CHAPTER VII
Malluch stopped
at the door; Ben-Hur entered alone.
The room was the
same in which he had formerly interviewed Simonides, and it had been in nowise
changed, except now, close by the arm-chair, a polished brazen rod, set on a
broad wooden pedestal, arose higher than a tall man, holding lamps of silver on
sliding arms, half-a-dozen or more in number, and all burning. The light was
clear, bringing into view the panelling on the walls, the cornice with its row
of gilded balls, and the dome dully tinted with violet mica.
Within a few
steps, Ben-Hur stopped.
Three persons
were present, looking at him - Simonides, Ilderim, and Esther.
He glanced
hurriedly from one to another, as if to find answer to the question half formed
in his mind, What business can these have with me? He became calm, with every
sense on the alert, for the question was succeeded by another, Are they friends
or enemies?
At length, his
eyes rested upon Esther.
The men returned
his look kindly; in her face there was something more than kindness - something
too spirituel for definition, which yet went to his inner consciousness without
definition.
Shall it be said,
good reader? Back of his gaze there was a comparison in which the Egyptian
arose and set herself over against the gentle Jewess; but it lived an instant,
and, as is the habit of such comparisons, passed away without a conclusion.
"Son of Hur
-”
The guest turned
to the speaker.
"Son of
Hur," said Simonides, repeating the address slowly, and with distinct
emphasis, as if to impress all its meaning upon him most interested in
understanding it, "take thou the peace of the Lord God of our fathers -
take it from me." He paused, then added, "From me and mine."
The speaker sat
in his chair; there were the royal head, the bloodless face, the masterful air,
under the influence of which visitors forgot the broken limbs and distorted
body of the man. The full black eyes gazed out under the white brows steadily,
but not sternly. A moment thus, then he crossed his hands upon his breast.
The action, taken
with the salutation, could not be misunderstood, and was not.
"Simonides,"
Ben-Hur answered, much moved, "the holy peace you tender is accepted. As
son to father, I return it to you. Only let there be perfect understanding
between us."
Thus delicately
he sought to put aside the submission of the merchant, and, in place of the
relation of master and servant, substitute one higher and holier.
Simonides let
fall his hands, and, turning to Esther, said, "A seat for the master,
daughter."
She hastened, and
brought a stool, and stood, with suffused face, looking from one to the other -
from Ben-Hur to Simonides, from Simonides to Ben-Hur; and they waited, each
declining the superiority direction would imply. When at length the pause began
to be embarrassing, Ben-Hur advanced, and gently took the stool from her, and,
going to the chair, placed it at the merchant's feet.
"I will sit
here," he said.
His eyes met hers
- an instant only; but both were better of the look. He recognized her
gratitude, she his generosity and forbearance.
Simonides bowed
his acknowledgment.
"Esther,
child, bring me the paper," he said, with a breath of relief.
She went to a
panel in the wall, opened it, took out a roll of papyri, and brought and gave
it to him.
"Thou saidst
well, son of Hur," Simonides began, while unrolling the sheets. "Let
us understand each other. In anticipation of the demand - which I would have
made hadst thou waived it - I have here a statement covering everything
necessary to the understanding required. I could see but two points involved -
the property first, and then our relation. The statement is explicit as to
both. Will it please thee to read it now?"
Ben-Hur received
the papers, but glanced at Ilderim.
"Nay,"
said Simonides, "the sheik shall not deter thee from reading. The account
- such thou wilt find it - is of a nature requiring a witness. In the attesting
place at the end thou wilt find, when thou comest to it, the name - Ilderim,
Sheik. He knows all. He is thy friend. All he has been to me, that will he be
to thee also."
Simonides looked
at the Arab, nodding pleasantly, and the latter gravely returned the nod,
saying, "Thou hast said."
Ben-Hur replied,
"I know already the excellence of his friendship, and have yet to prove
myself worthy of it." Immediately he continued, "Later, O Simonides,
I will read the papers carefully; for the present, do thou take them, and if
thou be not too weary, give me their substance."
Simonides took
back the roll.
"Here,
Esther, stand by me and receive the sheets, lest they fall into
confusion."
She took place by
his chair, letting her right arm fall lightly across his shoulder, so, when he
spoke, the account seemed to have rendition from both of them jointly.
