“I find no fault with thee,” said Caius. “The messenger was sent to me and I have fully questioned him. Also word came from the procurator that I trouble thee not, for Herod must be allowed to direct his own affairs. If he have hired good swordsmen, surely his galley is in safe keeping.”
Ulric looked at him darkly, for the voice of Caius was as of one who mocketh bitterly.
“O Caius,” said the jarl, “if thou wilt hear me, I have another affair upon my mind. I like not the appearance of thy sore.”
“Jarl of the Saxons,” exclaimed the centurion, “I seem to myself to be rotting away. I am as one who hath the leprosy. But what knowest thou of any healing?”
“Only this that I have heard this day,” said Ulric. “I would have thee live until the arrival of this Jesus of Nazareth. He cometh now to the feast of the Jews. He is of the sons of the gods. Did he not heal me? And may he not also do something for thee?”
“O that he might come quickly!” said Caius. “But the gods can do little for such a torment as mine. There are many things which are too much for them. But I will see him when he cometh. I would make him rich with gifts if he would heal me.”
“I will watch for him,” said the jarl. “I may not go again to the circus——”
“Go not!” exclaimed Caius. “Remain much with me. O Saxon, when this fire burneth within me I would gladly fall upon my sword but that it would please my enemies. But if thou goest out now, return quickly. Of this be thou sure in thy mind, that I will not permit thee to enter the circus. Thy sword will have better business. I will speak of thee again to the procurator. A messenger from him hath arrived. Leave me with him.”
More words might not be spoken and the jarl went out, but it could be understood that with difficulty did the centurion restrain himself and conceal from all the extremity of his suffering from that deadly thing.
“I will go to the house of Ben Ezra,” thought Ulric. “Already have I made sure that there are fewer enemies to bring peril upon Miriam and her people. I will see if the Jew hath well attended to his portion of her business. But unless help cometh to him speedily, Caius will surely die.”
* * *
CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Son of Abbas.
LONG AND THOUGHTFULLY AND with many questionings did Ben Ezra listen to the jarl in an inner chamber of his house. “Thou hast done well,” he said, at last, “but trust thou not too much the favor of the great. Neither be thou too sure concerning their power. The leaves fall from all the trees in due season. Full of jealousy and of suspicion and of murder are all they who prosper under Cæsar. In the day and in the night is there a weapon not far from any of them. So deal they with others. A Roman friend is ever also a Roman enemy holding a knife, and by the hands of their friends do men die continually at Rome.”
“That do I believe,” said Ulric. “I will be exceedingly prudent. But, O my friend, what hast thou done concerning Miriam?”
“I have done all thus far,” said Ben Ezra. “I did but need to buy the good-will of the judge and one peril passed away. To him and to another I could both pay more and promise more than was in the will of Abbas. But thou, O jarl, hast thou seen the face of this Roman dealer in slaves?”
“That peril also hath departed,” said Ulric. “I am told that a man in haste met him in the valley of Hinnom. The patrol found him there in their passing, and his head lay at six cubits’ length from his body.”
“He had many enemies,” said Ben Ezra, thoughtfully. “One may even have followed him from the city. I have now another word for thee concerning Abbas, now that thou hast heard the procurator upon the judgment seat give authority to all such as thou art concerning the taking of his son. The robbers are a power in Jerusalem and the sword of Bar Abbas is against thee.”
“I have never seen him,” said Ulric.
“Then will I tell thee of his face,” said Ben Ezra, and he minutely did so, line by line.
“Fear not,” said Ulric. “I would now know that man if but half his face were shown.”
“He is said to be cunning in disguises,” replied Ben Ezra, “but his best keeper is the fear of men that by denouncing him they may bring upon themselves secret daggers and a vengeance which faileth not.”
“No fear have I,” muttered Ulric, “but how am I to find him!”
“I trust that thou wilt be prospered in that matter,” said Ben Ezra, “but I have this much more for thee. It behooved me to bring both Miriam and Isaac to this house, that I might cover them until this peril pass. Roman eyes that thou knowest not may have looked upon her. We must wait. The slaying of one slave dealer may but make needful the hiring of another by some great one. The house in which Isaac dwelt was but hired, and another taketh it, that he and his may be thrust out. The net is a wide one.”
