A THORNY PATH

By Georg Ebers

Volume 1. 

CHAPTER I. 

The green screen slowly rose, covering the lower portion of the broadstudio window where Heron, the gem-cutter, was at work. It was Melissa, the artist's daughter, who had pulled it up, with bended knees andoutstretched arms, panting for breath. 

"That is enough!" cried her father's impatient voice. He glanced up atthe flood of light which the blinding sun of Alexandria was pouring intothe room, as it did every autumn afternoon; but as soon as the shadowfell on his work-table the old man's busy fingers were at work again, and he heeded his daughter no more. 

An hour later Melissa again, and without any bidding, pulled up thescreen as before, but it was so much too heavy for her that the effortbrought the blood into her calm, fair face, as the deep, rough "That isenough" was again heard from the work-table. 

Then silence reigned once more. Only the artist's low whistling ashe worked, or the patter and pipe of the birds in their cages by thewindow, broke the stillness of the spacious room, till the voice andstep of a man were presently heard in the anteroom. 

Heron laid by his graver and Melissa her gold embroidery, and the eyesof father and daughter met for the first time for some hours. The verybirds seemed excited, and a starling, which had sat moping since thescreen had shut the sun out, now cried out, "Olympias!" Melissa rose, and after a swift glance round the room she went to the door, come whomight. 

Ay, even if the brother she was expecting should bring a companion, ora patron of art who desired her father's work, the room need not fear acritical eye; and she was so well assured of the faultless neatness ofher own person, that she only passed a hand over her brown hair, andwith an involuntary movement pulled her simple white robe more tightlythrough her girdle. 

Heron's studio was as clean and as simple as his daughter's attire, though it seemed larger than enough for the purpose it served, for onlya very small part of it was occupied by the artist, who sat as if inexile behind the work-table on which his belongings were laid out: a setof small instruments in a case, a tray filled with shells and bitsof onyx and other agates, a yellow ball of Cyrenian modeling-wax, pumice-stone, bottles, boxes, and bowls. 

Melissa had no sooner crossed the threshold, than the sculptor drew uphis broad shoulders and brawny person, and raised his hand to fling awaythe slender stylus he had been using; however, he thought better ofit, and laid it carefully aside with the other tools. But this act ofself-control must have cost the hot-headed, powerful man a great effort;for he shot a fierce look at the instrument which had had so narrow anescape, and gave it a push of vexation with the back of his hand. 

Then he turned towards the door, his sunburnt face looking surly enough, in its frame of tangled gray hair and beard; and, as he waited for thevisitor whom Melissa was greeting outside, he tossed back his big head, and threw out his broad, deep chest, as though preparing to wrestle. 

Melissa presently returned, and the youth whose hand she still held was, as might be seen in every feature, none other than the sculptor's son. Both were dark-eyed, with noble and splendid heads, and in statureperfectly equal; but while the son's countenance beamed with heartyenjoyment, and seemed by its peculiar attractiveness to be made--andto be accustomed--to charm men and women alike, his father's face wasexpressive of disgust and misanthropy. It seemed, indeed, as thoughthe newcomer had roused his ire, for Heron answered his son's cheerfulgreeting with no word but a reproachful "At last!" and paid no heed tothe hand the youth held out to him. 

Alexander was no doubt inured to such a reception; he did not disturbhimself about the old man's ill-humor, but slapped him on the shoulderwith rough geniality, went up to the work-table with easy composure, took up the vice which held the nearly finished gem, and, after holdingit to the light and examining it carefully, exclaimed: "Well done, father! You have done nothing better than that for a long time. "

"Poor stuff!" said his father. But his son laughed. 

"If you will have it so. But I will give one of my eyes to see the manin Alexandria who can do the like!"

At this the old man broke out, and shaking his fist he cried: "Becausethe man who can find anything worth doing, takes good care not to wastehis time here, making divine art a mere mockery by such trifling withtoys! By Sirius! I should like to fling all those pebbles into thefire, the onyx and shells and jasper and what not, and smash all thosewretched tools with these fists, which were certainly made for otherwork than this. "

The youth laid an arm round his father's stalwart neck, and gaylyinterrupted his wrath. "Oh yes, Father Heron, Philip and I have feltoften enough that they know how to hit hard. "

"Not nearly often enough, " growled the artist, and the young man wenton:

"That I grant, though every blow from you was equal to a dozen from thehand of any other father in Alexandria. But that those mighty fists onhuman arms should have evoked the bewitching smile on the sweet lips ofthis Psyche, if it is not a miracle of art, is--"

"The degradation of art, " the old man put in; but Alexander hastilyadded:

"The victory of the exquisite over the coarse. "

"A victory!" exclaimed Heron, with a scornful flourish of his hand. "I know, boy, why you are trying to garland the oppressive yoke withflowers of flattery. So long as your surly old father sits over thevice, he only whistles a song and spares you his complaints. And then, there is the money his work brings in!"

He laughed bitterly, and as Melissa looked anxiously up at him, herbrother exclaimed:

"If I did not know you well, master, and if it would not be too greata pity, I would throw that lovely Psyche to the ostrich in Scopas'scourt-yard; for, by Herakles! he would swallow your gem more easily thanwe can swallow such cruel taunts. We do indeed bless the Muses that workbrings you some surcease of gloomy thoughts. But for the rest--I hate tospeak the word gold. We want it no more than you, who, when the cofferis full, bury it or hide it with the rest. Apollodorus forced a wholetalent of the yellow curse upon me for painting his men's room. Thesailor's cap, into which I tossed it with the rest, will burst whenSeleukus pays me for the portrait of his daughter; and if a thief robsyou, and me too, we need not fret over it. My brush and your styluswill earn us more in no time. And what are our needs? We do not bet onquail-fights; we do not run races; I always had a loathing for purchasedlove; we do not want to wear a heap of garments bought merely becausethey take our fancy--indeed, I am too hot as it is under this scorchingsun. The house is your own. The rent paid by Glaukias, for the work-roomand garden you inherited from your father, pays for half at least ofwhat we and the birds and the slaves eat. As for Philip, he lives on airand philosophy; and, besides, he is fed out of the great breadbasket ofthe Museum. "

At this point the starling interrupted the youth's vehement speech withthe appropriate cry, "My strength! my strength!" The brother and sisterlooked at each other, and Alexander went on with genuine enthusiasm:

"But it is not in you to believe us capable of such meanness. Dedicateyour next finished work to Isis or Serapis. Let your masterpiece gracethe goddess's head-gear, or the god's robe. We shall be quite content, and perhaps the immortals may restore your joy in life as a reward. "

The bird repeated its lamentable cry, "My strength!" and the youthproceeded with increased vehemence:

"It would really be better that you should throw your vice and yourgraver and your burnisher, and all that heap of dainty tools, into thesea, and carve an Atlas such as we have heard you talk about ever sincewe could first speak Greek. Come, set to work on a colossus! You havebut to speak the word, and the finest clay shall be ready on yourmodeling-table by to-morrow, either here or in Glaukias's work-room, which is indeed your own. I know where the best is to be found, and canbring it to you in any quantity. Scopas will lend me his wagon. I cansee it now, and you valiantly struggling with it till your mighty armsache. You will not whistle and hum over that, but sing out with allyour might, as you used when my mother was alive, when you and yourapprentices joined Dionysus's drunken rout. Then your brow will growsmooth again; and if the model is a success, and you want to buy marble, or pay the founder, then out with your gold, out of the coffer and itshiding-place! Then you can make use of all your strength, and your dreamof producing an Atlas such as the world has not seen--your beautifuldream-will become a reality!"

Heron had listened eagerly to his son's rhapsody, but he now cast atimid glance at the table where the wax and tools lay, pushed the roughhair from his brow, and broke in with a bitter laugh: "My dream, do yousay--my dream? As if I did not know too well that I am no longer the manto create an Atlas! As if I did not feel, without your words, that mystrength for it is a thing of the past!"

"Nay, father, " exclaimed the painter. "Is it right to cast away thesword before the battle? And even if you did not succeed--"

"You would be all the better pleased, " the sculptor put in. "What surerway could there be to teach the old simpleton, once for all, that thetime when he could do great work is over and gone?"

"That is unjust, father; that is unworthy of you, " the young maninterrupted in great excitement; but his father went on, raising hisvoice; "Silence, boy! One thing at any rate is left to me, as youknow--my keen eyes; and they did not fail me when you two looked at eachother as the starling cried, 'My strength!' Ay, the bird is in the rightwhen he bewails what was once so great and is now a mere laughing-stock. But you--you ought to reverence the man to whom you owe your existenceand all you know; you allow yourself to shrug your shoulders overyour own father's humbler art, since your first pictures were fairlysuccessful. --How puffed up he is, since, by my devoted care, he has beena painter! How he looks down on the poor wretch who, by the pinch ofnecessity, has come down from being a sculptor of the highest promise tobeing a mere gem-cutter! In the depths of your soul--and I know it--youregard my laborious art as half a handicraft. Well, perhaps it deservesno better name; but that you--both of you--should make common cause witha bird, and mock the sacred fire which still burns in an old man, andmoves him to serve true and noble art and to mold something great--anAtlas such as the world has never seen on a heroic scale; that--"

He covered his face with his hands and sobbed aloud. And the strongman's passionate grief cut his children to the heart, though, sincetheir mother's death, their father's rage and discontent had many a timeere now broken down into childish lamentation. 

To-day no doubt the old man was in worse spirits than usual, for it wasthe day of the Nekysia--the feast of the dead kept every autumn; and hehad that morning visited his wife's grave, accompanied by his daughter, and had anointed the tombstone and decked it with flowers. The youngpeople tried to comfort him; and when at last he was more composed andhad dried his tears, he said, in so melancholy and subdued a tone thatthe angry blusterer was scarcely recognizable: "There--leave me alone;it will soon be over. I will finish this gem to-morrow, and then I mustdo the Serapis I promised Theophilus, the high-priest. Nothing can comeof the Atlas. Perhaps you meant it in all sincerity, Alexander; butsince your mother left me, children, since then--my arms are no weakerthan they were; but in here--what it was that shriveled, broke, leakedaway--I can not find words for it. If you care for me--and I know youdo--you must not be vexed with me if my gall rises now and then; thereis too much bitterness in my soul. I can not reach the goal I striveafter and was meant to win; I have lost what I loved best, and where amI to find comfort or compensation?"

His children tenderly assured him of their affection, and he allowedMelissa to kiss him, and stroked Alexander's hair. 

Then he inquired for Philip, his eldest son and his favorite; and onlearning that he, the only person who, as he believed, could understandhim, would not come to see him this day above all others, he again brokeout in wrath, abusing the degeneracy of the age and the ingratitude ofthe young. 

"Is it a visit which detains him again?" he inquired, and when Alexanderthought not, he exclaimed contemptuously: "Then it is some war of wordsat the Museum. And for such poor stuff as that a son can forget his dutyto his father and mother!"

"But you, too, used to enjoy these conflicts of intellect, " his daughterhumbly remarked; but the old man broke in:

"Only because they help a miserable world to forget the torments ofexistence, and the hideous certainty of having been born only to diesome horrible death. But what can you know of this?"

"By my mother's death-bed, " replied the girl, "we, too, had a glimpseinto the terrible mystery. " And Alexander gravely added, "And sincewe last met, father, I may certainly account myself as one of theinitiated. "

"You have painted a dead body?" asked his father. 

"Yes, father, " replied the lad with a deep breath. "I warned you, " saidHeron, in a tone of superior experience. 

And then, as Melissa rearranged the folds of his blue robe, he saidhe should go for a walk. He sighed as he spoke, and his childrenknew whither he would go. It was to the grave to which Melissa hadaccompanied him that morning; and he would visit it alone, to meditateundisturbed on the wife he had lost. 

CHAPTER II. 

The brother and sister were left together. Melissa sighed deeply; buther brother went up to her, laid his arm round her shoulder, and said:"Poor child! you have indeed a hard time of it. Eighteen years old, andas pretty as you are, to be kept locked up as if in prison! No one wouldenvy you, even if your fellow-captive and keeper were younger and lessgloomy than your father is! But we know what it all means. His griefeats into his soul, and it does him as much good to storm and scold, asit does us to laugh. "

"If only the world could know how kind his heart really is!" said thegirl. 

"He is not the same to his friends as to us, " said Alexander; butMelissa shook her head, and said sadly: "He broke out yesterday againstApion, the dealer, and it was dreadful. For the fiftieth time he hadwaited supper for you two in vain, and in the twilight, when he haddone work, his grief overcame him, and to see him weep is quiteheartbreaking! The Syrian dealer came in and found him all tearful, andbeing so bold as to jest about it in his flippant way--"

"The old man would give him his answer, I know!" cried her brother witha hearty laugh. "He will not again be in a hurry to stir up a woundedlion. "

"That is the very word, " said Melissa, and her large eyes sparkled. "Atthe fight in the Circus, I could not help thinking of my father, whenthe huge king of the desert lay with a broken spear in his loins, whining loudly, and burying his maned head between his great paws. Thegods are pitiless!"

"Indeed they are, " replied the youth, with deep conviction; but hissister looked up at him in surprise. 

"Do you say so, Alexander? Yes, indeed--you looked just now as I neversaw you before. Has misfortune overtaken you too?"

"Misfortune?" he repeated, and he gently stroked her hair. "No, notexactly; and you know my woes sit lightly enough on me. The immortalshave indeed shown me very plainly that it is their will sometimes tospoil the feast of life with a right bitter draught. But, like the moonitself, all it shines on is doomed to change--happily! Many things herebelow seem strangely ordered. Like ears and eyes, hands and feet, manythings are by nature double, and misfortunes, as they say, commonly comein couples yoked like oxen. "

"Then you have had some twofold blow?" asked Melissa, clasping her handsover her anxiously throbbing bosom. 

"I, child! No, indeed. Nothing has befallen your father's younger son;and if I were a philosopher, like Philip, I should be moved to wonderwhy a man can only be wet when the rain falls on him, and yet can be sowretched when disaster falls on another. But do not look at me with suchterror in your great eyes. I swear to you that, as a man and an artist, I never felt better, and so I ought properly to be in my usual frameof mind. But the skeleton at life's festival has been shown to me. Whatsort of thing is that? It is an image--the image of a dead man whichwas carried round by the Egyptians, and is to this day by the Romans, to remind the feasters that they should fill every hour with enjoyment, since enjoyment is all too soon at an end. Such an image, child--"

"You are thinking of the dead girl--Seleukus's daughter--whose portraityou are painting?" asked Melissa. 

Alexander nodded, sat down on the bench by his sister, and, taking upher needlework, exclaimed "Give us some light, child. I want to see yourpretty face. I want to be sure that Diodorus did not perjure himselfwhen, at the 'Crane, ' the other day, he swore that it had not its matchin Alexandria. Besides, I hate the darkness. "

When Melissa returned with the lighted lamp, she found her brother, whowas not wont to keep still, sitting in the place where she had left him. But he sprang up as she entered, and prevented her further greeting byexclaiming:

"Patience! patience! You shall be told all. Only I did not want toworry you on the day of the festival of the dead. And besides, to-morrowperhaps he will be in a better frame of mind, and next day--"

Melissa became urgent. "If Philip is ill--" she put in. 

"Not exactly ill, " said he. "He has no fever, no ague-fit, no aches andpains. He is not in bed, and has no bitter draughts to swallow. Yet ishe not well, any more than I, though but just now, in the dining-hall atthe Elephant, I ate like a starving wolf, and could at this moment jumpover this table. Shall I prove it?"

"No, no, " said his sister, in growing distress. "But, if you love me, tell me at once and plainly--"

"At once and plainly, " sighed the painter. "That, in any case, will notbe easy. But I will do my best. You knew Korinna?"

"Seleukus's daughter?"

"She herself--the maiden from whose corpse I am painting her portrait. "

"No. But you wanted--"

"I wanted to be brief, but I care even more to be understood; and if youhave never seen with your own eyes, if you do not yourself know what amiracle of beauty the gods wrought when they molded that maiden, youare indeed justified in regarding me as a fool and Philip as amadman--which, thank the gods, he certainly is not yet. "

"Then he too has seen the dead maiden?"

"No, no. And yet--perhaps. That at present remains a mystery. I hardlyknow what happened even to myself. I succeeded in controlling myself inmy father's presence; but now, when it all rises up before me, before myvery eyes, so distinct, so real, so tangible, now--by Sirius! Melissa, if you interrupt me again--"

"Begin again. I will be silent, " she cried. "I can easily picture yourKorinna as a divinely beautiful creature. "

Alexander raised his hands to heaven, exclaiming with passionatevehemence: "Oh, how would I praise and glorify the gods, who formedthat marvel of their art, and my mouth should be full of their grace andmercy, if they had but allowed the world to sun itself in the charm ofthat glorious creature, and to worship their everlasting beauty inher who was their image! But they have wantonly destroyed their ownmasterpiece, have crushed the scarce-opened bud, have darkened the starere it has risen! If a man had done it, Melissa, a man what would hisdoom have been! If he--"

Here the youth hid his face in his hands in passionate emotion; but, feeling his sister's arm round his shoulder, he recovered himself, andwent on more calmly: "Well, you heard that she was dead. She was of justyour age; she is dead at eighteen, and her father commissioned me topaint her in death. --Pour me out some water; then I will proceed ascoldly as a man crying the description of a runaway slave. " He dranka deep draught, and wandered restlessly up and down in front of hissister, while he told her all that had happened to him during the lastfew days. 

The day before yesterday, at noon, he had left the inn where he had beencarousing with friends, gay and careless, and had obeyed the call ofSeleukus. Just before raising the knocker he had been singing cheerfullyto himself. Never had he felt more fully content--the gayest of the gay. One of the first men in the town, and a connoisseur, had honored himwith a fine commission, and the prospect of painting something dead hadpleased him. His old master had often admired the exquisite delicacy ofthe flesh-tones of a recently deceased body. As his glance fell on theimplements that his slave carried after him, he had drawn himself upwith the proud feeling of having before him a noble task, to which hefelt equal. Then the porter, a gray-bearded Gaul, had opened the doorto him, and as he looked into his care-worn face and received from him asilent permission to step in, he had already become more serious. 

He had heard marvels of the magnificence of the house that he nowentered; and the lofty vestibule into which he was admitted, the mosaicfloor that he trod; the marble statues and high reliefs round the upperhart of the walls, were well worth careful observation; yet he, whoseeyes usually carried away so vivid an impression of what he had onceseen that he could draw it from memory, gave no attention to anyparticular thing among the various objects worthy of admiration. Foralready in the anteroom a peculiar sensation had come over him. Thelarge halls, which were filled with odors of ambergris and incense, wereas still as the grave. And it seemed to him that even the sun, which hadbeen shining brilliantly a few minutes before in a cloudless sky, haddisappeared behind clouds, for a strange twilight, unlike anything hehad ever seen, surrounded him. Then he perceived that it came in throughthe black velarium with which they had closed the open roof of the roomthrough which he was passing. 

In the anteroom a young freedman had hurried silently past him--hadvanished like a shadow through the dusky rooms. His duty must have beento announce the artist's arrival to the mother of the dead girl; for, before Alexander had found time to feast his gaze on the luxurious massof flowering plants that surrounded the fountain in the middle of theimpluvium, a tall matron, in flowing mourning garments, came towardshim--Korinna's mother. 

Without lifting the black veil which enveloped her from head to foot, she speechlessly signed him to follow her. Till this moment not even awhisper had met his ear from any human lips in this house of death andmourning; and the stillness was so oppressive to the light-hearted youngpainter, that, merely to hear the sound of his own voice, he ex-plainedto the lady who he was and wherefore he had come. But the only answerwas a dumb assenting bow of the head. 

He had not far to go with his stately guide; their walk ended in aspacious room. It had been made a perfect flower-garden with hundredsof magnificent plants; piles of garlands strewed the floor, and in themidst stood the couch on which lay the dead girl. In this hall, too, reigned the same gloomy twilight which had startled him in thevestibule. 

The dim, shrouded form lying motionless on the couch before him, with aheavy wreath of lotus-flowers and white roses encircling it from headto foot, was the subject for his brush. He was to paint here, where hecould scarcely distinguish one plant from another, or make out the formof the vases which stood round the bed of death. The white blossomsalone gleamed like pale lights in the gloom, and with a sister radiancesomething smooth and round which lay on the couch--the bare arm of thedead maiden. 

His heart began to throb; the artist's love of his art had awaked withinhim; he had collected his wits, and explained to the matron that topaint in the darkness was impossible. 

Again she bowed in reply, but at a signal two waiting women, who weresquatting on the floor behind the couch, started up in the twilight, asif they had sprung from the earth, and approached their mistress. 

A fresh shock chilled the painter's blood, for at the same moment thelady's voice was suddenly audible close to his ear, almost as deep as aman's but not unmelodious, ordering the girls to draw back the curtainas far as the painter should desire. 

Now, he felt, the spell was broken; curiosity and eagerness tookthe place of reverence for death. He quietly gave his orders for thenecessary arrangements, lent the women the help of his stronger arm, took out his painting implements, and then requested the matron tounveil the dead girl, that he might see from which side it would be bestto take the portrait. But then again he was near losing his composure, for the lady raised her veil, and measured him with a glance as thoughhe had asked something strange and audacious indeed. 

Never had he met so piercing a glance from any woman's eyes; and yetthey were red with weeping and full of tears. Bitter grief spoke inevery line of her still youthful features, and their stern, majesticbeauty was in keeping with the deep tones of her speech. Oh that he hadbeen so happy as to see this woman in the bloom of youthful loveliness!She did not heed his admiring surprise; before acceding to his demand, her regal form trembled from head to foot, and she sighed as she liftedthe shroud from her daughter's face. Then, with a groan, she droppedon her knees by the couch and laid her cheek against that of the deadmaiden. At last she rose, and murmured to the painter that if he weresuccessful in his task her gratitude would be beyond expression. 

"What more she said, " Alexander went on, "I could but half understand, for she wept all the time, and I could not collect my thoughts. Itwas not till afterward that I learned from her waiting-woman--aChristian--that she meant to tell me that the relations and wailingwomen were to come to-morrow morning. I could paint on till nightfall, but no longer. I had been chosen for the task because Seleukus had heardfrom my old teacher, Bion, that I should get a faithful likeness of theoriginal more quickly than any one else. She may have said more, butI heard nothing; I only saw. For when the veil no longer hid that facefrom my gaze, I felt as though the gods had revealed a mystery to mewhich till now only the immortals had been permitted to know. Never wasmy soul so steeped in devotion, never had my heart beat in such solemnuplifting as at that moment. What I was gazing at and had to representwas a thing neither human nor divine; it was beauty itself--that beautyof which I have often dreamed in blissful rapture. 

"And yet--do not misapprehend me--I never thought of bewailing themaiden, or grieving over her early death. She was but sleeping--I couldfancy: I watched one I loved in her slumbers. My heart beat high! Ay, child, and the work I did was pure joy, such joy as only the gods onOlympus know at their golden board. Every feature, every line was ofsuch perfection as only the artist's soul can conceive of, nay, even dream of. The ecstasy remained, but my unrest gave way to anindescribable and wordless bliss. I drew with the red chalk, and mixedthe colors with the grinder, and all the while I could not feel thepainful sense of painting a corpse. If she were slumbering, she hadfallen asleep with bright images in her memory. I even fancied againand again that her lips moved her exquisitely chiseled mouth, and that afaint breath played with her abundant, waving, shining brown hair, as itdoes with yours. 

"The Muse sped my hand and the portrait--Bion and the rest will praiseit, I think, though it is no more like the unapproachable original thanthat lamp is like the evening star yonder. "

"And shall we be allowed to see it?" asked Melissa, who had beenlistening breathlessly to her brother's narrative. 

The words seemed to have snatched the artist from a dream. He had topause and consider where he was and to whom he was speaking. He hastilypushed the curling hair off his damp brow, and said:

"I do not understand. What is it you ask?"

"I only asked whether we should be allowed to see the portrait, " sheanswered timidly. "I was wrong to interrupt you. But how hot your headis! Drink again before you go on. Had you really finished by sundown?"

Alexander shook his head, drank, and then went on more calmly: "No, no!It is a pity you spoke. In fancy I was painting her still. There is themoon rising already. I must make haste. I have told you all this forPhilip's sake, not for my own. "

"I will not interrupt you again, I assure you, " said Melissa. "Well, well, " said her brother. "There is not much that is pleasant left totell. Where was I?"

"Painting, so long as it was light--"

"To be sure--I remember. It began to grow dark. Then lamps werebrought in, large ones, and as many as I wished for. Just before sunsetSeleukus, Korinna's father, came in to look upon his daughter once more. He bore his grief with dignified composure; yet by his child's bier hefound it hard to be calm. But you can imagine all that. He invited me toeat, and the food they brought might have tempted a full man to excess, but I could only swallow a few mouthfuls. Berenike--the mother--did noteven moisten her lips, but Seleukus did duty for us both, and this Icould see displeased his wife. During supper the merchant made manyinquiries about me and my father; for he had heard Philip's praises fromhis brother Theophilus, the high-priest. I learned from him that Korinnahad caught her sickness from a slave girl she had nursed, and had diedof the fever in three days. But while I sat listening to him, as hetalked and ate, I could not keep my eyes off his wife who reclinedopposite to me silent and motionless, for the gods had created Korinnain her very image. The lady Berenike's eyes indeed sparkle with alurid, I might almost say an alarming, fire, but they are shaped likeKorinna's. I said so, and asked whether they were of the same color;I wanted to know for my portrait. On this Seleukus referred me to apicture painted by old Sosibius, who has lately gone to Rome to work inCaesar's new baths. He last year painted the wall of a room in the merchant's country house at Kanopus. In the center of the picture standsGalatea, and I know it now to be a good and true likeness. 

"The picture I finished that evening is to be placed at the head ofthe young girl's sarcophagus; but I am to keep it two days longer, toreproduce a second likeness more at my leisure, with the help of theGalatea, which is to remain in Seleukus's town house. 

"Then he left me alone with his wife. 

"What a delightful commission! I set to work with renewed pleasure, and more composure than at first. I had no need to hurry, for the firstpicture is to be hidden in the tomb, and I could give all my care to thesecond. Besides, Korinna's features were indelibly impressed on my eye. 

"I generally can not paint at all by lamp-light; but this time I foundno difficulty, and I soon recovered that blissful, solemn mood which Ihad felt in the presence of the dead. Only now and then it was cloudedby a sigh, or a faint moan from Berenike: 'Gone, gone! There is nocomfort--none, none!'

"And what could I answer? When did Death ever give back what he hassnatched away?

"' I can not even picture her as she was, ' she murmured sadly toherself--but this I might remedy by the help of my art, so I painted onwith increasing zeal; and at last her lamentations ceased to troubleme, for she fell asleep, and her handsome head sank on her breast. Thewatchers, too, had dropped asleep, and only their deep breathing brokethe stillness. 

"Suddenly it flashed upon me that I was alone with Korinna, and thefeeling grew stronger and stronger; I fancied her lovely lips had moved, that a smile gently parted them, inviting me to kiss them. As often asI looked at them--and they bewitched me--I saw and felt the same, and atlast every impulse within me drove me toward her, and I could no longerresist: my lips pressed hers in a kiss!"

Melissa softly sighed, but the artist did not hear; he went on: "Andin that kiss I became hers; she took the heart and soul of me. I can nolonger escape from her; awake or asleep, her image is before my eyes, and my spirit is in her power. "

Again he drank, emptying the cup at one deep gulp. Then he went on: "Sobe it! Who sees a god, they say, must die. And it is well, for he hasknown something more glorious than other men. Our brother Philip, too, lives with his heart in bonds to that one alone, unless a demon hascheated his senses. I am troubled about him, and you must help me. "

He sprang up, pacing the room again with long strides, but his sisterclung to his arm and besought him to shake off the bewitching vision. How earnest was her prayer, what eager tenderness rang in her everyword, as she entreated him to tell her when and where her elder brother, too, had met the daughter of Seleukus!

The artist's soft heart was easily moved. Stroking the hair ofthe loving creature at his side--so helpful as a rule, but nowbewildered--he tried to calm her by affecting a lighter mood than hereally felt, assuring her that he should soon recover his usual goodspirits. She knew full well, he said, that his living loves changed infrequent succession, and it would be strange indeed if a dead one couldbind him any longer. And his adventure, so far as it concerned the houseof Seleukus, ended with that kiss; for the lady Berenike had presentlywaked, and urged him to finish the portrait at his own house. 

Next morning he had completed it with the help of the Galatea in thevilla at Kanopus, and he had heard a great deal about the dead maiden. A young woman who was left in charge of the villa had supplied him withwhatever he needed. Her pretty face was swollen with weeping, and it wasin a voice choked with tears that she had told him that her husband, whowas a centurion in Caesar's pretorian guard, would arrive to-morrow ornext day at Alexandria, with his imperial master. She had not seen himfor a long time, and had an infant to show him which he had not yetseen; and yet she could not be glad, for her young mistress's death hadextinguished all her joy. 

"The affection which breathed in every word of the centurion's wife, "Alexander said, "helped me in my work. I could be satisfied with theresult. 

"The picture is so successful that I finished that for Seleukus in allconfidence, and for the sarcophagus I will copy it as well or as ill astime will allow. It will hardly be seen in the half-dark tomb, and howfew will ever go to see it! None but a Seleukus can afford to employso costly a brush as your brother's is--thank the Muses! But the secondportrait is quite another thing, for that may chance to be hung next apicture by Apelles; and it must restore to the parents so much of theirlost child as it lies in my power to give them. So, on my way, I made upmy mind to begin the copy at once by lamp-light, for it must be ready byto-morrow night at latest. 

"I hurried to my work-room, and my slave placed the picture on an easel, while I welcomed my brother Philip who had come to see me, and who hadlighted a lamp, and of course had brought a book. He was so absorbed init that he did not observe that I had come in till I addressed him. ThenI told him whence I came and what had happened, and he thought it allvery strange and interesting. 

"He was as usual rather hurried and hesitating, not quite clear, but understanding it all. Then he began telling me something about aphilosopher who has just come to the front, a porter by trade, from whomhe had heard sundry wonders, and it was not till Syrus brought me ina supper of oysters--for I could still eat nothing more solid--that heasked to see the portrait. 

"I pointed to the easel, and watched him; for the harder he is toplease, the more I value his opinion. This time I felt confident ofpraise, or even of some admiration, if only for the beauty of the model. 

"He threw off the veil from the picture with a hasty movement, but, instead of gazing at it calmly, as he is wont, and snapping out hissharp criticisms, he staggered backward, as though the noonday sun haddazzled his sight. Then, bending forward, he stared at the painting, panting as he might after racing for a wager. He stood in perfectsilence, for I know not how long, as though it were Medusa he was gazingon, and when at last he clasped his hand to his brow, I called him byname. He made no reply, but an impatient 'Leave me alone!' and thenhe still gazed at the face as though to devour it with his eyes, andwithout a sound. 

"I did not disturb him; for, thought I, he too is bewitched by theexquisite beauty of those virgin features. So we were both silent, tillhe asked, in a choked voice: 'And did you paint that? Is that, do yousay, the daughter that Seleukus has just lost?'

"Of course I said 'Yes'; but then he turned on me in a rage, andreproached me bitterly for deceiving and cheating him, and jesting withthings that to him were sacred, though I might think them a subject forsport. 

"I assured him that my answer was as earnest as it was accurate, andthat every word of my story was true. 

"This only made him more furious. I, too, began to get angry, and ashe, evidently deeply agitated, still persisted in saying that my picturecould not have been painted from the dead Korinna, I swore to himsolemnly, with the most sacred oath I could think of, that it was reallyso. 

"On this he declared to me in words so tender and touching as I neverbefore heard from his lips, that if I were deceiving him his peace ofmind would be forever destroyed-nay, that he feared for his reason; andwhen I had repeatedly assured him, by the memory of our departed mother, that I had never dreamed of playing a trick upon him, he shook his head, grasped his brow, and turned to leave the room without another word. "

"And you let him go?" cried Melissa, in anxious alarm. 

"Certainly not, " replied the painter. "On the contrary, I stood in hisway, and asked him whether he had known Korinna, and what all this mightmean. But he would make no reply, and tried to pass me and get away. Itmust have been a strange scene, for we two big men struggled as ifwe were at a wrestling-match. I got him down with one hand behind hisknees, and so he had to remain; and when I had promised to let him go, he confessed that he had seen Korinna at the house of her uncle, thehigh-priest, without knowing who she was or even speaking a word to her. And he, who usually flees from every creature wearing a woman's robe, had never forgotten that maiden and her noble beauty; and, though he didnot say so, it was obvious, from every word, that he was madly in love. Her eyes had followed him wherever he went, and this he deemed a greatmisfortune, for it had disturbed his power of thought. A month since hewent across Lake Mareotis to Polybius to visit Andreas, and while, onhis return, he was standing on the shore, he saw her again, with an oldman in white robes. But the last time he saw her was on the morning ofthe very day when all this happened; and if he is to be believed, he notonly saw her but touched her hand. That, again, was by the lake; she wasjust stepping out of the ferry-boat. The obolus she had ready to pay theoarsman dropped on the ground, and Philip picked it up and returnedit to her. Then his fingers touched hers. He could feel it still, hedeclared, and yet she had then ceased to walk among the living. 

"Then it was my turn to doubt his word; but he maintained that his storywas true in every detail; he would hear nothing said about some oneresembling her, or anything of the kind, and spoke of daimons showinghim false visions, to cheat him and hinder him from working out hisinvestigations of the real nature of things to a successful issue. Butthis is in direct antagonism to his views of daimons; and when atlast he rushed out of the house, he looked like one possessed of evilspirits. 

"I hurried after him, but he disappeared down a dark alley. Then Ihad enough to do to finish my copy, and yesterday I carried it home toSeleukus. 

"Then I had time to look for Philip, but I could hear nothing of him, either in his own lodgings or at the Museum. To-day I have been huntingfor him since early in the morning. I even forgot to lay any flowerson my mother's grave, as usual on the day of the Nekysia, because I wasthinking only of him. But he no doubt is gone to the city of the dead;for, on my way hither, as I was ordering a garland in the flower-market, pretty little Doxion showed me two beauties which she had woven for him, and which he is presently to fetch. So he must now be in the Nekropolis;and I know for whom he intends the second; for the door-keeper atSeleukus's house told me that a man, who said he was my brother, hadtwice called, and had eagerly inquired whether my picture had yet beenattached to Korinna's sarcophagus. The old man told him it had not, because, of course, the embalming could not be complete as yet. But thepicture was to be displayed to-day, as being the feast of the dead, inthe hall of the embalmers. That was the plan, I know. So, now, child, set your wise little woman's head to work, and devise something bywhich he may be brought to his senses, and released from these crazyimaginings. "

"The first thing to be done, " Melissa exclaimed, "is to follow himand talk to him. -Wait a moment; I must speak a word to the slaves. Myfather's night-draught can be mixed in a minute. He might perhaps returnhome before us, and I must leave his couch--I will be with you in aminute. "

CHAPTER III. 

The brother and sister had walked some distance. The roads were full ofpeople, and the nearer they came to the Nekropolis the denser was thethrong. 

As they skirted the town walls they took counsel together. 

Being perfectly agreed that the girl who had touched Philip's handcould certainly be no daimon who had assumed Korinna's form, they wereinclined to accept the view that a strong resemblance had deceived theirbrother. They finally decided that Alexander should try to discover themaiden who so strangely resembled the dead; and the artist was ready forthe task, for he could only work when his heart was light, and hadnever felt such a weight on it before. The hope of meeting with a livingcreature who resembled that fair dead maiden, combined with his wish torescue his brother from the disorder of mind which threatened him; andMelissa perceived with glad surprise how quickly this new object in liferestored the youth's happy temper. 

It was she who spoke most, and Alexander, whom nothing escaped that hadany form of beauty, feasted his ear on the pearly ring of her voice. 

"And her face is to match, " thought he as they went on in the darkness;"and may the Charites who have endowed her with every charm, forgive myfather for burying her as he does his gold. "

It was not in his nature to keep anything that stirred him deeply tohimself, when he was in the society of another, so he murmured to hissister: "It is just as well that the Macedonian youths of thiscity should not be able to see what a jewel our old man's housecontains. --Look how brightly Selene shines on us, and how gloriously thestars burn! Nowhere do the heavens blaze more brilliantly than here. Assoon as we come out of the shadow that the great walls cast on the roadwe shall be in broad light. There is the Serapeum rising out of thedarkness. They are rehearsing the great illumination which is to dazzlethe eyes of Caesar when he comes. But they must show too, that to-night, at least, the gods of the nether world and death are all awake. You cannever have been in the Nekropolis at so late an hour before. "

"How should I?" replied the girl. And he expressed the pleasure that itgave him to be able to show her for the first time the wonderful nightscene of such a festival. And when he heard the deep-drawn "Ah!" withwhich she hailed the sight of the greatest temple of all, blazing in themidst of the darkness with tar-pans, torches, and lamps innumerable, he replied with as much pride and satisfaction as though she owed thedisplay to him, "Ay, what do you think of that?"

Above the huge stone edifice which was thus lighted up, the dome of theSerapeum rose high into the air, its summit appearing to touch the sky. Never had the gigantic structure seemed so beautiful to the girl, whohad only seen it by daylight; for under the illumination, arranged by amaster-hand, every line stood out more clearly than in the sunlight; andin the presence of this wonderful sight Melissa's impressionable youngsoul forgot the trouble that had weighed on it, and her heart beathigher. 

Her lonely life with her father had hitherto fully satisfied her, andshe had, never yet dreamed of anything better in the future than aquiet and modest existence, caring for him and her brothers; but now shethankfully experienced the pleasure of seeing for once something reallygrand and fine, and rejoiced at having escaped for a while from themonotony of each day and hour. 

Once, too, she had been with her brothers and Diodoros, Alexander'sgreatest friend, to see a wild-beast fight, followed by a combat ofgladiators; but she had come home frightened and sorrowful, for whatshe had seen had horrified more than it had interested her. Some of thekilled and tortured beings haunted her mind; and, besides, sitting inthe lowest and best seats belonging to Diodoros's wealthy father, shehad been stared at so boldly and defiantly whenever she raised her eyes, by a young gallant opposite, that she had felt vexed and insulted; nay, had wished above all things to get home as soon as possible. And yetshe had loved Diodoros from her childhood, and she would have enjoyedsitting quietly by his side more than looking on at the show. 

But on this occasion her curiosity was gratified, and the hope of beingable to help one who was dear to her filled her with quiet gladness. It was a comfort to her, too, to find herself once more by her mother'sgrave with Alexander, who was her especial friend. She could never comehere often enough, and the blessing which emanated from it--of that shewas convinced--must surely fall on her brother also, and avert from himall that grieved his heart. 

As they walked on between the Serapeum on one hand, towering high aboveall else, and the Stadium on the other, the throng was dense; on thebridge over the canal it was difficult to make any progress. Now, asthe full moon rose, the sacrifices and games in honor of the gods ofthe under world were beginning, and now the workshops and factories hademptied themselves into the streets already astir for the festival ofthe dead, so every moment the road became more crowded. 

Such a tumult was generally odious to her retiring nature; but to-nightshe felt herself merely one drop in the great, flowing river, of whichevery other drop felt the same impulse which was carrying her forwardto her destination. The desire to show the dead that they were notforgotten, that their favor was courted and hoped for, animated men andwomen, old and young alike. 

There were few indeed who had not a wreath or a posy in their hands, orcarried behind them by a slave. In front of the brother and sister wasa large family of children. A black nurse carried the youngest on hershoulder, and an ass bore a basket in which were flowers for the tomb, with a wineflask and eatables. A memorial banquet was to be held at thegrave of their ancestors; and the little one, whose golden head roseabove the black, woolly poll of the negress, nodded gayly in response toMelissa's smiles. The children were enchanted at the prospect of a mealat such an unusual hour, and their parents rejoiced in them and in thesolemn pleasure they anticipated. 

Many a one in this night of remembrance only cared to recall the happyhours spent in the society of the beloved dead; others hoped to leavetheir grief and pain behind them, and find fresh courage and contentmentin the City of the Dead; for tonight the gates of the nether world stoodopen, and now, if ever, the gods that reigned there would accept theofferings and hear the prayers of the devout. 

Those lean Egyptians, who pushed past in silence and harangingtheir heads, were no doubt bent on carrying offerings to Osiris andAnubis--for the festival of the gods of death and resurrection coincidedwith the Nekysia--and on winning their favors by magical formulas andspells. 

Everything was plainly visible, for the desert tract of the Nekropolis, where at this hour utter darkness and silence usually reigned, wasbrightly lighted up. Still, the blaze failed to banish entirely thethrill of fear which pervaded the spot at night; for the unwonted glaredazzled and bewildered the bats and night-birds, and they flutteredabout over the heads of the intruders in dark, ghostly flight. Many aone believed them to be the unresting souls of condemned sinners, andlooked up at them with awe. 

Melissa drew her veil closer and clung more tightly to her brother, fora sound of singing and wild cries, which she had heard behind her forsome time, was now coming closer. They were no longer treading the pavedstreet, but the hard-beaten soil of the desert. The crush was over, forhere the crowd could spread abroad; but the uproarious troop, which shedid not even dare to look at, came rushing past quite close to them. They were Greeks, of all ages and of both sexes. The men flourishedtorches, and were shouting a song with unbridled vehemence; the women, wearing garlands, kept up with them. What they carried in the basketson their heads could not be seen, nor did Alexander know; for so manyreligious brotherhoods and mystic societies existed here that it wasimpossible to guess to which this noisy troop might belong. 

The pair had presently overtaken a little train of white-robed menmoving forward at a solemn pace, whom the painter recognized as thephilosophical and religious fraternity of the Neo-Pythagoreans, when asmall knot of men and women in the greatest excitement came rushing pastas if they were mad. The men wore the loose red caps of their Phrygianland; the women carried bowls full of fruits. Some beat small drums, others clanged cymbals, and each hauled his neighbor along withdeafening cries, faster and faster, till the dust hid them from sightand a new din drowned the last, for the votaries of Dionysus werealready close upon them, and vied with the Phrygians in uproariousness. But this wild troop remained behind; for one of the light-colored oxen, covered with decorations, which was being driven in the procession bya party of men and boys, to be presently sacrificed, had broken away, maddened by the lights and the shouting, and had to be caught and ledagain. 

At last they reached the graveyard. But even now they could not maketheir way to the long row of houses where the embalmers dwelt, for animpenetrable mass of human beings stood pent up in front of them, andMelissa begged her brother to give her a moment's breathing space. 

All she had seen and heard on the way had excited her greatly; but shehad scarcely for a moment forgotten what it was that had brought her outso late, who it was that she sought, or that it would need her utmostendeavor to free him from the delusion that had fooled him. In thisdense throng and deafening tumult it was scarcely possible to recoverthat collected calm which she had found in the morning at her mother'stomb. In that, doubt had had no part, and the delightful feeling offreedom which had shone on her soul, now shrank deep into the shadebefore a growing curiosity and the longing for her usual repose. 

If her father were to find her here! When she saw a tall figureresembling his cross the torchlight, all clouded as it was by the dust, she drew her brother away behind the stall of a seller of drinks andother refreshments. The father, at any rate, must be spared the distressshe felt about Philip, who was his favorite. Besides, she knew full wellthat, if he met her here, he would at once take her home. 

The question now was where Philip might be found. 

They were standing close to the booths where itinerant dealers soldfood and liquors of every description, flowers and wreaths, amulets andpapyrus-leaves, with strange charms written on them to secure health forthe living and salvation for the souls of the dead. An astrologer, whoforetold the course of a man's life from the position of the planets, had erected a high platform with large tables displayed to view, and theinstrument wherewith he aimed at the stars as it were with a bow;and his Syrian slave, accompanying himself on a gayly-painted drum, proclaimed his master's powers. There were closed tents in which magicalremedies were to be obtained, though their open sale was forbidden bythe authorities, from love-philters to the wondrous fluid which, ifrightly applied, would turn lead, copper, or silver to gold. Here, oldwomen invited the passer-by to try Thracian and other spells; there, magicians stalked to and fro in painted caps and flowing, gaudy robes, most of them calling themselves priests of some god of the abyss. Menof every race and tongue that dwelt in the north of Africa, or on theshores of the Mediterranean, were packed in a noisy throng. 

The greatest press was behind the houses of the men who buried the dead. Here sacrifices were offered on the altars of Serapis, Isis, and Anubis;here the sacred sistrum of Isis might be kissed; here hundreds ofpriests performed solemn ceremonies, and half of those who came hitherfor the festival of the dead collected about them. The mysterieswere also performed here, beginning before midnight; and a dramaticrepresentation might be seen of the woes of Isis, and the resurrectionof her husband Osiris. But neither here, nor at the stalls, nor amongthe graves, where many families were feasting by torchlight and pouringlibations in the sand for the souls of the dead, did Alexander expectto find his brother. Nor would Philip be attending the mysterioussolemnities of any of the fraternities. He had witnessed them oftenenough with his friend Diodoros, who never missed the procession toEleusis, because, as he declared, the mysteries of Demeter alone couldassure a man of the immortality of the soul. The wild ceremonies of theSyrians, who maimed themselves in their mad ecstasy, repelled him asbeing coarse and barbarous. 

As she made her way through this medley of cults, this worship of godsso different that they were in some cases hostile, but more often mergedinto each other, Melissa wondered to which she ought to turn in herpresent need. Her mother had best loved to sacrifice to Serapis andIsis. But since, in her last sickness, Melissa had offered everythingshe possessed to these divinities of healing, and all in vain, and sinceshe had heard things in the Serapeum itself which even now broughta blush to her cheek, she had turned away from the great god of theAlexandrians. Though he who had offended her by such base proposals wasbut a priest of the lower grade--and indeed, though she knew it not, wassince dead--she feared meeting him again, and had avoided the sanctuarywhere he officiated. 

She was a thorough Alexandrian, and had been accustomed from childhoodto listen to the philosophical disputations of the men about her. So sheperfectly understood her brother Philip, the skeptic, when he said thathe by no means denied the existence of the immortals, but that, on theother hand, he could not believe in it; that thought brought him noconviction; that man, in short, could be sure of nothing, and so couldknow nothing whatever of the divinity. He had even denied, on logicalgrounds, the goodness and omnipotence of the gods, the wisdom andfitness of the ordering of the universe, and Melissa was proud of herbrother's acumen; but what appeals to the brain only, and not tothe heart, can not move a woman to anything great--least of all to adecisive change of life or feeling. So the girl had remained constant toher mother's faith in some mighty powers outside herself, which guidedthe life of Nature and of human beings. Only she did not feel that shehad found the true god, either in Serapis or Isis, and so she had soughtothers. Thus she had formulated a worship of ancestors, which, as shehad learned from the slave-woman of her friend Ino, was not unfamiliarto the Egyptians. 

In Alexandria there were altars to every god, and worship in every form. Hers, however, was not among them, for the genius of her creed was theenfranchised soul of her mother, who had cast off the burden of thisperishable body. Nothing had ever come from her that was not good andlovely; and she knew that if her mother were permitted, even in someother than human form, she would never cease to watch over her withtender care. 

And those initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, as Diodoros had toldher, desired the immortality of the soul, to the end that they mightcontinue to participate in the life of those whom they had left behind. What was it that brought such multitudes at this time out to theNekropolis, with their hands full of offerings, but the consciousnessof their nearness to the dead, and of being cared for by them so long asthey were not forgotten? And even if the glorified spirit of her motherwere not permitted to hear her prayers, she need not therefore cease toturn to her; for it comforted her unspeakably to be with her in spirit, and to confide to her all that moved her soul. And so her mother's tombhad become her favorite place of rest. Here, if anywhere, she now hopedonce more to find comfort, some happy suggestion, and perhaps somedefinite assistance. 

She begged Alexander to take her thither, and he consented, though hewas of opinion that Philip would be found in the mortuary chamber, inthe presence of Korinna's portrait. 

It was not easy to force their way through the thousands who had comeout to the great show this night; however, most of the visitors wereattracted by the mysteries far away from the Macedonian burial-ground, and there was little to disturb the silence near the fine marblemonument which Alexander, to gratify his father, had erected with hisfirst large earnings. It was hung with various garlands, and Melissa, before she prayed and anointed the stone, examined them with eye andhand. 

Those which she and her father had placed there she recognized at once. That humble garland of reeds with two lotus-flowers was the gift oftheir old slave Argutis and his wife Dido. This beautiful wreath ofchoice flowers had come from the garden of a neighbor who had loved hermother well; and that splendid basketful of lovely roses, which had notbeen there this morning, had been placed here by Andreas, steward to thefather of her young friend Diodoros, although he was of the Christiansect. And these were all. Philip had not been here then, though it wasnow past midnight. 

For the first time in his life he had let this day pass by without athought for their dead. How bitterly this grieved Melissa, and evenadded to her anxiety for him!

It was with a heavy heart that she and Alexander anointed the tombstone;and while Melissa uplifted her hands in prayer, the painter stood insilence, his eyes fixed on the ground. But no sooner had she let themfall, than he exclaimed:

"He is here, I am sure, and in the house of the embalmers. That heordered two wreaths is perfectly certain; and if he meant one forKorinna's picture, he surely intended the other for our mother. If hehas offered both to the young girl--"

"No, no!" Melissa put in. "He will bring his gift. Let us wait here alittle while, and do you, too, pray to the manes of our mother. Do it toplease me. "

But her brother interrupted her eagerly: "I think of her wherever I maybe; for those we truly love always live for us. Not a day passes, norif I come in sober, not a night, when I do not see her dear face, eitherwaking or dreaming. Of all things sacred, the thought of her is thehighest; and if she had been raised to divine honors like the deadCaesars who have brought so many curses on the world--"

"Hush--don't speak so loud!" said Melissa, seriously, for men weremoving to and fro among the tombs, and Roman guards kept watch over thepopulace. 

But the rash youth went on in the same tone:

"I would worship her gladly, though I have forgotten how to pray. Forwho can tell here--unless he follows the herd and worships Serapis--whocan tell to which god of them all he shall turn when he happens to be athis wits' end? While my mother lived, I, like you, could gladly worshipand sacrifice to the immortals; but Philip has spoiled me for all that. As to the divine Caesars, every one thinks as I do. My mother wouldsooner have entered a pesthouse than the banqueting-hall where theyfeast, on Olympus. Caracalla among the gods! Why, Father Zeus cast hisson Hephaistos on earth from the height of Olympus, and only broke hisleg; but our Caesar accomplished a more powerful throw, for he cast hisbrother through the earth into the nether world--an imperial thrust--andnot merely lamed him but killed him. "

"Well done!" said a deep voice, interrupting the young artist. "Is thatyou, Alexander? Hear what new titles to fame Heron's son can find forthe imperial guest who is to arrive to-morrow. "

"Pray hush!" Melissa besought him, looking up at the bearded man who hadlaid his arm on Alexander's shoulder. It was Glaukias the sculptor, herfather's tenant; for his work-room stood on the plot of ground bythe garden of Hermes, which the gem-cutter had inherited from hisfather-in-law. 

The man's bold, manly features were flushed with wine and revelry; histwinkling eyes sparkled, and the ivy-leaves still clinging to his curlyhair showed that he had been one in the Dionysiac revellers; butthe Greek blood which ran in his veins preserved his grace even indrunkenness. He bowed gayly to the young girl, and exclaimed to hiscompanions:

"The youngest pearl in Alexandria's crown of beauties!" while Bion, Alexander's now gray-haired master, clapped the youth on the arm, and added: "Yes, indeed, see what the little thing has grown! Doyou remember, pretty one, how you once--how many years ago, Iwonder?--spotted your little white garments all over with red dots! Ican see you now, your tiny finger plunged into the pot of paint, andthen carefully printing off the round pattern all over the white linen. Why, the little painter has become a Hebe, a Charis, or, better still, asweetly dreaming Psyche. "

"Ay, ay!" said Glaukias again. "My worthy landlord has a charming model. He has not far to seek for a head for his best gems. His son, a Helios, or the great Macedonian whose name he bears; his daughter--you areright, Bion--the maid beloved of Eros. Now, if you can make verses, myyoung friend of the Muses, give us an epigram in a line or two which wemay bear in mind as a compliment to our imperial visitor. "

"But not here--not in the burial-ground, " Melissa urged once more. 

Among Glaukias's companions was Argeios, a vain and handsome young poet, with scented locks betraying him from afar, who was fain to display thepromptness of his poetical powers; and, even while the elder artistwas speaking, he had run Alexander's satirical remarks into the moldof rhythm. Not to save his life could he have suppressed the hastilyconceived distich, or have let slip such a justifiable claim toapplause. So, without heeding Melissa's remonstrance, he flung hissky-blue mantle about him in fresh folds, and declaimed with comicalemphasis:

 "Down to earth did the god cast his son: but with mightier hand Through it, to Hades, Caesar flung his brother the dwarf. "

The versifier was rewarded by a shout of laughter, and, spurred by theapproval of his friends, he declared he had hit on the mode to which tosing his lines, as he did in a fine, full voice. 

But there was another poet, Mentor, also of the party, and as hecould not be happy under his rival's triumph, he exclaimed: "The greatdyer--for you know he uses blood instead of the Tyrian shell--hasnothing of Father Zeus about him that I can see, but far more of thegreat Alexander, whose mausoleum he is to visit to-morrow. And if youwould like to know wherein the son of Severus resembles the giant ofMacedon, you shall hear. "

He thrummed his thyrsus as though he struck the strings of a lyre, and, having ended the dumb prelude, he sang:

 "Wherein hath the knave Caracalla outdone Alexander? He killed a brother, the hero a friend, in his rage. "

These lines, however, met with no applause; for they were not so lightlyimprovised as the former distich, and it was clumsy and tasteless, aswell as dangerous thus to name, in connection with such a jest, thepotentate at whom it was aimed. And the fears of the jovial party wereonly too well founded, for a tall, lean Egyptian suddenly stood amongthe Greeks as if he had sprung from the earth. They were sobered atonce, and, like a swarm of pigeons on which a hawk swoops down, theydispersed in all directions. 

Melissa beckoned to her brother to follow her; but the Egyptian intrudersnatched the mantle, quick as lightning, from Alexander's shoulders, andran off with it to the nearest pine-torch. The young man hurried afterthe thief, as he supposed him to be, but there the spy flung the cloakback to him, saying, in a tone of command, though not loud, for therewere still many persons among the graves:

"Hands off, son of Heron, unless you want me to call the watch! I haveseen your face by the light, and that is enough for this time. Now weknow each other, and we shall meet again in another place!"

With these words he vanished in the darkness, and Melissa asked, ingreat alarm:

"In the name of all the gods, who was that?"

"Some rascally carpenter, or scribe, probably, who is in the service ofthe night-watch as a spy. At least those sort of folks are often builtaskew, as that scoundrel was, " replied Alexander, lightly. But he knewthe man only too well. It was Zminis, the chief of the spies to thenight patrol; a man who was particularly inimical to Heron, and whosehatred included the son, by whom he had been befooled and misled in morethan one wild ploy with his boon companions. This spy, whose cruelty andcunning were universally feared, might do him a serious mischief, and hetherefore did not tell his sister, to whom the name of Zminis was wellknown, who the listener was. 

He cut short all further questioning by desiring her to come at once tothe mortuary hall. 

"And if we do not find him there, " she said, "let us go home at once; Iam so frightened. "

"Yes, yes, " said her brother, vaguely. "If only we could meet some oneyou could join. "

"No, we will keep together, " replied Melissa, decisively; and simplyassenting, with a brief "All right, " the painter drew her arm throughhis, and they made their way through the now thinning crowd. 

CHAPTER IV. 

The houses of the embalmers, which earlier in the evening had shonebrightly out of the darkness, now made a less splendid display. The dustkicked up by the crowd dimmed the few lamps and torches which had not bythis time burned out or been extinguished, and an oppressive atmosphereof balsamic resin and spices met the brother and sister on the verythreshold. The vast hall which they now entered was one of a long rowof buildings of unburned bricks; but the Greeks insisted on someornamentation of the simplest structure, if it served a public purpose, and the embalming-houses had a colonnade along their front, and theirwalls were covered with stucco, painted in gaudy colors, here in theEgyptian and there in the Greek taste. There were scenes from theEgyptian realm of the dead, and others from the Hellenic myths; forthe painters had been enjoined to satisfy the requirements and views ofvisitors of every race. The chief attraction, however, this nightwas within; for the men whose duties were exercised on the dead haddisplayed the finest and best of what they had to offer to theircustomers. 

The ancient Greek practice of burning the dead had died out under theAntonines. Of old, the objects used to deck the pyre had also beenon show here; now there was nothing to be seen but what related tointerment or entombment. 

Side by side with the marble sarcophagus, or those of coarser stone, were wooden coffins and mummy-cases, with a place at the head for theportrait of the deceased. Vases and jars of every kind, amulets ofvarious forms, spices and balsams in vials and boxes, little images inburned clay of the gods and of men, of which none but the Egyptians knewthe allegorical meaning, stood in long rows on low wooden shelves. Onthe higher shelves were mummy bands and shrouds, some coarse, others ofthe very finest texture, wigs for the bald heads of shaven corpses, orwoolen fillets, and simply or elaborately embroidered ribbons for theGreek dead. 

Nothing was lacking of the various things in use for decking the corpseof an Alexandrian, whatever his race or faith. 

Some mummy-cases, too, were there, ready to be packed off to othertowns. The most costly were covered with fine red linen, wound aboutwith strings of beads and gold ornaments, and with the name of thedead painted on the upper side. In a long, narrow room apart hung theportraits, waiting to be attached to the upper end of the mummy-cases ofthose lately deceased, and still in the hands of embalmers. Here, too, most of the lamps were out, and the upper end of the room was alreadydark. Only in the middle, where the best pictures were on show, thelights had been renewed. 

The portraits were painted on thin panels of sycamore or of cypress, and in most of them the execution betrayed that their destiny was to behidden in the gloom of a tomb. 

Alexander's portrait of Korinna was in the middle of the gallery, ina good light, and stood out from the paintings on each side of it asa genuine emerald amid green glass. It was constantly surrounded by acrowd of the curious and connoisseurs. They pointed out the beautifulwork to each other; but, though most of them acknowledged the skillof the master who had painted it, many ascribed its superiority tothe magical charm of the model. One could see in those wonderfullyharmonious features that Aristotle was right when he discerned beautyin order and proportion; while another declared that he found therethe evidence of Plato's doctrine of the identity of the good and thebeautiful--for this face was so lovely because it was the mirror of asoul which had been disembodied in the plenitude of maiden purityand virtue, unjarred by any discord; and this gave rise to a vehementdiscussion as to the essential nature of beauty and of virtue. 

Others longed to know more about the early-dead original of thisenchanting portrait. Korinna's wealthy father and his brothers wereamong the best-known men of the city. The elder, Timotheus, washigh-priest of the Temple of Serapis; and Zeno, the younger, had setthe whole world talking when he, who in his youth had been notoriouslydissipated, had retired from any concern in the corn-trade carried onby his family, the greatest business of the kind in the world, perhaps, and--for this was an open secret--had been baptized. 

The body of the maiden, when embalmed and graced with her portrait, wasto be transported to the family tomb in the district of Arsinoe, wherethey had large possessions, and the gossip of the embalmer was eagerlyswallowed as he expatiated on the splendor with which her liberal fatherproposed to escort her thither. 

Alexander and Melissa had entered the portrait-gallery before thebeginning of this narrative, and listened to it, standing behind severalrows of gazers who were between them and the portrait. 

As the speaker ceased, the little crowd broke up, and when Melissa couldat last see her brother's work at her ease, she stood speechless forsome time; and then she turned to the artist, and exclaimed, from thedepths of her heart, "Beauty is perhaps the noblest thing in the world!"

"It is, " replied Alexander, with perfect assurance. And he, bewitchedonce more by the spell which had held him by Korinna's couch, gazed intothe dark eyes in his own picture, whose living glance his had never met, and which he nevertheless had faithfully reproduced, giving them a lookof the longing of a pure soul for all that is lovely and worthy. 

Melissa, an artist's daughter, as she looked at this portrait, understood what it was that had so deeply stirred her brother while hepainted it; but this was not the place to tell him so. She soon toreherself away, to look about for Philip once more and then to be takenhome. 

Alexander, too, was seeking Philip; but, sharp as the artist's eyeswere, Melissa's seemed to be keener, for, just as they were giving it upand turning to go, she pointed to a dark corner and said softly, "Therehe is. "

And there, in fact, her brother was, sitting with two men, one very talland the other a little man, his brow resting on his hand in the deepshadow of a sarcophagus, between the wall and a mummy-case set on end, which till now had hidden him from Alexander and Melissa. 

Who could the man be who had kept the young philosopher, somewhatinaccessible in his pride of learning, so long in talk in that half-darkcorner? He was not one of the learned society at the Museum; Alexanderknew them all. Besides, he was not dressed like them, in the Greekfashion, but in the flowing robe of a Magian. And the stranger was a manof consequence, for he wore his splendid garment with a superior air, and as Alexander approached him he remembered having somewhere seen thistall, bearded figure, with the powerful head garnished with flowing andcarefully oiled black curls. Such handsome and well-chiseled features, such fine eyes, and such a lordly, waving beard were not easilyforgotten; his memory suddenly awoke and threw a light on the man as hesat in the gloom, and on the surroundings in which he had met him forthe first time. 

It was at the feast of Dionysus. Among a drunken crowd, which wasrushing wildly along the streets, and which Alexander had joined, himself one of the wildest, this man had marched, sober and dignifiedas he was at this moment, in the same flowing raiment. This had provokedthe feasters, who, being full of wine and of the god, would have nothingthat could remind them of the serious side of life. Such sullen reserveon a day of rejoicing was an insult to the jolly giver of the fruitsof the earth, and to wine itself, the care-killer; and the mad troop ofartists, disguised as Silenus, satyrs, and fauns, had crowded round thestranger to compel him to join their rout and empty the wine-jar which aburly Silenus was carrying before him on his ass. 

At first the man had paid no heed to the youths' light mockery; but asthey grew bolder, he suddenly stood still, seized the tall faun, whowas trying to force the wine-jar on him, by both arms, and, holding himfirmly, fixed his grave, dark eyes on those of the youth. Alexander hadnot forgotten the half-comical, half-threatening incident, but what heremembered most clearly was the strange scene that followed: for, afterthe Magian had released his enemy, he bade him take the jar back toSilenus, and proceed on his way, like the ass, on all-fours. And thetall faun, a headstrong, irascible Lesbian, had actually obeyed thestately despot, and crept along on his hands and feet by the side of thedonkey. No threats nor mockery of his companions could persuade him torise. The high spirits of the boisterous crew were quite broken, andbefore they could turn on the magician he had vanished. 

Alexander had afterward learned that he was Serapion, the star-gazer andthaumaturgist, whom all the spirits of heaven and earth obeyed. 

When, at the time, the painter had told the story to Philip, thephilosopher had laughed at him, though Alexander had reminded him thatPlato even had spoken of the daimons as being the guardian spirits ofmen; that in Alexandria, great and small alike believed in them as afact to be reckoned with; and that he--Philip himself--had told him thatthey played a prominent part in the newest systems of philosophy. 

But to the skeptic nothing was sure: and if he would deny the existenceof the Divinity, he naturally must disbelieve that of any beings in asphere between the supersensual immortals and sentient human creatures. That a man, the weaker nature, could have any power over daimons, who, as having a nearer affinity to the gods, must, if they existed, be thestronger, he could refute with convincing arguments; and when he sawothers nibbling whitethorn-leaves, or daubing their thresholds withpitch to preserve themselves and the house from evil spirits, heshrugged his shoulders contemptuously, though his father often did suchthings. 

Here was Philip, deep in conversation with the man he had mocked at, and Alexander was flattered by seeing that wise and famous Serapion, in whose powers he himself believed, was talking almost humbly to hisbrother, as though to a superior. The magician was standing, while thephilosopher, as though it were his right, remained seated. 

Of what could they be conversing?

Alexander himself was anxious to be going, and only his desire to hearat any rate a few sentences of the talk of two such men detained himlonger. 

As he expected, it bore on Serapion's magical powers; but the beardedman spoke in a very low tone, and if the painter ventured any nearer hewould be seen. He could only catch a few incoherent words, till Philipexclaimed in a louder voice: "All that is well-reasoned. But you will beable to write an enduring inscription on the shifting wave sooner thanyou will shake my conviction that for our spirit, such as Nature hasmade it, there is nothing infallible or certain. "

The painter was familiar with this postulate, and was curious to hearthe Magian's reply; but he could not follow his argument till heended by saying, rather more emphatically: "You, even, do not deny thephysical connection of things; but I know the power that causes it. Itis the magical sympathy which displays itself more powerfully in theuniverse, and among human beings, than any other force. "

"That is just what remains to be proved, " was the reply. But asthe other declared in all confidence, "And I can prove it, " and wasproceeding to do so, Serapion's companion, a stunted, sharp-featuredlittle Syrian, caught sight of Alexander. The discourse was interrupted, and Alexander, pointing to Melissa, begged his brother to grant them afew minutes' speech with him. Philip, however, scarcely spared a momentfor greeting his brother and sister; and when, in answer to his requestthat they be brief in what they had to say, they replied that a fewwords would not suffice, Philip was for putting them off till themorrow, as he did not choose to be disturbed just now. 

At this Melissa took courage; she turned to Serapion and modestlyaddressed him:

"You, sir, look like a grave, kind man, and seem to have a regard for mybrother. You, then, will help us, no doubt, to cure him of an illusionwhich troubles us. A dead girl, he says, met him, and he touched herhand. "

"And do you, sweet child, think that impossible?" the Magian asked withgentle gravity. "Have the thousands who bring not merely fruit and wineand money for their dead, but who even burn a black sheep for them--you, perhaps, have done the same--have they, I ask, done this so long invain? I can not believe it. Nay, I know from the ghosts themselves thatthis gives them pleasure; so they must have the organs of sense. "

"That we may rejoice departed souls by food and drink, " said Melissa, eagerly, "and that daimons at times mingle with the living, every oneof course, believes; but who ever heard that warm blood stirred in them?And how can it be possible that they should remunerate a service withmoney, which certainly was not coined in their airy realm, but in themint here?"

"Not too fast, fair maid, " replied the Magian, raising a warning hand. "There is no form which these intermediate beings can not assume. Theyhave the control of all and everything which mortals may use, so thesoul of Korinna revisiting these scenes may quite well have paid theferryman with an obolus. "

"Then you know of it?" asked Melissa in surprise; but the Magian brokein, saying:

"Few such things remain hidden from him who knows, not even thesmallest, if he strives after such knowledge. "

As he spoke he gave the girl such a look as made her eyelids fall, andhe went on with greater warmth: "There would be fewer tears shed bydeath-beds, my child, if we could but show the world the means by whichthe initiated hold converse with the souls of the dead. "

Melissa shook her pretty head sadly, and the Magian kindly stroked herwaving hair; then, looking her straight in the eyes, he said: "The deadlive. What once has been can never cease to be, any more than outof nothing can anything come. It is so simple; and so, too, are theworkings of magic, which amaze you so much. What you call magic, when Ipractice it, Eros, the great god of love, has wrought a thousand timesin your breast. When your heart leaps at your brother's caress, whenthe god's arrow pierces you, and the glance of a lover fills you withgladness, when the sweet harmonies of fine music wrap your soul abovethis earth, or the wail of a child moves you to compassion, you havefelt the magic power stirring in your own soul. You feel it when somemysterious power, without any will of your own, prompts you to some act, be it what it may. And, besides all this, if a leaf flutters off thetable without being touched by any visible hand, you do not doubt thata draught of air, which you can neither hear nor see, has swept throughthe room. If at noon the world is suddenly darkened, you know, withoutlooking up at the sky, that it is overcast by a cloud. In the very sameway you can feel the nearness of a soul that was dear to you withoutbeing able to see it. All that is necessary is to strengthen the facultywhich knows its presence, and give it the proper training, and then youwill see and hear them. The Magians have the key which unlocks the doorof the world of spirits to the human senses. Your noble brother, in whomthe claims of the spirit have long since triumphed over those of sense, has found this key without seeking it, since he has been permitted tosee Korinna's soul. And if he follows a competent guide he will see heragain. "

"But why? What good will it do him?" asked Melissa, with a reproachfuland anxious look at the man whose influence, as she divined would bepernicious to her brother, in spite of his knowledge. The Magian gavea compassionate shrug, and in the look he cast at the philosopher, thequestion was legible, "What have such as these to do with the highestthings?"

Philip nodded in impatient assent, and, without paying any further heedto his brother and sister, besought his friend to give him the proofsof the theory that the physical causation of things is weaker than thesympathy which connects them. Melissa knew full well that any attemptnow to separate Philip from Serapion would be futile; however, she wouldnot leave the last chance untried, and asked him gravely whether he hadforgotten his mother's tomb. 

He hastily assured her that he fully intended to visit it presently. Fruit and fragrant oil could be had here at any hour of the night. 

"And your two wreaths?" she said, in mild reproach, for she had observedthem both below the portrait of Korinna. 

"I had another use for them, " he said, evasively; and then he added, apologetically: "You have brought flowers enough, I know. If I can findtime, I will go to-morrow to see my father. " He nodded to them both, turned to the Magian, and went on eagerly:

"Then that magical sympathy--"

They did not wait to hear the discussion; Alexander signed to his sisterto follow him. 

He, too, knew that his brother's ear was deaf now to anything he couldsay. What Serapion had said had riveted even his attention, and thequestion whether it might indeed be vouchsafed to living mortals to seethe souls of the departed, and hear their voices, exercised his mind sogreatly that he could not forbear asking his sister's opinion on suchmatters. 

But Melissa's good sense had felt that there was something not quitesound in the Magian's argument--nor did she conceal her conviction thatPhilip, who was always hard to convince, had accepted Serapion's views, not because he yielded to the weight of his reasons, but because he--andAlexander, too, for that matter--hoped by his mediation to see thebeautiful Korinna again. 

This the artist admitted; but when he jested of the danger of a jealousquarrel between him and his brother, for the sake of a dead girl, therewas something hard in his tone, and very unlike him, which Melissa didnot like. 

They breathed more freely as they got out into the open air, andher efforts to change the subject of their conversation were happilyseconded; for at the door they met the family of their neighbor Skopas, the owner of a stone-quarry, whose grave-plot adjoined theirs, andMelissa was happy again as she heard her brother laughing as gayly asever with Skopas's pretty daughter. The mania had not taken such deephold of the light-hearted young painter as of Philip, the poring andgloomy philosopher; and she was glad as she heard her friend Ino callAlexander a faithless butterfly, while her sister Helena declared thathe was a godless scoffer. 

CHAPTER V. 

The crowds on the road were now homeward bound, and they were all insuch wild, high spirits that, from what was to be seen and heard, itcould never have been supposed that they had come from so mournful ascene. They took the road by the sea leading from the Nekropolis toEleusis, wandering on in the glowing moonlight. 

A great procession of Greeks had been to Eleusis, to celebrate themysteries after the manner of the Greek Eleusis, on which that ofAlexandria was modeled. The newly initiated, and the elder adepts, whoseduty it was to superintend their reception, had remained in the temple;but the other mystics now swelled the train of those who were comingfrom the city of the dead. 

Here, indeed, Serapis took the place of Pluto, and much that was Greekhad assumed strange and Egyptian forms: even the order of the ceremonieshad been entirely changed; still, on the African, as on the Attic shore, the Greek cry went up, "To the sea, O mystics!" and the bidding toIakchos: "Be with us, O Iakchos!"

It could be heard from afar, but the voices of the shouters were alreadyweary, and most of the torches had burned low. The wreaths of ivy andmyrtle in their hair were limp; the singers of the hymn no longerkept their ranks; and even Iambe, whose jests had cheered the mourningDemeter, and whose lips at Eleusis had overflowed with witticisms, wasexhausted and silent. She still held in her hand the jar from which shehad given the bereaved goddess a reviving draught, but it was emptyand she longed for a drink. She was indeed a he: for it was a youthin woman's dress who played the rollicking part of Iambe, and it wasAlexander's friend and comrade Diodoros who had represented the daughterof Pan and Echo, who, the legend said, had acted as slave in the houseof Metaneira, the Eleusinian queen, when Demeter took refuge there. His sturdy legs had good reason to be as weary as his tongue, which hadknown no rest for five hours. 

But he caught sight of the large vehicle drawn by four horses, inwhich the vast corn-measure, the kalathos, which Serapis wore as hisdistinguishing head-gear, had been conveyed to Eleusis. It was emptynow, for the contents had been offered to the god, and the four blackhorses had an easy task with the great wagon. No one had as yet thoughtof using it as a conveyance back to the town; but Diodoros, who was bothingenious and tired, ran after it and leaped up. Several now wanted tofollow his example, but he pushed them off, even thrusting at themwith a newly lighted torch, for he could not be quiet in spite of hisfatigue. In the midst of the skirmishing he perceived his friend andMelissa. 

His heart had been given to the gentle girl ever since they had beenplaymates in his father's garden, and when he saw her, walking alongdowncast, while her brother sported with his neighbor's daughters, hebeckoned to her, and, as she refused to accompany him in the wagon, henimbly sprang off, lifted her up in his arms, made strong by exercise inthe Palaestra, and gently deposited her, in spite of her struggles, onthe flat floor of the car, by the side of the empty kalathos. 

"The rape of Persephone!" he cried. "The second performance in one. Night!"

Then the old reckless spirit seized Alexander too. 

With as much gay audacity--as though he were free of every care andgrief, and had signed a compact with Fortune, he picked up pretty Ino, lifted her into the wagon, as Diodoros had done with his sister, andexclaiming, "The third performance!" seated himself by her side. 

His bold example found immediate imitators. "A fourth!" "A fifth!" criedone and another, shouting and laughing, with loud calls on Iakchos. 

The horses found it hard work, for all along the edge of the car, andround the kalathos of the great Serapis, sat the merry young couples inclose array. Alexander and Melissa soon were wreathed with myrtle andivy. In the vehicle and among the crowd there were none but radiant andfrolicsome faces, and no sound but triumphant revelry. 

Fatigue was forgotten; it might have been supposed that the sinistersisters, Care and Sorrow, had been banished from earth. 

There was a smile even on Melissa's sweet, calm face. At first herold friend's audacious jest had offended her maidenly coyness; but ifDiodoros had always loved her, so had she always loved him; and as otherwell-conducted girls had been content to have the like done to them, andher companion so confidently and roguishly sued for pardon, she gave hima smile which filled his heart with rapture, and said more than words. 

