In due
time the fifty vessels coming down the channel closed in upon
the fugitive pirates, and crushed them utterly: not one escaped.
time the fifty vessels coming down the channel closed in upon
the fugitive pirates, and crushed them utterly: not one escaped.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v26 - Tur to Wat
The
mouth gaping wide; the eyes open but sightless, and the blood-
less pallor of a drowning man, — never anything more ghastly!
Yet he gave a cry of joy at the sight; and as the face was
going under again, he caught the sufferer by the chain which
passed from the helmet beneath the chin, and drew him to the
plank.
The man was Arrius, the tribune.
For a while the water foamed and eddied violently about
Ben-Hur, taxing all his strength to hold to the support, and at
the same time to keep the Roman's head above the surface. The
galley had passed, leaving the two barely outside the stroke of
its oars.
Right through the floating men, over heads helmeted
as well as heads bare, she drove; in her wake nothing but the
sea sparkling with fire. A muffled crash, succeeded by a great
outcry, made the rescuer look again from his charge. A certain
savage pleasure touched his heart. The Astræa was avenged.
After that the battle moved on. Resistance turned to flight.
But who were the victors? Ben-Hur was sensible how much his
freedom and the life of the tribune depended upon that event.
He pushed the plank under the latter until it floated him, after
which all his care was to keep him there. The dawn came
slowly. He watched its growing hopefully, yet sometimes afraid.
Would it bring the Romans or the pirates ? If the pirates, his
charge was lost.
At last morning broke in full, the air without a breath. Off
to the left he saw the land, too far to think of attempting to
make it. Here and there men were adrift like himself. In spots
the sea was blackened by charred and sometimes smoking frag-
ments. A galley up a long way was lying to with a torn sail
hanging from the tilted yard, and the oars all idle. Still farther
away he could discern moving specks, which he thought might
be ships in flight or pursuit, or they might be white birds
a-wing
## p. 15539 (#493) ##########################################
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15539
An hour passed thus. His anxiety increased. If relief came
.
not speedily, Arrius would die. Sometimes he seemed already
dead, he lay so still. He took the helmet off, and, then, with
greater difficulty, the cuirass; the heart he found fluttering. He
took hope at the sign, and held on. There was nothing to do
but wait, and after the manner of his people, pray.
The throes of recovery from drowning are more painful than
the drowning. These Arrius passed through; and at length, to
Ben-Hur's delight, reached the point of speech.
Gradually, from incoherent questions as to where he was, and
by whom and how he had been saved, he reverted to the battle.
The doubt of the victory stimulated his faculties' to full return, a
result aided not a little by a long rest such as could be had on
their frail support.
After a while he became talkative.
"Our rescue, I see, depends upon the result of the fight. I
see also what thou hast done for me. To speak fairly, thou hast
saved my life at the risk of thy own. I make the acknowledg.
ment broadly; and whatever cometh, thou hast my thanks. More
than that, if fortune doth but serve me kindly, and we get well
out of this peril, I will do thee such favor as becometh a Roman
who hath power and opportunity to prove his gratitude. Yet-
yet it is to be seen if, with thy good intent, thou hast really
done me a kindness: or rather, speaking to thy good will," — he
hesitated, -"I would exact of thee a promise to do me, in a cer-
tain event, the greatest favor one man can do another; and of
that let me have thy pledge now. "
“If the thing be not forbidden, I will do it,” Ben-Hur re-
plied.
Arrius rested again.
"Art thou indeed a son of Hur, the Jew ? ” he next asked.
“It is as I have said. ”
"I knew thy father
Judah drew himself nearer, for the tribune's voice was weak;
he drew nearer, and listened eagerly; at last he thought to hear
of home.
"I knew him, and loved him," Arrius continued.
There was another pause, during which something diverted
the speaker's thought.
"It cannot be,” he proceeded, “that thou, a son of his, hast
not heard of Cato and Brutus. They were very great men, and
»
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(c
“I have prop-
never as great as in death. In their dying, they left this law:
A Roman may not survive his good fortune. Art thou listen.
ing? ”
“I hear. ”
" It is a custom of gentlemen in Rome to wear a ring. There
is one on my hand. Take it now. ”
He held the hand to Judah, who did as he asked.
"Now put it on thine own hand. ”
Ben-Hur did so.
« The trinket hath its uses,” said Arrius next.
erty and money. 'I am accounted rich even in Rome. I have
no family. Show the ring to my freedman, who hath control in
my absence: you will find him in a villa near Misenum. Tell
him how it came to thee, and ask anything, or all he may have:
he will not refuse the demand. If I live, I will do better by
thee. I will make thee free, and restore thee to thy home and
people; or thou mayst give thyself to the pursuit that pleaseth
thee most. Dost thou hear ? »
« I could not choose but hear. ”
«Then pledge me. By the gods --
Nay, good tribune, I am a Jew. ”
"By thy God, then, or in the form most sacred to those of
thy faith, pledge me to do what I tell thee now, and as I tell
thee: I am waiting; let me have thy promise. ”
“Noble Arrius, I am warned by thy manner to expect some-
thing of gravest concern. Tell me thy wish first.
"Wilt thou promise then ?
« That were to give the pledge, and - Blessed be the God of
• my fathers! yonder cometh a ship! ”
“In what direction ? »
From the north. ”
"Canst thou tell her nationality by outward signs ? »
My service hath been at the oars. ”
“Hath she a flag ? ”
“I cannot see one. ”
Arrius remained quiet some time, apparently in deep reflec-
tion.
“Does the ship hold this way yet ? ” he at length asked.
«Still this way. ”
« Look for the flag now. ”
(
(
(No.
>
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15541
(
(C
(
»
«She hath none. "
“Nor any other sign? ”
“She hath a sail set, and is of three banks, and cometh
swiftly,- that is all I can say of her. ”
"A Roman in triumph would have out many flags. She
must be an enemy.
Hear now,” said Arrius, becoming grave
again, “hear, while yet I may speak. If the galley be a pirate,
thy life is safe: they may not give thee freedom; they may put
thee to the oar again: but they will not kill thee. On the other
hand, I->
The tribune faltered.
"Perpol ! ” he continued resolutely. “I am too old to submit
to dishonor. In Rome, let them tell how Quintus Arrius, as
became a Roman tribune, went down with his ship in the midst
of the foe. This is what I would have thee do. If the galley
.
prove a pirate, push me from the plank and drown me. Dost
thou hear ? Swear thou wilt do it. ”
"I will not swear,” said Ben-Hur, firmly; “neither will I do
the deed. The Law, which is to me most binding, Otribune,
would make me answerable for thy life. Take back the ring” -
he took the seal from his finger; “take it back, and all thy
promises of favor in the event of delivery from this peril. The
judgment which sent me to the oar for life made me a slave,
yet I am not a slave; no more am I thy freedman. I am a son
of Israel, and this moment, at least, my own master. Take back
the ring. ”
Arrius remained passive.
« Thou wilt not ? " . Judah continued. “Not in anger, then,
nor in any despite, but to free myself from a hateful obligation,
I will give thy gift to the sea. See, O tribune!
He tossed the ring away. Arrius heard the splash where it
struck and sank, though he did not look.
“Thou hast done a foolish thing,” he said; "foolish for one
placed as thou art. I am not dependent upon thee for death.
