The Roman Traitor, Vol. 1

by Henry William Herbert

  CHAPTER IX.

  THE AMBUSH.

  My friends, That is not so. Sir, we are your enemies. TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.

  It was already near the fourth hour of the Roman night, or about a quarterpast eight of our time, when Paullus issued from the Capuan gate, in orderto keep his appointment with the conspirator; and bold as he was, andfearless under ordinary circumstances, it would be useless to deny thathis heart beat fast and anxiously under his steel cuirass, as he stroderapidly along the Appian way to the place of meeting.

  The sun had long since set, and the moon, which was in her last quarter,had not as yet risen; so that, although the skies were perfectly clear andcloudless, there was but little light by which to direct his foot-stepstoward the valley of the Muses, had he not been already familiar with theway.

  Stepping out rapidly, for he was fearful now of being too late at theplace appointed, he soon passed the two branches of the beautiful andsparkling Almo, wherein the priests of Cybele were wont to lave the statueof their goddess, amid the din of brazen instruments and sacred song; anda little further on, arrived at the cross-road where the way to Ardea, inthe Latin country, branched off to the right hand from the great Appianturnpike.

  At this point there was a small temple sacred to Bacchus, and a littlegrove of elms and plane trees overrun with vines, on which the ripeclusters consecrated to the God were hanging yet, though the season of thevintage had elapsed, safe from the hand of passenger or truant school-boy.

  Turning around the angle of this building, Arvina entered a dim lane,overshadowed by the tall trees of the grove, which wound over two or threelittle hillocks, and then sweeping downward to the three kindredstreamlets, which form the sources of the Almo, followed their right bankup the valley of the Muses.

  Had the mind of Arvina been less agitated than it was by dark and ominousforebodings, that walk had been a pleasant one, in the calm and breezelessevening. The stars were shining by thousands in the deep azure sky; theconstant chirrup of the shrill-voiced cicala, not mute as yet, althoughhis days of tuneful life were well nigh ended, rose cheerfully above therippling murmurs of the waters, and the mysterious rustling of the herbagerejoicing to drink up the copious dew; and heard by fits and starts fromthe thick clumps of arbutus on the hills, or the thorn bushes on thewater's brink, the liquid notes of the nightingale gushed out, charmingthe ear of darkness.

  For the first half mile of his walk, the young patrician met severalpersons on the way--two or three pairs of lovers, as they seemed, of thelower orders, strolling affectionately homeward; a party of rural slavesreturning from their labours on some suburban farm, to their master'shouse; and more than one loaded chariot; but beyond this all was lonelyand silent, with the exception of the stream, the insects, and the vocalnight-bird.

  There was no sound or sight that would seem to indicate the vicinity ofany human being, as Arvina, passing the mouth of a small gorge or hollowscooped out of the bosom of a soft green hill, paused at the arch of a lowbut richly ornamented grotto, hollowed out of the face of the rock, andsupported by a vault of reticulated brick-work, decorated elegantly withreliefs of marble and rich stucco. The soft green mosses and dark tendrilsof the waving ivy, which drooped down from the rock and curtained wellnigh half the opening, rendered the grotto very dark within. And it was amoment or two before Paullus discovered that he was alone in that secludedplace, or in the company only of the old marble god, who, reclining on acouch of the same material at the farther end of the cave, poured forthhis bright waters from an inverted jar, into the clear cool basin whichfilled the centre of the place.

  He was surprised not a little at finding himself the first at the place ofmeeting, for he was conscious that he was behind his time; and had,indeed, come somewhat late on purpose, with a view of taking his stand asif naturally during the interview, between the conspirator and the cavemouth.

  It was not, however, altogether a matter of regret to him, that he hadgained a little time, for the folds of his toga required some adjustment,in order to enable him to get readily at the hilt of his sword, and themouth-piece of his hunting-horn, which he carried beneath his gown. And heapplied himself to that purpose immediately, congratulating himself, as hedid so, on the failure of his first project, and thinking how much betterit would be for him to stand as far as possible from the entrance, so asto avoid even the few rays of dim star-light, which crept in through thetangled ivy.

