They raised the body, and great was their horror and sacred indignation
to discover in that lifeless clay a priest of the adored and venerable
Isis; but still greater, perhaps, was their surprise, when they found
the accused in the brilliant and admired Athenian.
'Glaucus!' cried the bystanders, with one accord; 'is it even credible?'
'I would sooner,' whispered one man to his neighbor, 'believe it to be
the Egyptian himself.'
Here a centurion thrust himself into the gathering crowd, with an air of
authority.
'How! blood spilt! who the murderer?'
The bystanders pointed to Glaucus.
'He!--by Mars, he has rather the air of being the victim!
'Who accuses him?'
'I,' said Arbaces, drawing himself up haughtily; and the jewels which
adorned his dress flashing in the eyes of the soldier, instantly
convinced that worthy warrior of the witness's respectability.
'Pardon me--your name?' said he.
'Arbaces; it is well known methinks in Pompeii. Passing through the
grove, I beheld before me the Greek and the priest in earnest
conversation. I was struck by the reeling motions of the first, his
violent gestures, and the loudness of his voice; he seemed to me either
drunk or mad. Suddenly I saw him raise his stilus--I darted
forward--too late to arrest the blow. He had twice stabbed his victim,
and was bending over him, when, in my horror and indignation, I struck
the murderer to the ground. He fell without a struggle, which makes me
yet more suspect that he was not altogether in his senses when the crime
was perpetrated; for, recently recovered from a severe illness, my blow
was comparatively feeble, and the frame of Glaucus, as you see, is
strong and youthful.'
'His eyes are open now--his lips move,' said the soldier. 'Speak,
prisoner, what sayest thou to the charge?'
'The charge--ha--ha! Why, it was merrily done; when the old hag set her
serpent at me, and Hecate stood by laughing from ear to ear--what could
I do? But I am ill--I faint--the serpent's fiery tongue hath bitten me.
Bear me to bed, and send for your physician; old AEsculapius himself
will attend me if you let him know that I am Greek. Oh, mercy--mercy!
I burn!--marrow and brain, I burn!'
And, with a thrilling and fierce groan, the Athenian fell back in the
arms of the bystanders.
'He raves,' said the officer, compassionately; 'and in his delirium he
has struck the priest. Hath any one present seen him to-day!'
'I,' said one of the spectators, 'beheld him in the morning. He passed
my shop and accosted me. He seemed well and sane as the stoutest of
us!'
'And I saw him half an hour ago,' said another, 'passing up the streets,
muttering to himself with strange gestures, and just as the Egyptian has
described.'
'A corroboration of the witness! it must be too true. He must at all
events to the praetor; a pity, so young and so rich! But the crime is
dreadful: a priest of Isis, in his very robes, too, and at the base
itself of our most ancient chapel!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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