It was a comfort, too, to sit still and rest. 

She spoke but little, but even she forgot what troubled her when shefelt her friend's hand on hers, and he whispered to her that this wasthe most delightful night he had ever known, and that, of all the sweetsthe gods had created, she was to him the sweetest?

The blue sea spread before them, the full moon mirrored on its scarcelyheaving surface like a tremulous column of pure and shining silver. Themurmur of the ripples came up from the strand as soothing and invitingas the song of the Nereids; and if a white crest of foam rose on a wave, she could fancy it was the arm of Thetis or Galatea. There, where theblue was deepest, the sea-god Glaukos must dwell, and his heart begladdened by the merry doings on shore. 

Nature is so great; and as the thought came to her that her heart wasnot too small to take its greatness in, even to the farthest horizon, itfilled her with glad surprise. 

And Nature was bountiful too. Melissa could see the happy and graciousface of a divinity in everything she looked upon. The immortals who hadafflicted her, and whom she had often bitterly accused, could be kindand merciful too. The sea, on whose shining surface the blue vault ofheaven with the moon and stars rocked and twinkled, the soft breezewhich fanned her brow, the new delicious longing which filled herheart-all she felt and was conscious of, was a divinity or an emanationof the divine. Mighty Poseidon and majestic Zeus, gentle Selene, and thesportive children of the god of winds, seemed to be strangely near heras she rode along. And it was the omnipotent son of Kypris, no doubt, who stirred her heart to beat higher than it had ever done before. 

Her visit to her mother's grave, too, her prayer and her offeringsthere, had perhaps moved the spirit of the beloved dead to hover nearher now as a guardian genius. 

Still, now and again the memory of something terrible passed over hersoul like a sweeping shadow; but what it was which threatened her andthose dear to her she did not see, and would not now inquire. What themorrow might bring should not cloud the enchantment of this hour. Foroh, how fair the world was, and how blessed might mortals be!

"Iakchos! Iakchos!" the voices about her shouted, and it sounded asgleeful as though the breasts of the revelers were overflowing withgladness; and as the scented curls of Diodoros bent over her head, ashis hand closed on hers, and his whispered words of love were in herear, she murmured: "Alexander is right; the world is a banqueting-hall, and life is fair. "

"So fair!" echoed the youth, pensively. Then he shouted aloud to hiscompanions: "The world is a banqueting-hall! Bring roses, bring wine, that we may sacrifice to Eros, and pour libations to Dionysus. Lightthe flaming torches! Iakchos! come, Iakchos, and sanctify our gladfestival!"

"Come, Iakchos, come!" cried one and another, and soon the enthusiasticyouth's cry was taken up on all sides. But wine-skin and jar were longsince emptied. 

Hard by, below the cliff, and close to the sea, was a tavern, at thesign of the Cock. Here cool drink was to be had; here the horses mightrest-for the drivers had been grumbling bitterly at the heavy load addedto the car over the deep sand--and here there was a level plot, underthe shade of a spreading sycamore, which had often before now served asa floor for the choric dance. 

The vehicle soon drew up in front of the whitewashed inn, surroundedon three sides by a trellised arbor, overgrown with figs and vine. Theyoung couples sprang to the ground; and, while the host and his slavedragged up a huge wine-jar with two ears, full of the red juice of thegrape, fresh torches were lighted and stuck on poles or fastened to thebranches of the sycamore, the youths took their places eager for thedance, and suddenly the festal song went up from their clear throatsunbidden, and as though inspired by some mysterious power:

 Iakchos, come! oh, come, Iakchos! Hither come, to the scene of our revel, The gladsome band of the faithful. Shake the fragrant, berried garland, Myrtle-twined, that crowns thy love-locks, Shedding its odors! Tread the measure, with fearless stamp, Of this our reckless, rapturous dance, In holy rejoicing! Hand in hand, thrice beatified, Lo we thread the rhythmic, fanciful, Mystical mazes!

And the dance begins. Youths and maidens advance to meet each other withgraceful movements. Every step must be a thing of beauty, every bend andrising, while the double flutes play faster and faster, and the measuredrhythm becomes a wild whirl. They all know the dance, and the music is aguide to the feeling to be expressed; the dancing must be suited toit. Every gesture is a stroke of color which may beautify or mar thepicture. Body and spirit are in perfect harmony, combining to representthe feelings that stir the soul. It is a work of art, the art of thearms and feet. Even when passion is at the highest the guiding law isobserved. Nay, when the dancers fly wildly apart, they, not merely cometogether again with unerring certainty, but form in new combinationanother delightful and perfectly harmonious picture. 

"Seek and find" this dance might be called, for the first idea is torepresent the wandering of Demeter in search of her daughter Persephone, whom Pluto has carried off to the nether world, till she finds her andclasps her in her motherly arms once more. Thus does the earth bewailthe reaped fruit of the field, which is buried in the ground in thewinter sowing, to rise again in the spring; thus does a faithful heartpine during absence till it is reunited to the beloved one; thus do wemourn our dead till our soul is assured of their resurrection: and thisbelief is the end and clew to the mystery. 

All this grief and search, this longing and crying for the absent, thisfinal restoration and the bliss of new possession, is set forth by theyouths and damsels-now in slow and now in vehement action, but alwayswith infinite grace. 

Melissa threw her whole soul into the dance while Demeter was seekingthe lost Persephone, her thoughts were with her brothers; and shelaughed as heartily as any one at the jests with which Iambe cheered thestricken mother. And when the joy of meeting was to find expression, sheneed not think of anything but the fact that the youth who held out hishand to her loved her and cared for her. In this, for the moment, laythe end of all her longing and seeking, the fulfillment of every wish;and as the chorus shouted, "Iakchos!" again and again, her soul seemedto have taken wings. 

The reserve of her calm and maidenly nature broke down; in her ecstasyshe snatched from her shoulder the wreath of ivy with which Diodoros haddecked her, and waved it aloft. Her long hair had fallen loose in thedance and flowed wildly about her, and her shout of "Iakchos!" rangclear in the night air. 

The youth she loved gazed at her with ravished eyes, as at some miracle;she, heedless of the others, threw her arms round his neck, and, as hekissed her, she said once more, but loud enough now to be heard fromafar, "The world is a banqueting-hall!" and again she joined in theshout of "Iakchos!" her eyes bright with excitement. Cups filledhigh with wine now circulated among the mad-cap mystics; even Melissarefreshed herself, handing the beaker to her lover, and Diodoros raisedto his mouth that place on the rim which her lips had touched. 

"O life! fount of joys!" cried Diodoros, kissing her and pressing hercloser to him. "Come, Iakchos! Behold with envy how thankfully twomortals can bless the gift of life. But where is Alexander? To none butto our Andreas have I ever confided the secret I have borne in my heartsince that day when we went to the circus. But now! Oh, it is so muchhappiness for two hearts! My friend, too, must have part in it!"

At this Melissa clasped her hand to her brow, as though waking from adream. How hot she was from dancing, and the unusual strength of thewine and water she had drunk!

The danger impending over both her brothers came back to her mind. Shehad always been accustomed to think of others rather than herself, andher festal mood dropped from her suddenly, like a mantle of which thebrooch breaks. She vehemently shook herself free of her lover's embrace, and her eyes glanced from one to another in rapid search. 

There stood pretty Ino, who had danced the mazy measure with Alexander. Panting for breath, she stood leaning her weary head and tangled hairagainst the trunk of the tree, a wine-cup upside down in her right hand. It must be empty; but where was he who had emptied it?

Her neighbor's daughter would surely know. Had the reckless youthquarreled with the girl? No, no!

One of the tavern-keeper's slaves, Ino told her, had whispered somethingto Alexander, whereupon he had instantly followed the man into thehouse. Melissa knew that it could be no trivial matter which detainedhim there, and hurried after him into the tavern. 

The host, a Greek, and his buxom wife, affected not to know for whom shewas inquiring; but, perceiving the anxiety which spoke in every lineof the girl's face, when she explained that she was Alexander's sister, they at first looked at each other doubtingly, and then the woman, whohad children of her own, who fondly loved each other, felt her heartswell within her, and she whispered, with her finger on her lips: "Donot be uneasy, pretty maid; my husband will see him well through. "

And then Melissa heard that the Egyptian, who had alarmed her in theNekropolis, was the spy Zminis, who, as her old slave Dido had once toldher, had been a rejected suitor of her mother's before she had marriedHeron, and who was therefore always glad to bring trouble on allwho belonged to her father's house. How often had she heard of theannoyances in which this man had involved her father and Alexander, whowere apt to be very short with the man!

This tale-bearer, who held the highest position as guardian of the peaceunder the captain of the night-watch, was of all men in the city themost hated and feared; and he had heard her brother speaking of Caesarin a tone of mockery which was enough to bring him to prison, to thequarries, nay, to death. Glaukias, the sculptor, had previously seen theEgyptian on the bridge, where he had detained those who were returninghome from the city of the dead. He and his followers had already stoppedthe poet Argeios on his way, but the thyrsus staves of the Dionysiacrevelers had somewhat spoiled the game for him and his satellites. Hewas probably still standing on the bridge. Glaukias had immediately runback, at any risk, to warn Alexander. He and the painter were now inhiding, and would remain in safety, come what might, in the cellar atthe Cock, till the coast was clear again. The tavern-keeper stronglyadvised no one to go meddling with his wine-skins and jars. 

"Much less that Egyptian dog!" cried his wife, doubling her fist asthough the hated mischief-maker stood before her already. 

"Poor, helpless lamb!" she murmured to herself, as she lookedcompassionately at the fragile, town-bred girl, who stood gazing at theground as if she had been struck by lightning. She remembered, too, how hard life had seemed to her in her own young days, and glanced withpride at her brawny arms, which were able indeed to work and manage. 

But what now?

The drooping flower suddenly raised her head, as if moved by a spring, exclaiming: "Thank you heartily, thank you! But that will never do. IfZminis searches your premises he will certainly go into the cellar; forwhat can he not do in Caesar's name? I will not part from my brother. "

"Then you, too, are a welcome guest at the Cock, " interrupted the woman, and her husband bowed low, assuring her that the Cock was as much herhouse as it was his. 

But the helpless town-bred damsel declined this friendly invitation; forher shrewd little head had devised another plan for saving her brother, though the tavern-keepers, to whom she confided it in a whisper, laughedand shook their heads over it. Diodoros was waiting outside in anxiousimpatience; he loved her, and he was her brother's best friend. Allthat he could do to save Alexander he would gladly do, she knew. On theestate which would some day be his, there was room and to spare to hidethe fugitives, for one of the largest gardens in the town was ownedby his father. His extensive grounds had been familiar to her from herchildhood, for her own mother and her lover's had been friends;and Andreas, the freedman, the overseer of Polybius's gardens andplantations, was dearer to her and her brothers than any one else inAlexandria. 

Nor had she deceived herself, for Diodoros made Alexander's cause hisown, in his eager, vehement way; and the plan for his deliverance seemeddoubly admirable as proceeding from Melissa. In a few minutes Alexanderand the sculptor were released from their hiding-place, and all furthercare for them was left to Diodoros. 

They were both very, craftily disguised. No one would have recognizedthe artists in two sailors, whose Phrygian caps completely hid theirhair, while a heavy fisherman's apron was girt about their loins;still less would any one have suspected from their laughing faces thatimprisonment, if nothing worse, hung over them. Their change of garbhad given rise to so much fun; and now, on hearing how they were to besmuggled into the town, their merriment grew higher, and proved catchingto those who were taken into the secret. Only Melissa was oppressed withanxious care, in spite of her lover's eager consolation. 

Glaukias, a man of scarcely middle height, was sure of not beingrecognized, and he and his comrades looked forward to whatever mighthappen as merely an amusing jest. At the same time they had to balk thehated chief of the city guards and his menials of their immediate prey;but they had played them a trick or two ere now. It might turn outreally badly for Alexander; still, it was only needful to keep himconcealed till Caesar should arrive; then he would be safe, for theEmperor would certainly absorb all the thoughts and time of the captainof the night-watch and his chief officers. In Alexandria, anything oncepast was so soon forgotten! When once Caracalla was gone--and it was tobe hoped that he would not stay long--no one would ever think again ofany biting speech made before his arrival. 

The morning must bring what it might, so long as the present moment wasgay!

So, refreshed and cheered by rest and wine, the party of mysticsprepared to set out again; and, as the procession started, no one whodid not know it had observed that the two artists, disguised as sailors, were, by Melissa's advice, hidden inside the kalathos of Serapis, whichwould easily have held six, and was breast-high even for Alexander, whowas a tall man. They squatted on the floor of the huge vessel, with ajar of wine between them, and peeped over now and then with a laugh atthe girls, who had again seated themselves on the edge of the car. 

When they were fairly on their way once more, Alexander and hiscompanions were so daring that, whenever they could do it unobserved, they pelted the damsels with the remains of the corn, or sprinkled themwith wine-drops. Glaukias had the art of imitating the pattering of rainand the humming of a fly to perfection with his lips; and when the girlscomplained of the tiresome insect buzzing in their faces, or declared, when a drop fell on them, that in spite of the blue and cloudless sky itwas certainly beginning to rain, the two men had to cover their mouthswith their hands, that their laughter might not betray them. 

Melissa, who had comforted Ino with the assurance that Alexander hadbeen called away quite unexpectedly, was now sitting by her side, andperceived, of course, what tricks the men in the kalathos were playing;but, instead of amusing her, they only made her anxious. 

Every one about her was laughing and joking, but for her all mirth wasat an end. Fear, indeed, weighed on her like an incubus, when the carreached the bridge and rattled across it. It was lined with soldiers andlictors, who looked closely at each one, even at Melissa herself. But noone spoke to her, and when the water lay behind them she breathed morefreely. But only for a moment; for she suddenly remembered that theywould presently have to pass through the gate leading past Hadrian'swestern wall into the town. If Zminis were waiting there instead of onthe bridge, and were to search the vehicle, then all would be lost, forhe had looked her, too, in the face with those strange, fixed eyes ofhis; and that where he saw the sister he would also seek the brother, seemed to her quite certain. Thus her presence was a source of peril toAlexander, and she must at any cost avert that. 

She immediately put out her hand to Diodoros, who was walking at herside, and with his help slipped down from her seat. Then she whisperedher fears to him, and begged him to quit the party and conduct her home. 

This was a surprising and delightful task for her lover. With a jestingword he leaped on to the car, and even succeeded in murmuring toAlexander, unobserved, that Melissa had placed herself under hisprotection. When they got home, they could tell Heron and Andreasthat the youths were safe in hiding. Melissa could explain, to-morrowmorning, how everything had happened. Then he drew Melissa's armthrough his, loudly shouted, "Iakchos!" and with a swift dance-step soonoutstripped the wagon. 

Not fifty paces beyond, large pine torches sent bright flames upskyward, and by their light the girl could see the dreaded gateway, withthe statues of Hadrian and Sabina, and in front of them, in the middleof the road, a horseman, who, as they approached, came trotting forwardto meet them on his tall steed. His head towered above every one else inthe road; and as she looked up at him her heart almost ceased beating, for her eyes met those of the dreaded Egyptian; their white balls showedplainly in his brown, lean face, and their cruel, evil sparkle hadstamped them clearly on her memory. 

On her right a street turned off from the road, and saying in a lowtone, "This way, " she led Diodoros, to his surprise, into the shadow. His heart beat high. Did she, whose coy and maidenly austerity beforeand after the intoxication of the dance had vouchsafed him hardly a kindlook or a clasp of the hand-did she even yearn for some tender embracealone and in darkness? Did the quiet, modest girl, who, since she hadceased to be a child, had but rarely given him a few poor words, longto tell him that which hitherto only her bright eyes and the kiss of herpure young lips had betrayed?

He drew her more closely to him in blissful expectation; but she shylyshrank from his touch, and before he could murmur a single word oflove she exclaimed in terror, as though the hand of the persecutor werealready laid on her: "Fly, fly! That house will give us shelter. "

And she dragged him after her into the open doorway of a large building. Scarcely had they entered the dark vestibule when the sound of hoofs washeard, and the glare of torches dispelled the darkness outside. 

"Zminis! It is he--he is following us!" she whispered, scarcely able tospeak; and her alarm was well founded, for the Egyptian had recognizedher, and supposed her companion to be Alexander. He had ridden down thestreet with his torchbearers, but where she had hidden herself his keeneyes could not detect, for the departing sound of hoofs betrayed to thebreathless listeners that the pursuer had left their hiding-place farbehind him. Presently the pavement in front of the house which shelteredthem rang again with the tramp of the horse, till it died away at lastin the direction of Hadrian's gate. Not till then did Melissa lift herhand from her painfully throbbing heart. 

But the Egyptian would, no doubt, have left his spies in the street, andDiodoros went out to see if the road was clear. Melissa remained alonein the dark entrance, and began to be anxious as to how she couldexplain her presence there if the inhabitants should happen to discoverit; for in this vast building, in spite of the lateness of the hour, there still was some one astir. She had for some minutes heard amurmuring sound which reached her from an inner chamber; but it was onlyby degrees that she collected herself so far as to listen more closely, to ascertain whence it came and what it could mean. 

A large number of persons must be assembled there, for she coulddistinguish several male voices, and now and then a woman's. A door wasopened. She shrank closer to the wall, but the seconds became minutes, and no one appeared. 

At last she fancied she heard the moving of benches or seats, and manyvoices together shouting she knew not what. Then again a door creaked onits hinges, and after that all was so still that she could have hearda needle drop on the floor; and this alarming silence continued tillpresently a deep, resonant man's voice was audible. 

The singular manner in which this voice gave every word its full andequal value suggested to her fancy that something was being read aloud. She could distinctly hear the sentence with which the speech or readingbegan. After a short pause it was repeated somewhat more quickly, asthough the speaker had this time uttered it from his own heart. 

It consisted of these six simple words, "The fullness of the time wascome"; and Melissa listened no more to the discourse which followed, spoken as it was in a low voice, for this sentence rang in her ears asif it were repeated by an echo. 

She did not, to be sure, understand its meaning, but she felt as thoughit must have some deep significance. It came back to her again andagain, like a melody which haunts the inward ear against our will; andher meditative fancy was trying to solve its meaning, when Diodorosreturned to tell her that the street was quite empty. He knew now wherethey were, and, if she liked, he could lead her by a way which would nottake them through the gate. Only Christians, Egyptians, and other commonfolks dwelt in this quarter; however, since his duty as her protectorhad this day begun, he would fulfill it to the best of his ability. 

She went with him out into the street, and when they had gone a littleway he clasped her to him and kissed her hair. 

His heart was full. He knew now that she, whom he had loved when shewalked in his father's garden in her little child's tunic, holding hermother's hand, returned his passion. Now the time was come for askingwhether she would permit him to beg her father's leave to woo her. 

He stopped in the shadow of a house near, and, while he poured out toher all that stirred his breast, carried away by tender passion, anddescribing in his vehement way how great and deep his love was, in spiteof the utter fatigue which weighed on her body and soul after so manyagitations, she felt with deep thankfulness the immense happiness ofbeing more precious than aught else on earth to a dear, good man. Love, which had so long lain dormant in her as a bud, and then opened soquickly only to close again under her alarms, unfolded once more andblossomed for him again--not as it had done just now in passionateecstasy, but, as beseemed her calm, transparent nature, with moderatedjoy, which, however, did not lack due warmth and winning tenderness. 

Happiness beyond words possessed them both. She suffered him to seal hisvows with kisses, herself offering him her lips, as her heart swelledwith fervent thanksgiving for so much joy and such a full measure oflove. 

She was indeed a precious jewel, and the passion of his stormy heart wastempered by such genuine reverence that he gladly kept within the boundswhich her maidenly modesty prescribed. And how much they had to say toeach other in this first opening of their hearts, how many hopes for thefuture found utterance in words! The minutes flew on and became hours, till at last Melissa begged him to quit the marble seat on which theyhad so long been resting, if indeed her feet could still carry her home. 

Little as it pleased him, he did her bidding. But as they went on hefelt that she hung heavy on his arm and could only lift her little feetwith the greatest difficulty. The street was too dark for him to see howpale she was; and yet he never took his eyes off her dear but scarcelydistinguishable features. Suddenly he heard a faint whisper as in adream, "I can go no farther, " and at once led her back to the marbleseat. 

He first carefully spread his mantle over the stone and then wrappedher in it as tenderly as a mother might cover her shivering child, fora cooler breeze gave warning of the coming dawn. He himself crept closeunder the wall by her side, so as not to be seen, for a long train ofpeople, with servants carrying lanterns before them, now came out ofthe house they had just left and down the street. Who these could be whowalked at so late an hour in such solemn silence neither of them knew. They certainly sent up no joyful shout of "Iakchos!" no wild lament; nocheerful laughter nor sounds of mourning were to be heard from the longprocession which passed along the street, two and two, at a slow pace. As soon as they had passed the last houses, men and women alike began tosing; no leader started them, nor lyre accompanied them, and yet theirsong went up as though with one voice. 

Diodoros and Melissa knew every note sung by the Greeks or Egyptians ofAlexandria, at this or any other festival, but this melody was strangeto them; and when the young man whispered to the girl, "What is it thatthey are singing?" she replied, as though startled from sleep, "They areno mere mortals!"

Diodoros shuddered; he fancied that the procession was floating abovethe earth; that, if they had been indeed men of flesh and blood, theirsteps would have been more distinctly audible on the pavement. Some ofthem appeared to him to be taller than common mortals, and their chantwas certainly that of another world than this where he dwelt. Perhapsthese were daimons, the souls of departed Egyptians, who, after amidnight visit to those they had left behind them, were returning to therock tombs, of which there were many in the stony hills to which thisstreet led. They were walking toward these tombs, and not toward thegate; and Diodoros whispered his suspicion to his companion, claspinghis hand on an amulet in the semblance of an eye, which his Egyptiannurse had fastened round his neck long ago with an Anubic thread, toprotect him against the evil-eye and magic spells. 

But Melissa was listening with such devout attention to the chant thatshe did not hear him. The fatigue which had reached such a painfulclimax had, during this peaceful rest, given way to a blissfulunconsciousness of self. It was a kind of happiness to feel no longerthe burden of exhaustion, and the song of the wanderers was like acradle-song, lulling her to sweet dreams. It filled her with gladness, and yet it was not glad, not even cheerful. It went to her heart, andyet it was not mournful-not in the least like the passionate lament ofIsis for Osiris, or that of Demeter bewailing her daughter. The emotionit aroused in her was a sweetly sorrowful compassion, which includedherself, her brothers, her father, her lover, all who were doomed tosuffering and death, even the utter stranger, for whom she had hithertofelt no sympathy. 

And the compassion bore within it a sense of comfort which she could notexplain, or perhaps would not inquire into. It struck her, too, now andthen, that the strain had a ring as of thanksgiving. It was, no doubt, addressed to the gods, and for that reason it appealed to her, andshe would gladly have joined in it, for she, too, was grateful to theimmortals, and above all to Eros, for the love which had been bornin her heart and had found such an ardent return. She sighed as shelistened to every note of the chant, and it worked upon her like ahealing draught. 

The struggle of her will against bodily fatigue, and finally against themental exhaustion of so much bliss, the conviction that her heavy, weary feet would perhaps fail to carry her home, and that she must seekshelter somewhere for the night, had disturbed her greatly. Now shewas quite calm, and as much at ease as she was at home sitting with herfather, her stitching in her hand, while she dreamed of her mother andher childhood in the past. The singing had fallen on her agitated soullike the oil poured by the mariner on the sea to still the foamingbreakers. She felt it so. 

She could not help thinking of the time when she could fall asleep onher mother's bosom in the certainty that tender love was watching overher. The happiness of childhood, when she loved everything she knew-herfamily, the slaves, her father's birds, the flowers in the littlegarden, the altar of the goddess to whom she made offering, the verystars in the sky-seemed to come over her, and there she sat in dreamylassitude, her head on her lover's shoulder, till the last stragglers ofthe procession, who, were women, many of them carrying little lamps intheir hands, had almost all gone past. 

Then she suddenly felt an eager jerk in the shoulder on which her headwas resting. 

"Look--look there!" he whispered; and as her eyes followed the directionof his finger, she too started, and exclaimed, "Korinna!--Did you knowher?"

"She had often come to my father's garden, " he replied, "and I saw herportrait in Alexander's room. These are souls from Hades that we haveseen. We must offer sacrifice, for those to whom they show themselvesthey draw after them. " At this Melissa, too, shuddered, and exclaimedin horror: "O Diodoros, not to death! We will ask the priests to-morrowmorning what sacrifice may redeem us. Anything rather than the graveand the darkness of Hades!--Come, I am strong again now. Let us get awayfrom hence and go home. "

"But we must go through the gate now, " replied the youth. "It is notwell to follow in the footsteps of the dead. "

Melissa, however, insisted on going on through the street. Terrified asshe was of the nether world and the disembodied souls, she would on noaccount risk falling into the hands of the horrible Egyptian, who mightcompel her to betray her brother's hiding-place; and Diodoros, who wasashamed to show her the fears which still possessed him, did as shedesired. 

But it was a comfort to him in this horror of death, which had come overhim now for the first time in his life, to kiss the maid once more, andhold her warm hand in his as they walked on; while the strange chant ofthe nocturnal procession still rang in her ears, and now and then thewords recurred to her mind which she had heard in the house where thedeparted souls had gathered together:

"The fullness of the time was come. "

Did this refer to the hour when the dead came to the end of their lifeon earth; or was there some great event impending on the city and itsinhabitants, for which the time had now come? Had the words anything todo with Caesar's visit? Had the dead come back to life to witnessthe scenes which they saw approaching with eyes clearer than those ofmortals?

And then she remembered Korinna, whose fair, pale face had beenstrangely lighted up by the lamp she carried; and, again, the Magian'sassurance that the souls of the departed were endowed with every facultypossessed by the living, and that "those who knew" could see them andconverse with them. 

Then Serapion had been right in saying this; and her hand trembledin her lover's as she thought to herself that the danger which nowthreatened Philip was estrangement from the living through intercoursewith the dead. Her own dead mother, perhaps, had floated past amongthese wandering souls, and she grieved to think that she had neglectedto look for her and give her a loving greeting. Even Diodoros, whowas not generally given to silent meditation, had his own thoughts topursue; and so they walked on in silence till suddenly they heard a dullmurmur of voices. This startled them, and looking up they saw beforethem the rocky cliffs in which the Egyptians long since, and now inlater times the Christians, had hewn caves and tombs. From the door ofone of these, only a few paces beyond where they stood, light streamedout; and as they were about to pass it a large dog barked. Immediatelyon this a man came out, and in a rough, deep voice asked them thepass-word. Diodoros, seized with sudden terror of the dark figure, whichhe believed to be a risen ghost, took to his heels, dragging Melissawith him. The dog flew after them, barking loudly; and when the youthstooped to pick up a stone to scare him off, the angry brute sprang onhim and dragged him down. 

Melissa screamed for help, but the gruff voice angrily bade her besilent. Far from obeying him, the girl shouted louder than ever; andnow, out of the entrance to the cave, close behind the scene of thedisaster, came a number of men with lamps and tapers. They were thesame daimons whose song she had heard in the street; she could notbe mistaken. On her knees, by the side of her lover as he lay on theground, she stared up at the apparitions. A stone flew at the dog toscare him off, and a second, larger than the first, whisked past her andhit Diodoros on the head; she heard the dull blow. At this a coldhand seemed to clutch her heart; everything about her melted into onewhirling, colorless cloud. Pale as death, she threw up her arms toprotect herself, and then, overcome with terror and fatigue, with afaint cry of anguish she lost consciousness. 

When she opened her eyes again her head was resting in the lap ofa kind, motherly woman, while some men were just bearing away thesenseless form of Diodoros on a bier. 

CHAPTER VI. 

The sun had risen an hour since. Heron had betaken himself to hisworkshop, whistling as he went, and in the kitchen his old slave Argutiswas standing over the hearth preparing his master's morning meal. Hedropped a pinch of dill into the barley-porridge, and shook his grayhead solemnly. 

His companion Dido, a Syrian, whose wavy white hair contrasted strangelywith her dark skin, presently came in, and, starting up, he hastilyinquired, "Not in yet?"

"No, " said the other woman, whose eyes were full of tears. "And you knowwhat my dream was. Some evil has come to her, I am certain; and when themaster hears of it--" Here she sobbed aloud; but the slave reproved herfor useless weeping. 

"You never carried her in your arms, " whimpered the woman. 

"But often enough on my shoulder, " retorted the Gaul, for Argutis was anative of Augusta Trevirorum, on the Moselle. "Assoon as the porridge isready you must take it in and prepare the master. "

"That his first fury may fall on me!" said the old woman, peevishly. "Ilittle thought when I was young!"

"That is a very old story, " said Argutis, "and we both know what themaster's temper is. I should have been off long ago if only you couldmake his porridge to his mind. As soon as I have dished it I will go toseek Alexander--there is nothing to prevent me--for it was with him thatshe left the house. "

At this the old woman dried her tears, and cried "Yes, only go, and makehaste. I will do everything else. Great gods, if she should be broughthome dead! I know how it is; she could bear the old man's temper andthis moping life no longer, and has thrown herself into the water. 

"My dream, my dream! Here--here is the dish, and now go and find theboy. Still, Philip is the elder. "

"He!" exclaimed the slave in a scornful tone. "Yes, if you want to knowwhat the flies are talking about! Alexander for me. He has his headscrewed on the right way, and he will find her if any man in Egypt can, and bring her back, alive or dead. "

"Dead!" echoed Dido, with a fresh burst of sobs, and her tears fellin the porridge, which Argutis, indeed, in his distress of mind hadforgotten to salt. 

While this conversation was going on the gemcutter was feeding hisbirds. Can this man, who stands there like any girl, tempting hisfavorites to feed, with fond words and whistling, and the offer ofattractive dainties, be the stormy blusterer of last night? There isnot a coaxing name that he does not lavish on them, while he fills theircups with fresh seed and water; and how carefully he moves his big handas he strews the little cages with clean sand! He would not for worldsscare the poor little prisoners who cheer his lonely hours, and whohave long since ceased to fear him. A turtle-dove takes peas, and ahedge-sparrow picks ants' eggs from his lips; a white-throat perches onhis left hand to snatch a caterpillar from his right. The huge manwas in his garden soon after sunrise gathering the dewy leaves for hisfeathered pets. But he talks and plays longest with the starling whichhis lost wife gave him. She had bought it in secret from the Bedouin whofor many years had brought shells for sale from the Red Sea, to surpriseher husband with the gift. The clever bird had first learned to callher name, Olympias; and then, without any teaching, had picked up hismaster's favorite lament, "My strength, my strength!"

Heron regarded this bird as a friend who understood him, and, like him, remembered the never-to-be-forsaken dead. For three years had the gemcutter been a widower, and he still thought more constantly and fondlyof his lost wife than of the children she had left him. Heron scratchedthe bird's knowing little head, saying in a tone which betrayed his pityboth for himself and his pet "Yes, old fellow, you would rather have asoft white finger to stroke you down. I can hear her now, when she wouldcall you 'sweet little pet, ' or 'dear little creature. ' We shall neitherof us ever hear such gentle, loving words again. Do you remember howshe would look up with her dear sweet face--and was it not a lovelyface?--when you called her by her name 'Olympias'? How many a time haveher rosy lips blown up your feathers, and cried, 'Well done, littlefellow! '--Ay, and she would say 'Well done' to me too, when I hadfinished a piece of work well. Ah, and what an eye she had, particularlyfor art! But now well, the children give me a good word too, now thather lips are silent!"

"Olympias!" cried the bird loudly and articulately, and the clouds thatshadowed the gem-cutter's brow lifted a little, as with an affectionatesmile he went on:

"Yes, yes; you would be glad, too, to have her back again. You call hernow, as I did yesterday, standing by her grave--and she sends you herlove. 

"Do you hear, little one? Peck away at the old man's finger; he knowsyou mean it kindly, and it does not hurt. I was all alone out there, andSelene looked down on us in silence. There was rioting and shouting allround, but I could hear the voice of our dead. She was very near me, andher sad soul showed me that she still cared for me. I had taken a jar ofour best wine of Byblos under my cloak; as soon as I had poured oil onher gravestone and shed some of the noble liquor, the earth drank it upas though it were thirsty. Not a drop was left. Yes, little fellow, sheaccepted the gift; and when I fell on my knees to meditate on her, shevouchsafed replies to many of my questions. 

"We talked together as we used--you know. And we remembered you, too; Igave you her love. 

"You understand me, little fellow, don't you? And, I tell you, bettertimes are coming now. "

He turned from the bird with a sharp movement of annoyance, for theslave-woman came in with the bowl of barley-porridge. 

"You!" exclaimed Heron, in surprise. "Where is Melissa?"

"She will come presently, " said the old woman, in a low and doubtfultone. 

"Oh, thanks for the oracle!" said the artist, ironically. 

"How you mock at a body!" said the old woman. "I meant--But eatfirst--eat. Anger and grief are ill food for an empty stomach. "

Heron sat down to the table and began to eat his porridge, but hepresently tossed away the spoon, exclaiming:

"I do not fancy it, eating by myself. "

Then, with a puzzled glance at Dido, he asked in a tone of vexation:

"Well, why are you waiting here? And what is the meaning of all thatnipping and tugging at your dress? Have you broken another dish? No?Then have done with that cursed head-shaking, and speak out at once!"

"Eat, eat, " repeated Dido, retreating to the door, but Heron called herback with vehement abuse; but when she began again her usual complaint, "I never thought, when I was young--" Heron recovered the good temper hehad been rejoicing in so lately, and retorted: "Oh! yes, I know, I havethe daughter of a great potentate to wait on me. And if it had onlyoccurred to Caesar, when he was in Syria, to marry your sister, I shouldhave had his sister-in-law in my service. But at any rate I forbidhowling. You might have learned in the course of thirty years, that I donot eat my fellow-creatures. So, now, confess at once what is wrong inthe kitchen, and then go and fetch Melissa. " The woman was, perhaps, wise to defer the evil moment as long as possible. Matters might soonchange for the better, and good or evil could come only from without. SoDido clung to the literal sense of her master's question, and somethingnote-worthy had actually happened in the kitchen. She drew a deepbreath, and told him that a subordinate of the night-watch had comein and asked whether Alexander were in the house, and where hispainting-room was. 

"And you gave him an exact description?" asked Heron. 

But the slave shook her head; she again began to fidget with her dress, and said, timidly:

"Argutis was there, and he says no good can come of the night-watch. Hetold the man what he thought fit, and sent him about his business. "

At this Heron interrupted the old woman with such a mighty blow of hisfist on the table that the porridge jumped in the bowl, and he exclaimedin a fury:

"That is what comes of treating slaves as our equals! They begin tothink for themselves. A stupid blunder can spoil the best day! Thecaptain of the night-watch, I would have you to know, is a very greatman, and very likely a friend of Seleukus's, whose daughter Alexanderhas just painted. The picture is attracting some attention. --Attention?What am I saying? Every one who has been allowed to see it is quitecrazy about it. Everything else that was on show in the embalmers' hallwas mere trash by comparison. Often enough have I grumbled at the boy, who would rather be anywhere than here; but, this time, I had someground for being proud to be his father! And now the captain of thewatch sends his secretary, or something of the kind, no doubt, inorder to have his portrait, or his wife's or daughter's--if he hasone--painted by the artist who did Korinna's; and his own father'sslave--it drives me mad to think of it--makes a face at the messengerand sends him all astray. I will give Argutis a lesson! But by thistime, perhaps--Just go and fetch him in. " With these words Heron againdropped his spoon, wiped his beard, and then, seeing that Dido was stillstanding before him as though spellbound, twitching her slave's graygown, he repeated his order in such angry tones--though before he hadspoken to her as gently as if she were one of his own children--thatthe old woman started violently and made for the door, crouching low andwhimpering bitterly. 

The soft-hearted tyrant was really sorry for the faithful old servant hehad bought a generation since for the home to which he had broughthis fair young wife, and he began to speak kindly to her, as he hadpreviously done to the birds. 

This comforted the old woman so much that again she could not helpcrying; but, notwithstanding the sincerity of her tears, beingaccustomed of old to take advantage of her master's moods, she felt thatnow was the time to tell her melancholy story. First of all she would atany rate see whether Melissa had not meanwhile returned; so she humblykissed the hem of his robe and hurried away. 

"Send Argutis to me!" Heron roared after her, and he returned to hisbreakfast with renewed energy. 

He thought, as he ate, of his son's beautiful work, and the foolishself-importance of Argutis, so faithful, and usually, it must be owned, so shrewd. Then his eyes fell on Melissa's vacant place opposite to him, and he suddenly pushed away his bowl and rose to seek his daughter. 

At this moment the starling called, in a clear, inviting tone, "Olympias!" and this cheered him, reminding him of the happy hour hehad passed at his wife's grave and the good augury he had had there. The belief in a better time at hand, of which he had spoken to the bird, again took possession of his sanguine soul; and, fully persuaded thatMelissa was detained in her own room or elsewhere by some triflingmatter, he went to the window and shouted her name; for hers, too, opened on to the garden. 

And it seemed as though the dear, obedient girl had come at his bidding, for, as he turned back into the room again, Melissa was standing in theopen door. 

After the pretty Greek greeting, "Joy be with you, " which she faintlyanswered, he asked her, as fractiously as though he had spent hours ofanxiety, where she had been so long. But he was suddenly silent, for hewas astonished to see that she had not come from her room, but, as herdress betrayed, from some long expedition. Her appearance, too, had noneof the exquisite neatness which it usually displayed; and then--what astate she was in! Whence had she come so early in the day?

The girl took off the kerchief that covered her head, and with a faintgroan pushed her tangled hair off her temples, and her bosom heaved asshe panted out in a weary voice: "Here I am! But O, father, what a nightI have spent!"

Heron could not for a minute or two find words to answer her. 

What had happened to the girl? What could it be which made her seem sostrange and unlike her self? He gazed at her, speechless, and alarmed bya hundred fearful suspicions. He felt as a mother might who has kissedher child's fresh, healthy lips at night, and in the morning finds themburning with fever. 

Melissa had never been ill from the day of her birth; since she haddonned the dress of a full-grown maiden she had never altered; day afterday and at all hours she had been the same in her quiet, useful, patientway, always thinking of her brothers, and caring for him rather than forherself. 

It had never entered into his head to suppose that she could alter; andnow, instead of the gentle, contented face with faintly rosy cheeks, hesaw a pallid countenance and quivering lips. What mysterious fire hadthis night kindled in those calm eyes, which Alexander was fond ofcomparing to those of a gazelle? They were sunk, and the dark shadowsthat encircled them were a shock to his artistic eye. These were theeyes of a girl who had raved like a maenad the night through. Had shenot slept in her quiet little room; had she been rushing with Alexanderin the wild Bacchic rout; or had something dreadful happened to his son?

Nothing could have been so great a relief to him as to rave and rageas was his wont, and he felt strongly prompted to do so; but there wassomething in her which moved him to pity or shyness, he knew not which, and kept him quiet. He silently followed her with his eyes while shefolded her mantle and kerchief in her orderly way, and hastily gatheredtogether the stray, curly locks of her hair, smoothed them, and boundthem round her head. 

Some one, however, must break the silence, and he gave a sigh of reliefwhen the girl came up to him and asked him, in a voice so husky as togive him a fresh shock:

"Is it true that a Scythian, one of the nightwatch, has been herealready?"

Then he broke out, and it really did him good to give vent to hisrepressed feelings in an angry speech:

"There again--the wisdom of slaves! The so-called Scythian brought amessage from his master. 

"The captain of the night-watch--you will see--wishes to honor Alexanderwith a commission. "

"No, no, " interrupted the girl. "They are hunting my brother down. I thank the gods that the Scythian should have come; it shows thatAlexander is still free. "

The gem-cutter clasped his bushy hair in both hands, for it seemed tohim that the room was whirling round. But his old habits still got thebetter of him; he roared out with all the power of his mighty lungs:"What is that? What do you say? What has Alexander done? Where haveyou--both of you-been?" With two long strides the angry man came closeup to the terrified girl; the birds fluttered in their cages, and thestarling repeated his cries in melancholy tones. Heron stood still, pushing his fingers through his thick gray hair, and with a sharp laughexclaimed: "I came away from her grave full of fresh hopes for betterdays, and this is how they are fulfilled! I looked for fame, and I finddisgrace! And you, hussy! where have you spent this night--where haveyou come from? I ask you once more!"

He raised his fist and shook it close in front of Melissa's eyes. 

She stood before him as pale as death, and with wide-open eyes, fromwhich the heavy tears dropped slowly, one by one, trickling down hercheeks as if they were tired. Heron saw them, and his rage melted. Hestaggered to a seat like a drunken man, and, hiding his face in hishands, moaned aloud, "Wretch, wretch that I am!" But his child's softhand was laid on his head; warm, girlish lips kissed his brow; andMelissa whispered beseechingly: "Peace, father, peace. All may yet bewell. I have something to tell you that will make you glad too; yes, Iam sure it will make you glad. "

Her father shrugged his shoulders incredulously, but wanted to knowimmediately what the miracle was that could smooth his brow. Melissa, however, would not tell him till it came in its place in her story. Sohe had to submit; he drew his seat up to the table, and took up a lumpof modeling-wax to keep his restless fingers employed while he listened. She, too, sat down; she could scarcely stand. 

At first he listened calmly to her narrative; and when she told himof Alexander's jest at Caesar's expense his face brightened. HisAlexandrian blood and his relish for a biting speech got the upper hand;he gave a sounding slap on his mighty leg, and exclaimed: "A cursed goodthought! But the boy forgot that when Zeus only lamed his son it wasbecause he is immortal; while Caesar's brother was as feeble a mortal asCaracalla himself is said to be at this day. "

He laughed noisily; but it was for the last time that morning; forhardly had he heard the name of Zminis, and learned that it was he whohad over heard Alexander, than he threw down the wax and started to hisfeet in horror, crying:

"That dog, who dared to cast his eyes on your mother, and persecuted herlong after she had shown him the door! That sly mischief-maker! Manya time has he set snares in our path. If he succeeds in tightening thenoose into which the boy has so heedlessly thrust his head--But firsttell me, has he caught him already, or is Alexander still at liberty?"

But no one, not even Argutis, who was still out on the search, couldtell him this; and he was now so greatly disturbed that, during the restof Melissa's narrative, he perpetually paced the room, interrupting hernow and then with questions or with outbursts of indignation. Andthen it occurred to him that he ought himself to seek his son, and heoccupied himself with getting ready to go out. 

Even when she spoke of the Magian, and his conviction that thosewho know are able to hold intercourse with the souls of the dead, heshrugged his shoulders incredulously, and went on lacing his sandals. But when Melissa assured him that not she alone, but Diodoros with her, had seen the wandering soul of the departed Korinna in the train ofghosts, he dropped the straps he had bound round his ankle, and askedher who this Magian was, and where he might be found. However, she knewno more than that his name was Serapion, and she briefly described hisdignified presence. 

Heron had already seen the man, and he seemed still to be thinking ofhim, when Melissa, with a blush and downcast eyes, confessed that, assoon as he was well again, Diodoros was coming to her father to ask herof him in marriage. 

It was a long story before she came at last to her own concerns, but itwas always her way not to think of herself till every one else had hadhis due. 

But what about her father? Had she spoken inaudibly, or was he reallyunable to-day to be glad? or what ailed him, that he paid no heed to thenews which, even for him, was not without its importance, but, without aword of consent or disapproval, merely bade her go on with her story?

Melissa called him by name, as if to wake a man from sleep, and askedwhether it were indeed possible that he really felt no pleasure in thehappy prospect that lay before her, and that she had confessed to him. And now Heron lent an ear, and gave her to understand the satisfactionof his fatherly heart by kissing her. This news, in fact, made up formuch that was evil, for Diodoros was a son-in-law after his own heart, and not merely because he was rich, or because his mother had beenso great a friend of Olympias's. No, the young man's father was, likehimself, one of the old Macedonian stock; he had seen his daughter'slover grow to manhood, and there was not in the city a youth he couldmore heartily welcome. This he freely admitted; he only regretted thatwhen she should set up house with her husband on the other side of thelake, he (Heron) would be left as lonely as a statue on its pedestal. His sons had already begun to avoid him like a leper!

Then, when he heard of what had befallen Diodoros, and Melissa wenton to say that the people who had thrown the stone at the dog wereChristians, and that they had carried the wounded youth into a large, clean dwelling, where he was being carefully attended when she hadleft him, Heron broke out into violent abuse. They were unpatrioticworshipers of a crucified Jew, who multiplied like vermin, and onlywanted to turn the good old order of things upside down. But this timethey should see--the hypocrites, who pretended to so much humanity, andthen set ferocious dogs on peaceful folk!--they should learn that theycould not fall on a Macedonian citizen without paying for it. 

He indignantly refused to hear Melissa's assurance that none of theChristians had set the dog on her lover; she, however, maintainedstoutly that it was merely by an unfortunate accident that the stone hadhit Diodoros and cut his head so badly. She would not have quitted herlover but that she feared lest her prolonged absence should have alarmedher father. 

Heron at last stood still for a minute or two, lost in thought, and thenbrought out of his chest a casket, from which he took a few engravedgems. He held them carefully up to the light, and asked his daughter:"If I learn from Polybius, to whom I am now going, that they havealready caught Alexander, should I venture now, do you think, to offera couple of choice gems to Titianus, the prefect, to set him free again?He knows what is good, and the captain of the watch is his subordinate. "

But Melissa besought him to give up the idea of seeking out Alexander inhis hiding-place; for Heron, the gem-cutter, was known to every one, and if a man-at-arms should see him he would certainly follow him. Asregarded the prefect, he would not apprehend any one this day, for, as her father knew, Caesar was to arrive at Alexandria at noon, andTitianus must be on the spot to meet him with all his train. 

"But if you want to be out of doors and doing, " she added, "go to seePhilip. Bring him to reason, and discuss with him what is to be done. "

She spoke with firm decision, and Heron looked with amazement at thegiver of this counsel. Melissa had hitherto cared for his comfort insilence, without expressing any opinions of her own, and submitting tobe the lightning-conductor for all his evil tempers. He did not rate hergirlish beauty very high, for there were no ugly faces in his familynor in that of his deceased Olympias. And all the other consolations sheoffered him he took as a matter of course--nay, he sometimes made them aground of complaint; for he would occasionally fancy that she wanted toassume the place of his beloved lost wife, and he regarded it as a dutyto her to show his daughter, and often very harshly and unkindly, howfar she was from filling her mother's place. 

Thus she had accustomed herself to do her duty as a daughter, with quietand wordless exactitude, looking for no thanks; while he thought he wasdoing her a kindness merely by suffering her constant presence. That heshould ever exchange ideas with his daughter, or ask her opinion, wouldhave seemed to Heron absolutely impossible; yet it had come to this, and for the second time this morning he looked in her face with utteramazement. 

He could not but approve her warning not to betray Alexander'shiding-place, and her suggestion that he should go to see his eldestson coincided with an unspoken desire which had been lurking in his mindever since she had told him of her having seen a disembodied soul. Thepossibility of seeing her once more, whose memory was dearer to him thanall else on earth, had such a charm, that it moved him more deeply thanthe danger of his son, who was, nevertheless, very dear to his strangelytempered heart. 

So he answered Melissa coolly, as if he were telling her of a decisionalready formed:

"Of course! I meant to see Philip too; only"--and he paused, for anxietyabout Alexander again came to the front--"I can not bear to remain insuch uncertainty about the boy. "

At this instant the door opened. The new-comer was Andreas, the man towhom Diodoros had advised Alexander to apply for protection and counsel;and Melissa greeted him with filial affection. 

He was a freedman in her lover's family, and was the steward and managerof his master's extensive gardens and lands, which were under hisabsolute control. No one could have imagined that this man had ever beena slave; his face was swarthy, but his fine black eyes lighted it upwith a glance of firm self reliance and fiery energy. It was the lookof a man who might be the moving spirit of one of those rebellions whichwere frequent in Alexandria; there was an imperious ring in his voice, and decision in the swift gestures of his hardened but shapely hands. 

For twenty years, indeed, he had ruled over the numerous slaves ofPolybius, who was an easy-going master, and an invalid from gout in hisfeet. He was at this time a victim to a fresh attack, and had thereforesent his confidential steward into the town to tell Heron that heapproved of his son's choice, and that he would protect Alexander frompursuit. 

All this Andreas communicated in few and business-like words; but hethen turned to Melissa, and said, in a tone of kindly and affectionatefamiliarity: "Polybius also wishes to know how your lover is being caredfor by the Christians, and from hence I am going on to see our sickboy. "

"Then ask your friends, " the gem-cutter broke in, "to keep lessferocious dogs for the future. "

"That, " replied the freedman, "will be unnecessary, for it is not likelythat the fierce brute belongs to the community whose friendship I amproud to claim; and, if it does, they will be as much grieved over thematter as we can be. "

"A Christian would never do another an ill turn!" said Heron, with ashrug. 

"Never, so far as justice permits, " replied Andreas, decisively. Then heinquired whether Heron had any message or news to send to his son; andwhen the gem-cutter replied that he had not, the freedman was about togo. Melissa, however, detained him, saying:

"I will go with you if you will allow me. "

"And I?" said Heron, irritably. "It seems to me that childrenare learning to care less and less what their fathers' views andrequirements may be. I have to go to Philip. Who knows what may happenin my absence? Besides--no offense to you, Andreas--what concern has mydaughter among the Christians?"

"To visit her lover, " replied Andreas, sharply. And he added, morequietly: "It will be a pleasure to me to escort her; and your Argutis isa faithful fellow, and in case of need would be of more use here than aninexperienced girl. I see no reasonable ground for detaining her, Heron. I should like afterwards to take her home with me, across the lake; itwould be a comfort to Polybius and soothe his pain to have his favoritewith him, his future daughter. --Get ready, my child. "

The artist had listened with growing anger, and a swift surge of ragemade him long to give the freedman a sharp lesson. But when his glaringeye met the Christian's steady, grave gaze, he controlled himself, andonly said, with a shrug which sufficiently expressed his feeling thathe was surrendering his veto against his better judgment, addressinghimself to Melissa and ignoring Andreas:

"You are betrothed, and of age. Go, for aught I care, in obedience tohim whose wishes evidently outweigh mine. Polybius's son is your masterhenceforth. "

He folded his mantle, and when the girl hastened to help him he allowedher to do it; but he went on, to the freedman: "And for aught I care, you may take her across the lake, too. It is natural that Polybiusshould wish to see his future daughter. But one thing I may ask formyself: You have slaves and to spare; if anything happens to Alexander, let me hear of it at once. "

He kissed Melissa on the head, nodded patronizingly to Andreas, and leftthe house. 

His soft-hearted devotion to a vision had weakened his combativeness;still, he would have yielded less readily to a man who had once been aslave, but that the invitation to Melissa released him of her presencefor a while. 

He was not, indeed, afraid of his daughter; but she need not know thathe wanted Philip to make him acquainted with Serapion, and that throughhis mediation he hoped at least to see the spirit of the wife hemourned. When he was fairly out of the house he smiled with satisfactionlike a school-boy who had escaped his master. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Melissa, too, had a sense of freedom when she found herself walking bythe side of Andreas. 

In the garden of Hermes, where her father's house stood, there werefew signs of the excitement with which the citizens awaited Caesar'sarrival. Most of those who were out and about were going in the oppositedirection; they meant to await the grand reception of Caracalla at theeastern end of the city, on his way from the Kanopic Gate to the Gateof the Sun. Still, a good many--men, women and children--were, likethemselves, walking westward, for it was known that Caesar would alightat the Serapeum. 

They had scarcely left the house when Andreas asked the girl whethershe had a kerchief or a veil in the basket the slave was carryingbehind her; and on her replying in the affirmative, he expressedhis satisfaction; for Caracalla's soldiery, in consequence of thesovereign's weakened discipline and reckless liberality, were littlebetter than an unbridled rabble. 

"Then let us keep out of their way, " urged Melissa. 

"Certainly, as much as possible, " said her companion. "At any rate, letus hurry, so as to get back to the lake before the crowd stops the way. 

"You have passed an eventful and anxious night, my child, and are tired, no doubt. "

"Oh, no!" said she, calmly; "I had some wine to refresh me, and somefood with the Christians. "

"Then they received you kindly?"

"The only woman there nursed Diodoros like a mother; and the men wereconsiderate and careful. My father does not know them; and yet--Well, you know how much he dislikes them. "

"He follows the multitude, " returned Andreas, "the common herd, who hateeverything exceptional, everything that disturbs their round of life, orstartles them out of the quietude of their dull dreams. Woe to those whocall by its true name what those blind souls call pleasure and enjoymentas serving to hasten the flight of time--not too long at the most; woeto those who dare raise even a finger against it!"

The man's deep, subdued tones were strongly expressive of the wrathwithin him; and the girl, who kept close to his side, asked with eageranxiety, "Then my father was right when he said that you are a member ofthe Christian body?"

"Yes, " he replied, emphatically; and when Melissa curiously inquiredwhether it were true that the followers of the crucified God hadrenounced their love for home and country, which yet ought to be dearto every true man, Andreas answered with a superior smile, that even thefounder of the Stoa had required not only of his fellow-Greeks but ofall human beings, that they should regulate their existence by the samelaws, since they were brethren in reason and sense. 

"He was right, " added Andreas, more earnestly, "and I tell you, child, the time is not far off when men shall no longer speak of Roman andGreek, of Egyptian and Syrian, of free men and slaves; when there shallbe but one native land, but one class of life for all. Yea, the day isbeginning to dawn even now. The fullness of the time is come!"

Melissa looked up at him in amazement, exclaiming: "How strange! I haveheard those words once to-day already, and can not get them out of myhead. Nay, when you confirmed my father's report, I made up my mind toask you to explain them. "

"What words?" asked Andreas, in surprise. "The fullness of the time iscome. "

"And where did you hear them?"

"In the house where Diodoros and I took refuge from Zminis. "

"A Christian meeting-house, " replied Andreas, and his expressive facedarkened. "But those who assemble there are aliens to me; they followevil heresies. But never mind--they also call themselves Christians, andthe words which led you to ponder, stand to me at the very gate of thedoctrine of our divine master, like the obelisks before the door of anEgyptian temple. Paul, the great preacher of the faith, wrote them tothe Galatians. They are easy to understand; nay, any one who looks abouthim with his eyes open, or searches his own soul, can scarcely fail tosee their meaning, if only the desire is roused in him for somethingbetter than what these cursed times can give us who live in them. "

"Then it means that we are on the eve of great changes?"

"Yes!" cried Andreas, "only the word you use is too feeble. The old dullsun must set, to rise again with greater glory. "

Ill at ease, and by no means convinced, Melissa looked her excitedcompanion in the face as she replied:

"Of course I know, Andreas, that you speak figuratively, for the sunwhich lights the day seems to me bright enough; and is not everythingflourishing in this gay, busy city? Are not its citizens under theprotection of the law? Were the gods ever more zealously worshiped? Ismy father wrong when he says that it is a proud thing to belong to themightiest realm on earth, before whose power barbarians tremble; a greatthing to feel and call yourself a Roman citizen?"

So far Andreas had listened to her with composure, but he hereinterrupted, in a tone of scorn "Oh, yes! Caesar has made your father, and your neighbor Skopas, and every free man in the country a Romancitizen; but it is a pity that, while he gave each man his patent ofcitizenship, he should have filched the money out of his purse. "

"Apion, the dealer, was saying something to that effect the otherday, and I dare say it is true. But I can not be persuaded againstthe evidence of my own eyes, and they light on many good and pleasantthings. If only you had been with us to the Nekropolis yesterday! Everyman was honoring the gods after his own manner. Some, indeed, were graveenough; still, cheerfulness won the day among the people. Most of themwere full of the god. I myself, who generally live so quietly, wasinfected as the mystics came back from Eleusis, and we joined theirranks. "

"'Till the spy Zminis spoiled your happiness and imperiled yourbrother's life for a careless speech. "

"Very true!"

"And what your brother heedlessly proclaimed, " Andreas went on, withflashing eyes, "the very sparrows twitter on the house-tops. It is thetruth. The sovereign of the Roman Empire is a thousand times a murderer. Some he sent to precede his own brother, and they were followed byall--twenty thousand, it is said--who were attached to the hapless Geta, or who even spoke his name. This is the lord and master to whom we oweobedience whom God has set over us for our sins. And when this wretch inthe purple shall close his eyes, he, like the rest of the criminalswho have preceded him on the throne, will be proclaimed a god! A noblecompany! When your beloved mother died I heard you, even you, revile thegods for their cruelty; others call them kind. It is only a question ofhow they accept the blood of the sacrificed beasts, their own creatures, which you shed in their honor. If Serapis does not grant some fool thething he asks, then he turns to the altar of Isis, of Anubis, of Zeus, of Demeter. At last he cries to Sabazios, or one of the new deities ofOlympus, who owe their existence to the decisions of the Roman Senate, and who are for the most part scoundrels and villains. There certainlynever were more gods than there are now; and among those of whom themyths tell us things strange enough to bring those who worship them intocontempt, or to the gallows, is the countless swarm of good and evildaimons. Away with your Olympians! They ought to reward virtue andpunish vice; and they are no better than corruptible judges; for youknow beforehand just what and how much will avail to purchase theirfavors. "

"You paint with dark colors, " the girl broke in. "I have learned fromPhilip that the Pythagoreans teach that not the sacrifice, but thespirit of the offering, is what really matters. "

"Quite right. He was thinking, no doubt, of the miracle-monger of Tyana, Apollonius, who certainly had heard of the doctrine of the Redeemer. Butamong the thousand nine hundred and ninety, who here bring beasts to thealtar, who ever remembers this? Quite lately I heard one of our gardenlaborers ask how much a day he ought to sacrifice to the sun, his god. I told him a keration--for that is what the poor creature earns for awhole day's work. He thought that too much, for he must live; so the godmust be content with a tithe, for the taxes to the State on his earningswere hardly more. "

"The divinity ought no doubt to be above all else to us, " Melissaobserved. "But when your laborer worships the sun, and looks for itsbenefits, what is the difference between him and you, or me, or any ofus, though we call the sun Helios or Serapis, or what not?"

"Yes, yes, " replied Andreas. "The sun is adored here under manydifferent names and forms, and your Serapis has swallowed up not onlyZeus and Pluto, but Phoebus Apollo and the Egyptian Osiris and Ammon, and Ra, to swell his own importance. But to be serious, child, ourfathers made to themselves many gods indeed, of the sublime phenomenaand powers of Nature, and worshiped them admiringly; but to us only thenames remain, and those who offer to Apollo never think of the sun. With my laborer, who is an Arab, it is different. He believes thelight-giving globe itself to be a god; and you, I perceive, do notthink him wholly wrong. But when you see a youth throw the discus withsplendid strength, do you praise the discus, or the thrower?"

"The thrower, " replied Melissa. "But Phoebus Apollo himself guides hischariot with his divine hands. "

"And astronomers, " the Christian went on, "can calculate for years tocome exactly where his steeds will be at each minute of the time. So noone can be more completely a slave than he to whom so many mortals praythat he will, of his own free-will, guide circumstances to suit them. I, therefore, regard the sun as a star, like any other star; and worshipshould be given, not to those rolling spheres moving across the sky inprescribed paths, but to Him who created them and guides them by fixedlaws. I really pity your Apollo and the whole host of the Olympian gods, since the world has become possessed by the mad idea that the godsand daimons may be moved, or even compelled, by forms of prayer andsacrifices and magic arts, to grant to each worshiper the particularthing on which he may have set his covetous and changeable fancy. "

"And yet, " exclaimed Melissa, "you yourself told me that you prayedfor my mother when the leech saw no further hope. Every one hopes fora miracle from the immortals when his own power has come to an end!Thousands think so. And in our city the people have never been morereligious than they are now. The singer of the Ialemos at the feast ofAdonis particularly praised us for it. "

"Because they have never been more fervently addicted to pleasure, andtherefore have never more deeply dreaded the terrors of hades. The greatand splendid Zeus of the Greeks has been transformed into Serapis here, on the banks of the Nile, and has become a god of the nether world. Mostof the ceremonies and mysteries to which the people crowd are connectedwith death. They hope that the folly over which they waste so manyhours will smooth their way to the fields of the blest, and yet theythemselves close the road by the pleasures they indulge in. But thefullness of time is now come; the straight road lies open to allmankind, called as they are to a higher life in a new world, and he whofollows it may await death as gladly as the bride awaits the bridegroomon her marriage day. Yes, I prayed to my God for your dying mother, thesweetest and best of women. But what I asked for her was not that herlife might be preserved, or that she might be permitted to linger longeramong us, but that the next world might be opened to her in all itsglory. "

At this point the speaker was interrupted by an armed troop which thrustthe crowd aside to make way for the steers which were to be slaughteredin the Temple of Serapis at the approach of Caesar. There were severalhundred of them, each with a garland about its neck, and the handsomestwhich led the train had its horns gilded. 

When the road was clear again, Andreas pointed to the beasts, andwhispered to his companion "Their blood will be shed in honor of thefuture god Caracalla. He once killed a hundred bears in the arena withhis own hand. But I tell you, child, when the fullness of time is come, innocent blood shall no more be shed. You were speaking with enthusiasmof the splendor of the Roman Empire. But, like certain fruit-trees inour garden which we manure with blood, it has grown great on blood, onthe life-juice of its victims. The mightiest realm on earth owes itspower to murder and rapine; but now sudden destruction is coming on theinsatiate city, and visitation for her sins. "

"And if you are right--if the barbarians should indeed destroy thearmies of Caesar, " asked Melissa, looking up in some alarm at theenthusiast, "what then?"

"Then we may thank those who help to demolish the crumbling house!"cried Andreas, with flashing eyes. 

"And if it should be so, " said the girl, with tremulous anxiety, "whatuniversal ruin! What is there on earth that could fill its place? Ifthe empire falls into the power of the barbarians, Rome will be madedesolate, and all the provinces laid waste which thrive under herprotection. "

"Then, " said Andreas, "will the kingdom of the Spirit arise, in whichpeace and love shall reign instead of hatred and murder and wars. Thereshall be one fold and one Shepherd, and the least shall be equal withthe greatest. "

"Then there will be no more slaves?" asked Melissa, in growingamazement. 

"Not one, " replied her companion, and a gleam of inspiration seemed tolight up his stern features. "All shall be free, and all united in loveby the grace of Him who hath redeemed us. "

But Melissa shook her head, and Andreas, understanding what was passingin her mind, tried to catch her eye as he went on:

"You think that these are the impossible wishes of one who has himselfbeen a slave, or that it is the remembrance of past suffering andunutterable wrong which speaks in me? For what right-minded man wouldnot desire to preserve others from the misery which once crushed himto earth with its bitter burden?--But you are mistaken. Thousands offree-born men and women think as I do, for to them, too, a higher Powerhas revealed that the fullness of time is now come. He, the Greatest andBest, who made all the woes of the world His own, has chosen the poorrather than the rich, the suffering rather than the happy, the babesrather than the wise and prudent; and in his kingdom the last shall befirst--yea, the least of the last, the poorest of the poor; and they, child, are the slaves. "

He ended his diatribe with a deep sigh, but Melissa pressed the handwhich held hers as they walked along the raised pathway, and said: "PoorAndreas! How much you must have gone through before Polybius set youfree!"

He only nodded, and they both remained silent till they found themselvesin a quiet side street. Then the girl looked up at him inquiringly, andbegan again:

"And now you hope for a second Spartacus? Or will you yourself lead arebellion of the slaves? You are the man for it, and I can be secret. "

"If it has to be, why not?" he replied, and his eyes sparkled with astrange fire. But seeing that she shrank from him, a smile passed overhis countenance, and he added in a soothing tone: "Do not be alarmed, my child; what must come will come, without another Spartacus, orbloodshed, or turmoil. And you, with your clear eyes and your kindheart, would you find it difficult to distinguish right from wrong, andto feel for the sorrows of others--? Yes, perhaps! For what will notcustom excuse and sanctify? You can pity the bird which is shut into acage too small for it, or the mule which breaks down under too heavy aload, and the cruelty which hurts them rouses your indignation. But forthe man whom a terrible fate has robbed of his freedom, often throughthe fault of another, whose soul endures even greater torments than hisdespised body, you have no better comfort than the advice which mightindeed serve a philosopher, but which to him is bitter mockery: tobear his woes with patience. He is only a slave, bought, or perhapsinherited. Which of you ever thinks of asking who gave you, who arefree, the right to enslave half of all the inhabitants of the RomanEmpire, and to rob them of the highest prerogative of humanity? I knowthat many philosophers have spoken of slavery as an injustice doneby the strong to the weak: but they shrugged their shoulders over itnevertheless, and excused it as an inevitable evil; for, thought they, who will serve me if my slave is regarded as my equal? You only smileat this confusion of the meditative recluses, but you forget"--and asinister fire glowed in his eyes--"that the slave, too, has a soul, inwhich the same feelings stir as in your own. You never think how aproud man may feel whose arm you brand, and whose very breath of life isindignity; or what a slave thinks who is spurned by his master's foot, though noble blood may run in his veins. All living things, even theplants in the garden, have a right to happiness, and only develop fullyin freedom, and under loving care; and yet one half of mankind robs theother half of this right. The sum total of suffering and sorrow to whichFate had doomed the race is recklessly multiplied and increased by theguilt of men themselves. But the cry of the poor and wretched has goneup to heaven, and now that the fullness of time is come, 'Thus far, andno farther, ' is the word. No wild revolutionary has been endowed witha giant's strength to burst the bonds of the victims asunder. No, theCreator and Preserver of the world sent his Son to redeem the poor inspirit, and, above all, the brethren and the sisters who are weary andheavy laden. The magical word which shall break the bars of the prisonswhere the chains of the slaves are heard is Love. .. . But you, Melissa, can but half comprehend all this, " he added, interrupting the ardentflow of his enthusiastic speech. "You can not understand it all. Foryou, too, child, the fullness of time is coming; for you, too, freebornthough you are, are, I know, one of the heavy laden who patiently sufferthe burden laid upon you. You too--But keep close to me; we shall findit difficult to get through this throng. "

It was, in fact, no easy matter to get across the crowd which waspouring noisily down the street of Hermes, into which this narrow wayled. How ever, they achieved it, and when Melissa had recovered herbreath in a quiet lane in Rhakotis, she turned to her companion againwith the question, "And when do you suppose that your predictions willbe fulfilled?"

"As soon as the breeze blows which shall shake the overripe fruitfrom the tree. It may be tomorrow, or not yet, according to thelong-suffering of the Most High. But the entire collapse of the world inwhich we have been living is as certain to come as that you are walkinghere with me!"

Melissa walked on with a quaking heart, as she heard her friend's toneof conviction; he, however, was aware that the inmost meaning of hiswords was sealed to her. To his inquiry, whether she could not rejoicein the coming of the glorious time in store for redeemed humanity, sheanswered, tremulously:

"All you hope for is glorious, no doubt, but what shall lead to it mustbe a terror to all. Were you told of the kingdom of which you speak byan oracle, or is it only a picture drawn by your imagination, a vision, and the offspring of your soul's desire?"

"Neither, " said Andreas, decidedly; and he went on in a louder voice:"I know it by revelation. Believe me, child, it is as certainly true asthat the sun will set this night. The gates of the heavenly Jerusalemstand open, and if you, too, would fain be blessed--But more of thislater. Here we are at our journey's end. "

They entered the Christian home, where they found Diodoros, on acomfortable couch, in a spacious, shady room, and in the care of afriendly matron. 

But he was in an evil case. The surgeon thought his wound a serious one;for the heavy stone which had hit him had injured the skull, and theunhappy youth was trembling with fever. His head was burning, and itwas with difficulty that he spoke a few coherent words. But his eyesbetrayed that he recognized Melissa, and that it was a joy to him tosee her again; and when he was told that Alexander had so far escaped, a bright look lighted up his countenance. It was evidently a comfortto him to gaze on Melissa's pretty face; her hand lay in his, and heunderstood her when she greeted him from her father, and spoke to him ofvarious matters; but the lids ere long closed over his aching eyes. 

Melissa felt that she must leave him to rest. She gently released hishand from her grasp and laid it across his breast, and moved no more, excepting to wipe the drops from his brow. Solemn stillness had reignedfor some time in the large, clean house, faintly smelling of lavender;but, on a sudden, doors opened and shut; steps were heard in theanteroom, seats were moved, and a loud confusion of men's voices becameaudible, among them that of Andreas. 

Melissa listened anxiously to the heated discussion which had alreadybecome a vehement quarrel. She longed to implore the excited wranglersto moderate their tones, for she could see by her lover's quivering lipsthat the noise hurt him; but she could not leave him. 

The dispute meanwhile grew louder and louder. The names of Montanus andTertullian, Clemens and Origen, fell on her ear, and at last she heardAndreas exclaim in high wrath: "You are like the guests at a richlyfurnished banquet who ask, after they have well eaten, when the meatwill be brought in. Paraclete is come, and yet you look for another. "

He was not allowed to proceed; fierce and scornful contradiction checkedhis speech, till a voice of thunder was heard above the rest:

"The heavenly Jerusalem is at hand. He who denies and doubts the callingof Montanus is worse than the heathen, and I, for one, cast him off asneither a brother nor a Christian!"

This furious denunciation was drowned in uproar; the anxious girl heardseats overturned, and the yells and shouts of furious combatants; thesuffering youth meanwhile moaned with anguish, and an expression ofacute pain was stamped on his handsome features. Melissa could bear itno longer; she had risen to go and entreat the men to make less noise, when suddenly all was still. 

Diodoros immediately became calmer, and looked up at the girl asgratefully as though the soothing silence were owing to her. She couldnow hear the deep tones of the head of the Church of Alexandria, and understood that the matter in hand was the readmission into thiscongregation of a man who had been turned out by some other sect. Somewould have him rejected, and commended him to the mercy of God; others, less rigid, were willing to receive him, since he was ready to submit toany penance. 

Then the quarrel began again. High above every other voice rose theshrill tones of a man who had just arrived from Carthage, and whoboasted of personal friendship with the venerable Tertullian. Thelistening girl could no longer follow the connection of the discussion, but the same names again met her ear; and, though she understood nothingof the matter, it annoyed her, because the turmoil disturbed her lover'srest. 

It was not till the sick-nurse came back that the tumult was appeased;for, as soon as she learned how seriously the loud disputes of herfellow-believers were disturbing the sick man's rest, she interfered soeffectually, that the house was as silent as before. 

The deaconess Katharine was the name by which she was known, and in afew minutes she returned to her patient's bedside. 

Andreas followed her, with the leech, a man of middle height, whoseshrewd and well-formed head, bald but for a little hair at the sides, was set on a somewhat ungainly body. His sharp eyes looked hither andthither, and there was something jerky in his quick movements; still, their grave decisiveness made up for the lack of grace. He paid no heedto the bystanders, but threw himself forward rather than bent over thepatient, felt him, and with a light hand renewed his bandages; andthen he looked round the room, examining it as curiously as though heproposed to take up his abode there, ending by fixing his prominent, round eyes on Melissa. There was something so ruthlessly inquisitive inthat look that it might, under other circumstances, have angered her. However, as it was, she submitted to it, for she saw that it was shrewd, and she would have called the wisest physician on earth to her lover'sbedside if she had had the power. 

When Ptolemaeus--for so he was called--had, in reply to the question, "who is that?" learned who she was, he hastily murmured: "Then she cando nothing but harm here. A man in a fever wants but one thing, and thatis perfect quiet. "

And he beckoned Andreas to the window, and asked him shortly, "Has thegirl any sense?"

"Plenty, " replied the freedman, decisively. 

"As much, at any rate, as she can have at her age, " the other retorted. "Then it is to be hoped that she will go without any leave-taking ortears. That fine lad is in a bad way. I have known all along what mightdo him good, but I dare not attempt it alone, and there is no one inAlexandria. .. . But Galen has come to join Caesar. If he, old ashe is--But it is not for the likes of us to intrude into Caesar'squarters--Still--"

He paused, laying his hand on his brow, and rubbing it thoughtfully withhis short middle finger. Then he suddenly exclaimed: "The old man wouldnever come here. But the Serapeum, where the sick lie awaiting divineor diabolical counsel in dreams--Galen will go there. If only we couldcarry the boy thither. "

"His nurse here would hardly allow that, " said Andreas, doubtfully. 

"He is a heathen. " replied the leech, hotly. "Besides, what has faith todo with the injury to the body? How many Caesars have employed Egyptianand Jewish physicians? The lad would get the treatment he needs, and, Christian as I am, I would, if necessary, convey him to the Serapeum, though it is of all heathen temples the most heathen. I will find out byhook or by crook at what time Galen is to visit the cubicles. To-morrow, or next day at latest; and to-night, or, better still, to-morrow morningbefore sunrise, I will have the youth carried there. If the deaconessrefuses--"

"And she will, " Andreas put in. 

"Very well. --Come here, maiden, " he beckoned to Melissa, and went onloud enough for the deaconess to hear: "If we can get your betrothedto the Serapeum early to-morrow, he may probably be cured; otherwise Irefuse to be responsible. Tell your friends and his that I will be herebefore sunrise to-morrow, and that they must provide a covered litterand good bearers. "

He then turned to the deaconess, who had followed him in silence, withher hands clasped like a deserter, laid his broad, square hand on hershoulder, and added:

"So it must be, Widow Katharine, Love endures and suffers all things, and to save a neighbor's life, it is well to suffer in silence eventhings that displease us. I will explain it all to you afterwards. Quiet, only perfect quiet--No melancholy leave-taking, child! The sooneryou are out of the house the better. "

He went back again to the bed, laid his hand for a moment on the sickman's forehead, and then left the room. 

Diodoros lay still and indifferent on the couch. Melissa kissed him onthe brow, and withdrew without his observing it, her eyes full of tears. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The sun had passed the meridian when Melissa and Andreas left the house. They walked on in silence through the deserted streets, the girl withher eyes sadly fixed on the ground; for an inward voice warned her thather lover's life was in danger. She did not sob, but more than once shewiped away a large tear. 

