Hebrew Heroes: A Tale Founded on Jewish History
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CHAPTER X.
CONCEALMENT.
We will now return to the quiet dwelling-place of Hadassah, whereLycidas day by day was becoming more hopelessly entangled in the silkenmeshes which kept him a willing captive in the Hebrew home. The verydanger of his position served to add to its charms; it was with keengratification that the Greek marked the anxiety which Zarah felt on hisaccount. Whenever Lycidas emerged from his "den," Zarah kept carefulwatch as she sat at her wheel near the front entrance of the dwelling,ready to give timely notice of the approach of any intruder. The waveof the maiden's hand gave sufficient warning to the Greek. The viewfrom the doorway commanded a long enough tract of road to render itimpossible for any visitor to enter the house so suddenly as to preventLycidas, thus warned, from having time to retreat behind his curtain.
An occasion, however, arose when the gentle sentinel was at last foundoff her guard. Resting on his arm, with his form half reclining on thefloor, Lycidas was giving to Hadassah an account of the defence ofThermopylae, while his eyes were fixed on Zarah, who sat listening withher whole attention absorbed by the thrilling tale, when Abishai,breathless with excitement, rushed so suddenly into the house thatZarah was not aware of his coming in time to give her accustomedsignal. It was Hadassah who heard the sound of rapid footsteps, thoughnot till they had almost crossed the threshold. With great presence ofmind the widow flung over Lycidas a large striped mantle of goat-hair,which she was preparing for Judas Maccabeus, should any opportunityarise of conveying it to the Asmonean leader. Hadassah then shiftedher position, so as to interpose her own form between her guest and thedoor. These movements were so rapid as to take less time in the actionthan the narration.
"Why, child, you look as much startled and terrified as if the Syrianswere upon you!" exclaimed Abishai to Zarah, catching sight of her lookof terror; his own eyes were flashing with triumph, and his gesturesbetrayed his excitement as he continued, "I bring you tidings ofvictory--glorious victory--achieved by our hero, Judas Maccabeus!Apollonius--may the graves of his fathers be polluted!--Apollonius, whotore down the dwellings near Mount Zion to make fortifications of thestones--he himself is laid low! The murderer, the oppressor, theinstrument of a tyrant, and almost more hateful than the tyranthimself, now lies in his gore, and his mighty army has fled before thewarriors of Judah!"
"The Lord of Hosts be praised!" exclaimed Hadassah; "tell us, my son,of the fight," and she motioned to Abishai to take his seat beside her,so that his back should be turned towards Lycidas. The Jew seatedhimself so near to the Greek that the folds of his upper garmenttouched the mantle under which Lycidas lay crouched. If Abishai butmoved his hand a few inches, he must feel that a warm and living formwas concealed under the goats' hair stripes.
"How your cheek changes colour, child!" exclaimed Abishai, surveyingwith surprise his young niece, who could not disguise her terror, norprevent her knees from trembling beneath her as she stood in thedoorway. "You have no cause to fear; Maccabeus is not even wounded.Apollonius met him in fight, and fell by his hand. Henceforth Judas,it is said, declares that he will always use as his own the sword whichhe took from the vanquished Syrian. As David said when he grasped thatof Goliath, "There is no weapon like that."
Zarah scarcely heard the words addressed to her. One thought possessedher mind to the exclusion of every other--the peril of the woundedAthenian. Should any sound or movement betray his presence to herfanatic uncle, she knew that the doom of Lycidas would be sealed, forhe was yet by far too weak to defend himself with the faintest chanceof success, and his recumbent position rendered him utterly helpless.
Hadassah anxiously watched the countenance of Zarah, and read thethoughts passing within. Fearing that the maiden would faint where shestood, Hadassah motioned to her to come closer to her and take her seatat her feet. Zarah obeyed, taking care to be near enough to Abishai tocatch him by the knees, and with what little strength she possessed atleast to impede his movements should he discover the presence of theGreek.
"Judas has brought great honour to our race," exclaimed Abishai, whoattributed the emotion of his niece to a cause very different from thereal one; "in his acts he is like a lion, and like a lion's whelproaring for his prey. He has pursued the wicked, and sought them out;he has destroyed the ungodly, thrown down their altars, and turned awaywrath from Israel."
"He is a mighty instrument in the hands of the Lord," said Hadassah.
"Is he not something more?" exclaimed Abishai, his manner becoming yetmore excited; "may not the time for the great deliverance be come, andthe great Deliverer be amongst us, of whom it is written, _Mine own armbrought salvation unto Me; and My fury, it upheld Me. And I will treaddown the people in Mine anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and Iwill bring down their strength to the earth_" (Isa. lxiii. 5, 6). Wildhope gleamed in the Hebrew's fierce eyes as he spoke, and he startedupright on his feet.
"Shame to you, son of Nathan," said Hadassah with dignity, "you speaklike one who knows not the writings of the Prophets. He that shallcome, the Messiah, is to be of the tribe of Judah, not that of Levi(Isa. xi. 1), shall be born at Bethlehem, not at Modin (Mic. v. 11).Nor have the prophetical weeks of Daniel yet run out. _Know thereforeand understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restoreand to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be sevenweeks, and threescore and two weeks_ (Dan. ix. 25). The set time isnot come."
The wild animation of Abishai sank under the calm rebuke of one who asmuch excelled him in knowledge and intellectual power, as he surpassedher in physical strength. He looked abashed at being convicted ofignorance of prophetic writings.
"You know, O Hadassah," said the Hebrew, "that I have been from myyouth a man of the sword rather than of the book. Nor can I now studyif I would. You are aware how Antiochus has sought out our holywritings to destroy or pollute them. Save the copy of the Scriptureswhich I occasionally see at the house of the elder, Salathiel, when wemeet there by stealth to worship God on the Sabbath, my eyes never somuch as look on the roll of the holy Word."
"I have a complete copy of the Psalms and Prophets, and am making fromit another," said Hadassah, intuitively lowering her tone, and glancingat the door.
"A noble but dangerous work!" cried Abishai.
"Go and look yonder, my son, glance up the path to the right and theleft, see whether any of the heathen be near," said Hadassah, pointingto the door as she spoke. "If none of the enemy be in sight, I willshow you the sacred treasure which I hold at risk of my life."
Abishai instantly left the dwelling, half closing the door behind him.
"Now Lycidas--oh, haste!" exclaimed Zarah in an eager whisper; she wasterrified lest the opportunity of retreat which Hadassah had given,should be lost by one moment's delay.
There was no need to repeat the word; Lycidas instantly drew back intohis retreat behind the curtain, and the Hebrew ladies could breathemore freely again. Zarah gave a bright joyous glance at Hadassah, butit met no answering smile, the widow's features wore a sad, almostindignant expression, the sight of which shot a keen pang through thegentle heart of Zarah. What had she done, what had she said, that hervenerated relative should look on her thus? Had there been aught inher conduct unseemly? She had called the Gentile by his name, could itbe that which had drawn upon her the unwonted displeasure of Hadassah?
As she asked herself such questions, the cheek of Zarah became suffusedwith crimson; she scarcely knew what caused the painful embarrassmentwhich she felt; she seemed to herself like one detected in doing evil,and yet her conscience had nothing wherewith to reproach her asconcerned her conduct towards her grandmother's guest. So uneasy wasthe maiden, however, that on Abishai's return she did not stay to hearthe conversation which ensued between him and Hadassah, but glided upthe outer stair to the roof of the house, where, seated alone on theflat roof, with only heaven's blue canopy above her, she could communewith her own heart, and question it regarding the nature of thedangerous interest which she felt
in the Gentile stranger.