  This was soon done; and in accordance with his afterthought, he sat downon a projecting angle of the statue's marble couch, in the inmost cornerof the vault, facing the door, and having the pool of the fountaininterposed between that and himself.

  For a few moments he sat thinking anxiously about the interview, which hebelieved, not without cause, was likely to prove embarrassing, at least,if not perilous. But, when he confessed to himself, which he was very sooncompelled to do, that he could shape nothing of his own course, until heshould hear what were the plans in which Catiline desired his cooperation;and when time fled and the man came not, his mind began to wander, and tothink about twenty gay and pleasant subjects entirely disconnected withthe purpose for which he had come thither. Then he fell gradually into asort of waking dream, or vision, as it were, of wandering fancies, made uppartly of the sounds which he actually heard with his outward ears, thoughhis mind took but little note of them, and partly of the occurrences inwhich he had been mixed up, and the persons with whom he had been broughtinto contact within the last two or three days. The gory visage of themurdered slave, the sweet and calm expression of his own Julia, thetruculent eyes and sneering lip of Catiline, and the veiled glance andvoluptuous smile of his too seductive daughter, whirled still before himin a strange sort of human phantasmagoria, with the deep searching look ofthe consul orator, the wild glare of the slaughtered Volero, and the sternface, grand and proud in his last agony, of the dying Varus.

  In this mood he had forgotten altogether where he was, and on whatpurpose, when a deep voice aroused him with a start, and though he hadneither heard his footstep, nor seen him enter, Catiline stood beside hiselbow.

  "What ho!" he exclaimed, "Paullus, have I detained you long in this darksolitude."

  "Nay, I know not how long," replied the other, "for I had fallen intostrange thoughts, and forgotten altogether the lapse of time; but herehave I been since the fourth hour."

  "And it is now already past the fifth," said Cataline, "but come, we mustmake up for the loss of time. Some friends of mine are waiting for us, towhom I wish to introduce you, that you may become altogether one of us,and take the oaths of fidelity. Give me the dagger now, and let us begoing on our way."

  "I have it not with me, Catiline."

  "Have it not with you! Wherefore not? wherefore not, I say, boy?" criedthe conspirator, very savagely. "By all the furies in deep hell, you werebetter not dally with me."

  "Because it is no longer in my possession; and therefore I could not bringit with me," he replied firmly, for the threats of the other only inflamedhis pride, and so increased his natural courage.

  "By the Gods, you brave me, then!" exclaimed Catiline; "fool! fool! bewarehow you tamper with your fate. Speak instantly, speak out: to whom haveyou dared give it?"

  "There was no daring in the matter, Catiline," he answered steadily,keeping an eye on the arch-traitor's movements; "before I knew that it wasyours, I sent it, as I had promised, to Cicero, with word that Volerocould tell him who was the owner of it."

  "Ha, didst thou so?" said the other, mastering instantly his fury, in hisdesire to make himself fully acquainted with all that had passed. "Whenwas all this? has he seen Volero, and learned the secret of him, then?"

  "I sent it, Catiline, within an hour of the time I left the Campusyesterday."

  "Before coming to my house to dinner?"

  "Before going to thy house to dinner, Sergius."

  "Before seducing Lucia Orestilla?" again sneered the desperate villain.

  "Be
fore yielding," answered the young man, who was now growing angry, forhis temper was not of the meekest, "to her irresistible seduction."

  "Ha! yielding--well! we will speak of that hereafter. Hath the consul seenVolero?"

  "He hath seen him dead; and how dead, Catiline best knoweth."

