THE SCHOOL OF GAMALIEL.
With all honor did the captain of the Damascus gate of Jerusalem
receive Caius of Thessalonica, the friend of Pontius the Spearman. The
chariot halted before the gate and in it sat the stern Roman centurion,
giving no external token of a wound or of suffering.
"O noble Caius," said the captain, after his first greeting, "I have
this, also, for thee from the procurator, that his physician, who is
also thine, hath gone before thee to thy house. May the gods give him
both skill and success."
"I thank the procurator and thee, also," said Caius. "I will now drive
on."
"A moment, O most noble Caius," interrupted the officer of the guard.
"A messenger even now. He is from the procurator."
There was no stir among the mounted swordsmen who rode before and
behind the chariot, but they sent quick glances to each other as their
eyes fell upon this messenger.
"Silence, O jarl," he had said in Greek to Ulric as he drew near him.
"I shall go with thee speedily. I thank the gods that I now see thee
again. I can do many good things for thee and thine. I pray thee bid
them, also, to be as if we were strangers."
"They need no bidding," said Ulric. "Hael to thee."
No further word did either of them speak, but Lysias waited at the side
of the chariot while Caius read the parchment epistle. It was but
brief, and when it was ended the centurion said to Lysias:
"Go thou and come again. I will answer for thee to Pontius. Say that I
bid him be with me within the hour lest evil come. Haste! On thy head!
O charioteer, drive to my house! On, O jarl!"
"Behold," thought Lysias, "I am in a sore strait. Pontius will scourge
me! But I will run."
A swift runner was he, even with the mail upon him, and at the gate of
the procurator's palace he halted to draw breath.
"In! In!" exclaimed the officer of the portal. "I will announce thee.
The procurator giveth a feast, but I may go to him. This must be some
strange errand!"
"The gods be with thee!" said Lysias. "Tell him!"
It was but a few terrible moments, full of fear for the young Greek,
and he stood in an anteroom before the stern Spearman.
"What did I bid thee?" he demanded.
"Slay thou me if thou wilt, most noble procurator," bravely responded
Lysias, "but Caius of Thessalonica sendeth thee greeting and these
words: 'Be thou with me within the hour lest evil come.' I beg thee, O
Pontius, let me say this much more: for I heard him whisper, 'Lest he
give his power into the hand of him of the Black Castle and his neck to
the headsman of Cæsar.' I have not at all disobeyed thee, O Pontius. He
bade me return to his house for another commandment."
"Be thou there on his arrival and I will count it thy strict
obedience," said Pontius. "Thou art not a legionary, nor under the law
of the legion. I think thou servest me well."
Away ran Lysias murmuring: "So narrow is the measure between Roman
favor and Roman vengeance! He may die ere I risk his wrath again."
Nevertheless, it is not easy for one of the great to depart from a
feast whereat governors and senators and princes are reclining, and
Pontius went in to pay the duty of host to his many guests, so that
Lysias was in no peril concerning his errand.
The chariot had reached its halting place and Caius had walked into his
house, upheld somewhat by his pride, but more by the arm of Ulric, the
son of Brander.
Already the physician had examined the wound made by the Syrian grooved
arrow.
"O Saxon," he asked, "thou didst suck this poison well and quickly?"
Ulric did but nod his head.
"Then know thou, my lord Caius," said the man of skill, "that but for
thy swordsman thou wert already dead. I will do what I can for thee,
but it will be long before thou wilt bear thine armor. This wound must
be neither bandaged nor closed, but washed only and kept open. Saxon,
give me thy sharpest blade."
"It is my seax," said Ulric, drawing it. "What am I to do?"
"Cut into this hard swelling," said the physician. "Cut the depth of
two finger breadths and withdraw thy blade."
"Cut!" said Caius. "Am I afraid of an edge?"
"So bidden, I will cut," said Ulric, and the sword point went into the
swollen arm.
"I thought so," said the physician. "With that green corruption
spurteth out much evil. Widen the cut. Caius is saved. I will put into
the gash an ointment that I will bring. It is well for thee, O Caius,
that thy strong swordsman is thy trusty friend. I go."
Behind them, by express authority, now stood Lysias, listening, and he
said:
"Most noble Caius, this is my command from the procurator. I must go to
him."
"Tell thou him the saying of the physician," said Caius. "Tell him,
also, that I change not my greeting. He must come."
Again went Lysias, and again he stood before the procurator telling all
that he had heard and seen.
"Pause thou here a moment," said Pontius. "I would have speech with my
wife."
Still as a statue stood the young Greek, and none who came or went
dared ask him whence he came, but suddenly an arm was around his neck
and a kiss was upon his cheek.
"I am here, beloved, but I may not linger. I will see thee often. I am
still thy Sapphira."
He stirred not, spoke not, nor did he turn to see, but there was a
grating of teeth.
"O Lysias! O love!"
"Speak not of that which is dead," he said to her. "Go thou thy way.
This is no place for the foolishness of unfaithful women. I will indeed
meet thee again, but thou art a slave and I am a free warrior. Go!"
