This reserved, thoroughly self-reliant creature would never have betrayed
to any human being what moved her soul and filled it some times with
inspiring hope, sometimes with a consuming desire for vengeance; but
Ledscha did not shrink from confiding it to the demons who were to help
her to regain her composure.
So, obeying a swift impulse, she threw herself on her knees by the old
woman's side. Then, supporting her head with her hands, she gazed at the
still glimmering fire, and, as if one memory after another received new
life from it, she began the difficult confession:
"I returned from my sister's brick-kiln a fortnight ago," she commenced,
while the sorceress leaned her deaf ear nearer to her lips.
"During my absence something--I know not what it was--had saddened the
cheerful spirits of my young sister Taus. At the recent festival of
Astarte she regained them, and obtained some beautiful bright flowers to
make wreaths for herself and me. So we joined the procession of the
Tennis maidens and, as the fairest, they placed us directly behind the
daughters of Hiram.
"When we were about to go home after the sacrifice, two young Greeks
approached us and greeted Hiram's daughters and my sister also.
"One was a quiet young man, with narrow shoulders and light, curling
hair; the other towered above him in stature. His powerful figure was
magnificently formed, and he carried his head with its splendid black
beard proudly.
"Since the gods snatched Abus from me, though so many men had wooed me,
I had cared for no one; but the fair-haired Greek with the sparkling
light in his blue eyes and the faint flush on his cheeks pleased me, and
his name, 'Myrtilus,' fell upon my ear like music. I was glad when he
joined me and asked, as simply as though he were merely inquiring the
way, why he had never seen me, the loveliest among the beauties in the
temple, in Tennis.
"I scarcely noticed the other. Besides, he seemed to have eyes only for
Taus and the daughters of Hiram. He played all sorts of pranks with
them, and they laughed so heartily that, fearing the strangers, of whom
there was no lack, might class them with the Hieroduli who followed the
sailors and young men in the temple grottoes, I motioned to Taus to
restrain herself.
"Hermon--this was the name of the tall, bearded man--noticed it and
turned toward me. In doing so his eyes met mine, and it seemed as though
sweet wine flowed through my veins, for I perceived that my appearance
paralyzed his reckless tongue. Yet he did not accost me; but Myrtilus,
the fair one, entreated me not to lessen for the beautiful children the
pleasure to which we are all born.
"I thought this remark foolish--how much sorrow and how little pleasure
I had experienced from childhood!--so I only shrugged my shoulders
disdainfully.
"Then the black-bearded man asked if, young and beautiful as I was,
I had forgotten to believe in mirth and joy. My reply was intended to
tell him that, though this was not the case, I did not belong to those
who spent their lives in loud laughing and extravagant jests.
"The answer was aimed at the black-bearded man's reckless conduct; but
the fair-haired one parried the attack in his stead, and retorted that
I seemed to misunderstand his friend. Pleasure belonged to a festival,
as light belonged to the sun; but usually Hermon laboured earnestly, and
only a short time before he had saved the little daughter of Gula, the
sailor's wife, from a burning house.
"The other did not let Myrtilus finish, but exclaimed that this would
only confirm my opinion of him, for this very leap into the flames had
afforded him the utmost joy.
"The words fell from his bearded lips as if the affair was very simple, a
mere matter of course, yet I knew that the bold deed had nearly cost him
his life--I said to myself that no one but our Abus would have done it,
and then I may have looked at him more kindly, for he cried out that I,
too, understood how to smile, and would never cease doing so if I knew
how it became me.
"As he spoke he turned away from the girls to my side, while Myrtilus
joined them. Hermon's handsome face had become grave and thoughtful, and
when our eyes met I could have wished that they would never part again.
But on account of the others I soon looked down at the ground and we
walked on in this way, side by side, for some distance; but as he did not
address a word to me, only sometimes gazed into my face as if seeking or
examining, I grew vexed and asked him why he, who had just entertained
the others gaily enough, had suddenly become so silent.
"He shook his head and answered--every word impressed itself firmly upon
my memory: 'Because speech fails even the eloquent when confronted with a
miracle.'
"What, except me and my beauty, could be meant by that? But he probably
perceived how strangely his words confused me, for he suddenly seized my
hand, pressing it so firmly that it hurt me, and while I tried to
withdraw it he whispered, 'How the immortals must love you, that they
lend you so large a share of their own divine beauty!'"
"Greek honey," interposed the sorceress, "but strong enough to turn
such a poor young head. And what more happened? The demons desire to
hear all--all--down to the least detail--all!"
