Part 3

"Florens is well," said the Roman, "and in safety. Not here," he answered to Hazaël's look, "but at your own house, in the care of your excellent wife. To whom else should I entrust my most valued possession? Florens is not yet a Christian, but I would have him one. This, should I die, is my last command to you. Let me hear you say that I shall be obeyed!"

Hazaël wrung his hands and cried in anguish:

"O, my master! as God lives I swear that I will obey you faithfully! Were the boy to be dedicated to the Evil One, it should be done though I were damned for it!"

"Thanks, my friend!" said the father, with moisture showing in his bright blue eyes. Silently a hand-grip was exchanged between the ex-Prætor and his Chief Secretary. Then the former resumed:

"Further attend. I shall pass from the tribunal of the Prefect to the Hall of the Judges. Should the decision of the Court be that I suffer the extreme penalty, take Florens secretly to the Monastery of Tabenna, in the Upper Thebaïd. Some time will pass before the Prefect of the Stationaries of Apollinopolis sends another force to attack that wasp's nest! You have heard how sturdy a defence they maintained during the recent siege! The tribune in command of three maniples was compelled to withdraw his soldiers. Though at the Monastery of Mount Nitria, and that of Scete, and at Scyras, as at Aphroditopolis, raids were effected without opposition. Melittus, Abbot of Scete, was brought to the tribunal three days ago. He was condemned to be beaten to death with rods. Three of the five monks who were in bonds with Melittus went to the torture. Two novices they sent to the mines, in consideration of their youth. I myself was in the Hall of the Question, sitting on the high seat with the judges commissioned by the Prefect of Egypt. And as Melittus and his monks were brought forward to be sentenced, each one looked up to the right of the Catasta* with a brightened face, and smiled. For He was there!"

* A platform corresponding to our prisoners' dock.

Hazaël started, so full of awe was the ending of the sentence.

"Do you--you do not mean that you beheld in a vision Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified?"

"Not He!" The ex-Prætor bent his head reverently. "Not the Lord, but one who in visions has often seen Him. The Egyptian, called the Athlete of Christ, the Saint who founded the Monastery of Tabenna which stands between Diopolis and Tentyra on the eastern bank of the Nile. For this house, now under the rule of the venerable Abbot Pachomius, was built upon the ruins of a tomb or temple of the bygone people, where the Saint, to enjoy contemplation of things Divine, lived in solitude as a hermit for twenty years. Now his eyrie is upon a high mountain looking towards the fastnesses of Sinai and the Red Sea. Once, he came down--during the persecution of Diocletian, and travelled to Alexandria with the chain-gangs of Christians, being brought to the city to confess their Faith and die. No man laid a hand on him, though he went in and out of the prisons freely, bringing clothes and food and medicine; tending the sick and comforting the wretched, preaching and exhorting openly, showing himself in the Courts under the eyes of the judges, as though he would have said, 'If ye seek me, come and take me; here I am, here I am!'"

"I have heard of this hermit," Hazaël assented. "He was protected by some great person. That is what was said at the time."

"Then the people of Alexandria spoke truth for once. He was protected by the greatest of all Persons."

Hazaël's face was as a stone mask. He said:

"And so Christ's Athlete shows himself again.... Will he escape this time, I wonder?"

Said the Roman, not observing or perhaps ignoring a peculiarity in the Jew's look and tone:

