"What is this I hear?" exclaimed Gaius; "I had hopes that you had been weaned from your folly, and would have been ready to follow the career I have marked out for you. Should I disown you and turn you out into the world, by what means can you support your miserable existence?"

"The Lord I desire to serve cares for those who love Him," answered Jovinian, without hesitation. "I have no fear of what man can do to me.

I speak with no disrespect to you, my uncle--I am ready to obey you in all things lawful."

"You are a foolish and obstinate boy," exclaimed Gaius. "I will, however, give you a further trial. Only do as I desire, and you may retain your Christian faith; but if you thwart my plans, I must use sterner measures than I have hitherto adopted. Perhaps ere long you will discover that I am not so much opposed to the faith of the Nazarenes as you now fancy."

Gains rose, and leaving Jovinian to reflect on what he had said, returned to the hall, where the other pontiffs were a.s.sembled to discuss the subject which now occupied all their thoughts.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

THE ESCAPE.

Jovinian's position became excessively trying. He was more strictly watched than before; it was evident that Gaius had lost all confidence in him. Still he did not abandon the hope of escaping; he did not wish to commit Eros, who, should he connive at his escape, would be severely punished; he had, however, hopes that the mind of the Numidian was gradually opening to spiritual truth. Whenever Gaius was abroad, and Eros had no fear of being interrupted, he entered Jovinian's room, and begged him to read from the wonderful book he possessed. This Jovinian gladly did, and the humble slave gradually began to comprehend the faith which his proud master rejected. Though Jovinian was convinced that Eros had become a true Christian, yet still he would not tempt him to a.s.sist in his escape. Eros had early become interested in his young captive; he was now deeply attached to him. He observed with an eye of affection that the confinement to which he was subjected was injuring his health. "He requires fresh air and exercise, and the society of those of like mind," Eros said to himself. "I must persuade the pontiff to let him go out as before, or, if my pet.i.tion is refused, I will run all risks, and give him his liberty. He has not asked me to set him free, because he believes I should be the sufferer; but, as he has given me the greatest blessing I can enjoy on earth, I am bound, in grat.i.tude, to enable him to do what his heart desires."

With these thoughts in his mind, Eros went to his master, and strongly urged that, unless the young Jovinian were allowed to go out and breathe the pure air, he would fall sick, and very likely die. His request was granted much more easily than he had expected.

"Take him forth, then," answered Gaius; "but beware, slave, lest the youth escape your vigilance; you will be answerable with your life for his safe custody."

"The life of the slave is in the hands of his master," answered Eros.

"The air is fresh and cool; a walk into the country will restore vigour to his limbs and the colour to his pale cheek."

"See to it, and let me hear a better account of him," observed the pontiff, as the slave left his presence.

"Joyful news I bring!" said Eros, as he entered the chamber; "we may set off without delay. Let me advise you not to leave your gospel behind, nor any article that you value."

Jovinian did not enquire why Eros gave this advice, but gladly accompanied the slave into the open air.

"In what direction shall we go?" he asked.

"We will take the way at the foot of the Palatine, and along the banks of the Tiber," answered Eros; "then round by the Aventine hill, and return home by the Flavian amphitheatre."

"That seems a somewhat long circuit to make," replied Jovinian.

"The fresh air will enable you to enjoy it, and possibly you may be induced to prolong your walk," replied the Numidian. Every step they took Jovinian felt inclined to proceed farther and farther. Instead, however, of following the road along the bank of the river, Eros turned off to the left, and pa.s.sing through the nearest gate of the city, struck directly across the country. They had gone on for some distance, when a female was seen approaching them. She stopped as she observed Jovinian. "Surely I know you!" she exclaimed, taking his hands, "though grown so much and become so manly. Have you forgotten Rufina?"

"No, indeed! never can I forget one who was ever so faithful to my beloved mother," answered Jovinian: "but how happens it that we have thus met?"

"I have long been watching for you," answered Rufina, in a low voice, drawing Jovinian aside. "There are some friends not far off who greatly desire to embrace you--one especially, by whom your mother Livia was greatly beloved: Eugenia, now the wife of the presbyter Severus--and should you desire to escape from the thraldom in which you are held, they will afford you a secure asylum where the pontiff Gaius can never find you. Fear not," she added, as she observed Jovinian glance towards Eros; "the Numidian will not stop you. I have communicated with him, and promised to secure his safety. Though he may not accompany you, he can no longer willingly serve a heathen master, and the price of his freedom has been provided."

"Can you a.s.sure me of this?" asked Jovinian. "Much as I desire to obtain my liberty, I would not risk the safety of Eros, now that he is a Christian; and terrible would be his punishment were Gaius to discover that he had willingly allowed me to escape."

"I will speak to him, and his answer shall convince you that I am not mistaken," said Rufina; and, advancing towards Eros, she told him what Jovinian had said, adding, "I will now bid you farewell."