"The least detail?" repeated Ledscha reluctantly, gazing into vacancy as
if seeking aid. Then, pressing her hand on her brow, she indignantly
exclaimed: "Ah, if I only knew myself how it conquered me so quickly!
If I could understand and put it into intelligible words, I should need
no stranger's counsel to regain my peace of mind. But as it is! I was
driven by my anxiety from temple to temple, and now to you and your
demons. I went from hour to hour as though in a burning fever. If I
left the house firmly resolved to bethink myself and, as I had bidden my
sister, avoid danger and the gossip of the people, my feet still led me
only where he desired to meet me. Oh, and how well he understood how to
flatter, to describe my beauty! Surely it was impossible not to believe
in it and trust its power!"
Here she hesitated, and while gazing silently into vacancy a sunny light
flitted over her grave face, and, drawing a long breath, she began again:
"I could curse those days of weakness and ecstasy which now--at least I
hope so--are over. Yet they were wonderfuly beautiful, and never can I
forget them!"
Here she again bowed her head silently, but the old dame nodded
encouragingly, saying eagerly; "Well, well! I understand all that, and
I shall learn what more is coming, for whatever appears in the mirror of
the wine is infallible--but it must become still more distinct. Let me--
first conjure up the seventy-seven great and the seven hundred and
seventy-seven little demons. They will do their duty, if you open your
heart to us without reserve."
This demand sounded urgent enough, and Ledscha pressed her head against
the old woman's shoulder as if seeking assistance, exclaiming: "I can
not--no, I can not! As if the spirits who obey you did not know already
what had happened and will happen in the future! Let them search the
depths of my soul. There they will see, with their own eyes, what I
should never, never succeed in describing. I could not tell even you,
grandmother, for who among the Biamites ever found such lofty, heart-
bewitching words as Hermon? And what looks, what language he had at
command, when he desired to put an end to my jealous complaints! Could I
still be angry with him, when he confessed that there were other beauties
here whom he admired, and then gazed deep into my eyes and said that when
I appeared they all vanished like the stars at sunrise? Then every
reproach was forgotten, and resentment was transformed into doubly ardent
longing. This, however, by no means escaped his keen glance, which
detects everything, and so he urged me with touching, ardent entreaties
to go with him to his studio, though but for one poor, brief hour."
"And you granted his wish?" Tabus anxiously interrupted.
"Yes," she answered frankly, "but it was the evening of the day before
yesterday--that was the only time. Secrecy--nothing, Grand mother, was
more hateful to me from childhood."
"But he," the old woman again interrupted, "he--I know it--he praised it
to you as the noblest virtue."
A silent nod from Ledscha confirmed this conjecture, and she added
hesitatingly: "'Only far from the haunts of men,' he said, 'when the
light had vanished, did we hear the nightingale trill in the dark
thickets. Those are his own words, and though it angers you,
Grandmother, they are true."
"Until the secrecy is over, and the sun shines upon misery," the
sorceress answered in her faltering speech, with menacing severity.
"And beneath the tempter's roof you enjoyed the lauded secret love until
the cock roused you?"
"No," replied Ledscha firmly. "Did I ever tell you a lie, that you look
at me so incredulously?"
"Incredulously?" replied the old woman in protest. "I only trembled at
the danger into which you plunged."
"There could be no greater peril," the girl admitted. "I foresaw it
clearly enough, and yet--this is the most terrible part of it--yet my
feet moved as if obeying a will of their own, instead of mine, and when I
crossed his threshold, resistance was silenced, for I was received like a
princess. The lofty, spacious apartment was brilliantly illuminated, and
the door was garlanded with flowers.
"It was magnificent! Then, in a manner as respectful as if welcoming an
illustrious guest, he invited me to take my place opposite to him, that
he might form a goddess after my model. This was the highest flattery of
all, and I willingly assumed the position he directed, but he looked at
me from every side, with sparkling eyes, and asked me to let down my hair
and remove the veil from the back of my head. Then--need I assure you
of it?--my blood boiled with righteous indignation; but instead of being
ashamed of the outrage, he raised his hand to my head and pulled the
veil. Resentment and wrath suddenly flamed in my soul, and before he
could detain me I had left the room. In spite of his representations and
entreaties, I did not enter it again."
"Yet," asked the sorceress in perplexity, "you once more obeyed his
summons?"
"Yesterday also I could not help it," Ledscha answered softly.