Andreas, too, was lost in his own thoughts. To win a soul to the Saviourwas surely a good work. He knew Melissa's sober, thoughtful nature, and the retired, joyless life she led with her surly old father. So hisknowledge of human nature led him to think that she, if any one, mighteasily be won over to the faith in which he found his chief happiness. Baptism had given such sanctification to his life that he longed to leadthe daughter of the only woman for whom his heart had ever beat a shadefaster, to the baptismal font. In the heat of summer Olympias had oftenbeen the guest for weeks together of Polybius's wife, now likewisedead. Then she had taken a little house of her own for herself and herchildren, and when his master's wife died, the lonely widower had knownno greater pleasure than that of receiving her on his estate for as longas Heron would allow her to remain; he himself never left his workfor long. Thus Andreas had become the great ally of the gem-cutter'schildren, and, as they could learn nothing from him that was not goodand worth knowing, Olympias had gladly allowed them to remain in hissociety, and herself found a teacher and friend in the worthy steward. She knew that Andreas had joined the Christians; she had made him tellher much about his faith; still, as the daughter and wife of artists, she was firmly attached to the old gods, and could only regard theChristian doctrine as a new system of philosophy in which many thingsattracted her, but many, on the other hand, repelled her. At that timehis passion for Melissa's mother had possessed him so wholly thathis life was a constant struggle against the temptation to covet hisneighbor's wife. And he had conquered, doing severe penance for everyglance which might for an instant betray to her the weakness of hissoul. She had loved flowers, and he knew the plant-world so well, andwas so absolutely master over everything which grew and bloomed inthe gardens of which he had charge, that he could often intrust hisspeechless favorites to tell her things which lips and eyes might notreveal. Now she was no more, and the culture of plants had lost half itscharm since her eyes could no longer watch their thriving. He now leftthe gardens for the most part to his men, while he devoted himself toother cares with double diligence, and to the strictest exercises of hisfaith. 

But, as many a man adores the children of the woman he might not marry, Alexander and Melissa daily grew dearer to Andreas. He took a father'sinterest in their welfare, and, needing little himself, he carefullyhoarded his ample income to promote the cause of Christianity andencourage good works; but he had paid Alexander's debts when his time ofapprenticeship was over, for they were so considerable that the recklessyouth had not dared confess the sum to his stern father. 

Very soon after this, Alexander had become one of the most popularpainters of the town; and when he proposed to repay his friend the moneyhe had lent him, Andreas accepted it; but he added it to a capital ofwhich the purpose was his secret, but which, if his prayers were heard, might return once more to benefit Alexander. Diodoros, too, was as dearto the freedman as a son of his own could have been, though he was aheathen. In the gymnasium and the race-course, or in the practice of themysteries, the good seed which he sowed in the lad's heart was troddendown. Polybius, too, was an utter heathen; indeed, he was one of thepriests of Dionysus and Demeter, as his wealth and position in thesenate required. 

Then, Diodoros had confessed to him that he hoped to win Melissa for hiswife, and this had been adverse to Andreas's hope and purpose of makinga Christian of the girl; for he knew by experience how easily marriedhappiness was wrecked when man and wife worship different gods. But whenthe freedman had again seen the gem-cutter's brutality and the girl'sfilial patience, an inward voice had called to him that this gentle, gifted creature was one of those elect from among whom the Lord chosethe martyrs for the faith; and that it was his part to lead her into thefold of the Redeemer. He had begun the work of converting her with thezeal he put into everything. But fresh doubts had come upon him on thethreshold of the sick-room, after seeing the lad who was so dear to him, and whose eye had met his with such a trustful, suffering look. Could itbe right to sow the seed of discord between him and his future wife? Andsupposing Diodoros, too, should be converted by Melissa, could he thusalienate from his father the son and heir of Polybius--his benefactorand master?

Then, he remembered, too, to what a position he had risen through thatmaster's confidence in him. Polybius knew nothing of the concerns of hishouse but from the reports laid before him by Andreas; for the stewardcontrolled not merely the estate but the fortune of the family, and foryears had been at the head of the bank which he himself had founded toincrease the already vast income of the man to whom he owed his freedom. Polybius paid him a considerable portion of each year's profits, and hadsaid one day at a banquet, with the epigrammatic wit of an Alexandrian, that his freedman, Andreas, served his interests as only one other mancould do--namely, himself--but with the industry of ten. The Christiangreatly appreciated his confidence; and as he walked on by the side ofMelissa, he told himself again and again that it would be dishonorableto betray it. 

If only the sweet girl might find the way alone! If she were chosen tosalvation, the Lord himself would lead and guide her. Had he indeednot beckoned her already by impressing on her heart those words, "Thefullness of the time is now come?"

That he was justified in keeping this remembrance alive he had no doubt;and he was about to speak of it again, when she prevented him by raisingher large eyes beseechingly to his, and asking him:

"Is Diodoros in real danger? Tell me the truth. I would rather endurethe worst than this dreadful anxiety. "

So Andreas acknowledged that the youth was in a bad way, but thatPtolemaeus, himself well-skilled, hoped to cure him if his greatercolleague Galenus would aid him. 

"And it is to secure his assistance, then, " Melissa went on, "that theleech would have him carried to the Serapeum?"

"Yes, my child. For he is in Caesar's train, and it would be vain to tryto speak with him to-day or to-morrow. "

"But the journey through the town will do the sufferer a mischief. "

"He will be carried in a litter. "

"But even that is not good for him. Perfect quiet, Ptolemaeus said, wasthe best medicine. "

"But Galenus has even better remedies at hand, " was the reply. 

Melissa seemed satisfied with this assurance, for she walked on for sometime in silence. But when the uproar of the crowd in the vicinity of theSerapeum became more audible as they advanced, she suddenly stood still, and said:

"Come what may, I will find my way to the great physician's presenceand crave his help. " "You?" cried the freedman; and when she firmlyreiterated her purpose, the strong man turned pale. 

"You know not what you say!" he exclaimed, in deep concern. "The men whoguard the approaches to Caracalla are ruthless profligates, devoid ofcourtesy or conscience. But, you may rely upon it, you will not even getinto the antechamber. "

"Perhaps. Nevertheless, it is my duty, and I will try. "

How firmly and decisively she spoke! And what strength of will sparkledin the quiet, modest maiden's eyes! And the closely set lips, whichusually were slightly parted, and hardly covered two of her pearly whiteteeth, gave her a look of such determination, that Andreas could seethat no obstacle would check her. 

Still, love and duty alike required him to use every means in his powerto keep her from taking such a step. He lavished all his eloquence; butshe adhered to her purpose with steadfast persistency, and none of thereasons he could adduce to prove the impossibility of the undertakingconvinced her. The only point which staggered her was the informationthat the great leech was an old man, who walked with difficulty; andthat Galen, as a heathen and a disciple of Aristotle, would never beinduced to enter a Christian dwelling. Both these facts might be aserious hindrance to her scheme; yet she would not now stop to reflect. They had got back to the great street of Hermes, leading from the templeof that god to the Serapeum, and must cross it to reach the lake, theirimmediate destination. As in all the principal streets of Alexandria, acolonnade bordered the street in front of the houses on each side of thewide and handsome roadway. Under these arcades the foot-passengers wereclosely packed, awaiting Caesar's passage. He must soon be coming, forthe reception, first at the Kanopic Gate, and then at the Gate of theSun, was long since over; and, even if he had carried out his purposeof halting at the tomb of Alexander the Great, he could not be detainedmuch longer. The distance hither down the Kanopic Way was not great, andswift horses would quickly bring him down the Aspendia street to thatof Hermes, leading straight to the Serapeum. His train was not to followhim to the Soma, the mausoleum of the founder of the city, but to turnoff to the southward by the Paneum, and make a round into the street ofHermes. 

The praetorians, the German body-guard, the imperial Macedonian phalanx, and some mounted standard-bearers had by this time reached the spotwhere Melissa was proceeding up the street holding Andreas's hand. Close by them came also a train of slaves, carrying baskets full ofpalm-leaves and fresh branches of ivy, myrtle, poplar, and pine, fromthe gardens of the Paneum, to be carried to the Serapeum. They wereescorted by lictors, endeavoring with their axes and fasces to make away for them through the living wall which barred their way. 

By the help of the mounted troops, who kept the main road clear, spacewas made for them; and Andreas, who knew one of the overseers of thegarden-slaves, begged him as a favor to allow Melissa and himself towalk among his people. This was willingly granted to so well-known aman; and the way was quite free for the moment, because the imperialcartage had not followed immediately on the soldiers who had now allmarched past. Thus, among the flower-bearers, they reached the middle ofthe street; and while the slaves proceeded on their way to the Serapeum, the freedman tried to cross the road, and reach the continuation of thestreet they had come by, and which led to the lake. But the attempt wasfrustrated, for some Roman lictors who had just come up stood in theirway, and sent them to the southern side of the street of Hermes, tomingle with the gaping crowd under the arcade. 

They were, of course, but ill received by these, since they naturallyfound themselves in front of the foremost rank; but the stalwart frameand determined face of Andreas, and the exceptional beauty of his youngcompanion, over whose pretty head most of the gazers could easily see, protected her from rough treatment. 

Andreas spoke a few words of apology to those standing nearest to them, and a young goldsmith at once courteously made way, so that Melissa, whohad taken a place behind a column, might see better. 

And in a few minutes--there was that to see which made every one forgetthe intruders. Vehicles and outriders, litters swung between mules, anda long train of imperial footmen, in red tunics embroidered withgold, huntsmen with leashes of noble dogs, baggage-wagons and loadedelephants, came trooping down toward the Serapeum; while suddenly, from the Aspendia into the Hermes Way, the Numidian horse rushed out, followed by a troop of mounted lictors, who galloped up the street, shouting their orders in loud tones to the imperial train, in a mixtureof Latin and Greek, of which Melissa understood only the words "Caesar!"and "Make way to the right!"

The command was instantly obeyed. Vehicles, foot-passengers, and ridersalike crowded to the southern or left-hand side of the road, and themany-headed throng, of which Andreas and Melissa formed a part, drew asfar back as possible under the colonnade; for on the edge of the footwaythere was the risk of being trampled on by a horse or crushed by awheel. The back rows of the populace, who had collected under thearcades, were severely squeezed by this fresh pressure from without, andtheir outcries were loud of anger, alarm; or pain; while on the otherside of the street arose shouts of delight and triumph, or, whenanything singular came into view, loud laughter at the wit and irony ofsome jester. Added to these there were the clatter of hoofs and the rollof wheels, the whinnying of horses, the shouts of command, the rattle ofdrums, the blare of trumpets, and the shrill pipe of flutes, withouta moment's pause. It was a wild and ear-splitting tumult; to Melissa, however, neither painful nor pleasing, for the one idea, that she mustspeak with the great physician, silenced every other. But suddenly therecame up from the east, from the rising of the sun, whose course Caesarhad followed, such a tremendous roar that she involuntarily clutched hercompanion's hand. 

Every instant the storm of noise increased, rolling on with irresistiblevehemence, gathering force as it came on, receiving, as it were, freshtributaries on its way, and rapidly swelling from the distance to theimmediate vicinity, compelling every one, as with a magic power, toyield to the superior will of numbers and join in the cry. Even Melissacheered. She, too, was as a drop in the tide, a leaf on the ripplingface of the rushing torrent; her heart beat as wildly and her voice rangas clear as that of the rest of the throng, intoxicated with they knewnot what, which crowded the colonnades by the roadway, and every windowand roof-top, waving handkerchiefs, strewing flowers on the ground, andwiping the tears which this unwonted excitement had brought to theireyes. 

And now the shout is so tremendous that it could not possibly be louder. It seems as though it were the union of voices innumerable rather thanthe seabreeze, which flutters the pennons and flags which wave fromevery house and arch, and sways the garlands hung across the street. Melissa can see none but flushed faces, eyes swimming in tears, partedlips, wildly waving arms and hands. Then suddenly a mysterious powerhushes the loud tones close round her; she hears only here and there thecry of "Caesar!" "He is coming!" "Here he is!"--and the swift trampof hoofs and the clatter of wheels sounding like the rattle of an ironbuilding after a peal of thunder, above the shouts of ten thousand humanbeings. Closer it comes and closer, without a pause, and followed byfresh shouting, as a flock of daws follow an owl flying across thetwilight, swelling again to irrepressible triumph as the expectedpotentate rushes past Melissa and her neighbors. They only see Caesaras a form scarcely discerned by the eye during the space of alightning-flash in a dark night. 

Four tawny bay horses of medium size, dappled with black, harnessedabreast and wide apart, fly along the cleared road like hunted foxes, the light Gallic chariot at their heels. The wheels seem scarcely totouch the smooth flags of the Alexandrian pavement. The charioteer wearsthe red-bordered toga of the highest Roman officials. He is well knownby repute, and the subject of many a sharp jest; for this is Pandion, formerly a stableboy, and now one of "Caesar's friends, " a praetor, andone of the great men of the empire. But he knows his business; andwhat does Caracalla care for tradition or descent, for the murmurs anddiscontent of high or low?

Pandion holds the reins with elegant composure, and urges the horses toa frantic pace by a mere whistle, without ever using the whip. But whyis it that he whirls the mighty monarch of half a world, before whosebloodthirsty power every one quakes, so swiftly past these eagerspectators? Sunk in the cushions on one side, Bassianus Antoninus isreclining rather than sitting in the four-wheeled open chariot of Gallicmake which sweeps past. He does not vouchsafe a glance at the jubilantcrowd, but gazes down at the road, his well-shaped brow so deeplyfurrowed with gloom that he might be meditating some evil deed. 

It is easy to discern that he is of middle height; that his upper lipand cheeks are unshaven, and his chin smooth; that his hair is alreadythin, though he lacks two years of thirty; and that his complexion ispale and sallow; indeed, his aspect is familiar from statues and coins, many of which are of base metal. 

Most of those who thus beheld the man who held in his hand the fateof each individual he passed, as of the empire at large, involuntarilyasked themselves afterward what impression he had made on them; andCaracalla himself would have rejoiced in the answer, for he aimed not atbeing attractive or admired, but only at being feared. But, indeed, they had long since learned that there was nothing too horrible to beexpected of him; and, now that they had seen him, they were of opinionthat his appearance answered to his deeds. It would be hard to picturea more sinister and menacing looking man than this emperor, with hisaverted looks and his haughty contempt for the world and mankind; andyet there was something about him which made it difficult to takehim seriously, especially to an Alexandrian. There was a touch ofthe grotesque in the Gallic robe with a red hood in which thisominous-looking contemner of humanity was wrapped. It was called a'Caracalla', and it was from this garment that Bassianus Antoninus hadgained his nickname. 

The tyrant who wore this gaudy cloak was, no doubt, devoid alike oftruth and conscience; but, as to his being a philosopher, who knew theworthlessness of earthly things and turned his back upon the world, those who could might believe it! He was no more than an actor, whoplayed the part of Timon not amiss, and who made use of his public towork upon their fears and enjoy the sight of their anguish. There wassomething lacking in him to make one of those thorough-going haters oftheir kind at whose mere aspect every knee must bend. The appearance, inshort, of this false philosopher was not calculated to subdue the rashtongues of the Alexandrians. 

To this many of them agreed; still, there was no time for suchreflections till the dust had shrouded the chariot, which vanished asquickly as it had come, till the shouting was stilled, and the crowdhad spread over the roadway again. Then they began to ask themselves whythey had joined in the acclamations, and had been so wildly excited; howit was that they had so promptly surrendered their self-possessionand dignity for the sake of this wicked little man. Perhaps it was hisunlimited control over the weal and woe of the world, over the lifeand death of millions, which raised a mortal, not otherwise formed forgreatness, so far above common humanity to a semblance of divinity. Perhaps it was the instinctive craving to take part in the grandimpulsive expression of thousands of others that had carried away eachindividual. It was beyond a doubt a mysterious force which had compelledevery one to do as his neighbors did as soon as Caesar had appeared. 

Melissa had succumbed with the rest; she had shouted and waved herkerchief, and had not heeded Andreas when he held her hand and asked herto consider what a criminal this man was whom she so eagerly hailed. Itwas not till all was still again that she recollected herself, and herdetermination to get the famous physician to visit her lover revived inrenewed strength. 

Fully resolved to dare all, she looked about with calm scrutiny, considering the ways and means of achieving her purpose without any aidfrom Andreas. She was in a fever of impatience, and longed to force herway at once into the Serapeum. But that was out of the question, forno one moved from his place. There was, however, plenty to be seen. Acomplete revulsion of feeling had come over the crowd. In the place ofExpectancy, its graceless step-child, Disappointment, held sway. Therewere no more shouts of joy; men's lungs were no longer strained to theutmost, but their tongues were all the busier. Caesar was for the mostpart spoken of with contempt as Tarautas, and with the bitterness--thegrandchild of Expectancy-which comes of disappointment. Tarautas hadoriginally been the name of a stunted but particularly bloodthirstygladiator, in whom ill-will had traced some resemblance to Caesar. 

The more remarkable figures in the imperial train were curiously gazedat and discussed. A worker in mosaic, who stood near Melissa, had beenemployed in the decoration of the baths of Caracalla at Rome, and hadmuch information to impart; he even knew the names of several of thesenators and courtiers attached to Caesar. And, with all this, time wasfound to give vent to discontent. 

The town had done its utmost to make itself fine enough to receive theemperor. Statues had been erected of himself, of his father, his mother, and even of his favorite heroes, above all of Alexander the Great;triumphal arches without number had been constructed. The vast hallsof the Serapeum, through which he was to pass, had been magnificentlydecorated; and in front of the new temple, outside the Kanopic Gate, dedicated to his father, who now ranked among the gods, the elders ofthe town had been received by Caesar, to do him homage and offer him thegifts of the city. All this had cost many talents, a whole heap of gold;but Alexandria was wealthy, and ready to make even greater sacrifices ifonly they had been accepted with thanks and condescension. But a youngactor, who had been a spectator of the scene at the Kanopic Gate, andhad then hurried hither, declared, with dramatic indignation, thatCaesar had only replied in a few surly words to the address of thesenate, and even while he accepted the gift had looked as if he werebeing ill-used. The delegates had retired as though they had beencondemned to death. To none but Timotheus, the high-priest of Serapis, had he spoken graciously. 

Others confirmed this report; and dissatisfaction found expression inmuttered abuse or satirical remarks and bitter witticisms. 

"Why did he drive past so quickly?" asked a tailor's wife; and some onereplied:

"Because the Eumenides, who haunt him for murdering his brother, lashhim on with their whips of snakes!"

A spice-merchant; who was not less indignant but more cautious, hearinga neighbor inquire why Tarautas drove panther-spotted horses, repliedthat such beasts of prey had spotted skins, and that like to like wasa common rule. A cynical philosopher, who proclaimed his sect by hisragged garment, unkempt hair, and rough mode of speech, declared thatCaesar had a senator to guide his chariot because he had long sincesucceeded in turning the senate-house into a stable. 

To all this, however, Melissa turned a deaf ear, for the thought of thegreat Roman leech possessed her mind entirely. She listened earnestlyto the mosaic-worker, who had come close up to her, and officiouslymentioned the names of the most important personages as they went past. Caesar's train seemed endless. It included not merely horse andfoot soldiers, but numberless baggage-wagons, cars, elephants--whichCaracalla especially affected, because Alexander the Great had beenfond of these huge beasts--horses, mules, and asses, loaded with bales, cases, tents, and camp and kitchen furniture. Mingling with thesecame sutlers, attendants, pages, heralds, musicians, and slaves of theimperial household, in knots and parties, looking boldly about them atthe bystanders. When they caught sight of a young and pretty woman onthe edge of the path, they would wave a greeting; and many expressedtheir admiration of Melissa in a very insolent manner. Woolly-headednegroes and swarthy natives of north Africa mixed with the fairerdwellers on the Mediterranean and the yellow or red haired sons ofnorthern Europe. Roman lictors, and Scythian, Thracian, or Kelticmen-at-arms kept every one out of the way who did not belong to theimperial train, with relentless determination. Only the Magians, wonder-workers, and street wenches were suffered to push their way inamong the horses, asses, elephants, dogs, vehicles, and mounted troops. 

Each time that one of the unwieldy traveling-carriages, drawn by severalhorses, came in sight, in which the wealthy Roman was wont to take hisease on a long journey, or whenever a particularly splendid litter wasborne past, Melissa asked the mosaic-worker for information. In somefew instances Andreas could satisfy her curiosity, for he had spent somemonths at Antioch on a matter of business, and had there come to know bysight some of Caesar's most illustrious companions. 

So far the great Galenus was not of the number; for Caracalla, who wasailing, had but lately commanded his presence. The famous physician hadsailed for Pelusium, in spite of his advanced age, and had only justjoined the sovereign's suite. The old man's chariot had been pointedout to the mosaic-worker at the Kanopic Gate, and he was certain thathe could not mistake it for any other; it was one of the largest andhandsomest; the side doors of it were decorated with the AEsculapiusstaff and the cup of Hygeia in silver, and on the top were statuettes inwood of Minerva and of AEsculapius. On hearing all this, Melissa's facebeamed with happy and hopeful anticipation. With one hand pressed toher throbbing bosom, she watched each vehicle as it drove past with suchintense expectancy that she paid no heed to Andreas's hint that theymight now be able to make their way through the crowd. 

Now--and the freedman had called her once more--here was anothermonstrous conveyance, belonging to Julius Paulinus, the former consul, whose keen face, with its bright, merry eyes, looked out between thesilken curtains by the side of the grave, unsympathetic countenance ofDion Cassius the senator and historian. 

The consul, her informant told her--and Andreas confirmed thestatement--had displeased Severus, Caracalla's father, by some bitingjest, but, on being threatened with death, disarmed his wrath by saying, "You can indeed have my head cut off, but neither you nor I can keep itsteady. "

Those of the populace who stood near enough to the speaker to hear thisanecdote broke out in loud cheers, in which they were joined by otherswho had no idea of what had given rise to them. 

The consul's chariot was followed by a crowd of clients, domesticofficials, and slaves, in litters, on horses or mules, or on foot; andbehind these again came another vehicle, for some time concealed fromsight by dust. But when at last the ten fine horses which drew it hadgone past Melissa, and the top of the vehicle became visible, the colormounted to her cheeks, for on the corners of the front she recognizedthe figures of AEsculapius and Minerva, which, if the mosaic-worker wereright, distinguished the chariot of Galenus. She listened breathlesslyto the roll of the wheels of this coach, and she soon perceived thesilver AEsculapius staff and bowl on the wide door of this house onwheels, which was painted blue. At an open window by the door a kindlyold face was visible, framed in long, gray hair. 

Melissa started at hearing the order to halt shouted from the Serapeum, far down the road, and again, close at hand, "Halt!" The procession cameto a standstill, the riders drew rein, the blue wheels ceased to turn, the coach was immovable but a few steps in front of her, and her eyesmet those of the old man. The thought flashed through her brain thatFate itself had brought about this pause just at this spot; and when sheheard the mosaic-worker exclaim, "The great Roman physician!" horses, coach, and everything swam before her eyes; she snatched her hand awayfrom that of Andreas, and stepped out on the roadway. In an instant shewas standing face to face with the venerable leech. 

She heard the warning voice of her companion, she saw the crowd staringat her, she had, no doubt, a brief struggle with her maidenly shyness, but she carried out her purpose. The thought that the gods themselveswere helping her to appeal to the only man who could save her lover, encouraged her to defy every obstacle. 

She was standing by the vehicle; and scarcely had she raised her sweet, innocent, blushing face with pathetic and touching entreaty to thewhite-haired Roman, her large, tear-filled eyes meeting his, when hebeckoned her to him, and in pleasant, sympathetic tones desired to knowwhat she wanted. Then she made bold to ask whether he were the greatRoman physician, and he replied with a flattered and kindly smile thathe was sometimes so called. Her thankful glance to heaven revealed whata comfort his words were, and now her rosy lips moved freely, and shehurriedly, but with growing courage, gave him to understand that herbetrothed, the son of a respected Roman citizen of Alexandria, waslying badly wounded in the head by a stone, and that the leech who wastreating him had said that none but he, the great Galenus, could savethe young man's life. She also explained that Ptolemaeus, though he hadsaid that Diodoros needed quiet above all things, had proposed to carryhim to the Serapeum, and to commend him there to the care of his greatercolleague, but that she feared the worst results from the move. Sheglanced pleadingly into the Roman's eyes, and added that he looked sokind that she hoped that he would go instead to see the sufferer, whohad, quite by chance, been taken into a Christian house not very farfrom the Serapeum, where he was being taken good care of, and--as amatter of course--cure her lover. 

The old man had only interrupted her tale with a few sly questions asto her love-affair and her religion; for when she had told him thatDiodoros was under the care of Christians, it had occurred to him thatthis simply but not poorly dressed girl, with her modest ways and sweet, calm face, might herself be a Christian. He was almost surprised whenshe denied it, and yet he seemed pleased, and promised to grant herrequest. It was not fitting that a girl so young should enter any housewhere Caesar and his train took up their abode; he would wait for her, "there"--and he pointed to a small, round temple to Aphrodite, onthe left-hand side of the street of Hermes, where the road was ratherwider--for the coach had meanwhile slowly moved on. 

Next day, at three hours after the rising of the fierce African sun--forhe could not bear its meridian heat--he would go thither in his litter. "And be sure you are there in good time!" he added, shaking his fingerat her. 

"If you come an hour too soon, you will find me waiting!" she cried. 

He laughed, and said, "What pretty maid, indeed, would dare to be latefor an appointment under the very eyes of the goddess of Love!" He badeher a friendly farewell, and lay back in the chariot. 

Melissa, radiant with happiness, looked about her for the place whereshe had left her companion. However, in spite of the lictors, Andreashad followed her; he drew her hand under his arm, and led her throughthe now-thinning crowd into a sidelane which led to the lake, openingout of the colonnaded street opposite the little temple. 

Melissa's steps were winged. Her joy at having gained her end so quicklyand so easily was uppermost in her mind, and as they threaded their wayamong the people she tried to tell Andreas what the great physician hadpromised. But the noise drowned her speech, for at this moment Caesar'stame lion, named the "Sword of Persia" was being led through the streetby some Numidian slaves. 

Every one was looking at the splendid beast; and, as she too turned togaze, her eye met the ardent glance of a tall, bearded man standing atthe window of a house just behind the round temple to Aphrodite. She atonce recognized Serapion, the Magian, and whispered his name to Andreas;he, however, without looking round, only drew her along more quickly, and did not breathe easily till they found themselves in the narrow, deserted alley. 

The Magian had observed her while she stood by the Roman's chariot, andhis conversation with a Syrian of middle age in his company had beenof her. His companion's appearance was as insignificant as his own wasstately and commanding. Nothing distinguished the Syrian from a thousandof his fellows but the cunning stamped on his sharply-cut features;still, the great Magian seemed to hold him in some esteem, for hereadily replied to the little man's questions and remarks. 

At this moment the Syrian waved his hand in the air with a gesturecommon to men of his race when displaying their own superior knowledge, as he said "What did I spend ten years in Rome for, if I do not knowSerenus Samonicus? He is the greatest book-collector in the empire. Andhe regards himself as a second AEsculapius, and has written a book onmedicine in verse, which Geta, Caesar's murdered brother, always hadabout him, for he regarded the physicians here as mere bunglers. He isas rich as the Alabarch, and riding in his coach is Galenus, for whomCaesar sent. What can that girl want of him?"

"H'm!" muttered the other, stroking his beard with thoughtful dignity. "She is a modest maiden; it can only be something urgent and importantwhich has prompted her to address the Roman. "

"Your Castor will be able to find out, " replied the Syrian Annianus. "That omniscient rascal can get through a key-hole, and by to-morrowwill be the best friend of the Roman's people, if you care to know. "

"We will see, " said Serapion. "Her brother, perhaps, to-morrow evening, will tell me what is going on. "

"The philosopher?" said the other, with a contemptuous flourish. "Youare a great sage, Serapion, as the people hold; but you often sew withneedles too fine for me. Why, just now, when Caesar is here, andgain and honor be in the streets for such a one as you only to stoopfor--why, I say, you should waste precious time on that poring fellowfrom the Museum, I can not understand. "

A superior smile parted the Magian's lips; he stepped back into theroom, followed by Annianus, and replied:

"You know how many who call themselves Magians will crowd round Caesar, and the fame of Sosibius, Hananja, and Kaimis, is not much behind mine. Each plies his art by his own formulas, though he may call himself aPythagorean or what not. None dare claim to belong to any recognizedschool, since the philosophers of the guild pride themselves oncondemning the miracle-mongers. Now, in his youth, Caracalla wentthrough his courses of philosophy. He detests Aristotle, and has alwaysattached himself to Plato and the Pythagoreans. You yourself told methat by his desire Philostratus is writing a life of Apollonius ofTyana; and, though he may turn up his nose at the hair-splitting andfrittering of the sages of the Museum, it is in his blood to lookfor marvels from those privileged philosophers. His mother has madecourtiers of them again; and he, who looks for everything from the magicarts, has never yet met a Magian who could have been one of them. "

At this the Syrian clapped his hands, exclaiming: "And you propose touse Philip as your signbearer to talk to the emperor of a thaumaturgistwho is hand in hand with all the learning of the Museum? A cursed goodidea! But the gem-cutter's son does not look like a simpleton; and he isa skeptic into the bargain, and believes in nothing. If you catch him, Ishall really and truly believe in your miraculous powers. "

"There are harder things than catching him, " said the Magian. 

"You mean to break his will, " said the Syrian, looking down at theground, "by your eye and the laying on of hands, as you did mine andTriphis's two years ago?"

"That, no doubt, formed the first bond between us, " said Serapion. "Inow need only your ventriloquism. Philip himself will come half-way tomeet me on the main point. "

"And what is that?"

"You called him a skeptic, and he does, in fact, pride himself on goingfurther than the old masters of the school. Diligent study has broughthim to the point of regarding nothing as certain, but, on the otherhand, everything as possible. The last result he can arrive at is theprobability--since certainty there is none--that it is impossible everto know anything, be it what it may. He is always ready to listen withsympathetic attention to the arguments for the reappearance of the soulsof the dead in the earthly form they have quitted, to visit and conversewith the living. He considers it a fallacy to say that anything isimpossible; and my arguments are substantial. Korinna will appear tohim. Castor has discovered a girl who is her very image. Your arts willconvince him that it is she who speaks to him, for he never heard hervoice in life, and all this must rouse his desire to see her againand again. And thus the skeptic will be convinced, in spite of his owndoctrine. In this, as in every other case, it is the passionate wishthat gives rise to the belief. "

"And when you have succeeded in getting him to this point?" asked theSyrian, anxiously. 

"Then, " replied the Magian, "he will help me, with his triumphantdialectics, to win Caesar over to the same conviction; and then we shallbe able to satisfy the emperor's desire to hold intercourse with thedead; and for that I count on your power of making voices proceed fromany person present. "

He said no more. The little man looked up at him approvingly, and said, modestly: "You are indeed wise, Serapion, and I will do my best to helpyou. The next thing to be done is to seek representatives of thegreat Alexander, of Apollonius of Tyana, and of Caesar's brother, father-in-law, and wife. "

"Not forgetting Papinian, the noblest of his victims, " added the Magian. "Back again already, Castor?"

These words were addressed to a tall and apparently elderly man in along white robe, who had slipped in without a sound. His demeanor wasso grave and dignified that he looked precisely like a Christian priestimpressed with the sanctity of his office; but hardly had he got intothe room, and greeted the Magian with much unction, than he pulled thewhite garment off over his head, rubbed from his cheeks the lines whichgave him twenty added years, stretched his lithe limbs, and exclaimedwith delight:

"I have got her! Old Dorothea will bring her to your theatre!"--and theyoung fellow's mobile face beamed with the happy radiance of success. 

It almost seemed as though fermenting wine flowed in the man's veinsinstead of blood; for, when he had made his report to the Magian, andhad been rewarded with a handful of gold-pieces, he tossed the coinsin the air, caught them like flies in the hollow of his hand, and thenpitched wheel fashion over head and heels from one end of the roomto the other. Then, when he stood on his feet once more, he went on, without a sign of breathlessness:

"Forgive me, my lord! Nature asserts her rights. To play the pious forthree whole hours! Eternal gods, that is a hard task, and a man must--"

"I know all about it, " Serapion broke in with a smile and a threateningfinger. "Now go and stretch your limbs, and then share your lightlyearned gains with some pretty flute-player. But I want you again thisevening; so, if you feel weak, I shall lock you up. "

"Do, " said Castor, as earnestly as if he had been promised somepleasure. "What a merry, good-for-nothing set they are!-Dorothea willbring the girl at the appointed hour. Everything is arranged. "

Whereupon he danced out of the room, singing a tune. 

"An invaluable creature!" said the Syrian, with an admiring glance. 

"A better one spoiled, " said Serapion. "He has the very highest gifts, but is utterly devoid of conscience to set a limit to his excesses. How should he have one? His father was one of a troupe of Ephesianpantomimists, and his mother a golden-haired Cyprian dancer. But heknows every corner of Alexandria--and then, what a memory! What an actorhe would have made! Without even a change of dress, merely by a grimace, he at once becomes an old man, an idiot, or a philosopher. "

"And what a genius for intrigue!" Annianus went on enthusiastically. "As soon as he saw the portrait of Korinna he knew that he had seen herdouble among the Christians on the other side of the lake. This morninghe tracked her out, and now she is caught in the snare. And how sharp ofhim to make Dorothea bring her here!"

"I told him to do that, and use the name of Bishop Demetrius, " observedthe Magian. "She would not have come with a stranger, and Dorothea mustbe known to her in the meetings of their congregation. "

CHAPTER IX. 

While this conversation was taking place, Melissa and her companion hadreached the shore of the lake, the large inland sea which washed thesouthern side of the city and afforded anchorage for the Nile-boats. Theferry-boat which would convey them to the gardens of Polybius startedfrom the Agathodaemon Canal, an enlarged branch of the Nile, whichconnected the lake with the royal harbor and the Mediterranean; theyhad, therefore, to walk some distance along the shore. 

The setting sun shot slanting rays on the glittering surface of theglassy waters in which the numberless masts of the Nile-boats weremirrored. 

Vessels large and small, with white or gayly-painted lateen sailsgleaming in the evening glow, large galleys, light skiffs, and restless, skimming pleasure-boats, were flitting to and fro; and among them, likeloaded wagons among chariots and horsemen, the low corn-barges scarcelyseemed to move, piled as they were with pyramids of straw and grain ashigh as a house. 

The bustle on the quay was less conspicuous than usual, for all whowere free to follow their curiosity had gone into the city. There were, however, many slaves, and Caesar's visit no more affected their day'stoil than it did the course of the sun. To-day, as every other day, theyhad to pack and unload; and though few ships were sailing, numbers werearriving from the south, and throwing out the landing-bridges whichconnected them with the shore. 

The number of pleasure-boats, on the other hand, was greater than usual;for business was suspended, and many who hated the crowd found pleasurein rowing in their own boats. Others had come to see the imperial barge, which had been newly furnished up, and which was splendid enough toattract even the luxurious Alexandrians. Gold and ivory, purple sails, bronze and marble statues at the prow and stern, and in the littleshrines on the after-deck, combined in a gorgeous display, made all themore brilliant by the low sun, which added vividness to every hue. 

It was pleasant to linger on the strand at this hour. Spreadingsycamores and plumed palms cast a pleasant shade; the heat of the dayhad abated, and a light air, which always blew in from the lake, fannedMelissa's brow. There was no crushing mob, and no dust came up from thewell-watered roadway, and yet the girl had lost her cheerful looks, in spite of the success of her bold venture; and Andreas walked by herside, silent and ill-pleased. 

She could not understand him; for, as long as she could remember, hisgrave looks had always brightened at anything that had brought gladnessto her or to her mother. Besides, her success with the Roman would beto the advantage of Diodoros, and the freedman was devoted to him. Every now and then she perceived that his eye rested on her with acompassionate expression, and when she inquired whether he were anxiousabout the sufferer, he gave her some evasive answer, quite unlike hisusual decisive speech. This added to her alarm. At last his dissatisfiedand unsatisfactory replies vexed the usually patient girl, and she toldhim so; for she could not suspect how painfully her triumph in her hastydeed jarred on her truth-loving friend. He knew that it was not tothe great Galenus, but to the wealthy Serenus Samonicus, that she hadspoken; for the physician's noble and thoughtful features were familiarto him from medals, statues, and busts. He had seen Samonicus, too, atAntioch, and held his medical lore, as expressed in verse, very cheap. How worthless would this man's help be! In spite of his promise, Diodoros would after all have to be conveyed to the Serapeum; and yetAndreas could not bear to crush his darling's hopes. 

He had hitherto known her as a patient, dutiful child; to-day he hadseen with what unhesitating determination she could carry out a purpose;and he feared that, if he told her the truth, she would at once make herway into Caesar's quarters, in defiance of every obstacle, to crave theassistance of the true Galen. He must leave her in error, and yethe could not bear to do so, for there was no art in which he was soinexpert as that of deceit. How hard it was to find the right answer, when she asked him whether he did not hope everything from the greatphysician's intervention, or when she inquired what were the works towhich Galen owed his chief fame!

As they came near to the landing-stage whence the ferry started, shewanted to know how old he should suppose the Roman leech to be; andagain he avoided answering, for Galen was above eighty, and Serenusscarcely seventy. 

She looked up at him with large, mournful eyes, saying, "Have I offendedyou, or is there something you are concealing from me?"

"What could you do to offend me?" he replied; "life is full of sorrows, my child. You must learn to have patience. "

"Patience!" echoed Melissa, sadly. "That is the only knowledge I haveever mastered. When my father is more sullen than you are, for a week ata time, I scarcely heed it. But when you look like that, Andreas, it isnot without cause, and that is why I am anxious. "

"One we love is very sick, child, " he said, soothingly; but she was notto be put off so, and exclaimed with conviction:

"No, no, it is not that. We have learned nothing fresh aboutDiodoro--and you were ready enough to answer me when we came away fromthe Christian's house. Nothing but good has happened to us since, andyet you look as if the locusts had come down on your garden. "

They had reached a spot on the shore where a ship was being unloadedof its cargo of granite blocks from Syene. Black and brown slaves weredragging them to land. An old blind man was piping a dismal tune ona small reed flute to encourage them in their work, while two men offairer hue, whose burden had been too heavy for them, had let the endof the column they were carrying sink on the ground, and were beingmercilessly flogged by the overseer to make them once more attempt theimpossible. 

Andreas had watched the scene; a surge of fury had brought the blood tohis face, and, stirred by great and genuine emotion, he broke out:

"There--there you see the locusts which destroy my garden--thehail which ruins my crops! It falls on all that bears the name ofhumanity--on me and you. Happy, girl? None of us can ever be happy tillthe Kingdom shall arise for which the fullness of the time is come. "

"But they dropped the column; I saw them myself, " urged Melissa. 

"Did you, indeed?" said Andreas. "Well, well, the whip, no doubt, canrevive exhausted powers. And that is how you look upon such deeds!--you, who would not crush a worm in the garden, think this is right and just!"

It suddenly struck Melissa that Andreas, too, had once been a slave, and the feeling that she had hurt him grieved her to the heart. She hadoften heard him speak sternly and gravely, but never in scorn as he didnow, and that, too, distressed her; and as she could not think of theright thing to say in atonement for the wrong she had done, she couldonly look up with tearful entreaty and murmur, "Forgive me!"

"I have nothing to forgive, " he replied in an altered tone. "You havegrown up among the unjust who are now in power. How should you see moreclearly than they, who all walk in darkness? But if the light shouldbe shown to you by one to whom it hath been revealed, it would not beextinguished again. --Does it not seem a beautiful thing to you to liveamong none but brethren and sisters, instead of among oppressors andtheir scourged victims; or is there no place in a woman's soul for theholy wrath that came upon Moses the Hebrew? But who would ever havespoken his great name to you?"

Melissa was about to interrupt his vehement speech, for, in a town wherethere were so many Jews, alike among the citizens and the slaves, evenshe had heard that Moses had been their lawgiver; but he prevented her, by adding hastily: "This only, child, I would have you remember--forhere is the ferry--the worst ills that man ever inflicts on hisfellow-man are the outcome of self-interest; and, of all the good he maydo, the best is the result of his achieving self-forgetfulness to securethe happiness and welfare of others. "

He said no more, for the ferry-boat was about to put off, and they hadto take their places as quickly as possible. 

The large flat barge was almost unoccupied; for the multitude stilllingered in the town, and more than one seat was empty for the wearygirl to rest on. Andreas paced to and fro, for he was restless; butwhen Melissa beckoned to him he came close to her, and, while he leanedagainst the little cabin, received her assurance that she now quiteunderstood his desire to see all slaves made free. He, if any one, mustknow what the feelings of those unhappy creatures were. 

"Do I not know!" he exclaimed, with a shake of the head. Then, glancinground at the few persons who were sitting at the other end of the boat, he went on sadly: "To know that, a man must himself have been brandedwith the marks of his humiliation. " He showed her his arm, which wasusually hidden by the long sleeve of his tunic, and Melissa exclaimed insorrowful surprise: "But you were free-born! and none of our slaves bearsuch a brand. You must have fallen into the hands of Syrian pirates. "

He nodded, and added, "I and my father. "

"But he, " the girl eagerly put in, "was a great man. "

"Till Fate overtook him, " Andreas said. 

Melissa's tearful eyes showed the warm sympathy she felt, as she asked:

"But how could it have happened that you were not ransomed by yourrelations? Your father was, no doubt, a Roman citizen; and the law--"

"The law forbids that such a one should be sold into slavery, " Andreasbroke in, "and yet the authorities of Rome left him in misery--left--"

At this, her large, gentle eyes flashed with indignation, and, stirredto the depths of her nature, she exclaimed:

"How was such horrible injustice possible? Oh, let me hear. You know howtruly I love you, and no one can hear you. "

The wind had risen, the waves splashed noisily against the broad boat, and the song of the slaves, as they plied their oars, would have drowneda stronger voice than the freedman's; so he sat down by her side to doher bidding. 

And the tale he had to tell was sad indeed. 

His father had been of knightly rank, and in the reign of MarcusAurelius he had been in the service of Avidius Cassius, hisfellow-countryman, the illustrious governor of Asia as 'procurator abepistolis'. As holding this high post, he found himself involved in theconspiracy of Avidius against the emperor. After the assassinationof his patron, who had already been proclaimed emperor by the troops, Andreas's father had been deprived of his offices, his citizenship, andhis honors; his possessions were confiscated, and he was exiled to theisland of Anaphe. It was to Caesar's clemency that he owed his life. 

On their voyage into exile the father and son fell into the hands ofSyrian pirates, and were sold in the slave-market of Alexandria to twoseparate masters. Andreas was bought by a tavern-keeper; the procurator, whose name as a slave was Smaragdus, by the father of Polybius; andthis worthy man soon learned to value his servant so highly, that hepurchased the son also, and restored him to his father. Thus they wereonce more united. 

Every attempt of the man who had once held so proud a position to gethis release, by an act of the senate, proved vain. It was with a brokenheart and enfeebled health that he did his duty to his master and to hisonly child. He pined in torments of melancholy, till Christianity openednew happiness to him, and revived hope brought him back from the verybrink of despair; and, even as a slave, he found the highest of alldignities--that, namely, which a Christian derives from his faith. 

At this point Melissa interrupted her friend's narrative, exclaiming, asshe pointed across the waters:

"There! there! look! In that boat--I am sure that is Alexander! And heis making for the town. "

Andreas started up, and after convincing himself that she was indeedright, for the youth himself had recognized his sister, who waved herhand to him, he wrathfully exclaimed:

"Madman!" and by intelligible and commanding signs he ordered thereckless young artist to turn his little skiff, and follow in the wakeof the ferry-boat, which was by this time nearing land. 

But Alexander signaled a negative, and, after gayly blowing a kiss toMelissa, plied his oars again with as much speed and energy as though hewere rowing for a wager. How swiftly and steadily the keel of his littleboat cut through the crisply foaming waves on which it rose and fell!The daring youth did not lack strength, that was certain, and the couplewho watched him with so much uneasiness soon understood that he wasstriving to overtake another and larger bark which was at some distancein front of him. It was being pulled by slaves, whose stalwart arms madethe pace a good one, and under the linen awning which shaded the middlepart of it two women were seated. 

The rays of the sun, whose fiery globe was now sinking behind thepalm-groves on the western shore, flooded the sky with ruby light, and tinged the white robes of these women, the light canopy over theirheads, and the whole face of the lake, with a rosy hue; but neitherAndreas nor his companion heeded the glorious farewell of departing day. 

Melissa pointed out to her friend the strangeness of her brother'sattire, and the hood which, in the evening light, seemed to be borderedwith gold. He had on, in fact, a Gallic mantle, such as that which hadgained Caesar the nickname of Caracalla, and there was in this disguisesomething to reassure them; for, if Alexander pulled the hood lowenough, it would hide the greater part of his face, and make itdifficult to recognize him. Whence he had procured this garment was nothard to divine, for imperial servants had distributed them in numbersamong the crowd. Caesar was anxious to bring them into fashion, and itmight safely be expected that those Alexandrians who had held out theirhands to accept them would appear in them on the morrow, as no orderrequired that they should be worn. Alexander could not do better thanwear one, if only by such means he could escape Zminis and his men. 

But who were the women he was pursuing? Before Melissa could ask thequestion, Andreas pointed to the foremost boat, and said:

"Those are Christian women, and the bark they are in belongs to Zeno, the brother of Seleukus and of the high-priest of Serapis. That is hislanding-creek. He lives with his family, and those of the faith to whomhe affords refuge, in the long, white house you can just see there amongthe palm-trees. Those vineyards, too, are his. If I am not mistaken, oneof the ladies in that boat is his daughter, Agatha. "

"But what can Alexander want of two Christian women?" asked Melissa. 

Andreas fired up, and a vein started on his high forehead as he retortedangrily:

"What should he not want! He and those who are like him--theblind--think nothing so precious as what satisfies the eye. --There! thebrightness has vanished which turned the lake and the shore to gold. Such is beauty!--a vain show, which only glitters to disappear, and isto fools, nevertheless, the supreme object of adoration!"

"Then, is Zeno's daughter fair?" asked the girl. 

"She is said to be, " replied the other; and after a moment's pause headded: "Yes, Agatha is a rarely accomplished woman; but I know betterthings of her than that. It stirs my gall to think that her sacredpurity can arouse unholy thoughts. I love your brother dearly; foryour mother's sake I can forgive him much; but if he tries to ensnareAgatha--"

"Have no fear, " said Melissa, interrupting his wrathful speech. "Alexander is indeed a butterfly, fluttering from flower to flower, and apt to be frivolous over serious matters, but at this moment heis enslaved by a vision--that of a dead girl; and only last night, Ibelieve, he pledged himself to Ino, the pretty daughter of our neighborSkopas. Beauty is to him the highest thing in life; and how should it beotherwise, for he is an artist! For the sake of beauty he defiesevery danger. If you saw rightly, he is no doubt in pursuit of Zeno'sdaughter, but most likely not to pay court to her, but for some otherseason. "

"No praiseworthy reason, you may be sure, " said Andreas. "Here we are. Now take your kerchief out of the basket. It is damp and cool aftersundown, especially over there where I am draining the bog. The landwe are reclaiming by this means will bring your future husband a fineincome some day. "

They disembarked, and ere long reached the little haven belonging toPolybius's estate. There were boats moored there, large and small, andAndreas hailed the man who kept them, and who sat eating his supper, toask him whether he had unmoored the green skiff for Alexander. 

At this the old fellow laughed, and said: "The jolly painter and hisfriend, the sculptor, met Zeno's daughter just as she was getting intoher boat with Mariamne. Down they came, running as if they had gone mad. The girl must have turned their heads. My lord Alexander would have itthat he had seen the spirit of one who was dead, and he would gladlygive his life to see her once again. "

It was now dark, or it would have alarmed Melissa to see the ominousgravity with which Andreas listened to this tale; but she herself wassufficiently startled, for she knew her brother well, and that no risk, however great, would stop him if his artistic fancy were fired. He, whomshe had believed to be in safety, had gone straight into the hands ofthe pursuers; and with him caution and reflection were flown to thewinds when passion held sway. She had hoped that her friend Ino had atlast captured the flutterer, and that he would begin to live a settledlife with her, as master of a house of his own; and now, for apretty face, he had thrown everything to the winds, even the duty ofself-preservation. Andreas had good reason to be angry, and he spoke nomore till they reached their destination, a country house of handsomeand important aspect. 

No father could have received his future daughter more heartily than didold Polybius. The fiend gout racked his big toes, stabbing, burning, andnipping them. The slightest movement was torture, and yet he held outhis arms to her for a loving embrace, and, though it made him shut hiseyes and groan, he drew her pretty head down, and kissed her cheeks andhair. He was now a heavy man, of almost shapeless stoutness, but inhis youth he must have resembled his handsome son. Silvery locks flowedround his well-formed head, but a habit of drinking wine, which, inspite of the gout, he could not bring himself to give up, had flushedhis naturally good features, and tinged them of a coppery red, whichcontrasted strangely with his snowy hair and beard. But a kind heart, benevolence, and a love of good living, beamed in every look. 

His heavy limbs moved but slowly, and if ever full lips deserved to becalled sensual, they were those of this man, who was a priest of twodivinities. 

How well his household understood the art of catering for his loveof high living, was evident in the meal which was served soon afterMelissa's arrival, and to eat which the old man made her recline on thecouch by his side. 

Andreas also shared the supper; and not the attendant slaves only, butDame Praxilla, the sister of their host, whose house she managed, paidhim particular honor. She was a widow and childless, and, even duringthe lifetime of Diodoros's mother, she had given her heart, no longeryoung, to the freedman, without finding her love returned or evenobserved. For his sake she would have become a Christian, though sheregarded herself as so indispensable to her brother that she had rarelyleft him to hold intercourse with other Christians. Nor did Andreasencourage her; he doubted her vocation. Whatever happened in the house, the excitable woman made it her own concern; and, although she had knownMelissa from childhood, and was as fond of her as she could be ofthe child of "strangers, " the news that Diodoros was to marry thegem-cutter's daughter was displeasing to her. A second woman in thehouse might interfere with her supremacy; and, as an excuse for herannoyance, she had represented to her brother that Diodoros mightlook higher for a wife. Agatha, the beautiful daughter of their richChristian neighbor Zeno, was the right bride for the boy. 

But Polybius had rated her sharply, declaring that he hoped for nosweeter daughter than Melissa, who was quite pretty enough, and in whoseveins as pure Macedonian blood flowed as in his own. His son need lookfor no wealth, he added with a laugh, since he would some day inherithis aunt's. 

In fact, Praxilla owned a fine fortune, increasing daily under the careof Andreas, and she replied:

"If the young couple behave so well that I do not rather choose tobestow my pittance on worthier heirs. "

But the implied threat had not disturbed Polybius, for he knew hissister's ways. The shriveled, irritable old lady often spoke words hardto be forgiven, but she had not a bad heart; and when she learned thatDiodoros was in danger, she felt only how much she loved him, and herproposal to go to the town next morning to nurse him was sincerelymeant. 

But when her brother retorted: "Go, by all means; I do not prevent you!"she started up, exclaiming:

"And you, and your aches and pains! How you get on when once my back isturned, we know by experience. My presence alone is medicine to you. ""And a bitter dose it is very often, " replied the old man, with a laugh;but Praxilla promptly retorted: "Like all effectual remedies. There isyour ingratitude again!"

The last words were accompanied by a whimper, so Polybius, who could notbear to see any but cheerful faces, raised his cup and drank her healthwith kindly words. Then refilling the tankard, he poured a libation, andwas about to empty it to Melissa's health, but Praxilla's lean frame wasstanding by his side as quickly as though a serpent had stung her. Shewas drawing a stick of asparagus between her teeth, but she hastilydropped it on her plate, and with both hands snatched the cup from herbrother, exclaiming:

"It is the fourth; and if I allow you to empty it, you are a dead man!"

"Death is not so swift, " replied Polybius, signing to a slave to bringhim back the cup. But he drank only half of it, and, at his sister'spathetic entreaties, had more water mixed with the wine. And whilePraxilla carefully prepared his crayfish--for gout had crippled even hisfingers--he beckoned to his white-haired body-slave, and with a cunningsmile made him add more wine to the washy fluid. He fixed his twinklingglance on Melissa, to invite her sympathy in his successful trick, buther appearance startled him. How pale the child was--how dejected andweary her sweet face, with the usually bright, expressive eyes!

It needed not the intuition of his kind heart to tell him that she wascompletely exhausted, and he desired his sister to take her away to bed. But Melissa was already sound asleep, and Praxilla would not wake her. She gently placed a pillow under her head, laid her feet easily on thecouch, and covered them with a wrap. Polybius feasted his eyes on thefair sleeper; and, indeed, nothing purer and more tender can be imaginedthan the girl's face as she lay in dreamless slumber. 

The conversation was now carried on in subdued tones, so as not todisturb her, and Andreas completed the history of the day by informingthem that Melissa had, by mistake, engaged the assistance not of thegreat Galen but of another Roman practiced in the healing art, but ofless illustrious proficiency. He must, therefore, still have Diodorosconveyed to the Serapeum, and this could be done very easily in themorning, before the populace should again besiege the temple. He mustforthwith go back to make the necessary arrangements. Praxilla whisperedtenderly:

"Devoted man that you are, you do not even get your night's rest. " ButAndreas turned away to discuss some further matters with Polybius;and, in spite of pain, the old man could express his views clearly andintelligently. 

At last he took his leave; and now Praxilla had to direct the slaves whowere to carry her brother to bed. She carefully arranged the cushionson his couch, and gave him his medicine and night-draught. Then shereturned to Melissa, and the sight of the sleeping girl touched herheart. She stood gazing at her for some time in silence, and then bentover her to wake her with a kiss. She had at last made up her mind toregard the gem-cutter's daughter as her niece, so, determined to treather as a child of her own, she called Melissa by name. 

This awoke the sleeper, and when she had realized that she was still inPolybius's eating-room, she asked for Andreas. 

"He has gone back to the town, my child, " replied Praxilla. "He wasanxious about your betrothed. "

"Is he worse, then?" asked Melissa, in alarm. "No, no, " said the widow, soothingly. "It is only--I assure you we have heard nothing new--"

"But what then?" Melissa inquired. "The great Galen is to see him earlyto-morrow. " Praxilla tried to divert her thoughts. But as the girl wouldtake no answer to her declaration that Galen himself had promised tosee Diodoros, Praxilla, who was little used to self-command, and who wasoffended by her persistency, betrayed the fact that Melissa had spokento the wrong man, and that Andreas was gone to remove Diodoros to theSerapeum. 

At this, Melissa suddenly understood why Andreas had not rejoiced withher, and at the same time she said to herself that her lover must on noaccount be exposed to so great a danger without her presence. She mustlend her aid in transporting him to the Serapeum; and when she firmlyexpressed her views to the widow, Praxilla was shocked, and sincerelyrepented of having lost her self-control. It was far too late, and whenthe housekeeper came into the room and gladly volunteered to accompanyMelissa to the town, Praxilla threatened to rouse her brother, that hemight insist on their remaining at home; but at last she relented, forthe girl, she saw, would take her own way against any opposition. 

The housekeeper had been nurse to Diodoros, and had been longing tohelp in tending him. When she left the house with Melissa, her eyes weremoist with tears of joy and thankfulness. 

CHAPTER X. 

The Nubian boat-keeper and his boy had soon ferried them across thelake. Melissa and her companion then turned off from the shore intoa street which must surely lead into that where the Christians dwelt. Still, even as she went on, she began to be doubtful whether she hadtaken the right one; and when she came out by a small temple, which shecertainly had not seen before, she knew not which way to go, for thestreets here crossed each other in a perfect labyrinth, and she was soonobliged to confess to her companion that she had lost her road. In themorning she had trusted herself to Andreas's knowledge of the town, andwhile talking eagerly to him had paid no heed to anything else. 

What was to be done? She stood meditating; and then she remembered thespot where she had seen Caesar drive past. This she thought she couldcertainly recognize, and from thence make her way to the street shesought. 

It was quite easy to find the street of Hermes, for the noise of therevelers, who were to-night even more numerous than usual in this busyhighway, could be heard at a considerable distance. They must follow itsguidance till they should come to the little temple of Aphrodite; andthat was a bold enterprise, for the crowd of men who haunted the spot atthis hour might possibly hinder and annoy two unescorted women. However, the elder woman was sturdy and determined, and sixty years of age; whileMelissa feared nothing, and thought herself sufficiently protected whenshe had arranged her kerchief so as to hide her face from curious eyes. 

As she made her way to the wide street with a throbbing heart, butquite resolved to find the house she sought at any cost, she heard men'svoices on a side street; however, she paid no heed to them, for how, indeed, could she guess that what they were saying could nearly concernher?

The conversation was between a woman and a man in the white robe of aChristian priest. They were standing at the door of a large house; andclose to the wall, in the shadow of the porch of a building opposite, stood a youth, his hair covered by the hood of a long caracalla, listening with breathless attention. 

This was Alexander. 

He had been standing here for some time already, waiting for the returnof Agatha, the fair Christian whom he had followed across the lake, andwho had vanished into that house under the guidance of a deaconess. The door had not long closed on them when several men had also beenadmitted, whom he could not distinguish in the darkness, for the streetwas narrow and the moon still low. 

It was sheer folly--and yet he fancied that one of them was his father, for his deep, loud voice was precisely like that of Heron; and, what waseven more strange, that of the man who answered him seemed to proceedfrom his brother Philip. But, at such an hour, he could more easily havesupposed them to be on the top of Mount Etna than in this quarter of thetown. 

The impatient painter was very tired of waiting, so, seating himself ona feeding-manger for asses which stood in front of the adjoining house, he presently fell asleep. He was tired from the sleepless night he hadlast spent, and when he opened his eyes once more and looked down thestreet into which the moon was now shining, he did not know how longhe had been slumbering. Perhaps the damsel he wanted to see had alreadyleft the house, and he must see her again, cost him what it might; forshe was so amazingly like the dead Korinna whom he had painted, thathe could not shake off the notion that perhaps--for, after Serapion'sdiscourse, it seemed quite likely--perhaps he had seen the spirit of thedeparted girl. 

He had had some difficulty in persuading Glaukias, who had comeacross the lake with him, to allow him to follow up the fair visionunaccompanied; and his entreaties and prohibitions would probably alikehave proved vain, but that Glaukias held taken it into his head to showhis latest work, which a slave was carrying, to some friends over a jarof wine. It was a caricature of Caesar, whom he had seen at the KanopicGate, modeled while he was in the house of Polybius, with a few happytouches. 

When Alexander woke, he crept into the shadow of the porch opposite tothe house into which Korinna's double had disappeared, and he now had nolack of entertainment. A man came out of the tall white house and lookedinto the street, and the moonlight enabled the artist to see all thattook place. 

The tall youth who had come to the door wore the robe of a Christianpriest. Still, it struck Alexander that he was too young for such acalling; and he soon detected that he was certainly not what he seemed, but that there was some treachery in the wind; for no sooner had a womanjoined him, whom he evidently expected, than she blamed him for his wantof caution. To this he laughingly replied that he was too hot in hisdisguise, and, pulling out a false beard, he showed it to the woman, whowas dressed as a Christian deaconess, exclaiming, "That will do it!"

He went on to tell her, in a quick, low tone, much of which escapedthe listener, that Serapion had dared much that day, and that theperformance had ended badly, for that the Christian girl he had socleverly persuaded to come from the other side of the lake had takenfright, and had insisted on knowing where she was. 

At this the deaconess seemed somewhat dismayed, and poured out endlessquestions in a low voice. He, however, cast all the blame on thephilosopher, whom his master had got hold of the day before. Then, asthe woman desired more particular information, he briefly told her thestory. 

The fair Agatha, he said, after being invited by him, at noon, in thename of Bishop Demetrius, to a meeting that evening, had reached theferryhouse at about sunset. She had been told that many things ofimmediate importance were to be announced to the maidens of theChristian congregation; more especially, a discussion was to be held asto the order issued by the prefect for their taking part in a processionin Caesar's honor when he should quit Alexandria. Old Dorothea had metthe girl at the ferry-house, and had brought her hither. The woman whohad attended her across the lake was certainly none of the wisest, forDorothea had easily persuaded her to remain in her house during themeeting. 

"Once there, " the sham priest went on, "the girl's waiting-woman musthave had some dose in wine or sirup and water, for she is fast asleepat this moment in the ferry-house, or wherever Dorothea took her, as shecould not be allowed to wake under Dorothea's roof. 

"Thus every one was out of the way who could make any mischief; and whenthe Syrian, dressed as a Christian priest, had explained to Agatha whatthe patriarch required of his maidens, I led her on to the stage, onwhich the spectators were to see the ghosts through a small opening. 

"The Syrian had desired her to put up so many and such prayers for thecongregation in its peril from Caesar; and, by Aphrodite! she was asdocile as a lamb. She fell on her knees, and with hands and eyes toheaven entreated her god. But hark!

"Did you hear anything? Something is stirring within. Well, I havenearly done. 

"The philosopher was to see her thus, and when he had gazed at her asif bewitched for some little time through the small window, he suddenlycried out, 'Korinna! Korinna!' and all sorts of nonsense, althoughSerapion had strictly forbidden him to utter a sound. Of course, thecurtain instantly dropped. But Agatha had heard him call, and in a greatfright she wanted to know where she was, and asked to go home. --Serapionwas really grand. You should have heard how the fox soothed the dove, and at the same time whispered to me what you now are to do!"

"I?" said the woman, with some annoyance. "If he thinks that I will riskmy good name in the congregation for the sake of his long beard--"

"Just be quiet, " said Castor, in a pacifying tone. "The master's beardhas nothing to do with the case, but something much more substantial. Ten solidi, full weight, shall be yours if you will take Agatha homewith you, or safe across the lake again, and pretend to have saved herfrom mystics or magicians who have decoyed her to some evil end. Sheknows you as a Christian deaconess, and will go with you at once. If yourestore her to her father, he is rich, and will not send you empty away. Tell him that you heard her voice out in the street, and with the helpof a worthy old man--that am I--rescued her from any peril you mayinvent. If he asks you where the heroic deed was done, name any houseyou please, only not this. Your best plan is to lay it all on theshoulders of Hananja, the thaumaturgist; we have owed him a grudge thismany a day. However, I was not to teach you any lesson, for your witsare at least a match for ours. "

"Flattery will not win me, " the woman broke in. "Where is the gold?"

Castor handed her the solidi wrapped in a papyrus leaf, and then added:

"Stay one moment! I must remove this white robe. The girl must on noaccount recognize me. I am going to force my way into the house withyou--you found me in the street, an old man, a total stranger, andappealed to me for help. No harm is done, nothing lost but Dorothea'scredit among the Christians. We may have to get her safe out of thetown. I must escort you and Agatha, for nothing unpleasant must happento her on the way home. The master is imperative on that point, and somuch beauty will certainly not get through the crowded streets withoutremark. And for my part, I, of course, am thinking of yours. "

Here Castor laughed aloud, and rolled the white robe into a bundle. Alexander peeped out of his nook and shook his head in amazement, forthe supple youth, who a moment before stood stalwart and upright, hadassumed, with a bent attitude and a long, white beard hastily placed onhis chin, the aspect of a weary, poor old man. 

"I will give you a lesson!" muttered Alexander to himself, and he shookhis fist at the intriguing rascal as he vanished into the house with thefalse deaconess. 

So Serapion was a cheat! And the supposed ghost of Korinna was aChristian maiden who was being shamefully deluded. But he would keepwatch over her, and bring that laughing villain to account. The firstaim of his life was not to lose sight of Agatha. His whole happiness, he felt, depended on that. The gods had, as it were, raised her from thedead for him; in her, everything that he most admired was united; shewas the embodiment of everything he cared for and prized; every feelingsank into the shade beside the one desire to make her his. She was, at this moment, the universe to him; and all else--the pursuers at hisheels, his father, his sister, pretty Ino, to whom he had vowed his loveonly the night before--had ceased to exist for him. 

Possessed wholly by the thought of her, he never took his eyes off thedoor opposite; and when at last the maiden came out with the deaconess, whom she called Elizabeth, and with Castor, Alexander followed theill-matched trio; and he had to be brisk, for at first they hurriedthrough the streets as though they feared to be overtaken. He carefullykept close to the houses on the shady side, and when they presentlystopped, so did he. 

The deaconess inquired of Agatha whither she would be taken. But whenthe girl replied that she must go back to her own boat, waiting atthe ferry, and return home, the deaconess represented that this wasimpossible by reason of the drunken seamen, who at this hour made thestrand unsafe; she could only advise Agatha to come home with her andremain till daybreak. "This kind old man, " and she pointed to Castor, "would no doubt go and tell the oarsmen that they were not to be uneasyat her absence. "

The two women stood talking in the broad moonlight, and the palebeams fell on Agatha's beautiful unveiled features, giving them thatunearthly, corpse-like whiteness which Alexander had tried to representin his picture of Korinna. Again the thought that she was risen from thedead sent a chill through his blood--that she would make him follow her, perhaps to the tomb she had quitted. He cared not! If his senses hadcheated him--if, --in spite of what he had heard, that pale, unspeakablylovely image were indeed a lamia, a goblin shape from Hecate's darkabode, yet would he follow wherever she might lead, as to a festival, only to be with her. 

Agatha thanked the deaconess, and as she spoke raised her eyes to thewoman's face; and they were two large, dark orbs sparkling throughtears, and as unlike as possible to the eyes which a ghost might snatchfrom their sockets to fling like balls or stones in the face of apursuer. Oh, if only those eyes might look into his own as warmly andgratefully as they now gazed into the face of that treacherous woman!

He had a hard struggle with himself to subdue the impulse to put anend, now and here, to the fiendish tricks which guile was playing on thepurest innocence; but the street was deserted, and if he had to strugglewith the bent old man, whose powerful and supple limbs he had alreadyseen, and if the villain should plant a knife in his ribs--for asa wrestler he felt himself his match--Agatha would be bereft of aprotector and wholly in the deceiver's power. 

This, at any rate, must not be, and he even controlled himself whenhe heard the music of her words, and saw her grasp the hand of thepretended graybeard, who, with an assumption of paternal kindness, daredto kiss her hair, and then helped her to draw her kerchief over herface. The street of Hermes, he explained, where the deaconess dwelt, was full of people, and the divine gift of beauty, wherewith Heaven hadblessed her, would attract the baser kind, as a flame attracts bats andmoths. The hypocrite's voice was full of unction; the deaconess spokewith pious gravity. He could see that she was a woman of middle age, andhe asked himself with rising fury whether the gods were not guilty whohad lent mean wretches like these such winning graces as to enablethem to lay traps for the guileless? For, in fact, the woman's face waswell-favored, gentle, and attractive. 

Alexander never took his gaze off Agatha, and his artist-eye reveledin her elastic step and her slender, shapely form. Above all, he wasbewitched by the way her head was set, with a little forward bend; andas long as the way led through the silent lanes he was never weary ofcomparing her with lovely images-with a poppy, whose flower bows thestem; with a willow, whose head leans over the water; with the huntressArtemis, who, chasing in the moonlight, bends to mark the game. 

Thus, unwearied and unseen, he had followed them as far as the street ofHermes; there his task became more difficult, for the road was swarmingwith people. The older men were walking in groups of five or six, goingto or coming from some evening assembly, and talking as they walked; orpriests and temple servants on their way home, tired from night servicesand ceremonies; but the greater number were young men and boys, somewearing wreaths, and all more or less intoxicated, with street-wencheson the lookout for a companion or surrounded by suitors, and trying toattract a favorite or dismiss the less fortunate. 

The flare of the torches which illuminated the street was mirrored ineager eyes glowing with wine and passion, and in the glittering weaponsof the Roman soldiery. Most of these were attached to Caesar's train. Asin the field, so in the peaceful town, they aimed at conquest, and manya Greek sulkily resigned his claims to some fickle beauty in favor of anirresistible tribune or centurion. Where the courteous Alexandriansmade way, they pushed in or thrust aside whatever came in theirpath, securely confident of being Caesar's favorite protectors, andunassailable while he was near. Their coarse, barbaric tones shook theair, and reduced the Greeks to silence; for, even in his drunken andmost reckless moods, the Greek never lost his subtle refinement. Thewarriors rarely met a friendly glance from the eye of a native; still, the gold of these lavish revelers was as welcome to the women as that ofa fellow-countryman. 

The blaze of light shone, too, on many a fray, such as flared up inan instant whenever Greek and Roman came into contact. The lictors andtownwatch could generally succeed in parting the combatants, for theorders of the authorities were that they should in every case side withthe Romans. 

The shouts and squabbling of men, the laughing and singing of women, mingled with the word of command. Flutes and lyres, cymbals and drums, were heard from the trellised tavern arbors and cook-shops along theway; and from the little temple to Aphrodite, where Melissa had promisedto meet the Roman physician next morning, came the laughter and song ofunbridled lovers. As a rule, the Kanopic Way was the busiest and gayeststreet in the town; but on this night the street of Hermes had been themost popular, for it led to the Serapeum, where Caesar was lodged; andfrom the temple poured a tide of pleasure-seekers, mingling with theflood of humanity which streamed on to catch a glimpse of imperialsplendor, or to look at the troops encamped on the space in front of theSerapeum. The whole street was like a crowded fair; and Alexander hadseveral times to follow Agatha and her escort out into the roadway, quitting the shelter of the arcade, to escape a party of rioters or theimpertinent addresses of strangers. 

The sham old man, however, was so clever at making way for the damsel, whose face and form were effectually screened by her kerchief from thepassers-by, that Alexander had no opportunity for offering her his aid, or proving his devotion by some gallant act. That it was his duty tosave her from the perils of spending a whole night under the protectionof this venal deceiver and her worthless colleague, he had long sinceconvinced himself; still, the fear of bringing her into a more painfulposition by attracting the attention of the crowd if he were to attackher escort, kept him back. 

They had now stopped again under the colonnade, on the left-hand sideof the road. Castor had taken the girl's hand, and, as he bade hergood-night, promised, in emphatic tones, to be with her again very earlyand escort her to the lake. Agatha thanked him warmly. At this a stormof rage blew Alexander's self-command to the four winds, and, before heknew what he was doing; he stood between the rascal and the Christiandamsel, snatched their hands asunder, gripping Castor's wrist withhis strong right hand, while he held Agatha's firmly in his left, andexclaimed:

"You are being foully tricked, fair maid; the woman, even, is deceivingyou. This fellow is a base villain!"

And, releasing the arm which Castor was desperately but vainly trying tofree from his clutch, he snatched off the false beard. 

Agatha, who had also been endeavoring to escape from his grasp, gavea shriek of terror and indignation. The unmasked rogue, with a swiftmovement, snatched the hood of the caracalla off Alexander's head, flewat his throat with the fury and agility of a panther, and with muchpresence of mind called for help. And Castor was strong too whileAlexander tried to keep him off with his right hand, holding on toAgatha with his left, the shouts of the deaconess and her accomplicesoon collected a crowd. They were instantly surrounded by an inquisitivemob, laughing or scolding the combatants, and urging them to fight orbeseeching them to separate. But just as the artist had succeeded intwisting his opponent's wrist so effectually as to bring him to hisknees, a loud voice of malignant triumph, just behind him, exclaimed:

"Now we have snared our scoffer! The fox should not stop to kill thehare when the hunters are at his heels!"

"Zminis!" gasped Alexander. He understood in a flash that life andliberty were at stake. 

Like a stag hemmed in by dogs, he turned his head to this side and that, seeking a way of escape; and when he looked again where his antagonisthad stood, the spot was clear; the nimble rascal had taken to his heelsand vanished among the throng. But a pair of eyes met the painter'sgaze, which at once restored him to self-possession, and reminded himthat he must collect his wits and presence of mind. They were those ofhis sister Melissa, who, as she made her way onward with her companion, had recognized her brother's voice. In spite of the old woman's earnestadvice not to mix in the crowd, she had pushed her way through, and, asthe men-at-arms dispersed the mob, she came nearer to her favorite buttoo reckless brother. 

Alexander still held Agatha's hand. The poor girl herself, tremblingwith terror, did not know what had befallen her. Her venerable escortwas a young man--a liar. What was she to think of the deaconess, whowas his confederate; what of this handsome youth who had unmasked thedeceiver, and saved her perhaps from some fearful fate?

As in a thunder-storm flash follows flash, so, in this dreadful night, one horror had followed another, to bewilder the brain of a maiden whohad always lived a quiet life among good and quiet men and women. Andnow the guardians of the peace had laid hands on the man who had sobravely taken her part, and whose bright eyes had looked into her ownwith such truth and devotion. He was to be dragged to prison; so he, too, no doubt, was a criminal. At this thought she tried to release herhand, but he would not let it go; for the deaconess had come close toAgatha, and, in a tone of sanctimonious wrath, desired her to quit thisscene. 

What was she to do? Terrified and undecided, with deceit on one hand andon the other peril and perhaps disaster, she looked first at Elizabethand then at Alexander, who, in spite of the threats of the man-at-arms, gazed in turns at her and at the spot where his sister had stood. 

The lictors who were keeping off the mob had stopped Melissa too; butwhile Alexander had been gazing into Agatha's imploring eyes, feelingas though all his blood had rushed to his heart and face, Melissa hadcontrived to creep up close to him. And again the sight of her gave himthe composure he so greatly needed. He knew, indeed, that the handwhich still held Agatha's would in a moment be fettered, for Zminishad ordered his slaves to bring fresh ropes and chains, since they hadalready found use for those they had first brought out. It was to thiscircumstance alone that he owed it that he still was free. And, aboveall things, he must warn Agatha against the deaconess, who would fainpersuade her to go with her. 

It struck his alert wit that Agatha would trust his sister rather thanhimself, whom the Egyptian had several times abused as a criminal;and seeing the old woman of Polybius's household making her way up toMelissa, out of breath, indeed, and with disordered hair, he felt lightdawn on his soul, for this worthy woman was a fresh instrument to hishand. She must know Agatha well, if the girl were indeed the daughter ofZeno. 

He lost not an instant. With swift decision, while Zminis and his menwere disputing as to whither they should conduct the traitor as soon asthe fetters were brought, he released the maiden's hand, placing it inMelissa's, and exclaiming:

"This is my sister, the betrothed of Diodoros, Polybius's son--yourneighbor, if you are the daughter of Zeno. She will take care of you. "Agatha had at once recognized the old nurse, and when she confirmedAlexander's statement, and the Christian looked in Melissa's face, shesaw beyond the possibility of doubt an innocent woman, whose heart shemight fully trust. 

She threw her arm round Melissa, as if to lean on her, and the deaconessturned away with well-curbed wrath and vanished into an open door. 

