The Scarlet Banner Part 14

"Where is Thrasabad?"

Mercury again appeared in the podium.

"Look you, brother, that is a bad omen," said Thrasaric.

Thrasabad shrugged his shoulders.

"The fortune of war. I did not allow myself to interfere. No agreement was made about the result. Five Romans and twelve Vandals are dead.

Away, away with the whole! Vanish, sea!"

He waved the Hermes staff; the water sank rus.h.i.+ng into the depths, with the corpses it had swallowed. The Roman s.h.i.+p, amply manned and obeying her helm, succeeded, by rowing powerfully to the right, in pa.s.sing through the gate by which it had entered. The empty, burning, unguided Vandal vessel was drawn into the seething, whirling funnel; it turned more and more swiftly on its own axis; the water dashed over the deck, extinguis.h.i.+ng the flames as far as it reached them; the mast leaned farther and farther to the right, still blazing brightly. Suddenly it fell completely over on the right side and disappeared in the abyss.

Gurgling, whirling, and foaming, the rest of the water followed.

"The sea has vanished!" cried Thrasabad. "Let the desert and its monsters, warring with each other, appear in its place!"

And at the height of the former flooring, far above the level of the sea, the two halves of the arena, covered with white sand, were again pushed together from the right and left. Slaves, clad only with ap.r.o.ns--fair-skinned ones, yellow-complexioned Moors, and negroes--appeared in countless numbers and drew back the curtains which covered the gratings of the cages containing the wild animals.

"We will present to you--" Thrasabad cried amid the breathless silence.

But his voice died away; the terrible roar, which had either ceased or been drowned during the tumult of the naval battle, again echoed through the Amphitheatre, and a huge tiger leaped with such force and fury from the back of its tolerably long cage against the grating in front that its bars bent outward, splinters of the wood in which they were imbedded were hurled into the arena.

"Brother," said Thrasaric, in a low tone, "that cage is too long. Take care! The animal has too much s.p.a.ce to run. And the wooden floor is rotten. Are you afraid, Eugenia?"

"I am with _you_," the young bride answered quietly. "But I want to know no more about men fighting--dying. I did not look at them."

"Only at the end, little sister-in-law, a captive Moor."

"Where did you get him?" asked Modigisel.

"Hired, like most of the others, from a slave-dealer. But this one is sentenced to death."

"Why?"

"He strangled his master, who was going to have him flogged. He is a handsome, slender fellow, but very obstinate; he will name neither his tribe nor his father. The brother and heir of the murdered man offered him to me cheap for the naumachia, and if he survived--for the tiger.

He could not be induced, no matter how many blows he received, to fight in the naval battle. His master was obliged to bind him hand and foot behind the scenes. Well, he will probably be compelled to fight when he stands fully armed in the arena, and we let loose the tiger; it has been kept fasting for two days."

"Oh, Thrasaric, my husband! My first entreaty--"

"I cannot help you, little bird! I promised to let him rule without interference to-day; and one's word must be kept, even though it should lead to folly and crime."

"Yes," whispered Modigisel, bending forward. "One's word must be kept.

When shall we throw the dice?"

Thrasaric sprang up in fury.

"I will kill you--"

"That will be useless. Astarte knows it. Keep your word! I advise you to do it. Or to-morrow all the Vandal n.o.bles shall know what your honor and faith are worth."

"Never! I will sooner kill the child with my own hands."

"That would be as dishonorable as if I should slay the horse from envy.

Keep your word, Thrasaric; you can do nothing else."

Then a glance from Eugenia rested on Modigisel. She could not have understood anything; but he was silent.

"But when you have her," Astarte murmured under her breath to her companion, "you will set me wholly free?"

"I don't know yet," he growled. "It doesn't look as if I should win her."

"Set me free!" Astarte repeated earnestly.

It was meant for an entreaty, but the tone conveyed so sinister a threat that the n.o.bleman gazed wonderingly into her black eyes, in whose depths lurked an expression which made him afraid to say no. He evaded an answer by asking rudely: "What is there in the giant that attracts you as a magnet draws iron?"

"Strength," said Astarte, impressively. "He could wrap you around his left arm with his right hand."

"_I_ was strong enough, too," replied the Vandal, gloomily. "Africa and Astarte would suck the marrow out of a Hercules."

The whispering was interrupted by Thrasabad, who now, the tiger being silent, addressed the audience: "We will have brought out to fight before you six African bears from the Atlas, with six buffaloes from the mountain Valley of Aurasia! a hippopotamus from the Nile, and a rhinoceros; an elephant and three leopards, a powerful tiger--do you hear him? Silence, Hasdrubal, till you are summoned--with a man in full armour, who has been condemned to death."

"Aha! Good! That will be splendid!" ran through the Amphitheatre.

"And lastly,--as I hope Hasdrubal will be the victor,--the tiger will fight all the survivors of the other conflicts, and a pack of twelve British dogs."

Loud shouts of delight rang through the building.

"I thank you!" replied the director of the festival. "But we cannot live by grat.i.tude alone. Your Mercury also desires nectar and ambrosia.

Before we witness any more battles, let us enjoy a light luncheon, some cool wine, and a graceful dance. What say you, my friends? Come, fair Glauke!"

Without waiting for an answer--he seemed to be tolerably sure of it, and it came in the form of still more vehement applause--he again waved his staff. The heavy stone walls, separating the podium and the higher rows of seats from the arena and the lower rows, sank and were transformed into sloping stone steps that led down to the arena, into which at the same time invisible hands lifted long tables, hung with costly draperies and set with magnificent jugs, vessels, and goblets of gold and silver, and large shallow dishes filled with choice fruit and sweet cakes. In the centre of the arena rose an altar, its three steps thickly garlanded with wreaths of flowers, the top crowned by a figure closely wrapped in white cloths. From the sides of the building a hundred Satyrs and Bacchantes flocked in, who instantly began a pantomimic dance of pursuit and flight, whose rhythm was accompanied by the noisy, stirring music of cymbals and tympans from the open, wing-like sides of the Amphitheatre. Enraged by the uproar, more and more furiously roared the Hyrcanian tiger.

CHAPTER XVI

Many of the guests--all who had been seated in the podium--descended to the arena, helped themselves from the dishes, and ate the fruit and cakes. Gayly dressed slaves carried the refreshments to others, who had remained in the rows of seats.

As soon as the barriers between the arena and the spectators were removed, the guests pa.s.sed freely to and fro, sometimes down to the arena, sometimes back to their places; nay, they even mingled in the dance of the Satyrs and Bacchantes. Many of the latter were suddenly embraced by the Vandals, who swung with them in the frantic whirl.

The confusion grew more chaotic. Cheeks glowed with a deeper crimson, fair and dark locks fluttered more wildly, and the musicians were constantly obliged to play faster to keep pace with the increasing excitement of the dancers.

Thrasabad now poured the wine most freely, for he was exhausted by his exertions, and his vanity was stirred by the applause bestowed upon his arrangements for the festival. Reclining on a soft panther-skin, in front of a low drinking-table, he drained one goblet after another.

Glauke, whom he clasped with one arm, gazed anxiously at him, but dared not utter a warning.

Thrasaric noticed her expression.

"Listen, brother," he said; "take care. The director of the festival is the only one who must remain sober. And the wine is heavy, and you know, little brother, you can't stand much because you talk too fast while you are drinking."