CHAPTER III
Next day early,
to the neglect of the city, Ben-Hur sought the house of Simonides. Through an
embattled gateway he passed to a continuity of wharves; thence up the river
midst a busy press, to the Seleucian Bridge, under which he paused to take in
the scene.
There, directly
under the bridge, was the merchant's house, a mass of gray stone, unhewn,
referable to no style, looking, as the voyager had described it, like a
buttress of the wall against which it leaned. Two immense doors in front
communicated with the wharf. Some holes near the top, heavily barred, served as
windows. Weeds waved from the crevices, and in places black moss splotched the
otherwise bald stones.
The doors were
open. Through one of them business went in; through the other it came out; and
there was hurry, hurry in all its movements.
On the wharf
there were piles of goods in every kind of package, and groups of slaves,
stripped to the waist, going about in the abandon of labor.
Below the bridge
lay a fleet of galleys, some loading, others unloading. A yellow flag blew out
from each masthead. From fleet and wharf, and from ship to ship, the bondmen of
traffic passed in clamorous counter-currents.
Above the bridge,
across the river, a wall rose from the water's edge, over which towered the
fanciful cornices and turrets of an imperial palace, covering every foot of the
island spoken of in the Hebrew's description. But, with all its suggestions,
Ben-Hur scarcely noticed it. Now, at last, he thought to hear of his people -
this, certainly, if Simonides had indeed been his father's slave. But would the
man acknowledge the relation? That would be to give up his riches and the
sovereignty of trade so royally witnessed on the wharf and river. And what was
of still greater consequence to the merchant, it would be to forego his career
in the midst of amazing success, and yield himself voluntarily once more a
slave. Simple thought of the demand seemed a monstrous audacity. Stripped of
diplomatic address, it was to say, You are my slave; give me all you have, and
- yourself.
Yet Ben-Hur
derived strength for the interview from faith in his rights and the hope
uppermost in his heart. If the story to which he was yielding were true,
Simonides belonged to him, with all he had. For the wealth, be it said in
justice, he cared nothing. When he started to the door determined in mind, it
was with a promise to himself -”Let him tell me of mother and Tirzah, and I
will give him his freedom without account."
He passed boldly
into the house.
The interior was
that of a vast depot where, in ordered spaces, and under careful arrangement,
goods of every kind were heaped and pent. Though the light was murky and the
air stifling, men moved about briskly; and in places he saw workmen with saws
and hammers making packages for shipments. Down a path between the piles he
walked slowly, wondering if the man of whose genius there were here such
abounding proofs could have been his father's slave? If so, to what class had
he belonged? If a Jew, was he the son of a servant? Or was he a debtor or a
debtor's son? Or had he been sentenced and sold for theft? These thoughts, as
they passed, in nowise disturbed the growing respect for the merchant of which
he was each instant more and more conscious. A peculiarity of our admiration
for another is that it is always looking for circumstances to justify itself.
At length a man
approached and spoke to him.
"What would
you have?"
"I would see
Simonides, the merchant."
"Will you
come this way?"
By a number of
paths left in the stowage, they finally came to a flight of steps; ascending
which, he found himself on the roof of the depot, and in front of a structure
which cannot be better described than as a lesser stone house built upon
another, invisible from the landing below, and out west of the bridge under the
open sky. The roof, hemmed in by a low wall, seemed like a terrace, which, to
his astonishment, was brilliant with flowers; in the rich surrounding, the
house sat squat, a plain square block, unbroken except by a doorway in front. A
dustless path led to the door, through a bordering of shrubs of Persian rose in
perfect bloom. Breathing a sweet attar-perfume, he followed the guide.
At the end of a
darkened passage within, they stopped before a curtain half parted. The man
called out,
"A stranger
to see the master."
A clear voice
replied, "In God's name, let him enter."
A Roman might
have called the apartment into which the visitor was ushered his atrium. The
walls were paneled; each panel was comparted like a modern office-desk, and
each compartment crowded with labelled folios all filemot with age and use.
Between the panels, and above and below them, were borders of wood once white,
now tinted like cream, and carved with marvellous intricacy of design. Above a
cornice of gilded balls, the ceiling rose in pavilion style until it broke into
a shallow dome set with hundreds of panes of violet mica, permitting a flood of
light deliciously reposeful. The floor was carpeted with gray rugs so thick
that an invading foot fell half buried and soundless.