All this had occupied but a very few minutes; and when Alexander sawthe two beings he most loved in each other's embrace, and Agatha rescuedfrom the deceiver and in safe keeping, he drew a deep breath, saying tohis sister, as if relieved from a heavy burden:

"Her name is Agatha, and to her, the image of the dead Korinna, my lifehenceforth is given. Tell her this, Melissa. "

His impassioned glance sought that of the Christian; and when shereturned it, blushing, but with grateful candor, his mirthful featuresbeamed with the old reckless jollity, and he glanced again at the crowdabout him. 

What did he see there? Melissa observed that his whole face was suddenlylighted up; and when Zminis signed to the man who was making his way tothe spot holding up the rope, Alexander began to sing the first wordsof a familiar song. In an instant it was taken up by several voices, andthen, as if from an echo, by the whole populace. 

It was the chant by which the lads in the Gymnasium of Timagetes werewont to call on each other for help when they had a fray with thoseof the Gymnasium of the Dioscuri, with whom they had a chronic feud. Alexander had caught sight of his friends Jason and Pappus, of thesculptor Glaukias, and of several other fellow-artists; they understoodthe appeal, and, before the night-watch could use the rope on theircaptive, the troop of young men had forced their way through the circleof armed men under the leadership of Glaukias, had surrounded Alexander, and run off with him in their midst, singing and shouting. 

"Follow him! Catch him! Stop him!--living or dead, bring him back! Aprice is on his head--a splendid price to any one who will take him!"cried the Egyptian, foaming with rage and setting the example. But theyouth of the town, many of whom knew the artist, and who were at alltimes ready to spoil sport for the sycophants and spies, crowded upbetween the fugitive and his pursuers and barred the way. 

The lictors and their underlings did indeed, at last, get through thesolid wall of shouting and scolding men and women; but by that time thetroop of artists had disappeared down a side street. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Melissa, too, would probably have found herself a prisoner, but thatZminis, seeing himself balked of a triumph, and beside himself withrage, rushed after the fugitive with the rest. She had no furtheroccasion to seek the house where her lover was lying, for Agatha knew itwell. Its owner, Proterius, was an illustrious member of the Christiancommunity, and she had often been to see him with her father. 

On their way the girls confided to each other what had brought them outinto the streets at so unusual an hour; and when Melissa spoke ofher companion's extraordinary resemblance to the dead daughter ofSeleukus--which, no doubt, had been Alexander's inducement to followher--Agatha told her that she had constantly been mistaken for heruncle's daughter, so early lost. She herself had not seen her cousinfor some few years, for Seleukus had quarreled with his brother's familywhen they had embraced Christianity. The third brother, Timotheus, thehigh-priest of Serapis, had proved more placable, and his wife Euryalewas of all women the one she loved best. And presently it appeared thatAgatha, too, had lost her mother, and this drew the girls so closelytogether, that they clasped hands and walked on like sisters or old anddear friends. 

They were not kept long waiting outside the house of Proterius, forAndreas was in the vestibule arranging the litter for the conveyance ofDiodoros, with the willing help of Ptolemaeus. The freedman was indeedamazed when he heard Melissa's voice, and blamed her for this freshadventure. However, he was glad to see her, for, although it seemedalmost beyond the bounds of possibility, he had already fancied morethan once, as steps had approached and passed, that she must surely becoming to lend him a helping hand. 

It was easy to hear in his tone of voice that her bold venture was atleast as praiseworthy as it was blameworthy in his eyes, and the graveman was as cheerful as he commonly was only when among his flowers. Never before had Melissa heard a word of compliment from his lips, butas Agatha stood with one arm round Melissa's shoulders, he said to thephysician, as he pointed to the pair, "Like two roses on one stem!"

He had good reason, indeed, to be content. Diodoros was no worse, andGalen was certainly expected to visit the sick in the Serapeum. Heregarded it, too, as a dispensation from Heaven that Agatha and Melissashould have happened to meet, and Alexander's happy escape had taken aweight from his mind. He willingly acceded to Melissa's request that hewould take her and Agatha to see the sick man; but he granted them onlya short time to gaze at the sleeper, and then requested the deaconess tofind a room for the two damsels, who needed rest. 

The worthy woman rose at once; but Melissa urgently entreated to beallowed to remain by her lover's side, and glanced anxiously at the keysin the matron's hand. 

At this Andreas whispered to her: "You are afraid lest I should preventyour coming with us? But it is not so; and, indeed, of what use would itbe? You made your way past the guards to the senator's coach; you cameacross the lake, and through the darkness and the drunken rabble in thestreets; if I were to lock you in, you would be brave enough to jumpout of the window. No, no; I confess you have conquered myobjections--indeed, if you should now refuse your assistance, I shouldbe obliged to crave it. But Ptolemaeus wishes to leave Diodoros quiteundisturbed till daybreak. He is now gone to the Serapeum to find a goodplace for him. You, too, need rest, and you shall be waked in goodtime. Go, now, with Dame Katharine. --As to your relations, " he added, toAgatha, "do not be uneasy. A boy is already on his way to your father, to tell him where you are for the night. "

The deaconess led the two girls to a room where there was a large doublebed. Here the new friends stretched their weary limbs; but, tired asthey were, neither of them seemed disposed to sleep; they were so happyto have found each other, and had so much to ask and tell each other!As soon as Katharine had lighted a three-branched lamp she left them tothemselves, and then their talk began. 

Agatha, clinging to her new friend, laid her head on Melissa's shoulder;and as Melissa looked on the beautiful face, and remembered the fondpassion which her heedless brother had conceived for its twin image, oras now and again the Christian girl's loving words appealed to her moreespecially, she stroked the long, flowing tresses of her brown hair. 

It needed, indeed, no more than a common feeling, an experience gonethrough together, an hour of confidential solitude, to join the heartsof the two maidens; and as they awaited the day, shoulder to shoulderin uninterrupted chat, they felt as though they had shared every joy andsorrow from the cradle. Agatha's weaker nature found a support in thecalm strength of will which was evident in many things Melissa said; andwhen the Christian opened her tender and pitying heart to Melissa withtouching candor, it was like a view into a new but most inviting world. 

Agatha's extreme beauty, too, struck the artist's daughter as somethingdivine, and her eye often rested admiringly on her new friend's pure andregular features. 

When Agatha inquired of her about her father, Melissa briefly replied, that since her mother's death he was often moody and rough, but that hehad a good, kind heart. The Christian girl, on the contrary, spoke withenthusiasm of the warm, human loving-kindness of the man to whom sheowed her being; and the picture she drew of her home life was so fair, that the little heathen could hardly believe in its truth. Her father, Agatha said, lived in constant warfare with the misery and suffering ofhis fellow-creatures, and he was, in fact, able to make those about himhappy and prosperous. The poorest were dearest to his loving heart, andon his estate across the lake he had collected none but the sick andwretched. The care of the children was left to her, and the little onesclung to her as if she were their mother. She had neither brother norsister. --And so the conversation turned on Alexander, of whom Agathacould never hear enough. 

And how proud was Melissa to speak of the bright young artist, who tillnow had been the sun of her joyless life! There was much that was goodto be said about him: for the best masters rated his talent highly inspite of his youth; his comrades were faithful; and none knew so well ashe how to cheer his father's dark moods. Then, there were many amiableand generous traits of which she had been told, or had herself known. With his very first savings, he had had the Genius with a reversedtorch cast in bronze to grace his mother's grave, and give his fatherpleasure. Once he had been brought home half dead after saving a womanand child from drowning, and vainly endeavoring to rescue another child. He might be wild and reckless, but he had always been faithful to hisart and to his love for his family. 

Agatha's eyes opened widely when Melissa told her anything good abouther brother, and she clung in terror to her new friend as she heard ofher excited orgy with her lover. 

Scared as though some imminent horror threatened herself, she claspedMelissa's hand as she listened to the tale of the dangers Alexander hadso narrowly escaped. 

Such things had never before reached the ears of the girl in her retiredChristian home beyond the lake; they sounded to her as the tales of somebold seafarer to the peaceful husbandman on whose shores the storm haswrecked him. 

"And do you know, " she exclaimed, "all this seems delightful to me, though my father, I am sure, would judge it hardly! When your brotherrisks his life, it is always for others, and that is right--that is thehighest life. I think of him as an angel with a flaming sword. But youdo not know our sacred scriptures. "

Then Melissa would hear more of this book, of which Andreas hadfrequently spoken; but there was a knock at the door, and she sprang outof bed. 

Agatha did the same; and when a slave-girl had brought in fresh, coldwater, she insisted on handing her friend the towels, on plaiting herlong hair, pinning her peplos in its place, and arranging its folds. Shehad so often longed for a sister, and she felt as though she had foundone in Melissa! While she helped her to dress she kissed her preserver'ssister on the eyes and lips, and entreated her with affectionate urgencyto come to see her, as soon as she had done all she could for her lover. She must be made acquainted with her father, and Agatha longed to showher her poor children, her dogs, and her pigeons. And she would go tosee Melissa, when she was staying with Polybius. 

"And there, " Melissa put in, "you will see my brother, too. "

On which the Christian girl exclaimed: "You must bring him to our house. My father will be glad to thank him--" Here she paused, and then added, "Only he must not again risk his life so rashly. "

"He will be well hidden at the house of Polybius, " replied Melissa, consolingly. "And Andreas has him fast by this time. "

She once more kissed Agatha, and went to the door, but her friend heldher back, and whispered "In my father's grounds there is a famous hidingplace, where no one would ever find him. It has often been a refugefor weeks and months for persecuted members of our faith. When he isseriously threatened, bring him to us. We will gladly provide for hissafety, and all else. Only think, if they should catch him! It would befor my sake, and I should never be happy again. Promise me that you willbring him. "

"Yes, certainly, " cried Melissa, as she hurried out into the vestibule, where Andreas and the leech were waiting for her. 

They had done well to enlist the girl's services, for, since nursing hermother, she knew, as few did, how to handle the sick. It was not tillthey had fairly set out that Melissa observed that Dame Katharine wasof the party; she had no doubt become reconciled to the idea of the sickman's removal to the Serapeum, for she had the same look of kindly calmwhich had so much attracted the girl at their first meeting. 

The streets along which they passed in the pale morning light were nowdeserted, and a film of mist, behind which glowed the golden light ofthe newly risen sun, shrouded the horizon. The fresh air of morning wasdelicious, and at this early hour there was no one to avoid--only thepeasants and their wives carrying the produce of their gardens andfields to market on asses, or wagons drawn by oxen. The black slavesof the town were sweeping the roadway. Here there were parties of men, women, and children on their way to work in factories, which were atrest but for a few hours in the bustling town. The bakers andother provision-dealers were opening their shops; the cobblers andmetalworkers were already busy or lighting fires in their open stalls;and Andreas nodded to a file of slave-girls who had come across fromthe farm and gardens of Polybius, and who now walked up the street withlarge milk-jars and baskets of vegetables poised on their heads andsupported with one gracefully raised arm. 

They presently crossed the Aspendia Canal, where the fog hung over thewater like white smoke, hiding the figure of the tutelary goddess of thetown on the parapet of the bridge from those who crossed by the roadway. The leaves of the mimosa-trees by the quay--nay, the very stones of thehouses and the statues, wet with the morning dew--looked revived andnewly washed; and a light breeze brought up from the Serapeum brokentones of the chant, sung there every morning by a choir of priests, tohail the triumph of light over darkness. 

The crisp morning air was as invigorating to Melissa as her cold bathhad been, after a night which had brought her so little rest. She feltas though she, and all Nature with her, had just crossed the thresholdof a new day, bidding her to fresh life and labor. Now and then a flamefrom Lucifer's torch swallowed up a stretch of morning mist, while theHours escorted Phoebus Apollo, whose radiant diadem of beams was justrising above the haze; Melissa could have declared she saw them dancingforth before him and strewing the path of the sun with flowers. Allthis was beautiful--as beautiful as the priest's chant, the aromaticsweetness of the air, and the works of art in cast bronze or hewn marblewhich were to be seen on the bridge, on the temple to Isis and Anubis tothe right of the street, under the colonnades of the handsomest houses, on the public fountains--in short, wherever the eye might turn. Herlover, borne before her in a litter, was on the way to the physician inwhose hands lay the power to cure him. She felt as though Hope led theway. 

Since love had blossomed in her breast her quiet life had become aneventful one. Most of what she had gone through had indeed filled herwith alarms. Serious questions to which she had never given a thoughthad been brought before her; and yet, in this brief period of anxietyshe had gained the precious sense of youthfulness and of capacityfor action when she had to depend on herself. The last few hours hadrevealed to her the possession of powers which only yesterday she hadnever suspected. She, who had willingly yielded to every caprice of herfather's, and who, for love of her brothers, had always unresistinglydone their bidding, now knew that she had a will of her own and strengthenough to assert it; and this, again, added to her contentment thismorning. 

Alexander had told her, and old Dido, and Diodoros, that she was fair tolook upon--but these all saw her with the eyes of affection; so she hadalways believed that she was a well-looking girl enough, but by no meanshighly gifted in any respect--a girl whose future would be to bloomand fade unknown in her father's service. But now she knew that she wasindeed beautiful; not only because she had heard it repeatedly inthe crowd of yesterday, or even because Agatha had declared it whilebraiding her hair--an inward voice affirmed it, and for her lover's sakeshe was happy to believe it. 

As a rule, she would have been ready to drop with fatigue after so manysleepless hours and such severe exertions; but to-day she felt as freshas the birds in the trees by the roadside, which greeted the sun withcheerful twitterings. 

"Yes, the world is indeed fair!" thought she; but at that very momentAndreas's grave voice was heard ordering the bearers to turn down a darkside alley which led into the street of Hermes, a few hundred paces fromthe Rhakotis Canal. 

How anxious the good man looked! Her world was not the world of theChristian freedman; that she plainly understood when the litter in whichDiodoros lay was carried into one of the houses in the side street. 

It was a large, plain building, with only a few windows, and thosehigh up-in fact, as Melissa was presently informed, it was a Christianchurch. Before she could express her surprise, Andreas begged her tohave a few minutes' patience; the daemons of sickness were here to beexorcised and driven out of the sufferer. He pointed to a seat in thevestibule to the church, a wide but shallow room. Then, at a sign fromAndreas, the slaves carried the litter into a long, low hall with a flatroof. 

From where she sat, Melissa could now see that a Christian in priest'srobes, whom they called the exorcist, spoke various invocations overthe sick man, the others listening so attentively that even she began tohope for some good effect from these incomprehensible formulas; andat the same time she remembered that her old slave-woman Dido, whoworshiped many gods, wore round her neck, besides a variety of heathenamulets, a little cross which had been given her by a Christian woman. To her question why she, a heathen, wore this about her, the old womanreplied, "You can never tell what may help you some day. " So perhapsthese exorcisms might not be without some effect on her lover, particularly as the God of the Christians must be powerful and good. 

She herself strove to uplift her soul in prayer to the manes of her lostmother; but the scene going on around her in the vestibule distractedher mind with horror. Men, young and old, were slashing themselves withvehement scourgings on their backs. One white-haired old man, indeed, handed his whip of hippopotamus-hide to a stalwart lad whose shoulderswere streaming with blood, and begged him as a brother, as ferventlyas though it were the greatest favor, to let him feel the lash. But theyounger man refused, and she saw the weak old fellow trying to apply itto his own back. 

All this was quite beyond her comprehension, and struck her as, disgusting; and how haggard and hideous were the limbs of these peoplewho thus sinned against their own bodies--the noble temples of theDivine Spirit!

When, a few minutes later, the litter was borne out of the churchagain, the sun had triumphed over the mists and was rising with blindingsplendor in the cloudless sky. Everything was bathed in light; but thedreadful sight of the penitents had cast a gloom over the clear gladnessshe had been so full of but just now. It was with a sense of oppressionthat she took leave of the deaconess, who left her with cheerfulcontentment in the street of Hermes, and followed the litter to the opensquare in front of the Serapeum. 

Here every thought of gloom vanished from her mind as at the touch of amagician, for before her stood the vast Temple of Serapis, founded, as it were, for eternity, on a substructure of rock and closely fittedmasonry, the noblest building on earth of any dedicated to the gods. The great cupola rose to the blue sky as though it fain would greet thesister vault above with its own splendor, and the copper-plating whichcovered it shone as dazzling as a second sun. From the wide front of thetemple, every being to whom the prayers and worship of mortals could beoffered looked down on her, hewn in marble or cast in bronze; for onthe roof, on brackets or on pedestals; in niches or as supporting theparapets and balconies, were statues of all the guests at the Olympianbanquet, with images or busts of every hero or king, philosopher, poet, or artist whose deeds or works had earned him immortality. 

From infancy Melissa had looked up at this temple with admirationand pride, for here every art had done its utmost to make it withoutparallel on earth. It was the work of her beloved native city, and hermother had often taken her into the Serapeum, where she herself hadfound comfort in many a sorrow and disappointment, and had taught thechild to love it. That it had afterward been spoiled for her she forgotin her present mood. 

Never had she seen the great temple surrounded by so much gay and busylife. The front of the building, toward the square, had in the earlyhours of the morning been decked with garlands and heavy wreaths offlowers, by a swarm of slaves standing on ladders and planks and bencheslet down from the roof by ropes. The inclined ways, by which vehiclesdrove up to the great door, were still deserted, and on the broad stepsin the middle no one was to be seen as yet but a few priests in galarobes, and court officials; but the immense open space in front of thesanctuary was one great camp, where, among the hastily pitched canvastents, horses were being dressed and weapons polished. Several maniplesof the praetorians and of the Macedonian phalanx were already drawnup in compact ranks, to relieve guard at the gate of the imperialresidence, and stand at Caesar's orders. 

But more attractive to the girl than all this display were a number ofaltars which had been erected at the extreme edge of the great square, and on each of which a fire was burning. Heavy clouds of smoke went upfrom them in the still, pure atmosphere, like aerial columns, while theflames, paling in the beams of the morning sun, flew up through the reekas though striving to rise above it, with wan and changeful gleams ofred and yellow, now curling down, and now writhing upward like snakes. Of all these fires there was not one from which the smoke did not mountstraight to heaven, though each burned to a different god; and Melissaregarded it as a happy sign that none spread or failed to rise. Theembers were stirred from time to time by the priests and augurs of everygod of the East and West, who also superintended the sacrifices, whilewarriors of every province of the empire stood round in prayer. 

Melissa passed by all these unwonted and soul-stirring sights without aregret; her hope for the cure soon to be wrought on her lover cast allelse into the shade. Still, while she looked around at the thousands whowere encamped here, and gazed up at the temple where so many men werebusied, like ants, it struck her that in fact all this belonged toone and was done for one alone. Those legions followed him as the dustfollows the wind, the whole world trembled at his nod, and in his handlay the life and happiness of the millions he governed. And it was atthis omnipotent being, this god in human form, that her brother hadmocked; and the pursuers were at his heels. This recollection troubledher joy, and when she looked in the freedman's grave and anxious faceher heart began to beat heavily again. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Melissa had supposed that, according to custom, the litter would becarried up the incline or the steps, and into the Serapeum by the greatdoor; but in consequence of the emperor's visit this could not be. Thesick man was borne round the eastern side of the huge building, whichcovered a space on which a whole village might have stood. The door atthe back, to the south, through which he was finally admitted, openedinto a gallery passing by the great quadrangle where sacrifice was made, and leading to the inner rooms of the temple, to the cubicles amongothers. 

In these it was revealed to the sick in dreams by what means or remediesthey might hope to be healed: and there was no lack of priests tointerpret the visions, nor of physicians who came hither to watchpeculiar cases, to explain to the sufferers the purport of the counselof the gods--often very dark--or to give them the benefit of their own. 

One of these, a friend of Ptolemaeus, who, though he had been secretlybaptized, still was one of the pastophori of the temple, was awaitingthe little party, and led the way as guide. 

The bellowing of beasts met them on the very threshold. These were to beslaughtered at this early hour by the special command of Caracalla; and, as Caesar himself had promised to be present at the sacrificialrites, none but the priests or "Caesar's friends" were admitted to thecourt-yard. The litter was therefore carried up a staircase and througha long hall forming part of the library, with large windows lookingdown on the open place where the beasts were killed and the entrailsexamined. Diodoros saw and heard nothing, for the injury to the skullhad deprived him of all consciousness; Ptolemaeus, however, to sootheMelissa, assured her that he was sleeping soundly. 

As they mounted the stairs she had kept close to her lover's side; buton this assurance she lingered behind and looked about her. 

As the little procession entered the gallery, in which the rolls ofmanuscript lay in stone or wooden cases on long rows of shelves, theshout was heard of "Hail, Caesar!" mingling with a solemn chant, andannouncing the sovereign's approach. 

At this the physician pointed to the court-yard, and said to the girl, whose beauty had greatly attracted him: "Look down there if you want tosee Caesar. We must wait here, at any rate, till the crowd has gone pastin the corridor beyond that door. " And Melissa, whose feminine curiosityhad already tempted her to the window, looked down into the quadrangleand on to the steps down which a maniple of the praetorian guard weremarching, with noble Romans in togas or the uniform of legates, augurswearing wreaths, and priests of various orders. Then for a few minutesthe steps were deserted, and Melissa thought she could hear her ownheart beating, when suddenly the cry: "Hail, Caesar!" was again heard, loud trumpets rang out and echoed from the high stone walls whichsurrounded the inclosure, and Caracalla appeared on the broad marblesteps which led down into the court of sacrifice. 

Melissa's eyes were riveted as if spell-bound on this figure, which wasneither handsome nor dignified, and which nevertheless had a strangeattraction for her, she knew not why. What was it in this man, whowas short rather than tall, and feeble rather than majestic, which soimperatively forbade all confident advances? The noble lion which walkedby his side, and in whose mane his left hand was buried, was not moreunapproachable than he. He called this terrible creature, which hetreated with as much familiarity as if it were a lapdog, his "Persiansword"; and as Melissa looked she remembered what fate might be in storefor her brother through this man, and all the crimes of which he wasaccused by the world--the murders of his brother, of his wife, and ofthousands besides. 

For the first time in her life she felt that she could hate; she longedto bring down every evil on that man's head. The blood mounted to hercheeks, and her little fists were clinched, but she never took her eyesoff him; for everything in his person impressed her, if not as fine, still as exceptional--if not as great, still as noteworthy. 

She knew that he was not yet thirty, but yesterday, as he drove pasther, he had looked like a surly misanthropist of more than middle age. To-day how young he seemed! Did he owe it to the laurel crown whichrested on his head, or to the white toga which fell about him in amplefolds, leaving only the sinewy arm bare by which he led the lion?

From where she stood she could only see his side-face as he came downthe steps, and indeed it was not ill-favored; brow, nose, and chin werefinely and nobly formed; his beard was thin, and a mustache curled overhis lips. His eyes, deeply set under the brows, were not visible to her, but she had not forgotten since yesterday their sinister and terriblescowl. 

At this moment the lion crept closer to his master. 

If only the brute should spring on that more blood-stained and terriblebeast of prey who could kill not only with claws and teeth but with aword from his lips, a wave of his hand!--the world would be rid of theferocious curse. Ay, his eye, which had yesterday scorned to look at themultitudes who had hailed his advent, was that of a cruel tyrant. 

And then--she felt as if he must have guessed her thoughts--while hepatted the lion and gently pushed him aside he turned his face full onher, and she knew not whether to be pleased or angry, for the odious, squinting eyes were not now terrible or contemptuous; nay, they hadlooked kindly on the beast, and with a somewhat suffering expression. The dreadful face of the murderer was not hideous now, but engaging--theface of a youth enduring torments of soul or of body. 

She was not mistaken. On the very next step Caracalla stood still, pressed his right hand to his temples, and set his lips as if to controlsome acute pain. Then he sadly shook his head and gazed up at the wallsof the court, which had been decorated in his honor with hangings andgarlands of flowers. First he studied the frieze and the festal displayon his right, and when he turned his head to look at the side whereMelissa stood, an inward voice bade her withdraw, that the gaze of thismonster might not blight her. But an irresistible attraction held herfast; then suddenly she felt as if the ground were sinking from underher feet, and, as a shipwrecked wretch snatches at a floating spar, sheclung to the little column at the left of the window, clutching it withher hand; for the dreadful thing had happened-Caracalla's eye had methers and had even rested on her for a while! And that gaze had nothingbloodthirsty in it, nor the vile leer which had sparkled in the eyesof the drunken rioters she had met last night in the streets; he onlylooked astonished as at some wonderful thing which he had not expectedto see in this place. But presently a fresh attack of pain apparentlymade him turn away, for his features betrayed acute suffering, as heslowly set his foot on the next step below. 

Again, and more closely, he pressed his hand to his brow, and thenbeckoned to a tall, well-built man with flowing hair, who walked behindhim, and accepted the support of his offered arm. 

"Theocritus, formerly an actor and dancer, " the priest whispered toMelissa. "Caesar's whim made the mimic a senator, a legate, and afavorite. "

But Melissa only knew that he was speaking, and did not take in thepurport of his speech; for this man, slowly descending the steps, absorbed her whole sympathy. She knew well the look of those who sufferand conceal it from the eyes of the world; and some cruel disease wascertainly consuming this youth, who ruled the earth, but whose purplerobes would be snatched at soon enough by greedy hands if he shouldcease to seem strong and able. And now, again, he looked old andworn--poor wretch, who yet was so young and born to be so abundantlyhappy! He was, to be sure, a base and blood-stained tyrant, but not theless a miserable and unhappy man. The more severe the pain he had toendure, the harder must he find it to hide it from the crowd who wereconstantly about him. There is but one antidote to hatred, and that ispity; it was with the eager compassion of a woman's heart thatMelissa marked every movement of the imperial murderer, as soon as sherecognized his sufferings, and when their eyes had met. Nothing nowescaped her keen glance which could add to her sympathy for the man shehad loathed but a minute before. She noticed a slight limp in hisgait and a convulsive twitching of his eyelids; his slender, almosttransparent hand, she reflected, was that of a sick man, and pain andfever, no doubt, had thinned his hair, which had left many places bald. 

And when the high--priest of Serapis and the augurs met him at thebottom of the steps and Caesar's eye again put on the cruel scowl ofyesterday, she would not doubt that it was stern self-command which gavehim that threatening glare, to seem terrible, in spite of his anguish, to those whose obedience he required. He had really needed hiscompanion's support as they descended the stair, that she could plainlysee; and she had observed, too, how carefully his guide had striven toconceal the fact that he was upholding him; but the courtier was tootall to achieve the task he had set himself. Now, she was much shorterthan Caesar, and she was strong, too. Her arm would have afforded him amuch better support. 

But how could she think of such a thing?--she, the sister of Alexander, the betrothed of Diodoros, whom she truly loved!

Caesar mingled with the priests, and her guide told her that thecorridor was now free. She peeped into the litter, and, seeing thatDiodoros still slept, she followed him, lost in thought, and givingshort and heedless answers to Andreas and the physicians She had notlistened to the priest's information, and scarcely turned her head tolook out, when a tall, thin man with a bullet-head and deeply wrinkledbrow was pointed out to her as Macrinus, the prefect of the body-guard, the most powerful man in Rome next to Caesar; and then the "friends" ofCaracalla, whom she had seen yesterday, and the historian Dion Cassius, with other senators and members of the imperial train. 

Now, as they made their way through halls and passages where the foot ofthe uninitiated rarely intruded, she looked about her with more interestwhen the priest drew her attention to some particularly fine statueor picture, or some symbolical presentment. Even now, however, thoughassociation with her brothers had made her particularly alive toeverything that was beautiful or curious, she glanced round with lessinterest than she otherwise might have done, for she had much else tothink of. In the first place, of the benefits Diodoros was to derivefrom the great Galen; then of her father, who this day must dispensewith her assistance; and, finally, of the state of mind of her gravebrother Philip. He and Alexander, who usually were such united friends, now both were in love with Agatha, and what could come of that? And fromtime to time her thoughts flew back to Caesar, and she felt as thoughsome tie, she knew not what, linked them together. 

As soon as the litter had to be carried up or down steps, she kept aneye on the bearers, and gave such help as was needed when the sleeper'sposition was changed. Whenever she looked in his handsome face, flushedas it was by fever and framed in tumbled curls, her heart swelled, andshe felt that she had much to thank the gods for, seeing that herlover was so full of splendid youth and in no respect resembled theprematurely decrepit and sickly wearer of the purple. Nevertheless, shethought a good deal of Caracalla, and it even occurred to her once thatif it were he who was being carried instead of Diodoros, she would tendhim no less carefully than her betrothed. Caesar, who had been as farout of her ken as a god, and of whose overwhelming power she had heard, had suddenly come down to her. She involuntarily thought of him as oneof those few with whom she had come into personal contact, and inwhose weal or woe she had some sympathetic interest. He could not bealtogether evil and hardened. If he could only know what pain it causedher to see him suffer, he would surely command Zminis to abandon thepursuit of her brother. 

Just as they were reaching the end of their walk, the trumpets rang outonce more, reminding her that she was under the same roof with him. Shewas so close to him--and yet how far he was from guessing the desires ofa heart which beat with compassion for him!

Several sick persons, eager for some communication from the gods, andsome who, without being sick, had slept in the Serapeum, had by thistime left their beds, and were taking counsel in the great hall withinterpreters and physicians. The bustle was like that of a market-place, and there was one old man with unkempt hair and fiery eyes who repeatedagain and again in a loud voice, "It was the god himself who appeared tome, and his three-headed dog licked my cheeks. " And presently a hideousold woman plucked at Melissa's robe, whispering: "A healing draught foryour lover; tears from the eyes of the infant Horus. I have them fromIsis herself. The effect is rapid and certain. Come to Hezron, thedealer in balsams in the street of the Nekropolis. Your lover'srecovery--for five drachmae. "

But Melissa, who was no stranger here since her mother's last sickness, went on without pausing, following the litter down the long hall fullof beds, a room with a stone roof resting on two rows of tall columns. Familiar to her too was the aromatic scent of kyphi, --[incense]--whichfilled the hall, although fresh air was constantly pouring in fromoutside through the high windows. Red and green curtains hung infront of them, and the subdued light which came through fell in tintedtwilight on the colored pictures in relief of the history of the gods, which covered the walls. Speech was forbidden here, and their steps fellnoiseless on the thick, heavy mats. 

Most of the beds were already empty; only those between the long walland the nearest row of columns were still for the most part occupied bythe sick who sought the help of the god. On one of these Diodoros waslaid, Melissa helping in silence, and with such skill as delighted eventhe physicians. Still, this did not wake him, though on the next bed laya man who never ceased speaking, because in his dream he had been biddento repeat the name of Serapis as many times as there were drops in a cupof water filled from the Agathodaemon Canal. 

"A long stay in this strong perfume will be bad for him, " whisperedPtolemaeus to the freedman. "Galenus sent word that he would visit thesick early to-day; but he is not here yet. He is an old man, and inRome, they say, it is the custom to sleep late. "

He was interrupted by a stir in the long hall, which broke in on thesilence, no one knew from whence; and immediately after, officious handsthrew open the great double doors with a loud noise. 

"He is coming, " whispered their priestly guide; and the instant afteran old man crossed the threshold, followed by a troop of pastophori, asobsequious as the courtiers at the heels of a prince. 

"Gently, brothers, " murmured the greatest physician of his age in a lowvoice, as, leaning on a staff, he went toward the row of couches. Itwas easy to see the traces of his eighty years, but his fine eyes stillgleamed with youthful light. 

Melissa blushed to think that she could have mistaken Serenus Samonicusfor this noble old man. He must once have been a tall man; his backwas bent and his large head was bowed as though he were forever seekingsomething. His face was pale and colorless, with a well-formed noseand mouth, but not of classic mold. Blue veins showed through the clearwhite skin, and the long, silky, silvery hair still flowed in unthinnedwaves round his massive head, bald only on the crown. A snowy beard fellover his breast. His aged form was wrapped in a long and ample robeof costly white woolen stuff, and his whole appearance would have beenstriking for its peculiar refinement, even if the eyes had not sparkledwith such vivid and piercing keenness from under the thick brows, and ifthe high, smooth, slightly prominent forehead had not borne witness tothe power and profundity of his mind. Melissa knew of no one with whomto compare him; he reminded Andreas of the picture of John as an oldman, which a wealthy fellow-Christian had presented to the church ofSaint Mark. 

If this man could do nothing, there was no help on earth. And howdignified and self-possessed were the movements of this bent old man ashe leaned on his staff! He, a stranger here, seemed to be showing theothers the way, a guide in his own realm. Melissa had heard that thestrong scent of the kyphi might prove injurious to Diodoros, and her onethought now was the desire that Galenus might soon approach his couch. He did not, in fact, begin with the sick nearest to the door, but stoodawhile in the middle of the hall, leaning against a column and surveyingthe place and the beds. 

When his searching glance rested on that where Diodoros was lying, ananswering look met his with reverent entreaty from a pair of beautiful, large, innocent eyes. A smile parted his bearded lips, and going up tothe girl he said: "Where beauty bids, even age must obey. Your lover, child, or your brother?"

"My betrothed, " Melissa hastened to reply; and the maidenlyembarrassment which flushed her cheek became her so well that he added:

"He must have much to recommend him if I allow him to carry you off, fair maid. "

With these words he went up to the couch, and looking at Diodoros as helay, he murmured, as if speaking to himself and without paying any heedto the younger men who crowded round him:

"There are no true Greeks left here; but the beauty of the ancestralrace is not easily stamped out, and is still to be seen in theirdescendants. What a head, what features, and what hair!"

Then he felt the lad's breast, shoulders, and arms, exclaiming in honestadmiration, "What a godlike form!"

He laid his delicate old hand, with its network of blue veins, on thesick man's forehead, again glanced round the room, and listened toPtolemaeus, who gave him a brief and technical report of the case; then, sniffing the heavy scent that filled the hall, he said, as the Christianleech ceased speaking:

"We will try; but not here--in a room less full of incense. This perfumebrings dreams, but no less surely induces fever. Have you no other roomat hand where the air is purer?"

An eager "Yes, " in many voices was the reply; and Diodoros was forthwithtransferred into a small cubicle adjoining. 

While he was being moved, Galenus went from bed to bed, questioning thechief physician and the patients. He seemed to have forgotten Diodorosand Melissa; but after hastily glancing at some and carefully examiningothers, and giving advice where it was needful, he desired to see thefair Alexandrian's lover once more. 

As he entered the room he nodded kindly to the girl. How gladly wouldshe have followed him! But she said to herself that if he had wishedher to be present he would certainly have called her; so she modestlyawaited his return. She had to wait a long time, and the minutes seemedhours while she heard the voices of men through the closed door, themoaning and sighing of the sufferer, the splashing of water, and theclatter of metal instruments; and her lively imagination made her fancythat something almost unendurable was being done to her lover. 

At last the physician came out. His whole appearance betokened perfectsatisfaction. The younger men, who followed him, whispered amongthemselves, shaking their heads as though some miracle had beenperformed; and every eye that looked on him was radiant withenthusiastic veneration. Melissa knew, as soon as his eyes met hers, that all was well, and as she grasped the old man's hand she concludedfrom its cool moisture that he had but just washed it, and had done withhis own hand all that Ptolemaeus had expected of his skill. Her eyeswere dim with grateful emotion, and though Galenus strove to hinderher from pressing her lips to his hand she succeeded in doing so;he, however, kissed her brow with fatherly delight in her warmheartedsweetness, and said:

"Now go home happy, my child. That stone had hit your lover's brain-roofa hard blow; the pressure of the broken beam--I mean a piece ofbone--had robbed him of his consciousness of what a sweet bride the godshave bestowed on him. But the knife has done its work; the beam is inits place again; the splinters which were not needed have been takenout; the roof is mended, and the pressure removed. Your friend hasrecovered consciousness, and I will wager that at this moment he isthinking of you and wishes you were with him. But for the present youhad better defer the meeting. For forty-eight hours he must remain inthat little room, for any movement would only delay his recovery. "

"Then I shall stay here to nurse him, " cried Melissa, eagerly. ButGalenus replied, decisively:

"That must not be if he is to get well. The presence of a woman for whomthe sufferer's heart is on fire is as certain to aggravate the fever asthe scent of incense. Besides, child, this is no place for such as you. "

Her head drooped sadly, but he nodded to her cheeringly as he added:

"Ptolemaeus, who is worthy of your entire confidence, speaks of you asa girl of much sense, and you will surely not do anything to spoilmy work, which was not easy. However, I must say farewell; other sickrequire my care. "

He held out his hand, but, seeing her eyes fixed on his and glitteringthrough tears, he asked her name and family. It seemed to him of goodaugury for the long hours before him which he must devote to Caesar, that he should, so early in the day, have met so pure and fair a flowerof girlhood. 

When she had told him her own name and her father's, and also mentionedher brothers, Philip the philosopher, and Alexander the painter, whowas already one of the chief masters of his art here, Galenus answeredheartily:

"All honor to his genius, then, for he is the one-eyed king in the landof the blind. Like the old gods, who can scarce make themselves heardfor the new, the Muses too have been silenced. The many reallybeautiful things to be seen here are not new; and the new, alas! arenot beautiful. But your brother's work, " he added, kindly, "may be theexception. "

"You should only see his portraits!" cried Melissa. 

"Yours, perhaps, among them?" said the old man, with interest. "That isa reminder I would gladly take back to Rome with me. "

Alexander had indeed painted his sister not long before, and how gladshe was to be able to offer the picture to the reverend man to whom sheowed so much! So she promised with a blush to send it him as soon as sheshould be at home again. 

The unexpected gift was accepted with pleasure, and when he thankedher eagerly and with simple heartiness, she interrupted him with theassurance that in Alexandria art was not yet being borne to the grave. Her brother's career, it was true, threatened to come to an untimelyend, for he stood in imminent danger. On this the old man--who had takenhis seat on a bench which the attendant physicians of the temple hadbrought forward-desired to know the state of the case, and Melissabriefly recounted Alexander's misdemeanor, and how near he had been, yesterday, to falling into the hands of his pursuers. Then she lookedup at the old man beseechingly; and as he had praised her beauty, sonow--she herself knew not how she had such courage--the praises of hisfame, his greatness and goodness, flowed from her lips. And her boldentreaties ended with a prayer that he would urge Caesar, who doubtlessrevered him as a father, to cease from prosecuting her brother. 

The old man's face had grown graver and graver; he had several timesstroked his white beard with an uneasy gesture; and when, as she spokethe last words, she ventured to raise her timidly downcast eyes to his, he rose stiffly and said in regretful tones:

"How can I be vexed with a sister who knocks at any door to save abrother's life? But I would have given a great deal that it had not beenat mine. It is hard to refuse when I would so gladly accede, and yetso it must be; for, though Claudius Galenus does his best for BassianusAntoninus as a patient, as he does for any other, Bassianus the man andthe emperor is as far from him as fire from water; and so it must everbe during the short space of time which may yet be granted to him and meunder the light of the sun. "

The last words were spoken in a bitter, repellent tone, and yetMelissa felt that it pained the old man to refuse her. So she earnestlyexclaimed:

"Oh, forgive me! How could I guess--" She suddenly paused and added, "Then you really think that Caesar has not long to live?"

She spoke with the most anxious excitement, and her question offendedGalenus. He mistook their purport, and his voice was wrathful as hereplied, "Long enough yet to punish an insult!"

Melissa turned pale. She fancied that she apprehended the meaningof these stern words, and, prompted by an earnest desire not to bemisunderstood by this man, she eagerly exclaimed:

"I do not wish him dead--no, indeed not; not even for my brother'ssake! But just now I saw him near, and I thought I could see that hewas suffering great pain. Why, we pity a brute creature when it is inanguish. He is still so young, and it must be so hard to die!"

Galenus nodded approvingly, and replied:

"I thank you, in the name of my imperial patient. --Well, send me yourportrait; but let it be soon, for I embark before sunset. I shall liketo remember you. As to Caesar's sufferings, they are so severe, yourtender soul would not wish your worst enemy to know such pain. My arthas few means of mitigating them, and the immortals are little inclinedto lighten the load they have laid on this man. Of the millions whotremble before him, not one prays or offers sacrifice of his ownfree-will for the prosperity of the monarch. "

A flash of enthusiasm sparkled in Melissa's eye, but Galenus did notheed it; he briefly bade her farewell and turned away to devote himselfto other patients. 

"There is one, at any rate, " thought she, as she looked after thephysician, "who will pray and sacrifice for that unhappy man. Diodoroswill not forbid it, I am sure. "

She turned to Andreas and desired him to take her to her lover. Diodoroswas now really sleeping, and did not feel the kiss she breathed on hisfore head. He had all her love; the suffering criminal she only pitied. 

When they had quitted the temple she pressed her hand to her bosom anddrew a deep breath as if she had just been freed from prison. 

"My head is quite confused, " she said, "by the heavy perfume and so muchanxiety and alarm; but O Andreas, my heart never beat with such joy andgratitude! Now I must collect my thoughts, and get home to do what isneedful for Philip. And merciful gods! that good-natured old Roman, Samonicus, will soon be expecting me at the Temple of Aphrodite; see howhigh the sun is already. Let us walk faster, for, to keep him waiting--"

Andreas here interrupted her, saying, "If I am not greatly mistaken, there is the Roman, in that open chariot, coming down the incline. "

He was right; a few minutes later the chariot drew up close to Melissa, and she managed to tell Samonicus all that had happened in so courteousand graceful a manner that, far from being offended, he could wish everysuccess to the cure his great friend had begun. And indeed his promisehad somewhat weighed upon his mind, for to carry out two undertakingsin one day was too much, at his age, and he had to be present in theevening at a banquet to which Caesar had invited himself in the house ofSeleukus the merchant. 

"The high-priest's brother?" asked Melissa, in surprise, for death hadbut just bereft that house of the only daughter. 

"The same, " said the Roman, gayly. Then he gave her his hand, with theassurance that the thought of her would make it a pleasure to rememberAlexandria. 

As she clasped his hand, Andreas came up, bowed gravely, and askedwhether it would be overbold in him, as a faithful retainer of themaiden's family, to crave a favor, in her name, of Caesar's illustriousand familiar friend. 

The Roman eyed Andreas keenly, and the manly dignity, nay, the defiantself-possession of the freedman--the very embodiment of all he hadexpected to find in a genuine Alexandrian--so far won his confidencethat he bade him speak without fear. He hoped to hear somethingsufficiently characteristic of the manners of the provincial capital tomake an anecdote for Caesar's table. Then, when he understood thatthe matter concerned Melissa's brother, and a distinguished artist, hesmiled expectantly. Even when he learned that Alexander was being hunteddown for some heedless jest against the emperor, he only threatenedMelissa sportively with his finger; but on being told that this jestdealt with the murder of Geta, he seemed startled, and the tone of hisvoice betrayed serious displeasure as he replied to the petitioner, "Doyou suppose that I have three heads, like the Cerberus at the feet ofyour god, that you ask me to lay one on the block for the smile of apretty girl?"

He signed to his charioteer, and the horses whirled the light vehicleacross the square and down the street of Hermes. 

Andreas gazed after him, and muttered, with a shrug

"My first petition to a great man, and assuredly my last. "

"The coward!" cried Melissa; but Andreas said, with a superior smile. 

"Let us take a lesson from this, my child. Those who reckon on thehelp of man are badly off indeed. We must all trust in God, and each inhimself. "

CHAPTER XIII. 

Andreas, who had so much on his shoulders, had lost much time, and wasurgently required at home. After gratifying Melissa's wish by describinghow Diodoros had immediately recovered consciousness on the completionof the operation performed by Galen, and painting the deep amazementthat had fallen on all the other physicians at the skill of this fineold man, he had done all he could for the present to be of use to thegirl. He was glad, therefore, when in the street of Hermes, now swarmingagain with citizens, soldiers, and horsemen, he met the old nurse, who, after conducting Agatha home to her father, had been sent back to thetown to remain in attendance, if necessary, on Diodoros. The freedmanleft it to her to escort Melissa to her own home, and went back toreport to Polybius--in the first place, as to his son's state. 

It was decided that Melissa should for the present remain with herfather; but, as soon as Diodoros should be allowed to leave theSerapeum, she was to go across the lake to receive the convalescent onhis return home. 

The old woman assured her, as they walked on, that Diodoros had alwaysbeen born to good luck; and it was clear that this had never been truerthan now, when Galenus had come in the nick of time to restore him tolife and health, and when he had won such a bride as Melissa. Then shesang the praises of Agatha, of her beauty and goodness, and told herthat the Christian damsel had made many inquiries concerning Alexander. She, the speaker, had not been chary of her praise of the youth, and, unless she was much mistaken, the arrow of Eros had this time piercedAgatha's heart, though till now she had been as a child--an innocentchild--as she herself could say, who had seen her grow up from thecradle. Her faith need not trouble either Melissa or Alexander, forgentler and more modest wives than the Christian women were not to befound among the Greeks--and she had known many. 

Melissa rarely interrupted the garrulous old woman; but, while shelistened, pleasant pictures of the future rose before her fancy. Shesaw herself and Diodoros ruling over Polybius's household, and, closeat hand, on Zeno's estate, Alexander with his beautiful and adored wife. There, under Zeno's watchful eye, the wild youth would become a nobleman. Her father would often come to visit them, and in their happinesswould learn to find pleasure in life again. Only now and then thethought of the sacrifice which the vehement Philip must make for hisyounger brother, and of the danger which still threatened Alexander, disturbed the cheerful contentment of her soul, rich as it was in gladhopes. 

The nearer they got to her own home, the more lightly her heart beat. She had none but good news to report there. The old woman, panting forbreath, was obliged to beg her to consider her sixty years and moderateher pace. 

Melissa willingly checked her steps; and when, at the end of the streetof Hermes, they reached the temple of the god from whom it was namedand turned off to the right, the good woman parted from her, for in thisquiet neighborhood she could safely be trusted to take care of herself. 

Melissa was now alone. On her left lay the gardens of Hermes, where, onthe southern side, stood her father's house and that of their neighborSkopas. Though the old nurse had indeed talked of nothing that was notpleasant, it was a comfort not to have to listen to her, but to be freeto follow her own thoughts. Nor did she meet with anything to distractthem, for at this hour the great public garden was left almost entirelyto children and their attendants, or to the inhabitants of the immediateneighborhood who frequented the temples of Hermes or Artemis, or thelittle shrine of Asklepios, which stood in a grove of mimosas on theskirt of the park, and to which Melissa herself felt attracted. It hadbeen a familiar spot at the time when her mother was at the worst. Howoften had she flown hither from her home near at hand to pour oil onthe altar of the god of healing--to make some small offering and findcomfort in prayer!

The day was now hot, she was tired, and, when she saw the white marblecolumns gleaming among the greenery, she yielded to the impulse to enjoya few minutes' rest in the cool cella and accomplish the vow she hadtaken an hour or two since. She longed, indeed, to get home, that herfather might share the happiness which uplifted her heart; but then shereflected that she would not soon have the opportunity of carrying out, unobserved, the purpose she had in her mind. Now, if ever, was the timeto offer sacrifice for Caesar and for the mitigation of his sufferings. The thought that Galenus perhaps was right, and that of Caracalla'smyriad subjects she might be the only one who would do so much for hissake, strengthened her resolve. 

The chief temple of Asklepios, whom the Egyptians called Imhotep, wasat the Serapeum. Imhotep was the son of Ptah, who, at Alexandria, wasmerged in Serapis. There he was worshiped, conjointly with Serapis andIsis, by Egyptians, Greeks, and Syrians alike. The little sanctuarynear her father's house was the resort of none but Greeks. PtolemaeusPhiladelphus, the second Macedonian King of Egypt, had built it as anappendage to the Temple of Artemis, after the recovery from sickness ofhis wife Arsinoe. 

It was small, but a masterpiece of Greek art, and the statues of Sleepand of A Dream, at the entrance, with the marble group behind the altar, representing Asklepios with his sister Hygeia and his wife Epione theSoother, was reckoned by connoisseurs as among the noblest and mostnoteworthy works of art in Alexandria. 

The dignity and benevolence of the god were admirably expressed in thefeatures of the divinity, somewhat resembling the Olympian Zeus, wholeaned on his serpent staff; and the graceful, inviting sweetness ofHygeia, holding out her cup as though she were offering health to thesufferer, was well adapted to revive the hopes of the despondent. Thegod's waving locks were bound with a folded scarf, and at his feet was adog, gazing up at his lord as if in entreaty. 

The sacred snakes lay coiled in a cage by the altar; they were believedto have the power of restoring themselves, and this was regarded as apromise to the sick that they should cast off their disease as a serpentcasts its skin. The swift power of the reptile over life and death, wasan emblem to the votaries of the power of the god to postpone the deathof man or to shorten his days. 

The inside of the little sanctuary was a cool and still retreat. Tabletshung on the white marble walls, inscribed with the thanksgivings or vowsof those who had been healed. On several, the remedies were recordedwhich had availed in certain cases; and on the left of the little hall, behind a heavy hanging, a small recess contained the archives of thetemple, recipes, records of gifts, and documents referring to thehistory of the sanctuary. 

In this deserted, shady spot, between these thick marble walls, it wasmuch cooler than outside. Melissa lifted her hands in prayer before thestatue of the god. She was alone, with the exception of the priestin charge. The temple-servant was absent, and the priest was asleep, breathing heavily, in an arm-chair in a dark nook behind the marblegroup. Thus she was free to follow the impulse of her heart, and pray, first for her sick lover, and then for the sufferer to whom the wholesubservient world belonged. 

For Diodoros, indeed, as she knew, other hands and hearts were upliftedin loving sympathy. But who besides herself was praying for the hatedsovereign who had at his command the costliest and rarest gifts offortune, all poisoned by bitter anguish of mind and body? The worldthought only of the sufferings he had inflicted on others; no onedreamed of the pangs he had to endure--no one but herself, to whomGalenus had spoken of them. And had not his features and his lookbetrayed to her that pain was gnawing at his vitals like the vultureat those of Prometheus? Hapless, pitiable youth, born to the highestfortune, and now a decrepit old man in the flower of his age! To prayand sacrifice for him must be a pious deed, pleasing to the gods. Melissa besought the marble images over the altar from the very bottomof her heart, never even asking herself why she was bestowing on thisstranger, this cruel tryant, in whose name her own brother was in dangerof the law, an emotion which nothing but her care for those dearest toher had ever stirred. But she did not feel that he was a stranger, andnever thought how far apart they were. Her prayers came easily, too, inthis spot; the bonds that linked her to these beautiful marble beingswere familiar and dear to her. While she gazed up into the face ofAsklepios, imploring him to be gracious to the imperial youth, andrelease him from the pain but for which he might have been humane andbeneficent, the stony features seemed to live before her eyes, and themajesty and dignity that beamed on the brow assured her that the god'spower and wisdom were great enough to heal every disease. The tendersmile which played on his features filled her soul with the certaintythat he would vouchsafe to be gracious; nay, she could believe that hemoved those marble lips and promised to grant her prayer. And when sheturned to the statue of Hygeia she fancied the beautiful, kind facenodded to her with a pledge of fulfillment. 

She raised her beseeching arms higher still, and addressed hersculptured friends aloud, as though they could hear her:

"I know that nothing is hidden from you, eternal gods, " she began, "andwhen it was your will that my mother should be taken from me my foolishheart rebelled. But I was then a child without understanding, and mysoul lay as it were asleep. Now it is different. You know that I havelearned to love a man; and many things, and, the certainty that the godsare good, have come to me with that love. Forgive the maid the sins ofthe child, and make my lover whole, as he lies under the protection andin the sanctuary of the great Serapis, still needing your aid too. Heis mending, and the greatest of thy ministers, O Asklepios, says he willrecover, so it must be true. Yet without thee even the skill of Galenusis of little avail; wherefore I beseech you both, Heal Diodoros, whomI love!--But I would fain entreat you for another. You will wonder, perhaps--for it is Bassianus Antoninus, whom they call Caracalla andCaesar. 

"Thou, Asklepios, dost look in amazement, and great Hygeia shakes herhead. And it is hard to say what moves me, who love another, to pray forthe blood-stained murderer for whom not another soul in his empire wouldsay a word to you. Nay, and I know not what it is. Perhaps it is butpity; for he, who ought to be the happiest, is surely the most wretchedman under the sun. O great Asklepios, O bountiful and gracious Hygeia, ease his sufferings, which are indeed beyond endurance! Nor shallyou lack an offering. I will dedicate a cock to you; and as the cockannounces a new day, so perchance shall you grant to Caracalla the dawnof a new existence in better health. 

"Alas, gracious god! but thou art grave, as though the offering were toosmall. How gladly would I bring a goat, but I know not whether my moneywill suffice, for it is only what I have saved. By and by, when theyouth I love is my husband, I will prove my gratitude; for he is as richas he is handsome and kind, and will, I know, refuse me nothing. Andthou, sweet goddess, dost not look down upon me as graciously as before;I fear thou art angry. Yet think not"--and she gave a low laugh--"thatI pray for Caracalla because I care for him, or am in love with him. No, no, no, no! my heart is wholly given to Diodoros, and not the smallestpart of it to any other. It is Caesar's misery alone that brings mehither. Sooner would I kiss one of those serpents or a thorny hedgehogthan him, the fratricide in the purple. Believe me, it is true, strangeas it must seem. 

"First and last, I pray and offer sacrifice indeed for Diodoros andhis recovery. My brother Alexander, too, who is in danger, I would faincommend to you; but he is well in body, and your remedies are of noeffect against the perils which threaten him. "

Here she ceased, and gazed into the faces of the statues, but they wouldnot look so friendly as before. It was, no doubt, the smallness ofher offering that had offended them. She anxiously drew out her littlemoney-bag and counted the contents. But when, after waking the priest, she had asked how much a goat might cost for sacrifice, her countenancecleared, for her savings were enough to pay for it and for a young cockas well. All she had she left with the old man, to the last sesterce;but she could only wait to see the cock sacrificed, for she felt shemust go home. 

As soon as the blood of the bird had besprinkled the altar, and she hadtold the divinities that a goat was also to be killed, she fancied thatthey looked at her more kindly; and she was turning to the door, aslight and gay as if she had happily done some difficult task, when thecurtain screening off the library of archives was lifted, and a man cameout calling her by name. She turned round; but as soon as she saw thathe was a Roman, and, as his white toga told her, of the upper class, she took fright. She hastily exclaimed that she was in a hurry, and flewdown the steps, through the garden, and into the road. Once there, shereproached herself for foolish shyness of a stranger who was scarcelyyounger than her own father; but by the time she had gone a few stepsshe had forgotten the incident, and was rehearsing in her mind all shehad to tell Heron. She soon saw the tops of the palms and sycamores intheir own garden, her faithful old dog Melas barked with delight, andthe happiness which the meeting with the stranger had for a momentinterrupted revived with unchecked glow. 

She was weary, and where could she rest so well as at home? She hadescaped many perils, and where could she feel so safe as under herfather's roof? Glad as she was at the prospect of her new and handsomehome on the other side of the lake, and of all the delights promisedher by Diodoros's affection, her heart still clung fondly to the pretty, neat little dwelling whose low roof now gleamed in front of her. Inthe garden, whose shell-strewn paths she now trod, she had played as achild; that window belonged to the room where her mother had died. Andthen, coming home was in itself a joy, when she had so much to tell thatwas pleasant. 

The dog leaped along by her side with vehement affection, jumping roundher and on her, and she heard the starling's cry, first "Olympias!" andthen "My strength!"

A happy smile parted her rosy lips as she glanced at the work-room; butthe two white teeth which always gleamed when she was gay were presentlyhidden, for her father, it would seem, was out. He was certainly not atwork, for the wide window was unscreened, and it was now nearly noon. He was almost always within at this hour, and it would spoil half hergladness not to find him there. 

But what was this? What could this mean? The dog had announced herapproach, and old Dido's gray head peeped out of the house-door, tovanish again at once. How strangely she had looked at her--exactlyas she had looked that day when the physician had told the faithfulcreature that her mistress's last hour was at hand!

Melissa's contentment was gone. Before she even crossed the threshold, where the friendly word "Rejoice" greeted her in brown mosaic, shecalled the old woman by name. No answer. 

She went into the kitchen to find Dido; for she, according to herinvariable habit of postponing evil as long as possible, had fled to thehearth. There she stood, though the fire was out, weeping bitterly, andcovering her wrinkled face with her hands, as though she quailed beforethe eyes of the girl she must so deeply grieve. One glance at the woman, and the tears which trickled through her fingers and down her leanarms told Melissa that something dreadful had happened. Very pale, andclasping her hand to her heaving bosom, she desired to be told all; butfor some time Dido was quite unable to speak intelligibly. And beforeshe could make up her mind to it, she looked anxiously for Argutis, whomshe held to be the wisest of mankind, and who, she knew, would revealthe dreadful thing that must be told more judiciously than she could. But the Gaul was not to be seen; so Dido, interrupted by sobs, began themelancholy tale. 

Heron had come home between midnight and sunrise and had gone to bed. Next morning, while he was feeding the birds, Zminis, the captain of thenight-watch, had come in with some men-at-arms, and had tried to takethe artist prisoner in Caesar's name. On this, Heron had raved likea bull, had appealed to his Macedonian birth, his rights as a Romancitizen, and much besides, and demanded to know of what he was accused. He was then informed that he was to be held in captivity by the specialorders of the head of the police, till his son Alexander, who was guiltyof high-treason, should surrender to the authorities. But her master, said Dido, sobbing, had knocked down the man who had tried to bind himwith a mighty blow of his fist. At last there was a fearful uproar, andin fact a bloody fight. The starling shouted his cry through it all, thebirds fluttered and piped with terror, and it was like the abode of thedamned in the nether world; and strangers came crowding about the house, till Skopas arrived and advised Heron to go with the Egyptian. 

"But even at the door, " Dido added, "he called out to me that you, Melissa, could remain with Polybius till he should recover his liberty. Philip was to appeal for help to the prefect Titianus, and offer him thegems--you know them, he said. And, last of all, " and again she began tocry, "he especially commended to my care the tomb--and the birds; andthe starling wants some fresh mealworms. " Melissa heard with dismay; thecolor had faded from her cheeks, and as Dido ended she asked gloomily:

"And Philip--and Alexander?"

"We have thought of everything, " replied the old woman. "As soon as wewere alone we held a council, Argutis and I. He went to find Alexander, and I went to Philip. I found him in his rooms. He had come home verylate, the porter said, and I saw him in bed, and I had trouble enough towake him. Then I told him all, and he went on in such mad talk--itwill be no wonder if the gods punish him. He wanted to rush off to theprefect, with his hair uncombed, just as he was. I had to bring him tohis senses; and then, while I was oiling his hair and helping him intohis best new mantle, he changed his mind, for he declared he would comehome first, to talk with you and Argutis. Argutis was at home again, buthe had not found Alexander, for the poor youth has to hide himself as ifhe were a murderer. " And again she sobbed; nor was it till Melissa hadsoothed her with kind speeches that she could go on with her story. 

Philip had learned yesterday where Alexander was concealed, so heundertook to go across the lake and inform him of what had occurred. But Argutis, faithful and prudent, had hindered him, representing thatAlexander, who was easily moved, as soon as he heard that his fatherwas a prisoner would unhesitatingly give himself up to his enemies as ahostage, and rush headlong into danger. Alexander must remain in hidingso long as Caesar was in Alexandria. He (Argutis) would go instead ofPhilip, who, for his part, might call on the prefect later. He wouldcross the lake and warn Melissa not to return home, and to tellAlexander what he might think necessary. The watch might possibly followArgutis; but he knew every lane and alley, and could mislead and avoidthem. Philip had listened to reason. The slave went, and must now soonbe back again. 

Of how different a home-coming had Melissa dreamed! What new andterrible griefs were these! Still, though distressed at the thought ofher vehement father in prison, she shed no tears, but told herselfthat matters could only be mended by rational action on behalf of thevictims, and not by lamentations. She must be alone, to collect herstrength and consider the situation. So she desired Dido, to her greatamazement, to prepare some food, and bring her wine and water. Then, seating herself, with a melancholy glance at her embroidery where it layfolded together, she rested her elbow on the table and her head in herhand, considering to whom she could appeal to save her father. 

First she thought of Caesar himself, whose eye had met hers, and forwhom she had prayed and offered sacrifice. But the blood fired hercheeks at the thought, and she repelled it at once. Yet her mind wouldlinger at the Serapeum, where her lover, too, still rested his feveredhead. She knew that the high-priests' spacious lodgings there, withtheir splendid rooms and banqueting halls, had been prepared for theemperor; and she remembered various things which her brother hadtold her of Timotheus, who was at the head not only of the heathenpriesthood, but also of the museum. He was said to be a philosopher, andPhilip had more than once been distinguished by him, and invited to hishouse. Her brother must apply to him. He, who was in a way Caracalla'shost, would easily succeed in obtaining her father's release, from hisimperial guest. 

Her grave face brightened at this thought, and, while she ate anddrank, another idea struck her. Alexander, too, must be known to thehigh-priest; for Timotheus was the brother of Seleukus, whose daughterthe artist had just painted, and Timotheus had seen the portrait andpraised it highly. Thus it was not improbable that the generous manwould, if Philip besought him, intercede for Alexander. So all mightturn out better than she had ventured to hope. 

Firmly convinced that it was her part to rescue her family, she oncemore reviewed in her mind every acquaintance to whom she might lookfor aid; but even during her meditations her tired frame asserted itsrights, and when Dido came in to remove the remains of the meal and theempty wine-cup, she found Melissa sunk in sleep. 

Shaking her head, and saying to herself that it served the old man rightfor his cruel treatment of a dutiful child--though, for Alexander'ssake, she might have tried to keep awake--the faithful soul pushed acushion under the girl's head, drew the screen across the window, andstood waving off the flies which buzzed about her darling's flushedface, till presently the dog barked, and an energetic knock shook thehouse-door. Melissa started from her slumbers, the old woman threw asidethe fan, and, as she hurried to admit the vehement visitor, cried out toMelissa:

"Be easy, dear child--be easy. It is nothing; depend upon that. I knowthe knock; it is only Philip. "

CHAPTER XIV. 

Dido was right. Heron's eldest son had returned from his errand. Tired, disappointed, and with fierce indignation in his eyes, he staggeredin like a drunken man who has been insulted in his cups; and, withoutgreeting her--as his mother had taught her children to greet even theirslaves--he merely asked in hoarse tones, "Is Melissa come in?"

"Yes, yes, " replied Dido, laying her finger to her lips. "You roused herfrom a nap. And what a state you are in! You must not let her see youso! It is very clear what news you bring. The prefect will not help us?"

"Help us!" echoed Philip, wrathfully. "In Alexandria a man may drownrather than another will risk wetting his feet. "

"Nay, it is not so bad as that, " said the old woman. "Alexander himselfhas burned his fingers for others many a time. Wait a minute. I willfetch you a draught of wine. There is some still in the kitchen; for ifyou appear before your sister in that plight--"

But Melissa had recognized her brother's voice, and, although Philip hadsmoothed his hair a little with his hands, one glance at his face showedher that his efforts had been vain. 

"Poor boy!" she said, when, in answer to her question as to what hisnews was, he had answered gloomily, "As bad as possible. "

She took his hand and led him into the work-room. There she reminded himthat she was giving him a new brother in Diodoros; and he embraced herfondly, and wished her and her betrothed every happiness. She thankedhim out of a full heart, while he swallowed his wine, and then shebegged him to tell her all he had done. 

He began, and, as she gazed at him, it struck her how little heresembled his father and brother, though he was no less tall, and hishead was shaped like theirs. But his frame, instead of showing theirstalwart build, was lean and weakly. His spine did not seem strongenough for his long body, and he never held himself upright. His headwas always bent forward, as if he were watching or seeking something;and even when he had seated himself in his father's place at thework-table to tell his tale, his hands and feet, even the muscles of hiswell-formed but colorless face, were in constant movement. He would jumpup, or throw back his head to shake his long hair off his face, and hisfine, large, dark eyes glowed with wrathful fires. 

"I received my first repulse from the prefect, " he began, and as hespoke, his arms, on whose graceful use the Greeks so strongly insisted, flew up in the air as though by their own impulse rather than by thespeaker's will. 

"Titianus affects the philosopher, because when he was young--long ago, that is very certain--his feet trod the Stoa. "

"Your master, Xanthos, said that he was a very sound philosopher, "Melissa put in. 

"Such praise is to be had cheap, " said Philip, "by the most influentialman in the town. But his methods are old-fashioned. He crawls afterZeno; he submits to authority, and requires more independent spirits todo the same. To him the divinity is the Great First Cause. In this worldof ours he can discern the working of a purposeful will, and confuseshis mind with windy, worn-out ideals. Virtue, he says--but to what endrepeat such stale old stuff?"

"We have no time for it, " said Melissa, who saw that Philip was on thepoint of losing himself in a philosophical dissertation, for he hadbegun to enjoy the sound of his own voice, which was, in fact, unusuallymusical. 

"Why not?" he exclaimed, shrugging his shoulders, and with a bittersmile. "When he has shot away all his arrows, the bowman may rest; and, as you will soon hear, our quiver is empty--as empty as this cup which Ihave drained. "

"No, no!" exclaimed Melissa, eagerly. "If this first attempt has failed, that is the very reason for planning another. I, too, can use figures ofspeech. The archer who is really eager to hit the object on which he hasspent his arrows, does not retire from the fight, but fetches more; andif he can find none, he fights with his bow, or falls on the enemy withstones, fists, and teeth. "

Philip looked at her in astonishment, and exclaimed in pleased surprise, without any of the supercilious scorn which he commonly infused into histone when addressing his humble sister:

"Listen to our little girl! Where did those gentle eyes get thatdetermined flash? From misfortune--from misfortune! They rob the gentledove of her young--I mean her splendid Alexander--and lo, she becomesa valiant falcon! I expected to find you a heart-broken lamb, over yourtear-stained stitching, and behold it is you who try to fire me. Well, then, tell me what arrows we have left, when you have heard me out. But, before I proceed, is Argutis at home again? No? He must go across again, to take various things to Alexander--linen, garments, and the like. Imet Glaukias the sculptor, and he begged me not to forget it; for heknows where the lad is hidden, and was on the point of going over tosee him. The man had made himself perfectly unrecognizable. He is a truefriend, if such a thing there be! And how grieved he was to hear of myfather's ill fortune! I believe he is envious of Diodoros. "

Melissa shook a finger at him; but she turned pale, and curiouslyinquired whether her brother had remembered to warn Glaukias on noaccount to tell Alexander that it was in his power to release hisfather. 

Philip struck his brow, and, with a helpless fall of the mouth, whichwas usually so firmly set and ready to sneer, he exclaimed, like a boycaught in mischief: "That, that--I can not imagine how I forgot it, butI did not mention it. What strange absence of mind! But I can remedy itat once on the spot. Argutis--nay, I will go myself. "

He sprang up, and was on the point of carrying out his sudden purpose, but Melissa detained him. With a decisiveness which again amazed him, she desired him to remain; and while he paced the workroom with rapidstrides, heaping abuse on himself, now striking his breast, and nowpushing his fingers through his disordered hair, she made it clear tohim that he could not reach Alexander in time to prevent his knowingall, and that the only result of his visit would be to put the watch onthe track. Instead of raving and lamenting, he would do better to tellher whither he had been. 

First, he hastily began, he had gone to the prefect Titianus, who wasan elderly man of a noble family, many of whose members had ere nowoccupied the official residence of the prefect in Alexandria, and inother towns of Egypt. He had often met Philip at the disputations hewas wont to attend in the Museum, and had a great regard for him. Butof late Titianus had been out of health, and had kept his house. Hehad undergone some serious operation shortly before Caesar's arrival atAlexandria had been announced, and this had made it impossible for himto be present at the grand reception, or even to pay his respects toCaracalla. 

When Philip had sent in his name, Titianus had been very ready toreceive him; but while the philosopher was still waiting in theanteroom, wondering to find it so empty--for it was usually crowded withthe clients, petitioners, and friends of the most important man inthe province--a bustle had arisen behind him, and a tall man had beenushered in past him, whom he recognized as the senator on whose armCaracalla had leaned in the morning. This was the actor, whom the priestof Serapis had pointed out to Melissa as one of Caesar's most powerfulfavorites. From being a mere dancer he had risen in the course of a fewyears to the highest dignities. His name was Theocritus, and although hewas distinguished by great personal beauty and exceptional cleverness, his unbridled greed had made him hated, and he had proved equallyincompetent as a statesman and a general. 

As this man marched through the anteroom, he had glanced haughtily abouthim, and the look of contempt which fell on the philosopher probablyreflected on the small number of persons present, for at that hour theanterooms of Romans of rank were commonly thronged. Most visitors hadbeen dismissed, by reason of the prefect's illness, and many of theacquaintances and supplicants who were generally to be found here wereassembled in the imperial quarters, or in the rooms of the praetorianprefect and other powerful dignitaries in Caracalla's train. Titianushad failed to be present at the emperor's arrival, and keen courtiernoses smelled a fall, and judged it wise to keep out of the way of atottering power. 

Besides all this, the prefect's honesty was well known, and it wasstrongly suspected that he, as steward of all the taxes of this wealthyprovince, had been bold enough to reject a proposal made by Theocritusto embezzle the whole freight of a fleet loaded with corn for Rome, andcharge it to the account of army munitions. It was a fact that this baseproposal had been made and rejected only the evening before, and thescene of which Philip became the witness was the result of this refusal. 

Theocritus, to whom an audience was always indispensable, carefullyleft the curtains apart which divided the prefect's sick-room fromthe antechamber, and thus Philip was witness of the proceedings he nowdescribed to his sister. 

Titianus received his visitor, lying down, and yet his demeanor revealedthe self-possessed dignity of a high-born Roman, and the calm of a Stoicphilosopher. He listened unmoved to the courtier, who, after the usualformal greetings, took upon himself to overwhelm the older man with thebitterest accusations and reproaches. People allowed themselves totake strange liberties with Caesar in this town, Theocritus burst out;insolent jests passed from lip to lip. An epigram against his sacredperson had found its way into the Serapeum, his present residence--aninsult worthy of any punishment, even of death and crucifixion. 

When the prefect, with evident annoyance, but still quite calmly, desired to know what this extraordinary insult might be, Theocritusshowed that even in his high position he had preserved the accuratememory of the mime, and, half angry, but yet anxious to give full effectto the lines by voice and gesture, he explained that "some wretch hadfastened a rope to one of the doors of the sanctuary, and had writtenbelow it the blasphemous words:

 'Hail! For so welcome a guest never came to the sovereign of Hades. Who ever peopled his realm, Caesar, more freely than thou? Laurels refuse to grow green in the darksome abode of Serapis; Take, then, this rope for a gift, never more richly deserved. '"

"It is disgraceful!" exclaimed the prefect. 

"Your indignation is well founded. But the biting tongue of thefrivolous mixed races dwelling in this city is well known. They havetried it on me; and if, in this instance, any one is to blame, it is notI, the imprisoned prefect, but the chief and captain of the night-watch, whose business it is to guard Caesar's residence more strictly. "

At this Theocritus was furious, and poured out a flood of words, expatiating on the duties of a prefect as Caesar's representative inthe provinces. "His eye must be as omniscient as that of the all-seeingDeity. The better he knew the uproarious rabble over whom he ruled, the more evidently was it his duty to watch over Caesar's person asanxiously as a mother over her child, as a miser over his treasure. "

The high-sounding words flowed with dramatic emphasis, the sentimentalspeaker adding to their impressiveness by the action of his hands, tillit was more than the invalid could bear. With a pinched smile, he raisedhimself with difficulty, and interrupted Theocritus with the impatientexclamation, "Still the actor!"

"Yes, still!" retorted the favorite, in a hard voice. "You, however, have been even longer--what you have, indeed, been too long--Prefectof Egypt!" With an angry fling he threw the corner of his toga over hisshoulder, and, though his hand shook with rage, the pliant drapery fellin graceful folds over his athletic limbs. He turned his back on theprefect, and, with the air of a general who has just been crowned withlaurels, he stalked through the anteroom and past Philip once more. 

The philosopher had told his sister all this in a few sentences. He nowpaused in his walk to and fro to answer Melissa's question as to whetherthis upstart's influence were really great enough to turn so noble andworthy a man out of his office. 

"Can you ask?" said Philip. "Titianus had no doubts from the first;and what I heard in the Serapeum--but all in good time. The prefect wassorry for my father and Alexander, but ended by saying that hehimself needed an intercessor; for, if it were not to-day, at anyrate to-morrow, the actor would inveigle Caesar into signing hisdeath-warrant. "

"Impossible!" cried the girl, spreading out her hands in horror; butPhilip dropped into a seat, saying:

"Listen to the end. There was evidently nothing to be hoped for fromTitianus. He is, no doubt, a brave man, but there is a touch of theactor in him too. He is a Stoic; and where would be the point of that, if a man could not appear to look on approaching death as calmly as ontaking a bath?

"Titianus plays his part well. However, I next went to the Serapeum--itis a long way, and it was very hot in the sun--to ask for help from myold patron, the high-priest. Caesar is now his guest; and the prefect, too, had advised me to place my father's cause in his hands. "

Here Philip sprang up again, and rushed up and down, sometimes stoppingfor a moment in front of his sister while he went on with his story. 

Theocritus had long since reached the Serapeum in his swift chariot whenthe philosopher at last arrived there on foot. He was well known as afrequent visitor, and was shown at once into the hall of that part ofhis abode which Timotheus had reserved for himself when he had given upall the best rooms to his imperial visitor. 

The anteroom was crowded, and before he got any farther he heard thatthe favorite's accusations had already led to serious results, andrumors were rife concerning the luckless witticisms of some heedlessyouth, which would bring grief upon the peaceable citizens. But beforehe could ask what was meant, he was admitted to the high-priest's room. 

This was a marked favor on such a day as this, and the benevolence withwhich he was received by the head of the priesthood of the whole cityfilled him with good hopes of a successful issue. But hardly had Philipbegun to speak of his brother's misdemeanor, than Timotheus laid hishand on his bearded lips, as a hint to be cautious, and whispered in hisear, "Speak quickly and low, if you love your life!"

When Philip had hastily explained that Zminis had imprisoned his father, the old man started to his feet with a promptitude to which his majesticperson was unaccustomed, and pointed to a curtained doorway on one sideof the room. 

"Through that door, " he whispered, "you will reach the western steps, and the passage leading out of the precincts to the stadium. You areknown to the Romans in the anteroom. It is not the god to whom thisbuilding is dedicated who now rules within these walls. Your brother'srash words are repeated everywhere, and have even come to Caesar'sknowledge; and he has been told that it was the same traitor--who hasfor the moment escaped Zminis and his men--who nailed a rope on one ofour doors, and with it an audacious inscription. To speak a single wordin behalf of Alexander or your father would be to fling myself into thefire without putting it out. You do not know how fiercely it is burning. Theocritus is feeding the flame, for he needs it to destroy the prefect. Now, not another word; and, come what may, so long as the Roman visitorsdwell under this roof, beware of it!"

