hear."
"It is a custom of gentlemen in Rome to wear a ring. There is one on my hand. Take it now."
He held the hand to Judah, who did as he asked.
"Now put it on thine own hand."
Ben-Hur did so.
"The trinket hath its uses," said Arrius next. "I have property and money. I am accounted rich even in Rome. I have no family. Show the ring to my freedman, who hath control in my absence; you will find him in a villa near Misenum. Tell him how it came to thee, and ask anything, or all he may have; he will not refuse the demand. If I live, I will do better by thee. I will make thee free, and restore thee to thy home and people; or thou mayst give thyself to the pursuit that pleaseth thee most. Dost thou hear?"
"I could not choose but hear."
"Then pledge me. By the gods--"
"Nay, good tribune, I am a Jew."
"By thy God, then, or in the form most sacred to those of thy faith--pledge me to do what I tell thee now, and as I tell thee; I am waiting, let me have thy promise."
"Noble Arrius, I am warned by thy manner to expect something of gravest concern. Tell me thy wish first."
"Wilt thou promise then?"
"That were to give the pledge, and-- Blessed be the God of my fathers! yonder cometh a ship!"
"In what direction?"
"From the north."
"Canst thou tell her nationality by outward signs?"
"No. My service hath been at the oars."
"Hath she a flag?"
"I cannot see one."
Arrius remained quiet some time, apparently in deep reflection.
"Does the ship hold this way yet?" he at length asked.
"Still this way."
"Look for the flag now."
"She hath none."
"Nor any other sign?"
"She hath a sail set, and is of three banks, and cometh swiftly--that is all I can say of her."
"A Roman in triumph would have out many flags. She must be an enemy. Hear now," said Arrius, becoming grave again, "hear, while yet I may speak. If the galley be a pirate, thy life is safe; they may not give thee freedom; they may put thee to the oar again; but they will not kill thee. On the other hand, I--"
The tribune faltered.
"Perpol!" he continued, resolutely. "I am too old to submit to dishonor. In Rome, let them tell how Quintus Arrius, as became a Roman tribune, went down with his ship in the midst of the foe. This is what I would have thee do. If the galley prove a pirate, push me from the plank and drown me. Dost thou hear? Swear thou wilt do it."
"I will not swear," said Ben-Hur, firmly; "neither will I do the deed. The Law, which is to me most binding, O tribune, would make me answerable for thy life. Take back the ring"--he took the seal from his finger--"take it back, and all thy promises of favor in the event of delivery from this peril. The judgment which sent me to the oar for life made me a slave, yet I am not a slave; no more am I thy freedman. I am a son of Israel, and this moment, at least, my own master. Take back the ring."
Arrius remained passive.
"Thou wilt not?" Judah continued. "Not in anger, then, nor in any despite, but to free myself from a hateful obligation, I will give thy gift to the sea. See, O tribune!"
He tossed the ring away. Arrius heard the splash where it struck and sank, though he did not look.
"Thou hast done a foolish thing," he said; "foolish for one placed as thou art. I am not dependent upon thee for death. Life is a thread I can break without thy help; and, if I do, what will become of thee? Men determined on death prefer it at the hands of others, for the reason that the soul which Plato giveth us is rebellious at the thought of self-destruction; that is all. If the ship be a pirate, I will escape from the world. My mind is fixed. I am a Roman. Success and honor are all in all. Yet I would have served thee; thou wouldst not. The ring was the only witness of my will available in this situation. We are both lost. I will die regretting the victory and glory wrested from me; thou wilt live to die a little later, mourning the pious duties undone because of this folly. I pity thee."
Ben-Hur saw the consequences of his act more distinctly than before, yet he did not falter.
"In the three years of my servitude, O tribune, thou wert the first to look upon me kindly. No, no! There was another." The voice dropped, the eyes became humid, and he saw plainly as if it were then before him the face of the boy who helped him to a drink by the old well at Nazareth. "At least," he proceeded, "thou wert the first to ask me who I was; and if, when I reached out and caught thee, blind and sinking the last time, I, too, had thought of the many ways in which thou couldst be useful to me in my wretchedness, still the act was not all selfish; this I pray you to believe. Moreover, seeing as God giveth me to know, the ends I dream of are to be wrought by fair means alone. As a thing of conscience, I would rather die with thee than be thy slayer. My mind is firmly set as thine; though thou wert to offer me all Rome, O tribune, and it belonged to thee to make the gift good, I would not kill thee. Thy Cato and Brutus were as little children compared to the Hebrew whose law a Jew must obey."
"But my request. Hast--"
"Thy command would be of more weight, and that would not move me. I have said."
Both became silent, waiting.
Ben-Hur looked often at the coming ship. Arrius rested with closed eyes, indifferent.
"Art thou sure she is an enemy?" Ben-Hur asked.
"I think so," was the reply.
"She stops, and puts a boat over the side."
"Dost thou see her flag?"
"Is there no other sign by which she may be known if Roman?"
"If Roman, she hath a helmet over the mast's top."
"Then be of cheer. I see the helmet."
Still Arrius was not assured.
"The men in the small boat are taking in the people afloat. Pirates are not humane."
"They may need rowers," Arrius replied, recurring, possibly, to times when he had made rescues for the purpose.
Ben-Hur was very watchful of the actions of the strangers.
"The ship moves off," he said.
"Whither?"
"Over on our right there is a galley which I take to be deserted. The new-comer heads towards it. Now she is alongside. Now she is sending men aboard."
Then Arrius opened his eyes and threw off his calm.
"Thank thou thy God," he said to Ben-Hur, after a look at the galleys, "thank thou thy God, as I do my many gods. A pirate would sink, not save, yon ship. By the act and the helmet on the mast I know a Roman. The victory is mine. Fortune hath not deserted me. We are saved. Wave thy hand--call to them--bring them quickly. I shall be duumvir, and thou! I knew thy father, and loved him. He was a prince indeed. He taught me a Jew was not a barbarian. I will take thee with me. I will make thee my son. Give thy God thanks, and call the sailors. Haste! The pursuit must be kept. Not a robber shall escape. Hasten them!"
Judah raised himself upon the plank, and waved his hand, and called with all his might; at last he drew the attention of the sailors in the small boat, and they were speedily taken up.
Arrius was received on the galley