Chapter VII
IN WHICH THE READER LEARNS THE CONDITION OF GLAUCUS. FRIENDSHIP TESTED.
ENMITY SOFTENED. LOVE THE SAME, BECAUSE THE ONE LOVING IS BLIND.
THE night was somewhat advanced, and the gay lounging places of the
Pompeians were still crowded. You might observe in the countenances of the
various idlers a more earnest expression than usual. They talked in large
knots and groups, as if they sought by numbers to divide the half-painful,
half-pleasurable anxiety which belonged to the subject on which they
conversed: it was a subject of life and death.
A young man passed briskly by the graceful portico of the Temple of
Fortune--so briskly, indeed, that he came with no slight force full against
the rotund and comely form of that respectable citizen Diomed, who was
retiring homeward to his suburban villa.
'Holloa!' groaned the merchant, recovering with some difficulty his
equilibrium; 'have you no eyes? or do you think I have no feeling? By
Jupiter! you have well nigh driven out the divine particle; such another
shock, and my soul will be in Hades!'
'Ah, Diomed! is it you? forgive my inadvertence. I was absorbed in
thinking of the reverses of life. Our poor friend, Glaucus, eh! who could
have guessed it?'
'Well, but tell me, Clodius, is he really to be tried by the senate?'
'Yes; they say the crime is of so extraordinary a nature that the senate
itself must adjudge it; and so the lictors are to induct him formally.'
'He has been accused publicly, then?'
'To be sure; where have you been not to hear that?'
'Why, I have only just returned from Neapolis, whither I went on business
the very morning after his crime--so shocking, and at my house the same
night that it happened!'
'There is no doubt of his guilt,' said Clodius, shrugging his shoulders;
'and as these crimes take precedence of all little undignified peccadilloes,
they will hasten to finish the sentence previous to the games.'
'The games! Good gods!' replied Diomed, with a slight shudder: 'can they
adjudge him to the beasts?--so young, so rich!'
'True; but then he is a Greek. Had he been a Roman, it would have been a
thousand pities. These foreigners can be borne with in their prosperity;
but in adversity we must not forget that they are in reality slaves.
However, we of the upper classes are always tender-hearted; and he would
certainly get off tolerably well if he were left to us: for, between
ourselves, what is a paltry priest of Isis!--what Isis herself? But the
common people are superstitious; they clamor for the blood of the
sacrilegious one. It is dangerous not to give way to public opinion.'
'And the blasphemer--the Christian, or Nazarene, or whatever else he be
called?'
'Oh, poor dog! if he will sacrifice to Cybele or Isis, he will be
pardoned--if not, the tiger has him. At least, so I suppose; but the trial
will decide. We talk while the urn's still empty. And the Greek may yet
escape the deadly Theta of his own alphabet. But enough of this gloomy
subject. How is the fair Julia?'
'Well, I fancy.'
'Commend me to her. But hark! the door yonder creaks on its hinges; it is
the house of the praetor. Who comes forth? By Pollux! it is the Egyptian!
What can he want with our official friend!'
'Some conference touching the murder, doubtless,' replied Diomed; 'but what
was supposed to be the inducement to the crime? Glaucus was to have married
the priest's sister.'
'Yes: some say Apaecides refused the alliance. It might have been a sudden
quarrel. Glaucus was evidently drunk--nay, so much so as to have been quite
insensible when taken up, and I hear is still delirious--whether with wine,
terror, remorse, the Furies, or the Bacchanals, I cannot say.'
'Poor fellow!--he has good counsel?'
'The best--Caius Pollio, an eloquent fellow enough. Pollio has been hiring
all the poor gentlemen and well-born spendthrifts of Pompeii to dress
shabbily and sneak about, swearing their friendship to Glaucus (who would
not have spoken to them to be made emperor!--I will do him justice, he was a
gentleman in his choice of acquaintance), and trying to melt the stony
citizens into pity. But it will not do; Isis is mightily popular just at
this moment.'
'And, by-the-by, I have some merchandise at Alexandria. Yes, Isis ought to
be protected.'
'True; so farewell, old gentleman: we shall meet soon; if not, we must have
a friendly bet at the Amphitheatre. All my calculations are confounded by
this cursed misfortune of Glaucus! He had bet on Lydon the gladiator; I
must make up my tablets elsewhere. Vale!'
Leaving the less active Diomed to regain his villa, Clodius strode on,
humming a Greek air, and perfuming the night with the odorous that steamed
from his snowy garments and flowing locks.
'If,' thought he, 'Glaucus feed the lion, Julia will no longer have a person
to love better than me; she will certainly doat on me--and so, I suppose, I
must marry. By the gods! the twelve lines begin to fail--men look
suspiciously at my hand when it rattles the dice. That infernal Sallust
insinuates cheating; and if it be discovered that the ivory is clogged, why
farewell to the merry supper and the perfumed billet--Clodius is undone!
