CHAPTER IX.
"It is impossible, impossible, impossible!" cried Orion, jumping up fromhis writing-table. He thought of what he had done as a misfortune, andnot as a crime; he himself hardly knew how it had all come about. Yes,there must be demons, evil, spiteful demons--and it was they who had ledhim to so mad a deed.
Yesterday evening, after the buying of the hanging, he had yielded tohis mother's request that he should escort the widow Susannah home. Ather house he had met her husband's brother, a jovial old fellow namedChrysippus; and when the conversation turned on the tapestry, and theMukaukas' purpose of dedicating this work of art with all the gemsworked into it, to the Church, the old man had clasped his hands, fullysharing Orion's disapproval, and had exclaimed laughing "What, youthe son, and is not even a part of the precious stones to fall to yourshare? Why Katharina? Just a little diamond, a tiny opal might welladd to the earthly happiness of the young, though the old must lay uptreasure in heaven.--Do not be a fool! The Church's maw is full enough,and really a mouthful is your due."
And then they drank a good deal of fine wine, till at last the older manhad accompanied Orion home, to stretch his limbs in the cool night air.A litter was carried behind him for him to return in, and all the wayhe had continued to persuade the youth to induce his father not to flingthe whole treasure into the jaws of the Church, but to spare him a fewstones at least for a more pleasing use. They had laughed over it a gooddeal, and Orion in his heart had thought Chrysippus very right, andhad remembered Heliodora, and her love of large, handsome gems, and thekeepsake he owed her. But that neither his father nor his mother wouldremove a single stone, and that the whole hanging would be dedicated,was beyond a doubt; at the same time, some of this superfluous splendorwas in fact his due as their son, and a prettier gift to Heliodora thanthe large emerald could not be imagined. Yes--and she should have it!How delighted she would be! He even thought of the chief idea for theverses to accompany the gift.
He had the key of the tablinum, in which the work was lying, about hisperson; and when, on his return, he found the servants still sittinground the fire, he shut the door of the out-buildings while a feelingcame over him which he remembered having experienced last on occasionswhen he and his brothers had robbed a forbidden fruit-tree. He wason the point of giving up his mad project; and when, in the tablinumitself, a horrible inward tremor again came over him he had actuallyturned to retreat--but he remembered old Chrysippus and his prompts.To turn and fly now would be cowardice. Heliodora must have the largeemerald, and with his verses; his father might give away all the rest ashe pleased. When he was kneeling in front of the work with his knife inhis hand, that sickening terror had come over him for the third time; ifthe large emerald had not come off into his hand at the first effort hewould certainly have rolled the bale up again and have left the tablinumclean-handed. But the evil demon had been at his elbow, had thrustthe gem into his hand, as it were, so that two cuts with the knife hadsufficed to displace it from its setting. It rolled into his hand and hefelt its noble weight; he cast aside all care, and had thought no morewith anything but pleasure of this splendid trick, which he would relateto-morrow to old Chrysippus--of course under seal of secrecy.
But now, in the sober light of day, how different did this mad, rashdeed appear; how heavily had he already been punished; what consequencesmight it not entail? His hatred of Paula grew every minute: she hadcertainly seen all that had happened and would not hesitate to betrayhim--that she had shown last night. War, as it were, was declaredbetween them, and he vowed to himself, with fire in his eyes, that hewould not shirk it! At the same time he could not deny that she hadnever looked handsomer than when she stood, with hair half undone,confronting him--threatening him. "It is to be love or hate betweenus." he muttered to himself. "No half-measures: and she has chosen hate!Good! Hitherto I have only had to fight against men; but this bold,hard, and scornful maiden, who rejects every gentle feeling, is nodespicable foe. She has me at bay. If she does her worst by me I willreturn it in kind!--And who is the owner of the shoes? I have taken allpossible means to find him. Shameful, shameful! that I cannot hold upmy head to look boldly at my own face in the glass. Heliodora is a sweetcreature, an angel of kindness. She loved me truly; but this--this--Ah;even for her, this is too great a sacrifice!"
