Ben-Hur; a tale of the Christ
Page 51
CHAPTER VII
Malluch stopped at the door; Ben-Hur entered alone.
The room was the same in which he had formerly interviewedSimonides, and it had been in nowise changed, except now,close by the arm-chair, a polished brazen rod, set on a broadwooden pedestal, arose higher than a tall man, holding lamps ofsilver on sliding arms, half-a-dozen or more in number, and allburning. The light was clear, bringing into view the panelling onthe walls, the cornice with its row of gilded balls, and the domedully tinted with violet mica.
Within a few steps, Ben-Hur stopped.
Three persons were present, looking at him--Simonides, Ilderim,and Esther.
He glanced hurriedly from one to another, as if to find answer tothe question half formed in his mind, What business can these havewith me? He became calm, with every sense on the alert, for thequestion was succeeded by another, Are they friends or enemies?
At length, his eyes rested upon Esther.
The men returned his look kindly; in her face there was somethingmore than kindness--something too _spirituel_ for definition,which yet went to his inner consciousness without definition.
Shall it be said, good reader? Back of his gaze there was acomparison in which the Egyptian arose and set herself overagainst the gentle Jewess; but it lived an instant, and, as isthe habit of such comparisons, passed away without a conclusion.
"Son of Hur--"
The guest turned to the speaker.
"Son of Hur," said Simonides, repeating the address slowly, andwith distinct emphasis, as if to impress all its meaning upon himmost interested in understanding it, "take thou the peace of theLord God of our fathers--take it from me." He paused, then added,"From me and mine."
The speaker sat in his chair; there were the royal head, the bloodlessface, the masterful air, under the influence of which visitors forgotthe broken limbs and distorted body of the man. The full black eyesgazed out under the white brows steadily, but not sternly. A momentthus, then he crossed his hands upon his breast.
The action, taken with the salutation, could not be misunderstood,and was not.
"Simonides," Ben-Hur answered, much moved, "the holy peace youtender is accepted. As son to father, I return it to you. Only letthere be perfect understanding between us."
Thus delicately he sought to put aside the submission of themerchant, and, in place of the relation of master and servant,substitute one higher and holier.
Simonides let fall his hands, and, turning to Esther, said, "A seatfor the master, daughter."
She hastened, and brought a stool, and stood, with suffusedface, looking from one to the other--from Ben-Hur to Simonides,from Simonides to Ben-Hur; and they waited, each declining thesuperiority direction would imply. When at length the pause beganto be embarrassing, Ben-Hur advanced, and gently took the stoolfrom her, and, going to the chair, placed it at the merchant'sfeet.
"I will sit here," he said.
His eyes met hers--an instant only; but both were better of thelook. He recognized her gratitude, she his generosity and forbearance.
Simonides bowed his acknowledgment.
"Esther, child, bring me the paper," he said, with a breath ofrelief.
She went to a panel in the wall, opened it, took out a roll ofpapyri, and brought and gave it to him.
"Thou saidst well, son of Hur," Simonides began, while unrollingthe sheets. "Let us understand each other. In anticipation of thedemand--which I would have made hadst thou waived it--I have herea statement covering everything necessary to the understandingrequired. I could see but two points involved--the property first,and then our relation. The statement is explicit as to both. Will itplease thee to read it now?"
Ben-Hur received the papers, but glanced at Ilderim.
"Nay," said Simonides, "the sheik shall not deter thee fromreading. The account--such thou wilt find it--is of a naturerequiring a witness. In the attesting place at the end thou wiltfind, when thou comest to it, the name--Ilderim, Sheik. He knowsall. He is thy friend. All he has been to me, that will he be tothee also."
Simonides looked at the Arab, nodding pleasantly, and the lattergravely returned the nod, saying, "Thou hast said."
Ben-Hur replied, "I know already the excellence of his friendship,and have yet to prove myself worthy of it." Immediately he continued,"Later, O Simonides, I will read the papers carefully; for the present,do thou take them, and if thou be not too weary, give me their substance."
Simonides took back the roll.
"Here, Esther, stand by me and receive the sheets, lest they fallinto confusion."
She took place by his chair, letting her right arm fall lightlyacross his shoulder, so, when he spoke, the account seemed tohave rendition from both of them jointly.
"This," said Simonides, drawing out the first leaf, "shows themoney I had of thy father's, being the amount saved from theRomans; there was no property saved, only money, and that therobbers would have secured but for our Jewish custom of billsof exchange. The amount saved, being sums I drew from Rome,Alexandria, Damascus, Carthage, Valentia, and elsewhere withinthe circle of trade, was one hundred and twenty talents Jewishmoney."
He gave the sheet to Esther, and took the next one.
"With that amount--one hundred and twenty talents--I chargedmyself. Hear now my credits. I use the word, as thou wilt see,with reference rather to the proceeds gained from the use ofthe money."
From separate sheets he then read footings, which, fractions omitted,were as follows:
"CR.
By ships............................... 60 talents. " goods in store......................110 " " cargoes in transit.................. 75 " " camels, horses, etc................. 20 " " warehouses.......................... 10 " " bills due........................... 54 " " money on hand and subject to draft..224 " --- Total..................................553 " "
"To these now, to the five hundred and fifty-three talents gained,add the original capital I had from thy father, and thou hast SIXHUNDRED AND SEVENTY THREE TALENTS!--and all thine--making thee,O son of Hur, the richest subject in the world."