“Evil! Evil! Evil!” exclaimed Ulric. “This city is full of injustice! No such thing could be among the North peoples. I saw no thief ever, nor a purchased jarl or judge, until I came southward.”
“So doth the whole land groan,” said Ben Ezra. “So doth the blood of the innocent cry out unto Jehovah.”
“Why, then, answereth he not?” shouted Ulric, vehemently. “Surely the god of a people should come to their help in such a distress, else they will surely say of him that he is no god at all.”
“So have said many,” groaned Ben Ezra, “and I grow weary in heart waiting for a Messiah who doth not come. O that our King were already here. Peace, now, O jarl, concerning him. But I will tell thee of Miriam that thou mayest not have speech with her this night. Be thou not also her enemy, to do her harm.”
“Where is indeed thy god,” said Ulric, “if any hurt may come to such as she is?”
“O jarl,” said Ben Ezra, “all Jerusalem hath heretofore been heaped with the slain, and the maidens of Zion were led away captive, because of the anger of Jehovah. Dost thou not understand? We do suffer for our sins and for the sins of our fathers.”
“I think the gods do not well in such matters,” said Ulric. “They are not just. Surely justice becometh well a brave god. He should not strike down the innocent ones with those who are guilty of evil.”
“I know not the counsel of the Most High,” said Ben Ezra. “His judgments are a great deep, but they are just and righteous altogether.”
“No man,” said the jarl, “findeth fault with a stroke of a sword fairly given, since he who dieth in battle goeth to Valhalla and hath attained his inheritance from his brave ancestors. I myself wait for the valkyrias, and I am often weary thinking of the gods and of Asgard. Who would avoid a sword if it were in the hand of a brave warrior in battle? Not I, Ulric, the son of Brander.”
“Thou art a mighty man of valor,” said Ben Ezra. “I have thought of thee that thou art almost as a son of Abraham. Go thou to thy sleeping, for this house must be even more thy abiding place than is the house of Caius now thy companions are departed.”
Sleep came as to one who is weary both in mind and body, but early upon the morrow the two friends were together again taking counsel.
“O Jew,” said the jarl, “I am ill at ease concerning my men. Would that I might see them this day and make sure of their welfare.”
“So often doth one think of those who are departed from him,” said Ben Ezra; “but have thou a care that thou inquire not imprudently. All that I may learn I will tell thee when thou comest again. It is well for thee to go now.”
Out walked the jarl, going along a corridor which led toward the door into the street.
“Very wonderful is all this,” he thought. “A strange place is this city of Jerusalem, with its many rulers and its secrets of the gods and of the old time, and with these things which are done here. Of what good is it that it hath so great a temple and so many priests?”
At that moment there came to his ears a beautiful, low music murmuring through the cool air of the corridor.
“Ulric, art thou here?”
“Miriam!” he exclaimed, turning to listen.
“O, I t
hank thee that thou hast come,” she said. “I have had such fear upon me! Much rather would I die. One moment I must see thee and speak to thee! Tarry a moment!”
“More I may not do, O Miriam,” he said, with a great light rising in his eyes. “But I have given my promise to Ben Ezra and to thy God concerning thee that no harm shall come upon thee. I will but look upon thy face.”
“Thou art wonderful!” she said, and then they saw not aught of all the world except each other for that breathing space.
“O thou,” she whispered, “I know not if thou art of the heathen or if I am of Abraham’s seed. O what but death should part me and thee!”
“I think not even death,” he said, “seeing that we go to one place after the sword cometh. But if indeed thy Jehovah be a god and if he have given me to thee, I will offer to him many sacrifices. I must go forth now, for I have many things to do for thee and for a friend. If this Jesus of Nazareth arriveth, I must have speech with him. I have told thee how he healed me.”
“So must I see him,” she said. “I listened to him many times in Galilee. He is a very learned rabbi and I would hear him again.”