And the high-priest opened the door with his own hand. 

"I hurried home, " Philip added, "and if I forgot, in my dismay at thisfresh disaster, to warn Glaukias to be careful--But, no, no! It isunpardonable!--Alexander is by this time crossing the lake, perhaps. Iam like Caracalla--my brother's murderer!"

But Melissa laid her arm on his shoulder and besought the poor fellowto be comforted; and her loving words of excuse seemed to have some goodeffect. But why was he always so reserved? Why could not Philip be asfrank with her as Alexander was? She had never been very near to him;and now he was concealing from her something which moved him deeply. 

She turned away sadly, for she could not even comfort him. But thenagain Philip sighed from the bottom of his heart, and she could containher self no longer. More tenderly than she had ever addressed himbefore, she besought her brother to open his heart to her. She wouldgladly help him to endure what oppressed him; and she could understand, for she herself had learned what the joys and sorrows of love were. 

She had found the right clew. Philip nodded, and answered gloomily:

"Well, then, listen. It may do me good to speak. " And thereupon he beganto tell her what she had already heard from Alexander; and, covering hertingling cheeks with her hands, she listened with breathless attention, not missing a word, though the question rose to her mind again and againwhether she should tell him the whole truth, which he as yet could notknow, or whether it would be better to spare his already burdened soul. 

He described his love in glowing colors. Korinna's heart, he said, musthave gone forth to him; for, at their last meeting on the northern shoreof the lake, her hand had rested in his while he helped her out of theboat; he could still feel the touch of her fingers. Nor had the meetingbeen pure accident, for he had since seen and recognized the presence onearth of her departed soul in her apparently living form. And she, too, with the subtle senses of a disembodied spirit, must have had a yearningtowards him, for she had perceived all the depth and fervor of hispassion. Alexander had given him this certainty; for when he had seenKorinna by the lake, her soul had long since abandoned its earthlytenement. Before that, her mortal part was already beyond his reach; andyet he was happy, for the spirit was not lost to him. Only last nightmagic forces had brought her before him--his father, too, had beenpresent, and no deception was possible. He had gone to bed in rapturousexcitement, full of delicious hopes, and Korinna had at once appearedto him in a dream, so lovely, so kind, and at the same time so subtle avision, ready to follow him in his thoughts and strivings. But just ashe had heard a full assurance of her love from her own lips, and wasasking her by what name he should call her when the craving to see heragain should wax strong in him, old Dido had waked him, to cast him outof elysium into the deepest earthly woes. 

But, he added--and he drew himself up proudly--he should soon possessthe Magian's art, for there was no kind of learning he could not master;even as a boy he had proved that to his teachers. He, whose knowledgehad but yesterday culminated in the assurance that it was impossible toknow anything, could now assert with positive conviction, that the humansoul could exist apart from the matter it had animated. He had thusgained that fixed footing outside the earth which Archimedes haddemanded to enable him to move it; and he should soon be able to exerthis power over departed souls, whose nature he now understood as wellas--ay, and better than--Serapion. Korinna's obedient spirit would helphim, and when once he should succeed in commanding the souls of thedead, as their master, and in keeping them at hand among the living, anew era of happiness would begin, not only for him and his father, butfor every one who had lost one dear to him by death. 

But here Melissa interrupted his eager and confident speech. She hadlistened with increasing uneasiness to the youth who, as she knew, hadbeen cheated. At first she thought it would be cruel to destroy hisbright illusions. He should at least in this be happy, till the anguishof having thoughtlessly betrayed his brother to ruin should be a thingof the past! But when she perceived that he purposed involving hisfather in the Magian's snares by calling up his mother's Manes, shecould no longer be silent, and she broke out with indignant warning:"Leave my father alone, Philip! For all you saw at the Magian's was meretrickery. "

"Gently, child, " said the philosopher, in a superior tone. "I was ofexactly the same opinion till after sundown yesterday. You know that thetendency of the school of philosophy to which I belong insists, aboveall, on a suspension of judgment; but if there is one thing which may beasserted with any dogmatic certainty--"

But Melissa would hear no more. She briefly but clearly explained to himwho the maiden was whose hand he had held by the lake, and whom he hadseen again at Serapion's house; and as she went on his interruptionsbecame fewer. She did her utmost, with growing zeal, to destroy hisluckless dream; but when the blood faded altogether from his colorlesscheeks, and he clasped his hand over his brow as if to control somephysical suffering, she recovered her self-command; the beautiful fearof a woman's heart of ever giving useless pain, made her withhold fromPhilip what remained to be told of Agatha's meeting with Alexander. 

But, without this further revelation, Philip sat staring at the groundas if he were overwhelmed; and what hurt him so deeply was less thepainful sense of having been cheated by such coarse cunning, thanthe annihilation of the treasured hopes which he had founded on theexperiences of the past night. He felt as though a brutal foot hadtrampled down the promise of future joys on which he had counted; hissister's revelations had spoiled not merely his life on earth, but alleternity beyond the grave. Where hope ends despair steps in; and Philip, with reckless vehemence, flung himself, as it were, into its arms. Hiswas an excitable nature; he had never thought of any one but himself, but labored with egotistical zeal to cultivate his own mind and outdohis fellows in the competition for learning. The sullen words in whichhe called himself the most wretched man on earth, and the victim of theblackest ill-fortune, fell from his lips like stones. He rudely repelledhis sister's encouraging words, like a sick child whose pain is thegreater for being pitied, till at last she appealed to his sense ofduty, reminding him that something must be done to rescue her father andAlexander. 

"They also! They also!" he cried. "It falls on us all. Blind Fate drivesus all, innocent as we are, to death and despair, like the Tantalides. What sin have you committed, gentle, patient child; or our father, orour happy-hearted and gifted brother; or I--I myself? Have those whomwe call the rulers of the universe the right to punish me because I makeuse of the inquiring spirit they have bestowed on me? Ah, and how wellthey know how to torture us! They hate me for my learning, and so theyturn my little errors to account to allow me to be cheated like a fool!They are said to be just, and they behave like a father who disinheritshis son because, as a man, he notes his parent's weakness. With tearsand anguish have I striven for truth and knowledge. There is not aprovince of thought whose deepest depths I have not tried to fathom;and when I recognized that it is not given to mortals to apprehend theessence of the divinity because the organs bestowed on us are too smalland feeble; when I refused to pronounce whether that which I can notapprehend exists or not, was that my fault, or theirs? There may bedivine forces which created and govern the universe; but never talk tome of their goodness, and reasonableness, and care for human creatures!Can a reasonable being, who cares for the happiness of another, strewthe place assigned to him to dwell in with snares and traps, or implantin his breast a hundred impulses of which the gratification only dragshim into an abyss? Is that Being my friend, who suffers me to be bornand to grow up, and leaves me tied to the martyr's stake, with very fewreal joys, and finally kills me, innocent or guilty, as surely as I amborn? If the divinity which is supposed to bestow on us a portion of thedivine essence in the form of reason were constituted as the crowdare taught to believe, there could be nothing on earth but wisdom andgoodness; but the majority are fools or wicked, and the good are liketall trees, which the lightning blasts rather than the creeping weed. Titianus falls before the dancer Theocritus, the noble Papinian beforethe murderer Caracalla, our splendid Alexander before such a wretch asZminis; and divine reason lets it all happen, and allows human reasonto proclaim the law. Happiness is for fools and knaves; for thosewho cherish and uphold reason--ay, reason, which is a part of thedivinity--persecution, misery, and despair. "

"Have done!" Melissa exclaimed. "Have the judgments of the immortals notfallen hardly enough on us? Would you provoke them to discharge theirfury in some more dreadful manner?"

At this the skeptic struck his breast with defiant pride, exclaiming:"I do not fear them, and dare to proclaim openly the conclusions ofmy thoughts. There are no gods! There is no rational guidance of theuniverse. It has arisen self-evolved, by chance; and if a god createdit, he laid down eternal laws and has left them to govern its coursewithout mercy or grace, and without troubling himself about the pulingof men who creep about on the face of the earth like the ants on that ofa pumpkin. And well for us that it should be so! Better a thousand timesis it to be the servant of an iron law, than the slave of a capriciousmaster who takes a malignant and envious pleasure in destroying thebest!"

"And this, you say, is the final outcome of your thoughts?" askedMelissa, shaking her head sadly. "Do you not perceive that such anoutbreak of mad despair is simply unworthy of your own wisdom, ofwhich the end and aim should be a passionless, calm, and immovablemoderation?"

"And do they show such moderation, " Philip gasped out, "who pour thepoison of misfortune in floods on one tortured heart?"

"Then you can accuse those whose existence you disbelieve in?" retortedMelissa with angry zeal. "Is this your much-belauded logic? What becomesof your dogmas, in the face of the first misfortune--dogmas which enjoina reserve of decisive judgment, that you may preserve your equanimity, and not overburden your soul, in addition to the misfortune itself, withthe conviction that something monstrous has befallen you? I remember howmuch that pleased me the first time I heard it. For your own sake--forthe sake of us all--cease this foolish raving, and do not merely callyourself a skeptic--be one; control the passion that is rending you. Forlove of me--for love of us all--"

And as she spoke she laid her hand on his shoulder, for he had sat downagain; and although he pushed her away with some petulance, she went onin a tone of gentle entreaty: "If we are not to be altogether too latein the field, let us consider the situation calmly. I am but a girl, andthis fresh disaster will fall more hardly on me than on you; for whatwould become of me without my father?"

"Life with him has at any rate taught you patient endurance, " herbrother broke in with a sullen shrug. 

"Yes, life, " she replied, firmly: "life, which shows us the right waybetter than all your books. Who can tell what may have detained Argutis?I wilt wait no longer. The sun will have set before long, and thisevening Caesar is to sup with Seleukus, the father of Korinna. I happento know it from Samonicus, who is one of the guests. Seleukus and hiswife have a great regard for Alexander, and will do for him all thatlies in their power. The lady Berenike, he told me, is a noble dame. Itshould be your part to entreat her help for our father and brother; butyou must not venture where Caesar is. So I will go, and I shall have norest till Korinna's mother listens to me and promises to aid us. "

At this Philip exclaimed, in horror: "What! you will dare to enter thehouse where Caracalla is feasting with the rabble he calls his friends?You, an inexperienced girl, young, beautiful, whose mere appearanceis enough to stir their evil passions? Sooner than allow that, I willmyself find my way into the house of Seleukus, and among the spies whosurround the tyrant. "

"That my father may lose another son, and I my only remaining brother?"Melissa observed, with grave composure. "Say no more, Philip. I amgoing, and you must wait for me here. "

The philosopher broke out at this in despotic wrath:

"What has come over you, that you have suddenly forgotten how to obey?But I insist; and rather than allow you to bring on us not troublemerely, but shame and disgrace, I will lock you into your room!"

He seized her hand to drag her into the adjoining room. She struggledwith all her might; but he was the stronger, and he had got her as faras the door, when the Gaul Argutis rushed, panting and breathless, into the work-room through the anteroom, calling out to the strugglingcouple:

"What are you doing? By all the gods, you have chosen the wrong time fora quarrel! Zminis is on the way hither to take you both prisoners; hewill be here in a minute! Fly into the kitchen, girl! Dido will hide youin the wood-store behind the hearth. -You, Philip, must squeeze into thehenhouse. Only be quick, or it will be too late!"

"Go!" cried Melissa to her brother. "Out through the kitchen window youcan get into the poultry-yard!"

She threw herself weeping into his arms, kissed him, and added, hastily: "Whatever happens to us, I shall risk all to save my father andAlexander. Farewell! The gods preserve us!"

She now seized Philip's wrist, as he had before grasped hers, to draghim away; but he freed himself, saying, with an indifference whichterrified her: "Then let the worst come. Ruin may take its course. Deathrather than dishonor!"

"Madman!" the slave could not help exclaiming; and the faithful fellow, though wont to obey, threw his arms round his master's son to drag himaway into the kitchen, while Philip pushed him off, saying:

"I will not hide, like a frightened woman!"

But the Gaul heard the approach of marching men, so, paying no furtherheed to the brother, he dragged Melissa into the kitchen, where old Didoundertook to hide her. 

Philip stood panting in the studio. Through the open window he could seethe pursuers coming nearer, and the instinct of self-preservation, whichasserts itself even in the strongest, prompted him to follow the slave'sadvice. But before he could reach the door, in fancy he saw himselfjoining the party of philosophers airing themselves under the arcades inthe great court of the Museum; he heard their laughter and their bitterjests at the skeptic, the independent thinker, who had sought refugeamong the fowls, who had been hauled out of the hen-house; and thispicture confirmed his determination to yield to force rather than bringon himself the curse of ridicule. But at the same time other reasonsfor submitting to his fate suggested themselves unbidden--reasons moreworthy of his position, of the whole course and aim of his thoughts, andof the sorrow which weighed upon his soul. It beseemed him as a skepticto endure the worst with equanimity; under all circumstances he likedto be in the right, and he would fain have called out to his sister thatthe cruel powers whose enmity he had incurred still persisted in drivinghim on to despair and death, worthy as he was of a better fate. 

A few minutes later Zminis came in, and put out his long lean arms toapprehend him in Caesar's name. Philip submitted, and not a muscle ofhis face moved. Once, indeed, a smile lighted it up, as he reflectedthat they would hardly have carried him off to prison if Alexander werealready in their power; but the smile gave way only too soon to gloomygravity when Zminis informed him that his brother, the traitor, had justgiven himself up to the chief of the night-watch, and was now safe underlock and ward. But his crime was so great that, according to the law ofEgypt, his nearest relations were to be seized and punished with him. Only his sister was now missing, but they would know how to find her. 

"Possibly, " Philip replied, coldly. "As justice is blind, Injustice hasno doubt all the sharper eyes. "

"Well said, " laughed the Egyptian. "A pinch of the salt which they giveyou at the Museum with your porridge--for nothing. "

Argutis had witnessed this scene; and when, half an hour later, the men-at-arms had left the house without discovering Melissa'shiding-place, he informed her that Alexander had, as they feared, givenhimself up of his own free-will to procure Heron's release; but thevillains had kept the son, without liberating the father. Both werenow in prison, loaded with chains. The slave had ended his tale someminutes, and Melissa still stood, pale and tearless, gazing on theground as though she were turned to stone; but suddenly she shivered, asif with the chill of fever, and looked up, out through the windows intothe garden, now dim in the twilight. The sun had set, night was falling, and again the words of the Christian preacher recurred to her mind: "Thefullness of the time is come. "

To her and hers a portion of life had come to an end, and a new one mustgrow out of it. Should the free-born race of Heron perish in captivityand death?

The evening star blazed out on the distant horizon, seeming to her asa sign from the gods; and she told herself that it must be her part, as the last of the family who remained free, to guard the others fromdestruction in this new life. 

The heavens were soon blazing with stars. The banquet in Seleukus'shouse, at which Caesar was to appear, would begin in an hour. Irresolution and delay would ruin all; so she drew herself up resolutelyand called to Argutis, who had watched her with faithful sympathy:

"Take my father's blue cloak, Argutis, to make you more dignified; anddisguise yourself, for you must escort me, and we may be followed. You, Dido, come and help me. Take my new dress, that I wore at the Feastof Adonis, out of my trunk; and with it you will see my mother's bluefillet with the gems. My father used to say I should first wear it at mywedding, but--Well, you must bind my hair with it to-night. I am goingto a grand house, where no one will be admitted who does not look worthyof people of mark. But take off the jewel; a supplicant should make nodisplay. "

CHAPTER XV. 

Nothing delighted old Dido more than to dress the daughter of herbeloved mistress in all her best, for she had helped to bring her up;but to-day it was a cruel task; tears dimmed her old eyes. It was nottill she had put the finishing touches to braiding the girl's abundantbrown hair, pinned her peplos on the shoulders with brooches, and setthe girdle straight, that her face cleared, as she looked at the result. Never had she seen her darling look so fair. Nothing, indeed, remainedof the child-like timidity and patient submissiveness which had touchedDido only two days since, as she plaited Melissa's hair. The maiden'sbrow was grave and thoughtful, the lips firmly set; but she seemed toDido to have grown, and to have gained something of her mother's maturedignity. She looked, the old woman told her, like the image of PallasAthene; adding, to make her smile, that if she wanted an owl, she, Dido, could fill the part. Jesting had never been the old woman's strongpoint, and to-day it was less easy than ever; for, if the worst befell, and she were sent in her old age to a strange house--and Argutis, nodoubt, to another--she would have to turn the handmill for the rest ofher days. 

But it was a hard task which the motherless--and now fatherless--girlhad set herself, and she must try to cheer her darling. While she wasdressing her, she never ceased praying to all the gods and goddesses shecould think of to come to the maiden's aid and move the souls of thosewho could help her. And though she was, as a rule, ready to expect theworst, this time she hoped for the best; for Seleukus's wife must have aheart of stone if she could close it to such innocence, such beauty, andthe pathetic glance of those large, imploring eyes. 

When at length Melissa quitted the house, deeply veiled, with Argutis toescort her, she took his arm; and he, wearing his master's mantle, andexempted long since from keeping his hair cropped, was so proud of thisthat he walked with all the dignity of a freeman, and no one could haveguessed that he was a slave. Melissa's face was completely hidden, and she, like her companion, was safe from recognition. Argutis, nevertheless, led her through the quietest and darkest lanes to theKanopic way. Both were silent, and looked straight before them. Melissa, as she walked on, could not think with her usual calm. Like a sufferingman who goes to the physician's house to die or be cured by the knife, she felt that she was on her way to something terrible in itself, to remedy, if possible, something still more dreadful. Herfather--Alexander, so reckless and so good-hearted--Philip, whom shepitied--and her sick lover, came in turn before her fancy. But she couldnot control her mind to dwell on either for long. Nor could she, asusual, when she had any serious purpose in hand, put up a prayer to hermother's manes or the immortals; and all the while an inner voice madeitself heard, confidently promising her that Caesar, for whom shehad sacrificed, and who might be kinder and more merciful than othersfancied, would at once grant all she should ask. But she would notlisten; and when she nevertheless ventured to consider how she couldmake her way into Caesar's presence, a cold shiver ran down her back, and again Philip's last words sounded in her ears, "Death rather thandishonor!"

Other thoughts and feelings filled the slave's soul. He, who had alwayswatched over his master's children with far more anxious care thanHeron himself, had not said a word to dissuade Melissa from her perilousexpedition. Her plan had, indeed, seemed to him the only one whichpromised any success. He was a man of sixty years, and a shrewd fellow, who might easily have found a better master than Heron had been; buthe gave not a thought to his own prospects--only to Melissa's, whomhe loved as a child of his own. She had placed herself under hisprotection, and he felt responsible for her fate. Thus he regarded it asgreat good fortune that he could be of use in procuring her admissionto the house of Seleukus, for the door-keeper was a fellow-countrymanof his, whom Fate had brought hither from the banks of the Moselle. Atevery festival, which secured a few hours' liberty to all the slaves, they had for years been boon companions, and Argutis knew that hisfriend would do for him and his young mistress all that lay in hispower. It would, of course, be difficult to get an audience of themistress of a house where Caesar was a guest, but the door-keeper wasclever and ingenious, and would do anything short of the impossible. 

So he walked with his head high and his heart full of pride, and itconfirmed his courage when one of Zminis's men, whom they passed inthe brightly illuminated Kanopic street, and who had helped to securePhilip, looked at him without recognizing him. 

There was a great stir in this, the handsomest road through the city. The people were waiting for Caesar; but stricter order was observed thanon the occasion of his arrival. The guard prohibited all traffic on thesouthern side of the way, and only allowed the citizens to walk up anddown the footpath, shaded by trees, between the two roadways paved withgranite flags, and the arcades in front of the houses on either side. The free inhabitants, unaccustomed to such restrictions, revengedthemselves by cutting witticisms at Caesar's expense, "for clearing thestreets of Alexandria by his men-at-arms as he did those of Rome by theexecutioner. He seemed to have forgotten, as he kept the two roadsopen, that he only needed one, now that he had murdered his brother andpartner. "

Melissa and her companion were ordered to join the crowd on the footway;but Argutis managed to convince a man on guard that they were two of themimes who were to perform before Caesar--the door-keeper at the house ofSeleukus would confirm the fact--and the official himself made way forthem into the vestibule of this splendid dwelling. 

But Melissa was as little in the humor to admire all the lavishmagnificence which surrounded her as Alexander had been a few dayssince. Still veiled, she modestly took a place among the choir who stoodon each side of the hall ready to welcome Caesar with singing andmusic. Argutis stopped to speak with his friend. She dimly felt that thewhispering and giggling all about her was at her expense; and when anelderly, man, the choir-master, asked her what she wanted, and desiredher to remove her veil, she obeyed at once, saying: "Pray let me standhere, the Lady Berenike will send for me. "

"Very well, " replied the musician; and he silenced the singers, who werehazarding various impertinent guesses as to the arrival of so pretty agirl just when Caesar was expected. 

As Melissa dropped her veil the splendor of the scene, lighted up bynumberless tapers and lamps, forced itself on her attention. She nowperceived that the porphyry columns of the great hall were wreathed withflowers, and that garlands swung in graceful curves from the open roof;while at the farther end, statues had been placed of Septimus Severusand Julia Domna, Caracalla's parents. On each side of these works ofart stood bowers of plants, in which gay-plumaged birds were flutteringabout, excited by the lights. But all these glories swam before hereyes, and the first question which the artist's daughter was wont to askherself, "is it really beautiful or no?" never occurred to her mind. Shedid not even notice the smell of incense, until some fresh powder wasthrown on, and it became oppressive. 

She was fully conscious only of two facts, when at last Argutisreturned: that she was the object of much curious examination and thatevery one was wondering what detained Caesar so long. 

At last, after she had waited many long minutes, the door-keeperapproached her with a young woman in a rich but simple dress, in whomshe recognized Johanna, the Christian waiting-maid of whom Alexander hadspoken. She did not speak, but beckoned her to come. 

Breathing anxiously, and bending her head low, Melissa, following herguide, reached a handsome impluvium, where a fountain played in themidst of a bed of roses. Here the moon and starlight mingled with thatof lamps without number, and the ruddy glare of a blaze; for all roundthe basin, from which the playing waters danced skyward, stood marblegenii, carrying in their hands or on their heads silver dishes, in whichthe leaping flames consumed cedar chips and aromatic resins. 

At the back of this court, where it was as light as day, at the top ofthree steps, stood the statues of Alexander the Great and Caracalla. They were of equal size; and the artist, who had wrought the second ingreat haste out of the slightest materials, had been enjoined to makeCaesar as like as possible in every respect to the hero he most revered. Thus they looked like brothers. The figures were lighted up by the fireswhich burned on two altars of ivory and gold. Beautiful boys, dressed asarmed Erotes, fed the flames. 

The whole effect was magical and bewildering; but, as she followed herguide, Melissa only felt that she was in the midst of a new world, suchas she might perhaps have seen in a dream; till, as they passed thefountain, the cool drops sprinkled her face. 

Then she suddenly remembered what had brought her hither. In aminute she must appear as a supplicant in the presence of Korinna'smother--perhaps even in that of Caesar himself--and the fate of all dearto her depended on her demeanor. The sense of fulfilling a serious dutywas uppermost in her mind. She drew herself up, and replaced a straylock of hair; and her heart beat almost to bursting as she saw a numberof, men standing on the platform at the top of the steps, round a ladywho had just risen from her ivory seat. Giving her hand to a Romansenator, distinguished by the purple edge to his toga, she descended thesteps, and advanced to meet Melissa. 

This dignified matron, who was awaiting the ruler of the world and yetcould condescend to come forward to meet a humble artist's daughter, was taller by half a head than her illustrious companion; and the fewminutes during which Berenike was coming toward her were enough to fillMelissa with thankfulness, confidence, and admiration. And even in thatshort time, as she gazed at the magnificent dress of blue brocade shotwith gold and sparkling with precious stones which draped the lady'smajestic figure, she thought how keen a pang it must cost the mother, so lately bereft of her only child, to maintain a kindly, nay, a genialaspect, in the midst of this display, toward Caesar and a troop of noisyguests. 

The sincerest pity for this woman, rich and preeminent as she was, filled the soul of the girl, who herself was so much to be pitied. Butwhen the lady had come up to her, and asked, in her deep voice, whatwas the danger that threatened her brother, Melissa, with unembarrassedgrace, and although it was the first time she had ever addressed a ladyof such high degree, answered simply, with a full sense of the businessin hand:

"My name is Melissa; I am the sister of Alexander the painter. I knowit is overbold to venture into your presence just now, when you haveso much else to think of; but I saw no other way of saving my brother'slife, which is in peril. "

At this Berenike seemed surprised. She turned to her companion, who washer sister's husband, and the first Egyptian who had been admitted tothe Roman Senate, and said, in a tone of gentle reproach:

"Did not I say so, Coeranus? Nothing but the most urgent need would havebrought Alexander's sister to speak with me at such an hour. "

And the senator, whose black eyes had rested with pleasure on Melissa'srare beauty, promptly replied, "And if she had come for the veriesttrifle she would be no less welcome to me. "

"Let me hear no more of such speeches, " Berenike exclaimed with someannoyance. --"Now, my child, be quick. What about your brother?"

Melissa briefly and truthfully reported Alexander's heedless crime andthe results to her father and Philip. She ended by beseeching the noblelady with fervent pathos to intercede for her father and brothers. 

Meanwhile the senator's keen face had darkened, and the lady Berenike'slarge eyes, too, were downcast. She evidently found it hard to come toa decision; and for the moment she was relieved of the necessity, forrunners came hurrying up, and the senator hastily desired Melissa tostand aside. 

He whispered to his sister-in-law:

"It will never do to spoil Caesar's good-humor under your roof for thesake of such people, " and Berenike had only time to reply, "I am notafraid of him, " when the messenger explained to her that Caesar himselfwas prevented from coming, but that his representatives, charged withhis apologies, were close at hand. 

On this Coeranus exclaimed, with a sour smile: "Admit that I am a trueprophet! You have to put up with the same treatment that we senatorshave often suffered under. "

But the matron scarcely heard him. She cast her eyes up to heaven withsincere thanksgiving as she murmured with a sigh of relief, "For thismercy the gods be praised!"

She unclasped her hands from her heaving bosom, and said to the stewardwho had followed the messengers:

"Caesar will not be present. Inform your lord, but so that no one elsemay hear. He must come here and receive the imperial representativeswith me. Then have my couch quietly removed and the banquet served atonce. O Coeranus, you can not imagine the misery I am thus spared!"

"Berenike!" said the senator, in a warning voice, and he laid his fingeron his lips. Then turning to the young supplicant, he said to her in atone of regret: "So your walk is for nothing, fair maid. If you are assensible as you are pretty, you will understand that it is too much toask any one to stand between the lion and the prey which has roused hisire. "

The lady, however, did not heed the caution which her brother-in-lawintended to convey. As Melissa's imploring eyes met her own, she said, with clear decision:

"Wait here. We shall see who it is that Caesar sends. I know better thanmy lord here what it is to see those dear to us in peril. How old areyou, child?"

"Eighteen, " replied Melissa. 

"Eighteen?" repeated Berenike, as if the word were a pain to her, forher daughter had been just of that age. Then she said, louder and withencouraging kindness:

"All that lies in my power shall be done for you and yours. --And you, Coeranus, must help me. "

"If I can, " he replied, "with all the zeal of my reverence for you andmy admiration for beauty. But here come the envoys. The elder, I see, isour learned Philostratus, whose works are known to you; the younger isTheocritus, the favorite of fortune of whom I was telling you. If thecharm of that face might but conquer the omnipotent youth--"

"Coeranus!" she exclaimed, with stern reproof; but she failed to hearthe senator's excuses, for her husband, Seleukus, followed her down thesteps, and with a hasty sign to her, advanced to meet his guests. 

Theocritus was spokesman, and notwithstanding the mourning toga whichwrapped him in fine folds, his gestures did not belie his origin as anactor and dancer. When Seleukus presented him to his wife, Theocritusassured her that when, but an hour since, his sovereign lord, who wasalready dressed and wreathed for the banquet, had learned that the godshad bereft of their only child the couple whose hospitality had promisedhim such a delightful evening, he had been equally shocked and grieved. Caesar was deeply distressed at the unfortunate circumstance that heshould have happened in his ignorance to intrude on the seclusion whichwas the prerogative of grief. He begged to assure her and her husband ofthe high favor of the ruler of the world. As for himself, Theocritus, he would not fail to describe the splendor with which they had decoratedtheir princely residence in Caesar's honor. His imperial master would betouched, indeed, to hear that even the bereaved mother, who, like Niobe, mourned for her offspring, had broken the stony spell which held her toSipylos, and had decked herself to receive the greatest of all earthlyguests as radiant as Juno at the golden table of the gods. 

The lady succeeded in controlling herself and listening to the end ofthese pompous phrases without interrupting the speaker. Every word whichflowed so glibly from his tongue fell on her ear as bitter mockery; andhe himself was so repugnant to her, that she felt it a release when, after exchanging a few words with the master of the house, he beggedleave to retire, as important business called him away. And this, indeed, was the truth. For no consideration would he have left this dutyto another, for it was to communicate to Titianus, who had offended him, the intelligence that Caesar had deprived him of the office of prefect, and intended to examine into certain complaints of his administration. 

The second envoy, however, remained, though he refused Seleukus'sinvitation to fill his place at the banquet. He exchanged a few wordswith the lady Berenike, and presently found himself taken aside bythe senator, and, after a short explanation, led up to Melissa, whom Coeranus desired to appeal for help to Philostratus, the famousphilosopher, who enjoyed Caesar's closest confidence. 

Coeranus then obeyed a sign from Berenike, who wished to know whetherhe would be answerable for introducing this rarely pretty girl, who hadplaced herself under their protection--and whom she, for her part, meantto protect--to a courtier of whom she knew nothing but that he was awriter of taste. 

The question seemed to amuse Coeranus, but, seeing that hissister-in-law was very much in earnest, he dropped his flippant toneand admitted that Philostratus, as a young man, had been one of thelast with whom he would trust a girl. His far-famed letters sufficientlyproved that the witty philosopher had been a devoted and successfulcourtier of women. But that was all a thing of the past. He still, nodoubt, did homage to female beauty, but he led a regular life, and hadbecome one of the most ardent and earnest upholders of religion andvirtue. He was one of the learned circle which gathered round JuliaDomna, and it was by her desire that he had accompanied Caracalla, tokeep his mad passions in check when it might be possible. 

The conversation between Melissa and the philosopher had meanwhile takenan unexpected turn. At his very first address the reply had died on herlips, for in Caesar's representative she had recognized the Roman whomshe had seen in the Temple of Asklepios, and who had perhaps overheardher there. Philostratus, too, seemed to remember the meeting; for hisshrewd face--a pleasing mixture of grave and gay--lighted up at oncewith a subtle smile as he said:

"If I am not mistaken, I owe the same pleasure this evening to divineCaesar as to great Asklepios this morning?"

At this, Melissa cast a meaning glance at Coeranus and the lady, and, although surprise and alarm sealed her lips, her uplifted hands andwhole gesture sufficiently expressed her entreaty that he would notbetray her. He understood and obeyed. It pleased him to share a secretwith this fair child. He had, in fact, overheard her, and understoodwith amazement that she was praying fervently for Caesar. 

This stirred his curiosity to the highest pitch. So he said, in anundertone:

"All that I saw and heard in the temple is our secret, sweet maid. Butwhat on earth can have prompted you to pray so urgently for Caesar? Hashe done you or yours any great benefit?"

Melissa shook her head, and Philostratus went on with increasedcuriosity:

"Then are you one of those whose heart Eros can fire at the sight of animage, or the mere aspect of a man?"

To this she answered hastily:

"What an idea! No, no. Certainly not. "

"No?" said her new friend, with greater surprise. "Then perhaps yourhopeful young soul expects that, being still but a youth, he may, by thehelp of the gods, become, like Titus, a benefactor to the whole world?"

Melissa looked timidly at the matron, who was still talking with herbrother-in-law, and hastily replied:

"They all call him a murderer! But I know for certain that he suffersfearful torments of mind and body; and one who knows many things toldme that there was not one among all the millions whom Caesar governs whoever prays for him; and I was so sorry--I can not tell you--"

"And so, " interrupted the philosopher, "you thought it praiseworthy andpleasing to the gods that you should be the first and only one to offersacrifice for him, in secret, and of your own free will? That was how itcame about? Well, child, you need not be ashamed of it. "

But then suddenly his face clouded, and he asked, in a grave and alteredvoice:

"Are you a Christian?"

"No, " she replied, firmly. "We are Greeks. How could I have offered asacrifice of blood to Asklepios if I had believed in the crucified god?"

"Then, " said Philostratus, and his eyes flashed brightly, "I maypromise you, in the name of the gods, that your prayer and offering werepleasing in their eyes. I myself, noble girl, owe you a rare pleasure. But, tell me--how did you feel as you left the sanctuary?"

"Light-hearted, my lord, and content, " she answered, with a frank, glad look in her fine eyes. "I could have sung as I went down the road, though there were people about. "

"I should have liked to hear you, " he said, kindly, and he stillheld her hand, which he had grasped with the amiable geniality thatcharacterized him, when they were joined by the senator and hissister-in-law. 

"Has she won your good offices?" asked Coeranus; and Philostratusreplied, quickly, "Anything that it lies in my power to do for her shallcertainly be done. "

Berenike bade them both to join her in her own rooms, for everythingthat had to do with the banquet was odious to her; and as they went, Melissa told her new friend her brother's story. She ended it in thequiet sitting-room of the mistress of the house, an artistic but notsplendid apartment, adorned only with the choicest works of earlyAlexandrian art. Philostratus listened attentively, but, before shecould put her petition for help into words, he exclaimed:

"Then what we have to do is, to move Caesar to mercy, and that--Child, you know not what you ask!"

They were interrupted by a message from Seleukus, desiring Coeranus tojoin the other guests, and as soon as he had left them Berenike withdrewto take off the splendor she hated. She promised to return immediatelyand join their discussion, and Philostratus sat for a while lost inthought. Then he turned to Melissa and asked her:

"Would you for their sakes be able to make up your mind to face bitterhumiliation, nay, perhaps imminent danger?"

"Anything! I would give my life for them!" replied the girl, withspirit, and her eyes gleamed with such enthusiastic self-sacrifice thathis heart, though no longer young, warmed under their glow, and theprinciple to which he had sternly adhered since he had been near theimperial person, never to address a word to the sovereign but in reply, was blown to the winds. 

Holding her hand in his, with a keen look into her eyes, he went on:

"And if you were required to do a thing from which many a man even wouldrecoil--you would venture?"

And again the answer was a ready "Yes. " Philostratus released her hand, and said:

"Then we will dare the worst. I will smooth the way for you, andto-morrow--do not start--tomorrow you yourself, under my protection, shall appeal to Caesar. "

The color faded from the girl's cheeks, which had been flushed withfresh hopes, and her counselor had just expressed his wish to talk thematter over with the lady Berenike, when she came into the room. She wasnow dressed in mourning, and her pale, beautiful face showed the tracesof the tears she had just shed. The dark shadows which, when theysurround a woman's eyes, betray past storms of grief, as the halo roundthe moon--the eye of night--gives warning of storms to come, were deeperthan ever; and when her sorrowful gaze fell on Melissa, the girl felt analmost irresistible longing to throw herself into her arms and weep onher motherly bosom. 

Philostratus, too, was deeply touched by the appearance of this mother, who possessed so much, but for whom everything dearest to a woman'sheart had been destroyed by a cruel stroke of Fate. He was glad to beable to tell her that he hoped to soften Caesar. Still, his plan was abold one; Caracalla had been deeply offended by the scornful tone of theattacks on him, and Melissa's brother was perhaps the only one of thescoffers who had been taken. The crime of the Alexandrian wits could notbe left unpunished. For such a desperate case only desperate remediescould avail; he therefore ventured to propose to conduct Melissa intoCaesar's presence, that she might appeal to his clemency. 

The matron started as though a scorpion had stung her. In greatagitation, she threw her arm round the girl as if to shelter her fromimminent danger, and Melissa, seeking help, laid her head on that kindbreast. Berenike was reminded, by the scent that rose up from the girl'shair, of the hours when her own child had thus fondly clung to her. Her motherly heart had found a new object to love, and exclaiming, "Impossible!" she clasped Melissa more closely. 

But Philostratus begged to be heard. Any plea urged by a third person hedeclared would only be the ruin of the rash mediator. 

"Caracalla, " he went on, looking at Melissa, "is terrible in hispassions, no one can deny that; but of late severe suffering has madehim irritably sensitive, and he insists on the strictest virtue in allwho are about his person. He pays no heed to female beauty, and thissweet child, at any rate, will find many protectors. He shall know thatthe high-priest's wife, one of the best of women, keeps an anxious eyeon Melissa's fate; and I myself, his mother's friend, shall be at hand. His passion for revenge, on the other hand, is boundless--no one livingcan control it; and not even the noble Julia can shield those whoprovoke it from a cruel end. If you do not know it, child, I can tellyou that he had his brother Geta killed, though he took refuge in thearms of the mother who bore them both. You must understand the worst;and again I ask you, are you ready to risk all for those you love? Haveyou the courage to venture into the lion's den?"

Melissa clung more closely to the motherly woman, and her pale lipsanswered faintly but firmly, "I am ready, and he will grant my prayer. "

"Child, child, " cried Berenike in horror, "you know not what lies beforeyou! You are dazzled by the happy confidence of inexperienced youth. Iknow what life is. I can see you, in your heart's blood, as red and pureas the blood of a lamb! I see--Ah, child! you do not know death and itsterrible reality. "

"I know it!" Melissa broke in with feverish excitement. "My dearest--mymother--I saw her die with these eyes. What did I not bury in her grave!And yet hope still lived in my heart; and though Caracalla may be areckless murderer, he will do nothing to me, precisely because I am sofeeble. And, lady, what am I? Of what account is my life if I lose myfather, and my brothers, who are both on the high-road to greatness?"

"But you are betrothed, " Berenike eagerly put in. "And your lover, youtold me, is dear to you. What of him? He no doubt loves you, and, if youcome to harm, sorrow will mar his young life. "

At this Melissa clasped her hands over her face and sobbed aloud. "Showme, then, any other way--any! I will face the worst. But there isnone; and if Diodoros were here he would not stop me; for what my heartprompts me to do is right, is my duty. But he is lying sick and with aclouded mind, and I can not ask him. O noble lady, kindness looks out ofyour eyes; cease to rub salt into my wounds! The task before me ishard enough already. But I would do it, and try to get speech with thatterrible man, even if I had no one to protect me. "

The lady had listened with varying feelings to this outpouring of theyoung girl's heart. Every instinct rebelled against the thought ofsacrificing this pure, sweet creature to the fury of the tyrant whosewickedness was as unlimited as his power, and yet she saw no otherchance of saving the artist, whom she held in affectionate regard. Herown noble heart understood the girl's resolve to purchase the life ofthose she loved, even with her blood; she, in the same place, would havedone the same thing; and she thought to herself that it would have madeher happy to see such a spirit in her own child. Her resistance meltedaway, and almost involuntarily she exclaimed, "Well, do what you feel tobe right. "

Melissa flew into her arms again with a grateful sense of release froma load, and Berenike did all she could to smooth the thorny way for her. She discussed every point with Philostratus as thoroughly as though fora child of her own; and, while the tumult came up from the banquet inthe men's rooms, they settled that Berenike herself should conduct thegirl to the wife of the high-priest of Serapis, the brother of Seleukus, and there await Melissa's return. Philostratus named the hour and otherdetails, and then made further inquiries concerning the young artistwhose mocking spirit had brought so much trouble on his family. 

On this the lady led him into an adjoining room, where the portrait ofher adored daughter was hanging. It was surrounded by a thick wreathof violets, the dead girl's favorite flower. The beautiful picture waslighted up by two three-branched lamps on high stands; and Philostratus, a connoisseur who had described many paintings with great taste andvividness, gazed in absorbed silence at the lovely features, whichwere represented with rare mastery and the inspired devotion of lovingadmiration. At last he turned to the mother, exclaiming:

"Happy artist, to have such a subject! It is a work worthy of the early, best period, and of a master of the time of Apelies. The daughter whohas been snatched from you, noble lady, was indeed matchless, and nosorrow is too deep to do her justice. But the divinity who has taken herknows also how to give; and this portrait has preserved for you a partof what you loved. This picture, too, may influence Melissa's fate; forCaesar has a fine taste in art, and one of the wants of our time whichhas helped to embitter him is the paralyzed state of the imitative arts. It will be easier to win his favor for the painter who did this portraitthan for a man of noble birth. He needs such painters as this Alexanderfor the Pinakothek in the splendid baths he has built at Rome. If youwould but lend me this treasure to-morrow--"

But she interrupted him with a decisive "Never!" and laid her hand onthe frame as if to protect it. Philostratus, however, was not to be putoff; he went on in a tone of the deepest disappointment: "This portraitis yours, and no one can wonder at your refusal. We must, therefore, consider how to attain our end without this important ally. " Berenike'sgaze had lingered calmly on the sweet face while he spoke, looking moreand more deeply into the beautiful, expressive features. All was silent. 

At last she slowly turned to Melissa, who stood gazing sadly at theground, and said in a low voice: "She resembled you in many ways. Thegods had formed her to shed joy and light around her. Where she couldwipe away a tear she always did so. Her portrait is speechless, and yetit tells me to act as she herself would have acted. If this work canindeed move Caracalla to clemency, then--You, Philostratus, really thinkso?"

"Yes, " he replied, decisively. "There can be no better mediator forAlexander than this work. " Berenike drew herself up, and said:

"Well, then, to-morrow morning early, I will send it to you at theSerapeum. The portrait of the dead may perish if it may but save thelife of him who wrought it so lovingly. " She turned away her face as shegave the philosopher her hand, and then hastily left the room. 

Melissa flew after her and, with overflowing gratitude, besought thesobbing lady not to weep. 

"I know something that will bring you greater comfort than my brother'spicture: I mean the living image of your Korinna--a young girl; she ishere in Alexandria. "

"Zeno's daughter Agatha?" said Berenike; and when Melissa said yes, it was she, the lady went on with a deep sigh: "Thanks for your kindthought, my child; but she, too, is lost to me. "

And as she spoke she sank on a couch, saying, in a low voice, "I wouldrather be alone. "

Melissa modestly withdrew into the adjoining room, and Philostratus, whohad been lost in the contemplation of the picture, took his leave. 

He did not make use of the imperial chariot in waiting for him, butreturned to his lodgings on foot, in such good spirits, and so wellsatisfied with himself, as he had not been before since leaving Rome. 

When Berenike had rested in solitude for some little time she recalledMelissa, and took as much care of her young guest as though she were herlost darling, restored to her after a brief absence. First she allowedthe girl to send for Argutis; and when she had assured the faithfulslave that all promised well, she dismissed him with instructions toawait at home his young mistress's orders, for that Melissa would forthe present find shelter under her roof. 

When the Gaul had departed, she desired her waiting-woman, Johanna, tofetch her brother. During her absence the lady explained to Melissathat they both were Christians. They were freeborn, the children of afreedman of Berenike's house. Johannes had at an early age shown somuch intelligence that they had acceded to his wish to be educated as alawyer. He was now one of the most successful pleaders in the city;but he always used his eloquence, which he had perfected not only atAlexandria but also at Carthage, by preference in the service of accusedChristians. In his leisure hours he would visit the condemned in prison, speak comfort to them, and give them presents out of the fine profits hederived from his business among the wealthy. He was the very man togo and see her father and brothers; he would revive their spirits, andcarry them her greeting. 

When, presently, the Christian arrived he expressed himself as veryready to undertake this commission. His sister was already busied inpacking wine and other comforts for the captives-more, no doubt, asJohannes told Berenike, than the three men could possibly consume, even if their imprisonment should be a long one. His smile showed howconfidently he counted on the lady's liberality, and Melissa quicklyput her faith in the young Christian, who would have reminded her ofher brother Philip, but that his slight figure was more upright, andhis long hair quite smooth, without a wave or curl. His eyes, above all, were unlike Philip's; for they looked out on the world with a gaze asmild as Philip's were keen and inquiring. 

Melissa gave him many messages for her father and brothers, and when thelady Berenike begged him to take care that the portrait of her daughterwas safely carried to the Serapeum, where it was to contribute tomollify Caesar in the painter's favor, he praised her determination, and modestly added: "For how long may we call our own any of theseperishable joys? A day, perhaps a year, at most a lustrum. But eternityis long, and those who, for its sake, forget time and set all theirhopes on eternity--which is indeed time to the soul--soon cease tobewail the loss of any transitory treasure, were it the noblestand dearest. Oh, would that I could lead you to place your hopes oneternity, best of women and most true-hearted mother! Eternity, whichnot the wisest brain can conceive of!--I tell you, lady, for you area philosopher--that is the hardest and therefore the grandest idea forhuman thought to compass. Fix your eye on that, and in its infiniterealm, which must be your future home, you will meet her again whom youhave lost--not her image returned to you, but herself. "

"Cease, " interrupted the matron, with impatient sharpness. "I know whatyou are aiming at. But to conceive of eternity is the prerogative of theimmortals; our intellect is wrecked in the attempt. Our wings melt likethose of Ikarus, and we fall into the ocean--the ocean of madness, towhich I have often been near enough. You Christians fancy you know allabout eternity, and if you are right in that--But I will not reopen thatold discussion. Give me back my child for a year, a month, a day even, as she was before murderous disease laid hands on her, and I willmake you a free gift of your cuckoo-cloud-land of eternity, and of theremainder of my own life on earth into the bargain. "

The vehement woman trembled with renewed sorrow, as if shivering withague; but as soon as she had recovered her self-command enough to speakcalmly, she exclaimed to the lawyer:

"I do not really wish to vex you, Johannes. I esteem you, and you aredear to me. But if you wish our friendship to continue, give up thesefoolish attempts to teach tortoises to fly. Do all you can for the poorprisoners; and if you--"

"By daybreak to-morrow I will be with them, " Johannes said, and hehastily took leave. 

As soon as they were alone Berenike observed "There he goes, quiteoffended, as if I had done him a wrong. That is the way with all theseChristians. They think it their duty to force on others what theythemselves think right, and any one who turns a deaf ear to theirquestionable truths they at once set down as narrow-minded, or ashostile to what is good. Agatha, of whom you were just now speaking, andZeno her father, my husband's brother, are Christians. I had hoped thatKorinna's death would have brought the child back to us; I have longedto see her, and have heard much that is sweet about her: but a commonsorrow, which so often brings divided hearts together, has only widenedthe gulf between my husband and his brother. The fault is not on ourside. Nay, I was rejoiced when, a few hours after the worst was over, aletter from Zeno informed me that he and his daughter would come tosee us the same evening. But the letter itself"--and her voice beganto quiver with indignation--"compelled us to beg him not to come. It isscarcely credible--and I should do better not to pour fresh oil on mywrath--but he bade us 'rejoice'; three, four, five times he repeated thecruel words. And he wrote in a pompous strain of the bliss and rapturewhich awaited our lost child--and this to a mother whose heart had beenutterly broken but a few hours before by a fearful stroke of Fate! Hewould meet the bereaved, grieving, lonely mourner with a smile onhis lips! Rejoice! This climax of cruelty or aberration has parted usforever. Why, our black gardener, whose god is a tree-stump that bearsonly the faintest likeness to humanity, melted into tears at the news;and Zeno, our brother, the uncle of that broken dower, could be glad andbid us rejoice! My husband thinks that hatred and the long-standingfeud prompted his pen. For my part, I believe it was only this Christianfrenzy which made him suggest that I should sink lower than the brutes, who defend their young with their lives. Seleukus has long sinceforgiven him for his conduct in withdrawing his share of the capitalfrom the business when he became a Christian, to squander it on thebaser sort; but this 'Rejoice' neither he nor I can forgive, thoughthings which pierce me to the heart often slide off him like water offgrease. "

Her black hair had come down as she delivered this vehement speech, and, when she ceased, her flushed cheeks and the fiery glow of her eyes gavethe majestic woman in her dark robes an aspect which terrified Melissa. 

She, too, thought this "Rejoice, " under such circumstances, unseemly andinsulting; but she kept her opinion to herself, partly out of modestyand partly because she did not wish to encourage the estrangementbetween this unhappy lady and the niece whose mere presence would havebeen so great a comfort to her. 

When Johanna returned to lead her to a bedroom, she gave a sigh ofrelief; but the lady expressed a wish to keep Melissa near her, and ina low voice desired the waiting-woman to prepare a bed for her inthe adjoining room, by the side of Korinna's, which was never to bedisturbed. Then, still greatly excited, she invited Melissa into herdaughter's pretty room. 

There she showed her everything that Korinna had especially cared for. Her bird hung in the same place; her lap-dog was sleeping in a basket, on the cushion which Berenike had embroidered for her child. Melissa hadto admire the dead girl's lute, and her first piece of weaving, and theelegant loom of ebony and ivory in which she had woven it. And Berenikerepeated to the girl the verses which Korinna had composed, in imitationof Catullus, on the death of a favorite bird. And although Melissa'seyes were almost closing with fatigue, she forced herself to attend toit all, for she saw now how much her sympathy pleased her kind friend. 

Meanwhile the voices of the men, who had done eating and were nowdrinking, came louder and louder into the women's apartments. When themerriment of her guests rose to a higher pitch than usual, or somethingamusing gave rise to a shout of laughter, Berenike shrank, and eithermuttered some unintelligible threat or besought the forgiveness of herdaughter's manes. 

It seemed to be a relief to her to rush from one mood to the other; butneither in her grief, nor when her motherly feeling led her to talk, noryet in her wrath, did she lose her perfect dignity. All Melissa saw andheard moved her to pity or to horror. And meanwhile she was worn outwith anxiety for her family, and with increasing fatigue. 

At last, however, she was released. A gay chorus of women's voices andflutes came up from the banqueting-hall. With a haughty mien and dilatednostrils Berenike listened to the first few bars. That such a songshould be heard in her house of woe was too much; with her own hand sheclosed the shutters over the window next her; then she bade her youngguest go to bed. 

Oh, how glad was the overtired girl to stretch herself on the softcouch! As usual, before going to sleep, she told her mother in thespirit all the history of the day. Then she prayed to the manes of thedeparted to lend her aid in the heavy task before her; but in the midstof her prayer sleep overcame her, and her young bosom was already risingand falling in regular breathing when she was roused by a visit from thelady Berenike. 

Melissa suddenly beheld her at the head of the bed, in a flowing whitenight-dress, with her hair unpinned, and holding a silver lamp inher hand; and the girl involuntarily put up her arms as if to protectherself, for she fancied that the daemon of madness stared out of thoselarge black eyes. But the unhappy woman's expression changed, and shelooked down kindly on Melissa. She quietly set the lamp on the table, and then, as the cool nightbreeze blew in through the open window, to which there was no shutter, she tenderly wrapped the white woolenblanket round Melissa, and muttered to herself, "She liked it so. "

Then she knelt down by the side of the bed, pressed her lips on the browof the girl, now fully awake, and said:

"And you, too, are fair to look upon. He will grant your prayer!"

Then she asked Melissa about her lover, her father, her mother, and atlast she, unexpectedly, asked her in a whisper:

"Your brother Alexander, the painter--My daughter, though in death, inspired his soul with love. Yes, Korinna was dear to him. Her image isliving in his soul. Am I right? Tell me the truth!"

On this Melissa confessed how deeply the painter had been impressed bythe dead girl's beauty, and that he had given her his heart and soulwith a fervor of devotion of which she had never imagined him capable. And the poor mother smiled as she heard it, and murmured, "I was sure ofit. "

But then she shook her head, sadly, and said "Fool that I am!"

At last she bade Melissa good-night, and went back to her own bedroom. There Johanna was awaiting her, and while she was plaiting hermistress's hair the matron said, threateningly:

"If the wretch should not spare even her"--She was interrupted by loudshouts of mirth from the banqueting-hall, and among the laughing voicesshe fancied that she recognized her husband's. She started up with avehement movement, and exclaimed, in angry excitement:

"Seleukus might have prevented such an outrage! Oh, I know thatsorrowing father's heart! Fear, vanity, ambition, love of pleasure--"

"But consider, " Johanna broke in, "to cross Caesar's wish is to forfeitlife!"

"Then he should have died!" replied the matron, with stern decision. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Before sunrise the wind changed. Heavy clouds bore down from the north, darkening the clear sky of Alexandria. By the time the market wasfilling it was raining in torrents, and a cold breeze blew over the townfrom the lake. Philostratus had only allowed himself a short time forsleep, sitting till long after midnight over his history of Apoloniusof Tyana. His aim was to prove, by the example of this man, that acharacter not less worthy of imitation than that of the lord of theChristians might be formed in the faith of the ancients, and nourishedby doctrines produced by the many-branched tree of Greek religionand philosophy. Julia Domna, Caracalla's mother, had encouraged thephilosopher in this task, which was to show her passionate and criminalson the dignity of moderation and virtue. The book was also to bringhome to Caesar the religion of his forefathers and his country in allits beauty and elevating power; for hitherto he had vacillated fromone form to another, had not even rejected Christianity, with which hisnurse had tried to inoculate him as a child, and had devoted himself toevery superstition of his time in a way which had disgusted those abouthim. It had been particularly interesting to the writer, with a viewto the purpose of this work, to meet with a girl who practiced all thevirtues the Christians most highly prized, without belonging to thatsect, who were always boasting of the constraining power of theirreligion in conducing to pure morality. 

In his work the day before he had taken occasion to regret the smallrecognition his hero had met with among those nearest to him. In this, as in other respects, he seemed to have shared the fate of Jesus Christ, whose name, however, Philostratus purposely avoided mentioning. Now, to-night, he reflected on the sacrifice offered by Melissa for Caesarwhom she knew not, and he wrote the following words as though proceedingfrom the pen of Apollonius himself: "I know well how good a thing it isto regard all the world as my home, and all mankind as my brethrenand friends; for we are all of the same divine race, and have all oneFather. "

Then, looking up from the papyrus, he murmured to himself: "From sucha point of view as this Melissa might see in Caracalla a friend and abrother. If only now it were possible to rouse the conscience of thatimperial criminal!"

He took up the written sheet on which he had begun a dissertation as towhat conscience is, as exerting a choice between good and evil. He hadwritten: "Understanding governs what we purpose; consciousness governswhat our understanding resolves upon. Hence, if our understanding choosethe good, consciousness is satisfied. "

How flat it sounded! It could have no effect in that form. 

Melissa had confessed with far greater warmth what her feelings had beenafter she had sacrificed for the suffering sinner. Every one, no doubt, would feel the same who, when called on to choose between good and evil, should prefer the good; so he altered and expanded the last words: "Thusconsciousness sends a man with song and gladness into the sanctuariesand groves, into the roads, and wherever mortals live. Even in sleep thesong makes itself heard, and a happy choir from the land of dreams liftup their voices about his bed. "

That was better! This pleasing picture might perhaps leave someimpression on the soul of the young criminal, in whom a preference forgood could still, though rarely, be fanned to a flame. Caesar read whatPhilostratus wrote, because he took pleasure in the form of his work;and this sentence would not have been written in vain if only it shouldprompt Caracalla in some cases, however few, to choose the good. 

The philosopher was fully determined to do his utmost for Melissa andher brothers. He had often brought pictures under Caesar's notice, forhe was the first living authority as a connoisseur of painting, and ashaving written many descriptions of pictures. He built some hopes, too, on Melissa's innocence; and so the worthy man, when he retired to rest, looked forward with confidence to the work of mediation, which was by nomeans devoid of danger. 

But next morning it presented itself in a less promising light. Theclouded sky, the storm, and rain might have a fatal effect on Caesar'stemper; and when he heard that old Galen, after examining his patientand prescribing certain remedies, had yesterday evening taken ship, leaving Caracalla in a frenzy of rage which had culminated in slightconvulsions, he almost repented of his promise. However, he felt himselfpledged; so as early as possible he went to Caesar's rooms, prepared forthe worst. 

His gloomy anticipations were aggravated by the scene which met hiseyes. 

In the anteroom he found the chief men of the city and somerepresentative members of the Alexandrian Senate, who were anxious foran audience of their imperial visitor. They had been commanded toattend at an unusually early hour, and had already been kept a long timewaiting. 

When Philostratus--who was always free to enter Caesar's presence--madehis appearance, Caracalla was seating himself on the throne which hadbeen placed for him in the splendidly fitted audience-chamber. He hadcome from his bath, and was wrapped in the comfortable white woolenrobe which he wore on leaving it. His "friends" as they were called, senators, and other men of mark, stood round in considerable numbers, among them the high-priest of Serapis. Pandion, Caesar's charioteer, wasoccupied, under the sovereign's instructions, in fastening the lion'schain to the ring fixed for the purpose in the floor by the side of thethrone; and as the beast, whose collar had been drawn too tight, uttereda low, complaining growl, Caracalla scolded the favorite. As soon as hecaught sight of Philostratus, he signed to him to approach:

"Do you see nothing strange in me?" he whispered. "Your Phoebus Apolloappeared to me in a dream. He laid his hand on my shoulder towardmorning; indeed, I saw only horrible faces. " Then he pointed out of thewindow, exclaiming:

"The god hides his face to-day. Gloomy days have often brought me goodfortune; but this is a strange experience of the eternal sunshine ofEgypt! Men and sky have given me the same kind welcome; gray, gray, andalways gray-without and within--and my poor soldiers out on the square!Macrinus tells me they are complaining. But my father's advice wassound: 'Keep them content, and never mind anything else. ' The heads ofthe town are waiting outside; they must give up their palaces to thebodyguard; if they murmur, let them try for themselves how they likesleeping on the soaking ground under dripping tents. It may cool theirhot blood, and perhaps dilute the salt of their wit. --Show them in, Theocritus. "

He signed to the actor, and when he humbly asked whether Caesar hadforgotten to exchange his morning wrapper for another dress, Caracallalaughed contemptuously, and replied:

"Why, an empty corn-sack over my shoulders would be dress enough forthis rabble of traders!" He stretched his small but muscular frame outat full length, resting his head on his hand, and his comely face, whichhad lost the suffering look it had worn the day before, suddenly changedin expression. As was his habit when he wished to inspire awe or fear, he knit his brows in deep furrows, set his teeth tightly, and assumed asuspicious and sinister scowl. 

The deputation entered, bowing low, headed by the exegetes, the head ofthe city, and Timotheus, the chief-priest of Serapis. After thesecame the civic authorities, the members of the senate, and then, asrepresenting the large Jewish colony in the city, their alabarchor head-man. It was easy to see in each one as he came in, that thepresence of the lion, who had raised his head at their approach, was farfrom encouraging; and a faint, scornful smile parted Caracalla's lips ashe noted the cowering knees of these gorgeously habited courtiers. Thehigh-priest alone, who, as Caesar's host, had gone up to the side of thethrone, and two or three others, among them the governor of the town, atall, elderly man of Macedonian descent, paid no heed to the brute. TheMacedonian bowed to his sovereign with calm dignity, and in the name ofthe municipally hoped he had rested well. He then informed Caesar whatshows and performances were prepared in his honor, and finally namedthe considerable sum which had been voted by the town of Alexandria toexpress to him their joy at his visit. Caracalla waved his hand, andsaid, carelessly:

"The priest of Alexander, as idiologos, will receive the gold with thetemple tribute. We can find use for it. We knew that you were rich. Butwhat do you want for your money? What have you to ask?"

"Nothing, noble Caesar, " replied the governor. "Thy gracious presence--"

Caracalla interrupted him with a long-drawn "Indeed!" Then, leaningforward, he gave him a keen, oblique look. "No one but the gods hasnothing to wish for; so it must be that you are afraid to ask. What canthat avail, unless to teach me that you look for nothing but evil fromme; that you are suspicious of me? And if that is so, you fear me; andif you fear, you hate me. The insults I have received in this housesufficiently prove the fact. And if you hate me, " and he sprang up andshook his fist, "I must protect myself!"

"Great Caesar, " the exegetes began, in humble deprecation, but Caracallawent on, wrathfully:

"I know when I have to protect myself, and from whom. It is not well totrifle with me! An insolent tongue is easily hidden behind the lips; butheads are less easy to hide, and I shall be content with them. Tell thatto your Alexandrian wits! Macrinus will inform you of all else. You maygo. "

During this speech the lion, excited by his master's furious gestures, had risen on his feet and showed his terrible teeth to the delegates. Atthis their courage sank. Some laid their hands on their bent knees, asif to shield them; others had gradually sidled to the door before Caesarhad uttered the last word. Then, in spite of the efforts of the governorand the alabarch to detain them, in the hope of pacifying the potentate, as soon as they heard the word "go, " they hurried out; and, for betteror for worse, the few bolder spirits had to follow. 

As soon as the door was closed upon them, Caesar's features lost theircruel look. He patted the lion with soothing words of praise, andexclaimed, contemptuously:

"These are the descendants of the Macedonians, with whom the greatest ofheroes conquered the world! Who was that fat old fellow who shrank intohimself so miserably, and made for the door while I was yet speaking?"

"Kimon, the chief of the night-watch and guardian of the peace of thecity, " replied the high-priest of Alexander, who as a Roman had kept hisplace by the throne; and Theocritus put in:

"The people must sleep badly under the ward of such a coward. Let himfollow the prefect, noble Caesar. "

"Send him his dismissal at once, " said Caracalla; "but see that hissuccessor is a man. "

He then turned to the high-priest, and politely requested him to assistTheocritus in choosing a new head for the town-guard, and Timotheus andthe favorite quitted the room together. 

Philostratus took ingenious advantage of the incident, by at onceinforming the emperor that it had come to his knowledge that thiscoward, so worthily dismissed from office, had, on the merest suspicion, cast into prison a painter who was undoubtedly one of the first ofliving artists, and with him his guiltless relations. 

"I will not have it!" Caesar broke out. "Nothing but blood will do anygood here, and petty aggravations will only stir their bile and increasetheir insolence. Is the painter of whom you speak an Alexandrian?--Ipine for the open air, but the wind blows the rain against the windows. "

"In the field, " the philosopher remarked, "you have faced the weatherheroically enough. Here, in the city, enjoy what is placed before you. Only yesterday I still believed that the art of Apelles was utterlydegenerate. But since then I have changed my opinion, for I have seen aportrait which would be an ornament to the Pinakothek in your baths. The northern windows are closed, or, in this land of inundations, and insuch weather as this, we might find ourselves afloat even under coverof a roof; so it is too dark here to judge of a painting, but yourdressing-room is more favorably situated, and the large window therewill serve our purpose. May I be allowed the pleasure of showing youthere the work of the imprisoned artist?"

Caesar nodded, and led the way, accompanied by his lion and followed bythe philosopher, who desired an attendant to bring in the picture. 

In this room it was much lighter than in the audience-chamber, and whileCaracalla awaited, with Philostratus, the arrival of the painting, his Indian body-slave, a gift from the Parthian king, silently andskillfully dressed his thin hair. The sovereign sighed deeply, andpressed his hand to his brow as though in pain. The philosopher venturedto approach him, and there was warm sympathy in his tone as he asked:

"What ails you, Bassianus? Just now you bore all the appearance of ahealthy, nay, and of a terrible man!"

"It is better again already, " replied the sovereign. "And yet--!"

He groaned again, and then confessed that only yesterday he had in thesame way been tortured with pain. 

"The attack came on in the morning, as you know, " he went on, "andwhen it was past I went down into the court of sacrifice; my feet wouldscarcely carry me. Curiosity--and they were waiting for me; and somegreat sign might be shown! Besides, some excitement helps me throughthis torment. But there was nothing--nothing! Heart, lungs, liver, allin their right place. --And then, Galenus--What I like is bad forme, what I loathe is wholesome. And again and again the same foolishquestion, 'Do you wish to escape an early death?' And all with an air asthough Death were a slave at his command--He can, no doubt, do more thanothers, and has preserved his own life I know not how long. Well, and itis his duty to prolong mine. 

"I am Caesar. I had a right to insist on his remaining here. I did so;for he knows my malady, and describes it as if he felt it himself. Iordered him--nay, I entreated him. But he adhered to his own way. Hewent--he is gone!"

"But he may be of use to you, even at a distance, " Philostratus said. 

"Did he do anything for my father, or for me in Rome, where he saw meevery day?" retorted Caesar. "He can mitigate and relieve the suffering, but that is all; and of all the others, is there one fit to hand him acup of water? Perhaps he would be willing to cure me, but he can not;for I tell you, Philostratus, the gods will not have it so. You knowwhat sacrifices I have offered, what gifts I have brought. I haveprayed, I have abased myself before them, but none will hear. One oranother of the gods, indeed, appears to me not infrequently as Apollodid last night. But is it because he favors me? First, he laid his handon my shoulder, as my father used to do; but his was so heavy, that theweight pressed me down till I fell on my knees, crushed. This is no goodsign, you think? I see it in your face. I do not myself think so. Andhow loudly I have called on him, of all the gods! The whole empire, they say, men and women alike, besought the immortals unbidden forthe welfare of Titus. I, too, am their lord; but"--and he laughedbitterly--"who has ever raised a hand in prayer for me of his ownimpulse? My own mother always named my brother first. He has paid forit, --But the rest!"

"They fear rather than love you, " replied the philosopher. "He towhom Phoebus Apollo appears may always expect some good to follow. Andyesterday--a happy omen, too--I overheard by chance a young Greek girl, who believed herself unobserved, who of her own prompting ferventlyentreated Asklepios to heal you. Nay, she collected all the coins in herlittle purse, and had a goat and a cock sacrificed in your behalf. "

"And you expect me to believe that!" said Caracalla, with a scornfullaugh. 

But Philostratus eagerly replied:

"It is the pure truth. I went to the little temple because it was saidthat Apollonius had left some documents there. Every word from hispen is, as you know, of value to me in writing his history. The littlelibrary was screened off from the cella by a curtain, and while I washunting through the manuscripts I heard a woman's voice. "

"It spoke for some other Bassianus, Antoninus, Tarautus, or whateverthey choose to call me, " Caesar broke in. 

"Nay, my lord, not so. She prayed for you, the son of Severus. I spoketo her afterwards. She had seen you yesterday morning, and fancied shehad noted how great and severe your sufferings were. This had gone toher heart. So she went thither to pray and sacrifice for you, althoughshe knew that you were prosecuting her brother, the very painter of whomI spoke. I would you too could have heard how fervently she addressedthe god, and then Hygeia!"

"A Greek, you say?" Caracalla remarked. "And she really did not knowyou, or dream that you could hear her?"

"No, my lord; assuredly not. She is a sweet maid, and if you would careto see her--"

Caesar had listened to the tale with great attention and evidentexpectancy; but suddenly his face clouded, and, heedless of the slaveswho, under the guidance of his chamberlain Adventus, had now brought inthe portrait, he sprang up, went close to Philostratus, and stormed out:

"Woe to you if you lie to me! You want to get the brother out of prison, and then, by chance, you come across the sister who is praying for me! Afable to cheat a child with!"

"I am speaking the truth, " replied Philostratus, coolly, though therapid winking of Caesar's eyelids warned him that his blood was boilingwith wrath. 

"It was from the sister, whom I overheard in the temple, that I learnedof her brother's peril, and I afterward saw that portrait. "

Caracalla stared at the floor for a moment in silence; then he lookedup, and said, in a tone husky with agitation:

"I only long for anything which may bring me nearer to the perverse raceover whom I rule, be it what it may. You offer it me. You are theonly man who never asked me for anything. I have believed you to be asrighteous as all other men are not. And now if you, if this time--"

He lowered his tones, which had become somewhat threatening, and wenton very earnestly: "By all you hold most sacred on earth, I ask you, Didthe girl pray for me, and of her own free impulse, not knowing that anyone could hear her?"

"I swear it, by the head of my mother!" replied Philostratus, solemnly. 

"Your mother?" echoed Caesar, and his brow began to clear. But suddenlythe gleam of satisfaction, which for a moment had embellished hisfeatures, vanished, and with a sharp laugh he added: "And my mother! Doyou suppose that I do not know what she requires of you? It is solelyto please her that you, a free man, remain with me. For her sake you arebold enough to try now and then to quell the stormy sea of my passions. You do it with a grace, so I submit. And now my hand is raised tostrike a wretch who mocks at me; he is a painter, of some talent, so, of course, you take him under your protection. Then, in a moment, your inventive genius devises a praying sister. Well, there is in thatsomething which might indeed mollify me. But you would betray Bassianusten times over to save an artist. And then, how my mother would flyto show her gratitude to the man who could quell her furious son! Yourmother!--But I only squint when it suits me. My eye must become dimmerthan it yet is before I fail to see the connection of ideas which ledyou to swear by your mother. You were thinking of mine when you spoke. To please her, you would deceive her son. But as soon as he touches thelie it vanishes into thin air, for it has no more substance than a soapbubble!" The last words were at once sad, angry, and scornful; but thephilosopher, who had listened at first with astonishment and then withindignation, could no longer contain himself. 

"Enough!" he cried to the angry potentate, in an imperious tone. Then, drawing himself up, he went on with offended dignity:

"I know what the end has been of so many who have aroused your wrath, and yet I have courage enough to tell you to your face, that toinjustice, the outcome of distrust, you add the most senseless insult. Or do you really think that a just man--for so you have called me morethan once--would outrage the manes of the beloved woman who bore him toplease the mother of another man, even though she be Caesar's? What Iswear to by the head of my mother, friend and foe alike must believe;and he who does not, must hold me to be the vilest wretch on earth;my presence can only be an offense to him. So I beg you to allow me toreturn to Rome. "

The words were manly and spoken firmly, and they pleased Caracalla; forthe joy of believing in the philosopher's statement outweighed everyother feeling. And since he regarded Philostratus as the incarnationof goodness--though he had lost faith in that--his threat of leavingdisturbed him greatly. He laid his hand on his brave adviser's arm, andassured him that he was only too happy to believe a thing so incredible. 

Any witness of the scene would have supposed this ruthless fatricide, this tyrant--whose intercourse with the visions of a crazed andunbridled fancy made him capable of any folly, and who loved to assumethe aspect of a cruel misanthrope--to be a docile disciple, who caredfor nothing but to recover the favor and forgiveness of his master. AndPhilostratus, knowing this man, and the human heart, did not make it tooeasy for him to achieve his end. When he at last gave up his purpose ofreturning to Rome, and had more fully explained to Caesar how and wherehe had met Melissa, and what he had heard about her brother the painter, he lifted the wrapper from Korinna's portrait, placed it in a goodlight, and pointed out to Caracalla the particular beauties of thepurely Greek features. 

It was with sincere enthusiasm that he expatiated on the skill withwhich the artist had reproduced in color the noble lines which Caracallaso much admired in the sculpture of the great Greek masters; how warmand tender the flesh was; how radiant the light of those glorious eyes;how living the waving hair, as though it still breathed of the scentedoil! And when Philostratus explained that though Alexander had no doubtspoken some rash and treasonable words, he could not in any case be theauthor of the insulting verses which had been found at the Serapeum withthe rope, Caracalla echoed his praises of the picture, and desired tosee both the painter and his sister. 

That morning, as he rose from his bed, he had been informed that theplanets which had been seen during the past night from the observatoryof the Serapeum, promised him fortune and happiness in the immediatefuture. He was himself a practiced star-reader, and the chief astrologerof the temple had pointed out to him how peculiarly favorable theconstellation was whence he had deduced his prediction. Then, PhoebusApollo had appeared to him in a dream; the auguries from themorning's sacrifices had all been favorable; and, before he dispatchedPhilostratus to fetch Melissa, he added:

"It is strange! The best fortune has always come to me from a gloomysky. How brightly the sun shone on my marriage with the odiousPlautilla! It has rained, on the contrary, on almost all my victories;and it was under a heavy storm that the oracle assured me the soul ofAlexander the Great had selected this tortured frame in which to liveout his too early ended years on earth. Can such coincidence be merechance? Phoebus Apollo, your favorite divinity--and that, too, of thesage of Tyana--may perhaps have been angry with me. He who purifiedhimself from blood-guiltiness after killing the Python is the god ofexpiation. I will address myself to him, like the noble hero of yourbook. This morning the god visited me again; so I will have suchsacrifice slain before him as never yet was offered. Will that satisfyyou, O philosopher hard to be appeased?"

"More than satisfy me, my Bassianus, " replied Philostratus. "Yetremember that, according to Apollonius, the sacrifice is effective onlythrough the spirit in which it is offered. "

"Always a 'but' and an 'if'!" exclaimed Caracalla, as his friend leftthe room to call Melissa from the high-priest's quarters, where she waswaiting. 

For the first time for some days Caesar found himself alone. Leadingthe lion by the collar, he went to the window. The rain had ceased, butblack clouds still covered the heavens. Below him lay the opening of thestreet of Hermes into the great square, swarming with human life, andcovered with the now drenched tents of the soldiery; and his eyes fellon that of a centurion, a native of Alexandria, just then receiving avisit from his family, to whom the varied fortunes of a warrior's lifehad brought him back once more. 

The bearded hero held an infant in his arms--assuredly his own--whilea girl and boy clung to him, gazing up in his face with wondering blackeyes; and another child, of about three, paying no heed to the others, was crowing as it splashed through a puddle with its little bare feet. Two women, one young and one elderly, the man's mother and his wife, nodoubt, seemed to hang on his lips as he recounted perhaps some deed ofvalor. 

The tuba sounded to arms. He kissed the infant, and carefully laid iton its mother's bosom; then he took up the boy and the girl, laughinglycaught the little one, and pressed his bearded lips to each rosy mouthin turn. Last of all he clasped the young wife to his breast, gentlystroked her hair, and whispered something in her ear at which she smiledup at him through her tears and then blushingly looked down. His motherpatted him fondly on the shoulder, and, as they parted, he kissed hertoo on her wrinkled brow. 

Caracalla had remarked this centurion once before; his name wasMartialis, and he was a simple, commonplace, but well-conductedcreature, who had often distinguished himself by his contempt for death. The imperial visit to Alexandria had meant for him a return home andthe greatest joy in life. How many arms had opened to receive the commonsoldier; how many hearts had beat high at his coming! Not a day, it wascertain, had passed since his arrival without prayers going up to Heavenfor his preservation, from his mother, his wife, and his children. Andhe, the ruler of the world, had thought it impossible that one, even oneof his millions of subjects, should have prayed for him. Who awaited himwith a longing heart? Where was his home?