"He followed the captive monks from Nitria, not only to bear witness to Christ in the prisons and churches, but to confute and crush the heresy of Arius. Each day in the Hall of the Judges he stood up upon the left of the Catasta, wrapped in a white linen cloth reaching from his ankles to his middle, and mantled with the snowy fleece of his long hair and beard. He leaned upon a staff topped with the Cross, and as the doomed were led away he blessed them, crying in a voice that vibrated through the building like the sound of a silver gong: 'Blessed are ye, called by Divine Grace to testify to the Lord, even Christ Jesus! On with a good courage! for to you He holdeth open the Gate of Hope!' None laid a finger on him. But the Chief Judge, in whose full view the Athlete stood, called a lictor and said to him softly: 'Command that man in my name to withdraw himself from the Court!' And the Athlete, hearing this, cried in that voice of silvery sweetness; 'I go from this place, O unjust judge! not at thy command, but because I have discharged the errand of my Lord. My way leads through the Libyan Desert to Scete in Nitria, and from the White Monastery of Aphroditopolis to Tabenna; and from thence I return through the Desert of Arabia to mine abode. Who would overtake me let him follow; who would find me let him seek me in the ruins of the Pagan temple that stands above the Limestone Torrent, under the crown of the mountain that is called Derhor, standing between the Arabian Desert and the Gulf of Heroöpolis, looking across the Wilderness of El Ka to the Mount of Sinai!"

"And he departed?"

"He went out from the midst of us, no man daring to touch even his garment, and I returned somewhat late, to find some tax-gatherers of the Onophites waiting to pay gathered gold into the Treasury of the State. And to these I must administer the oath, first covering my head with the lustrated woollen cap, sprinkling incense on the coals and invoking the Sabine deity.... And, as has been my wont of late, I refrained from doing these things.... Then a man in mean clothes rose up and pointed to me, and cried out: 'Question! Question! Is an oath made before a Roman Prætor valid and binding, when the usage and wont of the sacred ceremonial are scamped after a fashion like this? Dip the olive-twig! Purify the wool with the consecrated element! ... Throw the incense on the coals, therewith invoking Dius Fidius! Or else confess that thou, Philoremus Fabius, art a worshipper of Christ!' Then--I do not quite know what came over me. I threw the cap upon the floor, and said to all present: 'You have heard the Accuser! Now hear me! I am a Christian man!'"

The Jew groaned:

"Madness. Possession! A casting away of reputation, honour, and it may be, very existence! ... And for what? ... You have never renounced the gods of Rome! ... You have never been baptised by a Christian priest, or broken," he spat, "consecrated bread, or drunk wine at one of their accursed love-feasts! You have only mingled among them unseen, in the robe and cowl of the Parabolani. Idly listened to a sermon or two--helped to carry one plague-bit to the hospital.... Listen! ... All may yet be well! ... Only consent to write plainly, stating these facts to His Excellency Lollius Maxius, and to the Prefect Mettius Rufus, and entrust both letters to me.... Upon my head and my son's head be it if you find me fail you! Hasten, O Master! Every moment of delay lessens the chance of averting ruin. For the sake of the boy Florens do this--if you will not for your own!"

"My good Hazaël," the Roman said, as the Secretary thrust tablets and stylus upon him, and drew forward his vacated chair, urging him to sit down. "To my shame be it said, I have already appealed to the friendship of the Prefect, though not in such pusillanimous terms as these you suggest. Until this moment I have waited for an answer in vain. As for the boy, these white hairs that have appeared upon my temples since yesterday, testify to the anxiety I suffer upon his account. Being a child of tender years, you might claim of the State in his name some portion of my confiscated property. But in this case he will be placed under a Roman guardian, and reared in the worship of the gods of Rome. Better be still! Now tell me while there is time, what of your errand to Ælia Capitolina? Did you discover Annius Jovius Priscus, the Senator, guardian of my late wife's property? And does her inheritance, the ancient Israelitish fortress, once given by King Solomon to Balkis, Queen of Sheba, yet stand among the vineyards near Joppa, or has Kirjath-Saba resolved itself into a mountain of disjointed stone?"

The Jew drew a folded skin of parchment from his bosom and gave it to the Roman as he answered:

"I found the man you bade me seek, in the city that was once Jerusalem! As for the tower of Kirjath-Saba, it stands as though fresh wars might yet rage and beat upon its ruggedness, and new nations arise and flourish and pass, yet leave it there unharmed. Here, sent to thee by the Senator Priscus, are the writings made when the Tower with the land about it, was conferred upon the Tribune Justus Martius of the Tenth Roman Legion, by decree of the Emperor Vespasian, on the tenth day of the month of August, in the second year of his reign."

