The property of the freedman Pyrrhus was a flat rock in the northern
part of the harbour, scarcely larger than the garden of Didymus at the
Corner of the Muses, a desolate spot where neither tree nor blade of
grass grew. It was called the Serpent Island, though the inhabitants had
long since rid it of these dangerous guests, which lived in great
numbers in the neighbouring cliffs. Not even the poorest crops would
grow in soil so hostile to life, and those who chose it for a home were
compelled to bring even the drinking-water from the continent.
This desert, around which hovered gulls, sea-swallows, and sea-eagles,
had been for several weeks the abode of the fugitives, Dion and Barine.
They still occupied the two rooms which had been assigned to them on
their arrival. During the day the sun beat fiercely down upon the yellow
chalky rock. There was no shade save in the house and at the foot of a
towering cliff in the southern part of the island, the fishermen's
watch-tower.
There were no works of human hands save a little Temple of Poseidon, an
altar of Isis, the large house owned by Pyrrhus, solidly constructed by
Alexandrian masons, and a smaller one for the freedman's married sons
and their families. A long wooden frame, on which nets were strung to
dry, rose on the shore. Near it, towards the north, in the open sea, was
the anchorage of the larger sea-going ships and the various skiffs and
boats of the fisher folk. Dionikos, Pyrrhus's youngest son, who was
still unmarried, built new boats and repaired the old ones.
His two strong, taciturn brothers, with their wives and children, his
father Pyrrhus, his wife and their youngest child, a daughter, Dione, a
few dogs, cats, and chickens, composed the population of the Serpent
Island.
Such were the surroundings of the newly wedded pair, who had been reared
in the capital. At first many things were strange to them, but they
accommodated themselves to circumstances with a good grace, and both had
admitted to each other, long before, that life had never been so equable
and peaceful.
During the first week Dion's wound and fever still harassed him, but the
prediction of Pyrrhus that the pure, fresh sea-air would benefit the
sufferer had been fulfilled, and the monotonous days had passed swiftly
enough to the young bride in caring for the invalid.
The wife of Pyrrhus--"mother," as they all called her--had proved to be
a skilful nurse, and her daughters-in-law and young Dione were faithful
and nimble assistants. During the time of anxiety and nursing, Barine
had formed a warm friendship for them. If the taciturn men avoided using
a single unnecessary word, the women were all the more ready to gossip;
and it was a pleasure to talk to pretty Dione, who had grown up on the
island and was eager to hear about the outside world.
Dion had long since left his couch and the house, and each day looked
happier, more content with himself and his surroundings. At first his
feverish visions had shown him his dead mother, pointing anxiously at
his new-made wife, as if to warn him against her. During his
convalescence he remembered them and they conjured up the doubt whether
Barine could endure the solitude of this desolate cliff, whether she
would not lose the bright serenity of soul whose charm constantly
increased. Would it be any marvel if she should pine with longing in
this solitude, and even suffer physically from their severe privations?
The perception that love now supplied the place of all which she had
lost pleased him, but he forbade himself to expect that this condition
of affairs could be lasting. Nothing save exaggerated self-conceit would
induce the hope. But he must have undervalued his own power of
attraction--or Barine's love--for with each passing week the cheerful
serenity of her disposition gained fresh steadfastness and charm. He,
too, had the same experience; it was long since he had felt so vigorous,
untrammelled, and free from care. His sole regret was the impossibility
of sharing the political life of the city at this critical period; and
at times he felt some little anxiety concerning the fate and management
of his property, though, even if his estates were confiscated, he would
still retain a competence which he had left in the hands of a
trustworthy money-changer. Barine shared everything that concerned him,
even these moods, and this led him to tell her about the affairs of the
city and the state, in which she had formerly taken little interest, his
property in Alexandria and the provinces. With what glad appreciation
she listened, when she went out with him from the northern anchorage on
the open sea, or sat during long winter evenings making nets, an art
which she had learned from Dione!
Her lute had been sent to her from the city, and what pleasure her
singing afforded her husband and herself; how joyously their hosts, old
and young, listened to the melody!