"This,"
said Simonides, drawing out the first leaf, "shows the money I had of thy
father's, being the amount saved from the Romans; there was no property saved,
only money, and that the robbers would have secured but for our Jewish custom
of bills of exchange. The amount saved, being sums I drew from Rome,
Alexandria, Damascus, Carthage, Valentia, and elsewhere within the circle of
trade, was one hundred and twenty talents Jewish money."
He gave the sheet
to Esther, and took the next one.
"With that
amount - one hundred and twenty talents - I charged myself. Hear now my
credits. I use the word, as thou wilt see, with reference rather to the
proceeds gained from the use of the money."
From separate
sheets he then read footings, which, fractions omitted, were as follows:
"CR.
By ships........................ 60 talents.
" goods in
store.................110 "
" cargoes in transit..............
75 "
" camels, horses, etc.............
20 "
" warehouses....................
10 "
" bills due.....................
54 "
" money on hand and subject to
draft..224 "
- -
Total..........................553 "
"
"To these now, to the five hundred and
fifty-three talents gained, add the original capital I had from thy father, and
thou hast SIX HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE TALENTS! - and all thine - making thee,
O son of Hur, the richest subject in the world."
He took the
papyri from Esther, and, reserving one, rolled them and offered them to
Ben-Hur. The pride perceptible in his manner was not offensive; it might have
been from a sense of duty well done; it might have been for Ben-Hur without
reference to himself.
"And there
is nothing," he added, dropping his voice, but not his eyes -”there is
nothing now thou mayst not do."
The moment was
one of absorbing interest to all present. Simonides crossed his hands upon his
breast again; Esther was anxious; Ilderim nervous. A man is never so on trial
as in the moment of excessive good-fortune.
Taking the roll,
Ben-Hur arose, struggling with emotion.
"All this is
to me as a light from heaven, sent to drive away a night which has been so long
I feared it would never end, and so dark I had lost the hope of seeing,"
he said, with a husky voice. "I give first thanks to the Lord, who has not
abandoned me, and my next to thee, O Simonides. Thy faithfulness outweighs the
cruelty of others, and redeems our human nature. 'There is nothing I cannot
do:' be it so. Shall any man in this my hour of such mighty privilege be more
generous than I? Serve me as a witness now, Sheik Ilderim. Hear thou my words
as I shall speak them - hear and remember. And thou, Esther, good angel of this
good man! hear thou also."
He stretched his
hand with the roll to Simonides.
"The things
these papers take into account - all of them: ships, houses, goods, camels,
horses, money; the least as well as the greatest - give I back to thee, O
Simonides, making them all thine, and sealing them to thee and thine
forever."
Esther smiled
through her tears; Ilderim pulled his beard with rapid motion, his eyes
glistening like beads of jet. Simonides alone was calm.
"Sealing
them to thee and thine forever," Ben-Hur continued, with better control of
himself, "with one exception, and upon one condition."
The breath of the
listeners waited upon his words.
"The hundred
and twenty talents which were my father's thou shalt return to me."
Ilderim's
countenance brightened.
"And thou
shalt join me in search of my mother and sister, holding all thine subject to
the expense of discovery, even as I will hold mine."
Simonides was
much affected. Stretching out his hand, he said, "I see thy spirit, son of
Hur, and I am grateful to the Lord that he hath sent thee to me such as thou
art. If I served well thy father in life, and his memory afterwards, be not
afraid of default to thee; yet must I say the exception cannot stand."
Exhibiting, then,
the reserved sheet, he continued,
"Thou hast
not all the account. Take this and read - read aloud."
Ben-Hur took the
supplement, and read it.
"Statement
of the servants of Hur, rendered by Simonides, steward of the estate.
1. Amrah,
Egyptian, keeping the palace in Jerusalem.
2. Simonides, the
steward, in Antioch.
3. Esther,
daughter of Simonides."
Now, in all his thoughts of Simonides, not once had
it entered Ben-Hur's mind that, by the law, a daughter followed the parent's condition.
