The Tour Part 25

"And he has confiscated all your possessions, O my lord, everything that you possess: all your insula in Rome, your villa, your estates and domains, your horses and chariots and cattle, your slaves and treasures of art, your library and your jewels ... and has attached all the sums which you had lodged with your bankers and money-changers in various towns! You are penniless, my lord, for you own nothing except what your ship contains; and, if I had not succeeded in keeping Tiberius'

displeasure secret by means of a precipitate flight and by continuing to drift about in the Great Sea and the Arabian Gulf, your quadrireme also would have been seized at Alexandria and you would now have been without your ship, without your rowers, without your slaves, without a single penny. By bribing the authorities at Pelusium with the money that remained in my hands, I managed secretly to pa.s.s through the Nechao Ca.n.a.l to Arsinoe; and at Berenice we met your Uncle Catullus and informed him of the terrible news. My lord, do not slay me and do not be wroth with me, for I have saved for you what I could!"

And Vettius writhed at Lucius' feet and sobbed; and they all sobbed: Uncle Catullus, Thrasyllus, Rufus and Cora....

And Caleb, who had been listening at the door, turned very pale.

For there was still a long, long, long papyrus scroll of a bill awaiting payment, for the big hunts in the Ethiopian forests!

CHAPTER XXVIII

Caleb was pale when he appeared before Lucius, who had sent for him.

"Caleb," said Lucius, "perhaps you already know ..."

"I know nothing, my lord," said Caleb.

"I am penniless, Caleb. The Emperor Tiberius has confiscated all my possessions; and even my t.i.tle to the quadrireme is questionable."

"O my lord, O my lord!" Caleb began to lament. "O my poor, poor, n.o.ble lord! What a terrible fate to befall you! If only you had consented faithfully to wear the Sabaean amulets! O my poor, poor, n.o.ble lord! What will you do now? You, who always lived in the lap of luxury! And now! How now? Alas, my poor, poor, n.o.ble lord and alas, poor, poor Caleb! For who, my lord, my poor, poor n.o.ble lord, will now pay my bill?"

And, wailing and lamenting and shaking his head and weeping, Caleb unfurled the long, long, long papyrus scroll of his bill, which uncoiled itself from his quivering fingers right down to the floor, like a rustling snake.

"We'll look into your bill at once, Caleb," said Lucius, encouragingly. "Call the stewards and Thrasyllus to me."

They came and examined the bill and shook their heads and thought the expenses of the great Ethiopian hunt terribly high; but Caleb swore that, because of his growing affection for Lucius, he had charged less than he did to other n.o.ble lords:

"But there is a solution, my lord," said Caleb, drawing Lucius aside. And he continued, "My lord, if you will make over Cora to me ... I will write off all the expenses of the Ethiopian hunt."

"Caleb," said Lucius, earnestly, "I know that you are fond of Cora. But I also am very fond of her, Caleb, and I mean to keep her as my only treasure."

A loud sob came from a corner of the room. And Lucius, turning round, saw Tarrar sitting on the floor, looking profoundly dejected.

"And me, my lord?" sobbed Tarrar. "Won't you keep me as your little slave, my lord?"

Lucius smiled and laid his hand on Tarrar's woolly head:

"I am not forgetting you either, Tarrar," he said, "and I shall keep you too. But, for the rest, Caleb, I shall have to sell the ship and all my slaves and anything that remains to me. I have some money as well, however, and I will try to pay you in full. But Cora shall not appear on the bill."

"Alas, my lord, this is an evil day and the end of the world is certainly near at hand, notwithstanding that I can see the blue coast of my dear Saba! I, like yourself, am losing everything: the hope of getting Cora, who loves you even as you love her, and the hope of getting my poor money!"

"Come, Caleb, we must not repine. Let us just count the money that remains to us."

The stewards laid rows of gold coins on the table. And Caleb's bill, despite the length which his papyrus scroll covered on the floor, was paid and receipted, after some quibbling between the stewards, who took exception to certain items, and Caleb, who was quite amenable to reason. And, when the money had been transferred to the purse which wound like a fat snake round Caleb's waist, he became cheerful again and said:

"My lord, my n.o.ble lord, for you are still a n.o.ble lord, listen to me. I am profoundly miserable that I can't have Cora. Yes, my lord, really, I am profoundly miserable. But I am an honest fellow and at the same time I am a man of business. Listen, my lord, and let your stewards listen and your trusty Thrasyllus too. Listen, my lord. You wish to sell the quadrireme with all her contents. But where, my lord? It can't be done at Alexandria, for any property of yours would be seized at once. Here, at Cape Dire, oh, there are only uncivilized Macrobii and no n.o.ble lords who could afford to buy the quadrireme! Listen, my lord, listen. Do you with all these your servants, free men and witnesses, sign a certificate, oh, my ever n.o.ble lord, a certificate ... dare I say it?"