White was now the face of Sapphira and her lips were quivering, but she
whispered:
"Scorn me not! I was frightened, and so I was cruel. I do love thee;
and thou wilt need me in this place, which is as a spider's web. I go.
Follow me not!"
"Follow thee?" laughed Lysias, scornfully. "I did follow thee from
far, but now I am as a weapon in the hand of the procurator. I shall
serve not thee, but him."
"Ha!" muttered one who heard. "This is, then, the trusted one. Him we
must slay."
Well for that speaker if his lips had been closed, for in the shadow
behind him stood Pontius the Spearman.
"They who will not betray me must die?" he thought within himself.
"Then do I now know one mark at which my Greek may send his sharpest
arrow and be guiltless. He may slay this Iberian swine with his own
hand."
For the mutterer was a guest who had risen from a table, and he was one
who had been an officer of Herod's household, but was now pretending to
be an enemy of the cunning tetrarch, the jackal of the Black Castle.
The guest returned to his reclining, and Sapphira had vanished as a
lamp that goeth out, but the procurator came forward.
"Say to Caius that I come. Abide thou in his house this night and on
the morrow until I send for thee, save that thou mayest go in the
morning to the school of Gamaliel. Hast thou money for thy uses?"
"O most noble Pontius," said Lysias, "the swift ass that was mine own
is in thy stable. All baggage of mine is in the armory room where thou
didst find me. I have gold and silver pieces enough in my pouch for
this present. I am not poor, so that what I have be not taken from me."
"I will give orders in these thy matters," replied Pontius. "He who
serveth me well is rich enough. Thou shalt have thy swift ass and
such other beasts as thou wilt. Go now. I believe thee brave and
prudent. Thou art young, too, and the girl is fair. Youth is the time
for trifling. Provide thee soon a good bow and arrows of thine own
choosing."
"Thanks, O noble Pontius! Thanks! I will send sure arrows at thy
bidding!" So saying, the young Greek departed.
Long was the conference that night between the Saxons and Lysias.
"We are little surprised," said the jarl, "for we knew thou wert going
to this place. Thou art a good fighter and thou hast rightly taken the
procurator for thy captain. I have heard that he casteth the pilum even
better than do other Romans. I could follow such a man into battle,
knowing that he is fitted to lead. Hast thou found thy Sapphira?"
"Speak not of her, O jarl," said Lysias. "Ere long thou mayest thyself
look upon her, but there is a peril in her name at this hour."
"I read thy face," said Ulric. "Keep thou thine own secret. But thou
mayest say to Pontius the Spearman that he hath no surer friend than
Caius of Thessalonica."
"Even now they are together," replied Lysias. "The procurator will know
all that is known to thy friend, but I fear the careless tongues of thy
Saxons. They speak to one another concerning triremes and old fights at
sea. I would they were in their North country."
"So would not I," said Ulric, "unless I were to sail with them. I may
not now leave this city of Jerusalem, and to sail to the north were to
sail into ice fields. We must wait until the spring."
Not so thought the homesick vikings in their comfortable lodgings in
the house of Caius. Even now they were talking of the sea.
"It is but a few miles to this seaport called Joppa," they said. "We
will learn somewhat concerning the road thither and the shipping. We
are free men, with the Middle Sea so near at hand."
Caius of Thessalonica slept well after his long communing with the
procurator, and when he awoke the jarl sat near him.
"Thou art watchful!" exclaimed Caius. "But in Jerusalem I am safe. I
have to tell thee, however, that thy gladiators may not abide within
the walls. The quarters for such as they are out in the valley of
Jehoshaphat, near the amphitheater. No games are going on at this time,
but there will be abundant sport in the days after the Passover feast,
when Herod cometh."
The jarl's brow darkened, but he said only: "So be it. I will guide
them to their place. I myself will inspect the city and the forts and
offer sacrifices, as I told thee. But this know thou, O noble Caius,
that not in this city nor in any other is treachery dead. I fear for
thee. How is thine arm? I would see it."
"Thou hast knowledge of wounds, but not of poison," replied Caius.
"Uncover it."
The jarl did so, and he looked thoughtfully at the sore and then at the
feverish face of the noble Roman.
"This man will die slowly," he thought, "but he will die, for this
wound healeth not. I will not be here when he dieth, lest I be
deemed by others only fit food for wild beasts. So will I say to my
companions."
"It changeth little," he said aloud to Caius. "Who shall read a thing
like this? I will go and return, but I would my sword might be near
thee if there is need of it."
"Go, O jarl," said Caius. "I will send for thee if I require thee.
Fulfill thy will concerning the city, for all men may come and go. Only
that thou must leave thy weapons from thee or the legionaries will
disarm thee. The Jews, also, go unarmed."
"For that I have no care," said Ulric, "but it were a sore thing for
Tostig the Red, for instance, to have no hilt near his grip."
"March them away quickly!" exclaimed Caius. "While thou art known to be
with me as a guard thou mayest wear thy sword and thy mail. The rules
go no further, for there have been many tumults and much bloodshed in
Jerusalem."
