The Golden Hope: A Story of the Time of King Alexander the Great, Page 2

  CHAPTER I

  THREE FRIENDS MEET

  Athens was rousing herself from sleep. The beams of the morning sunbathed the rugged sides of Mount Hymettus and lightened the darkfoliage that clothed the nearer wooded slopes of Lycabettus. The low,flat-roofed houses of the city were still nothing more than blurredmasses of gray in the shadow; but presently a ray touched the point ofAthene's spear, and the flood of orange light flowed over theAcropolis. Its temples and statues were enveloped in a radiance whichfused the rich, harmonious colors of column and cornice and melted themassive outlines into a resplendent whole, rising immortal from thegloom at its base.

  Thin curls of smoke mounted here and there above the housetops,straight up toward the limitless turquoise vault of the sky. Thevivifying freshness of the new-born day was in the air.

  There was a clatter of hoofs in the Street of Pericles, and two youngmen, followed by three mounted servants, swung into view.

  "By Zeus, Leonidas!" cried the foremost of the riders, drawing rein andpointing to the Acropolis, "that is worth riding all night to see!"

  "You mean the sunrise?" the other asked, also coming to a halt."Pshaw! You may see that any day without sitting up for it."

  "Not I!" said his companion, laughing. "I love the lamps too well."

  Leonidas shrugged his square shoulders. "It's not the lamps you love,Chares," he returned dryly. "But why are we idling here? Unless wemake haste, Clearchus will be out of bed before we can surprise him."

  "Come on, then!" Chares cried, urging his tired horse. "By Heracles!what's that?"

  The three servants had ridden forward in advance of their masters.From the direction they had taken, the young men heard a confusion ofangry voices, mingled with oaths. In another moment they saw that thestreet was blocked by a gorgeous litter borne on the shoulders of foursturdy slaves and surrounded by a dozen more, some of whom carriedtorches which burned pale in the morning light. The litter-bearers hadrefused to draw aside, and the guard was attempting to turn thehorsemen back. Evidently some youth had been overtaken at his revelryby the dawn and was now being carried home by slaves who had followedhis example at the wine-cup.

  A bustling little man, with close-cropped hair and the sharp-nosed faceof a fox, was shaking his sword in the faces of the riders.

  "Back with you! Back!" he shouted. "Do you seek to halt the noblePhradates? Back, while you may!"

  The curtains of the litter parted, and a young man's face, crimson withwrath and wine, appeared at the opening. He wore upon his head awreath of wilted roses, which had slipped sidewise over one ear.

  "What is the matter, Mena?" he called thickly. "Cut the rascals down!"

  The three servants hesitated, looking back to their masters forinstructions.

  "Here is sport!" Chares cried, his eyes sparkling. "Let us ridethrough them! They need a lesson."

  Leonidas made no answer, but shook his bridle rein free and plunged hisspurs into the flanks of his horse.

  "Way! Way!" Chares cried in a mighty voice, as they thundered downupon the obstinate group. "Follow us, my lads!" he shouted to theservants as he swept past.

  The officious man with the sharp nose dropped his sword and scrambledup the steps of a house, but before the rest could follow his examplethe five horsemen were among them, and they were rolling under footwith their torches. Chares swerved his horse skilfully against thelitter in such a manner that it was overturned. Its occupant pitchedhead foremost into the street, and the litter fell on top of him,burying him beneath a mass of curtains and silken cushions, among whichhe struggled like some gigantic insect caught in a web.

  "You shall pay for this!" he gasped from the wreckage, shaking his fistafter the little cavalcade. "I am Phradates!"

  Chares laughed until the street echoed, and even Leonidas could notforbear a smile when he glanced back upon the havoc their passage hadcaused.

  "We must ask Clearchus who this fellow is," Chares said. "Here is thehouse."

  He sprang down in front of a dwelling of white marble and ran to thegate.

  "Hola!" he shouted. "Let us in! Do you intend to keep your master'sguests all day at his door? Open, then!"

  After a slight delay there was a sound of falling bars, and the gratingswung back, revealing a drowsy slave in the entrance.

  "Is it you, my master? Enter; you are welcome," the man said, bowingbefore Chares.

  "Is Clearchus awake?" Chares demanded eagerly.

  "I think not, sir," the slave replied.