He pressed his hand to his brow and flung himself on a divan. He mightwell be weary, for he had not closed his eyes for more than thirty hoursand had already done much business that morning. He had given orders toSebek the house-steward and to the captain of the Egyptian guard to huntout the owner of the sandals by the aid of the dogs, and to cast himinto prison; next he had of his own accord--since his father generallydid not fall asleep till the morning and had not yet left hisroom--tried to pacify the Arab merchant with regard to the mishap thathad befallen his head man under the governor's roof; but with smallsuccess.
Finally the young man had indulged his desire to compose a few linesaddressed to the fair Heliodora--for there was no form of physical ormental effort to which he was not trained. He had not lost the idea thathad occurred to him yesterday before his theft in the tablinum, andto put it into verse was in his present mood an easy task. He wrote asfollows:
"'Like liketh like' saith the saw; and like to like is but fitting. Yet, in the hardest of gems thy soft nature rejoices? Nay, but if noble and rare, if its beauty is priceless, Then, Heliodora, the stone is like thee--akin to thy beauty. Thus let this emerald please thee;--and know that the fire That fills it with light burns more fierce in the heart of thy Friend."
He penned the lines rapidly; and as he did so he felt, he knew not why,an excited thrill, as though every word he threw off was a blow aimedat Paula. Last night he had intended to send the costly jewel tothe handsome widow in a suitable setting; but now it would be madlyimprudent to order such a thing. He must send it away at once; he hadhastened to pack it up with the verses, with his own hand, and entrustedit to Chusar, a horsedealer's groom from Constantinople, who hadbrought his Pannonian steeds to Memphis. He had himself seen off thistrustworthy messenger, who could speak no Egyptian and very littleGreek, and when his horse was lost to sight in the dust of the roadleading to Alexandria he had returned home in a calmer mood. Ships wereconstantly putting to sea from that port for Constantinople, and Chusarwas enjoined to sail by the first that should be leaving. At least theodious deed should not have been committed in vain; and yet he wouldhave given a year of his life if now he could but know that it had neverbeen done.
"Impossible!" and "Curse it!" were the words he had most frequentlyrepeated in the course of his retrospect during the past night andmorning. How he had had to rush and hurry under the broiling sun! andthe sense of being compelled to do so for mere concealment's sake seemedto him--who had never in his life before done anything that he could notjustify in the eyes of honest men--so humiliating, that it brought thesweat to his burning brow. He--Orion--to dread discovery as a thief! Itwas inconceivable, and he was afraid, positively afraid for the firsttime since his boyhood. His fortunate star, which in the Capitalhad shone on him so brightly and benevolently, seemed to have provedfaithless in this ruinous hole! What had that Persian girl taken intoher crazy head that she must rush upon him like some furious beastof prey? He had been bound to her once, no doubt, by a transientpassion--and what youth of his age was blind to the charms of a prettyslave-girl? She had been a lovely child, and it was a vexation, nay agrief to him, that she should have been so shamefully punished. If sheshould recover, and he could have prayed that she might, it would ofcourse be his part to provide for her--of course. To be just, he couldnot but confess that she indeed had good reason to hate him: but Paula?He had shown her nothing but kindness and yet how unhesitatingly, howopenly she had displayed her enmity. He could see her now with thename "murderer" on her quivering lips; the word had stung him like alance-thrust. What a hideous, degrading and unjust accusation lay inthat exclamation! Should he submit to it unrevenged?<
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Was she as innocent as she was haughty and cold? What was she doing inthe viridarium at midnight?--For she must have been there before thatill-starred dog flew at Mandane. An assignation with the owner of theshoes his mother had found was out of the question, for they belonged tosome man about the stables. Love, thought he, for a wonder had nothingto do with it; but as he came in he had noticed a man crossing thecourt-yard who looked like Paula's freedman, Hiram the trainer. Probablyshe had arranged a meeting with her stammering friend in order--inorder?--Well, there was but one thing that seemed likely: Shewas plotting to fly from his parents' house and needed this man'sassistance.
He had seen within a few hours of his return that his mother did notmake life sweet to the girl, and yet his father had very possiblyopposed her wish to seek another home. But why should she avoid and hatehim? In that expedition on the river and on their way home he could havesworn that she loved him, and the remembrance of those hours brought hernear to him again, and wiped out his schemes of vengeance against her,of punishment to be visited on her. Then he thought of little Katharinawhom his mother intended him to marry, and at the thought he laughedsoftly to himself. In the Imperial gardens at Constantinople he had onceseen a strange Indian bird, with a tiny body and head and an immenselylong tail, shining like silver and mother of pearl. This was Katharina!She herself a mere nothing; but then her tail! vast estates and immensesums of money; and this--this was all his mother saw. But did he needmore than he had? How rich his father must be to spend so large a sum onan offering to the Church as heedlessly as men give alms to a beggar.
