5. V.
The youth retired, but not to his chamber—not, certainly,
to his slumbers. With a stealthy step he withdrew
from the dwelling, after such time had elapsed as
he deemed sufficient to wrap his father in that sleep
which he did not himself seek. A whispered word to
the porter, who appeared to be in his confidence, procured
him a free passage into the street; and it was not
long before the youth, so earnest in his pledges to a too
indulgent parent, was revelling with the most worthless
comrades in scenes of the most degrading debauchery.
His associates, as we have seen, were of another caste,
and a higher condition than his own. They tolerated the
despised Hebrew, not as an associate, but as a minister
to their excesses. The money drawn from the coffers
of his sire paid for their indulgences; and the unhappy
and depraved youth was not unwilling to share their
countenance and their excesses on terms so unequal.
“Thou art late, Amri,” were the first words, uttered
in a harsh tone by one of the dissolute young nobles, as
he made his appearance.
“Too soon,” cried another, “if he has not brought
the money.”
“He knows better than to come before us without
it,” said the former, and a harsh frown gathered upon
his countenance as he spoke. “How now, Jew! thou
hast not dared—”
“The money is here, my lord: be not impatient; I
have brought thee all,—the whole sum, and even more.”
“Good!—I knew thee, Amri, too well, to fear that
thou wouldst play false,” said Astigia, as he received the
purse and proceeded to tell over the amount.
“And what hast thou to say to me?” demanded the
brutal Edacer.
“Thou hast not been forgotten, my lord,” replied the
Jew, respectfully, yet with a tone of ease that showed
how confident he was of favour when the bearer of such
a burden as that which he now placed in the ready hands
of his questioner.
Provided now with the means of indulgence, these
hopeful youths sallied forth for the purposes of excess.
They rushed like madmen through the streets, whooping,
howling, assailing the peaceful whom they met, and
disturbing the midnight quiet of the city. They then
retired to a house allotted to the purposes of debauchery,
where, with wine and profligate women, they passed the
remainder of the night. By the dawn, half inebriated
and quite exhausted, the son of Adoniakim stole silently
to his chamber, having obtained a ready entrance to
his father's dwelling from the porter, who was in his
pay. When he awakened, his father was about to go
forth. He watched the departure of the aged man;
then, gliding down to the place where the porter stood
in waiting, he thus counselled him:
“Go forth, Jared,—follow Adoniakim, and tell me
where thou seest him enter. Note thou his movements,
and suffer none to escape thee. I have gold for thee if
thou reportest truly to me in this matter. Go!—meanwhile,
I will wait for thee at the gate.”
The subservient porter departed, as a spy upon his
master; and the dishonourable son, throwing over his
shoulder the rude cloak which the other had worn, now
took the place of his watch at the entrance. His motives
may in part be told, as we know them from himself.
“Adoniakim is gone to the dwelling of Melchior: I
must find out the way thither also. I must see Thyrza,
the maiden of whom they speak, and of whom I had
sweet glimpses in my boyhood: she must now be a
goodly woman, and my father has told me she is lovely.”
While thus he addressed himself in soliloquy, a slight
blow upon the gate over which he watched warned him
of his newly-assumed duties. When he opened it, a
slender and handsome boy stood before him.
“What wouldst thou?” demanded Amri.
“This to Adoniakim,” said the messenger, “from
Namur of the Porch. It brings him tidings of the trade
to Algeziras.”
“Adoniakim is not within,” responded the porter, as
he received the packet which the boy brought, surveying
curiously, as he replied, the smooth, soft, and harmonious
features of his countenance, and the fine symmetry
of his form.
“Namur of the Porch has a goodly page in thee,”
was the complaisant remark with which Amri continued
his speech. “What is thy name, and where did he find
thee? I will look to-morrow for one like thee in the
same place.”
“And what hast thou, a porter, to do with a page?”
was the reply of the boy. “See to thy master's gate,
sirrah, and keep thy speech for his ear. Give him the
packet, as thou fearest the whip, the moment when he
shall return.”
And the boy turned away as he spoke, leaving Amri
too much astounded to reply. When he was gone, Amri,
after his usual practice, and by an art with which he was
familiar, contrived to unfold the packet and possess himself
of the contents without impairing the silk and seal
which had secured it.
“Ha! Melchior!” he exclaimed, as he looked on the
contents. “Melchior! he is the writer—and that boy—
that page—beard of Samuel!—that boy must be Thyrza!”
With an oath he dashed open the wicket, and rushed
into the open court—but he did so in vain. The page
was gone, and he returned to his station cursing the
dulness which had suffered him to misconceive one so
lovely.
