CHAPTER XVI.
Usually when Selene went out walking, many people looked at her withadmiration, but to-day a couple of street-boys composed her escort.They ran after her calling out impudently, 'dot, and go one,' and triedruthlessly to snatch at the loosely-tied sandal on her injured foot,which tapped the pavement at every step. While Selene was thus makingher way with cruel pain, satisfaction and happiness had visited Arsinoe;for hardly had Selene and Antinous quitted her father's apartments, whenHiram begged her to show him the little bottle which the handsome youthhad just given her. The dealer turned it over and over in the sunlight,tested its ring, tried to scratch it with the stone in his ring, andthen muttered, "Vasa Murrhma."
The words did not escape the girl's sharp ears, and she had heard herfather say that the costliest of all the ornamental vessels with whichthe wealthy Romans were wont to decorate their reception-rooms, werethose called Vasa Murrhina; so she explained to him at once, that sheknew what high prices were paid for such vases, and that she had no mindto sell it cheaply. He began to bid, she laughingly demanded ten timesthe price, and after a long battle between the dealer and the owner,fought now half in jest, and now in grave earnest, the Phoenician said:
"Two thousand drachmae; not a sesterce more. That is not enough by along way, but then it is yours."
"I would hardly have given half to a less fair customer."
"And I only let you have it because you are such a polite man."
"I will send you the money before sundown."
At these words the girl, who had been radiant with surprise and delight,and who would have liked to throw her arms round the bald-headedmerchant's neck, or round that of her old slave, who was even lessattractive, or for that matter, would have embraced the world--thetriumphant girl became thoughtful; her father would certainly comehome ere long, and she could not conceal from herself that he woulddisapprove of the whole proceeding, and would probably send the phialback to the young man, and the money to the dealer. She herselfwould never have asked the stranger for the bottle if she had had theslightest suspicion of its value; but now it certainly belonged toher, and if she had given it back again she would have given no one anypleasure; on the contrary, she would have offended the stranger, andprobably have lost the greatest pleasure that she had ever enjoyed.
What was to be done now? She was still perched on the table; she hadtaken her left foot in her right hand, and sitting in this quaintposition, she looked down on the ground as gravely as if she were tryingto find an idea, or a way out of the difficulty, in the pattern on thefloor.
The dealer for a moment amused himself in studying her bewilderment,which he thought charming--only wishing that his son, a young painter,were standing in his place. At last he broke the silence however,saying:
"Your father, perhaps, will not agree to our bargain; and yet it is forhim you want the money?"
"Who says so?"
"Would he have offered me his own treasures if he had not wanted money?"
"It is only--I can--only--" stammered Arsinoe, who was unaccustomed tofalsehood. "--I would merely not confess to him--"
"I myself saw how innocently you came by the phial," said the dealer,"and Keraunus never need know anything about such a trifle. Fancyyourself, that you have broken it, and that the pieces are lying atthe bottom of the sea. Which of all these things does your father valueleast?"
"This old sword of Antony," answered the child, her face brighteningonce more. "He says it is much too long, and too slender to be what itpretends to be. For my part I do not believe that it is a sword at all,but a roasting-spit."
"I shall apply it to that very purpose to-morrow morning in my kitchen,"said the dealer, "but I offer you two thousand drachmae for it, and willtake it with me and send you the amount in a few hours. Will that do?"
Arsinoe dropped her foot, glided from the table, and instead ofanswering, clapped her hands with glee.
"Only tell him," continued Hiram, "that I am able just now to pay somuch for this kind of thing, because Caesar is certain to look about himfor the things that belonged to Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Octavianus,Augustus, and other great Romans who have lived in Egypt. The old womanthere may bring the spit after me. My slave is waiting outside, and canhide it under his chiton as far as my kitchen door, for if he carried itopenly the connoisseurs passing by might covet the priceless treasure,and we must protect ourselves from the evil eye."
The dealer laughed, took the little bottle into his own keeping, gavethe sword to the old woman, and then took a friendly leave of the younggirl.
As soon as Arsinoe was alone, she flew into the bedroom to put on hersandals, threw her veil over her head, and hastened to the papyrusmanufactory. Selene must know of the unexpected good fortune that hadbefallen her, and all of them, and then she would have the poor girlcarried home in a litter, for there were always plenty for hire on thequay.