He had first seen the light in Gaul. His father was an African; hismother was born in Syria. The palace at Rome, his residence, he did notcare to remember. He traveled about the empire, leaving as wide a spaceas possible between himself and that house of doom, from which he couldnever wipe out the stain of his brother's blood. 

And his mother? She feared--perhaps she hated him--her first-born son, since he had killed her younger darling. What did she care for him, solong as she had her philosophers to argue with, who knew how to ply herwith delicate flattery?

Then Plautilla, his wife? His father had compelled him to marry her, the richest heiress in the world, whose dowry had been larger than thecollected treasure of a dozen queens; and as he thought of the sharpfeatures of that insignificant, sour-faced, and unspeakably pretentiouscreature, he shuddered with aversion. 

He had banished her, and then had her murdered. Others had done thedeed, and it did not strike him that he was responsible for the crimecommitted in his service; but her loveless heart, without a care forhim--her bird-sharp face, looking out like a well-made mask from herabundant hair--and her red, pinched lips, were very present to him. Whatcutting words those lips could speak; what senseless demands they haduttered; and nothing more insolent could be imagined than her way ofpursing them up if at any time he had suggested a kiss!

His child? One had been born to him, but it had followed its mother intoexile and to the grave. The little thing, which he had scarcely known, was so inseparable from its detested mother that he had mourned it nomore than her. It was well that the assassins, without any orders fromhim, should have cut short that wretched life. He could not long for theembraces of the monster which should have united Plautilla's vices andhis own. 

Among the men about his person, there was not one for whom other heartsbeat warmer; no creature that loved him excepting his lion; no spoton earth where he was looked for with gladness. He waited, as for somemarvel, to see the one human being who had spontaneously entreated thegods for him. The girl must probably be a poor, tearful creature, asweak of brain as she was soft-hearted. 

There stood the centurion at the head of his maniple, and raised hisstaff. Enviable man! How content he looked; how clearly he spoke theword of command! And how healthy the vulgar creature must be--while he, Caesar, was suffering that acute headache again! He gnashed his teeth, and felt a strong impulse to spoil the happiness of that shamelessupstart. If he were sent packing to Spain, now, or to Pontus, therewould be an end of his gladness. The centurion should know what it wasto be a solitary soul. 

Acting on this malignant impulse, he had raised his hand to his mouth toshout the cruel order to a tribune, when suddenly the clouds parted, andthe glorious sun of Africa appeared in a blue island amid the ocean ofgray, cheering the earth with glowing sheaves of rays. The beams wereblinding as they came reflected from the armor and weapons of the men, reminding Caesar of the god to whom he had just vowed an unparalleledsacrifice. 

Philostratus had often praised Phoebus Apollo above all gods, becausewherever he appeared there was light, irradiating not the earth alonebut men's souls; and because, as the lord of music and harmony, he aidedmen to arrive at that morally pure and equable frame of mind which wasaccordant and pleasing to his glorious nature. Apollo had conquered thedark heralds of the storm, and Caracalla looked up. Before this radiantwitness he was ashamed to carry out his dark purpose, and he said, addressing the sun:

"For thy sake, Phoebus Apollo, I spare the man. " Then, pleased withhimself, he looked down again. The restraint he had laid upon himselfstruck him as in fact a great and noble effort, accustomed as he wasto yield to every impulse. But at the same time he observed that theclouds, which had so often brought him good fortune, were dispersing, and this gave him fresh uneasiness. Dazzled by the flood of sunshinewhich poured in at the window, he withdrew discontentedly into the room. If this bright day were to bring disaster? If the god disdained hisoffering?

But was not Apollo, perhaps, like the rest of the immortals, an idolof the fancy, living only in the imagination of men who had devised it?Stern thinkers and pious folks, like the skeptics and the Christians, laughed the whole tribe of the Olympians to scorn. Still, the hand ofPhoebus Apollo had rested heavily on his shoulders in his dream. His power, after all, might be great. The god must have the promisedsacrifice, come what might. Bitter wrath rose up in his soul at thisthought, as it had often done before, with the immortals, against whomhe, the all-powerful, was impotent. If only for an hour they couldbe his subjects, he would make them rue the sufferings by which theyspoiled his existence. 

"He is called Martialis. I will remember that name, " he thought, as hecast a last envious look at the centurion. 

How long Philostratus was gone! Solitude weighed on him, and he lookedabout him wildly, as though seeking some support. An attendant at thismoment announced the philosopher, and Caracalla, much relieved, wentinto the tablinum to meet him. There he sat down on a seat in front ofthe writing-table strewn with tablets and papyrus-rolls, rearrangedthe end of the purple toga for which he had exchanged his bathing-robe, rested one foot on the lion's neck and his head on his hand. He wouldreceive this wonderful girl in the character of an anxious sovereignmeditating on the welfare of his people. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The philosopher announced the visitor to Caesar, and as some littletime elapsed before Melissa came in, Caracalla forgot his theatricalassumption, and sat with a drooping head; for, in consequence, no doubt, of the sunshine which beat on the top of his head, the pain had suddenlybecome almost unendurably violent. 

Without vouchsafing a glance at Melissa, he swallowed one of thealleviating pills left him by Galenus, and hid his face in his hands. The girl came forward, fearless of the lion, for Philostratos hadassured her that he was tamed, and most animals were willing to let hertouch them. Nor was she afraid of Caesar himself, for she saw that hewas in pain, and the alarm with which she had crossed the thresholdgave way to pity. Philostratus kept at her side, and anxiously watchedCaracalla. 

The courage the simple girl showed in the presence of the ferociousbrute, and the not less terrible man, struck him favorably, and hishopes rose as a sunbeam fell on her shining hair, which the ladyBerenike had arranged with her own hand, twining it with strands ofwhite Bombyx. She must appear, even to this ruthless profligate, as thevery type of pure and innocent grace. 

Her long robe and peplos, of the finest white wool, also gave her an airof distinction which suited the circumstances. It was a costly garment, which Berenike had had made for Korinna, and she had chosen it fromamong many instead of the plainer robe in which old Dido had dressedher young mistress. With admirable taste the matron had aimed at givingMelissa a simple, dignified aspect, unadorned and almost priestess-likein its severity. Nothing should suggest the desire to attract, andeverything must exclude the idea of a petitioner of the poorer andcommoner sort. 

Philostratus saw that her appearance had been judiciously cared for; butCaesar's long silence, of which he knew the reason, began to cause himsome uneasiness: for, though pain sometimes softened the despot's mood, it more often prompted him to revenge himself, as it were, for his ownsufferings, by brutal attacks on the comfort and happiness of others. And, at last, even Melissa seemed to be losing the presence of mindhe had admired, for he saw her bosom heave faster and higher, her lipsquivered, and her large eyes sparkled through tears. 

Caesar's countenance presently cleared a little. He raised his head, and as his eye met Melissa's she pronounced in a low, sweet voice thepleasant Greek greeting, "Rejoice!"

At this moment the philosopher was seized with a panic of anxiety; hefelt for the first time the weight of responsibility he had taken onhimself. Never had he thought her so lovely, so enchantingly bewitchingas now, when she looked up at Caracalla in sweet confusion and timidity, but wholly possessed by her desire to win the favor of the man who, witha word, could make her so happy or so wretched. If this slave of hispassions, whom a mere whim perhaps had moved to insist on the strictestmorality in his court, should take a fancy to this delightful youngcreature, she was doomed to ruin. He turned pale, and his heart throbbedpainfully as he watched the development of the catastrophe for which hehad himself prepared the way. 

But, once more, the unexpected upset the philosopher's anticipations. Caracalla gazed at the girl in amazement, utterly discomposed, as thoughsome miracle had happened, or a ghost had started from the groundbefore him. Springing up, while he clutched the back of his chair, heexclaimed:

"What is this? Do my senses deceive me, or is it some base trickery? No, no! My eyes and my memory are good. This girl--"

"What ails thee, Caesar?" Philostratus broke in, with increasinganxiety. 

"Something--something which will silence your foolish doubts--" Caesarpanted out. "Patience--wait. Only a minute, and you shall see. --But, first"--and he turned to Melissa--"what is your name, girl?"

"Melissa, " she replied, in a low and tremulous voice. 

"And your father's and your mother's?"

"Heron is my father's name, and my mother--she is dead--was calledOlympias, the daughter of Philip. "

"And you are of Macedonian race?"

"Yes, my lord. My father and mother both were of pure Macedoniandescent. "

The emperor glanced triumphantly at Philostratus, and brieflyexclaiming, "That will do, I think, " he clapped his hands, and instantlyhis old chamberlain, Adventus, hurried in from the adjoining room, followed by the whole band of "Caesar's friends. " Caracalla, however, only said to them:

"You can wait till I call you. --You, Adventus! I want the gem with themarriage of Alexander. " The freedman took the gem out of an ebonycasket standing on Caesar's writing-table, and Caracalla, holding thephilosopher by the arm, said, with excited emphasis:

"That gem I inherited from my father, the divine Severus. It wasengraved before that child came into the world. Now you shall see it, and if you then say that it is an illusion--But why should you doubt it?Pythagoras and your hero Apollonius both knew whose body their souls hadinhabited in a former existence. Mine--though my mother has laughed atmy belief, and others have dared to do the same-mine, five hundred yearsago, dwelt in the greatest of heroes, Alexander the Macedonian--a rightroyal tabernacle!"

He snatched the gem from the chamberlain's hand, and while he devouredit with his eyes, looking from time to time into Melissa's face, heeagerly ran on:

"It is she. None but a blind man, a fool, a malignant idiot, coulddoubt it! Any who henceforth shall dare mock at my conviction that I wasbrought into the world to fulfill the life-span of that great hero, willlearn to rue it! Here--it is but natural--here, in the city he foundedand which bears his name, I have found positive proof that the bondwhich unites the son of Philip with the son of Severus is somethingmore than a mere fancy. This maiden--look at her closely--is there-embodiment of the soul of Roxana, as I am of that of her husband. Even you must see now how naturally it came about that she should uplifther heart and hands in prayer for me. Her soul, when it once dwelt inRoxana, was fondly linked with that of the hero; and now, in the bosomof this simple maiden, it is drawn to the unforgotten fellow-soul whichhas found its home in my breast. "

He spoke with enthusiastic and firm conviction of the truth of hisstrange imagining, as though he were delivering a revelation from thegods. He bade Philostratus approach and compare the features of Roxana, as carved in the onyx, with those of the young supplicant. 

The fair Persian stood facing Alexander; they were clasping each other'shands in pledge of marriage, and a winged Hymen fluttered above theirheads with his flaming torch. 

Philostratus was, in fact, startled as he looked at the gem, andexpressed his surprise in the liveliest terms, for the features ofRoxana as carved in the cameo, no larger than a man's palm, were, linefor line, those of the daughter of Heron. And this sport of chance couldnot but be amazing to any one who did not know--as neither of the threewho were examining the gem knew--that it was a work of Heron's youth, and that he had given Roxana the features of his bride Olympias, whoseliving image her daughter Melissa had grown to be. 

"And how long have you had this work of art?" asked Philostratus. 

"I inherited it, as I tell you, from my father, " replied Caracalla. "Severus sometimes wore it. --But wait. After the battle of Issos, inhis triumph over Pescennius Niger--I can see him now--he wore it on hisshoulder, and that was--"

"Two-and-twenty years ago, " the philosopher put in; and Caracalla, turning to Melissa, asked her:

"How old are you, child?"

"Eighteen, my lord. " And the reply delighted Caesar; he laughed aloud, and looked triumphantly at Philostratus. 

The philosopher willingly admitted that there was something strange inthe incident, and he congratulated Caesar on having met with such strongconfirmation of his inward conviction. The soul of Alexander might nowdo great things through him. 

During this conversation the alarm which had come over Melissa atCaesar's silence had entirely disappeared. The despot whose sufferinghad appealed to her sympathetic soul, now struck her as singular ratherthan terrible. The idea that she, the humble artist's daughter, couldharbor the soul of a Persian princess, amused her; and when the lionlifted his head and lashed the floor with his tail at her approach, shefelt that she had won his approbation. Moved by a sudden impulse, shelaid her hand on his head and boldly stroked it. The light, warm touchsoothed the fettered prince of the desert, and, rubbing his brow againstMelissa's round arm, he muttered a low, contented growl. 

At this Caesar was enchanted; it was to him a further proof of hisstrange fancy. The "Sword of Persia" was rarely so friendly to any one;and Theocritus owed much of the favor shown him by Caracalla to the factthat at their first meeting the lion had been on particularly goodterms with him. Still, the brute had never shown so much liking for anystranger as for this young girl, and never responded with such eagerswinging of his tail excepting to Caesar's own endearments. It must beinstinct which had revealed to the beast the old and singular bond whichlinked his master and this new acquaintance. Caracalla, who, in all thathappened to him, traced the hand of a superior power, pointed this outto Philostratus, and asked him whether, perhaps, the attack of pain hehad just suffered might not have yielded so quickly to the presence ofthe revived Roxana rather than to Galen's pills. 

Philostratus thought it wise not to dispute this assumption, andsoon diverted the conversation to the subject of Melissa's imprisonedrelations. He quietly represented to Caracalla that his noblest taskmust be to satisfy the spirit of her who had been so dear to the herowhose life he was to fulfill; and Caesar, who was delighted that thephilosopher should recognize as a fact the illusion which flattered him, at once agreed. He questioned Melissa about her brother Alexander with agentleness of which few would have thought him capable; and the soundof her voice, as she answered him modestly but frankly and with sisterlyaffection, pleased him so well that he allowed her to speak withoutinterruption longer than was his wont. Finally, he promised her that hewould question the painter, and, if possible, be gracious to him. 

He again clapped his hands, and ordered a freedman named Epagathos, whowas one of his favorite body-servants, to send immediately for Alexanderfrom the prison. 

As before, when Adventus had been summoned, a crowd followed Epagathos, and, as Caesar did not dismiss them, Melissa was about to withdraw; thedespot, however, desired her to wait. 

Blushing, and confused with shyness, she remained standing by Caesar'sseat; and though she only ventured to raise her eyes now and then for astolen look, she felt herself the object of a hundred curious, defiant, bold, or contemptuous glances. 

How gladly would she have escaped, or have sunk into the earth! Butthere she had to stand, her teeth set, while her lips trembled, to checkthe tears which would rise. 

Caesar, meanwhile, took no further notice of her. He was longing torelate at full length, to his friends and companions, the wonderful andimportant thing that had happened; but he would not approach the subjectwhile they took their places in his presence. Foremost of them, withTheocritus, came the high-priest of Serapis, and Caracalla immediatelydesired them to introduce the newly appointed head-guardian of thepeace. But the election was not yet final. The choice lay, Theocritusexplained, between two equally good men. One, Aristides, was a Greek ofhigh repute, and the other was only an Egyptian, but so distinguishedfor zealous severity that, for his part, he should vote for him. 

At this the high-priest broke in, saying that the man favored byTheocritus did in fact possess the qualities for which he was commended, but in such a measure that he was utterly hated by the Greek population;and in Alexandria more could be achieved by justice and mercy than bydefiant severity. 

But at this the favorite laughed, and said that he was convinced of thecontrary. A populace which could dare to mock at the divine Caesar, theguest of their city, with such gross audacity, must be made to smartunder the power of Rome and its ruler. The deposed magistrate had losthis place for the absurd measures he had proposed, and Aristides was indanger of following in his footsteps. 

"By no means, " the high-priest said, with calm dignity. "The Greek, whom I would propose, is a worthy and determined man. Now, Zminis theEgyptian, the right hand of the man who has been turned out, is, it mustbe said, a wretch without ruth or conscience. "

But here the discussion was interrupted. Melissa, whose ears had tingledas she listened, had started with horror as she heard that Zminis, thein former, was to be appointed to the command of the whole watch ofthe city. If this should happen, her brothers and father were certainlylost. This must be prevented. As the high-priest ceased speaking, shelaid her hand on Caesar's, and, when he looked up at her in surprise, she whispered to him, so low and so quickly that hardly any one observedit "Not Zminis; he is our mortal enemy!"

Caracalla scarcely glanced at the face of the daring girl, but he sawhow pale she had turned. The delicate color in her cheeks, and thedimple he had seen while she stroked the lion had struck him asparticularly fascinating. This had helped to make her so like the Roxanaon the gem, and the change in her roused his pity. She must smileagain; and so, accustomed as he was to visit his annoyance on others, heangrily exclaimed to his "Friends":

"Can I be everywhere at once? Can not the simplest matter be settledwithout me? It was the praetorian prefect's business to report to meconcerning the two candidates, if you could not agree; but I have notseen him since last evening. The man who has to be sought when I needhim neglects his duty! Macrinus usually knows his. Does any one knowwhat has detained him?"

The question was asked in an angry, nay, in an ominous tone, but thepraetorian prefect was a powerful personage, whose importance made himalmost invulnerable. Yet the praetor Lucius Priscillianus was ready withan answer. He was the most malicious and ill-natured scandal-monger atcourt; and he hated the prefect, for he himself had coveted the post, which was the highest in the state next to Caesar's. He had always someslaves set to spy upon Macrinus, and he now said, with a contemptuousshrug:

"It is a marvel to me that so zealous a man--though he is alreadybeginning to break down under his heavy duties--should be so late. However, he here spends his evenings and nights in special occupations, which must of course be far from beneficial to the health and peace ofmind which his office demands. "

"What can those be?" asked Caracalla; but the praetor added without apause:

"Merciful gods! Who would not crave to glance into the future?"

"And it is that which makes him late?" said Caesar, with more curiositythan anger. 

"Hardly by broad daylight, " replied Priscillianus. "The spirits he wouldfain evoke shun the light of day, it is said. But he may be weary withlate watching and painful agitations. "

"Then he calls up spirits at night?"

"Undoubtedly, great Caesar. But, in this capital of philosophy, spiritsare illogical it would seem. How can Macrinus interpret the prophecythat he, who is already on the highest step attainable to us lowermortals, shall rise yet higher?"

"We will ask him, " said Caesar, indifferently. "But you--guard yourtongue. It has already cost some men their heads, whom I would gladlysee yet among the living. Wishes can not be punished. Who does not wishto stand on the step next above his own? You, my friend, would like thatof Macrinus. --But deeds! You know me! I am safe from them, so long aseach of you so sincerely grudges his neighbor every promotion. You, myLucius, have again proved how keen your sight is, and, if it were nottoo great an honor for this refractory city to have a Roman in the togapraetexta at the head of its administration, I should like to make youthe guardian of the peace here. You see me, " he went on, "in an elatedmood to-day. --Cilo, you know this gem which came tome from my father. Look at it, and at this maiden. --Come nearer, priest of the divineAlexander; and you too consider the marvel, Theocritus, Antigonus, Dio, Pandion, Paulinus. Compare the face of the female figure with this girlby my side. The master carved this Roxana long before she was born. You are surprised? As Alexander's soul dwells in me, so she is Roxana, restored to life. It has been proved by irrefragable evidence in thepresence of Philostratus. "

The priest of Alexander here exclaimed, in a tone of firm conviction:

"A marvel indeed! We bow down to the noble vessel of the soul ofAlexander. I, the priest of that hero, attest that great Caesar hasfound that in which Roxana's soul now exists. " And as he spoke hepressed his hand to his heart, bowing low before Caesar; the restimitated his example. Even Julius Paulinus, the satirist, followedthe Roman priest's lead; but he whispered in the ear of Cassius Dio"Alexander's soul was inquisitive, and wanted to see how it could livein the body which, of all mortal tenements on earth, least resembles hisown. "

A mocking word was on the ex-consul's lips as to the amiable frame ofmind which had so suddenly come over Caesar; but he preferred to watchand listen, as Caracalla beckoned Theocritus to him and begged him togive up the appointment of Zminis, though, as a rule, he indulgedthe favorite's every whim. He could not bear, he said, to intrust thedefense of his own person and of the city of Alexander to an Egyptian, so long as a Greek could be found capable of the duty. He proposedpresently to have the two candidates brought before him, and to decidebetween them in the presence of the prefect of the praetorians. Then, turning to those of his captains who stood around him, he said:

"Greet my soldiers from me. I could not show myself to them yesterday. I saw just now, with deep regret, how the rain has drenched them inthis luxurious city. I will no longer endure it. The praetorians and theMacedonian legion shall be housed in quarters of which they will tellwonders for a long time to come. I would rather see them sleeping inwhite wool and eating off silver than these vile traders. Tell themthat. "

He was here interrupted, for Epagathos announced a deputation fromthe Museum, and, at the same time, the painter Alexander, who had beenbrought from prison. At this Caracalla exclaimed with disgust:

"Spare me the hair-splitting logicians!--Do you, Philostratus, receivethem in my name. If they make any impudent demands, you may tell themmy opinion of them and their Museum. Go, but come back quickly. Bringin the painter. I will speak with him alone. --You, my friends, withdrawwith our idiologos, the priest of Alexander, who is well known here, andvisit the city. I shall not require you at present. "

The whole troop hastened to obey. Caracalla now turned to Melissa oncemore, and his eye brightened as he again discerned the dimple in hercheeks, which had recovered their roses. Her imploring eyes met his, and the happy expectation of seeing her brother lent them a light whichbrought joy to the friendless sovereign. During his last speech hehad looked at her from time to time; but in the presence of so manystrangers she had avoided meeting his gaze. Now she thought that shemight freely show him that his favor was a happiness to her. Her soul, as Roxana, must of course feel drawn to his; in that he firmly believed. Her prayer and sacrifice for him sufficiently proved it--as he toldhimself once more. 

When Alexander was brought in, it did not anger him to see that thebrother, who held out his arms to Melissa in his habitual eager way, hadto be reminded by her of the imperial presence. Every homage was dueto this fair being, and he was, besides, much struck by Alexander'ssplendid appearance. It was long since any youthful figure had sovividly reminded him of the marble statues of the great Athenianmasters. Melissa's brother stood before him, the very embodiment of theideal of Greek strength and manly beauty. His mantle had been taken fromhim in prison, and he wore only the short chiton, which also left barehis powerful but softly modeled arms. He had been allowed no time toarrange and anoint his hair, and the light-brown curls were tossed indisorderly abundance about his shapely head. This favorite of the godsappeared in Caesar's eyes as an Olympic victor, who had come to claimthe wreath with all the traces of the struggle upon him. 

No sign of fear, either of Caesar or his lion, marred this impression. His bow, as he approached the potentate, was neither abject nor awkward, and Caesar felt bitter wrath at the thought that this splendid youth, of all men, should have selected him as the butt of his irony. He wouldhave regarded it as a peculiar gift of fortune if this man--such abrother of such a sister--could but love him, and, with the eye of anartist, discern in the despot the great qualities which, in spite of hismany crimes, he believed he could detect in himself. And he hoped, withan admixture of anxiety such as he had never known before, that thepainter's demeanor would be such as should allow him to show mercy. 

When Alexander besought him with a trustful mien to consider his youth, and the Alexandrian manners which he had inherited both from his parentsand his grandparents, if indeed his tongue had wagged too boldly inspeaking of the all-powerful Caesar, and to remember the fable of thelion and the mouse, the scowl he had put on to impress the youth withhis awfulness and power vanished from Caesar's brow. The idea that thisgreat artist, whose sharp eye could so surely distinguish the hideousfrom the beautiful, should regard him as ill-favored, was odious to him. He had listened to him in silence; but suddenly he inquired of Alexanderwhether it was indeed he, whom he had never injured, who had written thehorrible epigram nailed with the rope to the door of the Serapeum andwhen the painter emphatically denied it, Caesar breathed as though aburden had fallen from his soul. He nevertheless insisted on hearingfrom the youth's own lips what it was that he had actually dared to say. After some hesitation, during which Melissa besought Caesar in vain tospare her and her brother this confession, Alexander exclaimed:

"Then the hunted creature must walk into the net, and, unless yourclemency interferes, on to death! What I said referred partly to thewonderful strength that you, my lord, have so often displayed in thefield and in the circus; and also to another thing, which I myself nowtruly repent of having alluded to. It is said that my lord killed hisbrother. "

"That--ah! that was it!" said Caesar, and his face, involuntarily thistime, grew dark. 

"Yes, my lord, " Alexander went on, breathing hard. "To deny it would beto add a second crime to the former one, and I am one of those who wouldrather jump into cold water both feet at once, when it has to be done. All the world knows what your strength is; and I said that it wasgreater than that of Father Zeus; for that he had cast his sonHephaestos only on the earth, and your strong fist had cast your brotherthrough the earth into the depths of Hades. That was all. I have notadded nor concealed anything. "

Melissa had listened in terror to this bold confession. Papinian, thebrave praetorian prefect, one of the most learned lawyers of his time, had incurred Caracalla's fury by refusing to say that the murder ofGeta was not without excuse; and his noble answer, that it was easier tocommit fratricide than to defend it, cost him his life. 

So long as Caesar had been kind to her, Melissa had felt repelled byhim; but now, when he was angry, she was once more attracted to him. 

As the wounds of a murdered man are said to bleed afresh when themurderer approaches, Caracalla's irritable soul was wont to break outin a frenzy of rage when any one was so rash as to allude to this, his foulest crime. This reference to his brother's death had as usualstirred his wrath, but he controlled it; for as a torrent of rainextinguishes the fire which a lightning-flash has kindled, the homage tohis strength, in Alexander's satire, had modified his indignation. Theirony which made the artist's contemptuous words truly witty, would nothave escaped Caracalla's notice if they had applied to any one else;but he either did not feel it, or would not remark it, for the sakeof leaving Melissa in the belief that his physical strength was reallywonderful. Besides, he thus could indulge his wish to avoid pronouncingsentence of death on this youth; he only measured him with a severe eye, and said in threatening tones, to repay mockery in kind and to remindthe criminal of the fate imperial clemency should spare him:

"I might be tempted to try my strength on you, but that it is worse totry a fall with a vaporing wag, the sport of the winds, than with theson of Caesar. And if I do not condescend to the struggle, it isbecause you are too light for such an arm as this. " And as he spoke heboastfully grasped the muscles which constant practice had made thickand firm. "But my hand reaches far. Every man-at-arms is one of itsfingers, and there are thousands of them. You have made acquaintancealready, I fancy, with those which clutched you. "

"Not so, " replied Alexander, with a faint smile, as he bowed humbly. "Ishould not dare resist your great strength, but the watch-dogs of thelaw tried in vain to track me. I gave myself up. "

"Of your own accord?"

"To procure my father's release, as he had been put in prison. "

"Most magnanimous!" said Caesar, ironically. "Such a deed sounds well, but is apt to cost a man his life. You seem to have overlooked that. "

"No, great Caesar; I expected to die. "

"Then you are a philosopher, a contemner of life. "

"Neither. I value life above all else; for, if it is taken from me, there is an end of enjoying its best gifts. "

"Best gifts!" echoed Caesar. "I should like to know which you honor withthe epithet. "

"Love and art. "

"Indeed?" said Caracalla, with a swift glance at Melissa. Then, in analtered voice, he added, "And revenge?"

"That, " said the artist, boldly, "is a pleasure I have not yet tasted. No one ever did me a real injury till the villain Zminis robbed myguiltless father of his liberty; and he is not worthy to do suchmischief, as a finger of your imperial hand. "

At this, Caesar looked at him suspiciously, and said in stern tones:

"But you have now the opportunity of trying the fine flavor ofvengeance. If I were timid--since the Egyptian acted only as myinstrument--I should have cause to protect myself against you. "

"By no means, " said the painter, with an engaging smile, "it lies inyour power to do me the greatest benefit. Do it, Caesar! It would be ajoy to me to show that, though I have been reckless beyond measure, I amnevertheless a grateful man. "

"Grateful?" repeated Caracalla, with a cruel laugh. Then he rose slowly, and looked keenly at Alexander, exclaiming:

"I should almost like to try you. "

"And I will answer for it that you will never regret it!" Melissa putin. "Greatly as he has erred, he is worthy of your clemency. "

"Is he?" said Caesar, looking down at her kindly. "What Roxana's soulaffirms by those rosy lips I can not but believe. "

Then again he paused, studying Alexander with a searching eye, andadded:

"You think me strong; but you will change that opinion--which Ivalue--if I forgive you like a poor-spirited girl. You are in my power. You risked your life. If I give it you, I must have a gift in return, that I may not be cheated. "

"Set my father free, and he will do whatever you may require of him, "Melissa broke out. But Caracalla stopped her, saying: "No one makesconditions with Caesar. Stand back, girl. "

Melissa hung her head and obeyed; but she stood watching the eagerdiscussion between these two dissimilar men, at first with anxiety andthen with surprise. 

Alexander seemed to resist Caesar's demands; but presently the despotmust have proposed something which pleased the artist, for Melissaheard the low, musical laugh which had often cheered her in moments ofsadness. Then the conversation was more serious, and Caracalla said, soloud that Melissa could hear him:

"Do not forget to whom you speak. If my word is not enough, you can goback to prison. " Then again she trembled for her brother; but some softword of his mollified the fury of the terrible man, who was never thesame for two minutes together. The lion, too, which lay unchained by hismaster's seat, gave her a fright now and then; for if Caesar raised hisvoice in anger, he growled and stood up. 

How fearful were this beast and his lord! Rather would she spend herwhole life on a ship's deck, tossed to and fro by the surges, than sharethis man's fate. And yet there was in him something which attracted her;nay, and it nettled her that he should forget her presence. 

At last Alexander humbly asked Caracalla whether he might not tellMelissa to what he had pledged his word. 

"That shall be my business, " replied Caesar. "You think that a mere girlis a better witness than none at all. Perhaps you are right. Then let itbe understood: whatever you may have to report to me, my wrath shall notturn against you. This fellow--why should you not be told, child?--isgoing into the town to collect all the jests and witty epigrams whichhave been uttered in my honor. "

"Alexander!" cried Melissa, clasping her hands and turning pale withhorror. But Caracalla laughed to himself, and went on cheerfully:

"Yes, it is dangerous work, no doubt; and for that reason I pledged myword as Caesar not to require him to pay for the sins of others. On thecontrary, he is free, if the posy he culls for me is sufficient. "

"Ay, " said Alexander, on whom his sister's white face and warning lookswere having effect. "But you made me another promise on which I laygreat stress. You will not compel me to tell you, nor try to discoverthrough any other man, who may have spoken or written any particularsatire. "

"Enough!" said Caracalla, impatiently; but Alexander was not to bechecked. He went on vehemently: "I have not forgotten that you saidconditions were not to be made with Caesar; but, in spite of myimpotence, I maintain the right of returning to my prison and thereawaiting my doom, unless you once more assure me, in this girl'spresence, that you will neither inquire as to the names of the authorsof any gibes I may happen to have heard, nor compel me by any meanswhatever to give up the names of the writers of epigrams. Why should Inot satisfy your curiosity and your relish of a sharp jest? But ratherthan do the smallest thing which might savor of treachery--ten timesrather the axe or the gallows!"

And Caracalla replied with a dark frown, loudly and briefly:

"I promise. "

"And if your rage is too much for you?" wailed Melissa, raising herhands in entreaty; but the despot replied, sternly:

"There is no passion which can betray Caesar into perjury. "

At this moment Philostratus came in again, with Epagathos, who announcedthe praetorian prefect. Melissa, encouraged by the presence of her kindprotector, went on:

"But, great Caesar, you will release my father and my other brother?"

"Perhaps, " replied Caracalla. "First we will see how this one carriesout his task. "

"You will be satisfied, my lord, " said the young man, looking quitehappy again, for he was delighted at the prospect of saying audaciousthings to the face of the tyrant whom all were bent on flattering, andholding up the mirror to him without, as he firmly believed, bringingany danger on himself or others. 

He bowed to go. Melissa did the same, saying, as airily as though shewere free to come and go here:

"Accept my thanks, great Caesar. Oh, how fervently will I pray for youall my life, if only you show mercy to my father and brothers!"

"That means that you are leaving me?" asked Caracalla. 

"How can it be otherwise?" said Melissa, timidly. "I am but a girl, andthe men whom you expect--"

"But when they are gone?" Caesar insisted. 

"Even then you can not want me, " she murmured. 

"You mean, " said Caracalla, bitterly, "that you are afraid to come back. You mean that you would rather keep out of the way of the man you prayedfor, so long as he is well. And if the pain which first aroused yoursympathy attacks him again, even then will you leave the irasciblesovereign to himself or the care of the gods?"

"Not so, not so, " said Melissa, humbly, looking into his eyes with anexpression that pierced him to the heart, so that he added, with gentleentreaty:

"Then show that you are she whom I believe you to be. I do not compelyou. Go whither you will, stay away even if I send for you; but"--andhere his brow clouded again--"why should I try to be merciful to herfrom whom I looked for sympathy and kindliness, when she flees from melike the rest?"

"O my lord!" Melissa sighed distressfully. "Go!" Caesar went on. "I donot need you. "

"No, no, " the girl cried, in great trouble. "Call me, and I will come. Only shelter me from the others, and from their looks of scorn; only--Oimmortal gods!--If you need me, I will serve you, and willingly, withall my heart. But if you really care for me, if you desire my presence, why let me suffer the worst?" Here a sudden flood of tears choked herutterance. A smile of triumph passed over Caesar's features, and drawingMelissa's hands away from her tearful face, he said, kindly:

"Alexander's soul pines for Roxana's; that is what makes your presenceso dear to me. Never shall you have cause to rue coming at my call. I swear it by the manes of my divine father--you, Philostratus, arewitness. "

The philosopher, who thought he knew Caracalla, gave a sigh of relief;and Alexander gladly reflected that the danger he had feared for hissister was averted. This craze about Roxana, of which Caracalla had justnow spoken to him as a certain fact, he regarded as a monstrous illusionof this strange man's, which would, however, be a better safeguard forMelissa than pledges and oaths. 

He clasped her hand, and said with cheerful confidence: "Only send forher when you are ill, my lord, as long as you remain here. I know fromyour own lips that there is no passion which can betray Caesar intoperjury. Will you permit her to come with me for the present?"

"No, " said Caracalla, sharply, and he bade him go about the businesshe had in hand. Then, turning to Philostratus, he begged him to conductMelissa to Euryale, the high-priest's noble wife, for she had been akind and never-forgotten friend of his mother's. 

The philosopher gladly escorted the young girl to the matron, who hadlong been anxiously awaiting her return. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The statue of Serapis, a figure of colossal size, carved by themaster-hand of Bryaxis, out of ivory overlaid with gold, sat enthronedin the inner chamber of the great Temple of Serapis, with the kalathoscrowning his bearded face, and the three-headed Cerberus at his feet, gazing down in supreme silence on the scene around. He did not lack forpious votaries and enthusiastic admirers, for, so long as Caesar washis guest, the curtain was withdrawn which usually hid his majestic formfrom their eyes. But his most devoted worshipers thought that the god'snoble, benevolent, grave countenance had a wrathful look; for, thoughnothing had been altered in this, the finest pillared hall in the world;though the beautiful pictures in relief on the walls and ceiling, thestatues and altars of marble, bronze, and precious metals between thecolumns, and the costly mosaic-work of many colors which decked thefloor in regular patterns, were the same as of yore, this splendidpavement was trodden to-day by thousands of feet which had no concernwith the service of the god. 

Before Caesar's visit, solemn silence had ever reigned in this worthyhome of the deity, fragrant with the scarcely visible fumes of kyphi;and the worshipers gathered without a sound round the foot of hisstatue, and before the numerous altars and the smaller images of thedivinities allied to him or the votive tablets recording the gifts andservices instituted in honor of Serapis by pious kings or citizens. Onfeast-days, and during daily worship, the chant of priestly choirs mightbe heard, or the murmur of prayer; and the eye might watch the stolistswho crowned the statues with flowers and ribbons, as required by theritual, or the processions of priests in their various rank. Carryingsacred relics and figures of the gods on trays or boats, with emblematicstandards, scepters, and cymbals, they moved about the sacred precinctin prescribed order, and most of them fulfilled their duties withdevotion and edification. 

But Caesar's presence seemed to have banished these solemn feelings. From morning till night the great temple swarmed with visitors, buttheir appearance and demeanor were more befitting the market-place orpublic bath than the sanctuary. It was now no more than the anteroom toCaesar's audience-chamber, and thronged with Roman senators, legates, tribunes, and other men of rank, and the clients and "friends" ofCaesar, mingled with soldiers of inferior grades, scribes, freedmen, and slaves, who had followed in Caracalla's train. There were, too, many Alexandrians who expected to gain some benefit, promotion, ordistinction through the emperor's favorites. Most of these kept close tohis friends and intimates, to make what profit they could out of them. Some were corn and wine dealers, or armorers, who wished to obtaincontracts for supplying the army; others were usurers, who had money tolend on the costly objects which warriors often acquired as booty; andhere, as everywhere, bedizened and painted women were crowding round thefree-handed strangers. There were Magians, astrologers, and magiciansby the dozen, who considered this sacred spot the most suitable placein which to offer their services to the Romans, always inquisitivefor signs and charms. They knew how highly Egyptian magic was esteemedthroughout the empire; though their arts were in fact prohibited, eachoutdid the other in urgency, and not less in a style of dress whichshould excite curiosity and expectancy. 

Serapion held aloof. Excepting that he wore a beard and robe, hisappearance even had nothing in common with them; and his talar was notlike theirs, embroidered with hieroglyphics, tongues, and flames, but ofplain white stuff, which gave him the aspect of a learned and priestlysage. 

As Alexander, on his way through the temple to fulfill Caesar'scommission, went past the Magian, Castor, his supple accomplice, stoleup behind a statue, and, when the artist disappeared in the crowd, whispered to his master:

"The rascally painter is at liberty!"

"Till further notice!" was the reply, and Serapion was about to give hissatellite some instructions, when a hand was laid on his shoulder, andZminis said in a low voice:

"I am glad to have found you here. Accusations are multiplying againstyou, my friend; and though I have kept my eyes shut till now, thatcannot last much longer. "

"Let us hope you are mistaken, " replied the Magian, firmly. And thenhe went on in a hurried whisper: "I know what your ambition is, and mysupport may be of use to you. But we must not be seen together. We willmeet again in the instrument-room, to the left of the first stairs up tothe observatory. You will find me there. "

"At once, then, " said the other. "I am to be in Caesar's presence in aquarter of an hour. "

The Magian, as being one of the most skillful makers of astronomicalinstruments, and attached to the sanctuary, had a key of the room hehad designated. Zminis found him there, and their business was quicklysettled. They knew each other well, and each knew things of the otherwhich inspired them with mutual fear. However, as time pressed, they setaside all useless antagonisms, to unite against the common foe. 

The Magian knew already that Zminis had been named to Caesar as apossible successor to the chief of the night-watch, and that he had apowerful rival. By the help of the Syrian, whose ventriloquism was soperfect that he never failed to produce the illusion that his feignedvoice proceeded from any desired person or thing, Serapion had enmeshedthe praetorian prefect, the greatest magnate in the empire next toCaesar himself, and in the course of the past night had gained a firmhold over him. 

Macrinus, a man of humble birth, who owed his promotion to Severus, thefather of Caracalla, had, the day before, been praying in the Pantheonto the statue of his deceased patron. A voice had proceeded from theimage, telling him that the divine Severus needed him for a great work. A pious seer was charged to tell him more exactly what this was; andhe would meet him if he went at about sunset to the shrine of Isis, and called three times on the name of Severus before the altar of thegoddess. 

The Syrian ventriloquist had, by Serapion's orders, hidden behind apillar and spoken to the prefect from the statue; and Macrinus had, ofcourse, obeyed his instructions. He had met the Magian in the Templeof Isis, and what he had seen, heard, and felt during the night had sodeeply affected him that he had promised to revisit Serapion the nextevening. What means he had used to enslave so powerful a man the Magiandid not tell his ally; but he declared that Macrinus was as wax inhis hands, and he came to an agreement with the Egyptian that if he, Serapion, should bring about the promotion for which Zminis sighed, Zminis, on his part, should give him a free hand, and commend his artsto Caesar. 

It needed but a few minutes to conclude this compact; but then theMagian proceeded to insist that Alexander's father and brother should bemade away with. 

"Impossible, " replied Zminis. "I should be only too glad to wring thenecks of the whole brood; but, as it is, I am represented to Caesar astoo stern and ruthless. And a pretty little slut, old Heron's daughter, has entangled him in her toils. "

"No, " said Serapion, positively. "I have seen the girl, and she is asinnocent as a child. But I know the force of contrast: when depravitymeets purity--"

"Come, no philosophizing!" interrupted the other. "We have better thingsto attend to, and one or the other may turn to your advantage. "

And he told him that Caesar, whose whim it was to spare Alexander'slife, regarded Melissa as an incarnation of Roxana. 

"That is worth considering, " said the Magian, stroking his beardmeditatively; then he suddenly exclaimed:

"By the law, as you know, all the relatives of a state criminal are sentto the quarries or the mines. Dispatch Heron and his philosopher sonforthwith. Whither?--that is your concern; only, for the next few daysthey must be out of reach. "

"Good!" said the Egyptian, and an odious smile overspread his thin brownface. "They may go as galley-slaves and row themselves to the Sardinianmines. A good idea!"

"I have even better ideas than that to serve a friend, " repliedSerapion. "Only get the philosopher out of the way. If Caesar lends anear to his ready tongue, I shall never see you guardian of the peace. The painter is less dangerous. "

"He shall share their fate, " cried the spy, and he licked his thick lipsas if tasting some dainty morsel. He waved an adieu to the Magian, andhastened back to the great hall. There he strictly instructed one of hissubordinates to take care that the gem-cutter and his son Philip foundplaces on board a galley bound for Sardinia. 

At the great door he again met Serapion, with the Syrian at his heels, and the Magian said:

"My friend here has just seen a clay figure, molded by some practicedhand. It represents Caesar as a defiant warrior, but in the shape of adeformed dwarf. It is hideously like him; you can see it at the Elephanttavern. "

The Egyptian pressed his hand, with an eager "That will serve, " andhastily went out. 

Two hours slipped by, and Zminis was still waiting in Caesar's anteroom. The Greek, Aristides, shared his fate, the captain hitherto of thearmed guard; while Zminis had been the head of the spies, intrustedwith communicating written reports to the chief of the night-watch. TheGreek's noble, soldierly figure looked strikingly fine by the slovenly, lank frame of the tall Egyptian. They both knew that within an hour orso one would be supreme over the other; but of this they thought it bestto say nothing. Zminis, as was his custom when he wished to assume anappearance of respect which he did not feel, was alternately abjectand pressingly confidential; while Aristides calmly accepted hishypocritical servility, and answered it with dignified condescension. Nor had they any lack of subjects, for their interests were the same, and they both had the satisfaction of reflecting what injury must ensueto public safety through their long and useless detention here. 

But when two full hours had elapsed without their being bidden toCaesar's presence, or taken any notice of by their supporters, Zminisgrew wroth, and the Greek frowned in displeasure. Meanwhile the anteroomwas every moment more crowded, and neither chose to give vent to hisanger. Still, when the door to the inner chambers was opened for amoment, and loud laughter and the ring of wine-cups fell on their ears, Aristides shrugged his shoulders, and the Egyptian's eyes showed anominous white ring glaring out of his brown face. 

Caracalla had meanwhile received the praetorian prefect; he had forgivenhim his long delay, when Macrinus, of his own accord, had told him ofthe wonderful things Serapion had made known to him. The prefect's son, too, had been invited to the banquet of Seleukus; and when Caracallaheard from him and others of the splendor of the feast, he had begun tofeel hungry. Even with regard to food, Caesar acted only on the impulseof the moment; and though, in the field, he would, to please hissoldiers, be content with a morsel of bread and a little porridge, athome he highly appreciated the pleasures of the table. Whenever he gavethe word, an abundant meal must at once be ready. It was all the sameto him what was kept waiting or postponed, so long as something to histaste was set before him. Macrinus, indeed, humbly reminded him thatthe guardians of the peace were awaiting him; but he only waved his handwith contempt, and proceeded to the dining-room, which was soon filledwith a large number of guests. Within a few minutes the first dish wasset before his couch, and, as plenty of good stories were told, and anadmirable band of flute-playing and singing girls filled up the pausesin the conversation, he enjoyed his meal. In spite, too, of the warningwhich Galenus had impressed on his Roman physician, he drank freely ofthe fine wine which had been brought out for him from the airy loftsof the Serapeum, and those about him were surprised at their master'sunwonted good spirits. 

He was especially gracious to the high-priest, whom he bade to a placeby his side; and he even accepted his arm as a support, when, the mealbeing over, they returned to the tablinum. 

'There he flung himself on a couch, with a burning head, and beganfeeding the lion, without paying any heed to his company. It was apleasure to him to see the huge brute rend a young lamb. When theremains of this introductory morsel had been removed and the pavementwashed, he gave the "Sword of Persia" pieces of raw flesh, teasingthe beast by snatching the daintiest bits out of his mouth, and thenoffering them to him again, till the satiated brute stretched himselfyawning at his feet. During this entertainment, he had a letter readto him from the senate, and dictated a reply to a secretary. His eyestwinkled with a tipsy leer in his flushed face, and yet he was perfectlycompetent; and his instructions to the senate, though imperious indeed, were neither more nor less rational than in his soberest moods. 

Then, after washing his hands in a golden basin, he acted on Macrinus'ssuggestion, and the two candidates who had so long been waiting wereat last admitted. The prefect of the praetorians had, by the Magian'sdesire, recommended the Egyptian; but Caesar wished to see for himself, and then to decide. Both the applicants had received hints from theirsupporters: the Egyptian, to moderate his rigor; the Greek, to expresshimself in the severest terms. And this was made easy for him, for theannoyance which had been pent up during his three hours' waiting wassufficient to lend his handsome face a stern look. Zminis strove toappear mild by assuming servile humility; but this so ill became hiscunning features that Caracalla saw with secret satisfaction thathe could accede to Melissa's wishes, and confirm the choice of thehigh-priest, in whose god he had placed his hopes. 

Still, his own safety was more precious to him than the wishes of anyliving mortal; so he began by pouring out, on both, the vials of hiswrath at the bad management of the town. Their blundering tools hadnot even succeeded in capturing the most guileless of men, the painterAlexander. The report that the men-at-arms had seized him had been afabrication to deceive, for the artist had given himself up. Nor hadhe as yet heard of any other traitor whom they had succeeded in layinghands on, though the town was flooded with insolent epigrams directedagainst the imperial person. And, as he spoke, he glared with fury atthe two candidates before him. 

The Greek bowed his head in silence, as if conscious of hisshort-comings; the Egyptian's eyes flashed, and, with an amazinglylow bend of his supple spine, he announced that, more than threehours since, he had discovered a most abominable caricature in clay, representing Caesar as a soldier in a horrible pygmy form. 

"And the perpetrator, " snarled Caracalla, listening with a scowl for thereply. 

Zminis explained that great Caesar himself had commanded his attendancejust as he hoped to find the traces of the criminal, and that, whilehe was waiting, more than three precious hours had been lost. At thisCaracalla broke out in a fury:

"Catch the villain! And let me see his insolent rubbish. Where are youreyes? You bungling louts ought to protect me against the foul broodthat peoples this city, and their venomous jests. Past grievances areforgotten. Set the painter's father and brother at liberty. They havehad a warning. Now I want something new. Something new, I say; and, above all, let me see the ringleaders in chains; the man who nailedup the rope, and the caricaturists. We must have them, to serve as anexample to the others. "

Aristides thought that the moment had now come for displaying hisseverity, and he respectfully but decidedly represented to Caesarthat he would advise that the gem-cutter and his son should be kept incustody. They were well-known persons, and too great clemency would onlyaggravate the virulence of audacious tongues. The painter was free, and if his relatives were also let out of prison, there was nothing toprevent their going off to the other end of the world. Alexandria wasa seaport, and a ship would carry off the criminals before a man couldturn round. 

At this the emperor wrathfully asked him whether his opinion had beeninvited; and the cunning Egyptian said to himself that Caracalla wasanxious to spare the father and his sons for the daughter's sake. Andyet Caesar would surely wish to keep them in safety, to have some holdover the girl; so he lied with a bold face, affirming that, in obedienceto the law of the land, he had removed Heron and Philip, at any rate forthe moment, beyond the reach of Caesar's mercy. They had in the courseof the night been placed on board a galley and were now on the way toSardinia. But a swift vessel should presently be sent to overtake it andbring them back. 

And the informer was right, for Caesar's countenance brightened. He did, indeed, blame the Egyptian's overhasty action; but he gave no orders forfollowing up the galley. 

Then, after reflecting for a short time, he said:

"I do not find in either of you what I require; but at a pinch we arefain to eat moldy bread, so I must need choose between you two. The onewho first brings me that clay figure, and the man who modeled it, inchains and bonds, shall be appointed chief of the night-watch. "

Meanwhile Alexander had entered the room. As soon as Caracalla saw him, he beckoned to him, and the artist informed him that he had made gooduse of his time and had much to communicate. Then he humbly inquired asto the clay figure of which Caesar was speaking, and Caracalla referredhim to Zminis. The Egyptian repeated what the Magian had told him. 

Alexander listened calmly; but when Zminis ceased speaking, the artisttook a deep breath, drew himself up, and pointing a contemptuous fingerat the spy, as if his presence poisoned the air, he said: "It is thatfellow's fault, great Caesar, if the citizens of my native town darecommit such crimes. He torments and persecutes them in your name. Howmany a felony has been committed here, merely to scoff at him and hiscreatures, and to keep them on the alert! We are a light-headed race. Like children, we love to do the forbidden thing, so long as it is nostain on our honor. But that wretch treats all laughter and the mostinnocent fun as a crime, or so interprets it that it seems so. Fromthis malignant delight in the woes of others, and in the hope of risinghigher in office, that wicked man has brought misery on hundreds. It hasall been done in thy great name, O Caesar! No man has raised you upmore foes than this wretch, who undermines your security instead ofprotecting it. "

Here Zminis, whose swarthy face had become of ashy paleness, broke outin a hoarse tone: "I will teach you, and the whole rabble of traitors atyour back--"

But Caesar wrathfully commanded him to be silent, and Alexander quietlywent on: "You can threaten, and you will array all your slanderousarts against us, I know you. But here sits a sovereign who protects theinnocent--and I and mine are innocent. He will set his heel on your headwhen he knows you--the curse of this city--for the adder that you are!He is deceiving you now in small things, great Caesar, and later he willdeceive you in greater ones. Listen now how he has lied to you. He sayshe discovered a caricature of your illustrious person in the guise ofa soldier. Why, then, did he not bring it away from the place where itcould only excite disaffection, and might even mislead those who shouldsee it into the belief that your noble person was that of a dwarf?The answer is self-evident. He left it to betray others into furthermockery, to bring them to ruin. "

Caesar had listened with approval, and now sternly asked the Egyptian:

"Did you see the image?"

"In the Elephant tavern!" yelled the man. 

But Alexander shook his head doubtfully, and begged permission to askthe Egyptian a question. This was granted, and the artist inquiredwhether the soldier stood alone. 

"So far as I remember, yes, " replied Zminis, almost beside himself. 

"Then your memory is as false as your soul!" Alexander shouted in hisface, "for there was another figure by the soldier's side. The clay, still wet, clung to the same board as the figure of the soldier, modeledby the same hand. No, no, my crafty fellow, you will not catch theworkman; for, being warned, he is already on the high-seas. "

"It is false!" shrieked Zminis. 

"That remains to be proved, " said Alexander, scornfully. --"Allow menow, great Caesar, to show you the figures. They have been brought by myorders, and are in the anteroom-carefully covered up, of course, for thefewer the persons who see them the better. "

Caracalla nodded his consent, and Alexander hurried away; the despotheaping abuse on Zminis, and demanding why he had not at once had theimages removed. The Egyptian now confessed that he had only heard of thecaricature from a friend, and declared that if he had seen it he shouldhave destroyed it on the spot. Macrinus here tried to excuse the spy, byremarking that this zealous official had only tried to set his servicesin a favorable light. The falsehood could not be approved, but wasexcusable. But he had scarcely finished speaking, when his opponent, thepraetor, Lucius Priscillianus, observed, with a gravity he but rarelydisplayed:

"I should have thought that it was the first duty of the man who oughtto be Caesar's mainstay and representative here, to let his sovereignhear nothing but the undistorted truth. Nothing, it seems to me, can beless excusable than a lie told to divine Caesar's face!"

A few courtiers, who were out of the prefect's favor, as well as thehigh-priest of Serapis, agreed with the speaker. Caracalla, however, paid no heed to them, but sat with his eyes fixed on the door, deeplywounded in his vanity by the mere existence of such a caricature. 

He had not long to wait. But when the wrapper was taken off the clayfigures, he uttered a low snarl, and his flushed face turned pale. Sounds of indignation broke from the bystanders; the blood rose to hischeeks again, and, shaking his fist, he muttered unintelligible threats, while his eyes wandered again and again to the caricatures. Theyattracted his attention more than all else, and as in an April day thesky is alternately dark and bright, so red and white alternated in hisface. Then, while Alexander replied to a few questions, and assuredhim that the host of the "Elephant" had been very angry, and had gladlyhanded them over to him to be destroyed, Caracalla seemed to becomeaccustomed to them, for he gazed at them more calmly, and tried toaffect indifference. He inquired of Philostratus, as though he wishedto be informed, whether he did not think that the artist who had modeledthese figures must be a very clever follow; and when the philosopherassented conditionally, he declared that he saw some resemblance tohimself--in the features of the apple-dealer. And then he pointed to hisown straight legs, only slightly disfigured by an injury to the ankle, to show how shamefully unfair it was to compare them with the lowerlimbs of a misshapen dwarf. Finally, the figure of the apple-dealer--ahideous pygmy form, with the head of an old man, like enough to hisown--roused his curiosity. What was the point of this image? Whatpeculiarity was it intended to satirize? The basket which hung about theneck of the figure was full of fruit, and the object he held in his handmight be an apple, or might be anything else. 

With eager and constrained cheerfulness, he inquired the opinion of his"friends, " treating as sheer flattery a suggestion from his favorite, Theocritus, that this was not an apple-dealer, but a human figure, who, though but a dwarf in comparison with the gods, nevertheless endowed theworld with the gifts of the immortals. 

Alexander and Philostratus could offer no explanation; but when theproconsul, Julius Paulinus, observed that the figure was offeringthe apples for money, as Caesar offered the Roman citizenship to theprovincials, he knew for what, Caracalla nodded agreement. 

He then provisionally appointed Aristides to the coveted office. TheEgyptian should be informed as to his fate. When the prefect was aboutto remove the figures, Caesar hastily forbade it, and ordered thebystanders to withdraw. Alexander alone was commanded to remain. As soonas they were together, Caesar sprang up and vehemently demanded toknow what news he had brought. But the young man hesitated to begin hisreport. Caracalla, of his own accord, pledged his word once more tokeep his oath, and then Alexander assured him that he knew no more thanCaesar who were the authors of the epigrams which he had picked up hereand there; and, though the satire they contained was venomous in somecases, still he, the sovereign of the world, stood so high that he couldlaugh them to scorn, as Socrates had laughed when Aristophanes placedhim on the stage. 

Caesar declared that he scorned these flies, but that their buzzingannoyed him. 

Alexander rejoiced at this, and only expressed his regret that most ofthe epigrams he had collected turned on the death of Caesar's brotherGeta. He knew now that it was rash to condemn a deed which--

Here Caesar interrupted him, for he could not long remain quiet, sayingsternly:

"The deed was needful, not for me, but for the empire, which is dearerto me than father, mother, or a hundred brothers, and a thousand timesdearer than men's opinions. Let me hear in what form the witty nativesof this city express their disapproval. "

This sounded so dignified and gracious that Alexander ventured to repeata distich which he had heard at the public baths, whither he had firstdirected his steps. It did not, however, refer to the murder of Geta, but to the mantle-like garment to which Caesar owed the nickname ofCaracalla. It ran thus:

 "Why should my lord Caracalla affect a garment so ample? 'Tis that the deeds are many of evil he needs to conceal. "

At this Caesar laughed, saying: "Who is there that has nothing toconceal? The lines are not amiss. Hand me your tablets; if the othersare no worse--"

"But they are, " Alexander exclaimed, anxiously, "and I only regret thatI should be the instrument of your tormenting yourself--"

"Tormenting?" echoed Caesar, disdainfully. "The verses amuse me, and Ifind them most edifying. That is all. Hand me the tablets. "

The command was so positive, that Alexander drew out the little diptych, with the remark that painters wrote badly, and that what he had noteddown was only intended to aid his memory. The idea that Caesar shouldhear a few home-truths through him had struck him as pleasant, but nowthe greatness of the risk was clear to him. He glanced at the scrawledcharacters, and it occurred to him that he had intended to changethe word dwarf in one line to Caesar, and to keep the third and mosttrenchant epigram from the emperor. The fourth and last was veryinnocent, and he had meant to read it last, to mollify him. So he didnot wish to show the tablets. But, as he was about to take them back, Caracalla snatched them from his hand and read with some difficulty:

 "Fraternal love was once esteemed A virtue even in the great, And Philadelphos then was deemed A name to grace a potentate. But now the dwarf upon the throne, By murder of his mother's son, As Misadelphos must be known. "

"Indeed!" murmured Caesar, with a pale face, and then he went on ina low, sullen tone: "Always the same story--my brother, and my smallstature. In this town they follow the example of the barbarians, itwould seem, who choose the tallest and broadest of their race to beking. If the third epigram has nothing else in it, the shallow witof your fellow-citizens is simply tedious. --Now, what have we next?Trochaics! Hardly anything new, I fear!--There is the water-jar. I willdrink; fill the cup. " But Alexander did not immediately obey the commandso hastily given; assuring Caesar that he could not possibly read thewriting, he was about to take up the tablets. But Caesar laid his handon them, and said, imperiously: "Drink! Give me the cup. "

He fixed his eyes on the wax, and with difficulty deciphered the clumsyscrawl in which Alexander had noted down the following lines, which hehad heard at the "Elephant":

 "Since on earth our days are numbered, Ask me not what deeds of horror Stain the hands of fell Tarautas. Ask me of his noble actions, And with one short word I answer, 'None!'-replying to your question With no waste of precious hours. "

Alexander meanwhile had done Caracalla's bidding, and when he hadreplaced the jar on its stand and returned to Caesar, he was horrified;for the emperor's head and arms were shaking and struggling to and fro, and at his feet lay the two halves of the wax tablets which he had tornapart when the convulsion came on. He foamed at the mouth, with lowmoans, and, before Alexander could prevent him, racked with pain andseeking for some support, he had set his teeth in the arm of the seatoff which he was slipping. Greatly shocked, and full of sincere pity, Alexander tried to raise him; but the lion, who perhaps suspected theartist of having been the cause of this sudden attack, rose on his feetwith a roar, and the young man would have had no chance of his life ifthe beast had not happily been chained down after his meal. With muchpresence of mind, Alexander sprang behind the chair and dragged it, with the unconscious man who served him as a shield, away from the angrybrute. 

Galen had urged Caesar to avoid excess in wine and violent emotions, andthe wisdom of the warning was sufficiently proved by the attack whichhad seized him with such fearful violence, just when Caracalla hadneglected it in both particulars. Alexander had to exert all thestrength of his muscles, practised in the wrestling-school, to hold thesufferer on his seat, for his strength, which was not small, was doubledby the demons of epilepsy. In an instant the whole Court had rushedto the spot on hearing the lion's roar of rage, which grew louder andlouder, and could be heard at no small distance, and then Alexander'sshout for help. But the private physician and Epagathos, thechamberlain, would allow no one to enter the room; only old Adventus, who was half blind, was permitted to assist them in succoring thesufferer. He had been raised by Caracalla from the humble office ofletter-carrier to the highest dignities and the office of his privatechamberlain; but the leech availed himself by preference of theassistance of this experienced and quiet man, and between them they soonbrought Caesar to his senses. Caesar then lay pale and exhausted ona couch which had hastily been arranged, his eyes fixed on vacancy, scarcely able to move a finger. Alexander held his trembling hand, andwhen the physician, a stout man of middle age, took the artist's placeand bade him retire, Caracalla, in a low voice, desired him to remain. 

As soon as Caesar's suspended faculties were fully awake again, heturned to the cause of his attack. With a look of pain and entreatyhe desired Alexander to give him the tablets once more; but the artistassured him--and Caracalla seemed not sorry to believe--that he hadcrushed the wax in his convulsion. The sick man himself no doubt feltthat such food was too strong for him. After he had remained staring atnothing in silence for some time, he began again to speak of the gibesof the Alexandrians. Surrounded as he was by servile favorites, whosesuperior he was in gifts and intellect, what had here come under hisnotice seemed to interest him above measure. 

He desired to know where and from whom the painter had got theseepigrams. But again Alexander declared that he did not know the names ofthe authors; that he had found one at the public baths, the second ina tavern, and the third at a hairdresser's shop. Caesar looked sadly atthe youth's abundant brown curls which had been freshly oiled, and said:"Hair is like the other good gifts of life. It remains fine only withthe healthy. You, happy rascal, hardly know what sickness means!" Thenagain he sat staring in silence, till he suddenly started up and askedAlexander, as Philostratus had yesterday asked Melissa:

"Do you and your sister belong to the Christians?"

When he vehemently denied it, Caracalla went on: "And yet these epigramsshow plainly enough how the Alexandrians feel toward me. Melissa, too, is a daughter of this town, and when I remember that she could bringherself to pray for me, then--My nurse, who was the best of women, wasa Christian. I learned from her the doctrine of loving our enemies andpraying for those who despitefully treat us. I always regarded it asimpossible; but now--your sister--What I was saying just now about thehair and good health reminds me of another speech of the Crucified onewhich my nurse often repeated--how long ago!--'To him that hath shallbe given, and from him that hath not shall be taken even that which hehath. ' How cruel and yet how wise, how terribly striking and true! Ahealthy man! What more can he want, and what abundant gifts that best ofall gifts will gain for him! If he is visited by infirmity--only look atme!--how much misery I have suffered from this curse, terrible enough initself, and tainting everything with the bitterness of wormwood!"

He laughed softly but scornfully, and continued: "But I! I am thesovereign of the universe. I have so much--oh yes, so much!--and forthat reason more shall be given to me, and my wildest wishes shall besatisfied!"

"Yes, my liege!" interrupted Alexander, eagerly. "After pain comespleasure!

 'Live, love, drink, and rejoice, And wreath thyself with me!'

sings Sappho, and it is not a bad plan to follow Anakreon's advice, even at the present day. Think of the short suffering which now andthen embitters for you the sweet cup of life, as being the ring ofPolykrates, with which you appease the envy of the gods who have givenyou so much. In your place, eternal gods! how I would enjoy the happyhours of health, and show the immortals and mortals alike how much trueand real pleasure power and riches can procure!"

The emperor's weary eyes brightened, and with the cry--

"So will I! I am still young, and I have the power!" he started suddenlyto his feet. But he sank back again directly on the couch, shaking hishead as if to say, "There, you see what a state I am in!" The fate ofthis unhappy man touched Alexander's heart even more deeply than before. 

His youthful mind, which easily received fresh impressions, forgot thedeeds of blood and shame which stained the soul of this pitiable wretch. His artistic mind was accustomed to apprehend what he saw with his wholesoul and without secondary considerations, as if it stood there to bepainted; and the man that lay before him was to him at that moment onlya victim whom a cruel fate had defrauded of the greatest pleasures inlife. He also remembered how shamelessly he and others had mocked atCaesar. Perhaps Caracalla had really spilled most of the blood to servethe welfare and unity of the empire. 

He, Alexander, was not his judge. 

If Glaukias had seen the object of his derision lying thus, it certainlywould never have occurred to him to represent him as a pygmy monster. No, no! Alexander's artistic eye knew the difference well between thebeautiful and the ugly--and the exhausted man lying on the divan, was nohideous dwarf. A dreamy languor spread over his nobly chiselled featuresAn expression of pain but rarely passed over them, and Caesar's wholeappearance reminded the painter of the fine Ephesian gladiator hallistosas he lay on the sand, severely wounded after his last fight, awaitingthe death-stroke. He would have liked to hasten home and fetch hismaterials to paint the likeness of the misjudged man, and to show it tothe scoffers. 

He stood silent, absorbed in studying the quiet face so finely formedby Nature and so pathetic to look at. No thoroughly depraved miscreantcould look like that. Yet it was like a peaceful sea: when the hurricaneshould break loose, what a boiling whirl of gray, hissing, tossing, foaming waves would disfigure the peaceful, smooth, glittering surface!

And suddenly the emperor's features began to show signs of animation. His eye, but now so dull, shone more brightly, and he cried out, as ifthe long silence had scarcely broken the thread of his ideas, but in astill husky voice:

"I should like to get up and go with you, but I am still too weak. Doyou go now, my friend, and bring me back fresh news. "

Alexander then begged him to consider how dangerous every excitementwould be for him; yet Caracalla exclaimed, eagerly:

"It will strengthen me and dome good! Everything that surrounds me is sohollow, so insipid, so contemptible--what I hear is so small. A strong, highly spiced word, even if it is sharp, refreshes me--When you havefinished a picture, do you like to hear nothing but how well yourfriends can flatter?"

The artist thought he understood Caesar. True to his nature, alwayshoping for the best, he thought that, as the severe judgment of theenvious had often done him (Alexander) good, so the sharp satire ofthe Alexandrians would lead Caracalla to introspection and greatermoderation; he only resolved to tell the sufferer nothing further thatwas merely insulting. 

When he bade him farewell, Caracalla glanced up at him with such a lookof pain that the artist longed to give him his hand, and speak tohim with real affection. The tormenting headache which followed eachconvulsion had again come on, and Caesar submitted without resistance towhat the physician prescribed. 

Alexander asked old Adventus at the door if he did not think that theterrible attack had been brought on by annoyance at the Alexandrians'satire, and if it would not be advisable in the future not to allowsuch things to reach the emperor's ear; but the man, looking at himin surprise with his half-blind eyes, replied with a brutal want ofsympathy that disgusted the youth: "Drinking brought on the attack. Whatmakes him ill are stronger things than words. If you yourself, youngman, do not suffer for Alexandrian wit, it will certainly not hurtCaesar!"

Alexander turned his back indignantly on the chamberlain, and he becameso absorbed in wondering how it was possible that the emperor, who wascultivated and appreciated what was beautiful, could have dragged out ofthe dust and kept near him two such miserable 'creatures as Theocritusand this old man, that Philostratus, who met him in the next room, hadalmost to shout at him. 

Philostratus informed him that Melissa was staying with the chiefpriest's wife; but just as he was about to inquire curiously what hadpassed between the audacious painter and Caesar--for even Philostratuswas a courtier--he was called away to Caracalla. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

In one of the few rooms of his vast palace which the chief priest hadreserved for the accommodation of the members of his own household, theyouth was received by Melissa, Timotheus's wife Euryale, and the ladyBerenike. 

This lady was pleased to see the artist again to whom she was indebtedfor the portrait of her daughter. She had it now in her possession oncemore, for Philostratus had had it taken back to her house while theemperor was at his meal. 

She rested on a sofa, quite worn out. She had passed through hours oftorment; for her concern about Melissa, who had become very dear toher, had given her much more anxiety than even the loss of herbeloved picture. Besides, the young girl was to her for the moment therepresentative of her sex, and the danger of seeing this pure, sweetcreature exposed to the will of a licentious tyrant drove her out ofher senses, and her lively fancy had resulted in violent outbreaks ofindignation. She now proposed all sorts of schemes, of which Euryale, the more prudent but not less warm-hearted wife of the chief priest, demonstrated the impossibility. 

Like Berenike, a tender-hearted woman, whose smooth, brown hair hadalready begun to turn gray, she had also lost her only child. But yearshad passed since then, and she had accustomed herself to seek comfort inthe care of the sick and wretched. She was regarded all over the city asthe providence of all in need, whatever their condition and faith. Wherecharity was to be bestowed on a large scale--if hospitals or almshouseswere to be erected or endowed--she was appealed to first, and if shepromised her quiet but valuable assistance, the result was at oncesecured. For, besides her own and her husband's great riches, this ladyof high position, who was honored by all, had the purses of allthe heathens and Christians in the city at her disposal; both alikeconsidered that she belonged to them; and the latter, although she onlyheld with them in secret, had the better right. 

At home, the society of distinguished men afforded her the greatestpleasure. Her husband allowed her complete freedom; although he, as thechief Greek priest of the city, would have preferred that she shouldnot also have had among her most constant visitors so many learnedChristians. But the god whom he served united in his own person most ofthe others; and the mysteries which he superintended taught thateven Serapis was only a symbolical embodiment of the universal soul, fulfilling its eternal existence by perpetually re-creating itself underconstant and immutable laws. A portion of that soul, which dwelt inall created things, had its abode in each human being, to return tothe divine source after death. Timotheus firmly clung to this pantheistcreed; still, he held the honorable post of head of the Museum--in theplace of the Roman priest of Alexander, a man of less learning--and wasfamiliar not only with the tenets of his heathen predecessors, but withthe sacred scriptures of the Jews and Christians; and in the ethics ofthese last he found much which met his views. 

He, who, at the Museum, was counted among the skeptics, liked biblicalsentences, such as "All is vanity, " and "We know but in part. " Thecommand to love your neighbor, to seek peace, to thirst after truth, theinjunction to judge the tree by its fruit, and to fear more for the soulthan the body, were quite to his mind. 

He was so rich that the gifts of the visitors to the temple, which hispredecessors had insisted on, were of no importance to him. Thus hemingled a great deal that was Christian with the faith of which he waschief minister and guardian. Only the conviction with which men likeClemens and Origen, who were friends of his wife, declared that thedoctrine to which they adhered was the only right one--was, in fact, thetruth itself--seemed to the skeptic "foolishness. "

His wife's friends had converted his brother Zeno to Christianity; buthe had no need to fear lest Euryale should follow them. She loved himtoo much, and was too quiet and sensible, to be baptized, and thusexpose him, the heathen high-priest, to the danger of being deprived ofthe power which she knew to be necessary to his happiness. 

Every Alexandrian was free to belong to any other than the heathencreeds, and no one had taken offence at his skeptical writings. WhenEuryale acted like the best of the Christian women, he could not takeit amiss; and he would have scorned to blame her preference for theteaching of the crucified God. 

As to Caesar's character he had not yet made up his mind. 

He had expected to find him a half-crazy villain, and his rage afterhe had heard the epigram against himself, left with the rope, hadstrengthened the chief priest's opinion. But since then he had heard ofmuch that was good in him; and Timotheus felt sure that his judgmentwas unbiased by the high esteem Caesar showed to him, while he treatedothers like slaves. His improved opinion had been raised by theintercourse he had held with Caesar. The much-abused man had on theseoccasions shown that he was not only well educated but also thoughtful;and yesterday evening, before Caracalla had gone to rest exhausted, thehigh-priest, with his wise experience, had received exactly the sameimpressions as the easily influenced artist; for Caesar had bewailed hissad fate in pathetic terms, and confessed himself indeed deeply guilty, but declared that he had intended to act for the best, had sacrificedfortune, peace of mind, and comfort to the welfare of the state. Hiskeen eye had marked the evils of the time, and he had acknowledged thathis efforts to extirpate the old maladies in order to make room forbetter things had been a failure, and that, instead of earning thanks, he had drawn down on himself the hatred of millions. 

It was for this reason that Timotheus, on rejoining his household, had assured them that, as he thought over this interview, he expectedsomething good--yes, perhaps the best--from the young criminal in thepurple. 

But the lady Berenike had declared with scornful decision that Caracallahad deceived her brother-in-law; and when Alexander likewise tried tosay a word for the sufferer, she got into a rage and accused him offoolish credulity. 

Melissa, who had already spoken in favor of the emperor, agreed, in spite of the matron, with her brother. Yes, Caracalla had sinnedgreatly, and his conviction that Alexander's soul lived in him andRoxana's in her was foolish enough; but the marvelous likeness to herof the portrait on the gem would astonish any one. That good and nobleimpulses stirred his soul she was certain. But Berenike only shruggedher shoulders contemptuously; and when the chief priest remarked thatyesterday evening Caracalla had in fact not been in a position to attenda feast, and that a portion, at least, of his other offenses mightcertainly be put down to the charge of his severe suffering, the ladyexclaimed:

"And is it also his bodily condition that causes him to fill a house ofmourning with festive uproar? I am indifferent as to what makes him amalefactor. For my part, I would sooner abandon this dear child to thecare of a criminal than to that of a madman. "

But the chief priest and the brother and sister both declared Caesar'smind to be as sound and sharp as any one's; and Timotheus asked who, at the present time, was without superstition, and the desire ofcommunicating with departed souls. Still the matron would not allowherself to be persuaded, and after the chief priest had been called awayto the service of the god, Euryale reproved her sister-in-law for hertoo great zeal. When the wisdom of hoary old age and impetuous youthagree in one opinion, it is commonly the right one. 

"And I maintain, " cried Berenike--and her large eyes flamed angrily--"itis criminal to ignore my advice. Fate has robbed you as well as me of adear child. I will not also lose this one, who is as precious to me as adaughter. "

Melissa bent over the lady's hands and kissed them gratefully, exclaiming with tearful eyes, "But he has been very good to me, and hasassured me-"

"Assured!" repeated Berenike disdainfully. She then drew the young girlimpetuously toward her, kissed her on her forehead, placed her handson her head as if to protect her, and turned to the artist as shecontinued:

"I stand by what I recommended before. This very night Melissa must getfar away from here. You, Alexander, must accompany her. My own ship, the'Berenike and Korinna'--Seleukus gave it to me and my daughter--is readyto start. My sister lives in Carthage. Her husband, the first man inthe city, is my friend. You will find protection and shelter in theirhouse. "

"And how about our father and Philip?" interrupted Alexander. "If wefollow your advice, it is certain death to them!"

The matron laughed scornfully. 

"And that is what you expect from this good, this great and noblesovereign!"

"He proves himself full of favors to his friends, " answered Alexander, "but woe betide those who offend him!"

Berenike looked thoughtfully at the ground, and added, more quietly:

"Then try first to release your people, and afterward embark on my ship. It shall be ready for you. Melissa will use it, I know. --My veil, child!The chariot waits for me at the Temple of Isis. --You will accompanyme there, Alexander, and we will drive to the harbor. There I willintroduce you to the captain. It will be wise. Your father and brotherare dearer to you than your sister; she is more important to me. If onlyI could go away myself--away from here, from the desolate house, andtake her with me!"

And she raised her arm, as if she would throw a stone into the distance. 

She impetuously embraced the young girl, took leave of hersister-in-law, and left the room with Alexander. 