A few book-rolls had also come, and Dion enjoyed discussing their
contents with Barine. He himself read very little, for he was rarely
indoors during the day. The fourth week after his arrival he was able to
aid, with arms whose muscles had been steeled in the palæstra, the men
in their fishing, and Dionikos in his boat-building.
The close, constant, uninterrupted companionship of the married pair
revealed to each unexpected treasures in the other, which, perhaps,
might have remained forever concealed in city life. Here each was
everything to the other, and this undisturbed mutual life soon inspired
that blissful consciousness of inseparable union which usually appears
only after years, as the fairest fruit of a marriage founded on love.
Doubtless there were hours when Barine longed to see her mother and
others who were dear to her, but the letters which arrived from time to
time prevented this yearning from becoming a source of actual pain.
Prudence required them to restrict their intercourse with the city. But,
whenever Pyrrhus went to market, letters reached the island delivered at
the fish auction in the harbour by Anukis, Charmian's Nubian maid, to
the old freedman, who had become her close friend.
So the time came when Dion could say without self-deception that Barine
was content in this solitude, and that his love and companionship
supplied the place of the exciting, changeful life of the capital.
Though letters came from her mother, sister, or Charmian, her
grandfather, Gorgias, or Archibius, not one transformed the wish to
leave her desolate hiding-place into actual homesickness, but each
brought fresh subjects for conversation, and among them many which, by
arousing the interest of both, united them more firmly.
The second month of their flight a letter arrived from Archibius, in
which he informed them that they might soon form plans for their return,
for Alexas, the Syrian, had proved a malicious traitor. He had not
performed the commission entrusted to him of winning Herod to Antony's
cause, but treacherously deserted his patron and remained with the King
of the Jews. When, with unprecedented shamelessness, he sought
Octavianus to sell the secrets of his Egyptian benefactor, he was
arrested and executed in his own home, Laodicea.
Now, their friend continued, Cleopatra's eyes as well as her husband's
were opened to the true character of Barine's most virulent accuser. The
influence of Philostratus, too, was of course destroyed by his brother's
infamous deed. Yet they must wait a little longer; for Cæsarion had
joined the Ephebi, and Antyllus had been invested with the _toga
virilis_. They could now undertake many things independently, and
Cæsarion often made remarks which showed that he would not cease to lay
plots for Barine.
Dion feared nothing from the royal boy on his own account, but for his
wife's sake he dared not disregard his friend's warning. This was hard;
for though he still felt happy on the island, he longed to install the
woman he loved in his own house, and every impulse of his nature urged
him to be present at the meetings of the Council in these fateful times.
Therefore he was more than ready to risk returning to the city, but
Barine entreated him so earnestly not to exchange the secure happiness
they enjoyed here for a greater one, behind which might lurk the
heaviest misfortune, that he yielded. Another letter from Charmian soon
proved the absolute necessity of continuing to exercise caution.
Even from the island they could perceive that everything known as festal
pleasure was rife in Alexandria, and bore along in its mad revelry the
court and the citizens. When the wind blew from the south, it brought
single notes of inspiring music or indistinct sounds of the wildest
popular rejoicing.
The fisherman's daughter, Dione, often called them to the strand to
admire the galleys adorned with fabulous splendour, garlanded with
flowers, and echoing with the music of lutes and the melody of songs.
Sails of purple embroidered silk bore the vessels over the smooth tide.
Once the watchers even distinguished, upon a barge richly adorned with
gilded carving, young female slaves who, with floating hair and
transparent sea-green robes, handled, in the guise of Nereids, light
sandal-wood oars with golden blades. Often the breeze bore to the island
the perfumes which surrounded the galleys, and on calm nights the
magnificent ships, surrounded by the magical illumination of many-hued
lamps, swept across the mirror-like surface of the waves, Among the
voyagers were gods, goddesses, and heroes who, standing or reclining in
beautiful groups, represented scenes from the myths and history. On the
deck of the Queen's superb vessel guests crowned with wreaths lay on
purple couches, under garlands of flowers, eating choice viands and
draining golden wine-cups.
