THE MOB OF SAMARIA.
The city of Jezreel was for Caius of Thessalonica and his train but
a resting place for a night. After leaving behind its towers and the
valley of battles, at the side of which it seemed to be posted as a
sentinel, Ulric the Jarl himself was satisfied with the speed of the
going which brought him to Samaria.
Here, also, as they drew near, the Saxons noted well the fortifications.
"These walls are old," said one. "Those of Tiberias are newer and
better. I care not for walls. Better is it to fight in the open field,
where swordsmen may come together, shield to shield, in a fair combat."
Tostig the Red heard, and he shouted loudly:
"O jarl, not walls! Rather would I have a good keel like _The Sword_
than any fort. Towers and walls rest where they are builded, but a ship
may sail into new seas. I am hungry for the sea!"
"I like not the land at all!" said Knud the Bear. "Never again may I be
found so far from the rush of waves. I am minded to seek me a keel ere
long. I think we shall all die if we may not again see the Northland."
He did but speak for all. While they had been inactive on the shore
of the Sea of Galilee, and even more after setting out as if to find
new adventures, the vikings had returned in their hearts to their old
manner of living. They had thought continually of the sea and of ships.
They had talked together of the cruise of _The Sword_ and of all the
strange things which had befallen them by the way in which they came to
this country. They had also told many tales of the great deeds of sea
kings, but there had been no minstrel or saga woman with them to sing
them a saga or to play for them upon a harp. Often, also, did their
conversings deal with the Northland itself in its summer beauty. They
longed for the high mountains and the shadowy coolness of the fiords,
and for the faces of men and of women and of children on the shores and
about the houses. There is ever a kind of sickness which cometh upon
brave men in the thinking of such thoughts and in the talking of such
remembrances afar. So these vikings, who were all that remained of the
mighty crew of _The Sword_, were not only weary at heart, but almost
sick in body.
"A keel?" said Wulf the Skater to Knud. "Thou wilt find thee a keel?
Wert thou in thine own seas now thou wouldst find them closed against
thee. Beautiful would be the ice to look upon. But I think I could make
me good skates and reach the fiords over the floes."
So said other Saxons, and they did but look listlessly at the walls of
Samaria.
"O jarl," said Caius from his chariot, "come thou hither to me. I have
a word for thee."
Ulric rode to the side of the chariot.
"What aileth thy men," asked the centurion, "that their faces are so
cloudy? Are they discontented?"
"Not with thee, O noble Caius," laughed Ulric, "but they are ill at
ease on horseback and in peace. They would rather fight for thee than
travel like pleasure-seekers. One man is ever afraid that, if this
continueth, he may die in his bed and go to Hel instead of to Valhalla."
Stern yet pleasant was the countenance of the centurion.
"I understand thy men," he said. "Let them be posted in the doorway of
the house where I abide this night. I have no others here whom I may
trust, and this is a city of the enemies of the procurator."
"Thou mayest sleep safely," said Ulric. "I will myself keep that house."
"Thy men could not be bribed," said Caius. "I know that of them."
"They have too many coins already," said Ulric. "But I bade them keep
all and spend them at Jerusalem. No man need offer them any more. As to
treachery, let thine enemy speak of that to Tostig the Red, but first
let the seax of Tostig be taken from him."
"I will leave it at his belt," said Caius, "and he may strike with it
in such a case. But be not thou overhasty with a man of rank, for thou
wilt be held accountable."
"I will be prudent," said Ulric; "but how is it with thy legionaries?
If they are on post, is it not life and death with them?"
"Men have died suddenly," said Caius, "with a legionary motionless at
the outer door. He stirred not, being as a pillar of wood. Thy men
will be free, and will act as if they were hunters of game instead of
statues. Thy head is as good as thy hand."
"I will keep thee," said Ulric, "and I would that the men might have a
chance to draw a sword or throw a spear."
"They will not," said Caius. "There are no men in Samaria who would
trifle with such a guard as thy Saxons. Think not but what I will
remember thee for this matter."
The jarl reined away his horse, thinking deeply.
"O Caius, do I not know that thou art as other Romans? So soon as thou
art done with us thou wouldst give us to the lions and look on while we
were torn, being amused. Soft words are well enough, however, and thou
art better than are some of thy people."
For the jarl grew crafty under the burden of leadership, and he seemed
older than when he stood with Hilda on the shore of the North sea
looking at her runes upon the sand.
A large house like a castle near the eastern wall of the city was
assigned to so great a man as Caius, but he went the next day to a
feast, being entertained by the governor and other notables, among whom
were certain lords of Herod's household.
"It will be late when I return," he said to Ulric at his going. "I will
send for thee."
