Valerius. A Roman Story

by J. G. Lockhart

  _CHAPTER VII._

  We stopped before one of the watch-towers which, as I have told you, I hadseen scattered along the edge of the sea. But this, when we came up to it,appeared larger than I had expected to find any of them. The narrow way,alongst which we had been riding, brought us close to its gate, on theside towards the land; but the rock shelving rapidly on the other side,gave it the semblance, at a little distance, of being suspended over thewaves.

  It was a building of rude, and apparently very antique structure, theunder part square, but the upper circular; as is, for the most part, theold Roman fashion in such erections. And this, indeed, I doubt not, mighthave stood there long enough to have shewn a beacon, when some fleet ofSyracuse or Carthage darkened the blue sea over against the Lestrigonianbay renowned in old song, or the snow-white promontory of Gaieta.

  One of the soldiers dismounted, and began to knock rather violently at thedoor; but some little time elapsed ere any sound from within responded tothe clamour he raised. At last a hard and withered face made itsappearance at a little opening above the door, and then the helmetspassed, I suppose, for a sufficient warrant, for in a twinkling we heardthe bolts creaking; the old postern was soon set ajar, and forth steppedthe venerable keeper. Imagine a tall, skinny man of threescore years, witha face as dry and yellow as ye have seen on the outside of a pye, and hairas white as ever the skill of a confectioner could represent, and legsbearing the same proportion to the feet, which the shaft of Saturn'sscythe usually does to its blade. Clothe the nether part of this figure inDacian, or Gaulish breeches, throw a somewhat threadbare cloak over hisshoulders, and to finish the outfit, deck his head with a casque of theMacedonian cut, that is to say, sitting close above the ears, and toppedwith a bristling plume of horse hair. The Warder stood with dignity, andlistened with gravity, while one of my Praetorians whispered his message.On its conclusion, he shrugged his shoulders, and regarding me with aglance made up, I think, in pretty equal proportions, of surprise andcontempt, signified by the motion of his hand that we might all threeenter. He whistled at the same moment, and there came forth a comelydamsel, who, with many blushes and smiles, took possession of the reins ofour horses.--"Stand there," quoth he, "stand there, little Cestia, and seeif there be never a handful of corn to be got for the prince'scattle,--stand there, and we shall be with you again anon." And then healso whispered something into the maiden's ear, and I saw her looking atme from under her eyelids with an expression of very uncommon curiosity.Two or three curly-pated urchins, of different sizes, joined her at thesame moment, and to them, in her turn, the maiden whispered; whereupon theeldest of the children retreating behind her, eyed me earnestly along theskirt of her tunic, while the younger ones continued to gaze where theywere, with looks of open stupidity and wonder. Of all this I could makenothing at the moment, but when we had got fairly into the inside of thetower, I heard the children whispering to each other, "A Christian! AChristian! A Jew! A Jew!"

  The lower part of the tower, into which I had now been conducted, seemedto form nothing more than one huge, bare, and quadrangular apartment,serving, I supposed (and rightly) at once as hall and vestibule to theupper chambers contained within the walls. A small flight of steps, in oneof the corners, seemed to afford the only means of access to what wasabove; but from the position of a door immediately below these, it was weinferred that there were vaults under ground. Close beside this door therestood, upon a very rude pedestal, a still more rude bust, either ofJupiter, of Apollo, or of Hercules. The workmanship was such, that I couldnot be very certain which of the family it was intended to represent, norwhether the principal appendage was a club, a lyre, a bow, or athunder-bolt; but it did not escape my observation, that the old keepercrept as close as he could to the sacred stone, as soon as I stepped overthe threshold.

  One of the little boys that had come out to the door on our arrival,busied himself in setting forth a wooden board, whereon he placed in greatorder a huge piece of yellow cheese, and a heap of crisp white cakes ofrye. A large jug of water also garnished the mess; but there seemed to bea little less of diligence, or more of difficulty, about the wine. Aftersome pause, however, the mistress of the garrison appeared. A string ofamber beads floated to and fro on the ocean of her bosom. She had finegolden bracelets on her arms too, but they were only half seen, beingalmost buried in fat; and she wore a flaxen wig, which did not entirelyconceal the dark bristles below. At the girdle of the amazon hung, on theright side, the much desiderated bunch of keys, being balanced on the leftby a dagger and toothpick case, almost of equal dimensions.