On other nights the illumination of the shore of the Bruchium rendered
it as bright as day. The huge dome of the Serapeum on the Rhakotis,
covered with lamps, towered above the flat roofs of the city like the
starry firmament of a smaller world which had descended to earth. Every
temple and palace was transformed into a giant candelabrum, and the rows
of lamps on the quay stretched like tendrils of light from the
dazzlingly illuminated marble Temple of Poseidon to the palace at
Lochias, steeped in radiance.
When Pyrrhus or one of his sons returned from market they described the
festivals and shows, banquets, races, and endless pleasure excursions
arranged by the court, which made the citizens fairly hold their breath.
It was a prosperous time for the fishermen; the Queen's cooks took all
their wares and paid a liberal price.
January had come, when another letter arrived from Charmian. Dion and
Barine had watched in vain for any unusual events on Cleopatra's birth
day, but on Antony's, a few days later, there was plenty of music and
shouting, and in the evening an unusually magnificent illumination.
Two days after, this letter was delivered to Pyrrhus by his dusky friend
Anukis.
Her inquiry whether he thought it prudent to convey visitors to his
guests was answered in the negative, for since Octavianus had been in
Asia, the harbour swarmed with the boats of spies, and a single act of
imprudence might bring ruin.
Charmian's letter, too, was even better calculated to curb Dion's
increasing desire to return home than the fisherman's warning.
True, the beginning contained good news of Barine's relatives, and then
informed Dion that his uncle, the Keeper of the Seal, was fairly
revelling in bliss. His inventive gifts were taxed more than ever. Every
day brought a festival, every night magnificent banquets. One spectacle,
excursion, or hunting party followed another. In the theatres, the
Odeum, the Hippodrome, no more brilliant performances, races, naval
battles, gladiatorial struggles, and combats between beasts had been
given, even before Actium. Dion himself had formerly attended the
entertainments of those who belonged to the court circle, the society of
"Inimitable Livers." It had been revived again, but Antony called them
the "Comrades of Death."
This was significant. Every one knows that the end is drawing near, and
imitates the Pharaoh to whom the oracle promised six years of life, and
who convicted it of falsehood and made them twelve by carousing during
the night also.
The Queen's meeting with her husband, which she had previously reported,
had been magnificent. "At that time," she wrote, "we hoped that a more
noble life would begin, and Mark Antony, awakened and elevated by his
rekindled love, would regain his former heroic power; but we were
mistaken; Cleopatra, it is true, toiled unceasingly, but her lover with
his enormous bunch of roses gave the signal for the maddest revelry
which the imagination of the wildest devotee of pleasure could conceive.
The performances of the 'Inimitable Livers' were far surpassed by those
of the 'Comrades of Death'."
"Antony is at their head, and he, whose giant frame resists even the
most unprecedented demands, succeeds in stupefying himself and
forgetting the impending ruin. When he comes to us after a night of
revelry his eyes sparkle as brightly, his deep voice has as clear a
ring, as at the beginning of the banquet. The Queen is his goddess; and
who could remain unmoved when the giant bows obediently to the nod of
his delicate sovereign, and devises and offers the most unprecedented
things to win a smile from her lips? The changeful, impetuous wooing of
youth lies far behind him, but his homage, which the Ephebi of today
would perhaps term antiquated, has always seemed to me as if a mountain
were bending before a star. The stranger who sees her in his company
believes her a happy woman. Amid the fabulous radiance of the festal
array, when all who surround her admire, worship, and strew flowers in
her path, one might believe that the old sunny days had returned; but
when we are alone, how rarely I see her smile! Then she plans for the
tomb which, under Gorgias's direction, is rapidly rising, and considers
with him the best method of rendering it an inaccessible place of
retreat.
"She decided everything, down to the carving on the stone sarcophagi. In
addition, there are to be rooms and chambers in the lower story for the
reception of her treasures. Beneath them she has had corridors made for
the pitch and straw which, if the worst should come, are to be lighted.