Better marry, then, while I may, renounce gaming, and push my fortune (or
rather the gentle Julia's) at the imperial court.'
Thus muttering the schemes of his ambition, if by that high name the
projects of Clodius may be called, the gamester found himself suddenly
accosted; he turned and beheld the dark brow of Arbaces.
'Hail, noble Clodius! pardon my interruption; and inform me, I pray you,
which is the house of Sallust?'
'It is but a few yards hence, wise Arbaces. But does Sallust entertain
to-night?'
'I know not,' answered the Egyptian; 'nor am I, perhaps, one of those whom
he would seek as a boon companion. But thou knowest that his house holds
the person of Glaucus, the murderer.'
'Ay! he, good-hearted epicure, believes in the Greek's innocence! You
remind me that he has become his surety; and, therefore, till the trial, is
responsible for his appearance.' Well, Sallust's house is better than a
prison, especially that wretched hole in the forum. But for what can you
seek Glaucus?'
'Why, noble Clodius, if we could save him from execution it would be well.
The condemnation of the rich is a blow upon society itself. I should like
to confer with him--for I hear he has recovered his senses--and ascertain
the motives of his crime; they may be so extenuating as to plead in his
defence.'
'You are benevolent, Arbaces.'
'Benevolence is the duty of one who aspires to wisdom,' replied the
Egyptian, modestly. 'Which way lies Sallust's mansion?'
'I will show you,' said Clodius, 'if you will suffer me to accompany you a
few steps. But, pray what has become of the poor girl who was to have wed
the Athenian--the sister of the murdered priest?'
'Alas! well-nigh insane! Sometimes she utters imprecations on the
murderer--then suddenly stops short--then cries, "But why curse? Oh, my
brother! Glaucus was not thy murderer--never will I believe it!" Then she
begins again, and again stops short, and mutters awfully to herself, "Yet if
it were indeed he?"'
'Unfortunate Ione!'
'But it is well for her that those solemn cares to the dead which religion
enjoins have hitherto greatly absorbed her attention from Glaucus and
herself: and, in the dimness of her senses, she scarcely seems aware that
Glaucus is apprehended and on the eve of trial. When the funeral rites due
to Apaecides are performed, her apprehension will return; and then I fear me
much that her friends will be revolted by seeing her run to succour and aid
the murderer of her brother!'
'Such scandal should be prevented.'
'I trust I have taken precautions to that effect. I am her lawful guardian,
and have just succeeded in obtaining permission to escort her, after the
funeral of Apaecides, to my own house; there, please the gods! she will be
secure.'
'You have done well, sage Arbaces. And, now, yonder is the house of
Sallust. The gods keep you! Yet, hark you, Arbaces--why so gloomy and
unsocial? Men say you can be gay--why not let me initiate you into the
pleasures of Pompeii?--I flatter myself no one knows them better.'
'I thank you, noble Clodius: under your auspices I might venture, I think,
to wear the philyra: but, at my age, I should be an awkward pupil.'
'Oh, never fear; I have made converts of fellows of seventy. The rich, too,
are never old.'
'You flatter me. At some future time I will remind you of your promise.'
'You may command Marcus Clodius at all times--and so, vale!'
'Now,' said the Egyptian, soliloquising, 'I am not wantonly a man of blood;
I would willingly save this Greek, if, by confessing the crime, he will lose
himself for ever to Ione, and for ever free me from the chance of discovery;
and I can save him by persuading Julia to own the philtre, which will be
held his excuse. But if he do not confess the crime, why, Julia must be
shamed from the confession, and he must die!--die, lest he prove my rival
with the living--die, that he may be my proxy with the dead! Will he
confess?--can he not be persuaded that in his delirium he struck the blow?
To me it would give far greater safety than even his death. Hem! we must
hazard the experiment.'
Sweeping along the narrow street, Arbaces now approached the house of
Sallust, when he beheld a dark form wrapped in a cloak, and stretched at
length across the threshold of the door.
So still lay the figure, and so dim was its outline, that any other than
Arbaces might have felt a superstitious fear, lest he beheld one of those
grim lemures, who, above all other spots, haunted the threshold of the homes
they formerly possessed. But not for Arbaces were such dreams.
'Rise!' said he, touching the figure with his foot; 'thou obstructest the
way!'
'Ha! who art thou cried the form, in a sharp tone, and as she raised herself
from the ground, the starlight fell full on the pale face and fixed but
sightless eyes of Nydia the Thessalian. 'Who art thou? I know the burden
of thy voice.'
'Blind girl! what dost thou here at this late hour? Fie!--is this seeming
thy sex or years? Home, girl!'