Life is a thread I can break without thy help; and if I do, what
will become of thee? Men determined on death prefer it at the
hands of others, for the reason that the soul which Plato giveth
us is rebellious at the thought of self-destruction; that is all. If
the ship be a pirate, I will escape from the world. My mind is
fixed. I am a Roman. Success and honor are all in all. Yet I
(
## p. 15542 (#496) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
>
would have served thee; thou wouldst not. The ring was the
only witness of my will available in this situation. We are both
lost. I will die regretting the victory and glory wrested from
me; thou wilt live to die a little later, mourning the pious duties
undone because of this folly. I pity thee. ”
Ben-Hur saw the consequences of his act more distinctly than
before, yet he did not falter.
"In the three years of my servitude, O tribune, thou wert
the first to look upon me kindly. No, no! There was another. ”
The voice dropped, the eyes became humid, and he saw plainly
as if it were then before him the face of the boy who helped
him to a drink by the old well at Nazareth. “At least,” he pro-
ceeded, “thou wert the first to ask me who I was: and if, when
I reached out and caught thee, blind and sinking the last time,
I too had thought of the many ways in which thou couldst be
useful to me in my wretchedness, still the act was not all selfish;
this I pray you to believe. Moreover, seeing as God giveth me
to now, the ends I dream of are to be wrought by fair means
alone. As a thing of conscience, I would rather die with thee
than be thy slayer. My mind is firmly set as thine: though thou
wert to offer me all Rome, O tribune, and it belonged to thee to
make the gift good, I would not kill thee. Thy Cato and Bru-
tus were as little children compared to the Hebrew whose law a
Jew must obey. ”
“But my request. Hast-
« Thy command would be of more weight, and that would not
move me. I have said. ”
Both became silent, waiting. Ben-Hur looked often at the
coming ship. Arrius rested with closed eyes, indifferent.
“Art thou sure she is an enemy ? ” Ben-Hur asked.
«I think so,” was the reply.
"She stops, and puts a boat over the side. ”
« Dost thou see her flag ? ”
“Is there no other sign by which she may be known if
Roman? ”
“If Roman, she hath a helmet over the mast's top. ”
«Then be of cheer,- I see the helmet. ”
Still Arrius was not assured.
"The men in the small boat are taking in the people afloat.
Pirates are not humane. ”
(
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« They may need rowers,” Arrius replied; recurring possibly
to times when he had made rescues for the purpose.
Ben-Hur was very watchful of the actions of the strangers.
« The ship moves off," he said.
«Whither ?
“Over on our right there is a galley which I take to be de-
serted. The new-comer heads towards it. Now she is alongside.
Now she is sending men aboard. ”
Then Arrius opened his eyes and threw off his calm.
« Thank thou thy God,” he said to Ben-Hur, after a look at
the galleys, — "thank thou thy God, as I do my many gods. A
pirate would sink, not save, yon ship. By the act and the hel-
met on the mast I know a Roman. The victory is mine. For-
tune hath not deserted me. We are saved. Wave thy hand;
call to them; bring them quickly. I shall be duumvir-and
thou! I knew thy father, and loved him. He was a prince
indeed. He taught me a Jew was not a barbarian. I will
take thee with me. I will make thee my son. Give thy God
thanks, and call the sailors. Haste! The pursuit must be kept.
Not a robber shall escape.
Hasten them! ”
Judah raised himself upon the plank, and waved his hand,
and called with all his might; at last he drew the attention of
the sailors in the small boat, and they were speedily taken up.
Arrius was received on the galley with all the honors due a
hero so the favorite of Fortune. Upon a couch on the deck he
heard the particulars of the conclusion of the fight. When the
survivors afloat upon the water were all saved and the prize
secured, he spread his flag of commandant anew, and hurried
northward to rejoin the fleet and perfect the victory.
In due
time the fifty vessels coming down the channel closed in upon
the fugitive pirates, and crushed them utterly: not one escaped.
To swell the tribune's glory, twenty galleys of the enemy were
captured.
Upon his return from the cruise, Arrius had warm welcome
on the mole at Misenum. The young man attending him very
early attracted the attention of his friends there; and to their
questions as to who he was, the tribune proceeded in the most
affectionate manner to tell the story of his rescue and introduce
the stranger, omitting carefully all that pertained to the latter's
previous history. At the end of the narrative he called Ben-Hur
## p. 15544 (#498) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
to him, and said, with a hand resting affectionately upon his
shoulder:
“Good friends, this is my son and heir, who, as he is to take
my property,- if it be the will of the gods that I leave any,-
shall be known to you by my name. I pray you all to love him
as you love me. ”
Speedily, as opportunity permitted, the adoption was formally
perfected. And in such manner the brave Roman kept his faith
with Ben-Hur, giving him happy introduction into the imperial
world. The month succeeding Arrius's return, the armilustrium
was celebrated with the utmost magnificence in the theatre of
Scaurus. One side of the structure was taken up with military
trophies; among which by far the most conspicuous and most
admired were twenty prows, complemented by their corresponding
aplustra, cut bodily from as many galleys; and over them, so as
to be legible to the eighty thousand spectators in the seats, was
this inscription:-
TAKEN FROM THE PIRATES IN THE GULF OF EURIPUS
BY
QUINTUS ARRIUS
DUUMVIR
THE CHARIOT RACE
From Ben-Hur. ) Copyright 1880, by Harper & Brothers
T"
He divine last touch in perfecting the beautiful is animation.
Can we accept the saying, then these latter days, so tame
in pastime and dull in sports, have scarcely anything to
compare to the spectacle offered by the six contestants. Let
the reader try to fancy it:- let him first look down upon the
arena, and see it glistening in its frame of dull-gray granite
walls: let him then, in this perfect field, see the chariots, light
of wheel, very graceful, and ornate as paint and burnishing can
make them — Messala's rich with ivory and gold: let him see the
drivers, erect and statuesque, undisturbed by the motion of the
cars, their limbs naked, and fresh and ruddy with the healthful
polish of the baths — in their right hands goads, suggestive of
## p. 15545 (#499) ##########################################
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15545
.
torture dreadful to the thought; in their left hands, held in
careful separation, and high that they may not interfere with
view of the steeds, the reins passing taut from the fore ends of
the carriage poles: let him see the fours, chosen for beauty as
well as speed: let him see them in magnificent action, their mas.
ters not more conscious of the situation and all that is asked and
hoped from them — their heads tossing, nostrils in play, now dis-
tent, now contracted; limbs too dainty for the sand which they
touch but to spurn; limbs slender, yet with impact crushing as
hammers; every muscle of the rounded bodies instinct with glo-
rious life, swelling, diminishing, justifying the world in taking
from them its ultimate measure of force: finally, along with
chariots, drivers, horses, let the reader see the accompanying
shadows fly:- and with such distinctness as the picture comes, he
may share the satisfaction and deeper pleasure of those to whom
it was a thrilling fact, not a feeble fancy. Every age has its
plenty of sorrows: Heaven help where there are no pleasures!
The competitors having started each on the shortest line for
the position next the wall, yielding would be like giving up
the race; and who dared yield ? It is not in common nature to
change a purpose in mid-career; and the cries of encouragement
from the balcony were indistinguishable and indescribable,- a roar
which had the same effect upon all the drivers.