She will then give to the flames the gold and silver, gems and jewels,
ebony and ivory, the costly spices--in short, all her valuables. The
pearls alone are worth many kingdoms. Who can blame her if she prefers
to destroy them rather than leave them for the foe."
"The garden in which you grew up, Barine, is now the scene of the happy,
busy life led by Alexander and the twins. There, under my brother's
guidance, they frolic, build, and dig. Cleopatra goes to it whenever she
longs for repose after the pursuit of pleasures which have lost their
zest.
"When, the day before yesterday, Antony, crowned with ivy as the new
Dionysus, drove up the Street of the King in the golden chariot drawn by
tamed lions, to bring her, the new Isis, from the Lochias in a lotus
flower made of silver and white paste, drawn by four snow-white steeds,
she pointed to the glittering train and said: 'Between the quiet of the
philosopher's garden, where I began my life and still feel most at ease,
and the grave, where nothing disturbs my last repose, stretches the
Street of the King, with this deafening tumult, this empty splendour. It
is mine.'
"O child, it was very different in former days! She loved Mark Antony
with passionate ardour. He was the first man in the world, and yet he
bowed before the supremacy of her will. The longing of the awakening
heart, the burning ambition which already kindled the soul of the child,
had alike found satisfaction, and the world beheld how the mortal woman,
Cleopatra, for her lover and herself, could steep this meagre life with
the joys of the immortals. He was grateful for them, and the most
generous of men laid at the feet of the 'Great Queen of the East' the
might of Rome and the kings of two quarters of the globe.
"These years were spent by both in one long revel. His marriage with
Octavia brought the first awakening. It was hard and painful. He had not
deserted Cleopatra for a woman's sake, but on account of his endangered
power and sovereignty. But the unloved Octavia constrained him to look
up to her with respectful admiration--nay, she became dear to him.
"A fierce battle for him and his heart arose between the two. It was
fought with very different weapons, and Cleopatra conquered. The revel,
the dream began again. Then came Actium, the disenchantment, the
awakening, the fall, the flight from the world. Our object was not to
let him relapse into intoxication, to rouse the hero's strength and
courage from their slumber, render him for love's sake a
fellow-combatant in the common cause.
"But he had become accustomed to see in her the giver of ecstasy. The
only thing that he still desired was to drain the cup of pleasure in her
society till all was over. She sees this, grieves over it, and leaves no
means of rousing him to fresh energy untried; yet how rarely he rallies
his powers to earnest labour!
"While she is fortifying the mouths of the Nile and the frontiers of the
country, building ship after ship, arming and negotiating, she can not
resist him when he summons her to new pleasures.
"Though so many of the traits which rendered him great and noble have
vanished, she can not give up the old love and clings steadfastly to him
because, because--I know not why. A woman's loving heart does not
question motives and laws. Besides, he is the father of her children
and, in playing with them, he regains the old joyousness of mood so
enthralling to the heart.
"Since Archibius has taken charge of them, they can dispense with
Euphronion, their tutor. The clever man knows Rome, Octavianus, and
those who surround him, so he was chosen as an envoy. His object was to
induce the conqueror to transfer the sovereignty of Egypt to the boys
Antonius Helios, and Alexander, but Cæsar vouchsafed no answer to the
mediator in Antony's affairs--nay, did not even grant him an audience.
"To Cleopatra Octavianus promised friendly treatment, and the fulfilment
of her wish concerning the boys if--and now came the repetition of the
old demand--she would put Antony out of the world or deliver him into
his hands.
"This demand, which contains base treachery, was impossible for her
noble soul. Since she had resolved to build the tomb, granting it became
impossible, yet Octavianus made every effort to tempt her to the base
deed. True, the death of this one man would have spared much bloodshed.
The Cæsar knows how to choose his tools. He sent here as negotiator a
clever young man, who possessed great charms of mind and person. No plan
to prejudice the Queen against her husband and persuade her to commit
the treachery was left untried. He went so far as to assure Cleopatra
that in former years she had won the Cæsar's heart, and that he still
loved her. She accepted these assurances at their true value and
remained steadfast.