  "It was, then, thou, whom I saw in the feeble lamplight with the accursedwretch that crosses my path everywhere, the dastard, drivelling dotard ofArpinum; thou that despite thine oath, didst lead him to detect the man,thou hadst sworn to obey, and follow! Thou! it is thou, then, thathoundest mine enemies upon my track! By the great Gods, I know not whethermost to marvel at the sublime, unrivalled folly, which could lead thee tofancy, that thou, a mere boy and tyro, couldst hoodwink eyes like mine; orat the daring which could prompt thee to rush headlong on thine own ruinin betraying me! Boy, thou hast but one course left; to join us heart andhand; to go and renew thine oath in such fashion as even thou,premeditated perjurer, wilt not presume to break, and then to seal thyfaith by the blood"--

  "Of whom?"

  "Of this new man; this pendant consul of Arpinum."

  "Aye!" exclaimed Paullus, as if half tempted to accede to his proposal;"and if I do so, what shall I gain thereby?"

  "Lucia, I might say," answered Catiline, "but--seeing that possession dampssomething at all times the fierceness of pursuit--what if I should reply,the second place in Rome?"

  "In Rome?"

  "When we have beaten down the proud patricians to our feet, and raised theconquering ensign of democratic sway upon the ramparts of the capitol;when Rome and all that she contains of bright and beautiful, shall be ourheritage and spoil; the second place, I say, in regenerated Rome, linked,too, to everlasting glory."

  "And the first place?"

  "By Mars the great avenger! dost soar so high a pitch already? ho! boy,the first is mine, by right, as by daring. How say you? are you mine?"

  "If I say no!"

  "Thou diest on the instant."

  "I think not," replied Arvina quietly, "and I do answer No."

  "Then perish, fool, in thy folly."

  And leaping forward he dealt him a blow with a long two-edged dagger,which he had held in his hand naked, during the whole discussion, inreadiness for the moment he anticipated; and at the same instant uttered aloud clear whistle.

  To his astonishment the blade glanced off the breast of the young man, andhis arm was stunned nearly to the shoulder by the unexpected resistance ofthe stout corslet. The whistle was answered, however, the very moment itwas uttered; and just as he saw Paullus spring to the farther side of thecavern, and set his back against the wall, unsheathing a heavy broadswordof the short Roman fashion, three stout men entered the mouth of the cave,heavily armed with weapons of offence, although they wore no defensivearmor.

  "Give me a sword," shouted the fierce conspirator, furious at beingfoiled, and perceiving that his whole enterprise depended on the youngman's destruction. "He is armed under his gown with a breast-plate! Giveme a sword, and then set on him all at once. So that will do, now, on."

  "Hold, Sergius Catiline," exclaimed Arvina, "hold, or by all the Gods youwill repent it. If you have three men at your back I have full five timesthree within call."

  "Call them, then!" answered the other, making at him, "call them! thinkyou again to fool me? Ho, Geta and Arminius, get round the fountain andset on him! make haste I say--kill--kill."

  And with the word he rushed at him, aiming a fierce blow at his head,while the others a moment afterward charged on him from the other side.

  But during the brief parley Arvina had disengaged the folds of his gownfrom his light shoulder, and wrapped it closely about his left arm, andwhen Catiline rushed in he parried the blow with his sword, and raisingthe little horn he carried, to his lips, blew a long piercing call, whichwas answered by a loud shout close at hand, and by the rush of many feetwithout the grotto.

  Catiline was himself astonished at the unexpected aid, for he had takenthe words of the young patrician for a mere boast. But his men werealarmed and fell back in confusion, while Paul, profiting by theirhesitation, sprang with a quick active bound across the basin of thefountain, and gained the cavern's mouth just as his stout freedman Thraseashowed himself in the entrance with a close casque and cuirass of bronze,and a boar spear in his hand, the heads and weapons of several otherable-bodied men appearing close behind.

  At the head of these Arvina placed himself instantly, having his lateassailants hemmed in by a force, against which they now could notreasonably hope to struggle.

