PART II.
CHAPTER I.
THE QUEEN OF THE WAYS.
There was much bustle and confusion throughout the little inn atSinuessa. August was just closing, and the midday summer sun beat downtoo fiercely to permit of comfortable travel save toward morning ornight. The inn-keeper had hurried out and stood in the roadway, bowingand wreathing his face with smiles of welcome, while, behind him, weregrouped his servants, each bearing some implement of his or hercalling--a muster well calculated to impress the wayfarer with theassurance of comfort and good cheer.
The occasion of all this demonstration was a party that had halted,apparently for refreshment and the customary traveller's siesta; arheda or four-wheeled travelling carriage, closely covered and drawn bythree powerful horses yoked abreast. Two armed outriders, oneapparently a freedman and the other a slave, made up the company, theformer of whom, a stout, elderly man with gray hair and beard, hadreined in his horse before the obsequious host, while the otherremained by the carriage wheel, as if to aid the driver in guarding therheda's occupants from intrusion.
The innkeeper, short and fat, was breathing hard from the haste inwhich he had sallied out, but his words came volubly:--
"Let the gentlemen alight and enter--or, if they be ladies, so much thebetter. They shall make trial of the best inn along the whole lengthof the Queen of Ways. Such couches as they have never seen, save,doubtless, in their magnificent homes, fit for the gods to lieupon!--such dishes!--such cooking! guinea-hens fed and fattened undermy own eye, mullet fresh from the water with all greens of the season,and such wine as only the Massic Mount can grow--"
Here, however, he paused to take breath, and the freedman succeeded ininterrupting the flow of words.
"By the gods! will you be silent?" he said. "Perhaps we shall try yourfare, if you do not take up the whole day in telling us about it.First, however, it is necessary for us to learn certain things. Howmany miles is it to Capua?"
The innkeeper's face took on a grieved look in place of the beamingsmile of a moment since, but he answered promptly and humbly:--
"The matter of twenty-five miles, my master."
"At what hour do they close the gates?"
The innkeeper glanced back at the group of domestics with a frightenedexpression.
"That is a military question," he said. "How can I answer it in thesetimes? It is dangerous to talk about such things."
"Not dangerous for you," insisted the other, rather scornfully. "Sinceyou Campanians have become pulse-eaters, not the wildest Numidian woulddare disturb you. The cruel one is very tender of you all--_now_; butwait till Rome shall fall, then you will know what his tenderness isworth--when you are all busy grinding corn for Carthage--"
"By all the gods! speak lower--if you must say such words," whisperedthe innkeeper, white with terror. "If one of my servants should betrayme! Like enough the gate is closed at all times. It is said thatHannibal enters the town to-night."
"Hannibal in Capua to-night!" came a voice from the rheda--a woman'svoice, softly and delicately modulated, yet deep and rich in its tones.At the same moment the curtains were drawn aside, and she looked out,beckoning imperiously to the would-be host. "Come near, my good man, Iwish to speak with you more closely."
The innkeeper stood as one dazed, with open mouth and bulging eyes. Hehad looked upon great and beautiful ladies before, for many suchtravelled by the Appian Way, but the beauty and the nobility of thisface seemed to him more than mortal. With all the grace, all thefreshness, all the radiant charm of the girl Marcia, were now joinedthe calm and deep-eyed crown of womanhood. The perfect lines thatcould so perfectly respond to playful or tender emotions were stillunmarred, and yet sorrow that had left no other trace had endowed themwith new possibilities of devotion and high resolve.
"Come," repeated Marcia, and the little inn-keeper trotted up to therheda and stood watching her with an expression of canine wonder andsubservience in his big, dull eyes.
"Did I not hear you say that Hannibal was to be in Capua to-night?Have these false Campanians indeed carried out the treachery rumouredof them?"
The man had forgotten all his fears of a few moments since, nor did theslur upon his race rouse aught of indignation. Held fast under thespell of the dark eyes before him, he made haste to answer:--
"The rumour, madam, that a traveller left with me some hours since isthat Marius Blossius, praetor of Campania, has led all Capua out tomeet Hannibal, who is to feast to-night at the house of the NiniiCeleres, Stenius and Pacuvius--"
"But how was this done?" she interrupted. "It was said at Rome thatsome few evil spirits, like Vibius Virrius and Pacuvius Calavius, wereill-disposed, but surely the senators of Capua are faithful?"
"I do not know as to that," said the fellow, with the stubborn dulnessof a peasant; "but I know it is hard to see your property and goodsdestroyed and to hold fast to allies who do not protect you--and aRoman garrison at Casilinum all the time. They say this African iskind to his friends, and then, too, he sent home my son without ransomwhen the young man was prisoner in the north--some battle by some lakethat I forget the name of--"
"Such talk is well enough for the poor-spirited rabble," cried Marcia,impetuously; "but was there none of noble blood in the city? None whocould compel duty?"
A look of cunning crossed his face as he answered:--
"Pacuvius Calavius took care of that. He cooped up the senate in thesenate-house, by telling them the people sought their lives. Then hewent out and spoke against them to that same people, and offered tosurrender them for death, one by one; and then, when they had given uphope, he made a clever turn and persuaded us to forego their justpunishment. So it is said in Capua that Pacuvius Calavius bought thesenators for his slaves, and not one but runs to do his bidding.Senators, you see, do not like the rods and axe any better than humblerpeople like the sword and the torch."
