Virgilia; or, Out of the Lion's Mouth Part 10

Alyrus sat down and ordered his cup of fresh grape juice, with snow from Mt. Hermon to cool it in. As he sipped it, he saw the great gladiator, Lycias, come into the circle of light from the flaring torches, but he did not perceive the shepherd, who remained outside, in the shadow.

Now, Lycias was a great man in the eyes of the Romans. He had been a poor boy, but by reason of his strength had risen to be the first gladiator. He and Lidia the kitchen-maid, had grown up together in the cave of Lucius, for Lycias had been found, a tiny baby, lying at the door of the sheepfold. For the love and care bestowed upon him, Lycias had always been grateful.

Therefore, at the request of Lucius, was he here.

At the entrance of the famous gladiator, a shout arose from the men seated at the small tables.

"Hail, Lycias! Hail, Lycias!" came from every side.

The tall man bowed to one friend and then another, smiled and walked through the room, seeking a place to sit. With a smile, he declined proffered seats with groups of men, and finally took a place near Alyrus, the Moor.

"If it does not inconvenience you," he said.

"Not in the least," replied Alyrus, flattered at the attention thus drawn to him.

The gladiator laid aside his silver helmet, unloosed his short sword and ordered light refreshment from the proprietor who came himself to serve so noted a guest.

Had some great philosopher entered, he would have been greeted with respect but would not have aroused anything like so much interest or enthusiasm as did the victorious gladiator. Even the boys in the streets knew his name and tried to imitate him.

For some time, while he had satisfied a very hearty appet.i.te, Lycias did not open a conversation, and Alyrus, a little awed, had hesitated to speak.

Apparently for the first time, the gladiator examined the Moor's face.

Springing to his feet, he saluted in a military fashion.

"Your pardon, my lord, I knew not that I had ventured to presume upon the kindness of Claudius Aura.n.u.s, governor of Carthage."

Alyrus stammered.

"Be seated, sir, I--I am not his excellency the governor of Carthage.

I am a much humbler man, a chieftain of Tripoli."

"Ah! I knew that you were some distinguished person, from your bearing and dress."

When Alyrus smiled, he was uglier than ever.

"A brute!" muttered Lycias, under his breath. Then aloud: "Are you on some mission to the Emperor?"

"Ahem. Not so. But very high in the secrets of the chief priest of Jupiter."

"One might call him the power behind the throne."

"Thou hast said truly."

"And it is really true that thou art admitted to those holy precincts?"

"Behold!" Alyrus drew from the folds of his garment the bronze lizard.

"Not only does this admit me to the temple itself but to any place in the city of Rome. Thou seest. It is the symbol of the priests of Jupiter."

"I see," Lycias' eyes gleamed, as he watched Alyrus placing the precious symbol in a safe place.

Then, Alyrus, intoxicated by the events of the past few moments, by his sudden transition from slavery to freedom, at the prospect opening before him of a speedy return to the home he loved, flattered at the homage shown him by the gladiator, poured out the whole story into ears only too willing to hear. He narrated everything except that he had been a slave, representing himself as a client of Aurelius Luca.n.u.s, who had been grievously wronged by him. He told how he had discovered, one day in the public Forum, that the son and daughter of the lawyer were Christians, and Aurelius sympathized with them; how, by the chief priest's desire, he had a.s.sisted in tracking many more of the despised sect, of whom several hundred were now languishing in prison, among them, Octavia the widow of the proud Senator Aureus Cantus, and her son and daughter.

Lycias pa.s.sed his big hand over his smoothly shaven face to hide his expression of disgust. He rose.

"If you permit, honored sir, I will now retire, with the hope that we shall meet again."

"Willingly will I continue the conversation. Perhaps--" Alyrus was swelling with importance, "it would interest you to visit the prisons and see these Christians before they are thrown into the arena. I understand that you are first on the program."

"Yes. I had thought of asking such a privilege as a visit to these prisoners. By the way, where is the daughter of Aurelius?"

Alyrus shot a keen glance at him, but the face of Lycias was guileless as that of a child.

"She is well guarded. I can tell you that, and her brother Martius, with Alexis the Greek slave--who ever looked down upon me," he added, unguardedly, continuing in haste, as he perceived his mistake, "I should have said, who was impertinent to me one day, lie in a dungeon far in the earth below the temple. From there, is a private underground pa.s.sageway to the Circus. They will never see the light of day again."

"A faithless friend, a bitter enemy," was Lycias' thought as striding forth from the room, he joined Lucius.

"It is worse than I feared," Lucius said. "There is little hope."

"We shall see," responded the gladiator, thoughtfully. "Art thou willing to take great risks to save the son and daughter of Aurelius?"

"For the sake of Lidia, who loves them, I am."

"Await my instructions, then," and they parted.

The next afternoon, Alyrus let Lycias through the dark prisons in which the Christians were herded like beasts. The guards opened every door at the sight of the symbol of priestly authority, the bronze lizard.

Lycias, brave and strong man, grew sick at the dreadful suffering of delicate women, frail young girls accustomed to luxury, who were so suddenly thrown into surroundings and as they had never dreamed of.

All because of their faith? Lycias began to wonder what the power was which enabled these feeble creatures to face death with calmness and courage.

"There must be something in this religion of Jesus Christ which makes them forget themselves," he thought. "I will ask Lidia to tell me the secret."

In one corner of a dark, damp cell, several persons were kneeling in prayer. The voice of an old man could be heard, pet.i.tioning G.o.d, for Christ's sake, to lead them through this valley of the shadow of death and bring them to the holy city in its beauty and into the presence of their Lord and Master.

"There, that is Virgilia, the fair one, yonder, with face upraised,"

said Alyrus.

Lycias took a long look at the young girl, so that he would know her again.

"Next to her is Hermione, and Octavia, widow of Aureus Cantus and her son. All three are there!"

The laugh of the Moor was hideous in its coa.r.s.eness. The young girls shivered and drew closer to Octavia.

"Fear not," Octavia whispered, smiling at them. G.o.d had given her great courage.

It was on this day that Alyrus, growing more confidential, told Lycias of the vessel lying in the River Tiber, ready to set sail as soon as he and Sahira went on board.