  But Paullus showed no disposition to take undue advantage of hissuperiority, for he said in a calm steady voice, "I leave you now, myfriend; and it will not be my fault, if aught that has passed here, isremembered any farther. None here have seen you, or know who you are; andyou may rest assured that for _her_ sake and mine own honor, if I join notyour plans, I will not betray you, or reveal your counsels. To that I amsworn, and come what may, my oath shall not be broken."

  "Tush," cried the other, maddened by disappointment, and filled withdesperate apprehensions, "men trust not avowed traitors. Upon them, I say,you dogs. Let there be forty of them, but four can stand abreast in theentrance, and we can front them, four as good as they."

  And he again dashed at Arvina, without waiting to see if his gladiatorsmeant to second his attack; but they hung back, reluctant to fight againstsuch odds; for, though brave men, and accustomed to risk their lives,without quarrel or excitement, for the gratification of the brute populaceof Rome, they had come to the cave of Egeria, prepared for assassination,not for battle; and their antagonists were superior to them as much inaccoutrement and arms--for their bronze head-pieces were seen distinctlyglimmering in the rays of the rising moon--as in numbers.

  The blades of the leaders clashed together, and several quick blows andparries had been interchanged, during which Thrasea, had he not beenrestrained by his young master's orders, might easily have stabbed theconspirator with his boar-spear. But he held back at first, waiting afresh command, until seeing that none came, and that the unknown opponentwas pressing his lord hard; while the gladiators, apparently encouraged byhis apathy, were beginning to handle their weapons, he shifted his spearin his hands, and stepping back a pace, so as to give full scope to asweeping blow, he flourished the butt, which was garnished with a heavyball of metal, round his head in a figure of eight, and brought it down soheavily on the felt skull-cap of the conspirator, that his teeth jarredaudibly together, a quick flash sprang across his eyes, and he fell,stunned and senseless, at the feet of his intended victim.

  "Hold, Thrasea, hold," cried Paullus, "by the Gods! you have slain him."

  "No, I have not. No! no! his head is too hard for that," answered thefreedman; "I felt my staff rebound from the bone, which it would not havedone, had the skull been fractured. No! he is not dead, though he deservedto die very richly."

  "I am glad of it," replied Paullus. "I would not have him killed, for manyreasons. Now, hark ye, ye scoundrels and gallows-birds! most justly areyour lives forfeit, whether it seem good to me, to take them here thismoment, or to drag you away, and hand you over to the lictors of thecity-praetor, as common robbers and assassins."

  "That you cannot do, whilst we live, most noble," answered the boldest ofthe gladiators, sullenly; "and you cannot, I think, take our lives,without leaving some of your own on our swords' points."

  "Brave me not," cried the young man, sternly, "lest you drive me to dothat I would not. Your lives, I say, are forfeit; but, seeing that I lovenot bloodshed, I leave you, for this time, unpunished. Take up the masterwhom you serve, and bear him home; and, when he shall be able to receiveit, tell him Paullus Arvina pardons his madness, pities his fears, andbetrays no man's trust--least of all his. For the rest, let him choosebetween enmity and friendship. I care not which it be. I can defend my ownlife, and assail none. Beware how you follow us. If you do, by all theGods! you die. See, he begins to stir. Come, Thrasea, call off your men;we will go,
ere he come to his senses, lest worse shall befal."

  And with the words he turned his back contemptuously on the crest-fallengladiators, and strode haughtily across the threshold, leaving the fierceconspirator, as he was beginning to recover his scattered senses, to thekeen agony of conscious villainy frustrated, and the stings of defeatedpride and disappointed malice.

  The night was well advanced, when he reached his own house, having met nointerruption on the way, proud of his well-planned stratagem, elated bysuccess, and flattered by the hope that he had extricated himself by hisown energy from all the perils which had of late appeared so dark anddifficult to shun.