In all his visions of her, the sweet-faced Esther had figured as the rival of
the Egyptian, and an object of possible love. He shrank from the revelation so
suddenly brought him, and looked at her blushing; and, blushing, she dropped
her eyes before him. Then he said, while the papyrus rolled itself together,
"A man with
six hundred talents is indeed rich, and may do what he pleases; but, rarer than
the money, more priceless than the property, is the mind which amassed the
wealth, and the heart it could not corrupt when amassed. O Simonides - and
thou, fair Esther - fear not. Sheik Ilderim here shall be witness that in the
same moment ye were declared my servants, that moment I declared ye free; and
what I declare, that will I put in writing. Is it not enough? Can I do
more?"
"Son of
Hur," said Simonides, "verily thou dost make servitude lightsome. I
was wrong; there are some things thou canst not do; thou canst not make us free
in law. I am thy servant forever, because I went to the door with thy father
one day, and in my ear the awl-marks yet abide."
"Did my
father that?"
"Judge him
not," cried Simonides, quickly. "He accepted me a servant of that
class because I prayed him to do so. I never repented the step. It was the
price I paid for Rachel, the mother of my child here; for Rachel, who would not
be my wife unless I became what she was."
"Was she a
servant forever?"
"Even
so."
Ben-Hur walked
the floor in pain of impotent wish.
"I was rich
before," he said, stopping suddenly. "I was rich with the gifts of
the generous Arrius; now comes this greater fortune, and the mind which
achieved it. Is there not a purpose of God in it all? Counsel me, O Simonides!
Help me to see the right and do it. Help me to be worthy my name, and what thou
art in law to me, that will I be to thee in fact and deed. I will be thy
servant forever."
Simonides' face
actually glowed.
"O son of my
dead master! I will do better than help; I will serve thee with all my might of
mind and heart. Body, I have not; it perished in thy cause; but with mind and
heart I will serve thee. I swear it, by the altar of our God, and the gifts
upon the altar! Only make me formally what I have assumed to be."
"Name
it," said Ben-Hur, eagerly.
"As steward
the care of the property will be mine."
"Count
thyself steward now; or wilt thou have it in writing?"
"Thy word
simply is enough; it was so with the father, and I will not more from the son.
And now, if the understanding be perfect" - Simonides paused.
"It is with
me," said Ben-Hur.
"And thou,
daughter of Rachel, speak!" said Simonides, lifting her arm from his
shoulder.
Esther, left thus
alone, stood a moment abashed, her color coming and going; then she went to
Ben-Hur, and said, with a womanliness singularly sweet, "I am not better
than my mother was; and, as she is gone, I pray you, O my master, let me care
for my father."
Ben-Hur took her
hand, and led her back to the chair, saying, "Thou art a good child. Have
thy will."
Simonides
replaced her arm upon his neck, and there was silence for a time in the room.
CHAPTER VIII
Simonides looked
up, none the less a master.
"Esther,"
he said, quietly, "the night is going fast; and, lest we become too weary
for that which is before us, let the refreshments be brought."
She rang a bell.
A servant answered with wine and bread, which she bore round.
"The
understanding, good my master," continued Simonides, when all were served,
"is not perfect in my sight. Henceforth our lives will run on together
like rivers which have met and joined their waters. I think their flowing will
be better if every cloud is blown from the sky above them. You left my door the
other day with what seemed a denial of the claims which I have just allowed in
the broadest terms; but it was not so, indeed it was not. Esther is witness
that I recognized you; and that I did not abandon you, let Malluch say."
"Malluch!"
exclaimed Ben-Hur.
"One bound
to a chair, like me, must have many hands far-reaching, if he would move the
world from which he is so cruelly barred. I have many such, and Malluch is one
of the best of them. And, sometimes" - he cast a grateful glance at the
sheik -”sometimes I borrow from others good of heart, like Ilderim the Generous
- good and brave. Let him say if I either denied or forgot you."
Ben-Hur looked at
the Arab.
"This is he,
good Ilderim, this is he who told you of me?"
Ilderim's eyes
twinkled as he nodded his answer.
"How, O my
master," said Simonides, "may we without trial tell what a man is? I
knew you; I saw your father in you; but the kind of man you were I did not
know. There are people to whom fortune is a curse in disguise. Were you of
them? I sent Malluch to find out for me, and in the service he was my eyes and
ears. Do not blame him. He brought me report of you which was all good."
"I do
not," said Ben-Hur, heartily. "There was wisdom in your
goodness."
"The words
are very pleasant to me," said the merchant, with feeling, "very
pleasant. My fear of misunderstanding is laid. Let the rivers run on now as God
may give them direction."
