"I have often told thee, little mother, that I was a boy in a temple on the Nile, dedicated to Amun, or Ammon, as mine idolatrous name doth signify, and that at an early age I fled therefrom and betook myself to the river and to the sea, and did prosper so that I got first an interest in a ship, and afterward the sole ownership thereof, and made many long and prosperous voyages. I have told thee, also, in all details, how, on a voyage from Alexandria unto Italy, the storm drove us upon a rocky island where our destruction seemed imminent, until, while we all were momently expecting death, a quiet and almost unnoticed passenger, who had come from Antioch unto Alexandria and was journeying with us to Puteoli, did pray for us to Jesus Christ, and stilled the storm, and so saved the ship and all our lives. I have often told thee how this good Bishop of Antioch did lead me into the knowledge and love of Christ, and how I sold my ship and cargo, and gave one half of my property to the Church, that other Egyptians might be converted, and with the other moiety bought this farm, having known the pleasant coasts of Cyrenaica for many years; and then returned to Alexandria to bring thee hither that we might as stewards of the Lord manage this estate together. But I did not tell thee that when the bishop asked me whether I experienced any vocation for the preaching of the word, and I did tell the holy man that neither natural gifts nor education fitted me for that sacred calling, I did then vow to the Lord that if any son were given unto me I would teach him as far as I might be able to do in the love and learning of the gospel, and would send him unto Antioch to be more thoroughly instructed. So thou seest, dear little mother, that not only thine and mine own inclinations, but also mine obligation given unto God, bindeth me to bestow upon the boy all the teaching I can give unto him, and to afford to him every reasonable opportunity for greater learning. And I pray that he may escape the physical infirmity which, even more than the lack of learning, hath kept me from the public ministry of the word!"
"It is a strange and perplexing thing," laughed Arete, "and yet amusing. For all the Christians of our region rely upon thy strong good sense and modest learning in every private matter, whether of business or of religion; yet it seemeth so pitiful that, if thou standest upon thy feet to speak to any assembly, thou dost straightway begin to jerk and wriggle like a serpent, and to hiss and stammer so that thou canst not talk intelligibly, although thou hast more brains and learning than many who are eloquent."
"I long thought it to be my duty to try to overcome these physical defects, but, if at any time my heart is deeply moved, I can not talk, and it is useless to try it any more. We shall strive both by teaching and by prayer to train the boy better."
"Dost thou not remember, Ammonius, that evening in our boat upon the dear old Nile, what a distressful time thou didst endure in thine attempt to ask me to become thy wife?" And the little woman laughed and laughed until her eyes were full of happy tears.
"Yea," answered Ammonius, "nor indeed do I think that I did ever ask thee at all. I did, after many efforts, get thee to say what words thou wouldst have a man use who loved thee and wanted thee to be his wife, and all I could do was to cry out, 'I say that to thee, Arete--I say all that and more!' and in mine embarrassment verily I could utter nothing else!"
"But," laughed the little woman, "afterward I did make thee say the words over and over again, albeit I might almost as soon have trained a parrot to repeat them."
"But I trust thou hast never regretted the trouble thou didst take in teaching me how to court thee," said Ammonius.
"Nay, verily," she answered, "but I think it was the most amusing courtship that hath ever happened."
And, while husband and wife pleasantly conversed, old Thopt brought the child back to his mother, and announced that Christian women from other farms along the coast had come to offer their congratulations and any assistance that might be needed. It was singular to observe that while the adjacent country, from Apollonia to Cyrene, and all around, was settled by Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, and Romans, and while some women and girls of all of these nationalities, during the next few days, made visits of sympathy to the family at Baucalis, none came except those who were known to each other to be Christians, no matter what their nationality might be. Practically the faith of Jesus had broken down all ethnic, social, and political barriers among those who professed it; and the only class distinction which was recognized at all was between those who were Christians and those who were not. The persecution, which had begun seven years before under the Emperor Valerian, had raged in Libya as fiercely as in any portion of the Roman Empire, and, although intermittent in its character, there had quite recently been cruelties enough, extending in some instances to martyrdom, chiefly at the instigation of Jewish and pagan priests, to render it necessary for the Christians to conduct their religious rites and social intercourse with a certain degree of secrecy, and to preserve their ancient means of instantaneous recognition in constant use, so that, when a Christian might meet any one who was not familiarly known to him, an almost imperceptible sign served as a challenge by which he was instantly enabled to tell, without an inquiry or a spoken word, whether the stranger might be a Christian or not. Of course, if any one came who failed to recognize the sign, another movement, almost as imperceptible, served to warn all Christians present that there was one near them who did not profess their faith; so that there was little danger in their usual intercourse with each other or with their pagan neighbors.
On the eighth day after the birth of the boy, a few Christians assembled at the farm, and the services of a presbyter of Cyrene were procured. They first engaged in singing and in prayer, and then a portion of the gospel was read and the communion administered, after which the child was baptized. Preparatory to this ceremony there was quite a discussion among them as to the name by which the boy should be baptized, the young mother being desirous to call him by the name of some of the holy men who had suffered martyrdom for Jesus, or had otherwise become especially dear and honored throughout the Christian communities. To this the fatal objection was urged that such a selection of a name might arouse evil-minded neighbors to the fact that there were Christians among them, and so render the family unnecessarily and perhaps dangerously obnoxious to the malice of any who might ever harbor ill-will against them. Ammonius insisted upon calling the boy after the name of a Roman who had been his partner in the old sea-faring days, and whom he had highly esteemed, although he might be still a pagan so far as Ammonius knew; and so the child was finally christened "Arius."