Katharina--and Paula!
Yes, the little girl was a bright, brisk creature; but then Thomas'daughter--what power there was in her eye, what majesty in her gait,how--how--how enchanting her--her voice could be--her voice....
He was asleep, worn out by heat and fatigue; and in a dream he saw Paulalying on a couch strewn with roses while all about her sounded wonderfulheart-ensnaring music; and the couch was not solid but blue water,gently moving: he went towards her and suddenly a large blackeagle swooped down on him, flapped his wings in his face and when,half-blinded, he put his hand to his eyes the bird pecked the roses as ahen picks millet and barley. Then he was angry, rushed at the eagle, andtried to clutch him with his hands; but his feet seemed rooted to theground, and the more he struggled to move freely the more firmly he wasdragged backwards. He fought like a madman against the hindering force,and suddenly it released him. He was still under this impression whenhe woke, streaming with perspiration, and opened his eyes. By his couchstood his mother who had laid her hand on his feet to rouse him.
She looked pale and anxious and begged him to come quickly to his fatherwho was much disturbed, and wished to speak with him. Then she hurriedaway.
While he hastily arranged his hair and had his shoes clasped he feltvexed that, under the influence of that foolish dream, and stillhalf asleep, he had let his mother go before ascertaining what thecircumstances were that had given rise to his father's anxiety. Had itanything to do with the incidents of the past night? No.--If he had beensuspected his mother would have told him and warned him. It must referto something else. Perhaps the old merchant's stalwart headman had diedof his wounds, and his father wished to send him--Orion--across the Nileto the Arab viceroy to obtain forgiveness for the murder of a Moslem,actually within the precincts of the governor's house. This fatal blowmight indeed entail serious consequences; however, the matter might verylikely be quite other than this.
When he left his room the brooding heat that filled the house struckhim as peculiarly oppressive, and a painful feeling, closely resemblingshame, stole over him as he crossed the viridarium, and glanced at thegrass from which--thanks to Paula's ill-meant warning--he had carefullybrushed away his foot-marks before daybreak. How cowardly, how base,it all was The best of all in life: honor, self-respect, the proudconsciousness of being an honest man--all staked and all lost fornothing at all! He could have slapped his own face or cried aloud likea child that has broken its most treasured toy. But of what use was allthis? What was done could not be undone; and now he must keep his witsabout him so as to remain, in the eyes of others at least, what he hadalways been, low as he had fallen in his own.
It was scorchingly hot in the enclosed garden-plot, surrounded bybuildings, and open to the sun; not a human creature was in sight;the house seemed dead. The gaudy flag-staffs and trellis-work, and thepillars of the verandah, which had all been newly painted in honor ofhis return and were still wreathed with garlands, exhaled a smell, tohim quite sickening, of melting resin, drying varnish and faded flowers.Though there was no breath of air the atmosphere quivered, as it seemedfrom the fierce rays of the sun, which were reflected like arrows fromeverything around him. The butterflies and dragonflies appeared to Orionto move their wings more languidly as they hovered over the plants andflowers, the very fountain danced up more lazily and not so high asusual: everything about him was hot, sweltering, oppressive; and the manwho had always been so independent and looked up to, who for years hadbeen free to career through life uncontrolled, and guarded by every goodGenius now felt trammelled, hemmed in and harassed.
In his father's cool fountain-room he could breathe more freely; butonly for a moment. The blood faded from his cheeks, and he had to make astrong effort to greet his father calmly and in his usual manner; for infront of the divan where the governor commonly reclined, lay the Persianhanging, and close by stood his mother and the Arab merchant. Sebek, thesteward awaited his master's orders, in the background in the attitudeof humility which was torture to his old back, but in which he was neverrequired to remain: Orion now signed to him to stand up:
The Arab's mild features wore a look of extreme gravity, and deepvexation could be read in his kindly eyes. As the young man entered hebowed slightly; they had already met that morning. The Mukaukas, who waslying deathly pale with colorless lips, scarcely opened his eyes at hisson's greeting. It might have been thought that a bier was waiting inthe next room and that the mourners had assembled here.
