Then came the evening, when, with the other women slaves, she was put
up to auction in the Forum. To prepare for this sale Caleb had turned
almost all his merchandise into money, for he knew that Domitian was a
purchaser, and guessed that the price of the beautiful Pearl-Maiden, of
whom all the city was talking, would rule high. The climax we know. He
bid to the last coin that he possessed or could raise, only to find that
others with still greater resources were in the market. Even the agent
of the prince had been left behind, and Miriam was at last knocked down
to some mysterious stranger woman dressed like a peasant. The woman was
veiled and disguised; she spoke with a feigned voice and in a strange
tongue, but from the beginning Caleb knew her. Incredible as it might
seem, that she should be here in Rome, he was certain that she was
Nehushta, and no other.
That Nehushta should buy Miriam was well, but how came she by so vast a
sum of money, here in a far-off land? In short, for whom was she buying?
Indeed, for whom would she buy? He could think of one only--Marcus. But
he had made inquiries and Marcus was not in Rome. Indeed he had every
reason to believe that his rival was long dead, that his bones were
scattered among the tens of thousands which whitened the tumbled ruins
of the Holy City in Judaea.
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