Volume I Part 2 (1/2)
The master, when an opening had been made sufficiently wide by turning the lid upon the edge of the sarcophagus, took off his sandals, gave a foot to one of his slaves, and swung himself into the interior. The lamp was then given him, and he surveyed the wealth and splendor as the king might never again. And as the king in his day had said with exultation, Lo! it is all mine, the intruder now a.s.serted t.i.tle.
Unable, had he so wished, to carry the whole collection off, he looked around upon this and upon that, determining where to begin. Conscious he had nothing to fear, and least of all from the owner in the chair, he was slow and deliberate. From his robe he drew a number of bags of coa.r.s.e hempen cloth, and a broad white napkin. The latter he spread upon the floor, first removing several of the urns to obtain s.p.a.ce; then he emptied one of the vessels upon it, and from the sparkling and varicolored heap before him proceeded to make selection.
His judgment was excellent, sure and swift. Not seldom he put the large stones aside, giving preference to color and l.u.s.tre. Those chosen he dropped into a bag. When the lot was gone through, he returned the rejected to the vessel, placing it back exactly in its place. Then he betook himself to another of the vessels, and then another, until, in course of a couple of hours, he had made choice from the collection, and filled nine bags, and tied them securely.
Greatly relieved, he arose, rubbed the benumbed joints of his limbs awhile, then pa.s.sed the packages out to the slaves. The occupation had been wearisome and tensive; but it was finished, and he would now retire. He lingered to give a last look at the interior, muttering the sentence again, and leaving it unfinished as before:
”No one has been here since”--
From the face of the king, his eyes fell to the silver tablet in the nerveless hand. Moving close, and holding the lamp in convenient position, he knelt and read the inscription.
I.
”There is but one G.o.d, and He was from the beginning, and will be without end.
II.
”In my lifetime, I prepared this vault and tomb to receive my body, and keep it safely; yet it may be visited, for the earth and sea are always giving up their secrets.
III.
”Therefore, O Stranger, first to find me, know thou!
”That in all my days I kept intercourse with Solomon, King of the Jews, wisest of men, and the richest and greatest. As is known, he set about building a house to his Lord G.o.d, resolved that there should be nothing like it in the world, nothing so s.p.a.cious, so enriched, so perfect in proportions, so in all things becoming the glory of his G.o.d. In sympathy with him I gave him of the skill of my people, workers in bra.s.s, and silver, and gold, and products of the quarries: and in their s.h.i.+ps my sailors brought him the yield of mines from the ends of the earth. At last the house was finished; then he sent me the model of the house, and the coins, and cloths of gold and pearl, and the precious stones, and the vessels holding them, and the other things of value here. Ad if, O Stranger, thou dost wonder at the greatness of the gift, know thou that it was but a small part of what remained unto him of like kind, for he was master of the earth, and of everything belonging to it which might be of service to him, even the elements and their subtleties.
IV.
”Nor think, O Stranger, that I have taken the wealth into the tomb with me, imagining it can serve me in the next life. I store it here because I love him who gave it to me, and am jealous of his love; and that is all.
V.
”So thou wilt use the wealth in ways pleasing in the sight of the Lord G.o.d of Solomon, my royal friend, take thou of it in welcome. There is no G.o.d but his G.o.d!
”Thus say I--HIRAM, KING OF TYRE.”
”Rest thou thy soul, O wisest of pagan kings,” said the master, rising.
”Being the first to find thee here, and basing my t.i.tle to thy wealth on that circ.u.mstance, I will use it in a way pleasing in the sight of the Lord G.o.d of Solomon. Verily, verily, there is no G.o.d but his G.o.d!”
This, then, was the business that brought the man to the tomb of the king whose glory was to have been the friend of Solomon. Pondering the idea, we begin to realize how vast the latter's fame was; and it ceases to be matter of wonder that his contemporaries, even the most royal, could have been jealous of his love.
Not only have we the man's business, but it is finished; and judging from the satisfaction discernible on his face as he raised the lamp and turned to depart, the result must have been according to his best hope.
He took off his robe, and tossed it to his slaves; then he laid a hand upon the edge of the sarcophagus preparatory to climbing out. At the moment, while giving a last look about him, an emerald, smoothly cut, and of great size, larger indeed than a full-grown pomegranate, caught his eyes in its place loose upon the floor. He turned back, and taking it up, examined it carefully; while thus engaged his glance dropped to the sword almost at his feet. The sparkle of the brilliants, and the fire-flame of the great ruby in the grip, drew him irresistibly, and he stood considering.
Directly he spoke in a low voice:
”No one has been here since”--
He hesitated--glanced hurriedly around to again a.s.sure himself it was not possible to be overheard--then finished the sentence:
”No one has been here _since I came a thousand years ago_.”