Things did not always go smoothly--very often very unsmoothly andstormily between the sisters, but still anything of importance thathappened to Arsinoe, whether it were good or evil, she must at once tellSelene.
Ye gods! what happiness! She could take her place among the daughtersof the great citizens in the processions, no less richly apparelled thanthey, and still there would remain a nice little sum for her father andsister; and the work in the factory, the nasty dirty work, which shehated and loathed, would be at an end, it was to be hoped, for ever.
The old slave was still sitting on the steps with the children; Arsinoetossed them up one after the other, and whispered in each child's ear:
"Cakes this evening!" and she kissed the blind child's eyes, and said:
"You may come with me, dear little man. I will find a litter for Seleneand put you in, and you will be carried home like a little prince."
The little blind boy threw his arms up with delight, exclaiming:"Through the air, and without falling." While she was still holding himin her arms, her father came up the steps that led from the rotundato the passage, his face streaming with heat and excitement; and afterwiping his brow and panting to regain his breath, he said:
"Hiram, the curiosity-dealer, met me just outside, with the sword thatbelonged to Antony; and you sold it to him for two thousand drachmae!you little fool!"
"But, father, you would have given the old spit for a pasty and adraught of wine," laughed Arsinoe.
"I?" cried Keraunus. "I would have had three times the sum for thatvenerable relic, for which Caesar will give its weight in silver;however, sold is sold. And yet-and yet, the thought that I no longerpossess the sword of Antony, will give me many sleepless nights."
"If this evening we set you down to a good dish of meat, sleep willsoon follow," answered Arsinoe, and she took the handkerchief out of herfather's hand, and coaxingly wiped his temples, going on vivaciously:"We are quite rich folks, father, and will show the other citizens'daughters what we can do."
"Now you shall both take part in the festival," said Keraunus,decidedly. "Caesar shall see that I shun no sacrifice in his honor,and if he notices you, and I bring my complaint against that insolentarchitect before him--"
"You must let that pass," begged Arsinoe, "if only poor Selene's foot iswell by that time."
"Where is she?"
"Gone out."
"Then her foot cannot be so very bad. She will soon come in, it is to behoped."
"Probably--I mean to fetch her with a litter."
"A litter?" said Keraunus, in surprise.
"The two thousand drachmae have turned the girl's head."
"Only on account of her foot. It was hurting her so much when she wentout."
"Then why did she not stay at home? As usual she has wasted an hour tosave a sesterce, and you, neither of you have any time to spare."
"I will go after her at once."
"No--no, you at any rate, must remain here, for in two hours the matronsand maidens are to meet at the theatre."
"In two hours! but mighty Serapis, what are we to put on?"
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br /> "It is your business to see to that," replied Keraunus, "I myselfwill have the litter you spoke of, and be carried down to Tryphon, theship-builder. Is there any money left in Selene's box?"
Arsinoe went into her sleeping-room, and said, as she returned:
"This is all--six pieces of two drachmae."
"Four will be enough for me," replied the steward, but after a moment'sreflection he took the whole half-dozen.
"What do you want with the ship-builder?" asked Arsinoe.
"In the Council," replied Keraunus, "I was worried again about yougirls. I said one of my daughters was ill, and the other must attendupon her; but this would not do, and I was asked to send the one who waswell. Then I explained that you had no mother, that we lived a retiredlife for each other, and that I could not bear the idea of sending mydaughter alone, and without any protectress to the meeting. So thenTryphon said that it would give his wife pleasure to take you to thetheatre with her own daughter. This I half accepted, but I declaredat once that you would not go, if your elder sister were not better. Icould not give any positive consent--you know why."
"Oh, blessings on Antony and his noble spit!" cried Arsinoe. "Noweverything is settled, and you can tell the ship-builder we shall go.Our white dresses are still quite good, but a few ells of new light blueribbon for my hair, and of red for Selene's, you must buy on the way, atAbibaal, the Phoenician's."
"Very good."
"I will see at once to both the dresses--but, to be sure, when are we tobe ready?"
"In two hours."
"Then, do you know what, dear old father?"
"Well?"