"I desire not to impede you from going whithersoever you wish, though grieved that I may not accompany you," said Eros. "My prayer is that we shall soon meet again, and that I may serve you as a freedman; and I rejoice to know that no longer as a slave shall I be compelled to act the guard and spy upon you. Farewell, Jovinian: Rufina forbids me to follow your footsteps, or I would thankfully accompany you. But do not be alarmed about my safety; she has provided a refuge where I can remain concealed, for I would avoid the enmity of Gaius,--he is aware that I know too many of the secrets of the college to allow me to retain my liberty, or even my life, could he get me into his power."

Jovinian, satisfied on hearing that Eros was cared for, followed Rufina, who hastily led him along over the uncultivated country, which even in her palmiest days surrounded the city, till they reached one of the entrances to those subterranean labyrinths which have already been described. Jovinian followed her without hesitation; he had been well acquainted with them in his younger days, when he had dwelt in concealment with his mother and many other Christians. A well-trimmed lamp, which Rufina found within, enabled her to guide him through the intricate turnings of the labyrinth. Although several years had elapsed since he had entered them, he recognised, as they went along, many of the tombs of those who had departed in the faith. She stopped suddenly before one of them; he read the inscription on it. "Livia, the well-beloved! She rests in Christ." The symbol above it was a dove, with an anchor carved on its breast. He gazed at it earnestly, and knew at once that it indicated his mother's tomb.

"They brought her here to rest in peace, as she desired. And may I ever possess that sure and certain hope, the anchor of the soul, which enabled her to endure without wavering the storms and trials of life,"

he mused.

Rufina stopped to throw a light on the slab, unwilling to interrupt his meditations, and remained without speaking. At length she observed, "We must hurry on, or the oil in the lamp may be exhausted before we reach our destination."

They continued their course, proceeding along several galleries,--now descending some flights of steps, now ascending others,--till they reached a slab of stone, which resembled many they had pa.s.sed, let into the wall, with rude inscriptions on them. Rufina knocked three times on the slab with a small mallet which she carried in her basket. Placing her ear against the slab, she listened, when, in the course of a few minutes, she heard the sound of a bolt being withdrawn, and the stone slowly swung back, allowing an opening sufficiently large for a person to pa.s.s through. Rufina taking the hand of her young companion, they entered, when the slab was immediately closed behind them. So rapid had been their movements, that to any one following them they would seem to have vanished. The janitor, a humble fossor, after saluting Rufina as a sister, led them on to the end of a long pa.s.sage, when another door, of a similar character to the first, being opened for them to pa.s.s through, they found themselves, after advancing a short distance further, at the entrance of a small hall, from the roof of which hung a silver lamp, its rays casting a pale light on several persons a.s.sembled within. Jovinian hung back, not recognising those he saw before him; but no sooner had Rufina stated who he was than he heard himself greeted by friendly voices.

"Welcome, son of our well-beloved: thou hast been faithful as she was!"

said the aged Gentia.n.u.s, who was seated at a table in the centre of the hall. He drew Jovinian towards him, and placing his hand on the lad's head, gazed into his face as he spoke. "We indeed rejoice that you have escaped from the power of the pontiff Gaius, and still more that you have resisted the temptations he offered you to depart from the faith.

May the Holy Spirit ever strengthen and support you in the fiery trials you may be called on to go through. The mystery of iniquity doth already work, and who shall escape its toils? Those alone who cling fast to Christ. May you be among them, my son!"

Much more to the same effect was said by the patrician Gentia.n.u.s, when his daughter Eugenia, and her husband Severus, advancing, welcomed Jovinian. His mother's dearest friend was well disposed to treat him with affection. By her side was a young girl--her daughter Julia. As the maiden took his hand, Jovinian gazed at her with admiration. Her lovely features beamed with intelligence, and the light of Christian virtue. Firm in the faith, had the days of persecution returned she would have been ready to suffer martyrdom rather than renounce the Saviour who had bought her. Since their childhood Jovinian and Julia had not met, for Gentia.n.u.s and his household had resided far away to the south, on the sunny slopes of the Apennines, where he and Severus had devoted themselves to the spreading of the truth among their heathen neighbours of all ranks. They had lately returned, called by important business, both secular and on matters relating to the Church; but, warned of the undying hostility of Coecus the pontiff, they had judged it prudent to take up their residence in their former abode, whence, undiscovered, they could communicate freely with their friends in the city, and afford an asylum to those Christian converts who might be compelled to escape from the malice of their idolatrous relatives.