"Fool!" cried Tabus indignantly, but the girl exclaimed, in a tone of
sincere shame: "You do well to call me that. Perhaps I deserve still
harsher names, for, in spite of the sternness with which I forbade him
ever to remind me of the studio by even a single word, I soon listened to
him willingly when he besought me, if I really loved him, not to refuse
what would make him happy. If I allowed him to model my figure, his
renown and greatness would be secured. And how clearly he made me
understand this! I could not help believing it, and at last promised
that, in spite of my father and the women of Tennis, I would grant all,
all, and accompany him again to the work room if he would have patience
until the night of the next day but one, when the moon would be at the
full."
"And he?" asked Tabus anxiously.
"He called the brief hours which I required him to wait an eternity,"
replied the girl, "and they seemed no less long to me--but neither
entreaties nor urgency availed; what you predicted for me from the
cords last year strengthened my courage. I should wantonly throw away--
I constantly reminded myself--whatever great good fortune Fate destined
for me if I yielded to my longing and took prematurely what was already
so close at hand; for--do you remember?--at that time it was promised
that on a night when the moon was at the full a new period of the utmost
happiness would begin for me. And now--unless everything deceives me--
now it awaits me. Whether it will come with the full moon of to-morrow
night, or the next, or the following one, your spirits alone can know;
but yesterday was surely too soon to expect the new happiness."
"And he?" asked the old dame.
"He certainly did not make it easy for me," was the reply, "but as I
remained firm, he was obliged to yield. I granted only his earnest
desire to see me again this evening. I fancy I can still hear him
exclaim, with loving impetuosity, that he hated every day and every night
which kept him from me. And now? Now? For another's sake he lets me
wait for him in vain, and if his slave does not lie, this is only the
beginning of his infamous, treacherous game."
She had uttered the last words in a hoarse cry, but Tabus answered
soothingly: "Hush, child, hush! The first thing is to see clearly, if I
am to interpret correctly what is shown me here. The demons are to be
fully informed they have required it. But you? Did you come to hear
whether the spirits still intend to keep the promise they made then?"
Ledscha eagerly assented to this question, and the old woman continued
urgently: "Then tell me first what suddenly incenses you so violently
against the man whom you have so highly praised?"
The girl related what had formerly been rumoured in Tennis, and which she
had just heard from the slave.
He had lured other women--even her innocent young sister--to his studio.
Now he wanted to induce Ledscha to go there, not from love, but merely to
model her limbs so far as he considered them useful for his work. He was
in haste to do so because he intended to return to the capital
immediately. Whether he meant to leave her in the lurch after using her
for his selfish purposes, she also desired to learn from the sorceress.
But she would ask him that question herself to-morrow. Woe betide him if
the spirits recognised in him the deceiver she now believed him.
Hitherto Tabus had listened quietly, but when she closed her passionate
threats with the exclamation that he also deserved punishment for
alienating Gula, the sailor's wife, from her absent husband, the
enchantress also lost her composure and cried out angrily: "If that is
true, if the Greek really committed that crime--then certainly. The
foreigners destroy, with their laughing levity, much that is good among
us. We must endure it; but whoever broke the Biamite's marriage bond,
from the earliest times, forfeited his life, and so, the gods be
thanked, it has remained. This very last year the fisherman Phabis
killed with a hammer the Alexandrian clerk who had stolen into his house,
and drowned his faithless wife. But your lover--though you should weep
for sorrow till your eyes are red--"
"I would denounce the traitor, if he made himself worthy of death,"
Ledscha passionately interrupted, with flashing eyes. "What portion of
the slave's charge is true will appear at once--and if it proves correct,
to morrow's full moon shall indeed bring me the greatest bliss; for
though, when I was younger and happier, I contradicted Abus when he
declared that one thing surpassed even the raptures of love--satisfied
vengeance--now I would agree with him."
A loud cry of "Right! right!" from the old crone's lips expressed the
gray-haired Biamite's pleasure in this worthy daughter of her race.
Then she again gazed at the wine in the vessel, and this time she did so
silently, as if spellbound by the mirror on its bottom.
At last, raising her aged head, she said in a tone of the most sincere
compassion: "Poor child! Yes, you would be cruelly and shamefully
deceived. Tear your love for this man from your heart, like poisonous
hemlock. But the full moon which is to bring you great happiness is
scarcely the next, perhaps not even the one which follows it, but surely
and certainly a later one will rise, by whose light the utmost bliss
awaits you. True, I see it come from another man than the Greek."
The girl had listened with panting breath. She believed as firmly in the
infallibility of the knowledge which the witch received from the demons
who obeyed her as she did in her own existence.
All her happiness, all that had filled her joyous soul with freshly
awakened hopes, now lay shattered at her feet, and sobbing aloud she
threw herself down beside the old woman and buried her beautiful face in
her lap.