"Our old woman is half blind, and does everything wrong. Do let me godown to dame Doris at the gate-house, and ask her to help me. She is soclever and kind, and no one irons so well as she does."
"Silence!" cried the steward, angrily, interrupting his daughter. "Thosepeople shall never again cross my threshold."
"But look at my hair; only look at the state it is in," cried Arsinoe,excitedly, and thrusting her fingers into her thick tresses which shepulled into disorder. "To do that up again, plait it with new ribbons,iron our dresses, and sew on the brooches--why the Empress' ladies-maidcould not do all that in two hours."
"Doris shall never cross this threshold," repeated Keraunus, for all hisanswer.
"Then tell the tailor Hippias to send me an assistant; but that willcost money."
"We have it, and can pay," replied Keraunus, proudly, and in order notto forget his commissions he muttered to himself while he went to get alitter:
"Hippias the tailor, blue ribbon, red ribbon, and Tryphon theship-builder."
The tailor's nimble apprentice helped Arsinoe to arrange her dress andSelene's, and was never weary of praising the sheen and silkiness ofArsinoe's hair, while she twisted it with ribbons, built it up andtwisted it at the back so gracefully with a comb, that it fell ina thick mass of artfully-curled locks down her neck and back. WhenKeraunus came back, he gazed with justifiable pride at his beautifulchild; he was immensely pleased, and even chuckled softly to himselfas he laid out the gold pieces which were brought to him by thecuriosity-dealer's servant, and set them in a row and counted them.While he was thus occupied, Arsinoe went up to him and asked laughing:"Hiram has not cheated me then?" Keraunus desired her not to disturbhim, and added:
"Think of that sword, the weapon of the great Antony, perhaps the veryone with which he pierced his own breast.--Where can Selene be?"
An hour, an hour and a half had slipped by, and when the fourthhalf-hour was well begun, and still his eldest daughter did not return,the steward announced that they must set out, for that it would notdo to keep the ship-builder's wife waiting. It was a sincere grief toArsinoe to be obliged to go without Selene. She had made her sister'sdress look as nice as her own, and had laid it carefully on the divannear the mosaic pavement. She had taken a great deal of trouble. Neverbefore had she been out in the streets alone, and it seemed impossibleto enjoy anything without the companionship and supervision of herabsent sister. But her father's assertion, that Selene would have aplace gladly found for her, even later, among the maidens, reassured thegirl who was overflowing with joyful expectation.
Finally she perfumed herself a little with the fragrant extract whichKeraunus was accustomed to use before going to the council, and beggedher father to order the old slave-woman to go and buy the promised cakesfor the little ones during her absence. The children had all gatheredround her, admiring her with loud ohs! and ahs! as if she were somewondrous incarnation, not to be too nearly approached, and on no accountto be touched. The elaborate dressing of her hair would not allow of herstooping over them as usual. She could only stroke little Helios' curls,saying: "Tomorrow you shall have a ride in the air, and perhaps Selenewill tell you a pretty story by-and-bye."
Her heart beat faster than usual as she stepped into the litter, whichwas waiting for her just in front of the gate-house. Old Doris looked ather from a distance with pleasure, and while Keraunus stepped out intothe street to call a litter for himself, the old woman hastily cut thetwo finest roses from her bush, and pressing her fingers to her lipswith a sly smile, put them into the girl's hand.
Arsinoe felt as if it were in a dream that she went to theship-builder's house, and from thence to the theatre, and on her way shefully understood, for the first time, that alarm and delight may findroom side by side in a girl's mind, and that one by no means hinders theexistence of the other.
Fear and expectation so completely overmastered her, that she neithersaw nor heard what was going on around her; only once she noticed ayoung man with a garland on his head, who, as he passed her, arm in armwith another, called out to her gaily: "Long live beauty!"
From that moment she kept her eyes fixed on her lap and on the rosesdame Doris had given her. The flowers reminded her of the kind oldwoman's son, and she wondered whether tall Pollux had perhaps seen herin her finery. That, she would have liked very much; and after all, itwas not at all impossible, for, of course, since Pollux had been workingat Lochias he must often have gone to his parents. Perhaps even he hadhimself picked the roses for her, but had not dared to give them to heras her father was so near.