The Spartan Twins

by Lucy Fitch Perkins

  V

  THE TWINS GO TO ATHENS

  In the gray dawn of the following morning Lydia stood in the doorway ofher house and watched the three figures disappear down the road towardthe little seaport town of Ambelaca. Melas walked ahead, carrying thelamb wrapped in his cloak, and the Twins followed, bearing between them abasket in which Lydia had carefully packed two dressed fowls, some fresheggs, and a cheese, to be taken to the home of Pericles, besides breadand cheese for Melas and the children. The Twins were so excited theywould have danced along the road instead of walking if it hadn't beenfor the basket, but every time Daphne got too lively, Dion said,"Remember the eggs," and every time Dion forgot and skipped, Daphne saidthe same thing to him.

  They had gone nearly a mile in this way, when the road took them to thecrest of a hill, from the top of which it seemed as if they could see thewhole world. Just below them lay the little seaport town of Ambelaca, andbeyond it the blue waters of the bay sparkled and danced in the morningbreeze. On the farther side of the bay they could see the white buildingsof the Piraeus, and beyond that in the distance was a chain of bluemountains over which the sun was just peeping. That sight was sobeautiful that the children set down their basket, and Melas too stoodstill to gaze.

  "Those blue mountains beyond the Piraeus are the hills of Athens," saidMelas. "The one with the flat top is the sacred hill of the Acropolis.And right down there," he added, pointing to a white house on a near-byhill-top, overlooking the sea, "is the house of Euripides, the Poet. Hehas come from the noise and confusion of the city to find a quiet refugeupon Salamis."

  "Does he write real poetry?" asked Daphne.

  "They say he does," answered Melas, "though I never read any of itmyself."

  "I wish I could write," sighed Daphne, "even if it wasn't poetry! Even ifit were only curses to hang around a scarecrow's neck. I'd like towrite!"

  "Girls don't need to know how to write," said Melas. "It doesn't makethem any better housekeepers. I don't even see how Dion is going tolearn. There are no schools in Salamis."

  "Oh dear!" thought Daphne, "there it is again." But she said nothing andfollowed Melas down the hill and into the village street.

  Soon they found themselves at the dock where the boat was tied. Therewere already passengers on board when the Twins and their Father arrived.There were two farmers with baskets of eggs and vegetables, and there wasan old woman with a large bundle of bread. Next to her sat a fishermanwith a basket of eels. They were all going to the market in the Piraeusto sell their produce. Melas with the lamb in his arms climbed in besideone of the farmers and sat facing the fisherman. Dion sat next to himwith the basket on his knee, and Daphne had to sit beside the fishermanand the eels. The eels squirmed frightfully, and Daphne squirmed tooevery time she looked at them. She was afraid one might get out and wrapitself around her legs. They did look so horribly like snakes, and Daphnefelt about snakes just as most girls do. However, she knew it was uselessto say anything. There was no other seat for her, and so she rememberedthat she was a Spartan and tried not to look at them.

  When they were all seated, the rowers took their places on therowing-benches, the captain gave the signal, and off they went over theblue waters toward the distant shore. For a time everything wentsmoothly. There was no sound but the rattling of the oarlocks, the chantof the rowers as they dipped their oars, and the rippling of the wateragainst the sides of the boat. Up to this time the black lamb had lainquietly in Melas' arms, but now something seemed to disturb him. Helifted his head, gave a sudden bleat, and somehow flung himself out ofMelas' arms directly into the basket of eels! Such a squirming as therewas then! The eels squirmed, and the lamb squirmed, and if his legs hadnot been securely tied together he undoubtedly would have flopped rightinto the water, and then this story would never have been written.

  The fisherman gave an angry roar. "Keep your miserable lamb out of my eelbasket," he shouted.

  Melas had not waited to be told. He had already seized the lamb, but itstruggled hard to get away, and between the lamb and the eels there was adisturbance that threatened to upset the boat.

  "Sit still," roared the captain. "Have you no sense? Do you all want togo to the bottom?"

  "May Poseidon defend us!" cried the old woman with the bread. "I've nowish to be made into eel-bait."

  "Nor I," said one of the farmers angrily. "You'd better kill your lambsbefore you take them to market," he said to Melas; "it will be safer forthe rest of us."

  "The lamb is not for market," Melas answered. "I would not dare kill it.It bears a portent on its brow!"

  "A portent?" gasped the old woman.

  "May all the Gods defend us! What portent?" Melas pointed to the horn."It has but one horn," he said.

  They all became still at once. They all looked at the lamb. They all feltof his horn. Their eyes grew big.

  "There was never such a thing known," said the farmer.

  "Whose is the lamb?" asked another. "Is it yours?"

  "No," said Melas, "it belongs to Pericles the Archon. It was born on hisfarm. I am taking it to him so that he may decide what to do with it."

