Chapter LII

AND everything had failed. Vinicius lowered himself to the degree that
he sought support from freedmen and slaves, both those of Cæsar and
Poppaea; he overpaid their empty promises, he won their good will with
rich gifts. He found the first husband of Poppæa, Rufus Crispinus, and
obtained from him a letter. He gave a villa in Antium to Rufius, her
son by the first marriage; but thereby he merely angered Cæsar, who
hated his step-son. By a special courier he sent a letter to Poppæa's
second husband, Otho, in Spain. He sacrificed his property and himself,
until he saw at last that he was simply the plaything of people; that if
he had pretended that the imprisonment of Lygia concerned him little, he
would have freed her sooner.

Petronius saw this, too. Meanwhile day followed day. The amphitheatre
was finished. The "tesseræ" were distributed,--that is, tickets of
entrance, to the ludus matutinus (morning games). But this time the
morning games, because of the unheard-of number of victims, were to
continue for days, weeks, and months. It was not known where to put the
Christians. The prisons were crammed, and fever was raging in them.
The puticuli--common pits in which slaves were kept--began to be
overfilled. There was fear that diseases might spread over the whole
city hence, haste.

All these reports struck the ears of Vinicius, extinguishing in him the
last hope. While there was yet time, he might delude himself with the
belief that he could do something, but now there was no time. The
spectacles must begin. Lygia might find herself any day in a cuniculum
of the circus, whence the only exit was to the arena. Vinicius, not
knowing whither fate and the cruelty of superior force might throw her,
visited all the circuses, bribed guards and beast-keepers, laying before
them plans which they could not execute. In time he saw that he was
working for this only,--to make death less terrible to her; and just
then he felt that instead of brains he had glowing coals in his head.

For the rest he had no thought of surviving her, and determined to
perish at the same time. But he feared lest pain might burn his life
out before the dreadful hour came. His friends and Petronius thought
also that any day might open the kingdom of shadows before him. His
face was black, and resembled those waxen masks kept in lararia. In his
features astonishment had grown frigid, as if he hid no understanding of
what had happened and what might happen. When any one spoke to him, he
raised his hands to his face mechanically, and, pressing his temples,
looked at the speaker with an inquiring and astonished gaze. He passed
whole nights with Ursus at Lygia's door in the prison; if she commanded
him to go away and rest, he returned to Petronius, and walked in the
atrium till morning. The slaves found him frequently kneeling with
upraised hands or lying with his face to the earth. He prayed to
Christ, for Christ was his last hope. Everything had failed him. Only a
miracle could save Lygia; hence he beat the stone flags with his
forehead and prayed for the miracle.

But he knew enough yet to understand that Peter's prayers were more
important than his own. Peter had promised him Lygia, Peter had
baptized him, Peter had performed miracles, let him give aid and rescue.

And a certain night he went to seek the Apostle. The Christians, of
whom not many remained, had concealed him now carefully even from other
brethren, lest any of the weaker in spirit might betray him wittingly or
unwittingly. Vinicius, amid the general confusion and disaster,
occupied also in efforts to get Lygia out of prison, had lost sight of
Peter, he had barely seen him once from the time of his own baptism till
the beginning of the persecution. But betaking himself to that
quarryman in whose hut he was baptized, he learned that there would be a
meeting outside the Porta Salaria in a vineyard which belonged to
Cornelius Pudens. The quarryman offered to guide him, and declared that
he would find Peter there. They started about dusk, and, passing beyond
the wall, through hollows overgrown with reeds, reached the vineyard in
a wild and lonely place. The meeting was held in a wine-shed. As
Vinicius drew near, the murmur of prayer reached his ears. On entering
he saw by dim lamplight a few tens of kneeling figures sunk in prayer.
They were saying a kind of litany; a chorus of voices, male and female,
repeated every moment, "Christ have mercy on us." In those voices,
deep, piercing sadness and sorrow were heard.

