Pearl-Maiden | Page 6

Listen, they call us to partake of the
Sacrament of the Lord--our last on earth"; and rising, she began to walk
towards the arches.
Nehushta stayed to help Anna to her feet. When she judged her mistress
to be out of hearing she leaned down and whispered:
"Mother, you have the gift; it is known throughout the Church. Tell me,
will the child be born?"
The old woman fixed her eyes upon the heavens, then answered,
slowly:
"The child will be born and live out its life, and I think that none of us
are doomed to die this day by the jaws of lions, though some of us may
die in another fashion. But I think also that your mistress goes very
shortly to join her husband. Therefore it was that I showed her nothing
of what came into my mind."
"Then it is best that I should die also, and die I will."

"Wherefore?"
"Because I go to wait upon my mistress?"
"Nay, Nehushta," answered Anna, sternly, "you stay to guard her child,
whereof when all these earthly things are done you must give account
to her."
CHAPTER II
THE VOICE OF A GOD
Of all the civilisations whose records lie open to the student, that of
Rome is surely one of the most wonderful. Nowhere, not even in old
Mexico, was high culture so completely wedded to the lowest
barbarism. Intellect Rome had in plenty; the noblest efforts of her
genius are scarcely to be surpassed; her law is the foundation of the
best of our codes of jurisprudence; art she borrowed but appreciated;
her military system is still the wonder of the world; her great men
remain great among a multitude of subsequent competitors. And yet
how pitiless she was! What a tigress! Amid all the ruins of her cities we
find none of a hospital, none, I believe, of an orphan school in an age
that made many orphans. The pious aspirations and efforts of
individuals seem never to have touched the conscience of the people.
Rome incarnate had no conscience; she was a lustful, devouring beast,
made more bestial by her intelligence and splendour.
King Agrippa in practice was a Roman. Rome was his model, her
ideals were his ideals. Therefore he built amphitheatres in which men
were butchered, to the exquisite delight of vast audiences. Therefore,
also, without the excuse of any conscientious motive, however
insufficient or unsatisfactory, he persecuted the weak because they
were weak and their sufferings would give pleasure to the strong or to
those who chanced to be the majority of the moment.
The season being hot it was arranged that the great games in honour of
the safety of Cæsar, should open each day at dawn and come to an end
an hour before noon. Therefore from midnight onwards crowds of

spectators poured into the amphitheatre, which, although it would seat
over twenty thousand, was not large enough to contain them all. An
hour before the dawn the place was full, and already late comers were
turned back from its gates. The only empty spaces were those reserved
for the king, his royal guests, the rulers of the city, with other
distinguished personages, and for the Christian company of old men,
women and children destined to the lions, who, it was arranged, were to
sit in full view of the audience until the time came for them to take
their share in the spectacle.
When Rachel joined the other captives she found that a long rough
table had been set beneath the arcades, and on it at intervals, pieces of
bread and cups and vases containing wine of the country that had been
purchased at a great price from the guards. Round this table the elders
or the infirm among the company were seated on a bench, while the
rest of the number, for whom there was not room, stood behind them.
At its head was an old man, a bishop among the Christians, one of the
five hundred who had seen the risen Lord and received baptism from
the hands of the Beloved Disciple. For some years he had been spared
by the persecutors of the infant Church on account of his age, dignity,
and good repute, but now at last fate seemed to have overtaken him.
The service was held; the bread and wine, mixed with water, were
consecrated with the same texts by which they are blessed to-day, only
the prayers were extempore. When all had eaten from the platters and
drunk from the rude cups, the bishop gave his blessing to the
community. Then he addressed them. This, he told them, was an
occasion of peculiar joy, a love-feast indeed, since all they who partook
of it were about to lay down the burden of the