Pearl-Maiden: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem Page 4

  CHAPTER IV

  THE BIRTH OF MIRIAM

  The time passed slowly, but none came to disturb them. Three hours afternoon Rachel awoke, refreshed but hungry, and Nehushta had no food togive her except raw grain, from which she turned. Clearly and in fewwords she told her mistress all that had passed, asking her consent tothe plan.

  "It seems good as another," said Rachel with a little sigh, "and I thankyou for making it, Nou, and the Phoenician, if he is a true man. Also Ido not desire to meet my father--at least, for many years. How can I,seeing the evil which he has brought upon me?"

  "Do not speak of that," interrupted Nehushta hastily, and for a longwhile they were silent.

  It was an hour before sunset, or a little less, when at length Nehushtasaw two persons walk on to the patch of open ground which she watchedcontinually--Amram and a slave who bore a bundle on his head. Just thenthe rope which bound this bundle seemed to come loose; at least, at hismaster's command, the man set it down and they began to retie it, thenadvanced slowly towards the archway. Now Nehushta descended, unlockedthe door and admitted Amram, who carried the bundle.

  "Where is the slave?" she asked.

  "Have no fear, friend; he is trusty and watches without, not knowingwhy. Come, you must both of you be hungry, and I have food. Help meloose this cord."

  Presently the package was undone, and within it appeared, first, twoflagons of old wine, then meats more tasty then Nehushta had seenfor months, then rich cloaks and other garments made in the Phoenicianfashion, and a robe of white with coloured edges, such as was worn bythe body-slaves of the wealthy among that people. Lastly--and thisAmram produced from his own person--there was a purse of gold, enough tosupport them for many weeks. Nehushta thanked him with her eyes, and wasabout to speak.

  "There, say nothing," he interrupted. "I passed my word, and I have keptit, that is all. Also on this money I shall charge interest, and yourmistress can repay it in happier days. Now listen: I have taken thepassages, and an hour after sunset we will go aboard. Only I warn you,do not let it be known that you are escaped Christians, for the seamenthink that such folk bring them bad luck. Come, help me carry the foodand wine. After you have eaten you can both of you retire here and robeyourselves."

  Presently they were on the roof.

  "Lady," said Nehushta, "we did well to put faith in this man. He hascome back, and see what he has brought us."

  "The blessing of God be on you, sir, who help the helpless!" exclaimedRachel, looking hungrily at the tempting meats which she so sorelyneeded.

  "Drink," said Amram cheerfully, as he poured wine and water into a cup;"it will hearten you, and your faith does not forbid the use of thegrape, for have I not heard you styled the society of drunkards?"

  "That is only one bad name among many, sir," said Rachel, as she tookthe cup.

  Then they ate and were satisfied, and afterwards descended intothe corn-store to wash with the remainder of the water, and clothethemselves from head to foot in the fragrant and beautiful garmentsthat might have been made for their wear, so well had Amram judged theirsizes and needs.

  By the time that they were dressed the light was dying. Still, theywaited a while for the darkness; then, with a new hope shining throughtheir fears, crept silently into the street, where the slave, a sturdy,well-armed fellow, watched for them.

  "To the quay," said Amram, and they walked forward, choosing thosethoroughfares that were most quiet. It was well for them that they didthis, for now it was known that Agrippa's sickness was mortal, the mostof the soldiers were already in a state of mutiny, and, inflamed withwine, paraded the market-places and larger streets, shouting and singingobscene songs, and breaking into the liquor shops and private houses,where they drank healths to Charon, who was about to bear away theirking in his evil bark. As yet, however, they had not begun killing thoseagainst whom they had a grudge. This happened afterwards, though it hasnothing to do with our story.

  Without trouble or molestation the party reached the quay, where asmall boat with two Phoenician rowers was waiting for them. In it theyembarked, except the slave, and were rowed out to the anchorage to boarda large galley which lay half a mile or more away. This they did withoutdifficulty, for the night was calm, although the air hung thick andheavy, and jagged clouds, wind-breeders as they were called, lay uponthe horizon. On the lower deck of the galley stood its captain, asour-faced man, to whom Amram introduced his passengers, who were, as hedeclared, relatives of his own proceeding to Alexandria.