Directly Euryale was alone with Melissa, she comforted the girl in herkind, composed manner; for the unhappy matron's gloomy presentiments hadfilled Melissa with fresh anxieties. 

And what had she not gone through during the day!

Soon after her perilous interview with Caracalla, Timotheus, withthe chief of the astrologers from the Serapeum, and the emperor'sastronomer, had come to her, to ask her on what day and at what hour shewas born. They also inquired concerning the birthdays of her parents, and other events of her life. Timotheus had informed her that theemperor had ordered them to cast her nativity. 

Soon after dinner she had gone, accompanied by the lady Berenike, whohad found her at the chief priest's house, to visit her lover in thesick-rooms of the Serapeum. Thankful and happy, she had found himwith fully recovered consciousness, but the physician and the freedmanAndreas, whom she met at the door of the chamber, had impressed on herthe importance of avoiding all excitement. So it had not been possiblefor her to tell him what had happened to her people, or of the perilousstep she had taken in order to save them. But Diodoros had talked oftheir wedding, and Andreas could confirm the fact that Polybius wishedto see it celebrated as soon as possible. 

Several pleasant subjects were discussed; but between whiles Melissahad to dissemble and give evasive answers to Diodoros's questions as towhether she had already arranged with her brother and friends who shouldbe the youths and maidens to form the wedding procession, and sing thehymeneal song. 

As the two whispered to one another and looked tenderly at eachother--for Diodoros had insisted on her allowing him to kiss not onlyher hands but also her sweet red lips--Berenike had pictured her deaddaughter in Melissa's place. What a couple they would have been! Howproudly and gladly she would have led them to the lovely villa atKanopus, which her husband and she had rebuilt and decorated with theidea that some day Korinna, her husband, and--if the gods should grantit--their children, might inhabit it! But even Melissa and Diodoros madea fine couple, and she tried with all her heart not to grudge her allthe happiness that she had wished for her own child. 

When it was time to depart, she joined the hands of the betrothed pair, and called down a blessing from the gods. 

Diodoros accepted this gratefully. 

He only knew that this majestic lady had made Melissa's acquaintancethrough Alexander, and had won her affection, and he encouraged theimpression that this woman, whose Juno-like beauty haunted him, hadvisited him on his bed of sickness in the place of his long-lost mother. 

Outside the sick-room Andreas again met Melissa, and, after she hadtold him of her visit to the emperor, he impressed on her eagerly on noaccount to obey the tyrant's call again. Then he had promised to hideher securely, either on Zeno's estate or else in the house of anotherfriend, which was difficult of access. When Dame Berenike had again, andwith particular eagerness, suggested her ship, Andreas had exclaimed:

"In the garden, on the ship, under the earth--only not back to Caesar!"

The last question of the freedman's, as to whether she had meditatedfurther on his discourse, had reminded her of the sentence, "Thefullness of the time is come"; and afterward the thought occurred toher, again and again, that in the course of the next few hours somedecisive event would happen to her, "fulfilling the time, " as Andreasexpressed it. 

When, therefore, somewhat later, she was alone with the chief priest'swife, who had concluded her comforting, pious exhortations, Melissaasked the lady Euryale whether she had ever heard the sentence, "Whenthe fullness of the time is come. "

At this the lady cried, gazing at the girl with surprised inquiry:

"Are you, then, after all, connected with the Christians?"

"Certainly not, " answered the young girl, firmly. "I heard itaccidentally, and Andreas, Polybius's freedman, explained it to me. "

"A good interpreter, " replied the elder lady. "I am only an ignorantwoman; yet, child, even I have experienced that a day, an hour, comes toevery man in the course of his life in which he afterward sees that thetime was fulfilled. As the drops become mingled with the stream, so atthat moment the things we have done and thought unite to carry us on anew current, either to salvation or perdition. Any moment may bring thecrisis; for that reason the Christians are right when they call on oneanother to watch. You also must keep your eyes open. When the time--whoknows how soon?--is fulfilled for you, it will determine the good orevil of your whole life. "

"An inward voice tells me that also, " answered Melissa, pressing herhands on her panting bosom. "Just feel how my heart beats!"

Euryale, smiling, complied with this wish, and as she did so sheshuddered. How pure and lovable was this young creature; and Melissalooked to her like a lamb that stood ready to hasten trustfully to meetthe wolf!

At last she led her guest into the room where supper was prepared. 

The master of the house would not be able to share it, and while thetwo women sat opposite one another, saying little, and scarcely touchingeither food or drink, Philostratus was announced. 

He came as messenger from Caracalla, who wished to speak to Melissa. 

"At this hour? Never, never! It is impossible!" exclaimed Euryale, who was usually so calm; but Philostratus declared, nevertheless, thatdenial was useless. The emperor was suffering particularly severely, and begged to remind Melissa of her promise to serve him gladly if herequired her. Her presence, he assured Euryale, would do the sick mangood, and he guaranteed that, so long as Caesar was tormented by thisunbearable pain, the young woman had nothing to fear. 

Melissa, who had risen from her seat when the philosopher had entered, exclaimed:

"I am not afraid, and will go with you gladly--"

"Quite right, child, " answered Philostratus, affectionately. Euryale, however, found it difficult to keep back her tears while she stroked thegirl's hair and arranged the folds of her garment. When at last shesaid good-by to Melissa and was embracing her, she was reminded of thefarewell she had taken, many years ago, of a Christian friend beforeshe was led away by the lictors to martyrdom in the circus. Finally, shewhispered something in the philosopher's ear, and received from him thepromise to return with Melissa as soon as possible. 

Philostratus was, in fact, quite easy. Just before, Caracalla's helplessglance had met his sympathizing gaze, and the suffering Caesar had saidnothing to him but:

"O Philostratus, I am in such pain!" and these words still rang in theears of this warm-hearted man. 

While he was endeavoring to comfort the emperor, Caesar's eyes hadfallen on the gem, and he asked to see it. He gazed at it attentivelyfor some time, and when he returned it to the philosopher he had orderedhim to fetch the prototype of Roxana. 

Closely enveloped in the veil which Euryale had placed on her head, Melissa passed from room to room, keeping near to the philosopher. 

Wherever she appeared she heard murmuring and whispering that troubledher, and tittering followed her from several of the rooms as she leftthem; even from the large hall where the emperor's friends awaited hisorders in numbers, she heard a loud laugh that frightened and annoyedher. 

She no longer felt as unconstrained as she had been that morning whenshe had come before Caesar. She knew that she would have to be on herguard; that anything, even the worst, might be expected from him. But asPhilostratus described to her, on the way, how terribly the unfortunateman suffered, her tender heart was again drawn to him, to whom--as shenow felt--she was bound by an indefinable tie. She, if any one, as sherepeated to herself, was able to help him; and her desire to put thetruth of this conviction to the proof--for she could only regard itas too amazing to be grounded in fact--was seconded by the lessdisinterested hope that, while attending on the sufferer, she might findan opportunity of effecting the release of her father and brother. 

Philostratus went on to announce her arrival, and she, while waiting, tried to pray to the manes of her mother; but, before she couldsufficiently collect her thoughts, the door opened. Philostratussilently beckoned to her, and she stepped into the tablinum, which wasbut dimly lighted by a few lamps. 

Caracalla was still resting here; for every movement increased the painthat tormented him. 

How quiet it was! She thought she could hear her own heart beating. 

Philostratus remained standing by the door, but she went on tiptoetoward the couch, fearing her light footsteps might disturb the emperor. Yet before she had reached the divan she stopped still, and then sheheard the plaintive rattle in the sufferer's throat, and from thebackground of the room the easy breathing of the burly physician andof old Adventus, both of whom had fallen asleep; and then a peculiartapping. The lion beat the floor with his tail with pleasure atrecognizing her. 

This noise attracted the invalid's attention, and when he openedhis closed eyes and saw Melissa, who was anxiously watching all hismovements, he called to her lightly with his hand on his brow:

"The animal has a good memory, and greets you in my name. You were sureto come--, I knew it!"

The young girl stepped nearer to him, and answered, kindly, "Since youneeded me, I gladly followed Philostratus. "

"Because I needed you?" asked the emperor. 

"Yes, " she replied, "because you require nursing. "

"Then, to keep you, I shall wish to be ill often, " he answered, quickly;but he added, sadly, "only not so dreadfully ill as I have been to-day. "

One could hear how laborious talking was to him, and the few words hehad sought and found, in order to say something kind to Melissa, had sohurt his shattered nerves and head that he sank back, gasping, on thecushions. 

Then for some time all was quiet, until Caracalla took his hand from hisforehead and continued, as if in excuse:

"No one seems to know what it is. And if I talk ever so softly, everyword vibrates through my brain. "

"Then you must not speak, " interrupted Melissa, eagerly. "If you wantanything, only make signs. I shall understand you without words, and thequieter it is here the better. "

"No, no; you must speak, " begged the invalid. "When the others talk, they make the beating in my head ten times worse, and excite me; but Ilike to hear your voice. "

"The beating?" interrupted Melissa, in whom this word awoke oldmemories. "Perhaps you feel as if a hammer was hitting you over the lefteye?

"If you move rapidly, does it not pierce your skull, and do you not feelas sick as if you were on the rocking sea?"

"Then you also know this torment?" asked Caracalla, surprised; butshe answered, quietly, that her mother had suffered several times fromsimilar headaches, and had described them to her. 

Caesar sank back again on the pillows, moved his dry lips, and glancedtoward the drink which Galen had prescribed for him; and Melissa, who almost as a child had long nursed a dear invalid, guessed what hewanted, brought him the goblet, and gave him a draught. 

Caracalla rewarded her with a grateful look. But the physic only seemedto increase the pain. He lay there panting and motionless, until, tryingto find a new position, he groaned, lightly:

"It is as if iron was being hammered here. One would think others mighthear it. "

At the same time he seized the girl's hand and placed it on his burningbrow. 

Melissa felt the pulse in the sufferer's temple throbbing hard and shortagainst her fingers, as she had her mother's when she laid her cool handon her aching forehead; and then, moved by the wish to comfort and heal, she let her right hand rest over the sick man's eyes. As soon as shefelt one hand was hot, she put the other in its place; and it must haverelieved the patient, for his moans ceased by degrees, and he finallysaid, gratefully:

"What good that does me! You are--I knew you would help me. It isalready quite quiet in my brain. Once more your hand, dear girl!"

Melissa willingly obeyed him, and as he breathed more and more easily, she remembered that her mother's headache had often been relieved whenshe had placed her hand on her forehead. Caesar, now opening his eyeswide, and looking her full in the face, asked why she had not allowedhim sooner to reap the benefit of this remedy. 

Melissa slowly withdrew her hand, and with drooping eyes answeredgently:

"You are the emperor, a man. .. And I. .. " But Caracalla interrupted hereagerly, and with a clear voice:

"Not so, Melissa! Do not you feel, like me, that something else draws usto one another, like what binds a man to his wife?--There lies thegem. Look at it once again--No, child, no! This resemblance is notmere accident. The short-sighted, might call it superstition or a vainillusion; I know better. At least a portion of Alexander's soul lives inthis breast. A hundred signs--I will tell you about it later--make ita certainty to me. And yesterday morning. .. . I see it all again beforeme. .. . You stood above me, on the left, at a window. .. . I looked up;. .. Our eyes met, and I felt in the depths of my heart a strange emotion. .. . I asked myself, silently, where I had seen that lovely face before. Andthe answer rang, you have already often met her; you know her!"

"My face reminded you of the gem, " interrupted Melissa, disquieted. 

"No, no, " continued Caesar. "It was some thing else. Why had none ofmy many gems ever reminded me before of living people? Why did yourpicture, I know not how often, recur to my mind? And you? Only recollectwhat you have done for me. How marvelously we were brought together! Andall this in the course of a single, short day. And you also. .. . I askyou, by all that is holy to you. .. Did you, after you saw me in thecourt of sacrifice, not think of me so often and so vividly that itastonished you?"

"You are Caesar, " answered Melissa, with increasing anxiety. 

"So you thought of my purple robes?" asked Caracalla, and his faceclouded over; "or perhaps only of my power that might be fatal to yourfamily? I will know. Speak the truth, girl, by the head of your father!"

Then Melissa poured forth this confession from her oppressed heart:

"Yes, I could not help remembering you constantly, . .. And I never sawyou in purple, but just as you had stood there on the steps;. .. Andthen--ah! I have told you already how sorry I was for your sufferings. I felt as if. .. But how can I describe it truly?--as if you stood muchnearer to me than the ruler of the world could to a poor, humble girl. It was. .. Eternal gods!. .. "

She stopped short; for she suddenly recollected anxiously that thisconfession might prove fatal to her. The sentence about the time whichshould be fulfilled for each was ringing in her ears, and it seemed toher that she heard for the second time the lady Berenike's warning. 

But Caracalla allowed her no time to think; for he interrupted her, greatly pleased, with the cry:

"It is true, then! The immortals have wrought as great a miracle in youas in me. We both owe them thanks, and I will show them how gratefulI can be by rich sacrifices. Our souls, which destiny had already onceunited, have met again. That portion of the universal soul which of yoredwelt in Roxana, and now in you, Melissa, has also vanquished the painwhich has embittered my life. .. You have proved it!--And now. .. It isbeginning to throb again more violently--now--beloved and restored one, help me once more!"

Melissa perceived anxiously how the emperor's face had flushed againduring this last vehement speech, and at the same time the pain hadagain contracted his forehead and eyes. And she obeyed his command, butthis time only in shy submission. When she found that he became quieter, and the movement of her hand once more did him good, she recovered herpresence of mind. She remembered how often the quiet application of herhand had helped her mother to sleep. 

She therefore explained to Caracalla, in a low whisper directly he beganto speak again, that her desire to give him relief would be vain if hedid not keep his eyes and lips closed. And Caracalla yielded, while herhand moved as lightly over the brow of the terrible man as when yearsago it had soothed her mother to sleep. 

When the sufferer, after a little time, murmured, with closed eyes

"Perhaps I could sleep, " she felt as if great happiness had befallenher. 

She listened attentively to every breath, and looked as if spell-boundinto his face, until she was quite sure that sleep had completelyovercome Caesar. 

She then crept gently on tiptoe to Philostratus, who had looked on insilent surprise at all that had passed between his sovereign and thegirl. He, who was always inclined to believe in any miraculous cure, ofwhich so many had been wrought by his hero Apollonius, thought he hadactually witnessed one, and gazed with an admiration bordering on aweat the young creature who appeared to him to be a gracious instrument ofthe gods. 

"Let me go now, " Melissa whispered to her friend. "He sleeps, and willnot wake for some time. "

"At your command, " answered the philosopher, respectfully. At thesame moment a loud voice was heard from the next room, which Melissarecognized as her brother Alexander's, who impetuously insisted on hisright of--being allowed at any time to see the emperor. 

"He will wake him, " murmured the philosopher, anxiously; but Melissawith prompt determination threw her veil over her head and went into theadjoining room. 

Philostratus at first heard violent language issuing from the mouth ofTheocritus and the other courtiers, and the artist's answers were notless passionate. Then he recognized Melissa's voice; and when quietsuddenly reigned on that side of the door, the young girl again crossedthe threshold. 

She glanced toward Caracalla to see if he still slept, and then, with asigh of relief, beckoned to her friend, and begged him in a whisper toescort her past the staring men. Alexander followed them. 

Anger and surprise were depicted on his countenance, which was usuallyso happy. He had come with a report which might very likely induceCaesar to order the release of his father and brother, and his heart hadstood still with fear and astonishment when the favorite Theocritus hadtold him in the anteroom, in a way that made the blood rush into hisface, that his sister had been for some time endeavoring to comfort thesuffering emperor--and it was nearly midnight. 

Quite beside himself, he wished to force his way into Caesar's presence, but Melissa had at that moment come out and stood in his way, and haddesired him and the noble Romans, in such a decided and commanding tone, to lower their voices, that they and her brother were speechless. 

What had happened to his modest sister during the last few days? Melissagiving him orders which he feebly obeyed! It seemed impossible! Butthere was something reassuring in her manner. She must certainly havethought it right to act thus, and it must have been worthy of her, orshe would not have carried her charming head so high, or looked him sofreely and calmly in the face. 

But how had she dared to come between him and his duty to his father andbrother?

While he followed her closely and silently through the imperial rooms, the implicit obedience he had shown her became more and more difficultto comprehend; and when at last they stood in the empty corridorwhich divided Caesar's quarters from those of the high-priest, andPhilostratus had returned to his post at the side of his sovereign, hecould hold out no longer, and cried to her indignantly:

"So far, I have followed you like a boy; I do not myself know why. Butit is not yet too late to turn round; and I ask you, what gave you theright to prevent my doing my best for our people?"

"Your loud talking, that threatened to wake Caesar, " she replied, seriously. "His sleeping could alone save me from watching by him thewhole night. "

Alexander then felt sorry he had been so foolishly turbulent, and afterMelissa had told him in a few words what she had gone through in thelast few hours he informed her of what had brought him to visit theemperor so late. 

Johannes the lawyer, Berenike's Christian freedman, he began, hadvisited their father in prison and had heard the order given to placeHeron and Philip as state prisoners and oarsmen on board a galley. 

This had taken place in the afternoon, and the Christian had furtherlearned that the prisoners would be led to the harbor two hours beforesunset. This was the truth, and yet the infamous Zminis had assured theemperor, at noon, that their father and Philip were already far on theirway to Sardinia. The worthless Egyptian had, then, lied to the emperor;and it would most likely cost the scoundrel his neck. But for this, there would have been time enough next day. What had brought him thereat so late an hour was the desire to prevent the departure of thegalley; for John had heard, from the Christian harbor-watch that theanchor was not yet weighed. The ship could therefore only get out to seaat sunrise; the chain that closed the harbor would not be opened tillthen. If the order to stop the galley came much after daybreak, shewould certainly be by that time well under way, and their father andPhilip might have succumbed to the hard rowing before a swift triremecould overtake and release them. 

Melissa had listened to this information with mixed feelings. She hadperhaps precipitated her father and brother into misery in order to saveherself; for a terrible fate awaited the state-prisoners at the oars. And what could she do, an ignorant child, who was of so little use?

Andreas had told her that it was the duty of a Christian and of everygood man, if his neighbor's welfare were concerned, to sacrifice his ownfortunes; and for the happiness and lives of those dearest to her--forthey, of all others, were her "neighbors"--she felt that she could doso. Perhaps she might yet succeed in repairing the mischief she had donewhen she had allowed the emperor to sleep without giving one thought toher father. Instead of waking him, she had misused her new power overher brother, and, by preventing his speaking, had perhaps frustrated therescue of her people. 

But idle lamenting was of as little use here as at any other time; soshe resolutely drew her veil closer round her head and called to herbrother, "Wait here till I return!"

"What are you going to do?" asked Alexander, startled. 

"I am going back to the invalid, " she explained, decisively. 

On this her brother seized her arm, and, wildly excited, forbade thisstep in the name of his father. 

But at his vehement shout, "I will not allow it!" she struggled to freeherself, and cried out to him:

"And you? Did not you, whose life is a thousand times more importantthan mine, of your own free-will go into captivity and to death in orderto save our father?"

"It was for my sake that he had been robbed of his freedom, " interruptedAlexander; but she added, quickly:

"And if I had not thought only of myself, the command to release him andPhilip would by this time have been at the harbor. I am going. "

Alexander then took his hand from her arm, and exclaimed, as if urged bysome internal force, "Well, then, go!"

"And you, " continued Melissa, hastily, "go and seek the lady Euryale. She is expecting me. Tell her all, and beg her in my name to go torest. Also tell her I remembered the sentence about the time, which wasfulfilled. . .. Mark the words. If I am running again into danger, tellher that I do it because a voice says to me that it is right. And it isright, believe me, Alexander!"

The artist drew his sister to him and kissed her; yet she hardlyunderstood his anxious good wishes; for his voice was choked by emotion. 

He had taken it for granted that he should accompany her as far as theemperor's room, but she would not allow it. His reappearance would onlylead to fresh quarrels. 

He also gave in to this; but he insisted on returning here to wait forher. 

After Melissa had vanished into Caesar's quarters he immediatelycarried out his sister's wish, and told the lady Euryale of all that hadhappened. 

Encouraged by the matron, who was not less shocked than he had been atMelissa's daring, he returned to the anteroom, where, at first, greatlyexcited, he walked up and down, and then sank on a marble seat to waitfor his sister. He was frequently overpowered by sleep. The things thatcast a shadow on his sunny mind vanished from him, and a pleasing dreamshowed him, instead of the alarming picture which haunted him beforesleeping, the beautiful Christian Agatha. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The waiting-room was empty when Melissa crossed it for the second time. Most of the emperor's friends had retired to rest or into the city whenthey had heard that Caesar slept; and the few who had remained behavedquietly when she appeared, for Philostratus had told them that theemperor held her in high esteem, as the only person who was able togive him comfort in his suffering by her peculiar and wonderful healingpower. 

In the tablinum, which had been converted into a sick-room, nothing washeard but the breathing and gentle snoring of the sleeping man. EvenPhilostratus was asleep on an arm-chair at the back of the room. 

When the philosopher had returned, Caracalla had noticed him, anddozing, or perhaps in his dreams, he had ordered him to remain by him. So the learned man felt bound to spend the night there. 

Epagathos, the freedman, was lying on a mattress from the dining-room;the corpulent physician slept soundly, and if he snored too loudly, oldAdventus poked him and quietly spoke a word of warning to him. Thisman, who had formerly been a post messenger, was the only person who wasconscious of Melissa's entrance; but he only blinked at her throughhis dim eyes, and, after he had silently considered why the young girlshould have returned, he turned over in order to sleep himself; for hehad come to the conclusion that this young, active creature would beawake and at hand if his master required anything. 

His wondering as to why Melissa had returned, had led to many guesses, and had proved fruitless. "You can know nothing of women, " was the endof his reflections, "if you do not know that what seems most improbableis what is most likely to be true. This maid is certainly not one of theflute-players or the like. Who knows what incomprehensible whim or freakmay have brought her here? At any rate, it will be easier for her tokeep her eyes open than it is for me. "

He then signed to her and asked her quietly to fetch his cloak outof the next room, for his old body needed warmth; and Melissa gladlycomplied, and laid the caracalla over the old mans cold feet withobliging care. 

She then returned to the side of the sick-bed, to wait for the emperor'sawaking. He slept soundly; his regular breathing indicated this. Theothers also slept, and Adventus's light snore, mingling with the loudersnoring of the physician, showed that he too had ceased to watch. Theslumbering Philostratus now and then murmured incomprehensible words tohimself; and the lion, who perhaps was dreaming of his freedom in hissandy home, whined low in his sleep. 

She watched alone. 

It seemed to her as if she were in the habitation of sleep, and as ifphantoms and dreams were floating around her on the unfamiliar noises. 

She was afraid, and the thought of being the only woman among so manymen caused her extreme uneasiness. 

She could not sit still. 

Inaudibly as a shadow she approached the head of the sleeping emperor, holding her breath to listen to him. How soundly he slept! And she hadcome that she might talk to him. If his sleep lasted till sunrise, thepardon for her people would be too late, and her father and Philip, chained to a hard bench, would have to ply heavy oars as galley slavesby the side of robbers and murderers. How terribly then wouldher father's wish to use his strength be granted! Was Philip, thenarrow-chested philosopher, capable of bearing the strain which had sooften proved fatal to stronger men?

She must wake the dreaded man, the only man who could possibly help her. 

She now raised her hand to lay it on his shoulder, but she half withdrewit. 

It seemed to her as if it was not much less wicked to rob a sleeping manof his rest, his best cure, than to take the life of a living being. Itwas not too late yet, for the harbor-chain would not be opened till theOctober sun had risen. He might enjoy his slumbers a little longer. 

With this conclusion she once more sank down and listened to the noiseswhich broke the stillness of the night. 

How hideous they were, how revolting they sounded! The vulgarest of thesleepers, old Adventus, absolutely sawed the air with his snoring. 

The emperor's breathing was scarcely perceptible, and how nobly cut wasthe profile which she could see, the other side of his face leaning onthe pillow! Had she any real reason to fear his awakening? Perhaps hewas quite unlike what Berenike thought him to be. She remembered thesympathy she had felt for him when they had first met, and, in spite ofall the trouble she had experienced since, she no longer felt afraid. Athought then occurred to her which was sufficient excuse for disturbingthe sick man's sleep. If she delayed it, she would be making him guiltyof a fresh crime by allowing two blameless men to perish in misery. But she would first convince herself whether the time was pressing. She looked out through the open window at the stars and across the openplace lying at her feet. The third hour after midnight was past, and thesun would rise before long. 

Down below all was quiet. Macrinus, the praetorian prefect, on hearingthat the emperor had fallen into a refreshing sleep, in order that hemight not be disturbed, had forbidden all loud signals, and ordered thecamp to be closed to all the inhabitants of the city; so the girl heardnothing but the regular footsteps of the sentries and the shrieks of theowls returning to their nests in the roof of the Serapeum. The wind fromthe sea drove the clouds before it across the sky, and the plain coveredwith tents resembled a sea tossed into high white waves. The camp hadbeen reduced during the afternoon; for Caracalla had carried out histhreat of that morning by quartering a portion of the picked troops inthe houses of the richest Alexandrians. 

Melissa, bending far out, looked toward the north. The sea-breeze blewher hair into her face. Perhaps on the ocean whence it came the highwaves would, in a few hours, be tossing the ship on which her father andbrother, seated at the oar, would be toiling as disgraced galley-slaves. That must not, could not be!

Hark! what was that?

She heard a light whisper. In spite of strict orders, a loving couplewere passing below. The wife of the centurion Martialis, who had beenseparated for some time from her husband, had at his entreaty comesecretly from Ranopus, where she had charge of Seleukus's villa, to seehim, as his services prevented his going so far away. They now stoodwhispering and making love in the shadow of the temple. Melissa couldnot hear what they said, yet it reminded her of the sacred nighthour when she confessed her love to Diodoros. She felt as if she werestanding by his bedside, and his faithful eyes met hers. She would not, for all that was best in the world, have awakened him yesterday at theChristian's house, though the awakening would have brought her freshpromises of love; and yet she was on the point of robbing another of hisonly cure, the sleep the gods had sent him. But then she loved Diodoros, and what was Caesar to her? It had been a matter of life and death withher lover, while disturbing Caracalla would only postpone his recoverya few hours at the utmost. It was she who had procured the imperialsleeper his rest, which she could certainly restore to him even if shenow woke him. Just now she had vowed for the future not to careabout her own welfare, and that had at first made her doubtful aboutCaracalla; but had it not really been exceedingly selfish to losethe time which could bring freedom to her father and brother, only toprotect her own soul from the reproach of an easily forgiven wrong? Withthe question:

"What is your duty?" all doubts left her, and no longer on tiptoe, butwith a firm, determined tread, she walked toward the slumberer's couch, and the outrage which she shrank from committing would, she saw, bea deed of kindness; for she found the emperor with perspiring browgroaning and frightened by a severe nightmare. He cried with the dull, toneless voice of one talking in his sleep, as if he saw her close by:

"Away, mother, I say! He or I! Out of the way! You will not? But I, I--If you--"

At the same he threw up his hands and gave a dull, painful cry. 

"He is dreaming of his brother's murder, " rushed through Melissa's mind, and in the same instant she laid her hand on his arm and with urgententreaty cried in his ear: "Wake up, Caesar, I implore you! GreatCaesar, awake!"

Then he opened his eyes, and a low, prolonged "Ah!" rang from histortured breast. 

He then, with a deep breath and perplexed glance, looked round him; andas his eyes fell on the young girl his features brightened, and soonwore a happy expression, as if he experienced a great joy. 

"You?" he asked, with pleased surprise. "You, maiden, still here!It must be nearly dawn? I slept well till just now. But then at thelast--Oh, it was fearful!--Adventus!"

Melissa, however, interrupted this cry, exhorting the emperor to bequiet by putting her finger to her lips; and he understood her andwillingly obeyed, especially as she had guessed what he required fromthe chamberlain, Adventus. She handed him the cloth that lay on thetable for him to wipe his streaming forehead. She then brought himdrink, and after Caracalla had sat up refreshed, and felt that the pain, which, after a sharp attack, lasted sometimes for days, had now alreadyleft him, he said, quite gently, mindful of her sign:

"How much better I feel already; and for this I thank you, Roxana; yes, you know. I like to feel like Alexander, but usually--It is certainly apleasant thing to be ruler of the universe, for if we wish to punish orreward, no one can limit us. You, child, shall learn that it is Caesarwhom you have laid under such obligations. Ask what you will, and I willgrant it you. "

She whispered eagerly to him:

"Release my father and brother. "

"Always the same thing, " answered Caracalla, peevishly. "Do you know ofnothing better to wish for?"

"No, my lord, no!" cried Melissa, with importunate warmth. "If you willgive me what I most care for--"

"I will, yes, I will, " interrupted the emperor in a softer voice; butsuddenly shrugging his shoulders, he continued, regretfully: "But youmust have patience; for, by the Egyptian's orders, your people have beenfor some time afloat and at sea. "

"No!" the girl assured him. "They are still here. Zminis has shamefullydeceived you;" and then she informed him of what she had learned fromher brother. 

Caracalla, in obedience to a softer impulse, had wished to show himselfgrateful to Melissa. But her demand displeased him; for the sculptor andhis son, the philosopher, were the security that should keep Melissaand the painter attached to him. But though his distrust was so strong, offended dignity and the tormenting sense of being deceived caused himto forget everything else; he flew into a rage, and called loudly thenames of Epagathos and Adventus. 

His voice, quavering with fury, awakened the others also out of theirsleep; and after he had shortly and severely rebuked them for theirlaziness, he commissioned Epagathos to give the prefect, Macrinus, immediate orders not to allow the ship on which Heron and Philip were, to leave the harbor; to set the captives at liberty; and to throwZminis, the Egyptian, into prison, heavily chained. 

When the freedman remarked, humbly, that the prefect was not likelyto be found, as he had purposed to be present again that night at theexorcisms of the magician, Serapion, Caesar commanded that Macrinusshould be called away from the miracle-monger's house, and the ordersgiven him. 

"And if I can not find him?" asked Epagathos. 

"Then, once more, events will prove how badly I am served, " answered theemperor. "In any case you can act the prefect, and see that my ordersare carried out. "

The freedman left hastily, and Caracalla sank back exhausted on thepillows. 

Melissa let him rest a little while; then she approached him, thankedhim profusely, and begged him to keep quiet, lest the pain should returnand spoil the approaching day. 

He then asked the time, and when Philostratus, who had walked to thewindow, explained that the fifth hour after midnight was past, Caracallabade him prepare a bath. 

The physician sanctioned this wish, and Caesar then gave his hand to thegirl, saying, feebly and in a gentle voice: "The pain still keeps away. I should be better if I could moderate my impatience. An early bathoften does me good after a bad night. Only go. The sleep that you knowso well how to give to others, you scarcely allow to visit you. I onlybeg that you will be at hand. We shall both, I think, feel strengthenedwhen next I call you. "

Melissa then bade him a grateful farewell; but as she was approachingthe doorway he called again after her, and asked her with an alteredvoice, shortly and sternly:

"You will agree with your father if he abuses me?"

"What an idea!" she answered, energetically. "He knows who robbed him ofhis liberty, and from me shall he learn who has restored it to him. "

"Good!" murmured the emperor. "Yet remember this also: I need yourassistance and that of your brother's, the painter. If your fatherattempts to alienate you--"

Here he suddenly let fall his arm, which he had raised threateningly, and continued in a confidential whisper: "But how can I ever showyou anything but kindness? Is it not so? You already feel the secrettie--You know? Am I mistaken when I fancy that it grieves you to beseparated from me?"

"Certainly not, " she replied, gently, and bowed her head. 

"Then go, " he continued, kindly. "The day will come yet when you willfeel that I am as necessary to your soul as you are to mine. But you donot yet know how impatient I can be. I must be able to think of you withpleasure--always with pleasure--always. "

Thereupon he nodded to her, and his eyelids remained for some time inspasmodic movement. Philostratus was prepared to accompany the younggirl, but Caracalla prevented him by calling:

"Lead me to my bath. If it does me good, as I trust it will, I have manythings to talk over with you. "

Melissa did not hear the last words. Gladly and quickly she hurriedthrough the empty, dimly lighted rooms, and found Alexander in a sittingposition, half asleep and half awake, with closed eyes. Then she drewnear to him on tiptoe, and, as his nodding head fell on his breast, shelaughed and woke him with a kiss. 

The lamps were not yet burned out, and, as he looked into her face withsurprise, his also brightened, and jumping up quickly he exclaimed:

"All's well; we have you back again, and you have succeeded! Ourfather-I see it in your face--and Philip also, are at liberty!"

"Yes, yes, yes, " she answered, gladly; "and now we will go together andfetch them ourselves from the harbor. "

Alexander raised his eyes and arms to heaven in rapture, and Melissaimitated him; and thus, without words, though with fervent devotion, they with one accord thanked the gods for their merciful ruling. 

They then set out together, and Alexander said: "I feel as if nothingbut gratitude flowed through all my veins. At any rate, I have learnedfor the first time what fear is. That evil guest certainly haunts thisplace. Let us go now. On the way you shall tell me everything. "

"Only one moment's patience, " she begged, cheerfully, and hurried intothe chief priest's rooms. The lady Euryale was still expecting her, andas she kissed her she looked with sincere pleasure into her bright buttearful eyes. 

At first she was bent on making Melissa rest; for she would yet requireall her strength. But she saw that the girl's wish to go and meether father was justifiable; she placed her own mantle over hershoulders--for the air was cool before sunrise--and at last accompaniedher into the anteroom. Directly the girl had disappeared, she turned toher sister-in-law's slave, who had waited there the whole night by orderof his mistress, and desired him to go and report to her what he hadlearned about Melissa. 

The brother and sister met the slave Argutis outside the Serapeum. Hehad heard at Seleukus's house where his young mistress was staying, andhad made friends with the chief priest's servants. 

When, late in the evening, he heard that Melissa was still with Caesar, he had become so uneasy that he had waited the whole night through, first on the steps of a staircase, then walking up and down outside theSerapeum. With a light heart he now accompanied the couple as far as theAspendia quarter of the town, and he then only parted from them inorder that he might inform poor old Dido of his good news, and makepreparations for the reception of the home-comers. 

After that Melissa hurried along, arm in arm with her brother, throughthe quiet streets. 

Youth, to whom the present belongs entirely, only cares to know thebright side of the future; and even Melissa in her joy at being able torestore liberty to her beloved relations, hardly thought at all of thefact that, when this was done and Caesar should send for her again, there would be new dangers to surmount. 

Delighted with her grand success, she first told her brother what herexperiences had been with the suffering emperor. Then she started on therecollections of her visit to her lover, and when Alexander opened hisheart to her and assured her with fiery ardor that he would not resttill he had won the heart of the lovely Christian, Agatha, she gladlyallowed him to talk and promised him her assistance. At last theydeliberated how the favor of Caesar--who, Melissa assured him, wascruelly misunderstood--was to be won for their father and Philip; andfinally they both imagined the surprise of the old man if he should bethe first to meet them after being set at liberty. 

The way was far, and when they reached the sea, by the Caesareum inthe Bruchium, the palatial quarter of the town, the first glimmer ofapproaching dawn was showing behind the peninsula of Lochias. The seawas rough, and tossed with heavy, oily waves on the Choma that ran outinto the sea like a finger, and on the walls of the Timoneum at itspoint, where Antonius had hidden his disgrace after the battle ofActium. 

Alexander stopped by the pillared temple of Poseidon, which stood closeon the shore, between the Choma and the theatre, and, looking toward theflat, horseshoe-shaped coast of the opposite island which still lay indarkness, he asked:

"Do you still remember when we went with our mother over to Antirhodos, and how she allowed us to gather shells in the little harbor? If shewere alive to-day, what more could we wish for?"

"That the emperor was gone, " exclaimed the girl from the depths of herheart; "that Diodoros were well again; that father could use his handsas he used, and that I might stay with him until Diodoros came to fetchme, and then. .. Oh, if only something could happen to the empire thatCaesar might go away-far away, to the farthest hyperborean land!"

"That will soon happen now, " answered Alexander. "Philostratus says thatthe Romans will remain at the utmost a week longer. "

"So long?" asked Melissa, startled; but Alexander soon pacified her withthe assurance that seven days flew speedily by, and when one looked backon them they seemed to shrink into only as many hours. 

"But do not, " he continued, cheerfully, "look into the future! We willrejoice, for everything is going so well now!"

He stopped here suddenly and gazed anxiously at the sea, which was nolonger completely obscured by the vanishing shadows of night. Melissalooked in the direction of his pointing hand, and when he cried withgreat excitement, "That is no little boat, it is a ship, and a largeone, too!" Melissa added, eagerly, "It is already near the Diabathra. Itwill reach the Alveus Steganus in a moment, and pass the pharos. "

"But yonder is the morning star in the heavens, and the fire is stillblazing on the tower, " interrupted her brother. "Not till it has beenextinguished will they open the outside chain. And yet that ship issteering in a northwesterly direction. It certainly comes out of theroyal harbor. " He then drew his sister on faster, and when, in a fewminutes, they reached the harbor gate, he cried out, much relieved:

"Look there! The chain is still across the entrance. I see it clearly. "

"And so do I, " said Melissa, decidedly; and while her brother knocked atthe gate-house of the little harbor, she continued, eagerly:

"No ships dare go out before sunrise, on account of the rocks--Epagathossaid so just now--and that one near the pharos--"

But there was no time to put her thoughts into words; for the broadharbor gate was thrown noisily open, and a troop of Roman soldiersstreamed out, followed by several Alexandrian men-at-arms. Afterthem came a prisoner loaded with chains, with whom a leading Roman inwarrior's dress was conversing. Both were tall and haggard, and whenthey approached the brother and sister they recognized in them Macrinusthe praetorian prefect, while the prisoner was Zminis the informer. 

But the Egyptian also noticed the artist and his companion. His eyessparkled brightly, and with triumphant scorn he pointed out to sea. 

The magician Serapion had persuaded the prefect to let the Egyptian gofree. Nothing was yet known in the harbor of Zminis's disgrace, and hehad been promptly obeyed as usual, when, spurred on by the magicianand his old hatred, he gave the order for the galley which carried thesculptor and his son on board to weigh anchor in spite of the earlyhour. 

Heron and Philip, with chains on their feet, were now rowing on thesame bench with the worst criminals; and the old artist's two remainingchildren stood gazing after the ship that carried away their father andbrother into the distance. Melissa stood mute, with tearful eyes, whileAlexander, quite beside himself, tried to relieve his rage and grief byempty threats. 

Soon, however, his sister's remonstrances caused him to restrainhimself, and make inquiry as to whether Macrinus, in obedience to theemperor's orders, had sent a State ship after the galley. 

This had been done, and comforted, though sadly disappointed, theystarted on their way home. 

The sun in the mean time had risen, and the streets were filling withpeople. 

They met the old sculptor Lysander, who had been a friend of theirfather's, outside the magnificent pile of buildings of the Caesareum. The old man took a deep interest in Heron's fate; and, when Alexanderasked him modestly what he was doing at that early hour, he pointedto the interior of the building, where the statues of the emperors andempresses stood in a wide circle surrounding a large court-yard, andinvited them to come in with him. He had not been able to complete hiswork--a marble statue of Julia Domna, Caracalla's mother--before thearrival of the emperor. It had been placed here yesterday evening. Hehad come to see how it looked in its new position. 

Melissa had often seen the portrait of Julia on coins and in variouspictures, but to-day she was far more strongly attracted than she hadever been before to look in the face of the mother of the man who had sopowerfully influenced her own existence and that of her people. 

The old master had seen Julia many years ago in her own home at Emesa, as the daughter of Bassianus the high-priest of the Sun in that town;and later, after she had become empress, he had been commanded to takeher portrait for her husband, Septimus Severus. While Melissa gazedon the countenance of the beautiful statue, the old artist related howCaracalla's mother had in her youth won all hearts by her wealth ofintellect, and the extraordinary knowledge which she had easily acquiredand continually added to, through intercourse with learned men. Theylearned from him that his heart had not remained undisturbed by thecharms of his royal model, and Melissa became more and more absorbed inher contemplation of this beautiful work of art. 

Lysander had represented the imperial widow standing in flowingdraperies, which fell to her feet. She held her charming, youthful headbent slightly on one side, and her right hand held aside the veil whichcovered the back of her head and fell lightly on her shoulders, a littleopen over the throat. Her face looked out from under it as if she werelistening to a fine song or an interesting speech. Her thick, slightlywaving hair framed the lovely oval of her face under the veil, andAlexander agreed with his sister when she expressed the wish that shemight but once see this rarely beautiful creature. But the sculptorassured them that they would be disappointed, for time had treated hercruelly. 

"I have shown her, " he continued, "as she charmed me a generation ago. What you see standing before you is the young girl Julia; I was notcapable of representing her as matron or mother. The thought of her sonwould have spoiled everything. "

"He is capable of better emotions, " Alexander declared. 

"May be, " answered the old man--"I do not know them. May your father andbrother be restored to you soon!--I must get to work!"

CHAPTER XXI. 

The high-priest of Serapis presided over the sacrifices to be offeredthis morning. Caesar had given beasts in abundance to do honor to thegod; still, the priest had gone but ill-disposed to fulfill his part;for the imperial command that the citizens' houses should be filled withthe troops, who were also authorized to make unheard-of demands on theirhosts, had roused his ire against the tyrant, who, in the morning, afterhis bath, had appeared to him unhappy indeed, but at the same time agifted and conscientious ruler, capable of the highest and grandestenterprise. 

Melissa, in obedience to the lady Euryale, had taken an hour's rest, and then refreshed herself by bathing. She now was breakfasting with hervenerated friend, and Philostratus had joined them. He was able to tellthem that a swift State galley was already on its way to overtake andrelease her father and brother; and when he saw how glad she was to hearit, how beautiful, fresh, and pure she was, he thought to himself withanxiety that it would be a wonder if the imperial slave to his ownpassions should not desire to possess this lovely creature. 

Euryale also feared this, and Melissa realized what filled themwith anxiety; yet she by no means shared the feeling, and the happyconfidence with which she tried to comfort her old friends, at the sametime pacified and alarmed them. It seemed to her quite foolish and vainto suppose that the emperor, the mighty ruler of the world, should fallin love with her, the humble, obscure gem-cutter's child, who aspired toone suitor alone. It was merely as a patient wishes for thephysician, she assured herself, that the emperor wished for herpresence--Philostratus had understood that. During the night she hadcertainly been seized with great fears, but, as she now thought, withoutany cause. What she really had to dread was that she might be falselyjudged by his followers; still, she cared nothing about all theseRomans. However, she would beg Euryale to see Diodoros, and to tell himwhat forced her to obey the emperor's summons, if he should send forher. It was highly probable that the sick man had been informed of herinterview with Caracalla, and, as her betrothed, he must be told how shefelt toward Caesar; for this was his right, and jealous agitation mightinjure him. 

Her face so expressed the hope and confidence of a pure heart that when, after a little time, she withdrew, Euryale said to the philosopher:

"We must not alarm her more! Her trustful innocence perhaps may protecther better than anxious precautions. "

And Philostratus agreed, and assured her that in any case he expectedgood results for Melissa, for she was one of those who were the electof the gods and whom they chose to be their instruments. And then herelated what wonderful influence she had over Caesar's sufferings, andpraised her with his usual enthusiastic warmth. 

When Melissa returned, Philostratus had left the matron. She was againalone with Euryale, who reminded her of the lesson conveyed in theChristian words that she had explained to her yesterday. Every deed, every thought, had some influence on the way in which the fulfillmentof time would come for each one; and when the hour of death was over, no regrets, repentance, or efforts could then alter the past. A singlemoment, as her own young experience had taught her, was often sufficientto brand the name of an estimable man. Till now, her way through lifehad led along level paths, through meadows and gardens, and others hadkept their eyes open for her; now she was drawing near to the edge ofa precipice, and at every turning, even at the smallest step, she mustnever forget the threatening danger. The best will and the greatestprudence could not save her if she did not trust to a higher guidance;and then she asked the girl to whom she raised her heart when sheprayed; and Melissa named Isis and other gods, and lastly the manes ofher dead mother. 

During this confession, old Adventus appeared, to summon the girl to hissovereign. Melissa promised to follow him immediately; and, when the oldman had gone, the matron said:

"Few here pray to the same gods, and he whose worship my husband leadsis not mine. I, with several others, know that there is a Father inheaven who loves us men, his creatures, and guards us as his children. You do not yet know him, and therefore you can not hope for anythingfrom him; but if you will follow the advice of a friend, who was alsoonce young, think in the future that your right hand is held firmly bythe invisible, beloved hand of your mother. Persuade yourself that sheis by you, and take care that every word, yes, every glance, meets withher approval. Then she will be there, and will protect you whenever yourequire her aid. "

Melissa sank on the breast of her kind friend, embracing her as closelyand kissing her as sincerely as if she had been the beloved mother towhose care Euryale had commended her. 

The counsels of this true friend agreed with those of her own heart, andso they must be right. When at last they had to part, Euryale wished tosend for one of the gentlemen of the court, whom she knew, that he mightescort her through the troops of Caesar's attendants and friends whowere waiting, and of the visitors and petitioners; but Melissa felt sohappy and so well protected by Adventus, that she followed him withoutfurther delay. In fact, the old man had a friendly feeling for her, since she had covered his feet so carefully the day before; she knew itby the tone of his voice and by the troubled look in his dim eyes. 

Even now she did not believe in the dangers at which her friendstrembled for her, and she walked calmly across the lofty marble halls, the anteroom, and the other vast rooms of the imperial dwelling. Theattendants accompanied her respectfully from door to door, in obedienceto the emperor's commands, and she went on with a firm step, lookingstraight in front of her, without noticing the inquisitive, approving, or scornful glances which were aimed at her. 

In the first rooms she needed an escort, for they were crowded withRomans and Alexandrians who were waiting for a sign from Caesar toappeal for his pardon or his verdict, or perhaps only wishing to seehis countenance. The emperor's "friends" sat at breakfast, of whichCaracalla did not partake. The generals, and the members of his courtnot immediately attached to his person, stood together in the variousrooms, while the principal people of Alexandria--several senators andrich and important citizens of the town--as well as the envoys of theEgyptian provinces, in magnificent garments and rich gold ornaments, held aloof from the Romans, and waited in groups for the call of theusher. 

Melissa saw no one, nor did she observe the costly woven hangings on thewalls, the friezes decorated with rare works of art and high reliefs, nor the mosaic floors over which she passed. She did not notice the humand murmur of the numerous voices which surrounded her; nor could sheindeed have understood a single coherent sentence; for, excepting theushers and the emperor's immediate attendants, at the reception-hour noone was allowed to raise his voice. Expectancy and servility seemed hereto stifle every lively impulse; and when, now and then, the loud call ofone of the ushers rang above the murmur, one of those who were waitingspontaneously bowed low, or another started up, as if ready to obey anycommand. The sensation, shared by many, of waiting in the vicinity ofa high, almost godlike power, in whose hands lay their well-being ormisery, gave rise to a sense of solemnity. Every movement was subdued;anxious, nay, fearful expectation was written on many faces, and onothers impatience and disappointment. After a little while it waswhispered from ear to ear that the emperor would only grant a few moreaudiences; and how many had already waited in vain yesterday, for hours, in the same place!

Without delay Melissa went on till she had reached the heavy curtainwhich, as she already knew, shut off Caesar's inner apartments. 

The usher obligingly drew it back, even before she had mentioned hername, and while a deputation of the town senators, who had been receivedby Caracalla, passed out, she was followed by Alexandrian citizens, thechiefs of great merchant-houses, whose request for an audience hehad sanctioned. They were for the most part elderly men, and Melissarecognized among them Seleukus, Berenike's husband. 

Melissa bowed to him, but he did not notice her, and passed by without aword. Perhaps he was considering the enormous sum to be expended on theshow at night which he, with a few friends, intended to arrange at thecircus in Caesar's honor. 

All was quite still in the large hall which separated the emperor'sreception-room from the anteroom. Melissa observed only two soldiers, who were looking out of window, and whose bodies were shaking as thoughthey were convulsed with profound merriment. 

It happened that she had to wait here some time; for the usher beggedher to have patience until the merchants' audience was over. They werethe last who would be received that day. He invited her to rest on thecouch on which was spread a bright giraffe's skin, but she preferredto walk up and down, for her heart was beating violently. And while theusher vanished from the room, one of the warriors turned his head tolook about him, and directly he caught sight of Melissa he gave hiscomrade a push, and said to him, loud enough for Melissa to hear:

"A wonder! Apollonaris, by Eros and all the Erotes, a precious wonder!"

The next moment they both stepped back from the window and stared at thegirl, who stood blushing and embarrassed, and gazed at the floor whenshe found with whom she had been left alone. 

They were two tribunes of the praetorians, but, notwithstanding theirhigh grade, they were only young men of about twenty. Twin brothersof the honorable house of the Aurelia, they had entered the army ascenturions, but had soon been placed at the head of a thousand men, andappointed tribunes in Caesar's body-guard. They resembled one anotherexactly; and this likeness, which procured them much amusement, theygreatly enhanced by arranging their coal-black beards and hair inexactly the same way, and by dressing alike down to the rings on theirfingers. One was called Apollonaris, the other Nemesianus Aurelius. Theywere of the same height, and equally well grown, and no one could saywhich had the finest black eyes, which mouth the haughtiest smile, orto which of them the thick short beard and the artistically shavedspot between the under lip and chin was most becoming. The beautifullyembossed ornaments on their breast-plates and shirts of mail, and on thebelt of the short sword, showed that they grudged no expense; in fact, they thought only of enjoyment, and it was merely for the honor of itthat they were serving for a few years in the imperial guard. By andby they would rest, after all the hardships of the campaign, in theirpalace at Rome, or in the villas on the various estates that they hadinherited from their father and mother, and then, for a change, holdhonorary positions in the public service. Their friends knew that theyalso contemplated being married on the same day, when the game of warshould be a thing of the past. 

In the mean time they desired nothing in the world but honor andpleasure; and such pleasure as well-bred, healthy, and genial youths, with amiability, strength, and money to spend, can always command, theyenjoyed to the full, without carrying it to reckless extravagance. Twomerrier, happier, more popular comrades probably did not exist in thewhole army. They did their duty in the field bravely; during peace, andin a town like Alexandria, they appeared, on the contrary, like mereeffeminate men of fashion. At least, they spent a large part of theirtime in having their black hair crimped; they gave ridiculous sums tohave it anointed with the most delicate perfumes; and it was difficultto imagine how effectively their carefully kept hands could draw asword, and, if necessary, handle the hatchet or spade. 

To-day Nemesianus was in the emperor's anteroom by command, andApollonaris, of his own freewill, had taken the place of anothertribune, that he might bear his brother company. They had carousedthrough half the night, and had begun the new day by a visit to theflower market, for love of the pretty saleswomen. Each had a half-openedrose stuck in between his cuirass and shirt of mail on the left breast, plucked, as the charming Daphnion had assured them, from a bush whichhad been introduced from Persia only the year before. The brothers, atany rate, had never seen any like them. 

While they were looking out of the window they had passed the time byexamining every girl or woman who went by, intending to fling one roseat the first whose perfect beauty should claim it, and the other flowerat the second; but during the half-hour none had appeared who was worthyof such a gift. All the beauties in Alexandria were walking in thestreets in the cool hour before sunset, and really there was no lack ofhandsome girls. The brothers had even heard that Caesar, who seemed tohave renounced the pleasures of love, had yielded to the charms of alovely Greek. 

Directly they saw Melissa they were convinced that they had met thebeautiful plaything of the imperial fancy, and each with the same actionoffered her his rose, as if moved by the same invisible power. 

Apollonaris, who had come into the world a little sooner than hisbrother, and who, by right of birth, had therefore a more audaciousmanner, stepped boldly up to Melissa and presented his, while Nemesianusat the same instant bowed to her, and begged her to give his thepreference. 

Though their speeches were flattering and well-worded, Melissa repulsedthem by remarking sharply that she did not want their flowers. 

"We can easily believe that, " answered Apollonaris, "for are you notyourself a lovely, blooming rose?"

"Vain flattery, " replied Melissa; "and I certainly do not bloom foryou. "

"That is both cruel and unjust, " sighed Nemesianus, "for that whichyou refuse to us poor fellows you grant to another, who can obtaineverything that other mortals yearn for. "

"But we, " interrupted his brother, "are modest, nay, and pious warriors. We had intended offering up these roses to Aphrodite, but lo! thegoddess has met us in person. "

"Her image at any rate, " added the other. 

"And you should thank the foam-born goddess, " continued Apollonaris;"for she has lent you, in spite of the danger of seeing herselfeclipsed, her own divine charms. Do you think she will be displeased ifwe withdraw the flowers and offer them to you?"

"I think nothing, " answered Melissa, "excepting that your honeyedremarks annoy me. Do what you like with your roses, I will not acceptthem. "

"How dare you, " asked Apollonaris, approaching her--"you, to whom themother of love has given such wonderfully fresh lips--misuse them byrefusing so sternly the humble petition of her faithful worshipers? Ifyou would not have Aphrodite enraged with you, hasten to atone for thistransgression. One kiss, my beauty, for her votary, and she will forgiveyou. "

Here Apollonaris stretched out his hand toward the girl to draw her tohim, but she motioned him back indignantly, declaring that it would bereprehensible and cowardly in a soldier to use violence toward a modestmaid. 

At this the two brothers laughed heartily, and Nemesianus exclaimed, "You do not belong to the Temple of Vesta, most lovely of roses, andyet you are well protected by such sharp thorns that it requires a greatdeal of courage to venture to attack you. "

"More, " added Apollonaris, "than to storm a fortress. But what camp orstronghold contains booty so well worth capturing?"

Thereupon he threw his arm round Melissa and drew her to him. 

Neither he nor his brother had ever conducted themselves badly towardsan honorable woman; and if Melissa had been but the daughter of a simplecraftsman, her reproachful remarks would have sufficed to keep them ata distance. But such immunity was not to be granted to the emperor'ssweetheart, who could so audaciously reject two brothers accustomed toeasy conquests; her demure severity could hardly be meant seriously. Apollonaris therefore took no notice of her violent resistance, but heldher hands forcibly, and, though he could not succeed in kissing her forher struggling, he pressed his lips to her cheek, while she endeavoredto free herself and pushed him off, breathless with real indignation. 

'Till now, the brothers had taken the matter as a joke; but whenApollonaris seized the girl again, and she, beside herself with fear, cried for help, he at once set her free. 

It was too late; for the curtains of the audience-room were alreadywithdrawn, and Caracalla approached. His countenance was red anddistorted; he trembled with rage, and his angry glance fell like a flashof lightning on the luckless brothers. Close by his side was the prefectMacrinus, who feared lest he should be attacked by a fresh fit; andMelissa shared his fears, as Caracalla cried to Apollonaris in an angryvoice, "Scoundrel that you are, you shall repent of this!"

Still, Aurelius had, by various wanton jokes, incurred the emperor'swrath before now, and he was accustomed to disarm it by some insinuatingconfession, so he answered him with a roguish smile, while raising hiseyes to him humbly:

"Forgive me, great Caesar! Our poor strength, as you well know, iseasily defeated in conflicts against overpowering beauty. Dainties aresweet, not only for children. Long ago Mars was drawn to Venus; and ifI--"

He had spoken these words in Latin, which Melissa did not understand;but the color left the emperor's face, and, pale with excitement, hestammered out laboriously:

"You have--you have dared--"

"For this rose, " began the youth again, "I begged a hasty kiss from thebeauty, which certainly blooms for all, and she--" He raised his handsand eyes imploringly to the despot; but Caracalla had already snatchedMacrinus's sword from its sheath, and before Aurelius could defendhimself he was struck first on the head with the flat of the blade, andthen received a series of sharp cuts on his brow and face. 

Streaming with blood from the gaping wounds which the victim, tremblingwith fear and rage, covered with his hands, he surrendered himself tothe care of his startled brother, while Caesar overwhelmed them bothwith a flood of furious reproaches. 

When Nemesianus began to bind up his wounded brother's head with ahandkerchief handed to him by Melissa, and Caracalla saw the gapingwounds he had inflicted, he became quieter, and said:

"I think those lips will not try to steal kisses again for some timefrom honorable maidens. You and Nemesianus have forfeited your lives;how ever, the beseeching look of those all-powerful eyes has savedyou--you are spared. Take your brother away, Nemesianus. You are not toleave your quarters until further orders. "

With this he turned his back on the twins, but on the threshold he againaddressed them and said:

"You were mistaken about this maiden. She is not less pure and noblethan your own sister. "

The merchants were dismissed from the tablinum more hastily than was dueto the importance of their business, in which, until this interruption, the sovereign had shown a sympathetic interest and intelligence whichsurprised them; and they left Caesar's presence disappointed, but withthe promise that they should be received again in the evening. 

As soon as they had retired, Caracalla threw himself again on the couch. 

The bath had done him good. Still somewhat exhausted, though his headwas clear, he would not be hindered from receiving the deputation forwhich he had important matters to decide; but this fresh attack of ragerevenged itself by a painful headache. Pale, and with slightly quiveringlimbs, he dismissed the prefect and his other friends, and desiredEpagathos to call Melissa. 

He needed rest, and again the girl's little hand, which had yesterdaydone him good, proved its healing power. The throbbing in his headyielded to her gentle touch, and by degrees exhaustion gave way to thecomfortable languor of convalesence. 

To-day, as yesterday, he expressed his thanks to Melissa, but hefound her changed. She looked timidly and anxiously down into her lapexcepting when she replied to a direct question; and yet he had doneeverything to please her. Her relations would soon be free and inAlexandria once more, and Zminis was in prison, chained hand and foot. This he told her; and, though she was glad, it was not enough to restorethe calm cheerfulness he had loved to see in her. 

He urged her, with warm insistence, to tell him what it was that weighedon her, and at last, with eyes full of tears, she forced herself to say:

"You yourself have seen what they take me for. "

"And you have seen, " he quickly replied, "how I punish those who forgetthe respect they owe to you. "

"But you are so dreadful in your wrath!" The words broke from her lips. "Where others blame, you can destroy; and you do it, too, when passioncarries you away. I am bound to obey your call, and here I am. But Ifancy myself like the little dog--you may see him any day--which in thebeast-garden of the Panaeum, shares a cage with a royal tiger. The hugebrute puts up with a great deal from his small companion, but woe betidethe dog if the tiger once pats him with his heavy, murderous paw--and hemight, out of sheer forgetfulness!"

"But this hand, " Caesar broke in, raising his delicate hand covered withrings, "will never forget, any more than my heart, how much it owes toyou. "

"Until I, in some unforeseen way--perhaps quite unconsciously--exciteyour anger, " sighed Melissa. "Then you will be carried away by passion, and I shall share the common fate. "

Caracalla was about to reply indignantly, but just then Adventus enteredthe room, announcing the chief astrologer of the Temple of Serapis. Caracalla refused to receive him just then, but he anxiously askedwhether he had any signs to report. The reply was in the affirmative, and in a few minutes Caesar had in his hand a wax tablet covered withwords and figures. He studied it eagerly, and his countenance cleared;still holding the tablets, he exclaimed to Melissa:

"You, daughter of Heron, have nothing to fear from me, you of all theworld! In some quiet hour I will explain to you how my planet yearns toyours, and yours--that is, yourself--to mine. The gods have created usfor each other, child; I am already under your influence, but your heartstill hesitates, and I know why; it is because you distrust me. "

Melissa raised her large eyes to his face in astonishment, and he wenton, pensively:

"The past must stand; it is like a scar which no water will washout. What have you not heard of my past? What did they feel, in theirself-conscious virtue, when they talked of my crimes? Did it ever occurto any one, I wonder, that with the purple I assumed the sword, toprotect my empire and throne? And when I have used the blade, howeagerly have fingers pointed at me, how gladly slanderous tongues havewagged! Who has ever thought of asking what compulsion led me to shedblood, or how much it cost me to do it? You, fair child--and the starsconfirm it--you were sent by fate to share the burden that oppressesme, and to you I will ease my heart, to you I will confide all, unasked, because my heart prompts me to do so. But first you must tell me withwhat tales they taught you to hate the man to whom, as you yourselfconfessed, you nevertheless felt drawn. "

At this Melissa raised her hands in entreaty and remonstrance, andCaesar went on:

"I will spare you the pains. They say that I am ever athirst for freshbloodshed if only some one is rash enough to suggest it to me. You weretold that Caesar murdered his brother Geta, with many more who did butspeak his victim's name. My father-in-law, and his daughter Plautilla, my wife, were, it is said, the victims of my fury. I killed Papinian, the lawyer and prefect, and Cilo--whom you saw yesterday--nearly sharedthe same fate. What did they conceal? Nothing. Your nod confessesit--well, and why should they, since speaking ill of others is theirgreatest delight? It is all true, and I should never think of denyingit. But did it ever occur to you, or did any one ever suggest to you, toinquire how it came to pass that I perpetrated such horrors; I--whowas brought up in the fear of the gods and the law, like you and otherpeople?"

"No, my lord, never, " replied Melissa, in distress. "But I beg you, Ibeseech you, say no more about such dreadful things. I know full wellthat you are not wicked; that you are much better than people think. "

"And for that very reason, " cried Caesar, whose cheeks were flushed withpleasure in the hard task he had set himself, "you must hear me. I amCaesar. There is no judge over me; I need give account to none for myactions. Nor do I. Who, besides yourself, is more to me than the flieson that cup?"

"And your conscience?" she timidly put in. 

"It raises hideous questions from time to time, " he replied, gloomily. "It can be obtrusive, but we can teach ourselves not to answer--besides, what you call conscience knows the motives for every action, and, remembering them, judges leniently. You, child, should do the same; foryou--"

"O my lord, what can my poor judgment matter?" Melissa panted out; butCaracalla exclaimed, as if the question pained him:

"Must I explain all that? The stars, as you know, proclaim to you, asto me, that a higher power has joined us as light and warmth are joined. Have you forgotten how we both felt only yesterday? Or am I mistaken?Has not Roxana's soul entered into that divinely lovely form because itlonged for its lost companion spirit?"

He spoke vehemently, with a quivering of his eyelids; but feeling herhand tremble in his own, he collected himself, and went on in a lowertone, but with urgent emphasis:

"I will let you glance into this bosom, closed to every other eye; formy desolate heart is inspired by you to fresh energy and life; I am asgrateful to you as a drowning man to his deliverer. I shall suffocateand die if I repress the impulse to open my heart to you!"

What change was this that had come over this mysterious being? Melissafelt as though she was gazing on the face of a stranger, for, though hiseyelids still quivered, his eyes were bright with ecstatic fire and hisfeatures looked more youthful. On that noble brow the laurel wreathhe wore looked well. Also, as she now observed, he was magnificentlyattired; he wore a close-fitting tunic, or breast-plate made of thickwoolen stuff, and over it a purple mantle, while from his bare throathung a precious medallion, shield-shaped, and set in gold and gems, thecenter formed by a large head of Medusa, with beautiful though terriblefeatures. The lion-heads of gold attached to each corner of the shortcloak he wore over the sham coat of mail, were exquisite works of art, and sandals embroidered with gold and gems covered his feet and ankles. He was dressed to-day like the heir of a lordly house, anxious to charm;nay, indeed, like an emperor, as he was; and with what care had hisbody-slave arranged his thin curls!

He passed his hand over his brow and cast a glance at a silver mirror onthe low table at the head of his couch. When he turned to her again hisamorous eyes met Melissa's. 

She looked down in startled alarm. Was it for her sake that Caesarhad thus decked himself and looked in the mirror? It seemed scarcelypossible, and yet it flattered and pleased her. But in the next instantshe longed more fervently than she ever had before for a magic charmby which she might vanish and be borne far, far away from this dreadfulman. In fancy she saw the vessel which the lady Berenike had inreadiness. She would, she must fly hence, even if it should part her fora time from Diodoros. 

Did Caracalla read her thought? Nay, he could not see through her; soshe endured his gaze, tempting him to speak; and his heart beat highwith hope as he fancied he saw that she was beginning to be affected byhis intense agitation. At this moment he felt convinced, as he oftenhad been, that the most atrocious of his crimes had been necessary andinevitable. There was something grand and vast in his deeds of blood, and that--for he flattered himself he knew the female heart--must winher admiration, besides the awe and love she already felt. 

During the night, at his waking, and in his bath, he had felt thatshe was as necessary to him as the breath of life and hope. What heexperienced was love as the poets had sung it. How often had he laughedit to scorn, and boasted that he was armed against the arrows of Eros!Now, for the first time, he was aware of the anxious rapture, the ardentlonging of which he had read in so many songs. There stood the object ofhis passion. She must hear him, must be his--not by compulsion, not byimperial command, but of the free impulse of her heart. 

His confession would help to this end. 

With a swift gesture, as if to throw off the last trace of fatigue, hesat up and began in a firm voice, with a light in his eyes:

"Yes, I killed my brother Geta. You shudder. And yet, if at this day, when I know all the results of the deed, the state of affairs were thesame as then, I would do it again! That shocks you. But only listen, andthen you will say with me that it was Fate which compelled me to act so, and not otherwise. "

He paused, and then mistaking the anxiety which was visible in Melissa'sface for sympathetic attention, he began his story, confident of herinterest:

"When I was born, my father had not yet assumed the purple, but healready aimed at the sovereignty. Augury had promised it to him; mymother knew this, and shared his ambition. While I was still at mynurse's breast he was made consul; four years later he seized thethrone. Pertinax was killed, the wretched Didius Julianus bought theempire, and this brought my father to Rome from Pannonia. Meanwhile hehad sent us children, my brother Geta and me, away from the city; norwas it till he had quelled the last resistance on the Tiber that herecalled us. 

"I was then but a child of five, and yet one day of that time I remembervividly. My father was going through Rome in solemn procession. Hisfirst object was to do due honor to the corpse of Pertinax. Richhangings floated from every window and balcony in the city. Garlands offlowers and laurel wreaths adorned the houses, and pleasant odors werewafted to us as we went. The jubilation of the people was mixed with thetrumpet-call of the soldiers; handkerchiefs were waved and acclamationsrang out. This was in honor of my father, and of me also, the futureCaesar. My little heart was almost bursting with pride; it seemed tome that I had grown several heads taller, not only than other boys, butthan the people that surrounded me. 

"When the funeral procession began, my mother wished me to go with herinto the arcade where seats had been placed for the ladies to view, butI refused to follow her. My father became angry. But when he heard medeclare that I was a man and the future Emperor, that I would rather seenothing than show myself to the people among the women, he smiled. Heordered Cilo, who was then the prefect of Rome, to lead me to the seatsof the past consuls and the old senators. I was delighted at this; butwhen he allowed my younger brother Geta to follow me, my pleasure wasentirely spoiled. "

"And you were then five years old?" asked Melissa, astonished. 

"That surprises you!" smiled Caracalla. "But I had already traveledthrough half the empire, and had experienced more than other boysof twice my age. I was, at any rate, still child enough to forgeteverything else in the brilliant spectacle that unfolded before my eyes. I remember to this day the colored wax statue which represented Pertinaxso exactly that it might have been himself risen from the grave. And theprocession! It seemed to have no end; one new thing followed another. All walked past in mourning robes, even the choir of singing boys andmen. Cilo explained to me who had made the statues of the Romans who hadserved their country, who the artists and scholars were, whose statuesand busts were carried by. Then came bronze groups of the people ofevery nation in the empire, in their costumes. Cilo told me what theywere called, and where they lived; he then added that one day they wouldall belong to me; that I must learn the art of fighting, in case theyresisted me, and should require suppressing. Also, when they carriedthe flags of the guilds past, when the horse and foot soldiers, therace-horses from the circus and several other things came by, hecontinued to explain them. I only remember it now because it made me sohappy. The old man spoke to me alone; he regarded me alone as the futuresovereign. He left Geta to eat the sweets which his aunts had given him, and when I too wanted some my brother refused to let me have any. ThenCilo stroked my hair, and said: 'leave him his toys. When you are a manyou shall have the whole Roman Empire for your own, and all the nationsI told you of. ' Geta meanwhile had thought better of it, and pushed someof the sweetmeats toward me. I would not have them, and, when he triedto make me take them, I threw them into the road. "

"And you remember all that?" said Melissa. 

"More things than these are indelibly stamped on my mind from that day, "said Caesar. "I can see before me now the pile on which Pertinax was tobe burned. It was splendidly decorated, and on the top stood the giltchariot in which he had loved to ride. Before the consuls fired the logsof Indian wood, my father led us to the image of Pertinax, that we mightkiss it. He held me by the hand. Wherever we went, the senate and peoplehailed us with acclamations. My mother carried Geta in her arms. This delighted the populace. They shouted for her and my brother asenthusiastically as for us, and I recollect to this day how that went tomy heart. He might have the sweets and welcome, but what the people hadto offer was due only to my father and me, not to my brother. At thatmoment I first fully understood that Severus was the present and I thefuture Caesar. Geta had only to obey, like every one else. 

"After kissing the image, I stood, still holding my father's hand, towatch the flames. I can see them now, crackling and writhing as theygained on the wood, licking it and fawning, as it were, till it caughtand sent up a rush of sparks and fire. At last the whole pile was onehuge blaze. Then, suddenly, out of the heart of the flames an eaglerose. The creature flapped its broad wings in the air, which was goldenwith sunshine and quivering with heat, soaring above the smoke andfire, this way and that. But it soon took flight, away from the furnacebeneath. I shouted with delight, and cried to my father: 'Look at thebird! Where is he flying?' And he eagerly answered: 'Well done! Ifyou desire to preserve the power I have conquered for you alwaysundiminished, you must keep your eyes open. Let no sign pass unnoticed, no opportunity neglected. '

"He himself acted on this rule. To him obstacles existed only to beremoved, and he taught me, too, to give myself neither peace nor rest, and not to spare the life of a foe. --That festival secured my father thesuffrages of the Romans. Meanwhile Pescennius Niger rose up in the Eastwith a large army and took the field against Severus. But my fatherwas not the man to hesitate. Within a few months of the obsequies ofPertinax his opponent was a headless corpse. 

"There was yet another obstacle to be removed. You have heard of ClodiusAlbinus. My father had adopted him and raised him to share his throne. But Severus could not divide the rule with any man. 

"When I was nine years old I saw, after the battle of Lugdunum, the deadface of Albinus's head; it was set up in front of the Curia on a lance. 

"I now was the second personage in the empire, next to my father; thefirst among the youth of the whole world, and the future emperor. WhenI was eleven the soldiers hailed me as Augustus; that was in the waragainst the Parthians, before Ktesiphon. But they did the same to Geta. This was like wormwood in the sweet draught; and if then--But what can agirl care about the state, and the fate of rulers and nations?"

"Yes, go on, " said Melissa. "I see already what you are coming to. Youdisliked the idea of sharing your power with another. "

"Nay, " cried Caracalla, vehemently, "I not only disliked it, it wasintolerable, impossible! What I want you to see is that I did not grudgemy brother his share of my father's inheritance, like any petty trader. The world--that is the point--the world itself was too small for two ofus. It was not I, but Fate, which had doomed Geta to die. I am certainof this, and so must you be. Yes, it was Fate. Fate prompted the child'slittle hand to attempt its brother's life. And that was long beforemy brain could form a thought or my baby-lips could stammer his hatedname. "

"Then you tried to kill your brother even in infancy?" asked Melissa, and her large eyes dilated with horror as she gazed at the terriblenarrator. But Caracalla went on, in an apologetic tone:

"I was then but two years old. It was at Mediolanum, soon after Geta'sbirth. An egg was found in the court of the palace; a hen had laid itclose to a pillar. It was of a purple hue-red all over like the imperialmantle, and this indicated that the newly born infant was destined tosovereignty. Great was the rejoicing. The purple marvel was shown evento me who could but just walk. I, like a naughty boy, flung it down; theshell cracked, and the contents poured out on the pavement. My mothersaw it, and her exclamation, 'Wicked child, you have murdered yourbrother!' was often repeated to me in after-years. It never struck me asparticularly motherly. "

Here he paused, gazing meditatively into vacancy, and then asked thegirl, who had listened intently:

"Were you never haunted by a word so that you could not be rid of it?"

"Oh, yes, " cried Melissa; "a striking rhythm in a song, or a line ofpoetry--"

Caracalla nodded agreement, and went on more vehemently: "That is whatI experienced at the words, 'You have murdered your brother!' I not onlyheard them now and then with my inward ear, but incessantly, like thedreary hum of the flies in my camp-tent, for hours at a time, by dayand by night. No fanning could drive these away. The diabolical voicewhispered loudest when Geta had done anything to vex me; or if thingshad been given him which I did not wish him to have. And how often thathappened! For I--I was only Bassianus to my mother; but her youngest washer dear little Geta. 

"So the years passed. We had, while still quite young, our own teamsin the circus. One day, when we were driving for a wager-we were stillboys, and I was ahead of the other lads--the horses of my chariot shiedto one side. I was thrown some distance on the course. Geta saw this. Heturned his horses to the right where I lay. He drove over his brother ashe would over straw and apple-parings in the dust; and his wheelbroke my thigh. Who knows what else it crushed in me? One thing iscertain--from that date the most painful of my sufferings originated. And he, the mean scoundrel, had done it intentionally. He had sharpeyes. He knew how to guide his steeds. He had never driven his wheelover a hazel-nut in the sand of the arena against his will; and I waslying some distance from the driving course. "

Caesar's eyelids blinked spasmodically as he uttered this accusation, and his very glance revealed the raging fire that was burning in hissoul. Melissa's sad cry of:

"What terrible suspicion!" he answered with a short, scornful laugh andthe furious assertion:

"Oh, there were friends enough who informed me what hope Geta hadfounded on this act of treachery. The disappointment made him irritableand listless, when Galenus had succeeded in curing me so far that I wasable to throw away my Crutch; and my limp--at least so they tell me--ishardly perceptible. "

"Not at all, most certainly not at all, " Melissa sympathetically assuredhim. He, however, went on:

"Yet what I endured meanwhile!--and while I passed so many long weeks ofpain and impatience on a couch, the words my mother had said about thebrother whom I murdered rang constantly in my ears as though a reciterwere engaged by day and night to reiterate them. 