In the midlight
of the room were two persons - a man resting in a chair high-backed,
broad-armed, and lined with pliant cushions; and at his left, leaning against
the back of the chair, a girl well forward into womanhood. At sight of them
Ben-Hur felt the blood redden his forehead; bowing, as much to recover himself
as in respect, he lost the lifting of the hands, and the shiver and shrink with
which the sitter caught sight of him - an emotion as swift to go as it had been
to come. When he raised his eyes the two were in the same position, except the
girl's hand had fallen and was resting lightly upon the elder's shoulder; both
of them were regarding him fixedly.
"If you are
Simonides, the merchant, and a Jew" - Ben-Hur stopped an instant -”then
the peace of the God of our father Abraham upon you and - yours."
The last word was
addressed to the girl.
"I am the
Simonides of whom you speak, by birthright a Jew," the man made answer, in
a voice singularly clear. "I am Simonides, and a Jew; and I return you
your salutation, with prayer to know who calls upon me."
Ben-Hur looked as
he listened, and where the figure of the man should have been in healthful
roundness, there was only a formless heap sunk in the depths of the cushions,
and covered by a quilted robe of sombre silk. Over the heap shone a head
royally proportioned - the ideal head of a statesman and conqueror - a head
broad of base and domelike in front, such as Angelo would have modelled for
Caesar. White hair dropped in thin locks over the white brows, deepening the
blackness of the eyes shining through them like sullen lights. The face was
bloodless, and much puffed with folds, especially under the chin. In other
words, the head and face were those of a man who might move the world more
readily than the world could move him - a man to be twice twelve times tortured
into the shapeless cripple he was, without a groan, much less a confession; a
man to yield his life, but never a purpose or a point; a man born in armor, and
assailable only through his loves. To him Ben-Hur stretched his hands, open and
palm up, as he would offer peace at the same time he asked it.
"I am Judah,
son of Ithamar, late head of the House of Hur, and a prince of Jerusalem."
The merchant's
right hand lay outside the robe - a long, thin hand, articulate to deformity
with suffering. It closed tightly; otherwise there was not the slightest
expression of feeling of any kind on his part; nothing to warrant an inference
of surprise or interest; nothing but this calm answer,
"The princes
of Jerusalem, of the pure blood, are always welcome in my house; you are
welcome. Give the young man a seat, Esther."
The girl took an
ottoman near by, and carried it to Ben-Hur. As she arose from placing the seat,
their eyes met.
"The peace
of our Lord with you," she said, modestly. "Be seated and at
rest."
When she resumed
her place by the chair, she had not divined his purpose. The powers of woman go
not so far: if the matter is of finer feeling, such as pity, mercy, sympathy,
that she detects; and therein is a difference between her and man which will
endure as long as she remains, by nature, alive to such feelings. She was simply
sure he brought some wound of life for healing.
Ben-Hur did not
take the offered seat, but said, deferentially, "I pray the good master
Simonides that he will not hold me an intruder. Coming up the river yesterday,
I heard he knew my father."
"I knew the
Prince Hur. We were associated in some enterprises lawful to merchants who find
profit in lands beyond the sea and the desert. But sit, I pray you - and,
Esther, some wine for the young man. Nehemiah speaks of a son of Hur who once
ruled the half part of Jerusalem; an old house; very old, by the faith! In the
days of Moses and Joshua even some of them found favor in the sight of the
Lord, and divided honors with those princes among men. It can hardly be that
their descendant, lineally come to us, will refuse a cup of wine-fat of the
genuine vine of Sorek, grown on the south hill-sides of Hebron."
By the time of
the conclusion of this speech, Esther was before Ben-Hur with a silver cup
filled from a vase upon a table a little removed from the chair. She offered
the drink with downcast face. He touched her hand gently to put it away. Again
their eyes met; whereat he noticed that she was small, not nearly to his
shoulder in height; but very graceful, and fair and sweet of face, with eyes
black and inexpressibly soft. She is kind and pretty, he thought, and looks as
Tirzah would were she living. Poor Tirzah! Then he said aloud,
"No, thy
father - if he is thy father?" - he paused.
"I am
Esther, the daughter of Simonides," she said, with dignity.
"Then, fair
Esther, thy father, when he has heard my further speech, will not think worse
of me if yet I am slow to take his wine of famous extract; nor less I hope not
to lose grace in thy sight. Stand thou here with me a moment!"