  "Will _you_ drink to Caesar, young man?" cried the matron, ere the sittinghad been much prolonged; "will you drink honestly to the Emperor, in caseyou also have a full cup given you? and, by the by, I think you must havealmost as much need of it as the rest." And, with this courteousinvitation, I heard her whisper to one of my guards,--"By Jove, 'tis aproper lad, after all; is this true that they have told me of him? Why, Ibelieve, the young man has a red edge to his gown. What is his name? whois he?"--I heard him answer,--"By the life of Caesar, you know as much abouthim as any of us. There was a whole cluster taken last night a little waybeyond the Capene-Gate, and he was one; but what they were about, or whohe is, I know not, only he is certainly somebody, for I saw our Centurionsalute him."--"I saw him with Sabinus," whispered the other--"I am quitesure of it, the last day the Amphitheatre was open; they sate together,and appeared familiar."--"I pray you, sir," quoth the lady, raising hervoice,--"I pray you fill your cup, and here I pledge you to our betteracquaintance. You shake your head--well. But what must be, must; and whileyou are with us, we may at least be good friends."--"Thanks," said I,complying with her command; "Here, then, is health to all present; andfair health to the great Trajan, says no one here more heartily than I."--Idrank off the wine, and setting down the goblet, I believe I said,"Excellent, by Jove," or something of that sort; for they all started whenthey heard what I said, and the old woman called out lustily, "Fill himanother cup to the brim, whether he be Christian or not. The young man atleast swears by the gods, and drinks to Caesar."

  "The old man," observed one of the soldiers,--"he that was killed the otherday in the Amphitheatre--he might have saved his head, even at the lastmoment, if he would have done as much."--"Well, well," quoth she again;"let every one mind his own matters. Husband, bring down your book, andlet the new-comer enter his name with his own hand."

  Having drained his cup, the keeper rose, and ere long returned with amusty scroll of parchment, which, having blown away the dust from it, hepresented to me. I glanced over the record, and found in it the names ofvarious persons, all apparently entered in their own handwriting; and mostof them, as I could perceive, bearing date in the troublous reign ofDomitian. The last was that of Marcus Protius Lamontanus, who, as itseemed, had been set free from his confinement immediately on theaccession of Nerva; and immediately under this I wrote my own name, withthat of my birthplace. The keeper read, and said, "So preserve me thepower of Jove! A Valerius! and born in Britain! Can you be the son of thesame Valerius who was Centurion in the ninth legion under Agricola?"--"Youhave guessed rightly--I am the same."--"Then the more is the pity," hereplied, in a grave voice, "that you should have entered, in such a caseas this, the dwelling of one that was a true soldier beneath the eagle ofyour father. But forgive me if in any thing we have beendisrespectful."--"There is no occasion," said I, "for any such apology. Iam here as a prisoner, and have been treated with all courtesy beyond whata prisoner could expect."

  "By Hercules!" interrupted the spouse, "I thought I had some knowledge ofthe face--Well, I hope ten years hence he will be as fine a man as hisfather was the day he slew the Caledonian giant, and tumbled him from hischariot in front of all the line--yes, in sight of Galgacus himself. It wasthe same day," said she, turning to her lord, "that you were takenprisoner, and driven away into the woods."--"As witness these marks," quoththe man; and with that he stripped open his tunic, and disp
layed part ofhis breast, stamped with various figures of blue and yellow, after thenorthern fashion, and bearing withal the traces of two formidable wounds.

  The woman redoubled her kindness; but not wishing to interrupt festivity,I soon requested her to shew me the place where I was to be confined. And,indeed, as you may imagine, I had by this time not a little need ofrepose.

  Both she and her husband accordingly rose to usher me to my prison. I gavemoney to the soldiers, and requested them to inform Sabinus of the placeto which I had been conveyed; but did not choose to write any thing,either to him or to Licinius, until I should have had a little time forreflection.