"Not so," said the jarl. "I will come without thy sending. There have
been tumults in Samaria since the sun's rising. There will be good
spears around thy chariot."
"Do as thou wilt, O jarl," said Caius. "I fear no tumult and I have
good attendance."
"Hast thou indeed a guard, and is it not from this man, the governor?"
said Ulric. "Leave thou such matters to me, I pray thee, that thou
mayest at all reach Jerusalem."
The chariot of the centurion rolled away from the palace gate, and
with it rode a score of mounted soldiers sent by the governor as a
guard of honor for his distinguished guest. Hardly were they out of
sight, however, before the Saxons sprang to their feet at a sudden
summons.
"Spears and shields!" commanded the jarl. "Let every man look well to
his weapons and to his armor. Be ye all ready to march, but first let
every man come to me and report whatever things he hath heard or seen
this day."
One had this thing to speak of and another that thing, but for the
greater part it all seemed to be of little worth. Their eyes, too,
had been better than their ears in a city of an unknown tongue.
Nevertheless, the jarl said to Wulf the Skater:
"Thou hast scented this danger, then, thou keen old hunter? So is it
with me, only that I better understand sayings uttered in my hearing,
and some who spoke believed that I was as a stone wall, having no ears.
They were, therefore, careless. I will say to thee that the soldiers
who are now with Caius are all from this new legion wherein Julius was
for a while the chief officer. It is for our interest that Caius may
suffer no harm. Moreover, we may have some good fighting, and that is
worth while."
"Thank the gods!" interrupted Knud the Bear. "Now may I the more
comfortably eat my supper. It is well to have a thoughtful jarl."
A city by itself was Samaria, as it had been during long centuries.
They who called themselves Samaritans bore deadly hatred to all Jews,
but could not prevent them from entering the city and transacting
business there, although they could have no dealings with the
Samaritans. All other nationalities came and went freely, and here was
a gathering of the offscourings of the earth. The Jews risk all perils
for the sake of traffic, and they had in this matter the protection
of the Roman laws. Nevertheless, these hatreds were the root of many
troubles, and from time to time there had been bloody riots to be
suppressed by the legionaries with but small care upon whom their
swords might fall. It might have been trusted that a Roman of rank like
Caius would be as safe in Samaria as in Jerusalem or in Rome, and so he
would have been but for the intrigues of those who were greater than
he. Herod Archelaus, to whom Judea and Samaria had fallen by the will
of his father, Herod the Great, had forfeited his realm to the Romans
and it was now ruled by Pontius the Spearman. Both the Herod of the
Black Castle, whose legacy had been Galilee and some provinces beyond
the Dead Sea, and Herod Antipas, who had inherited large districts at
the north and east of Galilee, were plotting to overthrow Pontius and
also to defeat each other. The favor of Cæsar was the path to increase
of power not only for them, but for Roman plotters such as Julius, and
there were intrigues against them all at Rome itself. The strifes of
those who fought continually for the spoils of Roman conquests were
ever records of bloodshed, and no man's life was safe. To be a great
Roman was to walk on toward destruction.
Splendid was the feast to which Caius went at the palace of the
governor of Samaria, but he was wary and he did not become drunken.
Long reclined the guests on the couches at the tables, to be served
with all the delicacies of the earth. Also there were dancers and mimes
and musicians. But the end came. Some were to abide in the palace,
some were to go to their houses near, in the city. The chariot of Caius
waited for him, but as he and his slaves walked out at the main portal
they heard a sound of trumpets and great outcries of a multitude.
"It is nothing," said Caius. "I heard that the rabble had risen against
the Jews. Let the legionaries form in the road. Drive on!"
He spoke scornfully, but the outcries were near, and now came a great
rush of men, of whom many were armed. In front of the governor's palace
was an open space, into which the multitude was pouring, but from the
opposite direction came forward another throng of men. In the foreranks
of these was a small man in armor, with the visor of his helmet closed.
"Yonder is the chariot of Caius," he said. "Wait only till the Iberians
charge. Then slay him and flee. Let the blame fall on the Jews and the
Samaritans."
Two score were the legionaries, and it was the governor, standing upon
the steps of the palace portal, who shouted to them:
"Charge ye the mob lest they hinder the going of my guest. Slay them! O
most noble Caius, I send out also quickly my own guards and servants.
Thou art safe!"
If this were indeed the craft of the governor, it was well hidden,
for the soldiers went forward smiting all in their way, and armed men
from the palace went also. By this very charge, however, the chariot
would have been left alone save for Caius and his charioteers and a few
mounted bondsmen. Not in the silken robes of a man at a feast was the
centurion at this moment, nevertheless. The robes were to be seen in
the light of the torches, but they covered good mail and armor, and
suddenly upon his head was a helmet and in his hand a pilum.
