BenHur: A Tale of the Christ.........................................................................................................................1

Lew Wallace............................................................................................................................................1

BOOK FIRST..........................................................................................................................................3

CHAPTER I .............................................................................................................................................3

CHAPTER II ............................................................................................................................................5

CHAPTER III..........................................................................................................................................7

CHAPTER IV..........................................................................................................................................9

CHAPTER V.........................................................................................................................................11

CHAPTER VI........................................................................................................................................16

CHAPTER VII .......................................................................................................................................17

CHAPTER VIII.....................................................................................................................................20

CHAPTER IX........................................................................................................................................23

CHAPTER X.........................................................................................................................................29

CHAPTER XI........................................................................................................................................30

CHAPTER XII .......................................................................................................................................34

CHAPTER XIII.....................................................................................................................................36

CHAPTER XIV.....................................................................................................................................44

BOOK SECOND...................................................................................................................................45

CHAPTER I ...........................................................................................................................................45

CHAPTER II ..........................................................................................................................................47

CHAPTER III........................................................................................................................................53

CHAPTER IV........................................................................................................................................56

CHAPTER V.........................................................................................................................................60

CHAPTER VI........................................................................................................................................64

CHAPTER VII .......................................................................................................................................72

BOOK THIRD .......................................................................................................................................75

CHAPTER I ...........................................................................................................................................75

CHAPTER II ..........................................................................................................................................79

CHAPTER III........................................................................................................................................83

CHAPTER IV........................................................................................................................................89

CHAPTER V.........................................................................................................................................93

CHAPTER VI........................................................................................................................................96

BOOK FOURTH.................................................................................................................................100

CHAPTER I .........................................................................................................................................101

CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................................................103

CHAPTER III......................................................................................................................................105

CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................................111

CHAPTER V.......................................................................................................................................115

CHAPTER VI......................................................................................................................................119

CHAPTER VII .....................................................................................................................................123

CHAPTER VIII...................................................................................................................................126

CHAPTER IX......................................................................................................................................131

CHAPTER X.......................................................................................................................................135

CHAPTER XI......................................................................................................................................140

CHAPTER XII .....................................................................................................................................145

CHAPTER XIII...................................................................................................................................153

CHAPTER XIV...................................................................................................................................158

CHAPTER XV....................................................................................................................................160

CHAPTER XVI...................................................................................................................................163

CHAPTER XVII ..................................................................................................................................168

BOOK FIFTH......................................................................................................................................171

CHAPTER I .........................................................................................................................................171

CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................................................174

CHAPTER III......................................................................................................................................179

CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................................189

CHAPTER V.......................................................................................................................................190

CHAPTER VI......................................................................................................................................193

CHAPTER VII .....................................................................................................................................196

CHAPTER VIII...................................................................................................................................200

CHAPTER IX......................................................................................................................................207

CHAPTER X.......................................................................................................................................210

CHAPTER XI......................................................................................................................................213

CHAPTER XII .....................................................................................................................................219

CHAPTER XIII...................................................................................................................................222

CHAPTER XIV...................................................................................................................................227

CHAPTER XV....................................................................................................................................232

CHAPTER XVI...................................................................................................................................234

BOOK SIXTH "Is that a Death? and are there two? Is Death that woman's mate? * * * * Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare LifeinDeath was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold." COLERIDGE. CHAPTER I 42

CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................................................246

CHAPTER III......................................................................................................................................253

CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................................256

CHAPTER V.......................................................................................................................................260

CHAPTER VI......................................................................................................................................265

BOOK SEVENTH ...............................................................................................................................272

CHAPTER I .........................................................................................................................................272

CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................................................274

CHAPTER III......................................................................................................................................278

CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................................282

CHAPTER V.......................................................................................................................................288

BOOK EIGHTH..................................................................................................................................294

CHAPTER I .........................................................................................................................................294

CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................................................300

CHAPTER III......................................................................................................................................304

CHAPTER IV......................................................................................................................................310

CHAPTER V.......................................................................................................................................315

CHAPTER VI......................................................................................................................................317

CHAPTER VII .....................................................................................................................................324

CHAPTER VIII...................................................................................................................................325

CHAPTER IX......................................................................................................................................329

CHAPTER X.......................................................................................................................................335

The Jebel es Zubleh is a mountain fifty miles and more in length, and so narrow that its tracery on the map

gives it a likeness to a caterpillar crawling from the south to the north. Standing on its redandwhite cliffs,

and looking off under the path of the rising sun, one sees only the Desert of Arabia, where the east winds, so

hateful to vinegrowers of Jericho, have kept their playgrounds since the beginning. Its feet are well covered

by sands tossed from the Euphrates, there to lie, for the mountain is a wall to the pasturelands of Moab and

The Arab has impressed his language upon everything south and east of Judea, so, in his tongue, the old Jebel

is the parent of numberless wadies which, intersecting the Roman roadnow a dim suggestion of what once

it was, a dusty path for Syrian pilgrims to and from Meccarun their furrows, deepening as they go, to pass

the torrents of the rainy season into the Jordan, or their last receptacle, the Dead Sea. Out of one of these

wadiesor, more particularly, out of that one which rises at the extreme end of the Jebel, and, extending east

of north, becomes at length the bed of the Jabbok Rivera traveller passed, going to the tablelands of the

Judged by his appearance, he was quite fortyfive years old. His beard, once of the deepest black, flowing

broadly over his breast, was streaked with white. His face was brown as a parched coffeeberry, and so

hidden by a red kufiyeh (as the kerchief of the head is at this day called by the children of the desert) as to be

but in part visible. Now and then he raised his eyes, and they were large and dark. He was clad in the flowing

garments so universal in the East; but their style may not be described more particularly, for he sat under a

It may be doubted if the people of the West ever overcome the impression made upon them by the first view

of a camel equipped and loaded for the desert. Custom, so fatal to other novelties, affects this feeling but

little. At the end of long journeys with caravans, after years of residence with the Bedawin, the

Westernborn, wherever they may be, will stop and wait the passing of the stately brute. The charm is not in

the figure, which not even love can make beautiful; nor in the movement, the noiseless stepping, or the broad

careen. As is the kindness of the sea to a ship, so that of the desert to its creature. It clothes him with all its

mysteries; in such manner, too, that while we are looking at him we are thinking of them: therein is the

wonder. The animal which now came out of the wady might well have claimed the customary homage. Its

color and height; its breadth of foot; its bulk of body, not fat, but overlaid with muscle; its long, slender neck,

of swanlike curvature; the head, wide between the eyes, and tapering to a muzzle which a lady's bracelet

might have almost clasped; its motion, step long and elastic, tread sure and soundlessall certified its Syrian

blood, old as the days of Cyrus, and absolutely priceless. There was the usual bridle, covering the forehead

with scarlet fringe, and garnishing the throat with pendent brazen chains, each ending with a tinkling silver

bell; but to the bridle there was neither rein for the rider nor strap for a driver. The furniture perched on the

back was an invention which with any other people than of the East would have made the inventor renowned.

It consisted of two wooden boxes, scarce four feet in length, balanced so that one hung at each side; the inner

space, softly lined and carpeted, was arranged to allow the master to sit or lie half reclined; over it all was

stretched a green awning. Broad back and breast straps, and girths, secured with countless knots and ties, held

the device in place. In such manner the ingenious sons of Cush had contrived to make comfortable the

sunburnt ways of the wilderness, along which lay their duty as often as their pleasure.

When the dromedary lifted itself out of the last break of the wady, the traveller had passed the boundary of El

Belka, the ancient Ammon. It was morningtime. Before him was the sun, half curtained in fleecy mist;

before him also spread the desert; not the realm of drifting sands, which was farther on, but the region where

the herbage began to dwarf; where the surface is strewn with boulders of granite, and gray and brown stones,

interspersed with languishing acacias and tufts of camelgrass. The oak, bramble, and arbutus lay behind, as

if they had come to a line, looked over into the wellless waste and crouched with fear.

And now there was an end of path or road. More than ever the camel seemed insensibly driven; it lengthened

and quickened its pace, its head pointed straight towards the horizon; through the wide nostrils it drank the

wind in great draughts. The litter swayed, and rose and fell like a boat in the waves. Dried leaves in

occasional beds rustled underfoot. Sometimes a perfume like absinthe sweetened all the air. Lark and chat

and rockswallow leaped to wing, and white partridges ran whistling and clucking out of the way. More

rarely a fox or a hyena quickened his gallop, to study the intruders at a safe distance. Off to the right rose the

hills of the Jebel, the pearlgray veil resting upon them changing momentarily into a purple which the sun

would make matchless a little later. Over their highest peaks a vulture sailed on broad wings into widening

circles. But of all these things the tenant under the green tent saw nothing, or, at least, made no sign of

recognition. His eyes were fixed and dreamy. The going of the man, like that of the animal, was as one being

For two hours the dromedary swung forward, keeping the trot steadily and the line due east. In that time the

traveller never changed his position, nor looked to the right or left. On the desert, distance is not measured by

miles or leagues, but by the saat, or hour, and the manzil, or halt: three and a half leagues fill the former,

fifteen or twentyfive the latter; but they are the rates for the common camel. A carrier of the genuine Syrian

stock can make three leagues easily. At full speed he overtakes the ordinary winds. As one of the results of

the rapid advance, the face of the landscape underwent a change. The Jebel stretched along the western

horizon, like a paleblue ribbon. A tell, or hummock of clay and cemented sand, arose here and there. Now

and then basaltic stones lifted their round crowns, outposts of the mountain against the forces of the plain; all

else, however, was sand, sometimes smooth as the beaten beach, then heaped in rolling ridges; here chopped

waves, there long swells. So, too, the condition of the atmosphere changed. The sun, high risen, had drunk his

fill of dew and mist, and warmed the breeze that kissed the wanderer under the awning; far and near he was

Two hours more passed without rest or deviation from the course. Vegetation entirely ceased. The sand, so

crusted on the surface that it broke into rattling flakes at every step, held undisputed sway. The Jebel was out

of view, and there was no landmark visible. The shadow that before followed had now shifted to the north,

and was keeping even race with the objects which cast it; and as there was no sign of halting, the conduct of

No one, be it remembered, seeks the desert for a pleasureground. Life and business traverse it by paths

along which the bones of things dead are strewn as so many blazons. Such are the roads from well to well,

from pasture to pasture. The heart of the most veteran sheik beats quicker when he finds himself alone in the

pathless tracts. So the man with whom we are dealing could not have been in search of pleasure; neither was

his manner that of a fugitive; not once did he look behind him. In such situations fear and curiosity are the

most common sensations; he was not moved by them. When men are lonely, they stoop to any

companionship; the dog becomes a comrade, the horse a friend, and it is no shame to shower them with

caresses and speeches of love. The camel received no such token, not a touch, not a word.

Exactly at noon the dromedary, of its own will, stopped, and uttered the cry or moan, peculiarly piteous, by

which its kind always protest against an overload, and sometimes crave attention and rest. The master

thereupon bestirred himself, waking, as it were, from sleep. He threw the curtains of the houdah up, looked at

the sun, surveyed the country on every side long and carefully, as if to identify an appointed place. Satisfied

with the inspection, he drew a deep breath and nodded, much as to say, "At last, at last!" A moment after, he

crossed his hands upon his breast, bowed his head, and prayed silently. The pious duty done, he prepared to

dismount. From his throat proceeded the sound heard doubtless by the favorite camels of JobIkh!

ikh!the signal to kneel. Slowly the animal obeyed, grunting the while. The rider then put his foot upon the

The man as now revealed was of admirable proportions, not so tall as powerful. Loosening the silken rope

which held the kufiyeh on his head, he brushed the fringed folds back until his face was barea strong face,

almost negro in color; yet the low, broad forehead, aquiline nose, the outer corners of the eyes turned slightly

upward, the hair profuse, straight, harsh, of metallic lustre, and falling to the shoulder in many plaits, were

signs of origin impossible to disguise. So looked the Pharaohs and the later Ptolemies; so looked Mizraim,

father of the Egyptian race. He wore the kamis, a white cotton shirt tightsleeved, open in front, extending to

the ankles and embroidered down the collar and breast, over which was thrown a brown woollen cloak, now,

as in all probability it was then, called the aba, an outer garment with long skirt and short sleeves, lined inside

with stuff of mixed cotton and silk, edged all round with a margin of clouded yellow. His feet were protected

by sandals, attached by thongs of soft leather. A sash held the kamis to his waist. What was very noticeable,

considering he was alone, and that the desert was the haunt of leopards and lions, and men quite as wild, he

carried no arms, not even the crooked stick used for guiding camels; wherefore we may at least infer his

errand peaceful, and that he was either uncommonly bold or under extraordinary protection.

The traveller's limbs were numb, for the ride had been long and wearisome; so he rubbed his hands and

stamped his feet, and walked round the faithful servant, whose lustrous eyes were closing in calm content

with the cud he had already found. Often, while making the circuit, he paused, and, shading his eyes with his

hands, examined the desert to the extremest verge of vision; and always, when the survey was ended, his face

clouded with disappointment, slight, but enough to advise a shrewd spectator that he was there expecting

company, if not by appointment; at the same time, the spectator would have been conscious of a sharpening

of the curiosity to learn what the business could be that required transaction in a place so far from civilized

However disappointed, there could be little doubt of the stranger's confidence in the coming of the expected

company. In token thereof, he went first to the litter, and, from the cot or box opposite the one he had

occupied in coming, produced a sponge and a small gurglet of water, with which he washed the eyes, face,

and nostrils of the camel; that done, from the same depository he drew a circular cloth, redand

whitestriped, a bundle of rods, and a stout cane. The latter, after some manipulation, proved to be a cunning

device of lesser joints, one within another, which, when united together, formed a centre pole higher than his

head. When the pole was planted, and the rods set around it, he spread the cloth over them, and was literally

at homea home much smaller than the habitations of emir and sheik, yet their counterpart in all other

respects. From the litter again he brought a carpet or square rug, and covered the floor of the tent on the side

from the sun. That done, he went out, and once more, and with greater care and more eager eyes, swept the

encircling country. Except a distant jackal, galloping across the plain, and an eagle flying towards the Gulf of

He turned to the camel, saying low, and in a tongue strange to the desert, "We are far from home, O racer

with the swiftest windswe are far from home, but God is with us. Let us be patient."

Then he took some beans from a pocket in the saddle, and put them in a bag made to hang below the animal's

nose; and when he saw the relish with which the good servant took to the food, he turned and again scanned

"They will come " he said, calmly. "He that led me is leading them. I will make ready."

From the pouches which lined the interior of the cot, and from a willow basket which was part of its

furniture, he brought forth materials for a meal: platters closewoven of the fibres of palms; wine in small

gurglets of skin; mutton dried and smoked; stoneless shami, or Syrian pomegranates; dates of El Shelebi,

wondrous rich and grown in the nakhil, or palm orchards, of Central Arabia; cheese, like David's "slices of

milk;" and leavened bread from the city bakeryall which he carried and set upon the carpet under the tent.

As the final preparation, about the provisions he laid three pieces of silk cloth, used among refined people of

the East to cover the knees of guests while at tablea circumstance significant of the number of persons who

All was now ready. He stepped out: lo! in the east a dark speck on the face of the desert. He stood as if rooted

to the ground; his eyes dilated; his flesh crept chilly, as if touched by something supernatural. The speck

grew; became large as a hand; at length assumed defined proportions. A little later, full into view swung a

duplication of his own dromedary, tall and white, and bearing a houdah, the travelling litter of Hindostan.

The stranger drew nighat last stopped. Then he, too, seemed just waking. He beheld the kneeling camel,

the tent, and the man standing prayerfully at the door. He crossed his hands, bent his head, and prayed

silently; after which, in a little while, he stepped from his camel's neck to the sand, and advanced towards the

Egyptian, as did the Egyptian towards him. A moment they looked at each other; then they embracedthat

is, each threw his right arm over the other's shoulder, and the left round the side, placing his chin first upon

"And to thee, O brother of the true faith!to thee peace and welcome," the Egyptian replied, with fervor.

The newcomer was tall and gaunt, with lean face, sunken eyes, white hair and beard, and a complexion

between the hue of cinnamon and bronze. He, too, was unarmed. His costume was Hindostani; over the

skullcap a shawl was wound in great folds, forming a turban; his body garments were in the style of the

Egyptian's, except that the aba was shorter, exposing wide flowing breeches gathered at the ankles. In place

of sandals, his feet were clad in halfslippers of red leather, pointed at the toes. Save the slippers, the

costume from head to foot was of white linen. The air of the man was high, stately, severe. Visvamitra, the

greatest of the ascetic heroes of the Iliad of the East, had in him a perfect representative. He might have been

called a Life drenched with the wisdom of BrahmaDevotion Incarnate. Only in his eyes was there proof of

humanity; when he lifted his face from the Egyptian's breast, they were glistening with tears.

"And blessed are they that serve him!" the Egyptian answered, wondering at the paraphrase of his own

exclamation. "But let us wait," he added, "let us wait; for see, the other comes yonder!"

They looked to the north, where, already plain to view, a third camel, of the whiteness of the others, came

careening like a ship. They waited, standing togetherwaited until the newcomer arrived, dismounted, and

The last comer was all unlike his friends: his frame was slighter; his complexion white; a mass of waving

light hair was a perfect crown for his small but beautiful head; the warmth of his darkblue eyes certified a

delicate mind, and a cordial, brave nature. He was bareheaded and unarmed. Under the folds of the Tyrian

blanket which he wore with unconscious grace appeared a tunic, shortsleeved and lownecked, gathered to

the waist by a band, and reaching nearly to the knee; leaving the neck, arms, and legs bare. Sandals guarded

his feet. Fifty years, probably more, had spent themselves upon him, with no other effect, apparently, than to

tinge his demeanor with gravity and temper his words with forethought. The physical organization and the

brightness of soul were untouched. No need to tell the student from what kindred he was sprung; if he came

When his arms fell from the Egyptian, the latter said, with a tremulous voice, "The Spirit brought me first;

wherefore I know myself chosen to be the servant of my brethren. The tent is set, and the bread is ready for

Taking each by the hand, he led them within, and removed their sandals and washed their feet, and he poured

Then, when he had laved his own hands, he said, "Let us take care of ourselves, brethren, as our service

requires, and eat, that we may be strong for what remains of the day's duty. While we eat, we will each learn

He took them to the repast, and seated them so that they faced each other. Simultaneously their heads bent

forward, their hands crossed upon their breasts, and, speaking together, they said aloud this simple grace:

"Father of allGod!what we have here is of thee; take our thanks and bless us, that we may continue to

With the last word they raised their eyes, and looked at each other in wonder. Each had spoken in a language

never before heard by the others; yet each understood perfectly what was said. Their souls thrilled with divine

To speak in the style of the period, the meeting just described took place in the year of Rome 747. The month

was December, and winter reigned over all the regions east of the Mediterranean. Such as ride upon the

desert in this season go not far until smitten with a keen appetite. The company under the little tent were not

exceptions to the rule. They were hungry, and ate heartily; and, after the wine, they talked.

"To a wayfarer in a strange land nothing is so sweet as to hear his name on the tongue of a friend," said the

Egyptian, who assumed to be president of the repast. "Before us lie many days of companionship. It is time

we knew each other. So, if it be agreeable, he who came last shall be first to speak."

"What I have to tell, my brethren, is so strange that I hardly know where to begin or what I may with

propriety speak. I do not yet understand myself. The most I am sure of is that I am doing a Master's will, and

that the service is a constant ecstasy. When I think of the purpose I am sent to fulfil, there is in me a joy so

The good man paused, unable to proceed, while the others, in sympathy with his feelings, dropped their gaze.

"Far to the west of this," he began again, "there is a land which may never be forgotten; if only because the

world is too much its debtor, and because the indebtedness is for things that bring to men their purest

pleasures. I will say nothing of the arts, nothing of philosophy, of eloquence, of poetry, of war: O my

brethren, hers is the glory which must shine forever in perfected letters, by which He we go to find and

proclaim will be made known to all the earth. The land I speak of is Greece. I am Gaspar, son of Cleanthes

"My people," he continued, "were given wholly to study, and from them I derived the same passion. It

happens that two of our philosophers, the very greatest of the many, teach, one the doctrine of a Soul in every

man, and its Immortality; the other the doctrine of One God, infinitely just. From the multitude of subjects

about which the schools were disputing, I separated them, as alone worth the labor of solution; for I thought

there was a relation between God and the soul as yet unknown. On this theme the mind can reason to a point,

a dead, impassable wall; arrived there, all that remains is to stand and cry aloud for help. So I did; but no

voice came to me over the wall. In despair, I tore myself from the cities and the schools."

"In the northern part of my countryin Thessaly," the Greek proceeded to say, "there is a mountain famous

as the home of the gods, where Theus, whom my countrymen believe supreme, has his abode; Olympus is its

name. Thither I betook myself. I found a cave in a hill where the mountain, coming from the west, bends to

the southeast; there I dwelt, giving myself up to meditationno, I gave myself up to waiting for what every

breath was a prayerfor revelation. Believing in God, invisible yet supreme, I also believed it possible so to

yearn for him with all my soul that he would take compassion and give me answer."

"And he didhe did!" exclaimed the Hindoo, lifting his hands from the silken cloth upon his lap.

"Hear me, brethren," said the Greek, calming himself with an effort. "The door of my hermitage looks over

an arm of the sea, over the Thermaic Gulf. One day I saw a man flung overboard from a ship sailing by. He

swam ashore. I received and took care of him. He was a Jew, learned in the history and laws of his people;

and from him I came to know that the God of my prayers did indeed exist; and had been for ages their

lawmaker, ruler, and king. What was that but the Revelation I dreamed of? My faith had not been fruitless;

"But, alas!" the Egyptian added, "how few are there wise enough to know when he answers them!"

"That was not all," the Greek continued. "The man so sent to me told me more. He said the prophets who, in

the ages which followed the first revelation, walked and talked with God, declared he would come again. He

gave me the names of the prophets, and from the sacred books quoted their very language. He told me,

further, that the second coming was at handwas looked for momentarily in Jerusalem."

"It is true," he said, after a little"it is true the man told me that as God and the revelation of which he spoke

had been for the Jews alone, so it would be again. He that was to come should be King of the Jews. 'Had he

nothing for the rest of the world?' I asked. 'No,' was the answer, given in a proud voice'No, we are his

chosen people.' The answer did not crush my hope. Why should such a God limit his love and benefaction to

one land, and, as it were, to one family? I set my heart upon knowing. At last I broke through the man's pride,

and found that his fathers had been merely chosen servants to keep the Truth alive, that the world might at

last know it and be saved. When the Jew was gone, and I was alone again, I chastened my soul with a new

prayerthat I might be permitted to see the King when he was come, and worship him. One night I sat by

the door of my cave trying to get nearer the mysteries of my existence, knowing which is to know God;

suddenly, on the sea below me, or rather in the darkness that covered its face, I saw a star begin to burn;

slowly it arose and drew nigh, and stood over the hill and above my door, so that its light shone full upon me.

"'O Gaspar! Thy faith hath conquered! Blessed art thou! With two others, come from the uttermost parts of

the earth, thou shalt see Him that is promised, and be a witness for him, and the occasion of testimony in his

behalf. In the morning arise, and go meet them, and keep trust in the Spirit that shall guide thee.'

"And in the morning I awoke with the Spirit as a light within me surpassing that of the sun. I put off my

hermit's garb, and dressed myself as of old. From a hidingplace I took the treasure which I had brought from

the city. A ship went sailing past. I hailed it, was taken aboard, and landed at Antioch. There I bought the

camel and his furniture. Through the gardens and orchards that enamel the banks of the Orontes, I journeyed

to Emesa, Damascus, Bostra, and Philadelphia; thence hither. And so, O brethren, you have my story. Let me

The Egyptian and the Hindoo looked at each other; the former waved his hand; the latter bowed, and began:

"You may know me, brethren, by the name of Melchior. I speak to you in a language which, if not the oldest

in the world, was at least the soonest to be reduced to lettersI mean the Sanscrit of India. I am a Hindoo by

birth. My people were the first to walk in the fields of knowledge, first to divide them, first to make them

beautiful. Whatever may hereafter befall, the four Vedas must live, for they are the primal fountains of

religion and useful intelligence. From them were derived the UpaVedas, which, delivered by Brahma, treat

of medicine, archery, architecture, music, and the fourandsixty mechanical arts; the VedAngas, revealed

by inspired saints, and devoted to astronomy, grammar, prosody, pronunciation, charms and incantations,

religious rites and ceremonies; the UpAngas, written by the sage Vyasa, and given to cosmogony,

chronology, and geography; therein also are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, heroic poems, designed for

the perpetuation of our gods and demigods. Such, O brethren, are the Great Shastras, or books of sacred

ordinances. They are dead to me now; yet through all time they will serve to illustrate the budding genius of

my race. They were promises of quick perfection. Ask you why the promises failed? Alas! the books

themselves closed all the gates of progress. Under pretext of care for the creature, their authors imposed the

fatal principle that a man must not address himself to discovery or invention, as Heaven had provided him all

things needful. When that condition became a sacred law, the lamp of Hindoo genius was let down a well,

"These allusions, brethren, are not from pride, as you will understand when I tell you that the Shastras teach a

Supreme God called Brahm; also, that the Puranas, or sacred poems of the UpAngas, tell us of Virtue and

Good Works, and of the Soul. So, if my brother will permit the saying"the speaker bowed deferentially to

the Greek"ages before his people were known, the two great ideas, God and the Soul, had absorbed all the

forces of the Hindoo mind. In further explanation let me say that Brahm is taught, by the same sacred books,

as a TriadBrahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Of these, Brahma is said to have been the author of our race; which,

in course of creation, he divided into four castes. First, he peopled the worlds below and the heavens above;

next, he made the earth ready for terrestrial spirits; then from his mouth proceeded the Brahman caste, nearest

in likeness to himself, highest and noblest, sole teachers of the Vedas, which at the same time flowed from

his lips in finished state, perfect in all useful knowledge. From his arms next issued the Kshatriya, or

warriors; from his breast, the seat of life, came the Vaisya, or producersshepherds, farmers, merchants;

from his foot, in sign of degradation, sprang the Sudra, or serviles, doomed to menial duties for the other

classesserfs, domestics, laborers, artisans. Take notice, further, that the law, so born with them, forbade a

man of one caste becoming a member of another; the Brahman could not enter a lower order; if he violated

the laws of his own grade, he became an outcast, lost to all but outcasts like himself."

At this point, the imagination of the Greek, flashing forward upon all the consequences of such a degradation,

overcame his eager attention, and he exclaimed, "In such a state, O brethren, what mighty need of a loving

The brows of the Hindoo knit painfully; when the emotion was spent, he proceeded, in a softened voice.

"I was born a Brahman. My life, consequently, was ordered down to its least act, its last hour. My first

draught of nourishment; the giving me my compound name; taking me out the first time to see the sun;

investing me with the triple thread by which I became one of the twiceborn; my induction into the first

orderwere all celebrated with sacred texts and rigid ceremonies. I might not walk, eat, drink, or sleep

without danger of violating a rule. And the penalty, O brethren, the penalty was to my soul! According to the

degrees of omission, my soul went to one of the heavensIndra's the lowest, Brahma's the highest; or it was

driven back to become the life of a worm, a fly, a fish, or a brute. The reward for perfect observance was

Beatitude, or absorption into the being of Brahm, which was not existence as much as absolute rest."

The Hindoo gave himself a moment's thought; proceeding, he said: "The part of a Brahman's life called the

first order is his student life. When I was ready to enter the second orderthat is to say, when I was ready to

marry and become a householderI questioned everything, even Brahm; I was a heretic. From the depths of

the well I had discovered a light above, and yearned to go up and see what all it shone upon. At lastah,

with what years of toil!I stood in the perfect day, and beheld the principle of life, the element of religion,

The shrunken face of the good man kindled visibly, and he clasped his hands with force. A silence ensued,

during which the others looked at him, the Greek through tears. At length he resumed:

"The happiness of love is in action; its test is what one is willing to do for others. I could not rest. Brahm had

filled the world with so much wretchedness. The Sudra appealed to me, so did the countless devotees and

victims. The island of Ganga Lagor lies where the sacred waters of the Ganges disappear in the Indian Ocean.

Thither I betook myself. In the shade of the temple built there to the sage Kapila, in a union of prayers with

the disciples whom the sanctified memory of the holy man keeps around his house, I thought to find rest. But

twice every year came pilgrimages of Hindoos seeking the purification of the waters. Their misery

strengthened my love. Against its impulse to speak I clenched my jaws; for one word against Brahm or the

Triad or the Shastras would doom me; one act of kindness to the outcast Brahmans who now and then

dragged themselves to die on the burning sandsa blessing said, a cup of water givenand I became one of

them, lost to family, country, privileges, caste. The love conquered! I spoke to the disciples in the temple;

they drove me out. I spoke to the pilgrims; they stoned me from the island. On the highways I attempted to

preach; my hearers fled from me, or sought my life. In all India, finally, there was not a place in which I

could find peace or safetynot even among the outcasts, for, though fallen, they were still believers in

Brahm. In my extremity, I looked for a solitude in which to hide from all but God. I followed the Ganges to

its source, far up in the Himalayas. When I entered the pass at Hurdwar, where the river, in unstained purity,

leaps to its course through the muddy lowlands, I prayed for my race, and thought myself lost to them

forever. Through gorges, over cliffs, across glaciers, by peaks that seemed starhigh, I made my way to the

Lang Tso, a lake of marvellous beauty, asleep at the feet of the Tise Gangri, the Gurla, and the Kailas Parbot,

giants which flaunt their crowns of snow everlastingly in the face of the sun. There, in the centre of the earth,

where the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmapootra rise to run their different courses; where mankind took up their

first abode, and separated to replete the world, leaving Balk, the mother of cities, to attest the great fact;

where Nature, gone back to its primeval condition, and secure in its immensities, invites the sage and the

exile, with promise of safety to the one and solitude to the otherthere I went to abide alone with God,

"One night I walked by the shores of the lake, and spoke to the listening silence, 'When will God come and

claim his own? Is there to be no redemption?' Suddenly a light began to glow tremulously out on the water;

soon a star arose, and moved towards me, and stood overhead. The brightness stunned me. While I lay upon

the ground, I heard a voice of infinite sweetness say, 'Thy love hath conquered. Blessed art thou, O son of

India! The redemption is at hand. With two others, from far quarters of the earth, thou shalt see the

Redeemer, and be a witness that he hath come. In the morning arise, and go meet them; and put all thy trust in

"And from that time the light has stayed with me; so I knew it was the visible presence of the Spirit. In the

morning I started to the world by the way I had come. In a cleft of the mountain I found a stone of vast worth,

which I sold in Hurdwar. By Lahore, and Cabool, and Yezd, I came to Ispahan. There I bought the camel, and

thence was led to Bagdad, not waiting for caravans. Alone I traveled, fearless, for the Spirit was with me, and

is with me yet. What glory is ours, O brethren! We are to see the Redeemerto speak to himto worship

The vivacious Greek broke forth in expressions of joy and congratulations; after which the Egyptian said,

"I salute you, my brother. You have suffered much, and I rejoice in your triumph. If you are both pleased to

hear me, I will now tell you who I am, and how I came to be called. Wait for me a moment."

"Your words, brethren, were of the Spirit," he said, in commencement; "and the Spirit gives me to understand

them. You each spoke particularly of your countries; in that there was a great object, which I will explain; but

to make the interpretation complete, let me first speak of myself and my people. I am Balthasar the

The last words were spoken quietly, but with so much dignity that both listeners bowed to the speaker.

"There are many distinctions I might claim for my race," he continued; "but I will content myself with one.

History began with us. We were the first to perpetuate events by records kept. So we have no traditions; and

instead of poetry, we offer you certainty. On the facades of palaces and temples, on obelisks, on the inner

walls of tombs, we wrote the names of our kings, and what they did; and to the delicate papyri we intrusted

the wisdom of our philosophers and the secrets of our religionall the secrets but one, whereof I will

presently speak. Older than the Vedas of ParaBrahm or the UpAngas of Vyasa, O Melchior; older than the

songs of Homer or the metaphysics of Plato, O my Gaspar; older than the sacred books or kings of the people

of China, or those of Siddartha, son of the beautiful Maya; older than the Genesis of Mosche the

Hebrewoldest of human records are the writings of Menes, our first king." Pausing an instant, he fixed his

large eves kindly upon the Greek, saying, "In the youth of Hellas, who, O Gaspar, were the teachers of her

"By those records," Balthasar continued, "we know that when the fathers came from the far East, from the

region of the birth of the three sacred rivers, from the centre of the earththe Old Iran of which you spoke,

O Melchiorcame bringing with them the history of the world before the Flood, and of the Flood itself, as

given to the Aryans by the sons of Noah, they taught God, the Creator and the Beginning, and the Soul,

deathless as God. When the duty which calls us now is happily done, if you choose to go with me, I will

show you the sacred library of our priesthood; among others, the Book of the Dead, in which is the ritual to

be observed by the soul after Death has despatched it on its journey to judgment. The ideasGod and the

Immortal Soulwere borne to Mizraim over the desert, and by him to the banks of the Nile. They were then

in their purity, easy of understanding, as what God intends for our happiness always is; so, also, was the first

worshipa song and a prayer natural to a soul joyous, hopeful, and in love with its Maker."

Here the Greek threw up his hands, exclaiming, "Oh! the light deepens within me!"

The Egyptian regarded them benignantly, then went on, saying, "Religion is merely the law which binds man

to his Creator: in purity it has but these elementsGod, the Soul, and their Mutual Recognition; out of

which, when put in practise, spring Worship, Love, and Reward. This law, like all others of divine origin

like that, for instance, which binds the earth to the sunwas perfected in the beginning by its Author. Such,

my brothers, was the religion of the first family; such was the religion of our father Mizraim, who could not

have been blind to the formula of creation, nowhere so discernible as in the first faith and the earliest

worship. Perfection is God; simplicity is perfection. The curse of curses is that men will not let truths like

"Many nations have loved the sweet waters of the Nile," he said next; "the Ethiopian, the PaliPutra, the

Hebrew, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Macedonian, the Romanof whom all, except the Hebrew, have at

one time or another been its masters. So much coming and going of peoples corrupted the old Mizraimic

faith. The Valley of Palms became a Valley of Gods. The Supreme One was divided into eight, each

personating a creative principle in nature, with AmmonRe at the head. Then Isis and Osiris, and their circle,

representing water, fire, air, and other forces, were invented. Still the multiplication went on until we had

another order, suggested by human qualities, such as strength, knowledge, love, and the like."

"In all which there was the old folly!" cried the Greek, impulsively. "Only the things out of reach remain as

"Yet a little further, O my brethren, a little further, before I come to myself. What we go to will seem all the

holier of comparison with what is and has been. The records show that Mizraim found the Nile in possession

of the Ethiopians, who were spread thence through the African desert; a people of rich, fantastic genius,

wholly given to the worship of nature. The Poetic Persian sacrificed to the sun, as the completest image of

Ormuzd, his God; the devout children of the far East carved their deities out of wood and ivory; but the

Ethiopian, without writing, without books, without mechanical faculty of any kind, quieted his soul by the

worship of animals, birds, and insects, holding the cat sacred to Re, the bull to Isis, the beetle to Pthah. A

long struggle against their rude faith ended in its adoption as the religion of the new empire. Then rose the

mighty monuments that cumber the riverbank and the desertobelisk, labyrinth, pyramid, and tomb of

king, blent with tomb of crocodile. Into such deep debasement, O brethren, the sons of the Aryan fell!"

Here, for the first time, the calmness of the Egyptian forsook him: though his countenance remained

"Do not too much despise my countrymen," he began again. "They did not all forget God. I said awhile ago,

you may remember, that to papyri we intrusted all the secrets of our religion except one; of that I will now

tell you. We had as king once a certain Pharaoh, who lent himself to all manner of changes and additions. To

establish the new system, he strove to drive the old entirely out of mind. The Hebrews then dwelt with us as

slaves. They clung to their God; and when the persecution became intolerable, they were delivered in a

manner never to be forgotten. I speak from the records now. Mosche, himself a Hebrew, came to the palace,

and demanded permission for the slaves, then millions in number, to leave the country. The demand was in

the name of the Lord God of Israel. Pharaoh refused. Hear what followed. First, all the water, that in the lakes

and rivers, like that in the wells and vessels, turned to blood. Yet the monarch refused. Then frogs came up

and covered all the land. Still he was firm. Then Mosche threw ashes in the air, and a plague attacked the

Egyptians. Next, all the cattle, except of the Hebrews, were struck dead. Locusts devoured the green things of

the valley. At noon the day was turned into a darkness so thick that lamps would not burn. Finally, in the

night all the firstborn of the Egyptians died; not even Pharaoh's escaped. Then he yielded. But when the

Hebrews were gone he followed them with his army. At the last moment the sea was divided, so that the

fugitives passed it dryshod. When the pursuers drove in after them, the waves rushed back and drowned

"Yes, but through me Egypt speaks, not Mosche. I interpret the marbles. The priests of that time wrote in

their way what they witnessed, and the revelation has lived. So I come to the one unrecorded secret. In my

country, brethren, we have, from the day of the unfortunate Pharaoh, always had two religionsone private,

the other public; one of many gods, practised by the people; the other of one God, cherished only by the

priesthood. Rejoice with me, O brothers! All the trampling by the many nations, all the harrowing by kings,

all the inventions of enemies, all the changes of time, have been in vain. Like a seed under the mountains

The wasted frame of the Hindoo trembled with delight, and the Greek cried aloud,

"I was born at Alexandria, a prince and a priest, and had the education usual to my class. But very early I

became discontented. Part of the faith imposed was that after death upon the destruction of the body, the soul

at once began its former progression from the lowest up to humanity, the highest and last existence; and that

without reference to conduct in the mortal life. When I heard of the Persian's Realm of Light, his Paradise

across the bridge Chinevat, where only the good go, the thought haunted me; insomuch that in the day, as in

the night, I brooded over the comparative ideas Eternal Transmigration and Eternal Life in Heaven. If, as my

teacher taught, God was just, why was there no distinction between the good and the bad? At length it

became clear to me, a certainty, a corollary of the law to which I reduced pure religion, that death was only

the point of separation at which the wicked are left or lost, and the faithful rise to a higher life; not the nirvana

of Buddha, or the negative rest of Brahma, O Melchior; nor the better condition in hell, which is all of

Heaven allowed by the Olympic faith, O Gaspar; but lifelife active, joyous, everlastingLIFE WITH

GOD! The discovery led to another inquiry. Why should the Truth be longer kept a secret for the selfish

solace of the priesthood? The reason for the suppression was gone. Philosophy had at least brought us

toleration. In Egypt we had Rome instead of Rameses. One day, in the Brucheium, the most splendid and

crowded quarter of Alexandria, I arose and preached. The East and West contributed to my audience.

Students going to the Library, priests from the Serapeion, idlers from the Museum, patrons of the

racecourse, countrymen from the Rhacotisa multitudestopped to hear me. I preached God, the Soul,

Right and Wrong, and Heaven, the reward of a virtuous life. You, O Melchior, were stoned; my auditors first

wondered, then laughed. I tried again; they pelted me with epigrams, covered my God with ridicule, and

The Hindoo here drew a long sigh, as he said, "The enemy of man is man, my brother."

"I gave much thought to finding the cause of my failure, and at last succeeded," he said, upon beginning

again. "Up the river, a day's journey from the city, there is a village of herdsmen and gardeners. I took a boat

and went there. In the evening I called the people together, men and women, the poorest of the poor. I

preached to them exactly as I had preached in the Brucheium. They did not laugh. Next evening I spoke

again, and they believed and rejoiced, and carried the news abroad. At the third meeting a society was formed

for prayer. I returned to the city then. Drifting down the river, under the stars, which never seemed so bright

and so near, I evolved this lesson: To begin a reform, go not into the places of the great and rich; go rather to

those whose cups of happiness are emptyto the poor and humble. And then I laid a plan and devoted my

life. As a first step, I secured my vast property, so that the income would be certain, and always at call for the

relief of the suffering. From that day, O brethren, I travelled up and down the Nile, in the villages, and to all

the tribes, preaching One God, a righteous life, and reward in Heaven. I have done goodit does not become

me to say how much. I also know that part of the world to be ripe for the reception of Him we go to find."

A flush suffused the swarthy cheek of the speaker; but he overcame the feeling, and continued:

"The years so given, O my brothers, were troubled by one thoughtWhen I was gone, what would become

of the cause I had started? Was it to end with me? I had dreamed many times of organization as a fitting

crown for my work. To hide nothing from you, I had tried to effect it, and failed. Brethren, the world is now

in the condition that, to restore the old Mizraimic faith, the reformer must have a more than human sanction;

he must not merely come in God's name, he must have the proofs subject to his word; he must demonstrate

all he says, even God. So preoccupied is the mind with myths and systems; so much do false deities crowd

every placeearth, air, sky; so have they become of everything a part, that return to the first religion can

only be along bloody paths, through fields of persecution; that is to say, the converts must be willing to die

rather than recant. And who in this age can carry the faith of men to such a point but God himself? To redeem

the raceI do not mean to destroy itto REDEEM the race, he must make himself once more manifest; HE

"You understand why I failed in the attempt to organize," said the Egyptian, when the spell was past. "I had

not the sanction. To know that my work must be lost made me intolerably wretched. I believed in prayer, and

to make my appeals pure and strong, like you, my brethren, I went out of the beaten ways, I went where man

had not been, where only God was. Above the fifth cataract, above the meeting of rivers in Sennar, up the

Bahr el Abiad, into the far unknown of Africa, I went. There, in the morning, a mountain blue as the sky

flings a cooling shadow wide over the western desert, and, with its cascades of melted snow, feeds a broad

lake nestling at its base on the east. The lake is the mother of the great river. For a year and more the

mountain gave me a home. The fruit of the palm fed my body, prayer my spirit. One night I walked in the

orchard close by the little sea. 'The world is dying. When wilt thou come? Why may I not see the redemption,

O God?' So I prayed. The glassy water was sparkling with stars. One of them seemed to leave its place, and

rise to the surface, where it became a brilliancy burning to the eyes. Then it moved towards me, and stood

over my head, apparently in hand's reach. I fell down and hid my face. A voice, not of the earth, said, 'Thy

good works have conquered. Blessed art thou, O son of Mizraim! The redemption cometh. With two others,

from the remotenesses of the world, thou shalt see the Saviour, and testify for him. In the morning arise, and

go meet them. And when ye have all come to the holy city of Jerusalem, ask of the people, Where is he that is

born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East and are sent to worship him. Put all thy trust in

"And the light became an inward illumination not to be doubted, and has stayed with me, a governor and a

guide. It led me down the river to Memphis, where I made ready for the desert. I bought my camel, and came

hither without rest, by way of Suez and Kufileh, and up through the lands of Moab and Ammon. God is with

He paused, and thereupon, with a prompting not their own, they all arose, and looked at each other.

"I said there was a purpose in the particularity with which we described our people and their histories," so the

Egyptian proceeded. "He we go to find was called 'King of the Jews;' by that name we are bidden to ask for

him. But, now that we have met, and heard from each other, we may know him to be the Redeemer, not of the

Jews alone, but of all the nations of the earth. The patriarch who survived the Flood had with him three sons,

and their families, by whom the world was repeopled. From the old AryanaVaejo, the wellremembered

Region of Delight in the heart of Asia, they parted. India and the far East received the children of the first; the

descendant of the youngest, through the North, streamed into Europe; those of the second overflowed the

deserts about the Red Sea, passing into Africa; and though most of the latter are yet dwellers in shifting tents,

"Could anything be more divinely ordered?" Balthasar continued. "When we have found the Lord, the

brothers, and all the generations that have succeeded them, will kneel to him in homage with us. And when

we part to go our separate ways, the world will have learned a new lessonthat Heaven may be won, not by

There was silence, broken by sighs and sanctified with tears; for the joy that filled them might not be stayed.

It was the unspeakable joy of souls on the shores of the River of Life, resting with the Redeemed in God's

Presently their hands fell apart, and together they went out of the tent. The desert was still as the sky. The sun

A little while after, the tent was struck, and, with the remains of the repast, restored to the cot; then the

friends mounted, and set out single file, led by the Egyptian. Their course was due west, into the chilly night.

The camels swung forward in steady trot, keeping the line and the intervals so exactly that those following

Byandby the moon came up. And as the three tall white figures sped, with soundless tread, through the

opalescent light, they appeared like specters flying from hateful shadows. Suddenly, in the air before them,

not farther up than a low hilltop flared a lambent flame; as they looked at it, the apparition contracted into a

focus of dazzling lustre. Their hearts beat fast; their souls thrilled; and they shouted as with one voice, "The

In an aperture of the western wall of Jerusalem hang the "oaken valves" called the Bethlehem or Joppa Gate.

The area outside of them is one of the notable places of the city. Long before David coveted Zion there was a

citadel there. When at last the son of Jesse ousted the Jebusite, and began to build, the site of the citadel

became the northwest corner of the new wall, defended by a tower much more imposing than the old one.

The location of the gate, however, was not disturbed, for the reasons, most likely, that the roads which met

and merged in front of it could not well be transferred to any other point, while the area outside had become a

recognized marketplace. In Solomon's day there was great traffic at the locality, shared in by traders from

Egypt and the rich dealers from Tyre and Sidon. Nearly three thousand years have passed, and yet a kind of

commerce clings to the spot. A pilgrim wanting a pin or a pistol, a cucumber or a camel, a house or a horse, a

loan or a lentil, a date or a dragoman, a melon or a man, a dove or a donkey, has only to inquire for the article

at the Joppa Gate. Sometimes the scene is quite animated, and then it suggests, What a place the old market

must have been in the days of Herod the Builder! And to that period and that market the reader is now to be

Following the Hebrew system, the meeting of the wise men described in the preceding chapters took place in

the afternoon of the twentyfifth day of the third month of the year; that is say, on the twentyfifth day of

December. The year was the second of the 193d Olympiad, or the 747th of Rome; the sixtyseventh of Herod

the Great, and the thirtyfifth of his reign; the fourth before the beginning of the Christian era. The hours of

the day, by Judean custom, begin with the sun, the first hour being the first after sunrise; so, to be precise; the

market at the Joppa Gate during the first hour of the day stated was in full session, and very lively. The

massive valves had been wide open since dawn. Business, always aggressive, had pushed through the arched

entrance into a narrow lane and court, which, passing by the walls of the great tower, conducted on into the

city. As Jerusalem is in the hill country, the morning air on this occasion was not a little crisp. The rays of the

sun, with their promise of warmth, lingered provokingly far up on the battlements and turrets of the great

piles about, down from which fell the crooning of pigeons and the whir of the flocks coming and going.

As a passing acquaintance with the people of the Holy City, strangers as well as residents, will be necessary

to an understanding of some of the pages which follow, it will be well to stop at the gate and pass the scene in

review. Better opportunity will not offer to get sight of the populace who will afterwhile go forward in a

The scene is at first one of utter confusionconfusion of action, sounds, colors, and things. It is especially so

in the lane and court. The ground there is paved with broad unshaped flags, from which each cry and jar and

hoofstamp arises to swell the medley that rings and roars up between the solid impending walls. A little

mixing with the throng, however, a little familiarity with the business going on, will make analysis possible.

Here stands a donkey, dozing under panniers full of lentils, beans, onions, and cucumbers, brought fresh from

the gardens and terraces of Galilee. When not engaged in serving customers, the master, in a voice which

only the initiated can understand, cries his stock. Nothing can be simpler than his costumesandals, and an

unbleached, undyed blanket, crossed over one shoulder and girt round the waist. Nearby, and far more

imposing and grotesque, though scarcely as patient as the donkey, kneels a camel, rawboned, rough, and

gray, with long shaggy tufts of foxcolored hair under its throat, neck, and body, and a load of boxes and

baskets curiously arranged upon an enormous saddle. The owner is an Egyptian, small, lithe, and of a

complexion which has borrowed a good deal from the dust of the roads and the sands of the desert. He wears

a faded tarbooshe, a loose gown, sleeveless, unbelted, and dropping from the neck to the knee. His feet are

bare. The camel, restless under the load, groans and occasionally shows his teeth; but the man paces

indifferently to and fro, holding the drivingstrap, and all the time advertising his fruits fresh from the

At the corner where the lane opens out into the court, some women sit with their backs against the gray stones

of the wall. Their dress is that common to the humbler classes of the countrya linen frock extending the

full length of the person, loosely gathered at the waist, and a veil or wimple broad enough, after covering the

head, to wrap the shoulders. Their merchandise is contained in a number of earthen jars, such as are still used

in the East for bringing water from the wells, and some leathern bottles. Among the jars and bottles, rolling

upon the stony floor, regardless of the crowd and cold, often in danger but never hurt, play half a dozen

halfnaked children, their brown bodies, jetty eyes, and thick black hair attesting the blood of Israel.

Sometimes, from under the wimples, the mothers look up, and in the vernacular modestly bespeak their trade:

in the bottles "honey of grapes," in the jars "strong drink." Their entreaties are usually lost in the general

uproar, and they fare illy against the many competitors: brawny fellows with bare legs, dirty tunics, and long

beards, going about with bottles lashed to their backs, and shouting "Honey of wine! Grapes of EnGedi!"

When a customer halts one of them, round comes the bottle, and, upon lifting the thumb from the nozzle, out

Scarcely less blatant are the dealers in birdsdoves, ducks, and frequently the singing bulbul, or nightingale,

most frequently pigeons; and buyers, receiving them from the nets, seldom fail to think of the perilous life of

the catchers, bold climbers of the cliffs; now hanging with hand and foot to the face of the crag, now

Blent with peddlers of jewelrysharp men cloaked in scarlet and blue, topheavy under prodigious white

turbans, and fully conscious of the power there is in the lustre of a ribbon and the incisive gleam of gold,

whether in bracelet or necklace, or in rings for the finger or the noseand with peddlers of household

utensils, and with dealers in wearingapparel, and with retailers of unguents for anointing the person, and

with hucksters of all articles, fanciful as well as of need, hither and thither, tugging at halters and ropes, now

screaming, now coaxing, toil the venders of animalsdonkeys, horses, calves, sheep, bleating kids, and

awkward camels; animals of every kind except the outlawed swine. All these are there; not singly, as

described, but many times repeated; not in one place, but everywhere in the market.

Turning from this scene in the lane and court, this glance at the sellers and their commodities, the reader has

need to give attention, in the next place, to visitors and buyers, for which the best studies will be found

outside the gates, where the spectacle is quite as varied and animated; indeed, it may be more so, for there are

superadded the effects of tent, booth, and sook, greater space, larger crowd, more unqualified freedom, and

Let us take our stand by the gate, just out of the edge of the currentsone flowing in, the other outand use

"Gods! How cold it is!" says one of them, a powerful figure in armor; on his head a brazen helmet, on his

body a shining breastplate and skirts of mail. "How cold it is! Dost thou remember, my Caius, that vault in

the Comitium at home which the flamens say is the entrance to the lower world? By Pluto! I could stand there

The party addressed drops the hood of his military cloak, leaving bare his head and face, and replies, with an

ironic smile, "The helmets of the legions which conquered Mark Antony were full of Gallic snow; but

thouah, my poor friend!thou hast just come from Egypt, bringing its summer in thy blood."

And with the last word they disappear through the entrance. Though they had been silent, the armor and the

From the throng a Jew comes next, meager of frame, roundshouldered, and wearing a coarse brown robe;

over his eyes and face, and down his back, hangs a mat of long, uncombed hair. He is alone. Those who meet

him laugh, if they do not worse; for he is a Nazarite, one of a despised sect which rejects the books of Moses,

As we watch his retiring figure, suddenly there is a commotion in the crowd, a parting quickly to the right

and left, with exclamations sharp and decisive. Then the cause comesa man, Hebrew in feature and dress.

The mantle of snowwhite linen, held to his head by cords of yellow silk, flows free over his shoulders; his

robe is richly embroidered, a red sash with fringes of gold wraps his waist several times. His demeanor is

calm; he even smiles upon those who, with such rude haste, make room for him. A leper? No, he is only a

Samaritan. The shrinking crowd, if asked, would say he is a mongrelan Assyrianwhose touch of the

robe is pollution; from whom, consequently, an Israelite, though dying, might not accept life. In fact, the feud

is not of blood. When David set his throne here on Mount Zion, with only Judah to support him, the ten tribes

betook themselves to Shechem, a city much older, and, at that date, infinitely richer in holy memories. The

final union of the tribes did not settle the dispute thus begun. The Samaritans clung to their tabernacle on

Gerizim, and, while maintaining its superior sanctity, laughed at the irate doctors in Jerusalem. Time brought

no assuagement of the hate. Under Herod, conversion to the faith was open to all the world except the

Samaritans; they alone were absolutely and forever shut out from communion with Jews.

As the Samaritan goes in under the arch of the gate, out come three men so unlike all whom we have yet seen

that they fix our gaze, whether we will or not. They are of unusual stature and immense brawn; their eyes are

blue, and so fair is their complexion that the blood shines through the skin like blue pencilling; their hair is

light and short; their heads, small and round, rest squarely upon necks columnar as the trunks of trees.

Woollen tunics, open at the breast, sleeveless and loosely girt, drape their bodies, leaving bare arms and legs

of such development that they at once suggest the arena; and when thereto we add their careless, confident,

insolent manner, we cease to wonder that the people give them way, and stop after they have passed to look

at them again. They are gladiatorswrestlers, runners, boxers, swordsmen; professionals unknown in Judea

before the coming of the Roman; fellows who, what time they are not in training, may be seen strolling

through the king's gardens or sitting with the guards at the palace gates; or possibly they are visitors from

Caesarea, Sebaste, or Jericho; in which Herod, more Greek than Jew, and with all a Roman's love of games

and bloody spectacles, has built vast theaters, and now keeps schools of fightingmen, drawn, as is the

"By Bacchus!" says one of them, drawing his clenched hand to his shoulder, "their skulls are not thicker than

The brutal look which goes with the gesture disgusts us, and we turn happily to something more pleasant.

Opposite us is a fruitstand. The proprietor has a bald head, a long face, and a nose like the beak of a hawk.

He sits upon a carpet spread upon the dust; the wall is at his back; overhead hangs a scant curtain, around

him, within hand's reach and arranged upon little stools, lie osier boxes full of almonds, grapes, figs, and

pomegranates. To him now comes one at whom we cannot help looking, though for another reason than that

which fixed our eyes upon the gladiators; he is really beautifula beautiful Greek. Around his temples,

holding the waving hair, is a crown of myrtle, to which still cling the pale flowers and half ripe berries. His

tunic, scarlet in color, is of the softest woollen fabric; below the girdle of buff leather, which is clasped in

front by a fantastic device of shining gold, the skirt drops to the knee in folds heavy with embroidery of the

same royal metal; a scarf, also woollen, and of mixed white and yellow, crosses his throat and falls trailing at

his back; his arms and legs, where exposed, are white as ivory, and of the polish impossible except by perfect

The dealer, keeping his seat, bends forward, and throws his hands up until they meet in front of him, palm

"What hast thou, this morning, O son of Paphos?" says the young Greek, looking at the boxes rather than at

"Fruits from the Pediusgenuinesuch as the singers of Antioch take of mornings to restore the waste of

"A fig, but not one of thy best, for the singers of Antioch!" says the Greek. "Thou art a worshiper of

Aphrodite, and so am I, as the myrtle I wear proves; therefore I tell thee their voices have the chill of a

"And of royal taste and divine judgment. And why not? She is more Greek than the king. Butmy breakfast!

"That would be to make me a Jew. No, nothing but the grapes. Never waters mixed so sweetly as the blood of

The singer in the grimed and seething market, with all his airs of the court, is a vision not easily shut out of

mind by such as see him; as if for the purpose, however, a person follows him challenging all our wonder. He

comes up the road slowly, his face towards the ground; at intervals he stops, crosses his hands upon his

breast, lengthens his countenance, and turns his eyes towards heaven, as if about to break into prayer.

Nowhere, except in Jerusalem, can such a character be found. On his forehead, attached to the band which

keeps the mantle in place, projects a leathern case, square in form; another similar case is tied by a thong to

the left arm; the borders of his robe are decorated with deep fringe; and by such signsthe phylacteries, the

enlarged borders of the garment, and the savor of intense holiness pervading the whole manwe know him

to be a Pharisee, one of an organization (in religion a sect, in politics a party) whose bigotry and power will

The densest of the throng outside the gate covers the road leading off to Joppa. Turning from the Pharisee, we

are attracted by some parties who, as subjects of study, opportunely separate themselves from the motley

crowd. First among them a man of very noble appearanceclear, healthful complexion; bright black eyes;

beard long and flowing, and rich with unguents; apparel wellfitting, costly, and suitable for the season. He

carries a staff, and wears, suspended by a cord from his neck, a large golden seal. Several servants attend

him, some of them with short swords stuck through their sashes; when they address him, it is with the utmost

deference. The rest of the party consists of two Arabs of the pure desert stock; thin, wiry men, deeply

bronzed, and with hollow cheeks, and eyes of almost evil brightness; on their heads red tarbooshes; over their

abas, and wrapping the left shoulder and the body so as to leave the right arm free, brown woollen haicks, or

blankets. There is loud chaffering, for the Arabs are leading horses and trying to sell them; and, in their

eagerness, they speak in high, shrill voices. The courtly person leaves the talking mostly to his servants;

occasionally he answers with much dignity; directly, seeing the Cypriote, he stops and buys some figs. And

when the whole party has passed the portal, close after the Pharisee, if we betake ourselves to the dealer in

fruits, he will tell, with a wonderful salaam, that the stranger is a Jew, one of the princes of the city, who has

travelled, and learned the difference between the common grapes of Syria and those of Cyprus, so

And so, till towards noon, sometimes later, the steady currents of business habitually flow in and out of the

Joppa Gate, carrying with them every variety of character; including representatives of all the tribes of Israel,

all the sects among whom the ancient faith has been parcelled and refined away, all the religious and social

divisions, all the adventurous rabble who, as children of art and ministers of pleasure, riot in the prodigalities

of Herod, and all the peoples of note at any time compassed by the Caesars and their predecessors, especially

In other words, Jerusalem, rich in sacred history, richer in connection with sacred propheciesthe Jerusalem

of Solomon, in which silver was as stones, and cedars as the sycamores of the valehad come to be but a

copy of Rome, a center of unholy practises, a seat of pagan power. A Jewish king one day put on priestly

garments, and went into the Holy of Holies of the first temple to offer incense, and he came out a leper; but in

the time of which we are reading, Pompey entered Herod's temple and the same Holy of Holies, and came out

The reader is now besought to return to the court described as part of the market at the Joppa Gate. It was the

third hour of the day, and many of the people had gone away; yet the press continued without apparent

abatement. Of the newcomers, there was a group over by the south wall, consisting of a man, a woman, and

The man stood by the animal's head, holding a leadingstrap, and leaning upon a stick which seemed to have

been chosen for the double purpose of goad and staff. His dress was like that of the ordinary Jews around

him, except that it had an appearance of newness. The mantle dropping from his head, and the robe or frock

which clothed his person from neck to heel, were probably the garments he was accustomed to wear to the

synagogue on Sabbath days. His features were exposed, and they told of fifty years of life, a surmise

confirmed by the gray that streaked his otherwise black beard. He looked around him with the halfcurious,

The donkey ate leisurely from an armful of green grass, of which there was an abundance in the market. In its

sleepy content, the brute did not admit of disturbance from the bustle and clamor about; no more was it

mindful of the woman sitting upon its back in a cushioned pillion. An outer robe of dull woollen stuff

completely covered her person, while a white wimple veiled her head and neck. Once in a while, impelled by

curiosity to see or hear something passing, she drew the wimple aside, but so slightly that the face remained

"I am so called," answered Joseph, turning gravely around; "And youah, peace be unto you! my friend,

"The same give I back to you." The Rabbi paused, looking at the woman, then added, "To you, and unto your

With the last word, he placed one hand upon his breast, and inclined his head to the woman, who, to see him,

had by this time withdrawn the wimple enough to show the face of one but a short time out of girlhood.

Thereupon the acquaintances grasped right hands, as if to carry them to their lips; at the last moment,

however, the clasp was let go, and each kissed his own hand, then put its palm upon his forehead.

"There is so little dust upon your garments," the Rabbi said, familiarly, "that I infer you passed the night in

"No," Joseph replied, "as we could only make Bethany before the night came, we stayed in the khan there,

The countenance of the Rabbi, theretofore open and friendly, became lowering and sinister, and he cleared

"Yes, yesI see," he said. "You were born in Bethlehem, and wend thither now, with your daughter, to be

counted for taxation, as ordered by Caesar. The children of Jacob are as the tribes in Egypt wereonly they

But the Rabbi clung to the political idea; and he went on, without noticing the explanation, "What are the

"I am a carpenter, and Nazareth is a village," said Joseph, cautiously. "The street on which my bench stands is

not a road leading to any city. Hewing wood and sawing plank leave me no time to take part in the disputes of

"But you are a Jew," said the Rabbi, earnestly. "You are a Jew, and of the line of David. It is not possible you

can find pleasure in the payment of any tax except the shekel given by ancient custom to Jehovah."

"I do not complain," his friend continued, "of the amount of the taxa denarius is a trifle. Oh no! The

imposition of the tax is the offense. And, besides, what is paying it but submission to tyranny? Tell me, is it

true that Judas claims to be the Messiah? You live in the midst of his followers."

At this point the wimple was drawn aside, and for an instant the whole face of the woman was exposed. The

eyes of the Rabbi wandered that way, and he had time to see a countenance of rare beauty, kindled by a look

of intense interest; then a blush overspread her cheeks and brow, and the veil was returned to its place.

The curiosity of the Rabbi was aroused; seeing which, the Nazarene hastened to say further, "She is the child

of Joachim and Anna of Bethlehem, of whom you have at least heard, for they were of great repute"

"Yes," remarked the Rabbi, deferentially, "I know them. They were lineally descended from David. I knew

Well, they are dead now," the Nazarene proceeded. "They died in Nazareth. Joachim was not rich, yet he left

a house and garden to be divided between his daughters Marian and Mary. This is one of them; and to save

her portion of the property, the law required her to marry her next of kin. She is now my wife."

"Yes, yes! And as you were both born in Bethlehem, the Roman compels you to take her there with you to be

The Rabbi clasped his hands, and looked indignantly to heaven, exclaiming, "The God of Israel still lives!

With that he turned and abruptly departed. A stranger near by, observing Joseph's amazement, said, quietly,

Joseph, not wishing to talk with the man, appeared not to hear, and busied himself gathering in a little heap

the grass which the donkey had tossed abroad; after which he leaned upon his staff again, and waited.

In another hour the party passed out the gate, and, turning to the left, took the road into Bethlehem. The

descent into the valley of Hinnom was quite broken, garnished here and there with straggling wild

olivetrees. Carefully, tenderly, the Nazarene walked by the woman's side, leadingstrap in hand. On their

left, reaching to the south and east round Mount Zion, rose the city wall, and on their right the steep

Slowly they passed the Lower Pool of Gihon, out of which the sun was fast driving the lessening shadow of

the royal hill; slowly they proceeded, keeping parallel with the aqueduct from the Pools of Solomon, until

near the site of the countryhouse on what is now called the Hill of Evil Counsel; there they began to ascend

to the plain of Rephaim. The sun streamed garishly over the stony face of the famous locality, and under its

influence Mary, the daughter of Joachim, dropped the wimple entirely, and bared her head. Joseph told the

story of the Philistines surprised in their camp there by David. He was tedious in the narrative, speaking with

the solemn countenance and lifeless manner of a dull man. She did not always hear him.

Wherever on the land men go, and on the sea ships, the face and figure of the Jew are familiar. The physical

type of the race has always been the same; yet there have been some individual variations. "Now he was

ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to." Such was the son of Jesse when brought

before Samuel. The fancies of men have been ever since ruled by the description. Poetic license has extended

the peculiarities of the ancestor to his notable descendants. So all our ideal Solomons have fair faces, and hair

and beard chestnut in the shade, and of the tint of gold in the sun. Such, we are also made believe, were the

locks of Absalom the beloved. And, in the absence of authentic history, tradition has dealt no less lovingly by

She was not more than fifteen. Her form, voice, and manner belonged to the period of transition from

girlhood. Her face was perfectly oval, her complexion more pale than fair. The nose was faultless; the lips,

slightly parted, were full and ripe, giving to the lines of the mouth warmth, tenderness, and trust; the eyes

were blue and large, and shaded by drooping lids and long lashes; and, in harmony with all, a flood of golden

hair, in the style permitted to Jewish brides, fell unconfined down her back to the pillion on which she sat.

The throat and neck had the downy softness sometimes seen which leaves the artist in doubt whether it is an

effect of contour or color. To these charms of feature and person were added others more indefinablean air

of purity which only the soul can impart, and of abstraction natural to such as think much of things

impalpable. Often, with trembling lips, she raised her eyes to heaven, itself not more deeply blue; often she

crossed her hands upon her breast, as in adoration and prayer; often she raised her head like one listening

eagerly for a calling voice. Now and then, midst his slow utterances, Joseph turned to look at her, and,

catching the expression kindling her face as with light, forgot his theme, and with bowed head, wondering,

So they skirted the great plain, and at length reached the elevation Mar Elias; from which, across a valley,

they beheld Bethlehem, the old, old House of Bread, its white walls crowning a ridge, and shining above the

brown scumbling of leafless orchards. They paused there, and rested, while Joseph pointed out the places of

sacred renown; then they went down into the valley to the well which was the scene of one of the marvellous

exploits of David's strong men. The narrow space was crowded with people and animals. A fear came upon

Josepha fear lest, if the town were so thronged, there might not be houseroom for the gentle Mary.

Without delay, he hurried on, past the pillar of stone marking the tomb of Rachel, up the gardened slope,

saluting none of the many persons he met on the way, until he stopped before the portal of the khan that then

To understand thoroughly what happened to the Nazarene at the khan, the reader must be reminded that

Eastern inns were different from the inns of the Western world. They were called khans, from the Persian,

and, in simplest form, were fenced enclosures, without house or shed, often without a gate or entrance. Their

sites were chosen with reference to shade, defence, or water. Such were the inns that sheltered Jacob when he

went to seek a wife in PadanAram. Their like may been seen at this day in the stoppingplaces of the desert.

On the other hand, some of them, especially those on the roads between great cities, like Jerusalem and

Alexandria, were princely establishments, monuments to the piety of the kings who built them. In ordinary,

however, they were no more than the house or possession of a sheik, in which, as in headquarters, he swayed

his tribe. Lodging the traveller was the least of their uses; they were markets, factories, forts; places of

assemblage and residence for merchants and artisans quite as much as places of shelter for belated and

wandering wayfarers. Within their walls, all the year round, occurred the multiplied daily transactions of a

The singular management of these hostelries was the feature likely to strike a Western mind with most force.

There was no host or hostess; no clerk, cook, or kitchen; a steward at the gate was all the assertion of

government or proprietorship anywhere visible. Strangers arriving stayed at will without rendering account.

A consequence of the system was that whoever came had to bring his food and culinary outfit with him, or

buy them of dealers in the khan. The same rule held good as to his bed and bedding, and forage for his beasts.

Water, rest, shelter, and protection were all he looked for from the proprietor, and they were gratuities. The

peace of synagogues was sometimes broken by brawling disputants, but that of the khans never. The houses

The khan at Bethlehem, before which Joseph and his wife stopped, was a good specimen of its class, being

neither very primitive nor very princely. The building was purely Oriental; that is to say, a quadrangular

block of rough stones, one story high, flatroofed, externally unbroken by a window, and with but one

principal entrancea doorway, which was also a gateway, on the eastern side, or front. The road ran by the

door so near that the chalk dust half covered the lintel. A fence of flat rocks, beginning at the northeastern

corner of the pile, extended many yards down the slope to a point from whence it swept westwardly to a

limestone bluff; making what was in the highest degree essential to a respectable khana safe enclosure for

In a village like Bethlehem, as there was but one sheik, there could not well be more than one khan; and,

though born in the place, the Nazarene, from long residence elsewhere, had no claim to hospitality in the

town. Moreover, the enumeration for which he was coming might be the work of weeks or months; Roman

deputies in the provinces were proverbially slow; and to impose himself and wife for a period so uncertain

upon acquaintances or relations was out of the question. So, before he drew nigh the great house, while he

was yet climbing the slope, in the steep places toiling to hasten the donkey, the fear that he might not find

accommodations in the khan became a painful anxiety; for he found the road thronged with men and boys

who, with great ado, were taking their cattle, horses, and camels to and from the valley, some to water, some

to the neighboring caves. And when he was come close by, his alarm was not allayed by the discovery of a

crowd investing the door of the establishment, while the enclosure adjoining, broad as it was, seemed already

"We cannot reach the door," Joseph said, in his slow way. "Let us stop here, and learn, if we can, what has

The wife, without answering, quietly drew the wimple aside. The look of fatigue at first upon her face

changed to one of interest. She found herself at the edge of an assemblage that could not be other than a

matter of curiosity to her, although it was common enough at the khans on any of the highways which the

great caravans were accustomed to traverse. There were men on foot, running hither and thither, talking

shrilly and in all the tongues of Syria; men on horseback screaming to men on camels; men struggling

doubtfully with fractious cows and frightened sheep; men peddling bread and wine; and among the mass a

herd of boys apparently in chase of a herd of dogs. Everybody and everything seemed to be in motion at the

same time. Possibly the fair spectator was too weary to be long attracted by the scene; in a little while she

sighed, and settled down on the pillion, and, as if in search of peace and rest, or in expectation of some one,

looked off to the south, and up to the tall cliffs of the Mount of Paradise, then faintly reddening under the

While she was thus looking, a man pushed his way out of the press, and, stopping close by the donkey, faced

"As I am what I take you to be, good frienda son of Judahmay I ask the cause of this multitude?"

The stranger turned fiercely; but, seeing the solemn countenance of Joseph, so in keeping with his deep, slow

"Peace be to you, Rabbi! I am a son of Judah, and will answer you. I dwell in BethDagon, which, you know,

"Ah, you have been in BethDagon," the man said, his face softening yet more. "What wanderers we of

Judah are! I have been away from the ridgeold Ephrath, as our father Jacob called it for many years.

When the proclamation went abroad requiring all Hebrews to be numbered at the cities of their birth That

Joseph's face remained stolid as a mask, while he remarked, "I have come for that alsoI and my wife."

The stranger glanced at Mary and kept silence. She was looking up at the bald top of Gedor. The sun touched

her upturned face, and filled the violet depths of her eyes, and upon her parted lips trembled an aspiration

which could not have been to a mortal. For the moment, all the humanity of her beauty seemed refined away:

she was as we fancy they are who sit close by the gate in the transfiguring light of Heaven. The

BethDagonite saw the original of what, centuries after, came as a vision of genius to Sanzio the divine, and

"Of what was I speaking? Ah! I remember. I was about to say that when I heard of the order to come here, I

was angry. Then I thought of the old hill, and the town, and the valley falling away into the depths of Cedron;

of the vines and orchards, and fields of grain, unfailing since the days of Boaz and Ruth, of the familiar

mountainsGedor here, Gibeah yonder, Mar Elias therewhich, when I was a boy, were the walls of the

world to me; and I forgave the tyrants and cameI, and Rachel, my wife, and Deborah and Michal, our roses

The man paused again, looking abruptly at Mary, who was now looking at him and listening. Then he said,

"Rabbi, will not your wife go to mine? You may see her yonder with the children, under the leaning

olivetree at the bend of the road. I tell you"he turned to Joseph and spoke positively"I tell you the khan

Joseph's will was slow, like his mind; he hesitated, but at length replied, "The offer is kind. Whether there be

room for us or not in the house, we will go see your people. Let me speak to the gatekeeper myself. I will

And, putting the leadingstrap in the stranger's hand, he pushed into the stirring crowd.

The keeper sat on a great cedar block outside the gate. Against the wall behind him leaned a javelin. A dog

"The peace of Jehovah be with you," said Joseph, at last confronting the keeper.

"What you give, may you find again; and, when found, be it many times multiplied to you and yours,"

"I am a Bethlehemite," said Joseph, in his most deliberate way. Is there not room for"

"You may have heard of meJoseph of Nazareth. This is the house of my fathers. I am of the line of David."

These words held the Nazarene's hope. If they failed him, further appeal was idle, even that of the offer of

many shekels. To be a son of Judah was one thingin the tribal opinion a great thing; to be of the house of

David was yet another; on the tongue of a Hebrew there could be no higher boast. A thousand years and more

had passed since the boyish shepherd became the successor of Saul and founded a royal family. Wars,

calamities, other kings, and the countless obscuring processes of time had, as respects fortune, lowered his

descendants to the common Jewish level; the bread they ate came to them of toil never more humble; yet they

had the benefit of history sacredly kept, of which genealogy was the first chapter and the last; they could not

become unknown, while, wherever they went In Israel, acquaintance drew after it a respect amounting to

If this were so in Jerusalem and elsewhere, certainly one of the sacred line might reasonably rely upon it at

the door of the khan of Bethlehem. To say, as Joseph said, "This is the house of my fathers," was to say the

truth most simply and literally; for it was the very house Ruth ruled as the wife of Boaz, the very house in

which Jesse and his ten sons, David the youngest, were born, the very house in which Samuel came seeking a

king, and found him; the very house which David gave to the son of Barzillai, the friendly Gileadite; the very

house in which Jeremiah, by prayer, rescued the remnant of his race flying before the Babylonians.

The appeal was not without effect. The keeper of the gate slid down from the cedar block, and, laying his

hand upon his beard, said, respectfully, "Rabbi, I cannot tell you when this door first opened in welcome to

the traveller, but it was more than a thousand years ago; and in all that time there is no known instance of a

good man turned away, save when there was no room to rest him in. If it has been so with the stranger, just

cause must the steward have who says no to one of the line of David. Wherefore, I salute you again; and, if

you care to go with me, I will show you that there is not a lodgingplace left in the house; neither in the

chambers, nor in the lewens, nor in the courtnot even on the roof. May I ask when you came?"

"'The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.' Is

"If it be the law, can I say to one a long time come, 'Go thy way; another is here to take thy place?'"

"And, if I said so, to whom would the place belong? See the many that have been waiting, some of them since

"Who are all these people?" asked Joseph, turning to the crowd. "And why are they here at this time?"

"That which doubtless brought you, Rabbithe decree of the Caesar"the keeper threw an interrogative

glance at the Nazarene, then continued"brought most of those who have lodging in the house. And

yesterday the caravan passing from Damascus to Arabia and Lower Egypt arrived. These you see here belong

"Yes, but it is heaped with cargoeswith bales of silk, and pockets of spices, and goods of every kind."

Then for a moment the face of the applicant lost its stolidity; the lustreless, staring eyes dropped. With some

warmth he next said, "I do not care for myself, but I have with me my wife, and the night is coldcolder on

these heights than in Nazareth. She cannot live in the open air. Is there not room in the town?"

"These people"the keeper waved his hand to the throng before the door"have all besought the town, and

Again Joseph studied the ground, saying, half to himself, "She is so young! if I make her bed on the hill, the

"It may be you knew her parents, Joachim and Anna, once of Bethlehem, and, like myself, of the line of

This time the keeper's eyes sought the ground in thought. Suddenly he raised his head.

"If I cannot make room for you," he said, "I cannot turn you away. Rabbi, I will do the best I can for you.

Joseph reflected, then replied, "My wife and a friend with his family, from BethDagon, a little town over by

"Very well. You shall not lie out on the ridge. Bring your people, and hasten; for, when the sun goes down

behind the mountain, you know the night comes quickly, and it is nearly there now."

"I give you the blessing of the houseless traveller; that of the sojourner will follow."

So saying, the Nazarene went back joyfully to Mary and the BethDagonite. In a little while the latter

brought up his family, the women mounted on donkeys. The wife was matronly, the daughters were images

of what she must have been in youth; and as they drew nigh the door, the keeper knew them to be of the

"Blue eyes and hair of gold," muttered the steward to himself, seeing but her. "So looked the young king

Then he took the leadingstrap from Joseph, and said to Mary, "Peace to you, O daughter of David!" Then to

The party were conducted into a wide passage paved with stone, from which they entered the court of the

khan. To a stranger the scene would have been curious; but they noticed the lewens that yawned darkly upon

them from all sides, and the court itself, only to remark how crowded they were. By a lane reserved in the

stowage of the cargoes, and thence by a passage similar to the one at the entrance, they emerged into the

enclosure adjoining the house, and came upon camels, horses, and donkeys, tethered and dozing in close

groups; among them were the keepers, men of many lands; and they, too, slept or kept silent watch. They

went down the slope of the crowded yard slowly, for the dull carriers of the women had wills of their own. At

length they turned into a path running towards the gray limestone bluff overlooking the khan on the west.

"The cave to which we are going," he said to her, "must have been a resort of your ancestor David. From the

field below us, and from the well down in the valley, he used to drive his flocks to it for safety; and

afterwards, when he was king, he came back to the old house here for rest and health, bringing great trains of

animals. The mangers yet remain as they were in his day. Better a bed on the floor where he has slept than

one in the courtyard or out by the roadside. Ah, here is the house before the cave!"

This speech must not be taken as an apology for the lodging offered. There was no need of apology. The

place was the best then at disposal. The guests were simple folks, by habits of life easily satisfied. To the Jew

of that period, moreover, abode in caverns was a familiar idea, made so by everyday occurrences, and by

what he heard of Sabbaths in the synagogues. How much of Jewish history, how many of the many exciting

incidents in that history, had transpired in caves! Yet further, these people were Jews of Bethlehem, with

whom the idea was especially commonplace; for their locality abounded with caves great and small, some of

which had been dwellingplaces from the time of the Emim and Horites. No more was there offence to them

in the fact that the cavern to which they were being taken had been, or was, a stable. They were the

descendants of a race of herdsmen, whose flocks habitually shared both their habitations and wanderings. In

keeping with a custom derived from Abraham, the tent of the Bedawin yet shelters his horses and children

alike. So they obeyed the keeper cheerfully, and gazed at the house, feeling only a natural curiosity.

The building was low and narrow, projecting but a little from the rock to which it was joined at the rear, and

wholly without a window. In its blank front there was a door, swung on enormous hinges, and thickly daubed

with ochreous clay. While the wooden bolt of the lock was being pushed back, the women were assisted from

The guests entered, and stared about them. It became apparent immediately that the house was but a mask or

covering for the mouth of a natural cave or grotto, probably forty feet long, nine or ten high, and twelve or

fifteen in width. The light streamed through the doorway, over an uneven floor, falling upon piles of grain

and fodder, and earthenware and household property, occupying the centre of the chamber. Along the sides

were mangers, low enough for sheep, and built of stones laid in cement. There were no stalls or partitions of

any kind. Dust and chaff yellowed the floor, filled all the crevices and hollows, and thickened the

spiderwebs, which dropped from the ceiling like bits of dirty linen; otherwise the place was cleanly, and, to

appearance, as comfortable as any of the arched lewens of the khan proper. In fact, a cave was the model and

"Come in!" said the guide. "These piles upon the floor are for travellers like yourselves. Take what of them

At a certain hour in the evening the shouting and stir of the people in and about the khan ceased; at the same

time, every Israelite, if not already upon his feet, arose, solemnized his face, looked towards Jerusalem,

crossed his hands upon his breast, and prayed; for it was the sacred ninth hour, when sacrifices were offered

in the temple on Moriah, and God was supposed to be there. When the hands of the worshippers fell down,

the commotion broke forth again; everybody hastened to bread, or to make his pallet. A little later, the lights

About midnight some one on the roof cried out, "What light is that in the sky? Awake, brethren, awake and

The people, half asleep, sat up and looked; then they became wideawake, though wonderstruck. And the

stir spread to the court below, and into the lewens; soon the entire tenantry of the house and court and

And this was what they saw. A ray of light, beginning at a height immeasurably beyond the nearest stars, and

dropping obliquely to the earth; at its top, a diminishing point; at its base, many furlongs in width; its sides

blending softly with the darkness of the night, its core a roseate electrical splendor. The apparition seemed to

rest on the nearest mountain southeast of the town, making a pale corona along the line of the summit. The

khan was touched luminously, so that those upon the roof saw each other's faces, all filled with wonder.

Steadily, through minutes, the ray lingered, and then the wonder changed to awe and fear; the timid trembled;

"It seems just over the mountain there. I cannot tell what it is, nor did I ever see anything like it," was the

"Can it be that a star has burst and fallen?" asked another, his tongue faltering.

"I have it!" cried one, confidently. "The shepherds have seen a lion, and made fires to keep him from the

The men next the speaker drew a breath of relief, and said, "Yes, that is it! The flocks were grazing in the

"No, no! Though all the wood in all the valleys of Judah was brought together in one pile and fired, the blaze

After that there was silence on the housetop, broken but once again while the mystery continued.

"Brethren!" exclaimed a Jew of venerable mien, "what we see is the ladder our father Jacob saw in his dream.

A mile and a half, it may be two miles, southeast of Bethlehem, there is a plain separated from the town by an

intervening swell of the mountain. Besides being well sheltered from the north winds, the vale was covered

with a growth of sycamore, dwarfoak, and pine trees, while in the glens and ravines adjoining there were

thickets of olive and mulberry; all at this season of the year invaluable for the support of sheep, goats, and

At the side farthest from the town, close under a bluff, there was an extensive marah, or sheepcot, ages old. In

some longforgotten foray, the building had been unroofed and almost demolished. The enclosure attached to

it remained intact, however, and that was of more importance to the shepherds who drove their charges

thither than the house itself. The stone wall around the lot was high as a man's head, yet not so high but that

sometimes a panther or a lion, hungering from the wilderness, leaped boldly in. On the inner side of the wall,

and as an additional security against the constant danger, a hedge of the rhamnus had been planted, an

invention so successful that now a sparrow could hardly penetrate the overtopping branches, armed as they

The day of the occurrences which occupy the preceding chapters, a number of shepherds, seeking fresh walks

for their flocks, led them up to this plain; and from early morning the groves had been made ring with calls,

and the blows of axes, the bleating of sheep and goats, the tinkling of bells, the lowing of cattle, and the

barking of dogs. When the sun went down, they led the way to the marah, and by nightfall had everything

safe in the field; then they kindled a fire down by the gate, partook of their humble supper, and sat down to

There were six of these men, omitting the watchman; and afterwhile they assembled in a group near the fire,

some sitting, some lying prone. As they went bareheaded habitually, their hair stood out in thick, coarse,

sunburnt shocks; their beard covered their throats, and fell in mats down the breast; mantles of the skin of

kids and lambs, with the fleece on, wrapped them from neck to knee, leaving the arms exposed; broad belts

girthed the rude garments to their waists; their sandals were of the coarsest quality; from their right shoulders

hung scrips containing food and selected stones for slings, with which they were armed; on the ground near

Such were the shepherds of Judea! In appearance, rough and savage as the gaunt dogs sitting with them

around the blaze; in fact, simpleminded, tenderhearted; effects due, in part, to the primitive life they led,

They rested and talked, and their talk was all about their flocks, a dull theme to the world, yet a theme which

was all the world to them. If in narrative they dwelt long upon affairs of trifling moment; if one of them

omitted nothing of detail in recounting the loss of a lamb, the relation between him and the unfortunate

should be remembered: at birth it became his charge, his to keep all its days, to help over the floods, to carry

down the hollows, to name and train; it was to be his companion, his object of thought and interest, the

subject of his will; it was to enliven and share his wanderings; in its defense he might be called on to face the

The great events, such as blotted out nations and changed the mastery of the world, were trifles to them, if

perchance they came to their knowledge. Of what Herod was doing in this city or that, building palaces and

gymnasia, and indulging forbidden practises, they occasionally heard. As was her habit in those days, Rome

did not wait for people slow to inquire about her; she came to them. Over the hills along which he was

leading his lagging herd, or in the fastnesses in which he was hiding them, not unfrequently the shepherd was

startled by the blare of trumpets, and, peering out, beheld a cohort, sometimes a legion, in march; and when

the glittering crests were gone, and the excitement incident to the intrusion over, he bent himself to evolve the

meaning of the eagles and gilded globes of the soldiery, and the charm of a life so the opposite of his own.

Yet these men, rude and simple as they were, had a knowledge and a wisdom of their own. On Sabbaths they

were accustomed to purify themselves, and go up into the synagogues, and sit on the benches farthest from

the ark. When the chazzan bore the Torah round, none kissed it with greater zest; when the sheliach read the

text, none listened to the interpreter with more absolute faith; and none took away with them more of the

elder's sermon, or gave it more thought afterwards. In a verse of the Shema they found all the learning and all

the law of their simple livesthat their Lord was One God, and that they must love him with all their souls.

While they talked, and before the first watch was over, one by one the shepherds went to sleep, each lying

The night, like most nights of the winter season in the hill country, was clear, crisp, and sparkling with stars.

There was no wind. The atmosphere seemed never so pure, and the stillness was more than silence; it was a

holy hush, a warning that heaven was stooping low to whisper some good thing to the listening earth.

By the gate, hugging his mantle close, the watchman walked; at times he stopped, attracted by a stir among

the sleeping herds, or by a jackal's cry off on the mountainside. The midnight was slow coming to him; but

at last it came. His task was done; now for the dreamless sleep with which labor blesses its wearied children!

He moved towards the fire, but paused; a light was breaking around him, soft and white, like the moon's. He

waited breathlessly. The light deepened; things before invisible came to view; he saw the whole field, and all

it sheltered. A chill sharper than that of the frosty aira chill of fearsmote him. He looked up; the stars

were gone; the light was dropping as from a window in the sky; as he looked, it became a splendor; then, in

Suddenly the light became intolerably bright, and they covered their eyes, and dropped upon their knees;

then, as their souls shrank with fear, they fell upon their faces blind and fainting, and would have died had not

"Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."

The voice, in sweetness and soothing more than human, and low and clear, penetrated all their being, and

filled them with assurance. They rose upon their knees, and, looking worshipfully, beheld in the centre of a

great glory the appearance of a man, clad in a robe intensely white; above its shoulders towered the tops of

wings shining and folded; a star over its forehead glowed with steady lustre, brilliant as Hesperus; its hands

were stretched towards them in blessing; its face was serene and divinely beautiful.

They had often heard, and, in their simple way, talked, of angels; and they doubted not now, but said, in their

hearts, The glory of God is about us, and this is he who of old came to the prophet by the river of Ulai.

"For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord!"

"And this shall be a sign unto you," the annunciator said next. "Ye shall find the babe, wrapped in

The herald spoke not again; his good tidings were told; yet he stayed awhile. Suddenly the light, of which he

seemed the centre, turned roseate and began to tremble; then up, far as the men could see, there was flashing

of white wings, and coming and going of radiant forms, and voices as of a multitude chanting in unison,

Then the herald raised his eyes as seeking approval of one far off; his wings stirred, and spread slowly and

majestically, on their upper side white as snow, in the shadow varitinted, like motherofpearl; when they

were expanded many cubits beyond his stature, he arose lightly, and, without effort, floated out of view,

taking the light up with him. Long after he was gone, down from the sky fell the refrain in measure mellowed

by distance, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men."

When the shepherds came fully to their senses, they stared at each other stupidly, until one of them said, "It

"And did he not also say, in the city of David, which is our Bethlehem yonder. And that we should find him a

The first speaker gazed into the fire thoughtfully, but at length said, like one possessed of a sudden resolve,

"There is but one place in Bethlehem where there are mangers; but one, and that is in the cave near the old

khan. Brethren, let us go see this thing which has come to pass. The priests and doctors have been a long time

looking for the Christ. Now he is born, and the Lord has given us a sign by which to know him. Let us go up

Around the mountain and through the town they passed, and came to the gate of the khan, where there was a

"Let us go down to the cave in the enclosure, that we may be sure; then we will tell you all. Come with us,

"He was born this night, and is now lying in a manger, so we were told; and there is but one place in

They went through the courtyard without notice, although there were some up even then talking about the

wonderful light. The door of the cavern was open. A lantern was burning within, and they entered

"I give you peace," the watchman said to Joseph and the Beth Dagonite. "Here are people looking for a child

born this night, whom they are to know by finding him in swaddlingclothes and lying in a manger."

For a moment the face of the stolid Nazarene was moved; turning away, he said, "The child is here."

They were led to one of the mangers, and there the child was. The lantern was brought, and the shepherds

One of the women took the baby, and went to Mary, lying near, and put it in her arms. Then the bystanders

"The Christ!" they all repeated, falling upon their knees in worship. One of them repeated several times over,

And the simple men, never doubting, kissed the hem of the mother's robe, and with joyful faces departed. In

the khan, to all the people aroused and pressing about them, they told their story; and through the town, and

all the way back to the marah, they chanted the refrain of the angels, "Glory to God in the highest, and on

The story went abroad, confirmed by the light so generally seen; and the next day, and for days thereafter, the

cave was visited by curious crowds, of whom some believed, though the greater part laughed and mocked.

The eleventh day after the birth of the child in the cave, about midafternoon, the three wise men approached

Jerusalem by the road from Shechem. After crossing Brook Cedron, they met many people, of whom none

Judea was of necessity an international thoroughfare; a narrow ridge, raised, apparently, by the pressure of

the desert on the east, and the sea on the west, was all she could claim to be; over the ridge, however, nature

had stretched the line of trade between the east and the south; and that was her wealth. In other words, the

riches of Jerusalem were the tolls she levied on passing commerce. Nowhere else, consequently, unless in

Rome, was there such constant assemblage of so many people of so many different nations; in no other city

was a stranger less strange to the residents than within her walls and purlieus. And yet these three men

A child belonging to some women sitting by the roadside opposite the Tombs of the Kings saw the party

coming; immediately it clapped its hands, and cried, "Look, look! What pretty bells! What big camels!"