“He is more than a rabbi,” said Ulric. “He is a god—and he knoweth the other gods. I would ask him concerning Asgard and Valhalla and concerning thee. Thy slave dealer is dead, O Miriam, and soon will I deal justly with this Abbas and those who are with him.”
“Thou art my warrior!” she exclaimed. “Thou art as one of the heroes of Israel. I trust thee!”
“Farewell!” he said stepping quickly away from her, but no word escaped her lips. She did but seem to hold back her hand from its purpose of detaining him, and her breath came and went rapidly as he passed out at the door. Then her voice came again and she said, looking upward:
“O thou Jehovah of Hosts, my God, hast thou not made him also? How am I better than he that I should be withheld from him? Do I not love him?”
The feet of Ulric went but slowly from the house of Ben Ezra, and he paid little heed to their guiding, but they brought him to the house of Caius of Thessalonica and the warder of the portal stood before him.
“I have a word for thee, O swordsman,” he said. “Thou art well arrived.”
“Say on,” said Ulric.
“Even now, O Saxon, the procurator himself is with our master Caius and with them is the governor of Joppa. Thou mayest not go in. But pass thou to the Damascus gate, for Caius would know of the arrival of this Galilean healer. It is reported that he is near at hand. Also the procurator would have speech with thee when Caius will send thee to him. These are thy commands and thou wilt do them.”
“Say thou, O warder,” replied Ulric, “that I go as I am bidden. Well for thee and for us all if the centurion were cured of this evil. Thou wilt fall into no better hands than his if he dieth. I am his friend, and he suffereth.”
“Go! Go!” said the warder, earnestly. “All the gods forbid that he should die. If this same Jew rabbi will not heal Caius, it is thy duty to slay him with thy sword.”
“Speak thou only good concerning him,” said Ulric, sternly. “What hast thou to do with a sword? I go.”
The warder stepped backward a pace, for not many men willed to stand before the jarl when his hand seemed to be seeking for the hilt of his seax.
“A sudden man!” he muttered, as he watched his going. “And they say he hath cleft both a lion and a tiger in one combat and that he would wear no armor. A man’s head might go from his shoulders as if it were but a flower from a stem. His eye is a fire!”
“I would I better knew the streets,” said the jarl, as he strode swiftly onward. “I learn them but slowly, for they are very many and they are crooked and the city is great. Whither, now, shall this one lead me?”
As in an unknown path, therefore, he went on, thinking of many things. The way led him over a hill and through a valley and to a gate in the outer wall that he knew well. Here were Roman guards standing at rest, hindering none, and Ulric halted near them. “Many go out,” he thought, “but a multitude cometh yonder along the road across the Mount of Olives. I will wait and see.”
Nearer and nearer along the broad highway poured a vast throng of people, while through the gate passed on a tide which went to mingle with them. Many of those who were coming bore in their hands branches of palm trees and they were shouting joyously.
“What is this which they sing?” said Ulric. “What is the meaning of ‘Hosanna in the highest,’ and who is David, and what is his son? It is a saga of the Jews. The whole city is stirred up behind me. This is a wonder!”
Across the valley and then up toward the gate came on the multitude. Among them were some who took off their outer robes and cast them upon the road before an ass and before his rider, shouting and singing.
“I have heard them say ‘a king,’” said Ulric. “But here is no king. None of these men are armed. What saith the procurator to this business?”
“O gladiator of Caius of Thessalonica,” suddenly responded a legionary of the guard of the gate, “thou art but a sword. What careth Pontius the Spearman for a mob of women and children? We know thee that thou art accounted trustworthy, and thou doest well to inquire concerning any tumult of the Jews, but this is no affair of either thine or ours.”
“I meddle not,” said the jarl. “I am under orders from the centurion and from the procurator, but I may watch this matter.”
“Watch,” said the officer. “Thou art in thy duty. We hinder thee not. But who art thou?”
The man whom he now addressed was plainly a Jew, in sordid raiment, tall and strong, but who was eyeing the jarl with an evil eye, and his manner was insolent.
