Ben-Hur: A tale of the Christ
horses; with his own hands he led them out of the tent, and there
attached the reins.
“Bring me Sirius,” he said.
An Arab could not have better sprung to seat on the courser’s back.
“And now the reins.”
They were given him, and carefully separated.
“Good sheik,” he said, “I am ready. Let a guide go before me to the
field, and send some of thy men with water.”
There was no trouble at starting. The horses were not afraid. Already
there seemed a tacit understanding between them and the new driver, who
had performed his part calmly, and with the confidence which always
begets confidence. The order of going was precisely that of driving,
except that Ben-Hur sat upon Sirius instead of standing in the chariot.
Ilderim’s spirit arose. He combed his beard, and smiled with
satisfaction as he muttered, “He is not a Roman, no, by the splendor of
God!” He followed on foot, the entire tenantry of the dowar—men, women,
and children—pouring after him, participants all in his solicitude, if
not in his confidence.
The field, when reached, proved ample and well fitted for the training,
which Ben-Hur began immediately by driving the four at first slowly,
and in perpendicular lines, and then in wide circles. Advancing a step
in the course, he put them next into a trot; again progressing, he
pushed into a gallop; at length he contracted the circles, and yet
later drove eccentrically here and there, right, left, forward, and
without a break. An hour was thus occupied. Slowing the gait to a walk,
he drove up to Ilderim.
“The work is done, nothing now but practice,” he said. “I give you joy,
Sheik Ilderim, that you have such servants as these. See,” he
continued, dismounting and going to the horses, “see, the gloss of
their red coats is without spot; they breathe lightly as when I began.
I give thee great joy, and it will go hard if”—he turned his flashing
eyes upon the old man’s face—“if we have not the victory and our—”
He stopped, colored, bowed. At the sheik’s side he observed, for the
first time, Balthasar, leaning upon his staff, and two women closely
veiled. At one of the latter he looked a second time, saying to
himself, with a flutter about his heart, “’Tis she—’tis the Egyptian!”
Ilderim picked up his broken sentence—
“The victory, and our revenge!” Then he said aloud, “I am not afraid; I
am glad. Son of Arrius, thou art the man. Be the end like the
beginning, and thou shalt see of what stuff is the lining of the hand
of an Arab who is able to give.”
“I thank thee, good sheik,” Ben-Hur returned, modestly. “Let the
servants bring drink for the horses.”
With his own hands he gave the water.
Remounting Sirius, he renewed the training, going as before from walk
to trot, from trot to gallop; finally, he pushed the steady racers into
the run, gradually quickening it to full speed. The performance then
became exciting; and there were applause for the dainty handling of the
reins, and admiration for the four, which were the same, whether they
flew forward or wheeled in varying curvature. In their action there
were unity, power, grace, pleasure, all without effort or sign of
labor. The admiration was unmixed with pity or reproach, which would
have been as well bestowed upon swallows in their evening flight.
In the midst of the exercises, and the attention they received from all
the bystanders, Malluch came upon the ground, seeking the sheik.
“I have a message for you, O sheik,” he said, availing himself of a
moment he supposed favorable for the speech—“a message from Simonides,
the merchant.”
“Simonides!” ejaculated the Arab. “Ah! ’tis well. May Abaddon take all
his enemies!”
“He bade me give thee first the holy peace of God,” Malluch continued;
“and then this despatch, with prayer that thou read it the instant of
receipt.”
Ilderim, standing in his place, broke the sealing of the package
delivered to him, and from a wrapping of fine linen took two letters,
which he proceeded to read.
[No. 1.]
“Simonides to Sheik Ilderim.
“O friend!
“Assure thyself first of a place in my inner heart.
“Then—
“There is in thy dowar a youth of fair presence, calling himself the
son of Arrius; and such he is by adoption.
“He is very dear to me.
“He hath a wonderful history, which I will tell thee; come thou to-day
or to-morrow, that I may tell thee the history, and have thy counsel.
“Meantime, favor all his requests, so they be not against honor. Should
there be need of reparation, I am bound to thee for it.
“That I have interest in this youth, keep thou private.
“Remember me to thy other guest. He, his daughter, thyself, and all
whom thou mayst choose to be of thy company, must depend upon me at the
Circus the day of the games. I have seats already engaged.
“To thee and all thine, peace.
“What should I be, O my friend, but thy friend?
“SIMONIDES.”
[No. 2.]
“Simonides to Sheik Ilderim.
“O friend!
“Out of the abundance of my experience, I send you a word.
“There is a sign which all persons not Romans, and who have moneys or
goods subject to despoilment, accept as warning—that is, the arrival at
a seat of power of some high Roman official charged with authority.
“To-day comes the Consul Maxentius.
“Be thou warned!
“Another word of advice.
“A conspiracy, to be of effect against thee, O friend, must include the
Herods as parties; thou hast great properties in their dominions.
“Wherefore keep thou watch.
“Send this morning to thy trusty keepers of the roads leading south
from Antioch, and bid them search every courier going and coming; if
they find private despatches relating to thee or thine affairs, THOU
SHOULDST SEE THEM.
“You should have received this yesterday, though it is not too late, if
you act promptly.
“If couriers left Antioch this morning, your messengers know the
byways, and can get before them with your orders.
