Alaric or, The tyrant's vault

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The Popular Series

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Chapter I. Alaric

NOT far from the city of Syracuse — not the Syracuse of to-day, shattered, and narrowed down to a place of little note — hut the Syracuse of an older day — a day long passed — when it was the metropolis of all Sicily, an object of longing to ambitious conquerors, and one of the finest cities in the world ; not far from this place, upon the shore of the sea, stood a man who had just landed from a vessel that was now sailing away towards the North. He was quite young — not over five-and twenty — tall and well proportioned ; with a muscular system finely developed ; and possessing a face not only striking in its manly beauty, but remarkable in one so young for its stern, resolute and self-reliant expression. His drfss was light and simple, and evidently of Greek manufacture ; the lower limbs being clothed in closefitting goat-skin, above which he wore a shirt of white linen, confined at the waist by a belt of fine mail.

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Upon his head was a cap of woven stuff, the top drooping over the right ear ; and his feet were shielded by a pair of sandals. His only weapon was a short, heavy sword, which hung, in a leathern scabbard, from his belt of mail. He stood for awhile, gazing about, as though undecided what course he should pursue ; but finally he espied an old fisherman, not far off, who had just come down upon the beach, and towards him he made his way.

A bright, pleasant morning, good sir,'’ said the youth.

The old man cast his net from his shoulders and gazed up. He carefully scanned the features before him, and then replied :

“ Aye, fair sir, it is a pleasant morning. We have many such on this coast."

‘‘ And yet it storms sometimes, I suppose," suggested the first speaker.

He is a wise man who little heeds the storms he cannot quell," said the fisherman, with a nod of the head, which seemed to give his words more meaning than the circumstances under which they were spoken would imply.

‘‘You are right there," responded the other. “But tell me — where can I find Artabanus, the hermit ?"

The fisherman took another careful look into his interlocutor's face, and then answered :

“ He lives upon yonder mountain, which is called Catalona. Do you wish to see him ?"

“ Yes."

“ Then follow the path that leads to yonder cot, until it brings you to a small stream. Cross that, and then upon your right hand you will see a beaten track. He lives in a cave near the top of the mountain, and this track will lead you directly thither."

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The young man thanked his informant, and was upon the point of turning away, when the latter resumed :

You are a stranger here ?**

“ But not always so.”

“ How mean you ?”

“ You have been in Syracuse before ?”

“ I said I was ^ stranger here,” the youth replied, with a slight show of displeasure ; for the fisherman was still regarding him sharply.

Pardon,” cried the old man. “ I mean no offense. Your face looks familiar. It has the cast of a countenance I fancied I had seen before.”

There may be many faces in Sicily like mine, good sir,” returned the new-comer, with a light smile.

There may be, but I have not seen them.”

How now, old man ? Why — thou didst but just say thou hadst surely seen one like it.”

Aye, but that was years ago,” rejoined the fisherman, with a shake of the head. “ I do not think I have seen such an one of late.”

‘‘You’ll at least remember of having seen such an one on this morning,” said the young man, and as he thus spoke he turned away.

“ Aye,” muttered the old Sicilian, half to himself, but yet loud enough to reach other ears, “ and I call on Neptune to witness that I have seen it before. Such faces are not multiplied — they are not plenty in Syracuse these times. Alas ! more’s the pity.”

The youth hesitated for a moment, as though he would turn back, but he overcame the disposition, and kept on. When he had begun to ascend the mountain, he stopped and looked behind him, and saw that the fisherman was already upon the water.

“ Can it be,” he said to himself, “ that my face is so lO

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little changed ? I think I remember that old man, for he has spread his nets long in these waters ; but how should he remember me? I pray the gods that there will be not many in Syracuse that will yet be so observant.”

With this the traveler kept on up the mountain until he had reached a broad table of rock, from whence he could see the bay and the city beyond. The great metropolis was spread out before him, with its massive • walls, its temples, and its palaces, and a tear started down his cheek as he gazed upon the scene. He clasped his hands upon his bosom, and, with a few muttered words, he started on again. He crossed the stream, and took the path to which he had been directed ; but he did not follow it as one who was a stranger to its windings. He pursued his way with an ease and assurance, and, at times, with an abstractedness which could have been indulged in only by one who knew well the way he was going. Up the steep, rocky height he climbed, and, when he finally stopped, it was before the entrance to a cave — a cave which nature had fashioned in the mountain’s side, and sheltered from the sun’s fervid heat, and the fury of the storm.

