The doors were thrown open, accordingly, and the four keepers of the House of
Hercules, clad in long yellow robes, were ushered into the presence of the king.
They were headed by the stern ascetic, Romano; his long, white beard streaming
down upon his bosom, giving a ghostly and venerable appearance to his thin, pale,
hollow cheeks. In his united hands he bore a huge, heavy lock of brass; and with
a fearless and unblenching manner, resolute and unabashed, he at once approached
the throne, and stopped not till he had passed through the double ranks of courtiers,
who made way on each side, and stood immediately in the presence of Roderick.
He was closely followed by his brethren; but the king did not suffer them to advance
so far, ere he spoke, and arrested their approach.

“Well; wherefore come ye? Why bring ye that massive keeper? Speak!
What would ye? Who are ye? What would ye have of the king?”

The words and manner of the king were stern and ungracious, but Romano was
no ways daunted. He met the fierce glance of Roderick with a glance of defiance,
and as full of resolution, if not so fierce, as that of the monarch. It was indeed this
bold demeanor on the part of Romano which had chafed the usurper, whose nature
was imperious; and the impunity with which he had swayed having made him
reckless, he was not readily disposed to recognise in an inferior any feature that did
not speak for his servility. But Romano had been previously aroused by what he
heard from Oppas, and by his own subsequent reflections on the same subject, and
he was unwilling to abate a jot of his pride or his purpose. Without seeming to
regard, however, the particular language of the king and his stern deportment, Romano,
with eminent and calm dignity, replied as follows:

“God, sire, hath given you power—the monarch chosen of the people of Spain.
The troubles of the strife are all over, and thy duties begin. It were well, then, if
now, like all our kings, you seek with us the House of Hercules, whereof we are
the keepers, and with this sacred lock, after the manner of your predecessors, bind
its great secret fast”—

The king now interrupted him, for it seemed as if Romano would have spoken
further

“And wherefore this?” demanded Roderick. “What is the secret thou wouldst
hold so fast? What is it to us, what is it to the monarch of Spain, that we should
do as thou requirest? Why is it our duty? Speak! And yet beware!—beware,
old man, that thou dost not trifle with us! I suspect ye! I know not that ye do

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not conspire in that same House of Hercules against our throne. There be traitors
all around us, it is said; some we have banished, it is true; some, with their heads,
have paid a heavier forfeit. Beware of this, sir keeper! Speak for thy trust.”

The brow of Romano grew dark, as he heard this speech of the king; his lips
quivered—his eye kindled, and, with hand uplifted, advancing as he spoke, he thus
addressed the king:

“I serve the living God! king Roderick; and, serving Him, I cannot be a traitor
to any of the mortal kings of earth.”

The brow of king Roderick darkened, and he replied, briefly:

“Ay, if thou servest him rightly; mark you that.”

The response of Romano was instantaneous:

“He is thy judge, and mine, king Roderick; let Him decide for us both; to Him
I leave it for judgment, as must thou also.”

“Thou errest, sir priest. The judgment shall be with me, if I find thee a traitor.
So, look to it, and go no more wide of thy business. Speak of thy charge, and tell
us of this House of Hercules. What of thy mystery? Unfold me that. And
hearken me, old man; let thy discourse be smooth, if you are bent that it must be
free. I am not meek of temper. See that thy story has fitting language, but give it
no sting; or, whether thou willest me to be thy judge or not, I will not scruple to
send thy head, white as it is and venerable, along with some others to our city gates.
Beware!—but speak.”