Philoremus murmured, scanning the faded ink characters upon the sheepskin:

"Justus Martius, ancestor of my wife, led a party of Roman Legionaries with scaling-ladders in the siege of Titus against Antonia. He found a breach in the fortress-wall, got through and killed--"

Hazaël nodded grimly:

"Ay, killed the Jewish sentries, and slew the rest of the defenders. That was the beginning of the Massacre and the Destruction--to which that of Nebuchadnezzar the Assyrian, was as a passing shower to the fury of a storm. With this deed I have to deliver back to you the signet ring with the head of Hercules, cut in intaglio upon a black agate, that I carried with me into Palestine; and also my pack-mule's burden of two thousand sestertia, in good _aurei_ of Hadrian, at 30 to the pound of gold; and with the money a message from Priscus."

"Keep the black onyx intaglio in memory of me. The fellow ring--the same head cut in relief--is in the coffer with my dear wife's jewels. Worn by her from her marriage until her death, it will be a precious legacy for Florens. Give it him when he shall have reached the age of nineteen. Take the parchment also and keep it in trust for my son, and the mule-load of money, for I have no need of these." As the sheep-skin vanished under the Jew's upper garment, "Give me now," said the Roman, "the message of Annius Priscus."

"It was: 'Tell the husband of my departed ward to find another steward to husband her vineyards of Kir Saba and receive the grape-money from the wine-presser, for I weary of the dust and glare of Palestine, and desire to end my days in my native city of Rome.'" The Jew added: "I found Priscus setting forth with his household and slaves to take ship for Rome at Joppa. Had I arrived at a later hour, my journey had been in vain. Wherefore, thanking the Most High, Who had aided me in the execution of my lord's business, I accepted the invitation of the Senator to accompany him as far as Lydda, now known as Diospolis; from whence I went to Kirjath-Saba, two days' journey by road. There gushes forth to water the green plains of Sharon a river of fattening for the vineyards that stand about the Tower. Six hundred _schaeni_ of land, I judged, measuring roughly by the eye. The two thousand sestertia I received represent but a tithe of the value of the yearly gathering, judging by the fruit that yet hung upon the vines."

"Old men are easily duped by smooth-tongued stewards."

"The rogue at Kir Saba is a Phœnician, and slippery as an adder. Yet will he not lose the stiffness of his back-muscles and haunches until he shall have sacrificed a goose or two to his goddess Tanit, and caused a slave to rub him with the grease."

A spark of amusement twinkled in the tired eyes of the Roman.

"You beat him?"

"My staff has an affinity with the backs of robbers that may not be denied. This one, by virtue of the authority bestowed on me, I summarily deprived of his office; replacing the thief with one Simeon, a Jew of Joppa, a faithful man and, moreover, a kinsman of mine own."

"That is well if you judge it well. And now let us speak no more of money. My son and his future are safe in your true hands."

"Your son's father were also safe, were he to follow the counsels of his servant," said the Jew with a passionate eagerness. "But consent to exchange clothes,--giving me your purple-edged prætexta--taking this travel-soiled robe of mine, this girdle, sword and dagger--this parchment deed and this purse of money--and topping all with my mantle of camel's hair! ... Let me sit here, covering my head and arms as one that weeps, with the folds of this, your mantle!" He caught up a fur-trimmed hooded outer garment of crimson that lay upon a neighbouring chair. "Pass the guards!--in your disguise the thing may be done, I swear it! Hasten to my house. Give to my wife a written line from me--here are inkhorn, reed and paper--and she will deal with you faithfully even as myself. Consent! Accept!"

"The sacrifice of your life for mine! A thousand times No!" said the ex-Prætor, sternly.

Hazaël urged in a low, fierce voice, illustrating his speech with rapid gestures towards the window; pointing to the helmed head, muscular brown neck and powerful shoulders of the Legionary posted in the loggia beyond.