The jarl answered not to that, but took his leave, and not at all as a
servant. Rather did it seem as if the centurion were under his command.
He went to his men, and well pleased were they to find their quarters
were to be without the walls.
"O jarl," said Wulf the Skater, "this is much better. I would thou
wert able now to show us our way to the sea. We have learned much from
Lysias and from others. There is good shipping upon the coast and the
right keel might be found by brave men."
"Also triremes of Cæsar," replied the jarl. "The coast is well guarded.
We will wait a little."
Out into the streets they marched, with him at their head, and many
turned to look upon their array as they went on to the gate. The
dwellers in Jerusalem were accustomed to seeing various kinds of armed
men, but these were unlike any others. Nevertheless, there were devout
Jews who lifted hands to curse them in the name of Jehovah, as heathen
gladiators whose presence was a pollution of the city of God.
The amphitheater, when they came to it, was found to be larger than
that of Tiberias, with more dens for wild beasts and with a better and
longer course for the running of races.
"I have been told," said the circus servitor who guided them, "that
Herod the Great delighted much in horses. Also that one value of the
circus was as a place of execution for tribes who had rebelled against
him. His horsemen on the frontier scouted far and wide for captives and
his cages here were ever full."
"I care not for circuses," said Wulf the Skater. "I have seen enough of
them."
"And I," replied Tostig; "if I might kill an elephant, it would please
me. I have a curiosity to know how long it taketh so huge a beast to
die."
"Thou wilt see elephants enough," said the servitor, "but they do not
often spend them upon the games. They are costly, and they come from
far. Men and women are plentiful, and they make as good sport in the
killing."
The buildings prepared as quarters for trained gladiators, not slaves,
were rude but spacious, and here did Ulric leave his friends while he
returned to the city, but he remembered the saying of Caius concerning
his armor.
"I may wear a tunic and robe only at most times," he said to himself.
"But under the tunic may be a coat of fine mail and hidden by the robe
may be a seax. I will not be defenseless altogether where there are so
many secret daggers as I hear of. I would have speech with Lysias, if I
may. I trust him not entirely, and I forget not that he is now of the
household of the procurator."
Not justly altogether was he thinking of the young Greek, for Lysias
was a man walking among perils and having a wounded heart under his
bright mail and his gay apparel. It was but the next day when he made
his first entrance at the school of Gamaliel. Celebrated over the
inhabited earth was this academy, and many came from distant lands
to hear the teachings of the great and learned rabbi. Among them,
also, were those whose real purpose was to obtain for themselves the
reputation of scholarship through the name of Gamaliel their teacher,
and they were even as Lysias in that matter. In such a company,
however, small attention was paid to one more young Greek, who seemed
to be rich, save that none questioned him unwisely after being informed
that his protector was Pontius the Spearman. Moreover, if there were
those who bowed and made way for him on that account, there were others
who bent their brows and drew aside their garments that he should not
touch them.
"Thou art imprudent," said an elderly man to one of these. "Restrain
thy zeal, I pray thee."
"He is a dog!" growled the zealot. "His heathen master slew my father
causelessly in the temple, mingling his blood with his sacrifice to
Jehovah. I am of Galilee."
"I will ask thee, then," said his adviser, "sawest thou ever this
Galilean prophet who cometh from Nazareth? It is said that he worketh
many wonders."
"I have seen him," said the zealot, "and wonders he doth work. Hath any
other rabbi raised the dead? Who else cleanseth a leper or openeth the
eyes of the blind?"
"If thou liest not," was the surly response, "he is indeed one of the
learned. I will hear his teachings when he cometh to Jerusalem to the
Passover feast. But he will work no wonders here."
"Knowest thou that?" sneered the zealot. "But this thou knowest from
the law, that it is not well for thee to speak evil of a rabbi. He who
revileth one of the learned goeth to Gehenna."
"I reviled him not!" exclaimed the adviser, as if in sudden fear. "I am
a Pharisee of the Pharisees. I am a keeper of the whole law. Verily I
will hear thy rabbi when he speaketh. But beware thou of offending the
procurator!"
"Messiah cometh!" said the Galilean fiercely. "He bringeth a sword! He
will make his garments red in the blood of the heathen!"
"Let not the priests hear thee!" sharply responded the Pharisee. "To
them only is given the discerning of such matters. Thou wilt yet be
cast out of the synagogue."
The angry Galilean walked slowly away. "What know the Pharisees and the
priests concerning Jesus of Nazareth?" he muttered. "I think of him
that he is a more learned rabbi than any here in Jerusalem."
Now Lysias heard these men, and already had he learned from the Saxons
in what manner their jarl had been healed of his hurts in Galilee.
"This prophet!" he thought. "I will see him if I may. Alas for me,
there is no temple here to Mercurius or to Apollo! I have great need
to offer sacrifices. No! not to Juno nor to Venus! They have not dealt
well with me. I think I shall now hate Sapphira when I see her. How is
it then that I also love her, seeing that I would slay her if I could?
This is that strange thing between a fool and a woman."