The fours neared the rope together. Then the trumpeter by
the editor's side blew a signal vigorously. Twenty feet away it
was not heard. Seeing the action, however, the judges dropped
the rope,- and not an instant too soon, for the hoof of one of
Messala’s horses struck it as it fell. Nothing daunted, the Roman
shook out his long lash, loosed the reins, leaned forward, and with
a triumphant shout took the wall.
"Jove with us! Jove with us! ” yelled all the Roman faction,
in a frenzy of delight.
As Messala turned in, the bronze lion's head at the end of his
axle caught the fore-leg of the Athenian's right-hand trace-mate,
flinging the brute over against its yokefellow. Both staggered,
struggled, and lost their headway. The ushers had their will, at
least in part. The thousands held their breath with horror;
only up where the consul sat was there shouting.
"Jove with us ! » screamed Drusus frantically.
« He wins! Jove with us! ” answered his associates, seeing
Messala speed on.
C
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LEWIS WALLACE
Tablet in hand, Sanballat turned to them; a crash from the
course below stopped his speech, and he could not but look that
way.
Messala having passed, the Corinthian was the only contestant
on the Athenian's right, and to that side the latter tried to turn
his broken four; and then, as ill-fortune would have it, the wheel
of the Byzantine, who was next on the left, struck the tail-piece
of his chariot, knocking his feet from under him. There was a
crash, a scream of rage and fear, and the unfortunate Cleanthes
fell under the hoofs of his own steeds: a terrible sight, against
which Esther covered her eyes.
On swept the Corinthian, on the Byzantine, on the Sidonian.
Sanballat looked for Ben-Hur, and turned again to Drusus
and his coterie.
“A hundred sestertii on the Jew! ” he cried.
« Taken! » answered Drusus.
"Another hundred on the Jew! ” shouted Sanballat.
Nobody appeared to hear him. He called again; the situa-
tion below was too absorbing, and they were too busy shouting,
“Messala! Messala! Jove with us! ”
When the Jewess ventured to look again, a party of workmen
were removing the horses and broken car; another party were
taking off the man himself; and every bench upon which there
was a Greek was vocal with execrations and prayers for venge-
Suddenly she dropped her hands: Ben-Hur, unhurt, was
to the front, coursing freely forward · along with the Roman!
Behind them, in a group, followed the Sidonian, the Corinthian,
and the Byzantine.
The race was on; the souls of the racers were in it; over
them bent the myriads.
»
ance.
was
When the dash for position began, Ben-Hur, as we have seen,
on the extreme left of the six. For a moment, like the
others, he was half blinded by the light in the arena; yet he
managed to catch sight of his antagonists and divine their pur-
pose. At Messala, who was more than an antagonist to him, he
gave one searching look. The air of passionless hauteur charac-
teristic of the fine patrician face was there as of old, and so was
the Italian beauty, which the helmet rather increased; but more
- it may have been a jealous fancy, or the effect of the brassy
shadow in which the features were at the moment cast, still the
## p. 15547 (#501) ##########################################
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15547
Israelite thought he saw the soul of the man as through a glass,
darkly,-cruel, cunning, desperate; not so excited as determined,
- a soul in a tension of watchfulness and fierce resolve.
In a time not longer than was required to turn to his four
again, Ben-Hur felt his own resolution harden to a like temper.
At whatever cost, at all hazards, he would humble this enemy!
Prize, friends, wagers, honor - everything that can be thought of
as a possible interest in the race was lost in the one deliberate
purpose. Regard for life even should not hold him back. Yet
there was no passion on his part; no blinding rush of heated
blood from heart to brain and back again; no impulse to fling
himself upon Fortune: he did not believe in Fortune; far other-
wise. He had his plan, and confiding in himself, he settled to the
task, never more observant, never more capable. The air about
him seemed aglow with a renewed and perfect transparency.
When not half-way across the arena, he saw that Messala's
rush would, if there was no collision, and the rope fell, give him
the wall; that the rope would fall, he ceased as soon to doubt:
and further, it came to him, a sudden flash-like insight, that Mes-
sala knew it was to be let drop at the last moment (prearrange-
ment with the editor could safely reach that point in the contest);
and it suggested, what more Roman-like than for the official to
lend himself to a countryman, who, besides being so popular, had
also so much at stake ? There could be no other accounting for
the confidence with which Messala pushed his four forward the
instant his competitors were prudentially checking their fours in
front of the obstruction, - no other except madness.
It is one thing to see a necessity, and another to act upon it.
Ben-Hur yielded the wall for the time.
The rope fell, and all the fours but his sprang into the course
under urgency of voice and lash. He drew head to the right,
and with all the speed of his Arabs, darted across the trails of
his opponents, the angle of movement being such as to lose the
least time and gain the greatest possible advance. So while
the spectators were shivering at the Athenian's mishap, and the
Sidonian, Byzantine, and Corinthian were striving, with such
skill as they possessed, to avoid involvement in the ruin, Ben-Hur
swept around and took the course neck and neck with Messala,
though on the outside. The marvelous skill shown in making
the change thus from the extreme left across to the right with-
out appreciable loss did not fail the sharp eyes upon the benches;
?
## p. 15548 (#502) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
the Circus seemed to rock and rock again with prolonged ap-
plause. Then Esther clasped her hands in glad surprise; then
Sanballat, smiling, offered his hundred sestertii a second time
without a taker; and then the Romans began to doubt, thinking
Messala might have found an equal, if not a master, and that in
an Israelite!
And now, racing together side by side, a narrow interval
between them, the two neared the second goal.
The pedestal of the three pillars there, viewed from the west,
was a stone wall in the form of a half-circle, around which the
course and opposite balcony were bent in exact parallelism. Mak-
ing this turn was considered in all respects the most telling test
of a charioteer; it was in fact the very feat in which Orestes
failed. As an involuntary admission of interest on the part of
the spectators, a hush fell over all the Circus; so that for the first
time in the race the rattle and clang of the cars plunging after
the tugging steeds were distinctly heard. Then, it would seem, ,
Messala observed Ben-Hur, and recognized him; and at once the
audacity of the man famed out in an astonishing manner.
"Down Eros, up Mars! ” he shouted, whirling his lash with
practiced hand; Down Eros, up Mars! ” he repeated, and caught
the well-doing Arabs of Ben-Hur a cut the like of which they
had never known.
The blow was in every quarter, and the amazement
was universal. The silence deepened; up on the benches behind
the consul the boldest held his breath, waiting for the outcome.
Only a moment thus: then involuntarily, down from the balcony,
as thunder falls, burst the indignant cry of the people.
The four sprang forward affrighted. No hand had ever been
laid upon them except in love; they had been nurtured ever so
tenderly: and as they grew, their confidence in man became a
lesson to men beautiful to see. What should such dainty natures
do under such indignity but leap as from death ?
Forward they sprang as with one impulse, and forward leaped
the car.
Past question, every experience is serviceable to us.
Where got Ben-Hur the large hand and mighty grip which
helped him now so well ? Where but from the car with which
so long he fought the sea ? And what was this spring of the
floor under his feet to the dizzy, eccentric lurch with which in
the old time the trembling ship yielded to the beat of staggering
billows, drunk with their power? So he kept his place, and gave
seen
## p. 15549 (#503) ##########################################
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15549
the four free rein, and called to them in soothing voice, trying
merely to guide them round the dangerous turn; and before the
fever of the people began to abate, he had back the mastery.