Completely overwhelmed by the great misfortune which had come upon her,
without thinking of the vengeance which had just made her hold her head
so proudly erect, or the rare delight which a later full moon was to
bring, she remained motionless, while the old woman, who loved her and
who remembered an hour in the distant past when she herself had been
dissolved in tears at the prediction of another prophetess, laid her
trembling hand upon her head.
Let the child weep her fill.
Time, perhaps vengeance also, cured many a heartache, and when they had
accomplished this office upon the girl who had once been betrothed to her
grandson, perhaps the full moon bringing happiness, whose appearance
first the cords, then the wine mirror in the bottom of the vessel had
predicted, would come to Ledscha, and she believed she knew at whose side
the girl could regain what she had twice lost--satisfaction for the young
heart that yearned for love.
"Only wait, wait," she cried at last, repeating the consoling words again
and again, till Ledscha raised her tear-stained face.
Impulse urged her to kiss the sufferer, but as she bent over the mourner
the copper dish slipped from her knees and fell rattling on the floor.
Ledscha started up in terror, and at the same moment the Alexandrian's
packs of hounds on the shore opposite to the Owl's Nest began to bark so
loudly that the deaf old woman heard the baying as if it came from a
great distance; but the girl ran out into the open air and, returning at
the end of a few minutes, called joyously to the sorceress from the
threshold, "They are coming!"
"They, they," faltered Tabus, hurriedly pushing her disordered gray hair
under the veil on the back of her head, while exclaiming, scarcely able
to use her voice in her joyous excitement: "I knew it. He keeps his word.
My Satabus is coming. The ducks, the bread, the fish, girl! Good, loyal
heart."
Then a wide, long shadow fell across the dimly lighted room, and from the
darkened threshold a strangely deep, gasping peal of laughter rang from a
man's broad breast.
"Satabus! My boy!" the witch's shriek rose above the peculiar sound.
"Mother!" answered the gray-bearded lips of the pirate.
For one short moment he remained standing at the door with outstretched
arms. Then he took a step toward the beloved being from whom he had been
separated more than two years, and suddenly throwing himself down before
her, while his huge lower limbs covered part of the floor, he stretched
his hands toward the little crooked old woman, who had not strength to
rise from her crouching posture, and seizing her with loving impetuosity,
lifted her as if she were a child, and placing her on his knees, drew her
into a close embrace.
Tabus willingly submitted to this act of violence, and passing her thin
left arm around her son's bull neck with her free hand, patted his
bearded cheeks, wrinkled brow, and bushy, almost white hair.
No intelligible words passed the lips of either the mother or the son at
this meeting; nothing but a confused medley of tender and uncouth natural
sounds, which no language knows.
Yet they understood each other, and Ledscha, who had moved silently
aside, also comprehended that these low laughs, moans, cries, and
stammers were the expressions of love of two deeply agitated hearts,
and for a moment an emotion of envy seized her.
The gods had early bereft her of her mother, while this savage fighter
against the might of the waves, justice, law, and their pitiless, too
powerful defenders, this man, already on the verge of age, still
possessed his, and sunned his rude heart in her love.
It was some time before the old pirate had satisfied his yearning for
affection and placed his light burden down beside the fire.
Tabus now regained the power to utter distinct words, and, difficult as
it was for her half paralyzed tongue to speak, she poured a flood of
tender pet names and affectionate thanks upon the head of her rude son,
the last one left, who had grown gray in bloody warfare; but with the
eyes of her soul she again saw in him the little boy whom, with warm
maternal love, she had once pressed to her breast and cradled in her
arms.
When, in his rough fashion, he warmly returned her professions of
tenderness, her eyes grew wet with tears, and at the question what he
could still find in her, a withered, good-for-nothing little creature who
just dragged along from one day to another, an object of pity to herself,
he again burst into his mighty laugh, and his deep voice shouted: "Do you
want to know that? But where would be the lime that holds us on the
ships if you were no longer here? The best capture wouldn't be worth a
drachm if we could not say, 'Hurrah! how pleased the old mother will be
when she hears it!' And when things go badly, when men have been wounded
or perished in the sea, we should despair of our lives if we did not know
that whatever troubles our hearts the old mother feels, too, and we shall
always get from her the kind words needed to press on again. And then,
when the strait is sore and life is at stake, whence would come the
courage to cast the die if we did not know that you are with us day and
night, and will send your spirits to help us if the need is great?
Hundreds of times they rushed to our aid just at the right time, and
assisted us to hew off the hand of the foe which was already choking us.
