第 9 页

violation of the oath is death. It is so put in our rules. But we are

all nobles of Carthage, and nobles do not break their oaths, so we

can let that pass. When a man's word is good enough to make him beggar

himself in order to discharge a wager, he can be trusted to keep his

word in a matter which concerns the lives of a score of his fellows. And

now that this business is arranged we can go on with our talk; but first

let us have some wine, for all this talking is thirsty work at best."

The young men threw themselves upon the couches around the room and,

while slaves brought round wine, chatted lightly with each other about

horses, the play presented the day before, the respective merits of the

reigning beauties of Carthage, and other similar topics, and Malchus,

who was impressed with the serious nature of the secret conspiracy which

he had just sworn to aid, could not help being surprised at the careless

gaiety of the young men, although engaged in a conspiracy in which they

risked their lives.

It was not until some minutes after the slaves had left the apartment

that the light talk and banter ceased, as Giscon rose and said:

"Now to business. Malchus has told me that an old fisherman, who took

a lead in stirring up his fellows to declare for Hannibal, has been

decoyed away from his home and murdered; his body has been found

floating in the lake, strangled. This is the nineteenth in the course of

a week. These acts are spreading terror among the working classes, and

unless they are put a stop to we can no longer expect assistance from

them.

"That these deeds are the work of the officials of the tribunals we have

no doubt. The sooner we strike the better. Matters are getting ripe. I

have eight men sworn into my section among the weavers, and need but

two more to complete it. We will instruct our latest recruit to raise

a section among the fishermen. The sons of the man just murdered should

form a nucleus. We agreed from the first that three hundred resolute

men besides ourselves were required, and that each of us should raise

a section of ten. Malchus brings up our number here to thirty, and when

all the sections are filled up we shall be ready for action.

"Failure ought to be impossible. The houses of Hanno and thirty of his

party will be attacked, and the tyrants slain before any alarm can be

given. Another thirty at least should be slain before the town is fairly

aroused. Maybe each section can undertake three if our plans are well

laid, and each chooses for attack three living near each other. We have

not yet settled whether it will be better to separate when this is

done, content with the first blow against our tyrants, or to prepare

beforehand for a popular rising, to place ourselves at the head of the

populace, and to make a clean sweep of the judges and the leaders of

Hanno's party."

Giscon spoke in an ordinary matter-of-fact tone, as if he were

discussing the arrangements of a party of pleasure; but Malchus could

scarcely repress a movement of anxiety as he heard this proposal for the

wholesale destruction of the leading men of Carthage. The council thus

opened was continued for three hours. Most of those present spoke, but,

to the surprise of Malchus, there was an entire absence of that gloom

and mystery with which the idea of a state conspiracy was associated in

his mind.

The young men discussed it earnestly, indeed, but in the same spirit

in which they would have agreed over a disputed question as to the

respective merits of two horses. They laughed, joked, offered and

accepted wagers and took the whole matter with a lightness of heart

which Malchus imitated to the best of his power, but which he was very

far from feeling; and yet he felt that beneath all this levity his

companions were perfectly in earnest in their plans, but they joked now

as they would have joked before the commencement of a battle in which

the odds against them were overwhelming and great.

Even Giscon, generally grave and gloomy, was as light hearted as the

rest. The aristocracy of Carthage were, like the aristocracy of all

other countries, from tradition, training, and habit, brave to excess.

Just as centuries later the noblesse of France chatted gaily on the

tumbril on their way to execution, and offered each other their snuff

boxes on the scaffold, so these young aristocrats of Carthage smiled and

jested, though well aware that they were risking their lives.

No decision was arrived at, for this could only be decided upon at

a special meeting, at which all the members of the society would

be present. Among those now in council opinions were nearly equally

divided. The one party urged that, did they take steps to prepare the

populace for a rising, a rumour would be sure to meet the ears of their

opponents and they would be on their guard; whereas, if they scattered

quickly after each section had slain two of their tyrants, the operation

might be repeated until all the influential men of Hanno's faction had

been removed.

In reply to these arguments the other party urged that delays were

always dangerous, that huge rewards would be offered after the first

attempts, that some of the men of the sections might turn traitors, that

Hanno's party would be on their guard in future, and that the judges

would effect wholesale arrests and executions; whereas, were the

populace appealed to in the midst of the excitement which would be

caused by the death of Hanno and his principal adherents, the people

would rise and finish with their tyrants.

After all who wished to speak on the subject had given their opinions,

they proceeded to details; each gave a statement of the number of men

enrolled in his section, with a few words as to the disposition of each.

Almost without an exception each of these men was animated with a

sense of private wrong. Some had lost near relatives, executed for some

trifling offence by the tribunals, some had been ruined by the extortion

of the tax gatherers. All were stated to be ready to give their lives

for vengeance.

"These agents of ours, you see, Malchus, are not for the most part

animated by any feeling of pure patriotism, it is their own wrongs and

not the injuries of Carthage which they would avenge. But we must take

them as we find them; one cannot expect any deep feeling of patriotism

on the part of the masses, who, it must be owned, have no very great

reason to feel any lively interest in the glories of the republic. So

that they eat and drink sufficiently, and can earn their living, it

matters not very greatly to them whether Carthage is great and glorious,

or humbled and defeated. But this will not always be so. When we have

succeeded in ridding Carthage of her tyrants we must next do all we can

so to raise the condition of the common people that they may feel that

they too have a common interest in the fate of our country. I should

not, of course, propose giving to them a vote; to bestow the suffrage

upon the ignorant, who would simply follow the demagogues who would use

them as tools, would be the height of madness. The affairs of state, the

government of the country, the making of the laws, must be solely in

the hands of those fitted for the task--of the men who, by education,

by birth, by position, by study and by leisure have prepared their minds

for such a charge. But the people should share in the advantages of

a good government; they should not be taxed more than they could

reasonably pay, and any tax gatherers who should extort a penny beyond

the legal amount should be disgraced and punished.