Nor that only: on approaching the first goal, he was again side
by side with Messala, bearing with him the sympathy and admi-
ration of every one not a Roman. So clearly was the feeling
shown, so vigorous its manifestation, that Messala, with all his
boldness, felt it unsafe to trifle further.
As the cars whirled round the goal, Esther caught sight of
Ben-Hur's face,- a little pale, a little higher raised, otherwise
calm, even placid.
Immediately a man climbed on the entablature at the west
end of the division wall, and took down one of the conical
wooden balls. A dolphin on the east entablature was taken down
at the same time.
In like manner, the second ball and second dolphin dis-
appeared.
And then the third ball and third dolphin.
Three rounds concluded: still Messala held the inside position;
still Ben-Hur moved with him side by side; still the other com-
petitors followed as before. The contest began to have the
appearance of one of the double races which became so popular
in Rome during the later Cæsarean period: Messala and Ben-
Hur in the first, the Corinthian, Sidonian, and Byzantine in the
second. Meantime the ushers succeeded in returning the mul-
titude to their seats, though the clamor continued to run the
rounds, — keeping, as it were, even pace with the rivals in the
course below.
In the fifth round the Sidonian succeeded in getting a place
outside Ben-Hur, but lost it directly.
The sixth round was entered upon without change of relative
position.
Gradually the speed had been quickened; gradually the blood
of the competitors warmed with the work. Men and beasts
seemed to know alike that the final crisis was near, bringing the
time for the winner to assert himself.
The interest, which from the beginning had centred chiefly
in the struggle between the Roman and the Jew, with an intense
and general sympathy for the latter, was fast changing to anxiety
on his account. On all the benches the spectators bent forward
## p. 15550 (#504) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
»
motionless, except as their faces turned following the contest-
ants. Ilderim quitted combing his beard, and Esther forgot her
fears.
"A hundred sestertii on the Jew! ” cried Sanballat to the
Romans under the consul's awning.
. There was no reply.
"A talent — or five talents, or ten: choose ye! ”
He shook his tablets at them defiantly.
“I will take thy sestertii,” answered a Roman youth, prepar-
ing to write.
"Do not so," interposed a friend.
«Why? )
« Messala hath reached his utmost speed. See him lean over
his chariot-rim, the reins loose as flying ribbons. Look then at
the Jew. "
The first one looked.
" «By Hercules! ” he replied, his countenance falling. «The
dog throws all his weight on the bits. I see, I see! If the gods
help not our friend, he will be run away with by the Israelite.
No, not yet. Look! Jove with us, Jove with us! ”
The cry, swelled by every Latin tongue, shook the velaria
over the consul's head.
If it were true that Messala had attained his utmost speed,
the effort was with effect: slowly but certainly he was beginning
to forge ahead. His horses were running with their heads low
down; from the balcony their bodies appeared actually to skim
the earth; their nostrils showed blood-red in expansion; their
eyes seemed straining in their sockets. Certainly the good steeds
were doing their best! How long could they keep the pace? It
was but the commencement of the sixth round. On they dashed.
As they neared the second goal, Ben-Hur turned in behind the
Roman's car.
The joy of the Messala faction reached its bound: they
screamed and howled, and tossed their colors; and Sanballat
filled his tablets with wagers of their tendering.
Malluch, in the lower galley over the Gate of Triumph, found
it hard to keep his cheer. He had cherished the vague hint
dropped to him by Ben-Hur of something to happen in the turn-
ing of the western pillars. It was the fifth round, yet the some-
thing had not come: and he had said to himself, the sixth will
## p. 15551 (#505) ##########################################
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15551
bring it; but, lo! Ben-Hur was hardly holding a place at the tail
of his enemy's car.
Over in the east end, Simonides's party held their peace. The
merchant's head was bent low. Ilderim tugged at his beard,
and dropped his brows till there was nothing of his eyes but an
occasional sparkle of light. Esther scarcely breathed. Iras alone
appeared glad.
Along the home-stretch — sixth round — Messala leading, next
him Ben-Hur, and so close it was the old story:-
“First few Eumelus on Pheretian steeds;
With those of Tros bold Diomed succeeds:
Close on Eumelus's back they puff the wind,
And seem just mounting on his car behind;
Full on his neck he feels the sultry breeze,
And hovering o'er, their stretching shadow sees. ”
Thus to the first goal, and round it. Messala, fearful of losing
his place, hugged the stony wall with perilous clasp; a foot to
the left, and he had been dashed to pieces: yet when the turn
was finished, no man, looking at the wheel-tracks of the two cars,
could have said, Here went Messala, there the Jew. They left
but one trace behind them.
As they whirled by, Esther saw Ben-Hur's face again, and it
was whiter than before.
Simonides, shrewder than Esther, said to Ilderim the moment
the rivals turned into the course, “I am no judge, good sheik,
if Ben-Hur be not about to execute some design. His face hath
that look. ”
To which Ilderim answered, “Saw you how clean they were,
and fresh ? By the splendor of God, friend, they have not been
running! But now watch! »
- One ball and one dolphin remained on the entablatures; and
all the people drew a long breath, for the beginning of the end
was at hand.
First the Sidonian gave the scourge to his four; and smarting
with fear and pain, they dashed desperately forward, promising
for a brief time to go to the front.
The effort ended in prom-
ise. Next, the Byzantine and Corinthian each made the trial
with like result, after which they were practically out of the race.
Thereupon, with a readiness perfectly explicable, all the factions
## p. 15552 (#506) ##########################################
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(
except the Romans joined hope in Ben-Hur, and openly indulged
their feeling
“Ben-Hur! Ben-Hur! ” they shouted, and the blent voices of
the many rolled overwhelmingly against the consular stand.
From the benches above him as he passed, the favor de-
scended in fierce injunctions.
"Speed thee, Jew! ”
« Take the wall now ! »
« On! loose the Arabs! Give them rein and scourge! »
“Let him not have the turn on thee again. Now or never! »
Over the balustrade they stooped low, stretching their hands
imploringly to him.
Either he did not hear, or could not do better, for half-way
round the course and he was still following; at the second goal
even, still no change!
And now, to make the turn, Messala began to draw in his
left-hand steeds,- an act which necessarily slackened their speed.
His spirit was high; more than one altar was richer of his vows;
the Roman genius was still president. On the three pillars only
six hundred feet away were fame, increase of fortune, promotions,
and a triumph ineffably sweetened by hate, all in store for him!
That moment Malluch, in the gallery, saw Ben-Hur lean forward
over his Arabs, and give them the reins.
Out flew the many-
folded lash in his hand: over the backs of the startled steeds it
writhed and hissed, and hissed and writhed again and again; and
though it fell not, there were both sting and menace in its quick
report: and as the man passed thus from quiet to resistless action,
his face suffused, his eyes gleaming, along the reins he seemed
to flash his will; and instantly not one, but the four as one,
answered with a leap that landed them alongside the Roman's
Messala, on the perilous edge of the goal, heard, but dared
not look to see what the awakening portended. From the people
he received no sign. Above the noises of the race there was but
one voice, and that was Ben-Hur's. In the old Aramaic, as the
sheik himself, he called to the Arabs:
« « On, Atair! On, Rigel! What, Antares! dost thou linger
now? Good horse - oho, Aldebaran !