Both of them, as
in common cause, turned to the merchant. "Simonides!" he said,
firmly, "my father, at his death, had a trusted servant of thy name, and
it has been told me that thou art the man!"
There was a
sudden start of the wrenched limbs under the robe, and the thin hand clenched.
"Esther,
Esther!" the man called, sternly; "here, not there, as thou art thy
mother's child and mine - here, not there, I say!"
The girl looked
once from father to visitor; then she replaced the cup upon the table, and went
dutifully to the chair. Her countenance sufficiently expressed her wonder and
alarm.
Simonides lifted
his left hand, and gave it into hers, lying lovingly upon his shoulder, and
said, dispassionately, "I have grown old in dealing with men - old before
my time. If he who told thee that whereof thou speakest was a friend acquainted
with my history, and spoke of it not harshly, he must have persuaded thee that
I could not be else than a man distrustful of my kind. The God of Israel help
him who, at the end of life, is constrained to acknowledge so much! My loves
are few, but they are. One of them is a soul which" - he carried the hand
holding his to his lips, in manner unmistakable -”a soul which to this time has
been unselfishly mine, and such sweet comfort that, were it taken from me, I
would die."
Esther's head
drooped until her cheek touched his.
"The other
love is but a memory; of which I will say further that, like a benison of the
Lord, it hath a compass to contain a whole family, if only" - his voice
lowered and trembled -”if only I knew where they were."
Ben-Hur's face
suffused, and, advancing a step, he cried, impulsively, "My mother and
sister! Oh, it is of them you speak!"
Esther, as if
spoken to, raised her head; but Simonides returned to his calm, and answered,
coldly, "Hear me to the end. Because I am that I am, and because of the
loves of which I have spoken, before I make return to thy demand touching my
relations to the Prince Hur, and as something which of right should come first,
do thou show me proofs of who thou art. Is thy witness in writing? Or cometh it
in person?"
The demand was
plain, and the right of it indisputable. Ben-Hur blushed, clasped his hands,
stammered, and turned away at loss. Simonides pressed him.
"The proofs,
the proofs, I say! Set them before me - lay them in my hands!"
Yet Ben-Hur had
no answer. He had not anticipated the requirement; and, now that it was made,
to him as never before came the awful fact that the three years in the galley
had carried away all the proofs of his identity; mother and sister gone, he did
not live in the knowledge of any human being. Many there were acquainted with
him, but that was all. Had Quintus Arrius been present, what could he have said
more than where he found him, and that he believed the pretender to be the son
of Hur? But, as will presently appear in full, the brave Roman sailor was dead.
Judah had felt the loneliness before; to the core of life the sense struck him
now. He stood, hands clasped, face averted, in stupefaction. Simonides
respected his suffering, and waited in silence.
"Master
Simonides," he said, at length, "I can only tell my story; and I will
not that unless you stay judgment so long, and with good-will deign to hear
me."
"Speak,"
said Simonides, now, indeed, master of the situation -”speak, and I will listen
the more willingly that I have not denied you to be the very person you claim
yourself."
Ben-Hur proceeded
then, and told his life hurriedly, yet with the feeling which is the source of
all eloquence; but as we are familiar with it down to his landing at Misenum,
in company with Arrius, returned victorious from the AEgean, at that point we
will take up the words.
"My
benefactor was loved and trusted by the emperor, who heaped him with honorable
rewards. The merchants of the East contributed magnificent presents, and he
became doubly rich among the rich of Rome. May a Jew forget his religion? or
his birthplace, if it were the Holy Land of our fathers? The good man adopted
me his son by formal rites of law; and I strove to make him just return: no
child was ever more dutiful to father than I to him. He would have had me a
scholar; in art, philosophy, rhetoric, oratory, he would have furnished me the
most famous teacher. I declined his insistence, because I was a Jew, and could
not forget the Lord God, or the glory of the prophets, or the city set on the
hills by David and Solomon. Oh, ask you why I accepted any of the benefactions
of the Roman? I loved him; next place, I thought with his help, array
influences which would enable me one day to unseal the mystery close-locking
the fate of my mother and sister; and to these there was yet another motive of
which I shall not speak except to say it controlled me so far that I devoted
myself to arms, and the acquisition of everything deemed essential to thorough
knowledge of the art of war. In the palaestrae and circuses of the city I
toiled, and in the camps no less; and in all of them I have a name, but not
that of my fathers. The crowns I won - and on the walls of the villa by Misenum
there are many of them - all came to me as the son of Arrius, the duumvir. In
that relation only am I known among Romans... In steadfast pursuit of my secret
aim, I left Rome for Antioch, intending to accompany the Consul Maxentius in
the campaign he is organizing against the Parthians. Master of personal skill
in all arms, I seek now the higher knowledge pertaining to the conduct of
bodies of men in the field. The consul has admitted me one of his military
family. But yesterday, as our ship entered the Orontes, two other ships sailed
in with us flying yellow flags. A fellow-passenger and countryman from Cyprus
explained that the vessels belonged to Simonides, the master-merchant of
Antioch; he told us, also, who the merchant was; his marvellous success in
commerce; of his fleets and caravans, and their coming and going; and, not
knowing I had interest in the theme beyond my associate listeners, he said
Simonides was a Jew, once the servant of the Prince Hur; nor did he conceal the
cruelties of Gratus, or the purpose of their infliction."