The bells were silver; the camels, as we have seen, were of unusual size and whiteness, and moved with

singular stateliness; the trappings told of the desert and of long journeys thereon, and also of ample means in

possession of the owners, who sat under the little canopies exactly as they appeared at the rendezvous beyond

the Jebel. Yet it was not the bells or the camels, or their furniture, or the demeanor of the riders, that were so

The approach to Jerusalem from the north is across a plain which dips southward, leaving the Damascus Gate

in a vale or hollow. The road is narrow, but deeply cut by long use, and in places difficult on account of the

cobbles left loose and dry by the washing of the rains. On either side, however, there stretched, in the old

time, rich fields and handsome olivegroves, which must, in luxurious growth, have been beautiful,

especially to travellers fresh from the wastes of the desert. In this road, the three stopped before the party in

"Good people," said Balthasar, stroking his plaited beard, and bending from his cot, "is not Jerusalem close

"Yes," answered the woman into whose arms the child had shrunk. "If the trees on yon swell were a little

"Well, tell everybody that we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."

Thereupon the friends rode on. Of others they asked the same question, with like result. A large company

whom they met going to the Grotto of Jeremiah were so astonished by the inquiry and the appearance of the

So much were the three occupied with the idea of their mission that they did not care for the view which

presently rose before them in the utmost magnificence: for the village first to receive them on Bezetha; for

Mizpah and Olivet, over on their left; for the wall behind the village, with its forty tall and solid towers,

superadded partly for strength, partly to gratify the critical taste of the kingly builder; for the same towered

wall bending off to the right, with many an angle, and here and there an embattled gate, up to the three great

white piles Phasaelus, Mariamne, and Hippicus; for Zion, tallest of the hills, crowned with marble palaces,

and never so beautiful; for the glittering terraces of the temple on Moriah, admittedly one of the wonders of

the earth; for the regal mountains rimming the sacred city round about until it seemed in the hollow of a

They came, at length, to a tower of great height and strength, overlooking the gate which, at that time,

answered to the present Damascus Gate, and marked the meetingplace of the three roads from Shechem,

Jericho, and Gibeon. A Roman guard kept the passageway. By this time the people following the camels

formed a train sufficient to draw the idlers hanging about the portal; so that when Balthasar stopped to speak

to the sentinel, the three became instantly the centre of a close circle eager to hear all that passed.

"We have come great distances in search of one who is born King of the Jews. Can you tell us where he is?"

The soldier raised the visor of his helmet, and called loudly. From an apartment at the right of the passage an

"Give way," he cried, to the crowd which now pressed closer in; and as they seemed slow to obey, he

advanced twirling his javelin vigorously, now right, now left; and so he gained room.

"Go farther," he said, at last. "Go farther. I am not a Jew. Carry the question to the doctors in the Temple, or

to Hannas the priest, or, better still, to Herod himself. If there be another King of the Jews, he will find him."

Thereupon he made way for the strangers, and they passed the gate. But, before entering the narrow street,

Balthasar lingered to say to his friends, "We are sufficiently proclaimed. By midnight the whole city will

That evening, before sunset, some women were washing clothes on the upper step of the flight that led down

into the basin of the Pool of Siloam. They knelt each before a broad bowl of earthenware. A girl at the foot of

the steps kept them supplied with water, and sang while she filled the jar. The song was cheerful, and no

doubt lightened their labor. Occasionally they would sit upon their heels, and look up the slope of Ophel, and

round to the summit of what is now the Mount of Offence, then faintly glorified by the dying sun.

While they plied their hands, rubbing and wringing the clothes in the bowls, two other women came to them,

The laborers paused, sat up, wrung the water from their hands, and returned the salutation.

It was curious to see the faces of the laborers brighten with interest; on the other side down came the jars,

"This afternoon three men came across Brook Cedron on the road from Shechem," the speaker replied,

circumstantially, intending to smother doubt. "Each one of them rode a camel spotless white, and larger than

"To prove how great and rich the men were," the narrator continued, "they sat under awnings of silk; the

buckles of their saddles were of gold, as was the fringe of their bridles; the bells were of silver, and made real

music. Nobody knew them; they looked as if they had come from the ends of the world. Only one of them

spoke, and of everybody on the road, even the women and children, he asked this question'Where is he that

is born King of the Jews?' No one gave them answerno one understood what they meant; so they passed

on, leaving behind them this saying: 'For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.'

They put the question to the Roman at the gate; and he, no wiser than the simple people on the road, sent

"At the khan. Hundreds have been to look at them already, and hundreds more are going."

"Nobody knows. They are said to be Persianswise men who talk with the starsprophets, it may be, like

One of the women laughed, and resumed her work, saying, 'Well, when I see him I will believe."

Another followed her example: "And Iwell, when I see him raise the dead, I will believe."

A third said, quietly, "He has been a long time promised. It will be enough for me to see him heal one leper."

And the party sat talking until the night came, and, with the help of the frosty air, drove them home.

Later in the evening, about the beginning of the first watch, there was an assemblage in the palace on Mount

Zion, of probably fifty persons, who never came together except by order of Herod, and then only when he

had demanded to know some one or more of the deeper mysteries of the Jewish law and history. It was, in

short, a meeting of the teachers of the colleges, of the chief priests, and of the doctors most noted in the city

for learningthe leaders of opinion, expounders of the different creeds; princes of the Sadducees; Pharisaic

The chamber in which the session was held belonged to one of the interior courtyards of the palace, and was

quite large and Romanesque. The floor was tessellated with marble blocks; the walls, unbroken by a window,

were frescoed in panels of saffron yellow; a divan occupied the centre of the apartment, covered with

cushions of brightyellow cloth, and fashioned in form of the letter U, the opening towards the doorway; in

the arch of the divan, or, as it were, in the bend of the letter, there was an immense bronze tripod, curiously

inlaid with gold and silver, over which a chandelier dropped from the ceiling, having seven arms, each

The company sat upon the divan after the style of Orientals, in costume singularly uniform, except as to

color. They were mostly men advanced in years; immense beards covered their faces; to their large noses

were added the effects of large black eyes, deeply shaded by bold brows; their demeanor was grave,

He who sat before the tripod, however, in the place which may be called the head of the divan, having all the

rest of his associates on his right and left, and, at the same time, before him, evidently president of the

meeting, would have instantly absorbed the attention of a spectator. He had been cast in large mould, but was

now shrunken and stooped to ghastliness; his white robe dropped from his shoulders in folds that gave no hint

of muscle or anything but an angular skeleton. His hands, half concealed by sleeves of silk, white and

crimson striped, were clasped upon his knees. When he spoke, sometimes the first finger of the right hand

extended tremulously; he seemed incapable of other gesture. But his head was a splendid dome. A few hairs,

whiter than finedrawn silver, fringed the base; over a broad, fullsphered skull the skin was drawn close,

and shone in the light with positive brilliance; the temples were deep hollows, from which the forehead

beetled like a wrinkled crag; the eyes were wan and dim; the nose was pinched; and all the lower face was

muffed in a beard flowing and venerable as Aaron's. Such was Hillel the Babylonian! The line of prophets,

long extinct in Israel, was now succeeded by a line of scholars, of whom he was first in learninga prophet

in all but the divine inspiration! At the age of one hundred and six, he was still Rector of the Great College.

On the table before him lay outspread a roll or volume of parchment inscribed with Hebrew characters;

There had been discussion, but at this moment of introduction the company had reached a conclusion; each

one was in an attitude of rest, and the venerable Hillel, without moving, called the page.

After a time two officers entered and stopped, one on each side the door; after them slowly followed a most

striking personage an old man clad in a purple robe bordered with scarlet, and girt to his waist by a band of

gold linked so fine that it was pliable as leather; the latchets of his shoes sparkled with precious stones; a

narrow crown wrought in filigree shone outside a tarbooshe of softest crimson plush, which, encasing his

head, fell down the neck and shoulders, leaving the throat and neck exposed. Instead of a seal, a dagger

dangled from his belt. He walked with a halting step, leaning heavily upon a staff. Not until he reached the

opening of the divan, did he pause or look up from the floor; then, as for the first time conscious of the

company, and roused by their presence, he raised himself, and looked haughtily round, like one startled and

searching for an enemyso dark, suspicious, and threatening was the glance. Such was Herod the Greata

body broken by diseases, a conscience seared with crimes, a mind magnificently capable, a soul fit for

brotherhood with the Caesars; now sevenandsixty years old, but guarding his throne with a jealousy never

There was a general movement on the part of the assemblagea bending forward in salaam by the more

aged, a risingup by the more courtierly, followed by low genuflections, hands upon the beard or breast.

His observations taken, Herod moved on until at the tripod opposite the venerable Hillel, who met his cold

"The answer!" said the king, with imperious simplicity, addressing Hillel, and planting his staff before him

The eyes of the patriarch glowed mildly, and, raising his head, and looking the inquisitor full in the face, he

"Then, O king, speaking for myself, and all my brethren here, not one dissenting, I say, in Bethlehem of

Hillel glanced at the parchment on the tripod; and, pointing with his tremulous finger, continued, "In

Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, 'And thou, Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, art not

the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel.'"

Herod's face was troubled, and his eyes fell upon the parchment while he thought. Those beholding him

scarcely breathed; they spoke not, nor did he. At length he turned about and left the chamber.

A man, quite fifty years old, but in the hearty prime of life, answered and came to him.

The strong man stooped; with his withered hands the old one took the offered support, and, rising, moved

So departed the famous Rector, and Simeon, his son, who was to be his successor in wisdom, learning, and

Yet later in the evening the wise men were lying in a lewen of the khan awake. The stones which served them

as pillows raised their heads so they could look out of the open arch into the depths of the sky; and as they

watched the twinkling of the stars, they thought of the next manifestation. How would it come? What would

it be? They were in Jerusalem at last; they had asked at the gate for Him they sought; they had borne witness

of his birth; it remained only to find him; and as to that, they placed all trust in the Spirit. Men listening for

While they were in this condition, a man stepped in under the arch, darkening the lewen.

"You were right, O my brother!" said the Greek, when the steward was gone. "The question put to the people

on the road, and to the guard at the gate, has given us quick notoriety. I am impatient; let us up quickly."

"I salute you, and give you peace, and pray your pardon; but my master, the king, has sent me to invite you to

A lamp hung in the entrance, and by its light they looked at each other, and knew the Spirit was upon them.

Then the Egyptian stepped to the steward, and said, so as not to be heard by the others, "You know where our

goods are stored in the court, and where our camels are resting. While we are gone, make all things ready for

"The king's will is our will," said Balthasar to the messenger. "We will follow you."

The streets of the Holy City were narrow then as now, but not so rough and foul; for the great builder, not

content with beauty, enforced cleanliness and convenience also. Following their guide, the brethren

proceeded without a word. Through the dim starlight, made dimmer by the walls on both sides, sometimes

almost lost under bridges connecting the housetops, out of a low ground they ascended a hill. At last they

came to a portal reared across the way. In the light of fires blazing before it in two great braziers, they caught

a glimpse of the structure, and also of some guards leaning motionlessly upon their arms. They passed into a

building unchallenged. Then by passages and arched halls; through courts, and under colonnades not always

lighted; up long flights of stairs, past innumerable cloisters and chambers, they were conducted into a tower

of great height. Suddenly the guide halted, and, pointing through an open door, said to them,

The air of the chamber was heavy with the perfume of sandalwood, and all the appointments within were

effeminately rich. Upon the floor, covering the central space, a tufted rug was spread, and upon that a throne

was set. The visitors had but time, however, to catch a confused idea of the placeof carved and gilt

ottomans and couches; of fans and jars and musical instruments; of golden candlesticks glittering in their own

lights; of walls painted in the style of the voluptuous Grecian school, one look at which had made a Pharisee

hide his head with holy horror. Herod, sitting upon the throne to receive them, clad as when at the conference

At the edge of the rug, to which they advanced uninvited, they prostrated themselves. The king touched a

"From the North Gate," he continued, when they were at rest, "I had this afternoon report of the arrival of

three strangers, curiously mounted, and appearing as if from far countries. Are you the men?"

The Egyptian took the sign from the Greek and the Hindoo, and answered, with the profoundest salaam,

"Were we other than we are, the mighty Herod, whose fame is as incense to the whole world, would not have

"Who are you? Whence do you come?" he asked, adding significantly, "Let each speak for himself."

In turn they gave him account, referring simply to the cities and lands of their birth, and the routes by which

"I see now why the people were so curious. You excite me no less. Is there another King of the Jews?"

An expression of pain knit the dark face of the monarch, as if his mind were swept by a harrowing

Possibly the accusing images of his murdered children flitted before him; recovering from the emotion,

"You bring me a wondera riddle surpassing any of Solomon's," the inquisitor said next. "As you see, I am

in the time of life when curiosity is as ungovernable as it was in childhood, when to trifle with it is cruelty.

Tell me further, and I will honor you as kings honor each other. Give me all you know about the newly born,

and I will join you in the search for him; and when we have found him, I will do what you wish; I will bring

him to Jerusalem, and train him in kingcraft; I will use my grace with Caesar for his promotion and glory.

Jealousy shall not come between us, so I swear. But tell me first how, so widely separated by seas and

"He bade us come hither, promising that we should find the Redeemer of the World; that we should see and

worship him, and bear witness that he was come; and, as a sign, we were each given to see a star. His Spirit

An overpowering feeling seized the three. The Greek with difficulty restrained an outcry. Herod's gaze darted

quickly from one to the other; he was more suspicious and dissatisfied than before.

"You are mocking me," he said. "If not, tell me more. What is to follow the coming of the new king?"

"Then"Herod paused, and from his look no man could have said with what feeling he continued"you are

The attendant went out, but in a little while returned, and, kneeling before the guests, gave to each one an

outer robe or mantle of scarlet and blue, and a girdle of gold. They acknowledged the honors with Eastern

"A word further," said Herod, when the ceremony was ended. "To the officer of the gate, and but now to me,

Herod arose, signifying the audience was over. Stepping from the throne towards them, he said, with all

"If, as I believe, O illustrious men, you are indeed the heralds of the Christ just born, know that I have this

night consulted those wisest in things Jewish, and they say with one voice he should be born in Bethlehem of

Judea. I say to you, go thither; go and search diligently for the young child; and when you have found him

bring me word again, that I may come and worship him. To your going there shall be no let or hindrance.

Directly the guide came, and led them back to the street, and thence to the khan, at the portal of which the

Greek said, impulsively, "Let us to Bethlehem, O brethren, as the king has advised."

They gave gifts to the steward, mounted into their saddles, received directions to the Joppa Gate, and

departed. At their approach the great valves were unbarred, and they passed out into the open country, taking

the road so lately travelled by Joseph and Mary. As they came up out of Hinnom, on the plain of Rephaim, a

light appeared, at first widespread and faint. Their pulses fluttered fast. The light intensified rapidly; they

closed their eyes against its burning brilliance: when they dared look again, lo! the star, perfect as any in the

heavens, but low down and moving slowly before them. And they folded their hands, and shouted, and

"God is with us! God is with us!" they repeated, in frequent cheer, all the way, until the star, rising out of the

valley beyond Mar Elias, stood still over a house up on the slope of the hill near the town.

It was now the beginning of the third watch, and at Bethlehem the morning was breaking over the mountains

in the east, but so feebly that it was yet night in the valley. The watchman on the roof of the old khan,

shivering in the chilly air, was listening for the first distinguishable sounds with which life, awakening, greets

the dawn, when a light came moving up the hill towards the house. He thought it a torch in some one's hand;

next moment he thought it a meteor; the brilliance grew, however, until it became a star. Sore afraid, he cried

out, and brought everybody within the walls to the roof. The phenomenon, in eccentric motion, continued to

approach; the rocks, trees, and roadway under it shone as in a glare of lightning; directly its brightness

became blinding. The more timid of the beholders fell upon their knees, and prayed, with their faces hidden;

the boldest, covering their eyes, crouched, and now and then snatched glances fearfully. Afterwhile the khan

and everything thereabout lay under the intolerable radiance. Such as dared look beheld the star standing still

In the height of this scene, the wise men came up, and at the gate dismounted from their camels, and shouted

for admission. When the steward so far mastered his terror as to give them heed, he drew the bars and opened

to them. The camels looked spectral in the unnatural light, and, besides their outlandishness, there were in the

faces and manner of the three visitors an eagerness and exaltation which still further excited the keeper's fears

and fancy; he fell back, and for a time could not answer the question they put to him.

The bystanders turned to each other marvelling, though some of them answered, "Yes, yes."

"Show us to him!" cried Balthasar, breaking through his gravity; "for we have seen his star, even that which

The Hindoo clasped his hands, exclaiming, "God indeed lives! Make haste, make haste! The Savior is found.

The people from the roof came down and followed the strangers as they were taken through the court and out

into the enclosure; at sight of the star yet above the cave, though less candescent than before, some turned

back afraid; the greater part went on. As the strangers neared the house, the orb arose; when they were at the

door, it was high up overhead vanishing; when they entered, it went out lost to sight. And to the witnesses of

what then took place came a conviction that there was a divine relation between the star and the strangers,

which extended also to at least some of the occupants of the cave. When the door was opened, they crowded

The apartment was lighted by a lantern enough to enable the strangers to find the mother, and the child awake

And she who had kept all the things in the least affecting the little one, and pondered them in her heart, held it

They saw the child was as other children: about its head was neither nimbus nor material crown; its lips

opened not in speech; if it heard their expressions of joy, their invocations, their prayers, it made no sign

whatever, but, babylike, looked longer at the flame in the lantern than at them.

In a little while they arose, and, returning to the camels, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and

laid them before the child, abating nothing of their worshipful speeches; of which no part is given, for the

thoughtful know that the pure worship of the pure heart was then what it is now, and has always been, an

Their faith rested upon the signs sent them by him whom we have since come to know as the Father; and they

were of the kind to whom his promises were so allsufficient that they asked nothing about his ways. Few

there were who had seen the signs and heard the promisesthe Mother and Joseph, the shepherds, and the

Threeyet they all believed alike; that is to say, in this period of the plan of salvation, God was all and the

Child nothing. But look forward, O reader! A time will come when the signs will all proceed from the Son.

It is necessary now to carry the reader forward twentyone years, to the beginning of the administration of

Valerius Gratus, the fourth imperial governor of Judeaa period which will be remembered as rent by

political agitations in Jerusalem, if, indeed, it be not the precise time of the opening of the final quarrel

In the interval Judea had been subjected to changes affecting her in many ways, but in nothing so much as her

political status. Herod the Great died within one year after the birth of the Childdied so miserably that the

Christian world had reason to believe him overtaken by the Divine wrath. Like all great rulers who spend

their lives in perfecting the power they create, he dreamed of transmitting his throne and crownof being the

founder of a dynasty. With that intent, he left a will dividing his territories between his three sons, Antipas,

Philip, and Archelaus, of whom the last was appointed to succeed to the title. The testament was necessarily

referred to Augustus, the emperor, who ratified all its provisions with one exception: he withheld from

Archelaus the title of king until he proved his capacity and loyalty; in lieu thereof, he created him ethnarch,

and as such permitted him to govern nine years, when, for misconduct and inability to stay the turbulent

elements that grew and strengthened around him, he was sent into Gaul as an exile.

Caesar was not content with deposing Archelaus; he struck the people of Jerusalem in a manner that touched

their pride, and keenly wounded the sensibilities of the haughty habitues of the Temple. He reduced Judea to

a Roman province, and annexed it to the prefecture of Syria. So, instead of a king ruling royally from the

palace left by Herod on Mount Zion, the city fell into the hands of an officer of the second grade, an

appointee called procurator, who communicated with the court in Rome through the Legate of Syria, residing

in Antioch. To make the hurt more painful, the procurator was not permitted to establish himself in

Jerusalem; Caesarea was his seat of government. Most humiliating, however, most exasperating, most

studied, Samaria, of all the world the most despisedSamaria was joined to Judea as a part of the same

province! What ineffable misery the bigoted Separatists or Pharisees endured at finding themselves elbowed

and laughed at in the procurator's presence in Caesarea by the devotees of Gerizim!

In this rain of sorrows, one consolation, and one only, remained to the fallen people: the highpriest occupied

the Herodian palace in the marketplace, and kept the semblance of a court there. What his authority really

was is a matter of easy estimate. Judgment of life and death was retained by the procurator. Justice was

administered in the name and according to the decretals of Rome. Yet more significant, the royal house was

jointly occupied by the imperial exciseman, and all his corps of assistants, registrars, collectors, publicans,

informers, and spies. Still, to the dreamers of liberty to come, there was a certain satisfaction in the fact that

the chief ruler in the palace was a Jew. His mere presence there day after day kept them reminded of the

covenants and promises of the prophets, and the ages when Jehovah governed the tribes through the sons of

Aaron; it was to them a certain sign that he had not abandoned them: so their hopes lived, and served their

Judea had been a Roman province eighty years and moreample time for the Caesars to study the

idiosyncrasies of the peopletime enough, at least, to learn that the Jew, with all his pride, could be quietly

governed if his religion were respected. Proceeding upon that policy, the predecessors of Gratus had carefully

abstained from interfering with any of the sacred observances of their subjects. But he chose a different

course: almost his first official act was to expel Hannas from the highpriesthood, and give the place to

Whether the act was directed by Augustus, or proceeded from Gratus himself, its impolicy became speedily

apparent. The reader shall be spared a chapter on Jewish politics; a few words upon the subject, however, are

essential to such as may follow the succeeding narration critically. At this time, leaving origin out of view,

there were in Judea the party of the nobles and the Separatist or popular party. Upon Herod's death, the two

united against Archelaus; from temple to palace, from Jerusalem to Rome, they fought him; sometimes with

intrigue, sometimes with the actual weapons of war. More than once the holy cloisters on Moriah resounded

with the cries of fightingmen. Finally, they drove him into exile. Meantime throughout this struggle the

allies had their diverse objects in view. The nobles hated Joazar, the highpriest; the Separatists, on the other

hand, were his zealous adherents. When Herod's settlement went down with Archelaus, Joazar shared the fall.

Hannas, the son of Seth, was selected by the nobles to fill the great office; thereupon the allies divided. The

In the course of the struggle with the unfortunate ethnarch, the nobles had found it expedient to attach

themselves to Rome. Discerning that when the existing settlement was broken up some form of government

must needs follow, they suggested the conversion of Judea into a province. The fact furnished the Separatists

an additional cause for attack; and, when Samaria was made part of the province, the nobles sank into a

minority, with nothing to support them but the imperial court and the prestige of their rank and wealth; yet for

fifteen yearsdown, indeed, to the coming of Valerius Gratusthey managed to maintain themselves in

Hannas, the idol of his party, had used his power faithfully in the interest of his imperial patron. A Roman

garrison held the Tower of Antonia; a Roman guard kept the gates of the palace; a Roman judge dispensed

justice civil and criminal; a Roman system of taxation, mercilessly executed, crushed both city and country;

daily, hourly, and in a thousand ways, the people were bruised and galled, and taught the difference between

a life of independence and a life of subjection; yet Hannas kept them in comparative quiet. Rome had no truer

friend; and he made his loss instantly felt. Delivering his vestments to Ishmael, the new appointee, he walked

from the courts of the Temple into the councils of the Separatists, and became the head of a new combination,

Gratus, the procurator, left thus without a party, saw the fires which, in the fifteen years, had sunk into

sodden smoke begin to glow with returning life. A month after Ishmael took the office, the Roman found it

necessary to visit him in Jerusalem. When from the walls, hooting and hissing him, the Jews beheld his guard

enter the north gate of the city and march to the Tower of Antonia, they understood the real purpose of the

visita full cohort of legionaries was added to the former garrison, and the keys of their yoke could now be

tightened with impunity. If the procurator deemed it important to make an example, alas for the first offender!

With the foregoing explanation in mind, the reader is invited to look into one of the gardens of the palace on

Mount Zion. The time was noonday in the middle of July, when the heat of summer was at its highest.

The garden was bounded on every side by buildings, which in places arose two stories, with verandas shading

the doors and windows of the lower story, while retreating galleries, guarded by strong balustrades, adorned

and protected the upper. Here and there, moreover, the structures fell into what appeared low colonnades,

permitting the passage of such winds as chanced to blow, and allowing other parts of the house to be seen, the

better to realize its magnitude and beauty. The arrangement of the ground was equally pleasant to the eye.

There were walks, and patches of grass and shrubbery, and a few large trees, rare specimens of the palm,

grouped with the carob, apricot, and walnut. In all directions the grade sloped gently from the centre, where

there was a reservoir, or deep marble basin, broken at intervals by little gates which, when raised, emptied the

water into sluices bordering the walksa cunning device for the rescue of the place from the aridity too

Not far from the fountain, there was a small pool of clear water nourishing a clump of cane and oleander,

such as grow on the Jordan and down by the Dead Sea. Between the clump and the pool, unmindful of the

sun shining full upon them in the breathless air, two boys, one about nineteen, the other seventeen, sat

They were both handsome, and, at first glance, would have been pronounced brothers. Both had hair and eyes

black; their faces were deeply browned; and, sitting, they seemed of a size proper for the difference in their

The elder was bareheaded. A loose tunic, dropping to the knees, was his attire complete, except sandals and a

lightblue mantle spread under him on the seat. The costume left his arms and legs exposed, and they were

brown as the face; nevertheless, a certain grace of manner, refinement of features, and culture of voice

decided his rank. The tunic, of softest woollen, graytinted, at the neck, sleeves, and edge of the skirt

bordered with red, and bound to the waist by a tasselled silken cord, certified him the Roman he was. And if

in speech he now and then gazed haughtily at his companion and addressed him as an inferior, he might

almost be excused, for he was of a family noble even in Romea circumstance which in that age justified

any assumption. In the terrible wars between the first Caesar and his great enemies, a Messala had been the

friend of Brutus. After Philippi, without sacrifice of his honor, he and the conqueror became reconciled. Yet

later, when Octavius disputed for the empire, Messala supported him. Octavius, as the Emperor Augustus,

remembered the service, and showered the family with honors. Among other things, Judea being reduced to a

province, he sent the son of his old client or retainer to Jerusalem, charged with the receipt and management

of the taxes levied in that region; and in that service the son had since remained, sharing the palace with the

highpriest. The youth just described was his son, whose habit it was to carry about with him all too

faithfully a remembrance of the relation between his grandfather and the great Romans of his day.

The associate of the Messala was slighter in form, and his garments were of fine white linen and of the

prevalent style in Jerusalem; a cloth covered his head, held by a yellow cord, and arranged so as to fall away

from the forehead down low over the back of the neck. An observer skilled in the distinctions of race, and

studying his features more than his costume, would have soon discovered him to be of Jewish descent. The

forehead of the Roman was high and narrow, his nose sharp and aquiline, while his lips were thin and

straight, and his eyes cold and close under the brows. The front of the Israelite, on the other hand, was low

and broad; his nose long, with expanded nostrils; his upper lip, slightly shading the lower one, short and

curving to the dimpled corners, like a Cupid's bow; points which, in connection with the round chin, full eyes,

and oval cheeks reddened with a winelike glow, gave his face the softness, strength, and beauty peculiar to

his race. The comeliness of the Roman was severe and chaste, that of the Jew rich and voluptuous.

The question proceeded from the younger of the friends, and was couched in Greek, at the time, singularly

enough, the language everywhere prevalent in the politer circles of Judea; having passed from the palace into

the camp and college; thence, nobody knew exactly when or how, into the Temple itself, and, for that matter,

into precincts of the Temple far beyond the gates and cloistersprecincts of a sanctity intolerable for a

"I heard Ishmael, the new governor in the palaceyou call him high priesttell my father so last night. The

news had been more credible, I grant you, coming from an Egyptian, who is of a race that has forgotten what

truth is, or even from an Idumaean, whose people never knew what truth was; but, to make quite certain, I

saw a centurion from the Tower this morning, and he told me preparations were going on for the reception;

that the armorers were furbishing the helmets and shields, and regilding the eagles and globes; and that

apartments long unused were being cleansed and aired as if for an addition to the garrisonthe bodyguard,

A perfect idea of the manner in which the answer was given cannot be conveyed, as its fine points continually

escape the power behind the pen. The reader's fancy must come to his aid; and for that he must be reminded

that reverence as a quality of the Roman mind was fast breaking down, or, rather, it was becoming

unfashionable. The old religion had nearly ceased to be a faith; at most it was a mere habit of thought and

expression, cherished principally by the priests who found service in the Temple profitable, and the poets

who, in the turn of their verses, could not dispense with the familiar deities: there are singers of this age who

are similarly given. As philosophy was taking the place of religion, satire was fast substituting reverence;

insomuch that in Latin opinion it was to every speech, even to the little diatribes of conversation, as salt to

viands, and aroma to wine. The young Messala, educated in Rome, but lately returned, had caught the habit

and manner; the scarce perceptible movement of the outer corner of the lower eyelid, the decided curl of the

corresponding nostril, and a languid utterance affected as the best vehicle to convey the idea of general

indifference, but more particularly because of the opportunities it afforded for certain rhetorical pauses

thought to be of prime importance to enable the listener to take the happy conceit or receive the virus of the

stinging epigram. Such a stop occurred in the answer just given, at the end of the allusion to the Egyptian and

Idumaean. The color in the Jewish lad's cheeks deepened, and he may not have heard the rest of the speech,

"Our farewell took place in this garden. 'The peace of the Lord go with you!'your last words. 'The gods

"Well, you have reason to be thankful towhom shall I say? The gods? No matter. You have grown

handsome; the Greeks would call you beautifulhappy achievement of the years! If Jupiter would stay

content with one Ganymede, what a cupbearer you would make for the emperor! Tell me, my Judah, how

Judah bent his large eyes upon the questioner; the gaze was grave and thoughtful, and caught the Roman's,

and held it while he replied, "Yes, five years. I remember the parting; you went to Rome; I saw you start, and

cried, for I love you. The years are gone, and you have come back to me accomplished and princelyI do

The fine nostril of the satirist stirred, and he put on a longer drawl as he said, "No, no; not a Ganymedean

oracle, my Judah. A few lessons from my teacher of rhetoric hard by the ForumI will give you a letter to

him when you become wise enough to accept a suggestion which I am reminded to make youa little

practise of the art of mystery, and Delphi will receive you as Apollo himself. At the sound of your solemn

voice, the Pythia will come down to you with her crown. Seriously, O my friend, in what am I not the

Messala I went away? I once heard the greatest logician in the world. His subject was Disputation. One

saying I remember'Understand your antagonist before you answer him.' Let me understand you."

The lad reddened under the cynical look to which he was subjected; yet he replied, firmly, "You have availed

yourself, I see, of your opportunities; from your teachers you have brought away much knowledge and many

graces. You talk with the ease of a master, yet your speech carries a sting. My Messala, when he went away,

had no poison in his nature; not for the world would he have hurt the feelings of a friend."

The Roman smiled as if complimented, and raised his patrician head a toss higher.

"O my solemn Judah, we are not at Dodona or Pytho. Drop the oracular, and be plain. Wherein have I hurt

The other drew a long breath, and said, pulling at the cord about his waist, "In the five years, I, too, have

learned somewhat. Hillel may not be the equal of the logician you heard, and Simeon and Shammai are, no

doubt, inferior to your master hard by the Forum. Their learning goes not out into forbidden paths; those who

sit at their feet arise enriched simply with knowledge of God, the law, and Israel; and the effect is love and

reverence for everything that pertains to them. Attendance at the Great College, and study of what I heard

there, have taught me that Judea is not as she used to be. I know the space that lies between an independent

kingdom and the petty province Judea is. I were meaner, viler, than a Samaritan not to resent the degradation

of my country. Ishmael is not lawfully highpriest, and he cannot be while the noble Hannas lives; yet he is a

Levite; one of the devoted who for thousands of years have acceptably served the Lord God of our faith and

"Oh, I understand you now. Ishmael, you say, is a usurper, yet to believe an Idumaean sooner than Ishmael is

to sting like an adder. By the drunken son of Semele, what it is to be a Jew! All men and things, even heaven

and earth, change; but a Jew never. To him there is no backward, no forward; he is what his ancestor was in

the beginning. In this sand I draw you a circlethere! Now tell me what more a Jew's life is? Round and

round, Abraham here, Isaac and Jacob yonder, God in the middle. And the circleby the master of all

thunders! the circle is too large. I draw it again" He stopped, put his thumb upon the ground, and swept the

fingers about it. "See, the thumb spot is the Temple, the fingerlines Judea. Outside the little space is there

nothing of value? The arts! Herod was a builder; therefore he is accursed. Painting, sculpture! to look upon

them is sin. Poetry you make fast to your altars. Except in the synagogue, who of you attempts eloquence? In

war all you conquer in the six days you lose on the seventh. Such your life and limit; who shall say no if I

laugh at you? Satisfied with the worship of such a people, what is your God to our Roman Jove, who lends us

his eagles that we may compass the universe with our arms? Hillel, Simeon, Shammai, Abtalionwhat are

they to the masters who teach that everything is worth knowing that can be known?"

"No, no; keep your place, my Judah, keep your place," Messala cried, extending his hand.

"Listen a little further. Directly"the Roman smiled derisively "directly Jupiter and his whole family,

Greek and Latin, will come to me, as is their habit, and make an end of serious speech. I am mindful of your

goodness in walking from the old house of your fathers to welcome me back and renew the love of our

childhood if we can. 'Go,' said my teacher, in his last lecture'Go, and, to make your lives great,

remember Mars reigns and Eros has found his eyes.' He meant love is nothing, war everything. It is so in

Rome. Marriage is the first step to divorce. Virtue is a tradesman's jewel. Cleopatra, dying, bequeathed her

arts, and is avenged; she has a successor in every Roman's house. The world is going the same way; so, as to

our future, down Eros, up Mars! I am to be a soldier; and you, O my Judah, I pity you; what can you be?"

"Yes, I pity you, my fine Judah. From the college to the synagogue; then to the Temple; thenoh, a

crowning glory!the seat in the Sanhedrim. A life without opportunities; the gods help you! But I"

Judah looked at him in time to see the flush of pride that kindled in his haughty face as he went on.

"But Iah, the world is not all conquered. The sea has islands unseen. In the north there are nations yet

unvisited. The glory of completing Alexander's march to the Far East remains to some one. See what

"A campaign into Africa; another after the Scythian; thena legion! Most careers end there; but not mine.

Iby Jupiter! what a conception!I will give up my legion for a prefecture. Think of life in Rome with

moneymoney, wine, women, gamespoets at the banquet, intrigues in the court, dice all the year round.

Such a rounding of life may bea fat prefecture, and it is mine. O my Judah, here is Syria! Judea is rich;

Antioch a capital for the gods. I will succeed Cyrenius, and youshall share my fortune."

The sophists and rhetoricians who thronged the public resorts of Rome, almost monopolizing the business of

teaching her patrician youth, might have approved these sayings of Messala, for they were all in the popular

vein; to the young Jew, however, they were new, and unlike the solemn style of discourse and conversation to

which he was accustomed. He belonged, moreover, to a race whose laws, modes, and habits of thought

forbade satire and humor; very naturally, therefore, he listened to his friend with varying feelings; one

moment indignant, then uncertain how to take him. The superior airs assumed had been offensive to him in

the beginning; soon they became irritating, and at last an acute smart. Anger lies close by this point in all of

us; and that the satirist evoked in another way. To the Jew of the Herodian period patriotism was a savage

passion scarcely hidden under his common humor, and so related to his history, religion, and God that it

responded instantly to derision of them. Wherefore it is not speaking too strongly to say that Messala's

progress down to the last pause was exquisite torture to his hearer; at that point the latter said, with a forced

"There are a few, I have heard, who can afford to make a jest of their future; you convince me, O my

The Roman studied him; then replied, "Why not the truth in a jest as well as a parable? The great Fulvia went

fishing the other day; she caught more than all the company besides. They said it was because the barb of her

"My Judah, I see I did not offer you enough," the Roman answered, quickly, his eyes sparkling. "When I am

"Gods, Judah, how hot the sun shines!" cried the patrician, observing his perplexity. "Let us seek a shade."

The hands of the Jew clenched, but controlling himself again, he started off. Messala arose, and, taking the

mantle from the bench, flung it over his shoulder, and followed after; when he gained his side, he put his

"This is the waymy hand thuswe used to walk when we were children. Let us keep it as far as the gate."

Apparently Messala was trying to be serious and kind, though he could not rid his countenance of the habitual

The complacency of the Roman was superb. Mentor lecturing the young Telemachus could not have been

"Do you believe in the Parcae? Ah, I forgot, you are a Sadducee: the Essenes are your sensible people; they

believe in the sisters. So do I. How everlastingly the three are in the way of our doing what we please! I sit

down scheming. I run paths here and there. Perpol! Just when I am reaching to take the world in hand, I hear

behind me the grinding of scissors. I look, and there she is, the accursed Atropos! But, my Judah, why did

you get mad when I spoke of succeeding old Cyrenius? You thought I meant to enrich myself plundering

"There have been strangers in mastery of Judea before the Roman," he said, with lifted hand. "Where are

"The Parcae have believers outside the Essenes. Welcome, Judah, welcome to the faith!"

"No, Messala, count me not with them. My faith rests on the rock which was the foundation of the faith of my

"Too much passion, my Judah. How my master would have been shocked had I been guilty of so much heat

"I think you can hear me now, especially as what I have to say concerns yourself. I would serve you, O

handsome as Ganymede; I would serve you with real goodwill. I love youall I can. I told you I meant to

be a soldier. Why not you also? Why not you step out of the narrow circle which, as I have shown, is all of

"Who are the wise men of our day?" Messala continued. "Not they who exhaust their years quarrelling about

dead things; about Baals, Joves, and Jehovahs; about philosophies and religions. Give me one great name, O

Judah; I care not where you go to find itto Rome, Egypt, the East, or here in JerusalemPluto take me if

it belong not to a man who wrought his fame out of the material furnished him by the present; holding

nothing sacred that did not contribute to the end, scorning nothing that did! How was it with Herod? How

with the Maccabees? How with the first and second Caesars? Imitate them. Begin now. At hand seeRome,

The Jewish lad trembled with rage; and, as the garden gate was close by, he quickened his steps, eager to

"Be wise," continued Messala. "Give up the follies of Moses and the traditions; see the situation as it is. Dare

look the Parcae in the face, and they will tell you, Rome is the world. Ask them of Judea, and they will

They were now at the gate. Judah stopped, and took the hand gently from his shoulder, and confronted

"I understand you, because you are a Roman; you cannot understand meI am an Israelite. You have given

me suffering today by convincing me that we can never be the friends we have beennever! Here we part.

Messala offered him his hand; the Jew walked on through the gateway. When he was gone, the Roman was

silent awhile; then he, too, passed through, saying to himself, with a toss of the head,

From the entrance to the Holy City, equivalent to what is now called St. Stephen's Gate, a street extended

westwardly, on a line parallel with the northern front of the Tower of Antonia, though a square from that

famous castle. Keeping the course as far as the Tyropoeon Valley, which it followed a little way south, it

turned and again ran west until a short distance beyond what tradition tells us was the Judgment Gate, from

whence it broke abruptly south. The traveller or the student familiar with the sacred locality will recognize

the thoroughfare described as part of the Via Dolorosawith Christians of more interest, though of a

melancholy kind, than any street in the world. As the purpose in view does not at present require dealing with

the whole street, it will be sufficient to point out a house standing in the angle last mentioned as marking the

change of direction south, and which, as an important centre of interest, needs somewhat particular

The building fronted north and west, probably four hundred feet each way, and, like most pretentious Eastern

structures, was two stories in height, and perfectly quadrangular. The street on the west side was about twelve

feet wide, that on the north not more than ten; so that one walking close to the walls, and looking up at them,

would have been struck by the rude, unfinished, uninviting, but strong and imposing, appearance they

presented; for they were of stone laid in large blocks, undressedon the outer side, in fact, just as they were

taken from the quarry. A critic of this age would have pronounced the house fortelesque in style, except for

the windows, with which it was unusually garnished, and the ornate finish of the doorways or gates. The

western windows were four in number, the northern only two, all set on the line of the second story in such

manner as to overhang the thoroughfares below. The gates were the only breaks of wall externally visible in

the first story; and, besides being so thickly riven with iron bolts as to suggest resistance to batteringrams,

they were protected by cornices of marble, handsomely executed, and of such bold projection as to assure

visitors well informed of the people that the rich man who resided there was a Sadducee in politics and creed.

Not long after the young Jew parted from the Roman at the palace up on the Marketplace, he stopped before

the western gate of the house described, and knocked. The wicket (a door hung in one of the valves of the

gate) was opened to admit him. He stepped in hastily, and failed to acknowledge the low salaam of the porter.

To get an idea of the interior arrangement of the structure, as well as to see what more befell the youth, we

The passage into which he was admitted appeared not unlike a narrow tunnel with panelled walls and pitted

ceiling. There were benches of stone on both sides, stained and polished by long use. Twelve or fifteen steps

carried him into a courtyard, oblong north and south, and in every quarter, except the east, bounded by what

seemed the fronts of twostory houses; of which the lower floor was divided into lewens, while the upper

was terraced and defended by strong balustrading. The servants coming and going along the terraces; the

noise of millstones grinding; the garments fluttering from ropes stretched from point to point; the chickens

and pigeons in full enjoyment of the place; the goats, cows, donkeys, and horses stabled in the lewens; a

massive trough of water, apparently for the common use, declared this court appurtenant to the domestic

management of the owner. Eastwardly there was a division wall broken by another passageway in all

Clearing the second passage, the young man entered a second court, spacious, square, and set with shrubbery

and vines, kept fresh and beautiful by water from a basin erected near a porch on the north side. The lewens

here were high, airy, and shaded by curtains striped alternate white and red. The arches of the lewens rested

on clustered columns. A flight of steps on the south ascended to the terraces of the upper story, over which

great awnings were stretched as a defence against the sun. Another stairway reached from the terraces to the

roof, the edge of which, all around the square, was defined by a sculptured cornice, and a parapet of

burnedclay tiling, sexangular and bright red. In this quarter, moreover, there was everywhere observable a

scrupulous neatness, which, allowing no dust in the angles, not even a yellow leaf upon a shrub, contributed

quite as much as anything else to the delightful general effect; insomuch that a visitor, breathing the sweet

air, knew, in advance of introduction, the refinement of the family he was about calling upon.

A few steps within the second court, the lad turned to the right, and, choosing a walk through the shrubbery,

part of which was in flower, passed to the stairway, and ascended to the terracea broad pavement of white

and brown flags closely laid, and much worn. Making way under the awning to a doorway on the north side,

he entered an apartment which the dropping of the screen behind him returned to darkness. Nevertheless, he

proceeded, moving over a tiled floor to a divan, upon which he flung himself, face downwards, and lay at

About nightfall a woman came to the door and called; he answered, and she went in.

"What you please, Amrah. I am not sick, but indifferent. Life does not seem as pleasant as it did this morning.

A new ailment, O my Amrah; and you who know me so well, who never failed me, may think of the things

Amrah's questions, and the voice in which she put themlow, sympathetic, and solicitouswere significant

of an endeared relation between the two. She laid her hand upon his forehead; then, as satisfied, went out,

After a while she returned, bearing on a wooden platter a bowl of milk, some thin cakes of white bread

broken, a delicate paste of brayed wheat, a bird broiled, and honey and salt. On one end of the platter there

The room was then revealed: its walls smoothly plastered; the ceiling broken by great oaken rafters, brown

with rain stains and time; the floor of small diamondshaped white and blue tiles, very firm and enduring; a

few stools with legs carved in imitation of the legs of lions; a divan raised a little above the floor, trimmed

with blue cloth, and partially covered by an immense striped woollen blanket or shawlin brief, a Hebrew

The same light also gave the woman to view. Drawing a stool to the divan, she placed the platter upon it, then

knelt close by ready to serve him. Her face was that of a woman of fifty, darkskinned, darkeyed, and at the

moment softened by a look of tenderness almost maternal. A white turban covered her head, leaving the lobes

of the ear exposed, and in them the sign that settled her conditionan orifice bored by a thick awl. She was a

slave, of Egyptian origin, to whom not even the sacred fiftieth year could have brought freedom; nor would

she have accepted it, for the boy she was attending was her life. She had nursed him through babyhood,

tended him as a child, and could not break the service. To her love he could never be a man.

"You remember, O my Amrah," he said, "the Messala who used to visit me here days at a time."

"I knew something had happened," she said, deeply interested. "I never liked the Messala. Tell me all."

But he fell into musing, and to her repeated inquiries only said, "He is much changed, and I shall have

When Amrah took the platter away, he also went out, and up from the terrace to the roof.

The reader is presumed to know somewhat of the uses of the housetop in the East. In the matter of customs,

climate is a lawgiver everywhere. The Syrian summer day drives the seeker of comfort into the darkened

lewen; night, however, calls him forth early, and the shadows deepening over the mountainsides seem veils

dimly covering Circean singers; but they are far off, while the roof is close by, and raised above the level of

the shimmering plain enough for the visitation of cool airs, and sufficiently above the trees to allure the stars

down closer, down at least into brighter shining. So the roof became a resortbecame playground,

sleepingchamber, boudoir, rendezvous for the family, place of music, dance, conversation, reverie, and

The motive that prompts the decoration, at whatever cost, of interiors in colder climes suggested to the

Oriental the embellishment of his housetop. The parapet ordered by Moses became a potter's triumph; above

that, later, arose towers, plain and fantastic; still later, kings and princes crowned their roofs with

summerhouses of marble and gold. When the Babylonian hung gardens in the air, extravagance could push

The lad whom we are following walked slowly across the housetop to a tower built over the northwest

corner of the palace. Had he been a stranger, he might have bestowed a glance upon the structure as he drew

nigh it, and seen all the dimness permitteda darkened mass, low, latticed, pillared, and domed. He entered,

passing under a halfraised curtain. The interior was all darkness, except that on four sides there were arched

openings like doorways, through which the sky, lighted with stars, was visible. In one of the openings,

reclining against a cushion from a divan, he saw the figure of a woman, indistinct even in white floating

drapery. At the sound of his steps upon the floor, the fan in her hand stopped, glistening where the starlight

struck the jewels with which it was sprinkled, and she sat up, and called his name.

Going to her, he knelt, and she put her arms around him, and with kisses pressed him to her bosom.

The mother resumed her easy position against the cushion, while the son took place on the divan, his head in

her lap. Both of them, looking out of the opening, could see a stretch of lower housetops in the vicinity, a

bank of blueblackness over in the west which they knew to be mountains, and the sky, its shadowy depths

"Amrah tells me something has happened to you," she said, caressing his cheek. "When my Judah was a

child, I allowed small things to trouble him, but he is now a man. He must not forget" her voice became

She spoke in the language almost lost in the land, but which a fewand they were always as rich in blood as

in possessions cherished in its purity, that they might be more certainly distinguished from Gentile

The words appeared to set him thinking anew; after a while, however, he caught the hand with which she

fanned him, and said, "Today, O my mother, I have been made to think of many things that never had place

"You are very good, very kind, O my mother. No one will ever love me as you do."

"I think I understand why you would have me put off the question," he continued. "Thus far my life has

belonged to you. How gentle, how sweet your control has been! I wish it could last forever. But that may not

be. It is the Lord's will that I shall one day become owner of myselfa day of separation, and therefore a

dreadful day to you. Let us be brave and serious. I will be your hero, but you must put me in the way. You

know the lawevery son of Israel must have some occupation. I am not exempt, and ask now, shall I tend

the herds? or till the soil? or drive the saw? or be a clerk or lawyer? What shall I be? Dear, good mother, help

"Then you have been walking with Simeon, who, they tell me, inherits the genius of his family."

"No, I have not seen him. I have been up on the Marketplace, not to the Temple. I visited the young

A certain change in his voice attracted the mother's attention. A presentiment quickened the beating of her

"Roman!" she continued, half to herself. "To all the world the word means master. How long has he been

"The airs of the Via Sacra are well enough in the streets of the Egyptian and in Babylon; but in

And, full of the thought, she settled back into her easy place. He was first to speak.

"What Messala said, my mother, was sharp enough in itself; but, taken with the manner, some of the sayings

"I think I understand you. Rome, her poets, orators, senators, courtiers, are mad with affectation of what they

"I suppose all great peoples are proud," he went on, scarcely noticing the interruption; "but the pride of that

people is unlike all others; in these latter days it is so grown the gods barely escape it."

"The gods escape!" said the mother, quickly. "More than one Roman has accepted worship as his divine

"Well, Messala always had his share of the disagreeable quality. When he was a child, I have seen him mock

strangers whom even Herod condescended to receive with honors; yet he always spared Judea. For the first

time, in conversation with me today, he trifled with our customs and God. As you would have had me do, I

parted with him finally. And now, O my dear mother, I would know with more certainty if there be just

ground for the Roman's contempt. In what am I his inferior? Is ours a lower order of people? Why should I,

even in Caesar's presence; feel the shrinking of a slave? Tell me especially why, if I have the soul, and so

choose, I may not hunt the honors of the world in all its fields? Why may not I take sword and indulge the

passion of war? As a poet, why may not I sing of all themes? I can be a worker in metals, a keeper of flocks,

a merchant, why not an artist like the Greek? Tell me, O my motherand this is the sum of my

The reader will refer these questions back to the conversation in the Marketplace; the mother, listening with

all her faculties awake, from something which would have been lost upon one less interested in himfrom

the connections of the subject, the pointing of the questions, possibly his accent and tonewas not less swift

in making the same reference. She sat up, and in a voice quick and sharp as his own, replied, "I see, I see!

From association Messala, in boyhood, was almost a Jew; had he remained here, he might have become a

proselyte, so much do we all borrow from the influences that ripen our lives; but the years in Rome have been

too much for him. I do not wonder at the change; yet"her voice fell"he might have dealt tenderly at least

with you. It is a hard, cruel nature which in youth can forget its first loves."

Her hand dropped lightly upon his forehead, and the fingers caught in his hair and lingered there lovingly,

while her eyes sought the highest stars in view. Her pride responded to his, not merely in echo, but in the

unison of perfect sympathy. She would answer him; at the same time, not for the world would she have had

the answer unsatisfactory: an admission of inferiority might weaken his spirit for life. She faltered with

"What you propose, O my Judah, is not a subject for treatment by a woman. Let me put its consideration off

"No, I seek more than information; while he might give me that better than you, O my mother, you can do

better by giving me what he cannotthe resolution which is the soul of a man's soul."

She swept the heavens with a rapid glance, trying to compass all the meaning of his questions.

"While craving justice for ourselves, it is never wise to be unjust to others. To deny valor in the enemy we

have conquered is to underrate our victory; and if the enemy be strong enough to hold us at bay, much more

to conquer us"she hesitated "selfrespect bids us seek some other explanation of our misfortunes than

"Take heart, O my son. The Messala is nobly descended; his family has been illustrious through many

generations. In the days of Republican Romehow far back I cannot tellthey were famous, some as

soldiers, some as civilians. I can recall but one consul of the name; their rank was senatorial, and their

patronage always sought because they were always rich. Yet if today your friend boasted of his ancestry,

you might have shamed him by recounting yours. If he referred to the ages through which the line is

traceable, or to deeds, rank, or wealthsuch allusions, except when great occasion demands them, are tokens

of small mindsif he mentioned them in proof of his superiority, then without dread, and standing on each

"One of the ideas of fast hold now is that time has much to do with the nobility of races and families. A

Roman boasting his superiority on that account over a son of Israel will always fail when put to the proof.

The founding of Rome was his beginning; the very best of them cannot trace their descent beyond that

period; few of them pretend to do so; and of such as do, I say not one could make good his claim except by

resort to tradition. Messala certainly could not. Let us look now to ourselves. Could we better?"

A little more light would have enabled him to see the pride that diffused itself over her face.

"Let us imagine the Roman putting us to the challenge. I would answer him, neither doubting nor boastful."

"Your father, O my Judah, is at rest with his fathers; yet I remember, as though it were this evening, the day

he and I, with many rejoicing friends, went up into the Temple to present you to the Lord. We sacrificed the

doves, and to the priest I gave your name, which he wrote in my presence'Judah, son of Ithamar, of the

House of Hur.' The name was then carried away, and written in a book of the division of records devoted to

"I cannot tell you when the custom of registration in this mode began. We know it prevailed before the flight

from Egypt. I have heard Hillel say Abraham caused the record to be first opened with his own name, and the

names of his sons, moved by the promises of the Lord which separated him and them from all other races,

and made them the highest and noblest, the very chosen of the earth. The covenant with Jacob was of like

effect. 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed'so said the angel to Abraham in the place

Jehovahjireh. 'And the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed'so the Lord himself

said to Jacob asleep at Bethel on the way to Haran. Afterwards the wise men looked forward to a just division

of the land of promise; and, that it might be known in the day of partition who were entitled to portions, the

Book of Generations was begun. But not for that alone. The promise of a blessing to all the earth through the

patriarch reached far into the future. One name was mentioned in connection with the blessingthe

benefactor might be the humblest of the chosen family, for the Lord our God knows no distinctions of rank or

riches. So, to make the performance clear to men of the generation who were to witness it, and that they

might give the glory to whom it belonged, the record was required to be kept with absolute certainty. Has it

The fan played to and fro, until, becoming impatient, he repeated the question, "Is the record absolutely

"Hillel said it was, and of all who have lived no one was so wellinformed upon the subject. Our people have

at times been heedless of some parts of the law, but never of this part. The good rector himself has followed

the Books of Generations through three periodsfrom the promises to the opening of the Temple; thence to

the Captivity; thence, again, to the present. Once only were the records disturbed, and that was at the end of

the second period; but when the nation returned from the long exile, as a first duty to God, Zerubbabel

restored the Books, enabling us once more to carry the lines of Jewish descent back unbroken fully two

She paused as if to allow the hearer to measure the time comprehended in the statement.

"And now," she continued, "what becomes of the Roman boast of blood enriched by ages? By that test, the

sons of Israel watching the herds on old Rephaim yonder are nobler than the noblest of the Marcii."

"What I have said thus far, my son, had reference to your question. I will answer you. If Messala were here,

he might say, as others have said, that the exact trace of your lineage stopped when the Assyrian took

Jerusalem, and razed the Temple, with all its precious stores; but you might plead the pious action of

Zerubbabel, and retort that all verity in Roman genealogy ended when the barbarians from the West took

Rome, and camped six months upon her desolated site. Did the government keep family histories? If so, what

became of them in those dreadful days? No, no; there is verity in our Books of Generations; and, following

them back to the Captivity, back to the foundation of the first Temple, back to the march from Egypt, we

have absolute assurance that you are lineally sprung from Hur, the associate of Joshua. In the matter of

descent sanctified by time, is not the honor perfect? Do you care to pursue further? if so, take the Torah, and

search the Book of Numbers, and of the seventytwo generations after Adam, you can find the very

"I thank you, O my mother," Judah next said, clasping both her hands in his; "I thank you with all my heart. I

was right in not having the good rector called in; he could not have satisfied me more than you have. Yet to

"Ah, you forget, you forget; our claim rests not merely upon time; the Lord's preference is our especial

"You are speaking of the race, and I, mother, of the familyour family. In the years since Father Abraham,

what have they achieved? What have they done? What great things to lift them above the level of their

She hesitated, thinking she might all this time have mistaken his object. The information he sought might

have been for more than satisfaction of wounded vanity. Youth is but the painted shell within which,

continually growing, lives that wondrous thing the spirit of man, biding its moment of apparition, earlier in

some than in others. She trembled under a perception that this might be the supreme moment come to him;

that as children at birth reach out their untried hands grasping for shadows, and crying the while, so his spirit

might, in temporary blindness, be struggling to take hold of its impalpable future. They to whom a boy comes

asking, Who am I, and what am I to be? have need of ever so much care. Each word in answer may prove to

the afterlife what each fingertouch of the artist is to the clay he is modelling.

"I have a feeling, O my Judah," she said, patting his cheek with the hand he had been caressing"I have the

feeling that all I have said has been in strife with an antagonist more real than imaginary. If Messala is the

The young Israelite proceeded then, and rehearsed his conversation with Messala, dwelling with particularity

upon the latter's speeches in contempt of the Jews, their customs, and much pent round of life.

Afraid to speak the while, the mother listened, discerning the matter plainly. Judah had gone to the palace on

the Marketplace, allured by love of a playmate whom he thought to find exactly as he had been at the

parting years before; a man met him, and, in place of laughter and references to the sports of the past, the man

had been full of the future, and talked of glory to be won, and of riches and power. Unconscious of the effect,

the visitor had come away hurt in pride, yet touched with a natural ambition; but she, the jealous mother, saw

it, and, not knowing the turn the aspiration might take, became at once Jewish in her fear. What if it lured him

away from the patriarchal faith? In her view, that consequence was more dreadful than any or all others. She

could discover but one way to avert it, and she set about the task, her native power reinforced by love to such

"There never has been a people," she began, "who did not think themselves at least equal to any other; never

a great nation, my son, that did not believe itself the very superior. When the Roman looks down upon Israel

and laughs, he merely repeats the folly of the Egyptian, the Assyrian, and the Macedonian; and as the laugh is

"There is no law by which to determine the superiority of nations; hence the vanity of the claim, and the

idleness of disputes about it. A people risen, run their race, and die either of themselves or at the hands of

another, who, succeeding to their power, take possession of their place, and upon their monuments write new

names; such is history. If I were called upon to symbolize God and man in the simplest form, I would draw a

straight line and a circle, and of the line I would say, 'This is God, for he alone moves forever

straightforward,' and of the circle, 'This is mansuch is his progress.' I do not mean that there is no

difference between the careers of nations; no two are alike. The difference, however, is not, as some say, in

the extent of the circle they describe or the space of earth they cover, but in the sphere of their movement, the

"To stop here, my son, would be to leave the subject where we began. Let us go on. There are signs by which

to measure the height of the circle each nation runs while in its course. By them let us compare the Hebrew

"The simplest of all the signs is the daily life of the people. Of this I will only say, Israel has at times

forgotten God, while the Roman never knew him; consequently comparison is not possible.

"Your friendor your former friendcharged, if I understood you rightly, that we have had no poets,

artists, or warriors; by which he meant, I suppose, to deny that we have had great men, the next most certain

of the signs. A just consideration of this charge requires a definition at the commencement. A great man, O

my boy, is one whose life proves him to have been recognized, if not called, by God. A Persian was used to

punish our recreant fathers, and he carried them into captivity; another Persian was selected to restore their

children to the Holy Land; greater than either of them, however, was the Macedonian through whom the

desolation of Judea and the Temple was avenged. The special distinction of the men was that they were

chosen by the Lord, each for a divine purpose; and that they were Gentiles does not lessen their glory. Do not

"There is an idea that war is the most noble occupation of men, and that the most exalted greatness is the

growth of battlefields. Because the world has adopted the idea, be not you deceived. That we must worship

something is a law which will continue as long as there is anything we cannot understand. The prayer of the

barbarian is a wail of fear addressed to Strength, the only divine quality he can clearly conceive; hence his

faith in heroes. What is Jove but a Roman hero? The Greeks have their great glory because they were the first

to set Mind above Strength. In Athens the orator and philosopher were more revered than the warrior. The

charioteer and the swiftest runner are still idols of the arena; yet the immortelles are reserved for the sweetest

singer. The birthplace of one poet was contested by seven cities. But was the Hellene the first to deny the old

barbaric faith? No. My son, that glory is ours; against brutalism our fathers erected God; in our worship, the

wail of fear gave place to the Hosanna and the Psalm. So the Hebrew and the Greek would have carried all

humanity forward and upward. But, alas! the government of the world presumes war as an eternal condition;

wherefore, over Mind and above God, the Roman has enthroned his Caesar, the absorbent of all attainable

"The sway of the Greek was a flowering time for genius. In return for the liberty it then enjoyed, what a

company of thinkers the Mind led forth? There was a glory for every excellence, and a perfection so absolute

that in everything but war even the Roman has stooped to imitation. A Greek is now the model of the orators

in the Forum; listen, and in every Roman song you will hear the rhythm of the Greek; if a Roman opens his

mouth speaking wisely of moralities, or abstractions, or of the mysteries of nature, he is either a plagiarist or

the disciple of some school which had a Greek for its founder. In nothing but war, I say again, has Rome a

claim to originality. Her games and spectacles are Greek inventions, dashed with blood to gratify the ferocity

of her rabble; her religion, if such it may be called, is made up of contributions from the faiths of all other

peoples; her most venerated gods are from Olympuseven her Mars, and, for that matter, the Jove she much

magnifies. So it happens, O my son, that of the whole world our Israel alone can dispute the superiority of the

"To the excellences of other peoples the egotism of a Roman is a blindfold, impenetrable as his breastplate.

Oh, the ruthless robbers! Under their trampling the earth trembles like a floor beaten with flails. Along with

the rest we are fallenalas that I should say it to you, my son! They have our highest places, and the holiest,

and the end no man can tell; but this I knowthey may reduce Judea as an almond broken with hammers,

and devour Jerusalem, which is the oil and sweetness thereof; yet the glory of the men of Israel will remain a

light in the heavens overhead out of reach: for their history is the history of God, who wrote with their hands,

spake with their tongues, and was himself in all the good they did, even the least; who dwelt with them, a

Lawgiver on Sinai, a Guide in the wilderness, in war a Captain, in government a King; who once and again

pushed back the curtains of the pavilion which is his restingplace, intolerably bright, and, as a man speaking

to men, showed them the right, and the way to happiness, and how they should live, and made them promises

binding the strength of his Almightiness with covenants sworn to everlastingly. O my son, could it be that

they with whom Jehovah thus dwelt, an awful familiar, derived nothing from him?that in their lives and

deeds the common human qualities should not in some degree have been mixed and colored with the divine?

that their genius should not have in it, even after the lapse of ages, some little of heaven?"

"In the sense which limits art to sculpture and painting, it is true," she next said, "Israel has had no artists."

The admission was made regretfully, for it must be remembered she was a Sadducee, whose faith, unlike that

of the Pharisees, permitted a love of the beautiful in every form, and without reference to its origin.

"Still he who would do justice," she proceeded, "will not forget that the cunning of our hands was bound by

the prohibition, 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything;' which the

Sopherim wickedly extended beyond its purpose and time. Nor should it be forgotten that long before

Daedalus appeared in Attica and with his wooden statues so transformed sculpture as to make possible the

schools of Corinth and AEgina, and their ultimate triumphs the Poecile and Capitoliumlong before the age

of Daedalus, I say, two Israelites, Bezaleel and Aholiab, the masterbuilders of the first tabernacle, said to

have been skilled 'in all manner of workmanship,' wrought the cherubim of the mercyseat above the ark. Of

gold beaten, not chiseled, were they; and they were statues in form both human and divine. 'And they shall

stretch forth their wings on high, . . . . and their faces shall look one to another.' Who will say they were not

"Oh, I see now why the Greek outstripped us," said Judah, intensely interested. "And the ark; accursed be the

"Nay, Judah, be of faith. It was not destroyed, only lost, hidden away too safely in some cavern of the

mountains. One dayHillel and Shammai both say soone day, in the Lord's good time, it will be found

and brought forth, and Israel dance before it, singing as of old. And they who look upon the faces of the

cherubim then, though they have seen the face of the ivory Minerva, will be ready to kiss the hand of the Jew

The mother, in her eagerness, had risen into something like the rapidity and vehemence of a speechmaker;

but now, to recover herself, or to pick up the thread of her thought, she rested awhile.

"You are so good, my mother," he said, in a grateful way. "And I will never be done saying so. Shammai

"Flatterer!" she said. "You do not know that I am but repeating what I heard Hillel say in an argument he had

"Where was I? Oh yes, I was claiming for our Hebrew fathers the first statues. The trick of the sculptor,

Judah, is not all there is of art, any more than art is all there is of greatness. I always think of great men

marching down the centuries in groups and goodly companies, separable according to nationalities; here the

Indian, there the Egyptian, yonder the Assyrian; above them the music of trumpets and the beauty of banners;

and on their right hand and left, as reverent spectators, the generations from the beginning, numberless. As

they go, I think of the Greek, saying, 'Lo! The Hellene leads the way.' Then the Roman replies, 'Silence! what

was your place is ours now; we have left you behind as dust trodden on.' And all the time, from the far front

back over the line of march, as well as forward into the farthest future, streams a light of which the wranglers

know nothing, except that it is forever leading them onthe Light of Revelation! Who are they that carry it?

Ah, the old Judean blood! How it leaps at the thought! By the light we know them. Thrice blessed, O our

fathers, servants of God, keepers of the covenants! Ye are the leaders of men, the living and the dead. The

"Do not stop, I pray you," he cried. "You give me to hear the sound of timbrels. I wait for Miriam and the

"Very well, my son. If you can hear the timbrel of the prophetess, you can do what I was about to ask; you

can use your fancy, and stand with me, as if by the wayside, while the chosen of Israel pass us at the head of

the procession. Now they comethe patriarchs first; next the fathers of the tribes. I almost hear the bells of

their camels and the lowing of their herds. Who is he that walks alone between the companies? An old man,

yet his eye is not dim, nor his natural force abated. He knew the Lord face to face! Warrior, poet, orator,

lawgiver, prophet, his greatness is as the sun at morning, its flood of splendor quenching all other lights, even

that of the first and noblest of the Caesars. After him the judges. And then the kingsthe son of Jesse, a hero

in war, and a singer of songs eternal as that of the sea; and his son, who, passing all other kings in riches and

wisdom, and while making the Desert habitable, and in its waste places planting cities, forgot not Jerusalem

which the Lord had chosen for his seat on earth. Bend lower, my son! These that come next are the first of

their kind, and the last. Their faces are raised, as if they heard a voice in the sky and were listening. Their

lives were full of sorrows. Their garments smell of tombs and caverns. Hearken to a woman among

them'Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously!' Nay, put your forehead in the dust before

them! They were tongues of God, his servants, who looked through heaven, and, seeing all the future, wrote

what they saw, and left the writing to be proven by time. Kings turned pale as they approached them, and

nations trembled at the sound of their voices. The elements waited upon them. In their hands they carried

every bounty and every plague. See the Tishbite and his servant Elisha! See the sad son of Hilkiah, and him,

the seer of visions, by the river of Chebar! And of the three children of Judah who refused the image of the

Babylonian, lo! that one who, in the feast to the thousand lords, so confounded the astrologers. And

yonderO my son, kiss the dust again!yonder the gentle son of Amoz, from whom the world has its

In this passage the fan had been kept in rapid play; it stopped now, and her voice sank low.

"In such light as I could, my Judah, I have set our great men before youpatriarchs, legislators, warriors,

singers, prophets. Turn we to the best of Rome. Against Moses place Caesar, and Tarquin against David;

Sylla against either of the Maccabees; the best of the consuls against the judges; Augustus against Solomon,

and you are done: comparison ends there. But think then of the prophetsgreatest of the great."

"Pardon me. I was thinking of the soothsayer who warned Caius Julius against the Ides of March, and fancied

him looking for the omens of evil which his master despised in the entrails of a chicken. From that picture

turn to Elijah sitting on the hilltop on the way to Samaria, amid the smoking bodies of the captains and their

fifties, warning the son of Ahab of the wrath of our God. Finally, O my Judahif such speech be

reverenthow shall we judge Jehovah and Jupiter unless it be by what their servants have done in their

"As for what you shall do, my boyserve the Lord, the Lord God of Israel, not Rome. For a child of

Abraham there is no glory except in the Lord's ways, and in them there is much glory."

"You have my permission," she said, finally; "if only you serve the Lord instead of Caesar."

He was content with the condition, and byandby fell asleep. She arose then, and put the cushion under his

The good man, like the bad, must die; but, remembering the lesson of our faith, we say of him and the event,

"No matter, he will open his eyes in heaven." Nearest this in life is the waking from healthful sleep to a quick

When Judah awoke, the sun was up over the mountains; the pigeons were abroad in flocks, filling the air with

the gleams of their white wings; and off southeast he beheld the Temple, an apparition of gold in the blue of

the sky. These, however, were familiar objects, and they received but a glance; upon the edge of the divan,

close by him, a girl scarcely fifteen sat singing to the accompaniment of a nebel, which she rested upon her

knee, and touched gracefully. To her he turned listening; and this was what she sang:

"Wake not, but hear me, love! Adrift, adrift on slumber's sea, Thy spirit call to list to me. Wake not, but hear

"Wake not, but hear me, love! Of all the world of dreams 'tis thine This once to choose the most divine. So

choose, and sleep, my love! But ne'er again in choice be free, Unless, unlessthou dream'st of me."

She put the instrument down, and, resting her hands in her lap, waited for him to speak. And as it has become

necessary to tell somewhat of her, we will avail ourselves of the chance, and add such particulars of the

The favors of Herod had left surviving him many persons of vast estate. Where this fortune was joined to

undoubted lineal descent from some famous son of one of the tribes, especially Judah, the happy individual

was accounted a Prince of Jerusalema distinction which sufficed to bring him the homage of his less

favored countrymen, and the respect, if nothing more, of the Gentiles with whom business and social

circumstance brought him into dealing. Of this class none had won in private or public life a higher regard

than the father of the lad whom we have been following. With a remembrance of his nationality which never

failed him, he had yet been true to the king, and served him faithfully at home and abroad. Some offices had

taken him to Rome, where his conduct attracted the notice of Augustus, who strove without reserve to engage

his friendship. In his house, accordingly, were many presents, such as had gratified the vanity of

kingspurple togas, ivory chairs, golden pateroechiefly valuable on account of the imperial hand which

had honorably conferred them. Such a man could not fail to be rich; yet his wealth was not altogether the

largess of royal patrons. He had welcomed the law that bound him to some pursuit; and, instead of one, he

entered into many. Of the herdsmen watching flocks on the plains and hillsides, far as old Lebanon,

numbers reported to him as their employer; in the cities by the sea, and in those inland, he founded houses of

traffic; his ships brought him silver from Spain, whose mines were then the richest known; while his caravans

came twice a year from the East, laden with silks and spices. In faith he was a Hebrew, observant of the law

and every essential rite; his place in the synagogue and Temple knew him well; he was thoroughly learned in

the Scriptures; he delighted in the society of the collegemasters, and carried his reverence for Hillel almost

to the point of worship. Yet he was in no sense a Separatist; his hospitality took in strangers from every land;

the carping Pharisees even accused him of having more than once entertained Samaritans at his table. Had he

been a Gentile, and lived, the world might have heard of him as the rival of Herodes Atticus: as it was, he

perished at sea some ten years before this second period of our story, in the prime of life, and lamented

everywhere in Judea. We are already acquainted with two members of his familyhis widow and son; the

Tirzah was her name, and as the two looked at each other, their resemblance was plain. Her features had the

regularity of his, and were of the same Jewish type; they had also the charm of childish innocency of

expression. Homelife and its trustful love permitted the negligent attire in which she appeared. A chemise

buttoned upon the right shoulder, and passing loosely over the breast and back and under the left arm, but half

concealed her person above the waist, while it left the arms entirely nude. A girdle caught the folds of the

garment, marking the commencement of the skirt. The coiffure was very simple and becominga silken cap,

Tyriandyed; and over that a striped scarf of the same material, beautifully embroidered, and wound about in

thin folds so as to show the shape of the head without enlarging it; the whole finished by a tassel dropping

from the crown point of the cap. She had rings, ear and finger; anklets and bracelets, all of gold; and around

her neck there was a collar of gold, curiously garnished with a network of delicate chains, to which were

pendants of pearl. The edges of her eyelids were painted, and the tips of her fingers stained. Her hair fell in

two long plaits down her back. A curled lock rested upon each cheek in front of the ear. Altogether it would

"You remember the Greek who sang in the theatre last month? They said he used to be a singer at the court

for Herod and his sister Salome. He came out just after an exhibition of wrestlers, when the house was full of

noise. At his first note everything became so quiet that I heard every word. I got the song from him."

"Very many. But let them go now. Amrah sent me to tell you she will bring you your breakfast, and that you

need not come down. She should be here by this time. She thinks you sickthat a dreadful accident

happened you yesterday. What was it? Tell me, and I will help Amrah doctor you. She knows the cures of the

Egyptians, who were always a stupid set; but I have a great many recipes of the Arabs who"

"Do you think so? Very well, then," she replied, almost without pause, and putting her hands to her left ear.

"We will have nothing to do with any of them. I have here what is much surer and betterthe amulet which

was given to some of our peopleI cannot tell when, it was so far backby a Persian magician. See, the

She offered him the earring, which he took, looked at, and handed back, laughing.

"If I were dying, Tirzah, I could not use the charm. It is a relic of idolatry, forbidden every believing son and

"Forbidden! Not so," she said. "Our father's mother wore it I do not know how many Sabbaths in her life. It

has cured I do not know how many peoplemore than three anyhow. It is approved look, here is the mark

"Wear it, my little sister. It becomes youit helps make you beautiful, though I think you that without help."

Satisfied, she returned the amulet to her ear just as Amrah entered the summer chamber, bearing a platter,

Not being a Pharisee, the ablution was short and simple with Judah. The servant then went out, leaving Tirzah

to dress his hair. When a lock was disposed to her satisfaction, she would unloose the small metallic mirror

which, as was the fashion among her fair countrywomen, she wore at her girdle, and gave it to him, that he

might see the triumph, and how handsome it made him. Meanwhile they kept up their conversation.

"Three questions, all in a breath! What a body you are!" Next instant he became serious. "You know the law

requires me to follow some occupation. Our good father set me an example. Even you would despise me if I

spent in idleness the results of his industry and knowledge. I am going to Rome."

"Ah, yes, yes! Butmust you go? Here in Jerusalem you can learn all that is needed to be a merchantif

"But that is not what I am thinking of. The law does not require the son to be what the father was."

"Home cannot always be what it is. You yourself will be going away before long."

"A prince of Judah, or some other of one of the tribes, will come soon and claim my Tirzah, and ride away

"War is a trade," he continued, more soberly. "To learn it thoroughly, one must go to school, and there is no

"And youeven you hate her. The whole world hates her. In that, O Tirzah, find the reason of the answer I

give you Yes, I will fight for her, if, in return, she will teach me how one day to fight against her."

The faithful slave came in with breakfast, and placed the waiter holding it upon a stool before them; then,

with white napkins upon her arm, she remained to serve them. They dipped their fingers in a bowl of water,

and were rinsing them, when a noise arrested their attention. They listened, and distinguished martial music

"Soldiers from the Praetorium! I must see them," he cried, springing from the divan, and running out.

In a moment more he was leaning over the parapet of tiles which guarded the roof at the extreme northeast

corner, so absorbed that he did not notice Tirzah by his side, resting one hand upon his shoulder.

Their positionthe roof being the highest one in the locality commanded the housetops eastward as far

as the huge irregular Tower of Antonia, which has been already mentioned as a citadel for the garrison and

military headquarters for the governor. The street, not more than ten feet wide, was spanned here and there by

bridges, open and covered, which, like the roofs along the way, were beginning to be occupied by men,

women, and children, called out by the music. The word is used, though it is hardly fitting; what the people

heard when they came forth was rather an uproar of trumpets and the shriller litui so delightful to the soldiers.

The array after a while came into view of the two upon the house of the Hurs. First, a vanguard of the

lightarmedmostly slingers and bowmenmarching with wide intervals between their ranks and files;

next a body of heavyarmed infantry, bearing large shields, and hastoe longoe, or spears identical with those

used in the duels before Ilium; then the musicians; and then an officer riding alone, but followed closely by a

guard of cavalry; after them again, a column of infantry also heavyarmed, which, moving in close order,

The brawny limbs of the men; the cadenced motion from right to left of the shields; the sparkle of scales,

buckles, and breastplates and helms, all perfectly burnished; the plumes nodding above the tall crests; the

sway of ensigns and ironshod spears; the bold, confident step, exactly timed and measured; the demeanor,

so grave, yet so watchful; the machinelike unity of the whole moving massmade an impression upon

Judah, but as something felt rather than seen. Two objects fixed his attentionthe eagle of the legion

firsta gilded effigy perched on a tall shaft, with wings outspread until they met above its head. He knew

that, when brought from its chamber in the Tower, it had been received with divine honors.

The officer riding alone in the midst of the column was the other attraction. His head was bare; otherwise he

was in full armor. At his left hip he wore a short sword; in his hand, however, he carried a truncheon, which

looked like a roll of white paper. He sat upon a purple cloth instead of a saddle, and that, and a bridle with a

forestall of gold and reins of yellow silk broadly fringed at the lower edge, completed the housings of the

While the man was yet in the distance, Judah observed that his presence was sufficient to throw the people

looking at him into angry excitement. They would lean over the parapets or stand boldly out, and shake their

fists at him; they followed him with loud cries, and spit at him as he passed under the bridges; the women

even flung their sandals, sometimes with such good effect as to hit him. When he was nearer, the yells

became distinguishable"Robber, tyrant, dog of a Roman! Away with Ishmael! Give us back our Hannas!"

When quite near, Judah could see that, as was but natural, the man did not share the indifference so superbly

shown by the soldiers; his face was dark and sullen, and the glances he occasionally cast at his persecutors

Now the lad had heard of the custom, borrowed from a habit of the first Caesar, by which chief commanders,

to indicate their rank, appeared in public with only a laurel vine upon their heads. By that sign he knew this

To say truth now, the Roman under the unprovoked storm had the young Jew's sympathy; so that when he

reached the corner of the house, the latter leaned yet farther over the parapet to see him go by, and in the act

rested a hand upon a tile which had been a long time cracked and allowed to go unnoticed. The pressure was

strong enough to displace the outer piece, which started to fall. A thrill of horror shot through the youth. He

reached out to catch the missile. In appearance the motion was exactly that of one pitching something from

him. The effort failednay, it served to push the descending fragment farther out over the wall. He shouted

with all his might. The soldiers of the guard looked up; so did the great man, and that moment the missile

The cohort halted; the guards leaped from their horses, and hastened to cover the chief with their shields. On

the other hand, the people who witnessed the affair, never doubting that the blow had been purposely dealt,

cheered the lad as he yet stooped in full view over the parapet, transfixed by what he beheld, and by

A mischievous spirit flew with incredible speed from roof to roof along the line of march, seizing the people,

and urging them all alike. They laid hands upon the parapets and tore up the tiling and the sunburnt mud of

which the housetops were for the most part made, and with blind fury began to fling them upon the

legionaries halted below. A battle then ensued. Discipline, of course, prevailed. The struggle, the slaughter,

the skill of one side, the desperation of the other, are alike unnecessary to our story. Let us look rather to the

She had not seen the occurrence below, but was listening to the shouting and watching the mad activity of the

people in view on the houses. Something terrible was going on, she knew; but what it was, or the cause, or

An unseen hand appeared to sprinkle her face with the dust of ashesit grew white so instantly. She put her

arm around him, and looked wistfully, but without a word, into his eyes. His fears had passed to her, and the

He looked off over the tumult momentarily deepening in the street and on the roofs, and thought of the sullen

countenance of Gratus. If he were not dead, where would his vengeance stop? And if he were dead, to what

height of fury would not the violence of the people lash the legionaries? To evade an answer, he peered over

the parapet again, just as the guard were assisting the Roman to remount his horse.

With that outcry, and a brightened countenance, he drew back and replied to her question.

"Be not afraid, Tirzah. I will explain how it happened, and they will remember our father and his services,

He was leading her to the summerhouse, when the roof jarred under their feet, and a crash of strong timbers

being burst away, followed by a cry of surprise and agony, arose apparently from the courtyard below. He

stopped and listened. The cry was repeated; then came a rush of many feet, and voices lifted in rage blent

with voices in prayer; and then the screams of women in mortal terror. The soldiers had beaten in the north

gate, and were in possession of the house. The terrible sense of being hunted smote him. His first impulse

was to fly; but where? Nothing but wings would serve him. Tirzah, her eyes wild with fear, caught his arm.

The servants were being butcheredand his mother! Was not one of the voices he heard hers? With all the

will left him, he said, "Stay here, and wait for me, Tirzah. I will go down and see what is the matter, and

Clearer, shriller, no longer a fancy, his mother's cry arose. He hesitated no longer.

The terrace or gallery at the foot of the steps was crowded with soldiers. Other soldiers with drawn swords

ran in and out of the chambers. At one place a number of women on their knees clung to each other or prayed

for mercy. Apart from them, one with torn garments, and long hair streaming over her face, struggled to tear

loose from a man all whose strength was tasked to keep his hold. Her cries were shrillest of all; cutting

through the clamor, they had risen distinguishably to the roof. To her Judah spranghis steps were long and

swift, almost a winged flight "Mother, mother!" he shouted. She stretched her hands towards him; but

when almost touching them he was seized and forced aside. Then he heard some one say, speaking loudly,

"What, the assassinthat?" said a tall man, in legionary armor of beautiful finish. "Why, he is but a boy."

"Gods!" replied Messala, not forgetting his drawl. "A new philosophy! What would Seneca say to the

proposition that a man must be old before he can hate enough to kill? You have him; and that is his mother;

"Help them, O my Messala! Remember our childhood and help them. IJudahpray you."

"I cannot be of further use to you," he said to the officer. "There is richer entertainment in the street. Down

With the last words he disappeared. Judah understood him, and, in the bitterness of his soul, prayed to

"In the hour of thy vengeance, O Lord," he said, "be mine the hand to put it upon him!"

"O sir, the woman you hear is my mother. Spare her, spare my sister yonder. God is just, he will give you

"To the Tower with the women!" he shouted, "but do them no harm. I will demand them of you." Then to

those holding Judah, he said, "Get cords, and bind his hands, and take him to the street. His punishment is

The mother was carried away. The little Tirzah, in her home attire, stupefied with fear, went passively with

her keepers. Judah gave each of them a last look, and covered his face with his hands, as if to possess himself

There took place in him then what may be justly called the wonder of life. The thoughtful reader of these

pages has ere this discerned enough to know that the young Jew in disposition was gentle even to

womanlinessa result that seldom fails the habit of loving and being loved. The circumstances through

which he had come had made no call upon the harsher elements of his nature, if such he had. At times he had

felt the stir and impulses of ambition, but they had been like the formless dreams of a child walking by the

sea and gazing at the coming and going of stately ships. But now, if we can imagine an idol, sensible of the

worship it was accustomed to, dashed suddenly from its altar, and lying amidst the wreck of its little world of

love, an idea may be had of what had befallen the young BenHur, and of its effect upon his being. Yet there

was no sign, nothing to indicate that he had undergone a change, except that when he raised his head, and

held his arms out to be bound, the bend of the Cupid's bow had vanished from his lips. In that instant he had

A trumpet sounded in the courtyard. With the cessation of the call, the gallery was cleared of the soldiery;

many of whom, as they dared not appear in the ranks with visible plunder in their hands, flung what they had

upon the floor, until it was strewn with articles of richest virtu. When Judah descended, the formation was

The mother, daughter, and entire household were led out of the north gate, the ruins of which choked the

passageway. The cries of the domestics, some of whom had been born in the house, were most pitiable.

When, finally, the horses and all the dumb tenantry of the place were driven past him, Judah began to

comprehend the scope of the procurator's vengeance. The very structure was devoted. Far as the order was

possible of execution, nothing living was to be left within its walls. If in Judea there were others desperate

enough to think of assassinating a Roman governor, the story of what befell the princely family of Hur would

be a warning to them, while the ruin of the habitation would keep the story alive.

In the street the fighting had almost ceased. Upon the houses here and there clouds of dust told where the

struggle was yet prolonged. The cohort was, for the most part, standing at rest, its splendor, like its ranks, in

nowise diminished. Borne past the point of care for himself, Judah had heart for nothing in view but the

Suddenly, from the earth where she had been lying, a woman arose and started swiftly back to the gate. Some

of the guards reached out to seize her, and a great shout followed their failure. She ran to Judah, and,

dropping down, clasped his knees, the coarse black hair powdered with dust veiling her eyes.

He bent down, and whispered, "Live, Amrah, for Tirzah and my mother. They will come back, and"

A soldier drew her away; whereupon she sprang up and rushed through the gateway and passage into the

"Let her go," the officer shouted. "We will seal the house, and she will starve."

The men resumed their work, and, when it was finished there, passed round to the west side. That gate was

The cohort at length marched back to the Tower, where the procurator stayed to recover from his hurts and

dispose of his prisoners. On the tenth day following, he visited the Marketplace.

Next day a detachment of legionaries went to the desolated palace, and, closing the gates permanently,

In the haughty Roman idea, the sententious announcement was thought sufficient for the purposeand it

The day after that again, about noon, a decurion with his command of ten horsemen approached Nazareth

from the souththat is, from the direction of Jerusalem. The place was then a straggling village, perched on

a hillside, and so insignificant that its one street was little more than a path well beaten by the coming and

going of flocks and herds. The great plain of Esdraelon crept close to it on the south, and from the height on

the west a view could be had of the shores of the Mediterranean, the region beyond the Jordan, and Hermon.

The valley below, and the country on every side, were given to gardens, vineyards, orchards, and pasturage.

Groves of palmtrees Orientalized the landscape. The houses, in irregular assemblage, were of the humbler

classsquare, onestory, flatroofed, and covered with brightgreen vines. The drought that had burned the

hills of Judea to a crisp, brown and lifeless, stopped at the boundaryline of Galilee.

A trumpet, sounded when the cavalcade drew near the village, had a magical effect upon the inhabitants. The

gates and front doors cast forth groups eager to be the first to catch the meaning of a visitation so unusual.

Nazareth, it must be remembered, was not only aside from any great highway, but within the sway of Judas

of Gamala; wherefore it should not be hard to imagine the feelings with which the legionaries were received.

But when they were up and traversing the street, the duty that occupied them became apparent, and then fear

and hatred were lost in curiosity, under the impulse of which the people, knowing there must be a halt at the

well in the northeastern part of the town, quit their gates and doors, and closed in after the procession.

A prisoner whom the horsemen were guarding was the object of curiosity. He was afoot, bareheaded, half

naked, his hands bound behind him. A thong fixed to his wrists was looped over the neck of a horse. The dust

went with the party when in movement, wrapping him in yellow fog, sometimes in a dense cloud. He

At the well the decurion halted, and, with most of the men, dismounted. The prisoner sank down in the dust

of the road, stupefied, and asking nothing: apparently he was in the last stage of exhaustion. Seeing, when

they came near, that he was but a boy, the villagers would have helped him had they dared.

In the midst of their perplexity, and while the pitchers were passing among the soldiers, a man was descried

coming down the road from Sepphoris. At sight of him a woman cried out, "Look! Yonder comes the

The person spoken of was quite venerable in appearance. Thin white locks fell below the edge of his full

turban, and a mass of still whiter beard flowed down the front of his coarse gray gown. He came slowly, for,

in addition to his age, he carried some toolsan axe, a saw, and a drawingknife, all very rude and

"O Rabbi, good Rabbi Joseph!" cried a woman, running to him. "Here is a prisoner; come ask the soldiers

about him, that we may know who he is, and what he has done, and what they are going to do with him."

The rabbi's face remained stolid; he glanced at the prisoner, however, and presently went to the officer.

The people repeated the word in astonishment, but Rabbi Joseph pursued his inquest.

"I know nothing of your tribes, but can speak of his family," the speaker continued. "You may have heard of

a prince of Jerusalem named HurBenHur, they called him. He lived in Herod's day."

"In the streets of Jerusalem, day before yesterday, he nearly killed the noble Gratus by flinging a tile upon his

There was a pause in the conversation during which the Nazarenes gazed at the young BenHur as at a wild

Thereupon a youth who came up with Joseph, but had stood behind him unobserved, laid down an axe he had

been carrying, and, going to the great stone standing by the well, took from it a pitcher of water. The action

was so quiet that before the guard could interfere, had they been disposed to do so, he was stooping over the

The hand laid kindly upon his shoulder awoke the unfortunate Judah, and, looking up, he saw a face he never

forgotthe face of a boy about his own age, shaded by locks of yellowish bright chestnut hair; a face lighted

by darkblue eyes, at the time so soft, so appealing, so full of love and holy purpose, that they had all the

power of command and will. The spirit of the Jew, hardened though it was by days and nights of suffering,

and so embittered by wrong that its dreams of revenge took in all the world, melted under the stranger's look,

and became as a child's. He put his lips to the pitcher, and drank long and deep. Not a word was said to him,

When the draught was finished, the hand that had been resting upon the sufferer's shoulder was placed upon

his head, and stayed there in the dusty locks time enough to say a blessing; the stranger then returned the

pitcher to its place on the stone, and, taking his axe again, went back to Rabbi Joseph. All eyes went with

This was the end of the scene at the well. When the men had drunk, and the horses, the march was resumed.

But the temper of the decurion was not as it had been; he himself raised the prisoner from the dust, and

helped him on a horse behind a soldier. The Nazarenes went to their housesamong them Rabbi Joseph and

The city of Misenum gave name to the promontory which it crowned, a few miles southwest of Naples. An

account of ruins is all that remains of it now; yet in the year of our Lord 24to which it is desirable to

advance the readerthe place was one of the most important on the western coast of Italy.*

* The Roman government, it will be remembered, had two harbors in which great fleets were constantly

In the year mentioned, a traveller coming to the promontory to regale himself with the view there offered,

would have mounted a wall, and, with the city at his back, looked over the bay of Neapolis, as charming then

as now; and then, as now, he would have seen the matchless shore, the smoking cone, the sky and waves so

softly, deeply blue, Ischia here and Capri yonder; from one to the other and back again, through the purpled

air, his gaze would have sported; at lastfor the eyes do weary of the beautiful as the palate with sweetsat

last it would have dropped upon a spectacle which the modern tourist cannot see half the reserve navy of

Rome astir or at anchor below him. Thus regarded, Misenum was a very proper place for three masters to

In the old time, moreover, there was a gateway in the wall at a certain point fronting the seaan empty

gateway forming the outlet of a street which, after the exit, stretched itself, in the form of a broad mole, out

The watchman on the wall above the gateway was disturbed, one cool September morning, by a party coming

down the street in noisy conversation. He gave one look, then settled into his drowse again.

There were twenty or thirty persons in the party, of whom the greater number were slaves with torches, which

flamed little and smoked much, leaving on the air the perfume of the Indian nard. The masters walked in

advance arminarm. One of them, apparently fifty years old, slightly bald, and wearing over his scant locks

a crown of laurel, seemed, from the attentions paid him, the central object of some affectionate ceremony.

They all sported ample togas of white wool broadly bordered with purple. A glance had sufficed the

watchman. He knew, without question, they were of high rank, and escorting a friend to ship after a night of

festivity. Further explanation will be found in the conversation they carried on.

"No, my Quintus," said one, speaking to him with the crown, "it is ill of Fortune to take thee from us so soon.