?
I hear them singing in
the tents.
mouth gaping wide; the eyes open but sightless, and the blood-
less pallor of a drowning man, — never anything more ghastly!
Yet he gave a cry of joy at the sight; and as the face was
going under again, he caught the sufferer by the chain which
passed from the helmet beneath the chin, and drew him to the
plank.
The man was Arrius, the tribune.
For a while the water foamed and eddied violently about
Ben-Hur, taxing all his strength to hold to the support, and at
the same time to keep the Roman's head above the surface. The
galley had passed, leaving the two barely outside the stroke of
its oars.
Right through the floating men, over heads helmeted
as well as heads bare, she drove; in her wake nothing but the
sea sparkling with fire. A muffled crash, succeeded by a great
outcry, made the rescuer look again from his charge. A certain
savage pleasure touched his heart. The Astræa was avenged.
After that the battle moved on. Resistance turned to flight.
But who were the victors? Ben-Hur was sensible how much his
freedom and the life of the tribune depended upon that event.
He pushed the plank under the latter until it floated him, after
which all his care was to keep him there. The dawn came
slowly. He watched its growing hopefully, yet sometimes afraid.
Would it bring the Romans or the pirates ? If the pirates, his
charge was lost.
At last morning broke in full, the air without a breath. Off
to the left he saw the land, too far to think of attempting to
make it. Here and there men were adrift like himself. In spots
the sea was blackened by charred and sometimes smoking frag-
ments. A galley up a long way was lying to with a torn sail
hanging from the tilted yard, and the oars all idle. Still farther
away he could discern moving specks, which he thought might
be ships in flight or pursuit, or they might be white birds
a-wing
## p. 15539 (#493) ##########################################
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15539
An hour passed thus. His anxiety increased. If relief came
.
not speedily, Arrius would die. Sometimes he seemed already
dead, he lay so still. He took the helmet off, and, then, with
greater difficulty, the cuirass; the heart he found fluttering. He
took hope at the sign, and held on. There was nothing to do
but wait, and after the manner of his people, pray.
The throes of recovery from drowning are more painful than
the drowning. These Arrius passed through; and at length, to
Ben-Hur's delight, reached the point of speech.
Gradually, from incoherent questions as to where he was, and
by whom and how he had been saved, he reverted to the battle.
The doubt of the victory stimulated his faculties' to full return, a
result aided not a little by a long rest such as could be had on
their frail support.
After a while he became talkative.
"Our rescue, I see, depends upon the result of the fight. I
see also what thou hast done for me. To speak fairly, thou hast
saved my life at the risk of thy own. I make the acknowledg.
ment broadly; and whatever cometh, thou hast my thanks. More
than that, if fortune doth but serve me kindly, and we get well
out of this peril, I will do thee such favor as becometh a Roman
who hath power and opportunity to prove his gratitude. Yet-
yet it is to be seen if, with thy good intent, thou hast really
done me a kindness: or rather, speaking to thy good will," — he
hesitated, -"I would exact of thee a promise to do me, in a cer-
tain event, the greatest favor one man can do another; and of
that let me have thy pledge now. "
“If the thing be not forbidden, I will do it,” Ben-Hur re-
plied.
Arrius rested again.
"Art thou indeed a son of Hur, the Jew ? ” he next asked.
“It is as I have said. ”
"I knew thy father
Judah drew himself nearer, for the tribune's voice was weak;
he drew nearer, and listened eagerly; at last he thought to hear
of home.
"I knew him, and loved him," Arrius continued.
There was another pause, during which something diverted
the speaker's thought.
"It cannot be,” he proceeded, “that thou, a son of his, hast
not heard of Cato and Brutus. They were very great men, and
»
## p. 15540 (#494) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
(c
“I have prop-
never as great as in death. In their dying, they left this law:
A Roman may not survive his good fortune. Art thou listen.
ing? ”
“I hear. ”
" It is a custom of gentlemen in Rome to wear a ring. There
is one on my hand. Take it now. ”
He held the hand to Judah, who did as he asked.
"Now put it on thine own hand. ”
Ben-Hur did so.
« The trinket hath its uses,” said Arrius next.
erty and money. 'I am accounted rich even in Rome. I have
no family. Show the ring to my freedman, who hath control in
my absence: you will find him in a villa near Misenum. Tell
him how it came to thee, and ask anything, or all he may have:
he will not refuse the demand. If I live, I will do better by
thee. I will make thee free, and restore thee to thy home and
people; or thou mayst give thyself to the pursuit that pleaseth
thee most. Dost thou hear ? »
« I could not choose but hear. ”
«Then pledge me. By the gods --
Nay, good tribune, I am a Jew. ”
"By thy God, then, or in the form most sacred to those of
thy faith, pledge me to do what I tell thee now, and as I tell
thee: I am waiting; let me have thy promise. ”
“Noble Arrius, I am warned by thy manner to expect some-
thing of gravest concern. Tell me thy wish first.
"Wilt thou promise then ?
« That were to give the pledge, and - Blessed be the God of
• my fathers! yonder cometh a ship! ”
“In what direction ? »
From the north. ”
"Canst thou tell her nationality by outward signs ? »
My service hath been at the oars. ”
“Hath she a flag ? ”
“I cannot see one. ”
Arrius remained quiet some time, apparently in deep reflec-
tion.
“Does the ship hold this way yet ? ” he at length asked.
«Still this way. ”
« Look for the flag now. ”
(
(
(No.
>
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## p. 15541 (#495) ##########################################
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15541
(
(C
(
»
«She hath none. "
“Nor any other sign? ”
“She hath a sail set, and is of three banks, and cometh
swiftly,- that is all I can say of her. ”
"A Roman in triumph would have out many flags. She
must be an enemy.
Hear now,” said Arrius, becoming grave
again, “hear, while yet I may speak. If the galley be a pirate,
thy life is safe: they may not give thee freedom; they may put
thee to the oar again: but they will not kill thee. On the other
hand, I->
The tribune faltered.
"Perpol ! ” he continued resolutely. “I am too old to submit
to dishonor. In Rome, let them tell how Quintus Arrius, as
became a Roman tribune, went down with his ship in the midst
of the foe. This is what I would have thee do. If the galley
.
prove a pirate, push me from the plank and drown me. Dost
thou hear ? Swear thou wilt do it. ”
"I will not swear,” said Ben-Hur, firmly; “neither will I do
the deed. The Law, which is to me most binding, Otribune,
would make me answerable for thy life. Take back the ring” -
he took the seal from his finger; “take it back, and all thy
promises of favor in the event of delivery from this peril. The
judgment which sent me to the oar for life made me a slave,
yet I am not a slave; no more am I thy freedman. I am a son
of Israel, and this moment, at least, my own master. Take back
the ring. ”
Arrius remained passive.
« Thou wilt not ? " . Judah continued. “Not in anger, then,
nor in any despite, but to free myself from a hateful obligation,
I will give thy gift to the sea. See, O tribune!
He tossed the ring away. Arrius heard the splash where it
struck and sank, though he did not look.
“Thou hast done a foolish thing,” he said; "foolish for one
placed as thou art. I am not dependent upon thee for death.