"The courts should be open to all, the judges should be impartial and

incorruptible; every man should have his rights and his privileges, then

each man, feeling an interest in the stability of the state, would

be ready to bear arms in its defence, and Carthage, instead of being

dependent entirely upon her tributaries and mercenaries, would be able

to place a great army in the field by her own unaided exertions.

"The barbarian tribes would cease to revolt, knowing that success would

be hopeless. And as we should be strong at home we should be respected

abroad, and might view without apprehension the rising power of Rome.

There is plenty of room for both of us. For us, Africa and Spain; for

her all the rest of Europe and as much of Asia as she cares to take. We

could look without jealousy at each other's greatness, each secure in

his own strength and power. Yes, there may be a grand future before

Carthage yet."

The meeting now broke up.

"Where are you going, Malchus?" Giscon asked the lad as they went out

into the courtyard; "to see the sacrifices? You know there is a grand

function today to propitiate Moloch and to pray for victory for our

arms."

"No," Malchus said with a shudder. "I don't think I am a coward, Giscon,

but these terrible rites frighten me. I was taken once by my father, and

I then swore that never again, unless it be absolutely necessary for me

in the performance of public office, will I be present at such a scene.

For weeks afterwards I scarcely slept; day and night there was before

me that terrible brazen image of Moloch. If I fell off to sleep, I woke

bathed in perspiration as I heard the screams of the infants as they

were dropped into those huge hands, heated to redness, stretched out to

receive them. I cannot believe, Giscon, that the gods are so cruel.

"Then there was the slaughter of a score of captives taken in war. I

see them now, standing pale and stern, with their eyes directed to the

brazen image which was soon to be sprinkled with their blood, while the

priests in their scarlet robes, with the sacrificial knives in hand,

approached them. I saw no more, for I shut my eyes till all was over.

I tell you again, Giscon, I do not believe the gods are so cruel. Why

should the gods of Phoenicia and Carthage alone demand blood? Those

of Greece and Rome are not so bloodthirsty, and yet Mars gives as many

victories to the Roman arms as Moloch does to ours."

"Blaspheme not the gods, Malchus," Giscon said gloomily; "you may be

sure that the wreath of a conquering general will never be placed around

your brow if you honour them not."

"If honouring them means approval of shedding the blood of infants and

captives, I will renounce all hopes of obtaining victory by their aid."

"I would you had spoken so before, Malchus; had I known that you were

a scorner of the gods I would not have asked you to join in our

enterprise. No good fortune can be expected to attend our efforts unless

we have the help of the gods."

"The matter is easily mended, Giscon," Malchus said calmly. "So far

I have taken no step towards carrying out your plans, and have but

listened to what you said, therefore, no harm can yet have been done.

Strike my name off the list, and forget that I have been with you. You

have my oath that I will say nought of anything that I have heard. You

can well make some excuse to your comrades. Tell them, for example, that

though I fear not for myself, I thought that, being the son of Hamilcar,

I had no right to involve his name and family in such an enterprise,

unless by his orders."

"Yes, it were better so," Giscon said after a pause; "I dare not

continue the enterprise with one who condemns the gods among us; it

would be to court failure. I did not dream of this; who could have

thought that a lad of your age would have been a spurner of the gods?"

"I am neither a condemner nor a spurner," Malchus said indignantly; "I

say only that I believe you worship them wrongfully, that you do them

injustice. I say it is impossible that the gods who rule the world

can have pleasure in the screams of dying infants or the groans of

slaughtered men."

Giscon placed his hand to his ears as if to shut out such blasphemy,

and hurried away, while Malchus, mounting his horse, rode out slowly and

thoughtfully to his father's villa. He was not at heart sorry that he

was freed from this association into which, without knowing the measures

by which it intended to carry out its aims, he had rashly entered. He

was ready for armed insurrection against the tyrants of Carthage, but he

revolted from the thought of this plan for a midnight massacre--it was

not by such means that he would have achieved the regeneration of his

country. He felt, too, that the reason which he had given Giscon was a

valid one. He had no right, at his age, to involve his family in such a

conspiracy. Did it fail, and were he found to be among the conspirators,

Hanno and his associates would be sure to seize the fact as a pretext

for assailing Hamilcar. They would say that Malchus would never have

joined in such a plot had he not known that it had the approval of his

father, and that he was in fact but the representative of his family in

the design for overthrowing the constitution of the republic.

Fortunately for Malchus, a few days later orders were given for the

instant embarkation of a portion of the reinforcements destined for

Hannibal. Hamilcar was to proceed in command of them, and, busied

with his preparation for the start, Malchus thought little more of the

conspiracy which was brewing. Thirty large merchant ships were hired

to convey the troops, who numbered six thousand. These were principally

Libyan footmen. The main body, with the Numidian horse, were to follow

shortly. At last the day for embarkation arrived, and the troops defiled

through the temple of Moloch, where sacrifices were offered up for the

success of the enterprise.

Malchus, under the pretense that something was not ready, at the last

moment lingered at home, and only joined his comrades, a hundred young

men of the Carthaginian horse, on the quays. This body, all composed

of young men of the best families of Carthage, were to sail in the same

ship which carried Hamilcar. The scene was a busy one--the docks

of Carthage were extensive, and the ships which were to convey the