“Do not hesitate.
“Burn this after reading.
“O my friend! thy friend,
“SIMONIDES.”
Ilderim read the letters a second time, and refolded them in the linen
wrap, and put the package under his girdle.
The exercises in the field continued but a little longer—in all about
two hours. At their conclusion, Ben-Hur brought the four to a walk, and
drove to Ilderim.
“With leave, O sheik,” he said, “I will return thy Arabs to the tent,
and bring them out again this afternoon.”
Ilderim walked to him as he sat on Sirius, and said, “I give them to
you, son of Arrius, to do with as you will until after the games. You
have done with them in two hours what the Roman—may jackals gnaw his
bones fleshless!—could not in as many weeks. We will win—by the
splendor of God, we will win!”
At the tent Ben-Hur remained with the horses while they were being
cared for; then, after a plunge in the lake and a cup of arrack with
the sheik, whose flow of spirits was royally exuberant, he dressed
himself in his Jewish garb again, and walked with Malluch on into the
Orchard.
There was much conversation between the two, not all of it important.
One part, however, must not be overlooked. Ben-Hur was speaking.
“I will give you,” he said, “an order for my property stored in the
khan this side the river by the Seleucian Bridge. Bring it to me
to-day, if you can. And, good Malluch—if I do not overtask you—”
Malluch protested heartily his willingness to be of service.
“Thank you, Malluch, thank you,” said Ben-Hur. “I will take you at your
word, remembering that we are brethren of the old tribe, and that the
enemy is a Roman. First, then—as you are a man of business, which I
much fear Sheik Ilderim is not—”
“Arabs seldom are,” said Malluch, gravely.
“Nay, I do not impeach their shrewdness, Malluch. It is well, however,
to look after them. To save all forfeit or hindrance in connection with
the race, you would put me perfectly at rest by going to the office of
the Circus, and seeing that he has complied with every preliminary
rule; and if you can get a copy of the rules, the service may be of
great avail to me. I would like to know the colors I am to wear, and
particularly the number of the crypt I am to occupy at the starting; if
it be next Messala’s on the right or left, it is well; if not, and you
can have it changed so as to bring me next the Roman, do so. Have you
good memory, Malluch?”
“It has failed me, but never, son of Arrius, where the heart helped it
as now.”
“I will venture, then, to charge you with one further service. I saw
yesterday that Messala was proud of his chariot, as he might be, for
the best of Cæsar’s scarcely surpass it. Can you not make its display
an excuse which will enable you to find if it be light or heavy? I
would like to have its exact weight and measurements—and, Malluch,
though you fail in all else, bring me exactly the height his axle
stands above the ground. You understand, Malluch? I do not wish him to
have any actual advantage of me. I do not care for his splendor; if I
beat him, it will make his fall the harder, and my triumph the more
complete. If there are advantages really important, I want them.”
“I see, I see!” said Malluch. “A line dropped from the centre of the
axle is what you want.”
“Thou hast it; and be glad, Malluch—it is the last of my commissions.
Let us return to the dowar.”
At the door of the tent they found a servant replenishing the
smoke-stained bottles of leben freshly made, and stopped to refresh
themselves. Shortly afterwards Malluch returned to the city.
During their absence, a messenger well mounted had been despatched with
orders as suggested by Simonides. He was an Arab, and carried nothing
written.
CHAPTER III
“Iras, the daughter of Balthasar, sends me with salutation and a
message,” said a servant to Ben-Hur, who was taking his ease in the
tent.
“Give me the message.”
“Would it please you to accompany her upon the lake?”
“I will carry the answer myself. Tell her so.”
His shoes were brought him, and in a few minutes Ben-Hur sallied out to
find the fair Egyptian. The shadow of the mountains was creeping over
the Orchard of Palms in advance of night. Afar through the trees came
the tinkling of sheep bells, the lowing of cattle, and the voices of
the herdsmen bringing their charges home. Life at the Orchard, it
should be remembered, was in all respects as pastoral as life on the
scantier meadows of the desert.
Sheik Ilderim had witnessed the exercises of the afternoon, being a
repetition of those of the morning; after which he had gone to the city
in answer to the invitation of Simonides; he might return in the night;
but, considering the immensity of the field to be talked over with his
friend, it was hardly possible. Ben-Hur, thus left alone, had seen his
horses cared for; cooled and purified himself in the lake; exchanged
the field garb for his customary vestments, all white, as became a
Sadducean of the pure blood; supped early; and, thanks to the strength
of youth, was well recovered from the violent exertion he had
undergone.
It is neither wise nor honest to detract from beauty as a quality.
There cannot be a refined soul insensible to its influence. The story
of Pygmalion and his statue is as natural as it is poetical. Beauty is
of itself a power; and it was now drawing Ben-Hur.
The Egyptian was to him a wonderfully beautiful woman—beautiful of
face, beautiful of form. In his thought she always appeared to him as
he saw her at the fountain; and he felt the influence of her voice,
sweeter because in tearful expression of gratitude to him, and of her
eyes—the large, soft, black, almond-shaped eyes declarative of her
race—eyes which looked more than lies in the supremest wealth of words
to utter; and recurrences of the thought of her were returns just so