Only yesterday thou didst return from the seas beyond the Pillars. Why, thou hast not even got back thy land

"By Castor! if a man may swear a woman's oath," said another, somewhat worse of wine, "let us not lament.

Our Quintus is but going to find what he lost last night. Dice on a rolling ship is not dice on shoreeh,

"Abuse not Fortune!" exclaimed a third. "She is not blind or fickle. At Antium, where our Arrius questions

her, she answers him with nods, and at sea she abides with him holding the rudder. She takes him from us,

"The Greeks are taking him away," another broke in. "Let us abuse them, not the gods. In learning to trade

With these words, the party passed the gateway, and came upon the mole, with the bay before them beautiful

in the morning light. To the veteran sailor the plash of the waves was like a greeting. He drew a long breath,

as if the perfume of the water were sweeter than that of the nard, and held his hand aloft.

"My gifts were at Praeneste, not Antiumand see! Wind from the west. Thanks, O Fortune, my mother!" he

"She comesyonder!" he continued, pointing to a galley outside the mole. "What need has a sailor for other

He gazed at the coming ship, and justified his pride. A white sail was bent to the low mast, and the oars

dipped, arose, poised a moment, then dipped again, with winglike action, and in perfect time.

"Yes, spare the gods," he said, soberly, his eyes fixed upon the vessel. "They send us opportunities. Ours the

fault if we fail. And as for the Greeks, you forget, O my Lentulus, the pirates I am going to punish are

Greeks. One victory over them is of more account than a hundred over the Africans."

"What grace, what freedom! A bird hath not less care for the fretting of the waves. See!" he said, but almost

immediately added, "Thy pardon, my Lentulus. I am going to the Aegean; and as my departure is so near, I

will tell the occasiononly keep it under the rose. I would not that you abuse the duumvir when next you

meet him. He is my friend. The trade between Greece and Alexandria, as ye may have heard, is hardly

inferior to that between Alexandria and Rome. The people in that part of the world forgot to celebrate the

Cerealia, and Triptolemus paid them with a harvest not worth the gathering. At all events, the trade is so

grown that it will not brook interruption a day. Ye may also have heard of the Chersonesan pirates, nested up

in the Euxine; none bolder, by the Bacchae! Yesterday word came to Rome that, with a fleet, they had rowed

down the Bosphorus, sunk the galleys off Byzantium and Chalcedon, swept the Propontis, and, still unsated,

burst through into the Aegean. The cornmerchants who have ships in the East Mediterranean are frightened.

They had audience with the Emperor himself, and from Ravenna there go today a hundred galleys, and from

Misenum"he paused as if to pique the curiosity of his friends, and ended with an emphatic"one."

"Quintus Arrius, the duumvir, hath a better sound than Quintus Arrius, the tribune."

"I am glad with the rest," said the bibulous friend, "very glad; but I must be practical, O my duumvir; and not

until I know if promotion will help thee to knowledge of the tesserae will I have an opinion as to whether the

"Thanks, many thanks!" Arrius replied, speaking to them collectively. "Had ye but lanterns, I would say ye

were augurs. Perpol! I will go further, and show what master diviners ye are! Seeand read."

From the folds of his toga he drew a roll of paper, and passed it to them, saying, "Received while at table last

The name was already a great one in the Roman world; great, and not so infamous as it afterwards became.

"Sejanus!" they exclaimed, with one voice, closing in to read what the minister had written.

"Caesar hath good report of Quintus Arrius, the tribune. In particular he bath heard of his valor, manifested in

the western seas, insomuch that it is his will that the said Quintus be transferred instantly to the East.

"It is our Caesar's will, further, that you cause a hundred triremes, of the first class, and full appointment, to

be despatched without delay against the pirates who have appeared in the Aegean, and that Quintus be sent to

"The necessity is urgent, as thou will be advised by the reports enclosed for thy perusal and the information

Arrius gave little heed to the reading. As the ship drew more plainly out of the perspective, she became more

and more an attraction to him. The look with which he watched her was that of an enthusiast. At length he

tossed the loosened folds of his toga in the air; in reply to the signal, over the aplustre, or fanlike fixture at

the stern of the vessel, a scarlet flag was displayed; while several sailors appeared upon the bulwarks, and

swung themselves hand over hand up the ropes to the antenna, or yard, and furled the sail. The bow was put

round, and the time of the oars increased one half; so that at racing speed she bore down directly towards him

and his friends. He observed the manoeuvring with a perceptible brightening of the eyes. Her instant answer

to the rudder, and the steadiness with which she kept her course, were especially noticeable as virtues to be

"By the Nymphae!" said one of the friends, giving back the roll, "we may not longer say our friend will be

great; he is already great. Our love will now have famous things to feed upon. What more hast thou for us?"

"Nothing more," Arrius replied. "What ye have of the affair is by this time old news in Rome, especially

between the palace and the Forum. The duumvir is discreet; what I am to do, where go to find my fleet, he

will tell on the ship, where a sealed package is waiting me. If, however, ye have offerings for any of the altars

today, pray the gods for a friend plying oar and sail somewhere in the direction of Sicily. But she is here,

and will come to," he said, reverting to the vessel. "I have interest in her masters; they will sail and fight with

me. It is not an easy thing to lay ship side on a shore like this; so let us judge their training and skill."

"I never saw her before; and, as yet, I know not if she will bring me one acquaintance."

"It matters but little. We of the sea come to know each other quickly; our loves, like our hates, are born of

The vessel was of the class called naves liburnicaelong, narrow, low in the water, and modelled for speed

and quick manoeuvre. The bow was beautiful. A jet of water spun from its foot as she came on, sprinkling all

the prow, which rose in graceful curvature twice a man's stature above the plane of the deck. Upon the

bending of the sides were figures of Triton blowing shells. Below the bow, fixed to the keel, and projecting

forward under the waterline, was the rostrum, or beak, a device of solid wood, reinforced and armed with

iron, in action used as a ram. A stout molding extended from the bow the full length of the ship's sides,

defining the bulwarks, which were tastefully crenelated; below the molding, in three rows, each covered with

a cap or shield of bullhide, were the holes in which the oars were workedsixty on the right, sixty on the

left. In further ornamentation, caducei leaned against the lofty prow. Two immense ropes passing across the

The simplicity of the upper works declared the oars the chief dependence of the crew. A mast, set a little

forward of midship, was held by fore and back stays and shrouds fixed to rings on the inner side of the

bulwarks. The tackle was that required for the management of one great square sail and the yard to which it

Save the sailors who had reefed the sail, and yet lingered on the yard, but one man was to be seen by the party

The hundred and twenty oaken blades, kept white and shining by pumice and the constant wash of the waves,

rose and fell as if operated by the same hand, and drove the galley forward with a speed rivalling that of a

So rapidly, and apparently, so rashly, did she come that the landsmen of the tribune's party were alarmed.

Suddenly the man by the prow raised his hand with a peculiar gesture; whereupon all the oars flew up, poised

a moment in air, then fell straight down. The water boiled and bubbled about them; the galley shook in every

timber, and stopped as if scared. Another gesture of the hand, and again the oars arose, feathered, and fell; but

this time those on the right, dropping towards the stern, pushed forward; while those on the left, dropping

towards the bow, pulled backwards. Three times the oars thus pushed and pulled against each other. Round to

the right the ship swung as upon a pivot; then, caught by the wind, she settled gently broadside to the mole.

The movement brought the stern to view, with all its garniture Tritons like those at the bow; name in large

raised letters; the rudder at the side; the elevated platform upon which the helmsman sat, a stately figure in

full armor, his hand upon the rudderrope; and the aplustre, high, gilt, carved, and bent over the helmsman

In the midst of the roundingto, a trumpet was blown brief and shrill, and from the hatchways out poured the

marines, all in superb equipment, brazen helms, burnished shields and javelins. While the fightingmen thus

went to quarters as for action, the sailors proper climbed the shrouds and perched themselves along the yard.

The officers and musicians took their posts. There was no shouting or needless noise. When the oars touched

the mole, a bridge was sent out from the helmsman's deck. Then the tribune turned to his party and said, with

"Take thou the myrtle, O favorite of the tesserae!" he said. "If I return, I will seek my sestertii again; if I am

To the company he opened his arms, and they came one by one and received his parting embrace.

To the slaves waving their torches he waved his hand; then he turned to the waiting ship, beautiful with

ordered ranks and crested helms, and shields and javelins. As he stepped upon the bridge, the trumpets

sounded, and over the aplustre rose the vexillum purpureum, or pennant of a commander of a fleet.

The tribune, standing upon the helmsman's deck with the order of the duumvir open in his hand, spoke to the

"The division is hard, and I will reform it, but not now. The oars may not rest day or night."

"Past the Camponellan cape, the course will be to Messina. Beyond that, follow the bend of the Calabrian

shore till Melito is on thy left, then Knowest thou the stars that govern in the Ionian Sea?"

"Then from Melito course eastward for Cythera. The gods willing, I will not anchor until in the Bay of

A prudent man was Arriusprudent, and of the class which, while enriching the altars at Praeneste and

Antium, was of opinion, nevertheless, that the favor of the blind goddess depended more upon the votary's

care and judgment than upon his gifts and vows. All night as master of the feast he had sat at table drinking

and playing; yet the odor of the sea returned him to the mood of the sailor, and he would not rest until he

knew his ship. Knowledge leaves no room for chances. Having begun with the chief of the rowers, the

sailingmaster, and the pilot, in company with the other officersthe commander of the marines, the keeper

of the stores, the master of the machines, the overseer of the kitchen or fireshe passed through the several

quarters. Nothing escaped his inspection. When he was through, of the community crowded within the

narrow walls he alone knew perfectly all there was of material preparation for the voyage and its possible

incidents; and, finding the preparation complete, there was left him but one thing furtherthorough

knowledge of the personnel of his command. As this was the most delicate and difficult part of his task,

At noon that day the galley was skimming the sea off Paestum. The wind was yet from the west, filling the

sail to the master's content. The watches had been established. On the foredeck the altar had been set and

sprinkled with salt and barley, and before it the tribune had offered solemn prayers to Jove and to Neptune

and all the Oceanidae, and, with vows, poured the wine and burned the incense. And now, the better to study

The cabin, it should be stated, was the central compartment of the galley, in extent quite sixtyfive by thirty

feet, and lighted by three broad hatchways. A row of stanchions ran from end to end, supporting the roof, and

near the centre the mast was visible, all bristling with axes and spears and javelins. To each hatchway there

were double stairs descending right and left, with a pivotal arrangement at the top to allow the lower ends to

be hitched to the ceiling; and, as these were now raised, the compartment had the appearance of a skylighted

The reader will understand readily that this was the heart of the ship, the home of all aboardeatingroom,

sleepingchamber, field of exercise, loungingplace off dutyuses made possible by the laws which

At the afterend of the cabin there was a platform, reached by several steps. Upon it the chief of the rowers

sat; in front of him a soundingtable, upon which, with a gavel, he beat time for the oarsmen; at his right a

clepsydra, or waterclock, to measure the reliefs and watches. Above him, on a higher platform, well guarded

by gilded railing, the tribune had his quarters, overlooking everything, and furnished with a couch, a table,

and a cathedra, or chair, cushioned, and with arms and high backarticles which the imperial dispensation

Thus at ease, lounging in the great chair, swaying with the motion of the vessel, the military cloak half

draping his tunic, sword in belt, Arrius kept watchful eye over his command, and was as closely watched by

them. He saw critically everything in view, but dwelt longest upon the rowers. The reader would doubtless

have done the same: only he would have looked with much sympathy, while, as is the habit with masters, the

The spectacle was simple enough of itself. Along the sides of the cabin, fixed to the ship's timbers, were what

at first appeared to be three rows of benches; a closer view, however, showed them a succession of rising

banks, in each of which the second bench was behind and above the first one, and the third above and behind

the second. To accommodate the sixty rowers on a side, the space devoted to them permitted nineteen banks

separated by intervals of one yard, with a twentieth bank divided so that what would have been its upper seat

or bench was directly above the lower seat of the first bank. The arrangement gave each rower when at work

ample room, if he timed his movements with those of his associates, the principle being that of soldiers

marching with cadenced step in close order. The arrangement also allowed a multiplication of banks, limited

As to the rowers, those upon the first and second benches sat, while those upon the third, having longer oars

to work, were suffered to stand. The oars were loaded with lead in the handles, and near the point of balance

hung to pliable thongs, making possible the delicate touch called feathering, but, at the same time, increasing

the need of skill, since an eccentric wave might at any moment catch a heedless fellow and hurl him from his

seat. Each oarhole was a vent through which the laborer opposite it had his plenty of sweet air. Light

streamed down upon him from the grating which formed the floor of the passage between the deck and the

bulwark over his head. In some respects, therefore, the condition of the men might have been much worse.

Still, it must not be imagined that there was any pleasantness in their lives. Communication between them

was not allowed. Day after day they filled their places without speech; in hours of labor they could not see

each other's faces; their short respites were given to sleep and the snatching of food. They never laughed; no

one ever heard one of them sing. What is the use of tongues when a sigh or a groan will tell all men feel

while, perforce, they think in silence? Existence with the poor wretches was like a stream under ground

sweeping slowly, laboriously on to its outlet, wherever that might chance to be.

O Son of Mary! The sword has now a heartand thine the glory! So now; but, in the days of which we are

writing, for captivity there was drudgery on walls, and in the streets and mines, and the galleys both of war

and commerce were insatiable. When Druilius won the first seafight for his country, Romans plied the oars,

and the glory was to the rower not less than the marine. These benches which now we are trying to see as

they were testified to the change come with conquest, and illustrated both the policy and the prowess of

Rome. Nearly all the nations had sons there, mostly prisoners of war, chosen for their brawn and endurance.

In one place a Briton; before him a Libyan; behind him a Crimean. Elsewhere a Scythian, a Gaul, and a

Thebasite. Roman convicts cast down to consort with Goths and Longobardi, Jews, Ethiopians, and

barbarians from the shores of Maeotis. Here an Athenian, there a redhaired savage from Hibernia, yonder

In the labor of the rowers there was not enough art to give occupation to their minds, rude and simple as they

were. The reach forward, the pull, the feathering the blade, the dip, were all there was of it; motions most

perfect when most automatic. Even the care forced upon them by the sea outside grew in time to be a thing

instinctive rather than of thought. So, as the result of long service, the poor wretches became

imbrutedpatient, spiritless, obedientcreatures of vast muscle and exhausted intellects, who lived upon

recollections generally few but dear, and at last lowered into the semiconscious alchemic state wherein

From right to left, hour after hour, the tribune, swaying in his easychair, turned with thought of everything

rather than the wretchedness of the slaves upon the benches. Their motions, precise, and exactly the same on

both sides of the vessel, after a while became monotonous; and then he amused himself singling out

individuals. With his stylus he made note of objections, thinking, if all went well, he would find among the

There was no need of keeping the proper names of the slaves brought to the galleys as to their graves; so, for

convenience, they were usually identified by the numerals painted upon the benches to which they were

assigned. As the sharp eyes of the great man moved from seat to seat on either hand, they came at last to

number sixty, which, as has been said, belonged properly to the last bank on the lefthand side, but, wanting

room aft, had been fixed above the first bench of the first bank. There they rested.

The bench of number sixty was slightly above the level of the platform, and but a few feet away. The light

glinting through the grating over his head gave the rower fairly to the tribune's viewerect, and, like all his

fellows, naked, except a cincture about the loins. There were, however, some points in his favor. He was very

young, not more than twenty. Furthermore, Arrius was not merely given to dice; he was a connoisseur of men

physically, and when ashore indulged a habit of visiting the gymnasia to see and admire the most famous

athletae. From some professor, doubtless, he had caught the idea that strength was as much of the quality as

the quantity of the muscle, while superiority in performance required a certain mind as well as strength.

Having adopted the doctrine, like most men with a hobby, he was always looking for illustrations to support

The reader may well believe that while the tribune, in the search for the perfect, was often called upon to stop

and study, he was seldom perfectly satisfiedin fact, very seldom held as long as on this occasion.

In the beginning of each movement of the oar, the rower's body and face were brought into profile view from

the platform; the movement ended with the body reversed, and in a pushing posture. The grace and ease of

the action at first suggested a doubt of the honesty of the effort put forth; but it was speedily dismissed; the

firmness with which the oar was held while in the reach forward, its bending under the push, were proofs of

the force applied; not that only, they as certainly proved the rower's art, and put the critic in the great

armchair in search of the combination of strength and cleverness which was the central idea of his theory.

In course of the study, Arrius observed the subject's youth; wholly unconscious of tenderness on that account,

he also observed that he seemed of good height, and that his limbs, upper and nether, were singularly perfect.

The arms, perhaps, were too long, but the objection was well hidden under a mass of muscle, which, in some

movements, swelled and knotted like kinking cords. Every rib in the round body was discernible; yet the

leanness was the healthful reduction so strained after in the palaestrae. And altogether there was in the

rower's action a certain harmony which, besides addressing itself to the tribune's theory, stimulated both his

Very soon he found himself waiting to catch a view of the man's face in full. The head was shapely, and

balanced upon a neck broad at the base, but of exceeding pliancy and grace. The features in profile were of

Oriental outline, and of that delicacy of expression which has always been thought a sign of blood and

sensitive spirit. With these observations, the tribune's interest in the subject deepened.

"By the gods," he said to himself, "the fellow impresses me! He promises well. I will know more of him."

Directly the tribune caught the view he wishedthe rower turned and looked at him.

Under the gaze then fixed steadily upon him, the large eyes of the slave grew largerthe blood surged to his

very browsthe blade lingered in his hands. But instantly, with an angry crash, down fell the gavel of the

hortator. The rower started, withdrew his face from the inquisitor, and, as if personally chidden, dropped the

oar half feathered. When he glanced again at the tribune, he was vastly more astonishedhe was met with a

Meantime the galley entered the Straits of Messina, and, skimming past the city of that name, was after a

Often as Arrius resumed to his platform in the cabin he returned to study the rower, and he kept saying to

himself, "The fellow hath a spirit. A Jew is not a barbarian. I will know more of him."

The fourth day out, and the Astroeaso the galley was namedspeeding through the Ionian Sea. The sky

As it was possible to overtake the fleet before reaching the bay east of the island of Cythera, designated for

assemblage, Arrius, somewhat impatient, spent much time on deck. He took note diligently of matters

pertaining to his ship, and as a rule was well pleased. In the cabin, swinging in the great chair, his thought

"Knowest thou the man just come from yon bench?" he at length asked of the hortator.

"As thou knowest," he replied "the ship is but a month from the maker's hand, and the men are as new to me

"But our best rower," said the other. "I have seen his oar bend almost to breaking."

"He had observed that the men who are confined to one side become misshapen. He also said that some day

of storm or battle there might be sudden need to change him, and he might then be unserviceable."

"In that he is Roman," said Arrius, approvingly. "Have you nothing of his history?"

"If I should be on deck when his time is up," he paused to say, "send him to me. Let him come alone."

About two hours later Arrius stood under the aplustre of the galley; in the mood of one who, seeing himself

carried swiftly towards an event of mighty import, has nothing to do but waitthe mood in which

philosophy vests an evenminded man with the utmost calm, and is ever so serviceable. The pilot sat with a

hand upon the rope by which the rudder paddles, one on each side of the vessel, were managed. In the shade

of the sail some sailors lay asleep, and up on the yard there was a lookout. Lifting his eyes from the solarium

set under the aplustre for reference in keeping the course, Arrius beheld the rower approaching.

"The chief called thee the noble Arrius, and said it was thy will that I should seek thee here. I have come."

Arrius surveyed the figure, tall, sinewy, glistening in the sun, and tinted by the rich red blood

withinsurveyed it admiringly, and with a thought of the arena; yet the manner was not without effect upon

him: there was in the voice a suggestion of life at least partly spent under refining influences; the eyes were

clear and open, and more curious than defiant. To the shrewd, demanding, masterful glance bent upon it, the

face gave back nothing to mar its youthful comelinessnothing of accusation or sullenness or menace, only

the signs which a great sorrow long borne imprints, as time mellows the surface of pictures. In tacit

acknowledgment of the effect, the Roman spoke as an older man to a younger, not as a master to a slave.

"The labor is hard; few men bear it a year without breaking, and thouthou art but a boy."

"The noble Arrius forgets that the spirit hath much to do with endurance. By its help the weak sometimes

"The stubborn pride of thy race is not lost in thee," said Arrius, observing a flush upon the rower's face.

"I have not been to Jerusalem," he said; "but I have heard of its princes. I knew one of them. He was a

merchant, and sailed the seas. He was fit to have been a king. Of what degree art thou?"

"I must answer thee from the bench of a galley. I am of the degree of slaves. My father was a prince of

Jerusalem, and, as a merchant, he sailed the seas. He was known and honored in the guestchamber of the

Judah lowered his head, and his breast labored hard. When his feelings were sufficiently mastered, he looked

"Thou!" cried Arrius, yet more amazed, and retreating a step. "Thou that assassin! All Rome rang with the

"I thought the family of Hur blotted from the earth," said Arrius, speaking first.

A flood of tender recollections carried the young man's pride away; tears shone upon his cheeks.

"Mothermother! And my little Tirzah! Where are they? O tribune, noble tribune, if thou knowest anything

of them"he clasped his hands in appeal"tell me all thou knowest. Tell me if they are livingif living,

He drew nearer Arrius, so near that his hands touched the cloak where it dropped from the latter's folded

"The horrible day is three years gone," he continued"three years, O tribune, and every hour a whole

lifetime of miserya lifetime in a bottomless pit with death, and no relief but in laborand in all that time

not a word from any one, not a whisper. Oh, if, in being forgotten, we could only forget! If only I could hide

from that scenemy sister torn from me, my mother's last look! I have felt the plague's breath, and the shock

of ships in battle; I have heard the tempest lashing the sea, and laughed, though others prayed: death would

have been a riddance. Bend the oaryes, in the strain of mighty effort trying to escape the haunting of what

that day occurred. Think what little will help me. Tell me they are dead, if no more, for happy they cannot be

while I am lost. I have heard them call me in the night; I have seen them on the water walking. Oh, never

anything so true as my mother's love! And Tirzahher breath was as the breath of white lilies. She was the

youngest branch of the palmso fresh, so tender, so graceful, so beautiful! She made my day all morning.

The change that came upon BenHur was wonderful to see, it was so instant and extreme. The voice

sharpened; the hands arose tightclenched; every fibre thrilled; his eyes inflamed.

"Thou hast heard of the God of my fathers," he said; "of the infinite Jehovah. By his truth and almightiness,

and by the love with which he hath followed Israel from the beginning, I swear I am innocent!"

"O noble Roman!" continued BenHur, "give me a little faith, and, into my darkness, deeper darkening every

Romans, it should be remembered, were at no time such lovers of the law and its forms as in the ages of their

"They bound me with cords, and dragged me to a vault in the Tower. I saw no one. No one spoke to me. Next

"I was a boy, too young to be a conspirator. Gratus was a stranger to me. If I had meant to kill him, that was

not the time or the place. He was riding in the midst of a legion, and it was broad day. I could not have

escaped. I was of a class most friendly to Rome. My father had been distinguished for his services to the

emperor. We had a great estate to lose. Ruin was certain to myself, my mother, my sister. I had no cause for

malice, while every considerationproperty, family, life, conscience, the Lawto a son of Israel as the

breath of his nostrilswould have stayed my hand, though the foul intent had been ever so strong. I was not

"I was on the housetopmy father's house. Tirzah was with me at my sidethe soul of gentleness.

Together we leaned over the parapet to see the legion pass. A tile gave way under my hand, and fell upon

"I do not know. I saw them drag her awaythat is all I know. Out of the house they drove every living thing,

even the dumb cattle, and they sealed the gates. The purpose was that she should not return. I, too, ask for

her. Oh for one word! She, at least, was innocent. I can forgivebut I pray thy pardon, noble tribune! A

slave like me should not talk of forgiveness or of revenge. I am bound to an oar for life."

Arrius listened intently. He brought all his experience with slaves to his aid. If the feeling shown in this

instance were assumed, the acting was perfect; on the other hand, if it were real, the Jew's innocence might

not be doubted; and if he were innocent, with what blind fury the power had been exercised! A whole family

There is no wiser providence than that our occupations, however rude or bloody, cannot wear us out morally;

that such qualities as justice and mercy, if they really possess us, continue to live on under them, like flowers

under the snow. The tribune could be inexorable, else he had not been fit for the usages of his calling; he

could also be just; and to excite his sense of wrong was to put him in the way to right the wrong. The crews

of the ships in which he served came after a time to speak of him as the good tribune. Shrewd readers will not

In this instance there were many circumstances certainly in the young man's favor, and some to be supposed.

Possibly Arrius knew Valerius Gratus without loving him. Possibly he had known the elder Hur. In the

course of his appeal, Judah had asked him of that; and, as will be noticed, he had made no reply.

For once the tribune was at loss, and hesitated. His power was ample. He was monarch of the ship. His

prepossessions all moved him to mercy. His faith was won. Yet, he said to himself, there was no hasteor,

rather, there was haste to Cythera; the best rower could not then be spared; he would wait; he would learn

more; he would at least be sure this was the prince BenHur, and that he was of a right disposition.

BenHur bowed; looked once more into the master's face, but saw nothing for hope. He turned away slowly,

"If thou dost think of me again, O tribune, let it not be lost in thy mind that I prayed thee only for word of my

"Perpol!" he thought. "With teaching, what a man for the arena! What a runner! Ye gods! what an arm for the

"Then I will answer gladly. I would give myself to duty the first of life. I would know no other. I would know

no rest until my mother and Tirzah were restored to home. I would give every day and hour to their

happiness. I would wait upon them; never a slave more faithful. They have lost much, but, by the God of my

"I spoke to thy ambition," he said, recovering. "If thy mother and sister were dead, or not to be found, what

A distinct pallor overspread BenHur's face, and he looked over the sea. There was a struggle with some

"Tribune, I will tell thee truly. Only the night before the dreadful day of which I have spoken, I obtained

permission to be a soldier. I am of the same mind yet; and, as in all the earth there is but one school of war,

Now a master may never safely advise a slave. Arrius saw his indiscretion, and, in a breath, chilled his voice

"Go now," he said, "and do not build upon what has passed between us. Perhaps I do but play with thee.

Or"he looked away musingly "or, if thou dost think of it with any hope, choose between the renown of a

gladiator and the service of a soldier. The former may come of the favor of the emperor; there is no reward

A man's task is always light if his heart is light. Handling the oar did not seem so toilsome to Judah. A hope

had come to him, like a singing bird. He could hardly see the visitor or hear its song; that it was there, though,

he knew; his feelings told him so. The caution of the tribune"Perhaps I do but play with thee"was

dismissed often as it recurred to his mind. That he had been called by the great man and asked his story was

the bread upon which he fed his hungry spirit. Surely something good would come of it. The light about his

"O God! I am a true son of the Israel thou hast so loved! Help me, I pray thee!"

In the Bay of Antemona, east of Cythera the island, the hundred galleys assembled. There the tribune gave

one day to inspection. He sailed then to Naxos, the largest of the Cyclades, midway the coasts of Greece and

Asia, like a great stone planted in the centre of a highway, from which he could challenge everything that

passed; at the same time, he would be in position to go after the pirates instantly, whether they were in the

As the fleet, in order, rowed in towards the mountain shores of the island, a galley was descried coming from

the north. Arrius went to meet it. She proved to be a transport just from Byzantium, and from her commander

The pirates were from all the farther shores of the Euxine. Even Tanais, at the mouth of the river which was

supposed to feed Palus Maeotis, was represented among them. Their preparations had been with the greatest

secrecy. The first known of them was their appearance off the entrance to the Thracian Bosphorus, followed

by the destruction of the fleet in station there. Thence to the outlet of the Hellespont everything afloat had

fallen their prey. There were quite sixty galleys in the squadron, all well manned and supplied. A few were

biremes, the rest stout triremes. A Greek was in command, and the pilots, said to be familiar with all the

Eastern seas, were Greek. The plunder had been incalculable. The panic, consequently, was not on the sea

alone; cities, with closed gates, sent their people nightly to the walls. Traffic had almost ceased.

After sacking Hephaestia, on the island of Lemnos, the enemy had coursed across to the Thessalian group,

Then the people of the island, drawn to the hilltops by the rare spectacle of a hundred ships careering in

united squadron, beheld the advance division suddenly turn to the north, and the others follow, wheeling

upon the same point like cavalry in a column. News of the piratical descent had reached them, and now,

watching the white sails until they faded from sight up between Rhene and Syros, the thoughtful among them

took comfort, and were grateful. What Rome seized with strong hand she always defended: in return for their

The tribune was more than pleased with the enemy's movements; he was doubly thankful to Fortune. She had

brought swift and sure intelligence, and had lured his foes into the waters where, of all others, destruction was

most assured. He knew the havoc one galley could play in a broad sea like the Mediterranean, and the

difficulty of finding and overhauling her; he knew, also, how those very circumstances would enhance the

service and glory if, at one blow, he could put a finish to the whole piratical array.

If the reader will take a map of Greece and the AEgean, he will notice the island of Euboea lying along the

classic coast like a rampart against Asia, leaving a channel between it and the continent quite a hundred and

twenty miles in length, and scarcely an average of eight in width. The inlet on the north had admitted the fleet

of Xerxes, and now it received the bold raiders from the Euxine. The towns along the Pelasgic and Meliac

gulfs were rich and their plunder seductive. All things considered, therefore, Arrius judged that the robbers

might be found somewhere below Thermopylae. Welcoming the chance, he resolved to enclose them north

and south, to do which not an hour could be lost; even the fruits and wines and women of Naxos must be left

behind. So he sailed away without stop or tack until, a little before nightfall, Mount Ocha was seen upreared

At a signal the fleet rested upon its oars. When the movement was resumed, Arrius led a division of fifty of

the galleys, intending to take them up the channel, while another division, equally strong, turned their prows

to the outer or seaward side of the island, with orders to make all haste to the upper inlet, and descend

To be sure, neither division was equal in number to the pirates; but each had advantages in compensation,

among them, by no means least, a discipline impossible to a lawless horde, however brave. Besides, it was a

shrewd count on the tribune's side, if, peradventure, one should be defeated, the other would find the enemy

Meantime BenHur kept his bench, relieved every six hours. The rest in the Bay of Antemona had freshened

him, so that the oar was not troublesome, and the chief on the platform found no fault.

People, generally, are not aware of the ease of mind there is in knowing where they are, and where they are

going. The sensation of being lost is a keen distress; still worse is the feeling one has in driving blindly into

unknown places. Custom had dulled the feeling with BenHur, but only measurably. Pulling away hour after

hour, sometimes days and nights together, sensible all the time that the galley was gliding swiftly along some

of the many tracks of the broad sea, the longing to know where he was, and whither going, was always

present with him; but now it seemed quickened by the hope which had come to new life in his breast since the

interview with the tribune. The narrower the abidingplace happens to be, the more intense is the longing;

and so he found. He seemed to hear every sound of the ship in labor, and listened to each one as if it were a

voice come to tell him something; he looked to the grating overhead, and through it into the light of which so

small a portion was his, expecting, he knew not what; and many times he caught himself on the point of

yielding to the impulse to speak to the chief on the platform, than which no circumstance of battle would

In his long service, by watching the shifting of the meager sunbeams upon the cabin floor when the ship was

under way, he had come to know, generally, the quarter into which she was sailing. This, of course, was only

of clear days like those goodfortune was sending the tribune. The experience had not failed him in the

period succeeding the departure from Cythera. Thinking they were tending towards the old Judean country,

he was sensitive to every variation from the course. With a pang, he had observed the sudden change

northward which, as has been noticed, took place near Naxos: the cause, however, he could not even

conjecture; for it must be remembered that, in common with his fellowslaves, he knew nothing of the

situation, and had no interest in the voyage. His place was at the oar, and he was held there inexorably,

whether at anchor or under sail. Once only in three years had he been permitted an outlook from the deck.

The occasion we have seen. He had no idea that, following the vessel he was helping drive, there was a great

squadron close at hand and in beautiful order; no more did he know the object of which it was in pursuit.

When the sun, going down, withdrew his last ray from the cabin, the galley still held northward. Night fell,

yet BenHur could discern no change. About that time the smell of incense floated down the gangways from

"The tribune is at the altar," he thought. "Can it be we are going into battle?"

Now he had been in many battles without having seen one. From his bench he had heard them above and

about him, until he was familiar with all their notes, almost as a singer with a song. So, too, he had become

acquainted with many of the preliminaries of an engagement, of which, with a Roman as well as a Greek, the

most invariable was the sacrifice to the gods. The rites were the same as those performed at the beginning of

A battle, it should be observed, possessed for him and his fellowslaves of the oar an interest unlike that of

the sailor and marine; it came, not of the danger encountered but of the fact that defeat, if survived, might

bring an alteration of conditionpossibly freedomat least a change of masters, which might be for the

In good time the lanterns were lighted and hung by the stairs, and the tribune came down from the deck. At

his word the marines put on their armor. At his word again, the machines were looked to, and spears, javelins,

and arrows, in great sheaves, brought and laid upon the floor, together with jars of inflammable oil, and

baskets of cotton balls wound loose like the wicking of candles. And when, finally, BenHur saw the tribune

mount his platform and don his armor, and get his helmet and shield out, the meaning of the preparations

might not be any longer doubted, and he made ready for the last ignominy of his service.

To every bench, as a fixture, there was a chain with heavy anklets. These the hortator proceeded to lock upon

the oarsmen, going from number to number, leaving no choice but to obey, and, in event of disaster, no

In the cabin, then, a silence fell, broken, at first, only by the sough of the oars turning in the leathern cases.

Every man upon the benches felt the shame, BenHur more keenly than his companions. He would have put

it away at any price. Soon the clanking of the fetters notified him of the progress the chief was making in his

round. He would come to him in turn; but would not the tribune interpose for him?

The thought may be set down to vanity or selfishness, as the reader pleases; it certainly, at that moment, took

possession of BenHur. He believed the Roman would interpose; anyhow, the circumstance would test the

man's feelings. If, intent upon the battle, he would but think of him, it would be proof of his opinion

formedproof that he had been tacitly promoted above his associates in miserysuch proof as would

BenHur waited anxiously. The interval seemed like an age. At every turn of the oar he looked towards the

tribune, who, his simple preparations made, lay down upon the couch and composed himself to rest;

whereupon number sixty chid himself, and laughed grimly, and resolved not to look that way again.

The hortator approached. Now he was at number onethe rattle of the iron links sounded horribly. At last

number sixty! Calm from despair, BenHur held his oar at poise, and gave his foot to the officer. Then the

A strong revulsion seized the Jew. From the hortator, the great man glanced at him; and when he dropped his

oar all the section of the ship on his side seemed aglow. He heard nothing of what was said; enough that the

chain hung idly from its staple in the bench, and that the chief, going to his seat, began to beat the

soundingboard. The notes of the gavel were never so like music. With his breast against the leaded handle,

"And what spirit!" the tribune answered. "Perpol! He is better without the irons. Put them on him no more."

The ship sailed on hour after hour under the oars in water scarcely rippled by the wind. And the people not on

OncetwiceBenHur was relieved; but he could not sleep. Three years of night, and through the darkness

a sunbeam at last! At sea adrift and lost, and now land! Dead so long, and, lo! the thrill and stir of

resurrection. Sleep was not for such an hour. Hope deals with the future; now and the past are but servants

that wait on her with impulse and suggestive circumstance. Starting from the favor of the tribune, she carried

him forward indefinitely. The wonder is, not that things so purely imaginative as the results she points us to

can make us so happy, but that we can receive them as so real. They must be as gorgeous poppies under the

influence of which, under the crimson and purple and gold, reason lies down the while, and is not. Sorrows

assuaged, home and the fortunes of his house restored; mother and sister in his arms once moresuch were

the central ideas which made him happier that moment than he had ever been. That he was rushing, as on

wings, into horrible battle had, for the time, nothing to do with his thoughts. The things thus in hope were

unmixed with doubtsthey WERE. Hence his joy so full, so perfect, there was no room in his heart for

revenge. Messala, Gratus, Rome, and all the bitter, passionate memories connected with them, were as dead

plaguesmiasms of the earth above which he floated, far and safe, listening to singing stars.

The deeper darkness before the dawn was upon the waters, and all things going well with the Astroea, when a

man, descending from the deck, walked swiftly to the platform where the tribune slept, and awoke him.

Arrius arose, put on his helmet, sword, and shield, and went to the commander of the marines.

"The pirates are close by. Up and ready!" he said, and passed to the stairs, calm, confident, insomuch that one

Every soul aboard, even the ship, awoke. Officers went to their quarters. The marines took arms, and were led

out, looking in all respects like legionaries. Sheaves of arrows and armfuls of javelins were carried on deck.

By the central stairs the oiltanks and fireballs were set ready for use. Additional lanterns were lighted.

Buckets were filled with water. The rowers in relief assembled under guard in front of the chief. As

Providence would have it, BenHur was one of the latter. Overhead he heard the muffled noises of the final

preparationsof the sailors furling sail, spreading the nettings, unslinging the machines, and hanging the

armor of bullhide over the side. Presently quiet settled about the galley again; quiet full of vague dread and

At a signal passed down from the deck, and communicated to the hortator by a petty officer stationed on the

Of the hundred and twenty slaves chained to the benches, not one but asked himself the question. They were

without incentive. Patriotism, love of honor, sense of duty, brought them no inspiration. They felt the thrill

common to men rushed helpless and blind into danger. It may be supposed the dullest of them, poising his

oar, thought of all that might happen, yet could promise himself nothing; for victory would but rivet his

chains the firmer, while the chances of the ship were his; sinking or on fire, he was doomed to her fate.

Of the situation without they might not ask. And who were the enemy? And what if they were friends,

brethren, countrymen? The reader, carrying the suggestion forward, will see the necessity which governed the

There was little time, however, for such thought with them. A sound like the rowing of galleys astern

attracted BenHur, and the Astroea rocked as if in the midst of countering waves. The idea of a fleet at hand

broke upon hima fleet in manoeuvre forming probably for attack. His blood started with the fancy.

Another signal came down from the deck. The oars dipped, and the galley started imperceptibly. No sound

from without, none from within, yet each man in the cabin instinctively poised himself for a shock; the very

In such a situation time is inappreciable; so that BenHur could form no judgment of distance gone. At last

there was a sound of trumpets on deck, full, clear, long blown. The chief beat the soundingboard until it

rang; the rowers reached forward full length, and, deepening the dip of their oars, pulled suddenly with all

their united force. The galley, quivering in every timber, answered with a leap. Other trumpets joined in the

clamorall from the rear, none forwardfrom the latter quarter only a rising sound of voices in tumult

heard briefly. There was a mighty blow; the rowers in front of the chief's platform reeled, some of them fell;

the ship bounded back, recovered, and rushed on more irresistibly than before. Shrill and high arose the

shrieks of men in terror; over the blare of trumpets, and the grind and crash of the collision, they arose; then

under his feet, under the keel, pounding, rumbling, breaking to pieces, drowning, BenHur felt something

overridden. The men about him looked at each other afraid. A shout of triumph from the deck the beak of

the Roman had won! But who were they whom the sea had drunk? Of what tongue, from what land were

No pause, no stay! Forward rushed the Astroea; and, as it went, some sailors ran down, and plunging the

cotton balls into the oiltanks, tossed them dripping to comrades at the head of the stairs: fire was to be added

Directly the galley heeled over so far that the oarsmen on the uppermost side with difficulty kept their

benches. Again the hearty Roman cheer, and with it despairing shrieks. An opposing vessel, caught by the

grapplinghooks of the great crane swinging from the prow, was being lifted into the air that it might be

The shouting increased on the right hand and on the left; before, behind, swelled an indescribable clamor.

Occasionally there was a crash, followed by sudden peals of fright, telling of other ships ridden down, and

Nor was the fight all on one side. Now and then a Roman in armor was borne down the hatchway, and laid

Sometimes, also, puffs of smoke, blended with steam, and foul with the scent of roasting human flesh, poured

into the cabin, turning the dimming light into yellow murk. Gasping for breath the while, BenHur knew they

were passing through the cloud of a ship on fire, and burning up with the rowers chained to the benches.

The Astroea all this time was in motion. Suddenly she stopped. The oars forward were dashed from the hands

of the rowers, and the rowers from their benches. On deck, then, a furious trampling, and on the sides a

grinding of ships afoul of each other. For the first time the beating of the gavel was lost in the uproar. Men

sank on the floor in fear or looked about seeking a hidingplace. In the midst of the panic a body plunged or

was pitched headlong down the hatchway, falling near BenHur. He beheld the halfnaked carcass, a mass of

hair blackening the face, and under it a shield of bullhide and wickerworka barbarian from the

whiteskinned nations of the North whom death had robbed of plunder and revenge. How came he there? An

iron hand had snatched him from the opposing deckno, the Astroea had been boarded! The Romans were

fighting on their own deck? A chill smote the young Jew: Arrius was hard pressedhe might be defending

his own life. If he should be slain! God of Abraham forefend! The hopes and dreams so lately come, were

they only hopes and dreams? Mother and sisterhousehomeHoly Landwas he not to see them, after

all? The tumult thundered above him; he looked around; in the cabin all was confusionthe rowers on the

benches paralyzed; men running blindly hither and thither; only the chief on his seat imperturbable, vainly

beating the soundingboard, and waiting the orders of the tribunein the red murk illustrating the matchless

The example had a good effect upon BenHur. He controlled himself enough to think. Honor and duty bound

the Roman to the platform; but what had he to do with such motives then? The bench was a thing to run from;

while, if he were to die a slave, who would be the better of the sacrifice? With him living was duty, if not

honor. His life belonged to his people. They arose before him never more real: he saw them, their arms

outstretched; he heard them imploring him. And he would go to them. He startedstopped. Alas! a Roman

judgment held him in doom. While it endured, escape would be profitless. In the wide, wide earth there was

no place in which he would be safe from the imperial demand; upon the land none, nor upon the sea. Whereas

he required freedom according to the forms of law, so only could he abide in Judea and execute the filial

purpose to which he would devote himself: in other land he would not live. Dear God! How he had waited

and watched and prayed for such a release! And how it had been delayed! But at last he had seen it in the

promise of the tribune. What else the great man's meaning? And if the benefactor so belated should now be

slain! The dead come not back to redeem the pledges of the living. It should not beArrius should not die.

Once more BenHur looked around. Upon the roof of the cabin the battle yet beat; against the sides the

hostile vessels yet crushed and grided. On the benches, the slaves struggled to tear loose from their chains,

and, finding their efforts vain, howled like madmen; the guards had gone upstairs; discipline was out, panic

in. No, the chief kept his chair, unchanged, calm as everexcept the gavel, weaponless. Vainly with his

clangor he filled the lulls in the din. BenHur gave him a last look, then broke awaynot in flight, but to

A very short space lay between him and the stairs of the hatchway aft. He took it with a leap, and was

halfway up the stepsup far enough to catch a glimpse of the sky bloodred with fire, of the ships

alongside, of the sea covered with ships and wrecks, of the fight closed in about the pilot's quarter, the

assailants many, the defenders fewwhen suddenly his foothold was knocked away, and he pitched

backward. The floor, when he reached it, seemed to be lifting itself and breaking to pieces; then, in a

twinkling, the whole afterpart of the hull broke asunder, and, as if it had all the time been lying in wait, the

sea, hissing and foaming, leaped in, and all became darkness and surging water to BenHur.

It cannot be said that the young Jew helped himself in this stress. Besides his usual strength, he had the

indefinite extra force which nature keeps in reserve for just such perils to life; yet the darkness, and the whirl

The influx of the flood tossed him like a log forward into the cabin, where he would have drowned but for the

refluence of the sinking motion. As it was, fathoms under the surface the hollow mass vomited him forth, and

he arose along with the loosed debris. In the act of rising, he clutched something, and held to it. The time he

was under seemed an age longer than it really was; at last he gained the top; with a great gasp he filled his

lungs afresh, and, tossing the water from his hair and eyes, climbed higher upon the plank he held, and looked

Death had pursued him closely under the waves; he found it waiting for him when he was risenwaiting

Smoke lay upon the sea like a semitransparent fog, through which here and there shone cores of intense

brilliance. A quick intelligence told him that they were ships on fire. The battle was yet on; nor could he say

who was victor. Within the radius of his vision now and then ships passed, shooting shadows athwart lights.

Out of the dun clouds farther on he caught the crash of other ships colliding. The danger, however, was closer

at hand. When the Astroea went down, her deck, it will be recollected, held her own crew, and the crews of

the two galleys which had attacked her at the same time, all of whom were ingulfed. Many of them came to

the surface together, and on the same plank or support of whatever kind continued the combat, begun

possibly in the vortex fathoms down. Writhing and twisting in deadly embrace, sometimes striking with

sword or javelin, they kept the sea around them in agitation, at one place inkyblack, at another aflame with

fiery reflections. With their struggles he had nothing to do; they were all his enemies: not one of them but

About that time he heard oars in quickest movement, and beheld a galley coming down upon him. The tall

prow seemed doubly tall, and the red light playing upon its gilt and carving gave it an appearance of snaky

He struck out, pushing the plank, which was very broad and unmanageable. Seconds were precioushalf a

second might save or lose him. In the crisis of the effort, up from the sea, within arm's reach, a helmet shot

like a gleam of gold. Next came two hands with fingers extendedlarge hands were they, and strong their

hold once fixed, might not be loosed. BenHur swerved from them appalled. Up rose the helmet and the head

it encasedthen two arms, which began to beat the water wildlythe head turned back, and gave the face to

the light. The mouth gaping wide; the eyes open, but sightless, and the bloodless pallor of a drowning

mannever anything more ghastly! Yet he gave a cry of joy at the sight, and as the face was going under

again, he caught the sufferer by the chain which passed from the helmet beneath the chin, and drew him to

For a while the water foamed and eddied violently about BenHur, taxing all his strength to hold to the

support and at the same time keep the Roman's head above the surface. The galley had passed, leaving the

two barely outside the stroke of its oars. Right through the floating men, over heads helmeted as well as heads

bare, she drove, in her wake nothing but the sea sparkling with fire. A muffled crash, succeeded by a great

outcry, made the rescuer look again from his charge. A certain savage pleasure touched his heartthe

After that the battle moved on. Resistance turned to flight. But who were the victors? BenHur was sensible

how much his freedom and the life of the tribune depended upon that event. He pushed the plank under the

latter until it floated him, after which all his care was to keep him there. The dawn came slowly. He watched

its growing hopefully, yet sometimes afraid. Would it bring the Romans or the pirates? If the pirates, his

At last morning broke in full, the air without a breath. Off to the left he saw the land, too far to think of

attempting to make it. Here and there men were adrift like himself. In spots the sea was blackened by charred

and sometimes smoking fragments. A galley up a long way was lying to with a torn sail hanging from the

tilted yard, and the oars all idle. Still farther away he could discern moving specks, which he thought might

An hour passed thus. His anxiety increased. If relief came not speedily, Arrius would die. Sometimes he

seemed already dead, he lay so still. He took the helmet off, and then, with greater difficulty, the cuirass; the

heart he found fluttering. He took hope at the sign, and held on. There was nothing to do but wait, and, after

The throes of recovery from drowning are more painful than the drowning. These Arrius passed through, and,

Gradually, from incoherent questions as to where he was, and by whom and how he had been saved, he

reverted to the battle. The doubt of the victory stimulated his faculties to full return, a result aided not a little

by a long restsuch as could be had on their frail support. After a while he became talkative.

"Our rescue, I see, depends upon the result of the fight. I see also what thou hast done for me. To speak fairly,

thou hast saved my life at the risk of thy own. I make the acknowledgment broadly; and, whatever cometh,

thou hast my thanks. More than that, if fortune doth but serve me kindly, and we get well out of this peril, I

will do thee such favor as becometh a Roman who hath power and opportunity to prove his gratitude. Yet, yet

it is to be seen if, with thy good intent, thou hast really done me a kindness; or, rather, speaking to thy

goodwill"he hesitated"I would exact of thee a promise to do me, in a certain event, the greatest favor

Judah drew himself nearer, for the tribune's voice was weakhe drew nearer, and listened eagerlyat last

"It cannot be," he proceeded, "that thou, a son of his, hast not heard of Cato and Brutus. They were very great

men, and never as great as in death. In their dying, they left this lawA Roman may not survive his

"It is a custom of gentlemen in Rome to wear a ring. There is one on my hand. Take it now."

"The trinket hath its uses," said Arrius next. "I have property and money. I am accounted rich even in Rome. I

have no family. Show the ring to my freedman, who hath control in my absence; you will find him in a villa

near Misenum. Tell him how it came to thee, and ask anything, or all he may have; he will not refuse the

demand. If I live, I will do better by thee. I will make thee free, and restore thee to thy home and people; or

thou mayst give thyself to the pursuit that pleaseth thee most. Dost thou hear?"

"By thy God, then, or in the form most sacred to those of thy faithpledge me to do what I tell thee now,

"Noble Arrius, I am warned by thy manner to expect something of gravest concern. Tell me thy wish first."

"That were to give the pledge, and Blessed be the God of my fathers! yonder cometh a ship!"

"She hath a sail set, and is of three banks, and cometh swiftly that is all I can say of her."

"A Roman in triumph would have out many flags. She must be an enemy. Hear now," said Arrius, becoming

grave again, "hear, while yet I may speak. If the galley be a pirate, thy life is safe; they may not give thee

freedom; they may put thee to the oar again; but they will not kill thee. On the other hand, I"

"Perpol!" he continued, resolutely. "I am too old to submit to dishonor. In Rome, let them tell how Quintus

Arrius, as became a Roman tribune, went down with his ship in the midst of the foe. This is what I would

have thee do. If the galley prove a pirate, push me from the plank and drown me. Dost thou hear? Swear thou

"I will not swear," said BenHur, firmly; "neither will I do the deed. The Law, which is to me most binding,

O tribune, would make me answerable for thy life. Take back the ring"he took the seal from his

finger"take it back, and all thy promises of favor in the event of delivery from this peril. The judgment

which sent me to the oar for life made me a slave, yet I am not a slave; no more am I thy freedman. I am a

"Thou wilt not?" Judah continued. "Not in anger, then, nor in any despite, but to free myself from a hateful

He tossed the ring away. Arrius heard the splash where it struck and sank, though he did not look.

"Thou hast done a foolish thing," he said; "foolish for one placed as thou art. I am not dependent upon thee

for death. Life is a thread I can break without thy help; and, if I do, what will become of thee? Men

determined on death prefer it at the hands of others, for the reason that the soul which Plato giveth us is

rebellious at the thought of selfdestruction; that is all. If the ship be a pirate, I will escape from the world.

My mind is fixed. I am a Roman. Success and honor are all in all. Yet I would have served thee; thou wouldst

not. The ring was the only witness of my will available in this situation. We are both lost. I will die regretting

the victory and glory wrested from me; thou wilt live to die a little later, mourning the pious duties undone

BenHur saw the consequences of his act more distinctly than before, yet he did not falter.

"In the three years of my servitude, O tribune, thou wert the first to look upon me kindly. No, no! There was

another." The voice dropped, the eyes became humid, and he saw plainly as if it were then before him the

face of the boy who helped him to a drink by the old well at Nazareth. "At least," he proceeded, "thou wert

the first to ask me who I was; and if, when I reached out and caught thee, blind and sinking the last time, I,

too, had thought of the many ways in which thou couldst be useful to me in my wretchedness, still the act

was not all selfish; this I pray you to believe. Moreover, seeing as God giveth me to know, the ends I dream

of are to be wrought by fair means alone. As a thing of conscience, I would rather die with thee than be thy

slayer. My mind is firmly set as thine; though thou wert to offer me all Rome, O tribune, and it belonged to

thee to make the gift good, I would not kill thee. Thy Cato and Brutus were as little children compared to the

BenHur looked often at the coming ship. Arrius rested with closed eyes, indifferent.

"The men in the small boat are taking in the people afloat. Pirates are not humane."

"They may need rowers," Arrius replied, recurring, possibly, to times when he had made rescues for the

"Over on our right there is a galley which I take to be deserted. The newcomer heads towards it. Now she is

"Thank thou thy God," he said to BenHur, after a look at the galleys, "thank thou thy God, as I do my many

gods. A pirate would sink, not save, yon ship. By the act and the helmet on the mast I know a Roman. The

victory is mine. Fortune hath not deserted me. We are saved. Wave thy handcall to thembring them

quickly. I shall be duumvir, and thou! I knew thy father, and loved him. He was a prince indeed. He taught

me a Jew was not a barbarian. I will take thee with me. I will make thee my son. Give thy God thanks, and

call the sailors. Haste! The pursuit must be kept. Not a robber shall escape. Hasten them!"

Judah raised himself upon the plank, and waved his hand, and called with all his might; at last he drew the

Arrius was received on the galley with all the honors due a hero so the favorite of Fortune. Upon a couch on

the deck he heard the particulars of the conclusion of the fight. When the survivors afloat upon the water

were all saved and the prize secured, he spread his flag of commandant anew, and hurried northward to rejoin

the fleet and perfect the victory. In due time the fifty vessels coming down the channel closed in upon the

fugitive pirates, and crushed them utterly; not one escaped. To swell the tribune's glory, twenty galleys of the

Upon his return from the cruise, Arrius had warm welcome on the mole at Misenum. The young man

attending him very early attracted the attention of his friends there; and to their questions as to who he was

the tribune proceeded in the most affectionate manner to tell the story of his rescue and introduce the

stranger, omitting carefully all that pertained to the latter's previous history. At the end of the narrative, he

called BenHur to him, and said, with a hand resting affectionately upon his shoulder,

"Good friends, this is my son and heir, who, as he is to take my propertyif it be the will of the gods that I

leave anyshall be known to you by my name. I pray you all to love him as you love me."

Speedily as opportunity permitted, the adoption was formally perfected. And in such manner the brave

Roman kept his faith with BenHur, giving him happy introduction into the imperial world. The month

succeeding Arrius's return, the armilustrium was celebrated with the utmost magnificence in the theater of

Scaurus. One side of the structure was taken up with military trophies; among which by far the most

conspicuous and most admired were twenty prows, complemented by their corresponding aplustra, cut bodily

from as many galleys; and over them, so as to be legible to the eighty thousand spectators in the seats, was

The month to which we now come is July, the year that of our Lord 29, and the place Antioch, then Queen of

the East, and next to Rome the strongest, if not the most populous, city in the world.

There is an opinion that the extravagance and dissoluteness of the age had their origin in Rome, and spread

thence throughout the empire; that the great cities but reflected the manners of their mistress on the Tiber.

This may be doubted. The reaction of the conquest would seem to have been upon the morals of the

conqueror. In Greece she found a spring of corruption; so also in Egypt; and the student, having exhausted

the subject, will close the books assured that the flow of the demoralizing river was from the East

westwardly, and that this very city of Antioch, one of the oldest seats of Assyrian power and splendor, was a

A transport galley entered the mouth of the river Orontes from the blue waters of the sea. It was in the

forenoon. The heat was great, yet all on board who could avail themselves of the privilege were on

The five years had brought the young Jew to perfect manhood. Though the robe of white linen in which he

was attired somewhat masked his form, his appearance was unusually attractive. For an hour and more he had

occupied a seat in the shade of the sail, and in that time several fellowpassengers of his own nationality had

tried to engage him in conversation, but without avail. His replies to their questions had been brief, though

gravely courteous, and in the Latin tongue. The purity of his speech, his cultivated manners, his reticence,

served to stimulate their curiosity the more. Such as observed him closely were struck by an incongruity

between his demeanor, which had the ease and grace of a patrician, and certain points of his person. Thus his

arms were disproportionately long; and when, to steady himself against the motion of the vessel, he took hold

of anything near by, the size of his hands and their evident power compelled remark; so the wonder who and

what he was mixed continually with a wish to know the particulars of his life. In other words, his air cannot

The galley, in coming, had stopped at one of the ports of Cyprus, and picked up a Hebrew of most respectable

appearance, quiet, reserved, paternal. BenHur ventured to ask him some questions; the replies won his

It chanced also that as the galley from Cyprus entered the receiving bay of the Orontes, two other vessels

which had been sighted out in the sea met it and passed into the river at the same time; and as they did so

both the strangers threw out small flags of brightest yellow. There was much conjecture as to the meaning of

the signals. At length a passenger addressed himself to the respectable Hebrew for information upon the

"Yes, I know the meaning of the flags," he replied; "they do not signify nationalitythey are merely marks

The passengers looked at the speaker as if requesting him to go on. BenHur listened with interest.

"He lives in Antioch," the Hebrew continued, in his quiet way. "That he is vastly rich has brought him into

notice, and the talk about him is not always kind. There used to be in Jerusalem a prince of very ancient

"The prince was a merchant, with a genius for business. He set on foot many enterprises, some reaching far

East, others West. In the great cities he had branch houses. The one in Antioch was in charge of a man said

by some to have been a family servant called Simonides, Greek in name, yet an Israelite. The master was

drowned at sea. His business, however, went on, and was scarcely less prosperous. After a while misfortune

overtook the family. The prince's only son, nearly grown, tried to kill the procurator Gratus in one of the

streets of Jerusalem. He failed by a narrow chance, and has not since been heard of. In fact, the Roman's rage

took in the whole housenot one of the name was left alive. Their palace was sealed up, and is now a

rookery for pigeons; the estate was confiscated; everything that could be traced to the ownership of the Hurs

"They say so," the Hebrew replied; "I am only telling a story as I received it. And, to go on, Simonides, who

had been the prince's agent here in Antioch, opened trade in a short time on his own account, and in a space

incredibly brief became the master merchant of the city. In imitation of his master, he sent caravans to India;

and on the sea at present he has galleys enough to make a royal fleet. They say nothing goes amiss with him.

His camels do not die, except of old age; his ships never founder; if he throw a chip into the river, it will

"Yes, they say the procurator took only the prince's property ready at handhis horses, cattle, houses, land,

vessels, goods. The money could not be found, though there must have been vast sums of it. What became of

"I understand you," the Hebrew answered. "Others have had your idea. That it furnished old Simonides his

start is a common belief. The procurator is of that opinionor he has beenfor twice in five years he has

"It is said," the narrator continued, "that there is not a sound bone in the man's body. The last time I saw him

"Disease could not have produced such a deformity. Still the suffering made no impression upon him. All he

had was his lawfully, and he was making lawful use of itthat was the most they wrung from him. Now,

however, he is past persecution. He has a license to trade signed by Tiberius himself."

"These ships are his," the Hebrew continued, passing the remark. "It is a custom among his sailors to salute

each other upon meeting by throwing out yellow flags, sight of which is as much as to say, 'We have had a

When the transport was fairly in the channel of the river, Judah spoke to the Hebrew.

"The boy was sent to the galleys. I may say he is dead. One year is the ordinary limit of life under that

sentence. The widow and daughter have not been heard of; those who know what became of them will not

speak. They died doubtless in the cells of one of the castles which spot the waysides of Judea."

Judah walked to the pilot's quarter. So absorbed was he in thought that he scarcely noticed the shores of the

river, which from sea to city were surpassingly beautiful with orchards of all the Syrian fruits and vines,

clustered about villas rich as those of Neapolis. No more did he observe the vessels passing in an endless

fleet, nor hear the singing and shouting of the sailors, some in labor, some in merriment. The sky was full of

sunlight, lying in hazy warmth upon the land and the water; nowhere except over his life was there a shadow.

Once only he awoke to a momentary interest, and that was when some one pointed out the Grove of Daphne,

When the city came into view, the passengers were on deck, eager that nothing of the scene might escape

them. The respectable Jew already introduced to the reader was the principal spokesman.

"The river here runs to the west," he said, in the way of general answer. "I remember when it washed the base

of the walls; but as Roman subjects we have lived in peace, and, as always happens in such times, trade has

had its will; now the whole river front is taken up with wharves and docks. Yonder"the speaker pointed

southward"is Mount Casius, or, as these people love to call it, the Mountains of Orontes, looking across to

its brother Amnus in the north; and between them lies the Plain of Antioch. Farther on are the Black

Mountains, whence the Ducts of the Kings bring the purest water to wash the thirsty streets and people; yet

"Over north there. You can take horse, if you wish to see itor, better, a boat, for a tributary connects it with

"The Grove of Daphne!" he said, to a third inquirer. "Nobody can describe it; only beware! It was begun by

Apollo, and completed by him. He prefers it to Olympus. People go there for one look just oneand

never come away. They have a saying which tells it all'Better be a worm and feed on the mulberries of

"Not I! Go you will. Everybody goes, cynic philosopher, virile boy, women, and priestsall go. So sure am I

of what you will do that I assume to advise you. Do not take quarters in the city that will be loss of time;

but go at once to the village in the edge of the grove. The way is through a garden, under the spray of

fountains. The lovers of the god and his Penaean maid built the town; and in its porticos and paths and

thousand retreats you will find characters and habits and sweets and kinds elsewhere impossible. But the wall

of the city! there it is, the masterpiece of Xeraeus, the master of mural architecture."

"This part was raised by order of the first of the Seleucidae. Three hundred years have made it part of the

The defense justified the encomium. High, solid, and with many bold angles, it curved southwardly out of

"On the top there are four hundred towers, each a reservoir of water," the Hebrew continued. "Look now!

Over the wall, tall as it is, see in the distance two hills, which you may know as the rival crests of Sulpius.

The structure on the farthest one is the citadel, garrisoned all the year round by a Roman legion. Opposite it

this way rises the Temple of Jupiter, and under that the front of the legate's residencea palace full of

offices, and yet a fortress against which a mob would dash harmlessly as a south wind."

At this point the sailors began taking in sail, whereupon the Hebrew exclaimed, heartily, "See! you who hate

the sea, and you who have vows, get ready your curses and your prayers. The bridge yonder, over which the

road to Seleucia is carried, marks the limit of navigation. What the ship unloads for further transit, the camel

takes up there. Above the bridge begins the island upon which Calinicus built his new city, connecting it with

five great viaducts so solid time has made no impression upon them, nor floods nor earthquakes. Of the main

town, my friends, I have only to say you will be happier all your lives for having seen it."

As he concluded, the ship turned and made slowly for her wharf under the wall, bringing even more fairly to

view the life with which the river at that point was possessed. Finally, the lines were thrown, the oars

"Your story of the merchant has made me curious to see him. You called him Simonides?"

"One would think," he then replied, "that the richest merchant in Antioch would have a house for business

corresponding to his wealth; but if you would find him in the day, follow the river to yon bridge, under which

he quarters in a building that looks like a buttress of the wall. Before the door there is an immense landing,

always covered with cargoes come and to go. The fleet that lies moored there is his. You cannot fail to find

Two streetporters, loaded with his baggage, received BenHur's orders upon the wharf.

"To the citadel," he said; a direction which implied an official military connection.

Two great streets, cutting each other at right angles, divided the city into quarters. A curious and immense

structure, called the Nymphaeum, arose at the foot of the one running north and south. When the porters

turned south there, the newcomer, though fresh from Rome, was amazed at the magnificence of the avenue.

On the right and left there were palaces, and between them extended indefinitely double colonnades of

marble, leaving separate ways for footmen, beasts, and chariots; the whole under shade, and cooled by

BenHur was not in mood to enjoy the spectacle. The story of Simonides haunted him. Arrived at the

Omphalusa monument of four arches wide as the streets, superbly illustrated, and erected to himself by

"I will not go to the citadel tonight," he said to the porters. "Take me to the khan nearest the bridge on the

The party faced about, and in good time he was deposited in a public house of primitive but ample

construction, within stone'sthrow of the bridge under which old Simonides had his quarters. He lay upon the

housetop through the night. In his inner mind lived the thought, "Nownow I will hear of homeand

Next day early, to the neglect of the city, BenHur 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,

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

On the wharf there were piles of goods in every kind of package, and groups of slaves, stripped to the waist,

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

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, BenHur scarcely noticed it. Now, at last, he thought to hear of his

peoplethis, 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

Yet BenHur 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."

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

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.

At the end of a darkened passage within, they stopped before a curtain half parted. The man called out,

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 officedesk, 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

In the midlight of the room were two personsa man resting in a chair highbacked, broadarmed, 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 BenHur 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 himan 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

"If you are Simonides, the merchant, and a Jew"BenHur stopped an instant"then the peace of the God

"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."

BenHur 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 proportionedthe ideal head of a statesman and conquerora 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 hima 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 BenHur stretched his hands, open and palm up, as he would offer peace at the same time he

"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 robea 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

"The princes of Jerusalem, of the pure blood, are always welcome in my house; you are welcome. Give the

The girl took an ottoman near by, and carried it to BenHur. As she arose from placing the seat, their eyes

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

BenHur 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 youand, 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

By the time of the conclusion of this speech, Esther was before BenHur 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,

"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

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 minehere, not

The girl looked once from father to visitor; then she replaced the cup upon the table, and went dutifully to the

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 menold 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."

"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."

BenHur's face suffused, and, advancing a step, he cried, impulsively, "My mother and sister! Oh, it is of

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. BenHur blushed, clasped his hands, stammered, and

Yet BenHur 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

"Master Simonides," he said, at length, "I can only tell my story; and I will not that unless you stay judgment

"Speak," said Simonides, now, indeed, master of the situation"speak, and I will listen the more willingly

BenHur 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

"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 closelocking 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 wonand on the walls of the villa by

Misenum there are many of themall 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 fellowpassenger and countryman from Cyprus explained that

the vessels belonged to Simonides, the mastermerchant 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

"O good Simonides!" BenHur then said, advancing a step, his whole soul seeking expression, "I see thou art

"And not less clearly, I see the difficulties of my position," BenHur 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

He covered his face with his hands; whereupon Esther arose, and, taking the rejected cup to him, said, "The

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."

"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 knowwhat canst thou tell meof my

mother and Tirzah, my sistershe who should be in beauty and grace even as this one, thy sweetness of life,

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 BenHur. 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, butI have nothing to tell you of them. They are lost."

"Thenthen 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

Scarcely was BenHur gone, when Simonides seemed to wake as from sleep: his countenance flushed; the

One of the panels in the wall swung back, exposing a doorway which gave admittance to a man who passed

"Malluch, herenearerto 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 storeroomtall, 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 himand, 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

"What is the day, daughter?" he said, in the midst of the mood. "What is the day? I wish to remember it for

The merriment seemed unnatural to her; and, as if to entreat him from it, she answered, sorrowfully, "Woe's

His hands fell down the instant, and his chin, dropping upon his breast, lost itself in the muffling folds of

"True, most true, my daughter!" he said, without looking up. "This is the twentieth day of the fourth month.

Today, 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

EnGedi! I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. We laid her

away in a lonely placein 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?"

"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

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 palacetops 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

"When the young man was speaking, Esther, I observed thee, and thought thou wert won by him."

"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

"By the glory of Solomon, daughter, thou speakest earnestly. Dost thou believe thy father his father's

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 dreamsthings 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

bondservants, 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

"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,

"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 bondservant 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

"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

"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 abidingplace 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 aboutthe 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 diednay, not even that they were dead."

"Thy heart is good, Esther, good as thy mother's was; and I pray it have not the fate of most good heartsto

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. Todaypraised be He who maketh the clouds

his chariot and walketh upon the winds!today, Esther, that which was in my hands for stewardship is

He lifted his head proudly; their eyes met; each read the other's thought. "What shall I with the treasure,

"My father," she answered, in a low voice, "did not the rightful owner call for it but now?"

"Nay, father, am not I, because I am thy child, his bondservant? And of whom was it written, 'Strength and

A gleam of ineffable love lighted his face as he said, "The Lord hath been good to me in many ways; but

"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 trialdays 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 sonsuch 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 takingoff 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 dotell 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 wrongdoers? 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 spokevengeance! and that, Esther, that it wasthe

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

"Ay, Malluch the faithful goes with him, and will bring him back when I am ready."

"Not long, not long. He thinks all his witnesses dead. There is one living who will not fail to know him, if he

"Nay, daughter, I will set the witness before him; till then let us rest the business with the Lord. I am tired.

When BenHur sallied from the great warehouse, it was with the thought that another failure was to be added

to the many he had already met in the quest for his people; and the idea was depressing exactly in proportion

as the objects of his quest were dear to him; it curtained him round about with a sense of utter loneliness on

earth, which, more than anything else, serves to eke from a soul cast down its remaining interest in life.

Through the people, and the piles of goods, he made way to the edge of the landing, and was tempted by the

cool shadows darkening the river's depth. The lazy current seemed to stop and wait for him. In counteraction

of the spell, the saying of the voyager flashed into memory"Better be a worm, and feed upon the

mulberries of Daphne, than a king's guest." He turned, and walked rapidly down the landing and back to the

"The road to Daphne!" the steward said, surprised at the question BenHur put to him. "You have not been

here before? Well, count this the happiest day of your life. You cannot mistake the road. The next street to the

left, going south, leads straight to Mount Sulpius, crowned by the altar of Jupiter and the Amphitheater; keep

it to the third cross street, known as Herod's Colonnade; turn to your right there, and hold the way through the

old city of Seleucus to the bronze gates of Epiphanes. There the road to Daphne beginsand may the gods

The Colonnade of Herod was easily found; thence to the brazen gates, under a continuous marble portico, he

passed with a multitude mixed of people from all the trading nations of the earth.

It was about the fourth hour of the day when he passed out the gate, and found himself one of a procession

apparently interminable, moving to the famous Grove. The road was divided into separate ways for footmen,

for men on horses, and men in chariots; and those again into separate ways for outgoers and incomers. The

lines of division were guarded by low balustrading, broken by massive pedestals, many of which were

surmounted with statuary. Right and left of the road extended margins of sward perfectly kept, relieved at

intervals by groups of oak and sycamore trees, and vineclad summerhouses for the accommodation of the

weary, of whom, on the return side, there were always multitudes. The ways of the footmen were paved with

red stone, and those of the riders strewn with white sand compactly rolled, but not so solid as to give back an

echo to hoof or wheel. The number and variety of fountains at play were amazing, all gifts of visiting kings,

and called after them. Out southwest to the gates of the Grove, the magnificent thoroughfare stretched a little

In his wretchedness of feeling, BenHur barely observed the royal liberality which marked the construction

of the road. Nor more did he at first notice the crowd going with him. He treated the processional displays

with like indifference. To say truth, besides his selfabsorption, he had not a little of the complacency of a

Roman visiting the provinces fresh from the ceremonies which daily eddied round and round the golden pillar

set up by Augustus as the centre of the world. It was not possible for the provinces to offer anything new or

superior. He rather availed himself of every opportunity to push forward through the companies in the way,

and too slowgoing for his impatience. By the time he reached Heracleia, a suburban village intermediate the

city and the Grove, he was somewhat spent with exercise, and began to be susceptible of entertainment. Once

a pair of goats led by a beautiful woman, woman and goats alike brilliant with ribbons and flowers, attracted

his attention. Then he stopped to look at a bull of mighty girth, and snowy white, covered with vines freshly

cut, and bearing on its broad back a naked child in a basket, the image of a young Bacchus, squeezing the

juice of ripened berries into a goblet, and drinking with libational formulas. As he resumed his walk, he

wondered whose altars would be enriched by the offerings. A horse went by with clipped mane, after the

fashion of the time, his rider superbly dressed. He smiled to observe the harmony of pride between the man

and the brute. Often after that he turned his head at hearing the rumble of wheels and the dull thud of hoofs;

unconsciously he was becoming interested in the styles of chariots and charioteers, as they rustled past him

going and coming. Nor was it long until he began to make notes of the people around him. He saw they were

of all ages, sexes, and conditions, and all in holiday attire. One company was uniformed in white, another in

black; some bore flags, some smoking censers; some went slowly, singing hymns; others stepped to the

music of flutes and tabrets. If such were the going to Daphne every day in the year, what a wondrous sight

Daphne must be! At last there was a clapping of hands, and a burst of joyous cries; following the pointing of

many fingers, he looked and saw upon the brow of a hill the templed gate of the consecrated Grove. The

hymns swelled to louder strains; the music quickened time; and, borne along by the impulsive current, and

sharing the common eagerness, he passed in, and, Romanized in taste as he was, fell to worshiping the place.

Rearward of the structure which graced the entrancewaya purely Grecian pilehe stood upon a broad

esplanade paved with polished stone; around him a restless exclamatory multitude, in gayest colors, relieved

against the iridescent spray flying crystalwhite from fountains; before him, off to the southwest, dustless

paths radiated out into a garden, and beyond that into a forest, over which rested a veil of paleblue vapor.

Her companion, wearing a chaplet of bays, laughed and answered, "Go to, thou pretty barbarian! The

question implies an earthly fear; and did we not agree to leave all such behind in Antioch with the rusty

earth? The winds which blow here are respirations of the gods. Let us give ourselves to waftage of the

"O thou timid! No one was ever lost in Daphne, except those on whom her gates close forever."

"Such as have yielded to the charms of the place and chosen it for life and death. Hark! Stand we here, and I

Upon the marble pavement there was a scurry of sandalled feet; the crowd opened, and a party of girls rushed

about the speaker and his fair friend, and began singing and dancing to the tabrets they themselves touched.

The woman, scared, clung to the man, who put an arm about her, and, with kindled face, kept time to the

music with the other hand overhead. The hair of the dancers floated free, and their limbs blushed through the

robes of gauze which scarcely draped them. Words may not be used to tell of the voluptuousness of the

dance. One brief round, and they darted off through the yielding crowd lightly as they had come.

"Devadasipriestesses devoted to the Temple of Apollo. There is an army of them. They make the chorus in

celebrations. This is their home. Sometimes they wander off to other cities, but all they make is brought here

BenHur took comfort in the assurance that no one was ever lost in Daphne, and he, too, set outwhere, he

A sculpture reared upon a beautiful pedestal in the garden attracted him first. It proved to be the statue of a

centaur. An inscription informed the unlearned visitor that it exactly represented Chiron, the beloved of

Apollo and Diana, instructed by them in the mysteries of hunting, medicine, music, and prophecy. The

inscription also bade the stranger look out at a certain part of the heavens, at a certain hour of the clear night,

and he would behold the dead alive among the stars, whither Jupiter had transferred the good genius.

The wisest of the centaurs continued, nevertheless, in the service of mankind. In his hand he held a scroll, on

"I. Hearken to the singing of the brooks, and fear not the rain of the fountains; so will the Naiades learn to

"II. The invited breezes of Daphne are Zephyrus and Auster; gentle ministers of life, they will gather sweets

for thee; when Eurus blows, Diana is elsewhere hunting; when Boreas blusters, go hide, for Apollo is angry.

"III. The shades of the Grove are thine in the day; at night they belong to Pan and his Dryades. Disturb them

"IV. Eat of the Lotus by the brooksides sparingly, unless thou wouldst have surcease of memory, which is to

"VI. Wouldst thou behold the tears of Daphne, break but a bud from a laurel boughand die.

BenHur left the interpretation of the mystic notice to others fast enclosing him, and turned away as the

white bull was led by. The boy sat in the basket, followed by a procession; after them again, the woman with

the goats; and behind her the flute and tabret players, and another procession of giftbringers.

The goodness of the reader is again besought in favor of an explanation. A certain facility of accommodation

in the matter of religion comes to us after much intercourse with people of a different faith; gradually we

attain the truth that every creed is illustrated by good men who are entitled to our respect, but whom we

cannot respect without courtesy to their creed. To this point BenHur had arrived. Neither the years in Rome

nor those in the galley had made any impression upon his religious faith; he was yet a Jew. In his view,

nevertheless, it was not an impiety to look for the beautiful in the Grove of Daphne.

The remark does not interdict the further saying, if his scruples had been ever so extreme, not improbably he

would at this time have smothered them. He was angry; not as the irritable, from chafing of a trifle; nor was

his anger like the fool's, pumped from the wells of nothing, to be dissipated by a reproach or a curse; it was

the wrath peculiar to ardent natures rudely awakened by the sudden annihilation of a hopedream, if you

willin which the choicest happinesses were thought to be certainly in reach. In such case nothing

Let us follow the philosophy a little further, and say to ourselves, it were well in such quarrels if Fate were

something tangible, to be despatched with a look or a blow, or a speaking personage with whom high words

were possible; then the unhappy mortal would not always end the affair by punishing himself.

In ordinary mood, BenHur would not have come to the Grove alone, or, coming alone, he would have

availed himself of his position in the consul's family, and made provision against wandering idly about,

unknowing and unknown; he would have had all the points of interest in mind, and gone to them under

guidance, as in the despatch of business; or, wishing to squander days of leisure in the beautiful place, he

would have had in hand a letter to the master of it all, whoever he might be. This would have made him a

sightseer, like the shouting herd he was accompanying; whereas he had no reverence for the deities of the

Grove, nor curiosity; a man in the blindness of bitter disappointment, he was adrift, not waiting for Fate, but

Every one has known this condition of mind, though perhaps not all in the same degree; every one will

recognize it as the condition in which he has done brave things with apparent serenity; and every one reading

will say, Fortunate for BenHur if the folly which now catches him is but a friendly harlequin with whistle

BenHur entered the woods with the processions. He had not interest enough at first to ask where they were

going; yet, to relieve him from absolute indifference, he had a vague impression that they were in movement

to the temples, which were the central objects of the Grove, supreme in attractions.

Presently, as singers dreamfully play with a flitting chorus, he began repeating to himself, "Better be a worm,

and feed on the mulberries of Daphne, than a king's guest." Then of the much repetition arose questions

importunate of answer. Was life in the Grove so very sweet? Wherein was the charm? Did it lie in some

tangled depth of philosophy? Or was it something in fact, something on the surface, discernible to everyday

wakeful senses? Every year thousands, forswearing the world, gave themselves to service here. Did they find

the charm? And was it sufficient, when found, to induce forgetfulness profound enough to shut out of mind

the infinitely diverse things of life? those that sweeten and those that embitter? hopes hovering in the near

future as well as sorrows born of the past? If the Grove were so good for them, why should it not be good for

him? He was a Jew; could it be that the excellences were for all the world but children of Abraham?

Forthwith he bent all his faculties to the task of discovery, unmindful of the singing of the giftbringers and

In the quest, the sky yielded him nothing; it was blue, very blue, and full of twittering swallowsso was the

Further on, out of the woods at his right hand, a breeze poured across the road, splashing him with a wave of

sweet smells, blent of roses and consuming spices. He stopped, as did others, looking the way the breeze

"Rather some priestly ceremony in performancesomething to Diana, or Pan, or a deity of the woods."

BenHur was proceeding to further speech, when the crowd surged forward, thrusting him out on the side of

the walk next the woods, and carrying the stranger away. The customary gown and staff, a brown cloth on the

head tied by a yellow rope, and a strong Judean face to avouch the garments of honest right, remained in the

This took place at a point where a path into the woods began, offering a happy escape from the noisy

He walked first into a thicket which, from the road, appeared in a state of nature, close, impenetrable, a

nestingplace for wild birds. A few steps, however, gave him to see the master's hand even there. The shrubs

were flowering or fruitbearing; under the bending branches the ground was pranked with brightest blooms;

over them the jasmine stretched its delicate bonds. From lilac and rose, and lily and tulip, from oleander and

strawberrytree, all old friends in the gardens of the valleys about the city of David, the air, lingering or in

haste, loaded itself with exhalations day and night; and that nothing might be wanting to the happiness of the

nymphs and naiads, down through the flowerlighted shadows of the mass a brook went its course gently,

Out of the thicket, as he proceeded, on his right and left, issued the cry of the pigeon and the cooing of

turtledoves; blackbirds waited for him, and bided his coming close; a nightingale kept its place fearless,

though he passed in arm'slength; a quail ran before him at his feet, whistling to the brood she was leading,

and as he paused for them to get out of his way, a figure crawled from a bed of honeyed musk brilliant with

balls of golden blossoms. BenHur was startled. Had he, indeed, been permitted to see a satyr at home? The

creature looked up at him, and showed in its teeth a hooked pruningknife; he smiled at his own scare, and,

lo! the charm was evolved! Peace without fearpeace a universal conditionthat it was!

He sat upon the ground beneath a citrontree, which spread its gray roots sprawling to receive a branch of the

brook. The nest of a titmouse hung close to the bubbling water, and the tiny creature looked out of the door of

the nest into his eyes. "Verily, the bird is interpreting to me," he thought. "It says, 'I am not afraid of you, for

The charm of the Grove seemed plain to him; he was glad, and determined to render himself one of the lost in

Daphne. In charge of the flowers and shrubs, and watching the growth of all the dumb excellences

everywhere to be seen, could not he, like the man with the pruningknife in his mouth, forego the days of his

Love is delightfulah! how pleasant as a successor to wretchedness like his. But was it all there was of life?

There was an unlikeness between him and those who buried themselves contentedly here. They had no

"God of Israel!" he cried aloud, springing to his feet, with burning cheeks"Mother! Tirzah! Cursed be the

He hurried away through the thicket, and came to a stream flowing with the volume of a river between banks

of masonry, broken at intervals by gated sluiceways. A bridge carried the path he was traversing across the

stream; and, standing upon it, he saw other bridges, no two of them alike. Under him the water was lying in a

deep pool, clear as a shadow; down a little way it tumbled with a roar over rocks; then there was another

pool, and another cascade; and so on, out of view; and bridges and pools and resounding cascades said,

plainly as inarticulate things can tell a story, the river was running by permission of a master, exactly as the

Forward from the bridge he beheld a landscape of wide valleys and irregular heights, with groves and lakes

and fanciful houses linked together by white paths and shining streams. The valleys were spread below, that

the river might be poured upon them for refreshment in days of drought, and they were as green carpets

figured with beds and fields of flowers, and flecked with flocks of sheep white as balls of snow; and the

voices of shepherds following the flocks were heard afar. As if to tell him of the pious inscription of all he

beheld, the altars out under the open sky seemed countless, each with a whitegowned figure attending it,

while processions in white went slowly hither and thither between them; and the smoke of the altars

Here, there, happy in flight, intoxicated in pause, from object to object, point to point, now in the meadow,

now on the heights, now lingering to penetrate the groves and observe the processions, then lost in efforts to

pursue the paths and streams which trended mazily into dim perspectives to end finally in Ah, what might

be a fitting end to scene so beautiful! What adequate mysteries were hidden behind an introduction so

marvellous! Here and there, the speech was beginning, his gaze wandered, so he could not help the

conviction, forced by the view, and as the sum of it all, that there was peace in the air and on the earth, and

Suddenly a revelation dawned upon himthe Grove was, in fact, a templeone farreaching, wallless

The architect had not stopped to pother about columns and porticos, proportions or interiors, or any limitation

upon the epic he sought to materialize; he had simply made a servant of Natureart can go no further. So the

cunning son of Jupiter and Callisto built the old Arcadia; and in this, as in that, the genius was Greek.

He came to a flock of sheep. The shepherd was a girl, and she beckoned him, "Come!"

Farther on, the path was divided by an altara pedestal of black gneiss, capped with a slab of white marble

deftly foliated, and on that a brazier of bronze holding a fire. Close by it, a woman, seeing him, waved a

wand of willow, and as he passed called him, "Stay!" And the temptation in her smile was that of passionate

On yet further, he met one of the processions; at its head a troop of little girls, nude except as they were

covered with garlands, piped their shrill voices into a song; then a troop of boys, also nude, their bodies

deeply sunbrowned, came dancing to the song of the girls; behind them the procession, all women, bearing

baskets of spices and sweets to the altarswomen clad in simple robes, careless of exposure. As he went by

they held their hands to him, and said, "Stay, and go with us." One, a Greek, sang a verse from Anacreon:

"For today I take or give; For today I drink and live; For today I beg or borrow; Who knows about the

But he pursued his way indifferent, and came next to a grove luxuriant, in the heart of the vale at the point

where it would be most attractive to the observing eye. As it came close to the path he was travelling, there

was a seduction in its shade, and through the foliage he caught the shining of what appeared a pretentious

The grass was fresh and clean. The trees did not crowd each other; and they were of every kind native to the

East, blended well with strangers adopted from far quarters; here grouped in exclusive companionship

palmtrees plumed like queens; there sycamores, overtopping laurels of darker foliage; and evergreen oaks

rising verdantly, with cedars vast enough to be kings on Lebanon; and mulberries; and terebinths so beautiful

The statue proved to be a Daphne of wondrous beauty. Hardly, however, had he time to more than glance at

her face: at the base of the pedestal a girl and a youth were lying upon a tiger's skin asleep in each other's

arms; close by them the implements of their servicehis axe and sickle, her basketflung carelessly upon a

The exposure startled him. Back in the hush of the perfumed thicket he discovered, as he thought, that the

charm of the great Grove was peace without fear, and almost yielded to it; now, in this sleep in the day's

broad glarethis sleep at the feet of Daphnehe read a further chapter to which only the vaguest allusion is

For this a crafty priesthood subordinated natureher birds and brooks and lilies, the river, the labor of many

It would be pleasant now to record that as BenHur pursued his walk assailed by such reflections, he yielded

somewhat to sorrow for the votaries of the great outdoor temple; especially for those who, by personal

service, kept it in a state so surpassingly lovely. How they came to the condition was not any longer a

mystery; the motive, the influence, the inducement, were before him. Some there were, no doubt, caught by

the promise held out to their troubled spirits of endless peace in a consecrated abode, to the beauty of which,

if they had not money, they could contribute their labor; this class implied intellect peculiarly subject to hope

and fear; but the great body of the faithful could not be classed with such. Apollo's nets were wide, and their

meshes small; and hardly may one tell what all his fishermen landed: this less for that they cannot be

described than because they ought not to be. Enough that the mass were of the sybarites of the world, and of

the herds in number vaster and in degree lowerdevotees of the unmixed sensualism to which the East was

almost wholly given. Not to any of the exaltationsnot to the singinggod, or his unhappy mistress; not to

any philosophy requiring for its enjoyment the calm of retirement, nor to any service for the comfort there is

in religion, nor to love in its holier sensewere they abiding their vows. Good reader, why shall not the truth

be told here? Why not learn that, at this age, there were in all earth but two peoples capable of exaltations of

the kind referred tothose who lived by the law of Moses, and those who lived by the law of Brahma. They

Besides that, sympathy is in great degree a result of the mood we are in at the moment: anger forbids the

emotion. On the other hand, it is easiest taken on when we are in a state of most absolute selfsatisfaction.

BenHur walked with a quicker step, holding his head higher; and, while not less sensitive to the

delightfulness of all about him, he made his survey with calmer spirit, though sometimes with curling lip; that

is to say, he could not so soon forget how nearly he himself had been imposed upon.

In front of BenHur there was a forest of cypresstrees, each a column tall and straight as a mast. Venturing

into the shady precinct, he heard a trumpet gayly blown, and an instant after saw lying upon the grass close

by the countryman whom he had run upon in the road going to the temples. The man arose, and came to him.

"Good friend," said BenHur, frankly, "I admit my ignorance of the Grove; and if you will let me be your

"That will delight me. Hark! I hear the wheels of the chariots. They are taking the track."

BenHur listened a moment, then completed the introduction by laying his hand upon the man's arm, and

"Well, good Malluch, the trumpet, and the gride of wheels, and the prospect of diversion excite me. I have

some skill in the exercises. In the palaestrae of Rome I am not unknown. Let us to the course."

Malluch lingered to say, quickly, "The duumvir was a Roman, yet I see his son in the garments of a Jew."

Passing through the belt of forest, they came to a field with a track laid out upon it, in shape and extent

exactly like those of the stadia. The course, or track proper, was of soft earth, rolled and sprinkled, and on

both sides defined by ropes, stretched loosely upon upright javelins. For the accommodation of spectators,

and such as had interests reaching forward of the mere practise, there were several stands shaded by

substantial awnings, and provided with seats in rising rows. In one of the stands the two newcomers found

"I commend the fellows," he said, with goodwill. "Here in the East, I thought they aspired to nothing better

than the two; but they are ambitious, and play with royal fours. Let us study their performance."

Eight of the fours passed the stand, some walking, others on the trot, and all unexceptionably handled; then

"I have been in the stables of the emperor, Malluch, but, by our father Abraham of blessed memory! I never

The last four was then sweeping past. All at once they fell into confusion. Some one on the stand uttered a

sharp cry. BenHur turned, and saw an old man halfrisen from an upper seat, his hands clenched and raised,

his eyes fiercely bright, his long white beard fairly quivering. Some of the spectators nearest him began to

"A mighty man from the Desert, somewhere beyond Moab, and owner of camels in herds, and horses

descended, they say, from the racers of the first PharaohSheik Ilderim by name and title."

The driver meanwhile exerted himself to quiet the four, but without avail. Each ineffectual effort excited the

"Abaddon seize him!" yelled the patriarch, shrilly. "Run! fly! do you hear, my children?" The question was to

his attendants, apparently of the tribe. "Do you hear? They are Desertborn, like yourselves. Catch

"Accursed Roman!" and the sheik shook his fist at the driver. "Did he not swear he could drive themswear

it by all his brood of bastard Latin gods? Nay, hands off meoff, I say! They should run swift as eagles, and

with the temper of handbred lambs, he swore. Cursed be hecursed the mother of liars who calls him son!

See them, the priceless! Let him touch one of them with a lash, and"the rest of the sentence was lost in a

furious grinding of his teeth. "To their heads, some of you, and speak thema word, one is enough, from the

tentsong your mothers sang you. Oh, fool, fool that I was to put trust in a Roman!"

