CHAPTER II.
When King Hiram left the council hall, pages swung aside the heavycurtains which screened the doorways; lackeys bore before him, so far asthe exit, the ancient sceptre of Tyre, laid upon a gemmed cushion;palanquin-bearers took their places around the royal vehicle; while theoutrunners, with trim legs and short fluted white skirts, balanced intheir hands the long rods of their office, and ran to clear the way. Thechief attendant was distinguished from the others by his crimson skirt,which hung from a silver belt tightening his loins, and by the longribbons of purple that, encircling his brow, hung as streamers almost tothe ground. With that superb grace which only accomplished athletesacquire, he bowed to the earth as the king descended the marble stepsleading from the hall.
"Whither, O king?"
"The hour?" inquired Hiram.
"It begins the seventh, by the grace of Baal!" replied the attendant.
"To the Sidonian Harbor, then."
The runners flew. The crowds in the narrow streets backed close againstthe houses on either side.
"Long live King Hiram!" murmured from hundreds of lips, but the kingnoted that it was shouted by none. If there were loyalty, it was withoutenthusiasm. The priests scowled, or, pretending to be preoccupied withpious meditation, allowed the royal palanquin to pass without salute.
Reaching the quay, the king stepped quickly from his carriage, andreturning with equal courtesy the low salam of an elderly man, embracedhim cordially. Even if this person's garb had not revealed hisnationality, his straight nose on a line with his forehead would haveproclaimed him a Greek. His face was weather-beaten and bronzed byexposure to many climes. His firm lips and strong chin would havesuggested to an observer that he was a man of resoluteness, perhaps oneengaged in daring adventures; were it not that a certain quiet depth inhis eyes, a passive introspective sort of look, such as they acquire whoare accustomed to think more than they see, betrayed the philosopher.
"I feared, noble Herodotus, that my detention at the council hadprevented my wishing you farewell," said the king.
"My thanks, your majesty! But, without this final and unlooked-forcourtesy, my voyage across the seas would have been gladdened by thememory of your many kindnesses. I shall bear to my nation the knowledgeI have acquired of the past greatness of your people, and theprediction that, under the liberal rule of King Hiram, a new era ofprogress is to follow."
"The new era will come, sire, when the Phoenicians learn from the Greekswhat I have learned from you. The benefactors of nations are not theirkings, but their wise men."
"Blessed is the nation whose wisest man is their king," repliedHerodotus, with almost reverential courtesy.
To which Hiram responded: "The throne of Tyre would not lack a wiseking, if he could detain the sage of Halicarnassus as the man of hisright hand. Do me the pleasure to accept the vessel you sail in as areminder of your visit. Her deck planks are larch from the isles thatlie to the north; her masts are of cedar from Lebanon, whose snow-peakswhiten the sky yonder; her oars are oak cut in Bashan beyond the Jews'river, her side-planks are from the slope of Hermon; her sails of linenwere woven on the looms of Egypt; her purple awning is tinted with thedye of insects found on your own coast. If my orders have been obeyed,you will find on board wines that our caravans have brought fromDamascus."
"No. Not a word of thanks," added the king, interrupting the exclamationof grateful surprise from his guest.
"Farewell, then," replied the Greek, kissing the hand of the young man,and stepping upon the deck of the craft. "But tell me, O king, to whichof the gods shall a Greek traveller in a Phoenician bireme commend hisjourney? to Neptune, or to your Cabeiri?"
"To the One who is the None or the All, of whom we have so oftenspoken," replied Hiram.
The helmsman waved his hand to the rowers. A double score of bladesdipped at the instant. A pearly sheaf of spray rose beneath the highprow of the _Dido_. The graceful craft glided out of the SidonianHarbor, and, rounding the quay-head to the north, caught the swell ofthe Great Sea.
As the king watched the well-timed stroke of the oars, unvaried by theirregular heaving of the billows through which they propelled thebireme, a hand touched his arm.
"Ah, Captain Hanno! The man of all the world I want just at this moment.Is the _Dolphin_ manned? Ten darics to one, you cannot catch the _Dido_within sight of land! Besides, I want to skim over the water, and getsome cobwebs washed out of my brain. Cobwebs hold spiders, and spidersbite. So do some of my thoughts. Come, Hanno, give me a spurt."
Hanno put an acorn-shaped whistle of bronze to his lips. The shrillnotes were answered in exact pitch, like an echo, from a splendid biremeanchored near the mouth of the harbor. In a moment more the _Dolphin_touched the end of the quay; but not before the king and his friend hadleaped upon the deck.