  "A portent on the farm of Pericles?" cried the old woman. "I'll warrantit will be read as favoring him, since he already has a world at hisfeet. May the Gods forgive me, but it seems to me they are often morepartial than just."

  "Hush, woman," said one of the farmers. "Speak no ill of the Gods, notuntil we are safe on the land at any rate."

  The woman snapped her mouth shut. The farmers and the fisherman settledthemselves as far away as possible from the Twins and Melas, and nothingmore was said until the boat touched the other shore, and all thepassengers scrambled out upon the dock. The farmers and the fisherman andthe old woman all hastened away to the marketplace, and when they reachedit, they must have kept their tongues busy, for as Melas and the Twinspassed through it on their way to Athens a few moments later, they werefollowed by a crowd of curious people who wanted to see the lamb and whohad a great deal to say about what such a miracle might mean.

  Melas paid little attention to them, but hastened on his way, and soonthey reached the eastern edge of the town and started along the pavedroad which ran from the Piraeus to Athens proper. This road was nearlyfive miles long and ran between two high walls of stone some distanceapart. The curious crowd left them at this point and the three walked onalone through olive orchards and past little vineyards, toward Athens.

  "Nobody could get lost on this road," said Dion to his Father, "not evenif he tried! He couldn't get over the walls."

  "What are the walls for?" asked Daphne. "It seems silly to build highwalls like this right out in the country."

  "Not so silly when you think about it," answered Melas. "These walls werebuilt by Pericles, so that if any enemy should make an invasion, Athenswould always have a safe access to the sea. Without that she could bestarved within her own walls in a very short time."

  "Pericles must be almost as powerful and wise as the Gods themselves, Ishould think," said Daphne.

  "He does all these things by the help of the Gods, without doubt," saidMelas.

  When they were halfway on their journey to the city, Dion suddenly letdown his side of the basket with a thump.

  "Remember the eggs!" cried Daphne sharply, but Dion did not seem to hear.

  "Look! Look!" he cried and pointed toward the east. There against thesky, on the top of the sacred mountain, stood a gigantic figure shiningin the sun.

  "What is it?" cried both children at once.

  "That is the bronze statue of Athena, the Goddess who gives protection toAthens," said Melas.

  "Did Pericles make that too?" asked Daphne.

  Melas laughed. "No," he said; "you must not think Pericles madeeverything you may see in Athens. Great as he is, he is not a sculptor."

  "Oh, oh," cried Dion, "I want to see the Gorgon's head with snaky locks.Don't you remember the Stranger said it was on the breastplate of thestatue?"

  "Ugh," said Daphne, shudde
ring. "I don't believe I'd like it. It mustlook just like eels."

  "Come, come," said Melas. "At this rate you won't have a chance. The daywill be gone before we know it."

  The Twins picked up the basket, and the three marched on toward the city,and it was not long before they had entered the gate and were passingalong closely built-up streets to the home of the greatest man in Athens.

  "This is the place," said Melas at last, stopping at one of the houses.

  "This isn't Pericles' house, is it?" cried Daphne. "Why, I thought itwould be the biggest house in Athens, and it looks just like the others."

  "Pericles does not put on much style," said Melas, as he lifted theknocker on the door. "He is too great to need display. He cares moreabout fine public buildings for the city than about making his neighborsenvious by living better than they do. Just get the idea out of your headthat greatness means wealth and luxury, or you are no true Spartans, noreven good Athenians."

  As he said this, Melas let the knocker fall. The door was immediatelyopened by a porter, who looked surprised when he saw Melas and the Twins.

  "What brings you in from the farm?" he said.

  "I wish to see your mistress, the wife of Pericles," said Melas, withdignity. "I have business of importance."

  "Come in, come in," said the porter, grinning good-naturedly; "and you,too, little boys," he added graciously to the Twins, and led the way intothe house. Dion was just opening his mouth to explain that Daphne wasn'ta boy, but Daphne poked him in the ribs and shook her head at him. "Lethim think so," she said, jerking her chiton up shorter through hergirdle.

  They were ushered through a passageway into the court of the house, andthere the porter left them while he went to call his mistress. The house,though little different from the other houses of well-to-do Athenians,was still much finer than anything the Twins had ever seen. The floor wasof marble, and the altar of Zeus which stood in the center of the courtwas beautifully carved. The doorways which opened into the various roomsof the house were hung with blue curtains. A room opening into the courtat the back had a hearth-fire in the middle of it, much like that in thechildren's own home. Soon a door in the back of the house opened, andTelesippe, the wife of Pericles, appeared. She was a large coarse-lookingwoman, and with her were three boys, her own two and Alcibiades, ahandsome lad, who was a ward of Pericles and a member of his family.

  Melas approached her and opened his cloak.

  "Why, Melas, what have you there?" cried Telesippe in amazement, as shesaw the little black rain.

  "A portent, Madam," said Melas with solemnity. "This ram, born on yourhusband's farm, is a prodigy, it has but one horn. I have brought it toyou, that the omen might be interpreted. I trust it may prove a favorableone."