Some of the shrewder of the old man's friends planted themselves between him and the horses. An opportune

BenHur, thinking he comprehended the sheik, sympathized with him. Far more than mere pride of

propertymore than anxiety for the result of the racein his view it was within the possible for the

patriarch, according to his habits of thought and his ideas of the inestimable, to love such animals with a

They were all bright bays, unspotted, perfectly matched, and so proportioned as to seem less than they really

were. Delicate ears pointed small heads; the faces were broad and full between the eyes; the nostrils in

expansion disclosed membrane so deeply red as to suggest the flashing of flame; the necks were arches,

overlaid with fine mane so abundant as to drape the shoulders and breast, while in happy consonance the

forelocks were like ravellings of silken veils; between the knees and the fetlocks the legs were flat as an open

hand, but above the knees they were rounded with mighty muscles, needful to upbear the shapely closeknit

bodies; the hoofs were like cups of polished agate; and in rearing and plunging they whipped the air, and

sometimes the earth, with tails glossyblack and thick and long. The sheik spoke of them as the priceless, and

In this second and closer look at the horses, BenHur read the story of their relation to their master. They had

grown up under his eyes, objects of his special care in the day, his visions of pride in the night, with his

family at home in the black tent out on the shadeless bosom of the desert, as his children beloved. That they

might win him a triumph over the haughty and hated Roman, the old man had brought his loves to the city,

never doubting they would win, if only he could find a trusty expert to take them in hand; not merely one

with skill, but of a spirit which their spirits would acknowledge. Unlike the colder people of the West, he

could not protest the driver's inability, and dismiss him civilly; an Arab and a sheik, he had to explode, and

Before the patriarch was done with his expletives, a dozen hands were at the bits of the horses, and their quiet

assured. About that time, another chariot appeared upon the track; and, unlike the others, driver, vehicle, and

races were precisely as they would be presented in the Circus the day of final trial. For a reason which will

presently be more apparent, it is desirable now to give this turnout plainly to the reader.

There should be no difficulty in understanding the carriage known to us all as the chariot of classical renown.

One has but to picture to himself a dray with low wheels and broad axle, surmounted by a box open at the tail

end. Such was the primitive pattern. Artistic genius came along in time, and, touching the rude machine,

raised it into a thing of beautythat, for instance, in which Aurora, riding in advance of the dawn, is given to

The jockeys of the ancients, quite as shrewd and ambitious as their successors of the present, called their

humblest turnout a two, and their best in grade a four; in the latter, they contested the Olympics and the other

The same sharp gamesters preferred to put their horses to the chariot all abreast; and for distinction they

termed the two next the pole yokesteeds, and those on the right and left outside tracemates. It was their

judgment, also, that, by allowing the fullest freedom of action, the greatest speed was attainable; accordingly,

the harness resorted to was peculiarly simple; in fact, there was nothing of it save a collar round the animal's

neck, and a trace fixed to the collar, unless the lines and a halter fall within the term. Wanting to hitch up, the

masters pinned a narrow wooden yoke, or crosstree, near the end of the pole, and, by straps passed through

rings at the end of the yoke, buckled the latter to the collar. The traces of the yokesteeds they hitched to the

axle; those of the tracemates to the top rim of the chariotbed. There remained then but the adjustment of

the lines, which, judged by the modern devices, was not the least curious part of the method. For this there

was a large ring at the forward extremity of the pole; securing the ends to that ring first, they parted the lines

so as to give one to each horse, and proceeded to pass them to the driver, slipping them separately through

With this plain generalization in mind, all further desirable knowledge upon the subject can be had by

The other contestants had been received in silence; the last comer was more fortunate. While moving towards

the stand from which we are viewing the scene, his progress was signalized by loud demonstrations, by

clapping of hands and cheers, the effect of which was to centre attention upon him exclusively. His

yokesteeds, it was observed, were black, while the tracemates were snowwhite. In conformity to the

exacting canons of Roman taste, they had all four been mutilated; that is to say, their tails had been clipped,

and, to complete the barbarity, their shorn manes were divided into knots tied with flaring red and yellow

In advancing, the stranger at length reached a point where the chariot came into view from the stand, and its

appearance would of itself have justified the shouting. The wheels were very marvels of construction. Stout

bands of burnished bronze reinforced the hubs, otherwise very light; the spokes were sections of ivory tusks,

set in with the natural curve outward to perfect the dishing, considered important then as now; bronze tires

held the fellies, which were of shining ebony. The axle, in keeping with the wheels, was tipped with heads of

snarling tigers done in brass, and the bed was woven of willow wands gilded with gold.

The coming of the beautiful horses and resplendent chariot drew BenHur to look at the driver with increased

When BenHur asked himself the question first, he could not see the man's face, or even his full figure; yet

the air and manner were familiar, and pricked him keenly with a reminder of a period long gone.

Nearer now, and the horses approaching at a trot. From the shouting and the gorgeousness of the turnout, it

was thought he might be some official favorite or famous prince. Such an appearance was not inconsistent

with exalted rank. Kings often struggled for the crown of leaves which was the prize of victory. Nero and

Commodus, it will be remembered, devoted themselves to the chariot. BenHur arose and forced a passage

down nearly to the railing in front of the lower seat of the stand. His face was earnest, his manner eager.

And directly the whole person of the driver was in view. A companion rode with him, in classic description a

Myrtilus, permitted men of high estate indulging their passion for the racecourse. BenHur could see only

the driver, standing erect in the chariot, with the reins passed several times round his bodya handsome

figure, scantily covered by a tunic of lightred cloth; in the right hand a whip; in the other, the arm raised and

lightly extended, the four lines. The pose was exceedingly graceful and animated. The cheers and clapping of

hands were received with statuesque indifference. BenHur stood transfixedhis instinct and memory had

By the selection of horses, the magnificence of the chariot, the attitude, and display of personabove all, by

the expression of the cold, sharp, eagle features, imperialized in his countrymen by sway of the world through

so many generations, BenHur knew Messala unchanged, as haughty, confident, and audacious as ever, the

As BenHur descended the steps of the stand, an Arab arose upon the last one at the foot, and cried out,

"Men of the East and Westhearken! The good Sheik Ilderim giveth greeting. With four horses, sons of the

favorites of Solomon the Wise, he bath come up against the best. Needs he most a mighty man to drive them.

Whoso will take them to his satisfaction, to him he promiseth enrichment forever. Heretherein the city

and in the Circuses, and wherever the strong most do congregate, tell ye this his offer. So saith my master,

The proclamation awakened a great buzz among the people under the awning. By night it would be repeated

and discussed in all the sporting circles of Antioch. BenHur, hearing it, stopped and looked hesitatingly

from the herald to the sheik. Malluch thought he was about to accept the offer, but was relieved when he

The worthy replied, with a laugh, "Would you liken yourself to others visiting the Grove for the first time,

"My fortune, said you? Though the suggestion has in it a flavor of unbelief, let us to the goddess at once."

"Nay, son of Arrius, these Apollonians have a better trick than that. Instead of speech with a Pythia or a

Sibyl, they will sell you a plain papyrus leaf, hardly dry from the stalk, and bid you dip it in the water of a

certain fountain, when it will show you a verse in which you may hear of your future."

"There are people who have no need to vex themselves about their future," he said, gloomily.

"The Hellenes were masters of the beautiful in art; but in architecture they sacrificed variety to unbending

Malluch kept watch on his companion as they went, and saw that for the moment at least his good spirits

were out. To the people passing he gave no attention; over the wonders they came upon there were no

The truth was, the sight of Messala had set BenHur to thinking. It seemed scarce an hour ago that the strong

hands had torn him from his mother, scarce an hour ago that the Roman had put seal upon the gates of his

father's house. He recounted how, in the hopeless misery of the lifeif such it might be calledin the

galleys, he had had little else to do, aside from labor, than dream dreams of vengeance, in all of which

Messala was the principal. There might be, he used to say to himself, escape for Gratus, but for

Messalanever! And to strengthen and harden his resolution, he was accustomed to repeat over and over,

Who pointed us out to the persecutors? And when I begged him for helpnot for myselfwho mocked me,

and went away laughing? And always the dream had the same ending. The day I meet him, help me, thou

Perhaps, if he had found Messala poor and suffering, BenHur's feeling had been different; but it was not so.

He found him more than prosperous; in the prosperity there was a dash and glittergleam of sun on gilt of

So it happened that what Malluch accounted a passing loss of spirit was pondering when the meeting should

They turned after a while into an avenue of oaks, where the people were going and coming in groups;

footmen here, and horsemen; there women in litters borne slaves; and now and then chariots rolled by

At the end of the avenue the road, by an easy grade, descended into a lowland, where, on the right hand, there

was a precipitous facing of gray rock, and on the left an open meadow of vernal freshness. Then they came in

Edging through a company assembled at the point, BenHur beheld a jet of sweet water pouring from the

crest of a stone into a basin of black marble, where, after much boiling and foaming, it disappeared as

By the basin, under a small portico cut in the solid wall, sat a priest, old, bearded, wrinkled, cowlednever

being more perfectly eremitish. From the manner of the people present, hardly might one say which was the

attraction, the fountain, forever sparkling, or the priest, forever there. He heard, saw, was seen, but never

spoke. Occasionally a visitor extended a hand to him with a coin in it. With a cunning twinkle of the eyes, he

The receiver made haste to plunge the papyrus into the basin; then, holding the dripping leaf in the sunlight,

he would be rewarded with a versified inscription upon its face; and the fame of the fountain seldom suffered

loss by poverty of merit in the poetry. Before BenHur could test the oracle, some other visitors were seen

approaching across the meadow, and their appearance piqued the curiosity of the company, his not less than

He saw first a camel, very tall and very white, in leading of a driver on horseback. A houdah on the animal,

besides being unusually large, was of crimson and gold. Two other horsemen followed the camel with tall

"A cameland a white camel!" he said, authoritatively. "By Apollo, friends, they who come yonderyou

The camel seen at hand did not belie his appearance afar. A taller, statelier brute of his kind no traveller at the

fountain, though from the remotest parts, had ever beheld. Such great black eyes! such exceedingly fine white

hair! feet so contractile when raised, so soundless in planting, so broad when set!nobody had ever seen the

peer of this camel. And how well he became his housing of silk, and all its frippery of gold in fringe and gold

in tassel! The tinkling of silver bells went before him, and he moved lightly, as if unknowing of his burden.

If the former were a prince or a king, the philosophers of the crowd might not deny the impartiality of Time.

When they saw the thin, shrunken face buried under an immense turban, the skin of the hue of a mummy,

making it impossible to form an idea of his nationality, they were pleased to think the limit of life was for the

great as well as the small. They saw about his person nothing so enviable as the shawl which draped him.

The woman was seated in the manner of the East, amidst veils and laces of surpassing fineness. Above her

elbows she wore armlets fashioned like coiled asps, and linked to bracelets at the wrists by strands of gold;

otherwise the arms were bare and of singular natural grace, complemented with hands modelled daintily as a

child's. One of the hands rested upon the side of the carriage, showing tapered fingers glittering with rings,

and stained at the tips till they blushed like the pink of motherofpearl. She wore an open caul upon her

head, sprinkled with beads of coral, and strung with coinpieces called sunlets, some of which were carried

across her forehead, while others fell down her back, halfsmothered in the mass of her straight blueblack

hair, of itself an incomparable ornament, not needing the veil which covered it, except as a protection against

sun and dust. From her elevated seat she looked upon the people calmly, pleasantly, and apparently so intent

upon studying them as to be unconscious of the interest she herself was exciting; and, what was

unusualnay, in violent contravention of the custom among women of rank in publicshe looked at them

It was a fair face to see; quite youthful; in form, oval: complexion not white, like the Greek; nor brunet, like

the Roman; nor blond, like the Gaul; but rather the tinting of the sun of the Upper Nile upon a skin of such

transparency that the blood shone through it on cheek and brow with nigh the ruddiness of lamplight. The

eyes, naturally large, were touched along the lids with the black paint immemorial throughout the East. The

lips were slightly parted, disclosing, through their scarlet lake, teeth of glistening whiteness. To all these

excellences of countenance the reader is finally besought to superadd the air derived from the pose of a small

head, classic in shape, set upon a neck long, drooping, and gracefulthe air, we may fancy, happily

As if satisfied with the survey of people and locality, the fair creature spoke to the driveran Ethiopian of

vast brawn, naked to the waistwho led the camel nearer the fountain, and caused it to kneel; after which he

received from her hand a cup, and proceeded to fill it at the basin. That instant the sound of wheels and the

trampling of horses in rapid motion broke the silence her beauty had imposed, and, with a great outcry, the

"The Roman has a mind to ride us down. Look out!" Malluch shouted to BenHur, setting him at the same

The latter faced to the direction the sounds came from, and beheld Messala in his chariot pushing the four

The parting of the company uncovered the camel, which might have been more agile than his kind generally;

yet the hoofs were almost upon him, and he resting with closed eyes, chewing the endless cud with such

sense of security as long favoritism may be supposed to have bred in him. The Ethiopian wrung his hands

afraid. In the houdah, the old man moved to escape; but he was hampered with age, and could not, even in the

face of danger, forget the dignity which was plainly his habit. It was too late for the woman to save herself.

The patrician was laughing in hearty goodhumor; and, seeing there was but one chance of rescue, BenHur

stepped in, and caught the bits of the left yokesteed and his mate. "Dog of a Roman! Carest thou so little for

life?" he cried, putting forth all his strength. The two horses reared, and drew the others round; the tilting of

the pole tilted the chariot; Messala barely escaped a fall, while his complacent Myrtilus rolled back like a

clod to the ground. Seeing the peril past, all the bystanders burst into derisive laughter.

The matchless audacity of the Roman then manifested itself. Loosing the lines from his body, he tossed them

to one side, dismounted, walked round the camel, looked at BenHur, and spoke partly to the old man and

"Pardon, I pray youI pray you both. I am Messala," he said; "and, by the old Mother of the earth, I swear I

did not see you or your camel! As to these good peopleperhaps I trusted too much to my skill. I sought a

The goodnatured, careless look and gesture he threw the bystanders accorded well with the speech. To hear

what more he had to say, they became quiet. Assured of victory over the body of the offended, he signed his

companion to take the chariot to a safer distance, and addressed himself boldly to the woman.

"Thou hast interest in the good man here, whose pardon, if not granted now, I shall seek with the greater

"By Pallas, thou art beautiful! Beware Apollo mistake thee not for his lost love. I wonder what land can boast

herself thy mother. Turn not away. A truce! a truce! There is the sun of India in thine eyes; in the corners of

thy mouth, Egypt hath set her lovesigns. Perpol! Turn not to that slave, fair mistress, before proving

"Wilt thou come here?" she asked, smiling, and with gracious bend of the head to BenHur.

"Take the cup and fill it, I pray thee," she said to the latter. "My father is thirsty."

BenHur turned about to do the favor, and was face to face with Messala. Their glances met; the Jew's

"O stranger, beautiful as cruel!" Messala said, waving his hand to her. "If Apollo get thee not, thou shalt see

me again. Not knowing thy country, I cannot name a god to commend thee to; so, by all the gods, I will

Seeing that Myrtilus had the four composed and ready, he returned to the chariot. The woman looked after

him as he moved away, and whatever else there was in her look, there was no displeasure. Presently she

received the water; her father drank; then she raised the cup to her lips, and, leaning down, gave it to

Immediately the camel was aroused, and on his feet, and about to go, when the old man called,

"Thou hast served the stranger well today. There is but one God. In his holy name I thank thee. I am

Balthasar, the Egyptian. In the Great Orchard of Palms, beyond the village of Daphne, in the shade of the

palms, Sheik Ilderim the Generous abideth in his tents, and we are his guests. Seek us there. Thou shalt have

BenHur was left in wonder at the old man's clear voice and reverend manner. As he gazed after the two

departing, he caught sight of Messala going as he had come, joyous, indifferent, and with a mocking laugh.

As a rule, there is no surer way to the dislike of men than to behave well where they have behaved badly. In

this instance, happily, Malluch was an exception to the rule. The affair he had just witnessed raised BenHur

in his estimation, since he could not deny him courage and address; could he now get some insight into the

young man's history, the results of the day would not be all unprofitable to good master Simonides.

On the latter point, referring to what he had as yet learned, two facts comprehended it allthe subject of his

investigation was a Jew, and the adopted son of a famous Roman. Another conclusion which might be of

importance was beginning to formulate itself in the shrewd mind of the emissary; between Messala and the

son of the duumvir there was a connection of some kind. But what was it?and how could it be reduced to

assurance? With all his sounding, the ways and means of solution were not at call. In the heat of the

perplexity, BenHur himself came to his help. He laid his hand on Malluch's arm and drew him out of the

crowd, which was already going back to its interest in the gray old priest and the mystic fountain.

The question was abrupt and without direction, and therefore of the kind which leaves the person addressed

in a state of confusion. Malluch looked into BenHur's face for a hint of meaning, but saw, instead, two

brightred spots, one on each cheek, and in his eyes traces of what might have been repressed tears; then he

answered, mechanically, "No!" adding, with fervor, "never;" and a moment after, when he began to recover

himself, "If he is an Israelite, never!" And when at length he was completely recovered"My first lesson in

the synagogue was the Shema; my next was the saying of the son of Sirach, 'Honor thy father with thy whole

"The words bring my childhood back again; and, Malluch, they prove you a genuine Jew. I believe I can trust

BenHur let go the arm he was holding, and caught the folds of the gown covering his own breast, and

pressed them close, as if to smother a pain, or a feeling there as sharp as a pain.

"My father," he said, "bore a good name, and was not without honor in Jerusalem, where he dwelt. My

mother, at his death, was in the prime of womanhood; and it is not enough to say of her she was good and

beautiful: in her tongue was the law of kindness, and her works were the praise of all in the gates, and she

smiled at days to come. I had a little sister, and she and I were the family, and we were so happy that I, at

least, have never seen harm in the saying of the old rabbi, 'God could not be everywhere, and, therefore, he

made mothers.' One day an accident happened to a Roman in authority as he was riding past our house at the

head of a cohort; the legionaries burst the gate and rushed in and seized us. I have not seen my mother or

sister since. I cannot say they are dead or living. I do not know what became of them. But, Malluch, the man

in the chariot yonder was present at the separation; he gave us over to the captors; he heard my mother's

prayer for her children, and he laughed when they dragged her away. Hardly may one say which graves

"And, Malluch, he knows and takes with him now the secret I would give my life for: he could tell if she

lives, and where she is, and her condition; if sheno, THEYmuch sorrow has made the two as oneif

they are dead, he could tell where they died, and of what, and where their bones await my finding."

"But Romans have tongues, and Jews, though ever so despised, have methods to beguile them."

"For such as he? No; and, besides, the secret is one of state. All my father's property was confiscated and

Malluch nodded his head slowly, much as to admit the argument; then he asked anew, "Did he not recognize

"He could not. I was sent to death in life, and have been long since accounted of the dead."

"I wonder you did not strike him," said Malluch, yielding to a touch of passion.

"That would have been to put him past serving me forever. I would have had to kill him, and Death, you

The man who, with so much to avenge, could so calmly put such an opportunity aside must be confident of

his future or have ready some better design, and Malluch's interest changed with the thought; it ceased to be

that of an emissary in duty bound to another. BenHur was actually asserting a claim upon him for his own

sake. In other words, Malluch was preparing to serve him with good heart and from downright admiration.

"I would not take his life, good Malluch; against that extreme the possession of the secret is for the present, at

least, his safeguard; yet I may punish him, and so you give me help, I will try."

"He is a Roman," said Malluch, without hesitation; "and I am of the tribe of Judah. I will help you. If you

As their hands fell apart, BenHur said, with lightened feeling, "That I would charge you with is not difficult,

They took the road which led to the right across the meadow spoken of in the description of the coming to the

"Where is his Orchard of Palms? or, rather, Malluch, how far is it beyond the village of Daphne?"

Malluch was touched by a doubt; he recalled the prettiness of the favor shown him by the woman at the

fountain, and wondered if he who had the sorrows of a mother in mind was about to forget them for a lure of

love; yet he replied, "The Orchard of Palms lies beyond the village two hours by horse, and one by swift

"Thank you; and to your knowledge once more. Have the games of which you told me been widely

The questions were suggestive; and if they did not restore Malluch his confidence, they at least stimulated his

"Oh yes, they will be of ample splendor. The prefect is rich, and could afford to lose his place; yet, as is the

way with successful men, his love of riches is nowise diminished; and to gain a friend at court, if nothing

more, he must make ado for the Consul Maxentius, who is coming hither to make final preparations for a

campaign against the Parthians. The money there is in the preparations the citizens of Antioch know from

experience; so they have had permission to join the prefect in the honors intended for the great man. A month

ago heralds went to the four quarters to proclaim the opening of the Circus for the celebration. The name of

the prefect would be of itself good guarantee of variety and magnificence, particularly throughout the East;

but when to his promises Antioch joins hers, all the islands and the cities by the sea stand assured of the

extraordinary, and will be here in person or by their most famous professionals. The fees offered are royal."

"At Rome, you mean. Well, ours seats two hundred thousand people, yours seats seventyfive thousand

more; yours is of marble, so is ours; in arrangement they are exactly the same."

"If Antioch dared be original, son of Arrius, Rome would not be the mistress she is. The laws of the Circus

Maximus govern except in one particular: there but four chariots may start at once, here all start without

While replying, Malluch observed the thoughtful look on BenHur's face give place to one of satisfaction.

"Ah! your pardon," the other answered. "Tomorrowand the next day," he said, counting aloud, "then, to

speak in the Roman style, if the seagods be propitious, the consul arrives. Yes, the sixth day from this we

"The time is short, Malluch, but it is enough." The last words were spoken decisively. "By the prophets of our

old Israel! I will take to the reins again. Stay! a condition; is there assurance that Messala will be a

Malluch saw now the plan, and all its opportunities for the humiliation of the Roman; and he had not been

true descendant of Jacob if, with all his interest wakened, he had not rushed to a consideration of the chances.

"Fear not, my friend. The winners in the Circus Maximus have held their crowns these three years at my will.

Ask themask the best of themand they will tell you so. In the last great games the emperor himself

offered me his patronage if I would take his horses in hand and run them against the entries of the world."

"II am a Jew"BenHur seemed shrinking within himself as he spoke"and, though I wear a Roman

name, I dared not do professionally a thing to sully my father's name in the cloisters and courts of the

Temple. In the palaestrae I could indulge practise which, if followed into the Circus, would become an

abomination; and if I take to the course here, Malluch, I swear it will not be for the prize or the winner's fee."

"Holdswear not so!" cried Malluch. "The fee is ten thousand sestertiia fortune for life!"

"Not for me, though the prefect trebled it fifty times. Better than that, better than all the imperial revenues

from the first year of the first CaesarI will make this race to humble my enemy. Vengeance is permitted by

Malluch smiled and nodded as if saying, "Right, righttrust me a Jew to understand a Jew."

"The Messala will drive," he said, directly. "He is committed to the race in many waysby publication in the

streets, and in the baths and theaters, the palace and barracks; and, to fix him past retreat, his name is on the

"Yes, in wager; and every day he comes ostentatiously to practise, as you saw him."

"Ah! and that is the chariot, and those the horses, with which he will make the race? Thank you, thank you,

Malluch! You have served me well already. I am satisfied. Now be my guide to the Orchard of Palms, and

"I saw them from the stand an instant only, for Messala then drove up, and I might not look at anything else;

yet I recognized them as of the blood which is the wonder as well as the glory of the deserts. I never saw the

kind before, except in the stables of Caesar; but once seen, they are always to be known. Tomorrow, upon

meeting, I will know you, Malluch, though you do not so much as salute me; I will know you by your face,

by your form, by your manner; and by the same signs I will know them, and with the same certainty. If all

that is said of them be true, and I can bring their spirit under control of mine, I can"

"No," answered BenHur, as quickly. "I will do what better becomes a man born to the heritage of JacobI

will humble mine enemy in a most public place. But," he added, impatiently, "we are losing time. How can

"It is best we go straight to the village, which is fortunately near by; if two swift camels are to be had for hire

The village was an assemblage of palaces in beautiful gardens, interspersed with khans of princely sort.

Dromedaries were happily secured, and upon them the journey to the famous Orchard of Palms was begun.

Beyond the village the country was undulating and cultivated; in fact, it was the gardenland of Antioch,

with not a foot lost to labor. The steep faces of the hills were terraced; even the hedges were brighter of the

trailing vines which, besides the lure of shade, offered passersby sweet promises of wine to come, and

grapes in clustered purple ripeness. Over melonpatches, and through apricot and figtree groves, and groves

of oranges and limes, the whitewashed houses of the farmers were seen; and everywhere Plenty, the smiling

daughter of Peace, gave notice by her thousand signs that she was at home, making the generous traveller

merry at heart, until he was even disposed to give Rome her dues. Occasionally, also, views were had of

Taurus and Lebanon, between which, a separating line of silver, the Orontes placidly pursued its way.

In course of their journey the friends came to the river, which they followed with the windings of the road,

now over bold bluffs, and then into vales, all alike allotted for countryseats, and if the land was in full

foliage of oak and sycamore and myrtle, and bay and arbutus, and perfuming jasmine, the river was bright

with slanted sunlight, which would have slept where it fell but for ships in endless procession, gliding with

the current, tacking for the wind, or bounding under the impulse of oarssome coming, some going, and all

suggestive of the sea, and distant peoples, and famous places, and things coveted on account of their rarity.

To the fancy there is nothing so winsome as a white sail seaward blown, unless it be a white sail homeward

bound, its voyage happily done. And down the shore the friends went continuously till they came to a lake

fed by backwater from the river, clear, deep, and without current. An old palmtree dominated the angle of

the inlet; turning to the left at the foot of the tree, Malluch clapped his hands and shouted,

The scene was nowhere else to be found unless in the favored oases of Arabia or the Ptolemaean farms along

the Nile; and to sustain a sensation new as it was delightful, BenHur was admitted into a tract of land

apparently without limit and level as a floor. All under foot was fresh grass, in Syria the rarest and most

beautiful production of the soil; if he looked up, it was to see the sky paley blue through the groinery of

countless datebearers, very patriarchs of their kind, so numerous and old, and of such mighty girth, so tall,

so serried, so wide of branch, each branch so perfect with fronds, plumy and waxlike and brilliant, they

seemed enchanters enchanted. Here was the grass coloring the very atmosphere; there the lake, cool and

clear, rippling but a few feet under the surface, and helping the trees to their long life in old age. Did the

Grove of Daphne excel this one? And the palms, as if they knew BenHur's thought, and would win him after

a way of their own, seemed, as he passed under their arches, to stir and sprinkle him with dewy coolness.

The road wound in close parallelism with the shore of the lake; and when it carried the travellers down to the

water's edge, there was always on that side a shining expanse limited not far off by the opposite shore, on

"See that," said Malluch, pointing to a giant of the place. "Each ring upon its trunk marks a year of its life.

Count them from root to branch, and if the sheik tells you the grove was planted before the Seleucidae were

One may not look at a perfect palmtree but that, with a subtlety all its own, it assumes a presence for itself,

and makes a poet of the beholder. This is the explanation of the honors it has received, beginning with the

artists of the first kings, who could find no form in all the earth to serve them so well as a model for the

pillars of their palaces and temples; and for the same reason BenHur was moved to say,

"As I saw him at the stand today, good Malluch, Sheik Ilderim appeared to be a very common man. The

rabbis in Jerusalem would look down upon him, I fear, as a son of a dog of Edom. How came he in

possession of the Orchard? And how has he been able to hold it against the greed of Roman governors?"

"If blood derives excellence from time, son of Arrius, then is old Ilderim a man, though he be an

"All his fathers before him were sheiks. One of themI shall not say when he lived or did the good

deedonce helped a king who was being hunted with swords. The story says he loaned him a thousand

horsemen, who knew the paths of the wilderness and its hidingplaces as shepherds know the scant hills they

inhabit with their flocks; and they carried him here and there until the opportunity came, and then with their

spears they slew the enemy, and set him upon his throne again. And the king, it is said, remembered the

service, and brought the son of the Desert to this place, and bade him set up his tent and bring his family and

his herds, for the lake and trees, and all the land from the river to the nearest mountains, were his and his

children's forever. And they have never been disturbed in the possession. The rulers succeeding have found it

policy to keep good terms with the tribe, to whom the Lord has given increase of men and horses, and camels

and riches, making them masters of many highways between cities; so that it is with them any time they

please to say to commerce, 'Go in peace,' or 'Stop,' and what they say shall be done. Even the prefect in the

citadel overlooking Antioch thinks it happy day with him when Ilderim, surnamed the Generous on account

of good deeds done unto all manner of men, with his wives and children, and his trains of camels and horses,

and his belongings of sheik, moving as our fathers Abraham and Jacob moved, comes up to exchange briefly

"How is it, then?" said BenHur, who had been listening unmindful of the slow gait of the dromedaries. "I

saw the sheik tear his beard while he cursed himself that he had put trust in a Roman. Caesar, had he heard

"It would be but shrewd judgment," Malluch replied, smiling. "Ilderim is not a lover of Rome; he has a

grievance. Three years ago the Parthians rode across the road from Bozra to Damascus, and fell upon a

caravan laden, among other things, with the incoming taxreturns of a district over that way. They slew every

creature taken, which the censors in Rome could have forgiven if the imperial treasure had been spared and

forwarded. The farmers of the taxes, being chargeable with the loss, complained to Caesar, and Caesar held

Herod to payment, and Herod, on his part, seized property of Ilderim, whom he charged with treasonable

neglect of duty. The sheik appealed to Caesar, and Caesar has made him such answer as might be looked for

from the unwinking sphinx. The old man's heart has been aching sore ever since, and he nurses his wrath, and

"Well," said Malluch, "that involves another explanation, which I will give you, if we can draw nearer. But

The dromedaries stopped, and BenHur looked down upon some little girls of the Syrian peasant class, who

were offering him their baskets filled with dates. The fruit was freshly gathered, and not to be refused; he

stooped and took it, and as he did so a man in the tree by which they were halted cried, "Peace to you, and

Their thanks said to the children, the friends moved on at such gait as the animals chose.

"You must know," Malluch continued, pausing now and then to dispose of a date, "that the merchant

Simonides gives me his confidence, and sometimes flatters me by taking me into council; and as I attend him

at his house, I have made acquaintance with many of his friends, who, knowing my footing with the host, talk

to him freely in my presence. In that way I became somewhat intimate with Sheik IIderim."

For a moment BenHur's attention wandered. Before his mind's eye there arose the image, pure, gentle, and

appealing, of Esther, the merchant's daughter. Her dark eyes bright with the peculiar Jewish lustre met his in

modest gaze; he heard her step as when she approached him with the wine, and her voice as she tendered him

the cup; and he acknowledged to himself again all the sympathy she manifested for him, and manifested so

plainly that words were unnecessary, and so sweetly that words would have been but a detraction. The vision

"A few weeks ago," said Malluch, continuing, "the old Arab called on Simonides, and found me present. I

observed he seemed much moved about something, and, in deference, offered to withdraw, but he himself

forbade me. 'As you are an Israelite,' he said, 'stay, for I have a strange story to tell.' The emphasis on the

word Israelite excited my curiosity. I remained, and this is in substance his storyI cut it short because we

are drawing nigh the tent, and I leave the details to the good man himself. A good many years ago, three men

called at Ilderim's tent out in the wilderness. They were all foreigners, a Hindoo, a Greek, and an Egyptian;

and they had come on camels, the largest he had ever seen, and all white. He welcomed them, and gave them

rest. Next morning they arose and prayed a prayer new to the sheika prayer addressed to God and his

sonthis with much mystery besides. After breaking fast with him, the Egyptian told who they were, and

whence they had come. Each had seen a star, out of which a voice had bidden them go to Jerusalem and ask,

Where is he that is born King of the Jews?' They obeyed. From Jerusalem they were led by a star to

Bethlehem, where, in a cave, they found a child newly born, which they fell down and worshipped; and after

worshipping it, and giving it costly presents, and bearing witness of what it was, they took to their camels,

and fled without pause to the sheik, because if Herodmeaning him surnamed the Greatcould lay hands

upon them, he would certainly kill them. And, faithful to his habit, the sheik took care of them, and kept them

concealed for a year, when they departed, leaving with him gifts of great value, and each going a separate

"It is, indeed, a most wonderful story," BenHur exclaimed at its conclusion. "What did you say they were to

"Ilderim is a grave man, though excitable as all Arabs are. A lie on his tongue is impossible."

Malluch spoke positively. Thereupon the dromedaries were forgotten, and, quite as unmindful of their riders,

"Has Ilderim heard nothing more of the three men?" asked BenHur. "What became of them?"

"Ah, yes, that was the cause of his coming to Simonides the day of which I was speaking. Only the night

"He rode the same great white camel, and gave him the same nameBalthasar, the Egyptian."

"It is true," he said; "and the camel was the sameand you saved the man's life."

"And the woman," said BenHur, like one speaking to himself"the woman was his daughter."

He fell to thinking; and even the reader will say he was having a vision of the woman, and that it was more

"Tell me again," he said, presently. "Were the three to ask, 'Where is he that is to be King of the Jews?'"

"Not exactly. The words were BORN TO BE KING OF THE JEWS. Those were the words as the old sheik

caught them first in the desert, and he has ever since been waiting the coming of the king; nor can any one

"The old man is one of many millions," he said, slowly"one of many millions each with a wrong to

avenge; and this strange faith, Malluch, is bread and wine to his hope; for who but a Herod may be King of

the Jews while Rome endures? But, following the story, did you hear what Simonides said to him?"

"If Ilderim is a grave man, Simonides is a wise one," Malluch replied. "I listened, and he said But hark!

The noise grew louder, until presently they heard the rumble of wheels mixed with the beating of

horsehoofsa moment later Sheik I1derim himself appeared on horseback, followed by a train, among

which were the four winered Arabs drawing the chariot. The sheik's chin, in its muffling of long white

beard, was drooped upon his breast. Our friends had outtravelled him; but at sight of them he raised his head

"Peace to you!Ah, my friend Malluch! Welcome! And tell me you are not going, but just come; that you

have something for me from the good Simonidesmay the Lord of his fathers keep him in life for many

years to come! Ay, take up the straps, both of you, and follow me. I have bread and leben, or, if you prefer it,

They followed after him to the door of the tent, in which, when they were dismounted, he stood to receive

them, holding a platter with three cups filled with creamy liquor just drawn from a great smokestained skin

And when they were gone in, Malluch took the sheik aside, and spoke to him privately; after which he went

"I have told the sheik about you, and he will give you the trial of his horses in the morning. He is your friend.

Having done for you all I can, you must do the rest, and let me return to Antioch. There is one there who has

my promise to meet him tonight. I have no choice but to go. I will come back tomorrow prepared, if all

What time the lower horn of a new moon touched the castellated piles on Mount Sulpius, and two thirds of

the people of Antioch were out on their housetops comforting themselves with the night breeze when it

blew, and with fans when it failed, Simonides sat in the chair which had come to be a part of him, and from

the terrace looked down over the river, and his ships aswing at their moorings. The wall at his back cast its

shadow broadly over the water to the opposite shore. Above him the endless tramp upon the bridge went on.

Esther was holding a plate for him containing his frugal suppersome wheaten cakes, light as wafers, some

honey, and a bowl of milk, into which he now and then dipped the wafers after dipping them into the honey.

"Unless he has taken to the sea or the desert, and is yet following on, he will come."

"Not so, Esther. He would have despatched a letter when he found he could not return, and told me so;

Something in the utterance attracted his attention; it might have been the tone, it might have been the wish.

The smallest bird cannot light upon the greatest tree without sending a shock to its most distant fibre; every

"Because"she hesitated, then began again"because the young man is" The stop was full.

"And you still think I should not suffer him to go away without telling him to come, if he chooses, and take

usand all we have all, Estherthe goods, the shekels, the ships, the slaves, and the mighty credit, which

is a mantle of cloth of gold and finest silver spun for me by the greatest of the angels of menSuccess."

"Does that move you nothing? No?" he said, with the slightest taint of bitterness. "Well, well, I have found,

Esther, the worst reality is never unendurable when it comes out from behind the clouds through which we at

first see it darklynevernot even the rack. I suppose it will be so with death. And by that philosophy the

slavery to which we are going must afterwhile become sweet. It pleases me even now to think what a favored

man our master is. The fortune cost him nothingnot an anxiety, not a drop of sweat, not so much as a

thought; it attaches to him undreamed of, and in his youth. And, Esther, let me waste a little vanity with the

reflection; he gets what he could not go into the market and buy with all the pelf in a sumthee, my child,

"Say not so,". she said, when his hand fell from her neck. "Let us think better of him; he knows what sorrow

"Ah, thy instincts are fine, Esther; and thou knowest I lean upon them in doubtful cases where good or bad is

to be pronounced of a person standing before thee as he stood this morning. Butbut" his voice rose and

hardened"these limbs upon which I cannot standthis body drawn and beaten out of human shapethey

are not all I bring him of myself. Oh no, no! I bring him a soul which has triumphed over torture and Roman

malice keener than any tortureI bring him a mind which has eyes to see gold at a distance farther than the

ships of Solomon sailed, and power to bring it to handay, Esther, into my palm here for the fingers to grip

and keep lest it take wings at some other's worda mind skilled at scheming"he stopped and

laughed"Why, Esther, before the new moon which in the courts of the Temple on the Holy Hill they are

this moment celebrating passes into its next quartering I could ring the world so as to startle even Caesar; for

know you, child, I have that faculty which is better than any one sense, better than a perfect body, better than

courage and will, better than experience, ordinarily the best product of the longest livesthe faculty divinest

of men, but which"he stopped, and laughed again, not bitterly, but with real zest "but which even the

great do not sufficiently account, while with the herd it is a nonexistentthe faculty of drawing men to my

purpose and holding them faithfully to its achievement, by which, as against things to be done, I multiply

myself into hundreds and thousands. So the captains of my ships plough the seas, and bring me honest

returns; so Malluch follows the youth, our master, and will"just then a footstep was heard upon the

terrace"Ha, Esther! said I not so? He is hereand we will have tidings. For thy sake, sweet childmy

lily just buddedI pray the Lord God, who has not forgotten his wandering sheep of Israel, that they be good

and comforting. Now we will know if he will let thee go with all thy beauty, and me with all my faculties."

"Peace to you, good master," he said, with a low obeisance"and to you, Esther, most excellent of

He stood before them deferentially, and the attitude and the address left it difficult to define his relation to

them; the one was that of a servant, the other indicated the familiar and friend. On the other side, Simonides,

as was his habit in business, after answering the salutation went straight to the subject.

The events of the day were told quietly and in the simplest words, and until he was through there was no

interruption; nor did the listener in the chair so much as move a hand during the narration; but for his eyes,

wide open and bright, and an occasional longdrawn breath, he might have been accounted an effigy.

"Thank you, thank you, Malluch," he said, heartily, at the conclusion; "you have done wellno one could

"He has somewhere reamed to be prudent. I might call him distrustful. He baffled all my attempts upon his

confidence until we started from the Castalian fount going to the village of Daphne."

"I would say from curiosity, the first motive of the many who go; but, very strangely, he took no interest in

the things he saw. Of the Temple, he merely asked if it were Grecian. Good master, the young man has a

trouble of mind from which he would hide, and he went to the Grove, I think, as we go to sepulchres with our

"That were well, if so," Simonides said, in a low voice; then louder, "Malluch, the curse of the time is

prodigality. The poor make themselves poorer as apes of the rich, and the merely rich carry themselves like

princes. Saw you signs of the weakness in the youth? Did he display moneyscoin of Rome or Israel?"

"Surely, Malluch, where there are so many inducements to follyso much, I mean, to eat and drinksurely

he made you generous offer of some sort. His age, if nothing more, would warrant that much."

"In what he said or did, Malluch, could you in anywise detect his masteridea? You know they peep through

"Well, you know we nor speak nor act, much less decide grave questions concerning ourselves, except as we

"As to that, Master Simonides, I can answer with much assurance. He is devoted to finding his mother and

sisterthat first. Then he has a grievance against Rome; and as the Messala of whom I told you had

something to do with the wrong, the great present object is to humiliate him. The meeting at the fountain

"Ay; but, Malluch, his idea of vengeancewhat is its scope? Does he limit it to the few who did him the

wrong, or does he take in the many? And moreis his feeling but the vagary of a sensitive boy, or has it the

seasoning of suffering manhood to give it endurance? You know, Malluch, the vengeful thought that has root

merely in the mind is but a dream of idlest sort which one clear day will dissipate; while revenge the passion

is a disease of the heart which climbs up, up to the brain, and feeds itself on both alike."

In this question, Simonides for the first time showed signs of feeling; he spoke with rapid utterance, and with

clenched hands and the eagerness of a man illustrating the disease he described.

"Good my master," Malluch replied, "one of my reasons for believing the young man a Jew is the intensity of

his hate. It was plain to me he had himself under watch, as was natural, seeing how long he has lived in an

atmosphere of Roman jealousy; yet I saw it blazeonce when he wanted to know Ilderim's feeling towards

Rome, and again when I told him the story of the sheik and the wise man, and spoke of the question, 'Where

"Ah, Malluch, his wordsgive me his words; let me judge the impression the mystery made upon him."

"He wanted to know the exact words. Were they TO BE or BORN TO BE? It appeared he was struck by a

"Then," said Malluch, "I told him Ilderim's view of the mysterythat the king would come with the doom of

Rome. The young man's blood rose over his cheeks and forehead, and he said earnestly, 'Who but a Herod

Simonides gazed for a time at the ships and their shadows slowly swinging together in the river; when he

"Enough, Malluch," he said. "Get you to eat, and make ready to return to the Orchard of Palms; you must

help the young man in his coming trial. Come to me in the morning. I will send a letter to IIderim." Then in

When Malluch after the customary benediction given and received was gone, Simonides took a deep draught

"God is good to me, very good," he said, fervently. "His habit is to move in mystery, yet sometimes he

permits us to think we see and understand him. I am old, dear, and must go; but now, in this eleventh hour,

when my hope was beginning to die, he sends me this one with a promise, and I am lifted up. I see the way to

a great part in a circumstance itself so great that it shall be as a new birth to the whole world. And I see a

reason for the gift of my great riches, and the end for which they were designed. Verily, my child, I take hold

"The king has been born" he continued, imagining he was still speaking to her, "and he must be near the half

of common life. Balthasar says he was a child on his mother's lap when he saw him, and gave him presents

and worship; and Ilderim holds it was twentyseven years ago last December when Balthasar and his

companions came to his tent asking a hidingplace from Herod. Wherefore the coming cannot now be long

delayed. Tonighttomorrow it may be. Holy fathers of Israel, what happiness in the thought! I seem to

hear the crash of the falling of old walls and the clamor of a universal changeay, and for the uttermost joy

of men, the earth opens to take Rome in, and they look up and laugh and sing that she is not, while we are;"

then he laughed at himself. "Why, Esther, heard you ever the like? Surely, I have on me the passion of a

singer, the heat of blood and the thrill of Miriam and David. In my thoughts, which should be those of a plain

worker in figures and facts, there is a confusion of cymbals clashing and harpstrings loud beaten, and the

voices of a multitude standing around a newrisen throne. I will put the thinking by for the present; only,

dear, when the king comes he will need money and men, for as he was a child born of woman he will be but a

man after all, bound to human ways as you and I are. And for the money he will have need of getters and

keepers, and for the men leaders. There, there! See you not a broad road for my walking, and the running of

the youth our master?and at the end of it glory and revenge for us both?andand"he paused, struck

with the selfishness of a scheme in which she had no part or good result; then added, kissing her, "And

She sat still, saying nothing. Then he remembered the difference in natures, and the law by which we are not

permitted always to take delight in the same cause or be equally afraid of the same thing. He remembered she

"Of what are you thinking, Esther?" he said, in his common homelike way. "If the thought have the form of

a wish, give it me, little one, while the power remains mine. For power, you know, is a fretful thing, and hath

"Send for him, father. Send for him tonight, and do not let him go into the Circus."

"Ah!" he said, prolonging the exclamation; and again his eyes fell upon the river, where the shadows were

more shadowy than ever, since the moon had sunk far down behind Sulpius, leaving the city to the ineffectual

stars. Shall we say it, reader? He was touched by a twinge of jealousy. If she should really love the young

master! Oh no! That could not be; she was too young. But the idea had fast grip, and directly held him still

and cold. She was sixteen. He knew it well. On the last natal day he had gone with her to the shipyard where

there was a launch, and the yellow flag which the galley bore to its bridal with the waves had on it "Esther;"

so they celebrated the day together. Yet the fact struck him now with the force of a surprise. There are

realizations which come to us all painfully; mostly, however, such as pertain to ourselves; that we are

growing old, for instance; and, more terrible, that we must die. Such a one crept into his heart, shadowy as the

shadows, yet substantial enough to wring from him a sigh which was almost a groan. It was not sufficient that

she should enter upon her young womanhood a servant, but she must carry to her master her affections, the

truth and tenderness and delicacy of which he the father so well knew, because to this time they had all been

his own undividedly. The fiend whose task it is to torture us with fears and bitter thoughts seldom does his

work by halves. In the pang of the moment, the brave old man lost sight of his new scheme, and of the

miraculous king its subject. By a mighty effort, however, he controlled himself, and asked, calmly, "Not go

The tone of the inquiry was searching, and went to her heart, which began to beat loudlyso loudly she

"The young man is to have the fortune," he said, taking her hand, and speaking more tenderly; "he is to have

the ships and the shekelsall, Esther, all. Yet I did not feel poor, for thou wert left me, and thy love so like

"Speak, Esther. I will be the stronger of the knowledge. In warning there is strength."

"Comfort thee, father. I will never leave thee; though he take my love, I will be thy handmaid ever as now."

"And more," she said, continuing: "he is comely in my sight, and the pleading of his voice drew me to him,

and I shudder to think of him in danger. Yes, father, I would be more than glad to see him again. Still, the

love that is unrequited cannot be perfect love, wherefore I will wait a time, remembering I am thy daughter

"A very blessing of the Lord art thou, Esther! A blessing to keep me rich, though all else be lost. And by his

At his request, a little later, the servant came and rolled the chair into the room, where he sat for a time

thinking of the coming of the king, while she went off and slept the sleep of the innocent.

The palace across the river nearly opposite Simonides' place is said to have been completed by the famous

Epiphanes, and was all such a habitation can be imagined; though he was a builder whose taste ran to the

immense rather than the classical, now so calledan architectural imitator, in other words, of the Persians

The wall enclosing the whole island to the waters edge, and built for the double purpose of bulwark against

the river and defence against the mob, was said to have rendered the palace unfit for constant occupancy,

insomuch that the legates abandoned it and moved to another residence erected for them on the western ridge

of Mount Sulpius, under the Temple of Jupiter. Persons were not wanting, however, who flatly denied the bill

against the ancient abode. They said, with shrewdness at least, that the real object of the removal of the

legates was not a more healthful locality, but the assurance afforded them by the huge barracks, named,

according to the prevalent style, citadel, situated just over the way on the eastern ridge of the mount. And the

opinion had plausible showing. Among other pertinent things, it was remarked that the palace was kept in

perpetual readiness for use; and when a consul, general of the army, king, or visiting potentate of any kind

As we have to do with but one apartment in the old pile, the residue of it is left to the reader's fancy; and as

pleases him, he may go through its gardens, baths, halls, and labyrinth of rooms to the pavilions on the roof,

all furnished as became a house of fame in a city which was more nearly Milton's "gorgeous East" than any

At this age the apartment alluded to would be termed a saloon. It was quite spacious, floored with polished

marble slabs, and lighted in the day by skylights in which colored mica served as glass. The walls were

broken by Atlantes, no two of which were alike, but all supporting a cornice wrought with arabesques

exceedingly intricate in form, and more elegant on account of superadditions of colorblue, green, Tyrian

purple, and gold. Around the room ran a continuous divan of Indian silks and wool of Cashmere. The

furniture consisted of tables and stools of Egyptian patterns grotesquely carved. We have left Simonides in

his chair perfecting his scheme in aid of the miraculous king, whose coming he has decided is so close at

hand. Esther is asleep; and now, having crossed the river by the bridge, and made way through the

lionguarded gate and a number of Babylonian halls and courts, let us enter the gilded saloon.

There are five chandeliers hanging by sliding bronze chains from the ceilingone in each corner, and in the

centre oneenormous pyramids of lighted lamps, illuminating even the demoniac faces of the Atlantes and

the complex tracery of the cornice. About the tables, seated or standing, or moving restlessly from one to

another, there are probably a hundred persons, whom we must study at least for a moment.

They are all young, some of them little more than boys. That they are Italians and mostly Romans is past

doubt. They all speak Latin in purity, while each one appears in the indoor dress of the great capital on the

Tiber; that is, in tunics short of sleeve and skirt, a style of vesture well adapted to the climate of Antioch, and

especially comfortable in the too close atmosphere of the saloon. On the divan here and there togas and

lacernae lie where they have been carelessly tossed, some of them significantly bordered with purple. On the

divan also lie sleepers stretched at ease; whether they were overcome by the heat and fatigue of the sultry day

The hum of voices is loud and incessant. Sometimes there is an explosion of laughter, sometimes a burst of

rage or exultation; but over all prevails a sharp, prolonged rattle, at first somewhat confusing to the

nonfamiliar. If we approach the tables, however, the mystery solves itself. The company is at the favorite

games, draughts and dice, singly or together, and the rattle is merely of the tesserae, or ivory cubes, loudly

"Good Flavius," said a player, holding his piece in suspended movement, "thou seest yon lacerna; that one in

front of us on the divan. It is fresh from the shop, and hath a shoulderbuckle of gold broad as a palm."

"Well," said Flavius, intent upon his game, "I have seen such before; wherefore thine may not be old, yet, by

"Ha, ha! For something cheaper, I will find thee here several with purple who will take thy offer. But play."

Then each drew his tablets and stilus and made a memorandum; and, while they were resetting the pieces,

"A man who knows everything! Hercle! the oracles would die. What wouldst thou with such a monster?"

"I would have him tell me the hour Hour, said I?nay, the minute Maxentius will arrive tomorrow."

"Hast thou ever stood uncovered in the Syrian sun on the quay at which he will land? The fires of the Vesta

are not so hot; and, by the Stator of our father Romulus, I would die, if die I must, in Rome. Avernus is here;

there, in the square before the Forum, I could stand, and, with my hand raised thus, touch the floor of the

And they played again and again; and when day, stealing through the skylights, began to dim the lamps, it

found the two in the same places at the same table, still at the game. Like most of the company, they were

military attaches of the consul, awaiting his arrival and amusing themselves meantime.

During this conversation a party entered the room, and, unnoticed at first, proceeded to the central table. The

signs were that they had come from a revel just dismissed. Some of them kept their feet with difficulty.

Around the leader's brow was a chaplet which marked him master of the feast, if not the giver. The wine had

made no impression upon him unless to heighten his beauty, which was of the most manly Roman style; he

carried his head high raised; the blood flushed his lips and cheeks brightly; his eyes glittered; though the

manner in which, shrouded in a toga spotless white and of ample folds, he walked was too nearly imperial for

one sober and not a Caesar. In going to the table, he made room for himself and his followers with little

ceremony and no apologies; and when at length he stopped, and looked over it and at the players, they all

Those in distant quarters, hearing the cry, reechoed it where they were. Instantly there were dissolution of

Messala took the demonstration indifferently, and proceeded presently to show the ground of his popularity.

"A health to thee, Drusus, my friend," he said to the player next at his right; "a healthand thy tablets a

He raised the waxen boards, glanced at the memoranda of wagers, and tossed them down.

"Denarii, only denariicoin of cartmen and butchers!" he said, with a scornful laugh. "By the drunken

Semele, to what is Rome coming, when a Caesar sits o' nights waiting a turn of fortune to bring him but a

The scion of the Drusi reddened to his brows, but the bystanders broke in upon his reply by surging closer

"Men of the Tiber," Messala continued, wresting a box with the dice in it from a hand nearby, "who is he

most favored of the gods? A Roman. Who is he lawgiver of the nations? A Roman. Who is he, by sword

The company were of the easily inspired, and the thought was one to which they were born; in a twinkling

"Yetyet"he lingered to catch their ears"yet there is a better than the best of Rome."

"I will," he said, the next lull. "He who to the perfection of Rome hath added the perfection of the East; who

to the arm of conquest, which is Western, hath also the art needful to the enjoyment of dominion, which is

"Perpol! His best is a Roman, after all," some one shouted; and there was a great laugh, and long clapping of

"In the East" he continued, "we have no gods, only Wine, Women, and Fortune, and the greatest of them is

Fortune; wherefore our motto, 'Who dareth what I dare?'fit for the senate, fit for battle, fittest for him who,

His voice dropped into an easy, familiar tone, but without relaxing the ascendancy he had gained.

"In the great chest up in the citadel I have five talents coin current in the markets, and here are the receipts for

From his tunic he drew a roll of paper, and, flinging it on the table, continued, amidst breathless silence,

"The sum lies there the measure of what I dare. Who of you dares so much! You are silent. Is it too great? I

will strike off one talent. What! still silent? Come, then, throw me once for these three talentsonly three;

for two; for oneone at leastone for the honor of the river by which you were bornRome East against

"The Orontes against the Tiber!" he repeated, with an increase of scornful emphasis.

Not a man moved; then he flung the box upon the table and, laughing, took up the receipts.

"Ha, ha, ha! By the Olympian Jove, I know now ye have fortunes to make or to mend; therefore are ye come

"Here, Messala!" cried a man behind him; "here am I, perishing in the mob, and begging a drachma to settle

with the ragged ferryman. But, Pluto take me! these new ones have not so much as an obolus among them."

The sally provoked a burst of laughter, under which the saloon rang and rang again. Messala alone kept his

"Go, thou," he said to Cecilius, "to the chamber whence we came, and bid the servants bring the amphorae

here, and the cups and goblets. If these our countrymen, looking for fortune, have not purses, by the Syrian

"Ha, ha, my friend! Be thou not offended because I levelled the Caesar in thee down to the denarii. Thou

seest I did but use the name to try these fine fledglings of our old Rome. Come, my Drusus, come!" He took

up the box again and rattled the dice merrily. "Here, for what sum thou wilt, let us measure fortunes."

"By the Nymphae, yes!" he said, laughing. "I will throw with thee, Messalafor a denarius."

A very boyish person was looking over the table watching the scene. Suddenly Messala turned to him.

"Nay, by Castor! and his brother too! I meant not offence. It is a rule among men, in matters other than dice,

to keep the record closest when the deal is least. I have need of a clerk. Wilt thou serve me?"

The young fellow drew his tablets ready to keep the score: the manner was irresistible.

"Hold, Messala, hold!" cried Drusus. "I know not if it be ominous to stay the poised dice with a question; but

"Nay, my Drusus, Venus with her girdle off is Venus in love. To thy questionI will make the throw and

"Well, it is nothing," Drusus added, indifferently; "only, my Messala, Pollux was not more like Castor than

"Thou sayest right," a third exclaimed. "He is a Jew, or Momus lent his mother the wrong mask."

There was promise of a dispute; seeing which, Messala interposed. "The wine is not come, my Drusus; and,

as thou seest, I have the freckled Pythias as they were dogs in leash. As to Arrius, I will accept thy opinion of

"Well, be he Jew or Romanand, by the great god Pan, I say it not in disrespect of thy feelings, my

Messala!this Arrius is handsome and brave and shrewd. The emperor offered him favor and patronage,

which he refused. He came up through mystery, and keepeth distance as if he felt himself better or knew

himself worse than the rest of us. In the palaestrae he was unmatched; he played with the blueeyed giants

from the Rhine and the hornless bulls of Sarmatia as they were willow wisps. The duumvir left him vastly

rich. He has a passion for arms, and thinks of nothing but war. Maxentius admitted him into his family, and

he was to have taken ship with us, but we lost him at Ravenna. Nevertheless he arrived safely. We heard of

him this morning. Perpol! Instead of coming to the palace or going to the citadel, he dropped his baggage at

At the beginning of the speech Messala listened with polite indifference; as it proceeded, he became more

attentive; at the conclusion, he took his hand from the dicebox, and called out, "Ho, my Caius! Dost thou

A youth at his elbowhis Myrtilus, or comrade, in the day's chariot practiceanswered, much pleased with

"By the lovelocks of Bacchus, have I not a bruised shoulder to help me keep it in mind?" and he seconded

"Tell us more of himperpol!of him who is both Jew and Roman by Phoebus, a combination to make

"Hearest thou, Caius?" said Messala. "The fellow is youngone; he hath the visage of a Romantwo; he

loveth best the garb of a Jewthree; and in the palaestrae fame and fortune come of arms to throw a horse or

tilt a chariot, as the necessity may orderfour. And, Drusus, help thou my friend again. Doubtless this

Arrius hath tricks of language; otherwise he could not so confound himself, today a Jew, tomorrow a

"Art thou listening, Caius?" said Messala. "The fellow is qualified to salute a womanfor that matter

Aristomache herselfin the Greek; and as I keep the count, that is five. What sayest thou?"

"Thy pardon, Drususand pardon of allfor speaking in riddles thus," Messala said, in his winsome way.

"By all the decent gods, I would not strain thy courtesy to the point of breaking, but now help thou me.

See!"he put his hand on the dicebox again, laughing"See how close I hold the Pythias and their secret!

Thou didst speak, I think, of mystery in connection with the coming of the son of Arrius. Tell me of that."

"'Tis nothing, Messala, nothing," Drusus replied; "a child's story. When Arrius, the father, sailed in pursuit of

the pirates, he was without wife or family; he returned with a boyhim of whom we speakand next day

"Adopted him?" Messala repeated. "By the gods, Drusus, thou dost, indeed, interest me! Where did the

"Who shall answer thee that, Messala? who but the young Arrius himself? Perpol! in the fight the

duumvirthen but a tribunelost his galley. A returning vessel found him and one otherall of the crew

who survivedafloat upon the same plank. I give you now the story of the rescuers, which hath this

excellence at leastit hath never been contradicted. They say, the duumvir's companion on the plank was a

"When the two were lifted to the deck, the duumvir was in his tribune's armor, and the other in the vesture of

"A galley"he checked the debasing word, and looked around, for once in his life at loss. Just then a

procession of slaves filed into the room, some with great jars of wine, others with baskets of fruits and

confections, others again with cups and flagons, mostly silver. There was inspiration in the sight. Instantly

"Men of the Tiber," he said, in a clear voice, "let us turn this waiting for our chief into a feast of Bacchus.

Messala took the chaplet from his head, gave it to Drusus, who climbed upon the table, and, in the view of

"There came with me into the room," he said, "some friends just risen from table. That our feast may have the

approval of sacred custom, bring hither that one of them most overcome by wine."

And from the floor where he had fallen, a youth was brought forward, so effeminately beautiful he might

have passed for the drinkinggod himselfonly the crown would have dropped from his head, and the

Then addressing the limp figure, Messala said, amidst profound silence, "O Bacchus! greatest of the gods, be

thou propitious tonight. And for myself, and these thy votaries, I vow this chaplet"and from his head he

He bowed, replaced the crown upon his locks, then stooped and uncovered the dice, saying, with a laugh,

There was a shout that set the floor to quaking, and the grim Atlantes to dancing, and the orgies began.

Sheik Ilderim was a man of too much importance to go about with a small establishment. He had a reputation

to keep with his tribe, such as became a prince and patriarch of the greatest following in all the Desert east of

Syria; with the people of the cities he had another reputation, which was that of one of the richest personages

not a king in all the East; and, being rich in factin money as well as in servants, camels, horses, and flocks

of all kindshe took pleasure in a certain state, which, besides magnifying his dignity with strangers,

contributed to his personal pride and comfort. Wherefore the reader must not be misled by the frequent

reference to his tent in the Orchard of Palms. He had there really a respectable dowar; that is to say, he had

there three large tentsone for himself, one for visitors, one for his favorite wife and her women; and six or

eight lesser ones, occupied by his servants and such tribal retainers as he had chosen to bring with him as a

bodyguardstrong men of approved courage, and skillful with bow, spear, and horses.

To be sure, his property of whatever kind was in no danger at the Orchard; yet as the habits of a man go with

him to town not less than the country, and as it is never wise to slip the bands of discipline, the interior of the

dowar was devoted to his cows, camels, goats, and such property in general as might tempt a lion or a thief.

To do him full justice, Ilderim kept well all the customs of his people, abating none, not even the smallest; in

consequence his life at the Orchard was a continuation of his life in the Desert; nor that alone, it was a fair

reproduction of the old patriarchal modesthe genuine pastoral life of primitive Israel.

Recurring to the morning the caravan arrived at the Orchard"Here, plant it here," he said, stopping his

horse, and thrusting a spear into the ground. "Door to the south; the lake before it thus; and these, the children

At the last words he went to a group of three great palmtrees, and patted one of them as he would have

Who but the sheik could of right say to the caravan, Halt! or of the tent, Here be it pitched? The spear was

wrested from the ground, and over the wound it had riven in the sod the base of the first pillar of the tent was

planted, marking the centre of the front door. Then eight others were plantedin all, three rows of pillars,

three in a row. Then, at call, the women and children came, and unfolded the canvas from its packing on the

camels. Who might do this but the women? Had they not sheared the hair from the brown goats of the flock?

and twisted it into thread? and woven the thread into cloth? and stitched the cloth together, making the perfect

roof, darkbrown in fact, though in the distance black as the tents of Kedar? And, finally, with what jests and

laughter, and pulls altogether, the united following of the sheik stretched the canvas from pillar to pillar,

driving the stakes and fastening the cords as they went! And when the walls of open reed matting were put in

placethe finishingtouch to the building after the style of the Desertwith what hush of anxiety they

waited the good man's judgment! When he walked in and out, looking at the house in connection with the

sun, the trees, and the lake, and said, rubbing his hands with might of heartiness, "Well done! Make the

dowar now as ye well know, and tonight we will sweeten the bread with arrack, and the milk with honey,

and at every fire there shall be a kid. God with ye! Want of sweet water there shall not be, for the lake is our

well; neither shall the bearers of burden hunger, or the least of the flock, for here is green pasture also. God

And, shouting, the many happy went their ways then to pitch their own habitations. A few remained to

arrange the interior for the sheik; and of these the menservants hung a curtain to the central row of pillars,

making two apartments; the one on the right sacred to Ilderim himself, the other sacred to his horseshis

jewels of Solomonwhich they led in, and with kisses and lovetaps set at liberty. Against the middle pillar

they then erected the armsrack, and filled it with javelins and spears, and bows, arrows, and shields; outside

of them hanging the master's sword, modelled after the new moon; and the glitter of its blade rivalled the

glitter of the jewels bedded in its grip. Upon one end of the rack they hung the housings of the horses, gay

some of them as the livery of a king's servant, while on the other end they displayed the great man's wearing

apparelhis robes woollen and robes linen, his tunics and trousers, and many colored kerchiefs for the head.

Meantime the women drew out and set up the divan, more indispensable to him than the beard downflowing

over his breast, white as Aaron's. They put a frame together in shape of three sides of a square, the opening to

the door, and covered it with cushions and base curtains, and the cushions with a changeable spread striped

brown and yellow; at the corners they placed pillows and bolsters sacked in cloth blue and crimson; then

around the divan they laid a margin of carpet, and the inner space they carpeted as well; and when the carpet

was carried from the opening of the divan to the door of the tent, their work was done; whereupon they again

waited until the master said it was good. Nothing remained then but to bring and fill the jars with water, and

hang the skin bottles of arrack ready for the handtomorrow the leben. Nor might an Arab see why Ilderim

should not be both happy and generousin his tent by the lake of sweet waters, under the palms of the

Servants were already waiting the master's direction. One of them took off his sandals; another unlatched

BenHur's Roman shoes; then the two exchanged their dusty outer garments for fresh ones of white linen.

"Enterin God's name, enter, and take thy rest," said the host, heartily, in the dialect of the Marketplace of

A womanin the old time she would have been called a handmaidanswered, and dexterously piled the

pillows and bolsters as rests for the back; after which they sat upon the side of the divan, while water was

"We have a saying in the Desert," Ilderim began, gathering his beard, and combing it with his slender fingers,

"By that rule, good sheik, I will live a hundred years. I am a hungry wolf at thy door," BenHur replied.

"Well, thou shalt not be sent away like a wolf. I will give thee the best of the flocks."

"Seek the stranger in the guesttent, and say I, Ilderim, send him a prayer that his peace may be as incessant

"Say, also," Ilderim continued, "that I have returned with another for breaking of bread; and, if Balthasar the

wise careth to share the loaf, three may partake of it, and the portion of the birds be none the less."

Thereupon Ilderim settled himself upon the divan, as at this day merchants sit on their rugs in the bazaars of

Damascus; and when fairly at rest, he stopped combing his beard, and said, gravely, "That thou art my guest,

and hast drunk my leben, and art about to taste my salt, ought not to forbid a question: Who art thou?"

"Sheik Ilderim," said BenHur, calmly enduring his gaze, "I pray thee not to think me trifling with thy just

demand; but was there never a time in thy life when to answer such a question would have been a crime to

"By the splendor of Solomon, yes!" Ilderim answered. "Betrayal of self is at times as base as the betrayal of a

"Never answer became thee better. Now I know thou cost but seek assurance to justify the trust I have come

to ask, and that such assurance is of more interest to thee than the affairs of my poor life."

"So it please thee then," he said, "first, I am not a Roman, as the name given thee as mine implieth."

Ilderim clasped the beard overflowing his breast, and gazed at the speaker with eyes faintly twinkling through

"In the next place," BenHur continued, "I am an Israelite of the tribe of Judah."

"Nor that merely. Sheik, I am a Jew with a grievance against Rome compared with which thine is not more

The old man combed his beard with nervous haste, and let fall his brows until even the twinkle of the eyes

"Still further: I swear to thee, Sheik IlderimI swear by the covenant the Lord made with my fathersso

thou but give me the revenge I seek, the money and the glory of the race shall be thine."

Ilderim's brows relaxed; his head arose; his face began to beam; and it was almost possible to see the

"Enough!" he said. "If at the roots of thy tongue there is a lie in coil, Solomon himself had not been safe

against thee. That thou art not a Romanthat as a Jew thou hast a grievance against Rome, and revenge to

compass, I believe; and on that score enough. But as to thy skill. What experience hast thou in racing with

chariots? And the horsescanst thou make them creatures of thy will?to know thee? to come at call? to

go, if thou sayest it, to the last extreme of breath and strength? and then, in the perishing moment, out of the

depths of thy life thrill them to one exertion the mightiest of all? The gift, my son, is not to every one. Ah, by

the splendor of God! I knew a king who governed millions of men, their perfect master, but could not win the

respect of a horse. Mark! I speak not of the dull brutes whose round it is to slave for slavesthe debased in

blood and imagethe dead in spirit; but of such as mine herethe kings of their kind; of a lineage reaching

back to the broods of the first Pharaoh; my comrades and friends, dwellers in tents, whom long association

with me has brought up to my plane; who to their instincts have added our wits and to their senses joined our

souls, until they feel all we know of ambition, love, hate, and contempt; in war, heroes; in trust, faithful as

The man drew aside part of the division curtain of the tent, exposing to view a group of horses, who lingered

"Come!" Ilderim said to them. "Why stand ye there? What have I that is not yours? Come, I say!"

"Son of Israel," the master said, "thy Moses was a mighty man, butha, ha ha!I must laugh when I think

of his allowing thy fathers the plodding ox and the dull, slownatured ass, and forbidding them property in

horses. Ha, ha, ha! Thinkest thou he would have done so had he seen that oneand thatand this?" At the

word he laid his hand upon the face of the first to reach him, and patted it with infinite pride and tenderness.

"It is a misjudgment, sheik, a misjudgment," BenHur said, warmly. "Moses was a warrior as well as a

lawgiver beloved by God; and to follow warah, what is it but to love all its creaturesthese among the

A head of exquisite turnwith large eyes, soft as a deer's, and half hidden by the dense forelock, and small

ears, sharppointed and sloped well forwardapproached then quite to his breast, the nostrils open, and the

upper lip in motion. "Who are you?" it asked, plainly as ever man spoke. BenHur recognized one of the four

racers he had seen on the course, and gave his open hand to the beautiful brute.

"They will tell you, the blasphemers!may their days shorten as they grow fewer!"the sheik spoke with

the feeling of a man repelling a personal defamation"they will tell you, I say, that our horses of the best

blood are derived from the Nesaean pastures of Persia. God gave the first Arab a measureless waste of sand,

with some treeless mountains, and here and there a well of bitter waters; and said to him, 'Behold thy

country!' And when the poor man complained, the Mighty One pitied him, and said again, 'Be of cheer! for I

will twice bless thee above other men.' The Arab heard, and gave thanks, and with faith set out to find the

blessings. He travelled all the boundaries first, and failed; then he made a path into the desert, and went on

and onand in the heart of the waste there was an island of green very beautiful to see; and in the heart of

the island, lo! a herd of camels, and another of horses! He took them joyfully and kept them with care for

what they werebest gifts of God. And from that green isle went forth all the horses of the earth; even to the

pastures of Nesaea they went; and northward to the dreadful vales perpetually threshed by blasts from the Sea

of Chill Winds. Doubt not the story; or if thou dost, may never amulet have charm for an Arab again. Nay, I

While waiting, the sheik played with the horses, patting their cheeks, combing their forelocks with his

fingers, giving each one a token of remembrance. Presently six men appeared with chests of cedar reinforced

"Nay," said Ilderim, when they were all set down by the divan, "I meant not all of them; only the records of

The chest was opened, disclosing a mass of ivory tablets strung on rings of silver wire; and as the tablets were

"I know," said Ilderim, taking some of the rings in his hand"I know with what care and zeal, my son, the

scribes of the Temple in the Holy City keep the names of the newly born, that every son of Israel may trace

his line of ancestry to its beginning, though it antedate the patriarchs. My fathersmay the recollection of

them be green forever!did not think it sinful to borrow the idea, and apply it to their dumb servants. See

BenHur took the rings, and separating the tablets saw they bore rude hieroglyphs in Arabic, burned on the

"Know thou, then, each tablet records the name of a foal of the pure blood born to my fathers through the

hundreds of years passed; and also the names of sire and dam. Take them, and note their age, that thou mayst

"In the chest there, I can tell thee now, I have the perfect history; perfect because certified as history seldom

isshowing of what stock all these are sprungthis one, and that now supplicating thy notice and caress;

and as they come to us here, their sires, even the furthest removed in time, came to my sires, under a

tentroof like this of mine, to eat their measure of barley from the open hand, and be talked to as children;

and as children kiss the thanks they have not speech to express. And now, O son of Israel, thou mayst believe

my declarationif I am a lord of the Desert, behold my ministers! Take them from me, and I become as a

sick man left by the caravan to die. Thanks to them, age hath not diminished the terror of me on the highways

between cities; and it will not while I have strength to go with them. Ha, ha, ha! I could tell thee marvels done

by their ancestors. In a favoring time I may do so; for the present, enough that they were never overtaken in

retreat; nor, by the sword of Solomon, did they ever fail in pursuit! That, mark you, on the sands and under

saddle; but nowI do not knowI am afraid, for they are under yoke the first time, and the conditions of

success are so many. They have the pride and the speed and the endurance. If I find them a master, they will

win. Son of Israel! so thou art the man, I swear it shall be a happy day that brought thee thither. Of thyself

"I know now," said BenHur, "why it is that in the love of an Arab his horse is next to his children; and I

know, also, why the Arab horses are the best in the world; but, good sheik, I would not have you judge me by

words alone; for, as you know, all promises of men sometimes fail. Give me the trial first on some plain

"A moment, good sheik, a moment!" said BenHur. "Let me say further. From the masters in Rome I learned

many lessons, little thinking they would serve me in a time like this. I tell thee these thy sons of the Desert,

though they have separately the speed of eagles and the endurance of lions, will fail if they are not trained to

run together under the yoke. For bethink thee, sheik, in every four there is one the slowest and one the

swiftest; and while the race is always to the slowest, the trouble is always with the swiftest. It was so today;

the driver could not reduce the best to harmonious action with the poorest. My trial may have no better result;

but if so, I will tell thee of it: that I swear. Wherefore, in the same spirit I say, can I get them to run together,

moved by my will, the four as one, thou shalt have the sestertii and the crown, and I my revenge. What sayest

Ilderim listened, combing his beard the while. At the end he said, with a laugh, "I think better of thee, son of

Israel. We have a saying in the Desert, 'If you will cook the meal with words, I will promise an ocean of

"The supperit is here! and yonder my friend Balthasar, whom thou shalt know. He hath a story to tell

If the reader will return now to the repast of the wise men at their meeting in the desert, he will understand

the preparations for the supper in Ilderim's tent. The differences were chiefly such as were incident to ampler

Three rugs were spread on the carpet within the space so nearly enclosed by the divan; a table not more than a

foot in height was brought and set within the same place, and covered with a cloth. Off to one side a portable

earthenware oven was established under the presidency of a woman whose duty it was to keep the company

in bread, or, more precisely, in hot cakes of flour from the handmills grinding with constant sound in a

Meanwhile Balthasar was conducted to the divan, where Ilderim and BenHur received him standing. A

loose black gown covered his person; his step was feeble, and his whole movement slow and cautious,

The Egyptian raised his head and replied, "And to thee, good sheikto thee and thine, peace and the blessing

The manner was gentle and devout, and impressed BenHur with a feeling of awe; besides which the

blessing included in the answering salutation had been partly addressed to him, and while that part was being

spoken, the eyes of the aged guest, hollow yet luminous, rested upon his face long enough to stir an emotion

new and mysterious, and so strong that he again and again during the repast scanned the much wrinkled and

bloodless face for its meaning; but always there was the expression bland, placid, and trustful as a child's. A

"This is he, O Balthasar," said the sheik, laying his hand on BenHur's arm, "who will break bread with us

The Egyptian glanced at the young man, and looked again surprised and doubting; seeing which the sheik

continued, "I have promised him my horses for trial tomorrow; and if all goes well, he will drive them in the

"He came well recommended," Ilderim pursued, much puzzled. "You may know him as the son of Arrius,

who was a noble Roman sailor, though"the sheik hesitated, then resumed, with a laugh"though he

declares himself an Israelite of the tribe of Judah; and, by the splendor of God, I believe that he tells me!"

"Today, O most generous sheik, my life was in peril, and would have been lost had not a youth, the

counterpart of this oneif, indeed, he be not the very sameintervened when all others fled, and saved me."

"I cannot answer so far," BenHur replied, with modest deference. "I am he who stopped the horses of the

insolent Roman when they were rushing upon thy camel at the Fountain of Castalia. Thy daughter left a cup

"The Lord sent thee to me at the Fountain today," he said, in a tremulous voice, stretching his hand towards

BenHur; "and he sends thee to me now. I give him thanks; and praise him thou, for of his favor I have

BenHur took back the gift, and Balthasar, seeing the inquiry upon Ilderim's face, related the occurrence at

"What!" said the sheik to BenHur. "Thou saidst nothing of this to me, when better recommendation thou

couldst not have brought. Am I not an Arab, and sheik of my tribe of tens of thousands? And is not he my

guest? And is it not in my guestbond that the good or evil thou dost him is good or evil done to me? Whither

"Good sheik, spare me, I pray. I came not for reward, great or small; and that I may be acquitted of the

thought, I say the help I gave this excellent man would have been given as well to thy humblest servant."

"But he is my friend, my guestnot my servant; and seest thou not in the difference the favor of Fortune?"

Then to Balthasar the sheik subjoined, "Ah, by the splendor of God! I tell thee again he is not a Roman."

With that he turned away, and gave attention to the servants, whose preparations for the supper were about

The reader who recollects the history of Balthasar as given by himself at the meeting in the desert will

understand the effect of BenHur's assertion of disinterestedness upon that worthy. In his devotion to men

there had been, it will be remembered, no distinctions; while the redemption which had been promised him in

the way of rewardthe redemption for which he was waitingwas universal. To him, therefore, the

assertion sounded somewhat like an echo of himself. He took a step nearer BenHur, and spoke to him in the

BenHur gave his arm to Balthasar, and conducted him to the table, where shortly they were all seated on

their rugs Eastern fashion. The lavers were brought them, and they washed and dried their hands; then the

sheik made a sign, the servants stopped, and the voice of the Egyptian arose tremulous with holy feeling.

"Father of AllGod! What we have is of thee; take our thanks, and bless us, that we may continue to do thy

It was the grace the good man had said simultaneously with his brethren Gaspar the Greek and Melchior the

Hindoo, the utterance in diverse tongues out of which had come the miracle attesting the Divine Presence at

The table to which they immediately addressed themselves was, as may be thought, rich in the substantials

and delicacies favorite in the Eastin cakes hot from the oven, vegetables from the gardens, meats singly,

compounds of meats and vegetables, milk of kine, and honey and butterall eaten or drunk, it should be

remarked, without any of the modern accessoriesknives, forks, spoons, cups, or plates; and in this part of

the repast but little was said, for they were hungry. But when the dessert was in course it was otherwise. They

laved their hands again, had the lapcloths shaken out, and with a renewed table and the sharp edge of their

With such a companyan Arab, a Jew, and an Egyptian, all believers alike in one Godthere could be at

that age but one subject of conversation; and of the three, which should be speaker but he to whom the Deity

had been so nearly a personal appearance, who had seen him in a star, had heard his voice in direction, had

been led so far and so miraculously by his Spirit? And of what should he talk but that of which he had been

The shadows cast over the Orchard of Palms by the mountains at set of sun left no sweet margin time of

violet sky and drowsing earth between the day and night. The latter came early and swift; and against its

glooming in the tent this evening the servants brought four candlesticks of brass, and set them by the corners

of the table. To each candlestick there were four branches, and on each branch a lighted silver lamp and a

supply cup of oliveoil. In light ample, even brilliant, the group at dessert continued their conversation,

speaking in the Syriac dialect, familiar to all peoples in that part of the world.

The Egyptian told his story of the meeting of the three in the desert, and agreed with the sheik that it was in

December, twentyseven years before, when he and his companions fleeing from Herod arrived at the tent

praying shelter. The narrative was heard with intense interest; even the servants lingering when they could to

catch its details. BenHur received it as became a man listening to a revelation of deep concern to all

humanity, and to none of more concern than the people of Israel. In his mind, as we shall presently see, there

was crystallizing an idea which was to change his course of life, if not absorb it absolutely.

As the recital proceeded, the impression made by Balthasar upon the young Jew increased; at its conclusion,

his feeling was too profound to permit a doubt of its truth; indeed, there was nothing left him desirable in the

connection but assurances, if such were to be had, pertaining exclusively to the consequences of the amazing

And now there is wanting an explanation which the very discerning may have heretofore demanded; certainly

it can be no longer delayed. Our tale begins, in point of date not less than fact, to trench close upon the

opening of the ministry of the Son of Mary, whom we have seen but once since this same Balthasar left him

worshipfully in his mother's lap in the cave by Bethlehem. Henceforth to the end the mysterious Child will be

a subject of continual reference; and slowly though surely the current of events with which we are dealing

will bring us nearer and nearer to him, until finally we see him a manwe would like, if armed contrariety of

opinion would permit it, to addA MAN WHOM THE WORLD COULD NOT DO WITHOUT. Of this

declaration, apparently so simple, a shrewd mind inspired by faith will make muchand in welcome. Before

his time, and since, there have been men indispensable to particular people and periods; but his

indispensability was to the whole race, and for all timea respect in which it is unique, solitary, divine.

To Sheik Ilderim the story was not new. He had heard it from the three wise men together under

circumstances which left no room for doubt; he had acted upon it seriously, for the helping a fugitive escape

from the anger of the first Herod was dangerous. Now one of the three sat at his table again, a welcome guest

and revered friend. Sheik IIderim certainly believed the story; yet, in the nature of things, its mighty central

fact could not come home to him with the force and absorbing effect it came to BenHur. He was an Arab,

whose interest in the consequences was but general; on the other hand, BenHur was an Israelite and a Jew,

with more than a special interest inif the ~solecism can be pardonedthe truth of the fact. He laid hold of

From his cradle, let it be remembered, he had heard of the Messiah; at the colleges he had been made familiar

with all that was known of that Being at once the hope, the fear, and the peculiar glory of the chosen people;

the prophets from the first to the last of the heroic line foretold him; and the coming had been, and yet was,

the theme of endless exposition with the rabbisin the synagogues, in the schools, in the Temple, of

fastdays and feastdays, in public and in private, the national teachers expounded and kept expounding until

all the children of Abraham, wherever their lots were cast, bore the Messiah in expectation, and by it literally,

Doubtless, it will be understood from this that there was much argument among the Jews themselves about

the Messiah, and so there was; but the disputation was all limited to one point, and one onlywhen would he

Disquisition is for the preacher; whereas the writer is but telling a tale, and that he may not lose his character,

the explanation he is making requires notice merely of a point connected with the Messiah about which the

unanimity among the chosen people was matter of marvellous astonishment: he was to be, when come, the

KING OF THE JEWStheir political King, their Caesar. By their instrumentality he was to make armed

conquest of the earth, and then, for their profit and in the name of God, hold it down forever. On this faith,

dear reader, the Pharisees or Separatiststhe latter being rather a political termin the cloisters and around

the altars of the Temple, built an edifice of hope far overtopping the dream of the Macedonian. His but

covered the earth; theirs covered the earth and filled the skies; that is to say, in their bold, boundless fantasy

of blasphemous egotism, God the Almighty was in effect to suffer them for their uses to nail him by the ear to

Returning directly to BenHur, it is to be observed now that there were two circumstances in his life the

result of which had been to keep him in a state comparatively free from the influence and hard effects of the

In the first place, his father followed the faith of the Sadducees, who may, in a general way, be termed the

Liberals of their time. They had some loose opinions in denial of the soul. They were strict constructionists

and rigorous observers of the Law as found in the books of Moses; but they held the vast mass of Rabbinical

addenda to those books in derisive contempt. They were unquestionably a sect, yet their religion was more a

philosophy than a creed; they did not deny themselves the enjoyments of life, and saw many admirable

methods and productions among the Gentile divisions of the race. In politics they were the active opposition

of the Separatists. In the natural order of things, these circumstances and conditions, opinions and

peculiarities, would have descended to the son as certainly and really as any portion of his father's estate; and,

as we have seen, he was actually in course of acquiring them, when the second saving event overtook him.

Upon a youth of BenHur's mind and temperament the influence of five years of affluent life in Rome can be

appreciated best by recalling that the great city was then, in fact, the meetingplace of the nationstheir

meetingplace politically and commercially, as well as for the indulgence of pleasure without restraint.

Round and round the golden milestone in front of the Forumnow in gloom of eclipse, now in

unapproachable splendorflowed all the active currents of humanity. If excellences of manner, refinements

of society, attainments of intellect, and glory of achievement made no impression upon him, how could he, as

the son of Arrius, pass day after day, through a period so long, from the beautiful villa near Misenum into the

receptions of Caesar, and be wholly uninfluenced by what he saw there of kings, princes, ambassadors,

hostages, and delegates, suitors all of them from every known land, waiting humbly the yes or no which was

to make or unmake them? As mere assemblages, to be sure, there was nothing to compare with the gatherings

at Jerusalem in celebration of the Passover; yet when he sat under the purple velaria of the Circus Maximus

one of three hundred and fifty thousand spectators, he must have been visited by the thought that possibly

there might be some branches of the family of man worthy divine consideration, if not mercy, though they

were of the uncircumcisedsome, by their sorrows, and, yet worse, by their hopelessness in the midst of

That he should have had such a thought under such circumstances was but natural; we think so much, at least,

will be admitted: but when the reflection came to him, and he gave himself up to it, he could not have been

blind to a certain distinction. The wretchedness of the masses, and their hopeless condition, had no relation

whatever to religion; their murmurs and groans were not against their gods or for want of gods. In the

oakwoods of Britain the Druids held their followers; Odin and Freya maintained their godships in Gaul and

Germany and among the Hyperboreans; Egypt was satisfied with her crocodiles and Anubis; the Persians

were yet devoted to Ormuzd and Ahriman, holding them in equal honor; in hope of the Nirvana, the Hindoos

moved on patient as ever in the rayless paths of Brahm; the beautiful Greek mind, in pauses of philosophy,

still sang the heroic gods of Homer; while in Rome nothing was so common and cheap as gods. According to

whim, the masters of the world, because they were masters, carried their worship and offerings indifferently

from altar to altar, delighted in the pandemonium they had erected. Their discontent, if they were

discontented, was with the number of gods; for, after borrowing all the divinities of the earth they proceeded

to deify their Caesars, and vote them altars and holy service. No, the unhappy condition was not from

religion, but misgovernment and usurpations and countless tyrannies. The Avernus men had been tumbled

into, and were praying to be relieved from, was terribly but essentially political. The

supplicationeverywhere alike, in Lodinum, Alexandria, Athens, Jerusalemwas for a king to conquer

Studying the situation after two thousand years, we can see and say that religiously there was no relief from

the universal confusion except some God could prove himself a true God, and a masterful one, and come to

the rescue; but the people of the time, even the discerning and philosophical, discovered no hope except in

crushing Rome; that done, the relief would follow in restorations and reorganizations; therefore they prayed,

conspired, rebelled, fought, and died, drenching the soil today with blood, tomorrow with tearsand

It remains to be said now that BenHur was in agreement with the mass of men of his time not Romans. The

five years' residence in the capital served him with opportunity to see and study the miseries of the subjugated

world; and in full belief that the evils which afflicted it were political, and to be cured only by the sword, he

was going forth to fit himself for a part in the day of resort to the heroic remedy. By practice of arms he was a

perfect soldier; but war has its higher fields, and he who would move successfully in them must know more

than to defend with shield and thrust with spear. In those fields the general finds his tasks, the greatest of

which is the reduction of the many into one, and that one himself; the consummate captain is a fightingman

armed with an army. This conception entered into the scheme of life to which he was further swayed by the

reflection that the vengeance he dreamed of, in connection with his individual wrongs, would be more surely

The feelings with which he listened to Balthasar can be now understood. The story touched two of the most

sensitive points of his being so they rang within him. His heart beat fastand faster still when, searching

himself, he found not a doubt either that the recital was true in every particular, or that the Child so

miraculously found was the Messiah. Marvelling much that Israel rested so dead to the revelation, and that he

had never heard of it before that day, two questions presented themselves to him as centring all it was at that

With apologies for the interruptions, he proceeded to draw out the opinions of Balthasar, who was in nowise

"If I could answer you," Balthasar said, in his simple, earnest, devout way"oh, if I knew where he is, how

"The first task I charged myself with after leaving the shelter given me in the desert"Balthasar cast a

grateful look at Ilderim"was to learn what became of the Child. But a year had passed, and I dared not go

up to Judea in person, for Herod still held the throne bloodyminded as ever. In Egypt, upon my return, there

were a few friends to believe the wonderful things I told them of what I had seen and hearda few who

rejoiced with me that a Redeemer was borna few who never tired of the story. Some of them came up for

me looking after the Child. They went first to Bethlehem, and found there the khan and the cave; but the

stewardhe who sat at the gate the night of the birth, and the night we came following the starwas gone.

"Yes, proofs written in blooda village in mourning; mothers yet crying for their little ones. You must

know, when Herod heard of our flight, he sent down and slew the youngestborn of the children of

Bethlehem. Not one escaped. The faith of my messengers was confirmed; but they came to me saying the

"Nay, my son, I did not say so. I said they, my messengers, told me the Child was dead. I did not believe the

"Not so, not so," said Balthasar, dropping his gaze. "The Spirit was to go with us no farther than to the Child.

When we came out of the cave, after our presents were given and we had seen the babe, we looked first thing

for the star; but it was gone, and we knew we were left to ourselves. The last inspiration of the Holy

"Yes," said the sheik, fingering his beard nervously. "You told me you were sent to me by a SpiritI

"I have no special knowledge," Balthasar continued, observing the dejection which had fallen upon BenHur;

"but, my son, I have given the matter much thoughtthought continuing through years, inspired by faith,

which, I assure you, calling God for witness, is as strong in me now as in the hour I heard the voice of the

Spirit calling me by the shore of the lake. If you will listen, I will tell you why I believe the Child is living."

Both Ilderim and BenHur looked assent, and appeared to summon their faculties that they might understand

as well as hear. The interest reached the servants, who drew near to the divan, and stood listening.

"And he is the Truth," he resumed. "His word is God. The hills may turn to dust, and the seas be drunk dry by

"The voice, which was his, speaking to me by the lake, said, 'Blessed art thou, O son of Mizraim! The

Redemption cometh. With two others from the remotenesses of the earth, thou shalt see the Savior.' I have

seen the Saviorblessed be his name!but the Redemption, which was the second part of the promise, is

yet to come. Seest thou now? If the Child be dead, there is no agent to bring the Redemption about, and the

"The Redemption was the work for which the Child was born; and so long as the promise abides, not even

death can separate him from his work until it is fulfilled, or at least in the way of fulfilment. Take you that

"Wilt thou not taste the wine? It is at thy handsee," said Ilderim, respectfully.

"The Savior I saw was born of woman, in nature like us, and subject to all our illseven death. Let that

stand as the first proposition. Consider next the work set apart to him. Was it not a performance for which

only a man is fitted?a man wise, firm, discreeta man, not a child? To become such he had to grow as we

grow. Bethink you now of the dangers his life was subject to in the intervalthe long interval between

childhood and maturity. The existing powers were his enemies; Herod was his enemy; and what would Rome

have been? And as for Israelthat he should not be accepted by Israel was the motive for cutting him off.

See you now. What better way was there to take care of his life in the helpless growing time than by passing

him into obscurity? Wherefore I say to myself, and to my listening faith, which is never moved except by

yearning of loveI say he is not dead, but lost; and, his work remaining undone, he will come again. There

Ilderim's small Arab eyes were bright with understanding, and BenHur, lifted from his dejection, said

"Hast thou not enough, my son? Well," he began, in calmer tone, "seeing that the reasons were goodmore

plainly, seeing it was God's will that the Child should not be foundI settled my faith into the keeping of

patience, and took to waiting." He raised his eyes, full of holy trust, and broke off abstractedly"I am

waiting now. He lives, keeping well his mighty secret. What though I cannot go to him, or name the hill or

the vale of his abidingplace? He livesit may be as the fruit in blossom, it may be as the fruit just ripening;

but by the certainty there is in the promise and reason of God, I know he lives."

A thrill of awe struck BenHura thrill which was but the dying of his halfformed doubt.