Life is a thread I can break without thy help; and if I do, what
will become of thee? Men determined on death prefer it at the
hands of others, for the reason that the soul which Plato giveth
us is rebellious at the thought of self-destruction; that is all. If
the ship be a pirate, I will escape from the world. My mind is
fixed. I am a Roman. Success and honor are all in all. Yet I
(
## p. 15542 (#496) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
>
would have served thee; thou wouldst not. The ring was the
only witness of my will available in this situation. We are both
lost. I will die regretting the victory and glory wrested from
me; thou wilt live to die a little later, mourning the pious duties
undone because of this folly. I pity thee. ”
Ben-Hur saw the consequences of his act more distinctly than
before, yet he did not falter.
"In the three years of my servitude, O tribune, thou wert
the first to look upon me kindly. No, no! There was another. ”
The voice dropped, the eyes became humid, and he saw plainly
as if it were then before him the face of the boy who helped
him to a drink by the old well at Nazareth. “At least,” he pro-
ceeded, “thou wert the first to ask me who I was: and if, when
I reached out and caught thee, blind and sinking the last time,
I too had thought of the many ways in which thou couldst be
useful to me in my wretchedness, still the act was not all selfish;
this I pray you to believe. Moreover, seeing as God giveth me
to now, the ends I dream of are to be wrought by fair means
alone. As a thing of conscience, I would rather die with thee
than be thy slayer. My mind is firmly set as thine: though thou
wert to offer me all Rome, O tribune, and it belonged to thee to
make the gift good, I would not kill thee. Thy Cato and Bru-
tus were as little children compared to the Hebrew whose law a
Jew must obey. ”
“But my request. Hast-
« Thy command would be of more weight, and that would not
move me. I have said. ”
Both became silent, waiting. Ben-Hur looked often at the
coming ship. Arrius rested with closed eyes, indifferent.
“Art thou sure she is an enemy ? ” Ben-Hur asked.
«I think so,” was the reply.
"She stops, and puts a boat over the side. ”
« Dost thou see her flag ? ”
“Is there no other sign by which she may be known if
Roman? ”
“If Roman, she hath a helmet over the mast's top. ”
«Then be of cheer,- I see the helmet. ”
Still Arrius was not assured.
"The men in the small boat are taking in the people afloat.
Pirates are not humane. ”
(
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15543
« They may need rowers,” Arrius replied; recurring possibly
to times when he had made rescues for the purpose.
Ben-Hur was very watchful of the actions of the strangers.
« The ship moves off," he said.
«Whither ?
“Over on our right there is a galley which I take to be de-
serted. The new-comer heads towards it. Now she is alongside.
Now she is sending men aboard. ”
Then Arrius opened his eyes and threw off his calm.
« Thank thou thy God,” he said to Ben-Hur, after a look at
the galleys, — "thank thou thy God, as I do my many gods. A
pirate would sink, not save, yon ship. By the act and the hel-
met on the mast I know a Roman. The victory is mine. For-
tune hath not deserted me. We are saved. Wave thy hand;
call to them; bring them quickly. I shall be duumvir-and
thou! I knew thy father, and loved him. He was a prince
indeed. He taught me a Jew was not a barbarian. I will
take thee with me. I will make thee my son. Give thy God
thanks, and call the sailors. Haste! The pursuit must be kept.
Not a robber shall escape.
Hasten them! ”
Judah raised himself upon the plank, and waved his hand,
and called with all his might; at last he drew the attention of
the sailors in the small boat, and they were speedily taken up.
Arrius was received on the galley with all the honors due a
hero so the favorite of Fortune. Upon a couch on the deck he
heard the particulars of the conclusion of the fight. When the
survivors afloat upon the water were all saved and the prize
secured, he spread his flag of commandant anew, and hurried
northward to rejoin the fleet and perfect the victory.
In due
time the fifty vessels coming down the channel closed in upon
the fugitive pirates, and crushed them utterly: not one escaped.
To swell the tribune's glory, twenty galleys of the enemy were
captured.
Upon his return from the cruise, Arrius had warm welcome
on the mole at Misenum. The young man attending him very
early attracted the attention of his friends there; and to their
questions as to who he was, the tribune proceeded in the most
affectionate manner to tell the story of his rescue and introduce
the stranger, omitting carefully all that pertained to the latter's
previous history. At the end of the narrative he called Ben-Hur
## p. 15544 (#498) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
to him, and said, with a hand resting affectionately upon his
shoulder:
“Good friends, this is my son and heir, who, as he is to take
my property,- if it be the will of the gods that I leave any,-
shall be known to you by my name. I pray you all to love him
as you love me. ”
Speedily, as opportunity permitted, the adoption was formally
perfected. And in such manner the brave Roman kept his faith
with Ben-Hur, giving him happy introduction into the imperial
world. The month succeeding Arrius's return, the armilustrium
was celebrated with the utmost magnificence in the theatre of
Scaurus. One side of the structure was taken up with military
trophies; among which by far the most conspicuous and most
admired were twenty prows, complemented by their corresponding
aplustra, cut bodily from as many galleys; and over them, so as
to be legible to the eighty thousand spectators in the seats, was
this inscription:-
TAKEN FROM THE PIRATES IN THE GULF OF EURIPUS
BY
QUINTUS ARRIUS
DUUMVIR
THE CHARIOT RACE
From Ben-Hur. ) Copyright 1880, by Harper & Brothers
T"
He divine last touch in perfecting the beautiful is animation.
Can we accept the saying, then these latter days, so tame
in pastime and dull in sports, have scarcely anything to
compare to the spectacle offered by the six contestants. Let
the reader try to fancy it:- let him first look down upon the
arena, and see it glistening in its frame of dull-gray granite
walls: let him then, in this perfect field, see the chariots, light
of wheel, very graceful, and ornate as paint and burnishing can
make them — Messala's rich with ivory and gold: let him see the
drivers, erect and statuesque, undisturbed by the motion of the
cars, their limbs naked, and fresh and ruddy with the healthful
polish of the baths — in their right hands goads, suggestive of
## p. 15545 (#499) ##########################################
LEWIS WALLACE
15545
.
torture dreadful to the thought; in their left hands, held in
careful separation, and high that they may not interfere with
view of the steeds, the reins passing taut from the fore ends of
the carriage poles: let him see the fours, chosen for beauty as
well as speed: let him see them in magnificent action, their mas.
ters not more conscious of the situation and all that is asked and
hoped from them — their heads tossing, nostrils in play, now dis-
tent, now contracted; limbs too dainty for the sand which they
touch but to spurn; limbs slender, yet with impact crushing as
hammers; every muscle of the rounded bodies instinct with glo-
rious life, swelling, diminishing, justifying the world in taking
from them its ultimate measure of force: finally, along with
chariots, drivers, horses, let the reader see the accompanying
shadows fly:- and with such distinctness as the picture comes, he
may share the satisfaction and deeper pleasure of those to whom
it was a thrilling fact, not a feeble fancy. Every age has its
plenty of sorrows: Heaven help where there are no pleasures!
The competitors having started each on the shortest line for
the position next the wall, yielding would be like giving up
the race; and who dared yield ? It is not in common nature to
change a purpose in mid-career; and the cries of encouragement
from the balcony were indistinguishable and indescribable,- a roar
which had the same effect upon all the drivers.