“I am a servant of the high priest and I am here by his command,” said the Jew. “There is an order for the arrest of this gladiator.”
“Let no accursed Jew take upon him that business,” laughed the officer. “Thy high priest hath enough to settle with the procurator. But whither goest thou from hence?”
“I go to the gate of the valley of Hinnom,” replied the Jew, “and thou mayest not detain me.”
“O officer,” said Ulric, who had been searching the Jew with keen inspection, “I have an errand to that gate and know not the way overwell. I pray thee that thou command him to guide me after I have seen this present matter.”
“I object not to that,” said the Jew, with a fierce glitter in his eyes, “so that he touch me not to render me unclean against the Passover feast.”
“Curse thy uncleanness!” said the Roman, haughtily. “Thou needest not to touch him; but I would he might have a commandment to touch thee. O gladiator, I am told that thou art a sure blade, the slayer of the great Numidian lion. I hope to see thee slay another yet in the circus, but take not the head from this worthless one until thou art duly bidden to smite him.”
“As thou doest so do I,” said Ulric. “Shall a soldier question his captain?”
“Not if that commander be one Pontius the Spearman,” replied the officer, “or even Caius of Thessalonica. Thou art right, O gladiator. None will interfere with thee and thy sharp edge.”
“Stand by, thou,” said Ulric to the Jew. “I will be with thee presently.”
But now the man became seemingly cringing and friendly in his deportment, bowing low and standing in silence awaiting direction.
Nearer and nearer came the multitude along the highway and toward the gate. Ulric heard many of them shouting:
“This is Jesus of Nazareth, the Prophet of Galilee! He is the son of David! He is the King of Israel. He is the one who was to come! This is the Messiah, the deliverer!”
Others there were who loudly gainsaid these acclamations, protesting indignantly; but Ulric’s thoughts were full of astonishment.
“I see that the man upon the ass is Jesus. I know that he is of the sons of the gods. This is a wonderful affair. But why cometh he now without an army into a fortified city which hath a Roman garrison? Odin! There is no prudence in this coming! They will slay him before
he hath opportunity to gather men for one good legion.”
So pondering in his mind, he watched until the ass and his rider passed by him through the gate and into the city.
“I have again seen his face,” he said. “I may not have speech with him at this time. But I will take upon me this other errand and see unto what it will lead me. O thou, my guide, we will depart.”
“Come, O gladiator,” said the Jew. “It is well for thee to have me with thee among so many crooked streets. Touch me not. But what are thy commandments?”
“Hold thou thy peace concerning them,” replied the jarl. “Lead on!”
Hot wrath burned for a moment in the face of the tall Jew, but he obeyed, girding himself and striding forward, but the officer of the gate laughed derisively.
“The dog Jew,” he said, “will do well not to stir the temper of a Saxon. His head were loosened from his shoulders too quickly. I will not fail to see that fellow in the circus. It mattereth not to me what work there may be for his blade in Hinnom.”
“Dost thou not bear in mind,” said one of the legionaries, “a certain slave dealer and the loosening of his head? This same gladiator was seen that day at the Hinnom gate, but the guards were bidden to forget him.”
“Thou thyself rememberest too much,” said the officer, sternly. “Forget that thou hast seen him here this day. But it is good sport to slay Jews. I would there might soon be another tumult. I have made the floor of the temple red with the blood of Galileans. The procurator may have a sharp teaching for more of them during this Passover gathering.”
So talked the soldiers of Rome, but the jarl was silent and moody as he walked until he and his guide were drawing near to the southerly wall of the city. Then he spoke quietly, as a man may speak to his friend, one whom he hath known well aforetime.
“O thou,” he said, “when hast thou seen thy father, Abbas, and what did he give unto thee concerning me?”
The guide turned suddenly, scowling and trembling, but he responded:
“How knowest thou me? The guards knew me not, nor did any other, for I am changed for that reason. What hast thou to do with Abbas, and what is thy purpose?”
Ulric the Jarl Page 35