"Where thinkest thou he is?" he asked, in a low voice, and hesitating, like one who feels upon his lips the

Balthasar looked at him kindly, and replied, his mind not entirely freed from its abstraction,

"In my house on the Nile, so close to the river that the passersby in boats see it and its reflection in the water

at the same timein my house, a few weeks ago, I sat thinking. A man thirty years old, I said to myself,

should have his fields of life all ploughed, and his planting well done; for after that it is summertime, with

space scarce enough to ripen his sowing. The Child, I said further, is now twentysevenhis time to plant

must be at hand. I asked myself, as you here asked me, my son, and answered by coming hither, as to a good

restingplace close by the land thy fathers had from God. Where else should he appear, if not in Judea? In

what city should he begin his work, if not in Jerusalem? Who should be first to receive the blessings he is to

bring, if not the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; in love, at least, the children of the Lord? If I were

bidden go seek him, I would search well the hamlets and villages on the slopes of the mountains of Judea and

Galilee falling eastwardly into the valley of the Jordan. He is there now. Standing in a door or on a hilltop,

only this evening he saw the sun set one day nearer the time when he himself shall become the light of the

Balthasar ceased, with his hand raised and finger pointing as if at Judea. All the listeners, even the dull

servants outside the divan, affected by his fervor, were startled as if by a majestic presence suddenly apparent

within the tent. Nor did the sensation die away at once: of those at the table, each sat awhile thinking. The

"I see, good Balthasar," he said, "that thou hast been much and strangely favored. I see, also, that thou art a

wise man indeed. It is not in my power to tell how grateful I am for the things thou hast told me. I am warned

of the coming of great events, and borrow somewhat from thy faith. Complete the obligation, I pray thee, by

telling further of the mission of him for whom thou art waiting, and for whom from this night I too shall wait

as becomes a believing son of Judah. He is to be a Savior, thou saidst; is he not to be King of the Jews also?"

"My son," said Balthasar, in his benignant way, "the mission is yet a purpose in the bosom of God. All I think

about it is wrung from the words of the Voice in connection with the prayer to which they were in answer.

"The cause of my disquiet," Balthasar began, calmly"that which made me a preacher in Alexandria and in

the villages of the Nile; that which drove me at last into the solitude where the Spirit found mewas the

fallen condition of men, occasioned, as I believed, by loss of the knowledge of God. I sorrowed for the

sorrows of my kindnot of one class, but all of them. So utterly were they fallen it seemed to me there could

be no Redemption unless God himself would make it his work; and I prayed him to come, and that I might

see him. 'Thy good works have conquered. The Redemption cometh; thou shalt see the Savior'thus the

Voice spake; and with the answer I went up to Jerusalem rejoicing. Now, to whom is the Redemption? To all

the world. And how shall it be? Strengthen thy faith, my son! Men say, I know, that there will be no

happiness until Rome is razed from her hills. That is to say, the ills of the time are not, as I thought them,

from ignorance of God, but from the misgovernment of rulers. Do we need to be told that human

governments are never for the sake of religion? How many kings have you heard of who were better than

their subjects? Oh no, no! The Redemption cannot be for a political purposeto pull down rulers and

powers, and vacate their places merely that others may take and enjoy them. If that were all of it, the wisdom

of God would cease to be surpassing. I tell you, though it be but the saying of blind to blind, he that comes is

to be a Savior of souls; and the Redemption means God once more on earth, and righteousness, that his stay

Disappointment showed plainly on BenHur's facehis head drooped; and if he was not convinced, he yet

felt himself incapable that moment of disputing the opinion of the Egyptian. Not so Ilderim.

"By the splendor of God!" he cried, impulsively, "the judgment does away with all custom. The ways of the

world are fixed, and cannot be changed. There must be a leader in every community clothed with power, else

"Thy wisdom, good sheik, is of the world; and thou dost forget that it is from the ways of the world we are to

be redeemed. Man as a subject is the ambition of a king; the soul of a man for its salvation is the desire of a

Ilderim, though silenced, shook his head, unwilling to believe. BenHur took up the argument for him.

"FatherI call thee such by permission," he said"for whom wert thou required to ask at the gates of

"I was to ask of the people," said Balthasar, quietly, "'Where is he that is born King of the Jews?'"

"We saw and worshipped him, and gave him presentsMelchior, gold; Gaspar, frankincense; and I, myrrh."

"When thou dost speak of fact, O father, to hear thee is to believe," said BenHur; "but in the matter of

opinion, I cannot understand the kind of king thou wouldst make of the ChildI cannot separate the ruler

"Son," said Balthasar, "we have the habit of studying closely the things which chance to lie at our feet, giving

but a look at the greater objects in the distance. Thou seest now but the title KING OF THE JEWS; wilt

thou lift thine eyes to the mystery beyond it, the stumblingblock will disappear. Of the title, a word. Thy

Israel hath seen better daysdays in which God called thy people endearingly his people, and dealt with

them through prophets. Now, if in those days he promised them the Savior I sawpromised him as KING

OF THE JEWSthe appearance must be according to the promise, if only for the word's sake. Ah, thou seest

the reason of my question at the gate!thou seest, and I will no more of it, but pass on. It may be, next, thou

art regarding the dignity of the Child; if so, bethink theewhat is it to be a successor of Herod?by the

world's standard of honor, what? Could not God better by his beloved? If thou canst think of the Almighty

Father in want of a title, and stooping to borrow the inventions of men, why was I not bidden ask for a Caesar

at once? Oh, for the substance of that whereof we speak, look higher, I pray thee! Ask rather of what he

whom we await shall be king; for I do tell, my son, that is the key to the mystery, which no man shall

"There is a kingdom on the earth, though it is not of ita kingdom of wider bounds than the earthwider

than the sea and the earth, though they were rolled together as finest gold and spread by the beating of

hammers. Its existence is a fact as our hearts are facts, and we journey through it from birth to death without

seeing it; nor shall any man see it until he hath first known his own soul; for the kingdom is not for him, but

for his soul. And in its dominion there is glory such as hath not entered imaginationoriginal, incomparable,

"What thou sayest, father, is a riddle to me," said BenHur. "I never heard of such a kingdom."

"And I may not tell more of it," Balthasar added, humbly dropping his eyes. "What it is, what it is for, how it

may be reached, none can know until the Child comes to take possession of it as his own. He brings the key

of the viewless gate, which he will open for his beloved, among whom will be all who love him, for of such

After that there was a long silence, which Balthasar accepted as the end of the conversation.

"Good sheik," he said, in his placid way, "tomorrow or the next day I will go up to the city for a time. My

daughter wishes to see the preparations for the games. I will speak further about the time of our going. And,

They all arose from the table. The sheik and BenHur remained looking after the Egyptian until he was

"Sheik Ilderim," said BenHur then, "I have heard strange things tonight. Give me leave, I pray, to walk by

They washed their hands again; after which, at a sign from the master, a servant brought BenHur his shoes,

Up a little way from the dower there was a cluster of palms, which threw its shade half in the water, half on

the land. A bulbul sang from the branches a song of invitation. BenHur stopped beneath to listen. At any

other time the notes of the bird would have driven thought away; but the story of the Egyptian was a burden

of wonder, and he was a laborer carrying it, and, like other laborers, there was to him no music in the

The night was quiet. Not a ripple broke upon the shore. The old stars of the old East were all out, each in its

So the palms, the sky, the air, seemed to him of the far south zone into which Balthasar had been driven by

despair for men; the lake, with its motionless surface, was a suggestion of the Nilotic mother by which the

good man stood praying when the Spirit made its radiant appearance. Had all these accessories of the miracle

come to BenHur? or had he been transferred to them? And what if the miracle should be repeatedand to

him? He feared, yet wished, and even waited for the vision. When at last his feverish mood was cooled,

His scheme of life has been explained. In all reflection about it heretofore there had been one hiatus which he

had not been able to bridge or fill upone so broad he could see but vaguely to the other side of it. When,

finally, he was graduated a captain as well as a soldier, to what object should he address his efforts?

Revolution he contemplated, of course; but the processes of revolution have always been the same, and to

lead men into them there have always been required, first, a cause or presence to enlist adherents; second, an

end, or something as a practical achievement. As a rule he fights well who has wrongs to redress; but vastly

better fights he who, with wrongs as a spur, has also steadily before him a glorious result in prospecta

result in which he can discern balm for wounds, compensation for valor, remembrance and gratitude in the

To determine the sufficiency of either the cause or the end, it was needful that BenHur should study the

adherents to whom he looked when all was ready for action. Very naturally, they were his countrymen. The

wrongs of Israel were to every son of Abraham, and each one was a cause vastly holy, vastly inspiring.

The hours and days he had given this branch of his scheme were past calculationall with the same

conclusiona dim, uncertain, general idea of national liberty. Was it sufficient? He could not say no, for that

would have been the death of his hope; he shrank from saying yes, because his judgment taught him better.

He could not assure himself even that Israel was able singlehanded to successfully combat Rome. He knew

the resources of that great enemy; he knew her art was superior to her resources. A universal alliance might

suffice, but, alas! that was impossible, except and upon the exception how long and earnestly he had

dwelt! except a hero would come from one of the suffering nations, and by martial successes accomplish a

renown to fill the whole earth. What glory to Judea could she prove the Macedonia of the new

Alexander! Alas, again! Under the rabbis valor was possible, but not discipline. And then the taunt of

Messala in the garden of Herod "All you conquer in the six days, you lose on the seventh."

So it happened he never approached the chasm thinking to surmount it, but he was beaten back; and so

incessantly had he failed in the object that he had about given it over, except as a thing of chance. The hero

might be discovered in his day, or he might not. God only knew. Such his state of mind, there need be no

lingering upon the effect of Malluch's skeleton recital of the story of Balthasar. He heard it with a

bewildering satisfactiona feeling that here was the solution of the troublehere was the requisite hero

found at last; and he a son of the Lion tribe, and King of the Jews! Behind the hero, lo! the world in arms.

The king implied a kingdom; he was to be a warrior glorious as David, a ruler wise and magnificent as

Solomon; the kingdom was to be a power against which Rome was to dash itself to pieces. There would be

colossal war, and the agonies of death and birth then peace, meaning, of course, Judean dominion forever.

BenHur's heart beat hard as for an instant he had a vision of Jerusalem the capital of the world, and Zion,

It seemed to the enthusiast rare fortune that the man who had seen the king was at the tent to which he was

going. He could see him there, and hear him, and learn of him what all he knew of the coming change,

especially all he knew of the time of its happening. If it were at hand, the campaign with Maxentius should be

abandoned; and he would go and set about organizing and arming the tribes, that Israel might be ready when

Now, as we have seen, from Balthasar himself BenHur had the marvelous story. Was he satisfied?

There was a shadow upon him deeper than that of the cluster of palmsthe shadow of a great uncertainty,

Thus early arose the questions which were to follow the Child to his end, and survive him on

earthincomprehensible in his day, a dispute in thisan enigma to all who do not or cannot understand that

For us, O reader, the Child himself has answered; but for BenHur there were only the words of Balthasar,

"On the earth, yet not of itnot for men, but for their soulsa dominion, nevertheless, of unimaginable

"The hand of man is not in it," he said, despairingly. "Nor has the king of such a kingdom use for men;

neither toilers, nor councillors, nor soldiers. The earth must die or be made anew, and for government new

principles must be discoveredsomething besides armed handssomething in place of Force. But what?"

That which we will not see, he could not. The power there is in Love had not yet occurred to any man; much

less had one come saying directly that for government and its objectspeace and orderLove is better and

"I have a word to say, O son of Arrius," said Ilderim, stopping by his side"a word, and then I must return,

"As to the things you have heard but now," said Ilderim, almost without pause, "take in belief all save that

relating to the kind of kingdom the Child will set up when he comes; as to so much keep virgin mind until

you hear Simonides the merchanta good man here in Antioch, to whom I will make you known. The

Egyptian gives you coinage of his dreams which are too good for the earth; Simonides is wiser; he will ring

you the sayings of your prophets, giving book and page, so you cannot deny that the Child will be King of the

Jews in factay, by the splendor of God! a king as Herod was, only better and far more magnificent. And

then, see you, we will taste the sweetness of vengeance. I have said. Peace to you!"

"Simonides again!" said BenHur, bitterly. "Simonides here, Simonides there; from this one now, then from

that! I am like to be well ridden by my father's servant, who knows at least to hold fast that which is mine;

wherefore he is richer, if indeed he be not wiser, than the Egyptian. By the covenant! it is not to the faithless a

man should go to find a faith to keepand I will not. But, hark! singingand the voice a woman'sor an

Down the lake towards the dower came a woman singing. Her voice floated along the hushed water

melodious as a flute, and louder growing each instant. Directly the dipping of oars was heard in slow

measure; a little later the words were distinguishablewords in purest Greek, best fitted of all the tongues of

I sigh as I sing for the story land Across the Syrian sea. The odorous winds from the musky sand Were

breaths of life to me. They play with the plumes of the whispering palm For me, alas! no more; Nor more

O Nilus! thou god of my fainting soul! In dreams thou comest to me; And, dreaming, I play with the lotus

bowl, And sing old songs to thee; And hear from afar the Memnonian strain, And calls from dear Simbel;

At the conclusion of the song the singer was past the cluster of palms. The last wordfarewellfloated past

BenHur weighted with all the sweet sorrow of parting. The passing of the boat was as the passing of a

"I know her by the songthe daughter of Balthasar. How beautiful it was! And how beautiful is she!"

He recalled her large eyes curtained slightly by the drooping lids, the cheeks oval and rosy rich, the lips full

and deep with dimpling in the corners, and all the grace of the tall lithe figure.

Then, almost the same instant, another face, younger and quite as beautifulmore childlike and tender, if not

His life had been crowded with griefs and with vengeful preparationstoo much crowded for love. Was this

And if the influence went with him into the tent, whose was it? Esther had given him a cup. So had the

The morning after the bacchanalia in the saloon of the palace, the divan was covered with young patricians.

Maxentius might come, and the city throng to receive him; the legion might descend from Mount Sulpius in

glory of arms and armor; from Nymphaeum to Omphalus there might be ceremonial splendors to shame the

most notable ever before seen or heard of in the gorgeous East; yet would the many continue to sleep

ignominiously on the divan where they had fallen or been carelessly tumbled by the indifferent slaves; that

they would be able to take part in the reception that day was about as possible as for the layfigures in the

studio of a modern artist to rise and go bonneted and plumed through the one, two, three of a waltz.

Not all, however, who participated in the orgy were in the shameful condition. When dawn began to peer

through the skylights of the saloon, Messala arose, and took the chaplet from his head, in sign that the revel

was at end; then he gathered his robe about him, gave a last look at the scene, and, without a word, departed

for his quarters. Cicero could not have retired with more gravity from a nightlong senatorial debate.

Three hours afterwards two couriers entered his room, and from his own hand received each a despatch,

sealed and in duplicate, and consisting chiefly of a letter to Valerius Gratus, the procurator, still resident in

Caesarea. The importance attached to the speedy and certain delivery of the paper may be inferred. One

courier was to proceed overland, the other by sea; both were to make the utmost haste.

It is of great concern now that the reader should be fully informed of the contents of the letter thus forwarded,

"I pray thou take no offense at the address, seeing it is one of love and gratitude, and an admission that thou

art most fortunate among men; seeing, also, that thy ears are as they were derived from thy mother, only

"I have to relate to thee an astonishing event, which, though as yet somewhat in the field of conjecture, will, I

"Allow me first to revive thy recollection. Remember, a good many years ago, a family of a prince of

Jerusalem, incredibly ancient and vastly richby name BenHur. If thy memory have a limp or ailment of

any kind, there is, if I mistake not, a wound on thy head which may help thee to a revival of the circumstance.

"Next, to arouse thy interest. In punishment of the attempt upon thy lifefor dear repose of conscience, may

all the gods forbid it should ever prove to have been an accident!the family were seized and summarily

disposed of, and their property confiscated. And inasmuch, O my Midas! as the action had the approval of our

Caesar, who was as just as he was wisebe there flowers upon his altars forever!there should be no

shame in referring to the sums which were realized to us respectively from that source, for which it is not

possible I can ever cease to be grateful to thee, certainly not while I continue, as at present, in the

"In vindication of thy wisdoma quality for which, as I am now advised, the son of Gordius, to whom I

have boldly likened thee, was never distinguished among men or godsI recall further that thou didst make

disposition of the family of Hur, both of us at the time supposing the plan hit upon to be the most effective

possible for the purposes in view, which were silence and delivery over to inevitable but natural death. Thou

wilt remember what thou didst with the mother and sister of the malefactor; yet, if now I yield to a desire to

learn whether they be living or dead, I know, from knowing the amiability of thy nature, O my Gratus, that

"As more immediately essential to the present business, however, I take the liberty of inviting to thy

remembrance that the actual criminal was sent to the galleys a slave for lifeso the precept ran; and it may

serve to make the event which I am about to relate the more astonishing by saying here that I saw and read

the receipt for his body delivered in course to the tribune commanding a galley.

"Thou mayst begin now to give me more especial heed, O my most excellent Phrygian!

"Referring to the limit of life at the oar, the outlaw thus justly disposed of should be dead, or, better speaking,

some one of the three thousand Oceanides should have taken him to husband at least five years ago. And if

thou wilt excuse a momentary weakness, O most virtuous and tender of men! inasmuch as I loved him in

childhood, and also because he was very handsomeI used in much admiration to call him my

Ganymedehe ought in right to have fallen into the arms of the most beautiful daughter of the family. Of

opinion, however, that he was certainly dead, I have lived quite five years in calm and innocent enjoyment of

the fortune for which I am in a degree indebted to him. I make the admission of indebtedness without

"Last night, while acting as master of the feast for a party just from Rometheir extreme youth and

inexperience appealed to my compassionI heard a singular story. Maxentius, the consul, as you know,

comes today to conduct a campaign against the Parthians. Of the ambitious who are to accompany him there

is one, a son of the late duumvir Quintus Arrius. I had occasion to inquire about him particularly. When

Arrius set out in pursuit of the pirates, whose defeat gained him his final honors, he had no family; when he

returned from the expedition, he brought back with him an heir. Now be thou composed as becomes the

owner of so many talents in ready sestertii! The son and heir of whom I speak is he whom thou didst send to

the galleysthe very BenHur who should have died at his oar five years agoreturned now with fortune

and rank, and possibly as a Roman citizen, to Well, thou art too firmly seated to be alarmed, but I, O my

Midas! I am in dangerno need to tell thee of what. Who should know, if thou dost not?

"When Arrius, the father, by adoption, of this apparition from the arms of the most beautiful of the Oceanides

(see above my opinion of what she should be), joined battle with the pirates, his vessel was sunk, and but two

"The officers who took them from the plank on which they were floating say the associate of the fortunate

tribune was a young man who, when lifted to the deck, was in the dress of a galley slave.

"This should be convincing, to say least; but lest thou say tuttut again, I tell thee, O my Midas! that

yesterday, by good chanceI have a vow to Fortune in consequenceI met the mysterious son of Arrius

face to face; and I declare now that, though I did not then recognize him, he is the very BenHur who was for

years my playmate; the very BenHur who, if he be a man, though of the commonest grade, must this very

moment of my writing be thinking of vengeancefor so would I were I hevengeance not to be satisfied

short of life; vengeance for country, mother, sister, self, andI say it last, though thou mayst think it would

"By this time, O good my benefactor and friend! my Gratus! in consideration of thy sestertii in peril, their

loss being the worst which could befall one of thy high estateI quit calling thee after the foolish old King

of Phrygiaby this time, I say (meaning after having read me so far), I have faith to believe thou hast ceased

"It were vulgar to ask thee now what shall be done. Rather let me say I am thy client; or, better yet, thou art

"And I please myself thinking I see thee when this letter is put into thy hand. I see thee read it once; thy

countenance all gravity, and then again with a smile; then, hesitation ended, and thy judgment formed, it is

"The sun is now fairly risen. An hour hence two messengers will depart from my door, each with a sealed

copy hereof; one of them will go by land, the other by sea, so important do I regard it that thou shouldst be

early and particularly informed of the appearance of our enemy in this part of our Roman world.

"BenHur's going and coming will of course be regulated by his master, the consul, who, though he exert

himself without rest day and night, cannot get away under a month. Thou knowest what work it is to

assemble and provide for an army destined to operate in a desolate, townless country.

"I saw the Jew yesterday in the Grove of Daphne; and if he be not there now, he is certainly in the

neighborhood, making it easy for me to keep him in eye. Indeed, wert thou to ask me where he is now, I

should say, with the most positive assurance, he is to be found at the old Orchard of Palms, under the tent of

the traitor Sheik Ilderim, who cannot long escape our strong hand. Be not surprised if Maxentius, as his first

"I am so particular about the whereabouts of the Jew because it will be important to thee, O illustrious! when

thou comest to consider what is to be done; for already I know, and by the knowledge I flatter myself I am

growing in wisdom, that in every scheme involving human action there are three elements always to be taken

"If thou sayest this is the place, have thou then no hesitancy in trusting the business to thy most loving friend,

About the time the couriers departed from Messala's door with the despatches (it being yet the early morning

hour), BenHur entered I1derim's tent. He had taken a plunge into the lake, and breakfasted, and appeared

"I give thee peace, son of Arrius," he said, with admiration, for, in truth, he had never seen a more perfect

illustration of glowing, powerful, confident manhood. "I give thee peace and goodwill. The horses are

"The peace thou givest me, good sheik, I give thee in return. I thank thee for so much goodwill. I am ready."

"Then suffer me to serve myself," said BenHur. "It is needful that I make the acquaintance of thy Arabs. I

must know them by name, O sheik, that I may speak to them singly; nor less must I know their temper, for

they are like men: if bold, the better of scolding; if timid, the better of praise and flattery. Let the servants

"I will let the chariot alone today. In its place, let them bring me a fifth horse, if thou hast it; he should be

"Bid them bring the harness for the four," he said"the harness for the four, and the bridle for Sirius."

"Sirius is my love, and I am his, O son of Arrius. We have been comrades for twenty yearsin tent, in battle,

Going to the division curtain, he held it, while BenHur passed under. The horses came to him in a body.

One with a small head, luminous eyes, neck like the segment of a bended bow, and mighty chest, curtained

thickly by a profusion of mane soft and wavy as a damsel's locks, nickered low and gladly at sight of him.

"Good horse," said the sheik, patting the darkbrown cheek. "Good horse, goodmorning." Turning then to

BenHur, he added, "This is Sirius, father of the four here. Mira, the mother, awaits our return, being too

precious to be hazarded in a region where there is a stronger hand than mine. And much I doubt," he laughed

as he spoke"much I doubt, O son of Arrius, if the tribe could endure her absence. She is their glory; they

worship her; did she gallop over them, they would laugh. Ten thousand horsemen, sons of the desert, will ask

today, 'Have you heard of Mira?' And to the answer, 'She is well,' they will say, 'God is good! blessed be

"MiraSiriusnames of stars, are they not, O sheik?" asked BenHur, going to each of the four, and to the

"Then thou canst not know how much we Arabs depend upon the stars. We borrow their names in gratitude,

and give them in love. My fathers all had their Miras, as I have mine; and these children are stars no less.

There, see thou, is Rigel, and there Antares; that one is Atair, and he whom thou goest to now is Aldebaran,

the youngest of the brood, but none the worse of thatno, not he! Against the wind he will carry thee till it

roar in thy ears like Akaba; and he will go where thou sayest, son of Arriusay, by the glory of Solomon! he

The harness was brought. With his own hands BenHur equipped the horses; with his own hands he led them

"Good sheik," he said, "I am ready. Let a guide go before me to the field, and send some of thy men with

There was no trouble at starting. The horses were not afraid. Already there seemed a tacit understanding

between them and the new driver, who had performed his part calmly, and with the confidence which always

begets confidence. The order of going was precisely that of driving, except that BenHur sat upon Sirius

instead of standing in the chariot. Ilderim's spirit arose. He combed his beard, and smiled with satisfaction as

he muttered, "He is not a Roman, no, by the splendor of God!" He followed on foot, the entire tenantry of the

dowarmen, women, and childrenpouring after him, participants all in his solicitude, if not in his

The field, when reached, proved ample and well fitted for the training, which BenHur began immediately by

driving the four at first slowly, and in perpendicular lines, and then in wide circles. Advancing a step in the

course, he put them next into a trot; again progressing, he pushed into a gallop; at length he contracted the

circles, and yet later drove eccentrically here and there, right, left, forward, and without a break. An hour was

"The work is done, nothing now but practice," he said. "I give you joy, Sheik Ilderim, that you have such

servants as these. See," he continued, dismounting and going to the horses, "see, the gloss of their red coats is

without spot; they breathe lightly as when I began. I give thee great joy, and it will go hard if"he turned his

He stopped, colored, bowed. At the sheik's side he observed, for the first time, Balthasar, leaning upon his

staff, and two women closely veiled. At one of the latter he looked a second time, saying to himself, with a

flutter about his heart, "'Tis she'tis the Egyptian!" Ilderim picked up his broken sentence

"The victory, and our revenge!" Then he said aloud, "I am not afraid; I am glad. Son of Arrius, thou art the

man. Be the end like the beginning, and thou shalt see of what stuff is the lining of the hand of an Arab who

"I thank thee, good sheik," BenHur returned, modestly. "Let the servants bring drink for the horses."

Remounting Sirius, he renewed the training, going as before from walk to trot, from trot to gallop; finally, he

pushed the steady racers into the run, gradually quickening it to full speed. The performance then became

exciting; and there were applause for the dainty handling of the reins, and admiration for the four, which were

the same, whether they flew forward or wheeled in varying curvature. In their action there were unity, power,

grace, pleasure, all without effort or sign of labor. The admiration was unmixed with pity or reproach, which

In the midst of the exercises, and the attention they received from all the bystanders, Malluch came upon the

"I have a message for you, O sheik," he said, availing himself of a moment he supposed favorable for the

"Simonides!" ejaculated the Arab. "Ah! 'tis well. May Abaddon take all his enemies!"

"He bade me give thee first the holy peace of God," Malluch continued; "and then this despatch, with prayer

Ilderim, standing in his place, broke the sealing of the package delivered to him, and from a wrapping of fine

"There is in thy dowar a youth of fair presence, calling himself the son of Arrius; and such he is by adoption.

"He hath a wonderful history, which I will tell thee; come thou today or tomorrow, that I may tell thee the

"Meantime, favor all his requests, so they be not against honor. Should there be need of reparation, I am

"Remember me to thy other guest. He, his daughter, thyself, and all whom thou mayst choose to be of thy

company, must depend upon me at the Circus the day of the games. I have seats already engaged.

"There is a sign which all persons not Romans, and who have moneys or goods subject to despoilment, accept

as warningthat is, the arrival at a seat of power of some high Roman official charged with authority.

"A conspiracy, to be of effect against thee, O friend, must include the Herods as parties; thou hast great

"Send this morning to thy trusty keepers of the roads leading south from Antioch, and bid them search every

courier going and coming; if they find private despatches relating to thee or thine affairs, THOU SHOULDST

"You should have received this yesterday, though it is not too late, if you act promptly.

"If couriers left Antioch this morning, your messengers know the byways, and can get before them with your

Ilderim read the letters a second time, and refolded them in the linen wrap, and put the package under his

The exercises in the field continued but a little longerin all about two hours. At their conclusion, BenHur

"With leave, O sheik," he said, "I will return thy Arabs to the tent, and bring them out again this afternoon."

Ilderim walked to him as he sat on Sirius, and said, "I give them to you, son of Arrius, to do with as you will

until after the games. You have done with them in two hours what the Romanmay jackals gnaw his bones

fleshless!could not in as many weeks. We will winby the splendor of God, we will win!"

At the tent BenHur remained with the horses while they were being cared for; then, after a plunge in the

lake and a cup of arrack with the sheik, whose flow of spirits was royally exuberant, he dressed himself in his

There was much conversation between the two, not all of it important. One part, however, must not be

"I will give you," he said, "an order for my property stored in the khan this side the river by the Seleucian

Bridge. Bring it to me today, if you can. And, good Malluchif I do not overtask you"

"Thank you, Malluch, thank you," said BenHur. "I will take you at your word, remembering that we are

brethren of the old tribe, and that the enemy is a Roman. First, thenas you are a man of business, which I

"Nay, I do not impeach their shrewdness, Malluch. It is well, however, to look after them. To save all forfeit

or hindrance in connection with the race, you would put me perfectly at rest by going to the office of the

Circus, and seeing that he has complied with every preliminary rule; and if you can get a copy of the rules,

the service may be of great avail to me. I would like to know the colors I am to wear, and particularly the

number of the crypt I am to occupy at the starting; if it be next Messala's on the right or left, it is well; if not,

and you can have it changed so as to bring me next the Roman, do so. Have you good memory, Malluch?"

"I will venture, then, to charge you with one further service. I saw yesterday that Messala was proud of his

chariot, as he might be, for the best of Caesar's scarcely surpass it. Can you not make its display an excuse

which will enable you to find if it be light or heavy? I would like to have its exact weight and

measurementsand, Malluch, though you fail in all else, bring me exactly the height his axle stands above

the ground. You understand, Malluch? I do not wish him to have any actual advantage of me. I do not care

for his splendor; if I beat him, it will make his fall the harder, and my triumph the more complete. If there are

"I see, I see!" said Malluch. "A line dropped from the centre of the axle is what you want."

"Thou hast it; and be glad, Malluchit is the last of my commissions. Let us return to the dowar."

At the door of the tent they found a servant replenishing the smokestained bottles of leben freshly made, and

During their absence, a messenger well mounted had been despatched with orders as suggested by Simonides.

"Iras, the daughter of Balthasar, sends me with salutation and a message," said a servant to BenHur, who

His shoes were brought him, and in a few minutes BenHur sallied out to find the fair Egyptian. The shadow

of the mountains was creeping over the Orchard of Palms in advance of night. Afar through the trees came

the tinkling of sheep bells, the lowing of cattle, and the voices of the herdsmen bringing their charges home.

Life at the Orchard, it should be remembered, was in all respects as pastoral as life on the scantier meadows

Sheik Ilderim had witnessed the exercises of the afternoon, being a repetition of those of the morning; after

which he had gone to the city in answer to the invitation of Simonides; he might return in the night; but,

considering the immensity of the field to be talked over with his friend, it was hardly possible. BenHur, thus

left alone, had seen his horses cared for; cooled and purified himself in the lake; exchanged the field garb for

his customary vestments, all white, as became a Sadducean of the pure blood; supped early; and, thanks to the

strength of youth, was well recovered from the violent exertion he had undergone.

It is neither wise nor honest to detract from beauty as a quality. There cannot be a refined soul insensible to

its influence. The story of Pygmalion and his statue is as natural as it is poetical. Beauty is of itself a power;

The Egyptian was to him a wonderfully beautiful womanbeautiful of face, beautiful of form. In his thought

she always appeared to him as he saw her at the fountain; and he felt the influence of her voice, sweeter

because in tearful expression of gratitude to him, and of her eyesthe large, soft, black, almondshaped eyes

declarative of her raceeyes which looked more than lies in the supremest wealth of words to utter; and

recurrences of the thought of her were returns just so frequent of a figure tall, slender, graceful, refined,

wrapped in rich and floating drapery, wanting nothing but a fitting mind to make her, like the Shulamite, and

in the same sense, terrible as an army with banners. In other words, as she returned to his fancy, the whole

passionate Song of Solomon came with her, inspired by her presence. With this sentiment and that feeling, he

was going to see if she actually justified them. It was not love that was taking him, but admiration and

The landing was a simple affair, consisting of a short stairway, and a platform garnished by some

There was a shallop resting upon the clear water lightly as an eggshell. An Ethiopthe cameldriver at the

Castalian fountoccupied the rower's place, his blackness intensified by a livery of shining white. All the

boat aft was cushioned and carpeted with stuffs brilliant with Tyrian red. On the rudder seat sat the Egyptian

herself, sunk in Indian shawls and a very vapor of most delicate veils and scarfs. Her arms were bare to the

shoulders; and, not merely faultless in shape, they had the effect of compelling attention to themtheir pose,

their action, their expression; the hands, the fingers even, seemed endowed with graces and meaning; each

was an object of beauty. The shoulders and neck were protected from the evening air by an ample scarf,

In the glance he gave her, BenHur paid no attention to these details. There was simply an impression made

upon him; and, like strong light, it was a sensation, not a thing of sight or enumeration. Thy lips are like a

thread of scarlet; thy temples are like a piece of pomegranate within thy locks. Rise up, my love, my fair one,

and come away; for, lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time

of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the landsuch was the impression she

"Come," she said, observing him stop, "come, or I shall think you a poor sailor."

The red of his cheek deepened. Did she know anything of his life upon the sea? He descended to the platform

"Wait until we are in deeper water," she said, giving a signal to the black, who dipped the oars, and they were

If love and BenHur were enemies, the latter was never more at mercy. The Egyptian sat where he could not

but see her; she, whom he had already engrossed in memory as his ideal of the Shulamite. With her eyes

giving light to his, the stars might come out, and he not see them; and so they did. The night might fall with

unrelieved darkness everywhere else; her look would make illumination for him. And then, as everybody

knows, given youth and such companionship, there is no situation in which the fancy takes such complete

control as upon tranquil waters under a calm night sky, warm with summer. It is so easy at such time to glide

"No," she replied, "that were to reverse the relation. Did I not ask you to ride with me? I am indebted to you,

and would begin payment. You may talk and I will listen, or I will talk and you will listen: that choice is

"Oh, it is the land where there are no unhappy people, the desired of all the rest of the earth, the mother of all

the gods, and therefore supremely blest. There, O son of Arrius, there the happy find increase of happiness,

and the wretched, going, drink once of the sweet water of the sacred river, and laugh and sing, rejoicing like

"The very poor in Egypt are the very simple in wants and ways," she replied. "They have no wish beyond

"I have a garden of roses, and in the midst of it is a tree, and its bloom is the richest of all. Whence came it,

"I will tell you," she said: "a traveller found it perishing by the roadside on the plain of Rephaim."

"I put it in the earth left bare by the receding Nile, and the soft south wind blew over the desert and nursed it,

and the sun kissed it in pity; after which it could not else than grow and flourish. I stand in its shade now, and

it thanks me with much perfume. As with the roses, so with the men of Israel. Where shall they reach

"Ah, yes! The river by which they dwelt sings to them in their tombs; yet the same sun tempers the same air

"She has but exchanged sceptres. Caesar took from her that of the sword, and in its place left that of learning.

Go with me to the Brucheium, and I will show you the college of nations; to the Serapeion, and see the

perfection of architecture; to the Library, and read the immortals; to the theatre, and hear the heroics of the

Greeks and Hindoos; to the quay, and count the triumphs of commerce; descend with me into the streets, O

son of Arrius, and, when the philosophers have dispersed, and taken with them the masters of all the arts, and

all the gods have home their votaries, and nothing remains of the day but its pleasures, you shall hear the

stories that have amused men from the beginning, and the songs which will never, never die."

As he listened, BenHur was carried back to the night when, in the summerhouse in Jerusalem, his mother,

in much the same poetry of patriotism, declaimed the departed glories of Israel.

"I see now why you wish to be called Egypt. Will you sing me a song if I call you by that name? I heard you

"That was a hymn of the Nile," she answered, "a lament which I sing when I would fancy I smell the breath

of the desert, and hear the surge of the dear old river; let me rather give you a piece of the Indian mind. When

we get to Alexandria, I will take you to the corner of the street where you can hear it from the daughter of the

Ganga, who taught it to me. Kapila, you should know, was one of the most revered of the Hindoo sages."

"Kapila, Kapila, so young and true, I yearn for a glory like thine, And hail thee from battle to ask anew, Can

"Kapila sat on his charger dun, A hero never so grave: 'Who loveth all things hath fear of none, 'Tis love that

maketh me brave. A woman gave me her soul one day, The soul of my soul to be alway; Thence came my

"Kapila, Kapila, so old and gray, The queen is calling for me; But ere I go hence, I wish thou wouldst say,

"Kapila stood in his temple door, A priest in eremite guise: 'It did not come as men get their lore, 'Tis faith

that maketh me wise. A woman gave me her heart one day, The heart of my heart to be alway; Thence came

BenHur had not time to express his thanks for the song before the keel of the boat grated upon the

"And a briefer stay!" she replied, as, with a strong push, the black sent them shooting into the open water

"Oh no," said she, laughing. "To you, the chariot; to me, the boat. We are merely at the lake's end, and the

lesson is that I must not sing any more. Having been to Egypt, let us now to the Grove of Daphne."

"I wish this were the Nile," he said, evasively. "The kings and queens, having slept so long, might come

"They were of the colossi, and would sink our boat. The pygmies would be preferable. But tell me of the

"How beautiful his horses were! and the bed of his chariot was gold, and the wheels ivory. And his audacity!

The bystanders laughed as he rode away; they, who were so nearly under his wheels!"

"He must be one of the monsters who are said to be growing up in RomeApollos ravenous as Cerberus.

"Ah, then, we have not been to Egypt. I have not seen Karnak or Philae or Abydos. This is not the Nile. I

"PhilaeKarnak. Mourn rather that you have not seen the Rameses at Aboo Simbel, looking at which makes

it so easy to think of God, the maker of the heavens and earth. Or why should you mourn at all? Let us go on

to the river; and if I cannot sing"she laughed"because I have said I would not, yet I can tell you stories

"Go on! Ay, till morning comes, and the evening, and the next morning!" he said, vehemently.

"I will tell you a cure for love. It is the story of a queen. Listen reverently. The papyrus from which it was

taken by the priests of Philae was wrested from the hand of the heroine herself. It is correct in form, and must

"The most perfect life develops as a circle, and terminates in its beginning, making it impossible to say, This

"Perfect lives are the treasures of God; of great days he wears them on the ringfinger of his heart hand."

"Nenehofra dwelt in a house close by Essouan, yet closer to the first cataractso close, indeed, that the

sound of the eternal battle waged there between river and rocks was of the place a part.

"She grew in beauty day by day, so that it was said of her, as of the poppies in her father's garden, What will

"Each year of her life was the beginning of a new song more delightful than any of those which went before.

"Child was she of a marriage between the North, bounded by the sea, and the South, bounded by the desert

beyond the Luna mountains; and one gave her its passion, the other its genius; so when they beheld her, both

laughed, saying, not meanly, 'She is mine,' but generously, 'Ha, ha! she is ours.'

"All excellences in nature contributed to her perfection and rejoiced in her presence. Did she come or go, the

birds ruffled their wings in greeting; the unruly winds sank to cooling zephyrs; the white lotus rose from the

water's depth to look at her; the solemn river loitered on its way; the palmtrees, nodding, shook all their

plumes; and they seemed to say, this one, I gave her of my grace; that, I gave her of my brightness; the other,

"At twelve, Nenehofra was the delight of Essouan; at sixteen, the fame of her beauty was universal; at

twenty, there was never a day which did not bring to her door princes of the desert on swift camels, and lords

of Egypt in gilded barges; and, going away disconsolate, they reported everywhere, 'I have seen her, and she

"Now of the three hundred and thirty successors of good King Menes, eighteen were Ethiopians, of whom

Oraetes was one hundred and ten years old. He had reigned seventysix years. Under him the people thrived,

and the land groaned with fatness of plenty. He practised wisdom because, having seen so much, he knew

what it was. He dwelt in Memphis, having there his principal palace, his arsenals, and his treasurehouse.

"The wife of the good king died. Too old was she for perfect embalmment; yet he loved her, and mourned as

"'O Oraetes, I am astonished that one so wise and great should not know how to cure a sorrow like this.'

"Three times the colchyte kissed the floor, and then he replied, knowing the dead could not hear him, 'At

Essouan lives Nenehofra, beautiful as Athor the beautiful. Send for her. She has refused all the lords and

"Nenehofra descended the Nile in a barge richer than any ever before seen, attended by an army in barges

each but a little less fine. All Nubia and Egypt, and a myriad from Libya, and a host of Troglodytes, and not a

few Macrobii from beyond the Mountains of the Moon, lined the tented shores to see the cortege pass, wafted

"Through a dromos of sphinxes and couchant doublewinged lions she was borne, and set down before

Oraetes sitting on a throne specially erected at the sculptured pylon of the palace. He raised her up, gave her

place by his side, clasped the uraeus upon her arm, kissed her, and Nenehofra was queen of all queens.

"That was not enough for the wise Oraetes; he wanted love, and a queen happy in his love. So he dealt with

her tenderly, showing her his possessions, cities, palaces, people; his armies, his ships: and with his own hand

he led her through his treasurehouse, saying, 'O. Nenehofra! but kiss me in love, and they are all thine.'

"And, thinking she could be happy, if she was not then, she kissed him once, twice, thricekissed him

"The first year she was happy, and it was very short; the third year she was wretched, and it was very long;

then she was enlightened: that which she thought love of Oraetes was only daze of his power. Well for her

had the daze endured! Her spirits deserted her; she had long spells of tears, and her women could not

remember when they heard her laugh; of the roses on her cheeks only ashes remained; she languished and

faded gradually, but certainly. Some said she was haunted by the Erinnyes for cruelty to a lover; others, that

she was stricken by some god envious of Oraetes. Whatever the cause of her decline, the charms of the

magicians availed not to restore her, and the prescript of the doctor was equally without virtue. Nenehofra

"Oraetes chose a crypt for her up in the tombs of the queens; and, calling the master sculptors and painters to

Memphis, he set them to work upon designs more elaborate than any even in the great galleries of the dead

"'O thou beautiful as Athor herself, my queen!' said the king, whose hundred and thirteen years did not lessen

his ardor as a lover, 'Tell me, I pray, the ailment of which, alas! thou art so certainly perishing before my

"'Not love you! I will love you the more. I swear it, by the genii of Amente! by the eye of Osiris, I swear it!

"'Hear, then,' she said. 'There is an anchorite, the oldest and holiest of his class, in a cave near Essouan. His

name is Menopha. He was my teacher and guardian. Send for him, O Oraetes, and he will tell you that you

"Oraetes arose rejoicing. He went away in spirit a hundred years younger than when he came."

"And Menopha replied, 'Most mighty king, if you were young, I should not answer, because I am yet pleased

with life; as it is, I will say the queen, like any other mortal, is paying the penalty of a crime.'

"'What I say is not a riddle, as you shall hear. Nenehofra grew up under my eyes, and confided every

incident of her life to me; among others, that she loved the son of her father's gardener, Barbec by name.'

"'With that love in her heart, O king, she came to you; of that love she is dying.'

"The king went out and gave two orders. To one oeris he said, 'Go to Essouan and bring hither a youth named

Barbec. You will find him in the garden of the queen's father;' to another, 'Assemble workmen and cattle and

tools, and construct for me in Lake Chemmis an island, which, though laden with a temple, a palace, and a

garden, and all manner of trees bearing fruit, and all manner of vines, shall nevertheless float about as the

winds may blow it. Make the island, and let it be fully furnished by the time the moon begins to wane.'

"'You shall have him to yourself, and he you to himself; nor shall any disturb your loves for a year.'

"She kissed his feet; he raised her, and kissed her in return; and the rose came back to her cheek, the scarlet to

"For one year Nenehofra and Barbec the gardener floated as the winds blew on the island of Chemmis,

which became one of the wonders of the world; never a home of love more beautiful; one year, seeing no one

and existing for no one but themselves. Then she returned in state to the palace in Memphis.

"Oraetes laughed, none the worse, that moment, of his hundred and fourteen years.

"'Then it is true, as Menopha said: ha, ha, ha! it is true, the cure of love is love.'

"'Thou guilty!' he continued. 'Thy offense to Oraetes the man he forgives; but thy offence to Oraetes the king

"He clapped his hands, and a terrible procession came ina procession of parachistes, or embalmers, each

"Nenehofra the beautiful, after seventytwo days, was carried to the crypt chosen for her the year before,

and laid with her queenly predecessors; yet there was no funeral procession in her honor across the sacred

At the conclusion of the story, BenHur was sitting at the Egyptian's feet, and her hand upon the tiller was

And so with conversation and stories, they whiled the hours away. As they stepped ashore, she said,

Ilderim returned to the dowar next day about the third hour. As he dismounted, a man whom he recognized as

of his own tribe came to him and said, "O sheik, I was bidden give thee this package, with request that thou

Ilderim gave the package immediate attention. The seal was already broken. The address ran, TO

Had the missive been in Greek or Arabic, he could have read it; as it was, the utmost he could make out was

The sheik replaced the papyrus in its envelopes, and, tucking the package under his girdle, remounted the

horse. That moment a stranger made his appearance, coming, apparently, from the city.

What he could not read, he yet could speak; so the old Arab answered, with dignity, "I am Sheik Ilderim."

The man's eyes fell; he raised them again, and said, with forced composure, "I heard you had need of a driver

"Sheik, I am a lover of horses, and they say you have the most beautiful in the world."

The old man was touched; he drew rein, as if on the point of yielding to the flattery, but finally replied, "Not

today, not today; some other time I will show them to you. I am too busy just now."

He rode to the field, while the stranger betook himself to town again with a smiling countenance. He had

And every day thereafter, down to the great day of the games, a mansometimes two or three mencame

The sheik waited, well satisfied, until BenHur drew his horses off the field for the forenoonwell satisfied,

for he had seen them, after being put through all the other paces, run full speed in such manner that it did not

seem there were one the slowest and another the fastestrun in other words, as if the four were one.

"This afternoon, O sheik, I will give Sirius back to you." BenHur patted the neck of the old horse as he

"With such as these, good sheik, one day suffices. They are not afraid; they have a man's intelligence, and

they love the exercise. This one," he shook a rein over the back of the youngest of the four"you called him

Aldebaran, I believeis the swiftest; in once round a stadium he would lead the others thrice his length."

Ilderim pulled his beard, and said, with twinkling eyes, "Aldebaran is the swiftest; but what of the slowest?"

"This is he." BenHur shook the rein over Antares. "This is he: but he will win, for, look you, sheik, he will

run his utmost all dayall day; and, as the sun goes down, he will reach his swiftest."

"In his greed of triumph, a Roman cannot keep honor pure. In the gamesall of them, mark youtheir

tricks are infinite; in chariot racing their knavery extends to everythingfrom horse to driver, from driver to

master. Wherefore, good sheik, look well to all thou hast; from this till the trial is over, let no stranger so

much as see the horses. Would you be perfectly safe, do morekeep watch over them with armed hand as

"What you say shall be attended to. By the splendor of God, no hand shall come near them except it belong to

one of the faithful. Tonight I will set watches. But, son of Arrius"Ilderim drew forth the package, and

opened it slowly, while they walked to the divan and seated themselves"son of Arrius, see thou here, and

"There; readand read aloud, rendering what thou findest into the tongue of thy fathers. Latin is an

BenHur was in good spirits, and began the reading carelessly. "'MESSALA TO GRATUS!'" He paused. A

BenHur prayed pardon, and recommenced the paper, which, it is sufficient to say, was one of the duplicates

of the letter despatched so carefully to Gratus by Messala the morning after the revel in the palace.

The paragraphs in the beginning were remarkable only as proof that the writer had not outgrown his habit of

mockery; when they were passed, and the reader came to the parts intended to refresh the memory of Gratus,

his voice trembled, and twice he stopped to regain his selfcontrol. By a strong effort he continued. "'I recall

further,'" he read, "'that thou didst make disposition of the family of Hur'"there the reader again paused and

drew a long breath"'both of us at the time supposing the plan hit upon to be the most effective possible for

the purposes in view, which were silence and delivery over to inevitable but natural death.'"

Here BenHur broke down utterly. The paper fell from his hands, and he covered his face.

The sheik had been a silent, but not unsympathetic, witness of the young man's suffering; now he arose and

said, "Son of Arrius, it is for me to beg thy pardon. Read the paper by thyself. When thou art strong enough to

BenHur flung himself on the divan and gave way to his feelings. When somewhat recovered, he recollected

that a portion of the letter remained unread, and, taking it up, he resumed the reading. "Thou wilt remember,"

the missive ran, "what thou didst with the mother and sister of the malefactor; yet, if now I yield to a desire to

learn if they be living or dead"BenHur started, and read again, and then again, and at last broke into

exclamation. "He does not know they are dead; he does not know it! Blessed be the name of the Lord! there is

yet hope." He finished the sentence, and was strengthened by it, and went on bravely to the end of the letter.

"They are not dead," he said, after reflection; "they are not dead, or he would have heard of it."

A second reading, more careful than the first, confirmed him in the opinion. Then he sent for the sheik.

"In coming to your hospitable tent, O sheik," he said, calmly, when the Arab was seated and they were alone,

"it was not in my mind to speak of myself further than to assure you I had sufficient training to be intrusted

with your horses. I declined to tell you my history. But the chances which have sent this paper to my hand

and given it to me to be read are so strange that I feel bidden to trust you with everything. And I am the more

inclined to do so by knowledge here conveyed that we are both of us threatened by the same enemy, against

whom it is needful that we make common cause. I will read the letter and give you explanation; after which

you will not wonder I was so moved. If you thought me weak or childish, you will then excuse me."

The sheik held his peace, listening closely, until BenHur came to the paragraph in which he was particularly

mentioned: "'I saw the Jew yesterday in the Grove of Daphne;'" so ran the part, "'and if he be not there now,

he is certainly in the neighborhood, making it easy for me to keep him in eye. Indeed, wert thou to ask me

where he is now, I should say, with the most positive assurance, he is to be found at the old Orchard of

"Ah!" exclaimed Ilderim, in such a tone one might hardly say he was more surprised than angry; at the

"'At the old Orchard of Palms,'" BenHur repeated, "'under the tent of the traitor Shiek Ilderim.'"

"Traitor!I?" the old man cried, in his shrillest tone, while lip and beard curled with ire, and on his forehead

"Yet a moment, sheik," said BenHur, with a deprecatory gesture. "Such is Messala's opinion of you. Hear

his threat." And he read on"'under the tent of the traitor Sheik Ilderim, who cannot long escape our strong

hand. Be not surprised if Maxentius, as his first measure, places the Arab on ship for forwarding to Rome.'"

He leaped rather than rose to his feet, his arms outstretched, his fingers spread and curved like claws, his eyes

"O God!nay, by all the gods except of Rome!when shall this insolence end? A freeman am I; free are

my people. Must we die slaves? Or, worse, must I live a dog, crawling to a master's feet? Must I lick his

hand, lest he lash me? What is mine is not mine; I am not my own; for breath of body I must be beholden to a

Roman. Oh, if I were young again! Oh, could I shake off twenty yearsor tenor five!"

He ground his teeth and shook his hands overhead; then, under the impulse of another idea, he walked away

"If I were as thou, son of Arriusas young, as strong, as practised in arms; if I had a motive hissing me to

revengea motive, like thine, great enough to make hate holy Away with disguise on thy part and on

At that name all the currents of BenHur's blood stopped; surprised, bewildered, he gazed into the Arab's

"Son of Hur, I say, were I as thou, with half thy wrongs, bearing about with me memories like thine, I would

not, I could not, rest." Never pausing, his words following each other torrentlike, the old man swept on. "To

all my grievances, I would add those of the world, and devote myself to vengeance. From land to land I

would go firing all mankind. No war for freedom but should find me engaged; no battle against Rome in

which I would not bear a part. I would turn Parthian, if I could not better. If men failed me, still I would not

give over the effortha, ha, ha! By the splendor of God! I would herd with wolves, and make friends of

lions and tigers, in hope of marshalling them against the common enemy. I would use every weapon. So my

victims were Romans, I would rejoice in slaughter. Quarter I would not ask; quarter I would not give. To the

flames everything Roman; to the sword every Roman born. Of nights I would pray the gods, the good and the

bad alike, to lend me their special terrorstempests, drought, heat, cold, and all the nameless poisons they

let loose in air, all the thousand things of which men die on sea and on land. Oh, I could not sleep. II"

The sheik stopped for want of breath, panting, wringing his hands. And, sooth to say, of all the passionate

burst BenHur retained but a vague impression wrought by fiery eyes, a piercing voice, and a rage too

For the first time in years, the desolate youth heard himself addressed by his proper name. One man at least

knew him, and acknowledged it without demand of identity; and he an Arab fresh from the desert!

How came the man by his knowledge? The letter? No. It told the cruelties from which his family had

suffered; it told the story of his own misfortunes, but it did not say he was the very victim whose escape from

doom was the theme of the heartless narrative. That was the point of explanation he had notified the sheik

would follow the reading of the letter. He was pleased, and thrilled with hope restored, yet kept an air of

"My people keep the roads between cities," Ilderim answered, bluntly. "They took it from a courier."

"Again, sheik. You call me son of Hurmy father's name. I did not think myself known to a person on earth.

Ilderim hesitated; but, rallying, he answered, "I know you, yet I am not free to tell you more."

The sheik closed his mouth, and walked away; but, observing BenHur's disappointment, he came back, and

said, "Let us say no more about the matter now. I will go to town; when I return, I may talk to you fully. Give

Ilderim rolled the papyrus carefully, restored it to its envelopes, and became once more all energy.

"What sayest thou?" he asked, while waiting for his horse and retinue. "I told what I would do, were I thou,

"I intended to answer, sheik, and I will." BenHur's countenance and voice changed with the feeling invoked.

"All thou hast said, I will doall at least in the power of a man. I devoted myself to vengeance long ago.

Every hour of the five years passed, I have lived with no other thought. I have taken no respite. I have had no

pleasures of youth. The blandishments of Rome were not for me. I wanted her to educate me for revenge. I

resorted to her most famous masters and professorsnot those of rhetoric or philosophy: alas! I had no time

for them. The arts essential to a fightingman were my desire. I associated with gladiators, and with winners

of prizes in the Circus; and they were my teachers. The drillmasters in the great camp accepted me as a

scholar, and were proud of my attainments in their line. O sheik, I am a soldier; but the things of which I

dream require me to be a captain. With that thought, I have taken part in the campaign against the Parthians;

when it is over, then, if the Lord spare my life and strengththen"he raised his clenched hands, and spoke

vehemently"then I will be an enemy Romantaught in all things; then Rome shall account to me in Roman

Ilderim put an arm over his shoulder, and kissed him, saying, passionately, "If thy God favor thee not, son of

Hur, it is because he is dead. Take thou this from mesworn to, if so thy preference run: thou shalt have my

hands, and their fulnessmen, horses, camels, and the desert for preparation. I swear it! For the present,

The intercepted letter was conclusive upon a number of points of great interest to BenHur. It had all the

effect of a confession that the writer was a party to the puttingaway of the family with murderous intent;

that he had sanctioned the plan adopted for the purpose; that he had received a portion of the proceeds of the

confiscation, and was yet in enjoyment of his part; that he dreaded the unexpected appearance of what he was

pleased to call the chief malefactor, and accepted it as a menace; that he contemplated such further action as

would secure him in the future, and was ready to do whatever his accomplice in Caesarea might advise.

And, now that the letter had reached the hand of him really its subject, it was notice of danger to come, as

well as a confession of guilt. So when Ilderim left the tent, BenHur had much to think about, requiring

immediate action. His enemies were as adroit and powerful as any in the East. If they were afraid of him, he

had greater reason to be afraid of them. He strove earnestly to reflect upon the situation, but could not; his

feelings constantly overwhelmed him. There was a certain qualified pleasure in the assurance that his mother

and sister were alive; and it mattered little that the foundation of the assurance was a mere inference. That

there was one person who could tell him where they were seemed to his hope so long deferred as if discovery

were now close at hand. These were mere causes of feeling; underlying them, it must be confessed he had a

superstitious fancy that God was about to make ordination in his behalf, in which event faith whispered him

Occasionally, referring to the words of Ilderim, he wondered whence the Arab derived his information about

him; not from Malluch certainly; nor from Simonides, whose interests, all adverse, would hold him dumb.

Could Messala have been the informant? No, no: disclosure might be dangerous in that quarter. Conjecture

was vain; at the same time, often as BenHur was beaten back from the solution, he was consoled with the

thought that whoever the person with the knowledge might be, he was a friend, and, being such, would reveal

himself in good time. A little more waitinga little more patience. Possibly the errand of the sheik was to

And patient he would have been if only he could have believed Tirzah and his mother were waiting for him

under circumstances permitting hope on their part strong as his; if, in other words, conscience had not stung

To escape such accusations, he wandered far through the Orchard, pausing now where the dategatherers

were busy, yet not too busy to offer him of their fruit and talk with him; then, under the great trees, to watch

the nesting birds, or hear the bees swarming about the berries bursting with honeyed sweetness, and filling all

By the lake, however, he lingered longest. He might not look upon the water and its sparkling ripples, so like

sensuous life, without thinking of the Egyptian and her marvellous beauty, and of floating with her here and

there through the night, made brilliant by her songs and stories; he might not forget the charm of her manner,

the lightness of her laugh, the flattery of her attention, the warmth of her little hand under his upon the tiller

of the boat. From her it was for his thought but a short way to Balthasar, and the strange things of which he

had been witness, unaccountable by any law of nature; and from him, again, to the King of the Jews, whom

the good man, with such pathos of patience, was holding in holy promise, the distance was even nearer. And

there his mind stayed, finding in the mysteries of that personage a satisfaction answering well for the rest he

was seeking. Because, it may have been, nothing is so easy as denial of an idea not agreeable to our wishes,

he rejected the definition given by Balthasar of the kingdom the king was coming to establish. A kingdom of

souls, if not intolerable to his Sadducean faith, seemed to him but an abstraction drawn from the depths of a

devotion too fond and dreamy. A kingdom of Judea, on the other hand, was more than comprehensible: such

had been, and, if only for that reason, might be again. And it suited his pride to think of a new kingdom

broader of domain, richer in power, and of a more unapproachable splendor than the old one; of a new king

wiser and mightier than Solomona new king under whom, especially, he could find both service and

The midday meal disposed of, still further to occupy himself, BenHur had the chariot rolled out into the

sunlight for inspection. The word but poorly conveys the careful study the vehicle underwent. No point or

part of it escaped him. With a pleasure which will be better understood hereafter, he saw the pattern was

Greek, in his judgment preferable to the Roman in many respects; it was wider between the wheels, and

lower and stronger, and the disadvantage of greater weight would be more than compensated by the greater

endurance of his Arabs. Speaking generally, the carriagemakers of Rome built for the games almost solely,

sacrificing safety to beauty, and durability to grace; while the chariots of Achilles and "the king of men,"

designed for war and all its extreme tests, still ruled the tastes of those who met and struggled for the crowns

Next he brought the horses, and, hitching them to the chariot, drove to the field of exercise, where, hour after

hour, he practised them in movement under the yoke. When he came away in the evening, it was with

restored spirit, and a fixed purpose to defer action in the matter of Messala until the race was won or lost. He

could not forego the pleasure of meeting his adversary under the eyes of the East; that there might be other

competitors seemed not to enter his thought. His confidence in the result was absolute; no doubt of his own

"Let him look to it, let him look to it! Ha, AntaresAldebaran! Shall he not, O honest Rigel? and thou,

So in rests he passed from horse to horse, speaking, not as a master, but the senior of as many brethren.

After nightfall, BenHur sat by the door of the tent waiting for Ilderim, not yet returned from the city. He

was not impatient, or vexed, or doubtful. The sheik would be heard from, at least. Indeed, whether it was

from satisfaction with the performance of the four, or the refreshment there is in cold water succeeding bodily

exercise, or supper partaken with royal appetite, or the reaction which, as a kindly provision of nature, always

follows depression, the young man was in goodhumor verging upon elation. He felt himself in the hands of

Providence no longer his enemy. At last there was a sound of horse's feet coming rapidly, and Malluch rode

"Son of Arrius," he said, cheerily, after salutation, "I salute you for Sheik Ilderim, who requests you to mount

BenHur asked no questions, but went in where the horses were feeding. Aldebaran came to him, as if

offering his service. He played with him lovingly, but passed on, and chose another, not of the fourthey

were sacred to the race. Very shortly the two were on the road, going swiftly and in silence.

Some distance below the Seleucian Bridge, they crossed the river by a ferry, and, riding far round on the right

bank, and recrossing by another ferry, entered the city from the west. The detour was long, but BenHur

Down to Simonides' landing they rode, and in front of the great warehouse, under the bridge, Malluch drew

A watchman took the horses, and almost before he realized it BenHur stood once more at the door of the

house up on the greater one, listening to the response from within"In God's name, enter."

The room was the same in which he had formerly interviewed Simonides, and it had been in nowise changed,

except now, close by the armchair, a polished brazen rod, set on a broad wooden pedestal, arose higher than

a tall man, holding lamps of silver on sliding arms, halfadozen 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

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

The men returned his look kindly; in her face there was something more than kindnesssomething 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

"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

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.

"Simonides," BenHur answered, much moved, "the holy peace you tender is accepted. As son to father, I

Thus delicately he sought to put aside the submission of the merchant, and, in place of the relation of master

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 otherfrom

BenHur to Simonides, from Simonides to BenHur; and they waited, each declining the superiority

direction would imply. When at length the pause began to be embarrassing, BenHur advanced, and gently

took the stool from her, and, going to the chair, placed it at the merchant's feet.

His eyes met hersan instant only; but both were better of the look. He recognized her gratitude, she his

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 demandwhich I would have made hadst thou waived itI have here a statement

covering everything necessary to the understanding required. I could see but two points involvedthe

property first, and then our relation. The statement is explicit as to both. Will it please thee to read it now?"

"Nay," said Simonides, "the sheik shall not deter thee from reading. The accountsuch thou wilt find itis

of a nature requiring a witness. In the attesting place at the end thou wilt find, when thou comest to it, the

nameIlderim, 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

BenHur 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

"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

"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

"With that amountone hundred and twenty talentsI 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:

"To these now, to the five hundred and fiftythree talents gained, add the original capital I had from thy

father, and thou hast SIX HUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE TALENTS!and all thinemaking thee,

He took the papyri from Esther, and, reserving one, rolled them and offered them to BenHur. The pride

perceptible in his manner was not offensive; it might have been from a sense of duty well done; it might have

"And there is nothing," he added, dropping his voice, but not his eyes"there is nothing now thou mayst not

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 goodfortune.

"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 themhear and remember. And thou, Esther, good angel of this good man! hear

"The things these papers take into accountall of them: ships, houses, goods, camels, horses, money; the

least as well as the greatestgive I back to thee, O Simonides, making them all thine, and sealing them to

Esther smiled through her tears; Ilderim pulled his beard with rapid motion, his eyes glistening like beads of

"Sealing them to thee and thine forever," BenHur continued, with better control of himself, "with one

"The hundred and twenty talents which were my father's thou shalt return to me."

"And thou shalt join me in search of my mother and sister, holding all thine subject to the expense of

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."

"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 BenHur's mind that, by the law, a daughter

followed the parent's condition. In all his visions of her, the sweetfaced 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

"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 Simonidesand thou, fair Estherfear 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

"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

"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,

"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

"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."

"Thy word simply is enough; it was so with the father, and I will not more from the son. And now, if the

"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 BenHur, and

said, with a womanliness singularly sweet, "I am not better than my mother was; and, as she is gone, I pray

BenHur 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.

"Esther," he said, quietly, "the night is going fast; and, lest we become too weary for that which is before us,

"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."

"One bound to a chair, like me, must have many hands farreaching, 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

"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.

"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."

"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 agentnever. The elements

"So I said, and kept saying. Finally, O my master, finally I came to be of your opinionGod was in itand,

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

"Many years ago, with my peoplethy mother was with me, Esther, beautiful as morning over old OlivetI

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 wayof

the guard at the Gate, eventhey 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

"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 comespoor 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

"But the kingdom, the kingdom!" BenHur 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

"Balthasar has been a witness of wonderful thingsof 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

hismany to one, and Jehovah the same forever. I must believe the prophets.Bring me the Torah, Esther."

"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 almsgiver 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

Esther here returned, bringing a number of rolls carefully enveloped in darkbrown linen lettered quaintly in

"Keep them, daughter, to give to me as I call for them," the father said, in the tender voice he always used in

"It were long, good my mastertoo long, indeedfor 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 theythe 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 Enochwho

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

eaglewhich 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

"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 bath 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."

"'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

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 reignas a king, O my

master! Believest thou the prophets?Now, daughter, the roll of the sayings of that son of Judah in whom

"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?"

"What then?" asked Simonides. "If the King come poor, will not my master, of his abundance, give him

"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.

"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

"Rome!" he answered, gloomily"Rome, and her legions. I have dwelt with them in their camps. I know

"Ah!" said Simonides. "Thou shalt be a master of legions for the King, with millions to choose from."

"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?"

"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

PadanAram was a law under which our people have not ceased multiplyingnot 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

Israelwhich is, in fact, measuring what the King can doyou shall not bide solely by the rule of natural

increase, but add thereto the otherI 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 Westin Lodinum and the

tradecourts 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

Godseparate 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

Upon Ilderim it operated like the blowing of a trumpet. "Oh that I had back my youth!" he cried, starting to

BenHur 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

BenHur with light, and admitting him to a service which had been his one perfect dreama service

reaching far into the future, and rich with the rewards of duty done, and prizes to sweeten and soothe his

"Let us concede all you say, O Simonides," said BenHur"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?

"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

"O good my master," he continued, recovering himself; "how strong are youin purpose, I mean?"

The spark dropped upon the inflammable passion; the man's eyes gleamed; his hands shook; he answered,

"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

BenHur's face flushed at the prospect, though he said, "I see; but speak plainly. A deed to be done is one

"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 fightingmen 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?"

"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."

"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 drinksevery 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

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 BenHur. "A man bears a hard doom better, knowing there is pity for

"I was about to say," he continued, "I have no choice, but take the part you assign me; and as remaining here

Thus simply was effected the treaty which was to alter BenHur's life. And almost immediately the latter

"One word now, my friends," BenHur 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

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

"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

"Then, if there be nothing more, the work of the night is done," said Simonides.

"The bread and wine again, Esther. Sheik Ilderim will make us happy by staying with us till tomorrow, or at

"Let the horses be brought," said BenHur. "I will return to the Orchard. The enemy will not discover me if I

Next night, about the fourth hour, BenHur stood on the terrace of the great warehouse with Esther. Below

them, on the landing, there was much running about, and shifting of packages and boxes, and shouting of

men, whose figures, stooping, heaving, hauling, looked, in the light of the crackling torches kindled in their

aid, like the laboring genii of the fantastic Eastern tales. A galley was being laden for instant departure.

Simonides had not yet come from his office, in which, at the last moment, he would deliver to the captain of

the vessel instructions to proceed without stop to Ostia, the seaport of Rome, and, after landing a passenger

The passenger is the agent going to dispose of the estate derived from Arrius the duumvir. When the lines of

the vessel are cast off, and she is put about, and her voyage begun, BenHur will be committed irrevocably to

the work undertaken the night before. If he is disposed to repent the agreement with Ilderim, a little time is

allowed him to give notice and break it off. He is master, and has only to say the word.

Such may have been the thought at the moment in his mind. He was standing with folded arms, looking upon

the scene in the manner of a man debating with himself. Young, handsome, rich, but recently from the

patrician circles of Roman society, it is easy to think of the world besetting him with appeals not to give more

to onerous duty or ambition attended with outlawry and danger. We can even imagine the arguments with

which he was pressed; the hopelessness of contention with Caesar; the uncertainty veiling everything

connected with the King and his coming; the ease, honors, state, purchasable like goods in market; and,

strongest of all, the sense newly acquired of home, with friends to make it delightful. Only those who have

Let us add now, the worldalways cunning enough of itself; always whispering to the weak, Stay, take thine

ease; always presenting the sunny side of lifethe world was in this instance helped by BenHur's

He looked at her thenor rather down upon her, for at his side she appeared little more than a child. In the

dim light he could not see her face distinctly; even the form was shadowy. But again he was reminded of

Tirzah, and a sudden tenderness fell upon himjust so the lost sister stood with him on the housetop the

calamitous morning of the accident to Gratus. Poor Tirzah! Where was she now? Esther had the benefit of the

feeling evoked. If not his sister, he could never look upon her as his servant; and that she was his servant in

"I cannot think of Rome," she continued, recovering her voice, and speaking in her quiet womanly way"I

cannot think of Rome as a city of palaces and temples, and crowded with people; she is to me a monster

which has possession of one of the beautiful lands, and lies there luring men to ruin and deatha monster

She drew closer to him, looked up again, and said, "Why must you make her your enemy? Why not rather

make peace with her, and be at rest? You have had many ills, and borne them; you have survived the snares

laid for you by foes. Sorrow has consumed your youth; is it well to give it the remainder of your days?"

The girlish face under his eyes seemed to come nearer and get whiter as the pleading went on; he stooped

She hesitated a moment, then asked, in return, "Is the property near Rome a residence?"

"It is beautifula palace in the midst of gardens and shellstrewn walks; fountains without and within;

statuary in the shady nooks; hills around covered with vines, and so high that Neapolis and Vesuvius are in

sight, and the sea an expanse of purpling blue dotted with restless sails. Caesar has a countryseat nearby,

"There was never a summer day, never a moonlit night, more quiet, save when visitors come. Now that the

old owner is gone, and I am here, there is nothing to break its silencenothing, unless it be the whispering of

servants, or the whistling of happy birds, or the noise of fountains at play; it is changeless, except as day by

day old flowers fade and fall, and new ones bud and bloom, and the sunlight gives place to the shadow of a

passing cloud. The life, Esther, was all too quiet for me. It made me restless by keeping always present a

feeling that I, who have so much to do, was dropping into idle habits, and tying myself with silken chains,

"No, no, Esthernot that. Call me friendbrother, if you will; I am not your master, and will not be. Call

He could not see the flush of pleasure which reddened her face, and the glow of the eyes that went out lost in

"I cannot understand," she said, "the nature which prefers the life you are going toa life of"

"Yes," she added, "the nature which could prefer that life to such as might be in the beautiful villa."

"Esther, you mistake. There is no preference. Alas! the Roman is not so kind. I am going of necessity. To stay

here is to die; and if I go there, the end will be the samea poisoned cup, a bravo's blow, or a judge's

sentence obtained by perjury. Messala and the procurator Gratus are rich with plunder of my father's estate,

and it is more important to them to keep their gains now than was their getting in the first instance. A

peaceable settlement is out of reach, because of the confession it would imply. And thenthen Ah,

Esther, if I could buy them, I do not know that I would. I do not believe peace possible to me; no, not even in

the sleepy shade and sweet air of the marble porches of the old villano matter who might be there to help

me bear the burden of the days, nor by what patience of love she made the effort. Peace is not possible to me

while my people are lost, for I must be watchful to find them. If I find them, and they have suffered wrong,

shall not the guilty suffer for it? If they are dead by violence, shall the murderers escape? Oh, I could not

sleep for dreams! Nor could the holiest love, by any stratagem, lull me to a rest which conscience would not

"Is it so bad then?" she asked, her voice tremulous with feeling. "Can nothing, nothing, be done?"

The hand was warm, and in the palm of his it was lost. He felt it tremble. Then the Egyptian came, so the

opposite of this little one; so tall, so audacious, with a flattery so cunning, a wit so ready, a beauty so

wonderful, a manner so bewitching. He carried the hand to his lips, and gave it back.

"The little sister the Roman stole from me, and whom I must find before I can rest or be happy."

Just then a gleam of light flashed athwart the terrace and fell upon the two; and, looking round, they saw a

servant roll Simonides in his chair out of the door. They went to the merchant, and in the aftertalk he was

Immediately the lines of the galley were cast off, and she swung round, and, midst the flashing of torches and

the shouting of joyous sailors, hurried off to the sealeaving BenHur committed to the cause of the KING

The day before the games, in the afternoon, all Ilderim's racing property was taken to the city, and put in

quarters adjoining the Circus. Along with it the good man carried a great deal of property not of that class; so

with servants, retainers mounted and armed, horses in leading, cattle driven, camels laden with baggage, his

outgoing from the Orchard was not unlike a tribal migration. The people along the road failed not to laugh at

his motley procession; on the other side, it was observed that, with all his irascibility, he was not in the least

offended by their rudeness. If he was under surveillance, as he had reason to believe, the informer would

describe the semibarbarous show with which he came up to the races. The Romans would laugh; the city

would be amused; but what cared he? Next morning the pageant would be far on the road to the desert, and

going with it would be every movable thing of value belonging to the Orchardeverything save such as

were essential to the success of his four. He was, in fact, started home; his tents were all folded; the dowar

was no more; in twelve hours all would be out of reach, pursue who might. A man is never safer than when

Neither he nor BenHur overestimated the influence of Messala; it was their opinion, however, that he would

not begin active measures against them until after the meeting in the Circus; if defeated there, especially if

defeated by BenHur, they might instantly look for the worst he could do; he might not even wait for advices

from Gratus. With this view, they shaped their course, and were prepared to betake themselves out of harm's

way. They rode together now in good spirits, calmly confident of success on the morrow.

On the way, they came upon Malluch in waiting for them. The faithful fellow gave no sign by which it was

possible to infer any knowledge on his part of the relationship so recently admitted between BenHur and

Simonides, or of the treaty between them and Ilderim. He exchanged salutations as usual, and produced a

paper, saying to the sheik, "I have here the notice of the editor of the games, just issued, in which you will

find your horses published for the race. You will find in it also the order of exercises. Without waiting, good

"To you also, son of Arrius, my congratulations. There is nothing now to prevent your meeting Messala.

Every condition preliminary to the race is complied with. I have the assurance from the editor himself."

"Your color is white, and Messala's mixed scarlet and gold. The good effects of the choice are visible already.

Boys are now hawking white ribbons along the streets; tomorrow every Arab and Jew in the city will wear

them. In the Circus you will see the white fairly divide the galleries with the red."

"No; the scarlet and gold will rule there. But if we win"Malluch chuckled with the pleasure of the

thought"if we win, how the dignitaries will tremble! They will bet, of course, according to their scorn of

everything not Romantwo, three, five to one on Messala, because he is Roman." Dropping his voice yet

lower, he added, "It ill becomes a Jew of good standing in the Temple to put his money at such a hazard; yet,

in confidence, I will have a friend next behind the consul's seat to accept offers of three to one, or five, or

tenthe madness may go to such height. I have put to his order six thousand shekels for the purpose."

"Nay, Malluch," said BenHur, "a Roman will wager only in his Roman coin. Suppose you find your friend

tonight, and place to his order sestertii in such amount as you choose. And look you, Malluchlet him be

instructed to seek wagers with Messala and his supporters; Ilderim's four against Messala's."

"Ay, Malluch; would you serve me perfectly, help me to fix the public eye upon our raceMessala's and

"Enormous wagers offered will answer; if the offers are accepted, all the better."

"Shall I not have back the equivalent of his robbery?" said BenHur, partly to himself. "Another opportunity

may not come. And if I could break him in fortune as well as in pride! Our father Jacob could take no

A look of determined will knit his handsome face, giving emphasis to his further speech.

"Yes, it shall be. Hark, Malluch! Stop not in thy offer of sestertii. Advance them to talents, if any there be

who dare so high. Five, ten, twenty talents; ay, fifty, so the wager be with Messala himself."

"So thou shalt. Go to Simonides, and tell him I wish the matter arranged. Tell him my heart is set on the ruin

of my enemy, and that the opportunity hath such excellent promise that I choose such hazards. On our side be

And Malluch, greatly delighted, gave him parting salutation, and started to ride away, but returned presently.

"Your pardon," he said to BenHur. "There was another matter. I could not get near Messala's chariot myself,

but I had another measure it; and, from his report, its hub stands quite a palm higher from the ground than

"As thou art a son of Judah, Malluch, and faithful to thy kin, get thee a seat in the gallery over the Gate of

Triumph, down close to the balcony in front of the pillars, and watch well when we make the turns there;

watch well, for if I have favor at all, I will Nay, Malluch, let it go unsaid! Only get thee there, and watch

BenHur took the paper, which, signed by the prefect of the province as editor, performed the office of a

modern programme, giving particularly the several divertisements provided for the occasion. It informed the

public that there would be first a procession of extraordinary splendor; that the procession would be

succeeded by the customary honors to the god Consus, whereupon the games would begin; running, leaping,

wrestling, boxing, each in the order stated. The names of the competitors were given, with their several

nationalities and schools of training, the trials in which they had been engaged, the prizes won, and the prizes

now offered; under the latter head the sums of money were stated in illuminated letters, telling of the

departure of the day when the simple chaplet of pine or laurel was fully enough for the victor, hungering for

Over these parts of the programme BenHur sped with rapid eyes. At last he came to the announcement of

the race. He read it slowly. Attending lovers of the heroic sports were assured they would certainly be

gratified by an Orestean struggle unparalleled in Antioch. The city offered the spectacle in honor of the

consul. One hundred thousand sestertii and a crown of laurel were the prizes. Then followed the particulars.

The entries were six in allfours only permitted; and, to further interest in the performance, the competitors

"I. A four of Lysippus the Corinthiantwo grays, a bay, and a black; entered at Alexandria last year, and

"II. A four of Messala of Rometwo white, two black; victors of the Circensian as exhibited in the Circus

"III. A four of Cleanthes the Athenianthree gray, one bay; winners at the Isthmian last year. Cleanthes,

"IV. A four of Dicaeus the Byzantinetwo black, one gray, one bay; winners this year at Byzantium.

"V. A four of Admetus the Sidonianall grays. Thrice entered at Caesarea, and thrice victors. Admetus,

"VI. A four of Ilderim, sheik of the Desert. All bays; first race. BenHur, a Jew, driver. Color, white."

BenHur raised his eyes to Ilderim. He had found the cause of the Arab's outcry. Both rushed to the same

Evening was hardly come upon Antioch, when the Omphalus, nearly in the centre of the city, became a

troubled fountain from which in every direction, but chiefly down to the Nymphaeum and east and west

along the Colonnade of Herod, flowed currents of people, for the time given up to Bacchus and Apollo.

For such indulgence anything more fitting cannot be imagined than the great roofed streets, which were

literally miles on miles of porticos wrought of marble, polished to the last degree of finish, and all gifts to the

voluptuous city by princes careless of expenditure where, as in this instance, they thought they were

eternizing themselves. Darkness was not permitted anywhere; and the singing, the laughter, the shouting,

were incessant, and in compound like the roar of waters dashing through hollow grots, confused by a

The many nationalities represented, though they might have amazed a stranger, were not peculiar to Antioch.

Of the various missions of the great empire, one seems to have been the fusion of men and the introduction of

strangers to each other; accordingly, whole peoples rose up and went at pleasure, taking with them their

costumes, customs, speech, and gods; and where they chose, they stopped, engaged in business, built houses,

There was a peculiarity, however, which could not have failed the notice of a lookeron this night in Antioch.

Nearly everybody wore the colors of one or other of the charioteers announced for the morrow's race.

Sometimes it was in form of a scarf, sometimes a badge; often a ribbon or a feather. Whatever the form, it

signified merely the wearer's partiality; thus, green published a friend of Cleanthes the Athenian, and black an

adherent of the Byzantine. This was according to a custom, old probably as the day of the race of Orestesa

custom, by the way, worthy of study as a marvel of history, illustrative of the absurd yet appalling extremities

The observer abroad on this occasion, once attracted to the wearing of colors, would have very shortly

decided that there were three in predominancegreen, white, and the mixed scarlet and gold.

The five great chandeliers in the saloon are freshly lighted. The assemblage is much the same as that already

noticed in connection with the place. The divan has its corps of sleepers and burden of garments, and the

tables yet resound with the rattle and clash of dice. Yet the greater part of the company are not doing

anything. They walk about, or yawn tremendously, or pause as they pass each other to exchange idle

nothings. Will the weather be fair tomorrow? Are the preparations for the games complete? Do the laws of

the Circus in Antioch differ from the laws of the Circus in Rome? Truth is, the young fellows are suffering

from ennui. Their heavy work is done; that is, we would find their tablets, could we look at them, covered

with memoranda of wagerswagers on every contest; on the running, the wrestling, the boxing; on

Good reader, they cannot find anybody who will hazard so much as a denarius with them against Messala.

Why, they say, is he not perfect in his training? Did he not graduate from an imperial lanista? Were not his

horses winners at the Circensian in the Circus Maximus? And thenah, yes! he is a Roman!

In a corner, at ease on the divan, Messala himself may be seen. Around him, sitting or standing, are his

courtierly admirers, plying him with questions. There is, of course, but one topic.

"Ah!" cries the young prince, throwing himself on the divan at Messala's feet, "Ah, by Bacchus, I am tired!"

"Up the street; up to the Omphalus, and beyondwho shall say how far? Rivers of people; never so many in

"The idiots! Perpol! They never beheld a Circensian with Caesar for editor. But, my Drusus, what found

"Mirabile!" cried Drusus, half rising. "We met a faction of whites, and they had a banner. Butha, ha, ha!"

"Scum of the desert were they, my Messala, and garbageeaters from the Jacob's Temple in Jerusalem. What

"Offered them a wager," said Drusus, relenting, and taking the word from the shadow's mouth. "Andha,

ha, ha!one fellow with not enough skin on his face to make a worm for a carp stepped forth, andha, ha,

ha!said yes. I drew my tablets. 'Who is your man?' I asked. 'BenHur, the Jew,' said he. Then I: 'What shall

it be? How much?' He answered, 'Aa' Excuse me, Messala. By Jove's thunder, I cannot go on for

An outcry over about the door just then occasioned a rush to that quarter; and, as the noise there continued,

and grew louder, even Cecilius betook himself off, pausing only to say, "The noble Drusus, my Messala, put

These and like exclamations filled the saloon, to the stoppage of other speech. The diceplayers quit their

games; the sleepers awoke, rubbed their eyes, drew their tablets, and hurried to the common centre.

The person so warmly received was the respectable Jew, BenHur's fellowvoyager from Cyprus. He entered

grave, quiet, observant. His robe was spotlessly white; so was the cloth of his turban. Bowing and smiling at

the welcome, he moved slowly towards the central table. Arrived there, he drew his robe about him in a

stately manner, took seat, and waved his hand. The gleam of a jewel on a finger helped him not a little to the

"A dog of IsraelSanballat by namepurveyor for the army; residence, Rome; vastly rich; grown so as a

contractor of furnishments which he never furnishes. He spins mischiefs, nevertheless, finer than spiders spin

Messala arose as he spoke, and, with Drusus, joined the mass crowded about the purveyor.

"It came to me on the street," said that person, producing his tablets, and opening them on the table with an

impressive air of business, "that there was great discomfort in the palace because offers on Messala were

going without takers. The gods, you know, must have sacrifices; and here am I. You see my color; let us to

"What!" exclaimed the purveyor, astonished. "Only two to one, and yours a Roman!"

"If Caesar die tomorrow," he said, "Rome will not be all bereft. There is at least one other with spirit to take

"Six be it," repeated Messala. "Six to onethe difference between a Roman and a Jew. And, having found it,

now, O redemptor of the flesh of swine, let us on. The amountand quickly. The consul may send for thee,

Sanballat took the laugh against him coolly, and wrote, and offered the writing to Messala.

"Mem.Chariotrace. Messala of Rome, in wager with Sanballat, also of Rome, says he will beat BenHur,

There was no noise, no motion. Each person seemed held in the pose the reading found him. Messala stared

at the memorandum, while the eyes which had him in view opened wide, and stared at him. He felt the gaze,

and thought rapidly. So lately he stood in the same place, and in the same way hectored the countrymen

around him. They would remember it. If he refused to sign, his heroship was lost. And sign he could not; he

was not worth one hundred talents, nor the fifth part of the sum. Suddenly his mind became a blank; he stood

"The bearer, Sanballat of Rome, hath now to his order with me fifty talents, coin of Caesar.

"By Hercules!" he shouted, "the paper lies, and the Jew is a liar. Who but Caesar hath fifty talents at order?

The cry was angry, and it was angrily repeated; yet Sanballat kept his seat, and his smile grew more

"Hush! One to one, my countrymenone to one, for love of our ancient Roman name."

"O thou circumcised dog!" he continued, to Sanballat, "I gave thee six to one, did I not?"

"Nay, the word of so brave a Roman must pass. Only make the sum evensix make it, and I will write."

Sanballat immediately arose and looked around him, a sneer in place of his smile. No man better than he

"Romans," he said, "another wager, if you dare! Five talents against five talents that the white will win. I

"What!" he cried, louder. "Shall it be said in the Circus tomorrow that a dog of Israel went into the saloon of

the palace full of Roman noblesamong them the scion of a Caesarand laid five talents before them in

"Have done, O insolent!" said Drusus, "write the challenge, and leave it on the table; and tomorrow, if we

find thou hast indeed so much money to put at such hopeless hazard, I, Drusus, promise it shall be taken."

Sanballat wrote again, and, rising, said, unmoved as ever, "See, Drusus, I leave the offer with you. When it is

signed, send it to me any time before the race begins. I will be found with the consul in a seat over the Porta

He bowed, and departed, careless of the shout of derision with which they pursued him out of the door.

In the night the story of the prodigious wager flew along the streets and over the city; and BenHur, lying

with his four, was told of it, and also that Messala's whole fortune was on the hazard.

The Circus at Antioch stood on the south bank of the river, nearly opposite the island, differing in no respect

In the purest sense, the games were a gift to the public; consequently, everybody was free to attend; and, vast

as the holding capacity of the structure was, so fearful were the people, on this occasion, lest there should not

be room for them, that, early the day before the opening of the exhibition, they took up all the vacant spaces

At midnight the entrances were thrown wide, and the rabble, surging in, occupied the quarters assigned to

them, from which nothing less than an earthquake or an army with spears could have dislodged them. They

dozed the night away on the benches, and breakfasted there; and there the close of the exercises found them,

The better people, their seats secured, began moving towards the Circus about the first hour of the morning,

the noble and very rich among them distinguished by litters and retinues of liveried servants.

By the second hour, the efflux from the city was a stream unbroken and innumerable.

Exactly as the gnomon of the official dial up in the citadel pointed the second hour half gone, the legion, in

full panoply, and with all its standards on exhibit, descended from Mount Sulpius; and when the rear of the

last cohort disappeared in the bridge, Antioch was literally abandonednot that the Circus could hold the

A great concourse on the river shore witnessed the consul come over from the island in a barge of state. As

the great man landed, and was received by the legion, the martial show for one brief moment transcended the

At the third hour, the audience, if such it may be termed, was assembled; at last, a flourish of trumpets called

for silence, and instantly the gaze of over a hundred thousand persons was directed towards a pile forming the

There was a basement first, broken in the middle by a broad arched passage, called the Porta Pompae, over

which, on an elevated tribunal magnificently decorated with insignia and legionary standards, the consul sat

in the place of honor. On both sides of the passage the basement was divided into stalls termed carceres, each

protected in front by massive gates swung to statuesque pilasters. Over the stalls next was a cornice crowned

by a low balustrade; back of which the seats arose in theatre arrangement, all occupied by a throng of

dignitaries superbly attired. The pile extended the width of the Circus, and was flanked on both sides by

towers which, besides helping the architects give grace to their work, served the velaria, or purple awnings,

stretched between them so as to throw the whole quarter in a shade that became exceedingly grateful as the

This structure, it is now thought, can be made useful in helping the reader to a sufficient understanding of the

arrangement of the rest of the interior of the Circus. He has only to fancy himself seated on the tribunal with

On the right and left, if he will look, he will see the main entrances, very ample, and guarded by gates hinged

Directly below him is the arenaa level plane of considerable extent, covered with fine white sand. There all

Looking across this sanded arena westwardly still, there is a pedestal of marble supporting three low conical

pillars of gray stone, much carven. Many an eye will hunt for those pillars before the day is done, for they are

the first goal, and mark the beginning and end of the racecourse. Behind the pedestal, leaving a

passageway and space for an altar, commences a wall ten or twelve feet in breadth and five or six in height,

extending thence exactly two hundred yards, or one Olympic stadium. At the farther, or westward, extremity

of the wall there is another pedestal, surmounted with pillars which mark the second goal.

The racers will enter the course on the right of the first goal, and keep the wall all the time to their left. The

beginning and ending points of the contest lie, consequently, directly in front of the consul across the arena;

Now if the reader, who is still supposed to be seated on the consular tribunal over the Porta Pompae, will look

up from the ground arrangement of the interior, the first point to attract his notice will be the marking of the

outer boundaryline of the coursethat is, a plainfaced, solid wall, fifteen or twenty feet in height, with a

balustrade on its cope, like that over the carceres, or stalls, in the east. This balcony, if followed round the

course, will be found broken in three places to allow passages of exit and entrance, two in the north and one

in the west; the latter very ornate, and called the Gate of Triumph, because, when all is over, the victors will

At the west end the balcony encloses the course in the form of a half circle, and is made to uphold two great

Directly behind the balustrade on the coping of the balcony is the first seat, from which ascend the

succeeding benches, each higher than the one in front of it; giving to view a spectacle of surpassing

interestthe spectacle of a vast space ruddy and glistening with human faces, and rich with varicolored

The commonalty occupy quarters over in the west, beginning at the point of termination of an awning,

stretched, it would seem, for the accommodation of the better classes exclusively.

Having thus the whole interior of the Circus under view at the moment of the sounding of the trumpets, let

the reader next imagine the multitude seated and sunk to sudden silence, and motionless in its intensity of

Out of the Porta Pompae over in the east rises a sound mixed of voices and instruments harmonized.

Presently, forth issues the chorus of the procession with which the celebration begins; the editor and civic

authorities of the city, givers of the games, follow in robes and garlands; then the gods, some on platforms

borne by men, others in great fourwheel carriages gorgeously decorated; next them, again, the contestants of

Slowly crossing the arena, the procession proceeds to make circuit of the course. The display is beautiful and

imposing. Approval runs before it in a shout, as the water rises and swells in front of a boat in motion. If the

dumb, figured gods make no sign of appreciation of the welcome, the editor and his associates are not so

The reception of the athletes is even more demonstrative, for there is not a man in the assemblage who has

not something in wager upon them, though but a mite or farthing. And it is noticeable, as the classes move

by, that the favorites among them are speedily singled out: either their names are loudest in the uproar, or

they are more profusely showered with wreaths and garlands tossed to them from the balcony.