The fierce eye of Roderick looked into one not less fierce, when he sought to daunt
by his gaze the enthusiastic Romano. But the difference of look was in favor of the
priest, whom a constant contemplation of holy things had elevated and strengthened.
There was a dignity mingled with the fire of his eye which Roderick could not quell,
and the influence of which he did not entirely escape. Romano replied instantly,
advancing still nigher to the king as he did so, with his hand extended until the huge
lock which he carried waved directly in the face of the monarch:

“And if thou didst this wrong, king Roderick,” were the solemn and stern words
of the venerable man, “and if the righteous and all-judging Heaven, for its own high
and hidden purposes, looked down and suffered it, God's will be done—not mine;
not even thine, oh Roderick! though thy own hand performed it. We are but creatures
of Providence, and nothing of ourselves. If God ordains that thou shouldst
slay me, I may not murmur, either at his laws or at thy performance. I will but
pray to be strengthened against the hour of trial, so that I may not tremble at the
stroke of the headsman, or deny my Master when questioned of the faith that is
within me.”

“The holy man!” exclaimed Egilona, reverently, and with folded hands. “I
pray thee, oh Roderick! that thou wilt speak him kindly.”

Roderick frowned only, as he heard these words, but did not answer the speaker.
His eye glared only upon Romano, whose dignified manner had the effect of rebuking
the violence of the king, while his language was too little objectionable to yield the
latter any occasion to speak the anger which he felt. While he hesitated, with this
feeling, to speak at all, the conscious Oppas came to his relief.

“Wilt thou not hear the venerable Romano, king Roderick?” said he. “He will
doubtlessly unfold to thee all that thou wouldst know, touching the holy house,
much better than any here.”

“Ay, let him speak his story,” said Roderick, “but reserve his sermons. We'll
have no more of them. To the secret of thy charge, sir priest. What of this house
which ye call holy?”

“Which wise men, before our time, oh king! have pronounced holy; and which

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other wise men have confirmed as such. It is holy; and the secret which it contains
is even holier than the house which holds it. By all prophecy, that secret is
of mightiest power, and if revealed before the fitting season, will be of great evil to
the kingdom.”

“That is thy fear, not mine!” said Roderick, scornfully.

“'T is wisdom's fear, oh king! though, perchance, it be none of thine!” replied
the fearless Romano.

The king half arose from his seat in anger, but the queen Egilona laid her hand
upon his arm, and he maintained his temper, while Romano, without seeming to
note his emotion, thus proceeded:

“This sacred trust comes down to us, oh king! from Hercules himself, who
founded Spain and this Toledo, which thenceforth, he prophesied, should be the
mightiest city of the realm. Then did he prophesy of the fate of Toledo, and of all
Spain. This prophecy”—

The king interrupted him with something of eagerness in his tone and manner:

“What said he? What was the prophecy?”

“'T is that we keep, oh king! within the House of Hercules; and that we might
maintain it truly, he prepared a spell, such as no magic but his own might foil, and
there he sealed it fast.”

“Thou know'st it not?” demanded the king

“I do not, Roderick.”

“Well!”

“Around it, then, he heaved this dwelling, which is loftier far, oh Roderick! than
thou with all thy strength can hurl the smallest stone!”

“Well, what of that? I trow the boast were but a small one; 't were no great
brag in mighty Hercules to build so high a house.”

The sneer of Roderick was followed by his own and the unreserved laughter of
his courtiers; but Romano continued his description of his trust, without seeming to
regard them:

“Four lions, oh king!” he proceeded, “form its foundation. These are of brass,
and made with the nicest art; yet are they so large that not one of all thy warriors,
though mounted on the tallest charger, can reach with his extended arm to their
gigantic necks.”

“'T is a silly tale,” said Roderick; “hast thou no better matter for my ear, old
man?”

Romano replied gravely, and with rebuking language:

“The tale, oh king! is little, of a truth, if the willing and obedient ear find not its
import. 'T is enough for the church, oh king! that Heaven gives its commands; it
is not for us to ask what is the scope of wisdom in our Ruler, or challenge His decree.
Were it so with us, oh Roderick! then might'st thou find a traitor in each
poor Iberian who might claim example from the license of Holy Church to doubt thy
justice and defy thy rule.”