"My life will be in no peril. I swear to you I will but make sure that you have passed out safely, before I leap upon the guard there, stab one--strangle the other--and escape. Once in the Jews' Quarter I am safe as you will be. By a hundred avenues known to none but the Chosen we can escape from Alexandria. Only consent--"

But the Roman was firm in his refusal.

"Ah, you wish to die, it is clear to me!" exclaimed Hazaël. "The thirst for death consumes you even as those other Christians, who think the heavens will open amidst their tortures and the Crucified appear, surrounded by the Shekinah; and extending His nail-pierced hands to them; whilst hovering angels offer them the martyr's crown!"

"You forget, I am not even baptised," said the Roman. "I have not received the instruction of a catechumen. I have abjured the gods of Rome without knowing whether Christ will accept me.... And yet--and yet--"

His calmness made the Jew shudder. He looked from the window with a glance that sought above the palm-trees and acacias, the blue sky, crossed and recrossed by the airy dance of the swallows, and said with a smile:

"And yet I have never experienced such wondrous peace of mind. An ichor runs in my veins that is clear as crystal, cool as snow and yet glowing as the fire of sunset.... Never have I tasted in my life a joy so deep as this!"

"He is mad!" groaned Hazaël in his anguished heart. But the ex-Prætor was again speaking:

"Listen, most dear and faithful friend! ... Should that thing happen which means that I am not quite rejected, being permitted to die for the faith of Christ,--take my boy, secretly as I have said, to the Abbot of Tabenna, and explain that I wish Florens to be baptised and reared in the Christian faith." He went on as the Jew's face again darkened, and his eyes once more dilated with horror, "Should Florens shrink from the life of a monk, let him be a soldier, like the father who sends him his blessing. Deposit my wife's jewels with the Abbot of Tabenna,--to be sold for the boy's benefit--all save the fellow-ring to the signet I have given you--which is to be Florens' when he is of age. Tell him that the Hercules must stand for manliness and valour; the knotted club for Truth and Honesty; and the lion's skin for the wisdom that cloaks itself against the malice of the world in the experience of trials overpast."

"I will remember!" the Jew said sullenly. "Have I all your instructions? ..."

"There is but one thing more!" the Roman returned, speaking low and hurriedly. "The boy being left with the Abbot at the Monastery of Tabenna, I entreat you to return by way of the Arabian Desert, seek out the hermitage of Christ's Athlete upon Mount Derhor and deliver to the Blessed One a message from me. Say to the Saint: 'I bring greetings from Philoremus Fabius, once Prætor of the Taxes of Egypt in Alexandria. Without having formally embraced Christ, or received the waters of baptism, this man has testified to the Faith and died!' ... Further, say: 'He entreats thee to pray that his sins may be forgiven. And that for him also the Hand that was pierced may open the Gate of Hope!'..." He added, visibly paling as the distant sound of a trumpet broke upon his utterance, "All is now said. And it is well, for that is the trumpet-call of the Prefect's Bodyguard. My examination takes place before the banquet, it may be! Well, well! I have no envy of the flower-crowned guest whose place should have been mine!"

Again the trumpet shrilled, and the two men sat in silence, as the rhythmical tread of wooden-soled, heavy-nailed sandals falling on the pavement of the street drew nearer,--grew louder until the solid walls vibrated: and then--as a harsh voice, echoed by other voices, was heard to issue some military command--stopped dead. The curtain at the portal bellied inwards with the draught from the opening of the house-door: and as the harsh voice issued another command, the regular tramp of the wooden, iron-nailed shoes of the soldiers wakened the echoes of the outer vestibule. The Jew caught his breath, and the Roman, frowning, laid a hand upon his sinewy arm:

"No demonstration of anger," he said sternly, "I forbid it! And now, for this world, my son--for as one I have loved you!--Farewell!"

"And O farewell, my kindest friend!--my generous protector!" stammered Hazaël, with tears raining down his bearded cheeks as they hurriedly embraced. "May the God of Israel so deal with me and mine as I deal with your son! ... They come!"

