Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/332

Rh &quot;The things these papers take into account—all of them: ships, houses, goods, camels, horses, money; the least as well as the greatest—give I back to thee, O Simonides, making them all thine, and sealing them to thee and thine forever.&quot;

Esther smiled through her tears; Ilderim pulled his beard with rapid motion, his eyes glistening like beads of jet. Simonides alone was calm.

&quot;Sealing them to thee and thine forever, Ben-Hur continued, with better control of himself, &quot;with one exception, and upon one condition.&quot;

The breath of the listeners waited upon his words. &quot;The hundred and twenty talents which were my father’s thou shalt return to me.&quot;

Ilderim’s countenance brightened.

&quot;And thou shalt join me in search of my mother and sister, holding all thine subject to the expense of discovery, even as I will hold mine.&quot;

Simonides was much affected. Stretching out his hand, he said, &quot;I see thy spirit, son of Hur, and I am grateful to the Lord that he hath sent thee to me such as thou art. If I served well thy father in life, and his memory afterwards, be not afraid of default to thee; yet must I say the exception cannot stand.&quot;

Exhibiting, then, the reserved sheet, he continued, &quot;Thou hast not all the account. Take this and read—read aloud.&quot;

Ben-Hur took the supplement, and read it.

&quot;Statement of the servants of Hur, rendered by Simonides, steward of the estate. &quot; 1. Amrah, Egyptian, keeping the palace in Jerusalem. &quot;2. Simonides, the steward, in Antioch. &quot;3. Esther, daughter of Simonides.&quot;

Now, in all his thoughts of Simonides, not once had it entered Ben-Hur’s mind that, by the law, a daughter followed the parent’s condition. In all his visions of her, the sweet-faced Esther had figured as the rival of the Egyptian, and an object of possible love. He shrank from the revelation so suddenly brought him, and looked at her blushing; and, blushing, she dropped her eyes before him. Then he said, while the papyrus rolled itself together,