“Ha!” exclaimed Roderick, with a fierce scowl and furious gesture; “wilt thou
not be warned, sir priest, of thy folly ere it be too late? Beware! I tell thee; guard
well thy speech; it chafes beyond thy thought. Beware!—beware! On with thy
tale of Hercules.”

A slight smile mantled the lips of the priest, as he listened to this language, and
beheld the emotion which he had awakened in the king. It was then that he felt
himself the minister of Holy Church in probing to the quick the feelings of one whom
he held to be quite too regardless of her claims. He proceeded, nevertheless, with
out comment, in his narration:

[figure description] Page 018.[end figure description]

“He then built up the tower; yet he built it not in human sight. None saw the
building. No inquisitive ear heard the clear hammer ring; no eye beheld the stroke.
The night beheld the plain—a level plain, smooth as this floor, oh king! The morning
saw this tower, like some huge rock, resting upon it.”

“Quick labor that!” exclaimed Roderick. “See, Edeco, that you give this in
counsel to our art sans; so shall our gardens flourish, Egilona, and our new palace
spring at our approach, on the other side of the Tagus. Would he were here, to
give them some strong words, that old Hercules!”

Edeco made some corresponding remark in reply to that of the king, at which the
courtiers generally laughed; but Romano, as if he felt that their punishment would
come sufficiently soon, did not pause to denounce it, but his bosom beat with indignation.
Roderick bade him proceed, and he continued his description:

“And yet, oh king! that mighty tower, having such a sudden and unexpected
birth, is wrought with such true art that it holds not a single stone which may match
in size with thy hand. Yet are they still most large, as they are most precious.
Jasper and marble are most common and least worthy of its materials, and they shine
upon its walls like the loveliest chrystal. A greater wonder than all this, oh king!
is that, though all these stones are so deftly joined together that they seem but of a
single piece, yet no two among them are of the same color!”

“A nice builder he!” said Roderick, contemptuously, “that mighty Hercules!”

Romano continued, without seeming to heed the interruption:

“They further show, oh king! that they are of holy workmanship, as they do
record—being linked together with such intelligence—all deeds aforepast, all great
achievements, as if written in some endless chronicle. Having thus done, Hercules
did then predict what should come hereafter, and the secret thereof is the charge assigned
to us for keeping in that holy house.”

“That shall we read!” exclaimed Roderick, as the aged Romano concluded;
“that shall be read, if there be truth in what thou sayest, old man! The future and
the present shall be ours, even as the past, if it be that courage to defy your superstition
is all that be needed to the purpose. I have no dread of your spells—of your
pagan spells; and we should nothing fear, my lord Oppas, having the cross of Christ
above our heads, to grope for this secret in the House of Hercules. What say
you?”

“Now Heaven forbid! king Roderick,” replied the lord Oppas, in a well-affected
horror. “Now Heaven forbid that you should seek to usurp the secret of the `Perfect
Guard.' We would not have it so.”

To this speech, seemingly injudicious, but really designed as it was, Roderick at
once replied, with the fiercest emphasis:

“Why, who are you, my lord bishop, that will not have it so—that would bind
me with the will of my subject, and impose upon me a fetter which a king only
knows how to break? Truly, good bishop, thou hast greatly forgotten thyself to
hold me such discourse.”

“Pardon my zeal, oh king! that moved my lips to so much freedom. But I
would remind thee of the Iberian people, who regard”—

“Pshaw! lord Oppas; thou dost prate to me of dogs and vermin,” exclaimed the
king, with that common phraseology of scorn which the Gothic sovereigns and people
usually employed, when speaking of the natives of the soil.

“Yet, oh Roderick! remember that, of all the kings who have gone before thee,
none have dared”—

The fierce king silenced his speech at this word. The archbishop well knew, ere
he spoke it, what must be its effect

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“Enough, sir priest!—enough! I dare! I—Roderick, king of the Romans—I
dare! Give way!” And the king rose as he uttered these words. But the lord
bishop was disposed to clench the resolve of the king by an opposition which he
well knew would be fruitless, and would only furnish additional provocation to the
monarch's temper.