  "Good," said the captain. "Show them to their cabin, for we sail as soonas the wind rises."

  To the cabin they went accordingly, a comfortable place stored with allthat they could need; but as they passed to it Nehushta heard a sailor,who held a lantern in his hand, say to his companion:

  "That woman is very like one whom I saw in the amphitheatre this morningwhen they gave the salute to King Agrippa."

  "The gods forbid it!" answered the other. "We want no Christians here tobring evil fortune on us."

  "Christians or no Christians, there is a tempest brewing, if Iunderstand the signs of the weather," muttered the first man.

  In the cabin Amram bade his guests farewell.

  "This is a strange adventure," he said, "and one that I did not lookfor. May it prove to the advantage of us all. At the least I have donemy best for your safety, and now we part."

  "You are a good man," replied Rachel, "and whatever may befall us, Ipray again that God may bless you for your kindness to His servants.I pray also that He may lead you to a knowledge of the truth as it wasdeclared by the Lord and Master Whom we serve, that your soul may winsalvation and eternal life."

  "Lady," said Amram, "I know nothing of these doctrines, but I promiseyou this: that I will look into them and see whether or no they commendthemselves to my reason. I love wealth, like all my people, but I amnot altogether a time-server, or a money-seeker. Lady, I have lost thosewhom I desire to find again."

  "Seek and you will find."

  "I will seek," he answered, "though, mayhap, I shall never find."

  Thus they parted.

  Presently the night breeze began to flow off the land, the great sailwas hoisted, and with the help of oars, worked by slaves, the shipcleared the harbour and set her course for Joppa. Two hours later thewind failed so that they could proceed only by rowing over a dead andoily sea, beneath a sky that was full of heavy clouds. Lacking any starsto steer by, the captain wished to cast anchor, but as the water provedtoo deep they proceeded slowly, till about an hour before dawn a suddengust struck them which caused the galley to lean over.

  "The north wind! The black north wind!" shouted the steersman, and thesailors echoed his cry dismally, for they knew the terrors of that windupon the Syrian coast. Then the gale began to rage. By daylight thewaves were running high as mountains and the wind hissed through therigging, driving them forward beneath a small sail. Nehushta crawled outof the cabin, and, in the light of an angry dawn, saw far away the whitewalls of a city built near the shore.

  "Is not that Appolonia?" she asked of the captain.

  "Yes," he answered, "it is Appolonia sure enough, but we shall notanchor there this voyage. Now it is Alexandria for us or nothing."

  So they rushed past Appolonia and forward, climbing the slopes of therising seas.

  Thus things went on. About mid-day the gale became a hurricane, and dowhat they would they were driven forward, till at length they sawthe breakers forming on the coast. Rachel lay sick and prostrate, butNehushta went out of the cabin to watch.

  "Are we in danger?" she asked of a sailor.

  "Yes, accursed Christian," he replied, "and you have brought it on uswith your evil eye."

  Then Nehushta returned to the cabin where her mistress lay almostsenseless with sea-sickness. On board the ship the terror and confusiongrew. For a while they were able to beat out to sea until the mastwas carried away. Then the rudder broke, and, as the oars could not beworked in that fearful tempest, the galley bega
n to drive shorewards.Night fell, and who can describe the awful hours that followed? Allcontrol of the vessel being lost, she drove onwards whither the wind andthe waves took her. The crew, and even the oar-slaves, flew to the winewith which she was partly laden, and strove to drown their terrors indrink. Thus inflamed, twice some of them came to the cabin, threateningto throw their passengers overboard. But Nehushta barred the door andcalled through it that she was well armed and would kill the firstman who tried to lay a hand upon her. So they went away, and after thesecond visit grew too drunken to be dangerous.

  Again the dawn broke over the roaring, foaming sea and revealed thefate that awaited them. Not a mile away lay the grey line of shore, andbetween them and it a cruel reef on which the breakers raged. Towardsthis reef they were driving fast. Now the men grew sober in their fear,and began to build a large raft of oars and timber; also to make readythe boat which the galley carried. Before all was done she struck beakfirst, and was lifted on to a great flat rock, where she wallowed, withthe water seething round her. Then, knowing that their hour was come,the crew made shift to launch the boat and raft on the lee side, andbegan to clamber into them. Now Nehushta came out of the cabin andprayed the captain to save them also, whereon he answered her with anoath that this bad luck was because of them, and that if either she orher mistress tried to enter the boat, they would stab them and cast theminto the sea as an offering to the storm-god.