The fours neared the rope together. Then the trumpeter by
the editor's side blew a signal vigorously. Twenty feet away it
was not heard. Seeing the action, however, the judges dropped
the rope,- and not an instant too soon, for the hoof of one of
Messala’s horses struck it as it fell. Nothing daunted, the Roman
shook out his long lash, loosed the reins, leaned forward, and with
a triumphant shout took the wall.
"Jove with us! Jove with us! ” yelled all the Roman faction,
in a frenzy of delight.
As Messala turned in, the bronze lion's head at the end of his
axle caught the fore-leg of the Athenian's right-hand trace-mate,
flinging the brute over against its yokefellow. Both staggered,
struggled, and lost their headway. The ushers had their will, at
least in part. The thousands held their breath with horror;
only up where the consul sat was there shouting.
"Jove with us ! » screamed Drusus frantically.
« He wins! Jove with us! ” answered his associates, seeing
Messala speed on.
C
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LEWIS WALLACE
Tablet in hand, Sanballat turned to them; a crash from the
course below stopped his speech, and he could not but look that
way.
Messala having passed, the Corinthian was the only contestant
on the Athenian's right, and to that side the latter tried to turn
his broken four; and then, as ill-fortune would have it, the wheel
of the Byzantine, who was next on the left, struck the tail-piece
of his chariot, knocking his feet from under him. There was a
crash, a scream of rage and fear, and the unfortunate Cleanthes
fell under the hoofs of his own steeds: a terrible sight, against
which Esther covered her eyes.
On swept the Corinthian, on the Byzantine, on the Sidonian.
Sanballat looked for Ben-Hur, and turned again to Drusus
and his coterie.
“A hundred sestertii on the Jew! ” he cried.
« Taken! » answered Drusus.
"Another hundred on the Jew! ” shouted Sanballat.
Nobody appeared to hear him. He called again; the situa-
tion below was too absorbing, and they were too busy shouting,
“Messala! Messala! Jove with us! ”
When the Jewess ventured to look again, a party of workmen
were removing the horses and broken car; another party were
taking off the man himself; and every bench upon which there
was a Greek was vocal with execrations and prayers for venge-
Suddenly she dropped her hands: Ben-Hur, unhurt, was
to the front, coursing freely forward · along with the Roman!
Behind them, in a group, followed the Sidonian, the Corinthian,
and the Byzantine.
The race was on; the souls of the racers were in it; over
them bent the myriads.
»
ance.
was
When the dash for position began, Ben-Hur, as we have seen,
on the extreme left of the six. For a moment, like the
others, he was half blinded by the light in the arena; yet he
managed to catch sight of his antagonists and divine their pur-
pose. At Messala, who was more than an antagonist to him, he
gave one searching look. The air of passionless hauteur charac-
teristic of the fine patrician face was there as of old, and so was
the Italian beauty, which the helmet rather increased; but more
- it may have been a jealous fancy, or the effect of the brassy
shadow in which the features were at the moment cast, still the
## p. 15547 (#501) ##########################################
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15547
Israelite thought he saw the soul of the man as through a glass,
darkly,-cruel, cunning, desperate; not so excited as determined,
- a soul in a tension of watchfulness and fierce resolve.
In a time not longer than was required to turn to his four
again, Ben-Hur felt his own resolution harden to a like temper.
At whatever cost, at all hazards, he would humble this enemy!
Prize, friends, wagers, honor - everything that can be thought of
as a possible interest in the race was lost in the one deliberate
purpose. Regard for life even should not hold him back. Yet
there was no passion on his part; no blinding rush of heated
blood from heart to brain and back again; no impulse to fling
himself upon Fortune: he did not believe in Fortune; far other-
wise. He had his plan, and confiding in himself, he settled to the
task, never more observant, never more capable. The air about
him seemed aglow with a renewed and perfect transparency.
When not half-way across the arena, he saw that Messala's
rush would, if there was no collision, and the rope fell, give him
the wall; that the rope would fall, he ceased as soon to doubt:
and further, it came to him, a sudden flash-like insight, that Mes-
sala knew it was to be let drop at the last moment (prearrange-
ment with the editor could safely reach that point in the contest);
and it suggested, what more Roman-like than for the official to
lend himself to a countryman, who, besides being so popular, had
also so much at stake ? There could be no other accounting for
the confidence with which Messala pushed his four forward the
instant his competitors were prudentially checking their fours in
front of the obstruction, - no other except madness.
It is one thing to see a necessity, and another to act upon it.
Ben-Hur yielded the wall for the time.
The rope fell, and all the fours but his sprang into the course
under urgency of voice and lash. He drew head to the right,
and with all the speed of his Arabs, darted across the trails of
his opponents, the angle of movement being such as to lose the
least time and gain the greatest possible advance. So while
the spectators were shivering at the Athenian's mishap, and the
Sidonian, Byzantine, and Corinthian were striving, with such
skill as they possessed, to avoid involvement in the ruin, Ben-Hur
swept around and took the course neck and neck with Messala,
though on the outside. The marvelous skill shown in making
the change thus from the extreme left across to the right with-
out appreciable loss did not fail the sharp eyes upon the benches;
?
## p. 15548 (#502) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
the Circus seemed to rock and rock again with prolonged ap-
plause. Then Esther clasped her hands in glad surprise; then
Sanballat, smiling, offered his hundred sestertii a second time
without a taker; and then the Romans began to doubt, thinking
Messala might have found an equal, if not a master, and that in
an Israelite!
And now, racing together side by side, a narrow interval
between them, the two neared the second goal.
The pedestal of the three pillars there, viewed from the west,
was a stone wall in the form of a half-circle, around which the
course and opposite balcony were bent in exact parallelism. Mak-
ing this turn was considered in all respects the most telling test
of a charioteer; it was in fact the very feat in which Orestes
failed. As an involuntary admission of interest on the part of
the spectators, a hush fell over all the Circus; so that for the first
time in the race the rattle and clang of the cars plunging after
the tugging steeds were distinctly heard. Then, it would seem, ,
Messala observed Ben-Hur, and recognized him; and at once the
audacity of the man famed out in an astonishing manner.
"Down Eros, up Mars! ” he shouted, whirling his lash with
practiced hand; Down Eros, up Mars! ” he repeated, and caught
the well-doing Arabs of Ben-Hur a cut the like of which they
had never known.
The blow was in every quarter, and the amazement
was universal. The silence deepened; up on the benches behind
the consul the boldest held his breath, waiting for the outcome.
Only a moment thus: then involuntarily, down from the balcony,
as thunder falls, burst the indignant cry of the people.
The four sprang forward affrighted. No hand had ever been
laid upon them except in love; they had been nurtured ever so
tenderly: and as they grew, their confidence in man became a
lesson to men beautiful to see. What should such dainty natures
do under such indignity but leap as from death ?
Forward they sprang as with one impulse, and forward leaped
the car.
Past question, every experience is serviceable to us.
Where got Ben-Hur the large hand and mighty grip which
helped him now so well ? Where but from the car with which
so long he fought the sea ? And what was this spring of the
floor under his feet to the dizzy, eccentric lurch with which in
the old time the trembling ship yielded to the beat of staggering
billows, drunk with their power? So he kept his place, and gave
seen
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LEWIS WALLACE
15549
the four free rein, and called to them in soothing voice, trying
merely to guide them round the dangerous turn; and before the
fever of the people began to abate, he had back the mastery.