He took the papyri from Esther, and, reserving one, rolled themand offered them to Ben-Hur. The pride perceptible in his mannerwas not offensive; it might have been from a sense of duty welldone; it might have been for Ben-Hur without reference to himself.
"And there is nothing," he added, dropping his voice, but not hiseyes--"there is nothing now thou mayst not do."
The moment was one of absorbing interest to all present. Simonidescrossed his hands upon his breast again; Esther was anxious;Ilderim nervous. A man is never so on trial as in the momentof excessive good-fortune.
Taking the roll, Ben-Hur arose, struggling with emotion.
"All this is to me as a light from heaven, sent to drive away anight which has been so long I feared it would never end, and sodark I had lost the hope of seeing," he said, with a husky voice."I give first thanks to the Lord, who has not abandoned me,and my next to thee, O Simonides. Thy faithfulness outweighsthe cruelty of others, and redeems our human nature. 'There isnothing I cannot do:' be it so. Shall any man in this my hourof such mighty privilege be more generous than I? Serve me as awitness now, Sheik Ilderim. Hear thou my words as I shall speakthem--hear and remember. And thou, Esther, good angel of thisgood man! hear thou also."
He stretched his hand with the roll to Simonides.
"The things these papers take into account--all of them: ships,houses, goods, camels, horses, money; the least as well as thegreatest--give I back to thee, O Simonides, making them all thine,and sealing them to thee and thine forever."
Esther smiled through her tears; Ilderim pulled his beard withrapid motion, his eyes glistening like beads of jet. Simonides alonewas calm.
"Sealing them to thee and thine forever," Ben-Hur continued,with better control of himself, "with one exception, and uponone condition."
The breath of the listeners waited upon his
words.
"The hundred and twenty talents which were my father's thou shaltreturn to me."
Ilderim's countenance brightened.
"And thou shalt join me in search of my mother and sister, holding allthine subject to the expense of discovery, even as I will hold mine."
Simonides was much affected. Stretching out his hand, he said,"I see thy spirit, son of Hur, and I am grateful to the Lord thathe hath sent thee to me such as thou art. If I served well thy fatherin life, and his memory afterwards, be not afraid of default to thee;yet must I say the exception cannot stand."
Exhibiting, then, the reserved sheet, he continued,
"Thou hast not all the account. Take this and read--read aloud."
Ben-Hur took the supplement, and read it.
"Statement of the servants of Hur, rendered by Simonides, steward ofthe estate.
1. Amrah, Egyptian, keeping the palace in Jerusalem. 2. Simonides, the steward, in Antioch. 3. Esther, daughter of Simonides."
Now, in all his thoughts of Simonides, not once had it enteredBen-Hur's mind that, by the law, a daughter followed the parent'scondition. In all his visions of her, the sweet-faced Esther hadfigured as the rival of the Egyptian, and an object of possiblelove. He shrank from the revelation so suddenly brought him,and looked at her blushing; and, blushing, she dropped her eyesbefore him. Then he said, while the papyrus rolled itself together,
"A man with six hundred talents is indeed rich, and may do whathe pleases; but, rarer than the money, more priceless thanthe property, is the mind which amassed the wealth, and theheart it could not corrupt when amassed. O Simonides--and thou,fair Esther--fear not. Sheik Ilderim here shall be witness thatin the same moment ye were declared my servants, that moment Ideclared ye free; and what I declare, that will I put in writing.Is it not enough? Can I do more?"
"Son of Hur," said Simonides, "verily thou dost make servitudelightsome. I was wrong; there are some things thou canst not do;thou canst not make us free in law. I am thy servant forever,because I went to the door with thy father one day, and in myear the awl-marks yet abide."
"Did my father that?"
"Judge him not," cried Simonides, quickly. "He accepted me aservant of that class because I prayed him to do so. I neverrepented the step. It was the price I paid for Rachel, the motherof my child here; for Rachel, who would not be my wife unless Ibecame what she was."
"Was she a servant forever?"
"Even so."
Ben-Hur walked the floor in pain of impotent wish.
"I was rich before," he said, stopping suddenly. "I was rich withthe gifts of the generous Arrius; now comes this greater fortune,and the mind which achieved it. Is there not a purpose of God init all? Counsel me, O Simonides! Help me to see the right anddo it. Help me to be worthy my name, and what thou art in lawto me, that will I be to thee in fact and deed. I will be thyservant forever."
Simonides' face actually glowed.
"O son of my dead master! I will do better than help; I willserve thee with all my might of mind and heart. Body, I havenot; it perished in thy cause; but with mind and heart I willserve thee. I swear it, by the altar of our God, and the giftsupon the altar! Only make me formally what I have assumed to be."
"Name it," said Ben-Hur, eagerly.
"As steward the care of the property will be mine."
"Count thyself steward now; or wilt thou have it in writing?"
"Thy word simply is enough; it was so with the father, and Iwill not more from the son. And now, if the understanding beperfect"--Simonides paused.
"It is with me," said Ben-Hur.
"And thou, daughter of Rachel, speak!" said Simonides, lifting herarm from his shoulder.
Esther, left thus alone, stood a moment abashed, her color comingand going; then she went to Ben-Hur, and said, with a womanlinesssingularly sweet, "I am not better than my mother was; and, as sheis gone, I pray you, O my master, let me care for my father."
Ben-Hur took her hand, and led her back to the chair, saying,"Thou art a good child. Have thy will."
Simonides replaced her arm upon his neck, and there was silencefor a time in the room.