The piece of work was only half unrolled, but Orion at once saw the spotwhence its crowning glory was now missing--the large emerald which, ashe alone could know, was on its way to Constantinople. His theft hadbeen discovered. How fearful, how fatal might the issue be!
"Courage, courage!" he said to himself. "Only preserve your presenceof mind. What profit is life with loss of honor? Keep your eyes open;everything depends on that, Orion!"
He succeeded in hastily collecting his thoughts, and exclaimed in avoice which lacked little of its usual eager cheerfulness:
"How dismal you all look! It is indeed a terrible disaster that the dogshould have handled the poor girl so roughly, and that our people shouldhave behaved so outrageously; but, as I told you this morning, worthyMerchant, the guilty parties shall pay for it with their lives. Myfather, I am sure, will agree that you should deal with them accordingto your pleasure, and our leech Philippus, in spite of his youth, isa perfect Hippocrates I can assure you! He will patch up the finefellow--your head-man I mean, and as to any question of compensation, myfather--well, you know he is no haggler."
"I beg you not to add insult to the injury that I have suffered underyour roof," interrupted Haschim. "No amount of money can buy off mywrath over the spilt blood of a friend--and Rustem was my friend--a freeand valiant youth. As to the punishment of the guilty: on that I insist.Blood cries for blood. That is our creed; and though yours, to be sure,enjoins the contrary, so far as I know you act by the same rule as we.All honor to your physician; but it goes to my heart, and raises mygall to see such things take place in the house of the man to whomthe Khaliff has confided the weal or woe of Egyptian Christians. Yourboasted tolerance has led to the death of an honest though humble manin a time of perfect peace--or at least maimed him for life. As to yourhonesty, it would seem..."
"Who dares impugn it?" cried Orion.
"I, young man," replied the merchant with the calm dignity of age."I,
who sold this piece of work last evening, and find it this morningrobbed of its most precious ornament."
"The great emerald has been cut from the hanging during the night." DameNeforis explained. "You yourself went with the man who carried it to thetablinum and saw it laid there."
"And in the very cloth in which your people had wrapped it," addedOrion. "Our good old Sebek there was with me. Who fetched away the balethis morning; who brought it here and opened it?"
"Happily for us," said the Arab, "it was your lady mother herself, withthat man--your steward if I mistake not--and your own slaves."
"Why was it not left where it was?" asked Orion, giving vent to theannoyance which at this moment he really felt.
"Because I had assured your father, and with good reason, that thebeauty of this splendid work and of the gems that decorate it show tomuch greater advantage by daylight and in the sunshine than under thelamps and torches."
"And besides, your father wished to see his new purchase once more,"Neforis broke in, "and to ask the merchant how the gems might be removedwithout injury to the work itself. So I went to the tablinum myself withSebek."
"But I had the key!" cried Orion putting his hand into the breast of hisrobe.
"That I had forgotten," replied his mother. "But unfortunately we didnot need it. The tablinum was open."
"I locked it yesterday; you saw me do it, Sebek..."
"So I told the mistress," replied the steward. "I perfectly recollecthearing the snap of the strong lock."
Orion shrugged his shoulders, and his mother went on:
"But the bronze doors must have been opened during the night with afalse key, or by some other means; for part of the hanging had beenpulled out of the wrapper, and when we looked closely we saw that thelarge emerald had been wrenched out of the setting."
"Shameful!" exclaimed Orion.
"Disgraceful!" added the governor, vehemently starting up. He hadfallen a prey to fearful unrest and horror: he thought that his Lord andSaviour, to whom he had dedicated the precious jewel, regarded him as sosinful and worthless that He would not accept the gift at his hands. Butperhaps it was only Satan striving to hinder him from approaching theMost High with so noble an offering. At any rate, human cunning had beenat work, so he said with stern resolution:
"The matter shall be enquired into, and in the name of Jesus Christ,to whom the stone already belongs, I will never rest nor cease till thecriminal is in my hands."