  "Then we will rouse him!" Chares cried, running across the outer courtand into the house. Leonidas followed more deliberately, leaving theattendants to care for the horses.

  Chares did not stop to return the greeting of the slave who opened thehouse door for him, but dashed through the corridor that led to theinner court, shouting at the top of his voice: "Clearchus! Wake up,sluggard, and feed the hungry, or the Gods will turn their faces fromyou! Dreamer, where art thou?"

  Just as he emerged from the corridor to the spacious inner court, theyoung man came suddenly upon a fresh-faced slave girl, who was busiedwith some early duties about the broad cistern filled with lotusflowers.

  "Aphrodite, as I live!" Chares cried, throwing his arms about her andkissing her on the lips with a smack. The girl fled, laughing andblushing, to the women's quarters, and at the same moment the master ofthe house, awakened by the uproar, appeared on the threshold of hischamber.

  "Chares!" he cried, coming forward with outstretched hands. "Who elsecould it be, indeed!"

  "Oh, Clearchus," Chares said, "what hardships and perils we have passedto reach thee!"

  "And here is Leonidas," said the Athenian, freeing himself from theembrace of Chares as the second of his guests entered the court. "Bothmy brothers here! For this I owe a sacrifice of thanksgiving which Ishall not fail to pay. But what fortunate chance brings you to Athens?"

  "We were sitting quietly enough in Thebes, talking of you," Leonidasreplied, "when this madcap declared that he would not live another daywithout seeing you and that he intended to make you give him breakfast.Piso, who was with us, fell into dispute with him, offering to wagertwenty minae that we could not ride here before midday. Charesmaintained that he would wake you this morning or forfeit the stake,and here we are."

  "And so you have ridden all night?" Clearchus asked.

  "All night, amid dangers and darkness, only to see you!" Chares repliedgayly, throwing his arm around his friend's shoulder. "And now, haveyou anything to eat in the house? I am like a famished wolf."

  "Come with me," Clearchus said, leading the way into a large roomopening from the left of the court. The sunlight streamed in from thegarden outside, over rich Persian carpets which covered the floor. Thewalls were frescoed with scenes from the Iliad of Homer, drawn withmarvellous skill. Painted statuettes stood in niches of stone. Chairsand tables of ebony, cypress, and cedar were scattered through theroom, and soft couches invited rest. Clearchus struck a bell, and agrave man of middle age appeared in the doorway.

  "Send us food, Cleon," Clearchus said.

  The steward withdrew, and two younger slaves entered. They quicklydivested Chares and Leonidas of their riding cloaks and swords andwashed their hands in bowls of scented water, drying them upon linentowels. They were followed by other slaves bearing trays of cold fowl,bread, and wine.

  "This seems like getting home," Chares exclaimed, throwing himself uponone of the couches and leaning back luxuriously upon the cushions ofdown which the slaves hastened to arrange behind him while he helpedhimself to food from the table. "By the Gods, Clearchus, unless youstop growing handsome, Ph[oe]bus will be jealous of you!"

  The Athenian flushed like a girl. He was a clean-cut, clear-eyed youngman, hardly more than twenty-one years old, with a face and figure thatmight have served as a model for Phidias himself. Although slender,his form was graceful, with the ease that comes only from well-trainedmuscles. Brown curls covered his head, and th
e glance of his dark eyeswas steady and straightforward, with a singular earnestness. Hisexpression was thoughtful and his mouth betrayed a sensitive delicacy.

  His parents had died when he was still a lad. His father, Cleanor,bequeathed to him an immense fortune, amassed in the mines, which hadbeen managed by his uncle, Ariston, until he became of age. His wealthmade him envied by the fashionable young men of Athens, but he had fewfriends among them. He cared nothing for their drinking-bouts,cock-fights, and gaming, and he had no ambition in politics except todo his duty as a citizen of Athens. Deep in his heart he worshippedthe city and her glorious achievements, especially those of theintellect, with fanatical devotion.

  Chares, too, belonged to a family of wealth and influence, for hisfather, Jason, had been one of the foremost men in Thebes. In heighthe stood more than six feet, and the knotted muscles of his armsindicated enormous strength. He was buoyant, light-hearted,irresponsible, and pleasure-loving. His affection for the Athenian,whom he had known from boyhood, was the strongest impulse in him.

