For the first time the beating of the gavel was lost in the uproar.

Men sank on the floor in fear or looked about seeking a hiding-place.

In the midst of the panic a body plunged or was pitched headlong down the hatchway, falling near Ben-Hur.

He beheld the half-naked carcass, a mass of hair blackening the face, and under it a shield of bull-hide and wicker-work--a barbarian from the white-skinned nations of the North whom death had robbed of plunder and revenge.

How came he there?
An iron hand had snatched him from the opposing deck--no, the Astroea had been boarded! The Romans were fighting on their own deck?
A chill smote the young Jew: Arrius was hard pressed--he might be defending his own life.