There was persecution even in those days; for though heathenism, as a system, was crumbling away, and few of the better educated or wealthy believed in the myths of the G.o.ds of Olympus, yet many clung to the ancient faith, or rather to its form, simply because it was ancient, and their ancestors were supposed to have believed in it. These persons in most instances treated with supreme contempt, and often with great cruelty, any of their relatives or dependents who openly professed a belief in Christ, refusing to have any transactions with them, and endeavouring to ruin or drive them into exile. Still more terrible were the penalties inflicted by the sacerdotal orders on any of their number who, abandoning idolatry, embraced the truth. If unable to escape from Rome, the dagger or poison too generally overtook them. Their safest place of refuge was in the subterranean galleries in which Jovinian now found himself. Thus it happened that he met numerous visitors at the abode of Gentia.n.u.s. He had been conversing with his old friends, when he saw emerging into the light a lady of radiant beauty, habited in white, without the slightest ornament on her dress or head, a purple band round her forehead confining her close-cut hair. A second glance convinced him that he had seen her before, seated in a silver chariot on the day of the procession.

"Who is she?" he asked of Julia.

"She is the vestal Marcia," was the answer. "Already the light of truth has entered the dark recesses of the temple; Marcia has received it, and would escape from the thraldom in which she is held, but that she has a young sister, Coelia, also a vestal, who is yet undecided. Coelia has heard the Gospel, and imbibed many of its truths, but the shackles of superst.i.tion are still around her; and while she dreads the malignity of Coecus should he discover that her faith in the false G.o.ddess has been shaken, she cannot resolve on flight. Marcia has come to seek counsel of Gentia.n.u.s on the matter."

"Surely he will advise her to urge her sister no longer to delay!" urged Jovinian. "Would that I could tell her all that I know of that fearful man! He will hesitate at no deed, however dark, so that he may attain his ends."

Taking Jovinian's hand, Julia, rapid in all her actions, made him known to Marcia. He, being under no vow of secrecy with regard to the aims of the pontiffs, briefly explained them to her.

"And are such the men who have so long directed the rites and ceremonies of the time-honoured religion of Rome!" she exclaimed. "Alas! how have we been duped. They themselves do not even believe in the false G.o.ds they pretend to worship."

"Not only have they long held sway over the religious affairs of idolatrous Rome, but will continue to lead and govern in our future Rome, unless her sons and daughters adhere to the simple truths of our holy faith as taught by the apostles in the blessed Gospel," said Gentia.n.u.s, solemnly.

These words sank deeply into Jovinian's mind. He never forgot them.

The vestal Marcia, having a dark robe thrown over her white dress, conducted by the guide--a Christian slave like Rufina, who had brought her to the abode of Gentia.n.u.s--returned to the temple of Vesta.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

RELICS.

Several days pa.s.sed by. The small company in this remote portion of those vast galleries waited anxiously for news from the upper world.

They had themselves no fear of discovery; for treachery alone, which they had no cause to dread, could betray their retreat. Other parts, however, of that underground labyrinth were frequently visited by large numbers of Christians from the city; and that he might converse with them, Severus, accompanied by Jovinian, guided by an aged fossor, traversed the galleries in various directions. What he saw and heard caused him deep grief as he pa.s.sed by the groups he here and there found a.s.sembled. Some had come to visit the tombs of relatives or friends slain during the Diocletian persecutions, or who had died in later days.

They were standing with arms outstretched, and open palms. Several were praying aloud. Severus stopped to listen.

"Cease, friend, cease, I entreat you!" he exclaimed. "Is it possible that you, a Christian, can be addressing the spirit of a departed brother? Have you so learnt Christ? Know you not that His ear is ever open to our prayers; that His heart beats in sympathy with all in distress; and that you are dishonouring Him by attempting to employ any other mediator between G.o.d the Father and ourselves than our one sole great High-priest, the risen Saviour of the world!"

Some to whom Severus spoke stared without answering; others defended the practice, which had lately, copied from the heathens, been creeping in among professing Christians; a few only listened respectfully to the arguments the presbyter brought against it.

Severus and his companions pa.s.sed on till they reached some vaults, or rather enlargements of the galleries. Here numerous persons were a.s.sembled, employed in eating and drinking before the tombs contained within the walls. They were holding love-feasts in commemoration of their departed friends; but already the simplicity of the custom had been changed, as was shown by the flushed brows of several of the revellers; while some, more abstemious, were kneeling or prostrate on the ground, offering up prayers to the dead martyrs.

Severus, before pa.s.sing on, warned them of their sin and folly. "O foolish people, whence have you derived these revellings, this custom of praying to the dead? Surely from the idolaters by whom you are surrounded!" he exclaimed. "Instead of being lights shining in the midst of a dark world, you have become as the blind leaders of the blind. Beware, lest the light you have be altogether taken away!"

Guided by the aged fossor, he and his companions made their way to those parts where in the days of the earlier persecutions the bodies of the few martyrs which had been rescued by their friends had been deposited.

Great was the astonishment of Severus to find several persons with pickaxes and spades engaged in breaking open the tombs, and placing the mouldering remains in metal and wooden boxes.