“And yet, king Roderick,” he began, “it is my thought”—

The impatient and irritable despot at once interrupted him:

“Thy thought is insolent, my lord bishop!” he exclaimed, “if it will suffer me
none. I will not heed thee, and need no further counsel in the matter. I am
resolved!”

“Yet I pray thee hear him, Roderick,” said Egilona, appealingly. “Thy error
is always too great an impatience, Roderick; I pray thee to curb it. Hearken to the
venerable father—hear the good bishop—hear him, I pray thee, Roderick, for my
sake hear him.”

“And wherefore hear him?” exclaimed Roderick. “I know what he would
say, and am resolved against it. I am no fool—no suckling, to be led by babes and
priests and sucklings! Hear me—hearken, sir priest!—you with the lock! I will
that no further guard shall be kept over that pagan mystery which thou keep'st. I
will possess this secret; and henceforward, if it be necessary, I will maintain this
house. Lead the way, then; I will not fear to look in upon old Hercules, and hear
what he may tell us. Bid our guards nigh, Edeco; and have some implements
ready. Lead on, old man; guide us the proper way.”

“I will not lead ye!” exclaimed Romano, throwing himself directly before the
path of the tyrant. “I will not lead ye to sin! I will show neither slave nor sovereign
the path to evil!”

The hand of the king was uplifted as if to strike, but the lord Bovis interposed,
and strove to persuade the king; while others, the lord Oppas among them, undertook,
though without success, to quiet the aroused enthusiast, Romano. Nothing
daunted by the threatening action of the king, and unrestrained by the appeals of
those around him, he continued to struggle and approach, speaking all the while in
denunciation of Roderick's design:

“Strike, if thou wilt!” he cried to the king; “strike, if thou wilt! I do not
shrink from thy blow, king Roderick, and do not fear even death at thy hands. I
stand up for the cause of God, and am ready to die, if need be, in his service. Yet
hear me, Roderick; I do denounce upon thee a dreadful doom, if with thy unlicensed
hand, defying Heaven, thou dost usurp this holy secret!”

“Fool and madman, away!” cried Roderick, scornfully, and full of wrath, to the
now furious Romano. “Thy doom is dreadful to the coward only—it shakes not
me. Away! Take him away, my lords! I will not strike thee to the earth, old
dotard; thy gray hairs plead for thee against thy folly. Perchance thou hast been
more wise in thy youth: thou art sadly foolish now! Take him hence, slaves; let
him not vex us further.”

“Thou art doomed!” cried Romano, as he struggled with the guards.

“Thou liest!” replied the king, with scorn. “Go, mutter thy doom to thyself.
I heed thee not. There is no bolt in the unmeaning cloud. I stand in its
defiance.”

“Thou art cursed!” cried the old man, gasping for breath, and still striving to
approach the person to whom he spoke: “Thou art cursed! In Heaven's name I
curse thee! I”—

“Take him hence!” cried Roderick, becoming hoarse with his own suppressed
anger, at what he deemed the insolence of the priest.

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Again the lord Bovis spoke to the king, in low tones, and sought to dissuade him
from his purpose:

“Heed not the old man's anger, I pray thee, king Roderick,” said the sagacious
noble, “and yet give heed to it, as it shows thee what may be the anger of others if
thou dost usurp this secret. What though thou scorn'st as idle—and well thou
may'st—this story of Hercules and his house, yet a wholesome policy would have
thee forego thy purpose. Close up the door, rather than open it. Take the huge
lock, and fasten the old tower, though it hold nothing. What matters it to thee
what are its mysteries, so that they are innocent?”

“Ay, but how know I that, Bovis?” cried the king, exultingly, and interrupting
his counsellor.