At this allusion
Simonides bowed his head, and, as if to help him conceal his feelings and her
own deep sympathy, the daughter hid her face on his neck. Directly he raised
his eyes, and said, in a clear voice, "I am listening."
"O good
Simonides!" Ben-Hur then said, advancing a step, his whole soul seeking
expression, "I see thou art not convinced, and that yet I stand in the
shadow of thy distrust."
The merchant held
his features fixed as marble, and his tongue as still.
"And not less
clearly, I see the difficulties of my position," Ben-Hur continued.
"All my Roman connection I can prove; I have only to call upon the consul,
now the guest of the governor of the city; but I cannot prove the particulars
of thy demand upon me. I cannot prove I am my father's son. They who could
serve me in that - alas! they are dead or lost."
He covered his
face with his hands; whereupon Esther arose, and, taking the rejected cup to
him, said, "The wine is of the country we all so love. Drink, I pray thee!"
The voice was
sweet as that of Rebekah offering drink at the well near Nahor the city; he saw
there were tears in her eyes, and he drank, saying, "Daughter of
Simonides, thy heart is full of goodness; and merciful art thou to let the
stranger share it with thy father. Be thou blessed of our God! I thank
thee."
Then he addressed
himself to the merchant again:
"As I have
no proof that I am my father's son, I will withdraw that I demanded of thee, O
Simonides, and go hence to trouble you no more; only let me say I did not seek
thy return to servitude nor account of thy fortune; in any event, I would have
said, as now I say, that all which is product of thy labor and genius is thine;
keep it in welcome. I have no need of any part thereof. When the good Quintus,
my second father, sailed on the voyage which was his last, he left me his heir,
princely rich. If, therefore, thou cost think of me again, be it with
remembrance of this question, which, as I do swear by the prophets and Jehovah,
thy God and mine, was the chief purpose of my coming here: What cost thou know
- what canst thou tell me - of my mother and Tirzah, my sister - she who should
be in beauty and grace even as this one, thy sweetness of life, if not thy very
life? Oh! what canst thou tell me of them?"
The tears ran
down Esther's cheeks; but the man was wilful: in a clear voice, he replied,
"I have said
I knew the Prince Ben-Hur. I remember hearing of the misfortune which overtook
his family. I remember the bitterness with which I heard it. He who wrought
such misery to the widow of my friend is the same who, in the same spirit, hath
since wrought upon me. I will go further, and say to you, I have made diligent
quest concerning the family, but - I have nothing to tell you of them. They are
lost."
Ben-Hur uttered a
great groan.
"Then - then
it is another hope broken!" he said, struggling with his feelings. "I
am used to disappointments. I pray you pardon my intrusion; and if I have
occasioned you annoyance, forgive it because of my sorrow. I have nothing now
to live for but vengeance. Farewell."
At the curtain he
turned, and said, simply, "I thank you both."
"Peace go
with you," the merchant said.
Esther could not
speak for sobbing.
And so he
departed.
CHAPTER IV
Scarcely was
Ben-Hur gone, when Simonides seemed to wake as from sleep: his countenance
flushed; the sullen light of his eyes changed to brightness; and he said,
cheerily,
"Esther,
ring - quick!"
She went to the
table, and rang a service-bell.
One of the panels
in the wall swung back, exposing a doorway which gave admittance to a man who
passed round to the merchant's front, and saluted him with a half-salaam.
