The Tour Part 24

"Then, Cora, don't you love Caleb?"

"My lord," she said, "I love you--if I must say it!--and I have loved you from the first moment when Thrasyllus brought me to you. And, if it please you, my lord, I will die for you. But keep me and do not give me to Caleb!"

"And if it pleased me, Cora ... that you should not die for me but live for me? Not only to sing to me and dance to me, but also to throw your arms around my neck, to lay your breast upon my breast and your lips upon my lips?..."

She gave a cry as of incredible happiness. Smiling, he raised her very tenderly and folded her in his arms, close against him.

"Oh!" she cried, in ecstasy, when his lips sought hers. "Aphrodite! Aphrodite! She has heard my prayer!"

Her little hands ventured to reach out for his head and take it by the temples. Around them was the solitude of the Ethiopian night; from out of the forests the flowers filled the air with incense; a spice-laden aroma was wafted from the sea; and the radiant stars hung above them, like white suns, with the dazzling glory that was Sirius....

CHAPTER XXVII

Cape Dire! The sea was reached; and there rose the obelisks, the shafts, the pillars of Sesostris, whose sacred writings immortalized the remembrance of the pa.s.sage of the Egyptian world-ruler who for nine years had linked conquest to conquest, even to Arabia, even to Bactriana, even to India. And Caleb approached Lucius with a smile and said:

"Most n.o.ble lord, I wished to keep it for you as a surprise and would not tell you before, but this little diversorium at Cape Dire, overlooking my beloved native land, belongs to us, to Ghizla and me, and is a small branch of our great Hermes House at Alexandria; and to-night you need no longer sleep in a tent, but will have a worthy apartment and sleep on a soft couch of skins. For, though you are still without your own furniture and your sumptuous utensils and treasures of art and though this little guest-house is not to be compared with our big diversorium, it is nevertheless comfortable and clean and it has bathrooms and kitchens and we built it here for the accommodation of any n.o.ble lords who travel from Alexandria to the pillars of Sesostris or from the pillars of Sesostris to Alexandria."

And Caleb, swaggering gaily and elegantly on the tips of his red boots, led the travellers into his guest-house; and Lucius, for the first time for weeks, bathed not in a rustling stream but in a bathroom, where his slaves rubbed and kneaded his body.

Caleb stood on the cape, with his hand above his eyes, and looked out in astonishment. He was surprised that the quadrireme, with Uncle Catullus on board, had not arrived from the Gulf of Acathantus, nay, was not even in sight. Could there have been an accident? He told his fears to no one but Thrasyllus; and the two stood looking long on the point of Cape Dire, gazing into the distance, each with his hand above his eyes.

But at last, when night began to fall, the great, graceful sea-monster appeared on the horizon, with her prow erect like a swan's neck and her hundreds of slender legs moving in unison; and the rose-yellow sails bellied in the breeze; and the silver statue of Aphrodite shot forth its silver spark of light; and the rowers' long, melancholy chant, the soft, monotonous accompaniment of tiring work, was borne long and wistfully over the sea, together with the cheerful song of the sailors. And the travellers, who now all stood on the cape waiting for the ship, saw the figures of Uncle Catullus, of the stewards Vettius and Rufus, of the master and the steersman.

And they waved again and again; and Cora, with her harp pressed to her bosom, sang the song of welcome to the ship; and her voice sounded jubilant and clear, full of happiness and full of gladness. The ropes were flung ash.o.r.e, the ship lay moored....

But what was the anxiety that covered the faces of all on board, who were now preparing to walk across the gangway to the jetty? Why did Uncle Catullus lift his hands on high and shake his head, pinned round so comically in his travelling-veil? And what was it that Vettius and Rufus were saying to each other with much gesticulation and why did they now all land with such embarra.s.sed faces?

"Well, Lucius," said Uncle Catullus, embracing him, "you're looking splendid, my dear fellow, splendid, brown and bronzed as a Nimrod; and your arms feel hard and your eyes are bright and your mouth is laughing happily and you look very different from what you were when we left Baiae.... Ah, my dear, dear Lucius! Fortune is blind and fate is a riddle and we poor mortals are the playthings of the cruel G.o.ds; and we never know, in the midst of our delight and gladness, what is hanging over our heads ... especially when travelling, dear boy: my dear boy, especially when travelling!"

"But why especially when travelling, my dear uncle?" asked Lucius, laughing.

And he led his uncle into the diversorium; and his uncle was now weeping; and his slaves unpinned his travelling-veil for him and relieved him of his travelling-cloak; and Vettius and Rufus also looked so strange and so gloomy and solemn; and it was as though the air were filled with dread.

"But, Uncle Catullus," said Lucius, "what has happened?"

"My dear, dear boy," Uncle Catullus kept on tediously repeating, "I ... I really can not tell you."

And he wrung his hands and wept; and Thrasyllus turned pale and Cora turned pale and Rufus looked gloomy.

"No," repeated Uncle Catullus, "I really can not tell Lucius. You tell him, Vettius, you tell him."

"My Lord Catullus," said Vettius, at last, in despair, "how can I tell my Lord Lucius? If I do, he will fly into a pa.s.sion and kill me; but, perhaps, if Rufus will tell him ..."

"I will not, I will not," said Rufus, warding off the suggestion with both hands. "By all the G.o.ds, Vettius, I will not tell him."

"Nor will I," said Uncle Catullus, moaning and weeping.

Lucius now knitted his brows and said:

"But I must know, Vettius. I order you to tell me what has happened--for something has happened--I order you to tell me and I swear not to kill you.... Has it to do with the quadrireme, a mutiny among the rowers?"

"Worse than that, my lord!" wailed Vettius.

"Has there been a theft of our baggage or jewels or plate?"

"Worse, my lord, much worse!"

"Has there been a fire at our insula in Rome? Is the villa burned down?"

"Worse, worse, my lord!" Vettius and Rufus now cried in chorus.

And they flung themselves at Lucius' feet and embraced his knees; and Uncle Catullus fell sobbing on Thrasyllus' breast.

"But what is it? By all the G.o.ds, speak up!" cried Lucius, in a fury. "What is it? Speak up, or I will have you whipped till you do!"

"We will tell you, my lord!" Vettius and Rufus now cried.

And Uncle Catullus cried:

"Yes, tell him, tell him; after all, he must be told."

"Are we alone, my lord?" whined Vettius. "Are there no slaves listening at the doors and is Caleb out of hearing?"

Cora opened the doors and peeped out:

"There is no one there," she said. "I will withdraw, my lord."

"No, stay," commanded Lucius.

She stayed.

"Speak up," Lucius commanded Vettius, lifting him up.

"My lord," said Vettius, again falling at Lucius' feet, "if I must tell you, let me do so on my knees. For I have not the strength left to tell you, my lord, if I stand face to face with your anger."

"Speak!" roared Lucius, in a voice of thunder.

"My lord," said Vettius, at last, clasping Lucius' knees in his hands and kissing them continually, "my lord, our gracious emperor, Augustus Tiberius, is wroth with you, we know not for what reason, and...."

"Well?" shouted Lucius.