After an interval
he continued:
"I am
compelled now by truth. The weaver sits weaving, and, as the shuttle flies, the
cloth increases, and the figures grow, and he dreams dreams meanwhile; so to my
hands the fortune grew, and I wondered at the increase, and asked myself about
it many times. I could see a care not my own went with the enterprises I set
going. The simooms which smote others on the desert jumped over the things
which were mine. The storms which heaped the seashore with wrecks did but blow
my ships the sooner into port. Strangest of all, I, so dependent upon others,
fixed to a place like a dead thing, had never a loss by an agent - never. The
elements stooped to serve me, and all my servants, in fact, were
faithful."
"It is very
strange," said Ben-Hur.
"So I said,
and kept saying. Finally, O my master, finally I came to be of your opinion -
God was in it - and, like you, I asked, What can his purpose be? Intelligence
is never wasted; intelligence like God's never stirs except with design. I have
held the question in heart, lo! these many years, watching for an answer. I
felt sure, if God were in it, some day, in his own good time, in his own way,
he would show me his purpose, making it clear as a whited house upon a hill.
And I believe he has done so."
Ben-Hur listened
with every faculty intent.
"Many years
ago, with my people - thy mother was with me, Esther, beautiful as morning over
old Olivet - I sat by the wayside out north of Jerusalem, near the Tombs of the
Kings, when three men passed by riding great white camels, such as had never
been seen in the Holy City. The men were strangers, and from far countries. The
first one stopped and asked me a question. 'Where is he that is born King of
the Jews?' As if to allay my wonder, he went on to say, 'We have seen his star
in the east, and have come to worship him.' I could not understand, but
followed them to the Damascus Gate; and of every person they met on the way -
of the guard at the Gate, even - they asked the question. All who heard it were
amazed like me. In time I forgot the circumstance, though there was much talk
of it as a presage of the Messiah. Alas, alas! What children we are, even the
wisest! When God walks the earth, his steps are often centuries apart. You have
seen Balthasar?"
"And heard
him tell his story," said Ben-Hur.
"A miracle!
- a very miracle!" cried Simonides. "As he told it to me, good my
master, I seemed to hear the answer I had so long waited; God's purpose burst
upon me. Poor will the King be when he comes - poor and friendless; without
following, without armies, without cities or castles; a kingdom to be set up,
and Rome reduced and blotted out. See, see, O my master! thou flushed with
strength, thou trained to arms, thou burdened with riches; behold the opportunity
the Lord hath sent thee! Shall not his purpose be thine? Could a man be born to
a more perfect glory?"
Simonides put his
whole force in the appeal.
"But the
kingdom, the kingdom!" Ben-Hur answered, eagerly. "Balthasar says it
is to be of souls."
The pride of the
Jew was strong in Simonides, and therefore the slightly contemptuous curl of
the lip with which he began his reply:
"Balthasar
has been a witness of wonderful things - of miracles, O my master; and when he
speaks of them, I bow with belief, for they are of sight and sound personal to
him. But he is a son of Mizraim, and not even a proselyte. Hardly may he be
supposed to have special knowledge by virtue of which we must bow to him in a
matter of God's dealing with our Israel. The prophets had their light from
Heaven directly, even as he had his - many to one, and Jehovah the same
forever. I must believe the prophets. - Bring me the Torah, Esther."
He proceeded
without waiting for her.
"May the
testimony of a whole people be slighted, my master? Though you travel from
Tyre, which is by the sea in the north, to the capital of Edom, which is in the
desert south, you will not find a lisper of the Shema, an alms-giver in the
Temple, or any one who has ever eaten of the lamb of the Passover, to tell you
the kingdom the King is coming to build for us, the children of the covenant,
is other than of this world, like our father David's. Now where got they the
faith, ask you! We will see presently."
Esther here
returned, bringing a number of rolls carefully enveloped in dark-brown linen
lettered quaintly in gold.
