I will take thee with me. I will make thee my son. Give thy God
thanks, and call the sailors. Haste! The pursuit must be kept.
Not a robber shall escape. Hasten them!"
Judah raised himself upon the plank, and waved his hand, and called
with all his might; at last he drew the attention of the sailors in
the small boat, and they were speedily taken up.
Arrius was received on the galley with all the honors due a hero
so the favorite of Fortune. Upon a couch on the deck he heard the
particulars of the conclusion of the fight. When the survivors afloat
upon the water were all saved and the prize secured, he spread his
flag of commandant anew, and hurried northward to rejoin the fleet
and perfect the victory. In due time the fifty vessels coming down
the channel closed in upon the fugitive pirates, and crushed
them utterly; not one escaped. To swell the tribune's glory,
twenty galleys of the enemy were captured.
Upon his return from the cruise, Arrius had warm welcome on the
mole at Misenum. The young man attending him very early attracted
the attention of his friends there; and to their questions as to
who he was the tribune proceeded in the most affectionate manner
to tell the story of his rescue and introduce the stranger,
omitting carefully all that pertained to the latter's previous
history. At the end of the narrative, he called Ben-Hur to him,
and said, with a hand resting affectionately upon his shoulder,
"Good friends, this is my son and heir, who, as he is to take my
property--if it be the will of the gods that I leave any--shall
be known to you by my name.
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