Part 4 (2/2)
”If any one should ask which way Maternus went, say I have gone holoom
He wondered why he had chosen the name Maternus Not even his remotest ancestor had borne it, yet it came to his lips as naturally, instantly, as if it were his own by right But as he walked away it cao he and his friends had all been talking of a highwayman Maternus, who had robbed the caravans on the ht scared hie the name? The slaves by the embers had stared; they showed hiled with it- hardly to be wondered at! Where was it he heard-who told hiht? He could not remember
It dawned on him how difficult it is to decide what to do when the old familiar conditions and the expectations on which we habitually base decisions are all suddenly stripped away He understood no a general in the field can fail when suddenly confronted with the unknown Shall he do this, or do that? There was not a habit or a circuuide hihed!
Maternus It was a strange name to adopt, and yet he liked the sound of it, nor would it pass out of his mind He tried to think of other names, but either they had all been borne by slaves, and were distasteful, or else by fa; he only had to iine his case reversed to realize how bitterly he would resent it if an outlawed man should take his own name and make it notorious
Yet he perceived that notoriety would be his only refuge, paradox though thatno nition, he would soon reach the end of his tether; there was little mercy in the world for nized or not, he would becoht, in fact, end as a slave unless he should prefer to prove his identity and submit to Commodus's executioners Suicide would be preferable to that; but it seemed almost as if the Gods the that roisterer's corpse at the criticalthe plan for its use into Galen's wise old head
He must take the field like Spartacus of old; but he oal more definite and more attainable than Spartacus had had Hefor the sake of nu whatever to do with the rabble of runaway slaves, whose only guiding ih he kne easy it would be to raise such an army if he should choose to do it Out of any hundred outlaws in the records of a hundred years, so nu and lack of discipline; he could think of a dozen who had been betrayed by paid inforands
And besides, he had no intention of adopting brigandry as a profession, though he realized that heelse than a helpless fugitive As a rebel against Coood-sized ar the Roer for cheap victories He nificant to teandry was as distasteful to hiands was beneath the dignity of any of those Roenerals ed their rank to Coandry led nowhither Only one object appealed to them-fame and its perquisites Only one object appealed to hie his father That could be accohed, as he thought of hiainst Commodus the deified, mad monster who could hts filled his mind until he reached the lonely cross-road, where the narrower, tree-lined road to Daphnenorthward over theground against the sky by way of grim reminder to slaves and other would-be outlaws that the aribbets were vacant, except for an ar by a cord from the wrist The sixth had afor hi the Cappadocian, and reined in near the gibbet, not quite sure yet who it ho strode toward hie The leading-rein passed around one of the gibbets sextus ran forward to help The Cappadocian broke the rein and Scylax galloped after hih-hewn tree-trunk, to which was tied the body of a man who had been dead, perhaps, since sunset He had not been torn yet by the vultures Morbid curiosity-a fellow feeling for a victiht well be, of the same injustice that had made an outlaw of himself-impelled sextus to step closer He could not see the face, which was drooped forward; but there was a parchment, held spread on a stick, like a sail on a spar, suspended fro He snatched it off and held it toward the moon, no on the horizon There were only tords, ser, underneath the official letters SPQR:
”Maternus-Latro”
He began to wonder who Maternus ht have been, and how he took the first step that had led to crucifixion It was hard to believe that any man would run that risk unless ied pride into savagery or else shot off all opportunity for decent living The cruelty of the form of execution hardly troubled him; the possible injustice of it stirred him to his depths He felt a sort of superstitious reverence for the victie coincidence that he had made use, without previous reflection, of Maternus' na the horse that he himself had ridden that afternoon from Antioch to Daphne, followed on a ht the letter which had pulled the trigger that set the catapults of destiny ina wide circuit, they helped Scylax catch the Cappadocian
Norbanus ca back He was dressed for the road in a brooolen tunic contributed by so of enerous,” he said ”Old Pertinax thought he had done well enough by you She cried shame on him and threatened to send for her jewelry So he borrowed money from the priests You are as dead as that” He looked up at the tortured body of the robber ”What naet used to it”
”It is written here,” said sextus, showing hione down in a smother of silvery cloud; Norbanus could not see to read ”I am Maternus-Latro”
”I was told they had crucified that fellow”
”This is Maternus Being dead, he will hardly grudge me the use of his name! However, I will pay him for it He shall have fair burial Help me doith him”
Norbanus beckoned to the slaves, who tied the horses to a near-by tree They sought in the dark for a hole that would do for a grave, since they had no burying tools, stu on a limestone slab at last, that lay amid rank weeds near a tomb hollowed out of the rock that had been rifled, very likely, centuries ago They lowered the already stiffened body into it, with a coin in its fingers for Charon's ferry-fare across the Styx, then set the heavy slab in place, all four of the poured a little water from his hollowed hands on to the slab, because he had no oil, and havingthe Gods of earth and air and the unseen re-absorb into theer could perceive or cherish or destroy, turned to the two slaves
”Scylax,” he said, ”Cadmus-he as your master is as dead as that man we have buried I am not sextus, son of Maximus I fare forth like a deadwithout honor on the lips ofnow an outlahom the laould crucify if ill-luck should betray my feet Nor can I set you free, since allby lahooods Do then at your own risk, of your oill, what see slaves, they knelt He bade the assent
”Then the night bear witness!” sextus turned toward the row of gibbets, pointing at theether If we escape that, you shall not go unrewarded from the fortune I redeem Norbanus, you accept my leadershi+p?”
Norbanus chuckled
”I insist on it!” he answered He, too, pointed at the row of gibbets
”To be frightened will provide us with no arainst destiny! There was little I had to lose; lo, I have left that for the mice to nibble!
Let us see what destiny can do to bold men! Lead on, sextus!”