Peter was present. He was kneeling in front of the others, before a
wooden cross nailed to the wall of the shed, and was praying. From a
distance Vinicius recognized his white hair and his upraised hands. The
first thought of the young patrician was to pass through the assembly,
cast himself at the Apostle's feet, and cry, "Save!" but whether it was
the solemnity of the prayer, or because weakness bent the knees under
Vinicius, he began to repeat while he groaned and clasped his hands:
"Christ have mercy!" Had he been conscious, he would have understood
that his was not the only prayer in which there was a groan; that he was
not the only one who had brought with him his pain, alarm, and grief.
There was not in that assembly one soul which had not lost persons dear
to the heart; and when the most zealous and courageous confessors were
in prison already, when with every moment new tidings were borne about
of insults and tortures inflicted on them in the prisons, when the
greatness of the calamity exceeded every imagination, when only that
handful remained, there was not one heart there which was not terrified
in its faith, which did not ask doubtfully, Where is Christ? and why
does He let evil be mightier than God? Meanwhile they implored Him
despairingly for mercy, since in each soul there still smouldered a
spark of hope that He would come, hurl Nero into the abyss, and rule the
world. They looked yet toward the sky; they listened yet; they prayed
yet with trembling. Vinicius, too, in proportion as they repeated,
"Christ have mercy on us!" was seized by such an ecstasy as formerly in
the quarryman's hut. Now from the depths they call on Him in the
profoundness of their sorrow, now Peter calls on Him; so any moment the
heavens may be rent, the earth tremble to its foundations, and He appear
in infinite glory, with stars at His feet, merciful, but awful. He will
raise up the faithful, and command the abysses to swallow the
persecutors.

Vinicius covered his face with both hands, and bowed to the earth.
Immediately silence was around him, as if fear had stopped further
breathing on the lips of all present. And it seemed to him that
something must happen surely, that a moment of miracle would follow. He
felt certain that when he rose and opened his eyes he would see a light
from which mortal eyes would be blinded, and hear a voice from which
hearts would grow faint.

But the silence was unbroken. It was interrupted at last by the sobbing
of women. Vinicius rose and looked forward with dazed eyes. In the
shed, instead of glories not of earth, shone the faint gleam of
lanterns, and rays of the moon, entering through an opening in the roof,
filled the place with silvery light. The people kneeling around
Vinicius raised their tearful eyes toward the cross in silence; here and
there sobbing was heard, and from outside came the warning whistles of
watchmen. Meanwhile Peter rose, and, turning to the assembly, said,-

"Children, raise your hearts to the Redeemer and offer Him your tears."

After that he was silent.

All at once was heard the voice of a woman, full of sorrowful complaint
and pain,--

"I am a widow; I had one son who supported me. Give him back, O Lord!"
Silence followed again. Peter was standing before the kneeling
audience, old, full of care. In that moment he seemed to them
decrepitude and weakness personified. With that a second voice began to
complain,-

"Executioners insulted my daughter, and Christ permitted them!"

Then a third,--

"I alone have remained to my children, and when I am taken who will give
them bread and water?"

Then a fourth,--

"Linus, spared at first, they have taken now and put to torture, O
Lord!"

Then a fifth,-

"When we return to our houses, pretorians will seize us. We know not
where to hide."

"Woe to us! Who will protect us?"

And thus in that silence of the night complaint after complaint was
heard. The old fisherman closed his eyes and shook his white head over
that human pain and fear. New silence followed; the watchman merely
gave out low whistles beyond the shed.

Vinicius sprang up again, so as to break through the crowd to the
Apostle and demand salvation; but on a sudden he saw before him, as it
were, a precipice, the sight of which took strength from his feet. What
if the Apostle were to confess his own weakness, affirm that the Roman
Cæsar was stronger than Christ the Nazarene? And at that thought terror
raised the hair on his head, for he felt that in such a case not only
the remnant of his hope would fall into that abyss, but with it he
himself, and all through which he had life, and there would remain only
night and death, resembling a shoreless sea.