"And in the name of Allah and the Prophet," added the Arab, "I willaid thee, if I have to appeal for help to the great chief Amru, theKhaliff's representative in this country.--A word was spoken here justnow that I cannot and will not forget. And the tone you have chosen toadopt, young man, seems to spring from the same fount: the old fox, youthink, put a false gem of impossible size into the hanging, and has hadit stolen that his fraud may not be detected when a jeweller examinesthe work by daylight. This is too much! I am an honest man, Sirs, and Iam fain to add a rich one; and the man who tries to cast a stain on thecharacter I have borne through a long life shall learn, to his ruing,that old Haschim has greater and more powerful friends to back him thanyou may care to meet!"
As he uttered this threat the merchant's eyes glistened through tears;it grieved him to be unjustly suspected and to be forced to expresshimself so hardly to the Mukaukas for whom he felt both reverence andpity. It was clear from the tone of his speech that he was in fact adetermined and a powerful personage, and Orion interrupted him with theeager enquiry: "Who has dared to think so basely of you?"
"Your own mother, I regret to say," replied the Moslem sadly, with anoriental shrug of distress and annoyance--his shoulders up to his ears.
"Forget it, I beg of you," said the governor. "God knows women havesofter hearts than men, and yet they more readily incline to think evilof their fellow-creatures, and particularly of the enemies of theirfaith. On the other hand they are more sensitive to kindness. A woman'shair is long and her wits short, says the saw."
"You have plenty to say against us women!" retorted Neforis. "Butscold away--scold if it is a comfort to you!" But she added, while sheaffectionately turned her husband's pillows and gave him another ofhis white pillules: "I will submit to the worst to-day for I am in thewrong. I have already asked your pardon, worthy Haschim, and I do soagain, with all my heart."
As she spoke, she went up to the Arab and held out her hand; he took it,but lightly, however, and quickly released it, saying:
"I do not find it hard to forgive. But I find it impossible, here oranywhere, to let so much as a grain of dust rest on my bright good name.I shall follow up this affair, turning neither to the right hand nor tothe left.--And now, one question: Is the dog that guarded the tablinum awatchful, savage beast?"
"How savage he is he unfortunately proved on the person of the poorPersian slave; and his watchfulness is known to all the household,"cried Orion.
"But I would beg you, worthy merchant," said Neforis, "and in the nameof all present, to give us the help of your experience. I myself--wait alittle wait: in spite of her long hair and her short wits a woman oftenhas a happy idea. I, probably, was the first to come on the robber'strack. It is clear that he must belong to the household since the dogdid not attack him. Paula, who was so wonderfully quick in coming to therescue of the Persian, is of course not to be thought of..."
Here her husband interrupted her with an angry exclamation: "Leave thegirl quite out of the question wife!"
"As if I supposed her to be the thief!" retorted Neforis indignantly,and she shrugged her shoulders as Orion, in mild reproach, also cried:"Mother! consider..." and the merchant asked:
"Do you mean the young girl from whom I had to take such hard words lastnight?--Well, then, I will stake my whole fortune on her innocence. Thatbeautiful, passionate creature is incapable of any underhand dealings."
"Passionate!" Neforis smiled. "Her heart is as cold and as hard as thelost emerald; we have proved that by experience."
"Nevertheless," said Orion, "she is incapable of baseness."
"How zealous men can be for a pair of fine eyes!" interrupted hismother. "But I have not the most remote suspicion of her; I havesomething quite different in my mind. A pair of man's shoes were foundlying by the wounded girl. Did you do what my lord Orion ordered,Sebek?"
"At once, Mistress," replied the steward, "and I have been expecting thecaptain of the watch for some time; for Psamtik...."
But here he was interrupted: the officer in question, who for more thantwenty years had commanded the Mukaukas' guard of honor, was showninto the room; after answering a few preliminary enquiries he began hisreport in a voice so loud that it hurt the governor, and his wife wasobliged to request the soldier to speak more gently.
The bloodhounds and terriers had been let out after being allowed tosmell at the shoes, and a couple of them had soon found their way to theside-door where Hiram had waited for Paula. There they paused, sniffingabout on all sides, and had then jumped up a few steps.
"And those stairs lead to Paula's room," observed Neforis with a shrug.
