Gentle stranger, how fares it with thee?
Very well, my lord. I come to thank thee for all thy goodness. My only thanks are words, and those too weak; and yet the orphans blessing is a treasure.
You are an orphan, then
I have no parent but my fathers God.
And that God is
The God of Israel.
So I deemed. He is a Deity we all must honour; if he be the great Creator whom we all allow.
He is what he is, and we are what we are, a fallen people, but faithful still.
Fidelity is strength.
Thy words are truth, and strength must triumph.
A prophecy!
Many a prophet is little honoured, till the future proves his inspiration.
You are young and sanguine.
So was my ancestor within the vale of Elah. But I speak unto a Moslem, and this is foolishness.
I have read something, and can take your drift. As for my faith, I believe in truth, and wish all men to do the same. By-the-bye, might I inquire the name of him who is the inmate of my house?
They call me David.
David, you have a ring, an emerald cut with curious characters, Hebrew, I believe.
Tis here.
A fine stone, and this inscription means
A simple legend, Parted, but one; the kind memorial of a brothers love.
Your brother?
I never had a brother.
I have a silly fancy for this ring: you hesitate. Search my palace, and choose the treasure you deem its match.
Noble sir, the gem is little worth; but were it such might deck a Caliphs brow, twere a poor recompense for all thy goodness. This ring is a trust rather than a possession, and strange to say, although I cannot offer it to thee who mayst command, as thou hast saved, the life of its unhappy wearer, some stranger may cross my path to-morrow, and almost claim it as his own.
And that stranger is
The brother of the donor.
The brother of Jabaster?
Jabaster!
Even so. I am that parted brother.
Great is the God of Israel! Take the ring. But what is this? the brother of Jabaster a turbaned chieftain! a Moslem! Say, but say, that thou hast not assumed their base belief; say, but say, that thou hast not become a traitor to our covenant, and I will bless the fortunes of this hour.
I am false to no God. Calm thyself, sweet youth. These are higher questions than thy faint strength can master now. Another time well talk of this, my boy; at present of my brother and thyself. He lives and prospers?
He lives in faith; the pious ever prosper.
A glorious dreamer! Though our moods are different, I ever loved him. And thyself? Thou art not what thou seemest. Tell me all. Jabasters friend can be no common mind. Thy form has heralded thy fame. Trust me.
I am Alroy.
What! the Prince of our Captivity?
Even so.
The slayer of Alschiroch?
Ay!
My sympathy was prophetic. I loved thee from the first. And what dost thou here? A price is set upon thy head: thou knowest it?
For the first time; but I am neither astonished nor alarmed. I am upon the Lords business.
What wouldst thou?
Free his people.
The pupil of Jabaster: I see it all. Another victim to his reveries. Ill save this boy. David,for thy name must not be sounded within this city,the sun is dying. Let us to the terrace, and seek the solace of the twilight breeze.
What is the hour, David?
Near to midnight. I marvel if thy brother may read in the stars our happy meeting.
Men read that which they wish. He is a learned Cabalist.
But what we wish comes from above.
So they say. We make our fortunes, and we call them Fate.
Yet the Voice sounded, the Daughter of the Voice that summoned Samuel.
You have told me strange things; I have heard stranger solved.
My faith is a rock.
On which you may split.
Art thou a Sadducee?
I am a man who knows men.
You are learned, but different from Jabaster.
We are the same, though different. Day and Night are both portions of Time.
And thy portion is
Truth.
That is, light.
Yes; so dazzling that it sometimes seems dark.
Like thy meaning.
You are young.
Is youth a defect?
No, the reverse. But we cannot eat the fruit while the tree is in blossom.
What fruit?
Knowledge.
I have studied.
What?
All sacred things.
How know you that they are sacred?
They come from God.
So does everything. Is everything sacred?
They are the deep expression of his will.
According to Jabaster. Ask the man who prays in yonder mosque, and he will tell you that Jabasters wrong.
After all, thou art a Moslem?
No.
What then?
I have told you, a man.
But what dost thou worship?
What is worship?
Adoration due from the creature to the Creator.
Which is he?
Our God.
The God of Israel?
Even so.
A frail minority, then, burn incense to him.
We are the chosen people.
Chosen for scoffs, and scorns, and contumelies. Commend me to such choice.
We forgot Him, before He chastened us.
Why did we?
Thou knowest the records of our holy race.
Yes, I know them; like all records, annals of blood.
Annals of victory, that will dawn again.
If redemption be but another name for carnage, I envy no Messiah.
Art thou Jabasters brother? So our mother was wont to say: a meek and blessed woman.
Lord Honain, thou art rich, and wise, and powerful. Thy fellow-men speak of thee only with praise or fear, and both are cheering. Thou hast quitted our antique ark; why, no matter. Well not discuss it. Tis something; if a stranger, at least thou art not a renegade. The world goes well with thee, my Lord Honain. But if, instead of bows and blessings, thou, like thy brethren, wert greeted only with the cuff and curse; if thou didst rise each morning only to feel existence to be dishonour, and to find thyself marked out among surrounding men as something foul and fatal; if it were thy lot, like theirs, at best to drag on a mean and dull career, hopeless and aimless, or with no other hope or aim but that which is degrading, and all this, too, with a keen sense of thy intrinsic worth, and a deep conviction of superior race; why, then, perchance, Honain might even discover twere worth a struggle to be free and honoured. I pray your pardon, sir; I thought you were Jabasters pupil, a dreaming student. I see you have a deep ambition.
I am a prince; and I fain would be a prince without my fetters.
Listen to me, Alroy, said Honain in a low voice, and he placed his arm around him, I am your friend. Our acquaintance is very brief: no matter, I love you; I rescued you in injury, I tended you in sickness, even now your life is in my power, I would protect it with my own. You cannot doubt me. Our affections are not under our own control; and mine are yours. The sympathy between us is entire. You see me, you see what I am; a Hebrew, though unknown; one of that despised, rejected, persecuted people, of whom you are the chief. I too would be free and honoured. Freedom and honour are mine, but I was my own messiah. I quitted in good time our desperate cause, but I gave it a trial. Ask Jabaster how I fought. Youth could be my only excuse for such indiscretion. I left this country; I studied and resided among the Greeks. I returned from Constantinople, with all their learning, some of their craft. No one knew me. I assumed their turban, and I am the Lord Honain. Take my experience, child, and save yourself much sorrow. Turn your late adventure to good account. No one can recognise you here. I will introduce you amongst the highest as my child by some fair Greek. The world is before you. You may fight, you may love, you may revel. War, and Women, and luxury are all at your command. With your person and talents you may be grand vizir. Clear your head of nonsense. In the present disordered state of the empire, you may even carve yourself out a kingdom, infinitely more delightful than the barren land of milk and honey. I have seen it, child; a rocky wilderness, where I would not let my courser graze.