Marcia eyed him with disgust. Then her brow cleared. "What could beexpected from such a man," she thought. "Surely not exalted patriotismor high ideals--especially when the class question had been broughtinto play against public faith and public honour. Mere stupidity wouldyoke him to the side that seemed to promise the most immediateexemptions or rewards. It was possible, though, that the situationmight not be as bad as it was painted; that there might still befaithful men in the second city of Italy--men who, while at presentheld down by the skilful plotting of their enemies or the hopelessnessof open resistance, were yet waiting, vigilant to seize upon the firstpromising opportunity to recover the lost ground. On the other hand,innkeepers were apt to be a well-informed class, as to publichappenings, and this man told his tale with parrot-like precision. Atany rate, there was nothing to do but reach Capua as soon as possible;for, the Carthaginian commander once within the walls, no one couldtell what precautions and scrutiny might be established at the gates."
She turned to the freedman.
"There is no time for resting and refreshment, Ligurius. We must notlose the chance of entering the city before nightfall;" and to the manwho rode at the wheel: "Come, Caipor. A little weariness will not hurtus."
The driver's whip curled about the horses' flanks, and they startedforward; but the disappointed innkeeper laid hold of one of the polesthat supported the covering of the rheda and gasped and sputtered as heran:--
"What now! Would you die of the heat? Am I to lose my custom becauseI am good-natured and tell the news?"
Caipor turned in his seat and raised the thong used to urge on hisanimal; but Marcia, hearing the clamour, thrust the curtain aside againand, motioning the slave to restrain himself, threw several denarii toher would-be host. At the same moment, the horses suddenly quickenedtheir gait, and the pursuer, keeping his hold, was jerked flat upon hisface.
"Be cautious!" shouted Caipor. "There is silver in the dust you areswallowing," and they hurried on, unable to distinguish whether thehalf-choked ejaculations that followed them were thanks or curses.
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p; There was a short silence punctuated by the cracking of the whip, theclatter of hoofs, and the crunching of wheels along the pavement; thenthe curtains once more parted slightly, and Caipor, watchful to serve,saw Marcia's beckoning hand and drew closer to the rheda.
"Bend down," she said, and, as he obeyed, she whispered:--
"You were my brother's servant, Caipor, and you bear his name. Willyou help me to avenge him?"
The slave's eyes flashed, and he straightened himself on his horse.Then he lowered his head to hear more.
"Ligurius," she continued, "will be brave and faithful to my family inall things. I want one who will be faithful to what is greater and towhat is less--to Rome and to me. I seek safety for the Republic; and Iseek revenge for those who are dead. Will you help me when Liguriushalts?"
"The cross itself will not daunt me," he said simply. "Whatever youshall do, lady, I will be faithful to the death."
"For me, perhaps, to the death, Caipor," she answered; "but for you, ifthe gods favour me, to life and to freedom."
His cheek flushed with the rich blood of his Samnite ancestors, and, asLigurius glanced back from his post at the head of the party, the youngman made his horse bound forward, lest his attitude and perturbationmight bring some suspicion of a secret conference to the mind of theold freedman.
So they descended within the hemicycle of hills. The heights of MountTifata began to fall away on the left, the rough, precipitous line ofcrags, sweeping around toward the east, seemed to dwindle into thedistance, even as they drew nearer, while the low jumble of Neapolitanhills, beyond which towered Vesuvius with its fluttering pennon ofvapour, rose higher and higher upon the southern horizon. A turn ofthe road, a temporary makeshift, led them around Casilinum, whoselittle garrison lay close, nor opened their gates to friend or foe.There, at last, in the midst of the level plain that stretched down tothe sea, lay Capua, gleaming white and radiant beneath the brush of thenow descending sun.
Gradually the great sweep of city walls grew lowering and massive. Itstill lacked an hour of sunset, and the travellers had not urgedthemselves unduly through the midday course. The foam, yellowed anddarkened by dust, had dried upon the horses' flanks save only where thechafing of the harness kept it fresh and white. Marcia leaned far outof the rheda and gazed eagerly at the nearing town, Caipor seemedscarcely able to restrain his eagerness to dash forward, while Liguriusshaded his eyes with his hand and viewed the spectacle like a generalcounting the power of his approaching foe. Even at this distance theysaw, or began to imagine they saw, some indescribable change,--not aflurry of motion or excitement,--they were too far away to note that,had such been present. It was as though above, around every tower andbattlement hung an atmosphere of hostility and defiance; yet this wasthe friend of Rome through days of weal and days of woe,--the secondcity of Italy.
Nearer and nearer they drew. The horses threw their heads in the air,and, presaging rest and provender, quickened their pace, withouturging. Suddenly an exclamation burst from the lips of Ligurius.
"Look!" he cried. "It is true. They are indeed here." Marcia andCaipor strove to follow his hand. "My northern eyes, old though theybe, are better than yours of the south. Do you not see them--one, two,three! Gods! They are thick on the walls."
"What? in the name of Jove!" exclaimed Marcia, impatiently, and thenCaipor started.
"I see! I see now," he cried. "Ah! mistress, they are the standardsof Carthage; the horses' heads, yellow, with red manes. Gods, how theyglitter! Gold and blood--gold and blood!"
"Drive on," said Marcia, for they had all drawn rein, halfunconsciously, and she lay back, behind the curtains of the rheda.
The Lion's Brood Page 17