the tombs, it is a shame for us that wehave been hunted?" Saying so, the man lifted up his sword again, and itseemed as if he would have smitten me to the ground without fartherquestion. But Athanasia threw herself swiftly between him and me. "Forshame, Cotilius," said she; "such suspiciousness is unworthy of a Romanknight."--"You say well, noble damsel," quoth the old priest, interruptingher; "but you might say also that such cruelty is unworthy of a soldier ofChrist. Peace, peace, children; there is no evil in the youth, nor, ifthere were, would it be our part to avenge it."
While he was saying this, three or four blazing torches were thrust downinto the place from above, and Athanasia, laying her hand upon my arm,said, "Look up, Caius, I see helmets.--Alas! am I not already here? why, ifthey will slay me, should they drag me away now from the tomb of myfathers?" I felt the trembling of her hands, and she leaned upon myshoulder. I know not, I will confess to you, whether at that moment Itasted more of pleasure or of pain.
But by this time several of the soldiers had already begun to descend intothe tower, and before another minute had elapsed, we found ourselvessurrounded by the flame of their torches. And he that seemed to lead theparty, after counting us one by one, said, turning to his companions,"Well, an old woman has told the truth for once--here are even more I thinkthan she warned us of.--Come along, worthy people, you must not keep theTribune waiting for you all night, and our watch is well-nigh expiredalready. Come, mount the stair--it will take a good half hour yet, Ibelieve, to lodge you all safely in the Tullian--And do you," he added,laying his hand on the hilt of Cotilius' sword--"do you, brave sir, allowme to save you the trouble of carrying this bauble." Nor was the sternknight so foolish as to dispute the command; but having yielded up hissword, he forthwith began to ascend, one or two spearmen preceding himwith their torches. The priest followed, and so did the rest; the lastbeing Athanasia and myself.
On every side around the old tower, when I looked from the summit of it, Iperceived foot soldiers drawn up in a double line, while the road alongwhich I had come with Dromo, was occupied by a band of horsemen, one ofwhom moved forward when he saw us descending, as if to take cognizance ofthe number and quality of the surprised assembly. His long cloak beingmuffled about his ears as he sate, and the shadow of his helmet fallingdeeply, I did not at first suspect who it was; but he had not counted halfthe party to the superior Officer behind him, ere I recognized him fromthe sound of his voice; and who, think ye, should it be but my good friendSabinus?
The Centurion, when his eye detected me, checked his horse so sharply thatthe animal bounded into the air; and, "Valerius!" quoth he, "ha! by thelife of Caesar, what is the meaning of this? Valerius in a Christiansynagogue! By all the gods, there must be some mistake." But before I, inmy confusion, could make any answer to these exclamations, his eye chancedto glance on Athanasia, who, trembling, still retained the support of myarm; whereupon, "Ha! ha!" said he, in a quite different tone of voice,"there is a lady in the case." And then, stooping in his seat, hewhispered, half laughing, into my ear, "My most hypocritical smooth-face,you shall see what is the consequence of bringing these transatlanticpranks of yours to Rome. By Hercules, you wild dog, it may cost you somelittle trouble to get out of this scrape."
Having said so, he turned his horse, and rejoining the troop, appeared toenter into close conversation with him who sate at the head of the line.Of what my friend said, I could catch nothing more than certain vehementoaths, while, all the time, the Tribune (for such he was) continued toshake his head, in a way significant at once of doubt and determination.The end was, that he pointed with his sword; and Sabinus forced his horsebackwards, at one plunge, into the place from which he had advanced.
Our party were immediately separated one from another. I saw the priestlifted on a mule and hurried away towards the city, with a horseman oneach hand of him. The fiery Cotilius, and one or two more, were compelledto follow, with similar attendance, in the same direction; others, again,had their horses' heads turned more to the westward--but all departed atspeed, and were soon lost to my view among the projections of the tombs.The last that remained to be disposed of were Athanasia and myself, andfor a moment I had some hope that we might perhaps be intrusted to thesame guards; but this hope was in vain, and after I perceived that it wasso, scarcely even was time permitted to me for bidding her farewell. Tokiss her hand, and to whisper a single word of parting hope into her ear,was all I could do. A tear rolled from her cheek and fell upon my hand;yet she smiled faintly upon me, and "Hope," said she--"yes, dear Valerius,Hope and Faith both go with me." And with that the pale maiden wasseparated from the arm to which she had trusted, and I saw her alsomounted and borne away rapidly. A moment after, I found myself, in likemanner, seized and lifted upon a horse, and almost before I could lookaround me, we had escaped from the flare of the torches, and the crowd ofthe soldiery, and were stretching at a rapid pace, I knew not whither,although I suspected, from the width of the road, that we had regained theAppian.
But I have forgotten to mention to you, that just at the moment when theywere lifting Athanasia upon the mule that was to bear her from my sight,my eye caught a glimpse of the witch Pona, who was sitting at the root ofone of the pine-trees, close to the tower. And behind her stood, leaningagainst the tree, a figure wrapped in a rich red cloak, which I suspectedto be a female also, but could not be certain, because the countenance wasconcealed in the folds of the garment. To this person, whoever it mightbe, the witch turned round eagerly, while the soldiers were carrying offAthanasia. I saw no more, for, as I have told you, immediately afterwardsI also was carried away.
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