"Malluch,
here - nearer - to the chair," the master said, imperiously. "I have
a mission which shall not fail though the sun should. Hearken! A young man is
now descending to the store-room - tall, comely, and in the garb of Israel;
follow him, his shadow not more faithful; and every night send me report of
where he is, what he does, and the company he keeps; and if, without discovery,
you overhear his conversations, report them word for word, together with
whatever will serve to expose him, his habits, motives, life. Understand you?
Go quickly! Stay, Malluch: if he leave the city, go after him - and, mark you,
Malluch, be as a friend. If he bespeak you, tell him what you will to the
occasion most suited, except that you are in my service, of that, not a word.
Haste - make haste!"
The man saluted
as before, and was gone.
Then Simonides
rubbed his wan hands together, and laughed.
"What is the
day, daughter?" he said, in the midst of the mood. "What is the day?
I wish to remember it for happiness come. See, and look for it laughing, and
laughing tell me, Esther."
The merriment
seemed unnatural to her; and, as if to entreat him from it, she answered,
sorrowfully, "Woe's me, father, that I should ever forget this day!"
His hands fell
down the instant, and his chin, dropping upon his breast, lost itself in the
muffling folds of flesh composing his lower face.
"True, most true,
my daughter!" he said, without looking up. "This is the twentieth day
of the fourth month. To-day, five years ago, my Rachel, thy mother, fell down
and died. They brought me home broken as thou seest me, and we found her dead
of grief. Oh, to me she was a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-Gedi!
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my
honey. We laid her away in a lonely place - in a tomb cut in the mountain; no
one near her. Yet in the darkness she left me a little light, which the years
have increased to a brightness of morning." He raised his hand and rested
it upon his daughter's head. "Dear Lord, I thank thee that now in my
Esther my lost Rachel liveth again!"
Directly he
lifted his head, and said, as with a sudden thought, "Is it not clear day
outside?"
"It was,
when the young man came in."
"Then let
Abimelech come and take me to the garden, where I can see the river and the
ships, and I will tell thee, dear Esther, why but now my mouth filled with laughter,
and my tongue with singing, and my spirit was like to a roe or to a young hart
upon the mountains of spices."
In answer to the
bell a servant came, and at her bidding pushed the chair, set on little wheels
for the purpose, out of the room to the roof of the lower house, called by him
his garden. Out through the roses, and by beds of lesser flowers, all triumphs
of careful attendance, but now unnoticed, he was rolled to a position from
which he could view the palace-tops over against him on the island, the bridge
in lessening perspective to the farther shore, and the river below the bridge
crowded with vessels, all swimming amidst the dancing splendors of the early
sun upon the rippling water. There the servant left him with Esther.
The much shouting
of laborers, and their beating and pounding, did not disturb him any more than
the tramping of people on the bridge floor almost overhead, being as familiar
to his ear as the view before him to his eye, and therefore unnoticeable,
except as suggestions of profits in promise.
Esther sat on the
arm of the chair nursing his hand, and waiting his speech, which came at length
in the calm way, the mighty will having carried him back to himself.
"When the
young man was speaking, Esther, I observed thee, and thought thou wert won by
him."
Her eyes fell as
she replied,
"Speak you
of faith, father, I believed him."
"In thy
eyes, then, he is the lost son of the Prince Hur?"
"If he is
not -” She hesitated.
"And if he
is not, Esther?"
"I have been
thy handmaiden, father, since my mother answered the call of the Lord God; by
thy side I have heard and seen thee deal in wise ways with all manner of men
seeking profit, holy and unholy; and now I say, if indeed the young man be not
the prince he claims to be, then before me falsehood never played so well the
part of righteous truth."
"By the
glory of Solomon, daughter, thou speakest earnestly. Dost thou believe thy
father his father's servant?"
"I
understood him to ask of that as something he had but heard."
For a time
Simonides' gaze swam among his swimming ships, though they had no place in his
mind.
"Well, thou
art a good child, Esther, of genuine Jewish shrewdness, and of years and
strength to hear a sorrowful tale. Wherefore give me heed, and I will tell you
of myself, and of thy mother, and of many things pertaining to the past not in
thy knowledge or thy dreams - things withheld from the persecuting Romans for a
hope's sake, and from thee that thy nature should grow towards the Lord
straight as the reed to the sun... I was born in a tomb in the valley of
Hinnom, on the south side of Zion. My father and mother were Hebrew
bond-servants, tenders of the fig and olive trees growing, with many vines, in
the King's Garden hard by Siloam; and in my boyhood I helped them. They were of
the class bound to serve forever. They sold me to the Prince Hur, then, next to
Herod the King, the richest man in Jerusalem. From the garden he transferred me
to his storehouse in Alexandria of Egypt, where I came of age. I served him six
years, and in the seventh, by the law of Moses, I went free."