Captain Hanno's favorite bireme was not one of the largest of her classin length of keel, but seemed to be the very behemoth of the Tyrianpleasure-fleet by reason of her high prow and stern, both of whichprojected far beyond the water-line. Her unusual breadth of beam gaveplay for the long oar-handles, and immense leverage for each of thesixty oarsmen, who were arranged in four rows, two rows on either side,one placed above another. They worked their tough oaken propellersthrough upper and lower oar-holes in the side of the galley.
At the word of Hanno, "Away!" the chief of the rowers clapped his hands,timing the strokes which raised the vessel half out of the water, andsent it plunging and bounding like a veritable dolphin through the sea.
As the bireme struck the high waves King Hiram advanced to the prow.Throwing off his cap and toga, he indulged in a bath of wind and spray,that dashed against his bare head and breast.
"Oh, to be a sea-king indeed, with no councillors but you, Hanno! What alife!"
"I would counsel you to follow your own free mind," replied the captain.
"That is the reason I like you," said Hiram.
"Why have any adviser, then?"
"For the pleasure of being confirmed in my obstinacy."
"But I might thwart you some day."
"That would be impossible, for I should turn and follow your counsel.Will you be my prime-minister, Hanno?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I want to remain your friend."
"Why not be both?"
"It might not be possible. The interest of the state of Tyre may be onething; the interest of Hiram another."
"That's treason, Hanno."
"Hang me to the masthead, then," replied Hanno; "for I am going to stickto Hiram, whatever becomes of the king."
"You think of me as a crab that may shed the shell of royalty some day,"replied Hiram, laughing. "Well, I confess that if it were not for theclaws of power, which I rather like the pleasure of using, I would letmy shell go to-morrow. But I must pinch off the heads of some of thepriests first. Thus--"
As he spoke the king took from a shelf just beneath the prow ahalf-dozen little clay images, uncouth figures representing the Cabeiri,the gods which were supposed to preside over the arts and navigation. Hebroke off their heads, and threw them into the sea.
"One day, Hanno, we shall throw overboard all such trumpery from thestate of Tyre. That's what I told the council to-day."
"Told the council? That was a bold speech," replied the captain, hisface flushing and paling with sudden emotion.
"And an unwise one, I know from your look," said Hiram.
"Ay, and dangerous! May I take the liberty of cautioning you, my king?"
"Liberty? It's your duty, Hanno. Haven't I appointed you for life to bemy other self? I have never had a secret from you since we were boys,and sent to sea under old Dagon."
The king took the arm of Hanno.
"Do you remember, old comrade, how once I even lied for you, and youlied for me; but the old water-dog believed neither of us, and floggedus both, though your father owned the craft, and mine was king of Tyre?I expect to see Dagon's ugly head rise from the waves some day, for theCabei
ri cannot keep such a restless ghost long down there with them."
"I remember, too, that it was just such a day as this," replied CaptainHanno, "that we ran away, and, in an open boat, went to Sidon to see theSidonians fight with the Persians. I came near going after old Dagonwhen the boat capsized. I felt the gates of Sheol snapping at me like ashark's jaws, but you held me on the keel until we drifted into theshallows. Since then my life has been yours. I am only watching my timeto save you. I had a notion of telling Mago, there at the helm, to drivethe _Dolphin_ on the reef as we came out of port, just to get a chanceof pulling you out of the wreck. But if you go on wasping the priestsyou will give me my chance before long. Every one of those hypocriticalbutchers, from Egbalus to the dirtiest offal-carrier, thinks of you whenhe feels the point of his sacrificial knife. You need a thicker shellabout your ribs than that of your kingship."
"Oh, the priests to Beelzebub, the god of all such venomous flies!"cried the king, in petulant rage.
"Have you, then, as the priests say, lost all faith in the gods?" askedHanno.
"Yes, in such as ours."
"But the Greeks, whom you praise so much, believe in them."
"Not in such as ours, Hanno. They make theirs beautiful. They deify thenobler sentiments. They have no hideous Moloch, no beastly Astarte. Theyleave their philosophy about unseen things unexpressed, until they canexpress it artistically. You remember the temple to the god Theseuswhich we saw in Athens. Herodotus explained its meaning to me. Thereligious idea enshrined there surpasses ours as much as the gracefulproportions of the building are finer than anything we have built.Theseus was a hero-god; that is, a man to whom they gave divine honorsbecause of his heroism. His great exploit was slaying the Minotaur ofCrete, which the people believed was a monster, half bull and half man,that fed upon the bodies of human beings. The people of Athens sentyearly a number of young men and maidens to appease the appetite of themonster and the greed of King Minos, its owner. According to the story,Theseus sailed to Crete, and slew the Minotaur in his labyrinth. Now,this Minotaur was nothing but our Moloch, whom we represent by abull-headed image, and whom we pretend to appease by human sacrifice.We Phoenicians carried this monstrous worship to Crete, and thence itdrifted across to Greece. But Theseus, who was a wise king, forbade suchcruel offerings, demolished the images of Moloch, and saved his peoplefrom the horrors which our priests would perpetuate in our land. So theysay he slew the Minotaur. And, by all the gods of Greece! I will slayour Minotaur. If I were El, or Bel, or Baal, I would wring the necks ofEgbalus and his swarm of priests when they annoy me with their cries, 'OBaal, hear us!' just as I crush these flies that buzz in my face."