  They had first met Leonidas at the Olympic Games, where he won thelaurel crown in the chariot race, and they had there admitted him totheir friendship. Different as they were from each other, there seemedlittle in common between either of them and the swarthy Lacedaemonianwho lay eating silently while they chattered gossip of mutualacquaintances. Leonidas was rather below the middle stature, all boneand sinew, practised in arms, and inured to hardships from hischildhood by the unbending discipline of Sparta. His dark hair grewlow down on his forehead and his black eyes were set deep underoverhanging brows. He neither shared nor wished to understand thedelight which Clearchus felt in a perfect statue or a masterpiece ofpainting. He scorned the philosophers and poets. Upon thequestionable pleasures to which Chares gave his days and nights, helooked with good-natured contempt. The narrow prejudices of hiscountry were ingrained too deeply in his character to be disturbed byany change of surroundings. He valued more highly the consciousnessthat in his veins ran a few drops of the blood of the Lion ofThermopylae than all the riches of the world.

  In each of the three young men who met in the house of Clearchus weretypified many of the characteristics of the states to which theybelonged. Athens, Thebes, and Sparta in turn had held the supremacy inthe little peninsula to which the civilized world was confined.Contrasted as they were, there was still a bond between them that hadbeen welded by centuries of association.

  "Tell me," Clearchus said, after their hunger had been somewhatappeased, "what is the news of Thebes? Are the Macedonians stillperched in the Cadmea?"

  "They are," Chares replied lazily. "We are still in the grasp of thebarbarian; but our plotters are at work and they tell me that soon weshall break it."

  "Do you mean they are planning revolt?" Clearchus asked eagerly.

  "Don't get excited," the Theban responded. "It will give youindigestion. They have revolted already, thanks to the gold your citysent them, and the barbarians are eating their corn in the citadel justat present, waiting for something to turn up."

  "But that means war, Chares," Clearchus exclaimed.

  "Well," Chares replied, "that will give Leonidas a chance to clear therust from his sword. You know he is in the market."

  "That is true," the Spartan said in response to Clearchus' glance ofinquiry. "No man can live on air. I follow my profession where thereis work to be done."

  There was nothing disgraceful in this avowal. If his own country wasat peace, a Greek soldier might sell his sword to the highest bidder,as did Xenophon, without reproach.

  "And I suppose you, too, will be fighting, Chares?" said Clearchus.

  "As to that, I don't know," the Theban answered, stretching himselfwith a yawn. "Perhaps the best thing that could happen to us would beto have the Macedonian conquer and rule. It would put an end to ourown wars. If matters go on as they have been going, all three of usmay be trying to cut each other's throats before the month is out."

  "No," Clearchus exclaimed, "that cannot be, because you must promise meto stay here and drink at my wedding feast at the next new moon."

  "What, Clearchus! you are going to be married?" Chares cried, springingfrom his couch. "Who is she?"

  "Artemisia, daughter of Theorus," Clearchus answered. "She is the mostbeautiful--"

  "Ho, Cleon, Cleon! Where are you?" Chares shouted at the top of hisvoice. "Cleon, I say!"

  The steward ran into the room in alarm.

  "Bring wine of Cyprus, quickly!" Chares cried, waving his arms.

  Cleon vanished with a smile, and Chares hastened to embrace his friendwith a fervor that threatened to crack his ribs. Leonidas grasped himwarmly by the hand, and both showered congratulations upon him.

  "We pledge thee!" Chares cried, taking the wine that Cleon brought in agreat beaker of carved silver and raising it to his lips, afterspilling a portion of its contents in libation.

  "May the Gods give thee happiness!" Leonidas said, drinking deep in histurn.

  "Neither war, famine, nor pestilence shall take us from thee until thouart married," Chares cried, half in jest. "We swear it, Leonidas, bythe head of Zeus!"

  "We swear it!" the Spartan echoed, and each of them again pressed theyoung man's hand.

  "I expected no less of you," Clearchus said, smiling into the faces ofhis companions. "It makes my heart glad to know that you will be withme. But after your long ride you must both be used up. I will leaveyou to get an hour or two of sleep before the Assembly which has beencalled for this afternoon to hear what Demosthenes has to say upon ourpolicy toward Macedon. You will want to hear him, of course."

  "Go, Clearchus," Chares said, laughing. "That is a long speech to tellus that you would like to be rid of us while you go to your Artemisia.Come back in time for the bath, that's all."