THE SACRED HOUNDS
When the night advanced, Chios went his way to the Sacred Grove of Hecate. Once near the walls surrounding it, he sprang over and was soon among the trees.
The night was still; no sound was heard save the shriek of the hawk and the cry of the hounds of the goddess.
Which way should he take? Would she come to sacrifice? What should he do—should he give up this foolhardy expedition and retrace his steps? No; a strange fascination drew him onwards. Step by step he moved forward until he drew nigh to the marble Temple of the night goddess—a lonely man amidst the great solitude, and shadowed by the lofty pines. No thunderings or voices or lightnings came from the sombre pile; a great bird wheeled by, nearly touching him, shrieking as it flew like the spirit of a wandering soul.
Whilst wondering what to do, he heard the sound of barking dogs; it came nearer, nearer still; they would soon be upon him. Escape there was none. He looked for refuge: the trees were tall and mighty, and no foothold to ascend. He hid behind the great trunk of the nearest, and was no sooner there than a pack of the fiercest hell-hounds came rushing down the gloomy way. Swiftly they came. The leaders went past him; troop after troop swept by in great masses, until they seemed to be without end.
Verily they had an object, for the foremost ones turned and were coming back towards him. Some had left the beaten track and were scouring between the trees. Evidently they had scented him, and in a second or two the foremost brute stood near him with foaming mouth and eyes of fire.
For a moment only it stood; the next it was upon Chios and received the dagger of the Greek firmly embedded in its heart. Rolling over, it uttered a dismal howl and died. Two others were upon him. He grasped his cloak, wound it around his arm over his hand and thrust it into one animal's mouth, and with one wrench dislocated its jaw. With the right hand free, he met the third and plunged his dagger into its side until it fell back goaded with pain, and in the throes of death sent forth terrific wails, at which the doors of the Temple were thrown open. A light streamed down the pathway, lighting up the fierce combat between man and beasts. The priests uttered a peculiar call, and every hound was immediately obedient; not one left its post, but drew up in a circle around Chios, preventing any chance of escape. Torches flamed, and many men came towards the place of conflict.
One of the priests stepped forward, and beheld the Greek covered with blood, and still clutching his jewelled dagger.
The priest cried:
'What dost thou here on holy ground, surrounded by the hounds of the goddess and the slain around thee? Knowest thou the penalty is death? Surrender! or we let loose the hounds that they tear thee limb from limb. Surrender! we say. Thou shalt have trial, that justice may be done, and we may know whether or not thou camest hither by mischance.'
'I surrender. Not that I fear your hounds or death—I surrender because I have no right here.'
'Art thou a stranger?'
'No.'
'Who art thou, then, besmeared with the blood of the consecrated beasts?'
'I am Chios.'
'Chios!' shouted the priests. 'What doest thou here?'
'That is my business,' replied he.
'Arrest Chios the Greek!' cried the chief.
Chios put up his dagger into its sheath, and, surrounded by the torch-bearing priests and the hounds following, he walked towards the Temple of Hecate. They led him to the rear of the building, and opening the door of a cell cut into the solid rock, they thrust him in, and the hounds wailed and kept guard the long night through.
How long he slept he knew not. When he awoke, a ray of light pierced through between the joints of the doorway, and he knew the day had come, and probably his fate.
It was about the ninth hour, and by this time the priests and priestesses of Diana's fane knew of the arrest of the Greek for penetrating the mysterious grove of Hecate, and slaying the sacred hounds.
What could this strange proceeding mean? All were horror-stricken. None could solve the reason of his being there.
Chios, above all others—Chios, one of the best beloved in Ephesus, guilty of such a thing!
The news of this strange adventure flew from tongue to tongue until it penetrated the conversation of all the people, from the place where the philosophers gathered to the Acropolis on the summit of Mount Pion, where the Roman soldiers guarded the heights.
From the Temple of Apollo at Claros to the shrines at Phygela nothing was so much spoken about as the sin of Chios the Greek.
As the day grew this event gained in intensity, and many were the interpretations of his presence there.
The people were divided. Those who were devout worshippers of the great goddess, jealous of his leanings toward the Christians, said it was a conspiracy on behalf of the hated sect to burn the Temple, and he ought to die. Others were more lenient, and looked suspiciously on his being within the Sacred Grove, and thought when on his trial all might be explained. But should it not, then he should stand to the death against the wild beasts within the common arena.
The priests of the Temple would show no undue haste with the trial of such a citizen; but feeling ran high, and the ultra-devotees demanded immediate action.
He was brought before the august tribunal. Many eminent men offered to speak for him. Chios was obdurate, and, when faced by his accusers, and asked to explain his position, he politely, but positively, refused. Nothing was left for him but death, and he was condemned to the lions.
When the sentence became fully known, and, moreover, that he refused explanation, the populace were more than ever confounded, and desired to solve the problem. They well knew that, the decree having gone forth, he must die; and rightly, said many, or the Sacred Grove would never be safe from robbers or midnight prowlers, and the glory of the Lady Saviour be impaired.
Chios was handed over to the authorities and lodged in a cell within the walls of the great theatre, to be brought forth on a day near at hand, when many who were condemned should fight to the end.