"Speak out, Caleb!"

"A certificate that the quadrireme, with her rowers and all her contents, belongs to me; and I swear by the G.o.ds of Sabaea and of Egypt, by the eyes of Cora, whom I love, by the friendship which I, my lord, your guide and companion in the chase, venture to cherish for you, I swear, my lord, that I will myself endeavour to dispose of the quadrireme to a n.o.ble lord and pay you honestly, to the last penny, after deducting my expenses!"

Thus spoke Caleb; and he stood up in the exalted att.i.tude in which he had taken his oath, with his eyes and hands raised to heaven, and waited.

Vettius and Rufus thought it rather risky, but Lucius said:

"Caleb's advice is excellent. It is the only thing to do. If I delay, Tiberius' minions will discover where I am and take the last remnant of my belongings from me. Caleb, I will do as you say. I will sign the doc.u.ment certifying that the ship is your property, together with the slaves, the rowers, the furniture, the jewels, the very valuable plate...."

But Caleb did not move. He continued to stand in the solemn, rapt att.i.tude of his oath, with his eyes and hands raised to heaven. And he now said, slowly:

"I thank you, my lord, for your confidence. It will certainly not be abused. If I do not render you an equitable account in whatever place of exile you may be, may the awful jaws of Typhon, whose tongue is a serpent and whose teeth are blazing flames, swallow me and devour me!"

And Caleb himself trembled at his terrific oath and then fell on his knees before Lucius--a thing which he, a free Sabaean, had never yet done--and kissed the foot of the suddenly impoverished n.o.ble lord!

CHAPTER XXIX

Near the pillars of Sesostris, near the little diversorium, there lay moored, beside the quadrireme, a merchant trireme, which was sailing past Ophir to the Persian Gulf and which was to go up the Euphrates to Babylon. And Lucius asked to speak to the master and said:

"Master, can I have room in your ship for myself, my father, my young wife and my little black slave? I am a sculptor; and I am on my way to Babylon."

And he pointed to Thrasyllus, Cora and Tarrar, who approached, each carrying a small bundle of luggage.

"Certainly," said the master. "My one cabin is still unoccupied. It is small and perhaps inconvenient; but people like you, who are sculptors, are not accustomed to luxury, I dare say, and will be prepared to make shift."

Lucius answered that, if the cabin was suitable for his wife and his father, he and the little slave would do the best they could on the half-deck or in the hold; and he beckoned to his family to come on board and paid the pa.s.sage-money.

For Caleb had advanced him a goodly sum on the value of the quadrireme, for the immediate needs of the voyage; and Caleb himself had set out, with a great following, for his dear Saba, first because he wanted to forget his love-sickness in the pleasures of Arabia Felix and then to make a start by selling many of Lucius' slaves and jewels, his ornaments and furniture at Mariaba, the capital, because it was safer to get this done as quickly as possible. The sale of the great ship herself would be difficult enough.

Uncle Catullus remained on board of her. He did not wish to be a burden on his poor nephew Lucius; he had contrived to h.o.a.rd a modest capital with one gold piece after another that had accidentally slipped through Lucius' fingers; and he was to sail to Alexandria in the ship, after she had been sold, and there, in the city of the finest cooking, to spend his old age in a small apartment in the Hermes House. And so he had taken a tearful leave of Lucius, Thrasyllus and Cora and had said to her:

"Dear Cora, just as you were going to call me uncle, we part and perhaps for ever. Ah, Egypt is the death of me! Egypt will irrevocably be the death of me! For I can never go back to Rome, poor old exile that I am, because Tiberius--may he die a thousand deaths!--would rob me of my few pence even as he has robbed Lucius of his treasures...."

The merchant trireme glided away over a smooth sea; and the travellers on the deck waved farewell to Uncle Catullus, who stood on the prow and waved back. It was a leave-taking for good. And the master asked, inquisitively:

"Is that lord, who stands waving his hand to you, the owner of that splendid vessel?"