"Antony at first paid no heed to the intriguer. But when he learned what
means he employed, and especially how he made use of the surrender of
one of Cæsar's murderers, which he himself had long regretted, to brand
him as an ungrateful traitor, he would not have been Mark Antony if he
had accepted it quietly. He was completely his old self when he ordered
the smooth fellow--who, however, had come as the ambassador of the
mighty victor--to be scourged, sent him back to Rome, and wrote a letter
to Octavianus, in which he complained of the man's arrogance and
presumption, adding--spite of my heavy heart I can not help smiling when
I think of it--that misfortune had rendered him unusually irritable; yet
if his action perhaps displeased Cæsar, he might treat his freedman
Hipparchus, who was in his power, as he had served Thyrsus!
"You see that his gay arrogance has not deserted him. Trouble slips away
from him as rain is shaken from the coarse military cloak which he wore
in the Parthian war, and therefore it cannot exert its purifying power.
"When we consider that, a few years ago, this man, as it were, doubled
himself when peril was most threatening, his conduct now, on the eve of
the decisive struggle, is intelligible only to those who know him as we
do. If he fights, he will no longer do so to save himself, or even to
conquer, but to die an honourable death. If he still enjoys the
pleasures offered, he believes that he can thus mitigate for himself the
burden of defeat, and diminish the grandeur of the conqueror's victory.
In the eyes of the world, at least, a man who can still revel like
Antony is only half vanquished. Yet the lofty tone of his mind was
lowered. The surrender of the murderer of Cæsar--his name was
Turullius--proves it.
"And this, Barine--tell your husband so--this is what fills me with
anxiety and compels me to entreat you not to think of returning home
yet.
"Antony is now the jovial companion of his son, and permits Antyllus to
share all his own pleasures. Of course, he heard of Cæsarion's passion,
and is disposed to help the poor fellow. He has often said that nothing
would better serve to rouse the dreamer from torpor than your charming
vivacity. As the earth could scarcely have swallowed you up, you would
be found; he, too, should be glad to hear you sing again. I know that
search will be made for you.
"How imperiously this state of affairs requires you to exercise caution
needs no explanation. On the other hand, you may find comfort in the
tidings that Cleopatra intends to send Cæsarion with his tutor Rhodon
to Ethiopia, by way of the island of Philæ. Archibius heard through
Timagenes that Octavianus considers the son of Cæsar, whose face so
wonderfully resembles his father's, a dangerous person, and this opinion
is the boy's death-warrant. Antyllus, too, is going on a journey. His
destination is Asia, where he is to seek to propitiate Octavianus and
make him new offers. As you know, he was betrothed to his daughter
Julia. The Queen ceased long ago to believe in the possibility of
victory, yet, spite of all the demands of the 'Comrades of Death' and
her own cares, she toils unweariedly in preparing for the defence of the
country. She is doubtless the only member of that society who thinks
seriously of the approaching end.
"Now that the tomb is rising, she ponders constantly upon death. She,
who was taught by Epicurus to strive for freedom from pain and is so
sensitive to the slightest bodily suffering, is still seeking a path
which, with the least agony, will lead to the eternal rest for which she
longs. Iras and the younger pupils of Olympus are aiding her. The old
man furnishes all sorts of poisons, which she tries upon various
animals--nay, recently even on criminals sentenced to death. All these
experiments seem to prove that the bite of the uræus serpent, whose
image on the Egyptian crown symbolizes the sovereign's instant power
over life and death, stills the heart most swiftly and with the least
suffering.
"How terrible these things are! What pain it causes to see the being one
loves most, the mother of the fairest children, so cruelly heighten the
anguish of parting, choose death, as it were, for a constant companion,
amid the whirl of the gayest amusements! She daily looks all his terrors
in the face, yet with proud contempt turns her back upon the bridge
which might perhaps enable her for a time to escape the monster. This is
grand, worthy of her, and never have I loved her more tenderly.
