Casca

“ Casca said, “looks like the city Ebba murmured about. I never could make out where it was, nor how it was to be reached. Poor Ebba!” he repeated. “I wonder if she is dead, like Alban, and passed hence? and if so, whither?”
Hyacintha did not reply. She was looking down upon the sapphire water which rippled against the low, cumbrous vessel, and her eyes were scanning a dark object which floated slowly past.
“See, Casca!” she said, “see! There are dead women in that boat, drifting whither?”
“As we drift,” said the boy, raising himself on his elbow, “as we drift. ”

“ Cæsar, feeling himself hurt, took him straight by the hand he held his dagger in, and cried out in Latin: 'O traitor Casca, what dost thou?' Casca on the other side cried in Greek, and called his brother to help him. So divers running on a heap together to fly upon Cæsar, he, looking about him to have fled, saw Brutus with a sword drawn in his hand ready to strike at him: then he let Casca's hand go, and casting his gown over his face, suffered every man to strike at him that would. ”

“ Casca did not reply, but little Cynthia, looking up at the Vestal with her clear wondering eyes, said:—
“She is going to God. Anna says that dead people are only gone to God.”
Hermione stooped, and raising the child in her arms, motioned to Casca to follow her. Anna’s wistful face seemed to ask that she might also come, but Claudius turned away, and going to the porta, stood leaning against the stone columns which supported it, where the lictors in charge of the Vestals for that morning, coming and going, also stood with quiet unmoved faces, as if carved in marble like the statues behind them. ”

“ Clœlia nodded her head, and then Hyacintha, feeling that the time of parting was near, said—
“I pray you to be kind to my brother Casca; he is far tenderer than I am, and loves quiet and study. As soon as Caius lets it be known to my father that he is under your roof he will reward you, for he is a noble, and can command money and treasures.” ”

“ Casca’s tender, gentle spirit was touched at the emotion which Clœlia could not entirely hide under her quiet calm manner.
“I would that I could stay with you, dear Clœlia,” [143] said the boy. “I am not fitted for the life to which I go.”
“There is no choice for us; a son must obey his father; and it may be that in some time of need the mother of Caius may stand you in good stead, as once the son did, when he rescued you and your sister from the pursuing sea-robbers and brought you safe into port. If the time ever comes when you need Clœlia, she will not fail you.” ”

“ There is no fellow in the firmament!"
The conspirators at this moment crowd around the doomed hero with pretended petitions—and, instanter, Casca stabs Cæsar in the neck, while several other murdering senators stab him through the body, and last Marcus Brutus plunges a dagger in the heart of his benefactor and father, when with glaring eyes and dying breath, the noble Cæsar exclaims:
"Et tu, Brute?" ”

“ NOTE ON JULIUS CÆSAR.
The character of Casca has never yet had full justice done to it by the critics; but there is one passage which may be compared to a perfect thoroughfare for finding our way to Casca's real condition. He evidently belonged to the landlord or agrarian party in the State, and there can be no doubt that the terms on which his tenants held of him were exorbitant. ”

“ Clœlia received the news of Casca’s immediate departure with that self-repression which at the time of greatest trial characterised the old Roman matron.
The inevitable was accepted, and she merely said—
“It was but likely that your noble father should desire to place you amongst the nobles, but you depart to scenes of license, I fear, and to see the hunt after pleasure put before honour and the welfare of Rome. It was not always thus. There were times when the sons of our great city strove after all those gifts which should make them her worthy protectors and defenders. ”

“ They did not know Him, and he was nailed to the cross, like a malefactor, by the Roman Governor’s order, in the province of Judæa. The Jews clamoured for His life, as the Romans clamour for the lives of the Christians. And He laid it down, to take it again, dying for Roman and Greek, Jew and Christian, Briton and Druid, alike.”
“I would I could believe,” Casca sighed, “for there is a hunger of the soul nothing can satisfy. But, Anna, this may be a fable or a phantom, this Christ of whom you speak.”
[148] “Nay, dear master, He is no fable and no phantom. He lives in us and we live in Him. ”