'I know thee,' said Nydia, in a low voice, 'thou art Arbaces the Egyptian':
then, as if inspired by some sudden impulse, she flung herself at his feet,
and clasping his knees, exclaimed, in a wild and passionate tone, 'Oh dread
and potent man! save him--save him! He is not guilty--it is I! He lies
within, ill-dying, and I--I am the hateful cause! And they will not admit
me to him--they spurn the blind girl from the hall. Oh, heal him! thou
knowest some herb--some spell--some countercharm, for it is a potion that
hath wrought this frenzy!
'Hush, child! I know all!--thou forgettest that I accompanied Julia to the
saga's home. Doubtless her hand administered the draught; but her
reputation demands thy silence. Reproach not thyself--what must be, must:
meanwhile, I seek the criminal--he may yet be saved. Away!'
Thus saying, Arbaces extricated himself from the clasp of the despairing
Thessalian, and knocked loudly at the door.
In a few moments the heavy bars were heard suddenly to yield, and the
porter, half opening the door, demanded who was there.
'Arbaces--important business to Sallust relative to Glaucus. I come from
the praetor.'
The porter, half yawning, half groaning, admitted the tall form of the
Egyptian. Nydia sprang forward. 'How is he?' she cried; 'tell me--tell
me!'
'Ho, mad girl! is it thou still?--for shame! Why, they say he is sensible.'
'The gods be praised!--and you will not admit me? Ah! I beseech thee...'
'Admit thee!--no. A pretty salute I should prepare for these shoulders were
I to admit such things as thou! Go home!'
The door closed, and Nydia, with a deep sigh, laid herself down once more on
the cold stones; and, wrapping her cloak round her face, resumed her weary
vigil.
Meanwhile Arbaces had already gained the triclinium, where Sallust, with his
favorite freedman, sat late at supper.
'What! Arbaces! and at this hour!--Accept this cup.'
'Nay, gentle Sallust; it is on business, not pleasure, that I venture to
disturb thee. How doth thy charge?--they say in the town that he has
recovered sense.'
'Alas! and truly,' replied the good-natured but thoughtless Sallust, wiping
the tear from his eyes; 'but so shattered are his nerves and frame that I
scarcely recognize the brilliant and gay carouser I was wont to know. Yet,
strange to say, he cannot account for the cause of the sudden frenzy that
seized him--he retains but a dim consciousness of what hath passed; and,
despite thy witness, wise Egyptian, solemnly upholds his innocence of the
death of Apaecides.'
'Sallust,' said Arbaces, gravely, 'there is much in thy friend's case that
merits a peculiar indulgence; and could we learn from his lips the
confession and the cause of his crime, much might be yet hoped from the
mercy of the senate; for the senate, thou knowest, hath the power either to
mitigate or to sharpen the law. Therefore it is that I have conferred with
the highest authority of the city, and obtained his permission to hold a
private conference this night with the Athenian. Tomorrow, thou knowest,
the trial comes on.'
'Well,' said Sallust, 'thou wilt be worthy of thy Eastern name and fame if
thou canst learn aught from him; but thou mayst try. Poor Glaucus!--and he
had such an excellent appetite! He eats nothing now!'
The benevolent epicure was moved sensibly at this thought. He sighed, and
ordered his slaves to refill his cup.
'Night wanes,' said the Egyptian; 'suffer me to see thy ward now.'
Sallust nodded assent, and led the way to a small chamber, guarded without
by two dozing slaves. The door opened; at the request of Arbaces, Sallust
withdrew--the Egyptian was alone with Glaucus.
One of those tall and graceful candelabra common to that day, supporting a
single lamp, burned beside the narrow bed. Its rays fell palely over the
face of the Athenian, and Arbaces was moved to see how sensibly that
countenance had changed. The rich color was gone, the cheek was sunk, the
lips were convulsed and pallid; fierce had been the struggle between reason
and madness, life and death. The youth, the strength of Glaucus had
conquered; but the freshness of blood and soul--the life of life--its glory
and its zest, were gone for ever.
The Egyptian seated himself quietly beside the bed; Glaucus still lay mute
and unconscious of his presence. At length, after a considerable pause,
Arbaces thus spoke:
'Glaucus, we have been enemies. I come to thee alone and in the dead of
night--thy friend, perhaps thy saviour.'
As the steed starts from the path of the tiger, Glaucus sprang up
breathless--alarmed, panting at the abrupt voice, the sudden apparition of
his foe. Their eyes met, and neither, for some moments, had power to
withdraw his gaze. The flush went and came over the face of the Athenian,
and the bronzed cheek of the Egyptian grew a shade more pale. At length,
with an inward groan, Glaucus turned away, drew his hand across his brow,
sunk back, and muttered:
'Am I still dreaming?'