"You, too, must think of her kindly. She deserves it. A noble heart
which sees itself forced to pity a foe, easily forgives; and was she
ever your enemy?
"I have written a long, long letter to solace your seclusion from the
world and relieve my own heart. Have patience a little while longer. The
time is not far distant when Fate itself will release you from exile.
How often your relatives, Archibius and Gorgias, whom I now see
frequently in the presence of the Queen, long to visit you!--but they,
too, believe that it might prove a source of danger."
The warnings in this letter were confirmed by another from Archibius,
and soon after they heard that Cæsarion had really sailed up the Nile
for Ethiopia with his tutor Rhodon, and Antyllus had been sent to Asia
to visit Octavianus. The latter had received him, it is true; but sent
him home without making any pledges.
These tidings were not brought by letter, but by Gorgias himself, whose
visit surprised them one evening late in March.
Rarely had a guest received a more joyous welcome. When he entered the
bare room, Barine was making a net and telling the fisherman's daughter
Dione the story of the wanderings of Ulysses. Dion, too, listened
attentively, now and then correcting or explaining her descriptions,
while carving a head of Poseidon for the prow of a newly built boat.
As Gorgias unexpectedly crossed the threshold, the dim light of the lamp
fed by kiki-oil seemed transformed into sunshine. How brightly their
eyes sparkled, how joyous were their exclamations of welcome and
surprise! Then came questions, answers, news! Gorgias was obliged to
share the family supper, which had only waited the return of the father
who had brought the guest.
The fresh oysters, langustæ, and other dishes served tasted more
delicious to the denizen of the city than the most delicious banquets of
the "Comrades of Death" to which he was now frequently invited by the
Queen.
All that Pyrrhus said voluntarily and told his sons in reply to their
questions was so sensible and related to matters which, because they
were new to Gorgias, seemed so fascinating that, when Dion's good wine
was served, he declared that if Pyrrhus would receive him he, too, would
search for pursuers and be banished here.
When the three again sat alone before the plain clay mixing vessel it
seemed to the lonely young couple as if the best part of the city life
which they had left behind had found its way to them, and what did they
not have to say to one another! Dion and Barine talked of their hermit
life, Gorgias of the Queen and the tomb, which was at the same time a
treasure chamber. The slanting walls were built as firmly as if they
were intended to last for centuries and defy a violent assault. The
centre of the lower story was formed by a lofty hall of vast dimensions,
in whose midst were the large marble sarcophagi. Men were working busily
upon the figures in relief intended for the decoration of the sides and
lids. This hall, whose low arched ceiling was supported by three pairs
of heavy columns, was furnished like a reception-room. The couches,
candelabra, and altars were already being made. Charmian had kept the
fugitives well informed. In the subterranean chambers at the side of the
hall, and in the second story, which could not be commenced until the
ceiling was completed, store-rooms were to be made, and below and beside
them were passages for ventilation and the storage of combustible
materials.
Gorgias regretted that he could not show his friend the hall, which was
perhaps the handsomest and most costly he had ever created. The noblest
material--brown porphyry, emerald-green serpentine, and the dark
varieties of marble--had been used, and the mosaic and brass doors,
which were nearing completion, were masterpieces of Alexandrian art. To
have all this destroyed was a terrible thought, but even more unbearable
was that of its object--to receive the body of the Queen.
Again rapturous admiration of this greatest and noblest of women led
Gorgias to enthusiastic rhapsodies, until Dion exercised his office of
soberer, and Barine asked tidings of her mother, her grandparents, and
her sister. There was nothing but good news to be told. True, the
architect had to wage a daily battle with the old philosopher, who
termed it an abuse of hospitality to remain so long at his friend's with
his whole family; but thus far Gorgias had won the victory, even against
Berenike, who wished to take her father and his household to her own
home.
Cleopatra had purchased the house and garden of Didymus at thrice their
value, the architect added. He was now a wealthy man, and had
commissioned him to build a new mansion. The land facing the sea and
near the museum had been found, but the handsome residence would not be
completed until summer. The dry Egyptian air would have permitted him to
roof it sooner, but there were many of Helena's wishes--most of them
very sensible ones--to be executed.