  So Nehushta struggled back to the cabin, and kneeling by the side of hermistress, with tears told her that these black-hearted sailors hadleft them alone upon the ship to drown. Rachel answered that she caredlittle, but only desired to be free of her fear and misery.

  As the words left her lips, Nehushta heard a sound of screaming, andcrawling to the bulwarks, looked forth to see a dreadful sight. The boatand the raft, laden with a great number of men who were fighting forplaces with each other, having loosed from the lee of the ship, werecome among the breakers, which threw them up as a child throws a ball atplay. Even while Nehushta gazed, their crafts were overturned, castingthem into the water, every one there to be dashed against the rocksor drowned by the violence of the waves, so that not a man of all thatship's company came living to the shore.

  Like tens of thousands of others on this coast in all ages, theyperished, every one of them--and that was the reward of theirwickedness.

  Giving thanks to God, Who had brought them out of that danger againsttheir wills, Nehushta crept back to the cabin and told her mistress whathad passed.

  "May they find pardon," said Rachel, shuddering; "but as for us, it willmatter little whether we are drowned in the boat or upon the galley."

  "I do not think that we shall drown," answered Nehushta.

  "How are we to escape it, Nou? The ship lies upon the rock, where thegreat waves will batter her to pieces. Feel how she shakes beneath theirblows, and see the spray flying over us."

  "I do not know, mistress; but we shall not drown."

  Nehushta was right, for after they had remained fast a little longerthey were saved, thus: Suddenly the wind dropped, then it rose again ina last furious squall, driving before it a very mountain of water. Thisvast billow, as it rushed shorewards, caught the galley in its whitearms and lifted her not only off the rock whereon she lay, but over thefurther reefs, to cast her down again upon a bed of sand and shells,within a stone's throw of the beach, where she remained fast, never toshift more.

  Now also, as though its work were done, the gale ceased, and, as iscommon on the Syrian coast, the sea sank rapidly, so that by nightfallit was calm again. Indeed, three hours before sunset, had both of thembeen strong and well, they might have escaped to the land by wading. Butthis was not to be, for now what Nehushta had feared befell, and whenshe was least fitted to bear it, being worn out with anguish of mind andweariness of body, pain took sudden hold of Rachel, of which the end wasthat, before midnight, there, in that broken vessel upon a barren coastwhere no man seemed to live, a daughter was born to her.

  "Let me see the child," said Rachel. So Nehushta showed it to her by thelight of a lamp which burned in the cabin.

  It was a small child, but very white, with blue eyes and dark hair thatcurled. Rachel gazed at it long and tenderly. Then she said, "Bring mewater while there is yet time."

  When the water was brought she dipped her trembling hand into it, andmade the sign of the Cross upon the babe's forehead, baptising her withthe name of Miriam, after that of her own mother, to the service and thecompany of Jesus the Christ.

  "Now," she said, "whether she live an hour or an hundred years, thischild is a Christian, and whatever befalls, should she come to the ageof understanding, see to it, Nou, who are henceforth the foster-motherof her body and her soul, that she does not forget the rites and dutiesof her faith. Lay this charge on her also as her father commanded, andas I command, that should she be moved to marriage, she wed none who isnot a Christian. Tell her that such was the will of those who begat her,and that if she be obedient to it, although they are dead, and as itseems strengthless, yet shall their blessing be upon her all her life'sdays, and with it the blessing of the Lord she serves."

  "Oh!" moaned Nehushta, "why do you speak thus?"

  "Because I am dying. Gainsay me not. I know it well. My life ebbs fromme. My prayers have been answered, and I was preserved to give thisinfant birth; now I go to my appointed place and to one who waits forme, and to the Lord in Whose care he is in Heaven, as we are in Hiscare on earth. Nay, do not mourn; it is no fault of yours, nor could anyphysician's skill have saved me, whose strength was spent in suffering,and who for many months have walked the world, bearing in my breast abroken heart. Give me of that wine to drink--and listen."

