Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/323

Rh Ilderim rolled the papyrus carefully, restored it to its envelopes, and became once more all energy.

&quot;What sayest thou?&quot; he asked, while waiting for his horse and retinue. &quot;I told what I would do, were I thou, and thou hast made no answer.&quot;

&quot;I intended to answer, sheik, and I will.&quot; Ben-Hur’s countenance and voice changed with the feeling invoked. &quot;All thou hast said, I will do—all at least in the power of a man. I devoted myself to vengeance long ago. Every hour of the five years passed I have lived with no other thought. I have taken no respite. I have had no pleasures of youth. The blandishments of Rome were not for me. I wanted her to educate me for revenge. I resorted to her most famous masters and professors not those of rhetoric or philosophy: alas! I had no time for them. The arts essential to a fighting-man were my desire. I associated with gladiators, and with winners of prizes in the Circus; and they were my teachers. The drill-masters in the great camp accepted me as a scholar, and were proud of my attainments in their line. O sheik, I am a soldier; but the things of which I dream require me to be a captain. With that thought, I have taken part in the campaign against the Parthians; when it is over, then, if the Lord spare my life and strength—then&quot;—he raised his clenched hands, and spoke vehemently—&quot;then I will be an enemy Roman-taught in all things; then Rome shall account to me in Roman lives for her ills. You have my answer, sheik.&quot;

Ilderim put an arm over his shoulder, and kissed him, saying, passionately, &quot;If thy God favor thee not, son of Hur, it is because he is dead. Take thou this from me—sworn to, if so thy preference run: thou shalt have my hands, and their fulness—men, horses, camels, and the desert for preparation. I swear it! For the present, enough. Thou shalt see or hear from me before night.&quot;

Turning abruptly off, the sheik was speedily on the road to the city.