Barine and Dion glanced significantly at each other; but the architect,
perceiving it, exclaimed: "Your mute language is intelligible enough,
and I confess that for five months Helena has seemed to me the most
attractive of maidens. I see, too, that she has some regard for me. But
as soon as I stand before _her_--the Queen, I mean--and hear her voice,
it seems as if a tempest swept away every thought of Helena, and it is
not in my nature to deceive any one. How can I woo a girl whom I so
deeply honour--your sister, Barine--when the image of another rules my
soul?"
Dion reminded him of his own words that the Queen was loved only as a
goddess and, without waiting for his reply, turned the conversation to
other topics.
It was three hours after midnight when Pyrrhus warned Gorgias that it
was time for departure. When the fisherman's fleetest boat was at last
bearing him back to the city he wondered whether girls who, before
marriage, lived like Helena in undisturbed seclusion, would really be
better wives and more content with every lot than the much-courted
Barine, whom Dion had led from the gayest whirl of life in the capital
to the most desolate solitude.
This delightful evening was followed by a day of excitement and grave
anxiety. It had been necessary to conceal the young couple from the
collector's officials, who took from Pyrrhus part of his last year's
savings, and the large new boat which he used to go out on the open sea.
The preparations for war required large sums; all vessels suitable for
the purpose were seized for the fleet, and all residents of the city and
country shared the same fate as Pyrrhus.
Even the temple treasures were confiscated, and yet no one could help
saying to himself that the vast sums which, through these pitiless
extortions, flowed into the treasury, were used for the pleasures of the
court as well as for the equipment of the fleet and the army.
Yet so great was the people's love for the Queen, so high their regard
for the independence of Egypt, so bitter their hate of Rome, that there
was no rebellion.
How earnestly Cleopatra, amid all the extravagant revels, from which she
could not too frequently absent herself, toiled to advance the military
preparations, could be seen even by the exiles from their cliff; for
work in two dock-yards was continued day and night, and the harbour was
filled with vessels. Ships of war were continually moving to and fro,
and from the Serpent Island they witnessed constantly, often by
starlight, the drilling of the oarsmen and of whole squadrons upon the
open sea. Sometimes a magnificent state galley appeared, on whose deck
was Antony, who inspected the hastily equipped fleet to make the newly
recruited sailors one of those kindling speeches in which he was a
master hard to surpass. Two sons of Pyrrhus were now numbered in the
crews of the recently built war ships. They had been impressed into the
service in April, and though Dion had placed a large sum at their
father's disposal to secure their release, the attempt was unsuccessful.
So there had been sorrow and tears in the contented little colony of
human beings on the lonely cliff, and when Dionysus and Dionichos had a
day's leave of absence to visit their relatives, they complained of the
cruel haste with which the young men were drilled and wearied to
exhaustion, and spoke of the sons of citizens and peasants who had been
dragged from their villages, their parents, and their business to be
trained for seamen. There was great indignation among them, and they
listened only too readily to the agitators who whispered how much better
they would have fared on the galleys of Octavianus.
Pyrrhus entreated his sons not to join any attempt at mutiny; the women,
on the contrary, would have approved anything which promised to release
the youths from their severe service, and their bright cheerfulness was
transformed into anxious depression. Barine, too, was no longer the
same. She had lost her joyous activity, her eyes were often wet with
tears, and she moved with drooping head as if some heavy care oppressed
her.
Was it the heat of April, with its desert winds, which had brought the
transformation? Had longing for the changeful, exciting life of former
days at last overpowered her? Was solitude becoming unendurable? Was her
husband's love no longer sufficient to replace the many pleasures she
had sacrificed?--No! It could not be that; never had she gazed with more
devoted tenderness into Dion's face than when entirely alone with him in
shady nooks. She who in such hours looked the very embodiment of
happiness and contentment, certainly was neither ill nor sorrowful.