If there is a question as to the popularity with the public of the several games, it is now put to rest. To the

splendor of the chariots and the superexcellent beauty of the horses, the charioteers add the personality

necessary to perfect the charm of their display. Their tunics, short, sleeveless, and of the finest woollen

texture, are of the assigned colors. A horseman accompanies each one of them except BenHur, who, for

some reasonpossibly distrusthas chosen to go alone; so, too, they are all helmeted but him. As they

approach, the spectators stand upon the benches, and there is a sensible deepening of the clamor, in which a

sharp listener may detect the shrill piping of women and children; at the same time, the things roseate flying

from the balcony thicken into a storm, and, striking the men, drop into the chariotbeds, which are threatened

with filling to the tops. Even the horses have a share in the ovation; nor may it be said they are less conscious

Very soon, as with the other contestants, it is made apparent that some of the drivers are more in favor than

others; and then the discovery follows that nearly every individual on the benches, women and children as

well as men, wears a color, most frequently a ribbon upon the breast or in the hair: now it is green, now

yellow, now blue; but, searching the great body carefully, it is manifest that there is a preponderance of

In a modern assemblage called together as this one is, particularly where there are sums at hazard upon the

race, a preference would be decided by the qualities or performance of the horses; here, however, nationality

was the rule. If the Byzantine and Sidonian found small support, it was because their cities were scarcely

represented on the benches. On their side, the Greeks, though very numerous, were divided between the

Corinthian and the Athenian, leaving but a scant showing of green and yellow. Messala's scarlet and gold

would have been but little better had not the citizens of Antioch, proverbially a race of courtiers, joined the

Romans by adopting the color of their favorite. There were left then the country people, or Syrians, the Jews,

and the Arabs; and they, from faith in the blood of the sheik's four, blent largely with hate of the Romans,

whom they desired, above all things, to see beaten and humbled, mounted the white, making the most noisy,

As the charioteers move on in the circuit, the excitement increases; at the second goal, where, especially in

the galleries, the white is the ruling color, the people exhaust their flowers and rive the air with screams.

Upon the passage of the procession, the factionists take their seats and resume conversation.

"Ah, by Bacchus! was he not handsome?" exclaims a woman, whose Romanism is betrayed by the colors

"And how splendid his chariot!" replies a neighbor, of the same proclivities. "It is all ivory and gold. Jupiter

"Nay, be thou not rash," whispers a moderating friend to the speaker. "The children of Jacob are not much

given to Gentile sports, which are too often accursed in the sight of the Lord."

"And for that," a fourth one adds, "they say he has all the tricks of the Romans."

"Thou fool!" answers an Antiochian, from a bench well forward on the balcony. "Knowest thou not there are

fifty talents laid against him, six to one, on Messala? Put up thy shekels, lest Abraham rise and smite thee."

"Ha, ha! thou ass of Antioch! Cease thy bray. Knowest thou not it was Messala betting on himself?"

When at length the march was ended and the Porta Pompae received back the procession, BenHur knew he

About three o'clock, speaking in modern style, the program was concluded except the chariotrace. The

editor, wisely considerate of the comfort of the people, chose that time for a recess. At once the vomitoria

were thrown open, and all who could hastened to the portico outside where the restaurateurs had their

quarters. Those who remained yawned, talked, gossiped, consulted their tablets, and, all distinctions else

forgotten, merged into but two classesthe winners, who were happy, and the losers, who were grum and

Now, however, a third class of spectators, composed of citizens who desired only to witness the chariotrace,

availed themselves of the recess to come in and take their reserved seats; by so doing they thought to attract

the least attention and give the least offence. Among these were Simonides and his party, whose places were

As the four stout servants carried the merchant in his chair up the aisle, curiosity was much excited. Presently

some one called his name. Those about caught it and passed it on along the benches to the west; and there

was hurried climbing on seats to get sight of the man about whom common report had coined and put in

circulation a romance so mixed of good fortune and bad that the like had never been known or heard of

Ilderim was also recognized and warmly greeted; but nobody knew Balthasar or the two women who

The people made way for the party respectfully, and the ushers seated them in easy speaking distance of each

other down by the balustrade overlooking the arena. In providence of comfort, they sat upon cushions and

Upon being seated, the latter cast a frightened look over the Circus, and drew the veil closer about her face;

while the Egyptian, letting her veil fall upon her shoulders, gave herself to view, and gazed at the scene with

the seeming unconsciousness of being stared at, which, in a woman, is usually the result of long social

The newcomers generally were yet making their first examination of the great spectacle, beginning with the

consul and his attendants, when some workmen ran in and commenced to stretch a chalked rope across the

About the same time, also, six men came in through the Porta Pompae and took post, one in front of each

"Watch the white! See, he crosses over, he stops; number one it isnumber one on the left."

These gatekeepers, it should be understood, were dressed in tunics colored like those of the competing

charioteers; so, when they took their stations, everybody knew the particular stall in which his favorite was

The Jewess shuddered as she answered no. If not her father's enemy, the Roman was BenHur's.

As Iras spoke, her large eyes brightened and she shook her jeweled fan. Esther looked at her with the thought,

"Is he, then, so much handsomer than BenHur?" Next moment she heard Ilderim say to her father, "Yes, his

stall is number two on the left of the Porta Pompae;" and, thinking it was of BenHur he spoke, her eyes

turned that way. Taking but the briefest glance at the wattled face of the gate, she drew the veil close and

"I am just from the stalls, O sheik," he said, bowing gravely to IIderim, who began combing his beard, while

Ilderim replied simply, "If they are beaten, I pray it be by some other than Messala."

Turning then to Simonides, Sanballat drew out a tablet, saying, "I bring you also something of interest. I

reported, you will remember, the wager concluded with Messala last night, and stated that I left another

which, if taken, was to be delivered to me in writing today before the race began. Here it is."

"Yes," he said, "their emissary came to ask me if you had so much money with me. Keep the tablet close. If

you lose, you know where to come; if you win"his face knit hard"if you winah, friend, see to it! See

the signers escape not; hold them to the last shekel. That is what they would with us."

"You are very good," the other returned; "but if I leave the consul, young Rome yonder will boil over. Peace

The trumpeters blew a call at which the absentees rushed back to their places. At the same time, some

attendants appeared in the arena, and, climbing upon the division wall, went to an entablature near the second

goal at the west end, and placed upon it seven wooden balls; then returning to the first goal, upon an

entablature there they set up seven other pieces of wood hewn to represent dolphins.

"Well, they are to keep the count. At the end of each round run thou shalt see one ball and one fish taken

The preparations were now complete, and presently a trumpeter in gaudy uniform arose by the editor, ready

to blow the signal of commencement promptly at his order. Straightway the stir of the people and the hum of

their conversation died away. Every face nearby, and every face in the lessening perspective, turned to the

east, as all eyes settled upon the gates of the six stalls which shut in the competitors.

The unusual flush upon his face gave proof that even Simonides had caught the universal excitement. Ilderim

"Look now for the Roman," said the fair Egyptian to Esther, who did not hear her, for, with closedrawn veil

The structure containing the stalls, it should be observed, was in form of the segment of a circle, retired on

the right so that its central point was projected forward, and midway the course, on the starting side of the

first goal. Every stall, consequently, was equally distant from the startingline or chalked rope above

The trumpet sounded short and sharp; whereupon the starters, one for each chariot, leaped down from behind

the pillars of the goal, ready to give assistance if any of the fours proved unmanageable.

Again the trumpet blew, and simultaneously the gatekeepers threw the stalls open.

First appeared the mounted attendants of the charioteers, five in all, BenHur having rejected the service. The

chalked line was lowered to let them pass, then raised again. They were beautifully mounted, yet scarcely

observed as they rode forward; for all the time the trampling of eager horses, and the voices of drivers

scarcely less eager, were heard behind in the stalls, so that one might not look away an instant from the

The chalked line up again, the gatekeepers called their men; instantly the ushers on the balcony waved their

Forth from each stall, like missiles in a volley from so many great guns, rushed the six fours; and up the vast

assemblage arose, electrified and irrepressible, and, leaping upon the benches, filled the Circus and the air

above it with yells and screams. This was the time for which they had so patiently waited!this the moment

of supreme interest treasured up in talk and dreams since the proclamation of the games!

The veil was withdrawn. For an instant the little Jewess was brave. An idea of the joy there is in doing an

heroic deed under the eyes of a multitude came to her, and she understood ever after how, at such times, the

souls of men, in the frenzy of performance, laugh at death or forget it utterly.

The competitors were now under view from nearly every part of the Circus, yet the race was not begun; they

The line was stretched for the purpose of equalizing the start. If it were dashed upon, discomfiture of man and

horses might be apprehended; on the other hand, to approach it timidly was to incur the hazard of being

thrown behind in the beginning of the race; and that was certain forfeit of the great advantage always striven

This trial, its perils and consequences, the spectators knew thoroughly; and if the opinion of old Nestor,

"It is not strength, but art, obtained the prize, And to be swift is less than to be wise"

all on the benches might well look for warning of the winner to be now given, justifying the interest with

The arena swam in a dazzle of light; yet each driver looked first thing for the rope, then for the coveted inner

line. So, all six aiming at the same point and speeding furiously, a collision seemed inevitable; nor that

merely. What if the editor, at the last moment, dissatisfied with the start, should withhold the signal to drop

The crossing was about two hundred and fifty feet in width. Quick the eye, steady the hand, unerring the

judgment required. If now one look away! or his mind wander! or a rein slip! And what attraction in the

ensemble of the thousands over the spreading balcony! Calculating upon the natural impulse to give one

glancejust onein sooth of curiosity or vanity, malice might be there with an artifice; while friendship

The divine last touch in perfecting the beautiful is animation. Can we accept the saying, then these latter days,

so tame in pastime and dull in sports, have scarcely anything to compare to the spectacle offered by the six

contestants. Let the reader try to fancy it; let him first look down upon the arena, and see it glistening in its

frame of dullgray granite walls; let him then, in this perfect field, see the chariots, light of wheel, very

graceful, and ornate as paint and burnishing can make themMessala's rich with ivory and gold; let him see

the drivers, erect and statuesque, undisturbed by the motion of the cars, their limbs naked, and fresh and

ruddy with the healthful polish of the bathsin their right hands goads, suggestive of torture dreadful to the

thoughtin their left hands, held in careful separation, and high, that they may not interfere with view of the

steeds, the reins passing taut from the fore ends of the carriagepoles; let him see the fours, chosen for beauty

as well as speed; let him see them in magnificent action, their masters not more conscious of the situation and

all that is asked and hoped from themtheir heads tossing, nostrils in play, now distent, now

contractedlimbs too dainty for the sand which they touch but to spurnlimbs slender, yet with impact

crushing as hammersevery muscle of the rounded bodies instinct with glorious life, swelling, diminishing,

justifying the world in taking from them its ultimate measure of force; finally, along with chariots, drivers,

horses, let the reader see the accompanying shadows fly; and, with such distinctness as the picture comes, he

may share the satisfaction and deeper pleasure of those to whom it was a thrilling fact, not a feeble fancy.

The competitors having started each on the shortest line for the position next the wall, yielding would be like

giving up the race; and who dared yield? It is not in common nature to change a purpose in midcareer; and

the cries of encouragement from the balcony were indistinguishable and indescribable: a roar which had the

The fours neared the rope together. Then the trumpeter by the editor's side blew a signal vigorously. Twenty

feet away it was not heard. Seeing the action, however, the judges dropped the rope, and not an instant too

soon, for the hoof of one of Messala's horses struck it as it fell. Nothing daunted, the Roman shook out his

long lash, loosed the reins, leaned forward, and, with a triumphant shout, took the wall.

"Jove with us! Jove with us!" yelled all the Roman faction, in a frenzy of delight.

As Messala turned in, the bronze lion's head at the end of his axle caught the foreleg of the Athenian's

righthand tracemate, flinging the brute over against its yokefellow. Both staggered, struggled, and lost

their headway. The ushers had their will at least in part. The thousands held their breath with horror; only up

Tablet in hand, Sanballat turned to them; a crash from the course below stopped his speech, and he could not

Messala having passed, the Corinthian was the only contestant on the Athenian's right, and to that side the

latter tried to turn his broken four; and then; as illfortune would have it, the wheel of the Byzantine, who

was next on the left, struck the tailpiece of his chariot, knocking his feet from under him. There was a crash,

a scream of rage and fear, and the unfortunate Cleanthes fell under the hoofs of his own steeds: a terrible

Nobody appeared to hear him. He called again; the situation below was too absorbing, and they were too

When the Jewess ventured to look again, a party of workmen were removing the horses and broken car;

another party were taking off the man himself; and every bench upon which there was a Greek was vocal

with execrations and prayers for vengeance. Suddenly she dropped her hands; BenHur, unhurt, was to the

front, coursing freely forward along with the Roman! Behind them, in a group, followed the Sidonian, the

The race was on; the souls of the racers were in it; over them bent the myriads.

When the dash for position began, BenHur, as we have seen, was on the extreme left of the six. For a

moment, like the others, he was half blinded by the light in the arena; yet he managed to catch sight of his

antagonists and divine their purpose. At Messala, who was more than an antagonist to him, he gave one

searching look. The air of passionless hauteur characteristic of the fine patrician face was there as of old, and

so was the Italian beauty, which the helmet rather increased; but moreit may have been a jealous fancy, or

the effect of the brassy shadow in which the features were at the moment cast, still the Israelite thought he

saw the soul of the man as through a glass, darkly: cruel, cunning, desperate; not so excited as determineda

In a time not longer than was required to turn to his four again, BenHur felt his own resolution harden to a

like temper. At whatever cost, at all hazards, he would humble this enemy! Prize, friends, wagers,

honoreverything that can be thought of as a possible interest in the race was lost in the one deliberate

purpose. Regard for life even should not hold him back. Yet there was no passion, on his part; no blinding

rush of heated blood from heart to brain, and back again; no impulse to fling himself upon Fortune: he did not

believe in Fortune; far otherwise. He had his plan, and, confiding in himself, he settled to the task never more

observant, never more capable. The air about him seemed aglow with a renewed and perfect transparency.

When not halfway across the arena, he saw that Messala's rush would, if there was no collision, and the rope

fell, give him the wall; that the rope would fall, he ceased as soon to doubt; and, further, it came to him, a

sudden flashlike insight, that Messala knew it was to be let drop at the last moment (prearrangement with

the editor could safely reach that point in the contest); and it suggested, what more Romanlike than for the

official to lend himself to a countryman who, besides being so popular, had also so much at stake? There

could be no other accounting for the confidence with which Messala pushed his four forward the instant his

competitors were prudentially checking their fours in front of the obstructionno other except madness.

It is one thing to see a necessity and another to act upon it. BenHur yielded the wall for the time.

The rope fell, and all the fours but his sprang into the course under urgency of voice and lash. He drew head

to the right, and, with all the speed of his Arabs, darted across the trails of his opponents, the angle of

movement being such as to lose the least time and gain the greatest possible advance. So, while the spectators

were shivering at the Athenian's mishap, and the Sidonian, Byzantine, and Corinthian were striving, with

such skill as they possessed, to avoid involvement in the ruin, BenHur swept around and took the course

neck and neck with Messala, though on the outside. The marvellous skill shown in making the change thus

from the extreme left across to the right without appreciable loss did not fail the sharp eyes upon the benches;

the Circus seemed to rock and rock again with prolonged applause. Then Esther clasped her hands in glad

surprise; then Sanballat, smiling, offered his hundred sestertii a second time without a taker; and then the

Romans began to doubt, thinking Messala might have found an equal, if not a master, and that in an Israelite!

And now, racing together side by side, a narrow interval between them, the two neared the second goal.

The pedestal of the three pillars there, viewed from the west, was a stone wall in the form of a halfcircle,

around which the course and opposite balcony were bent in exact parallelism. Making this turn was

considered in all respects the most telling test of a charioteer; it was, in fact, the very feat in which Orastes

failed. As an involuntary admission of interest on the part of the spectators, a hush fell over all the Circus, so

that for the first time in the race the rattle and clang of the cars plunging after the tugging steeds were

distinctly heard. Then, it would seem, Messala observed BenHur, and recognized him; and at once the

"Down Eros, up Mars!" he shouted, whirling his lash with practised hand"Down Eros, up Mars!" he

repeated, and caught the welldoing Arabs of BenHur a cut the like of which they had never known.

The blow was seen in every quarter, and the amazement was universal. The silence deepened; up on the

benches behind the consul the boldest held his breath, waiting for the outcome. Only a moment thus: then,

involuntarily, down from the balcony, as thunder falls, burst the indignant cry of the people.

The four sprang forward affrighted. No hand had ever been laid upon them except in love; they had been

nurtured ever so tenderly; and as they grew, their confidence in man became a lesson to men beautiful to see.

Forward they sprang as with one impulse, and forward leaped the car. Past question, every experience is

serviceable to us. Where got BenHur the large hand and mighty grip which helped him now so well? Where

but from the oar with which so long he fought the sea? And what was this spring of the floor under his feet to

the dizzy eccentric lurch with which in the old time the trembling ship yielded to the beat of staggering

billows, drunk with their power? So he kept his place, and gave the four free rein, and called to them in

soothing voice, trying merely to guide them round the dangerous turn; and before the fever of the people

began to abate, he had back the mastery. Nor that only: on approaching the first goal, he was again side by

side with Messala, bearing with him the sympathy and admiration of every one not a Roman. So clearly was

the feeling shown, so vigorous its manifestation, that Messala, with all his boldness, felt it unsafe to trifle

As the cars whirled round the goal, Esther caught sight of BenHur's facea little pale, a little higher raised,

Immediately a man climbed on the entablature at the west end of the division wall, and took down one of the

conical wooden balls. A dolphin on the east entablature was taken down at the same time.

Three rounds concluded: still Messala held the inside position; still BenHur moved with him side by side;

still the other competitors followed as before. The contest began to have the appearance of one of the double

races which became so popular in Rome during the later Caesarean periodMessala and BenHur in the

first, the Corinthian, Sidonian, and Byzantine in the second. Meantime the ushers succeeded in returning the

multitude to their seats, though the clamor continued to run the rounds, keeping, as it were, even pace with

In the fifth round the Sidonian succeeded in getting a place outside BenHur, but lost it directly.

Gradually the speed had been quickenedgradually the blood of the competitors warmed with the work.

Men and beasts seemed to know alike that the final crisis was near, bringing the time for the winner to assert

The interest which from the beginning had centred chiefly in the struggle between the Roman and the Jew,

with an intense and general sympathy for the latter, was fast changing to anxiety on his account. On all the

benches the spectators bent forward motionless, except as their faces turned following the contestants.

"A hundred sestertii on the Jew!" cried Sanballat to the Romans under the consul's awning.

"Messala hath reached his utmost speed. See him lean over his chariot rim, the reins loose as flying ribbons.

"By Hercules!" he replied, his countenance falling. "The dog throws all his weight on the bits. I see, I see! If

the gods help not our friend, he will be run away with by the Israelite. No, not yet. Look! Jove with us, Jove

The cry, swelled by every Latin tongue, shook the velaria over the consul's head.

If it were true that Messala had attained his utmost speed, the effort was with effect; slowly but certainly he

was beginning to forge ahead. His horses were running with their heads low down; from the balcony their

bodies appeared actually to skim the earth; their nostrils showed blood red in expansion; their eyes seemed

straining in their sockets. Certainly the good steeds were doing their best! How long could they keep the

pace? It was but the commencement of the sixth round. On they dashed. As they neared the second goal,

The joy of the Messala faction reached its bound: they screamed and howled, and tossed their colors; and

Malluch, in the lower gallery over the Gate of Triumph, found it hard to keep his cheer. He had cherished the

vague hint dropped to him by BenHur of something to happen in the turning of the western pillars. It was

the fifth round, yet the something had not come; and he had said to himself, the sixth will bring it; but, lo!

Over in the east end, Simonides' party held their peace. The merchant's head was bent low. Ilderim tugged at

his beard, and dropped his brows till there was nothing of his eyes but an occasional sparkle of light. Esther

Along the homestretchsixth roundMessala leading, next him BenHur, and so close it was the old

"First flew Eumelus on Pheretian steeds; With those of Tros bold Diomed succeeds; Close on Eumelus' back

they puff the wind, And seem just mounting on his car behind; Full on his neck he feels the sultry breeze,

Thus to the first goal, and round it. Messala, fearful of losing his place, hugged the stony wall with perilous

clasp; a foot to the left, and he had been dashed to pieces; yet, when the turn was finished, no man, looking at

the wheeltracks of the two cars, could have said, here went Messala, there the Jew. They left but one trace

As they whirled by, Esther saw BenHur's face again, and it was whiter than before.

Simonides, shrewder than Esther, said to Ilderim, the moment the rivals turned into the course, "I am no

judge, good sheik, if BenHur be not about to execute some design. His face hath that look."

To which Ilderim answered, "Saw you how clean they were and fresh? By the splendor of God, friend, they

One ball and one dolphin remained on the entablatures; and all the people drew a long breath, for the

First, the Sidonian gave the scourge to his four, and, smarting with fear and pain, they dashed desperately

forward, promising for a brief time to go to the front. The effort ended in promise. Next, the Byzantine and

the Corinthian each made the trial with like result, after which they were practically out of the race.

Thereupon, with a readiness perfectly explicable, all the factions except the Romans joined hope in BenHur,

"BenHur! BenHur!" they shouted, and the blent voices of the many rolled overwhelmingly against the

From the benches above him as he passed, the favor descended in fierce injunctions.

Over the balustrade they stooped low, stretching their hands imploringly to him.

Either he did not hear, or could not do better, for halfway round the course and he was still following; at the

And now, to make the turn, Messala began to draw in his lefthand steeds, an act which necessarily

slackened their speed. His spirit was high; more than one altar was richer of his vows; the Roman genius was

still president. On the three pillars only six hundred feet away were fame, increase of fortune, promotions,

and a triumph ineffably sweetened by hate, all in store for him! That moment Malluch, in the gallery, saw

BenHur lean forward over his Arabs, and give them the reins. Out flew the manyfolded lash in his hand;

over the backs of the startled steeds it writhed and hissed, and hissed and writhed again and again; and though

it fell not, there were both sting and menace in its quick report; and as the man passed thus from quiet to

resistless action, his face suffused, his eyes gleaming, along the reins he seemed to flash his will; and

instantly not one, but the four as one, answered with a leap that landed them alongside the Roman's car.

Messala, on the perilous edge of the goal, heard, but dared not look to see what the awakening portended.

From the people he received no sign. Above the noises of the race there was but one voice, and that was

"On, Atair! On, Rigel! What, Antares! dost thou linger now? Good horseoho, Aldebaran! I hear them

singing in the tents. I hear the children singing and the womensinging of the stars, of Atair, Antares, Rigel,

Aldebaran, victory!and the song will never end. Well done! Home tomorrow, under the black

tenthome! On, Antares! The tribe is waiting for us, and the master is waiting! 'Tis done! 'tis done! Ha, ha!

We have overthrown the proud. The hand that smote us is in the dust. Ours the glory! Ha, ha!steady! The

There had never been anything of the kind more simple; seldom anything so instantaneous.

At the moment chosen for the dash, Messala was moving in a circle round the goal. To pass him, BenHur

had to cross the track, and good strategy required the movement to be in a forward direction; that is, on a like

circle limited to the least possible increase. The thousands on the benches understood it all: they saw the

signal giventhe magnificent response; the four close outside Messala's outer wheel; BenHur's inner wheel

behind the other's carall this they saw. Then they heard a crash loud enough to send a thrill through the

Circus, and, quicker than thought, out over the course a spray of shining white and yellow flinders flew.

Down on its right side toppled the bed of the Roman's chariot. There was a rebound as of the axle hitting the

hard earth; another and another; then the car went to pieces; and Messala, entangled in the reins, pitched

To increase the horror of the sight by making death certain, the Sidonian, who had the wall next behind,

could not stop or turn out. Into the wreck full speed he drove; then over the Roman, and into the latter's four,

all mad with fear. Presently, out of the turmoil, the fighting of horses, the resound of blows, the murky cloud

of dust and sand, he crawled, in time to see the Corinthian and Byzantine go on down the course after

The people arose, and leaped upon the benches, and shouted and screamed. Those who looked that way

caught glimpses of Messala, now under the trampling of the fours, now under the abandoned cars. He was

still; they thought him dead; but far the greater number followed BenHur in his career. They had not seen

the cunning touch of the reins by which, turning a little to the left, he caught Messala's wheel with the

ironshod point of his axle, and crushed it; but they had seen the transformation of the man, and themselves

felt the heat and glow of his spirit, the heroic resolution, the maddening energy of action with which, by look,

word, and gesture, he so suddenly inspired his Arabs. And such running! It was rather the long leaping of

lions in harness; but for the lumbering chariot, it seemed the four were flying. When the Byzantine and

The consul arose; the people shouted themselves hoarse; the editor came down from his seat, and crowned

The fortunate man among the boxers was a lowbrowed, yellowhaired Saxon, of such brutalized face as to

attract a second look from BenHur, who recognized a teacher with whom he himself had been a favorite at

Rome. From him the young Jew looked up and beheld Simonides and his party on the balcony. They waved

their hands to him. Esther kept her seat; but Iras arose, and gave him a smile and a wave of her fanfavors

not the less intoxicating to him because we know, O reader, they would have fallen to Messala had he been

The procession was then formed, and, midst the shouting of the multitude which had had its will, passed out

BenHur tarried across the river with Ilderim; for at midnight, as previously determined, they would take the

The sheik was happy; his offers of gifts had been royal; but BenHur had refused everything, insisting that he

was satisfied with the humiliation of his enemy. The generous dispute was long continued.

"Think," the sheik would say, "what thou hast done for me. In every black tent down to the Akaba and to the

ocean, and across to the Euphrates, and beyond to the sea of the Scythians, the renown of my Mira and her

children will go; and they who sing of them will magnify me, and forget that I am in the wane of life; and all

the spears now masterless will come to me, and my swordhands multiply past counting. Thou dost not know

what it is to have sway of the desert such as will now be mine. I tell thee it will bring tribute incalculable

from commerce, and immunity from kings. Ay, by the sword of Solomon! doth my messenger seek favor for

"Nay, sheik, have I not thy hand and heart? Let thy increase of power and influence inure to the King who

comes. Who shall say it was not allowed thee for him? In the work I am going to, I may have great need.

In the midst of a controversy of the kind, two messengers arrivedMalluch and one unknown. The former

"But, coming to that with which I am charged," he said, "the master Simonides sends me to say that, upon the

adjournment of the games, some of the Roman faction made haste to protest against payment of the money

"By the splendor of God! the East shall decide whether the race was fairly won."

"When they said BenHur struck Messala's wheel, the editor laughed, and reminded them of the blow the

"Dead!" echoed Ilderim. "What fortune these Roman monsters have! Messala escaped?"

"Escapedyes, O sheik, with life; but it shall be a burden to him. The physicians say he will live, but never

BenHur looked silently up to heaven. He had a vision of Messala, chairbound like Simonides, and, like him,

going abroad on the shoulders of servants. The good man had abode well; but what would this one with his

"Simonides bade me say, further," Malluch continued, "Sanballat is having trouble. Drusus, and those who

signed with him, referred the question of paying the five talents they lost to the Consul Maxentius, and he has

referred it to Caesar. Messala also refused his losses, and Sanballat, in imitation of Drusus, went to the

consul, where the matter is still in advisement. The better Romans say the protestants shall not be excused;

"The master laughs, and is well pleased. If the Roman pays, he is ruined; if he refuses to pay, he is

dishonored. The imperial policy will decide the matter. To offend the East would be a bad beginning with the

Parthians; to offend Sheik Ilderim would be to antagonize the Desert, over which lie all Maxentius's lines of

operation. Wherefore Simonides bade me tell you to have no disquiet; Messala will pay."

"Let us be off now," he said, rubbing his hands. "The business will do well with Simonides. The glory is ours.

Malluch retired, and was succeeded by a lad of gentle manners and delicate appearance, who knelt upon one

knee, and said, winningly, "Iras, the daughter of Balthasar, well known to good Sheik Ilderim, hath intrusted

me with a message to the sheik, who, she saith, will do her great favor so he receive her congratulations on

"The daughter of my friend is kind," said Ilderim, with sparkling eyes. "Do thou give her this jewel, in sign of

"I will as thou sayest, O sheik," the lad replied, and continued, "The daughter of the Egyptian charged me

further. She prays the good Sheik Ilderim to send word to the youth BenHur that her father hath taken

residence for a time in the palace of Idernee, where she will receive the youth after the fourth hour

tomorrow. And if, with her congratulations, Sheik Ilderim will accept her gratitude for this other favor done,

"Say to her who sent you that I, BenHur, will see her at the palace of Idernee, wherever that may be,

At midnight Ilderim took the road, having arranged to leave a horse and a guide for BenHur, who was to

Going next day to fill his appointment with Iras, BenHur turned from the Omphalus, which was in the heart

of the city, into the Colonnade of Herod, and came shortly to the palace of Idernee.

From the street he passed first into a vestibule, on the sides of which were stairways under cover, leading up

to a portico. Winged lions sat by the stairs; in the middle there was a gigantic ibis spouting water over the

floor; the lions, ibis, walls, and floor were reminders of the Egyptians: everything, even the balustrading of

Above the vestibule, and covering the landing of the steps, arose the portico, a pillared grace, so light, so

exquisitely proportioned, it was at that period hardly possible of conception except by a Greek. Of marble

snowy white, its effect was that of a lily dropped carelessly upon a great bare rock.

BenHur paused in the shade of the portico to admire its tracery and finish, and the purity of its marble; then

he passed on into the palace. Ample foldingdoors stood open to receive him. The passage into which he first

entered was high, but somewhat narrow; red tiling formed the floor, and the walls were tinted to correspond.

He moved on slowly, all his faculties in repose. Presently he would be in the presence of Iras; she was

waiting for him; waiting with song and story and badinage, sparkling, fanciful, capriciouswith smiles

which glorified her glance, and glances which lent voluptuous suggestion to her whisper. She had sent for

him the evening of the boatride on the lake in the Orchard of Palms; she had sent for him now; and he was

going to her in the beautiful palace of Idernee. He was happy and dreamful rather than thoughtless.

The passage brought him to a closed door, in front of which he paused; and, as he did so, the broad leaves

began to open of themselves, without creak or sound of lock or latch, or touch of foot or finger. The

Standing in the shade of the dull passage, and looking through the doorway, he beheld the atrium of a Roman

How large the chamber was cannot be stated, because of the deceit there is in exact proportions; its depth was

vistalike, something never to be said of an equal interior. When he stopped to make survey, and looked

down upon the floor, he was standing upon the breast of a Leda, represented as caressing a swan; and,

looking farther, he saw the whole floor was similarly laid in mosaic pictures of mythological subjects. And

there were stools and chairs, each a separate design, and a work of art exquisitely composed, and tables much

carven, and here and there couches which were invitations of themselves. The articles of furniture, which

stood out from the walls, were duplicated on the floor distinctly as if they floated unrippled water; even the

panelling of the walls, the figures upon them in painting and basrelief, and the fresco of the ceiling were

reflected on the floor. The ceiling curved up towards the centre, where there was an opening through which

the sunlight poured without hindrance, and the sky, ever so blue, seemed in handreach; the impluvium under

the opening was guarded by bronzed rails; the gilded pillars supporting the roof at the edges of the opening

shone like flame where the sun struck them, and their reflections beneath seemed to stretch to infinite depth.

And there were candelabra quaint and curious, and statuary and vases; the whole making an interior that

would have befitted well the house on the Palatine Hill which Cicero bought of Crassus, or that other, yet

Still in his dreamful mood, BenHur sauntered about, charmed by all he beheld, and waiting. He did not

mind a little delay; when Iras was ready, she would come or send a servant. In every wellregulated Roman

Twice, thrice, he made the round. As often he stood under the opening in the roof, and pondered the sky and

its azure depth; then, leaning against a pillar, he studied the distribution of light and shade, and its effects;

here a veil diminishing objects, there a brilliance exaggerating others; yet nobody came. Time, or rather the

passage of time, began at length to impress itself upon him, and he wondered why Iras stayed so long. Again

he traced out the figures upon the floor, but not with the satisfaction the first inspection gave him. He paused

often to listen: directly impatience blew a little fevered breath upon his spirit; next time it blew stronger and

hotter; and at last he woke to a consciousness of the silence which held the house in thrall, and the thought of

it made him uneasy and distrustful. Still he put the feeling off with a smile and a promise. "Oh, she is giving

the last touch to her eyelids, or she is arranging a chaplet for me; she will come presently, more beautiful of

the delay!" He sat down then to admire a candelabruma bronze plinth on rollers, filigree on the sides and

edges; the post at one end, and on the end opposite it an altar and a female celebrant; the lamprests swinging

by delicate chains from the extremities of drooping palmbranches; altogether a wonder in its way. But the

silence would obtrude itself: he listened even as he looked at the pretty objecthe listened, but there was not

There might be a mistake. No, the messenger had come from the Egyptian, and this was the palace of Idernee.

Then he remembered how mysteriously the door had opened so soundlessly, so of itself. He would see!

He went to the same door. Though he walked ever so lightly the sound of his stepping was loud and harsh,

and he shrank from it. He was getting nervous. The cumbrous Roman lock resisted his first effort to raise it;

and the secondthe blood chilled in his cheekshe wrenched with all his might: in vainthe door was not

even shaken. A sense of danger seized him, and for a moment he stood irresolute.

And this palace of Idernee? He had seen Egypt in the vestibule, Athens in the snowy portico; but here, in the

atrium, was Rome; everything about him betrayed Roman ownership. True, the site was on the great

thoroughfare of the city, a very public place in which to do him violence; but for that reason it was more

accordant with the audacious genius of his enemy. The atrium underwent a change; with all its elegance and

There were many doors on the right and left of the atrium, leading, doubtless, to sleepingchambers; he tried

them, but they were all firmly fastened. Knocking might bring response. Ashamed to make outcry, he betook

If the work were Messala's! He sat up, looked about, and smiled defiantly. There were weapons in every

table. But birds had been starved in golden cages; not so would hethe couches would serve him as

batteringrams; and he was strong, and there was such increase of might in rage and despair!

Messala himself could not come. He would never walk again; he was a cripple like Simonides; still he could

move others. And where were there not others to be moved by him? BenHur arose, and tried the doors

again. Once he called out; the room echoed so that he was startled. With such calmness as he could assume,

In such a situation the mind has its ebb and flow of disquiet, with intervals of peace between. At

lengthhow long, though, he could not have saidhe came to the conclusion that the affair was an accident

or mistake. The palace certainly belonged to somebody; it must have care and keeping: and the keeper would

Half an hour passeda much longer period to BenHurwhen the door which had admitted him opened

The moment of the occurrence he was sitting at the farther end of the room. A footstep startled him.

"At last she has come!" he thought, with a throb of relief and pleasure, and arose.

The step was heavy, and accompanied with the gride and clang of coarse sandals. The gilded pillars were

between him and the door; he advanced quietly, and leaned against one of them. Presently he heard

voicesthe voices of menone of them rough and guttural. What was said he could not understand, as the

After a general survey of the room, the strangers crossed to their left, and were brought into BenHur's

viewtwo men, one very stout, both tall, and both in short tunics. They had not the air of masters of the

house or domestics. Everything they saw appeared wonderful to them; everything they stopped to examine

they touched. They were vulgarians. The atrium seemed profaned by their presence. At the same time, their

leisurely manner and the assurance with which they proceeded pointed to some right or business; if business,

With much jargon they sauntered this way and that, all the time gradually approaching the pillar by which

BenHur was standing. Off a little way, where a slanted gleam of the sun fell with a glare upon the mosaic of

the floor, there was a statue which attracted their notice. In examining it, they stopped in the light.

The mystery surrounding his own presence in the palace tended, as we have seen, to make BenHur nervous;

so now, when in the tall stout stranger he recognized the Northman whom he had known in Rome, and seen

crowned only the day before in the Circus as the winning pugilist; when he saw the man's face, scarred with

the wounds of many battles, and imbruted by ferocious passions; when he surveyed the fellow's naked limbs,

very marvels of exercise and training, and his shoulders of Herculean breadth, a thought of personal danger

started a chill along every vein. A sure instinct warned him that the opportunity for murder was too perfect to

have come by chance; and here now were the myrmidons, and their business was with him. He turned an

anxious eye upon the Northman's comradeyoung, blackeyed, blackhaired, and altogether Jewish in

appearance; he observed, also, that both the men were in costume exactly such as professionals of their class

were in the habit of wearing in the arena. Putting the several circumstances together, BenHur could not be

longer in doubt: he had been lured into the palace with design. Out of reach of aid, in this splendid privacy,

At a loss what to do, he gazed from man to man, while there was enacted within him that miracle of mind by

which life is passed before us in awful detail, to be looked at by ourselves as if it were another's; and from the

evolvement, from a hidden depth, cast up, as it were, by a hidden hand, he was given to see that he had

entered upon a new life, different from the old one in this: whereas, in that, he had been the victim of

violences done to him, henceforth he was to be the aggressor. Only yesterday he had found his first victim!

To the purely Christian nature the presentation would have brought the weakness of remorse. Not so with

BenHur; his spirit had its emotions from the teachings of the first lawgiver, not the last and greatest one. He

had dealt punishment, not wrong, to Messala. By permission of the Lord, he had triumphed; and he derived

faith from the circumstancefaith the source of all rational strength, especially strength in peril.

Nor did the influence stop there. The new life was made appear to him a mission just begun, and holy as the

King to come was holy, and certain as the coming of the King was certaina mission in which force was

lawful if only because it was unavoidable. Should he, on the very threshold of such an errand, be afraid?

He undid the sash around his waist, and, baring his head and casting off his white Jewish gown, stood forth in

an undertunic not unlike those of the enemy, and was ready, body and mind. Folding his arms, he placed his

The examination of the statue was brief. Directly the Northman turned, and said something in the unknown

tongue; then both looked at BenHur. A few more words, and they advanced towards him.

The Northman fetched a smile which did not relieve his face of its brutalism, and answered,

The words were spoken with earnestness. The strangers stopped; and in his turn the Northman asked, "Who

"Ha, ha, ha! I have heard how a god once came from a cow licking a salted stone; but not even a god can

"A word!" replied the Saxon, folding his immense arms across his breast, and relaxing the menace beginning

"No," said Thord, shaking his head. "By the beard of Irmin, I had never a Jew to make a fightingman of."

A gleam of humor shone in the Northman's face. He spoke to his companion, who made answer; then he

By repeated touches of his foot, he pushed a couch out on the floor, and proceeded leisurely to stretch his

As the two thus confronted each other in approved position, there was no discernible inequality between

them; on the contrary, they were as like as brothers. To the stranger's confident smile, BenHur opposed an

earnestness which, had his skill been known, would have been accepted fair warning of danger. Both knew

BenHur feinted with his right hand. The stranger warded, slightly advancing his left arm. Ere he could

return to guard, BenHur caught him by the wrist in a grip which years at the oar had made terrible as a vise.

The surprise was complete, and no time given. To throw himself forward; to push the arm across the man's

throat and over his right shoulder, and turn him left side front; to strike surely with the ready left hand; to

strike the bare neck under the earwere but petty divisions of the same act. No need of a second blow. The

"Ha! What! By the beard of Irmin!" the latter cried, in astonishment, rising to a sitting posture. Then he

He viewed BenHur coolly from head to foot, and, rising, faced him with undisguised admiration.

"It was my trickthe trick I have practised for ten years in the schools of Rome. You are not a Jew. Who are

"Yes," said Thord, his battered features lighting dully, "I knew the boy; he would have made a king gladiator.

Caesar offered him his patronage. I taught him the very trick you played on this one herea trick impossible

Thord drew nearer, and viewed him carefully; then his eyes brightened with genuine pleasure, and, laughing,

"Ha, ha, ha! He told me I would find a Jew herea Jewa dog of a Jewkilling whom was serving the

A very vivid portrayal of hate in a few words; and BenHur saw that the Roman, if he lived, would still be

capable and dangerous, and follow him unrelentingly. Revenge remained to sweeten the ruined life; therefore

the clinging to fortune lost in the wager with Sanballat. BenHur ran the ground over, with a distinct

foresight of the many ways in which it would be possible for his enemy to interfere with him in the work he

had undertaken for the King who was coming. Why not he resort to the Roman's methods? The man hired to

kill him could be hired to strike back. It was in his power to offer higher wages. The temptation was strong;

and, half yielding, he chanced to look down at his late antagonist lying still, with white upturned face, so like

himself. A light came to him, and he asked, "Thord, what was Messala to give you for killing me?"

"You shall have them yet; and so you do now what I tell you, I will add three thousand more to the sum."

"I won five thousand yesterday; from the Roman onesix. Give me four, good Arriusfour moreand I

will stand firm for you, though old Thor, my namesake, strike me with his hammer. Make it four, and I will

kill the lying patrician, if you say so. I have only to cover his mouth with my handthus."

"I see," said BenHur; "ten thousand sestertii is a fortune. It will enable you to return to Rome, and open a

The very scars on the giant's face glowed afresh with the pleasure the picture gave him.

"I will make it four thousand," BenHur continued; "and in what you shall do for the money there will be no

blood on your hands, Thord. Hear me now. Did not your friend here look like me?"

"Well, if I put on his tunic, and dress him in these clothes of mine, and you and I go away together, leaving

him here, can you not get your sestertii from Messala all the same? You have only to make him believe it me

"Ha, ha, ha! Ten thousand sestertii were never won so easily. And a wineshop by the Great Circus!all for

a lie without blood in it! Ha, ha, ha! Give me thy hand, O son of Arrius. Get on now, andha, ha, ha!if

ever you come to Rome, fail not to ask for the wineshop of Thord the Northman. By the beard of Irmin, I

They shook hands again; after which the exchange of clothes was effected. It was arranged then that a

messenger should go at night to Thord's lodgingplace with the four thousand sestertii. When they were

done, the giant knocked at the front door; it opened to him; and, passing out of the atrium, he led BenHur

into a room adjoining, where the latter completed his attire from the coarse garments of the dead pugilist.

"Fail not, O son of Arrius, fail not the wineshop near the Great Circus! Ha, ha, ha! By the beard of Irmin,

Upon leaving the atrium, BenHur gave a last look at the myrmidon as he lay in the Jewish vestments, and

was satisfied. The likeness was striking. If Thord kept faith, the cheat was a secret to endure forever.

At night, in the house of Simonides, BenHur told the good man all that had taken place in the palace of

Idernee; and it was agreed that, after a few days, public inquiry should be set afloat for the discovery of the

whereabouts of the son of Arrius. Eventually the matter was to be carried boldly to Maxentius; then, if the

mystery came not out, it was concluded that Messala and Gratus would be at rest and happy, and BenHur

At the leavetaking, Simonides sat in his chair out on the terrace overlooking the river, and gave his farewell

and the peace of the Lord with the impressment of a father. Esther went with the young man to the head of

"If I find my mother, Esther, thou shalt go to her at Jerusalem, and be a sister to Tirzah."

He crossed the river next to the late quarters of Ilderim, where he found the Arab who was to serve him as

BenHur looked, and, lo! it was Aldebaran, the swiftest and brightest of the sons of Mira, and, next to Sirius,

the beloved of the sheik; and he knew the old man's heart came to him along with the gift.

The corpse in the atrium was taken up and buried by night; and, as part of Messala's plan, a courier was sent

off to Gratus to make him at rest by the announcement of BenHur's deaththis time past question.

Ere long a wineshop was opened near the Circus Maximus, with inscription over the door:

Our story moves forward now thirty days from the night BenHur left Antioch to go out with Sheik Ilderim

A great change has befallengreat at least as respects the fortunes of our hero. VALERIUS GRATUS HAS

The removal, it may be remarked, cost Simonides exactly five talents Roman money in hand paid to Sejanus,

who was then in height of power as imperial favorite; the object being to help BenHur, by lessening his

exposure while in and about Jerusalem attempting discovery of his people. To such pious use the faithful

servant put the winnings from Drusus and his associates; all of whom, having paid their wagers, became at

once and naturally the enemies of Messala, whose repudiation was yet an unsettled question in Rome.

Brief as the time was, already the Jews knew the change of rulers was not for the better.

The cohorts sent to relieve the garrison of Antonia made their entry into the city by night; next morning the

first sight that greeted the people resident in the neighborhood was the walls of the old Tower decorated with

military ensigns, which unfortunately consisted of busts of the emperor mixed with eagles and globes. A

multitude, in passion, marched to Caesarea, where Pilate was lingering, and implored him to remove the

detested images. Five days and nights they beset his palace gates; at last he appointed a meeting with them in

the Circus. When they were assembled, he encircled them with soldiers; instead of resisting, they offered him

their lives, and conquered. He recalled the images and ensigns to Caesarea, where Gratus, with more

consideration, had kept such abominations housed during the eleven years of his reign.

The worst of men do once in a while vary their wickednesses by good acts; so with Pilate. He ordered an

inspection of all the prisons in Judea, and a return of the names of the persons in custody, with a statement of

the crimes for which they had been committed. Doubtless, the motive was the one so common with officials

just installeddread of entailed responsibility; the people, however, in thought of the good which might

come of the measure, gave him credit, and, for a period, were comforted. The revelations were astonishing.

Hundreds of persons were released against whom there were no accusations; many others came to light who

had long been accounted dead; yet more amazing, there was opening of dungeons not merely unknown at the

time by the people, but actually forgotten by the prison authorities. With one instance of the latter kind we

The Tower of Antonia, which will be remembered as occupying two thirds of the sacred area on Mount

Moriah, was originally a castle built by the Macedonians. Afterwards, John Hyrcanus erected the castle into a

fortress for the defence of the Temple, and in his day it was considered impregnable to assault; but when

Herod came with his bolder genius, he strengthened its walls and extended them, leaving a vast pile which

included every appurtenance necessary for the stronghold he intended it to be forever; such as offices,

barracks, armories, magazines, cisterns, and last, though not least, prisons of all grades. He levelled the solid

rock, and tapped it with deep excavations, and built over them; connecting the whole great mass with the

Temple by a beautiful colonnade, from the roof of which one could look down over the courts of the sacred

structure. In such condition the Tower fell at last out of his hands into those of the Romans, who were quick

to see its strength and advantages, and convert it to uses becoming such masters. All through the

administration of Gratus it had been a garrisoned citadel and underground prison terrible to revolutionists.

Woe when the cohorts poured from its gates to suppress disorder! Woe not less when a Jew passed the same

The order of the new procurator requiring a report of the persons in custody was received at the Tower of

Antonia, and promptly executed; and two days have gone since the last unfortunate was brought up for

examination. The tabulated statement, ready for forwarding, lies on the table of the tribune in command; in

five minutes more it will be on the way to Pilate, sojourning in the palace up on Mount Zion.

The tribune's office is spacious and cool, and furnished in a style suitable to the dignity of the commandant of

a post in every respect so important. Looking in upon him about the seventh hour of the day, the officer

appears weary and impatient; when the report is despatched, he will to the roof of the colonnade for air and

exercise, and the amusement to be had watching the Jews over in the courts of the Temple. His subordinates

In the spell of waiting a man appeared in a doorway leading to an adjoining apartment. He rattled a bunch of

As the newcomer approached the table behind which the chief sat in an easychair, everybody present

looked at him, and, observing a certain expression of alarm and mortification on his face, became silent that

"A crime thenor, worse, a breach of duty. Thou mayst laugh at Caesar, or curse the gods, and live; but if

"It is now about eight years since Valerius Gratus selected me to be keeper of prisoners here in the Tower,"

said the man, deliberately. "I remember the morning I entered upon the duties of my office. There had been a

riot the day before, and fighting in the streets. We slew many Jews, and suffered on our side. The affair came,

it was said, of an attempt to assassinate Gratus, who had been knocked from his horse by a tile thrown from a

roof. I found him sitting where you now sit, O tribune, his head swathed in bandages. He told me of my

selection, and gave me these keys, numbered to correspond with the numbers of the cells; they were the

badges of my office, he said, and not to be parted with. There was a roll of parchment on the table. Calling

me to him, he opened the roll. 'Here are maps of the cells,' said he. There were three of them. 'This one,' he

went on, 'shows the arrangement of the upper floor; this second one gives you the second floor; and this last

is of the lower floor. I give them to you in trust.' I took them from his hand, and he said, further, 'Now you

have the keys and the maps; go immediately, and acquaint yourself with the whole arrangement; visit each

cell, and see to its condition. When anything is needed for the security of a prisoner, order it according to

"I saluted him, and turned to go away; he called me back. 'Ah, I forgot,' he said. 'Give me the map of the third

floor.' I gave it to him, and he spread it upon the table. 'Here, Gesius,' he said, 'see this cell.' He laid his finger

on the one numbered V. 'There are three men confined in that cell, desperate characters, who by some means

got hold of a state secret, and suffer for their curiosity, which'he looked at me severely'in such matters is

worse than a crime. Accordingly, they are blind and tongueless, and are placed there for life. They shall have

nothing but food and drink, to be given them through a hole, which you will find in the wall covered by a

slide. Do you hear, Gesius?' I made him answer. 'It is well,' he continued. 'One thing more which you shall

not forget, or'he looked at me threateningly'The door of their cellcell number V. on the same

floorthis one, Gesius'he put his finger on the particular cell to impress my memory'shall never be

opened for any purpose, neither to let one in nor out, not even yourself.' 'But if they die?' I asked. 'If they die,'

he said, 'the cell shall be their tomb. They were put there to die, and be lost. The cell is leprous. Do you

Gesius stopped, and from the breast of his tunic drew three parchments, all much yellowed by time and use;

selecting one of them, he spread it upon the table before the tribune, saying, simply, "This is the lower floor."

"This is exactly, O tribune, as I had it from Gratus. See, there is cell number V.," said Gesius.

"It is not a true one," the keeper repeated. "It shows but five cells upon that floor, while there are six."

Upon a page of his tablets, Gesius drew the following diagram, and gave it to the tribune:

"Thou hast done well," said the tribune, examining the drawing, and thinking the narrative at an end. "I will

have the map corrected, or, better, I will have a new one made, and given thee. Come for it in the morning."

"I will hurry," said the keeper, humbly, "only let me ask another question. Had I not a right to believe Gratus

"Yes, it was thy duty to believe there were three prisoners in the cellprisoners of stateblind and without

"Hear, and judge for yourself, O tribune. As required, I visited all the cells, beginning with those on the first

floor, and ending with those on the lower. The order that the door of number V. should not be opened had

been respected; through all the eight years food and drink for three men had been passed through a hole in the

wall. I went to the door yesterday, curious to see the wretches who, against all expectation, had lived so long.

The locks refused the key. We pulled a little, and the door fell down, rusted from its hinges. Going in, I found

but one man, old, blind, tongueless, and naked. His hair dropped in stiffened mats below his waist. His skin

was like the parchment there. He held his hands out, and the fingernails curled and twisted like the claws of

a bird. I asked him where his companions were. He shook his head in denial. Thinking to find the others, we

searched the cell. The floor was dry; so were the walls. If three men had been shut in there, and two of them

The chief regarded the keeper sharply, and said, "Have a care; thou art more than saying Valerius lied."

"No, he was right," said the tribune, warmly. "By thine own statement he was right. Didst thou not say but

The bystanders approved the shrewdness of their chief; yet Gesius did not seem discomfited.

"You have but half the story, O tribune. When you have it all, you will agree with me. You know what I did

with the man: that I sent him to the bath, and had him shorn and clothed, and then took him to the gate of the

Tower, and bade him go free. I washed my hands of him. Today he came back, and was brought to me. By

signs and tears he at last made me understand he wished to return to his cell, and I so ordered. As they were

leading him off, he broke away and kissed my feet, and, by piteous dumb imploration, insisted I should go

with him; and I went. The mystery of the three men stayed in my mind. I was not satisfied about it. Now I am

"When we were in the cell again, and the prisoner knew it, he caught my hand eagerly, and led me to a hole

like that through which we were accustomed to pass him his food. Though large enough to push your helmet

through, it escaped me yesterday. Still holding my hand, he put his face to the hole and gave a beastlike cry.

A sound came faintly back. I was astonished, and drew him away, and called out, 'Ho, here!' At first there

was no answer. I called again, and received back these words, 'Be thou praised, O Lord!' Yet more

astonishing, O tribune, the voice was a woman's. And I asked, 'Who are you?' and had reply, 'A woman of

Israel, entombed here with her daughter. Help us quickly, or we die.' I told them to be of cheer, and hurried

"Thou wert right, Gesius," he said, "and I see now. The map was a lie, and so was the tale of the three men.

"Yes," said the keeper. "I gleaned from the prisoner that he had regularly given the women of the food and

"It is accounted for," replied the tribune, and observing the countenances of his friends, and reflecting how

well it would be to have witnesses, he added, "Let us rescue the women. Come all."

"We will have to pierce the wall," he said. "I found where a door had been, but it was filled solidly with

The tribune stayed to say to a clerk, "Send workmen after me with tools. Make haste; but hold the report, for I

"A woman of Israel, entombed here with her daughter. Help us quickly, or we die."

Such was the reply Gesius, the keeper, had from the cell which appears on his amended map as VI. The

reader, when he observed the answer, knew who the unfortunates were, and, doubtless, said to himself, "At

The morning of their seizure, eight years before, they had been carried to the Tower, where Gratus proposed

to put them out of the way. He had chosen the Tower for the purpose as more immediately in his own

keeping, and cell VI. because, first, it could be better lost than any other; and, secondly, it was infected with

leprosy; for these prisoners were not merely to be put in a safe place, but in a place to die. They were,

accordingly, taken down by slaves in the nighttime, when there were no witnesses of the deed; then, in

completion of the savage task, the same slaves walled up the door, after which they were themselves

separated, and sent away never to be heard of more. To save accusation, and, in the event of discovery, to

leave himself such justification as might be allowed in a distinction between the infliction of a punishment

and the commission of a double murder, Gratus preferred sinking his victims where natural death was certain,

though slow. That they might linger along, he selected a convict who had been made blind and tongueless,

and sank him in the only connecting cell, there to serve them with food and drink. Under no circumstances

could the poor wretch tell the tale or identify either the prisoners or their doomsman. So, with a cunning

partly due to Messala, the Roman, under color of punishing a brood of assassins, smoothed a path to

confiscation of the estate of the Hurs, of which no portion ever reached the imperial coffers.

As the last step in the scheme, Gratus summarily removed the old keeper of the prisons; not because he knew

what had been donefor he did notbut because, knowing the underground floors as he did, it would be

next to impossible to keep the transaction from him. Then, with masterly ingenuity, the procurator had new

maps drawn for delivery to a new keeper, with the omission, as we have seen, of cell VI. The instructions

given the latter, taken with the omission on the map, accomplished the designthe cell and its unhappy

What may be thought of the life of the mother and daughter during the eight years must have relation to their

culture and previous habits. Conditions are pleasant or grievous to us according to our sensibilities. It is not

extreme to say, if there was a sudden exit of all men from the world, heaven, as prefigured in the Christian

idea, would not be a heaven to the majority; on the other hand, neither would all suffer equally in the

socalled Tophet. Cultivation has its balances. As the mind is made intelligent, the capacity of the soul for

pure enjoyment is proportionally increased. Well, therefore, if it be saved! If lost, however, alas that it ever

had cultivation! its capacity for enjoyment in the one case is the measure of its capacity to suffer in the other.

Wherefore repentance must be something more than mere remorse for sins; it comprehends a change of

We repeat, to form an adequate idea of the suffering endured by the mother of BenHur, the reader must

think of her spirit and its sensibilities as much as, if not more than, of the conditions of the immurement; the

question being, not what the conditions were, but how she was affected by them. And now we may be

permitted to say it was in anticipation of this thought that the scene in the summerhouse on the roof of the

family palace was given so fully in the beginning of the Second Book of our story. So, too, to be helpful

when the inquiry should come up, we ventured the elaborate description of the palace of the Hurs.

In other words, let the serene, happy, luxurious life in the princely house be recalled and contrasted with this

existence in the lower dungeon of the Tower of Antonia; then if the reader, in his effort to realize the misery

of the woman, persists in mere reference to conditions physical, he cannot go amiss; as he is a lover of his

kind, tender of heart, he will be melted with much sympathy. But will he go further; will he more than

sympathize with her; will he share her agony of mind and spirit; will he at least try to measure itlet him

recall her as she discoursed to her son of God and nations and heroes; one moment a philosopher, the next a

Would you hurt a man keenest, strike at his selflove; would you hurt a woman worst, aim at her affections.

With quickened remembrance of these unfortunatesremembrance of them as they werelet us go down

The cell VI. was in form as Gesius drew it on his map. Of its dimensions but little idea can be had; enough

that it was a roomy, roughened interior, with ledged and broken walls and floor.

In the beginning, the site of the Macedonian Castle was separated from the site of the Temple by a narrow but

deep cliff somewhat in shape of a wedge. The workmen, wishing to hew out a series of chambers, made their

entry in the north face of the cleft, and worked in, leaving a ceiling of the natural stone; delving farther, they

executed the cells V., IV., III., II., I., with no connection with number VI. except through number V. In like

manner, they constructed the passage and stairs to the floor above. The process of the work was precisely that

resorted to in carving out the Tombs of the Kings, yet to be seen a short distance north of Jerusalem; only

when the cutting was done, cell VI. was enclosed on its outer side by a wall of prodigious stones, in which,

for ventilation, narrow apertures were left bevelled like modern portholes. Herod, when he took hold of the

Temple and Tower, put a facing yet more massive upon this outer wall, and shut up all the apertures but one,

which yet admitted a little vitalizing air, and a ray of light not nearly strong enough to redeem the room from

The description of the blind and tongueless wretch just liberated from cell V. may be accepted to break the

The two women are grouped close by the aperture; one is seated, the other is half reclining against her; there

is nothing between them and the bare rock. The light, slanting upwards, strikes them with ghastly effect, and

we cannot avoid seeing they are without vesture or covering. At the same time we are helped to the

knowledge that love is there yet, for the two are in each other's arms. Riches take wings, comforts vanish,

Where the two are thus grouped the stony floor is polished shining smooth. Who shall say how much of the

eight years they have spent in that space there in front of the aperture, nursing their hope of rescue by that

timid yet friendly ray of light? When the brightness came creeping in, they knew it was dawn; when it began

to fade, they knew the world was hushing for the night, which could not be anywhere so long and utterly dark

as with them. The world! Through that crevice, as if it were broad and high as a king's gate, they went to the

world in thought, and passed the weary time going up and down as spirits go, looking and asking, the one for

her son, the other for her brother. On the seas they sought him, and on the islands of the seas; today he was

in this city, tomorrow in that other; and everywhere, and at all times, he was a flitting sojourner; for, as they

lived waiting for him, he lived looking for them. How often their thoughts passed each other in the endless

search, his coming, theirs going! It was such sweet flattery for them to say to each other, 'While he lives, we

shall not be forgotten; as long as he remembers us, there is hope!" The strength one can eke from little, who

Our recollections of them in former days enjoin us to be respectful; their sorrows clothe them with sanctity.

Without going too near, across the dungeon, we see they have undergone a change of appearance not to be

accounted for by time or long confinement. The mother was beautiful as a woman, the daughter beautiful as a

child; not even love could say so much now. Their hair is long, unkempt, and strangely white; they make us

shrink and shudder with an indefinable repulsion, though the effect may be from an illusory glozing of the

light glimmering dismally through the unhealthy murk; or they may be enduring the tortures of hunger and

thirst, not having had to eat or drink since their servant, the convict, was taken awaythat is, since

"Be quiet, Tirzah. They will come. God is good. We have been mindful of him, and forgotten not to pray at

every sounding of the trumpets over in the Temple. The light, you see, is still bright; the sun is standing in the

south sky yet, and it is hardly more than the seventh hour. Somebody will come to us. Let us have faith. God

Thus the mother. The words were simple and effective, although, eight years being now to be added to the

"I will try and be strong, mother," she said. "Your suffering must be as great as mine; and I do so want to live

for you and my brother! But my tongue burns, my lips scorch. I wonder where he is, and if he will ever, ever

There is something in the voices that strikes us singularlyan unexpected tone, sharp, dry, metallic,

The mother draws the daughter closer to her breast, and says, "I dreamed about him last night, and saw him

as plainly, Tirzah, as I see you. We must believe in dreams, you know, because our fathers did. The Lord

spoke to them so often in that way. I thought we were in the Women's Court just before the Gate Beautiful;

there were many women with us; and he came and stood in the shade of the Gate, and looked here and there,

at this one and that. My heart beat strong. I knew he was looking for us, and stretched my arms to him, and

ran, calling him. He heard me and saw me, but he did not know me. In a moment he was gone."

"Would it not be so, mother, if we were to meet him in fact? We are so changed."

"It might be so; but" The mother's head droops, and her face knits as with a wrench of pain; recovering,

The mother stares around in blank helplessness. She has named God so often, and so often promised in his

name, the repetition is beginning to have a mocking effect upon herself. A shadow passes before her dimming

the dim light, and she is brought down to think of death as very near, waiting to come in as her faith goes out.

Hardly knowing what she does, speaking aimlessly, because speak she must, she says again,

She thought she heard a sound over by the little trap in the partitionwall through which they held all their

actual communication with the world. And she was not mistaken. A moment, and the cry of the convict rang

through the cell. Tirzah heard it also; and they both arose, still keeping hold of each other.

"Praised be the Lord forever!" exclaimed the mother, with the fervor of restored faith and hope.

The voice was strange. What matter? Except from Tirzah, they were the first and only words the mother had

heard in eight years. The revulsion was mightyfrom death to lifeand so instantly!

"A woman of Israel, entombed here with her daughter. Help us quickly, or we die."

The women sobbed aloud. They were found; help was coming. From wish to wish hope flew as the twittering

swallows fly. They were found; they would be released. And restoration would followrestoration to all

they had losthome, society, property, son and brother! The scanty light glozed them with the glory of day,

and, forgetful of pain and thirst and hunger, and of the menace of death, they sank upon the floor and cried,

And this time they had not long to wait. Gesius, the keeper, told his tale methodically, but finished it at last.

Directly she heard another sound in another place, as of blows on the wallblows quick, ringing, and

delivered with iron tools. She did not speak, nor did Tirzah, but they listened, well knowing the meaning of it

allthat a way to liberty was being made for them. So men a long time buried in deep mines hear the

coming of rescuers, heralded by thrust of bar and beat of pick, and answer gratefully with heartthrobs, their

eyes fixed upon the spot whence the sounds proceed; and they cannot look away, lest the work should cease,

The arms outside were strong, the hands skillful, the will good. Each instant the blows sounded more plainly;

now and then a piece fell with a crash; and liberty came nearer and nearer. Presently the workmen could be

heard speaking. ThenO happiness!through a crevice flashed a red ray of torches. Into the darkness it cut

"It is he, mother, it is he! He has found us at last!" cried Tirzah, with the quickened fancy of youth.

A block fell inside, and anotherthen a great mass, and the door was open. A man grimed with mortar and

stonedust stepped in, and stopped, holding a torch over his head. Two or three others followed with torches,

Respect for women is not all a conventionality, for it is the best proof of their proper nature. The tribune

stopped, because they fled from himnot with fear, be it said, but shame; nor yet, O reader, from shame

alone! From the obscurity of their partial hiding he heard these words, the saddest, most dreadful, most

"Unclean, unclean!" came from the corner again, a slow tremulous wail exceedingly sorrowful. With such a

cry we can imagine a spirit vanishing from the gates of Paradise, looking back the while.

So the widow and mother performed her duty, and in the moment realized that the freedom she had prayed

for and dreamed of, fruit of scarlet and gold seen afar, was but an apple of Sodom in the hand.

Possibly the reader does not know all the word means. Let him be told it with reference to the Law of that

"These four are accounted as deadthe blind, the leper, the poor, and the childless." Thus the Talmud.

That is, to be a leper was to be treated as deadto be excluded from the city as a corpse; to be spoken to by

the best beloved and most loving only at a distance; to dwell with none but lepers; to be utterly unprivileged;

to be denied the rites of the Temple and the synagogue; to go about in rent garments and with covered mouth,

except when crying, "Unclean, unclean!" to find home in the wilderness or in abandoned tombs; to become a

materialized specter of Hinnom and Gehenna; to be at all times less a living offence to others than a breathing

Onceshe might not tell the day or the year, for down in the haunted hell even time was lostonce the

mother felt a dry scurf in the palm of her right hand, a trifle which she tried to wash away. It clung to the

member pertinaciously; yet she thought but little of the sign till Tirzah complained that she, too, was attacked

in the same way. The supply of water was scant, and they denied themselves drink that they might use it as a

curative. At length the whole hand was attacked; the skin cracked open, the fingernails loosened from the

flesh. There was not much pain withal, chiefly a steadily increasing discomfort. Later their lips began to

parch and seam. One day the mother, who was cleanly to godliness, and struggled against the impurities of

the dungeon with all ingenuity, thinking the enemy was taking hold on Tirzah's face, led her to the light, and,

looking with the inspiration of a terrible dread, lo! the young girl's eyebrows were white as snow.

The mother sat awhile speechless, motionless, paralyzed of soul, and capable of but one thoughtleprosy,

When she began to think, motherlike, it was not of herself, but her child, and, motherlike, her natural

tenderness turned to courage, and she made ready for the last sacrifice of perfect heroism. She buried her

knowledge in her heart; hopeless herself, she redoubled her devotion to Tirzah, and with wonderful

ingenuitywonderful chiefly in its very inexhaustibilitycontinued to keep the daughter ignorant of what

they were beset with, and even hopeful that it was nothing. She repeated her little games, and retold her

stories, and invented new ones, and listened with ever so much pleasure to the songs she would have from

Tirzah, while on her own wasting lips the psalms of the singing king and their race served to bring soothing

of forgetfulness, and keep alive in them both the recollection of the God who would seem to have abandoned

Slowly, steadily, with horrible certainty, the disease spread, after a while bleaching their heads white, eating

holes in their lips and eyelids, and covering their bodies with scales; then it fell to their throats shrilling their

voices, and to their joints, hardening the tissues and cartilagesslowly, and, as the mother well knew, past

remedy, it was affecting their lungs and arteries and bones, at each advance making the sufferers more and

more loathsome; and so it would continue till death, which might be years before them.

Another day of dread at length camethe day the mother, under impulsion of duty, at last told Tirzah the

name of their ailment; and the two, in agony of despair, prayed that the end might come quickly.

Still, as is the force of habit, these so afflicted grew in time not merely to speak composedly of their disease;

they beheld the hideous transformation of their persons as of course, and in despite clung to existence. One

tie to earth remained to them; unmindful of their own loneliness, they kept up a certain spirit by talking and

dreaming of BenHur. The mother promised reunion with him to the sister, and she to the mother, not

doubting, either of them, that he was equally faithful to them, and would be equally happy of the meeting.

And with the spinning and respinning of this slender thread they found pleasure, and excused their not dying.

In such manner as we have seen, they were solacing themselves the moment Gesius called them, at the end of

The torches flashed redly through the dungeon, and liberty was come. "God is good," the widow criednot

for what had been, O reader, but for what was. In thankfulness for present mercy, nothing so becomes us as

The tribune came directly; then in the corner to which she had fled, suddenly a sense of duty smote the elder

Ah, the pang the effort to acquit herself of that duty cost the mother! Not all the selfishness of joy over the

prospect could keep her blind to the consequences of release, now that it was at hand. The old happy life

could never be again. If she went near the house called home, it would be to stop at the gate and cry,

"Unclean, unclean!" She must go about with the yearnings of love alive in her breast strong as ever, and more

sensitive even, because return in kind could not be. The boy of whom she had so constantly thought, and with

all sweet promises such as mothers find their purest delight in, must, at meeting her, stand afar off. If he held

out his hands to her, and called "Mother, mother," for very love of him she must answer, "Unclean, unclean!"

And this other child, before whom, in want of other covering, she was spreading her long tangled locks,

bleached unnaturally whiteah! that she was she must continue, sole partner of her blasted remainder of life.

Yet, O reader, the brave woman accepted the lot, and took up the cry which had been its sign immemorially,

and which thenceforward was to be her salutation without change"Unclean, unclean!"

"Two women dying of hunger and thirst. Yet"the mother did not falter"come not near us, nor touch the

"Give me thy story, womanthy name, and when thou wert put here, and by whom, and for what."

"There was once in this city of Jerusalem a Prince BenHur, the friend of all generous Romans, and who had

Caesar for his friend. I am his widow, and this one with me is his child. How may I tell you for what we were

sunk here, when I do not know, unless it was because we were rich? Valerius Gratus can tell you who our

enemy was, and when our imprisonment began. I cannot. See to what we have been reducedoh, see, and

The air was heavy with the pest and the smoke of the torches, yet the Roman called one of the torchbearers

to his side, and wrote the answer nearly word for word. It was terse, and comprehensive, containing at once a

history, an accusation, and a prayer. No common person could have made it, and he could not but pity and

"Thou shalt have relief, woman," he said, closing the tablets. "I will send thee food and drink."

"And, further," he added, "I cannot see thee again. Make preparation, and tonight I will have thee taken to

Very shortly some slaves came to the cell with a large gurglet of water, a basin and napkins, a platter with

bread and meat, and some garments of women's wear; and, setting them down within reach of the prisoners,

About the middle of the first watch, the two were conducted to the gate, and turned into the street. So the

Roman quit himself of them, and in the city of their fathers they were once more free.

Up to the stars, twinkling merrily as of old, they looked; then they asked themselves,

About the hour Gesius, the keeper, made his appearance before the tribune in the Tower of Antonia, a

footman was climbing the eastern face of Mount Olivet. The road was rough and dusty, and vegetation on

that side burned brown, for it was the dry season in Judea. Well for the traveller that he had youth and

He proceeded slowly, looking often to his right and left; not with the vexed, anxious expression which marks

a man going forward uncertain of the way, but rather the air with which one approaches as old acquaintance

after a long separationhalf of pleasure, half of inquiry; as if he were saying, "I am glad to be with you

As he arose higher, he sometimes paused to look behind him over the gradually widening view terminating in

the mountains of Moab; but when at length he drew near the summit, he quickened his step, unmindful of

fatigue, and hurried on without pause or turning of the face. On the summitto reach which he bent his steps

somewhat right of the beaten pathhe came to a dead stop, arrested as if by a strong hand. Then one might

have seen his eyes dilate, his cheeks flush, his breath quicken, effects all of one bright sweeping glance at

Not the Holy City of today, but the Holy City as left by Herodthe Holy City of the Christ. Beautiful yet,

BenHur betook him to a stone and sat down, and, stripping his head of the close white handkerchief which

The same has been done often since by a great variety of persons, under circumstances surpassingly

singularby the son of Vespasian, by the Islamite, by the Crusader, conquerors all of them; by many a

pilgrim from the great New World, which waited discovery nearly fifteen hundred years after the time of our

story; but of the multitude probably not one has taken that view with sensations more keenly poignant, more

sadly sweet, more proudly bitter, than BenHur. He was stirred by recollections of his countrymen, their

triumphs and vicissitudes, their history the history of God. The city was of their building, at once a lasting

testimony of their crimes and devotion, their weakness and genius, their religion and their irreligion. Though

he had seen Rome to familiarity, he was gratified. The sight filled a measure of pride which would have made

him drunk with vainglory but for the thought, princely as the property was, it did not any longer belong to his

countrymen; the worship in the Temple was by permission of strangers; the hill where David dwelt was a

marbled cheatan office in which the chosen of the Lord were wrung and wrung for taxes, and scourged for

very deathlessness of faith. These, however, were pleasures and griefs of patriotism common to every Jew of

the period; in addition, BenHur brought with him a personal history which would not out of mind for other

A country of hills changes but little; where the hills are of rock, it changes not at all. The scene BenHur

beheld is the same now, except as respects the city. The failure is in the handiwork of man alone.

The sun dealt more kindly by the west side of Olivet than by the east, and men were certainly more loving

towards it. The vines with which it was partially clad, and the sprinkling of trees, chiefly figs and old wild

olives, were comparatively green. Down to the dry bed of the Cedron the verdure extended, a refreshment to

the vision; there Olivet ceased and Moriah begana wall of bluff boldness, white as snow, founded by

Solomon, completed by Herod. Up, up the wall the eye climbed course by course of the ponderous rocks

composing itup to Solomon's Porch, which was as the pedestal of the monument, the hill being the plinth.

Lingering there a moment, the eye resumed its climbing, going next to the Gentiles' Court, then to the

Israelites' Court, then to the Women's Court, then to the Court of the Priests, each a pillared tier of white

marble, one above the other in terraced retrocession; over them all a crown of crowns infinitely sacred,

infinitely beautiful, majestic in proportions, effulgent with beaten goldlo! the Tent, the Tabernacle, the

Holy of Holies. The Ark was not there, but Jehovah wasin the faith of every child of Israel he was there a

personal Presence. As a temple, as a monument, there was nowhere anything of man's building to approach

that superlative apparition. Now, not a stone of it remains above another. Who shall rebuild that building?

When shall the rebuilding be begun? So asks every pilgrim who has stood where BenHur washe asks,

knowing the answer is in the bosom of God, whose secrets are not least marvellous in their wellkeeping.

And then the third question, What of him who foretold the ruin which has so certainly befallen? God? Or man

And still BenHur's eyes climbed on and upup over the roof of the Temple, to the hill Zion, consecrated to

sacred memories, inseparable from the anointed kings. He knew the Cheesemonger's Valley dipped deep

down between Moriah and Zion; that it was spanned by the Xystus; that there were gardens and palaces in its

depths; but over them all his thoughts soared with his vision to the great grouping on the royal hillthe

house of Caiaphas, the Central Synagogue, the Roman Praetorium, Hippicus the eternal, and the sad but

mighty cenotaphs Phasaelus and Mariamneall relieved against Gareb, purpling in the distance. And when

midst them he singled out the palace of Herod, what could he but think of the King Who Was Coming, to

whom he was himself devoted, whose path he had undertaken to smooth, whose empty hands he dreamed of

filling? And forward ran his fancy to the day the new King should come to claim his own and take possession

of itof Moriah and its Temple; of Zion and its towers and palaces; of Antonia, frowning darkly there just to

the right of the Temple; of the new unwalled city of Bezetha; of the millions of Israel to assemble with

palmbranches and banners, to sing rejoicing because the Lord had conquered and given them the world.

Men speak of dreaming as if it were a phenomenon of night and sleep. They should know better. All results

achieved by us are selfpromised, and all selfpromises are made in dreams awake. Dreaming is the relief of

labor, the wine that sustains us in act. We learn to love labor, not for itself, but for the opportunity it furnishes

for dreaming, which is the great undermonotone of real life, unheard, unnoticed, because of its constancy.

Living is dreaming. Only in the grave are there no dreams. Let no one smile at BenHur for doing that which

The sun stooped low in its course. Awhile the flaring disk seemed to perch itself on the far summit of the

mountains in the west, brazening all the sky above the city, and rimming the walls and towers with the

brightness of gold. Then it disappeared as with a plunge. The quiet turned BenHur's thought homeward.

There was a point in the sky a little north of the peerless front of the Holy of Holies upon which he fixed his

gaze: under it, straight as a leadline would have dropped, lay his father's house, if yet the house endured.

The mellowing influences of the evening mellowed his feelings, and, putting his ambitions aside, he thought

Out in the desert while with Ilderim, looking for strong places and acquainting himself with it generally, as a

soldier studies a country in which he has projected a campaign, a messenger came one evening with the news

Messala was disabled and believed him dead; Gratus was powerless and gone; why should BenHur longer

defer the search for his mother and sister? There was nothing to fear now. If he could not himself see into the

prisons of Judea, he could examine them with the eyes of others. If the lost were found, Pilate could have no

motive in holding them in custodynone, at least, which could not be overcome by purchase. If found, he

would carry them to a place of safety, and then, in calmer mind, his conscience at rest, this one first duty

done, he could give himself more entirely to the King Who Was Coming. He resolved at once. That night he

counselled with Ilderim, and obtained his assent. Three Arabs came with him to Jericho, where he left them

and the horses, and proceeded alone and on foot. Malluch was to meet him in Jerusalem.

In view of the future, it was advisable to keep himself in hiding from the authorities, particularly the Romans.

Malluch was shrewd and trusty; the very man to charge with the conduct of the investigation.

Where to begin was the first point. He had no clear idea about it. His wish was to commence with the Tower

of Antonia. Tradition not of long standing planted the gloomy pile over a labyrinth of prisoncells, which,

more even than the strong garrison, kept it a terror to the Jewish fancy. A burial, such as his people had been

subjected to, might be possible there. Besides, in such a strait, the natural inclination is to start search at the

place where the loss occurred, and he could not forget that his last sight of the loved ones was as the guard

pushed them along the street in the direction to the Tower. If they were not there now, but had been, some

record of the fact must remain, a clew which had only to be followed faithfully to the end.

Under this inclination, moreover, there was a hope which he could not forego. From Simonides he knew

Amrah, the Egyptian nurse, was living. It will be remembered, doubtless, that the faithful creature, the

morning the calamity overtook the Hurs, broke from the guard and ran back into the palace, where, along

with other chattels, she had been sealed up. During the years following, Simonides kept her supplied; so she

was there now, sole occupant of the great house, which, with all his offers, Gratus had not been able to sell.

The story of its rightful owners sufficed to secure the property from strangers, whether purchasers or mere

occupants. People going to and fro passed it with whispers. Its reputation was that of a haunted house;

derived probably from the infrequent glimpses of poor old Amrah, sometimes on the roof, sometimes in a

latticed window. Certainly no more constant spirit ever abided than she; nor was there ever a tenement so

shunned and fitted for ghostly habitation. Now, if he could get to her, BenHur fancied she could help him to

knowledge which, though faint, might yet be serviceable. Anyhow, sight of her in that place, so endeared by

recollection, would be to him a pleasure next to finding the objects of his solicitude.

Thus resolved, he arose shortly after the goingdown of the sun, and began descent of the Mount by the road

which, from the summit, bends a little north of east. Down nearly at the foot, close by the bed of the Cedron,

he came to the intersection with the road leading south to the village of Siloam and the pool of that name.

There he fell in with a herdsman driving some sheep to market. He spoke to the man, and joined him, and in

It was dark when, parting with the drover inside the gate, BenHur turned into a narrow lane leading to the

south. A few of the people whom he met saluted him. The bouldering of the pavement was rough. The houses

on both sides were low, dark, and cheerless; the doors all closed: from the roofs, occasionally, he heard

women crooning to children. The loneliness of his situation, the night, the uncertainty cloaking the object of

his coming, all affected him cheerlessly. With feelings sinking lower and lower, he came directly to the deep

reservoir now known as the Pool of Bethesda, in which the water reflected the overpending sky. Looking

up, he beheld the northern wall of the Tower of Antonia, a black frowning heap reared into the dim

The Tower stood up so high, and seemed so vast, resting apparently upon foundations so sure, that he was

constrained to acknowledge its strength. If his mother were there in living burial, what could he do for her?

By the strong hand, nothing. An army might beat the stony face with ballista and ram, and be laughed at.

Against him alone, the gigantic southeast turret looked down in the selfcontainment of a hill. And he

thought, cunning is so easily baffled; and God, always the last resort of the helplessGod is sometimes so

In doubt and misgiving, he turned into the street in front of the Tower, and followed it slowly on to the west.

Over in Bezetha he knew there was a khan, where it was his intention to seek lodging while in the city; but

just now he could not resist the impulse to go home. His heart drew him that way.

The old formal salutation which he received from the few people who passed him had never sounded so

pleasantly. Presently, all the eastern sky began to silver and shine, and objects before invisible in the

westchiefly the tall towers on Mount Zionemerged as from a shadowy depth, and put on spectral

distinctness, floating, as it were, above the yawning blackness of the valley below, very castles in the air.

Of those who read this page, some there will be to divine his feelings without prompting. They are such as

had happy homes in their youth, no matter how far that may have been back in timehomes which are now

the startingpoints of all recollection; paradises from which they went forth in tears, and which they would

now return to, if they could, as little children; places of laughter and singing, and associations dearer than any

At the gate on the north side of the old house BenHur stopped. In the corners the wax used in the sealingup

was still plainly seen, and across the valves was the board with the inscription

Nobody had gone in or out the gate since the dreadful day of the separation. Should he knock as of old? It

was useless, he knew; yet he could not resist the temptation. Amrah might hear, and look out of one of the

windows on that side. Taking a stone, he mounted the broad stone step, and tapped three times. A dull echo

replied. He tried again, louder than before; and again, pausing each time to listen. The silence was mocking.

Retiring into the street, he watched the windows; but they, too, were lifeless. The parapet on the roof was

defined sharply against the brightening sky; nothing could have stirred upon it unseen by him, and nothing

From the north side he passed to the west, where there were four windows which he watched long and

anxiously, but with as little effect. At times his heart swelled with impotent wishes; at others, he trembled at

Silently, then, he stole round to the south. There, too, the gate was sealed and inscribed. The mellow splendor

of the August moon, pouring over the crest of Olivet, since termed the Mount of Offence, brought the

lettering boldly out; and he read, and was filled with rage. All he could do was to wrench the board from its

nailing, and hurl it into the ditch. Then he sat upon the step, and prayed for the New King, and that his

coming might be hastened. As his blood cooled, insensibly he yielded to the fatigue of long travel in the

About that time two women came down the street from the direction of the Tower of Antonia, approaching

the palace of the Hurs. They advanced stealthily, with timid steps, pausing often to listen. At the corner of the

And Tirzah, after a look, caught her mother's hand, and leaned upon her heavily, sobbing, but silent.

"Let us go on, my child, because"the mother hesitated and trembled; then, with an effort to be calm,

continued"because when morning comes they will put us out of the gate of the city toreturn no more."

"Ah, yes!" she said, between sobs; "I forgot. I had the feeling of going home. But we are lepers, and have no

The mother stooped and raised her tenderly, saying, "We have nothing to fear. Let us go on."

Indeed, lifting their empty hands, they could have run upon a legion and put it to flight.

And, creeping in close to the rough wall, they glided on, like two ghosts, till they came to the gate, before

which they also paused. Seeing the board, they stepped upon the stone in the scarce cold tracks of BenHur,

Then the mother clasped her hands, and, with upraised eyes, moaned in unutterable anguish.

"Tomorrowtomorrow, my child, we must find a seat by the wayside, and beg alms as the lepers do; beg,

"No!" the mother said, firmly. "The Lord has appointed our times, and we are believers in the Lord. We will

She caught Tirzah's hand as she spoke, and hastened to the west corner of the house, keeping close to the

wall. No one being in sight there, they kept on to the next corner, and shrank from the moonlight, which lay

exceedingly bright over the whole south front, and along a part of the street. The mother's will was strong.

Casting one look back and up to the windows on the west side, she stepped out into the light, drawing Tirzah

after her; and the extent of their amiction was then to be seenon their lips and cheeks, in their bleared eyes,

in their cracked hands; especially in the long, snaky locks, stiff with loathsome ichor, and, like their

eyebrows, ghastly white. Nor was it possible to have told which was mother, which daughter; both alike

"Hist!" said the mother. "There is some one lying upon the stepa man. Let us go round him."

They crossed to the opposite side of the street quickly, and, in the shade there, moved on till before the gate,

So saying, the mother stole noiselessly across, and ventured to touch the wicket; she never knew if it yielded,

for that moment the man sighed, and, turning restlessly, shifted the handkerchief on his head in such manner

that the face was left upturned and fair in the broad moonlight. She looked down at it and started; then looked

again, stooping a little, and arose and clasped her hands and raised her eyes to heaven in mute appeal. An

"As the Lord liveth, the man is my sonthy brother!" she said, in an aweinspiring whisper.

"Come!" she said, in the same enforced whisper, "let us look at him togetheronce moreonly oncethen

They crossed the street hand in hand ghostlyquick, ghostlystill. When their shadows fell upon him, they

stopped. One of his hands was lying out upon the step palm up. Tirzah fell upon her knees, and would have

BenHur was handsome as the manly are. His cheeks and forehead were swarthy from exposure to the desert

sun and air; yet under the light mustache the lips were red, and the teeth shone white, and the soft beard did

not hide the full roundness of chin and throat. How beautiful he appeared to the mother's eyes! How mightily

she yearned to put her arms about him, and take his head upon her bosom and kiss him, as had been her wont

in his happy childhood! Where got she the strength to resist the impulse? From her love, O, reader!her

motherlove, which, if thou wilt observe well, hath this unlikeness to any other love: tender to the object, it

can be infinitely tyrannical to itself, and thence all its power of selfsacrifice. Not for restoration to health

and fortune, not for any blessing of life, not for life itself, would she have left her leprous kiss upon his

cheek! Yet touch him she must; in that instant of finding him she must renounce him forever! How bitter,

bitter hard it was, let some other mother say! She knelt down, and, crawling to his feet, touched the sole of

one of his sandals with her lips, yellow though it was with the dust of the streetand touched it again and

He stirred, and tossed his hand. They moved back, but heard him mutter in his dream,

Tirzah stared wistfully. The mother put her face in the dust, struggling to suppress a sob so deep and strong it

He had asked for her; she was not forgotten; in his sleep he was thinking of her. Was it not enough?

Presently mother beckoned to Tirzah, and they arose, and taking one more look, as if to print his image past

fading, hand in hand they recrossed the street. Back in the shade of the wall there, they retired and knelt,

looking at him, waiting for him to wakewaiting some revelation, they knew not what. Nobody has yet

Byandby, the sleep being yet upon him, another woman appeared at the corner of the palace. The two in

the shade saw her plainly in the light; a small figure, much bent, darkskinned, grayhaired, dressed neatly in

At sight of the man upon the step the newcomer stopped; then, as if decided, she walked onvery lightly as

she drew near the sleeper. Passing round him, she went to the gate, slid the wicket latch easily to one side,

and put her hand in the opening. One of the broad boards in the left valve swung ajar without noise. She put

the basket through, and was about to follow, when, yielding to curiosity, she lingered to have one look at the

The spectators across the street heard a low exclamation, and saw the woman rub her eyes as if to renew their

power, bend closer down, clasp her hands, gaze wildly around, look at the sleeper, stoop and raise the

outlying hand, and kiss it fondlythat which they wished so mightily to do, but dared not.

Awakened by the action, BenHur instinctively withdrew the hand; as he did so, his eyes met the woman's.

Gently he put her arms away, and lifting the dark face wet with tears, kissed it, his joy only a little less than

"Thou has seen them, Amrah. Thou knowest where they are; tell me they are at home."

Tirzah moved, but her mother, divining her purpose, caught her and whispered, "Do not gonot for life.

Her love was in tyrannical mood. Though both their hearts broke, he should not become what they were; and

"Wert thou going in?" he asked, presently, seeing the board swung back. "Come, then. I will go with thee."

He arose as he spoke. "The Romansbe the curse of the Lord upon them!the Romans lied. The house is

mine. Rise, Amrah, and let us go in." A moment and they were gone, leaving the two in the shade to behold

the gate staring blankly at themthe gate which they might not ever enter more. They nestled together in the

Nowadays travellers in the Holy Land looking for the famous place with the beautiful name, the King's

Garden, descend the bed of the Cedron or the curve of Gihon and Hinnom as far as the old well Enrogel,

take a drink of the sweet living water, and stop, having reached the limit of the interesting in that direction.

They look at the great stones with which the well is curbed, ask its depth, smile at the primitive mode of

drawing the purling treasure, and waste some pity on the ragged wretch who presides over it; then, facing

about, they are enraptured with the mounts Moriah and Zion, both of which slope towards them from the

north, one terminating in Ophel, the other in what used to be the site of the city of David. In the background,

up far in the sky, the garniture of the sacred places is visible: here the Haram, with its graceful dome; yonder

the stalward remains of Hippicus, defiant even in ruins. When that view has been enjoyed, and is sufficiently

impressed upon the memory, the travellers glance at the Mount of Offence standing in rugged stateliness at

their right hand, and then at the Hill of Evil Counsel over on the left, in which, if they be well up in Scriptural

history and in the traditions rabbinical and monkish, they will find a certain interest not to be overcome by

It were long to tell all the points of interest grouped around that hill; for the present purpose, enough that its

feet are planted in the veritable orthodox Hell of the modernsthe Hell of brimstone and firein the old

nomenclature Gehenna; and that now, as in the days of Christ, its bluff face opposite the city on the south and

southeast is seamed and pitted with tombs which have been immemorially the dwellingplaces of lepers, not

singly, but collectively. There they set up their government and established their society; there they founded a

The second morning after the incidents of the preceding chapter, Amrah drew near the well Enrogel, and

seated herself upon a stone. One familiar with Jerusalem, looking at her, would have said she was the favorite

servant of some welltodo family. She brought with her a waterjar and a basket, the contents of the latter

covered with a snowwhite napkin. Placing them on the ground at her side, she loosened the shawl which fell

from her head, knit her fingers together in her lap, and gazed demurely up to where the hill drops steeply

It was very early, and she was the first to arrive at the well. Soon, however, a man came bringing a rope and a

leathern bucket. Saluting the little darkfaced woman, he undid the rope, fixed it to the bucket, and waited

customers. Others who chose to do so might draw water for themselves, he was a professional in the business,

Amrah sat still, and had nothing to say. Seeing the jar, the man asked after a while if she wished it filled; she

answered him civilly, "Not now;" whereupon he gave her no more attention. When the dawn was fairly

defined over Olivet, his patrons began to arrive, and he had all he could do to attend to them. All the time she

The sun made its appearance, yet she sat watching and waiting; and while she thus waits, let us see what her

Her custom had been to go to market after nightfall. Stealing out unobserved, she would seek the shops in the

Tyropoeon, or those over by the Fish Gate in the east, make her purchases of meat and vegetables, and return

The pleasure she derived from the presence of BenHur in the old house once more may be imagined. She

had nothing to tell him of her mistress or Tirzahnothing. He would have had her move to a place not so

lonesome; she refused. She would have had him take his own room again, which was just as he had left it; but

the danger of discovery was too great, and he wished above all things to avoid inquiry. He would come and

see her often as possible. Coming in the night, he would also go away in the night. She was compelled to be

satisfied, and at once occupied herself contriving ways to make him happy. That he was a man now did not

occur to her; nor did it enter her mind that he might have put by or lost his boyish tastes; to please him, she

thought to go on her old round of services. He used to be fond of confections; she remembered the things in

that line which delighted him most, and resolved to make them, and have a supply always ready when he

came. Could anything be happier? So next night, earlier than usual, she stole out with her basket, and went

over to the Fish Gate Market. Wandering about, seeking the best honey, she chanced to hear a man telling a

What the story was the reader can arrive at with sufficient certainty when told that the narrator was one of the

men who had held torches for the commandant of the Tower of Antonia when, down in cell VI., the Hurs

were found. The particulars of the finding were all told, and she heard them, with the names of the prisoners,

The feelings with which Amrah listened to the recital were such as became the devoted creature she was. She

made her purchases, and returned home in a dream. What a happiness she had in store for her boy! She had

She put the basket away, now laughing, now crying. Suddenly she stopped and thought. It would kill him to

be told that his mother and Tirzah were lepers. He would go through the awful city over on the Hill of Evil

Counselinto each infected tomb he would go without rest, asking for them, and the disease would catch

Like many a one before her, and many a one since, she derived inspiration, if not wisdom, from her affection,

The lepers, she knew, were accustomed of mornings to come down from their sepulchral abodes in the hill,

and take a supply of water for the day from the well Enrogel. Bringing their jars, they would set them on the

ground and wait, standing afar until they were filled. To that the mistress and Tirzah must come; for the law

was inexorable, and admitted no distinction. A rich leper was no better than a poor one.

