Immediately, before his companion could stretch forth a hand to help
him, the enraged man had tried to rise, but with a wild curse he sank
again to the ground, and repelled vehemently the attempt of the other
to assist him.
"Let me lie; the foot is broken or the ankle is sprained. No, it is the
knee. I do not know. But I cannot stand--I must be carried."
"I will call the people of the house. The stone-mason is coming
already."
"I will strike him dead if he touches me. I will have no help from him.
On the other side of the road to the left I saw some of my people
spear-throwing on the drill-ground. Call them to me, they shall carry
me away."
And this was done.
While the money-changer had gone for the soldiers Fulvius came forward,
but the Tribune turned away from him and would not speak; silent,
suppressing any utterance of pain, he was carried by the strong Moors
into the town, where they soon obtained a litter and took him to the
Capitol.
In the meanwhile Fulvius had stopped the merchant at the entrance. "Not
over the threshold, most excellent man!" said he, pushing him back. "I
am superstitious; thou hast an evil look. As soon as I caught sight of
thee and the Tribune I hastened to meet you, bringing the money which
lies in that bag ready counted for thee. Here"----and he began to count
out the silver money on the broad coping of the low wall. "Here, count
then! It is reckoned correctly: fifty solidi principal, and at thirty
per cent, interest, fifteen solidi more. And here--for I cannot
transact business with thee without a receipt--on this wax tablet I
have written the acquittance. Take the style, put thy name to it, and
go thy way, never to return."
But with his lean hand Zeno pushed back disdainfully the silver pieces,
so that they fell rattling on the stone slab and rolled round about.
"We do not separate so quickly, hospitable landlord and grateful
debtor."
"Grateful! Thirty per cent, is, I think, thanks enough, and one is not
hospitable to harpies and vampires. Take what belongs to thee and go!"
"When I have taken that which belongs to me," answered the Byzantiner
fiercely, "then, not I, but _thou_, wilt go out of this house--out of
this whole property."
"What does that mean?"
"That means, that my business is not merely with the fifty miserable
solidi with interest. Thou art my debtor for more than twenty times
that sum; mine is the house, mine the whole possession, most probably
thyself also, at this moment, with every bone in thy body; mine also
that slave daughter, who peeps anxiously there between the curtains,
with the child at her breast. Mother-sheep and lamb are my own."
So maliciously were these words uttered, at first lightly whispered,
then in rising anger, ever louder and more threatening, that Fulvius,
alarmed, looked back to see if his young wife had perceived this
disaster.
But Felicitas had again disappeared behind the curtain, satisfied that
the wild officer, whom she feared, she knew not why, was no longer
there. She knew well that the money was ready for the usurer.
Smiling, she bade farewell to her guest, who had emptied his beaker and
now took his departure. Not a cloud overshadowed her white brow as she
now sat down on the couch, and with a sweet smile on her maiden-like
countenance raised the waking child, and proceeded to give it
nourishment.
Zeno still delaying, Fulvius in fear and anger pushed him with his
elbow a step farther from the entrance; the muscles of his naked arms
tightened, his hands clenched; threatening but speechless, he stood
before the man who had spoken such fearful words.
Crispus now came forward; he seized his young nephew firmly by the
wrist of his right arm, which he was slowly raising for a blow.
"What means this?" cried the fat uncle, anxiously.
Fulvius spoke not a word.
But Zeno answered: "This means, that I have bought this property from
the Imperial Exchequer, with all the old claims for State taxes, and
seven times the rent due to the Emperor, for which, according to the
accounts, this tenant and his father are many decades in arrear; this
makes, together with the fines, a debt of seven thousand solidi."
Crispus calculated in an instant that if even he gave his whole
possessions to save his nephew, they would not amount to a seventh part
of this sum.
"That means," continued Zeno, "that as there is no doubt about the
inability of the debtor to pay, I claim him as my slave for debt, and
shall to-morrow be installed by the magistrate into the property."
"Oh, Felicitas!" groaned Fulvius.
"Be calm; I will take mother and child home with me till the suit is
decided," comforted the good-natured uncle.
"Law-suit?" laughed Zeno. "A suit that begins with its accomplishment
is quickly decided. My claim is indubitably shown by the Imperial
tax-rolls; they give positive evidence, and that young creature"----
"Wilt thou also claim the wife for the debt of her husband? That is not
Roman justice," cried Crispus.
"Stay with thy ridiculous statues, and do not teach me justice and its
ways. The young wife is a slave-child, the property of the master of
her parents. This man died without a will, without assignable heirs.
His property fell to the Exchequer; to the Exchequer belonged the
parents and belongs the child."
"The old Krates set the parents and the child free before his death."
"Where is the letter of emancipation?"
And when both were silent the usurer continued in a triumphant tone:
"You are silent? It is, then, as I suspected: the papyrus was destroyed
when her parents' house was burnt in the rising of the people against
the tax-collectors. Her birth as a slave is undisputed, the letter of
emancipation is not forthcoming, therefore she and her slave-brood are
mine."
The young husband was overcome with passion and anguish, and a blow
with his fist on the breast of the villain sent him staggering
backwards. "Hast thou, then, thou old sinner, purchased my wife in
advance from the Fiscus, as thou hast also me and my house?"
"No," said he, exasperated, "the beautiful Greek belongs to a handsome
young lord, who suits her better. A lion will soon drag her to his den.
Thou knowest well what kind of suitor the lion is."
"The Tribune!" cried Fulvius. "I will strangle him first with these
fists; and thou, panderer, take"----
But Crispus slung both arms around him, holding him fast.
So Zeno gained time to make his escape. He quickly mounted the path
which led to the main road; when he had gained the height he turned and
looked through the bushes at the villa. He raised his fist menacingly,
and cried to the two men, "Woe to the vanquished!"