At the mouth of this cavern sat an old ^man over whose head some fourscoi'e years had rolled. His hair and beard were white as the fleecy cloud that sailed above the mount, and floated in silken, wavy masses over his shoulders and breast. A mantle of gray cloth enveloped his frame, and his feet were shod with heavy sandals. He was engaged over an old manuscript, but as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, he closed the volume and raised his head.

“ Good-morning, my son,” he said, with a look of simpie welcome.

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II

‘‘ Kind father^ I greet thee/' the youth returned, at the same time extending his hand.

How !" cried the aged man, starting to his feet, as the accents fell upon his ear. He shaded his eyes with the palm of the left hand, and gazed eagerly into his visitor’s face. Do I see aright ?” he added. ‘‘ Is it Alaric — my old pupil ?”

Aye, good Artabanus, I am Alaric — come once more to see thee.”

For some time the hermit gazed into the young man’s face in silence, but finally he said :

'‘Sit down— sit down, my son. Thy presence has started a host of varied emotions to life within me, and I must recover my thoughts ere I can talk with thee in reason.”

“ Thank the gods, I find thee alive and in health,” replied the youth, as he let go the old man’s hand, and took a seat upon a wooden bench close by.

“ Aye — I am well in body,” returned Artabanus. “ But,” he added, thoughtfully, ^continuing to gaze earnestly into his companion’s face as he spoke, “ the body is but a small part of man, and the ills of the flesh are very joys when compared with some of the pains to which the soul may be subject. But tell me of thyself. Where hast thou been ?”

“ I have been in Greece,” replied the youth. “ When I fled from these shores, eight years ago, I sought refuge there, and there I have remained ever since. O ! I wept this morning as I gazed down upon the city of my birth. I had thought I had done weeping over those memories ; but when 1 again gazed upon Syracuse they came crowding upon me with a po\^ er which I could not resist. I saw the very temple beneath the walls of which my father and my brother w’ere slain ; and I could see the roof beneath which my mother died. Artabanus, there were not many of the patrician families escaped that foul butchery.’*

No, Alaric. Of all who were loyal to the true interests of the people, I have seen only yourself return. There were a few escaped, but not many. Were there any went with you to Greece T

No, father. I escaped alone. I saw my noble parent cut down — I saw my brother fall — and when I knew I had not a relative left in the city, I fled. Fortune favored me. I found a small boat by the seashore, and I put out alone upon the dark waters. I floated away to Melita, and from thence I gained a passage to Greece. The tyrant still reigns in Syracuse ?”

Alas ! yes. And his deeds are evil, and the people suffer. We have had no place in Sicily since good Helixus died ; thou wertbut a mere child then.”

“ I was seven years old. I remember the good king well, for my father, you know, was one of his chief officers.”

“Aye, you were- older than I thought,” said the hermit, musingly.

“ And I remember that there was some mystery connected with the good king’s death,” remarked Alaric. “ Am I not right ?”

“ There was not much mystery,” answered the old man. “ He was weak and weary, and he left the throne that he might die in peace ; and death soon came to him. But why hast thou returned to Syracuse ?”

Can you not guess ?” returned the youth.

“ I might guess many things, my son.”

“ And yet but one of them would be right. I have said that I left no relative behind me when I made tny escape from this place ; but I did leave one whom I loved — one about whom my affections were entwined

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with a life that could not die. You know of whom I speak V*

Aye, you speak of the mason’s daughter, lanthe/’

Yes, father. Is she alive ?”

“ She is.”

And well ?”

“ She is well.”

And,” pursued the youth, in a more eager tone, ‘‘is she still free ?”

“Why? Have you thought that she would remember you in love through the years that have passed ?”

“ O, do not say that she has not !”

“ I have not said so, my son. But you should remember that she was only twelve years old when you went away.”

“ Yet she possessed a woman’s mind. She had learned of you, my master. O ! do not tell me that she has ceased to love me. True, she was a child in years, but I loved her then, and my love has grown stronger in the separation which has followed. I know there is danger to me here, but I came with a will to meet it.”

“ There may be more danger than you think of,” said the hermit, watching the countenance of his young friend narrowly as he spoke.

“ I care not for the danger. Tell me of lanthe.”

“ But suppose your very life were in danger if you thought of the maiden ?”

“You may warn me of danger if you will, but doiK)t seek to place the barrier of fear between me and my desire, for I know not the emotion. You, Artabanus, taught me when I was a boy, and . your wise lessons have not departed from my mind. You taught me that there were many things more to be feared than death, and I have come, prepared rather to die than live all

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alone in a distant land, with the sad memories of my unhappy country for my only heritage.”