"Keep them,
daughter, to give to me as I call for them," the father said, in the
tender voice he always used in speaking to her, and continued his argument:
"It were
long, good my master - too long, indeed - for me to repeat to you the names of
the holy men who, in the providence of God, succeeded the prophets, only a
little less favored than they - the seers who have written and the preachers
who have taught since the Captivity; the very wise who borrowed their lights
from the lamp of Malachi, the last of his line, and whose great names Hillel
and Shammai never tired of repeating in the colleges. Will you ask them of the
kingdom? Thus, the Lord of the sheep in the Book of Enoch - who is he? Who but
the King of whom we are speaking? A throne is set up for him; he smites the
earth, and the other kings are shaken from their thrones, and the scourges of
Israel flung into a cavern of fire flaming with pillars of fire. So also the
singer of the Psalms of Solomon - 'Behold, O Lord, and raise up to Israel their
king, the son of David, at the time thou knowest, O God, to rule Israel, thy
children... And he will bring the peoples of the heathen under his yoke to
serve him... And he shall be a righteous king taught of God, ... for he shall
rule all the earth by the word of his mouth forever.' And last, though not
least, hear Ezra, the second Moses, in his visions of the night, and ask him
who is the lion with human voice that says to the eagle - which is Rome - 'Thou
hast loved liars, and overthrown the cities of the industrious, and razed their
walls, though they did thee no harm. Therefore, begone, that the earth may be
refreshed, and recover itself, and hope in the justice and piety of him who
made her.' Whereat the eagle was seen no more. Surely, O my master, the
testimony of these should be enough! But the way to the fountain's head is
open. Let us go up to it at once. - Some wine, Esther, and then the
Torah."
"Dost thou
believe the prophets, master?" he asked, after drinking. "I know thou
dost, for of such was the faith of all thy kindred. - Give me, Esther, the book
which hath in it the visions of Isaiah."
He took one of
the rolls which she had unwrapped for him, and read, "'The people that
walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined... For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder...
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever.' - Believest thou the
prophets, O my master? - Now, Esther, the word of the Lord that came to
Micah."
She gave him the
roll he asked.
"'But
thou,'" he began reading -”'but thou, Bethlehem Ephrath, though thou be
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel.' - This was he, the very child Balthasar saw
and worshipped in the cave. Believest thou the prophets, O my master? - Give
me, Esther, the words of Jeremiah."
Receiving that
roll, he read as before, "'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.' As a king he shall reign - as a king, O
my master! Believest thou the prophets? - Now, daughter, the roll of the
sayings of that son of Judah in whom there was no blemish."
She gave him the
Book of Daniel.
"Hear, my
master," he said: "'I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like
the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven... And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages
should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass
away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.' - Believest thou the
prophets, O my master?"
"It is
enough. I believe," cried Ben-Hur.
"What
then?" asked Simonides. "If the King come poor, will not my master,
of his abundance, give him help?"
"Help him?
To the last shekel and the last breath. But why speak of his coming poor?"
"Give me,
Esther, the word of the Lord as it came to Zechariah," said Simonides.
She gave him one
of the rolls.
"Hear how
the King will enter Jerusalem." Then he read, "'Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion... Behold, thy King cometh unto thee with justice and
salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an
ass.'"
Ben-Hur looked
away.
"What see
you, O my master?"
"Rome!"
he answered, gloomily -”Rome, and her legions. I have dwelt with them in their
camps. I know them."
"Ah!"
said Simonides. "Thou shalt be a master of legions for the King, with
millions to choose from."
"Millions!"
cried Ben-Hur.
Simonides sat a
moment thinking.
"The
question of power should not trouble you," he next said.
Ben-Hur looked at
him inquiringly.
"You were
seeing the lowly King in the act of coming to his own," Simonides answered
-”seeing him on the right hand, as it were, and on the left the brassy legions
of Caesar, and you were asking, What can he do?"
"It was my
very thought."
"O my
master!" Simonides continued. "You do not know how strong our Israel
is. You think of him as a sorrowful old man weeping by the rivers of Babylon.
But go up to Jerusalem next Passover, and stand on the Xystus or in the Street
of Barter, and see him as he is. The promise of the Lord to father Jacob coming
out of Padan-Aram was a law under which our people have not ceased multiplying
- not even in captivity; they grew under foot of the Egyptian; the clench of
the Roman has been but wholesome nurture to them; now they are indeed 'a nation
and a company of nations.' Nor that only, my master; in fact, to measure the
strength of Israel - which is, in fact, measuring what the King can do - you
shall not bide solely by the rule of natural increase, but add thereto the
other - I mean the spread of the faith, which will carry you to the far and
near of the whole known earth. Further, the habit is, I know, to think and
speak of Jerusalem as Israel, which may be likened to our finding an
embroidered shred, and holding it up as a magisterial robe of Caesar's.
