“Now, friend Parthia, shall we see what you can do in the way of the ornamental?” By this time the steed had recovered his strength and spirit; and in perfect obedience to rein and foot he curveted and pranced and caracoled about the arena after a most wonderful fashion. But the greatest wonder was not the horse, but the horseman. Such unaffected simplicity, ease, and repose of manner! With what grace and even majesty he carried himself! As he went his last round with the sunshine on his royal face and the steed stepping as proudly under him as if he knew that he carried a royal burden—ah, such a shout went up from Serapeum and Museum both! Aleph happened to look up and lo, on one side of the arena, high up in the Serapeum, latticed windows were all open and bright faces and forms were leaning out waving snowy veils. The ladies of Alexandria, relying on the absorption of the students, and perhaps forgetting themselves in the intense interest of the scene, had gradually pushed the lattice aside for the sake of a better view: and when Aleph looked up and saw them he saw also a bouquet of flowers in the air, and a fair hand that had just parted with it, and a glorious face that he knew behind the hand. The horse sprang to meet the descending token; and as Aleph caught it in his hand, he, as gallant knights should always do, bowed low, even to the horse’s mane.
“Who owns this animal, thou villain?” exclaimed Cornelius, with some fire in his voice and more in his eyes, to the trainer.
The man tapped the ground uneasily with his whip, and was silent.
Turning to the students, Cornelius cried, “Whoever was the owner of this horse when he came here has forfeited his claim. Let us declare it forfeited to the University, and present the animal to Aleph, the Chaldean, to be kept at our expense; and if the original owner dares to claim him let us prosecute the wretch before the courts for intent to kill one of us.”
Said Metellus, “I approve of that. It seems to me that it would be a crime against society to reward the man for his crime by replacing a horse worth considerably less than nothing by one worth a thousand gold staters. May I ask what the venerable Seti thinks?”
The venerable Seti thought that under the circumstances the horse had a right to choose his own master—that in fact he had already chosen, and chosen well. He should have free keeping in the stalls of the Serapeum as long as his master should choose.
The students ratified lustily.
In the meantime Aleph had dismounted and stood holding the rein over one arm, while the other was thrown caressingly over the arched neck of the horse. As he gave the rein to a servant of the Serapeum who now presented himself he said:
“I am glad if the Museum regards the trial thus far as satisfactory. But there remains another trial to which they have asked me to submit—that by their teacher of fence. For this I am now ready”—and the flowers which till now he had held in his hand he secured under his girdle.
Then up spake Cornelius again. “I cannot but think that the Museum is thoroughly satisfied already with the justice of our matriculation. And to ask a young man after such exertions as we have seen to pit himself against a fresh man and a famous professional seems to me wonderfully unreasonable. Besides, what has occurred suggests the idea of bad faith somewhere. Of course the Museum does not mean anything of the sort; but in my opinion they are being made tools of by somebody who has a deadly purpose to serve. Unless Draco of Rhodes is a better and fairer man than Beco the Roman, he can be hired to commit a murder.”