"Your words are safe with me, my king," replied Hanno, "but I beg you tohave a care; for the priests are all-powerful in Tyre. Their hold on thepeople is tightening. They are plotting deeper than you and I knowto-day; but we may know to-morrow. The old image of Baal-Moloch on themainland is to be repaired, and I am told that the market at Aphaca hasmore maidens enrolled this year to disgrace themselves to Astarte thanfor a generation past. Your cousin Rubaal's sister, the Princess Elisa,has been announced as a candidate for the shambles."
"It is monstrous!" cried Hiram. "I would risk my crown to wipe out ourshame; for the crown will not be worth keeping if I am to be king of ahorde of devils and strumpets."
"And I pledge my wealth and life to help you," replied Hanno. "Exceptyour own wealth, and that of Ahimelek--which the gods grant may comesafely to your house!--my resources are, perhaps, the greatest in Tyre.But we must be cautious."
"No, no, Hanno! King Hiram will never take a shekel of his friend'sriches to gild his own glory."
"But I am prime-minister, you know, and may do what I please," repliedhis friend, laughing. "But this is not resting you. Shall we give thesesteersmen a lesson?"
Two long oars rigged one on either side of the keel-line at the sternserved as rudders. They were joined by a brace at the handles, by whichthey could be connected or disconnected, and thus be worked by oneperson in quiet water, but needed the strength of two in heavy seas, orin putting the bireme through rapid manoeuvres. Two brawny fellows weremanning them, as the wind was rising. The brace of helmsmen, doffingtheir caps, gave place to the king and his companion.
"Quicker!" shouted Hiram to the master of the oarsmen, whose hands beatout the gradually accelerating time, until the sixty blades cut thewater as the wings of a kingfisher cut the air. The wind stillfreshening, they set the great square sail. Soon they tacked far to thenorth, and, rounding to the west, crossed the bows of the bireme ofHerodotus.
"The king! the king!" shouted the sailors on the _Dido_, as theyrecognized the well-known forms at the helm.
And "Hanno! Hanno! Hanno!" was given with equal enthusiasm.
All the oar-blades of the _Dido_ were lifted from the water as the_Dolphin_ dashed past. On the high stern stood the venerable Herodotus,his head uncovered, and his noble brow white and shining like anaureole, in contrast with his bronzed lower face and dark beard. He heldaloft a goblet of wine, and shouted, as the _Dolphin_ flew by:
"To Hiram! To Tyre!"
The _Dolphin_ careened far over as she turned, her great square sailthrowing a shadow on the deck of the _Dido_ as it intercepted thewestern sun. It was a dangerous manoeuvre for any but helmsmen of utmostskill to have attempted.
"It was never done better since your father, Captain Hanno, ran thegantlet of a score of Greek ships at Salamis," said one of the helmsmen,as they took again the steering oars.
"There's no praise we like so well as that of our sailors," repliedHanno.
Turning to Hiram, as they moved out of hearing of the men, Captain Hannosaid: "So I would work with you, my king. The two oars, thoughdisconnected, worked as one in our hands. I followed with my whole mightevery movement you made."
"No," said Hiram, "I waited until I caught your purpose, for you are thebetter helmsman. Had I not done so, we surely had gone over."
"It is strange! I thought I followed you, and you thought you followedme. I suspect that we both followed our common sailor's instinct. Wewill take it, then, as an omen. So we will work together for the throneof Tyre. Events may occur in which it will be wise for me to appear totake no part in the affairs of the court. But, believe me, I shall pullwith you, as on the steering oar. I think I know your heart, O king! AndI put my heart within yours. I believe as little in the gods as you do.I have but one object of devotion on earth, but one vow, and that I giveto my king."
Hiram gazed into his friend's face. The tears started to his eyes. But,though the heartiness of this avowal was grateful to him, he could notrepress his surprise at it. He knew Hanno's loyalty; but why should thenoble fellow make so much of telling it? It was very unlike him. He wasgenerally either reticent, or extremely laconic, in speaking of hispurposes. He acted quickly--like lightning, that lets the report comeafterwards. Hiram again searched his friend's face for some explanation,but saw nothing unusual, except a closer knitting of the brows as iffrom perplexity and pain; a silent prophecy of evil that the noblefellow would avert, though with the sacrifice of his own life.