“ Casca will tell us what the matter is.
Cæs. Antonius! ⁠190
Ant. Cæsar?
Cæs. Let me have men about me that are fat:
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.
Ant. Fear him not, Cæsar; he's not dangerous ”

“ Instantly seizing upon this shallow pretext for a fight, Casca sprang at Cæsar and struck him with a dirk, Cæsar grabbing him by the arm with his right hand, and launching a blow straight from the shoulder with his left, that sent the reptile bleeding to the earth. He then backed up against Pompey's statue, and squared himself to receive his assailants. Cassius and Cimber and Cinna rushed upon him with their daggers drawn, and the former succeeded in inflicting a wound upon his body ”

“ Thou shouldst have been born in one of those far-off islands in the south, where the effete Greeks lie in flower-wreathed bowers, and, chewing the leaves of the lotus, pass away life in alternate slumber and song. Especially, good Casca, wert thou never designed by the gods to live in our own rude country and associate with us poor Britons.”
“Nay,” Casca said, “you misjudge me, Claudius. I would that thou were to accompany me to Rome, and then I could take heart, but as it is——”
“As it is, you must be like a man, and determine to win good opinions and make a name ”

“ Never had a winter passed so rapidly for Casca; and when, with lengthening days, the outdoor life of [131] the city began again, neither Clœlia nor Casca was altogether pleased to think that their long evenings in the little atrium of the Villa Caius were over.
“Who can foresee what another winter may bring,” Clœlia said. “The noble Severus will surely send orders for your future, and if he decrees it, you must leave my humble roof. I know not when I shall see Caius again; he is never at rest on shore, and must ever be fighting pirate or storm. ”

“ It was this sleeping in Christ and this glorious awakening, which to those early Christians, with their [167] simple unwavering faith, was a near and great reality, of which the preacher spoke that night.
Casca, who had been studying deeply since he came to Rome the words of poets and philosophers, who had listened with profound attention to the learned orations from the Rostra, and who had, even before he had left Verulam, pondered much the mysteries of life and death, now followed every word with hungry eagerness.
The spirit of unbelief in the old system of the gods was spreading rapidly. ”

“ Then Casca, behinde him, strake him in the necke with his sword, howbeit the wound was not great nor mortall, because it seemed the feare of such a devilish attempt did amaze him and take his strength from him, that he killed him not at the first blow. ”

“ He does not think you will make a soldier.”
Antonius laughed. “And I agree with him; we must turn you into a Roman, befitting in manners and appearance your high rank. You have a sister a vestal, I hear.”
“Yes, a young sister received as a disciple,” Casca said.
“A vestal’s brother must needs be careful to do her honour, and you must submit yourself to the hands of my dresser, and acquire some accomplishment, play on some instrument, as well as play high at other games. The Emperor may look kindly on you, and I will get you a place in his household.” ”

“ Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man [2975] [2976]
Most like this dreadful night, [2975]
That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars [2977]
As doth the lion in the Capitol, [2978] 75
A man no mightier than thyself or me
In personal action, yet prodigious grown
And fearful, as these strange eruptions are. [2979]
Casca. 'Tis Cæsar that you mean; is it not, Cassius? [2980]
Cas. ”

“ Whether it were a [241] vision I know not, or a reality I cannot tell, but there is in me a certainty that Casca is near.”
It not unfrequently happens that the spiritual perceptions of those who are nearing the unseen world are quickened. However that may be, Hermione was startled a few hours later by a hasty summons to the atrium, where she was told some strangers were inquiring for the Vestal Maxima.
A pale ethereal looking man, in a long scholar’s robe, was holding a lovely child of five or six years old by the hand, around whom an admiring group of white-robed Vestals clustered. ”

“ We must make the best of it,” Caius added, “but I fear the accommodation on board my vessel is not what the fair Hyacintha has a right to expect.”
“Tell me,” Hyacintha said, “what will be the fate of Burrhus and all the people with him.”
“Nay, I cannot tell a maiden of thy tender age of all I fear may befall them, especially the women of the band. Let us thank the gods that thou art safe, and thy brother also, who looks little fitted to bear the brunt of war.”
“You know Rome well?” Casca asked. “I pray you tell me if I shall find it easy to frequent a school of learning there. ”