So Amrah decided not to speak to BenHur of the story she had heard, but go alone to the well and wait.

Hunger and thirst would drive the unfortunates thither, and she believed she could recognize them at sight; if

Meantime BenHur came, and they talked much. Tomorrow Malluch would arrive; then the search should

be immediately begun. He was impatient to be about it. To amuse himself he would visit the sacred places in

the vicinity. The secret, we may be sure, weighed heavily on the woman, but she held her peace.

When he was gone she busied herself in the preparation of things good to eat, applying her utmost skill to the

work. At the approach of day, as signalled by the stars, she filled the basket, selected a jar, and took the road

to Enrogel, going out by the Fish Gate which was earliest open, and arriving as we have seen.

Shortly after sunrise, when business at the well was most pressing, and the drawer of water most hurried;

when, in fact, half a dozen buckets were in use at the same time, everybody making haste to get away before

the cool of the morning melted into the heat of the day, the tenantry of the hill began to appear and move

about the doors of their tombs. Somewhat later they were discernible in groups, of which not a few were

children so young that they suggested the holiest relation. Numbers came momentarily around the turn of the

bluffwomen with jars upon their shoulders, old and very feeble men hobbling along on staffs and crutches.

Some leaned upon the shoulders of others; a fewthe utterly helplesslay, like heaps of rags, upon litters.

Even that community of superlative sorrow had its lovelight to make life endurable and attractive. Distance

From her seat by the well Amrah kept watch upon the spectral groups. She scarcely moved. More than once

she imagined she saw those she sought. That they were there upon the hill she had no doubt; that they must

come down and near she knew; when the people at the well were all served they would come.

Now, quite at the base of the bluff there was a tomb which had more than once attracted Amrah by its wide

gaping. A stone of large dimensions stood near its mouth. The sun looked into it through the hottest hours of

the day, and altogether it seemed uninhabitable by anything living, unless, perchance, by some wild dogs

returning from scavenger duty down in Gehenna. Thence, however, and greatly to her surprise, the patient

Egyptian beheld two women come, one half supporting, half leading, the other. They were both

whitehaired; both looked old; but their garments were not rent, and they gazed about them as if the locality

were new. The witness below thought she even saw them shrink terrified at the spectacle offered by the

hideous assemblage of which they found themselves part. Slight reasons, certainly, to make her heart beat

The two remained by the stone awhile; then they moved slowly, painfully, and with much fear towards the

well, whereat several voices were raised to stop them; yet they kept on. The drawer of water picked up some

pebbles, and made ready to drive them back. The company cursed them. The greater company on the hill

"Surely," thought Amrah of the two, as they kept coming"surely, they are strangers to the usage of lepers."

She arose, and went to meet them, taking the basket and jar. The alarm at the well immediately subsided.

"What a fool," said one, laughing, "what a fool to give good bread to the dead in that way!"

"And to think of her coming so far!" said another. "I would at least make them meet me at the gate."

Amrah, with better impulse, proceeded. If she should be mistaken! Her heart arose into her throat. And the

farther she went the more doubtful and confused she became. Four or five yards from where they stood

That the mistress she loved! whose hand she had so often kissed in gratitude! whose image of matronly

loveliness she had treasured in memory so faithfully! And that the Tirzah she had nursed through babyhood!

whose pains she had soothed, whose sports she had shared! that the smiling, sweetfaced, songful Tirzah, the

light of the great house, the promised blessing of her old age! Her mistress, her darling they? The soul of

"These are old women," she said to herself. "I never saw them before. I will go back."

"O my mistress, my mistress! As I have made your God my God, be he praised that he has led me to you!"

The words sufficed. Amrah fell upon her face, sobbing so loud the people at the well heard her. Suddenly she

The habit of the servant renewed itself. Putting back the coarse hair fallen over her face, Amrah arose and

"Do not so, Amrah. Those yonder may stone you, and refuse us drink. Leave the basket with me. Take up the

jar and fill it, and bring it here. We will carry them to the tomb with us. For this day you will then have

The people under whose eyes all this had passed made way for the servant, and even helped her fill the jar, so

Raising the jar upon her shoulder, she hurried back. In forgetfulness, she would have gone to them, but the

cry "Unclean, unclean! Beware!" arrested her. Placing the water by the basket, she stepped back, and stood

"Thank you, Amrah," said the mistress, taking the articles into possession. "This is very good of you."

The mother's hand was upon the jar, and she was fevered with thirst; yet she paused, and rising, said firmly,

"Yes, I know that Judah has come home. I saw him at the gate night before last asleep on the step. I saw you

"That would have been to kill him. I can never take him in my arms again. I can never kiss him more. O

"Yes," said the true heart, bursting into tears again, and kneeling. "I would die for him."

"Then you shall not tell him where we are or that you have seen usonly that, Amrah."

"He must not find us. He shall not become what we are. Hear, Amrah. You shall serve us as you have this

day. You shall bring us the little we neednot long nownot long. You shall come every morning and

evening thus, andand"the voice trembled, the strong will almost broke down"and you shall tell us of

"Oh, it will be so hard to hear him speak of you, and see him going about looking for youto see all his

"No," the mistress continued; "wherefore to be silent altogether. Go now, and come this evening. We will

"The burden will be heavy, O my mistress, and hard to bear," said Amrah, falling upon her face.

"How much harder would it be to see him as we are," the mother answered as she gave the basket to Tirzah.

"Come again this evening," she repeated, taking up the water, and starting for the tomb.

Amrah waited kneeling until they had disappeared; then she took the road sorrowfully home.

In the evening she returned; and thereafter it became her custom to serve them in the morning and evening, so

that they wanted for nothing needful. The tomb, though ever so stony and desolate, was less cheerless than

the cell in the Tower had been. Daylight gilded its door, and it was in the beautiful world. Then, one can wait

The morning of the first day of the seventh monthTishri in the Hebrew, October in EnglishBenHur

Little time had been lost in consultation upon the arrival of Malluch. The latter began the search at the Tower

of Antonia, and began it boldly, by a direct inquiry of the tribune commanding. He gave the officer a history

of the Hurs, and all the particulars of the accident to Gratus, describing the affair as wholly without

criminality. The object of the quest now, he said, was if any of the unhappy family were discovered alive to

carry a petition to the feet of Caesar, praying restitution of the estate and return to their civil rights. Such a

petition, he had no doubt, would result in an investigation by the imperial order, a proceeding of which the

In reply the tribune stated circumstantially the discovery of the women in the Tower, and permitted a reading

of the memorandum he had taken of their account of themselves; when leave to copy it was prayed, he even

It were useless to attempt description of the effect the terrible story had upon the young man. The pain was

not relieved by tears or passionate outcries; it was too deep for any expression. He sat still a long time, with

pallid face and laboring heart. Now and then, as if to show the thoughts which were most poignant, he

"Lepers, lepers! Theymy mother and Tirzahthey lepers! How long, how long, O Lord!"

One moment he was torn by a virtuous rage of sorrow, next by a longing for vengeance which, it must be

Malluch interposed, and finally prevailed so far as to have the management of the further attempt intrusted to

him. Together they went to the gate over on the side opposite the Hill of Evil Counsel, immemorially the

lepers' beggingground. There they stayed all day, giving alms, asking for the two women, and offering rich

rewards for their discovery. So they did in repetition day after day through the remainder of the fifth month,

and all the sixth. There was diligent scouring of the dread city on the hill by lepers to whom the rewards

offered were mighty incentives, for they were only dead in law. Over and over again the gaping tomb down

by the well was invaded, and its tenants subjected to inquiry; but they kept their secret fast. The result was

failure. And now, the morning of the first day of the seventh month, the extent of the additional information

gained was that not long before two leprous women had been stoned from the Fish Gate by the authorities. A

little pressing of the clew, together with some shrewd comparison of dates, led to the sad assurance that the

sufferers were the Hurs, and left the old questions darker than ever. Where were they? And what had become

"It was not enough that my people should be made lepers," said the son, over and over again, with what

intensity of bitterness the reader may imagine; "that was not enough. Oh no! They must be stoned from their

native city! My mother is dead! she has wandered to the wilderness! she is dead! Tirzah is dead! I alone am

left. And for what? How long, O God, thou Lord God of my fathers, how long shall this Rome endure?"

Angry, hopeless, vengeful, he entered the court of the khan, and found it crowded with people come in during

the night. While he ate his breakfast, he listened to some of them. To one party he was specially attracted.

They were mostly young, stout, active, hardy men, in manner and speech provincial. In their look, the certain

indefinable air, the pose of the head, glance of the eye, there was a spirit which did not, as a rule, belong to

the outward seeming of the lower orders of Jerusalem; the spirit thought by some to be a peculiarity of life in

mountainous districts, but which may be more surely traced to a life of healthful freedom. In a short time he

ascertained they were Galileans, in the city for various purposes, but chiefly to take part in the Feast of

Trumpets, set for that day. They became to him at once objects of interest, as hailing from the region in which

While observing them, his mind running ahead in thought of achievements possible to a legion of such spirits

disciplined after the severe Roman style, a man came into the court, his face much flushed, his eyes bright

"Why are you here?" he said to the Galileans. "The rabbis and elders are going from the Temple to see Pilate.

"They have discovered a conspiracy. Pilate's new aqueduct is to be paid for with money of the Temple."

"Come," cried the messenger. "The procession is by this time across the bridge. The whole city is pouring

As if the thought and the act were one, there was quick putting away of useless garments, and the party stood

forth bareheaded, and in the short sleeveless undertunics they were used to wearing as reapers in the field

and boatmen on the lakethe garb in which they climbed the hills following the herds, and plucked the

ripened vintage, careless of the sun. Lingering only to tighten their girdles, they said, "We are ready."

"Men of Galilee," he said, "I am a son of Judah. Will you take me in your company?"

They took the retort in good humor, and the messenger said, "You seem stout enough. Come along."

"You think there may be fighting?" he asked, quietly, as he tightened his girdle.

"Well," he continued, "we will have to do the best we can; but had we not better choose a leader? The

"Let us at least agree to stay together," he said. "Now I am ready, if you are."

The khan, it should not be forgotten, was in Bezetha, the new town; and to get to the Praetorium, as the

Romans resonantly styled the palace of Herod on Mount Zion, the party had to cross the lowlands north and

west of the Temple. By streetsif they may be so calledtrending north and south, with intersections

hardly up to the dignity of alleys, they passed rapidly round the Akra district to the Tower of Mariamne, from

which the way was short to the grand gate of the walled heights. In going, they overtook, or were overtaken

by, people like themselves stirred to wrath by news of the proposed desecration. When, at length, they

reached the gate of the Praetorium, the procession of elders and rabbis had passed in with a great following,

A centurion kept the entrance with a guard drawn up full armed under the beautiful marble battlements. The

sun struck the soldiers fervidly on helm and shield; but they kept their ranks indifferent alike to its dazzle and

to the mouthings of the rabble. Through the open bronze gates a current of citizens poured in, while a much

"Nothing," was the reply. "The rabbis are before the door of the palace asking to see Pilate. He has refused to

come out. They have sent one to tell him they will not go away till he has heard them. They are waiting."

"Let us go in," said BenHur, in his quiet way, seeing what his companions probably did not, that there was

not only a disagreement between the suitors and the governor, but an issue joined, and a serious question as to

Inside the gate there was a row of trees in leaf, with seats under them. The people, whether going or coming,

carefully avoided the shade cast gratefully upon the white, cleanswept pavement; for, strange as it may

seem, a rabbinical ordinance, alleged to have been derived from the law, permitted no green thing to be

grown within the walls of Jerusalem. Even the wise king, it was said, wanting a garden for his Egyptian bride,

was constrained to found it down in the meetingplace of the valleys above Enrogel.

Through the treetops shone the outer fronts of the palace. Turning to the right, the party proceeded a short

distance to a spacious square, on the west side of which stood the residence of the governor. An excited

multitude filled the square. Every face was directed towards a portico built over a broad doorway which was

The throng was so close the friends could not well have advanced if such had been their desire; they remained

therefore in the rear, observers of what was going on. About the portico they could see the high turbans of the

rabbis, whose impatience communicated at times to the mass behind them; a cry was frequent to the effect

"Israel is of no account here," he said, in a loud voice. "On this holy ground we are no better than dogs of

"Who can say? Did not a Roman profane the Holy of Holies? Is there anything sacred from Romans?"

An hour passed, and though Pilate deigned them no answer, the rabbis and crowd remained. Noon came,

bringing a shower from the west, but no change in the situation, except that the multitude was larger and

much noisier, and the feeling more decidedly angry. The shouting was almost continuous, Come forth, come

forth! The cry was sometimes with disrespectful variations. Meanwhile BenHur held his Galilean friends

together. He judged the pride of the Roman would eventually get the better of his discretion, and that the end

could not be far off. Pilate was but waiting for the people to furnish him an excuse for resort to violence.

And at last the end came. In the midst of the assemblage there was heard the sound of blows, succeeded

instantly by yells of pain and rage, and a most furious commotion. The venerable men in front of the portico

faced about aghast. The common people in the rear at first pushed forward; in the centre, the effort was to get

out; and for a short time the pressure of opposing forces was terrible. A thousand voices made inquiry, raised

all at once; as no one had time to answer, the surprise speedily became a panic.

"I see now," said the man. "There are some armed with clubs, and they are beating the people. They are

"Romans, as the Lord liveth! Romans in disguise. Their clubs fly like flails! There, I saw a rabbi struck

"Men of Galilee," he said, "it is a trick of Pilate's. Now, will you do what I say, we will get even with the

"Let us go back to the trees by the gate, and we may find the planting of Herod, though unlawful, has some

They ran back all of them fast as they could; and, by throwing their united weight upon the limbs, tore them

from the trunks. In a brief time they, too, were armed. Returning, at the corner of the square they met the

crowd rushing madly for the gate. Behind, the clamor continueda medley of shrieks, groans, and

So, clinging to the masonry at their right hand, they escaped the might of the rush, and little by little made

By this time BenHur's leadership was perfect; and as he pushed into the seething mob his party closed after

him in a body. And when the Romans, clubbing the people and making merry as they struck them down,

came hand to hand with the Galileans, lithe of limb, eager for the fray, and equally armed, they were in turn

surprised. Then the shouting was close and fierce; the crash of sticks rapid and deadly; the advance furious as

hate could make it. No one performed his part as well as BenHur, whose training served him admirably; for,

not merely he knew to strike and guard; his long arm, perfect action, and incomparable strength helped him,

also, to success in every encounter. He was at the same time fightingman and leader. The club he wielded

was of goodly length and weighty, so he had need to strike a man but once. He seemed, moreover, to have

eyes for each combat of his friends, and the faculty of being at the right moment exactly where he was most

needed. In his fighting cry there were inspiration for his party and alarm for his enemies. Thus surprised and

equally matched, the Romans at first retired, but finally turned their backs and fled to the portico. The

impetuous Galileans would have pursued them to the steps, but BenHur wisely restrained them.

"Stay, my men!" he said. "The centurion yonder is coming with the guard. They have swords and shields; we

cannot fight them. We have done well; let us get back and out of the gate while we may."

They obeyed him, though slowly; for they had frequently to step over their countrymen lying where they had

been felled; some writhing and groaning, some praying help, others mute as the dead. But the fallen were not

The centurion shouted to them as they went off; BenHur laughed at him, and replied in his own tongue, "If

we are dogs of Israel, you are jackals of Rome. Remain here, and we will come again."

Outside the gate there was a multitude the like of which BenHur had never seen, not even in the circus at

Antioch. The housetops, the streets, the slope of the hill, appeared densely covered with people wailing and

The party were permitted to pass without challenge by the outer guard. But hardly were they out before the

centurion in charge at the portico appeared, and in the gateway called to BenHur,

"Thou shalt have mine," the centurion answered. "I will borrow of the guard here."

The people in hearing of the colloquy became silent; and from them the hush spread afar. But lately BenHur

had beaten a Roman under the eyes of Antioch and the Farther East; now, could he beat another one under the

eyes of Jerusalem, the honor might be vastly profitable to the cause of the New King. He did not hesitate.

Going frankly to the centurion, he said, "I am willing. Lend me thy sword and shield."

The arms were as frankly delivered, and directly the centurion was ready. All this time the soldiers in rank

close by the gate never moved; they simply listened. As to the multitude, only when the combatants advanced

to begin the fight the question sped from mouth to mouth, "Who is he?" And no one knew.

Now the Roman supremacy in arms lay in three thingssubmission to discipline, the legionary formation of

battle, and a peculiar use of the short sword. In combat, they never struck or cut; from first to last they

thrustthey advanced thrusting, they retired thrusting; and generally their aim was at the foeman's face. All

"I told thee I was a son of Judah; but I did not tell that I am lanistataught. Defend thyself!"

At the last word BenHur closed with his antagonist. A moment, standing foot to foot, they glared at each

other over the rims of their embossed shields; then the Roman pushed forward and feinted an underthrust.

The Jew laughed at him. A thrust at the face followed. The Jew stepped lightly to the left; quick as the thrust

was, the step was quicker. Under the lifted arm of the foe he slid his shield, advancing it until the sword and

swordarm were both caught on its upper surface; another step, this time forward and left, and the man's

whole right side was offered to the point. The centurion fell heavily on his breast, clanging the pavement, and

BenHur had won. With his foot upon his enemy's back, he raised his shield overhead after a gladiatorial

When the people realized the victory they behaved like mad. On the houses far as the Xystus, fast as the word

could fly, they waved their shawls and handkerchiefs and shouted; and if he had consented, the Galileans

To a petty officer who then advanced from the gate he said, "Thy comrade died like a soldier. I leave him

"Brethren, you have behaved well. Let us now separate, lest we be pursued. Meet me tonight at the khan in

At the instance of Pilate, the people went up from the city, and carried off their dead and wounded, and there

was much mourning for them; but the grief was greatly lightened by the victory of the unknown champion,

who was everywhere sought, and by every one extolled. The fainting spirit of the nation was revived by the

brave deed; insomuch that in the streets and up in the Temple even, amidst the solemnities of the feast, old

tales of the Maccabees were told again, and thousands shook their heads whispering wisely,

"A little longer, only a little longer, brethren, and Israel will come to her own. Let there be faith in the Lord,

In such manner BenHur obtained hold on Galilee, and paved the way to greater services in the cause of the

The meeting took place in the khan of Bethany as appointed. Thence BenHur went with the Galileans into

their country, where his exploits up in the old Marketplace gave him fame and influence. Before the winter

was gone he raised three legions, and organized them after the Roman pattern. He could have had as many

more, for the martial spirit of that gallant people never slept. The proceeding, however, required careful

guarding as against both Rome and Herod Antipas. Contenting himself for the present with the three, he

strove to train and educate them for systematic action. For that purpose he carried the officers over into the

lavabeds of Trachonitis, and taught them the use of arms, particularly the javelin and sword, and the

manoeuvering peculiar to the legionary formation; after which he sent them home as teachers. And soon the

As may be thought, the task called for patience, skill, zeal, faith, and devotion on his partqualities into

which the power of inspiring others in matters of difficulty is always resolvable; and never man possessed

them in greater degree or used them to better effect. How he labored! And with utter denial of self! Yet withal

he would have failed but for the support he had from Simonides, who furnished him arms and money, and

from Ilderim, who kept watch and brought him supplies. And still he would have failed but for the genius of

Under that name were comprehended the four tribesAsher, Zebulon, Issachar, and Naphthaliand the

districts originally set apart to them. The Jew born in sight of the Temple despised these brethren of the north;

Hating Rome fervidly as they loved their own country, in every revolt they were first in the field and last to

leave it. One hundred and fifty thousand Galilean youths perished in the final war with Rome. For the great

festal days, they went up to Jerusalem marching and camping like armies; yet they were liberal in sentiment,

and even tolerant to heathenism. In Herod's beautiful cities, which were Roman in all things, in Sepphoris and

Tiberias especially, they took pride, and in the building them gave loyal support. They had for

fellowcitizens men from the outside world everywhere, and lived in peace with them. To the glory of the

Hebrew name they contributed poets like the singer of the Song of Songs and prophets like Hosea.

Upon such a people, so quick, so proud, so brave, so devoted, so imaginative, a tale like that of the coming of

the King was allpowerful. That he was coming to put Rome down would have been sufficient to enlist them

in the scheme proposed by BenHur; but when, besides, they were assured he was to rule the world, more

mighty than Caesar, more magnificent than Solomon, and that the rule was to last forever, the appeal was

irresistible, and they vowed themselves to the cause body and soul. They asked BenHur his authority for the

sayings, and he quoted the prophets, and told them of Balthasar in waiting over in Antioch; and they were

satisfied, for it was the old muchloved legend of the Messiah, familiar to them almost as the name of the

Lord; the longcherished dream with a time fixed for its realization. The King was not merely coming now;

So with BenHur the winter months rolled by, and spring came, with gladdening showers blown over from

the summering sea in the west; and by that time so earnestly and successfully had he toiled that he could say

to himself and his followers, "Let the good King come. He has only to tell us where he will have his throne

And in all his dealings with the many men they knew him only as a son of Judah, and by that name.

One evening, over in Trachonitis, BenHur was sitting with some of his Galileans at the mouth of the cave in

which he quartered, when an Arab courier rode to him, and delivered a letter. Breaking the package, he read,

"A prophet has appeared who men say is Elias. He has been in the wilderness for years, and to our eyes he is

a prophet; and such also is his speech, the burden of which is of one much greater than himself, who, he says,

is to come presently, and for whom he is now waiting on the eastern shore of the River Jordan. I have been to

see and hear him, and the one he is waiting for is certainly the King you are awaiting. Come and judge for

"All Jerusalem is going out to the prophet, and with many people else the shore on which he abides is like

"By this word, O my friends," he said"by this word, our waiting is at end. The herald of the King has

"Get ready now," he added, "and in the morning set your faces homeward; when arrived there, send word to

those under you, and bid them be ready to assemble as I may direct. For myself and you, I will go see if the

King be indeed at hand, and send you report. Let us, in the meantime, live in the pleasure of the promise."

Going into the cave, he addressed a letter to Ilderim, and another to Simonides, giving notice of the news

received, and of his purpose to go up immediately to Jerusalem. The letters he despatched by swift

messengers. When night fell, and the stars of direction came out, he mounted, and with an Arab guide set out

for the Jordan, intending to strike the track of the caravans between RabbathAmmon and Damascus.

The guide was sure, and Aldebaran swift; so by midnight the two were out of the lava fastness speeding

It was BenHur's purpose to turn aside at the break of day, and find a safe place in which to rest; but the

dawn overtook him while out in the Desert, and he kept on, the guide promising to bring him afterwhile to a

vale shut in by great rocks, where there were a spring, some mulberrytrees, and herbage in plenty for the

As he rode thinking of the wondrous events so soon to happen, and of the changes they were to bring about in

the affairs of men and nations, the guide, ever on the alert, called attention to an appearance of strangers

behind them. Everywhere around the Desert stretched away in waves of sand, slowly yellowing in the

growing light, and without any green thing visible. Over on the left, but still far off, a range of low mountains

extended, apparently interminable. In the vacancy of such a waste an object in motion could not long

A little later BenHur himself could see the camel was white and unusually large, reminding him of the

wonderful animal he had seen bring Balthasar and Iras to the fountain in the Grove of Daphne. There could

be no other like it. Thinking then of the fair Egyptian, insensibly his gait became slower, and at length fell

into the merest loiter, until finally he could discern a curtained houdah, and two persons seated within it. If

they were Balthasar and Iras! Should he make himself known to them? But it could not be: this was the

Desertand they were alone. But while he debated the question the long swinging stride of the camel

brought its riders up to him. He heard the ringing of the tiny bells, and beheld the rich housings which had

been so attractive to the crowd at the Castalian fount. He beheld also the Ethiopian, always attendant upon the

Egyptians. The tall brute stopped close by his horse, and BenHur, looking up, lo! Iras herself under the

raised curtain looking down at him, her great swimming eyes bright with astonishment and inquiry!

"The blessing of the true God upon you!" said Balthasar, in his tremulous voice.

"My eyes are weak with years," said Balthasar; "but they approve you that son of Hur whom lately I knew an

"And thou art that Balthasar, the wise Egyptian, whose speech concerning certain holy things in expectation

is having so much to do with the finding me in this waste place. What dost thou here?"

"He is never alone who is where God isand God is everywhere," Balthasar answered, gravely; "but in the

sense of your asking, there is a caravan short way behind us going to Alexandria; and as it is to pass through

Jerusalem, I thought best to avail myself of its company as far as the Holy City, whither I am journeying.

This morning, however, in discontent with its slow movementslower because of a Roman cohort in

attendance upon itwe rose early, and ventured thus far in advance. As to robbers along the way, we are not

afraid, for I have here a signet of Sheik Ilderim; against beasts of prey, God is our sufficient trust."

BenHur bowed and said, "The good sheik's signet is a safeguard wherever the wilderness extends, and the

"Yet," said Iras, with a smile which was not lost upon the youth, whose eyes, it must be admitted, had several

times turned to her during the interchange of speeches with the elder"Yet even he would be better if his

fast were broken. Kings have hunger and headaches. If you be, indeed, the BenHur of whom my father has

spoken, and whom it was my pleasure to have known as well, you will be happy, I am sure, to show us some

near path to living water, that with its sparkle we may grace a morning's meal in the Desert."

"Fair Egyptian, I give you sympathy. Can you bear suffering a little longer, we will find the spring you ask

for, and I promise that its draught shall be as sweet and cooling as that of the more famous Castalia. With

"I give you the blessing of the thirsty," she replied; "and offer you in return a bit of bread from the city ovens,

So saying, BenHur rode forward with the guide, one of the inconveniences of travelling with camels being

Afterwhile the party came to a shallow wady, down which, turning to the right hand, the guide led them. The

bed of the cut was somewhat soft from recent rains, and quite bold in its descent. Momentarily, however, it

widened; and erelong the sides became bluffs ribbed with rocks much scarred by floods rushing to lower

depths ahead. Finally, from a narrow passage, the travellers entered a spreading vale which was very

delightful; but come upon suddenly from the yellow, unrelieved, verdureless plain, it had the effect of a

freshly discovered Paradise. The waterchannels winding here and there, definable by crisp white shingling,

appeared like threads tangled among islands green with grasses and fringed with reeds. Up from the final

depths of the valley of the Jordan some venturous oleanders had crept, and with their large bloom now starred

the sunken place. One palmtree arose in royal assertion. The bases of the boundarywalls were cloaked with

clambering vines, and under a leaning cliff over on the left the mulberry grove had planted itself, proclaiming

the spring which the party were seeking. And thither the guide conducted them, careless of whistling

partridges and lesser birds of brighter hues roused whirring from the reedy coverts.

The water started from a crack in the cliff which some loving hand had enlarged into an arched cavity.

Graven over it in bold Hebraic letters was the word GOD. The graver had no doubt drunk there, and tarried

many days, and given thanks in that durable form. From the arch the stream ran merrily over a flag spotted

with bright moss, and leaped into a pool glassy clear; thence it stole away between grassy banks, nursing the

trees before it vanished in the thirsty sand. A few narrow paths were noticeable about the margin of the pool;

otherwise the space around was untrodden turf, at sight of which the guide was assured of rest free from

intrusion by men. The horses were presently turned loose, and from the kneeling camel the Ethiopian assisted

Balthasar and Iras; whereupon the old man, turning his face to the east, crossed his hands reverently upon his

From the houdah the slave brought her a crystal goblet; then she said to BenHur,

They walked to the pool together. He would have dipped the water for her, but she refused his offer, and

kneeling, held the cup to be filled by the stream itself; nor yet content, when it was cooled and overrunning,

"No," he said, putting the graceful hand aside, and seeing only the large eyes half hidden beneath the arches

"In my country, O son of Hur, we have a saying, 'Better a cupbearer to the fortunate than minister to a king.'"

There were both surprise and inquiry in the tone of his voice and in his look, and she said quickly,

"The gods give us success as a sign by which we may know them on our side. Were you not winner in the

"That was one sign. There is another. In a combat with swords you slew a Roman."

The flush deepenednot so much for the triumphs themselves as the flattery there was in the thought that

she had followed his career with interest. A moment, and the pleasure was succeeded by a reflection. The

combat, he knew, was matter of report throughout the East; but the name of the victor had been committed to

a very fewMalluch, Ilderim, and Simonides. Could they have made a confidante of the woman? So with

wonder and gratification he was confused; and seeing it, she arose and said, holding the cup over the pool,

"O gods of Egypt! I give thanks for a hero discoveredthanks that the victim in the Palace of Idernee was

Part of the contents of the cup she returned to the stream, the rest she drank. When she took the crystal from

"O son of Hur, is it a fashion of the very brave to be so easily overcome by a woman? Take the cup now, and

"A son of Israel has no gods whom he can libate," he said, playing with the water to hide his amazement, now

greater than before. What more did the Egyptian know about him? Had she been told of his relations with

Simonides? And there was the treaty with Ilderimhad she knowledge of that also? He was struck with

mistrust. Somebody had betrayed his secrets, and they were serious. And, besides, he was going to Jerusalem,

just then of all the world the place where such intelligence possessed by an enemy might be most dangerous

to him, his associates, and the cause. But was she an enemy? It is well for us that, while writing is slow,

thought is instantaneous. When the cup was fairly cooled, he filled it and arose, saying, with indifference well

"Most fair, were I an Egyptian or a Greek or a Roman, I would say"he raised the goblet overhead as he

spoke"O ye better gods! I give thanks that there are yet left to the world, despite its wrongs and sufferings,

the charm of beauty and the solace of love, and I drink to her who best represents themto Iras, loveliest of

"You have offended against the law. The gods you have drunk to are false gods. Why shall I not tell the

"Oh!" he replied, laughing, "that is very little to tell for one who knows so much else that is really important."

"I will go furtherI will go to the little Jewess who makes the roses grow and the shadows flame in the

house of the great merchant over in Antioch. To the rabbis I will accuse you of impenitence; to her"

"I will repeat what you have said to me under the lifted cup, with the gods for witnesses."

He was still a moment, as if waiting for the Egyptian to go on. With quickened fancy he saw Esther at her

father's side listening to the despatches he had forwardedsometimes reading them. In her presence he had

told Simonides the story of the affair in the Palace of Idernee. She and Iras were acquainted; this one was

shrewd and worldly; the other was simple and affectionate, and therefore easily won. Simonides could not

have broken faithnor Ilderimfor if not held by honor, there was no one, unless it might be himself, to

whom the consequences of exposure were more serious and certain. Could Esther have been the Egyptian's

informant? He did not accuse her; yet a suspicion was sown with the thought, and suspicions, as we all know,

are weeds of the mind which grow of themselves, and most rapidly when least wanted. Before he could

"We are greatly indebted to you, son of Hur," he said, in his grave manner. "This vale is very beautiful; the

grass, the trees, the shade, invite us to stay and rest, and the spring here has the sparkle of diamonds in

motion, and sings to me of a loving God. It is not enough to thank you for the enjoyment we find; come sit

With that BenHur filled the goblet, and gave it to Balthasar, who lifted his eyes in thanksgiving.

Immediately the slave brought napkins; and after laving their hands and drying them, the three seated

themselves in Eastern style under the tent which years before had served the Wise Men at the meeting in the

The tent was cosily pitched beneath a tree where the gurgle of the stream was constantly in ear. Overhead the

broad leaves hung motionless on their stems; the delicate reedstalks off in the pearly haze stood up

arrowystraight; occasionally a homereturning bee shot humming athwart the shade, and a partridge

creeping from the sedge drank, whistled to his mate, and ran away. The restfulness of the vale, the freshness

of the air, the garden beauty, the Sabbath stillness, seemed to have affected the spirits of the elder Egyptian;

his voice, gestures, and whole manner were unusually gentle; and often as he bent his eyes upon BenHur

"When we overtook you, son of Hur," he said, at the conclusion of the repast, "it seemed your face was also

"For the great need I have to spare myself prolonged toil, I will further ask you, Is there a shorter road than

"A rougher route, but shorter, lies by Gerasa and RabbathGilead. It is the one I design taking."

"I am impatient," said Balthasar. "Latterly my sleep has been visited by dreamsor rather by the same

dream in repetition. A voiceit is nothing morecomes and tells me, 'Hastearise! He whom thou hast so

"You mean he that is to be King of the JewsY' BenHur asked, gazing at the Egyptian in wonder.

From his gown BenHur drew the letter received from Malluch. The hand the Egyptian held out trembled

violently. He read aloud, and as he read his feelings increased; the limp veins in his neck swelled and

throbbed. At the conclusion he raised his suffused eyes in thanksgiving and prayer. He asked no questions,

"Thou hast been very good to me, O God," he said. "Give me, I pray thee, to see the Saviour again, and

The words, the manner, the singular personality of the simple prayer, touched BenHur with a sensation new

and abiding. God never seemed so actual and so near by; it was as if he were there bending over them or

sitting at their sidea Friend whose favors were to be had by the most unceremonious askinga Father to

whom all his children were alike in loveFather, not more of the Jew than of the Gentilethe Universal

Father, who needed no intermediates, no rabbis, no priests, no teachers. The idea that such a God might send

mankind a Saviour instead of a king appeared to BenHur in a light not merely new, but so plain that he

could almost discern both the greater want of such a gift and its greater consistency with the nature of such a

"Now that he has come, O Balthasar, you still think he is to be a Saviour, and not a king?"

"How shall I understand you?" he asked, in return. "The Spirit, which was the Star that was my guide of old,

has not appeared to me since I met you in the tent of the good sheik; that is to say, I have not seen or heard it

as formerly. I believe the voice that spoke to me in my dreams was it; but other than that I have no

"I will recall the difference between us," said BenHur, with deference. "You were of opinion that he would

be a king, but not as Caesar is; you thought his sovereignty would be spiritual, not of the world."

"Oh yes," the Egyptian answered; "and I am of the same opinion now. I see the divergence in our faith. You

He paused with the look often seen when people are struggling, with introverted effort, to disentangle a

thought which is either too high for quick discernment or too subtle for simple expression.

"Let me try, O son of Hur," he said, directly, "and help you to a clear understanding of my belief; then it may

be, seeing how the spiritual kingdom I expect him to set up can be more excellent in every sense than

anything of mere Caesarean splendor, you will better understand the reason of the interest I take in the

"I cannot tell you when the idea of a Soul in every man had its origin. Most likely the first parents brought it

with them out of the garden in which they had their first dwelling. We all do know, however, that it has never

perished entirely out of mind. By some peoples it was lost, but not by all; in some ages it dulled and faded, in

others it was overwhelmed with doubts; but, in great goodness, God kept sending us at intervals mighty

"Why should there be a Soul in every man? Look, O son of Hurfor one moment look at the necessity of

such a device. To lie down and die, and be no moreno more forevertime never was when man wished

for such an end; nor has the man ever been who did not in his heart promise himself something better. The

monuments of the nations are all protests against nothingness after death; so are statues and inscriptions; so is

history. The greatest of our Egyptian kings had his effigy cutout of a hill of solid rock. Day after day he

went with a host in chariots to see the work; at last it was finished, never effigy so grand, so enduring: it

looked like himthe features were his, faithful even in expression. Now may we not think of him saying in

that moment of pride, 'Let Death come; there is an afterlife for me!' He had his wish. The statue is there yet.

"But what is the afterlife he thus secured? Only a recollection by mena glory unsubstantial as moonshine

on the brow of the great bust; a story in stonenothing more. Meantime what has become of the king? There

is an embalmed body up in the royal tombs which once was hisan effigy not so fair to look at as the other

out in the Desert. But where, O son of Hur, where is the king himself? Is he fallen into nothingness? Two

thousand years have gone since he was a man alive as you and I are. Was his last breath the end of him?

"To say yes would be to accuse God; let us rather accept his better plan of attaining life after death for

usactual life, I meanthe something more than a place in mortal memory; life with going and coming,

with sensation, with knowledge, with power and all appreciation; life eternal in term though it may be with

"Ask you what God's plan is? The gift of a Soul to each of us at birth, with this simple lawthere shall be no

immortality except through the Soul. In that law see the necessity of which I spoke.

"Let us turn from the necessity now. A word as to the pleasure there is in the thought of a Soul in each of us.

In the first place, it robs death of its terrors by making dying a change for the better, and burial but the

planting of a seed from which there will spring a new life. In the next place, behold me as I amweak,

weary, old, shrunken in body, and graceless; look at my wrinkled face, think of my failing senses, listen to

my shrilled voice. Ah! what happiness to me in the promise that when the tomb opens, as soon it will, to

receive the wornout husk I call myself, the now viewless doors of the universe, which is but the palace of

"I would I could tell the ecstasy there must be in that life to come! Do not say I know nothing about it. This

much I know, and it is enough for methe being a Soul implies conditions of divine superiority. In such a

being there is no dust, nor any gross thing; it must be finer than air, more impalpable than light, purer than

"What now, O son of Hur? Knowing so much, shall I dispute with myself or you about the

unnecessariesabout the form of my soul? Or where it is to abide? Or whether it eats and drinks? Or is

winged, or wears this or that? No. It is more becoming to trust in God. The beautiful in this world is all from

his hand declaring the perfection of taste; he is the author of all form; he clothes the lily, he colors the rose,

he distils the dewdrop, he makes the music of nature; in a word, he organized us for this life, and imposed

its conditions; and they are such guaranty to me that, trustful as a little child, I leave to him the organization

of my Soul, and every arrangement for the life after death. I know he loves me."

The good man stopped and drank, and the hand carrying the cup to his lips trembled; and both Iras and

BenHur shared his emotion and remained silent. Upon the latter a light was breaking. He was beginning to

see, as never before, that there might be a spiritual kingdom of more import to men than any earthly empire;

and that after all a Saviour would indeed be a more godly gift than the greatest king.

"I might ask you now," said Balthasar, continuing, "whether this human life, so troubled and brief, is

preferable to the perfect and everlasting life designed for the Soul? But take the question, and think of it for

yourself, formulating thus: Supposing both to be equally happy, is one hour more desirable than one year?

From that then advance to the final inquiry, what are threescore and ten years on earth to all eternity with

God? Byandby, son of Hur, thinking in such manner, you will be filled with the meaning of the fact I

present you next, to me the most amazing of all events, and in its effects the most sorrowful; it is that the very

idea of life as a Soul is a light almost gone out in the world. Here and there, to be sure, a philosopher may be

found who will talk to you of a Soul, likening it to a principle; but because philosophers take nothing upon

faith, they will not go the length of admitting a Soul to be a being, and on that account its purpose is

"Everything animate has a mind measurable by its wants. Is there to you no meaning in the singularity that

power in full degree to speculate upon the future was given to man alone? By the sign as I see it, God meant

to make us know ourselves created for another and a better life, such being in fact the greatest need of our

nature. But, alas! into what a habit the nations have fallen! They live for the day, as if the present were the all

in all, and go about saying, 'There is no tomorrow after death; or if there be, since we know nothing about it,

be it a care unto itself.' So when Death calls them, 'Come,' they may not enter into enjoyment of the glorious

afterlife because of their unfitness. That is to say, the ultimate happiness of man was everlasting life in the

society of God. Alas, O son of Hur, that I should say it! but as well yon sleeping camel constant in such

society as the holiest priests this day serving the highest altars in the most renowned temples. So much are

men given to this lower earthly life! So nearly have they forgotten that other which is to come!

"For my part, speaking with the holiness of truth, I would not give one hour of life as a Soul for a thousand

Here the Egyptian seemed to become unconscious of companionship and fall away into abstraction.

"This life has its problems," he said, "and there are men who spend their days trying to solve them; but what

are they to the problems of the hereafter? What is there like knowing God? Not a scroll of the mysteries, but

the mysteries themselves would for that hour at least lie before me revealed; even the innermost and most

awfulthe power which now we shrink from thought ofwhich rimmed the void with shores, and lighted

the darkness, and out of nothing appointed the universe. All places would be opened. I would be filled with

divine knowledge; I would see all glories, taste all delights; I would revel in being. And if, at the end of the

hour, it should please God to tell me, 'I take thee into my service forever,' the furthest limit of desire would be

passed; after which the attainable ambitions of life, and its joys of whatever kind, would not be so much as

Balthasar paused as if to recover from very ecstasy of feeling; and to BenHur it seemed the speech had been

"I pray pardon, son of Hur," the good man continued, with a bow the gravity of which was relieved by the

tender look that followed it, "I meant to leave the life of a Soul, its conditions, pleasures, superiority, to your

own reflection and finding out. The joy of the thought has betrayed me into much speech. I set out to show,

though ever so faintly, the reason of my faith. It grieves me that words are so weak. But help yourself to truth.

Consider first the excellence of the existence which was reserved for us after death, and give heed to the

feelings and impulses the thought is sure to awaken in youheed them, I say, because they are your own

Soul astir, doing what it can to urge you in the right way. Consider next that the afterlife has become so

obscured as to justify calling it a lost light. If you find it, rejoice, O son of Hurrejoice as I do, though in

beggary of words. For then, besides the great gift which is to be saved to us, you will have found the need of

a Saviour so infinitely greater than the need of a king; and he we are going to meet will not longer hold place

"A practical question presents itselfHow shall we know him at sight? If you continue in your belief as to

his characterthat he is to be a king as Herod wasof course you will keep on until you meet a man

clothed in purple and with a sceptre. On the other hand, he I look for will be one poor, humble,

undistinguisheda man in appearance as other men; and the sign by which I will know him will be never so

simple. He will offer to show me and all mankind the way to the eternal life; the beautiful pure Life of the

"Let us arise now," he said"let us arise and set forward again. What I have said has caused a return of

impatience to see him who is ever in my thought; and if I seem to hurry you, O son of Hurand you, my

At his signal the slave brought them wine in a skin bottle; and they poured and drank, and shaking the

While the slave restored the tent and wares to the box under the houdah, and the Arab brought up the horses,

In a little while they were retracing their steps back through the wady, intending to overtake the caravan if it

The caravan, stretched out upon the Desert, was very picturesque; in motion, however, it was like a lazy

serpent. Byandby its stubborn dragging became intolerably irksome to Balthasar, patient as he was; so, at

If the reader be young, or if he has yet a sympathetic recollection of the romanticisms of his youth, he will

relish the pleasure with which BenHur, riding near the camel of the Egyptians, gave a last look at the head

To be definite as may be, and perfectly confidential, BenHur found a certain charm in Iras's presence. If she

looked down upon him from her high place, he made haste to get near her; if she spoke to him, his heart beat

out of its usual time. The desire to be agreeable to her was a constant impulse. Objects on the way, though

ever so common, became interesting the moment she called attention to them; a black swallow in the air

pursued by her pointing finger went off in a halo; if a bit of quartz or a flake of mica was seen to sparkle in

the drab sand under kissing of the sun, at a word he turned aside and brought it to her; and if she threw it

away in disappointment, far from thinking of the trouble he had been put to, he was sorry it proved so

worthless, and kept a lookout for something bettera ruby, perchance a diamond. So the purple of the far

mountains became intensely deep and rich if she distinguished it with an exclamation of praise; and when,

now and then, the curtain of the houdah fell down, it seemed a sudden dulness had dropped from the sky

bedraggling all the landscape. Thus disposed, yielding to the sweet influence, what shall save him from the

dangers there are in days of the close companionship with the fair Egyptian incident to the solitary journey

For that there is no logic in love, nor the least mathematical element, it is simply natural that she shall fashion

To quicken the conclusion, there were signs, too, that she well knew the influence she was exercising over

him. From some place under hand she had since morning drawn a caul of golden coins, and adjusted it so the

gleaming strings fell over her forehead and upon her cheeks, blending lustrously with the flowing of her

blueblack hair. From the same safe deposit she had also produced articles of jewelryrings for finger and

ear, bracelets, a necklace of pearlsalso, a shawl embroidered with threads of fine goldthe effect of all

which she softened with a scarf of Indian lace skillfully folded about her throat and shoulders. And so

arrayed, she plied BenHur with countless coquetries of speech and manner; showering him with smiles;

laughing in flutelike tremoloand all the while following him with glances, now meltingtender, now

sparklingbright. By such play Antony was weaned from his glory; yet she who wrought his ruin was really

The sun at its going down behind a spur of the old Bashan, left the party halted by a pool of clear water of the

rains out in the Abilene Desert. There the tent was pitched, the supper eaten, and preparations made for the

The second watch was BenHur's; and he was standing, spear in hand, within armreach of the dozing camel,

looking awhile at the stars, then over the veiled land. The stillness was intense; only after long spells a warm

breath of wind would sough past, but without disturbing him, for yet in thought he entertained the Egyptian,

recounting her charms, and sometimes debating how she came by his secrets, the uses she might make of

them, and the course he should pursue with her. And through all the debate Love stood off but a little waya

strong temptation, the stronger of a gleam of policy behind. At the very moment he was most inclined to

yield to the allurement, a hand very fair even in the moonless gloaming was laid softly upon his shoulder.

"Sleep is for old people and little children, and I came out to look at my friends, the stars in the souththose

now holding the curtains of midnight over the Nile. But confess yourself surprised!"

He took the hand which had fallen from his shoulder, and said, "Well, was it by an enemy?"

"Oh no! To be an enemy is to hate, and hating is a sickness which Isis will not suffer to come near me. She

"Your speech does not sound in the least like your father's. Are you not of his faith?"

"I might have been"and she laughed low"I might have been had I seen what he has. I may be when I get

old like him. There should be no religion for youth, only poetry and philosophy; and no poetry except such as

is the inspiration of wine and mirth and love, and no philosophy that does not nod excuse for follies which

cannot outlive a season. My father's God is too awful for me. I failed to find him in the Grove of Daphne. He

was never heard of as present in the atria of Rome. But, son of Hur, I have a wish."

He laughed, and replied, lightly, "O Egypt!I came near saying dear Egypt!does not the sphinx abide in

"You are one of its riddles. Be merciful, and give me a little clew to help me understand you. In what do I

She took her hand from him, and, turning to the camel, spoke to it endearingly, and patted its monstrous head

"O thou last and swiftest and stateliest of the herds of Job! Sometimes thou, too, goest stumbling, because the

way is rough and stony and the burden grievous. How is it thou knowest the kind intent by a word; and

always makest answer gratefully, though the help offered is from a woman? I will kiss thee, thou royal

brute!"she stooped and touched its broad forehead with her lips, saying immediately, "because in thy

And BenHur, restraining himself, said calmly, "The reproach has not failed its mark, O Egypt! I seem to say

thee no; may it not be because I am under seal of honor, and by my silence cover the lives and fortunes of

He shrank a step, and asked, his voice sharp with amazement, "What all knowest thou?"

"Why do men deny that the senses of women are sharper than theirs? Your face has been under my eyes all

day. I had but to look at it to see you bore some weight in mind; and to find the weight, what had I to do more

than recall your debates with my father? Son of Hur!"she lowered her voice with singular dexterity, and,

going nearer, spoke so her breath was warm upon his cheek"son of Hur! he thou art going to find is to be

He looked awayinto the night, up to the stars; then his eyes met hers, and lingered there; and her breath

"Since morning," she said, further, "we have been having visions. Now if I tell you mine, will you serve me

She pushed his hand away, and turned as if to go; but he caught her, and said, eagerly, "Staystay and

She went back, and with her hand upon his shoulder, leaned against him; and he put his arm around her, and

"Speak, and tell me thy visions, O Egypt, dear Egypt! A prophetnay, not the Tishbite, not even the

Lawgivercould have refused an asking of thine. I am at thy will. Be mercifulmerciful, I pray."

The entreaty passed apparently unheard, for looking up and nestling in his embrace, she said, slowly, "The

vision which followed me was of magnificent warwar on land and seawith clashing of arms and rush of

armies, as if Caesar and Pompey were come again, and Octavius and Antony. A cloud of dust and ashes arose

and covered the world, and Rome was not any more; all dominion returned to the East; out of the cloud

issued another race of heroes; and there were vaster satrapies and brighter crowns for giving away than were

ever known. And, son of Hur, while the vision was passing, and after it was gone, I kept asking myself, 'What

Again BenHur recoiled. The question was the very question which had been with him all day. Presently he

"So," he said, "I have you now. The satrapies and crowns are the things to which you would help me. I see, I

see! And there never was such queen as you would be, so shrewd, so beautiful, so royalnever! But, alas,

dear Egypt! by the vision as you show it me the prizes are all of war, and you are but a woman, though Isis

did kiss you on the heart. And crowns are starry gifts beyond your power of help, unless, indeed, you have a

way to them more certain than that of the sword. If so, O Egypt, Egypt, show it me, and I will walk in it, if

She removed his arm, and said, "Spread your cloak upon the sandhere, so I can rest against the camel. I

will sit, and tell you a story which came down the Nile to Alexandria, where I had it."

"And what shall I do?" he said, ruefully, when she was seated. "In Alexandria is it customary for the listeners

From the comfortable place against the old domestic she answered, laughing, "The audiences of storytellers

Without more ado he stretched himself upon the sand, and put her arm about his neck.

"You must know, in the first place, that Isis wasand, for that matter, she may yet bethe most beautiful of

deities; and Osiris, her husband, though wise and powerful, was sometimes stung with jealousy of her, for

"The palace of the Divine Wife was of silver, crowning the tallest mountain in the moon, and thence she

passed often to the sun, in the heart of which, a source of eternal light, Osiris kept his palace of gold too

"One timethere are no days with the godswhile she was full pleasantly with him on the roof of the

golden palace, she chanced to look, and afar, just on the line of the universe, saw Indra passing with an army

of simians, all borne upon the backs of flying eagles. He, the Friend of Living Thingsso with much love is

Indra calledwas returning from his final war with the hideous Rakshakasreturning victorious; and in his

suite were Rama, the hero, and Sita, his bride, who, next to Isis herself, was the very most beautiful. And Isis

arose, and took off her girdle of stars, and waved it to Sitato Sita, mind youwaved it in glad salute. And

instantly, between the marching host and the two on the golden roof, a something as of night fell, and shut

"It happened the subject of his speech that moment was such as none else than they could think of; and he

arose, and said, majestically, 'Get thee home. I will do the work myself. To make a perfectly happy being I do

"Now Isis had eyes large as those of the white cow which in the temple eats sweet grasses from the hands of

the faithful even while they say their prayers; and her eyes were the color of the cows, and quite as tender.

And she too arose and said, smiling as she spoke, so her look was little more than the glow of the moon in the

hazy harvestmonth, 'Farewell, good my lord. You will call me presently, I know; for without me you cannot

make the perfectly happy creature of which you were thinking, any more'and she stopped to laugh,

knowing well the truth of the saying'any more, my lord, than you yourself can be perfectly happy without

"And she went her way, and took her needles and her chair, and on the roof of the silver palace sat watching

"And the will of Osiris, at labor in his mighty breast, was as the sound of the mills of all the other gods

grinding at once, so loud that the near stars rattled like seeds in a parched pod; and some dropped out and

were lost. And while the sound kept on she waited and knit; nor lost she ever a stitch the while.

"Soon a spot appeared in the space over towards the sun; and it grew until it was great as the moon, and then

she knew a world was intended; but when, growing and growing, at last it cast her planet in the shade, all

save the little point lighted by her presence, she knew how very angry he was; yet she knit away, assured that

"And so came the earth, at first but a cold gray mass hanging listless in the hollow void. Later she saw it

separate into divisions; here a plain, there a mountain, yonder a sea, all as yet without a sparkle. And then, by

a riverbank, something moved; and she stopped her knitting for wonder. The something arose, and lifted its

hands to the sun in sign of knowledge whence it had its being. And this First Man was beautiful to see. And

about him were the creations we call naturethe grass, the trees, birds, beasts, even the insects and reptiles.

"And for a time the man went about happy in his life: it was easy to see how happy he was. And in the lull of

the sound of the laboring will Isis heard a scornful laugh, and presently the words, blown across from the sun,

"And Isis fell to knitting again, for she was patient as Osiris was strong; and if he could work, she could wait;

and wait she did, knowing that mere life is not enough to keep anything content.

"And sure enough. Not long until the Divine Wife could see a change in the man. He grew listless, and kept

to one place prone by the river, and looked up but seldom, and then always with a moody face. Interest was

dying in him. And when she made sure of it, even while she was saying to herself, 'The creature is sick of his

being,' there was a roar of the creative will at work again, and in a twinkling the earth, theretofore all a thing

of coldest gray, flamed with colors; the mountains swam in purple, the plains bearing grass and trees turned

"And Isis smiled, and knit away, saying to herself, 'It was well thought, and will do a little while; but mere

"With the last word, the thunder of the will at work shook the moon, and, looking, Isis dropped her knitting

and clapped her hands; for theretofore everything on the earth but the man had been fixed to a given place;

now all living, and much that was not living, received the gift of Motion. The birds took to wing joyously;

beasts great and small went about, each in its way; the trees shook their verdurous branches, nodding to the

enamoured winds; the rivers ran to the seas, and the seas tossed in their beds and rolled in crested waves, and

with surging and ebbing painted the shores with glistening foam; and over all the clouds floated like sailed

"And the man rose up happy as a child; whereat Osiris was pleased, so that he shouted, 'Ha, ha! See how well

"The good wife took up her work, and answered ever so quietly, 'It was well thought, my lordever so well

"And as before, so again. The sight of things in motion became to the man as of course. The birds in flight,

the rivers running, the seas in tumult of action, ceased to amuse him, and he pined again even worse.

"And Isis waited, saying to herself, 'Poor creature! He is more wretched than ever.'

"And, as if he heard the thought, Osiris stirred, and the noise of his will shook the universe; the sun in its

central seat alone stood firm. And Isis looked, but saw no change; then while she was smiling, assured that

her lord's last invention was sped, suddenly the creature arose, and seemed to listen; and his face brightened,

and he clapped his hands for joy, for Sounds were heard the first time on earthsounds dissonant, sounds

harmonious. The winds murmured in the trees; the birds sang, each kind a song of its own, or chattered in

speech; the rivulets running to the rivers became so many harpers with harps of silver strings all tinkling

together; and the rivers running to the seas surged on in solemn accord, while the seas beat the land to a tune

of thunder. There was music, music everywhere, and all the time; so the man could not but be happy.

"Then Isis mused, thinking how well, how wondrous well, her lord was doing; but presently she shook her

head: Color, Motion, Soundand she repeated them slowlythere was no element else of beauty except

Form and Light, and to them the earth had been born. Now, indeed, Osiris was done; and if the creature

should again fall off into wretchedness, her help must be asked; and her fingers flewtwo, three, five, even

"And the man was happy a long timelonger than ever before; it seemed, indeed, he would never tire again.

But Isis knew better; and she waited and waited, nor minded the many laughs flung at her from the sun; she

waited and waited, and at last saw signs of the end. Sounds became familiar to him, and in their range, from

the chirruping of the cricket under the roses to the roar of the seas and the bellow of the clouds in storm, there

was not anything unusual. And he pined and sickened, and sought his place of moping by the river, and at last

"Then Isis took the last stitch in her knitting, and gathering her work in a roll of brilliance flung it offflung

it so it fell close to the man. And he, hearing the sound of the fall so near by, looked up, and lo! a

Womanthe First Womanwas stooping to help him! She reached a hand to him; he caught it and arose;

"Such, O son of Hur! is the genesis of the beautiful, as they tell it on the Nile."

"A pretty invention, and cunning," he said, directly; "but it is imperfect. What did Osiris afterwards?"

"Oh yes," she replied. "He called the Divine Wife back to the sun, and they went on all pleasantly together,

He carried the hand resting upon his neck to his lips. "In lovein love!" he said.

"You will find the King," she said, placing her other hand caressingly upon his head. "You will go on and

find the King and serve him. With your sword you will earn his richest gifts; and his best soldier will be my

He turned his face, and saw hers close above. In all the sky there was that moment nothing so bright to him as

her eyes, enshadowed though they were. Presently he sat up, and put his arms about her, and kissed her

passionately, saying, "O Egypt, Egypt! If the King has crowns in gift, one shall be mine; and I will bring it

and put it here over the place my lips have marked. You shall be a queenmy queenno one more

"And you will tell me everything, and let me help you in all?" she said, kissing him in return.

"Perfect love means perfect faith," she replied. "But never mindyou will know me better."

Moving away, she stopped by the camel, and touched its front face with her lips.

The third day of the journey the party nooned by the river Jabbok, where there were a hundred or more men,

mostly of Peraea, resting themselves and their beasts. Hardly had they dismounted, before a man came to

them with a pitcher of water and a bowl, and offered them drink; as they received the attention with much

courtesy, he said, looking at the camel, "I am returning from the Jordan, where just now there are many

people from distant parts, travelling as you are, illustrious friend; but they had none of them the equal of your

Balthasar answered, and sought his rest; but BenHur, more curious, took up the remark.

"It used to be a lonesome ford," said BenHur. "I cannot understand how it can have become of such

"I see," the stranger replied; "you, too, are from abroad, and have not heard the good tidings."

"Well, a man has appeared out of the wildernessa very holy manwith his mouth full of strange words,

which take hold of all who hear them. He calls himself John the Nazarite, son of Zacharias, and says he is the

"They say of this John that he has spent his life from childhood in a cave down by EnGedi, praying and

living more strictly than the Essenes. Crowds go to hear him preach. I went to hear him with the rest."

"A new doctrineone never before taught in Israel, as all say. He calls it repentance and baptism. The rabbis

do not know what to make of him; nor do we. Some have asked him if he is the Christ, others if he is Elias;

but to them all he has the answer, 'I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of

At this point the man was called away by his friends; as he was going, Balthasar spoke.

"Good stranger!" he said, tremulously, "tell us if we shall find the preacher at the place you left him."

"Who should this Nazarite be?" said BenHur to Iras, "if not the herald of our King?"

In so short a time he had come to regard the daughter as more interested in the mysterious personage he was

looking for than the aged father! Nevertheless, the latter with a positive glow in his sunken eyes half arose,

There was little conversation between the three at the stoppingplace for the night west of RamothGilead.

"Let us arise early, son of Hur," said the old man. "The Saviour may come, and we not there."

"The King cannot be far behind his herald," Iras whispered, as she prepared to take her place on the camel.

Next day about the third hour, out of the pass through which, skirting the base of Mount Gilead, they had

journeyed since leaving Ramoth, the party came upon the barren steppe east of the sacred river. Opposite

them they saw the upper limit of the old palm lands of Jericho, stretching off to the hillcountry of Judea.

The driver quickened the camel's pace. Soon they caught sight of booths and tents and tethered animals; and

then of the river, and a multitude collected down close by the bank, and yet another multitude on the western

shore. Knowing that the preacher was preaching, they made greater haste; yet, as they were drawing near,

suddenly there was a commotion in the mass, and it began to break up and disperse.

"Let us stay here," said BenHur to Balthasar, who was wringing his hands. "The Nazarite may come this

The people were too intent upon what they had heard, and too busy in discussion, to notice the newcomers.

When some hundreds were gone by, and it seemed the opportunity to so much as see the Nazarite was lost to

the latter, up the river not far away they beheld a person coming towards them of such singular appearance

Outwardly the man was rude and uncouth, even savage. Over a thin, gaunt visage of the hue of brown

parchment, over his shoulders and down his back below the middle, in witchlike locks, fell a covering of

sunscorched hair. His eyes were burningbright. All his right side was naked, and of the color of his face,

and quite as meagre; a shirt of the coarsest camel'shaircoarse as Bedouin tentclothclothed the rest of

his person to the knees, being gathered at the waist by a broad girdle of untanned leather. His feet were bare.

A scrip, also of untanned leather, was fastened to the girdle. He used a knotted staff to help him forward. His

movement was quick, decided, and strangely watchful. Every little while he tossed the unruly hair from his

The fair Egyptian surveyed the son of the Desert with surprise, not to say disgust. Presently, raising the

In truth, he was himself more than disappointed. Despite his familiarity with the ascetic colonists in

EnGeditheir dress, their indifference to all worldly opinion, their constancy to vows which gave them

over to every imaginable suffering of body, and separated them from others of their kind as absolutely as if

they had not been born like themand notwithstanding he had been notified on the way to look for a

Nazarite whose simple description of himself was a Voice from the Wildernessstill BenHur's dream of

the King who was to be so great and do so much had colored all his thought of him, so that he never doubted

to find in the forerunner some sign or token of the goodliness and royalty he was announcing. Gazing at the

savage figure before him, the long trains of courtiers whom he had been used to see in the thermae and

imperial corridors at Rome arose before him, forcing a comparison. Shocked, shamed, bewildered, he could

With Balthasar it was very different. The ways of God, he knew, were not as men would have them. He had

seen the Saviour a child in a manger, and was prepared by his faith for the rude and simple in connection with

the Divine reappearance. So he kept his seat, his hands crossed upon his breast, his lips moving in prayer. He

In this time of such interest to the newcomers, and in which they were so differently moved, another man

had been sitting by himself on a stone at the edge of the river, thinking yet, probably, of the sermon he had

been hearing. Now, however, he arose, and walked slowly up from the shore, in a course to take him across

And the twothe preacher and the strangerkept on until they came, the former within twenty yards of the

animal, the latter within ten feet. Then the preacher stopped, and flung the hair from his eyes, looked at the

stranger, threw his hands up as a signal to all the people in sight; and they also stopped, each in the pose of a

listener; and when the hush was perfect, slowly the staff in the Nazarite's right hand came down and pointed

At the same instant, under the same impulse, Balthasar and BenHur fixed their gaze upon the man pointed

out, and both took the same impression, only in different degree. He was moving slowly towards them in a

clear space a little to their front, a form slightly above the average in stature, and slender, even delicate. His

action was calm and deliberate, like that habitual to men much given to serious thought upon grave subjects;

and it well became his costume, which was an undergarment fullsleeved and reaching to the ankles, and an

outer robe called the talith; on his left arm he carried the usual handkerchief for the head, the red fillet

swinging loose down his side. Except the fillet and a narrow border of blue at the lower edge of the talith, his

attire was of linen yellowed with dust and road stains. Possibly the exception should be extended to the

tassels, which were blue and white, as prescribed by law for rabbis. His sandals were of the simplest kind. He

These points of appearance, however, the three beholders observed briefly, and rather as accessories to the

head and face of the man, whichespecially the latterwere the real sources of the spell they caught in

The head was open to the cloudless light, except as it was draped with hair long and slightly waved, and

parted in the middle, and auburn in tint, with a tendency to reddish golden where most strongly touched by

the sun. Under a broad, low forehead, under black well arched brows, beamed eyes darkblue and large, and

softened to exceeding tenderness by lashes of the great length sometimes seen on children, but seldom, if

ever, on men. As to the other features, it would have been difficult to decide whether they were Greek or

Jewish. The delicacy of the nostrils and mouth was unusual to the latter type; and when it was taken into

account with the gentleness of the eyes, the pallor of the complexion, the fine texture of the hair, and the

softness of the beard, which fell in waves over his throat to his breast, never a soldier but would have laughed

at him in encounter, never a woman who would not have confided in him at sight, never a child that would

not, with quick instinct, have given him its hand and whole artless trust; nor might any one have said he was

The features, it should be further said, were ruled by a certain expression which, as the viewer chose, might

with equal correctness have been called the effect of intelligence, love, pity, or sorrow; though, in better

speech, it was a blending of them alla look easy to fancy as the mark of a sinless soul doomed to the sight

and understanding of the utter sinfulness of those among whom it was passing; yet withal no one could have

observed the face with a thought of weakness in the man; so, at least, would not they who know that the

qualities mentionedlove, sorrow, pityare the results of a consciousness of strength to bear suffering

oftener than strength to do; such has been the might of martyrs and devotees and the myriads written down in

Now BenHur, mounted and spear in hand, was an object to claim the glance of a king; yet the eyes of the

man approaching were all the time raised above himand not to Iras, whose loveliness has been so often

The many standing still, arrested by the action of the speaker, and listening for what might follow, were

struck with awe by words so strange and past their understanding; upon Balthasar they were overpowering.

He was there to see once more the Redeemer of men. The faith which had brought him the singular privileges

of the time long gone abode yet in his heart; and if now it gave him a power of vision above that of his

fellowsa power to see and know him for whom he was lookingbetter than calling the power a miracle,

let it be thought of as the faculty of a soul not yet entirely released from the divine relations to which it had

been formerly admitted, or as the fitting reward of a life in that age so without examples of holinessa life

itself a miracle. The ideal of his faith was before him, perfect in face, form, dress, action, age; and he was in

its view, and the view was recognition. Ah, now if something should happen to identify the stranger beyond

Exactly at the fitting moment, as if to assure the trembling Egyptian, the Nazarite repeated the outcry,

Balthasar fell upon his knees. For him there was no need of explanation; and as if the Nazarite knew it, he

"This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me. And

I knew him not: but that he should be manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. I saw the

Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to

baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on

him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bare record, that this"he paused,

his staff still pointing at the stranger in the white garments, as if to give a more absolute certainty to both his

"It is he, it is he!" Balthasar cried, with upraised tearful eyes. Next moment he sank down insensible.

In this time, it should be remembered, BenHur was studying the face of the stranger, though with an interest

entirely different. He was not insensible to its purity of feature, and its thoughtfulness, tenderness, humility,

and holiness; but just then there was room in his mind for but one thoughtWho is this man? And what?

Messiah or king? Never was apparition more unroyal. Nay, looking at that calm, benignant countenance, the

very idea of war and conquest, and lust of dominion, smote him like a profanation. He said, as if speaking to

his own heart, Balthasar must be right and Simonides wrong. This man has not come to rebuild the throne of

Solomon; he has neither the nature nor the genius of Herod; king he may be, but not of another and greater

It should be understood now that this was not a conclusion with BenHur, but an impression merely; and

while it was forming, while yet he gazed at the wonderful countenance, his memory began to throe and

struggle. "Surely," he said to himself, "I have seen the man; but where and when?" That the look, so calm, so

pitiful, so loving, had somewhere in a past time beamed upon him as that moment it was beaming upon

Balthasar became an assurance. Faintly at first, at last a clear light, a burst of sunshine, the scene by the well

at Nazareth what time the Roman guard was dragging him to the galleys returned, and all his being thrilled.

Those hands had helped him when he was perishing. The face was one of the pictures he had carried in mind

ever since. In the effusion of feeling excited, the explanation of the preacher was lost by him, all but the last

BenHur leaped from his horse to render homage to his benefactor; but Iras cried to him, "Help, son of Hur,

He stopped, looked back, then hurried to her assistance. She gave him a cup; and leaving the slave to bring

the camel to its knees, he ran to the river for water. The stranger was gone when he came back.

At last Balthasar was restored to consciousness. Stretching forth his hands, he asked, feebly, "Where is he?"

An intense instant interest shone upon the good man's face, as if a last wish had been gratified, and he

And next day while the three were listening to him, the Nazarite broke off in midspeech, saying reverently,

Looking to where he pointed, they beheld the stranger again. As BenHur surveyed the slender figure, and

This was in the summerhouse upon the roof of the old palace of the Hurs in Jerusalem. From the parapet

overlooking the courtyard Esther called to a man in waiting there; at the same moment another manservant

"A package for the master," he said, giving her a letter enclosed in linen cloth, tied and sealed.

For the satisfaction of the reader, we stop to say that it is the twentyfirst day of March, nearly three years

In the meanwhile, Malluch, acting for BenHur, who could not longer endure the emptiness and decay of his

father's house, had bought it from Pontius Pilate; and, in process of repair, gates, courts, lewens, stairways,

terraces, rooms, and roof had been cleansed and thoroughly restored; not only was there no reminder left of

the tragic circumstances so ruinous to the family, but the refurnishment was in a style richer than before. At

every point, indeed, a visitor was met by evidences of the higher tastes acquired by the young proprietor

Now it should not be inferred from this explanation that BenHur had publicly assumed ownership of the

property. In his opinion, the hour for that was not yet come. Neither had he yet taken his proper name.

Passing the time in the labors of preparation in Galilee, he waited patiently the action of the Nazarene, who

became daily more and more a mystery to him, and by prodigies done, often before his eyes, kept him in a

state of anxious doubt both as to his character and mission. Occasionally he came up to the Holy City,

These visits of BenHur, it should also be observed, were for more than mere rest from labor. Balthasar and

Iras made their home in the palace; and the charm of the daughter was still upon him with all its original

freshness, while the father, though feebler in body, held him an unflagging listener to speeches of astonishing

power, urging the divinity of the wandering miracleworker of whom they were all so expectant.

As to Simonides and Esther, they had arrived from Antioch only a few days before this their reappearancea

wearisome journey to the merchant, borne, as he had been, in a palanquin swung between two camels, which,

in their careening, did not always keep the same step. But now that he was come, the good man, it seemed,

could not see enough of his native land. He delighted in the perch upon the roof, and spent most of his day

hours there seated in an armchair, the duplicate of that one kept for him in the cabinet over the storehouse

by the Orontes. In the shade of the summerhouse he could drink fully of the inspiring air lying lightly upon

the familiar hills; he could better watch the sun rise, run its course, and set as it used to in the fargone, not a

habit lost; and with Esther by him it was so much easier up there close to the sky, to bring back the other

Esther, his love in youth, his wife, dearer growing with the passage of years. And yet he was not unmindful

of business. Every day a messenger brought him a despatch from Sanballat, in charge of the big commerce

behind; and every day a despatch left him for Sanballat with directions of such minuteness of detail as to

exclude all judgment save his own, and all chances except those the Almighty has refused to submit to the

As Esther started in return to the summerhouse, the sunlight fell softly upon the dustless roof, showing her a

woman nowsmall, graceful in form, of regular features, rosy with youth and health, bright with

intelligence, beautiful with the outshining of a devoted naturea woman to be loved because loving was a

She looked at the package as she turned, paused, looked at it a second time more closely than at first; and the

blood rose reddening her cheeksthe seal was BenHur's. With quickened steps she hastened on.

Simonides held the package a moment while he also inspected the seal. Breaking it open, he gave her the roll

His eyes were upon her as he spoke, and instantly a troubled expression fell upon his own face.

Though the manner was halting, she met his gaze with modest sincerity. Slowly his chin sank into the roll of

"I have tried not to think of him, father, except as the master to whom I am dutifully bound. The effort has

"A good girl, a good girl, even as thy mother was," he said, dropping into reverie, from which she roused him

"The Lord forgive me, butbut thy love might not have been vainly given had I kept fast hold of all I had, as

"It would have been worse for me had you done so, father; for then I had been unworthy a look from him, and

"In a moment," he said. "Let me, for your sake, my child, show you the worst. Seeing it with me may make it

"The Egyptian has him in her net," he continued. "She has the cunning of her race, with beauty to help

hermuch beauty, great cunning; but, like her race again, no heart. The daughter who despises her father

"Balthasar is a wise man who has been wonderfully favored for a Gentile, and his faith becomes him; yet she

makes a jest of it. I heard her say, speaking of him yesterday, 'The follies of youth are excusable; nothing is

admirable in the aged except wisdom, and when that goes from them, they should die.' A cruel speech, fit for

a Roman. I applied it to myself, knowing a feebleness like her father's will come to me alsonay, it is not far

off. But you, Esther, will never say of meno, never'It were better he were dead.' No, your mother was a

After a silence, he laid his hand upon her shoulder, and resumed: "When he has taken the Egyptian to wife,

Esther, he will think of you with repentance and much calling of the spirit; for at last he will awake to find

himself but the minister of her bad ambition. Rome is the centre of all her dreams. To her he is the son of

He answered, with a dubious smile, "A man drowning may be saved; not so a man in love."

"But you have influence with him. He is alone in the world. Show him his danger. Tell him what a woman

"That might save him from her. Would it give him to you, Esther? No," and his brows fell darkly over his

eyes. "I am a servant, as my fathers were for generations; yet I could not say to him, 'Lo, master, my

daughter! She is fairer than the Egyptian, and loves thee better!' I have caught too much from years of liberty

and direction. The words would blister my tongue. The stones upon the old hills yonder would turn in their

beds for shame when I go out to them. No, by the patriarchs, Esther, I would rather lay us both with your

"I did not mean you to tell him so, father. I was concerned for him alonefor his happiness, not mine.

Because I have dared love him, I shall keep myself worthy his respect; so only can I excuse my folly. Let me

"The Nazarene is on the way also. With him, though without his knowledge, I am bringing a full legion of

mine. A second legion follows. The Passover will excuse the multitude. He said upon setting out, 'We will go

up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning me shall be accomplished.'

Esther returned the letter to her father, while a choking sensation gathered in her throat. There was not a word

in the missive for hernot even in the salutation had she a shareand it would have been so easy to have

written "and to thine, peace." For the first time in her life she felt the smart of a jealous sting.

"The eighth day," said Simonides, "the eighth day; and this, Esther, this is the"

"And possibly we may see him tonight," she added, pleased into momentary forgetfulness.

"It may be, it may be! Tomorrow is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and he may wish to celebrate it; so may

At this point the servant appeared with the wine and water. Esther helped her father, and in the midst of the

To the Jewess the Egyptian never appeared so very, very beautiful as at that moment. Her gauzy garments

fluttered about her like a little cloud of mist; her forehead, neck, and arms glittered with the massive jewelry

so affected by her people. Her countenance was suffused with pleasure. She moved with buoyant steps, and

selfconscious, though without affectation. Esther at the sight shrank within herself, and nestled closer to her

"Peace to you, Simonides, and to the pretty Esther peace," said Iras, inclining her head to the latter. "You

remind me, good masterif I may say it without offenceyou remind me of the priests in Persia who climb

their temples at the decline of day to send prayers after the departing sun. Is there anything in the worship you

"Fair Egyptian," the merchant replied, nodding with grave politeness, "your father is a good man who would

not be offended if he knew I told you his Persian lore is the least part of his wisdom."

"To speak like a philosopher, as you invite me," she said, "the least part always implies a greater. Let me ask

what you esteem the greater part of the rare quality you are pleased to attribute to him."

"Pure wisdom always directs itself towards God; the purest wisdom is knowledge of God; and no man of my

acquaintance has it in higher degree, or makes it more manifest in speech and act, than the good Balthasar."

"A man who has millions in store, and fleets of ships at sea, cannot discern in what simple women like us

They went to the parapet then, stopping at the place where, years before, BenHur loosed the broken tile

"You have not been to Rome?" Iras began, toying the while with one of her unclasped bracelets.

The sigh that succeeded the exclamation could not have been more piteously expressive had the loss been the

Egyptian's own. Next moment her laugh might have been heard in the street below; and she said "Oh, oh, my

pretty simpleton! The halffledged birds nested in the ear of the great bust out on the Memphian sands know

Then, seeing Esther's confusion, she changed her manner, and said in a confiding tone, "You must not take

offence. Oh no! I was playing. Let me kiss the hurt, and tell you what I would not to any othernot if

Another laugh, masking excellently the look she turned sharply upon the Jewess, and she said, "The King is

"The Nazarene," Iras continued"he whom our fathers have been talking about so much, whom BenHur

has been serving and toiling for so long"her voice dropped several tones lower"the Nazarene will be

Esther struggled to maintain her composure, but failed: her eyes fell, the telltale blood surged to her cheek

and forehead, and she was saved sight of the triumphant smile that passed, like a gleam, over the face of the

"Rejoice with me, O my friend! He will be here tonight! On the Tiber there is a house, a royal property,

A sound of some one walking swiftly along the street below interrupted the speech, and she leaned over the

parapet to see. Then she drew back, and cried, with hands clasped above her head, "Now blessed be Isis! 'Tis

heBenHur himself! That he should appear while I had such thought of him! There are no gods if it be not

The Jewess looked up. Upon each cheek there was a glow; her eyes sparkled with a light more nearly of

anger than ever her nature emitted before. Her gentleness had been too roughly overridden. It was not enough

for her to be forbidden more than fugitive dreams of the man she loved; a boastful rival must tell her in

confidence of her better success, and of the brilliant promises which were its rewards. Of her, the servant of a

servant, there had been no hint of remembrance; this other could show his letter, leaving her to imagine all it

The Egyptian drew back a step; then she bent her haughty head quite near her questioner.

A thought blasting as lightning stayed the words: she paled, trembled, recovered, and answered,

"Not more than that?" she said. "Ah, by the lovergods of Egypt, thou mayst keep thy kisseskeep them.

Thou hast taught me but now that there are others vastly more estimable waiting me here in Judea; and"she

turned away, looking back over her shoulder "I will go get them. Peace to thee."

Esther saw her disappear down the steps, when, putting her hands over her face, she burst into tears so they

ran scalding through her fingerstears of shame and choking passion. And, to deepen the paroxysm to her

even temper so strange, up with a new meaning of withering force rose her father's words"Thy love might

not have been vainly given had I kept fast hold of all I had, as I might have done."

And all the stars were out, burning low above the city and the dark wall of mountains about it, before she

recovered enough to go back to the summerhouse, and in silence take her accustomed place at her father's

side, humbly waiting his pleasure. To such duty it seemed her youth, if not her life, must be given. And, let

the truth be said, now that the pang was spent, she went not unwillingly back to the duty.

An hour or thereabouts after the scene upon the roof, Balthasar and Simonides, the latter attended by Esther,

met in the great chamber of the palace; and while they were talking, BenHur and Iras came in together.

The young Jew, advancing in front of his companion, walked first to Balthasar, and saluted him, and received

It is not often we have hearts roomy enough for more than one of the absorbing passions at the same time; in

its blaze the others may continue to live, but only as lesser lights. So with BenHur, much study of

possibilities, indulgence of hopes and dreams, influences born of the condition of his country, influences

more directthat of Iras, for examplehad made him in the broadest worldly sense ambitious; and as he

had given the passion place, allowing it to become a rule, and finally an imperious governor, the resolves and

impulses of former days faded imperceptibly out of being, and at last almost out of recollection. It is at best

so easy to forget our youth; in his case it was but natural that his own sufferings and the mystery darkening

the fate of his family should move him less and less as, in hope at least, he approached nearer and nearer the

He paused in surprise at seeing Esther a woman now, and so beautiful; and as he stood looking at her a still

voice reminded him of broken vows and duties undone: almost his old self returned.

For an instant he was startled; but recovering, he went to Esther, and said, "Peace to thee, sweet

Estherpeace; and thou, Simonides"he looked to the merchant as he spoke"the blessing of the Lord be

"I repeat the welcome of the good Balthasar, son of Hurwelcome to thy father's house; and sit, and tell us

of thy travels, and of thy work, and of the wonderful Nazarenewho he is, and what. If thou art not at ease

"For many days now I have followed him with such watchfulness as one may give another upon whom he is

waiting so anxiously. I have seen him under all circumstances said to be trials and tests of men; and while I

am certain he is a man as I am, not less certain am I that he is something more."

Some one coming into the room interrupted him; he turned, and arose with extended hands.

She came forward; and they, seeing the joy in her face, thought not once how wrinkled and tawny it was. She

knelt at his feet, clasped his knees, and kissed his hands over and over; and when he could he put the lank

gray hair from her cheeks, and kissed them, saying, "Good Amrah, have you nothing, nothing of themnot a

Then she broke into sobbing which made him answer plainer even than the spoken word.

"God's will has been done," he next said, solemnly, in a tone to make each listener know he had no hope

more of finding his people. In his eyes there were tears which he would not have them see, because he was a

When he could again, he took seat, and said, "Come, sit by me, Amrahhere. No? then at my feet; for I have

But she went off, and stooping with her back to the wall, joined her hands before her knees, content, they all

"I fear to answer the question asked me about the Nazarene without first telling you some of the things I have

seen him do; and to that I am the more inclined, my friends, because tomorrow he will come to the city, and

go up into the Temple, which he calls his father's house, where, it is further said, he will proclaim himself.

So, whether you are right, O Balthasar, or you, Simonides, we and Israel shall know tomorrow."

Balthasar rubbed his hands tremulously together, and asked, "Where shall I go to see him?"

"The pressure of the crowd will be very great. Better, I think, that you all go upon the roof above the

"He brings twelve men with him, fishermen, tillers of the soil, one a publican, all of the humbler class; and he

and they make their journeys on foot, careless of wind, cold, rain, or sun. Seeing them stop by the wayside at

nightfall to break bread or lie down to sleep, I have been reminded of a party of shepherds going back to their

flocks from market, not of nobles and kings. Only when he lifts the corners of his handkerchief to look at

some one or shake the dust from his head, I am made known he is their teacher as well as their

"You are shrewd men," BenHur resumed, after a pause. "You know what creatures of certain master

motives we are, and that it has become little less than a law of our nature to spend life in eager pursuit of

certain objects; now, appealing to that law as something by which we may know ourselves, what would you

say of a man who could be rich by making gold of the stones under his feet, yet is poor of choice?"

"Nay, daughter," said Balthasar, "the philosophers had never the power to do such thing."

"Very strange, very strange," said Simonides; "but it is not so strange to me as that he should prefer to live

"He owns nothing, and envies nobody his owning. He pities the rich. But passing that, what would you say to

see a man multiply seven loaves and two fishes, all his store, into enough to feed five thousand people, and

"More marvellous still," BenHur continued, "what would you say of a man in whom there is such healing

virtue that the sick have but to touch the hem of his garment to be cured, or cry to him afar? That, too, I

witnessed, not once, but many times. As we came out of Jericho two blind men by the wayside called to the

Nazarene, and he touched their eyes, and they saw. So they brought a palsied man to him, and he said merely,

"Think you now, as I have heard others argue, that what I have told you are tricks of jugglery? Let me answer

by recalling greater things which I have seen him do. Look first to that curse of Godcomfortless, as you all

At these words Amrah dropped her hands to the floor, and in her eagerness to hear him half arose.

"What would you say," said BenHur, with increased earnestness"what would you say to have seen that I

now tell you? A leper came to the Nazarene while I was with him down in Galilee, and said, 'Lord, if thou

wilt, thou canst make me clean.' He heard the cry, and touched the outcast with his hand, saying, 'Be thou

clean;' and forthwith the man was himself again, healthful as any of us who beheld the cure, and we were a

Here Amrah arose, and with her gaunt fingers held the wiry locks from her eyes. The brain of the poor

creature had long since gone to heart, and she was troubled to follow the speech.

"Then, again," said BenHur, without stop, "ten lepers came to him one day in a body, and falling at his feet,

called outI saw and heard it allcalled out, 'Master, Master, have mercy upon us!' He told them, 'Go,

show yourselves to the priest, as the law requires; and before you are come there ye shall be healed.'"

"Yes. On the road going their infirmity left them, so that there was nothing to remind us of it except their

"Such thing was never heard beforenever in all Israel!" said Simonides, in undertone.

And then, while he was speaking, Amrah turned away, and walked noiselessly to the door, and went out; and

"The thoughts stirred by such things done under my eyes I leave you to imagine," said BenHur, continuing;

"but my doubts, my misgivings, my amazement, were not yet at the full. The people of Galilee are, as you

know, impetuous and rash; after years of waiting their swords burned their hands; nothing would do them but

action. 'He is slow to declare himself; let us force him,' they cried to me. And I too became impatient. If he is

to be king, why not now? The legions are ready. So as he was once teaching by the seaside we would have

crowned him whether or not; but he disappeared, and was next seen on a ship departing from the shore. Good

Simonides, the desires that make other men madriches, power, even kingships offered out of great love by

The merchant's chin was low upon his breast; raising his head, he replied, resolutely, "The Lord liveth, and so

And BenHur said, "Be it so." Then he went on: "But I have not yet done. From these things, not too great to

be above suspicion by such as did not see them in performance as I did, let me carry you now to others

infinitely greater, acknowledged since the world began to be past the power of man. Tell me, has any one to

your knowledge ever reached out and taken from Death what Death has made his own? Who ever gave again

"O wise Egyptian! I may not refuse the name you lend me. What would youor you, Simonideswhat

would you either or both have said had you seen as I did, a man, with few words and no ceremony, without

effort more than a mother's when she speaks to wake her child asleep, undo the work of Death? It was down

at Nain. We were about going into the gate, when a company came out bearing a dead man. The Nazarene

stopped to let the train pass. There was a woman among them crying. I saw his face soften with pity. He

spoke to her, then went and touched the bier, and said to him who lay upon it dressed for burial, 'Young man,

"Mark you," BenHur proceeded, "I do but tell you things of which I was a witness, together with a cloud of

other men. On the way hither I saw another act still more mighty. In Bethany there was a man named

Lazarus, who died and was buried; and after he had lain four days in a tomb, shut in by a great stone, the

Nazarene was shown to the place. Upon rolling the stone away, we beheld the man lying inside bound and

rotting. There were many people standing by, and we all heard what the Nazarene said, for he spoke in a loud

voice: 'Lazarus, come forth!' I cannot tell you my feelings when in answer, as it were, the man arose and

came out to us with all his cerements about him. 'Loose him,' said the Nazarene next, 'loose him, and let him

go.' And when the napkin was taken from the face of the resurrected, lo, my friends! the blood ran anew

through the wasted body, and he was exactly as he had been in life before the sickness that took him off. He

lives yet, and is hourly seen and spoken to. You may go see him tomorrow. And now, as nothing more is

needed for the purpose, I ask you that which I came to ask, it being but a repetition of what you asked me, O

The question was put solemnly, and long after midnight the company sat and debated it; Simonides being yet

unwilling to give up his understanding of the sayings of the prophets, and BenHur contending that the elder

disputants were both rightthat the Nazarene was the Redeemer, as claimed by Balthasar, and also the

The first person to go out of the city upon the opening of the Sheep's Gate next morning was Amrah, basket

on arm. No questions were asked her by the keepers, since the morning itself had not been more regular in

coming than she; they knew her somebody's faithful servant, and that was enough for them.

Down the eastern valley she took her way. The side of Olivet, darkly green, was spotted with white tents

recently put up by people attending the feasts; the hour, however, was too early for the strangers to be abroad;

still, had it not been so, no one would have troubled her. Past Gethsemane; past the tombs at the meeting of

the Bethany roads; past the sepulchral village of Siloam she went. Occasionally the decrepit little body

staggered; once she sat down to get her breath; rising shortly, she struggled on with renewed haste. The great

rocks on either hand, if they had had ears, might have heard her mutter to herself; could they have seen, it

would have been to observe how frequently she looked up over the Mount, reproving the dawn for its

promptness; if it had been possible for them to gossip, not improbably they would have said to each other,

"Our friend is in a hurry this morning; the mouths she goes to feed must be very hungry."

When at last she reached the King's Garden she slackened her gait; for then the grim city of the lepers was in

As the reader must by this time have surmised, she was going to her mistress, whose tomb, it will be

Early as it was, the unhappy woman was up and sitting outside, leaving Tirzah asleep within. The course of

the malady had been terribly swift in the three years. Conscious of her appearance, with the refined instincts

of her nature, she kept her whole person habitually covered. Seldom as possible she permitted even Tirzah to

This morning she was taking the air with bared head, knowing there was no one to be shocked by the

exposure. The light was not full, but enough to show the ravages to which she had been subject. Her hair was

snowwhite and unmanageably coarse, falling over her back and shoulders like so much silver wire. The

eyelids, the lips, the nostrils, the flesh of the cheeks, were either gone or reduced to fetid rawness. The neck

was a mass of ashcolored scales. One hand lay outside the folds of her habit rigid as that of a skeleton; the

nails had been eaten away; the joints of the fingers, if not bare to the bone, were swollen knots crusted with

red secretion. Head, face, neck, and hand indicated all too plainly the condition of the whole body. Seeing her

thus, it was easy to understand how the once fair widow of the princely Hur had been able to maintain her

When the sun would gild the crest of Olivet and the Mount of Offence with light sharper and more brilliant in

that old land than in the West, she knew Amrah would come, first to the well, then to a stone midway the

well and the foot of the hill on which she had her abode, and that the good servant would there deposit the

food she carried in the basket, and fill the waterjar afresh for the day. Of her former plentitude of happiness,

that brief visit was all that remained to the unfortunate. She could then ask about her son, and be told of his

welfare, with such bits of news concerning him as the messenger could glean. Usually the information was

meagre enough, yet comforting; at times she heard he was at home; then she would issue from her dreary cell

at break of day, and sit till noon, and from noon to set of sun, a motionless figure draped in white, looking,

statuelike, invariably to one pointover the Temple to the spot under the rounded sky where the old house

stood, dear in memory, and dearer because he was there. Nothing else was left her. Tirzah she counted of the

dead; and as for herself, she simply waited the end, knowing every hour of life was an hour of

The things of nature about the hill to keep her sensitive to the world's attractions were wretchedly scant;

beasts and birds avoided the place as if they knew its history and present use; every green thing perished in its

first season; the winds warred upon the shrubs and venturous grasses, leaving to drought such as they could

not uproot. Look where she would, the view was made depressingly suggestive by tombstombs above her,

tombs below, tombs opposite her own tomball now freshly whitened in warning to visiting pilgrims. In the

skyclear, fair, invitingone would think she might have found some relief to her ache of mind; but, alas!

in making the beautiful elsewhere the sun served her never so unfriendlyit did but disclose her growing

hideousness. But for the sun she would not have been the horror she was to herself, nor been waked so

cruelly from dreams of Tirzah as she used to be. The gift of seeing can be sometimes a dreadful curse.

While she sat there peopling the dusky solitude with thoughts even more cheerless, suddenly a woman came

The widow arose hastily, and covering her head, cried, in a voice unnaturally harsh, "Unclean, unclean!"

In a moment, heedless of the notice, Amrah was at her feet. All the longpent love of the simple creature

burst forth: with tears and passionate exclamations she kissed her mistress's garments, and for a while the

latter strove to escape from her; then, seeing she could not, she waited till the violence of the paroxysm was

"What have you done, Amrah?" she said. "Is it by such disobedience you prove your love for us? Wicked

"The ban of the Law is upon you, too; you cannot return to Jerusalem. What will become of us? Who will

"You should have been merciful to yourself, and by so doing been most merciful to us. Now where can we

fly? There is no one to help us. O false servant! The wrath of the Lord was already too heavy upon us."