But that is only something extra, which we could do without, if
necessary. That you are here, that a man still has his dear mother,
whose heart wishes us everything good and our foes death and destruction,
whose aged eyes will weep if anything harms us, that, mother dear, that
is the main thing!"
He bent his clumsy figure over her as he spoke, and cautiously, as if he
were afraid of doing her some injury, kissed her head with tender care.
Then, rising, he turned to Ledscha, whom he always regarded as his dead
son's betrothed bride, and greeted her with sincere kindness.
Her great beauty strengthened his plan of uniting her to his oldest son,
and when the latter entered the house he cast a searching glance at him.
The result was favourable, for a smile of satisfaction flitted over his
scarred features.
The young pirate's stately figure was not inferior in height to the old
one's, but his shoulders were narrower, his features less broad and full,
and his hair and beard had the glossy raven hue of the blackbird's
plumage.
The young man paused on the threshold in embarrassment, and gazed at
Ledscha with pleased surprise. When he saw her last his grandmother had
not been stricken by paralysis, and the girl was the promised wife of his
older brother, to whom custom forbade him to raise his eyes.
He had thought of her numberless times as the most desirable of women.
Now nothing prevented his wooing her, and finding her far more beautiful
than memory had showed her, strengthened his intention of winning her.
This purpose had matured in the utmost secrecy. He had concealed it even
from his father and his brother Labaja, who was still keeping watch on
the ships, for he had a reserved disposition, and though obliged to obey
his father, wherever it was possible he pursued his own way.
Though Satabus shared Hanno's wish, it vexed him that at this meeting,
after so long a separation, his son should neglect his beloved and
honoured mother for the sake of a beautiful girl. So, turning his back
on Ledscha, he seized the young giant's shoulder with a powerful grip to
drag him toward the old woman; but Hanno perceived his error, and now, in
brief but affectionate words, showed his grandmother that he, too,
rejoiced at seeing her again.
The sorceress gazed at her grandson's stalwart figure with a pleasant
smile, and, after welcoming him, exclaimed to Ledscha: "It seems as if
Abus had risen from the grave."
The girl vouchsafed her dead lover's brother a brief glance, and, while
pouring oil upon the fish in the pan, answered carelessly: "He is a
little like him."
"Not only in person," remarked the old pirate, with fatherly pride, and
pointing to the broad scar across the young man's forehead, visible even
in the dim light, he added by way of explanation: "When we took vengeance
for Abus, he bore away that decoration of honour. The blow nearly made
him follow his brother, but the youth first sent the souls of half a
dozen enemies to greet him in the nether world."
Then Ledscha held out her hand to Hanno, and permitted him to detain it
till an ardent glance from his black eyes met hers, and she withdrew it
blushing. As she did so she said to Tabus: "You can put them on the
fire, and there stands whatever else you need. I must go home now."
In taking leave of the men she asked if she could hope to find them here
again the next day. "The full moon will make it damnably light," replied
the father, "but they will scarcely venture to assail the right of
asylum, and the ships anchored according to regulation at Tanis, with a
cargo of wood from Sinope. Besides, for two years people have believed
that we have abandoned these waters, and the guards think that if we
should return, the last time to choose would be these bright nights.
Still, I should not like to decide anything positively about the morrow
until news came from Labaja."
"You will find me, whatever happens," Hanno declared after his father had
ceased speaking. Old Tabus exchanged a swift glance with her son, and
Satabus said: "He is his own master. If I am obliged to go--which may
happen--then, my girl, you must be content with the youth. Besides, you
are better suited to him than to the graybeard."
He shook hands with Ledscha as he spoke, and Hanno accompanied her to her
boat.
At first he was silent, but as she was stepping into the skiff he
repeated his promise of meeting her here the following night.
"Very well," she answered quickly. "Perhaps I may have a commission to
give you."
"I will fulfil it," he answered firmly.
"To-morrow, then," she called, "unless something unexpected
prevents."
But when seated on the thwart she again turned to him, and asked: "Does
it need a long time to bring your ship, with brave men on board, to this
place?"
"We can be here in four hours, and with favourable winds still sooner,"
was the reply.
"Even if it displeases your father?"
"Even then, and though the gods, many as there are, should forbid--if
only your gratitude will be gained."
"It will," she answered firmly, and the water plashed lightly under the
strokes of her oars.
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
Cast my warning to the winds, pity will also fly away with it
Must--that word is a ploughshare which suits only loose soil
Tender and uncouth natural sounds, which no language knows
There is nothing better than death, for it is peace
Tone of patronizing instruction assumed by the better informed
Wait, child! What is life but waiting?