Saronia Part 29

'Welcome, welcome, good fellow! Come within. Glad am I to see thee safe and well.'

Judah, full of emotion, staggered rather than walked to a seat, weeping as if his heart would break, and, looking up through his tears, exclaimed:

'Chios, blessed art thou! The blessing of one who was ready to perish, the blessing of one who speaks for his G.o.d, the blessing of G.o.d, rest ever on thee!'

Chios spake never a word; his heart was full.

'Speak to me, Chios the Greek; let me hear thy voice.'

'I know not what to say,' replied Chios. 'I reckoned thy life worth a thousand of mine, and fought that thou mightst live and do work for thy Master.'

'Chios, neither silver nor gold have I to give thee.'

'I require neither.'

'Good. Nevertheless, thy reward awaits thee; thou wilt receive it later on. We fight under the same banner; we shall meet in the same celestial city--the city whose builder is G.o.d. The dayspring will glint its glory over thy pathway, and the l.u.s.tre of morning will bathe thee in heaven.

The wings of thy spirit, now folded beside thee, shall spread out their pinions and waft thee o'er oceans of splendour illimitable, urging thee onward from brightness to brightness, raising thee higher and upward and higher till thou standest a messenger swift for the Deity, holding communion with G.o.d the Eternal. This is thy destiny. All will be well.

Farewell, n.o.ble warrior; thou shalt war for the New Faith. 'Tis rumoured the Proconsul promises thee a crown for thy valour. Be thou faithful unto death, and thou shalt receive a crown of life. I have said my thanks. Good-bye--good-bye, n.o.ble Chios! My stay in Ephesus will be brief, but thou shalt ever remain in my thoughts, and my prayers shall go forward for my beloved friend.'

Once more Chios was alone.

'What a n.o.ble fellow is that old man--prophetic, powerful, good,' he mused. 'I believe in him. What he says is true. I am altered. A light steals through me--a river of peace winds kindly through my soul! May his blessing rest on me, and all his words be fulfilled.

'But what of Saronia? We are no nearer by the advent of this strange faith. Shall we part? Must our communion end? Like two swift ships upon the ocean, greet with welcome hail and pa.s.s away across the trackless deep, each going its own particular way? No, no, no! this cannot be. We twain must sail the same course, and at night or in storm give aid. We must move together, the same pilot be ours, enter the same haven, dwell in the same invisible land.

'But can this be? I am drifting, drifting from the old landmarks. She steers by her well-known beacon fires--I strike out alone across an unknown sea in search of a sh.o.r.e which may not exist, or, if it exists, I may never reach it.

'Oh cruel doubt! Oh the struggle for truth! Oh to know what to do!'

CHAPTER XXVIII

SPIRITS OF THE DEEP

Saronia the priestess was agitated. She had resolved in her mind the events of the past few days. 'Why was Chios within the grove?' She could solve the problem--foolish man! 'What demon prompted him--what fiend lured him to the verge of death? Could I but see him, warn him, for my prescience tells me he will attempt this thing again. Rash man! How can I save him? Whom can I trust? None!

'Here am I surrounded by the glory of the mightiest Temple, with pillars rising to heaven, whose summit is crowned with the grandest sculptures of Greece; but the birds which nestle in their carvings are freer than Saronia. I walk in power; every behest is law and none dispute me--yet, for the one great thing I would do, that I dare not! What, then, is power--queenly power like mine? It is hateful. I sought it not. It was thrust on me, and I wear it like a band of iron. But cease--cease, my soul! Well dost thou know the smouldering fire of life's acc.u.mulated love for Chios pent up within thee. Why dost thou tempt blasphemous Saronia to further sin? Hush! Down, dark spirit! quail, ye rebel fires, smoulder till my days be spent--then, with the freedom I covet, I will luxuriate in joy. Until such time, let me fulfil my destiny. Come on, ye clouds of darkness, hide him from my view! Soul, hear me! Crush to the lowest ebb this fire which rises ever and anon into fiercest flame, and combats with my reason! I am divided against myself.

'O G.o.ddess, hear me! Let my prayers like sweet incense rise! Bring me strength!...'

A sullen roar of distant thunder broke on her ears, as if the G.o.ds were speaking from the mountains, looming landward past the Temple city.

'Hark! Diana's voice! I will to augury.'

She sped to the window. Naught through the darkness could she see.

Suddenly forked lightning winged its course to the east, another flash swept nearer by, and the pillars of the great Temple stood out, lit up with fiery hue. The night-birds flew in wild commotion, shrieking as they went, crying with a solemn wail.

She stood back. Too well she knew the meaning of those sounds, the language by which the invisible speaks to the mortal.

A lightning-flash was seen across the Temple door, another line of fire crossed it from an opposite direction, as if a mighty guardian spirit stood there with sword aflame. A burst of thunder and a mighty crash, and she knew the building had been struck with an arrow from heaven.

Her reason pointed a power at work who dared insult the sacred place--some G.o.d greater than Diana warred against her, degrading her home. This was the augury the priestess drew, and wondered greatly at the sign. It was a revelation to her--a spark of virgin light, dim as the faintest dawn. But it shook her faith, and she spread out her hands as one wandering in the night.

Then she laid herself down in the gloom, and her spirit moved out to Chios. She longed to speak to him.

Across the open window a shadow pa.s.sed blacker than the darkness. She arose and looked out; naught could she see--all was silent. Then a faint voice like a whisper came from the parapet:

'Saronia, it is Chios!'

And in a moment he was beside her, and, throwing aside his mantle, stood before her in all his strength.

She was appalled, but knew it would be death to both to utter the faintest cry, and with horrible calmness the priestess murmured:

'What, by all the G.o.ds, brings thee here?'

'Love! Life without seeing, speaking to thee, is worthless--worse than valueless! I scaled the Parabolus walls, I did the same by yonder parapet; and, by Jove! were they high as Mount Coressus, I would have come. I pa.s.sed the guards, saw the Temple's frowning brow; the lightning lit my path, and the thundering echoes on the midnight winds were music to my soul. I gazed towards this resting-place, and, when the heavens were lit with flame, saw thee standing alone at the window. 'Twas enough for me. My spirit bounded here long before my body came. Didst thou not feel my influence?'

'Yes, I thought of thee; but thy presence here is too awful to contemplate.'

'No, no, dearest love! this is our fate. Thou art my complement; we cannot long remain asunder. Thine essence is a part of myself; thou art my affinity, my counterpart, that which makes my whole, my sun. Remove it, and the whole system is shaken, and wanders into chaos and oblivion.

Had I a thousand lives, not one should be reserved; all should be thrown into the balance for thee.'

He caught her in his arms, and his lips met hers.

'Darling, art thou safe whilst I am here?'

'I am safe from mortals, but not from the ire of the G.o.ddess. Her great invisible spirit cannot be deceived; all that is enacted here she knows and records.'

'True, dearest; but even Venus loved.'

'Yes; but Diana is cold and chaste. This night bespeaks my fall. To love is disobedience; for me to disobey is dire rebellion.'

'No, no, girl! it is not so! it cannot be! The Being who created us implanted this love; it cannot be born of sin. Man makes laws, and man often breaks them, without calling down the anger of the G.o.ds. Lovest thou me, Saronia?'

'Ah, Chios, that is my crime! What brought thee to the grove of Hecate?'

'Thou.'

'I?'

'Yes, Saronia--to see thee on a most important errand. I strove to find thee in the wood.'

'I thought as much. What was thy mission?'