“ I have very little doubt that as the “fetish” man is bribed or not, so he can and does prepare it.
The Portuguese in Angola strictly prohibit the [Pg 64] use of “casca,” and severely punish any natives concerned in a trial by this bark, but it is nevertheless practised in secret everywhere.
The occasion of the test is one of great excitement, and is accompanied by much cruelty. In some tribes the accused, after drinking the potion, has to stoop and pass under half-a-dozen low arches made by bending switches and sticking both ends into the ground ”

“ A lictor stood to escort the two vestals along the public thoroughfare to the door of the vestals’ house. The vestals were never allowed to appear in public without a guard; for from their high office they formed a part of the sacred magistracy and state of the city of Rome.
When Casca and Anna were left alone together, Anna said—
“We must not be seen together in the public streets; therefore, dear young master, I will depart first, and you can follow. The quarter where the Jews live is below the hill, and I reach it by a side path.”
“Are you happy with that old man, Ebba? Is he good to you?” ”

“ Or you may attack Cintra by way of Cascaes and Collares, since the accepted approach is rarely the best way of seeing a place for the first time. There is a road for part of the way from Cascaes along the coast with sand-dunes, and hollows of scented cistus and many a delightful cove or broader sandy bays, which are now without a house, but might at the whim of fashion—absit omen—become favourite and crowded watering-places. Some miles from Cascaes the Mountains of the Moon descend into the sea, ending in the famous Cabo da Roca, the “Rock of Lisbon.” ”

“ We spent the remaining hours of this memorable afternoon sauntering through the Notch, which is dripping with cascades, and noisy with mountain torrents. The Saco, here nothing but a brook, crawls languidly along its bed of broken rock. From dizzy summit to where they meet the river, the old wasted mountains sit warming their scarred sides in the sun. Looking up at the passage of the railway around Mount Willey, it impressed us as a single fractured stone might have done on the Great Pyramid, or a pin’s scratch on the face of a giant. ”

“ As to their religion, it is paganism. By way of divinities, they worship wooden posts, with carved faces painted red, which represent various sorts of birds whose wings are stretched out to their full, like so many fans. Their morals are pure; their sense of home duties highly developed; they respect their parents, love their children, and revere the dead. The remains of the latter are exposed in the open air, dressed in holiday attire, with their weapons and cayak lying by their side.
The Cascabels took great pleasure in their daily walks round about Port Clarence. ”

“ This vehicle, whose curved extremity, recalling the prow of a boat, is held in position by strips of leather from the hide of the moose, is drawn by dogs or reindeer, and travels quickly. As to foot-travelers, with their long snow-shoes, they move along more swiftly still. Always in luck, was our Cæser Cascabel! He could not have reached Fort Yukon at a better moment. The fur and hide fair was at its highest; several hundreds of Indians had already pitched their tents near the trading station. ”

“ They found that their pretender, Don Antonio, was everywhere treated as a pretender—not a man would own him; and they marched to Cascaes, which they found already plundered by Drake and his squadron. They there embarked for England, but were soon dispersed by a storm, and reached Plymouth in straggling disorder, one of the sections of the fleet having, before leaving Spain, plundered the town of Vigo. It was found that out of their 21,000 men, they had lost one-half. Out of the 1,100 gentlemen who accompanied the expedition one-third had perished. ”

“ And now it is not amiss to mention, likewise, that if Ortik and Kirschef were suspicious in the eyes of the young girl, they, too, had their mischief-brooding instincts of curiosity aroused by Mr. Sergius's presence in the caravan. That a traveler, dangerously wounded on the frontier of Alaska, should have been picked up, nursed, and conveyed to Sitka by the Cascabels, was very natural. But, after his recovery, why had he not remained at Sitka? Why had he followed the showman's troupe to Port Clarence? Why was he even now accompanying them right across Siberia? ”