For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And thou hast given them blood to drink, For they are worthy.
Even so, Lord G.o.d Almighty, True and righteous are thy judgments!"
But now murmurs and cries and shouts pa.s.sed around. Soon the cause of the disturbance became known.
"It is an accursed Christian"--"It is the fanatic Cinna"--"He has been confined four days without, food"--"Bring him out"--"Throw him to the tiger!"
Shouts and execrations arose on high and mingled in one vast roar. The tiger leaped in frenzy around. The keepers within heard the words of the mult.i.tude and hurried to obey.
Soon the gratings opened. The victim was thrust in.
Fearfully emaciated and ghastly pale, he tottered forward with tremulous steps. His eyes had an unearthly l.u.s.ter, his cheeks a burning flush, and his neglected hair and long beard were matted in a tangled ma.s.s.
The tiger saw him, and came leaping toward him. Then at a little distance away the furious beast crouched. The boy arose from his knees and looked. But Cinna saw no tiger. He fixed his eyes on the mult.i.tude, and waving his withered arm on high he shouted in the same tone of menace:
"Woe! woe! woe to the inhabitants of the earth--"
His voice was hushed in blood. There was a leap, a fall, and all was over.
And now the tiger turned toward the boy. His thirst for blood was fully aroused; with bristling hair, flaming eyes, and sweeping tail he stood facing his prey.
The boy saw that the end was coming, and again fell upon his knees. The crowd was hushed to stillness, and awaited in deep excitement the new scene of slaughter. The man who had been gazing so intently now rose upward and stood erect, still watching the scene below. Loud cries arose from behind him which increased still louder, "Down," "down," "sit down," "you obstruct the view!"
But the man either did not hear or else purposely disregarded it. At length the crowd grew so noisy that the officers below turned to see the cause.
Lucullus was one of them. Turning round he saw the whole scene. He started and grew pale as death.
"Marcellus!" he cried. For a moment he staggered back, but soon recovering he hurried away to the scene of the disturbance.
But now a deep murmur broke forth from the mult.i.tude. The tiger, who had been walking round and round the boy, lashing himself to greater fury, now crouched for a spring.
The boy arose. A seraphic expression was upon his face. His eyes beamed with a lofty enthusiasm. He saw no longer the arena, the high surrounding walls, the far-extending seats with innumerable faces; he saw no more the relentless eyes of the cruel spectators, or the gigantic form of his savage enemy. [See Frontispiece.]
Already his soaring spirit seemed to enter into the golden gates of the New Jerusalem, and the ineffable glory of the noonday of heaven gleamed upon his sight.
"Mother, I come to thee! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
His words sounded clearly and sweetly upon the ears of the mult.i.tude.
They ceased, and the tiger sprang. The next moment these was nothing but a struggling ma.s.s half hidden in clouds of dust.
The struggle ended. The tiger started back, the sand was red with blood, and upon it lay the mangled form of the true-hearted, the n.o.ble Pollio.
Then amid the silence that followed there came forth a shout that sounded like a trumpet peal and startled every one in the a.s.sembly:
"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? . . .
Thanks be to G.o.d who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
A thousand men rose with a simultaneous burst of rage and indignation.
Ten thousand hands were outstretched toward the bold intruder.
"A Christian"--"A Christian"--"To the flames with him"--"Throw him to the tiger"--"Hurl him into the arena!"
Such were the shouts that answered the cry. Lucullus reached the spot just in time to rescue Marcellus from a crowd of infuriated Romans, who were about to tear him in pieces. The tiger below was not more fierce, more bloodthirsty than they. Lucullus rushed among them, dashing them to the right and left as a keeper among wild beasts.
Overawed by his authority they fell back, and soldiers approached.
Lucullus gave Marcellus in charge to them, and led the company out of the amphitheater.
Outside he took charge of the prisoner himself. The soldiers followed them.
"Alas, Marcellus! was it well to throw away your life?"
"I spoke from the impulse of the moment. That dear boy whom I loved died before my eyes! I could not restrain myself. Yet I do not repent. I, too, am ready to lay down my life for my King and my G.o.d."
"I cannot reason with you. You are beyond the reach of argument."
"I did not intend to betray myself, but since it is done I am content.
Nay, I am glad, and I rejoice that it is my lot to suffer for my Redeemer."
"Alas, my friend! Have you no regard for life?"
"I love my Saviour better than life."
"See, Marcellus, the road before us is open. You can run quickly. Fly and be saved."
Lucullus spoke this in a hurried whisper.
The soldiers were some twenty paces behind. The chances were all in favor of escape. Marcellus pressed the hand of his friend.
"No, Lucullus. I would not gain life by your dishonor. I love the warm heart that prompted it, but you shall not be led into difficulty by your friendship for me."
Lucullus sighed, and walked on in silence.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TEMPTATION.
"All this will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
That night Lucullus remained in the cell with his friend. He sought by every possible argument to shake his resolution. He appealed to every motive that commonly influences men. He left no means of persuasion unused.
All in vain. The faith of Marcellus was too firmly fixed. It was founded on the Rock of Ages, and neither the storm of violent threats nor the more tender influences of friendship could weaken his determination.
"No," said he, "my course is taken and my choice is made. Come weal, come woe, I must follow it out to the end. I know all that is before me.
I have weighed all the consequences of my action, but in spite of all I will continue as I have begun."
"It is but a small thing that I ask," said Lucullus. "I do not wish you to give up this religion forever, but only for the present. A terrible persecution is now raging, and before its fury all must fall, whether young or old, high or low. You have seen that no cla.s.s or age is respected. Pollio would have been saved if it had been possible. There was a strong sympathy in his favor. He was young, and scarcely accountable for his errors; he was also n.o.ble, the last of an ancient family. But the law was inexorable, and he suffered its penalty. Cinna, too, might have been overlooked. He was neither more nor less than a madman. But so vehement is the zeal against Christians that even his evident madness was no security whatever for him."