"Treachery!" he shouted. "The jarl was correct! O for my Saxons!"
"Here, O Caius!" loudly responded a voice from among the shadows of the
palace front. "Halt not thy chariot, but drive slowly. We have abundant
javelins."
The torches held by the bondsmen flared in swinging, more being
lighted, and past them seemed to go dull red flashes, but these were
the bright blades of Syrian darts obtained by Ulric for this business.
Strong were the arms hurling, and the darts were better than arrows at
so short a distance.
"Jupiter Tonans!" roared Caius. "I have a sheaf of them here in the
chariot, for myself and my charioteers. Wise is the Saxon, and he
provided them for me!"
A good thrower was he, and some who had stealthily crept on too nearly
were smitten as they sprang forward. Then came the charge which had
been purposed across the open space, but between its front and the
chariot was a wall of Saxons, in full armor, shouting with the fierce
joy of battle.
Down went the small leader, cloven to the jaws as if his helmet were of
wood. Down went his companions rapidly, while the battle laughter of
the vikings rang derisively in their ears.
The other multitude the legionaries were slaughtering pitilessly, but
the command of the governor had been to follow, and the soldiers came
not back at once.
"Slay! Slay!" shouted Caius. "I come!"
"Come not!" replied Ulric. "Abide where thou art and press on to thy
house. We will keep these wolves at bay."
"A fight and I not in it?" said Caius, angrily. "Commandest thou me?"
"In the fight I am jarl!" said Ulric. "I am answerable for thy head.
Drive on!"
"Thou art right!" said Caius, justly. "On, O charioteer! Obey thou the
Saxon. I forgot that he is a prince and a captain among his own people.
I will make him a Roman yet. He should not be a barbarian."
Hardly might any less than a king, nor even a king except at great cost
and for policy, obtain Roman citizenship, but this was the meaning of
the words of Caius.
Then an arrow flew and struck him upon the left arm, wounding him; but
he mentioned it not, for he saw that the charge was broken and that the
Saxons came to march with the chariot.
"Not one of them is missing," he thought. "So much for broad shields
and good mail. The rioters had weapons, but no armor, and they were
slain as cattle. This arm of mine is but scratched."
"On!" commanded the jarl, to his men. "I heard the centurion say he is
wounded. O Caius, how art thou?"
"A sting on my arm," replied Caius. "We shall soon be at the house.
This is naught."
"Let me see it speedily," said Ulric. "I have picked up an arrow with a
grooved head. Thou knowest what that meaneth."
"Haste! Haste!" shouted Caius. "This thing is of Herod, the jackal! I
am lost."
But the tumult had been stricken to quiet and the ground was strewn
with the dead. Now as they went there came swiftly armed horsemen
of the governor and behind these marched the Iberian legionaries. No
visible fault might be charged by Caius upon his host of the feast. Not
far was it to his place of abiding, but when the chariot halted there
he sprang down and entered in a gloomy silence, followed by the jarl.
"Home, now," commanded the officer of the legionaries. "Our duty is
done."
Back with them went all servants of the governor, but Caius was in an
inner room removing his armor.
"I wore no armlets," he said, "lest the governor might see them. The
arrow went past my shield while I threw a spear. Thou hast done well, O
Saxon chief. But for thee I had been murdered. This is a small wound."
"I will suck it for thee before I bind it," said Ulric. "Then watch
thou if it beginneth to burn, but set thou out hence before dawn."
"That will I this hour," said Caius, and orders went forth.
Great was the declared wrath of the governor of Samaria, for he came
himself to inquire concerning the welfare of his guest. Not to him
was anything said of a groove in an arrow wherein might be pressed
some deadly juice, and he returned to his palace a seeming friend of
Caius, complaining bitterly of the Jews and Samaritans, more of whom he
threatened to slaughter for this night's business.
Ulric cared for his men. They had cuts and bruises which they made
light of, but among them was no arrow wound. So light a missile would
have been stopped by a leathern hauberk, and all their mail was of the
highest temper of steel.
"We will ride soon," he told them. "Be ready to mount and leave this
place of thieves."
"I like it well!" exclaimed Knud the Bear. "It was not a hard fight, as
if these fellows had been Danes or Northmen, but I cleft many skulls
and I think Wulf the Skater killed a score of them. Tostig was unlucky,
and Ven, the son of Gerta, slew more Samaritans that he did."
"He did not," said Wulf. "Thy counting is not good. And I slew two men
in armor also."