‘‘ And you would not turn from death, should it raise its threatening front between yourself and Ian the ?” i The old man’s gaze grew more earnest as he thus spoke, and a spark, within which seemed to gleam some newly awakened hope, burned in his eye.

“ My father,” answered Alaric, with a flushing cheek,

I could almost feel offended did I think you doubted me, but I do not think so. Show me that Ian the loves me, and not even Pyrrho himself, with the blood-stained crown of Sicily upon his brow, shall have power to startle me from my course while life is mine.”

Artabanus started to his feet, and grasped the youth by the hand.

“ Noble Alaric,” he cried, with a joyful enthusiasm, ** thou art worthy of the maiden’s hand. She does love thee — she cherishes thy memory within her heart as the most precious thing of earth, and for long years she has lived upon the hope that thou wouldst return to her.”

O, the gods be praised !” ejaculated the young man.

But,” added the hermit, in a changed voice, there must be danger in thy path. Pyrrho holds his throne only through the fear and enslavement of the people, and he knows it. Your father was one of his bitterest enemies, and he was also one of the first whom the usurper found it necessary to put out of the way. You are not only the very image of your noble parent, but you must remember that you had arrived almost at the full stature of manhood when you fled from Syracuse. You were then seventeen, and from seventeen to five-and-twenty, especially in one so early developed as you were, there is not much change. You were a man

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then, and you are no more now. So you must expect that you will be known and recognized.''

Aye — the old fisherman, whose cot is at the foot of the mount, recognized me as one whom he had before seen."

You mean Glycon?"

^‘Ah,I remember his name now, though I had forgotten it. Yes, he was sure he had seen me before."

And remember that he had only seen you occasionally, as you were wont to pass to and from my cave ; but there are those within the city who will be sure to recognize you, and should the king, or any of his tools, know of your presence, your destruction would be planned at once."

And can I be of so much importance as that ?" asked Alaric, incredulously.

Ah," replied the old man with a shake of the head, when a tyrant begins to fear his people, it requires but little to magnify his danger. You are the only survivor of the old patrician stock that remains true to Sicily — you are the only living male representative of that noble class who stood around the throne of Helixus, Let Pyrrho but dream that thou art in Syracuse, and he would not sleep till he had thee in his power. Dost begin to see thy danger now ?"

Yes, good father, I do. But I fear it not."

Be wise as well as brave, Alaric," said the old man, with an admonitory motion of the finger. The truly brave man is not reckless. He shuns danger when he can do so with honor. Remember that thou would not be the sole sufferer should mortal evil befall thee. She whom thou lovest would suffer, too."

I will remember, father," spoke the youth, with much feeling. I will shun the danger as much as i6

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possible. But I shall find no home in Sicily, after all, if my life cannot be my own.’'

Let us speak of that hereafter,” replied Artabanus. ‘‘ First, do you see lanthe, and when you have found all right in that quarter, we will consider further.”

I shall find her with her father ?”

Yes, and his house is just where it was eight years ago.”

‘‘ I will go and seek her then, and — ”

Hold, my son. You had better wait till nightfall ere you enter the city, and also exchange that Greek shirt for a garment less likely to attract attention, for I assure you that too much care cannot be taken.”

Alaric was impatient to see lanthe, but he saw the force of the hermit’s reasoning, and he was willing to wait. So he sat down by his old teacher’s side again — sat as he had sat years before, when receiving instruction from the same lips — and listened to the story of the wrongs that had been done in Sicily during the last eight years. Hour after hour passed away, and yet Artabanus had still more to tell of the tyrant’s cruelty.

“ Merciful heavens !” cried the youth, fired almost to frenzy by the recital, how have the people borne all this

“ They have borne it under fear of their lives. Pyrrho’s soldiers are posted at every place where a murmur can arise.”

“ And how long shall it last ?”

Till some spirit, with a heart big enough to love Sicily more than life, and a soul that fears not the tyrant, • shall arise in Syracuse!” pronounced the old man solemnly.

Alaric started as he met the glance of his aged com - panion, for there was a meaning in it of more than

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moral import. He dared not trust himself to speak then, for the feelings that had sprung to life in his own soul were so wild and strange that they fairly startled him. He arose and walked out upon the mountain, and ever and anon, as his eye rested upon the distant city, the tumult in his soul came to startle him again. He did not seek to analyze the emotion, for it was so bold and gigantic, so genie-like in its misty proportions, that he dared not handle it with reason.