  Telesippe looked at the lamb and turned pale. She struck her handstogether. The porter and another slave at once appeared.

  "Go to the temple and bring Lampon, the priest," she said to the slave;and to the porter she added, "and you, the moment the priest arrives,call your master."

  The slave instantly disappeared, and the porter went back to his post bythe entrance. Although Telesippe was evidently disturbed and anxiousabout the portent, she now turned her attention to the basket, which Dionand Daphne had placed before her, and when their luncheon had been takenout, she called a slave woman and gave the fowl and the eggs and cheeseinto her care.

  The three boys, meanwhile, crowded around Melas and the lamb and askedquestions of all sorts about it and about the farm. It seemed but a shorttime when the porter opened the door once more and ushered in the priest.The Twins had never seen a priest, since there were none on the island,and they looked with awe upon this man who could read omens and interpretdreams. He was a tall, spare man with piercing dark eyes. He was dressedin a long white robe, and wore a wreath of laurel upon his brow, and hisblack hair fell over his neck in long, straggling locks.

  No sooner had he entered the court and taken his place beside thealtar than the blue curtains of a door at the right parted and a tallnoble-looking man entered the room. Dion and Daphne knew at once that itmust be Pericles. No other man, they thought, could look so majestic.Their knees shook under them, and they felt just as you would feel if youwere suddenly to meet the President of the United States. Pericles wasnot alone. A man also tall, and wearing a long white cloak, followedhim through the curtains and joined the group about the altar.

  "The Stranger!" gasped Daphne to Dion in a whisper. "Don't you remember?He said he knew Pericles!"

  The Stranger spoke to Melas and laid his hand playfully upon the heads ofthe Twins.

  "These are old friends of mine," he said to Pericles. "I stayed at theirhouse one night last spring."

  Pericles had already greeted the priest. Now he smiled pleasantly at thechildren, and spoke to Melas.

  "I hear a miracle has occurred on my farm," he said.

  For answer Melas showed the lamb, which now began to jump and wriggle inhis arms.

  "There can be no doubt that the portent concerns the Great Archon," saidthe priest solemnly. "See how the ram leaps the moment he appears!"

  Pericles beckoned to the Stranger. "What do you think of this,Anaxagoras?" he said, smiling.

  "I am no soothsayer," answered the Stranger, smiling too. "The priest isthe one to expound the riddle."

  Lampon now came forward, and, with an air of importance, pulled a fewhairs from the lamb's fleece, and laid them upon the live coals of thealtar. He watched the hair curl up as it burned and bent his ear tolisten. "It burns with a crackling sound," he said; "the omen istherefore favorable to your house, O Pericles. Instead of two horns, theanimal has but one! Instead of two factions in Athens, one favorable toPericles, one opposed, there will henceforth be but one! All the citywill unite under the leadership of Pericles the Olympian."

  "The Gods be praised!" exclaimed Telesippe, with fervor.

  The priest clapped his hands and bowed his head, and Dion saw him peercautiously through the tangled locks which fell over his face to see howPericles had taken this prophecy. The Great Archon was standing quietlybeside Anaxagoras, and neither one gave any sign of being impressed bythe oracle. The priest scowled under his wreath.

  "What shall be done with the ram?" asked Telesippe, when Lampon againlifted his head.

  "Let it be sent to the temple as an offering. Since it is black it mustbe sacrificed to the Gods of the lower world," answered the priest.

  Telesippe at once called a slave. Melas gave the ram into his hands; thepriest received a present of money from Pericles, and, followed by theslave with the ram, disappeared through the doorway.

  "You did well to bring the ram to me at once," said Pericles to Melaswhen the door closed behind the priest. "Take this present for yourpains," and he placed a gold-piece in Melas' hand. "And these littleboys," he added, smiling pleasantly at the Twins, "they too have donetheir share in bringing the portent. They must have a reward as well." Hegave them each a coin, and, when he had received their thanks, at onceleft the house, followed by Anaxagoras. The Twins and Melas then saidgood-bye to Telesippe and the boys and took their leave.

  When they turned the corner into the next street, Melas said with a sigh,"There, that's off my mind. And I hope there will be no more miracles fora while."

  "If it would take us to the house of Pericles every time, I'd like themat least once a week!" cried Dion, looking longingly at the coin Pericleshad given him.

  "So would I," Daphne added fervently. "Even if Pericles didn't give usanything at all, I'd come to Athens just to look at him! He looks justlike the Gods. I know he does."

  Melas laughed. "You're just like the Athenians," he said, "They call himthe Olympian because they feel the same way about him. Give me yourcoins," he added. "I will put them in my purse for safe-keeping."

  "Anyway," said Daphne, as she and Dion gave their Father the money, "I'mglad the portent was favorable to Pericles. The old woman on the boat wasright. She said it would be."