6. CHAPTER VI.
TRAINING THE FOUR.
THE intercepted letter was conclusive upon a number of points of
great interest to Ben-Hur. It had all the effect of a confession
that the writer was a party to the putting-away of the family with
murderous intent; that he had sanctioned the plan adopted for the
purpose; that he had received a portion of the proceeds of the
confiscation and was yet in enjoyment of his part; that he dreaded the
unexpected appearance of what he was pleased to call the chief
malefactor, and accepted it as a menace; that he contemplated such
further action as would secure him in the future, and was ready to
do whatever his accomplice in Caesarea might advise.
And, now that the letter had reached the hand of him really its
subject, it was notice of danger to come, as well as a confession of
guilt. So when Ilderim left the tent, Ben-Hur had much to think about,
requiring immediate action. His enemies were as adroit and powerful as
any in the East. If they were afraid of him, he had greater reason
to be afraid of them. He strove earnestly to reflect upon the
situation, but could not; his feelings constantly overwhelmed him.
There was a certain qualified pleasure in the assurance that his
mother and sister were alive; and it mattered little that the
foundation of the assurance was a mere inference. That there was one
person who could tell him where they were seemed to his hope so long
deferred as if discovery were now close at hand. These were mere
causes of feeling; underlying them, it must be confessed he had a
superstitious fancy that God was about to make ordination in his
behalf, in which event faith whispered him to stand still.
Occasionally, referring to the words of Ilderim, he wondered
whence the Arab derived his information about him; not from Malluch
certainly; nor from Simonides, whose interests, all adverse, would
hold him dumb. Could Messala have been the informant? No, no:
disclosure might be dangerous in that quarter. Conjecture was vain; at
the same time, often as Ben-Hur was beaten back from the solution,
he was consoled with the thought that whoever the person with the
knowledge might be, he was a friend, and, being such, would reveal
himself in good time. A little more waiting-a little more patience.
Possibly the errand of the sheik was to see the worthy; possibly the
letter might precipitate a full disclosure.
And patient he would have been if only he could have believed Tirzah
and his mother were waiting for him under circumstances permitting
hope on their part strong as his; if, in other words, conscience had
not stung him with accusations respecting them.
To escape such accusations, he wandered far through the Orchard,
pausing now where the date-gatherers were busy, yet not too busy to
offer him of their fruit and talk with him; then, under the great
trees, to watch the nesting birds, or hear the bees swarming about the
berries bursting with honeyed sweetness, and filling all the green and
golden spaces with the music of their beating wings.
By the lake, however, he lingered longest. He might not look upon
the water and its sparkling ripples, so like sensuous life, without
thinking of the Egyptian and her marvellous beauty, and of floating
with her here and there through the night, made brilliant by her songs
and stories; he might not forget the charm of her manner, the
lightness of her laugh, the flattery of her attention, the warmth of
her little hand under his upon the tiller of the boat From her it
was for his thought but a short way to Balthasar, and the strange
things of which he had been witness, unaccountable by any law of
nature; and from him, again, to the King of the Jews, whom the good
man, with such pathos of patience, was holding in holy promise, the
distance was even nearer. And there his mind stayed, finding in the
mysteries of that personage a satisfaction answering well for the rest
he was seeking. Because, it may have been, nothing is so easy as
denial of an idea not agreeable to our wishes, he rejected the
definition given by Balthasar of the kingdom the king was coming to
establish. A kingdom of souls, if not intolerable to the Sadducean
faith, seemed to him but an abstraction drawn from the depths of a
devotion too fond and dreamy. A kingdom of Judea, on the other hand,
was more than comprehensible: such had been, and, if only for that
reason, might be again. And it suited his pride to think of a new
kingdom broader of domain, richer in power, and of a more
unapproachable splendour than the old one; of a new king wiser and
mightier than Solomon-a new king under whom, especially, he could
find both service and revenge. In that mood he returned to the dowar.
The mid-day meal disposed of, still further to occupy himself,
Ben-Hur had the chariot rolled out into the sunlight for inspection.
The word but poorly conveys the careful study the vehicle underwent.
No point or part of it escaped him. With a pleasure which will be
better understood hereafter, he saw the pattern was Greek, in his
judgment preferable to the Roman in many respects; it was wider
between the wheels, and lower and stronger, and the disadvantage of
greater weight would be more than compensated by the greater endurance
of his Arabs. Speaking generally, the carriage-makers of Rome built
for the games almost solely, sacrificing safety to beauty, and
durability to grace; while the chariots of Achilles and "the king of
men," designed for war and all its extreme tests, still ruled the
tastes of those who met and struggled for the crowns Isthmian and
Olympic.
Next he brought the horses, and, hitching them to the chariot, drove
to the field of exercise, where, hour after hour, he practised them in
movement under the yoke. When he came away in the evening, it was with
restored spirit, and a fixed purpose to defer action in the matter
of Messala until the race was won or lost. He could not forego the
pleasure of meeting his adversary under the eyes of the East; that
there might be other competitors seemed not to enter his thought.
His confidence in the result was absolute; no doubt of his own
skill; and as to the four, they were his full partners in the glorious
game.
"Let him look to it, let him look to it! Ha, Antares-Aldebaran!
Shall he not, O honest Rigel? and thou, Atair, king among coursers,
shall he not beware of us? Ha, ha! good hearts!"
So in rests he passed from horse to horse, speaking, not as a
master, but the senior of as many brethren.
After nightfall, Ben-Hur sat by the door of the tent waiting for
Ilderim, not yet returned from the city. He was not impatient, or
vexed, or doubtful. The sheik would be heard from, at least. Indeed,
whether it was from satisfaction with the performance of the four,
or the refreshment there is in cold water succeeding bodily
exercise, or supper partaken with royal appetite, or the reaction
which, as a kindly provision of nature, always follows depression, the
young man was in good-humour verging upon elation. He felt himself
in the hands of Providence no longer his enemy. At last there was a
sound of horse's feet coming rapidly, and Malluch rode up.
"Son of Arrius," he said, cheerily, after salutation, "I salute
you for Sheik Ilderim, who requests you to mount and go to the city.
He is waiting for you."
Ben-Hur asked no questions, but went in where the horses were
feeding. Aldebaran came to him, as if offering his service. He
played with him lovingly, but passed on, and chose another, not of the
four-they were sacred to the race. Very shortly the two were on the
road, going swiftly and in silence.
Some distance below the Seleucian Bridge, they crossed the river
by a ferry, and, riding far round on the right bank, and recrossing by
another ferry, entered the city from the west. The detour was long,
but Ben-Hur accepted it as a precaution for which there was good
reason.
Down to Simonides' landing they rode, and in front of the great
warehouse, under the bridge, Malluch drew rein.
"We are come," he said. "Dismount."
Ben-Hur recognised the place.
"Where is the sheik?" he asked.
"Come with me. I will show you."
A watchman took the horses, and almost before he realised it Ben-Hur
stood once more at the door of the house up on the greater one,
listening to the response from within-"In God's name, enter."