The trampling iron-shod footsteps halted at the threshold. The metal rings shrieked on the rod as a brawny, red-haired arm, partly sheathed in glittering brass, thrust the heavy curtains back.... Sunlight flashed from naked steel, and the gilded plates of armour. A Roman officer of the Bodyguard stepped into the room.

V

In consideration of great services rendered to the Empire, the ex-Prætor of the Egyptian Taxes was beheaded without torture. The body, exposed upon the public execution-ground according to the law, mysteriously disappeared. It was whispered that it had been spirited away by persons with Christian leanings, and secretly buried in the crypt of some unknown church.

For three days following the death of his patron, the house of Hazaël was strictly closed.... The Jew, with hair and beard sprinkled with ashes, mourned, sitting on the floor in a coarse black tunic, rent at the hem; and observing silence, ate bread and drank water once a day at the sunset hour. He even said Kaddish for his dead benefactor, though an act so presumptuous would have scandalised the Rabbinate. On the fourth day he rose: washed and reclothed himself, and returned to his family as though nothing had transpired. But on a day following the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, the large white mule on which Hazaël made his journeys, with the beast that usually carried his attendant Ephraim, stood waiting with the pack-mule at the Chief Secretary's door.

A long basket of woven osiers now being brought out by Ephraim and another servant, and carefully strapped upon the burden of necessaries carried by the pack-mule, the Chief Secretary, armed as before, and in the plain travelling garb that he had worn previously, bade farewell to his wife and family; thrust his mighty bronze-shod staff once more into its leathern bucket; and rode out of the City of the Pharos with his small following, by the Gate of the Moon.

A flat-bottomed boat paddled by four negroes, conveyed both men and beasts across the vineyard-fringed Lake of Mareotis, and for some miles south-eastwards along the Canal of Alexandria, between palm-groves, gardens, orchards and the estates of wealthy Greeks, Egyptians and Roman officials. Above Andron, the ancient city fast falling through Roman misrule into neglect and dilapidation, the party landed; Hazaël gave money to the master of the rowers, received his salutations, and the four negroes, reversing their positions, soon conveyed the boat away.

Then the Jew, no longer hiding the anxiety that had devoured him, leaped with fierce energy upon the pack-mule, unstrapped the heavy osier basket and with the aid of Ephraim, carefully lowered it to the ground. With shaking hands he unfastened the lid of the pannier, and as the smiling but bewildered face of a boy of twelve years old looked up at him, with blue eyes blinking in the sudden glare of the sun:

"Now thanks be to the Holy One that all is well with thee!" he stammered. "Not a word, not a movement--your father's true son! See now--this pad from under thy head, my hands beneath thy armpits. Leap--and fresh as a salmon from the British Thamesis--a sturgeon from the Hyperborean Ocean, or a lamprey from Lake Moeris--out you come!"

He hugged the boy against his breast with almost womanly tenderness, and running his hands rapidly over the slight body, assured himself that all was well. Then mounting Florens before the saddle of his own mule, and followed by Ephraim with the other animals; the Secretary, following a southward-running road that crossed some ripening cotton-fields, presently drew the rein, and looked back at Ephraim, saying:

"The idolaters are true to their word. See, there are their tents and camels!"

And he pointed to where low black tents were pitched upon a stretch of scrubby ground lying between the crop-land and the reddish-coloured desert, upon which camels eagerly grazed upon withered vetch and wiry grasses; while a small band of Saracens crouched round a small fire, wrapped in capacious mantles woven of white wool and black camel's hair, their loaded staves beside them, and sharp broad-bladed spears planted haft downwards in the ground near by.

The Saracens rose, seeing men on beasts coming, seized their staves and plucked forth their spears. Then, comprehending who it was that approached, their demeanour altered, and they received the Jew with respect.

"I am Mafa Oabu," said the eldest of the company. "If evil come to thee, or those who are thy companions, I pay to him whom thou knowest, with my life and the lives of my sons!"