"But they were on a false scent," the officer eagerly added. "Thelittle toads might have thrown suspicion on an innocent person. Thecurs immediately after rushed into the stables, and ran up and down likeSatan after a lost soul. The pack had soon pulled down the boy--the sonof the freedman who came here from Damascus with the daughter of thegreat Thomas--and they went quite mad in his father's room: Heaven andearth! what a howling and barking and yelping. They poked their nosesinto every old rag, and now we knew where the hole in the wine-skinwas.--I am sorry for the man. He stammered horribly, but as a trainer,and in all that has to do with horses, all honor to him!--The shoes areHiram's as surely as my eyes are in my head; but we have not caught himyet. He is across the river, for a boat is missing and where it had beenlying the dogs began again. Unless the unbelievers over there give himshelter we are certain to have him."
"Then we know who is the criminal!" cried Orion, with a s
igh as deep asthough some great burden were lifted from his soul. Then he went on in acommanding tone--and his voice rang so fiercely that the color which hadmounted to his cheeks could hardly be due to satisfaction at this lastgood news....
"As it is not yet two hours after noon, send all your men out to searchfor him and deliver him up. My father will give you a warrant, and theArabs on the other shore will assist you. Perhaps the thief may fallinto our hands even sooner and with him the emerald, unless the roguehas succeeded in hiding it or selling it." Then his voice sank, and headded in a tone of regret. "It is a pity as concerns the man, we hadnot one in our stables who knew more about horses! Fresh proof of yourmaxim, mother: if you want to be well served you must buy rascals!"
"Strictly speaking," said Neforis meditatively, "Hiram is not one of ourpeople. He was a freedman of Thomas' and came here with his daughter.Every one speaks highly of his skill in the stable; but for this robberywe might have kept him for the rest of his life still, if the girl hadever taken it into her head to leave us and to take him with her, wecould not have detained him.--You may say what you will, and abuse meand mock me; I have none of what you call imagination; I see thingssimply as they are: but there must be some understanding between thatgirl and the thief."
"You are not to say another word of such monstrous nonsense!" exclaimedher husband; and he would have said more, but that at that moment thegroom of the chambers announced that Gamaliel, the Jewish goldsmith,begged an audience. The man had come to give information with regard tothe fate of the lost emerald.
At this statement Orion changed color, and he turned away from themerchant as the slave admitted the same Israelite who had been sittingover the fire with the head-servants. He at once plunged into his story,telling it in his peculiar light-hearted style. He was so rich that theloss he might suffer did not trouble him enough to spoil his good-humor,and so honest that it was a pleasure to him to restore the stolenproperty to its rightful owner. Early that morning, so he told them,Hiram the groom had been to him to offer him a wonderfully large andsplendid emerald for sale. The freedman had assured him that the stonewas part of the property left by the famous Thomas, his former master.It had decorated the head-stall of the horse which the hero of Damascushad last ridden, and it had come to him with the steed.
"I offered him what I thought fair," the Jew went on, "and paid him twothousand drachmae on account; the remainder he begged me to take chargeof for the present. To this I agreed, but ere long a fly began to humsuspicion in my ear. Then the police rushed through the town with thebloodhounds. Good Heavens, what a barking! The creatures yelped as ifthey would bark my poor house down, like the trumpets round the walls ofJericho--you know. 'What is the matter now,' I asked of the dog-keepers,and behold! my suspicions about the emerald were justified; so here, mylord Governor, I have brought you the stone, and as every sucklingin Memphis hears from its nurse--unless it is deaf--what a just manMukaukas George is, you will no doubt make good to me what I advancedto that stammering scoundrel. And you will have the best of the bargain,noble Sir; for I make no demand for interest or even maintenance for thetwo hours during which it was mine."
"Give me the stone!" interrupted the Arab, who was annoyed by the Jew'sjesting tone; he snatched the emerald from him, weighed it in his hand,put it close to his eyes, held it far off, tapped it with a small hammerthat he took out of his breast-pocket, slipped it into its place in thework, examining it keenly, suspiciously, and at last with satisfaction.During all this, Orion had more than once turned pale, and the sweatbroke out on his handsome, pale face. Had a miracle been wrought here?How could this gem, which was surely on its way to Alexandria, havefound its way into the Jew's hands? Or could Chusar have opened thelittle packet and have sold the emerald to Hiram, and through him tothe jeweller? He must get to the bottom of it, and while the Arabwas examining the gem he went up to Gamaliel and asked him: "Are youpositively certain--it is a matter of freedom or the dungeon--certainthat you had this stone from Hiram the Syrian and from no one else? Imean, is the man so well-known to you that no mistake is possible?"