Meanwhile Peter began to speak in a voice so low at first that it was
barely possible to hear him,--

"My children, on Golgotha I saw them nail God to the cross. I heard the
hammers, and I saw them raise the cross on high, so that the rabble
might gaze at the death of the Son of Man. I saw them open His side,
and I saw Him die. When returning from the cross, I cried in pain, as
ye are crying, 'Woe! woe! O Lord, Thou art God! Why hast Thou permitted
this? Why hast Thou died, and why hast Thou tormented the hearts of us
who believed that Thy kingdom would come?'

"But He, our Lord and God, rose from the dead the third day, and was
among us till He entered His kingdom in great glory.

"And we, seeing our little faith, became strong in heart, and from that
time we are sowing His grain."

Here, turning toward the place whence the first complaint came, he began
in a voice now stronger,--

"Why do ye complain? God gave Himself to torture and death, and ye wish
Him to shield you from the same. People of little faith, have ye
received His teaching? Has He promised you nothing but life? He comes
to you and says, 'Follow in my path.' He raises you to Himself, and ye
catch at this earth with your hands, crying, 'Lord, save us!' I am dust
before God, but before you I am His apostle and vicegerent. I speak to
you in the name of Christ. Not death is before you, but life; not
tortures, but endless delights; not tears and groans, but singing; not
bondage, but rule! I, God's apostle, say this: O widow, thy son will
not die; he will be born into glory, into eternal life, and thou wilt
rejoin him! To thee, O father, whose innocent daughter was defiled by
executioners, I promise that thou shalt find her whiter than the lilies
of Hebron! To you, mothers, whom they are tearing away from your
orphans; to you who lose fathers; to you who complain; to you who will
see the death of loved ones; to you the careworn, the unfortunate, the
timid; to you who must die,--in the name of Christ I declare that ye
will wake as if from sleep to a happy waking, as if from night to the
light of God. In the name of Christ, let the beam fall from your eyes,
and let your hearts be inflamed."

When he had said this, he raised his hand as if commanding, and they
felt new blood in their veins, and also a quiver in their bones; for
before them was standing, not a decrepit and careworn old man, but a
potentate, who took their souls and raised them from dust and terror.

"Amen!" called a number of voices.

From the Apostle's eyes came a light ever increasing, power issued from
him, majesty issued from him, and holiness. Heads bent before him, and
he, when the "Amen" ceased, continued:--

"Ye sow in tears to reap in joy. Why fear ye the power of evil? Above
the earth, above Rome, above the walls of cities is the Lord, who has
taken His dwelling within you. The stones will be wet from tears, the
sand steeped in blood, the valleys will be filled with your bodies, but
I say that ye are victorious. The Lord is advancing to the conquest of
this city of crime, oppression, and pride, and ye are His legions! He
redeemed with His own blood and torture the sins of the world; so He
wishes that ye should redeem with torture and blood this nest of
injustice. This He announces to you through my lips."

And he opened his arms, and fixed his eyes upward; the hearts almost
ceased to beat in their breasts, for they felt that his glance beheld
something which their mortal sight could not see.

In fact, his face had changed, and was overspread with serenity; he
gazed some time in silence, as if speechless from ecstasy, but after a
while they heard his voice,--

"Thou art here, O Lord, and dost show Thy ways to me. True, O Christ!
Not in Jerusalem, but in this city of Satan wilt Thou fix Thy capital.
Here out of these tears and this blood dost Thou wish to build Thy
Church. Here, where Nero rules to-day, Thy eternal kingdom is to stand.
Thine, O Lord, O Lord! And Thou commandest these timid ones to form the
foundation of Thy holy Zion of their bones, and Thou commandest my
spirit to assume rule over it, and over peoples of the earth. And Thou
art pouring the fountain of strength on the weak, so that they become
strong; and now Thou commandest me to feed Thy sheep from this spot, to
the end of ages. Oh, be Thou praised in Thy decrees by which Thou
commandest to conquer. Hosanna! Hosanna!"

Those who were timid rose; into those who doubted streams of faith
flowed. Some voices cried, "Hosanna!" others, "Pro Christo!" Then
silence followed. Bright summer lightning illuminated the interior of
the shed, and the pale, excited faces.