After a while Artabanus came out and touched him upon the shoulder.

Alaric,'’ spoke the old man, it is waxing late, and we may be on the move. Let us eat a crust of bread, and then we will descend the mountain together. I must go with you as far as the fisherman’s cot, for there we must find a more fitting garb for you. Glycon is my friend, and may be trusted to the verge of the grave.*'

The frugal supper was soon despatched, and then the two descended the mountain together. At the fisherman’s cot they stopped and found that Glycon had just returned from his day’s labor. Artabanus took him apart, and having explained to him as much of Alaric’s story as he deemed advisable, he asked for some garments that would answer for the youth to wear.

1 knew I had seen the young man before,” cried the fisherman ; “ and when he had gone this morning, I could have sworn that he used to be one of your pupils. I remember very well how he used to pass here when —

Never mind now,” interrupted the hermit, impatiently. “We are in a hurry. At some other time we will talk it all over.”

Thus admonished, the fisherman led the way to his scanty wardrobe, and the necessary garments were soon selected. Alaric’s leggins of goat-skin were replaced i8

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by long hose of blue cloth, and his white linen shirt was exchanged for a dark-brown frock, beneath which he could easily conceal his short sword. After this the hermit accompanied him to the southern shore of the bay, and there stopped.

We had better not be seen together beyond this point,” said the old man. ^‘From here the way is plain, and you have had caution enough. At the gate you will not be stopped unless some of the guard should take the whim to question you. Be wise, now, and cautious, and let me see you to-morrow.”

I will not forget.”

Then may the gods guide and protect you !”

With this Artabanus turned back towards the mountain, and Alaric kept on. The shades of night were gathering over the city as the youth passed in at the broad gateway, and the guard had already lighted their torches. He had gone a few steps when a rough voice commanded him to stop.

“ Didn’t you promise me a fish for my dinner, thou lying knave ?” the voice continued.

“ You have mistaken your man,” said Alaric, hiding his face as much as possible without seeming desirous so to do.

Good Bacchus, so I have. Thou’t not Mestor.”

No,” returned our hero, and as he spoke he kept on.

‘‘ That’s a strange face,” said one of the soldiers.

“ And I thought, a fair one,” added another.

How now ?” asked a third. Has a stranger passed ?”

Yes, a fisherman.”

’Tis said that a Greek vessel was upon the coast this morning, and we should know whom she landed.”

Alaric heard no more. He turned the first angle in the street that presented itself, and then hurried on.

I ant he, — A7i Alarm,

The way was familiar, and he had no difficulty in selecting the various avenues he needed to follow, but he was not wholly easy.

He had reason to believe that he was followed. He took several winding passages for the purpose of avoiding pursuers, but he could not get rid of the echoing foot-fall that sounded upon the pavement behind him. It slackened when he slackened ; it stopped when he stopped ; and when he hurried on, the echo hurried after him.

Chapter II

lANTHE. — ^AN ALARM.

Within a comfortably furnished apartment of an humble abode near the western wall of the city, sat two individuals. The first was a man some fifty years of age, stout and muscular in frame and wearing the garb of an artisan, with the dust of toil still clinging to him. He possessed an open, kindly countenance, and if it lacked in comeliness, it certainly made up in honesty and frankness. Such was Bellerus, one of the most skillful masons in Syracuse, and possessing a fair knowledge of architecture in its higher and more elaborate branches. A genial, comfortable disposition had led him into society of his own choice, and an antipathy to turmoil and strife, and an unwillingness to assume much responsibility, had kept him from rising to any eminence in his profession. There may have been another cause for his retaining his humble position, though every desire of his social life seemed to be answered where he was.

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The other person — the mason’s companion — was a female. She had seen just twenty summers, and was as beautiful as the poet’s dream. In form she was light and graceful, her limbs full and round, and her whole frame full of life and vigor. Her features were of true Grecian mould, with large, dark eyes, over which drooped long lashes of silken texture, while a mass of wavy tresses clustered about her superbly rounded shoulders. Beyond the few honest friends who sometimes partook of the artisan’s hospitality, she was not known. Bellerus had guarded her with a miser’s care, and few there were in the great metropolis who knew of the treasure of beauty that dwelt within its walls. The humble craftsmen who shared her father’s confidence loved her devotedly, but they loved with a worshipping love, as the kneeling shepherd loved his goddess ; and they were all pledged not to speak of her in their intercourse with the outside world.