"God preserve us!" exclaimed the Jew drawing back a step from Orion, whowas gazing at him with a sinister light in his eyes. "How can my lorddoubt it? Your respected father has known me these thirty years, and doyou suppose that I--I do not know the Syrian? Why, who in Memphis canstammer to compare with him? And has he not killed half my childrenwith your wild young horses?--Half killed every one of my children Imean--half killed them, I say, with fright. They are all still alive andwell, God preserve them, but none the better for your horsebreaker; forfresh air is good for children and my little Rebecca would stop indoorstill he was at home again for fear of his terrifying pranks."
"Well, well!" Orion broke in. "And at what hour did he bring you theemerald for sale? Exactly. Now, recollect: when was it? You surely mustremember."
"Adonai! How should I?" said the Jew. "But wait, Sir, perhaps I may beable to tell you. In this hot weather we are up before sunrise; then wesaid our prayers and had our morning broth; then...."
"Senseless chatter!" urged Orion. But Gamaliel went on without allowinghimself to be checked. "Then little Ruth jumped into my lap to pull outthe white hairs that will grow under my nose and, just as the child wasdoing it and I cried out: 'Oh, you hurt me!' the sun fell upon the earthbank on which I was sitting."
"And at what time does it reach the bank?" cried the young man.
"Exactly two hours after sunrise," replied the Jew, "at this time ofyear. Do me the honor of a visit tomorrow morning; you will not regretit, for I can show you some beautiful, exquisite things--and you canwatch the shadow yourself."
"Two hours after sunrise," murmured Orion to himself, and then withfresh qualms he reflected that it was fully four hours later when hehad given the packet to Chusar. It was impossible to doubt the Jew'sstatement. The man was rich, honest and content: he did not lie. Thejewel Orion had sent away and that purchased from Hiram could not in anycase be identical. But how could all this be explained? It was enoughto turn his brain. And not to dare to speak when mere silence wasfalsehood--falsehood to his father and mother!--If only the haplessstammerer might escape! If he were caught; then--then merciful Heaven!But no; it was not to be thought of.--On, then, on; and if it came tothe worst the honor of a hundred stablemen could not outweigh that ofone Orion; horrible as it was, the man must be sacrificed. He would seethat his life was spared and that he was soon set at liberty!
The Arab meanwhile had concluded his examination; still he was notperfectly satisfied. Orion longed to interpose; for if the merchantexpressed no doubts and acknowledged the recovered gem to be the stolenone, much would be gained; so he turned to him again and said: "May Iask you to show me the emerald once more? It is quite impossible, do youthink, that a second should be found to match it?"
"That is too much to assert," said the Arab gravely. "This stoneresembles that on the hanging to a hair; and yet it has a littleinequality which I do not remember noticing on it. It is true I hadnever seen it out of the setting, and this little boss may have beenturned towards the stuff, and yet, and yet.--Tell me, goldsmith, did thethief give you the emerald bare--unset?"
"As bare as Adam and Eve before they ate the apple," said the Jew.
"That is a pity--a great pity!--And still I fancy that the stone inthe work was a trifle longer. In such a case it is almost folly andperversity to doubt, and yet I feel--and yet I ask myself: Is thisreally the stone that formed that bud?"
"But Heaven bless us!" cried Orion, "the twin of such an unique gemwould surely not drop from the skies and at the same moment into one andthe same house. Let us be glad that the lost sheep has come back to us.Now, I will lock it into this iron casket, Father, and as soon as therobber is caught you send for me: do you understand, Psamtik?" He noddedto his parents, offered his hand to the Arab, and that in a way whichcould not fail to satisfy any one, so that even the old man was wonover; and then he left the room.
The merchant's honor w
as saved; still his conscientious soul wasdisturbed by a doubt that he could not away with. He was about to takeleave but the Mukaukas was so buried in pillows, and kept his eyesso closely shut, that no one could detect whether he were sleepingor waking; so the Arab, not wishing to disturb him, withdrew withoutspeaking.