Here Tirzah, awakened by the noise, appeared at the door of the tomb. The pen shrinks from the picture she

presented. In the halfclad apparition, patched with scales, lividly seamed, nearly blind, its limbs and

extremities swollen to grotesque largeness, familiar eyes however sharpened by love could not have

"Stay, Amrah!" the widow cried, imperiously. "I forbid you touching her. Rise, and get you gone before any

at the well see you here. Nay, I forgotit is too late! You must remain now and share our doom. Rise, I

Amrah rose to her knees, and said, brokenly and with clasped hands, "O good mistress! I am not falseI am

"There is a wonderful man," Amrah continued, "who has power to cure you. He speaks a word, and the sick

"No," cried Amrah, detecting the doubt underlying the expression"no, as the Lord lives, even the Lord of

Israel, my God as well as yours, I speak the truth. Go with me, I pray, and lose no time. This morning he will

pass by on his way to the city. See! the day is at hand. Take the food hereeat, and let us go."

The mother listened eagerly. Not unlikely she had heard of the wonderful man, for by this time his fame had

"There was a prophet once who cured a leper," the mother said thoughtfully to Tirzah; "but he had his power

from God." Then addressing Amrah, she asked, "How does my son know this man so possessed?"

"He was travelling with him, and heard the lepers call, and saw them go away well. First there was one man;

The elder listener was silent again. The skeleton hand shook. We may believe she was struggling to give the

story the sanction of faith, which is always an absolutist in demand, and that it was with her as with the men

of the day, eyewitnesses of what was done by the Christ, as well as the myriads who have succeeded them.

She did not question the performance, for her own son was the witness testifying through the servant; but she

strove to comprehend the power by which work so astonishing could be done by a man. Well enough to make

inquiry as to the fact; to comprehend the power, on the other hand, it is first necessary to comprehend God;

and he who waits for that will die waiting. With her, however, the hesitation was brief. To Tirzah she said,

She spoke not coldly, like one reasoning a doubt away, but as a woman of Israel familiar with the promises of

God to her racea woman of understanding, ready to be glad over the least sign of the realization of the

"There was a time when Jerusalem and all Judea were filled with a story that he was born. I remember it. By

this time he should be a man. It must beit is he. Yes," she said to Amrah, "we will go with you. Bring the

water which you will find in the tomb in a jar, and set the food for us. We will eat and be gone."

The breakfast, partaken under excitement, was soon despatched, and the three women set out on their

extraordinary journey. As Tirzah had caught the confident spirit of the others, there was but one fear that

troubled the party. Bethany, Amrah said, was the town the man was coming from; now from that to Jerusalem

there were three roads, or rather pathsone over the first summit of Olivet, a second at its base, a third

between the second summit and the Mount of Offence. The three were not far apart; far enough, however, to

make it possible for the unfortunates to miss the Nazarene if they failed the one he chose to come by.

A little questioning satisfied the mother that Amrah knew nothing of the country beyond the Cedron, and

even less of the intentions of the man they were going to see, if they could. She discerned, also, that both

Amrah and Tirzahthe one from confirmed habits of servitude, the other from natural dependencylooked

"We will go first to Bethphage," she said to them. "There, if the Lord favor us, we may learn what else to do."

They descended the hill to Tophet and the King's Garden, and paused in the deep trail furrowed through them

"I am afraid of the road," the matron said. "Better that we keep to the country among the rocks and trees. This

is feastday, and on the hillsides yonder I see signs of a great multitude in attendance. By going across the

Tirzah had been walking with great difficulty; upon hearing this her heart began to fail her.

"Remember, we are going to find health and life. See, my child, how the day brightens around us! And

yonder are women coming this way to the well. They will stone us if we stay here. Come, be strong this

Thus the mother, not less tortured herself, sought to inspire the daughter; and Amrah came to her aid. To this

time the latter had not touched the persons of the afflicted, nor they her; now, in disregard of consequences as

well as of command, the faithful creature went to Tirzah, and put her arm over her shoulder, and whispered,

"Lean on me. I am strong, though I am old; and it is but a little way off. Therenow we can go."

The face of the hill they essayed to cross was somewhat broken with pits, and ruins of old structures; but

when at last they stood upon the top to rest, and looked at the spectacle presented them over in the

northwestat the Temple and its courtly terraces, at Zion, at the enduring towers white beetling into the sky

"Look, Tirzah," she said"look at the plates of gold on the Gate Beautiful. How they give back the flames of

the sun, brightness for brightness! Do you remember we used to go up there? Will it not be pleasant to do so

again? And thinkhome is but a little way off. I can almost see it over the roof of the Holy of Holies; and

From the side of the middle summit garnished green with myrtle and olive trees, they saw, upon looking that

way next, thin columns of smoke rising lightly and straight up into the pulseless morning, each a warning of

restless pilgrims astir, and of the flight of the pitiless hours, and the need of haste.

Though the good servant toiled faithfully to lighten the labor in descending the hillside, not sparing herself

in the least, the girl moaned at every step; sometimes in extremity of anguish she cried out. Upon reaching the

roadthat is, the road between the Mount of Offence and the middle or second summit of Olivetshe fell

"No, no, Tirzah. What would the gain be to me if I were healed and you not? When Judah asks for you, as he

The elder leper arose from bending over the fainting sufferer, and gazed about her with that sensation of hope

perishing which is more nearly like annihilation of the soul than anything else. The supremest joy of the

thought of cure was inseparable from Tirzah, who was not too old to forget, in the happiness of healthful life

to come, the years of misery by which she had been so reduced in body and broken in spirit. Even as the

brave woman was about leaving the venture they were engaged in to the determination of God, she saw a

"Courage, Tirzah! Be of cheer," she said. "Yonder I know is one to tell us of the Nazarene."

Amrah helped the girl to a sitting posture, and supported her while the man advanced.

"In your goodness, mother, you forget what we are. The stranger will go around us; his best gift to us will be

There was no other answer to be given, since the mother was too well and sadly acquainted with the

treatment outcasts of the class to which she belonged were accustomed to at the hands of her countrymen.

As has been said, the road at the edge of which the group was posted was little more than a worn path or trail,

winding crookedly through tumuli of limestone. If the stranger kept it, he must meet them face to face; and he

did so, until near enough to hear the cry she was bound to give. Then, uncovering her head, a further demand

"Woman, I am the courier of him who speaketh but once to such as thou and they are healed. I am not afraid."

"Stay thou here then; or, as there is a multitude with him, take thy stand by the rock yonder, the white one

under the tree; and as he goeth by fail not to call to him; call, and fear not. If thy faith but equal thy

knowledge, he will hear thee though all the heavens thunder. I go to tell Israel, assembled in and about the

city, that he is at hand, and to make ready to receive him. Peace to thee and thine, woman."

"Did you hear, Tirzah? Did you hear? The Nazarene is on the road, on this one, and he will hear us. Once

Thus encouraged Tirzah took Amrah's hand and arose; but as they were going, Amrah said, "Stay; the man is

"I pray your grace, woman," he said, upon overtaking them. "Remembering that the sun will be hot before the

Nazarene arrives, and that the city is near by to give me refreshment should I need it, I thought this water

would do thee better than it will me. Take it and be of good cheer. Call to him as he passes."

He followed the words by offering her a gourd full of water, such as foottravellers sometimes carried with

them in their journeys across the hills; and instead of placing the gift on the ground for her to take up when he

"I am that, and better; I am a disciple of the Christ who teacheth daily by word and example this thing which

I have done unto you. The world hath long known the word charity without understanding it. Again I say

He went on, and they went slowly to the rock he had pointed out to them, high as their heads, and scarcely

thirty yards from the road on the right. Standing in front of it, the mother satisfied herself they could be seen

and heard plainly by passersby whose notice they desired to attract. There they cast themselves under the

tree in its shade, and drank of the gourd, and rested refreshed. Ere long Tirzah slept, and fearing to disturb

During the third hour the road in front of the restingplace of the lepers became gradually more and more

frequented by people going in the direction of Bethphage and Bethany; now, however, about the

commencement of the fourth hour, a great crowd appeared over the crest of Olivet, and as it defiled down the

road thousands in number, the two watchers noticed with wonder that every one in it carried a palmbranch

freshly cut. As they sat absorbed by the novelty, the noise of another multitude approaching from the east

"He is coming," answered the mother. "These we see are from the city going to meet him; those we hear in

the east are his friends bearing him company; and it will not be strange if the processions meet here before us.

"Amrah," she asked, "when Judah spoke of the healing of the ten, in what words did he say they called to the

Meantime the people in the east came up slowly. When at length the foremost of them were in sight, the gaze

of the lepers fixed upon a man riding in the midst of what seemed a chosen company which sang and danced

about him in extravagance of joy. The rider was bareheaded and clad all in white. When he was in distance to

be more clearly observed, these, looking anxiously, saw an olivehued face shaded by long chestnut hair

slightly sunburned and parted in the middle. He looked neither to the right nor left. In the noisy abandon of

his followers he appeared to have no part; nor did their favor disturb him in the least, or raise him out of the

profound melancholy into which, as his countenance showed, he was plunged. The sun beat upon the back of

his head, and lighting up the floating hair gave it a delicate likeness to a golden nimbus. Behind him the

irregular procession, pouring forward with continuous singing and shouting, extended out of view. There was

Directly the daughter and servant were by her side. Then at sight of the procession in the west, the thousands

from the city halted, and began to wave their green branches, shouting, or rather chanting (for it was all in

And all the thousands who were of the rider's company, both those near and those afar, replied so the air

shook with the sound, which was as a great wind threshing the side of the hill. Amidst the din, the cries of the

The moment of the meeting of the hosts was come, and with it the opportunity the sufferers were seeking; if

She arose, and staggered forward. Her ghastly hands were up, and she screamed with horrible shrillness. The

people saw hersaw her hideous face, and stopped awestruckan effect for which extreme human

misery, visible as in this instance, is as potent as majesty in purple and gold. Tirzah, behind her a little way,

These, with other yells of like import, broke in upon the hosannas of the part of the multitude too far removed

to see and understand the cause of the interruption. Some there were, however, near by familiar with the

nature of the man to whom the unfortunates were appealingsome who, by long intercourse with him, had

caught somewhat of his divine compassion: they gazed at him, and were silent while, in fair view, he rode up

and stopped in front of the woman. She also beheld his facecalm, pitiful, and of exceeding beauty, the

"O Master, Master! Thou seest our need; thou canst make us clean. Have mercy upon usmercy!"

He lingered an instant after, apparently unconscious of the presence of the throngan instantthen he rode

To the heart divinely original, yet so human in all the better elements of humanity, going with sure prevision

to a death of all the inventions of men the foulest and most cruel, breathing even then in the forecast shadow

of the awful event, and still as hungry and thirsty for love and faith as in the beginning, how precious and

"To God in the highest, glory! Blessed, thrice blessed, the Son whom he hath given us!"

Immediately both the hosts, that from the city and that from Bethphage, closed around him with their joyous

demonstrations, with hosannas and waving of palms, and so he passed from the lepers forever. Covering her

head, the elder hastened to Tirzah, and folded her in her arms, crying, "Daughter, look up! I have his promise;

he is indeed the Messiah. We are savedsaved!" And the two remained kneeling while the procession,

slowly going, disappeared over the mount. When the noise of its singing afar was a sound scarcely heard the

There was first in the hearts of the lepers a freshening of the blood; then it flowed faster and stronger,

thrilling their wasted bodies with an infinitely sweet sense of painless healing. Each felt the scourge going

from her; their strength revived; they were returning to be themselves. Directly, as if to make the purification

complete, from body to spirit the quickening ran, exalting them to a very fervor of ecstasy. The power

possessing them to this good end was most nearly that of a draught of swift and happy effect; yet it was

unlike and superior in that its healing and cleansing were absolute, and not merely a delicious consciousness

while in progress, but the planting, growing, and maturing all at once of a recollection so singular and so holy

that the simple thought of it should be of itself ever after a formless yet perfect thanksgiving.

To this transformationfor such it may be called quite as properly as a curethere was a witness other than

Amrah. The reader will remember the constancy with which BenHur had followed the Nazarene throughout

his wanderings; and now, recalling the conversation of the night before, there will be little surprise at learning

that the young Jew was present when the leprous woman appeared in the path of the pilgrims. He heard her

prayer, and saw her disfigured face; he heard the answer also, and was not so accustomed to incidents of the

kind, frequent as they had been, as to have lost interest in them. Had such thing been possible with him, still

the bitter disputation always excited by the simplest display of the Master's curative gift would have sufficed

to keep his curiosity alive. Besides that, if not above it as an incentive, his hope to satisfy himself upon the

vexed question of the mission of the mysterious man was still upon him strong as in the beginning; we might

indeed say even stronger, because of a belief that now quickly, before the sun went down, the man himself

would make all known by public proclamation. At the close of the scene, consequently, BenHur had

withdrawn from the procession, and seated himself upon a stone to wait its passage.

From his place he nodded recognition to many of the peopleGalileans in his league, carrying short swords

under their long abbas. After a little a swarthy Arab came up leading two horses; at a sign from BenHur he

"Stay here," the young master said, when all were gone by, even the laggards. "I wish to be at the city early,

He stroked the broad forehead of the horse, now in his prime of strength and beauty, then crossed the road

They were to him, it should be borne in mind, strangers in whom he felt interest only as they were subjects of

a superhuman experiment, the result of which might possibly help him to solution of the mystery that had so

long engaged him. As he proceeded, he glanced casually at the figure of the little woman over by the white

He hurried on, and passing by the mother and daughter, still without recognizing them, he stopped before the

She rushed forward, and fell upon her knees before him, blinded by her tears, nigh speechless with

The knowledge we gain from much sympathy with others passing through trials is but vaguely understood;

strangely enough, it enables us, among other things, to merge our identity into theirs often so completely that

their sorrows and their delights become our own. So poor Amrah, aloof and hiding her face, knew the

transformation the lepers were undergoing without a word spoken to herknew it, and shared all their

feeling to the full. Her countenance, her words, her whole manner, betrayed her condition; and with swift

presentiment he connected it with the women he had just passed: he felt her presence there at that time was in

some way associated with them, and turned hastily as they arose to their feet. His heart stood still, he became

The woman he had seen before the Nazarene was standing with her hands clasped and eyes streaming,

looking towards heaven. The mere transformation would have been a sufficient surprise; but it was the least

of the causes of his emotion. Could he be mistaken? Never was there in life a stranger so like his mother; and

like her as she was the day the Roman snatched her from him. There was but one difference to mar the

identitythe hair of this person was a little streaked with gray; yet that was not impossible of reconcilement,

since the intelligence which had directed the miracle might have taken into consideration the natural effects

of the passage of years. And who was it by her side, if not Tirzah?fair, beautiful, perfect, more mature, but

in all other respects exactly the same in appearance as when she looked with him over the parapet the

morning of the accident to Gratus. He had given them over as dead, and time had accustomed him to the

bereavement; he had not ceased mourning for them, yet, as something distinguishable, they had simply

dropped out of his plans and dreams. Scarcely believing his senses, he laid his hand upon the servant's head,

He waited no longer, but ran, with outstretched arms, crying, "Mother! mother! Tirzah! Here I am!"

They heard his call, and with a cry as loving started to meet him. Suddenly the mother stopped, drew back,

The utterance was not from habit, grown since the dread disease struck her, as much as fear; and the fear was

but another form of the everthoughtful maternal love. Though they were healed in person, the taint of the

scourge might be in their garments ready for communication. He had no such thought. They were before him;

he had called them, they had answered. Who or what should keep them from him now? Next moment the

The first ecstasy over, the mother said, "In this happiness, O my children, let us not be ungrateful. Let us

They fell upon their knees, Amrah with the rest; and the prayer of the elder outspoken was as a psalm.

Tirzah repeated it word for word; so did BenHur, but not with the same clear mind and questionless faith;

"In Nazareth, where the man was born, mother, they call him the son of a carpenter. What is he?"

Her eyes rested upon him with all their old tenderness, and she answered as she had answered the Nazarene

It is not an easy thing to shake off in a moment the expectations nurtured through years until they have

become essentially a part of us; and though BenHur asked himself what the vanities of the world were to

such a one, his ambition was obdurate and would not down. He persisted as men do yet every day in

measuring the Christ by himself. How much better if we measured ourselves by the Christ!

Then BenHur, recalled to duty, observed how completely every trace of the scourge had disappeared from

his restored people; that each had back her perfection of person; that, as with Naaman when he came up out

of the water, their flesh had come again like unto the flesh of a little child; and he took off his cloak, and

"Take it," he said, smiling; "the eye of the stranger would have shunned you before, now it shall not offend

"There was never one more so; but in the opinion of the rabbis and teachers he is guilty of a great crime."

"In his eyes the uncircumcised Gentile is as worthy favor as a Jew of the strictest habit. He preaches a new

The mother was silent, and they moved to the shade of the tree by the rock. Calming his impatience to have

them home again and hear their story, he showed them the necessity of obedience to the law governing in

cases like theirs, and in conclusion called the Arab, bidding him take the horses to the gate by Bethesda and

await him there; whereupon they set out by the way of the Mount of Offence. The return was very different

from the coming; they walked rapidly and with ease, and in good time reached a tomb newly made near that

of Absalom, overlooking the depths of Cedron. Finding it unoccupied, the women took possession, while he

BenHur pitched two tents out on the Upper Cedron east a short space of the Tombs of the Kings, and

furnished them with every comfort at his command; and thither, without loss of time, he conducted his

mother and sister, to remain until the examining priest could certify their perfect cleansing.

In course of the duty, the young man had subjected himself to such serious defilement as to debar him from

participation in the ceremonies of the great feast, then near at hand. He could not enter the least sacred of the

courts of the Temple. Of necessity, not less than choice, therefore, he stayed at the tents with his beloved

people. There was a great deal to hear from them, and a great deal to tell them of himself.

Stories such as theirssad experiences extending through a lapse of years, sufferings of body, acuter

sufferings of mindare usually long in the telling, the incidents seldom following each other in threaded

connection. He listened to the narrative and all they told him, with outward patience masking inward feeling.

In fact, his hatred of Rome and Romans reached a higher mark than ever; his desire for vengeance became a

thirst which attempts at reflection only intensified. In the almost savage bitterness of his humor many mad

impulses took hold of him. The opportunities of the highways presented themselves with singular force of

temptation; he thought seriously of insurrection in Galilee; even the sea, ordinarily a retrospective horror to

him, stretched itself maplike before his fancy, laced and interlaced with lines of passage crowded with

imperial plunder and imperial travellers; but the better judgment matured in calmer hours was happily too

firmly fixed to be supplanted by present passion however strong. Each mental venture in reach of new

expedients brought him back to the old conclusionthat there could be no sound success except in a war

involving all Israel in solid union; and all musing upon the subject, all inquiry, all hope, ended where they

At odd moments the excited schemer found a pleasure in fashioning a speech for that person:

"Hear, O Israel! I am he, the promised of God, born King of the Jewscome to you with the dominion

Would the Nazarene but speak these few words, what a tumult would follow! How many mouths performing

the office of trumpets would take them up and blow them abroad for the massing of armies!

And eager to begin the work, and answering in the worldly way, BenHur lost sight of the double nature of

the man, and of the other possibility, that the divine in him might transcend the human. In the miracle of

which Tirzah and his mother were the witnesses even more nearly than himself, he saw and set apart and

dwelt upon a power ample enough to raise and support a Jewish crown over the wrecks of the Italian, and

more than ample to remodel society, and convert mankind into one purified happy family; and when that

work was done, could any one say the peace which might then be ordered without hindrance was not a

mission worthy a son of God? Could any one then deny the Redeemership of the Christ? And discarding all

consideration of political consequences, what unspeakable personal glory there would then be to him as a

Meantime down the Cedron, and in towards Bezetha, especially on the roadsides quite up to the Damascus

Gate, the country filled rapidly with all kinds of temporary shelters for pilgrims to the Passover. BenHur

visited the strangers, and talked with them; and returning to his tents, he was each time more and more

astonished at the vastness of their numbers. And when he further discovered that every part of the world was

represented among themcities upon both shores of the Mediterranean far off as the Pillars of the West,

rivertowns in distant India, provinces in northernmost Europe; and that, though they frequently saluted him

with tongues unacquainted with a syllable of the old Hebrew of the fathers, these representatives had all the

same objectcelebration of the notable feastan idea tinged mistily with superstitious fancy forced itself

upon him. Might he not after all have misunderstood the Nazarene? Might not that person by patient waiting

be covering silent preparation, and proving his fitness for the glorious task before him? How much better this

time for the movement than that other when, by Gennesaret, the Galileans would have forced assumption of

the crown? Then the support would have been limited to a few thousands; now his proclamation would be

responded to by millionswho could say how many? Pursuing this theory to its conclusions, BenHur

moved amidst brilliant promises, and glowed with the thought that the melancholy man, under gentle

seeming and wondrous selfdenial, was in fact carrying in disguise the subtlety of a politician and the genius

Several times also, in the meanwhile, lowset, brawny men, bareheaded and blackbearded, came and asked

for BenHur at the tent; his interviews with them were always apart; and to his mother's question who they

Through them he kept informed of the movements of the Nazarene, and of the schemes of the Nazarene's

enemies, Rabbinical and Roman. That the good man's life was in danger, he knew; but that there were any

bold enough to attempt to take it at that time, he could not believe. It seemed too securely intrenched in a

great fame and an assured popularity. The very vastness of the attendance in and about the city brought with

it a seeming guaranty of safety. And yet, to say truth, BenHur's confidence rested most certainly upon the

miraculous power of the Christ. Pondering the subject in the purely human view, that the master of such

authority over life and death, used so frequently for the good of others, would not exert it in care of himself

Nor should it be forgotten that all these were incidents of occurrence between the twentyfirst day of

Marchcounting by the modern calendarand the twentyfifth. The evening of the latter day BenHur

yielded to his impatience, and rode to the city, leaving behind him a promise to return in the night.

The horse was fresh, and choosing his own gait, sped swiftly. The eyes of the clambering vines winked at the

rider from the garden fences on the way; there was nothing else to see him, nor child nor woman nor man.

Through the rocky float in the hollows of the road the agate hoofs drummed, ringing like cups of steel; but

without notice from any stranger. In the houses passed there were no tenants; the fires by the tentdoors were

out; the road was deserted; for this was the first Passover eve, and the hour "between the evenings" when the

visiting millions crowded the city, and the slaughter of lambs in offering reeked the forecourts of the

Temple, and the priests in ordered lines caught the flowing blood and carried it swiftly to the dripping

altarswhen all was haste and hurry, racing with the stars fast coming with the signal after which the

roasting and the eating and the singing might go on, but not the preparation more.

Through the great northern gate the rider rode, and lo! Jerusalem before the fall, in ripeness of glory,

BenHur alighted at the gate of the khan from which the three Wise Men more than thirty years before

departed, going down to Bethlehem. There, in keeping of his Arab followers, he left the horse, and shortly

after was at the wicket of his father's house, and in a yet briefer space in the great chamber. He called for

Malluch first; that worthy being out, he sent a salutation to his friends the merchant and the Egyptian. They

were being carried abroad to see the celebration. The latter, he was informed, was very feeble, and in a state

Young people of that time who were supposed hardly to know their own hearts indulged the habit of politic

indirection quite as much as young people in the same condition indulge it in this time; so when BenHur

inquired for the good Balthasar, and with grave courtesy desired to know if he would be pleased to see him,

he really addressed the daughter a notice of his arrival. While the servant was answering for the elder, the

curtain of the doorway was drawn aside, and the younger Egyptian came in, and walkedor floated, upborne

in a white cloud of the gauzy raiment she so loved and lived into the centre of the chamber, where the light

cast by lamps from the sevenarmed brazen stick planted upon the floor was the strongest. With her there

In the excitement occasioned by the events of the few days past BenHur had scarcely given a thought to the

fair Egyptian. If she came to his mind at all, it was merely as a briefest pleasure, a suggestion of a delight

But now the influence of the woman revived with all its force the instant BenHur beheld her. He advanced

Theretofore she had been a lover studious to win himin manner all warmth, each glance an admission,

each action an avowal. She had showered him with incense of flattery. While he was present, she had

impressed him with her admiration; going away, he carried the impression with him to remain a delicious

expectancy hastening his return. It was for him the painted eyelids drooped lowest over the lustrous almond

eyes; for him the lovestories caught from the professionals abounding in the streets of Alexandria were

repeated with emphasis and lavishment of poetry; for him endless exclamations of sympathy, and smiles, and

little privileges with hand and hair and cheek and lips, and songs of the Nile, and displays of jewelry, and

subtleties of lace in veils and scarfs, and other subtleties not less exquisite in flosses of Indian silk. The idea,

old as the oldest of peoples, that beauty is the reward of the hero had never such realism as she contrived for

his pleasure; insomuch that he could not doubt he was her hero; she avouched it in a thousand artful ways as

natural with her as her beautywinsome ways reserved, it would seem, by the passionate genius of old

Such the Egyptian had been to BenHur from the night of the boatride on the lake in the Orchard of Palms.

Elsewhere in this volume the reader may have observed a term of somewhat indefinite meaning used

reverently in a sacred connection; we repeat it now with a general application. There are few persons who

have not a double nature, the real and the acquired; the latter a kind of addendum resulting from education,

which in time often perfects it into a part of the being as unquestionable as the first. Leaving the thought to

the thoughtful, we proceed to say that now the real nature of the Egyptian made itself manifest.

It was not possible for her to have received a stranger with repulsion more incisive; yet she was apparently as

passionless as a statue, only the small head was a little tilted, the nostrils a little drawn, and the sensuous

"Your coming is timely, O son of Hur," she said, in a voice sharply distinct. "I wish to thank you for

"I have heard of a custom which the diceplayers observe with good result among themselves," she

continued. "When the game is over, they refer to their tablets and cast up their accounts; then they libate the

gods and put a crown upon the happy winner. We have had a gameit has lasted through many days and

nights. Why, now that it is at an end, shall not we see to which the chaplet belongs?"

Yet very watchful, BenHur answered, lightly, "A man may not balk a woman bent on having her way."

"Tell me," she continued, inclining her head, and permitting the sneer to become positive"tell me, O prince

of Jerusalem, where is he, that son of the carpenter of Nazareth, and son not less of God, from whom so lately

"Where has he seated his capital?" she proceeded. "Cannot I go see his throne and its lions of bronze? And

his palacehe raised the dead; and to such a one, what is it to raise a golden house? He has but to stamp his

foot and say the word, and the house is, pillared like Karnak, and wanting nothing."

There was by this time slight ground left to believe her playing; the questions were offensive, and her manner

pointed with unfriendliness; seeing which, he on his side became more wary, and said, with good humor, "O

Egypt, let us wait another day, even another week, for him, the lions, and the palace."

"And how is it I see you in that garb? Such is not the habit of governors in India or vicekings elsewhere. I

saw the satrap of Teheran once, and he wore a turban of silk and a cloak of cloth of gold, and the hilt and

scabbard of his sword made me dizzy with their splendor of precious stones. I thought Osiris had lent him a

glory from the sun. I fear you have not entered upon your kingdomthe kingdom I was to share with you."

"The daughter of my wise guest is kinder than she imagines herself; she is teaching me that Isis may kiss a

BenHur spoke with cold courtesy, and Iras, after playing with the pendent solitaire of her necklace of coins,

rejoined, "For a Jew, the son of Hur is clever. I saw your dreaming Caesar make his entry into Jerusalem.

You told us he would that day proclaim himself King of the Jews from the steps of the Temple. I beheld the

procession descend the mountain bringing him. I heard their singing. They were beautiful with palms in

motion. I looked everywhere among them for a figure with a promise of royaltya horseman in purple, a

chariot with a driver in shining brass, a stately warrior behind an orbed shield, rivalling his spear in stature. I

looked for his guard. It would have been pleasant to have seen a prince of Jerusalem and a cohort of the

She flung her listener a glance of provoking disdain, then laughed heartily, as if the ludicrousness of the

"Instead of a Sesostris returning in triumph or a Caesar helmed and swordedha, ha, ha!I saw a man with

a woman's face and hair, riding an ass's colt, and in tears. The King! the Son of God! the Redeemer of the

"I did not quit my place, O prince of Jerusalem," she said, before he could recover. "I did not laugh. I said to

myself, 'Wait. In the Temple he will glorify himself as becomes a hero about to take possession of the world.'

I saw him enter the Gate of Shushan and the Court of the Women. I saw him stop and stand before the Gate

Beautiful. There were people with me on the porch and in the courts, and on the cloisters and on the steps of

the three sides of the Temple there were other peopleI will say a million of people, all waiting breathlessly

to hear his proclamation. The pillars were not more still than we. Ha, ha, ha! I fancied I heard the axles of the

mighty Roman machine begin to crack. Ha, ha, ha! O prince, by the soul of Solomon, your King of the World

drew his gown about him and walked away, and out by the farthest gate, nor opened his mouth to say a word;

In simple homage to a hope that instant losta hope which, as it began to fall and while it was falling, he

unconsciously followed with a parting look down to its disappearanceBenHur lowered his eyes.

At no previous time, whether when Balthasar was plying him with arguments, or when miracles were being

done before his face, had the disputed nature of the Nazarene been so plainly set before him. The best way,

after all, to reach an understanding of the divine is by study of the human. In the things superior to men we

may always look to find God. So with the picture given by the Egyptian of the scene when the Nazarene

turned from the Gate Beautiful; its central theme was an act utterly beyond performance by a man under

control of merely human inspirations. A parable to a parableloving people, it taught what the Christ had so

often assertedthat his mission was not political. There was not much more time for thought of all this than

that allowed for a common respiration; yet the idea took fast hold of BenHur, and in the same instant he

followed his hope of vengeance out of sight, and the man with the woman's face and hair, and in tears, came

"Daughter of Balthasar," he said, with dignity, "if this be the game of which you spoke to me, take the

chapletI accord it yours. Only let us make an end of words. That you have a purpose I am sure. To it, I

pray, and I will answer you; then let us go our several ways, and forget we ever met. Say on; I will listen, but

She regarded him intently a moment, as if determining what to dopossibly she might have been measuring

The pinkstained fingers toyed daintily with the lustrous pendant at the throat, and her voice was exceeding

low and soft; only a tapping on the floor with her silken sandal admonished him to have a care.

"There was a Jew, an escaped galleyslave, who killed a man in the Palace of Idernee," she began, slowly.

"The same Jew slew a Roman soldier before the Marketplace here in Jerusalem; the same Jew has three

trained legions from Galilee to seize the Roman governor tonight; the same Jew has alliances perfected for

"You have lived in Rome. Suppose these things repeated in ears we know of. Ah! you change color."

He drew back from her with somewhat of the look which may be imagined upon the face of a man who,

"You are acquainted in the antechamber, and know the Lord Sejanus. Suppose it were told him with the

proofs in handor without the proofsthat the same Jew is the richest man in the Eastnay, in all the

empire. The fishes of the Tiber would have fattening other than that they dig out of its ooze, would they not?

And while they were feedingha! son of Hur!what splendor there would be on exhibition in the Circus!

Amusing the Roman people is a fine art; getting the money to keep them amused is another art even finer;

BenHur was not too much stirred by the evident baseness of the woman for recollection. Not unfrequently

when all the other faculties are numb and failing memory does its offices with the greatest fidelity. The scene

at the spring on the way to the Jordan reproduced itself; and he remembered thinking then that Esther had

"To give you pleasure, daughter of Egypt, I acknowledge your cunning, and that I am at your mercy. It may

also please you to hear me acknowledge I have no hope of your favor. I could kill you, but you are a woman.

The Desert is open to receive me; and though Rome is a good hunter of men, there she would follow long and

far before she caught me, for in its heart there are wildernesses of spears as well as wildernesses of sand, and

it is not unlovely to the unconquered Parthian. In the toils as I amdupe that I have beenyet there is one

thing my due: who told you all you know about me? In flight or captivity, dying even, there will be

consolation in leaving the traitor the curse of a man who has lived knowing nothing but wretchedness. Who

It might have been a touch of art, or might have been sincerethat as it maythe expression of the

"There are in my country, O son of Hur," she said, presently, "workmen who make pictures by gathering

varicolored shells here and there on the seashore after storms, and cutting them up, and patching the pieces

as inlaying on marble slabs. Can you not see the hint there is in the practice to such as go searching for

secrets? Enough that from this person I gathered a handful of little circumstances, and from that other yet

another handful, and that afterwhile I put them together, and was happy as a woman can be who has at

disposal the fortune and life of a man whom"she stopped, and beat the floor with her foot, and looked

away as if to hide a sudden emotion from him; with an air of even painful resolution she presently finished

"No, it is not enough," BenHur said, unmoved by the play"it is not enough. Tomorrow you will

"True," she rejoined quickly and with emphasis, "I had something from Sheik Ilderim as he lay with my

father in a grove out in the Desert. The night was still, very still, and the walls of the tent, sooth to say, were

poor ward against ears outside listening tobirds and beetles flying through the air."

Hur drew a breath of relief, and said, lightly, "Thanks. It were not well to keep the Lord Sejanus waiting for

To this time he had been standing uncovered; now he took the handkerchief from his arm where it had been

hanging, and adjusting it upon his head, turned to depart. But she arrested him; in her eagerness, she even

He looked back at her, but without taking the hand, though it was very noticeable for its sparkling of jewels;

and he knew by her manner that the reserved point of the scene which was so surprising to him was now to

"Stay, and do not distrust me, O son of Hur, if I declare I know why the noble Arrius took you for his heir.

And, by Isis! by all the gods of Egypt! I swear I tremble to think of you, so brave and generous, under the

hand of the remorseless minister. You have left a portion of your youth in the atria of the great capital;

consider, as I do, what the Desert will be to you in contrast of life. Oh, I give you pitypity! And if you but

Words of entreaty and prayer these, poured forth volubly and with earnestness and the mighty sanction of

"Almostalmost I believe you," BenHur said, yet hesitatingly, and in a voice low and indistinct; for a

doubt remained with him grumbling against the yielding tendency of the mana good sturdy doubt, such a

"The perfect life for a woman is to live in love; the greatest happiness for a man is the conquest of himself;

She spoke rapidly, and with animation; indeed, she had never appeared to him so fascinating.

"You had once a friend," she continued. "It was in your boyhood. There was a quarrel, and you and he

became enemies. He did you wrong. After many years you met him again in the Circus at Antioch."

"Yes, Messala. You are his creditor. Forgive the past; admit him to friendship again; restore the fortune he

lost in the great wager; rescue him. The six talents are as nothing to you; not so much as a bud lost upon a

tree already in full leaf; but to him Ah, he must go about with a broken body; wherever you meet him he

must look up to you from the ground. O BenHur, noble prince! to a Roman descended as he is beggary is

If the rapidity with which she spoke was a cunning invention to keep him from thinking, either she never

knew or else had forgotten that there are convictions which derive nothing from thought, but drop into place

without leave or notice. It seemed to him, when at last she paused to have his answer, that he could see

Messala himself peering at him over her shoulder; and in its expression the countenance of the Roman was

not that of a mendicant or a friend; the sneer was as patrician as ever, and the fine edge of the hauteur as

"The appeal has been decided then, and for once a Messala takes nothing. I must go and write it in my book

of great occurrencesa judgment by a Roman against a Roman! But did hedid Messala send you to me

"As you know him in such friendly way, fair Egyptian, tell me, would he do for me, there being a reversal of

the conditions, that he asks of me? Answer, by Isis! Answer, for the truth's sake!"

"A Roman, you were about to say; meaning that I, a Jew, must not determine dues from me to him by any

measure of dues from him to me; being a Jew, I must forgive him my winnings because he is a Roman. If you

have more to tell me, daughter of Balthasar, speak quickly, quickly; for by the Lord God of Israel, when this

heat of blood, hotter waxing, attains its highest, I may not be able longer to see that you are a woman, and

beautiful! I may see but the spy of a master the more hateful because the master is a Roman. Say on, and

She threw his hand off and stepped back into the full light, with all the evil of her nature collected in her eyes

"Thou drinker of lees, feeder upon husks! To think I could love thee, having seen Messala! Such as thou were

born to serve him. He would have been satisfied with release of the six talents; but I say to the six thou shalt

add twentytwenty, dost thou hear? The kissings of my little finger which thou hast taken from him, though

with my consent, shall be paid for; and that I have followed thee with affection of sympathy, and endured

thee so long, enter into the account not less because I was serving him. The merchant here is thy keeper of

moneys. If by tomorrow at noon he has not thy order acted upon in favor of my Messala for sixandtwenty

talentsmark the sum!thou shalt settle with the Lord Sejanus. Be wise andfarewell."

"The old Egypt lives in you," he said. "Whether you see Messala tomorrow or the next day, here or in

Rome, give him this message. Tell him I have back the money, even the six talents, he robbed me of by

robbing my father's estate; tell him I survived the galleys to which he had me sent, and in my strength rejoice

in his beggary and dishonor; tell him I think the affliction of body which he has from my hand is the curse of

our Lord God of Israel upon him more fit than death for his crimes against the helpless; tell him my mother

and sister whom he had sent to a cell in Antonia that they might die of leprosy, are alive and well, thanks to

the power of the Nazarene whom you so despise; tell him that, to fill my measure of happiness, they are

restored to me, and that I will go hence to their love, and find in it more than compensation for the impure

passions which you leave me to take to him; tell himthis for your comfort, O cunning incarnate, as much

as histell him that when the Lord Sejanus comes to despoil me he will find nothing; for the inheritance I

had from the duumvir, including the villa by Misenum, has been sold, and the money from the sale is out of

reach, afloat in the marts of the world as bills of exchange; and that this house and the goods and merchandise

and the ships and caravans with which Simonides plies his commerce with such princely profits are covered

by imperial safeguardsa wise head having found the price of the favor, and the Lord Sejanus preferring a

reasonable gain in the way of gift to much gain fished from pools of blood and wrong; tell him if all this were

not so, if the money and property were all mine, yet should he not have the least part of it, for when he finds

our Jewish bills, and forces them to give up their values, there is yet another resort left mea deed of gift to

Caesarso much, O Egypt, I found out in the atria of the great capital; tell him that along with my defiance I

do not send him a curse in words, but, as a better expression of my undying hate, I send him one who will

prove to him the sum of all curses; and when he looks at you repeating this my message, daughter of

He conducted her to the door, and, with ceremonious politeness, held back the curtain while she passed out.

When BenHur left the guestchamber, there was not nearly so much life in his action as when he entered it;

his steps were slower, and he went along with his head quite upon his breast. Having made discovery that a

man with a broken back may yet have a sound brain, he was reflecting upon the discovery.

Forasmuch as it is easy after a calamity has befallen to look back and see the proofs of its coming strewn

along the way, the thought that he had not even suspected the Egyptian as in Messala's interest, but had gone

blindly on through whole years putting himself and his friends more and more at her mercy, was a sore

wound to the young man's vanity. "I remember," he said to himself, "she had no word of indignation for the

perfidious Roman at the Fountain of Castalia! I remember she extolled him at the boatride on the lake in the

Orchard of Palms! And, ah!"he stopped, and beat his left hand violently with his right"ah! that mystery

about the appointment she made with me at the Palace of Idernee is no mystery now!"

The wound, it should be observed, was to his vanity; and fortunately it is not often that people die of such

hurts, or even continue a long time sick. In BenHur's case, moreover, there was a compensation; for

presently he exclaimed aloud, "Praised be the Lord God that the woman took not a more lasting hold on me! I

Then, as if he had already parted with not a little of the weight on his mind, he stepped forward more lightly;

and, coming to the place on the terrace where one stairway led down to the courtyard below, and another

ascended to the roof, he took the latter and began to climb. As he made the last step in the flight he stopped

"Can Balthasar have been her partner in the long mask she has been playing? No, no. Hypocrisy seldom goes

With this decided opinion he stepped upon the roof. There was a full moon overhead, yet the vault of the sky

at the moment was lurid with light cast up from the fires burning in the streets and open places of the city,

and the chanting and chorusing of the old psalmody of Israel filled it with plaintive harmonies to which he

could not but listen. The countless voices bearing the burden seemed to say, "Thus, O son of Judah, we prove

our worshipfulness of the Lord God, and our loyalty to the land he gave us. Let a Gideon appear, or a David,

The tearful womanlike face of the Christ stayed with him while he crossed the roof to the parapet above the

street on the north side of the house, and there was in it no sign of war; but rather as the heavens of calm

evenings look peace upon everything, so it looked, provoking the old question, What manner of man is he?

BenHur permitted himself one glance over the parapet, then turned and walked mechanically towards the

"Let them do their worst," he said, as he went slowly on. "I will not forgive the Roman. I will not divide my

fortune with him, nor will I fly from this city of my fathers. I will call on Galilee first, and here make the

fight. By brave deeds I will bring the tribes to our side. He who raised up Moses will find us a leader, if I fail.

The interior of the summerhouse, when BenHur, slow sauntering, came to it, was murkily lighted. The

faintest of shadows lay along the floor from the pillars on the north and west sides. Looking in, he saw the

armchair usually occupied by Simonides drawn to a spot from which a view of the city over towards the

He walked in, and with a quiet step approached the chair. Peering over the high back, he beheld Esther

nestled in the seat asleepa small figure snugged away under her father's laprobe. The hair dishevelled fell

over her face. Her breathing was low and irregular. Once it was broken by a long sigh, ending in a sob.

Somethingit might have been the sigh or the loneliness in which he found herimparted to him the idea

that the sleep was a rest from sorrow rather than fatigue. Nature kindly sends such relief to children, and he

was used to thinking Esther scarcely more than a child. He put his arms upon the back of the chair, and

"I will not wake her. I have nothing to tell hernothing unlessunless it be my love. . . . She is a daughter

of Judah, and beautiful, and so unlike the Egyptian; for there it is all vanity, here all truth; there ambition,

here duty; there selfishness, here selfsacrifice. . . . Nay, the question is not do I love her, but does she love

me? She was my friend from the beginning. The night on the terrace at Antioch, how childlike she begged

me not to make Rome my enemy, and had me tell her of the villa by Misenum, and of the life there! That she

should not see I saw her cunning drift I kissed her. Can she have forgotten the kiss! I have not. I love her. . . .

They do not know in the city that I have back my people. I shrank from telling it to the Egyptian; but this

little one will rejoice with me over their restoration, and welcome them with love and sweet services of hand

and heart. She will be to my mother another daughter; in Tirzah she will find her other self. I would wake her

and tell her these things, butout on the sorceress of Egypt! Of that folly I could not command myself to

speak. I will go away, and wait another and a better time. I will wait. Fair Esther, dutiful child, daughter of

The streets were full of people going and coming, or grouped about the fires roasting meat, and feasting and

singing, and happy. The odor of scorching flesh mixed with the odor of cedarwood aflame and smoking

loaded the air; and as this was the occasion when every son of Israel was full brother to every other son of

Israel, and hospitality was without bounds, BenHur was saluted at every step, while the groups by the fires

insisted, "Stay and partake with us. We are brethren in the love of the Lord." But with thanks to them he

hurried on, intending to take horse at the khan and return to the tents on the Cedron.

To make the place, it was necessary for him to cross the thoroughfare so soon to receive sorrowful Christian

perpetuation. There also the pious celebration was at its height. Looking up the street, he noticed the flames

of torches in motion streaming out like pennons; then he observed that the singing ceased where the torches

came. His wonder rose to its highest, however, when he became certain that amidst the smoke and dancing

sparks he saw the keener sparkling of burnished speartips, arguing the presence of Roman soldiers. What

were they, the scoffing legionaries, doing in a Jewish religious procession? The circumstance was unheard of,

The moon was shining its best; yet, as if the moon and the torches, and the fires in the street, and the rays

streaming from windows and open doors were not enough to make the way clear, some of the processionists

carried lighted lanterns; and fancying he discovered a special purpose in the use of such equipments,

BenHur stepped into the street so close to the line of march as to bring every one of the company under

view while passing. The torches and the lanterns were being borne by servants, each of whom was armed

with a bludgeon or a sharpened stave. Their present duty seemed to be to pick out the smoothest paths among

the rocks in the street for certain dignitaries among themelders and priests; rabbis with long beards, heavy

brows, and beaked noses; men of the class potential in the councils of Caiaphas and Hannas. Where could

they be going? Not to the Temple, certainly, for the route to the sacred house from Zion, whence these

appeared to be coming, was by the Xystus. And their businessif peaceful, why the soldiers?

As the procession began to go by BenHur, his attention was particularly called to three persons walking

together. They were well towards the front, and the servants who went before them with lanterns appeared

unusually careful in the service. In the person moving on the left of this group he recognized a chief

policeman of the Temple; the one on the right was a priest; the middle man was not at first so easily placed,

as he walked leaning heavily upon the arms of the others, and carried his head so low upon his breast as to

hide his face. His appearance was that of a prisoner not yet recovered from the fright of arrest, or being taken

to something dreadfulto torture or death. The dignitaries helping him on the right and left, and the attention

they gave him, made it clear that if he were not himself the object moving the party, he was at least in some

way connected with the objecta witness or a guide, possibly an informer. So if it could be found who he

was the business in hand might be shrewdly guessed. With great assurance, BenHur fell in on the right of

the priest, and walked along with him. Now if the man would lift his head! And presently he did so, letting

the light of the lanterns strike full in his face, pale, dazed, pinched with dread; the beard roughed; the eyes

filmy, sunken, and despairing. In much going about following the Nazarene, BenHur had come to know his

disciples as well as the Master; and now, at sight of the dismal countenance, he cried out,

Slowly the head of the man turned until his eyes settled upon BenHur, and his lips moved as if he were

The young man took the push goodnaturedly, and, waiting an opportunity, fell into the procession again.

Thus he was carried passively along down the street, through the crowded lowlands between the hill Bezetha

and the Castle of Antonia, and on by the Bethesda reservoir to the Sheep Gate. There were people

It being Passover night, the valves of the Gate stood open. The keepers were off somewhere feasting. In front

of the procession as it passed out unchallenged was the deep gorge of the Cedron, with Olivet beyond, its

dressing of cedar and olive trees darker of the moonlight silvering all the heavens. Two roads met and merged

into the street at the gateone from the northeast, the other from Bethany. Ere BenHur could finish

wondering whether he were to go farther, and if so, which road was to be taken, he was led off down into the

Down the gorge and over the bridge at the bottom of it. There was a great clatter on the floor as the crowd,

now a straggling rabble, passed over beating and pounding with their clubs and staves. A little farther, and

they turned off to the left in the direction of an olive orchard enclosed by a stone wall in view from the road.

BenHur knew there was nothing in the place but old gnarled trees, the grass, and a trough hewn out of a

rock for the treading of oil after the fashion of the country. While, yet more wonderstruck, he was thinking

what could bring such a company at such an hour to a quarter so lonesome, they were all brought to a

standstill. Voices called out excitedly in front; a chill sensation ran from man to man; there was a rapid

fallingback, and a blind stumbling over each other. The soldiers alone kept their order.

It took BenHur but a moment to disengage himself from the mob and run forward. There he found a

gateway without a gate admitting to the orchard, and he halted to take in the scene.

A man in white clothes, and bareheaded, was standing outside the entrance, his hands crossed before hima

slender, stooping figure, with long hair and thin facein an attitude of resignation and waiting.

Behind him, next the gateway, were the disciples in a group; they were excited, but no man was ever calmer

than he. The torchlight beat redly upon him, giving his hair a tint ruddier than was natural to it; yet the

Opposite this most unmartial figure stood the rabble, gaping, silent, awed, coweringready at a sign of

anger from him to break and run. And from him to themthen at Judas, conspicuous in their

midstBenHur lookedone quick glance, and the object of the visit lay open to his understanding. Here

was the betrayer, there the betrayed; and these with clubs and staves, and the legionaries, were brought to

A man may not always tell what he will do until the trial is upon him. This was the emergency for which

BenHur had been for years preparing. The man to whose security he had devoted himself, and upon whose

life he had been building so largely, was in personal peril; yet he stood still. Such contradictions are there in

human nature! To say truth, O reader, he was not entirely recovered from the picture of the Christ before the

Gate Beautiful as it had been given by the Egyptian; and, besides that, the very calmness with which the

mysterious person confronted the mob held him in restraint by suggesting the possession of a power in

reserve more than sufficient for the peril. Peace and goodwill, and love and nonresistance, had been the

burden of the Nazarene's teaching; would he put his preaching into practice? He was master of life; he could

restore it when lost; he could take it at pleasure. What use would he make of the power now? Defend

himself? And how? A worda breatha thought were sufficient. That there would be some signal

exhibition of astonishing force beyond the natural BenHur believed, and in that faith waited. And in all this

At these simplest of words, spoken without passion or alarm, the assailants fell back several steps, the timid

among them cowering to the ground; and they might have let him alone and gone away had not Judas walked

"Judas," said the Nazarene, mildly, "betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? Wherefore art thou come?"

"I have told you that I am he. If, therefore, you seek me, let these go their way."

At these words of entreaty the rabbis advanced upon him; and, seeing their intent, some of the disciples for

whom he interceded drew nearer; one of them cut off a man's ear, but without saving the Master from being

taken. And yet BenHur stood still! Nay, while the officers were making ready with their ropes the Nazarene

was doing his greatest charitynot the greatest in deed, but the very greatest in illustration of his

Both friends and enemies were confoundedone side that he could do such a thing, the other that he would

"Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" From the

offending follower, the Nazarene turned to his captors. "Are you come out as against a thief, with swords and

staves to take me? I was daily with you in the Temple, and you took me not; but this is your hour, and the

The posse plucked up courage and closed about him; and when BenHur looked for the faithful they were

The crowd about the deserted man seemed very busy with tongue, hand, and foot. Over their heads, between

the torchsticks, through the smoke, sometimes in openings between the restless men, BenHur caught

momentary glimpses of the prisoner. Never had anything struck him as so piteous, so unfriended, so

forsaken! Yet, he thought, the man could have defended himselfhe could have slain his enemies with a

breath, but he would not. What was the cup his father had given him to drink? And who was the father to be

Directly the mob started in return to the city, the soldiers in the lead. BenHur became anxious; he was not

satisfied with himself. Where the torches were in the midst of the rabble he knew the Nazarene was to be

Taking off his long outer garment and the handkerchief from his head, he threw them upon the orchard wall,

and started after the posse, which he boldly joined. Through the stragglers he made way, and by littles at

length reached the man who carried the ends of the rope with which the prisoner was bound.

The Nazarene was walking slowly, his head down, his hands bound behind him; the hair fell thickly over his

face, and he stooped more than usual; apparently he was oblivious to all going on around him. In advance a

few steps were priests and elders talking and occasionally looking back. When, at length, they were all near

the bridge in the gorge, BenHur took the rope from the servant who had it, and stepped past him.

"Master, master!" he said, hurriedly, speaking close to the Nazarene's ear. "Dost thou hear, master? A

The people were come up now, and in his own ears asking angrily, "Who art thou, man?"

"O master," BenHur made haste to say, his voice sharp with anxiety, "I am thy friend and lover. Tell me, I

The Nazarene never so much as looked up or allowed the slightest sign of recognition; yet the something

which when we are suffering is always telling it to such as look at us, though they be strangers, failed not

now. "Let him alone," it seemed to say; "he has been abandoned by his friends; the world has denied him; in

bitterness of spirit, he has taken farewell of men; he is going he knows not where, and he cares not. Let him

And to that BenHur was now driven. A dozen hands were upon him, and from all sides there was shouting,

With a gust of passion which gave him many times his ordinary force, BenHur raised himself, turned once

about with arms outstretched, shook the hands off, and rushed through the circle which was fast hemming

him in. The hands snatching at him as he passed tore his garments from his back, so he ran off the road

naked; and the gorge, in keeping of the friendly darkness, darker there than elsewhere, received him safe.

Reclaiming his handkerchief and outer garments from the orchard wall, he followed back to the city gate;

thence he went to the khan, and on the good horse rode to the tents of his people out by the Tombs of the

As he rode, he promised himself to see the Nazarene on the morrow promised it, not knowing that the

unfriended man was taken straightway to the house of Hannas to be tried that night.

The heart the young man carried to his couch beat so heavily he could not sleep; for now clearly his renewed

Judean kingdom resolved itself into what it wasonly a dream. It is bad enough to see our castles

overthrown one after another with an interval between in which to recover from the shock, or at least let the

echoes of the fall die away; but when they go altogethergo as ships sink, as houses tumble in

earthquakesthe spirits which endure it calmly are made of stuffs sterner than common, and BenHur's was

not of them. Through vistas in the future, he began to catch glimpses of a life serenely beautiful, with a home

instead of a palace of state, and Esther its mistress. Again and again through the leadenfooted hours of the

night he saw the villa by Misenum, and with his little countrywoman strolled through the garden, and rested

in the panelled atrium; overhead the Neapolitan sky, at their feet the sunniest of sunlands and the bluest of

In plainest speech, he was entering upon a crisis with which tomorrow and the Nazarene will have

Next morning, about the second hour, two men rode full speed to the doors of BenHur's tents, and

dismounting, asked to see him. He was not yet risen, but gave directions for their admission.

"Peace to you, brethren," he said, for they were of his Galileans, and trusted officers. "Will you be seated?"

"Nay," the senior replied, bluntly, "to sit and be at ease is to let the Nazarene die. Rise, son of Judah, and go

with us. The judgment has been given. The tree of the cross is already at Golgotha."

"They took him last night, and tried him," the man continued. "At dawn they led him before Pilate. Twice the

Roman denied his guilt; twice he refused to give him over. At last he washed his hands, and said, 'Be it upon

"Holy father Abraham!" cried BenHur; "a Roman kinder to an Israelite than his own kin! And ifah, if he

should indeed be the son of God, what shall ever wash his blood from their children? It must not be'tis

"The horsesand quickly!" he said to the Arab who answered the signal. "And bid Amrah send me fresh

garments, and bring my sword! It is time to die for Israel, my friends. Tarry without till I come."

"Master"the man spoke with shame"master, I and my friend here are all that are faithful. The rest do

BenHur looked slowly from one man to the other. He was hearing again the question of the night before:

"The cup my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" In the ear of the Nazarene he was putting his own

question, "If I bring thee rescue, wilt thou accept it?" He was saying to himself, "This death may not be

averted. The man has been travelling towards it with full knowledge from the day he began his mission: it is

imposed by a will higher than his; whose but the Lord's! If he is consenting, if he goes to it voluntarily, what

shall another do?" Nor less did BenHur see the failure of the scheme he had built upon the fidelity of the

Galileans; their desertion, in fact, left nothing more of it. But how singular it should happen that morning of

all others! A dread seized him. It was possible his scheming, and labor, and expenditure of treasure might

have been but blasphemous contention with God. When he picked up the reins and said, "Let us go,

brethren," all before him was uncertainty. The faculty of resolving quickly, without which one cannot be a

They passed through excited crowds of people going south, like themselves. All the country north of the city

Hearing that the procession with the condemned might be met with somewhere near the great white towers

left by Herod, the three friends rode thither, passing round southeast of Akra. In the valley below the Pool of

Hezekiah, passageway against the multitude became impossible, and they were compelled to dismount, and

The waiting was as if they were on a river bank, watching a flood go by, for such the people seemed.

There are certain chapters in the First Book of this story which were written to give the reader an idea of the

composition of the Jewish nationality as it was in the time of Christ. They were also written in anticipation of

this hour and scene; so that he who has read them with attention can now see all BenHur saw of the going to

Half an houran hourthe flood surged by BenHur and his companions, within arm's reach, incessant,

undiminished. At the end of that time he could have said, "I have seen all the castes of Jerusalem, all the sects

of Judea, all the tribes of Israel, and all the nationalities of earth represented by them." The Libyan Jew went

by, and the Jew of Egypt, and the Jew from the Rhine; in short, Jews from all East countries and all West

countries, and all islands within commercial connection; they went by on foot, on horseback, on camels, in

litters and chariots, and with an infinite variety of costumes, yet with the same marvellous similitude of

features which today particularizes the children of Israel, tried as they have been by climates and modes of

life; they went by speaking all known tongues, for by that means only were they distinguishable group from

group; they went by in hasteeager, anxious, crowdingall to behold one poor Nazarene die, a felon

Borne along with the stream were thousands not Jewsthousands hating and despising themGreeks,

Romans, Arabs, Syrians, Africans, Egyptians, Easterns. So that, studying the mass, it seemed the whole

The going was singularly quiet. A hoofstroke upon a rock, the glide and rattle of revolving wheels, voices in

conversation, and now and then a calling voice, were all the sounds heard above the rustle of the mighty

movement. Yet was there upon every countenance the look with which men make haste to see some dreadful

sight, some sudden wreck, or ruin, or calamity of war. And by such signs BenHur judged that these were the

strangers in the city come up to the Passover, who had had no part in the trial of the Nazarene, and might be

At length, from the direction of the great towers, BenHur heard, at first faint in the distance, a shouting of

The people in the street halted to hear; but as the cry rang on over their heads, they looked at each other, and

The shouting drew nearer each moment; and the air was already full of it and trembling, when BenHur saw

the servants of Simonides coming with their master in his chair, and Esther walking by his side; a covered

"Peace to you, O Simonidesand to you, Esther," said BenHur, meeting them. "If you are for Golgotha,

stay until the procession passes; I will then go with you. There is room to turn in by the house here."

The merchant's large head rested heavily upon his breast; rousing himself, he answered, "Speak to Balthasar;

BenHur hastened to draw aside the curtain. The Egyptian was lying within, his wan face so pinched as to

"Dear Lord!" the old man cried, fervently. "Once more, once more! Oh, it is a dreadful day for the world!"

Shortly the whole party were in waiting under shelter of the house. They said but little, afraid, probably, to

trust their thoughts to each other; everything was uncertain, and nothing so much so as opinions. Balthasar

drew himself feebly from the litter, and stood supported by a servant; Esther and BenHur kept Simonides

Meantime the flood poured along, if anything, more densely than before; and the shouting came nearer, shrill

up in the air, hoarse along the earth, and cruel. At last the procession was up.

The advance was in possession of an army of boys, hooting and screaming, "The King of the Jews! Room,

Simonides watched them as they whirled and danced along, like a cloud of summer insects, and said, gravely,

"When these come to their inheritance, son of Hur, alas for the city of Solomon!"

A band of legionaries fully armed followed next, marching in sturdy indifference, the glory of burnished

He was nearly dead. Every few steps he staggered as if he would fall. A stained gown badly torn hung from

his shoulders over a seamless undertunic. His bare feet left red splotches upon the stones. An inscription on a

board was tied to his neck. A crown of thorns had been crushed hard down upon his head, making cruel

wounds from which streams of blood, now dry and blackened, had run over his face and neck. The long hair,

tangled in the thorns, was clotted thick. The skin, where it could be seen, was ghastly white. His hands were

tied before him. Back somewhere in the city he had fallen exhausted under the transverse beam of his cross,

which, as a condemned person, custom required him to bear to the place of execution; now a countryman

carried the burden in his stead. Four soldiers went with him as a guard against the mob, who sometimes,

nevertheless, broke through, and struck him with sticks, and spit upon him. Yet no sound escaped him,

neither remonstrance nor groan; nor did he look up until he was nearly in front of the house sheltering

BenHur and his friends, all of whom were moved with quick compassion. Esther clung to her father; and he,

strong of will as he was, trembled. Balthasar fell down speechless. Even BenHur cried out, "O my God! my

God!" Then, as if he divined their feelings or heard the exclamation, the Nazarene turned his wan face

towards the party, and looked at them each one, so they carried the look in memory through life. They could

see he was thinking of them, not himself, and the dying eyes gave them the blessing he was not permitted to

The face of the merchant knit convulsively as he spoke, and his head sank upon his breast. He had borne his

part in BenHur's labors well, and he had been inspired by the same hopes, now blown out never to be

Next in the procession stalked a mitred figure clad all in the golden vestments of the highpriest. Policemen

from the Temple curtained him round about; and after him, in order, strode the sanhedrim, and a long array of

priests, the latter in their plain white garments, overwrapped by abnets of many folds and gorgeous colors.

"Caiaphas! I have seen him," Simonides replied, adding, after a pause during which he thoughtfully watched

the haughty pontiff, "And now am I convinced. With such assurance as proceeds from clear enlightenment of

the spiritwith absolute assurancenow know I that he who first goes yonder with the inscription about his

neck is what the inscription proclaims himKING OF THE JEWS. A common man, an impostor, a felon,

was never thus waited upon. For look! Here are the nationsJerusalem, Israel. Here is the ephod, here the

blue robe with its fringe, and purple pomegranates, and golden bells, not seen in the street since the day

Jaddua went out to meet the Macedonianproofs all that this Nazarene is King. Would I could rise and go

BenHur listened surprised; and directly, as if himself awakening to his unusual display of feeling,

"Speak to Balthasar, I pray you, and let us begone. The vomit of Jerusalem is coming."

Following the pointing of her hand, the party beheld four women in tears; one of them leaned upon the arm of

"The man is the disciple whom the Nazarene loves the best of all; she who leans upon his arm is Mary, the

Esther pursued the mourners with glistening eyes until the multitude received them out of sight.

It may be the reader will fancy the foregoing snatches of conversation were had in quiet; but it was not so.

The talking was, for the most part, like that indulged by people at the seaside under the sound of the surf; for

The demonstration was the forerunner of those in which, scarce thirty years later, under rule of the factions,

the Holy City was torn to pieces; it was quite as great in numbers, as fanatical and bloodthirsty; boiled and

raved, and had in it exactly the same elementsservants, cameldrivers, marketmen, gatekeepers,

gardeners, dealers in fruits and wines, proselytes, and foreigners not proselytes, watchmen and menials from

the Temple, thieves, robbers, and the myriad not assignable to any class, but who, on such occasions as this,

appeared no one could say whence, hungry and smelling of caves and old tombsbareheaded wretches with

naked arms and legs, hair and beard in uncombed mats, and each with one garment the color of clay; beasts

with abysmal mouths, in outcry effective as lions calling each other across desert spaces. Some of them had

swords; a greater number flourished spears and javelins; though the weapons of the many were staves and

knotted clubs, and slings, for which latter selected stones were stored in scrips, and sometimes in sacks

improvised from the foreskirts of their dirty tunics. Among the mass here and there appeared persons of high

degreescribes, elders, rabbis, Pharisees with broad fringing, Sadducees in fine cloaksserving for the

time as prompters and directors. If a throat tired of one cry, they invented another for it; if brassy lungs

showed signs of collapse, they set them going again; and yet the clamor, loud and continuous as it was, could

have been reduced to a few syllablesKing of the Jews! Room for the King of the Jews!Defiler of the

Temple!Blasphemer of God!Crucify him, crucify him! And of these cries the last one seemed in

greatest favor, because, doubtless, it was more directly expressive of the wish of the mob, and helped to

"Come," said Simonides, when Balthasar was ready to proceed"come, let us forward."

BenHur did not hear the call. The appearance of the part of the procession then passing, its brutality and

hunger for life, were reminding him of the Nazarenehis gentleness, and the many charities he had seen him

do for suffering men. Suggestions beget suggestions; so he remembered suddenly his own great indebtedness

to the man; the time he himself was in the hands of a Roman guard going, as was supposed, to a death as

certain and almost as terrible as this one of the cross; the cooling drink he had at the well by Nazareth, and

the divine expression of the face of him who gave it; the later goodness, the miracle of PalmSunday; and

with these recollections, the thought of his present powerlessness to give back help for help or make return in

kind stung him keenly, and he accused himself. He had not done all he might; he could have watched with the

Galileans, and kept them true and ready; and thisah! this was the moment to strike! A blow well given now

would not merely disperse the mob and set the Nazarene free; it would be a trumpetcall to Israel, and

precipitate the longdreamtof war for freedom. The opportunity was going; the minutes were bearing it

That instant a party of Galileans caught his eye. He rushed through the press and overtook them.

The men obeyed him, and when they were under shelter of the house, he spoke again:

"You are of those who took my swords, and agreed with me to strike for freedom and the King who was

coming. You have the swords now, and now is the time to strike with them. Go, look everywhere, and find

our brethren, and tell them to meet me at the tree of the cross making ready for the Nazarene. Haste all of

"Son of Judah"by that name they knew him"son of Judah, it is you who are deceived, not we or our

brethren who have your swords. The Nazarene is not the King; neither has he the spirit of a king. We were

with him when he came into Jerusalem; we saw him in the Temple; he failed himself, and us, and Israel; at

the Gate Beautiful he turned his back upon God and refused the throne of David. He is not King, and Galilee

is not with him. He shall die the death. But hear you, son of Judah. We have your swords, and we are ready

now to draw them and strike for freedom; and so is Galilee. Be it for freedom, O son of Judah, for freedom!

The sovereign moment of his life was upon BenHur. Could he have taken the offer and said the word,

history might have been other than it is; but then it would have been history ordered by men, not

Godsomething that never was, and never will be. A confusion fell upon him; he knew not how, though

afterwards he attributed it to the Nazarene; for when the Nazarene was risen, he understood the death was

necessary to faith in the resurrection, without which Christianity would be an empty husk. The confusion, as

has been said, left him without the faculty of decision; he stood helplesswordless even. Covering his face

with his hand, he shook with the conflict between his wish, which was what he would have ordered, and the

Thereupon he walked mechanically after the chair and the litter. Esther walked with him. Like Balthasar and

his friends, the Wise Men, the day they went to the meeting in the desert, he was being led along the way.

When the partyBalthasar, Simonides, BenHur, Esther, and the two faithful Galileansreached the place

of crucifixion, BenHur was in advance leading them. How they had been able to make way through the

great press of excited people, he never knew; no more did he know the road by which they came or the time it

took them to come. He had walked in total unconsciousness, neither hearing nor seeing anybody or anything,

and without a thought of where he was going, or the ghostliest semblance of a purpose in his mind. In such

condition a little child could have done as much as he to prevent the awful crime he was about to witness.

The intentions of God are always strange to us; but not more so than the means by which they are wrought

BenHur came to a stop; those following him also stopped. As a curtain rises before an audience, the spell

There was a space upon the top of a low knoll rounded like a skull, and dry, dusty, and without vegetation,

except some scrubby hyssop. The boundary of the space was a living wall of men, with men behind

struggling, some to look over, others to look through it. An inner wall of Roman soldiery held the dense outer

wall rigidly to its place. A centurion kept eye upon the soldiers. Up to the very line so vigilantly guarded

BenHur had been led; at the line he now stood, his face to the northwest. The knoll was the old Aramaic

On its slopes, in the low places, on the swells and higher hills, the earth sparkled with a strange enamelling.

Look where he would outside the walled space, he saw no patch of brown soil, no rock, no green thing; he

saw only thousands of eyes in ruddy faces; off a little way in the perspective only ruddy faces without eyes;

off a little farther only a broad, broad circle, which the nearer view instructed him was also of faces. And this

was the ensemble of three millions of people; under it three millions of hearts throbbing with passionate

interest in what was taking place upon the knoll; indifferent as to the thieves, caring only for the Nazarene,

and for him only as he was an object of hate or fear or curiosityhe who loved them all, and was about to

In the spectacle of a great assemblage of people there are always the bewilderment and fascination one feels

while looking over a stretch of sea in agitation, and never had this one been exceeded; yet BenHur gave it

but a passing glance, for that which was going on in the space described would permit no division of his

Up on the knoll so high as to be above the living wall, and visible over the heads of an attending company of

notables, conspicuous because of his mitre and vestments and his haughty air, stood the high priest. Up the

knoll still higher, up quite to the round summit, so as to be seen far and near, was the Nazarene, stooped and

suffering, but silent. The wit among the guard had complemented the crown upon his head by putting a reed

in his hand for a sceptre. Clamors blew upon him like blastslaughterexecrationssometimes both

together indistinguishably. A manONLY a man, O reader, would have charged the blasts with the

All the eyes then looking were fixed upon the Nazarene. It may have been pity with which he was moved;

whatever the cause, BenHur was conscious of a change in his feelings. A conception of something better

than the best of this lifesomething so much better that it could serve a weak man with strength to endure

agonies of spirit as well as of body; something to make death welcomeperhaps another life purer than this

oneperhaps the spiritlife which Balthasar held to so fast, began to dawn upon his mind clearer and

clearer, bringing to him a certain sense that, after all, the mission of the Nazarene was that of guide across the

boundary for such as loved him; across the boundary to where his kingdom was set up and waiting for him.

Then, as something borne through the air out of the almost forgotten, he heard again, or seemed to hear, the

And the words repeated themselves over and over, and took form, and the dawn touched them with its light,

and filled them with a new meaning. And as men repeat a question to grasp and fix the meaning, he asked,

gazing at the figure on the hill fainting under its crown, Who the Resurrection? and who the Life?

the figure seemed to sayand say it for him; for instantly he was sensible of a peace such as he had never

knownthe peace which is the end of doubt and mystery, and the beginning of faith and love and clear

From this dreamy state BenHur was aroused by the sound of hammering. On the summit of the knoll he

observed then what had escaped him beforesome soldiers and workmen preparing the crosses. The holes

for planting the trees were ready, and now the transverse beams were being fitted to their places.

"Bid the men make haste," said the highpriest to the centurion. "These"and he pointed to the

Nazarene"must be dead by the goingdown of the sun, and buried that the land may not be defiled. Such is

With a better mind, a soldier went to the Nazarene and offered him something to drink, but he refused the

cup. Then another went to him and took from his neck the board with the inscription upon it, which he nailed

"The crosses are ready," said the centurion to the pontiff, who received the report with a wave of the hand

"Let the blasphemer go first. The Son of God should be able to save himself. We will see."

The people to whom the preparation in its several stages was visible, and who to this time had assailed the

hill with incessant cries of impatience, permitted a lull which directly became a universal hush. The part of

the infliction most shocking, at least to the thought, was reachedthe men were to be nailed to their crosses.

When for that purpose the soldiers laid their hands upon the Nazarene first, a shudder passed through the

great concourse; the most brutalized shrank with dread. Afterwards there were those who said the air

"How very still it is!" Esther said, as she put her arm about her father's neck.

And remembering the torture he himself had suffered, he drew her face down upon his breast, and sat

"Avoid it, Esther, avoid it!" he said. "I know not but all who stand and see itthe innocent as well as the

"Son of Hur," said Simonides, with increasing excitement"son of Hur, if Jehovah stretch not forth his

BenHur answered, calmly, "I have been in a dream, Simonides, and heard in it why all this should be, and

why it should go on. It is the will of the Nazareneit is God's will. Let us do as the Egyptian herelet us

As he looked up on the knoll again, the words were wafted to him through the awful stillness

Up on the summit meantime the work went on. The guard took the Nazarene's clothes from him; so that he

stood before the millions naked. The stripes of the scourging he had received in the early morning were still

bloody upon his back; yet he was laid pitilessly down, and stretched upon the crossfirst, the arms upon the

transverse beam; the spikes were sharpa few blows, and they were driven through the tender palms; next,

they drew his knees up until the soles of the feet rested flat upon the tree; then they placed one foot upon the

other, and one spike fixed both of them fast. The dulled sound of the hammering was heard outside the

guarded space; and such as could not hear, yet saw the hammer as it fell, shivered with fear. And withal not a

groan, or cry, or word of remonstrance from the sufferer: nothing at which an enemy could laugh; nothing a

"Towards the Temple," the pontiff replied. "In dying I would have him see the holy house hath not suffered

The workmen put their hands to the cross, and carried it, burden and all, to the place of planting. At a word,

they dropped the tree into the hole; and the body of the Nazarene also dropped heavily, and hung by the

bleeding hands. Still no cry of painonly the exclamation divinest of all recorded exclamations,

The cross, reared now above all other objects, and standing singly out against the sky, was greeted with a

burst of delight; and all who could see and read the writing upon the board over the Nazarene's head made

haste to decipher it. Soon as read, the legend was adopted by them and communicated, and presently the

whole mighty concourse was ringing the salutation from side to side, and repeating it with laughter and

The pontiff, with a clearer idea of the import of the inscription, protested against it, but in vain; so the titled

King, looking from the knoll with dying eyes, must have had the city of his fathers at rest below himshe

The sun was rising rapidly to noon; the hills bared their brown breasts lovingly to it; the more distant

mountains rejoiced in the purple with which it so regally dressed them. In the city, the temples, palaces,

towers, pinnacles, and all points of beauty and prominence seemed to lift themselves into the unrivalled

brilliance, as if they knew the pride they were giving the many who from time to time turned to look at them.

Suddenly a dimness began to fill the sky and cover the earthat first no more than a scarce perceptible

fading of the day; a twilight out of time; an evening gliding in upon the splendors of noon. But it deepened,

and directly drew attention; whereat the noise of the shouting and laughter fell off, and men, doubting their

senses, gazed at each other curiously: then they looked to the sun again; then at the mountains, getting farther

away; at the sky and the near landscape, sinking in shadow; at the hill upon which the tragedy was enacting;

and from all these they gazed at each other again, and turned pale, and held their peace.

"It is only a mist or passing cloud," Simonides said soothingly to Esther, who was alarmed. "It will brighten

"It is not a mist or a cloud," he said. "The spirits who live in the airthe prophets and saintsare at work in

mercy to themselves and nature. I say to you, O Simonides, truly as God lives, he who hangs yonder is the

And leaving Simonides lost in wonder at such a speech from him, he went where Balthasar was kneeling near

"O wise Egyptian, hearken! Thou alone wert rightthe Nazarene is indeed the Son of God."

Balthasar drew him down to him, and replied, feebly, "I saw him a child in the manger where he was first

laid; it is not strange that I knew him sooner than thou; but oh that I should live to see this day! Would I had

The dimness went on deepening into obscurity, and that into positive darkness, but without deterring the

bolder spirits upon the knoll. One after the other the thieves were raised on their crosses, and the crosses

planted. The guard was then withdrawn, and the people set free closed in upon the height, and surged up it,

like a converging wave. A man might take a look, when a newcomer would push him on, and take his place,

to be in turn pushed onand there were laughter and ribaldry and revilements, all for the Nazarene.

Others wagged their heads wisely, saying, "He would destroy the Temple, and rebuild it in three days, but

Others still: "He called himself the Son of God; let us see if God will have him."

What all there is in prejudice no one has ever said. The Nazarene had never harmed the people; far the greater

part of them had never seen him except in this his hour of calamity; yetsingular contrariety! they loaded

The supernatural night, dropped thus from the heavens, affected Esther as it began to affect thousands of

"Let us go home," she prayedtwice, three timessaying, "It is the frown of God, father. What other

Simonides was obstinate. He said little, but was plainly under great excitement. Observing, about the end of

the first hour, that the violence of the crowding up on the knoll was somewhat abated, at his suggestion the

party advanced to take position nearer the crosses. BenHur gave his arm to Balthasar; yet the Egyptian made

the ascent with difficulty. From their new stand, the Nazarene was imperfectly visible, appearing to them not

more than a dark suspended figure. They could hear him, howeverhear his sighing, which showed an

endurance or exhaustion greater than that of his fellowsufferers; for they filled every lull in the noises with

The second hour after the suspension passed like the first one. To the Nazarene they were hours of insult,

provocation, and slow dying. He spoke but once in the time. Some women came and knelt at the foot of his

"Woman," he said, raising his voice, "behold thy son!" And to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!"

The third hour came, and still the people surged round the hill, held to it by some strange attraction, with

which, in probability, the night in midday had much to do. They were quieter than in the preceding hour; yet

at intervals they could be heard off in the darkness shouting to each other, multitude calling unto multitude. It

was noticeable, also, that coming now to the Nazarene, they approached his cross in silence, took the look in

silence, and so departed. This change extended even to the guard, who so shortly before had cast lots for the

clothes of the crucified; they stood with their officers a little apart, more watchful of the one convict than of

the throngs coming and going. If he but breathed heavily, or tossed his head in a paroxysm of pain, they were

instantly on the alert. Most marvellous of all, however, was the altered behavior of the highpriest and his

following, the wise men who had assisted him in the trial in the night, and, in the victim's face, kept place by

him with zealous approval. When the darkness began to fall, they began to lose their confidence. There were

among them many learned in astronomy, and familiar with the apparitions so terrible in those days to the

masses; much of the knowledge was descended to them from their fathers far back; some of it had been

brought away at the end of the Captivity; and the necessities of the Temple service kept it all bright. These

closed together when the sun commenced to fade before their eyes, and the mountains and hills to recede;

they drew together in a group around their pontiff, and debated what they saw. "The moon is at its full," they

said, with truth, "and this cannot be an eclipse." Then, as no one could answer the question common with

them allas no one could account for the darkness, or for its occurrence at that particular time, in their secret

hearts they associated it with the Nazarene, and yielded to an alarm which the long continuance of the

phenomenon steadily increased. In their place behind the soldiers, they noted every word and motion of the

Nazarene, and hung with fear upon his sighs, and talked in whispers. The man might be the Messiah, and

In the meantime BenHur was not once visited by the old spirit. The perfect peace abode with him. He

prayed simply that the end might be hastened. He knew the condition of Simonides' mindthat he was

hesitating on the verge of belief. He could see the massive face weighed down by solemn reflection. He

noticed him casting inquiring glances at the sun, as seeking the cause of the darkness. Nor did he fail to

notice the solicitude with which Esther clung to him, smothering her fears to accommodate his wishes.

"Be not afraid," he heard him say to her; "but stay and watch with me. Thou mayst live twice the span of my

life, and see nothing of human interest equal to this; and there may be revelations more. Let us stay to the

When the third hour was about half gone, some men of the rudest classwretches from the tombs about the

At this, one of the thieves quit groaning, and called to the Nazarene, "Yes, if thou be Christ, save thyself and

The people laughed and applauded; then, while they were listening for a reply, the other felon was heard to

say to the first one, "Dost thou not fear God? We receive the due rewards of our deeds; but this man hath

The bystanders were astonished; in the midst of the hush which ensued, the second felon spoke again, but this

Simonides gave a great start. "When thou comest into thy kingdom!" It was the very point of doubt in his

"Didst thou hear?" said BenHur to him. "The kingdom cannot be of this world. Yon witness saith the King

"Hush!" said Simonides, more imperiously than ever before in speech to BenHur. "Hush, I pray thee! If the

Simonides waited to hear if that were all; then he folded his hands and said, "No more, no more, Lord! The

darkness is gone; I see with other eyeseven as Balthasar, I see with eyes of perfect faith."

The faithful servant had at last his fitting reward. His broken body might never be restored; nor was there

riddance of the recollection of his sufferings, or recall of the years embittered by them; but suddenly a new

life was shown him, with assurance that it was for hima new life lying just beyond this oneand its name

was Paradise. There he would find the Kingdom of which he had been dreaming, and the King. A perfect

Over the way, in front of the cross, however, there were surprise and consternation. The cunning casuists

there put the assumption underlying the question and the admission underlying the answer together. For

saying through the land that he was the Messiah, they had brought the Nazarene to the cross; and, lo! on the

cross, more confidently than ever, he had not only reasserted himself, but promised enjoyment of his Paradise

to a malefactor. They trembled at what they were doing. The pontiff, with all his pride, was afraid. Where got

the man his confidence except from Truth? And what should the Truth be but God? A very little now would

The breaching of the Nazarene grew harder, his sighs became great gasps. Only three hours upon the cross,

The intelligence was carried from man to man, until every one knew it; and then everything hushed; the

breeze faltered and died; a stifling vapor loaded the air; heat was superadded to darkness; nor might any one

unknowing the fact have thought that off the hill, out under the overhanging pall, there were three millions of

Then there went out through the gloom, over the heads of such as were on the hill within hearing of the dying

The soldiers in coming had brought with them a vessel of wine and water, and set it down a little way from

BenHur. With a sponge dipped into the liquor, and put on the end of a stick, they could moisten the tongue

of a sufferer at their pleasure. BenHur thought of the draught he had had at the well near Nazareth; an

impulse seized him; catching up the sponge, he dipped it into the vessel, and started for the cross.

The face then plainly seen by BenHur, bruised and black with blood and dust as it was, lighted nevertheless

with a sudden glow; the eyes opened wide, and fixed upon some one visible to them alone in the far heavens;

So a hero, dying in the doing a great deed, celebrates his success with a last cheer.

The light in the eyes went out; slowly the crowned head sank upon the laboring breast. BenHur thought the

struggle over; but the fainting soul recollected itself, so that he and those around him caught the other and last

A tremor shook the tortured body; there was a scream of fiercest anguish, and the mission and the earthly life

were over at once. The heart, with all its love, was broken; for of that, O reader, the man died!

In a space incredibly short the multitude was informed of the circumstance. No one repeated it aloud; there

was a murmur which spread from the knoll in every direction; a murmur that was little more than a

whispering, "He is dead! he is dead!" and that was all. The people had their wish; the Nazarene was dead; yet

they stared at each other aghast. His blood was upon them! And while they stood staring at each other, the

ground commenced to shake; each man took hold of his neighbor to support himself; in a twinkling the

darkness disappeared, and the sun came out; and everybody, as with the same glance, beheld the crosses upon

the hill all reeling drunkenlike in the earthquake. They beheld all three of them; but the one in the centre

was arbitrary; it alone would be seen; and for that it seemed to extend itself upwards, and lift its burden, and

swing it to and fro higher and higher in the blue of the sky. And every man among them who had jeered at the

Nazarene; every one who had struck him; every one who had voted to crucify him; every one who had

marched in the procession from the city; every one who had in his heart wished him dead, and they were as

ten to one, felt that he was in some way individually singled out from the many, and that if he would live he

must get away quickly as possible from that menace in the sky. They started to run; they ran with all their

might; on horseback, and camels, and in chariots they ran, as well as on foot; but then as if it were mad at

them for what they had done, and had taken up the cause of the unoffending and friendless dead, the

earthquake pursued them, and tossed them about, and flung them down, and terrified them yet more by the

horrible noise of great rocks grinding and rending beneath them. They beat their breasts and shrieked with

fear. His blood was upon them! The homebred and the foreign, priest and layman, beggar, Sadducee,

Pharisee, were overtaken in the race, and tumbled about indiscriminately. If they called on the Lord, the

outraged earth answered for him in fury, and dealt them all alike. It did not even know wherein the

highpriest was better than his guilty brethren; overtaking him, it tripped him up also, and smirched the

fringimg of his robe, and filled the golden bells with sand, and his mouth with dust. He and his people were

When the sunlight broke upon the crucifixion, the mother of the Nazarene, the disciple, and the faithful

women of Galilee, the centurion and his soldiers, and BenHur and his party, were all who remained upon

the hill. These had not time to observe the flight of the multitude; they were too loudly called upon to take

"Seat thyself here," said BenHur to Esther, making a place for her at her father's feet. "Now cover thine eyes

and look not up; but put thy trust in God, and the spirit of yon just man so foully slain."

"Nay," said Simonides, reverently, "let us henceforth speak of him as the Christ."

Presently a wave of the earthquake struck the hill. The shrieks of the thieves upon the reeling crosses were

terrible to hear. Though giddy with the movements of the ground, BenHur had time to look at Balthasar, and

beheld him prostrate and still. He ran to him and calledthere was no reply. The good man was dead! Then

BenHur remembered to have heard a cry in answer, as it were, to the scream of the Nazarene in his last

moment; but he had not looked to see from whom it had proceeded; and ever after he believed the spirit of the

Egyptian accompanied that of his Master over the boundary into the kingdom of Paradise. The idea rested not

only upon the cry heard, but upon the exceeding fitness of the distinction. If faith were worthy reward in the

person of Gaspar, and love in that of Melchior, surely he should have some special meed who through a long

life and so excellently illustrated the three virtues in combinationFaith, Love, and Good Works.

The servants of Balthasar had deserted their master; but when all was over, the two Galileans bore the old

It was a sorrowful procession that entered the south gate of the palace of the Hurs about the set of sun that

memorable day. About the same hour the body of the Christ was taken down from the cross.

The remains of Balthasar were carried to the guestchamber. All the servants hastened weeping to see him;

for he had the love of every living thing with which he had in anywise to do; but when they beheld his face,

and the smile upon it, they dried their tears, saying, "It is well. He is happier this evening than when he went

BenHur would not trust a servant to inform Iras what had befallen her father. He went himself to see her and

bring her to the body. He imagined her grief; she would now be alone in the world; it was a time to forgive

and pity her. He remembered he had not asked why she was not of the party in the morning, or where she

was; he remembered he had not thought of her; and, from shame, he was ready to make any amends, the more

He shook the curtains of her door; and though he heard the ringing of the little bells echoing within, he had

no response; he called her name, and again he calledstill no answer. He drew the curtain aside and went

into the room; she was not there. He ascended hastily to the roof in search of her; nor was she there. He

questioned the servants; none of them had seen her during the day. After a long quest everywhere through the

house, BenHur returned to the guestchamber, and took the place by the dead which should have been hers;

and he bethought him there how merciful the Christ had been to his aged servant. At the gate of the kingdom

of Paradise happily the afflictions of this life, even its desertions, are left behind and forgotten by those who

When the gloom of the burial was nigh gone, on the ninth day after the healing, the law being fulfilled,

BenHur brought his mother and Tirzah home; and from that day, in that house the most sacred names

About five years after the crucifixion, Esther, the wife of BenHur, sat in her room in the beautiful villa by

Misenum. It was noon, with a warm Italian sun making summer for the roses and vines outside. Everything in

the apartment was Roman, except that Esther wore the garments of a Jewish matron. Tirzah and two children

at play upon a lion skin on the floor were her companions; and one had only to observe how carefully she

Time had treated her generously. She was more than ever beautiful, and in becoming mistress of the villa, she

In the midst of this simple, homelike scene, a servant appeared in the doorway, and spoke to her.

Presently the stranger entered. At sight of her the Jewess arose, and was about to speak; then she hesitated,

changed color, and finally drew back, saying, "I have known you, good woman. You are"

The two gazed at each other. We know what Esther presenteda beautiful woman, a happy mother, a

contented wife. On the other side, it was very plain that fortune had not dealt so gently with her former rival.

The tall figure remained with some of its grace; but an evil life had tainted the whole person. The face was

coarse; the large eyes were red and pursed beneath the lower lids; there was no color in her cheeks. The lips

were cynical and hard, and general neglect was leading rapidly to premature old age. Her attire was ill chosen

and draggled. The mud of the road clung to her sandals. Iras broke the painful silence.

"I would scare them," Iras replied. Then she drew closer to Esther, and seeing her shrink, said, "Be not afraid.

Give thy husband a message for me. Tell him his enemy is dead, and that for the much misery he brought me

"The Messala. Further, tell thy husband that for the harm I sought to do him I have been punished until even

"Nay," said Iras, "I do not want pity or tears. Tell him, finally, I have found that to be a Roman is to be a

"Stay, and see my husband. He has no feeling against you. He sought for you everywhere. He will be your

The countenance of the Egyptian softened; something like a smile played about her lips. She looked at the

Iras went to them, and knelt on the lion's skin, and kissed them both. Rising slowly, she looked at them; then

passed to the door and out of it without a parting word. She walked rapidly, and was gone before Esther could

BenHur, when he was told of the visit, knew certainly what he had long surmisedthat on the day of the

crucifixion Iras had deserted her father for Messala. Nevertheless, he set out immediately and hunted for her

vainly; they never saw her more, or heard of her. The blue bay, with all its laughing under the sun, has yet its

Simonides lived to be a very old man. In the tenth year of Nero's reign, he gave up the business so long

centred in the warehouse at Antioch. To the last he kept a clear head and a good heart, and was successful.

One evening, in the year named, he sat in his armchair on the terrace of the warehouse. BenHur and

Esther, and their three children, were with him. The last of the ships swung at mooring in the current of the

river; all the rest had been sold. In the long interval between this and the day of the crucifixion but one

sorrow had befallen them: that was when the mother of BenHur died; and then and now their grief would

The ship spoken of had arrived only the day before, bringing intelligence of the persecution of Christians

begun by Nero in Rome, and the party on the terrace were talking of the news when Malluch, who was still in

"I, Ilderim, the son of Ilderim the Generous, and sheik of the tribe of Ilderim, to Judah, son of Hur.

"Know, O friend of my father's, how my father loved you. Read what is herewith sent, and you will know.

"All the Parthians took from him in the great battle in which they slew him I have retakenthis writing, with

other things, and vengeance, and all the brood of that Mira who in his time was mother of so many stars.

BenHur next unrolled a scrap of papyrus yellow as a withered mulberry leaf. It required the daintiest

"Ilderim, surnamed the Generous, sheik of the tribe of Ilderim, to the son who succeeds me.

"All I have, O son, shall be thine in the day of thy succession, except that property by Antioch known as the

Orchard of Palms; and it shall be to the son of Hur who brought us such glory in the Circusto him and his

Esther took the papers pleased, and read them to herself. Simonides remained silent. His eyes were upon the

"Son of Hur," he said, gravely, "the Lord has been good to you in these later years. You have much to be

thankful for. Is it not time to decide finally the meaning of the gift of the great fortune now all in your hand,

"I decided that long ago. The fortune was meant for the service of the Giver; not a part, Simonides, but all of

it. The question with me has been, How can I make it most useful in his cause? And of that tell me, I pray

"The great sums you have given to the Church here in Antioch, I am witness to. Now, instantly almost with

this gift of the generous sheik's, comes the news of the persecution of the brethren in Rome. It is the opening

"I will tell you. The Romans, even this Nero, hold two things sacredI know of no others they so

holdthey are the ashes of the dead and all places of burial. If you cannot build temples for the worship of

the Lord above ground, then build them below the ground; and to keep them from profanation, carry to them

"It is a great idea," he said. "I will not wait to begin it. Time forbids waiting. The ship that brought the news

"So wilt thou best serve the Christ. O my husband, let me not hinder, but go with thee and help."

If any of my readers, visiting Rome, will make the short journey to the Catacomb of San Calixto, which is

more ancient than that of San Sebastiano, he will see what became of the fortune of BenHur, and give him

69. BOOK SIXTH "Is that a Death? and are there two? Is Death that woman's mate? * * * * Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold." COLERIDGE. CHAPTER I, page = 246