Dion, on the contrary, held his head high early and late, and appeared
as proud and self-conscious as though life was showing him its fairest
face. Yet he had heard that his estates had been sequestrated, and that
he owed it solely to the influence of Archibius and his uncle, that his
property, like that of so many others, had not been added to the royal
treasures. But what disaster could he not have speedily vanquished in
these days?
A great joy--the greatest which the immortals can bestow upon human
beings--was dawning for him and his young wife, and in May the women on
the island shared her blissful hope.
Pyrrhus brought from the city an altar and a marble statue of Ilythyia,
the Goddess of Birth, called by the Romans Lucina, which his friend
Anukis had given him, in Charmian's name, for the young wife. She had
again spoken of the serpents which lived in such numbers in the
neighbouring islands, and her question whether it would be difficult to
capture one alive was answered by the freedman in the negative.
The image of the goddess and the altar were erected beside the other
sanctuaries, and how often the stone was anointed by Barine and the
women of the fisherman's family!
Dion vowed to the goddess a beautiful temple on the cliff and in the
city if she would be gracious to his beloved young wife.
When, in June, the noonday sun blazed most fiercely, the fisherman
brought to the cliff Helena, Barine's sister, and Chloris, Dion's nurse,
who had been a faithful assistant of his mother, and afterwards managed
the female slaves of the household.
How joyously and gratefully Barine held out her arms to her sister! Her
mother had been prevented from coming only by the warning that her
disappearance would surely attract the attention of the spies. And the
latter were very alert; for Mark Antony had not yet given up the pursuit
of the singer, nor had the attorney Philostratus recalled the
proclamation offering two talents for the capture of Dion, and both the
latter's palace and Berenike's house were constantly watched.
It seemed more difficult for the quiet Helena to accommodate herself to
this solitude than for her gayer-natured sister. Plainly as she showed
her love for Barine, she often lapsed into reverie, and every evening
she went to the southern side of the cliff and gazed towards the city,
where her grandparents doubtless sorely missed her, spite of the careful
attention bestowed upon them in Gorgias's house.
Eight days had passed since her arrival, and life in this wilderness
seemed more distasteful than on the first and the second; the longing
for her grandparents, too, appeared to increase; for that day she had
gone to the shore, even under the burning rays of the noonday sun, to
gaze towards the city.
How dearly she loved the old people!
But Dion's conjecture that the tears sparkling in Helena's eyes when she
entered their room at dusk were connected with another resident of the
capital, spite of his wife's indignant denial, appeared to be correct;
for, a short time after, clear voices were heard in front of the house,
and when a deep, hearty laugh rang out, Dion started up, exclaiming,
"Gorgias never laughs in that way, except when he has had some unusual
piece of good fortune!"
He hurried out as he spoke, and gazed around; but, notwithstanding the
bright moonlight, he could see nothing except Father Pyrrhus on his way
back to the anchorage.
But Dion's ears were keen, and he fancied he heard subdued voices on the
other side of the dwelling. He followed the sound without delay and,
when he turned the corner of the building, stopped short in
astonishment, exclaiming as a low cry rose close before him:
"Good-evening, Gorgias! I'll see you later. I won't interrupt you."
A few rapid steps took him back to Barine, and as he whispered, "I saw
Helena out in the moonlight, soothing her longing for her grandparents
in Gorgias's arms," she clapped her hands and said, smiling:
"That's the way one loses good manners in this solitude. To disturb the
first meeting of a pair of lovers! But Gorgias treated us in the same
way in Alexandria, so he is now paid in his own coin."
The architect soon entered the room, with Helena leaning on his arm.
Hour by hour he had missed her more and more painfully, and on the
eighth day found it impossible to endure life's burden longer without
her. He now protested that he could approach her mother and grandparents
as a suitor with a clear conscience; for on the third day after Helena's
departure the relation between him and the Queen had changed. In
Cleopatra's presence the image of the granddaughter of Didymus became
even more vivid than that of the peerless sovereign had formerly been in
Helena's. Outside of the pages of poetry he had never experienced
longing like that which had tortured him during the past few days.