It was with a heavy heart that Caleb, defeated and shamed, shook thedust of the village of the Essenes off his feet. At dawn on the morningafter the night that he had fought the duel with Marcus, he also mighthave been seen, a staff in his bandaged hand and a bag of provisionsover his shoulder, standing upon the little ridge and gazing towards thehouse which sheltered Miriam. In love and war things had gone ill withhim, so ill that at the thought of his discomfiture he ground his teeth.Miriam cared nothing for him; Marcus had defeated him at the firstencounter and given him his life; while, worst of all, these twofrom whom he had endured so much loved each other. Few, perhaps, havesuffered more sharply than he suffered in that hour; for what agoniesare there like those of disappointed love and the shame of defeat whenendured in youth? With time most men grow accustomed to disaster andrebuff. The colt that seems to break its heart at the cut of a whip,will hobble at last to the knacker unmoved by a shower of blows.
While Caleb looked, the red rim of the sun rose above the horizon,flooding the world with light and life. Now birds began to chirp, andbeasts to move; now the shadows fled away. Caleb's impressionable natureanswered to this change. Hope stirred in his breast, even the pain ofhis maimed hand was forgotten.
"I will win yet," he shouted to the silent sky; "my troubles are donewith. I will shine like the sun; I will rule like the sun, and myenemies shall whither beneath my power. It is a good omen. Now I am gladthat the Roman spared my life, that in a day to come I may take his--andMiriam."
Then he turned and trudged onward through the glorious sunlight,watching his own shadow that stretched away before him.
"It goes far," he said again; "this also is a very good omen."
Caleb thought much on his way to Jerusalem; moreover he talked with allwhom he met, even with bandits and footpads whom his poverty could nottempt, for he desired to learn how matters stood in the land. Arrived inJerusalem he sought out the home of that lady who had been his mother'sfriend and who gave him over, a helpless orphan, to the care of theEssenes. He found that she was dead, but her son lived, a man of kindheart and given to hospitality, who had heard his story and shelteredhim for his mother's sake. When his hand was healed and he procured somegood clothes and a little money from his friend, without saying anythingof his purpose, Caleb attended the court of Gessius Florus, the Romanprocurator, at his palace, seeking an opportunity to speak with him.
Thrice did he wait thus for hours at a time, on each occasion to bedriven away at last by the guards. On his fourth visit he was morefortunate, for Florus, who had noted him before, asked why he stoodthere so patiently. An officer replied that the man had a petition tomake.
"Let me hear it then," said the governor. "I sit in this place toadminister justice by the grace and in the name of Caesar."
Accordingly, Caleb was summoned and found himself in the presence of asmall, dark-eyed, beetle-browed Roman with cropped hair, who looked whathe was--one of the most evil rulers that ever held power in Judaea.
"What do you seek, Jew?" he asked in a harsh voice.
"What I am assured I shall find at your hands, O most noble Florus,justice against the Jews--pure justice"; words at which the courtiersand guards tittered, and even Florus smiled.
"It is to be had at a price," he replied.
"I am prepared to pay the price."
"Then set out your case."
So Caleb set it out. He told how many years before his father hadbeen accidentally slain in a tumult, and how he, the son, being but aninfant, certain Jews of the Zealots had seized and divided his estateon the ground that his father was a partisan of the Romans, leaving him,the son, to be brought up by charity--which estate, consisting of tractsof rich lands and certain house property in Jerusalem and Tyre, wasstill in their possession or in that of their descendants.
The black eyes of Florus glistened as he heard.
"Their names," he said, snatching at his tablets. But as yet Caleb wasnot minded to give the names. First, he intimated that he desired toarrive at a formal agreement as to what proportion of the property, ifrecovered, would be handed over to him, the heir. Then followed muchhaggling; but in the end it was agreed that as he had been robbedbecause his father was supposed to favour the Romans, the lands and alarge dwelling with warehouse attached, at Tyre, together with one-halfthe back rents, if recoverable, should be given to the plaintiff.The governor, or as he put it, Caesar, for his share was to retainthe property in Jerusalem and the other half of the rents. In thisarrangement Caleb proved himself, as usual, prescient. Houses, as heexplained afterwards, could be burned or pulled down, but beyond thecrops on it, land no man could injure. Then, after the agreement hadbeen duly signed and witnessed, he gave the names, bringing forward goodtestimony to prove all that he had said.
Within a week those Jews who had committed the theft, or theirdescendants, were in prison, whence they did not emerge till they hadbeen stripped, not only of the stolen property, but of everything elsethat they possessed. Either because he was pleased at so great andunexpected a harvest, or perhaps for the reason that he saw in Caleban able fellow who might be useful in the future, Florus fulfilled hisbargain with him to the letter.
Thus it came about that by a strange turn of the wheel of chance, withina month of his flight from the colony of the Essenes, Caleb, the outcastorphan, with his neck in danger of the sword, became a man of influence,having great possessions. His sun had risen indeed.
Pearl-Maiden: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem Page 11