  Nehushta obeyed and Rachel went on: "So soon as my breath has left me,take the babe and seek some village on the shore where it can be nursed,for which service you have the means to pay. Then when she is strongenough and it is convenient, travel, not to Tyre--for there my fatherwould bring up the child in the strictest rites and customs of theJews--but to the village of the Essenes upon the shores of the Dead sea.There find out my mother's brother, Ithiel, who is of their society, andpresent to him the tokens of my name and birth which still hang aboutmy neck, and tell him all the story, keeping nothing back. He is not aChristian, but he is a good and gentle-hearted man who thinks well ofChristians, and is grieved at their persecution, since he wrote to myfather reproving him for his deeds towards us and, as you know, strove,but in vain, to bring about our release from prison. Say to him that I,his kinswoman, pray of him, as he will answer to God, and in the name ofthe sister whom he loved, to protect my child and you; to do nothingto turn her from her faith, and in all things to deal with her as hiswisdom shall direct--for so shall peace and blessing come upon him."

  Thus spoke Rachel, but in short and broken words. Then she began topray, and, praying, fell asleep. When she woke again the dawn wasbreaking. Signing to Nehushta to bring her the child, for now she couldno longer speak, she scanned it earnestly in the new-born light, thenplaced her hand upon its head and blessed it. Nehushta she blessed also,thanking her with her eyes and kissing her. Then again she seemed tofall asleep, and presently, when Nehushta looked at her, Rachel wasdead.

  Nehushta understood and gave a great and bitter cry, since to her afterthe death of her first mistress, this woman had been all her life. As achild she had nursed her; as a maiden shared her joys and sorrows; as awife and widow toiled day and night fiercely and faithfully to consoleher in her desolation and to protect her in the dreadful dangers throughwhich she had passed. Now, to end it all, it was her lot to receive herlast breath and to take into her arms her new-born infant.

  Then and there Nehushta swore that as she had done by the mother she sowould do by the child till the day when her labours ended. Were it notfor this child, indeed, they would have ended now, Christian though shewas, since she was crushed with bitter sorrow and her heart seemed voidof hope or joy. All her days had been hard--she who was born to greatplace a
mong her own wild people far away, and snatched thence to be aslave, set apart by her race and blood from those into whose city shewas sold; she who would have naught to do with base men nor become theplaything of those of higher birth; she who had turned Christian anddrunk deep of the tribulations of the faith; she who had centred all hereager heart upon two beloved women, and lost them both. All her days hadbeen hard, and here and now, by the side of her dead mistress, she wouldhave ended them. But the child remained, and while it lived, she wouldlive. If it died, then perhaps she would die also.

  Meanwhile Nehushta had no time for grief, since the babe must be fed,and within twelve hours. Yet, as she could not bury her, and would notthrow her to the sharks, she was minded to give her mistress a royalfuneral after the custom of her own Libyan folk. Here was flame, andwhat pyre could be grander than this great ship?

  Lifting the body from its couch, Nehushta carried it to the deck andlaid it by the broken mast, closing the eyes and folding the hands.Then she loosened from about the neck those tokens of which Rachel hadspoken, made some food and garments into a bundle, and, carrying thelamp with her, went into the captain's cabin amidships. Here a money-boxwas open, and in it gold and some jewels which this man had abandonedin his haste. These she took, adding them to her own store and securingthem about her. This done she fired the cabin, and passing to the hold,broke a jar of oil and fired that also. Then she fled back again, kneltby her dead mistress and kissed her, took the child, wrapping it warmlyin a shawl, and by the ladder of rope which the sailors had used, letherself down into the quiet sea. Its waters did not reach higher thanher middle, and soon she was standing on the shore and climbing thesandhills that lay beyond. At their summit she turned to look, and lo!yonder where the galley was, already a great pillar of fire shot up toheaven, for there was much oil in the hold and it burnt furiously.

  "Farewell!" she cried, "farewell!"

  Then, weeping bitterly, Nehushta walked on inland.