Nor that only: on approaching the first goal, he was again side
by side with Messala, bearing with him the sympathy and admi-
ration of every one not a Roman. So clearly was the feeling
shown, so vigorous its manifestation, that Messala, with all his
boldness, felt it unsafe to trifle further.
As the cars whirled round the goal, Esther caught sight of
Ben-Hur's face,- a little pale, a little higher raised, otherwise
calm, even placid.
Immediately a man climbed on the entablature at the west
end of the division wall, and took down one of the conical
wooden balls. A dolphin on the east entablature was taken down
at the same time.
In like manner, the second ball and second dolphin dis-
appeared.
And then the third ball and third dolphin.
Three rounds concluded: still Messala held the inside position;
still Ben-Hur moved with him side by side; still the other com-
petitors followed as before. The contest began to have the
appearance of one of the double races which became so popular
in Rome during the later Cæsarean period: Messala and Ben-
Hur in the first, the Corinthian, Sidonian, and Byzantine in the
second. Meantime the ushers succeeded in returning the mul-
titude to their seats, though the clamor continued to run the
rounds, — keeping, as it were, even pace with the rivals in the
course below.
In the fifth round the Sidonian succeeded in getting a place
outside Ben-Hur, but lost it directly.
The sixth round was entered upon without change of relative
position.
Gradually the speed had been quickened; gradually the blood
of the competitors warmed with the work. Men and beasts
seemed to know alike that the final crisis was near, bringing the
time for the winner to assert himself.
The interest, which from the beginning had centred chiefly
in the struggle between the Roman and the Jew, with an intense
and general sympathy for the latter, was fast changing to anxiety
on his account. On all the benches the spectators bent forward
## p. 15550 (#504) ##########################################
15550
LEWIS WALLACE
»
motionless, except as their faces turned following the contest-
ants. Ilderim quitted combing his beard, and Esther forgot her
fears.
"A hundred sestertii on the Jew! ” cried Sanballat to the
Romans under the consul's awning.
. There was no reply.
"A talent — or five talents, or ten: choose ye! ”
He shook his tablets at them defiantly.
“I will take thy sestertii,” answered a Roman youth, prepar-
ing to write.
"Do not so," interposed a friend.
«Why? )
« Messala hath reached his utmost speed. See him lean over
his chariot-rim, the reins loose as flying ribbons. Look then at
the Jew. "
The first one looked.
" «By Hercules! ” he replied, his countenance falling. «The
dog throws all his weight on the bits. I see, I see! If the gods
help not our friend, he will be run away with by the Israelite.
No, not yet. Look! Jove with us, Jove with us! ”
The cry, swelled by every Latin tongue, shook the velaria
over the consul's head.
If it were true that Messala had attained his utmost speed,
the effort was with effect: slowly but certainly he was beginning
to forge ahead. His horses were running with their heads low
down; from the balcony their bodies appeared actually to skim
the earth; their nostrils showed blood-red in expansion; their
eyes seemed straining in their sockets. Certainly the good steeds
were doing their best! How long could they keep the pace? It
was but the commencement of the sixth round. On they dashed.
As they neared the second goal, Ben-Hur turned in behind the
Roman's car.
The joy of the Messala faction reached its bound: they
screamed and howled, and tossed their colors; and Sanballat
filled his tablets with wagers of their tendering.
Malluch, in the lower galley over the Gate of Triumph, found
it hard to keep his cheer. He had cherished the vague hint
dropped to him by Ben-Hur of something to happen in the turn-
ing of the western pillars. It was the fifth round, yet the some-
thing had not come: and he had said to himself, the sixth will
## p. 15551 (#505) ##########################################
LEWIS WALLACE
15551
bring it; but, lo! Ben-Hur was hardly holding a place at the tail
of his enemy's car.
Over in the east end, Simonides's party held their peace. The
merchant's head was bent low. Ilderim tugged at his beard,
and dropped his brows till there was nothing of his eyes but an
occasional sparkle of light. Esther scarcely breathed. Iras alone
appeared glad.
Along the home-stretch — sixth round — Messala leading, next
him Ben-Hur, and so close it was the old story:-
“First few Eumelus on Pheretian steeds;
With those of Tros bold Diomed succeeds:
Close on Eumelus's back they puff the wind,
And seem just mounting on his car behind;
Full on his neck he feels the sultry breeze,
And hovering o'er, their stretching shadow sees. ”
Thus to the first goal, and round it. Messala, fearful of losing
his place, hugged the stony wall with perilous clasp; a foot to
the left, and he had been dashed to pieces: yet when the turn
was finished, no man, looking at the wheel-tracks of the two cars,
could have said, Here went Messala, there the Jew. They left
but one trace behind them.
As they whirled by, Esther saw Ben-Hur's face again, and it
was whiter than before.
Simonides, shrewder than Esther, said to Ilderim the moment
the rivals turned into the course, “I am no judge, good sheik,
if Ben-Hur be not about to execute some design. His face hath
that look. ”
To which Ilderim answered, “Saw you how clean they were,
and fresh ? By the splendor of God, friend, they have not been
running! But now watch! »
- One ball and one dolphin remained on the entablatures; and
all the people drew a long breath, for the beginning of the end
was at hand.
First the Sidonian gave the scourge to his four; and smarting
with fear and pain, they dashed desperately forward, promising
for a brief time to go to the front.
The effort ended in prom-
ise. Next, the Byzantine and Corinthian each made the trial
with like result, after which they were practically out of the race.
Thereupon, with a readiness perfectly explicable, all the factions
## p. 15552 (#506) ##########################################
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LEWIS WALLACE
(
except the Romans joined hope in Ben-Hur, and openly indulged
their feeling
“Ben-Hur! Ben-Hur! ” they shouted, and the blent voices of
the many rolled overwhelmingly against the consular stand.
From the benches above him as he passed, the favor de-
scended in fierce injunctions.
"Speed thee, Jew! ”
« Take the wall now ! »
« On! loose the Arabs! Give them rein and scourge! »
“Let him not have the turn on thee again. Now or never! »
Over the balustrade they stooped low, stretching their hands
imploringly to him.
Either he did not hear, or could not do better, for half-way
round the course and he was still following; at the second goal
even, still no change!
And now, to make the turn, Messala began to draw in his
left-hand steeds,- an act which necessarily slackened their speed.
His spirit was high; more than one altar was richer of his vows;
the Roman genius was still president. On the three pillars only
six hundred feet away were fame, increase of fortune, promotions,
and a triumph ineffably sweetened by hate, all in store for him!
That moment Malluch, in the gallery, saw Ben-Hur lean forward
over his Arabs, and give them the reins.
Out flew the many-
folded lash in his hand: over the backs of the startled steeds it
writhed and hissed, and hissed and writhed again and again; and
though it fell not, there were both sting and menace in its quick
report: and as the man passed thus from quiet to resistless action,
his face suffused, his eyes gleaming, along the reins he seemed
to flash his will; and instantly not one, but the four as one,
answered with a leap that landed them alongside the Roman's
Messala, on the perilous edge of the goal, heard, but dared
not look to see what the awakening portended. From the people
he received no sign. Above the noises of the race there was but
one voice, and that was Ben-Hur's. In the old Aramaic, as the
sheik himself, he called to the Arabs:
« « On, Atair! On, Rigel! What, Antares! dost thou linger
now? Good horse - oho, Aldebaran !
?
I hear them singing in
the tents.