Jerusalem is but a stone of the Temple, or the heart in the body. Turn from
beholding the legions, strong though they be, and count the hosts of the
faithful waiting the old alarm, 'To your tents, O Israel!' - count the many in
Persia, children of those who chose not to return with the returning; count the
brethren who swarm the marts of Egypt and Farther Africa; count the Hebrew
colonists eking profit in the West - in Lodinum and the trade-courts of Spain; count
the pure of blood and the proselytes in Greece and in the isles of the sea, and
over in Pontus, and here in Antioch, and, for that matter, those of that city
lying accursed in the shadow of the unclean walls of Rome herself; count the
worshippers of the Lord dwelling in tents along the deserts next us, as well as
in the deserts beyond the Nile: and in the regions across the Caspian, and up
in the old lands of Gog and Magog even, separate those who annually send gifts
to the Holy Temple in acknowledgment of God - separate them, that they may be
counted also. And when you have done counting, lo! my master, a census of the
sword hands that await you; lo! a kingdom ready fashioned for him who is to do
'judgment and justice in the whole earth' - in Rome not less than in Zion. Have
then the answer, What Israel can do, that can the King."
The picture was
fervently given.
Upon Ilderim it
operated like the blowing of a trumpet. "Oh that I had back my
youth!" he cried, starting to his feet.
Ben-Hur sat
still. The speech, he saw, was an invitation to devote his life and fortune to
the mysterious Being who was palpably as much the centre of a great hope with
Simonides as with the devout Egyptian. The idea, as we have seen, was not a new
one, but had come to him repeatedly; once while listening to Malluch in the
Grove of Daphne; afterwards more distinctly while Balthasar was giving his
conception of what the kingdom was to be; still later, in the walk through the
old Orchard, it had risen almost, if not quite, into a resolve. At such times
it had come and gone only an idea, attended with feelings more or less acute.
Not so now. A master had it in charge, a master was working it up; already he
had exalted it into a cause brilliant with possibilities and infinitely holy.
The effect was as if a door theretofore unseen had suddenly opened flooding
Ben-Hur with light, and admitting him to a service which had been his one
perfect dream - a service reaching far into the future, and rich with the
rewards of duty done, and prizes to sweeten and soothe his ambition. One touch
more was needed.
"Let us
concede all you say, O Simonides," said Ben-Hur -”that the King will come,
and his kingdom be as Solomon's; say also I am ready to give myself and all I
have to him and his cause; yet more, say that I should do as was God's purpose
in the ordering of my life and in your quick amassment of astonishing fortune;
then what? Shall we proceed like blind men building? Shall we wait till the
King comes? Or until he sends for me? You have age and experience on your side.
Answer."
Simonides
answered at once.
"We have no
choice; none. This letter" - he produced Messala's despatch as he spoke
-”this letter is the signal for action. The alliance proposed between Messala
and Gratus we are not strong enough to resist; we have not the influence at
Rome nor the force here. They will kill you if we wait. How merciful they are,
look at me and judge."
He shuddered at
the terrible recollection.
"O good my
master," he continued, recovering himself; "how strong are you - in
purpose, I mean?"
Ben-Hur did not
understand him.
"I remember
how pleasant the world was to me in my youth," Simonides proceeded.
"Yet,"
said Ben-Hur, "you were capable of a great sacrifice."
"Yes; for
love."
"Has not
life other motives as strong?"
Simonides shook
his head.
"There is
ambition."
"Ambition is
forbidden a son of Israel."
"What, then,
of revenge?"
The spark dropped
upon the inflammable passion; the man's eyes gleamed; his hands shook; he
answered, quickly, "Revenge is a Jew's of right; it is the law."
"A camel,
even a dog, will remember a wrong," cried Ilderim.
Directly
Simonides picked up the broken thread of his thought.
"There is a
work, a work for the King, which should be done in advance of his coming. We may
not doubt that Israel is to be his right hand; but, alas! it is a hand of
peace, without cunning in war. Of the millions, there is not one trained band,
not a captain. The mercenaries of the Herods I do not count, for they are kept
to crush us. The condition is as the Roman would have it; his policy has
fruited well for his tyranny; but the time of change is at hand, when the
shepherd shall put on armor, and take to spear and sword, and the feeding
flocks be turned to fighting lions. Some one, my son, must have place next the
King at his right hand. Who shall it be if not he who does this work
well?"