‘‘ Don’t call me foolish, father,” said the maiden, imploringly.

I do not call thee so, lanthe,” the mason returned.

I only wish to help you over what may prove a most bitter disappointment. How can you hope that Alaric will ever return ?”

“ My love tells me so.”

‘‘ Ah, but love is blind.”

Then its feelings are the more to be relied upon, for they come from the internal promptings of the soul. But I feel sure that he will come back to me.”

I hope he may, my sweet child, and if he could know how beautiful you are, I am sure he would. But, remember, you were only twelve years of age when he went away.”

‘^And if I have remained true to the love of that lantke.r—An Alarm.

2 1 early time, how much more should he have done so, who possessed the soul ofj manhood within which to enshrine his pledge ?”

Aye, lanthe, I know you have the strong reason of love on your side, but there are other things to be considered. Think of the danger he might encounter by coming here.”

I tell thee, Alaric fears no danger,” cried the beautiful girl, with enthusiasm. His soul is a stranger to such an emotion.”

^‘And yet he fled from it when his kindred were slain.”

But not alone through fear of death,” quickly replied lanthe. He fled from a sense of duty. There was no reason why he should remain, but every reason why he should flee. You do wrong, father, when you call his courage in question.”

Pardon, sweet child I I meant no such thing. What ! I call in question the bravery of Alaric ? Shall I cast a doubt upon the true courage of the son of the noble Orneus ? The gods forbid ! I know his soul well.”

“ I did not think you meant it, father, but answer me this one thing : Is there in Syracuse a man whom you 'would have me marry, should Alaric never return ?”

“ My eye has not rested upon such an one, lanthe. I speak not from such a motive. When I bid thee cherish less hopes of Alaric, I do so because I fear he may never find thee.”

“ Then be at ease, good father. Only last night the bright goddess Electra appeared to me in a dream, and told me that Alaric should return. At least I will hope yet a while longer, for it is sweet to hope.”

Bellerus could not find it in his heart to do more towards dispelling the bright promise which the maiden

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cherished, and he turned the conversation upon another topic. Only a few words had been spoken, however, w^hen a loud rap was heard without, and the host lighted a torch and went to the door. When he returned, he made a motion for lanthe to leave the room.

It is a stranger,’' he said, and it is not meet that thou shouldst be present.”

But the maiden neither spoke nor moved. She had heard the tones of the visitor’s voice, and her quick ear had caught a familiar sound. Bellerus would have reminded her again, but the stranger was close behind him, and quickly entered the apartment. lanthe saw not the humble fisher’s garb — she only saw the W’ell remembered features which she had carried within the sacred repository of her affections for so long a time. They were changed a little — they had assumed more of manhood — but not changed to love.

“ Sweet Electra, my dream is true !” she cried, as she started forward and put forth her hands. Alaric has come !”

‘‘So heaven looks down with richest blessing!” the young man responded, as he folded the maiden to his bosom.

“ May the gods preserve me !” exclaimed the old mason, gazing upon the youthful pair in wonder. “ I hope this is no trick of Thaumas to blind me. Alaric, is it thou ?‘’

“ In truth, good Bellerus, it is,” returned our hero, extending his hand as he spoke. “ Surely thou shouldst know me.”

“ Aye, and I do know thee now,” the host responded, grasping the youth warmly, and gazing eagerly into his face. “ By the crown of Pluto, I could not mistake that face. Thou art grown wondrously like thy noble father.”

lanthe. — An Alarm,

Then I hope I may emulate his virtues/’

“ I hope you may ! I hope you may — and I think you will. But is it thou ? I ’faith, I can hardly believe my own eyes. I know that face can be none save Alaric’s, but should my eyes play me false ?”

“ They do not play thee false, my father,” said lanthe, winding- one arm about the youth’s neck, and reclining her head upon his bosom, “ for my heart yearned towards him at the first whisper of his voice.”

‘‘Aye,” revSponded Alaric, folding the beautiful maiden once more to his bosom, “ love like ours need not fear deception.”

“ I am satisfied,” replied Bellerus ; “ and it gives my old heart new life to find so glorious a satisfaction so easily.”

The trio were soon seated, and when they had regained somewhat of their composure, Alaric gave a brief account of his adventures during his absence from Sicily. lanthe sat all the while with her head upon his bosom, ever and anon lifting her eyes to catch the warm glances of his love. At length the old craftsman went out, and the lovers were left alone. They told over the tales of affection they used to tell in other years, and for an hour the world was shut out from their thoughts.