Esther clapped
her hands lightly.
"Oh, then,
thou art not his father's servant!"
"Nay,
daughter, hear. Now, in those days there were lawyers in the cloisters of the
Temple who disputed vehemently, saying the children of servants bound forever
took the condition of their parents; but the Prince Hur was a man righteous in
all things, and an interpreter of the law after the straitest sect, though not
of them. He said I was a Hebrew servant bought, in the true meaning of the
great lawgiver, and, by sealed writings, which I yet have, he set me
free."
"And my
mother?" Esther asked.
"Thou shalt
hear all, Esther; be patient. Before I am through thou shalt see it were easier
for me to forget myself than thy mother... At the end of my service, I came up
to Jerusalem to the Passover. My master entertained me. I was in love with him
already, and I prayed to be continued in his service. He consented, and I
served him yet another seven years, but as a hired son of Israel. In his behalf
I had charge of ventures on the sea by ships, and of ventures on land by
caravans eastward to Susa and Persepolis, and the lands of silk beyond them.
Perilous passages were they, my daughter; but the Lord blessed all I undertook.
I brought home vast gains for the prince, and richer knowledge for myself,
without which I could not have mastered the charges since fallen to me... One
day I was a guest in his house in Jerusalem. A servant entered with some sliced
bread on a platter. She came to me first. It was then I saw thy mother, and
loved her, and took her away in my secret heart. After a while a time came when
I sought the prince to make her my wife. He told me she was bond-servant
forever; but if she wished, he would set her free that I might be gratified.
She gave me love for love, but was happy where she was, and refused her
freedom. I prayed and besought, going again and again after long intervals. She
would be my wife, she all the time said, if I would become her fellow in
servitude. Our father Jacob served yet other seven years for his Rachel. Could
I not as much for mine? But thy mother said I must become as she, to serve
forever. I came away, but went back. Look, Esther, look here."
He pulled out the
lobe of his left ear.
"See you not
the scar of the awl?"
"I see
it," she said; "and, oh, I see how thou didst love my mother!"
"Love her,
Esther! She was to me more than the Shulamite to the singing king, fairer, more
spotless; a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from
Lebanon. The master, even as I required him, took me to the judges, and back to
his door, and thrust the awl through my ear into the door, and I was his
servant forever. So I won my Rachel. And was ever love like mine?"
Esther stooped
and kissed him, and they were silent, thinking of the dead.
"My master
was drowned at sea, the first sorrow that ever fell upon me," the merchant
continued. "There was mourning in his house, and in mine here in Antioch,
my abiding-place at the time. Now, Esther, mark you! When the good prince was
lost, I had risen to be his chief steward, with everything of property
belonging to him in my management and control. Judge you how much he loved and
trusted me! I hastened to Jerusalem to render account to the widow. She
continued me in the stewardship. I applied myself with greater diligence. The
business prospered, and grew year by year. Ten years passed; then came the blow
which you heard the young man tell about - the accident, as he called it, to
the Procurator Gratus. The Roman gave it out an attempt to assassinate him.
Under that pretext, by leave from Rome, he confiscated to his own use the
immense fortune of the widow and children. Nor stopped he there. That there
might be no reversal of the judgment, he removed all the parties interested.
From that dreadful day to this the family of Hur have been lost. The son, whom
I had seen as a child, was sentenced to the galleys. The widow and daughter are
supposed to have been buried in some of the many dungeons of Judea, which, once
closed upon the doomed, are like sepulchers sealed and locked. They passed from
the knowledge of men as utterly as if the sea had swallowed them unseen. We
could not hear how they died - nay, not even that they were dead."
Esther's eyes
were dewy with tears.