Ben-Hur's face
flushed at the prospect, though he said, "I see; but speak plainly. A deed
to be done is one thing; how to do it is another."
Simonides sipped
the wine Esther brought him, and replied,
"The sheik,
and thou, my master, shall be principals, each with a part. I will remain here,
carrying on as now, and watchful that the spring go not dry. Thou shalt betake
thee to Jerusalem, and thence to the wilderness, and begin numbering the
fighting-men of Israel, and telling them into tens and hundreds, and choosing
captains and training them, and in secret places hoarding arms, for which I
shall keep thee supplied. Commencing over in Perea, thou shalt go then to
Galilee, whence it is but a step to Jerusalem. In Perea, the desert will be at
thy back, and Ilderim in reach of thy hand. He will keep the roads, so that
nothing shall pass without thy knowledge. He will help thee in many ways. Until
the ripening time no one shall know what is here contracted. Mine is but a
servant's part. I have spoken to Ilderim. What sayest thou?"
Ben-Hur looked at
the sheik.
"It is as he
says, son of Hur," the Arab responded. "I have given my word, and he
is content with it; but thou shalt have my oath, binding me, and the ready
hands of my tribe, and whatever serviceable thing I have."
The three -
Simonides, Ilderim, Esther - gazed at Ben-Hur fixedly.
"Every
man," he answered, at first sadly, "has a cup of pleasure poured for
him, and soon or late it comes to his hand, and he tastes and drinks - every
man but me. I see, Simonides, and thou, O generous sheik! - I see whither the
proposal tends. If I accept, and enter upon the course, farewell peace, and the
hopes which cluster around it. The doors I might enter and the gates of quiet
life will shut behind me, never to open again, for Rome keeps them all; and her
outlawry will follow me, and her hunters; and in the tombs near cities and the
dismal caverns of remotest hills, I must eat my crust and take my rest."
The speech was
broken by a sob. All turned to Esther, who hid her face upon her father's
shoulder.
"I did not
think of you, Esther," said Simonides, gently, for he was himself deeply
moved.
"It is well
enough, Simonides," said Ben-Hur. "A man bears a hard doom better,
knowing there is pity for him. Let me go on."
They gave him ear
again.
"I was about
to say," he continued, "I have no choice, but take the part you
assign me; and as remaining here is to meet an ignoble death, I will to the
work at once."
"Shall we
have writings?" asked Simonides, moved by his habit of business.
"I rest upon
your word," said Ben-Hur.
"And
I," Ilderim answered.
Thus simply was
effected the treaty which was to alter Ben-Hur's life. And almost immediately
the latter added,
"It is done,
then."
"May the God
of Abraham help us!" Simonides exclaimed.
"One word
now, my friends," Ben-Hur said, more cheerfully. "By your leave, I
will be my own until after the games. It is not probable Messala will set peril
on foot for me until he has given the procurator time to answer him; and that
cannot be in less than seven days from the despatch of his letter. The meeting
him in the Circus is a pleasure I would buy at whatever risk."
Ilderim, well pleased,
assented readily, and Simonides, intent on business, added, "It is well;
for look you, my master, the delay will give me time to do you a good part. I
understood you to speak of an inheritance derived from Arrius. Is it in
property?"
"A villa
near Misenum, and houses in Rome."
"I suggest,
then, the sale of the property, and safe deposit of the proceeds. Give me an
account of it, and I will have authorities drawn, and despatch an agent on the
mission forthwith. We will forestall the imperial robbers at least this
once."
"You shall
have the account to-morrow."
"Then, if
there be nothing more, the work of the night is done," said Simonides.
Ilderim combed
his beard complacently, saying, "And well done."
"The bread
and wine again, Esther. Sheik Ilderim will make us happy by staying with us
till to-morrow, or at his pleasure; and thou, my master -”
"Let the
horses be brought," said Ben-Hur. "I will return to the Orchard. The
enemy will not discover me if I go now, and" - he glanced at Ilderim -”the
four will be glad to see me."
As the day
dawned, he and Malluch dismounted at the door of the tent.