“By its undisturbed age till now. It hath always been held so, king Roderick,
even by the most jealous of our sovereigns. Leave it untroubled now. Its claims are
modest enough; would that thy professed friends and favorites had as few! Let it
have what it asks. To thee its secrets are nothing; but it behoves thee much not
to offend those to whom its secrets are every thing. Remember, thou art scarcely
seated in thy throne. It were not wise in thee to check these churchmen, who are
too powerful to be trifled with, and scarce honest enough to be trusted.”

Such was the sagacious counsel of Bovis, one of the king's best counsellors. It
struck Roderick with considerable force, but he had not the courage to recede from
his error. His reply was characteristic:

“There is much in what thou sayest, Bovis—much more than in any of these
dooms of Hercules. But the truth is, I am roused now to look upon the ancient
builder and hear his secrets. I must have my way. Besides, it is my humor thus
to punish the insolence of these people, who would bandy speech with me, and seek
to baffle me in my desires. I will make them know and fear me.”

“Is it not rash?”—the counsellor began, but the king silenced him.

“No more! I 've heard thee, Bovis. I am resolved to unlock the cavern, and
thou plead'st in vain to move me from my purpose. I will search the house of our
progenitor, and read his prophecies; see where he lies in state, or holds his court—
and, with the aid of Holy Church, give defiance, if it shall so please me, to the old
pagan and his dooms and thunders. Thou, my lord bishop, thou shalt lead the way,
and lift the cross”—

Oppas started, with a look of profoundest horror, as he heard these words.

“Pardon me, king Roderick! but I may not do as thou wouldst have me.”

The king laughed scornfully at what he deemed the superstitious timidity of
the bishop.

“What, thou art coward like the rest, my lord bishop? Well, truly, we are surrounded
with feeble men, who need a fitting example to be strong. Be it so, then;
I will lead the way, though I lead it alone. The doom be mine, if any doom there
be—and mine the profit, sirs.”

“Yet, oh king! would I warn thee, ere thou mov'st in this, that thou invad'st
the law and break'st the pledge which thou hast given.”

To tell Roderick of laws, the archbishop well knew was only to stimulate him in
his desire to abolish them; and the king, as Oppas expected, repeated his resolve
with accumulated obstinacy.

“Now, by the Cross! my lord Oppas, which thou bearest this day, I swear to
enter into this pagan house—I swear it! The law!—I tell thee, priest, my pleasure
is the law. Away, there, with that madman!”

Romano, seeing the king's intention to proceed, had again thrown himself in the
way before him. The last words of Roderick were a command to his guards to

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remove the aged zealot. But with their utmost endeavors they could not silence his
speech:

“Over me thou walk'st!” exclaimed Romano, in defiance to the king. “Yea,
Roderick, if thou art bent to move upon this bold sacrilege, thou shalt first trample
this lowly body into dust.”

“Why, so I will!” cried Roderick, leaping forward.

The queen seized him by his robes, and implored him to forbear; but he pushed
her away, and hurried forward to the spot where the lord Bovis and others were endeavoring
to silence the furious Romano. They interposed between him and the
angry monarch; but even while they bore him back, the priest shouted his curses
and defiance.

“I call on God to hear me!” he cried aloud, and shook his massive lock at the
approaching Roderick. “He hears!—He sees!—I look for Him to blast thee, Roderick,
ere thou canst rush upon me! Now!—now!—His thunder! Thou wilt
hear it now! I hear it! Now!—now!”

Romano's hands were stretched to heaven as he uttered these words, and his
whole air and manner were those of one who listened for the bellowing thunder
which he invoked upon the sacrilegious king. There was a momentary pause, as if
all waited the storm which was to blast, so earnest was the expression of Romano,
and such was the tacit reverence which his manner inspired. But as Roderick drew
nigh unharmed, the countenance of the venerable man lost its confidence, and looked
the disappointment which he really felt. A moment after, he sank within the arms
of his companions through sheer exhaustion.

“Thrust him forth, slaves!” cried Roderick, “but harm him not. His gray
hairs and his madness plead for him even against his tongue.”