'No, Glaucus thou art awake. By this right hand and my father's head, thou
seest one who may save thy life. Hark! I know what thou hast done, but I
know also its excuse, of which thou thyself art ignorant. Thou hast
committed murder, it is true--a sacrilegious murder--frown not--start
not--these eyes saw it. But I can save thee--I can prove how thou wert
bereaved of sense, and made not a free-thinking and free-acting man. But in
order to save thee, thou must confess thy crime. Sign but this paper,
acknowledging thy hand in the death of Apaecides, and thou shalt avoid the
fatal urn.'
'What words are these?--Murder and Apaecides!--Did I not see him stretched
on the ground bleeding and a corpse? and wouldst thou persuade me that I did
the deed? Man, thou liest! Away!'
'Be not rash--Glaucus, be not hasty; the deed is proved. Come, come, thou
mayst well be excused for not recalling the act of thy delirium, and which
thy sober senses would have shunned even to contemplate. But let me try to
refresh thy exhausted and weary memory. Thou knowest thou wert walking with
the priest, disputing about his sister; thou knowest he was intolerant, and
half a Nazarene, and he sought to convert thee, and ye had hot words; and he
calumniated thy mode of life, and swore he would not marry Ione to thee--and
then, in thy wrath and thy frenzy, thou didst strike the sudden blow. Come,
come; you can recollect this!--read this papyrus, it runs to that
effect--sign it, and thou art saved.'
'Barbarian, give me the written lie, that I may tear it! I the murderer of
Ione's brother: I confess to have injured one hair of the head of him she
loved! Let me rather perish a thousand times!'
'Beware!' said Arbaces, in a low and hissing tone; 'there is but one
choice--thy confession and thy signature, or the amphitheatre and the lion's
maw!'
As the Egyptian fixed his eyes upon the sufferer, he hailed with joy the
signs of evident emotion that seized the latter at these words. A slight
shudder passed over the Athenian's frame--his lip fell--an expression of
sudden fear and wonder betrayed itself in his brow and eye.
'Great gods!' he said, in a low voice, 'what reverse is this? It seems but
a little day since life laughed out from amidst roses--Ione mine--youth,
health, love, lavishing on me their treasures; and now--pain, madness,
shame, death! And for what? What have I done? Oh, I am mad still?'
'Sign, and be saved!' said the soft, sweet voice of the Egyptian.
'Tempter, never!' cried Glaucus, in the reaction of rage. 'Thou knowest me
not: thou knowest not the haughty soul of an Athenian! The sudden face of
death might appal me for a moment, but the fear is over. Dishonour appals
for ever! Who will debase his name to save his life? who exchange clear
thoughts for sullen days? who will belie himself to shame, and stand
blackened in the eyes of love? If to earn a few years of polluted life
there be so base a coward, dream not, dull barbarian of Egypt! to find him
in one who has trod the same sod as Harmodius, and breathed the same air as
Socrates. Go! leave me to live without self-reproach--or to perish without
fear!'
'Bethink thee well! the lion's fangs: the hoots of the brutal mob: the
vulgar gaze on thy dying agony and mutilated limbs: thy name degraded; thy
corpse unburied; the shame thou wouldst avoid clinging to thee for aye and
ever!'
'Thou ravest; thou art the madman! shame is not in the loss of other men's
esteem--it is in the loss of our own. Wilt thou go?--my eyes loathe the
sight of thee! hating ever, I despise thee now!'
'I go,' said Arbaces, stung and exasperated, but not without some pitying
admiration of his victim, 'I go; we meet twice again--once at the Trial,
once at the Death! Farewell!'
The Egyptian rose slowly, gathered his robes about him, and left the
chamber. He sought Sallust for a moment, whose eyes began to reel with the
vigils of the cup: 'He is still unconscious, or still obstinate; there is no
hope for him.'
'Say not so,' replied Sallust, who felt but little resentment against the
Athenian's accuser, for he possessed no great austerity of virtue, and was
rather moved by his friend's reverses than persuaded of his innocence--'say
not so, my Egyptian! so good a drinker shall be saved if possible. Bacchus
against Isis!'
'We shall see,' said the Egyptian.
Suddenly the bolts were again withdrawn--the door unclosed; Arbaces was in
the open street; and poor Nydia once more started from her long watch.
'Wilt thou save him?' she cried, clasping her hands.
'Child, follow me home; I would speak to thee--it is for his sake I ask it.'
'And thou wilt save him?'
No answer came forth to the thirsting ear of the blind girl: Arbaces had
already proceeded far up the street; she hesitated a moment, and then
followed his steps in silence.
'I must secure this girl,' said he, musingly, 'lest she give evidence of the
philtre; as to the vain Julia, she will not betray herself.'