Peter, fixed in a vision, prayed a long time yet; but conscious at last,
he turned his inspired face, full of light, to the assembly, and said,--

"This is how the Lord has overcome doubt in you; so ye will go to
victory in His name."

And though he knew that they would conquer, though he knew what would
grow out of their tears and blood, still his voice quivered with emotion
when he was blessing them with the cross, and he said,--

"Now I bless you, my children, as ye go to torture, to death, to
eternity."

They gathered round him and wept. "We are ready," said they; "but do
thou, O holy head, guard thyself, for thou art the vicegerent who
performs the office of Christ."

And thus speaking, they seized his mantle; he placed his hands on their
heads, and blessed each one separately, just as a father does children
whom he is sending on a long journey.

And they began at once to go out of the shed, for they were in a hurry,
to their houses, and from them to the prisons and arenas. Their thoughts
were separated from the earth, their souls had taken flight toward
eternity, and they walked on as if in a dream, in ecstasy opposing that
force which was in them to the force and the cruelty of the "Beast."

Nereus, the servant of Pudens, took the Apostle and led him by a secret
path in the vineyard to his house. But Vinicius followed them in the
clear night, and when they reached the cottage of Nereus at last, he
threw himself suddenly at the feet of the Apostle.

"What dost thou wish, my Son?" asked Peter, recognizing him.

After what he had heard in the vineyard, Vinicius dared not implore him
for anything; but, embracing his feet with both hands, he pressed his
forehead to them with sobbing, and called for compassion in that dumb
manner.

"I know. They took the maiden whom thou lovest. Pray for her."

"Lord," groaned Vinicius, embracing his feet still more firmly,--"Lord,
I am a wretched worm; but thou didst know Christ. Implore Him,--take her
part."

And from pain he trembled like a leaf; and he beat the earth with his
forehead, for, knowing the strength of the Apostle, he knew that he
alone could rescue her.

Peter was moved by that pain. He remembered how on a time Lygia
herself, when attacked by Crispus, lay at his feet in like manner
imploring pity. He remembered that he had raised her and comforted her;
hence now he raised Vinicius.

"My son," said he, "I will pray for her; but do thou remember that I
told those doubting ones that God Himself passed through the torment of
the cross, and remember that after this life begins another,--an eternal
one."

"I know; I have heard!" answered Vinicius, catching the air with his
pale lips; "but thou seest, lord, that I cannot! If blood is required,
implore Christ to take mine,--I am a soldier. Let Him double, let Him
triple, the torment intended for her, I will suffer it; but let Him
spare her. She is a child yet, and He is mightier than Cæsar, I
believe, mightier. Thou didst love her thyself; thou didst bless us.
She is an innocent child yet."

Again he bowed, and, putting his face to Peter's knees, he repeated,--

"Thou didst know Christ, lord,--thou didst know Him. He will give ear
to thee; take her part."

Peter closed his lids, and prayed earnestly. The summer lightning
illuminated the sky again. Vinicius, by the light of it, looked at the
lips of the Apostle, waiting sentence of life or death from them. In
the silence quails were heard calling in the vineyard, and the dull,
distant sound of treadmills near the Via Salaria.

"Vinicitis," asked the Apostle at last, "dost thou believe?"

"Would I have come hither if I believed not?" answered Vinicius.

"Then believe to the end, for faith will remove mountains. Hence,
though thou wert to see that maiden under the sword of the executioner
or in the jaws of a lion, believe that Christ can save her. Believe,
and pray to Him, and I will pray with thee."

Then, raising his face toward heaven, he said aloud,--

"O merciful Christ, look on this aching heart and console it! O
merciful Christ, temper the wind to the fleece of the lamb! O merciful
Christ, who didst implore the Father to turn away the bitter cup from
Thy mouth, turn it from the mouth of this Thy servant! Amen."

But Vinicius, stretching his hand toward the stars, said, groaning,--

"I am Thine; take me instead of her."

The sky began to grow pale in the east.