"Thy heart
is good, Esther, good as thy mother's was; and I pray it have not the fate of
most good hearts - to be trampled upon by the unmerciful and blind. But hearken
further. I went up to Jerusalem to give help to my benefactress, and was seized
at the gate of the city and carried to the sunken cells of the Tower of
Antonia; why, I knew not, until Gratus himself came and demanded of me the
moneys of the House of Hur, which he knew, after our Jewish custom of exchange,
were subject to my draft in the different marts of the world. He required me to
sign to his order. I refused. He had the houses, lands, goods, ships, and
movable property of those I served; he had not their moneys. I saw, if I kept
favor in the sight of the Lord, I could rebuild their broken fortunes. I
refused the tyrant's demands. He put me to torture; my will held good, and he
set me free, nothing gained. I came home and began again, in the name of
Simonides of Antioch, instead of the Prince Hur of Jerusalem. Thou knowest,
Esther, how I have prospered; that the increase of the millions of the prince
in my hands was miraculous; thou knowest how, at the end of three years, while
going up to Caesarea, I was taken and a second time tortured by Gratus to
compel a confession that my goods and moneys were subject to his order of
confiscation; thou knowest he failed as before. Broken in body, I came home and
found my Rachel dead of fear and grief for me. The Lord our God reigned, and I
lived. From the emperor himself I bought immunity and license to trade
throughout the world. To-day - praised be He who maketh the clouds his chariot
and walketh upon the winds! - to-day, Esther, that which was in my hands for
stewardship is multiplied into talents sufficient to enrich a Caesar."
He lifted his
head proudly; their eyes met; each read the other's thought. "What shall I
with the treasure, Esther?" he asked, without lowering his gaze.
"My
father," she answered, in a low voice, "did not the rightful owner
call for it but now?"
Still his look
did not fail.
"And thou,
my child; shall I leave thee a beggar?"
"Nay,
father, am not I, because I am thy child, his bond-servant? And of whom was it
written, 'Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to
come?'"
A gleam of
ineffable love lighted his face as he said, "The Lord hath been good to me
in many ways; but thou, Esther, art the sovereign excellence of his
favor."
He drew her to
his breast and kissed her many times.
"Hear
now," he said, with clearer voice -”hear now why I laughed this morning.
The young man faced me the apparition of his father in comely youth. My spirit
arose to salute him. I felt my trial-days were over and my labors ended. Hardly
could I keep from crying out. I longed to take him by the hand and show the
balance I had earned, and say, 'Lo, 'tis all thine! and I am thy servant, ready
now to be called away.' And so I would have done, Esther, so I would have done,
but that moment three thoughts rushed to restrain me. I will be sure he is my
master's son - such was the first thought; if he is my master's son, I will
learn somewhat of his nature. Of those born to riches, bethink you, Esther, how
many there are in whose hands riches are but breeding curses" - he paused,
while his hands clutched, and his voice shrilled with passion -”Esther,
consider the pains I endured at the Roman's hands; nay, not Gratus's alone: the
merciless wretches who did his bidding the first time and the last were Romans,
and they all alike laughed to hear me scream. Consider my broken body, and the
years I have gone shorn of my stature; consider thy mother yonder in her lonely
tomb, crushed of soul as I of body; consider the sorrows of my master's family
if they are living, and the cruelty of their taking-off if they are dead;
consider all, and, with Heaven's love about thee, tell me, daughter, shall not
a hair fall or a red drop run in expiation? Tell me not, as the preachers
sometimes do - tell me not that vengeance is the Lord's. Does he not work his
will harmfully as well as in love by agencies? Has he not his men of war more
numerous than his prophets? Is not his the law, Eye for eye, hand for hand,
foot for foot? Oh, in all these years I have dreamed of vengeance, and prayed
and provided for it, and gathered patience from the growing of my store,
thinking and promising, as the Lord liveth, it will one day buy me punishment
of the wrong-doers? And when, speaking of his practise with arms, the young man
said it was for a nameless purpose, I named the purpose even as he spoke -
vengeance! and that, Esther, that it was - the third thought which held me
still and hard while his pleading lasted, and made me laugh when he was
gone."
Esther caressed
the faded hands, and said, as if her spirit with his were running forward to
results, "He is gone. Will he come again?"
"Ay, Malluch the faithful goes with him, and
will bring him back when I am ready."
"And when
will that be, father?"
"Not long,
not long. He thinks all his witnesses dead. There is one living who will not
fail to know him, if he be indeed my master's son."
"His
mother?"
"Nay,
daughter, I will set the witness before him; till then let us rest the business
with the Lord. I am tired. Call Abimelech."
Esther called the
servant, and they returned into the house.