"But even this passed away. With the pain, which had spoiled manygood hours for me, the quiet had brought me something more to thepurpose-thoughts and plans. Yes, during those peaceful weeks the thingsmy father and tutor had taught me became clear and real for the firsttime. I realized that I must become energetic if I meant ever to be athorough sovereign. As soon as I could use my foot again I became anindustrious and docile pupil under Cilo. From a child up to the time ofthis cruel experience, my youthful heart had clung to my nurse. She wasa Christian from my father's African home--I knew she loved me beston earth. My mother knew of no higher destiny than that of being theDomna, --[Domna, lady or mistress, in corrupt Latin. Hence her name ofJulia Domna] the lady of the soldiers, the mother of the camp, and thelady philosopher among the sages. What she gave me in the way of lovewas but copper alms. She threw golden solidi of love into Geta's lap inlavish abundance. And her sister and her nieces, who often lived withus, treated me exactly as she did. They were distantly civil, orthey shunned me; but my brother was their spoiled plaything. I was asincapable as Geta was master of the art of stealing hearts; but in mychildhood I needed none of them: for, if I wished for a kind word, asweet kiss, or the love of a woman, my nurse's arms were open to me. Norwas she an ordinary woman. As the widow of a tribune who had fallen inmy father's service, she had undertaken to attend on me. She loved meas no one else ever did. She was also the only person whom I wouldwillingly obey. I came into the world full of wild instincts, but sheknew how to tame them kindly. My aversion to my brother was the onething she checked but feebly, for he was a thorn in her side too. Ilearned this when she, who was so gentle, explained to me, with asperityin her tone, that there was but one God in heaven, and on earth butone emperor, who should govern the world in his name. She also impartedthese convictions to others, and this turned to her disadvantage. Mymother parted us, and sent her back to her African home. She died soonafter. " He was silent, and gazed pensively into vacancy; soon, however, he collected his thoughts and said, lightly:

"Well, I became Cilo's diligent pupil. "

"But, " asked Melissa, "did you not say that at one time you attemptedhis life?"

"I did so, " replied Caracalla darkly; "for a moment arrived when Icursed his teaching, and yet it was certainly wise and well meant. Yousee, child, all of you who go through life humbly and without power aretrained to submit obediently to the will of Heaven. Cilo taught me toplace my own power, and the greatness of the realm which it would beincumbent on me to reign over, above everything, even above the gods. Itwas impressed upon you and yours to hold the life of another sacred; tous, our duty as the sovereign transcends this law. Even the blood of abrother must flow if it is for the good of the state intrusted to us. Mynurse had taught me that being good meant doing unto others as we wouldbe done by; Cilo cried to me: 'Strike down, that you may not be struckdown--away with mercy, if the welfare of the state is threatened!' Andhow many hands are raised against Rome, the universal empire, whichI rule over! It needs a strong hand to keep its antagonistic partstogether. Otherwise it would fall apart like a bundle of arrows when thestring that bound them is broken. And I, even as a boy, had sworn to myfather, by the Terminus stone in the Capitol, never to abandon a singleinch of his ground without fighting for it. He, Severus, was the wisestof the rulers. Only the blind love for his second son, encouraged by thewomen, caused him to forget his moderation and prudence. My brother Getawas to reign together with me over the empire, which ought to havebeen mine alone as the first-born. Every year festivals were kept, withprayers and sacrifices, to the 'love of the brothers. ' You have perhapsseen the coins, which show us hand in hand, and have on them theinscription, 'Eternal union'!

"I in union--I hand in hand with the man I most hated under the sun! Italmost maddened me only to hear his voice. I would have liked best ofall to spring at his throat when I saw him with his learned fellowssquandering their time. Do you know what they did? They invented thenames by which the voices of different animals were to be known. OnceI snatched the pencil out of the hand of the freedman as he was writingthe sentences, 'The horse neighs, the pig grunts, the goat bleats, thecow lows, the sheep baas. ' 'He, himself, ' I added, 'croaks like a hoarsejay. '

"That I should share the government with this miserable, faint-hearted, poisonous nobody could never be, --this enemy, who, when I said 'Yes, 'cried 'No!' Who frustrated all my measures, --it was impossible! It wouldhave caused the destruction of the state, as certainly as it was theunfairest and unwisest of the deeds of Severus, to place the youngerbrother as co-regent with the first-born, the rightful heir to thethrone. I, whom my father had taught to watch for signs, was remindedevery hour that this unbearable position must come to an end. 

"After the death of Severus, we lived at first close to one another inseparate parts of the same palace like two lions in a cage across whicha partition has been erected, so that they may not reciprocally mangleeach other. 

"We used to meet at my mother's. 

"That morning my mastiff had bitten Geta's wolfhound and killed him, andthey had found a black liver in the beast he had sent for sacrifice. I had been informed of this. Destiny was on my side. This indolentinactivity must be brought to a close. I myself do not know how I feltas I mounted the steps to my mother's rooms. I only remember distinctlythat a demon cried continually in my ear, 'You have murdered yourbrother!' Then I suddenly found myself face to face with him. It was inthe empress's reception-room. And when I saw the hated flat-shaped headso close to me, when his beardless mouth with its thick underlip smiledat me so sweetly and at the same time so falsely, I felt as if I againheard the cry with which he had cheered on his horse. And I felt . .. Ieven felt the pain-as if he broke my thigh again with his wheel. And atthe same time a fiend whispered in my ear: 'Destroy him, or he will killyou, and through him Rome will perish!'

"Then I seized my sword. In his odious, peevish voice he saidsomething--I forget what nonsense--to me. Then it appeared to me asif all the sheep and goats over which he had squandered his time werebleating at me. The blood rushed to my head. The room spun round me in acircle. Black spots on a red ground danced before my eyes. 

"And then--What flashed in my right hand was my own naked sword! Ineither heard nor said anything further. Nor had I planned, nor everthought of, what then occurred. .. . But suddenly I felt as if a mountainof oppressive lead had fallen from my breast. How easily I could breatheagain! All that had just before turned round me in a mad, whirling dancestood still. The sun shone brightly in the large room; a shaft of light, showing dancing dust, fell on Geta. He sank on his knees close to me, with my sword in his breast. My mother made a fruitless effort to shieldhim. His blood trickled over her hand. I can still see every ring onthose slender, white fingers. I also remember distinctly how, when Iraised my sword against him, my mother rushed in between us to protecther favorite. The sharp blade, as she tried to seize it, accidentallygrazed her hand--I know not how--only the skin was slightly cut. Yetwhat a scream she gave over the wound which the son had given hismother! Julia Maesa, her daughter Mammara, and the other women, rushedin. How they exaggerated! They made a river out of every drop of blood. 

"So the dreadful deed was done; and yet, had I let the wretch live, Ishould have been a traitor to Rome, to myself, and to my father's life'swork. That day, for the first time, I was ruler of the world. Those whoaccuse me of fratricide no doubt believe themselves to be right. Butthey certainly are not. I know better. You also know now with me thatdestiny, and not I, struck Geta out from among the living. "

Here he sat for some time in breathless silence. Then he asked Melissa:

"You understand now how I came to shed my brother's blood?"

She started, and repeated gently after him: "Yes, I understand it. "

Deep compassion filled her heart, and yet she felt she dare not sanctionwhat she had heard and deplored. Torn by deep and conflicting feelingsshe threw back her head, brushed her hair off her face, and cried: "Letme go now; I can bear it no longer!"

"So soft-hearted?" asked he, and shook his head disapprovingly. "Liferages more wildly round the throne than in an artist's home. You willhave to learn to swim through the roaring torrent with me. Believe me, even enormities can become quite commonplace. And, besides, why does itstill shock you when you yourself know that it was indispensable?"

"I am only a weak girl, and I feel as if I had witnessed these fearfuldeeds, and had to bear the terrible blood-guiltiness with you!" brokefrom her lips. 

"That is what you must and shall do! It is to that end that I haveconfided to you what no one else has ever heard from my mouth!" criedCaracalla, his eyes flashing more brightly. She felt as though this crycalled her from her slumbers and revealed the precipice to which she hadstrayed in her sleepwalking. 

When Caracalla had begun telling her of his youth, she had only listenedwith half an ear; for she could not forget Berenike's rescuing ship. Butsoon his confessions completely attracted her attention, and the lamentof this powerful man on whom so many injuries and wrongs had fallen, whoeven in childhood had been deprived of the happiness of a mother's love, had touched her tender heart. That which was afterward told to her shehad identified with her own humble life; she heard with a shudder thatit was to the malice of his brother that this unhappy being owed theinjury which, like a poisonous blight, had marred for him all the joysof existence, while she owed all that was loveliest and best in heryoung life to a brother's love. 

The grounds on which Caracalla had based the assertion that destiny hadcompelled him to murder Geta appeared to her young and inexperiencedmind as indisputable. He was only the pitiable victim of his birth andof a cruel fate. Besides, the humblest and most sober-minded can notresist the charm of majesty; and this hapless man, who had honoredMelissa with his confidence, and who had assured her so earnestly thatshe was of such importance to him and could do so much for him, was theruler of the universe. 

She had also felt, after Caesar's confession, that she had a right tobe proud, since he had thought her worthy to take an interest in thetragedy in the imperial palace, as if she had been a member of thecourt. In her lively imagination she had witnessed the ghastly act towhich he--as she had certainly believed, even when she had replied tohis question--had been forced by fate. 

But the demand which had followed her answer now recurred to her. Thepicture of Diodoros, which had completely vanished from her thoughtswhile she had been listening, suddenly appeared to her, and, as shefancied, he looked at her reproachfully. 

Had she, then, transgressed against her betrothed?

No, no, indeed she had not!

She loved him, and only him; and for that very reason, her uprightjudgment told her now, that it would be sinning against her lover tocarry out Caracalla's wish, as if she had become his fellow-culprit, or certainly the advocate of the bloody outrage. She could think ofno answer to his "That is what you must and shall do!" that would notawaken his wrath. Cautiously, and with sincere thanks for his confidencein her, she begged him once more to allow her to leave him, because sheneeded rest after such a shock to her mind. And it would also do himgood to grant himself a short rest. But he assured her he knew thathe could only rest when he had fulfilled his duty as a sovereign. Hisfather had said, a few minutes before he drew his last breath:

"If there is anything more to be done, give it me to do, " and he, theson, would do likewise. 

"Moreover, " he concluded, "it has done me good to bring to light thatwhich I had for so long kept sealed within me. To gaze in your face atthe same time was, perhaps, even better physic. "

At this he rose and, seizing the startled girl by both hands, he cried:

"You, child, can satisfy the insatiable! The love which I offer youresembles a full bunch of grapes, and yet I am quite content if you willgive me back but one berry. "

At the very commencement, this declaration was drowned by a loud shoutwhich rang through the room in waves of sound. 

Caracalla started, but, before he could reach the window, old Adventusrushed in breathless; and he was followed, though in a more dignifiedmanner, with a not less hasty step and every sign of excitement, byMacrinus, the prefect of the praetorians, with his handsome young sonand a few of Caesar's friends. 

"This is how I rest!" exclaimed Caracalla, bitterly, as he releasedMelissa's hand and turned inquiringly to the intruders. 

The news had spread among the praetorians and the Macedonian legions, that the emperor, who, contrary to his custom, had not shown himselffor two days, was seriously ill, and at the point of death. Feelingextremely anxious about one who had showered gold on them, and giventhem such a degree of freedom as no other imperator had ever allowedthem, they had collected before the Serapeum and demanded to see Caesar. Caracalla's eyes lighted up at this information, and, excitedly pleased, he cried:

"They only are really faithful!"

He asked for his sword and helmet, and sent for the 'paludamentum', the general's cloak of purple, embroidered with gold, which he neverotherwise wore except on the field. The soldiers should see that heintended leading in future battles. 

While they waited, he conversed quietly with Macrinus and the others;when, however, the costly garment covered his shoulders, and when hisfavorite, Theocritus, who had known best how to support him during hisillness, offered him an arm, he answered imperiously that he required noassistance. 

"Nevertheless, you should, after so serious an attack--" the physicianin ordinary ventured to exhort him; but he interrupted him scornfully, and, glancing toward Melissa, exclaimed:

"Those little hands there contain more healing power than yours and thegreat Galenus's put together. "

Thereupon he beckoned to the young girl, and when she once more besoughthis permission to go, he left the room with the commanding cry, "You areto wait!"

He had rather far to go and some steps to mount in order to reach thebalcony which ran round the base of the cupola of the Pantheon which hisfather had joined to the Serapeum, yet he undertook this willingly, asthence he could best be seen and heard. 

A few hours earlier it would have been impossible for him to reach thispoint, and Epagathos had arranged that a sedan-chair and strong bearersshould be waiting at the foot of the steps; but he refused it, for hefelt entirely restored, and the shouts of his warriors intoxicated himlike sparkling wine. 

Meanwhile Melissa remained behind in the audience-chamber. She must obeyCaesar's command. Yet it frightened her; and, besides, she was womanenough to feel it as an offense that the man who had assured her sosincerely of his gratitude, and who even feigned to love her, shouldhave refused so harshly her desire to rest. She foresaw that, as long ashe remained in Alexandria, she would have to be his constant companion. She trembled at the idea; yet, if she tried to fly from him, all sheloved would be lost. No, this must not be thought of! She must remain. 

She threw herself on a divan, lost in thought, and as she realized theconfidence of which the unapproachable, proud emperor had thoughther worthy, a secret voice whispered to her that it was certainly adelightful thing to share the overwhelming agitations of the highestand greatest. And was he then really bad, he who felt the necessity ofvindicating himself before a simple girl, and to whom it appeared sointolerable to be misjudged and condemned even by her? Besides beingthe emperor and a suffering man, Caracalla had also become her wooer. It never once entered her mind to accept him; but still it flattered herextremely that the greatest of men should declare his love for her. Why, then, need she fear him? She was so important to him, she could do somuch for him, that he would surely take care not to insult or offendher. This modest child, who till quite lately had trembled before herown father's temper, now, in the consciousness of Caesar's favor, felt herself strong to triumph over the wrath and passions of the mostpowerful and most terrible of men. In the mean time she dared not riskconfessing to him that she was another's bride, for that might determinehim to let Diodoros feel his power. The thought that the emperor couldcare about her good opinion greatly pleased her; it even had the effectof raising the hope in her inexperienced mind that Caracalla wouldmoderate his passion for her sake--when old Adventus came into the room. 

He was in a hurry; for preparations had to be made in the dining-hallfor the reception of the ambassadors. But when at his appearance Melissarose from the divan he begged her good-naturedly to continue resting. No one could tell what humor Caracalla might be in when he returned. Shehad often seen how rapidly that chameleon could change color. Who thathad seen him just now, going to meet his soldiers, would believe thathe had a few hours before sent away, with hard words, the widow of theEgyptian governor, who had come to beg mercy for her husband?

"So that wretch, Theocritus, has really carried out his intention ofruining the honest Titianus?" asked Melissa, horrified. 

"Not only of ruining him, " answered the chamberlain; "Titianus is bythis time beheaded. "

The old man bowed and left the room; but Melissa remained behind, feeling as if the floor had opened in front of her. He, whose ardentassurance she had just now believed, that he had been forced to shed theblood of an impious wretch, in obedience to an overpowering fate, wascapable of allowing the noblest of men to be beheaded, unjudged, merelyto please a mercenary favorite! His confession, then, had been nothingbut a revolting piece of acting! He had endeavored to vanquish thedisgust she felt for him merely to ensnare her and her healing hand moresurely--as his plaything, his physic, his sleeping draught. And shehad entered the trap, and acquitted him of the most horribleblood-guiltiness. 

He had that very day rejected, without pity, a noble Roman lady whopetitioned for her husband's life, and with the same breath he hadafterwards befooled her!

She started up, indignant and deeply wounded. Was it not ignominiouseven to wait here like a prisoner in obedience to the command of thiswretch? And she had dared for one moment to compare this monster withDiodoros, the handsomest, the best, and most amiable of youths!

It seemed to her inconceivable. If only he had not the power to destroyall that was dearest to her heart, what pleasure it would have been toshout in his face:

"I detest you, murderer, and I am the betrothed of another, who is asgood and beautiful as you are vile and odious!"

Then the question occurred to her whether it was only for the sake ofher healing hands that he had felt attracted to her, and had made her anavowal as if she were his equal. 

The blood mounted to her face at this thought, and with a burning browshe walked to the open window. 

A crowd of presentiments rushed into her innocent and, till then, unsuspecting heart, and they were all so alarming that it was a reliefto her when a shout of joy from the panoplied breasts of severalthousand armed men rent the air. Mingling with this overpoweringdemonstration of united rejoicing from such huge masses, came the blareof the trumpets and horns of the assembled legions. What a maddeningnoise!

Before her lay the square, filled with many legions of warriors whosurrounded the Serapeum in their shining armor, with their eagles andvexilla. The praetorians stood by the picked men of the Macedonianphalanx, and with these were all the troops who had escorted theimperial general hither, and the garrisons of the city of Alexander whohoped to be called out in the next war. 

On the balcony, decorated with statues which surrounded the colonnadeof the Pantheon on which the cupola rested, she saw Caracalla, and ata respectful distance a superb escort of his friends, in red and whitetogas, bordered with purple stripes, and wearing armor. Having taken offhis gold helmet, the imperial general bowed to his people, and at everynod of his head, and each more vigorous movement, the enthusiasticcheers were renewed more loudly than ever. 

Macrinus then stepped up to Caesar's side, and the lictors who followedhim, by lowering their fasces, signaled to the warriors to keep silence. 

Instantly the ear-splitting din changed to a speechless lull. 

At first she still heard the lances and shields, which several of thewarriors had waved in enthusiastic joy, ringing against the ground, andthe clatter of the swords being put back in their sheaths; then thisalso ceased, and finally, although only the superior officers hadarrived on horseback, the stamping of hoofs, the snorting of the horses, and the rattle of the chains at their bits, were the only sounds. 

Melissa listened breathlessly, looking first at the square and thesoldiers below, then at the balcony where the emperor stood. In spiteof the aversion she felt, her heart beat quicker. It was as if thisimmeasurable army had only one voice; as if an irresistible force drewall these thousands of eyes toward one point--the one little man upthere on the Pantheon. 

Directly he began to speak, Melissa's glance was also fixed onCaracalla. 

She only heard the closing sentence, as, with raised voice, he shoutedto the soldiers; and from it she gathered that he thanked his companionsin arms for their anxiety, but that he still felt strong enough to shareall their difficulties with them. Severe exertions lay behind them. Therest in this luxurious city would do them all good. There was still muchto be conquered in the rich East, and to add to what they had alreadywon, before they could return to Rome to celebrate a well-earnedtriumph. The weary should make themselves comfortable here. The wealthymerchants in whose houses he had quartered them had been told to attendto their wants, and if they neglected to do so every single warriorwas man enough to show them what a soldier needed for his comfort. The people here looked askance at him and his soldiers, but too muchmoderation would be misplaced. 

There certainly were some things even here which the host was not boundto supply to his military; he, Caesar, would provide them with these, and for that purpose he had put aside two million denarii out of his ownpoverty to distribute among them. 

This speech had several times been interrupted by applause, but now sucha tremendous shout of joy went up that it would have drowned the loudestthunder. The number of voices as well as their power seemed to havedoubled. 

Caracalla had added another link to the golden chain which alreadybound him to these faithful people; and, as he smiled and nodded to thedelighted crowd from the balcony, he looked like a happy, light-heartedyouth who had prepared a great treat for himself and several belovedfriends. 

What he said further was lost in the confusion of voices in the square. The ranks were broken up, and the cuirasses, helmets, and arms of themoving warriors caught the sun and sent bright beams of light crossingone another over the wide space surrounded with dazzling white marblestatues. 

When Caracalla left the balcony, Melissa drew back from the window. 

The compassionate impulse to lighten the lot of a sufferer, which hadbefore drawn her so strongly to Caracalla, had now lost its sense andmeaning for this healthy, high-spirited man. She considered herselfcheated, as if she had been fooled by sham suffering into givingexcessively large alms to an artful beggar. 

Besides, she loved her native town, and Caracalla's advice to thesoldiers to force the citizens to provide luxurious living for them, had made her considerably more rebellious. If he ever put her again ina position to speak her mind freely to him, she would tell him allundisguisedly; but instantly it again rushed into her mind that she mustkeep guard over her tongue before the easily unchained wrath of thisdespot, until her father and brothers were in safety once more. 

Before the emperor returned, the room was filled with people, of whomshe knew none, excepting her old friend the white-haired, learnedSamonicus. She was the aim and center of all eyes, and when even thekindly old man greeted her from a distance, and so contemptuously, thatthe blood rushed to her face, she begged Adventus to take her into thenext room. 

The Chamberlain did as she wished, but before he left her he whisperedto her: "Innocence is trusting; but it is not of much avail here. Takecare, child! They say there are sand-banks in the Nile which, like softpillows, entice one to rest. But if you use them they become alive, and a crocodile creeps out, with open jaws. I am talking already inmetaphor, like an Alexandrian, but you will understand me. "

Melissa bowed acknowledgment to him, and the old man went on:

"He may perhaps forget you; for many things had accumulated during hisillness. If the mass of business, as it comes in, is not settled fortwenty four hours, it swells like a mill-stream that has the sluicedown. But when work is begun, it quite carries him away. He forgets thento eat and drink. Ambassadors have arrived also from the Empress-mother, from Armenia, and Parthia. If he does not ask for you in half an hour, it will be suppertime, and I will let you out through that door. "

"Do so at once, " begged Melissa, with raised, petitioning hands; but theold man replied: "I should then reward you but ill for having warmedmy feet for me. Remember the crocodile under the sand! Patience, child!There is Caesar's zithern. If you can play, amuse yourself with that. The door shuts closely and the curtains are thick. My old ears just nowwere listening to no purpose. "

But Caracalla was so far from forgetting Melissa that although he hadattended to the communication brought to him by the ambassadors, and thevarious dispatches from the senate, he asked for her even at the doorof the tablinum. He had seen her from the balcony looking out on thesquare; so she had witnessed the reception his soldiers had given him. The magnificent spectacle must have impressed her and filled her withjoy. He was anxious to hear all this from her own lips, before hesettled down to work. 

Adverntus whispered to him where he had taken her, to avoid thepersecuting glances of the numerous strangers, and Caracalla nodded tohim approvingly and went into the next room. 

She sat there with the zithern, letting her fingers glide gently overthe strings. 

On his entering, she drew back hastily; but he cried to her brightly:"Do not disturb yourself. I love that instrument. I am having a statueerected to Mesomedes, the great zithern-player--you perhaps know hissongs. This evening, when the feast and the press of work are over, Iwill hear how you play. I will also playa few airs to you. "

Melissa then plucked up courage and said, decidedly: "No, my lord; I amabout to bid you farewell for to-day. "

"That sounds very determined, " he answered, half surprised and halfamused. "But may I be allowed to know what has made you decide on thisstep?"

"There is a great deal of work waiting for you, " she replied, quietly. 

"That is my affair, not yours, " was the crushing answer. 

"It is also mine, " she said, endeavoring to keep calm; "for you havenot yet completely recovered, and, should you require my help again thisevening, I could not attend to your call. "

"No?" he asked, wrathfully, and his eyelids began to twitch. 

"No, my lord; for it would not be seemly in a maiden to visit you bynight, unless you were ill and needed nursing. As it is, I shall meetyour friends--my heart stands still only to think of it--"

"I will teach them what is due to you!" Caracalla bellowed out, and hisbrow was knit once more. 

"But you can not compel me, " she replied, firmly, "to change my mindas to what is seemly, " and the courage which failed her if she met aspider, but which stood by her in serious danger as a faithful ally, made her perfectly steadfast as she eagerly added: "Not an hour sinceyou promised me that so long as I remained with you I should need noother protector, and might count on your gratitude. But those were merewords, for, when I besought you to grant me some repose, you scorned myvery reasonable request, and roughly ordered me to remain and attend onyou. "

At this Caesar laughed aloud. 

"Just so! You are a woman, and like all the rest. You are sweet andgentle only so long as you have your own way. "

"No, indeed, " cried Melissa, and her eyes filled with tears. "I onlylook further than from one hour to the next. If I should sacrifice whatI think right, merely to come and go at my own will, I should soon benot only miserable myself, but the object of your contempt. "

Overcome by irresistible distress, she broke into loud sobs; butCaracalla, with a furious stamp of his foot, exclaimed:

"No tears! I can not, I will not see you weep. Can any harm come to you?Nothing but good; nothing but the best of happiness do I propose foryou. By Apollo and Zeus, that is the truth! Till now you have beenunlike other women, but when you behave like them, you shall--I swearit--you shall feel which of us two is the stronger!"

He roughly snatched her hand away from her face and thereby achieved hisend, for her indignation at being thus touched by a man's brutal handgave Melissa strength to suppress her sobs. Only her wet cheeks showedwhat a flood of tears she had shed, as, almost beside herself withanger, she exclaimed:

"Let my hand go! Shame on the man who insults a defenseless girl! Youswear! Then I, too, may take an oath, and, by the head of my mother, you shall never see me again excepting as a corpse, if you ever attemptviolence! You are Caesar--you are the stronger. Who ever doubted it? Butyou will never compel me to a vile action, not if you could inflict athousand deaths on me instead of one!"

Caracalla, without a word, had released her hand and was staring at herin amazement. 

A woman, and so gentle a woman, defying him as no man would have daredto do!

She stood before him, her hand raised, her bosom heaving; a flame ofanger sparkled in her eyes through their tears, and he had never beforethought her so fair. What majesty there was in this girl, whose simplegrace had made him more than once address her as "child"! She was like aqueen, an empress; perhaps she might become one. The idea struck him forthe first time. And that little hand which now fell--what soothing powerit had, how much he owed to it! How fervently he had wished but just nowto be understood by her, and to be thought better of by her than bythe rest! And this wish still possessed him. Nay, he was more stronglyattracted than ever to this creature, worthy as she was of the highestin the land, and made doubly bewitching by her proud willfulness. Thathe should see her for the last time seemed to him as impossible as thathe should never again see daylight; and yet her whole aspect announcedthat her threat was serious. 

His aggrieved pride and offended sense of absolute power struggled withhis love, repentance, and fear of losing her healing presence; but thestruggle was brief, especially as a mass of business to be attended tolay before him like a steep hill to climb, and haste was imperative. 

He went up to her, shaking his head, and said in the superior tone of asage rebuking thoughtlessness:

"Like all the rest of them--I repeat it. My demands had no object inview but to make you happy and derive comfort from you. How hot must theblood be which boils and foams at the contact of a spark! Only too likemy own; and, since I understand you, I find it easy to forgive you. Indeed, I must finally express myself grateful; for I was in danger ofneglecting my duties as a sovereign for the sake of pleasing my heart. Go, then, and rest, while I devote myself to business. "

At this, Melissa forced herself to smile, and said, still somewhattearfully: "How grateful I am! And you will not again require me toremain, will you, when I assure you that it is not fitting?"

"Unluckily, I am not in the habit of yielding to a girl's whims. "

"I have no whims, " she eagerly declared. "But you will keep your wordnow, and allow me to withdraw? I implore you to let me go!"

With a deep sigh and an amount of self-control of which he wouldyesterday have thought himself incapable, he let go her hand, and shewith a shudder thought that she had found the answer to the question hehad asked her. His eyes, not his words, had betrayed it; for a woman cansee in a suitor's look what color his wishes take, while a woman's eyesonly tell her lover whether or no she reciprocates his feelings. 

"I am going, " she said, but he remarked the deadly paleness whichoverspread her features, and her colorless cheeks encouraged him in thebelief that, after a sleepless night and the agitations of the last fewhours, it was only physical exhaustion which made Melissa so suddenlyanxious to escape from him. So, saying kindly:

"'Till to-morrow, then, " he dismissed her. 

But when she had almost left the room, he added: "One thing more!To-morrow we will try our zitherns together. After my bath is the timeI like best for such pleasant things; Adventus will fetch you. I amcurious to hear you play and sing. Of all sounds, that of the humanvoice is the sweetest. Even the shouting of my legions is pleasing tothe ear and heart. Do you not think so, and does not the acclamation ofso many thousands stir your soul?"

"Certainly, " she replied hastily; and she longed to reproach him forthe injustice he was doing the populace of Alexandria to benefit hiswarriors, but she felt that the time was ill chosen, and everything gaveway to her longing to be gone out of the dreadful man's sight. 

In the next room she met Philostratus, and begged him to conduct her tothe lady Euryale; for all the anterooms were now thronged, and she hadlost the calm confidence in which she had come thither. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

As Melissa made her way with the philosopher through the crowd, Philostratus said to her: "It is for your sake, child, that thesehundreds have had so long to wait to-day, and many hopes will bedisappointed. To satisfy all is a giant's task. But Caracalla must doit, well or ill. "

"Then he will forget me!" replied Melissa, with a sigh of relief. 

"Hardly, " answered the philosopher. He was sorry for the terrifiedgirl, and in his wish to lighten her woes as far as he could, he said, gravely: "You called him terrible, and he can be more terrible thanany man living. But he has been kind to you so far, and, if you take myadvice, you will always seem to expect nothing from him that is not goodand noble. "

"Then I must be a hypocrite, " replied Melissa. "Only to-day he hasmurdered the noble Titianus. "

"That is an affair of state which does not concern you, " repliedPhilostratus. "Read my description of Achilles. I represent him amongother heroes such as Caracalla might be. Try, on your part, to see himin that light. I know that it is sometimes a pleasure to him to justifythe good opinion of others. Encourage your imagination to think the bestof him. I shall tell him that you regard him as magnanimous and noble. "

"No, no!" cried Melissa; "that would make everything worse. "

But the philosopher interrupted her. 

"Trust my riper experience. I know him. If you let him know your trueopinion of him, I will answer for nothing. My Achilles reveals the goodqualities with which he came into the world; and if you look closely youmay still find sparks among the ashes. "

He here took his leave, for they had reached the vestibule leadingto the high-priest's lodgings, and a few minutes later Melissa foundherself with Euryale, to whom she related all that she had seen andfelt. When she told her older friend what Philostratus had advised, the lady stroked her hair, and said: "Try to follow the advice of soexperienced a man. It can not be very difficult. When a woman's hearthas once been attached to a man--and pity is one of the strongest ofhuman ties--the bond may be strained and worn, but a few threads mustalways remain. "

But Melissa hastily broke in:

"There is not a spider's thread left which binds me to that cruel man. The murder of Titianus has snapped them all. "

"Not so, " replied the lady, confidently. "Pity is the only form of lovewhich even the worst crime can not eradicate from a kind heart. Youprayed for Caesar before you knew him, and that was out of pure humancharity. Exercise now a wider compassion, and reflect that Fate hascalled you to take care of a hapless creature raving in fever andhard to deal with. How many Christian women, especially such as callthemselves deaconesses, voluntarily assume such duties! and goodis good, right is right for all, whether they pray to one God or toseveral. If you keep your heart pure, and constantly think of thetime which shall be fulfilled for each of us, to our ruin or to oursalvation, you will pass unharmed through this great peril. I know it, Ifeel it. "

"But you do not know him, " exclaimed Melissa, "and how terrible he canbe! And Diodoros! When he is well again, if he hears that I am withCaesar, in obedience to his call whenever he sends for me, and if eviltongues tell him dreadful things about me, he, too, will condemn me!"

"No, no, " the matron declared, kissing her brow and eyes. "If he lovesyou truly, he will trust you. "

"He loves me, " sobbed Melissa; "but, even if he does not desert me whenI am thus branded, his father will come between us. "

"God forbid!" cried Euryale. "Remain what you are, and I will always bethe same to you, come what may; and those who love you will not refuseto listen to an old woman who has grown gray in honor. "

And Melissa believed her motherly, kind, worthy friend; and, with thenew confidence which revived in her, her longing for her lover began tostir irresistibly. She wanted a fond glance from the eyes of the youthwho loved her, and to whom, for another man's sake, she could not giveall his due, nay, who had perhaps a right to complain of her. This shefrankly confessed, and the matron herself conducted the impatient girlto see Diodoros. 

Melissa again found Andreas in attendance on the sufferer, and she wassurprised at the warmth with which the high-priest's wife greeted theChristian. 

Diodoros was already able to be dressed and to sit up. He was paleand weak, and his head was still bound up, but he welcomed the girlaffectionately, though with a mild reproach as to the rarity of hervisits. 

Andreas had already informed him that Melissa was kept away by hermediation for the prisoners, and so he was comforted by her assurancethat if her duty would allow of it she would never leave him again. And the joy of having her there, the delight of gazing into her sweet, lovely face, and the youthful gift of forgetting the past in favor ofthe present, silenced every bitter reflection. He was soon blissfullylistening to her with a fresh color in his cheeks, and never had he seenher so tender, so devoted, so anxious to show him the fullness of hergreat love. The quiet, reserved girl was to-day the wooer, and with thezeal called forth by her ardent wish to do him good, she expressed allthe tenderness of her warm heart so frankly and gladly that to him itseemed as though Eros had never till now pierced her with the rightshaft. 

As soon as Euryale was absorbed in conversation with Andreas, sheoffered him her lips with gay audacity, as though in defiance of somestern dragon of virtue, and he, drunk with rapture, enjoyed what shegranted him. And soon it was he who became daring, declaring that therewould be time enough to talk another day; that for the present her rosymouth had nothing to do but to cure him with kisses. And during thissweet give and take, she implored him with pathetic fervor never, neverto doubt her love, whatever he might hear of her. Their older friends, who had turned their backs on the couple and were talking busily by awindow, paid no heed to them, and the blissful conviction of being lovedas ardently as she loved flooded her whole being. 

Only now and then did the thought of Caesar trouble for a moment therapture of that hour, like a hideous form appearing out of distantclouds. She felt prompted indeed to tell her lover everything, but itseemed so difficult to make him understand exactly how everything hadhappened, and Diodoros must not be distressed. And, indeed, intoxicatedas he was with heated passion, he made the attempt impossible. 

When he spoke it was only to assure her of his love; and when the ladyEuryale at last called her to go, and looked in the girl's glowing face, Melissa felt as though she were snatched from a rapturous dream. 

In the anteroom they were stopped by Andreas. Euryale had indeedrelieved his worst fears, still he was anxious to lay before the girlthe question whether she would not be wise to take advantage of thisvery night to make her escape. She, however, her eyes still beamingwith happiness, laid her little hand coaxingly on his bearded mouth, andbegged him not to sadden her high spirits and hopes of a better time bywarnings and dismal forecasts. Even the lady Euryale had advised her totrust fearlessly to herself, and sitting with her lover she had acquiredthe certainty that it was best so. The freedman could not bear todisturb this happy confidence, and only impressed on Melissa thatshe should send for him if ever she needed him. He would find hera hiding-place, and the lady Euryale had undertaken to provide amessenger. He then bade them godspeed, and they returned to thehigh-priest's dwelling. 

In the vestibule they found a servant from the lady Berenike; in hismistress's name he desired Euryale to send Melissa to spend the nightwith her. 

This invitation, which would remove Melissa from the Serapeum, waswelcome to them both, and the matron herself accompanied the young girldown a private staircase leading to a small side-door. Argutis, whohad come to inquire for his young mistress, was to be her escort and tobring her back early next morning to the same entrance. 

The old slave had much to tell her. He had been on his feet all day. Hehad been to the harbor to inquire as to the return of the vessel withthe prisoners on board; to the Serapeum to inquire for her; to Dido, to give her the news. He had met Alexander in the forenoon on the quaywhere the imperial galleys were moored. When the young man learned thatthe trireme could not come in before next morning at the soonest, he hadset out to cross the lake and see Zeus and his daughter. He had chargedArgutis to let Melissa know that his longing for the fair Agatha gavehim no peace. 

He and old Dido disapproved of their young master's feather-brain, whichhad not been made more steady and patient even by the serious eventsof this day and his sister's peril; however, he did not allow a wordof blame to escape him. He was happy only to be allowed to walk behindMelissa, and to hear from her own lips that all was well with her, andthat Caesar was gracious. 

Alexander, indeed, had also told the old man that he and Caesar were"good friends"; and now the slave was thinking of Pandion, Theocritus, and the other favorites of whom he had heard; and he assured Melissathat, as soon as her father should be free, Caracalla would be certainto raise him to the rank of knight, to give him lands and wealth, perhaps one of the imperial residences on the Bruchium. Then he, Argutis, would be house steward, and show that he knew other thingsbesides keeping the workroom and garden in order, splitting wood, andbuying cheaply at market. 

Melissa laughed and said he should be no worse off if only the firstwish of her heart were fulfilled, and she were wife to Diodoros; andArgutis declared he would be amply content if only she allowed him toremain with her. 

But she only half listened and answered absently, for she breathedfaster as she pictured to herself how she would show Caesar, on whom shehad already proved her power, that she had ceased to tremble before him. 

Thus they came to the house of Seleukus. 

A large force had taken up their quarters there. In the pillaredhall beyond the vestibule bearded soldiers were sitting on benches orsquatting in groups on the ground, drinking noisily and singing, orlaughing and squabbling as they threw the dice on the costly mosaicpavement. A riotous party were toping and reveling in the beautifulgarden of the impluvium round a fire which they had lighted on thevelvet turf. A dozen or so of officers had stretched themselves oncushions under one of the colonnades, and, without attempting to checkthe wild behavior of their men, were watching the dancing of someEgyptian girls who had been brought into the house of their involuntaryhost. Although Melissa was closely veiled and accompanied by a servant, she did not escape rude words and insolent glances. Indeed, an audaciousyoung praetorian had put out his hand to pull away her veil, but anolder officer stopped him. 

The lady Berenike's rooms had so far not been intruded on; for Macrinus, the praetorian prefect, who knew Berenike through her brother-in-law thesenator Coeranus, had given orders that the women's apartments were tobe exempt from the encroachments of the quartermaster of the body-guard. Breathing rapidly and with a heightened color, Melissa at last enteredthe room of Seleukus's wife. 

The matron's voice was full of bitterness as she greeted her youngvisitor with the exclamation "You look as if you had fled to escapepersecution! And in my house, too! Or"--and her large eyes flashedbrightly--"or is the blood-hound on the track of his prey? My boat isquite ready--" When Melissa denied this, and related what had happened, Berenike exclaimed: "But you know that the panther lies still andgathers himself up before he springs; or, if you do not, you may see itto-morrow at the Circus. There is to be a performance in Caesar's honor, the like of which not even Nero ever saw. My husband bears the chiefpart cf the cost, and can think of nothing else. He has even forgottenhis only child, and all to please the man who insults us, robs andhumiliates us! Now that men kiss the hands which maltreat them, it isthe part of women to defy them. You must fly, child! The harbor is nowclosed, but it will be open again to-morrow morning, and, if your folksare set free in the course of the day, then away with you at once! Ordo you really hope for any good from the tyrant who has made this housewhat you now see it?"

"I know him, " replied Melissa, "and I look for nothing but the worst. "

At this the elder woman warmly grasped the girl's hand, but she wasinterrupted by the waiting woman Johanna, who said that a Roman officerof rank, a tribune, craved to be admitted. 

When Berenike refused to receive him, the maid assured her that he was ayoung man, and had expressed his wish to bring an urgent request to thelady's notice in a becoming and modest manner. 

On this the matron allowed him to be shown in to her, and Melissahastily obeyed her instructions to withdraw into the adjoining room. 

Only a half-drawn curtain divided it from the room where Berenikereceived the soldier, and without listening she could hear the loudvoice which riveted her attention as soon as she had recognized it. 

The young tribune, in a tone of courteous entreaty, begged his hostessto provide a room for his brother, who was severely wounded. Thesufferer was in a high fever, and the physician said that the noise andrattle of vehicles in the street, on which the room where he nowlay looked out, and the perpetual coming and going of the men, mightendanger his life. He had just been told that on the side of the women'sapartments there was a row of rooms looking out on the impluvium, and heventured to entreat her to spare one of them for the injured man. If shehad a brother or a child, she would forgive the boldness of his request. 

So far she listened in silence; then she suddenly raised her head andmeasured the petitioner's tall figure with a lurid fire in her eye. Then she replied, while she looked into his handsome young face with ahalf-scornful, half-indignant air: "Oh, yes! I know what it is to seeone we love suffer. I had an only child; she was the joy of my heart. Death--death snatched her from me, and a few days later the sovereignwhom you serve commanded us to prepare a feast for him. It seemed to himsomething new and delightful to hold a revel in a house of mourning. Atthe last moment--all the guests were assembled--he sent us word that hehimself did not intend to appear. But his friends laughed and reveledwildly enough! They enjoyed themselves, and no doubt praised our cookand our wine. And now--another honor we can duly appreciate!--hesends his praetorians to turn this house of mourning into a tavern, awine-shop, where they call creatures in from the street to dance andsing. The rank to which you have risen while yet so young shows that youare of good family, so you can imagine how highly we esteem the honor ofseeing your men trampling, destroying, and burning in their camp-fireseverything which years of labor and care had produced to make ourlittle garden a thing of beauty. 'Only look down on them!' Macrinus, whocommands you, promised me, moreover, that the women's apartments shouldbe respected. 'No praetorian, whether common soldier or commander, ' andhere she raised her voice, 'shall set foot within them!' Here is hiswriting. The prefect set the seal beneath it in Caesar's name. "

"I know of the order, noble lady, " interrupted Nemesianus, "and shouldbe the last to wish to act against it. I do not demand, I only appealhumbly to the heart of a woman and a mother. '

"A mother!" broke in Berenike, scornfully; "yes! and one whose soul yourlord has pierced with daggers--a woman whose home has been dishonoredand made hateful to her. I have enjoyed sufficient honor now, and shallstand firmly on my rights. "

"Hear but one thing more, " began the youth, timidly; but the ladyBerenike had already turned her back upon him, and returned with a proudand stately carriage to Melissa in the adjoining apartment. 

Breathing hard, as if stunned by her words, the tribune remainedstanding on the threshold where the terrible lady had vanished fromhis sight, and then, striving to regain his composure, pushed back thecurling locks from his brow. But scarcely had Berenike entered the otherroom than Melissa whispered to her: "The wounded man is the unfortunateAurelius, whose face Caracalla wounded for my sake. "

At this the lady's eyes suddenly flashed and blazed so strangely thatthe girl's blood ran cold. But she had no time to ask the reason of thisemotion, for the next moment the queenly woman grasped the weaker one bythe wrist with her strong right hand, and with a commanding "Come withme, " drew her back into the room they had just quitted. She called tothe tribune, whose hand was already on the door, to come back. 

The young man stood still, surprised and startled to see Melissa; butthe lady Berenike said, calmly, "Now that I have learned the honor thathas been accorded to you, too, by the master whom you so faithfullyserve, the poor injured man whom you call your brother shall be madewelcome within these walls. He is my companion in suffering. A quiet, airy chamber shall be set apart for him, and he shall not lack carefulattention, nor anything which even his own mother could offer him. Onlytwo things I desire of you in return: that you admit no one of yourcompanions-in-arms, nor any man whatever, into this dwelling, save onlythe physician whom I shall send to you. Furthermore, that you donot betray, even to your nearest friend, whom you found here besidesmyself. "

Under the mortification that had wounded his brotherly heart, AureliusNemesianus had lost countenance; but now he replied with a soldier'sready presence of mind: "It is difficult for me to find a proper answerto you, noble lady. I know right well that I owe you my warmest thanks, and equally so that he whom you call our master has inflicted as deep awrong on us as on you; but Caesar is still my military chief. "

"Still!" broke in Berenike. "But you are too youthful a tribune for meto believe that you took up the sword as a means of livelihood. "

"We are sons of the Aurelia, " answered Nemesianus, haughtily, "and it isvery possible that this day's work may be the cause of our deserting theeagles we have followed in order to win glory and taste the delights ofwarfare. But all that is for the future to decide. Meanwhile, I thankyou, noble lady, and also in the name of my brother, who is my secondself. On behalf of Apollinaris, too, I beg you to pardon the rudenesswhich we offered to this maiden--"

"I am not angry with you any more, " cried Melissa, eagerly and frankly, and the tribune thanked her in his own and his brother's name. 

He began trying to explain the unfortunate occurrence, but Berenikeadmonished him to lose no time. The soldier withdrew, and the ladyBerenike ordered her handmaiden to call the housekeeper and otherserving-women. Then she repaired quickly to the room she had destinedfor the wounded man and his brother. But neither Melissa nor the otherwomen could succeed in really lending her any help, for she herself putforth all her cleverness and power of head and hand, forgetting nothingthat might be useful or agreeable in the nursing of the sick. In thatwealthy, well-ordered house everything stood ready to hand; and in lessthan a quarter of an hour the tribune Nemesianus was informed that thechamber was ready for the reception of his brother. 

The lady then returned with Melissa to her own sleeping apartment, and took various little bottles and jars from a small medicine-chest, begging the girl at the same time to excuse her, as she intended toundertake the nursing of the wounded man herself. Here were books, andthere Korinna's lute. Johanna would attend to the evening meal. Tomorrowmorning they could consult further as to what was necessary to be done;then she kissed her guest and left the room. 

Left to herself, Melissa gave herself up to varying thoughts, tillJohanna brought her repast. While she hardly nibbled at it, theChristian told her that matters looked ill with the tribune, and thatthe wound in the forehead especially caused the physician much anxiety. Many questions were needed to draw this much from the freedwoman, forshe spoke but little. When she did speak, however, it was with greatkindliness, and there lay something so simple and gentle in her wholemanner that it awakened confidence. Having satisfied her appetite, Melissa returned to the lady Berenike's apartment; but there her heartgrew heavy at the thought of what awaited her on the morrow. When, atthe moment of leaving, Johanna inquired whether she desired anythingfurther, she asked her if she knew a saying of her fellow-believers, which ran, "The fullness of time was come. "

"Yes, surely, " returned the other; "our Lord himself spoke them, andPaul wrote them to the Galatians. "

"Who is this Paul?" Melissa asked; and the Christian replied that of allthe teachers of her faith he was the one she most dearly loved. Then, hesitating a little, she asked if Melissa, being a heathen, had inquiredthe meaning of this saying. 

"Andrew, the freedman of Polybius and the lady Euryale, explained it tome. Did the moment ever come to you in which you felt assured that foryou the time was fulfilled?"

"Yes, " replied Johanna, with decision; "and that moment comes, sooner orlater, in every life. "

"You are a maiden like myself, " began Melissa, simply. "A heavy tasklies before me, and if you would confide to me--"

But the Christian broke in: "My life has moved in other paths thanyours, and what has happened to me, the freedwoman and the Christian, can have no interest for you. But the saying which has stirred yoursoul refers to the coming of One who is all in all to us Christians. DidAndrew tell you nothing of His life?"

"Only a little, " answered the girl, "but I would gladly hear more ofHim. "

Then the Christian seated herself at Melissa's side, and, clasping themaiden's hand in hers, told her of the birth of the Saviour, of Hisloving heart, and His willing death as a sacrifice for the sins of thewhole world. The girl listened with attentive ear. With no word did sheinterrupt the narrative, and the image of the Crucified One rose beforeher mind's eye, pure and noble, and worthy of all love. A thousandquestions rose to her lips, but, before she could ask one, the Christianwas called away to attend the lady Berenike, and Melissa was againalone. 

What she had already heard of the teaching of the Christians occurredto her once more, and above all that first saying from the sacredScriptures which had attracted her attention, and about which shehad just asked Johanna. Perhaps for her, too, the time was alreadyfulfilled, when she had taken courage to defy the emperor's commands. 

She rejoiced at this action, for she felt that the strength would neverfail her now to set her will against his. She felt as though she bore acharm against his power since she had parted from her lover, and sincethe murder of the governor had opened her eyes to the true characterof him on whom she had all too willingly expended her pity. And yet sheshuddered at the thought of meeting the emperor again, and of havingto show him that she felt safe with him because she trusted to hisgenerosity. 

Lost in deep thought, she waited for the return of the lady and theChristian waiting-woman, but in vain. At last her eye fell upon thescrolls which the lady Berenike had pointed out to her. They lay inbeautiful alabaster caskets on an ebony stand. If they had only beenthe writings of the Christians, telling of the life and death of theirSaviour! But how should writings such as those come here? The casketonly held the works of Philostratus, and she took from it the rollcontaining the story of the hero of whom he had himself spoken to her. Full of curiosity, she smoothed out the papyrus with the ivory stick, and her attention was soon engaged by the lively conversation betweenthe vintner and his Phoenician guest. She passed rapidly over thebeginning, but soon reached the part of which Philostratus had told her. Under the form of Achilles he had striven to represent Caracalla ashe appeared to the author's indulgent imagination. But it was no trueportrait; it described the original at most as his mother would havewished him to be. There it was written that the vehemence flashing fromthe hero's bright eyes, even when peacefully inclined, showed how easilyhis wrath could break forth. But to those who loved him he was even moreendearing during these outbursts than before. The Athenians felt towardhim as they did toward a lion; for, if the king of beasts pleased themwhen he was at rest, he charmed them infinitely more when, foamingwith bloodthirsty rage, he fell upon a bull, a wild boar, or some suchferocious animal. 

Yes, indeed! Caracalla, too, fell mercilessly upon his prey! Had she notseen him hewing down Apollinaris a few hours ago?

Furthermore, Achilles was said to have declared that he could drive awaycare by fearlessly encountering the greatest dangers for the sake of hisfriends. But where were Caracalla's friends?

At best, the allusion could only refer to the Roman state, for whosesake the emperor certainly did endure many a hardship and many awearisome task, and he was not the only person who had told her so. 

Then she turned back a little and found the words: "But because he waseasily inclined to anger, Chiron instructed him in music; for is it notinherent in this art to soothe violence and wrath--And Achilles acquiredwithout trouble the laws of harmony and sang to the lyre. "

This all corresponded with the truth, and tomorrow she was to discoverwhat had suggested to Philostratus the story that when Achilles beggedCalliope to endow him with the gifts of music and poetry she had givenhim so much of both as he required to enliven the feast and banishsadness. He was also said to be a poet, and devoted himself mostardently to verse when resting from the toils of war. 

To hear that man unjustly blamed on whom her heart is set, onlyincreases a woman's love; but unmerited praise makes her criticise himmore sharply, and is apt to transform a fond smile into a scornful one. Thus the picture that raised Caracalla to the level of an Achilles madeMelissa shrug her shoulders over the man she dreaded; and while she evendoubted Caesar's musical capacities, Diodoros's young, fresh, bell-likevoice rose doubly beautiful and true upon her memory's ear. The image ofher lover finally drove out that of the emperor, and, while she seemedto hear the wedding song which the youths and maidens were so soon tosing for them both, she fell asleep. 

It was late when Johanna came to admonish her to retire to rest. Shortlybefore sunrise she was awakened by Berenike, who wished to take somerest, and who told her, before seeking her couch, that Apollinaris wasdoing well. The lady was still sleeping when Johanna came to informMelissa that the slave Argutis was waiting to see her. 

The Christian undertook to convey the maiden's farewell greetings to hermistress. 

As they entered the living-room, the gardener had just brought in freshflowers, among them three rose-bushes covered with full-blown flowersand half-opened, dewy buds. Melissa asked Johanna timidly if the ladyBerenike would permit her to pluck one--there were so many; to which theChristian replied that it would depend on the use it was to be put to. 

"Only for the sick tribune, " answered Melissa, reddening. So Johannaplucked two of the fairest blooms and gave them to the maiden--one forthe man who had injured her and one for her betrothed. Melissa kissedher, gratefully, and begged her to present the flowers to the sick manin her name. 

Johanna carried out her wish at once; but the wounded man, gazingmournfully at the rose, murmured to himself: "Poor, lovely, gentlechild! She will be ruined or dead before Caracalla leaves Alexandria!"

CHAPTER XXIII. 

The slave Argutis was waiting for Melissa in the antechamber. It wasevident that he brought good news, for he beamed with joy as she cametoward him; and before she left the house she knew that her father andPhilip had returned and had regained their freedom. 

The slave had not allowed these joyful tidings to reach his belovedmistress's ear, that he might have the undivided pleasure of bringingthem himself, and the delight she expressed was fully as great as he hadanticipated. Melissa even hurried back to Johanna to impart to her thejoyful intelligence that she might tell it to her mistress. 

When they were in the street the slave told her that, at break ofday, the ship had cast anchor which brought back father and son. Theprisoners had received their freedom while they were still at sea, andhad been permitted to return home at once. All was well, only--he added, hesitatingly and with tears in his eyes--things were not as they used tobe, and now the old were stronger than the young. Her father had takenno harm from the heavy work at the oars, but Philip had returnedfrom the galleys very ill, and they had carried him forthwith to thebedchamber, where Dido was now nursing him. It was a good thing that shehad not been there to hear how the master had stormed and cursed overthe infamy they had had to endure; but the meeting with his birds hadcalmed him down quickly enough. 

Melissa and her attendant were walking in the direction of the Serapeum, but now she declared that she must first see the liberated prisoners. And she insisted upon it, although Argutis assured her of her father'sintention of seeking her at the house of the high-priest, as soon ashe had removed all traces of his captivity and his shameful work at thegalleys in the bath. Philip she would, of course, find at home, hebeing too weak to leave the house. The old man had some difficulty infollowing his young mistress, and she soon stepped lightly over the"Welcome" on the threshold of her father's house. Never had the redmosaic inscription seemed to shine so bright and friendly, and she heardher name called in delighted tones from the kitchen. 

This joyful greeting from Dido was not to be returned from the dooronly. In a moment Melissa was standing by the hearth; but the slave, speechless with happiness, could only point with fork and spoon, firstto the pot in which a large piece of meat was being boiled down intoa strengthening soup for Philip, then to a spit on which two youngchickens were browning before the fire, and then to the pan where shewas frying the little fish of which the returned wanderer was so fond. 

But the old woman's struggle between the duty that kept her near thefire and the love that drew her away from it was not of long duration. In a few minutes Melissa, her hands clasping the slave's withered arm, was listening to the tender words of welcome that Dido had ready forher. The slave woman declared that she scarcely dared to let her eyesrest upon her mistress, much less touch her with the fingers that hadjust been cleaning fish; for the girl was dressed as grandly as thedaughter of the high-priest. Melissa laughed at this; but the slave wenton to say that they had not been able to detain her master. His longingto see his daughter and the desire to speak with Caesar had driven himout of the house, and Alexander had, of course, accompanied him. OnlyPhilip, poor, crushed worm, was at home, and the sight of her would putmore strength into him than the strong soup and the old wine which hisfather had fetched for him from the store-room, although he generallyreserved it for libations on her mother's grave. 

Melissa soon stood beside her brother's couch, and the sight of him casta dark shadow over the brightness of this happy morn. As he recognizedher, a fleeting smile crossed the pale, spiritualized face, which seemedto her to have grown ten years older in this short time; but it vanishedas quickly as it had come. Then the great eyes gazed blankly again fromthe shadows that surrounded them, and a spasm of pain quivered fromtime to time round the thin, tightly closed lips. Melissa could hardlyrestrain her tears. Was this what he had been brought to-the youth whoonly a few days ago had made them all feel conscious of the superiorityof his brilliant mind!

Her warm heart made her feel more lovingly toward her sick brother thanshe had ever done when he was in health, and surely he was conscious ofthe tenderness with which she strove to comfort him. 

The unaccustomed, hard, and degrading work at the oars, she assured him, would have worn out a stronger man than he; but he would soon be able tovisit the Museum again and argue as bravely as ever. With this, she bentover him to kiss his brow, but he raised himself a little, and said, with a contemptuous smile:

"Apathy--ataraxy--complete indifference--is the highest aim after whichthe soul of the skeptic strives. That at least"--and here his eyesflashed for a moment--"I have attained to in these cursed days. Thata thinking being could become so utterly callous toeverything--everything, be it what it may--even I could never havebelieved!" He sank into silence, but his sister urged him to takecourage--surely many a glad day was before him yet. 

At this he raised himself more energetically, and exclaimed:

"Glad days?--for me, and with you? That you should still be of such goodcheer would please or else astonish me if I were still capable of thosesentiments. If things were different, I should ask you now, what haveyou given the imperial bloodhound in return for our freedom?"

Here Melissa exclaimed indignantly, but he continued unabashed:

"Alexander says you have found favor with our imperial master. He calls, and you come. Naturally, it is for him to command. See how much can bemade of the child of a gem-cutter! But what says handsome Diodoros toall this?--Why turn so pale? These, truly, are questions which I wouldfling in your face were things as they used to be. Now I say in allunconcern, do what you will!"

The blood had ebbed from Melissa's cheeks during this attack of herbrother's. His injurious and false accusations roused her indignation tothe utmost, but one glance at his weary, suffering face showed herhow great was the pain he endured, and in her compassionate heartpity strove against righteous anger. The struggle was sharp, but pityprevailed; and, instead of punishing him by a sharp retort, she forcedherself to explain to him in a few gentle words what had happened, inorder to dispel the unworthy suspicion that must surely hurt him as muchas it did her. She felt convinced that the sufferer would be cheered byher words; but he made no attempt to show that he appreciated her kindlymoderation, nor to express any satisfaction. On the contrary, when hespoke it was in the same tone as before. 

"If that be the case, " he said, "so much the better; but were itotherwise, it would have to be endured just the same. I can think ofnothing that could affect me now, and it is well. Only my body troublesme still. It weighs upon me like lead, and grows heavier with every wordI utter. Therefore, I pray you, leave me to myself!"

But his sister would not obey. "No, Philip, " she cried, eagerly, "thismay not be. Let your strong spirit arise and burst asunder the bondsthat fetter and cripple it. "

At this a groan of pain escaped the philosopher, and, turning again tothe girl, he answered, with a mournful smile:

"Bid the cushion in that arm-chair do so. It will succeed better thanI!" Then crying out impatiently and as loudly as he could, "Now go--youknow not how you torture me!" he turned away from her and buried hisface in the pillows. 

But Melissa, as if beside herself, laid her hands upon his shoulder, and, shaking him gently, exclaimed: "And even if it vexes you, I willnot be driven away thus. The misfortunes that have befallen you in thesedays will end by destroying you, if you will not pull yourself together. We must have patience, and it can only come about slowly, but you mustmake an effort. The least thing that pains you hurts us too, and you, in return, may not remain indifferent to what we feel. See, Philip, ourmother and Andrew taught us often not to think only of ourselves, but ofothers. We ask so little of you; but if you--"

At this the philosopher shook himself free of her hand, and cried in avoice of anguish:

"Away, I say! Leave me alone! One word more, and I die!" With thishe hid his head in the coverlet, and Melissa could see how his limbsquivered convulsively as if shaken by an ague. 

To see a being so dear to her thus utterly broken down cut her to theheart. Oh, that she could help him! If she did not succeed, or if henever found strength to rouse himself, he, too, would be one of Caesar'svictims. Corrupted and ruined lives marked the path of this terriblebeing, and, with a shudder, she asked herself when her turn would come. 

Her hair had become disordered, and as she smoothed it she looked in themirror, and could not but observe that in the simple but costly whiterobe of the dead Korinna she looked like a maiden of noble birth ratherthan the lowly daughter of an artist. She would have liked to tear itoff and replace it by another, but her one modest festival robe hadbeen left behind at the house of the lady Berenike. To appear in broaddaylight before the neighbors or to walk in the streets clad in thisfashion seemed to her impossible after her brother's unjust suspicion, and she bade Argutis fetch her a litter. 

When they parted, Dido could see distinctly that Philip had wounded her. And she could guess how, so she withheld any questions, that she mightnot hurt her. Over the fire, however, she stabbed fiercely into thefowl destined for the philosopher, but cooked it, nevertheless, with allpossible care. 

On the way to the Serapeum, Melissa's anxiety increased. Till now, eagerness for the fray, fear, hope, and the joyful consciousness ofright-doing, had alternated in her mind. Now, for the first time, shewas seized with a premonition of misfortune. Fate itself had turnedagainst her. Even should she succeed in escaping, she could not hope toregain her lost peace of mind. 

Philip's biting words had shown her what most of them must think ofher; and, though the ship should bear her far away, would it be right tobring Diodoros away from his old father to follow her? She must see herlover, and if possible tell him all. The rose, too, which the Christianhad given her for him, and which lay in her lap, she wished so muchto carry to him herself. She could not go alone to the chamber of theconvalescent, and the attendance of a slave counted for nothing inthe eyes of other people. It was even doubtful if a bondsman might beadmitted into the inner apartments of the sanctuary. However, she would, she must see Diodoros and speak to him; and thus planning ways and meansby which to accomplish this, looking forward joyfully to the meetingwith her father, and wondering how Agatha, the Christian, had receivedAlexander, she lost the feeling of deep depression which had weighed onher when she had left the house. 

The litter stopped, and Argutis helped her to descend. He wasbreathless, for it had been most difficult to open a way for her throughthe dense crowds that were already thronging to the Circus, where thegrand evening performance in honor of the emperor was to begin assoon as it was dark. Just as she was entering the house, she perceivedAndreas coming toward them along the street of Hermes, and she at oncebade the slave call him. He was soon at her side, and declared himselfwilling to accompany her to Diodoros. 

This time, however, she did not find her lover alone in the sick-room. Two physicians were with him, and she grew pale as she recognized in oneof them the emperor's Roman body-physician. 

But it was too late too escape detection; so she only hastened to herlover's side, whispered warm words of love in his ear, and, while shegave him the rose, conjured him ever and always to have faith in her andin her love, whatever reports he might hear. 

Diodoros was up and had fully recovered. His face lighted up with joyas he saw her; but, when she repeated the old, disquieting request, heanxiously begged to know what she meant by it. She assured him, however, that she had already delayed too long, and referred him to Andreas andthe lady Euryale, who would relate to him what had befallen her andspoiled every happy hour she had. Then, thinking herself unobserved bythose present, she breathed a kiss upon his lips. But he would not lether go, urging with passionate tenderness his rights as her betrothed, till she tore herself away from him and hurried from the room. 

As she left, she heard a ringing laugh, followed by loud, sprightlytalking. It was not her lover's voice, and endeavoring, while she waitedfor Andreas, to catch what was being said on the other side of the door, she distinctly heard the body-physician (for no other pronounced theGreek language in that curious, halting manner) exclaim, gayly: "ByCerberus, young man, you are to be envied! The beauty my sovereign lordis limping after flies unbidden into your arms!"

Then came loud laughter as before, but this time interrupted byDiodoros's indignant question as to what this all meant. At lastMelissa heard Andreas's deep voice promising the young man to tell himeverything later on; and when the convalescent impatiently asked foran immediate explanation, the Christian exhorted him to be calm, and finally requested the physician to grant him a few moments'conversation. 

Then there was quiet for a time in the room, only broken by Diodoros'sangry questions and the pacifying exclamations of the freedman. She feltas if she must return to her lover and tell him herself what she hadbeen forced to do in these last days, but maidenly shyness restrainedher, till at last Andreas came out. The freedman's honest face expressedthe deepest solicitude, and his voice sounded rough and hasty as heexclaimed, "You must fly--fly this day!"

"And my father and brother, and Diodoros?" she asked, anxiously. 

But he answered, urgently: "Let them get away as they may. There isno hole or corner obscure enough to keep you hidden. Therefore takeadvantage of the ship that waits for you. Follow Argutis at once to thelady Berenike. I can not accompany you, for it lies with me to occupyfor the next few hours the attention of the body-physician, from whomyou have the most to fear. He has consented to go with me to my gardenacross the water. There I promised him a delicious, real Alexandrianfeast, and you know how gladly Polybius will seize the opportunity toshare it with him. No doubt, too, some golden means may be found to bindhis tongue; for woe to you if Caracalla discovers prematurely that youare promised to another, and woe then to your betrothed! After sundown, when every one here has gone to the Circus, I will take Diodoros to aplace of safety. Farewell, child, and may our heavenly Father defendyou!"

He laid his right hand upon her head as if in blessing; but Melissacried, wringing her hands: "Oh, let me go to him once more! How canI leave him and go far away without one word of farewell or offorgiveness?"

But Andreas interrupted her, saying: "You can not. His life is at stakeas well as your own. I shall make it my business to look after hissafety. The wife of Seleukus will assist you in your flight. "

"And you will persuade him to trust me?" urged Melissa, clingingconvulsively to his arm. 

"I will try, " answered the freedman, gloomily. Melissa, dropped his arm, for loud, manly voices were approaching down the stairs near which theystood. 

It was Heron and Alexander, returning from their audience with theemperor. Instantly the Christian went to meet them, and dismissed thetemple servant who accompanied them. 

In the half-darkness of the corridor, Melissa threw herself weeping intoher father's arms. But he stroked her hair lovingly, and kissed hermore tenderly on brow and eyes than he had ever clone before, whisperinggayly to her: "Dry your tears, my darling. You have been a brave maiden, and now comes your reward. Fear and sorrow will now be changed intohappiness and power, and all the glories of the world. I have not eventold Alexander yet what promises to make our fortunes, for I know myduty. " Then, raising his voice, he said to the freedman, "If I havebeen rightly informed, we shall find the son of Polybius in one of theapartments close at hand. "

"Quite right, " answered the freedman, gravely, and then went on toexplain to the gem-cutter that he could not see Diodoros just now, butmust instantly leave the country with his son and daughter on Berenike'sship. Not a moment was to be lost. Melissa would tell him all on theway. 

But Heron laughed scornfully: "That would be a pretty business! We haveplenty of time, and, with the greatness that lies before us, everythingmust be done openly and in the right way. My first thought, you see, wasto come here, for I had promised the girl to Diodoros, and he must beinformed before I can consent to her betrothal to another. "

"Father!" cried Melissa, scarcely able to command her voice. But Herontook no notice of her, and continued, composedly: "Diodoros would havebeen dear to me as a son-in-law. I shall certainly tell him so. But whenCaesar, the ruler of the world, condescends to ask a plain man forhis daughter, every other consideration must naturally be put aside. Diodoros is sensible, and is sure to see it in the right light. We allknow how Caesar treats those who are in his way; but I wish the sonof Polybius no ill, so I forbore to betray to Caesar what tie had oncebound you, my child, to the gallant youth. "

Heron had never liked the freedman. The man's firm character had alwaysgone against the gemcutter's surly, capricious nature; and it was nolittle satisfaction to him to let him feel his superiority, and boastbefore him of the apparent good luck that had befallen the artist'sfamily. 

But Andreas had already heard from the physician that Caracallahad informed his mother's envoys of his intended marriage with anAlexandrian, the daughter of an artist of Macedonian extraction. Thiscould only refer to Melissa, and it was this news which had caused himto urge the maiden to instant flight. 

Pale, incapable of uttering a word, Melissa stood before her father; butthe freedman grasped her hand, looked Heron reproachfully in the face, and asked, quietly, "And you would really have the heart to join thisdear child's life to that of a bloody tyrant?"

"Certainly I have, " returned Heron with decision, and he drew hisdaughter's hand out of that of Andreas, who turned his back upon theartist with a meaning shrug of the shoulders. But Melissa ran after him, and, clinging to him, cried as she turned first to him and then to herfather:

"I am promised to Diodoros, and shall hold fast to him and my love; tellhim that, Andreas! Come what may, I will be his and his alone! Caesar--"

"Swear not!" broke in Heron, angrily, "for by great Serapis--"

But Alexander interposed between them, and begged his father to considerwhat he was asking of the girl. Caesar's proposals could scarcelyhave been very pleasing to him, or why had he concealed till now whatCaracalla was whispering to him in the adjoining room? He might imaginefor himself what fate awaited the helpless child at the side of ahusband at whose name even men trembled. He should remember her mother, and what she would have said to such a union. There was little, time toescape from this terrible wooer. 

Then Melissa turned to her brother and begged him earnestly: "Then youtake me to the ship Alexander; take charge of me yourself!"

"And I?" asked Heron, his eye cast gloomily on the ground. 

"You must come with us!" implored the girl, clasping her hands. --"OAndreas! say something! Tell him what I have to expect!"

"He knows that without my telling him, " replied the freedman. "I must gonow, for two lives are at stake, Heron. If I can not keep the physicianaway from Caesar, your daughter, too, will be in danger. If you desireto see your daughter forever in fear of death, give her in marriage toCaracalla. If you have her happiness at heart, then escape with her intoa far country. "

He nodded to the brother and sister, and returned to the sick-room. 

"Fly!--escape!" repeated the old man, and he waived his hand angrily. "This Andreas--the freedman, the Christian--always in extremes. Why runone's head against the wall? First consider, then act; that was what shetaught us whose sacred memory you have but now invoked, Alexander. "

With this he walked out of the half-dark corridor into the opencourt-yard, in front of his children. Here he looked at his daughter, who was breathing fast, and evidently prepared to resist to the last. And as he beheld her in Korinna's white and costly robes, like a noblepriestess, it occurred to him that even before his captivity she hadceased to be the humble, unquestioning instrument of his capricioustemper. Into what a haughty beauty the quiet embroideress had beentransformed!

By all the gods! Caracalla had no cause to be ashamed of such anempress. 

And, unaccustomed as he was to keep back anything whatever from hischildren, he began to express these sentiments. But he did not get far, for the hour for the morning meal being just over, the court-yard beganto fill from all sides with officials and servants of the temple. So, father and son silently followed the maiden through the crowdedgalleries and apartments, into the house of the highpriest. 

Here they were received by Philostratus, who hardly gave Melissa time togreet the lady Euryale before he informed her, but with unwonted hurryand excitement, that the emperor was awaiting her with impatience. 

The philosopher motioned to her to follow him, but she clung, asif seeking help, to her brother, and cried: "I will not go again toCaracalla! You are the kindest and best of them all, Philostratus, andyou will understand me. Evil will come of it if I follow you--I can notgo again to Caesar. "

But it was impossible for the courtier to yield to her, in the faceof his monarch's direct commands; therefore, hard as it was to him, hesaid, resolutely: "I well understand what holds you back; still, if youwould not ruin yourself and your family, you must submit. Besideswhich, you know not what Caesar is about to offer you-fortunate, unhappychild!"

"I know--oh, I know it!" sobbed Melissa; "but it is just that. .. I haveserved the emperor willingly, but before I consent become the wife ofsuch a monster--"

"She is right, " broke in Euryale, and drew Melissa toward her. But thephilosopher took the girl's hand and said, kindly:--"You must comewith me now, my child, and pretend that you know nothing of Caesar'sintentions toward you. It is the only way to save you. But while you arewith the emperor, who, in any case, can devote but a short time to youto-day, I will return here and consult with your people. There is muchto be decided, of the greatest moment, and not to you alone. " Melissaturned with tearful eyes to Euryale, and questioned her with a look;whereupon the lady drew the girl's hand out of that of the philosopher, and saying to him, "She shall be with you directly, " took her away toher own apartment. 

Here she begged Melissa to dry her eyes, and arranging the girl's hairand robe with her own hands, she promised to do all in her power tofacilitate her flight. She must do her part now by going into Caesar'spresence as frankly as she had done yesterday and the day before. Shemight be quite easy; her interests were being faithfully watched over. 

Taking a short leave of her father, who was looking very sulky becausenobody seemed to care for his opinion, and of Alexander, who lovinglypromised her his help, she took the philosopher's hand and walkedwith him through one crowded apartment after another. They often haddifficulty in pressing through the throng of people who were waiting foran audience, and in the antechamber, where the Aurelians had had to payso bitterly for their insolence yesterday, they were detained by theblonde and red-Haired giants of the Uermanian body-guard, whose leader, Sabinus, a Thracian of exceptional height and strength, was acquaintedwith the philosopher. 

Caracalla had given orders that no one was to be admitted till thenegotiations with the Parthian ambassadors, which had begun an hour ago, were brought to a conclusion. Philostratus well knew that the emperorwould interrupt the most important business if Melissa were announced, but there was much that he would have the maiden lay to heart beforehe led her to the monarch; while she wished for nothing so earnestly asthat the door which separated her from her terrible wooer might remainclosed to the end of time. When the chamberlain Adventus looked out fromthe imperial apartments, she begged him to give her a little time beforeannouncing her. 

The old man blinked consent with his dim eyes, but the philosopher tookcare that Melissa should not be left to herself and the terrors ofher heart. He employed all the eloquence at his command to make hercomprehend what it meant to be an empress and the consort of the rulerof the world. In flaming colors he painted to her the good she might doin such a position, and the tears she might wipe away. Then he remindedher of the healing and soothing influence she had over Caracalla, andthat this influence came doubtless from the gods, since it passed thebounds of nature and acted so beneficently. No one might reject such agift from the immortals merely to gratify an ordinary passion. The youthwhose love she must give up would be able to comfort himself with thethought that many others had had much worse to bear, and he would findno difficulty in getting a substitute, though not so beautiful a one. On the other hand, she was the only one among millions whose heart, obedient to a heaven-sent impulse, had turned in pity toward Caracalla. If she fled, she would deprive the emperor of the only being on whoselove he felt he had some claim. If she listened to the wooing of hernoble lover, she would be able to tame this ungovernable being andsoothe his fury, and would gain in return for a sacrifice such as manyhad made before her, the blissful consciousness of having rendered aninestimable service to the whole world. For by her means and her love, the imperial tyrant would be transformed into a beneficent ruler. Theblessing of the thousands whom she could protect and save would make thehardest task sweet and endurable. 

Here Philostratus paused, and gazed inquiringly at her; but she onlyshook her head gently, and answered:

"My brain is so confused that I can scarcely hear even, but I feelthat your words are well meant and wise. What you put before me wouldcertainly be worth considering if there were anything left for me toconsider about. I have promised myself to another, who is more to methan all the world--more than the gratitude and blessings of endangeredlives of which I know nothing. I am but a poor girl who only asks to behappy. Neither gods nor men expect more of me than that I should do myduty toward those whom I love. And, then, who can say for certain thatI should succeed in persuading Caesar to carry out my desires, whateverthey might be?"

"We were witnesses of the power you exercised over him, " replied thephilosopher; but Melissa shook her head, and continued eagerly: "No, no!he only values in me the hand that eases his pain and want of sleep. Thelove which he may feel for me makes him neither gentler nor better. Onlyan hour or two before he declared that his heart was inclined to me, hehad Titianus murdered!"

"One word from you, " the philosopher assured her, "and it would neverhave happened. As empress, they will obey you as much as him. Truly, child, it is no small thing to sit, like the gods, far above the rest ofmankind. "

"No, no!" cried Melissa, shuddering. "Those heights! Only to think ofthem makes everything spin round me. Only one who is free from suchgiddiness dare to occupy such a place. Every one must desire to do whathe can do best. I could be a good housewife to Diodoros, but I shouldbe a bad empress. I was not born to greatness. And, besides--what ishappiness? I only felt happy when I did what was my duty, in peace andquiet. Were I empress, fear would never leave me for a moment. Oh. Iknow enough of the hideous terror which this awful being creates aroundhim; and before I would consent to let it torture me to death by day andby night-morning, noon, and evening--far rather would I die this veryday. Therefore, I have no choice. I must flee from Caesar's sight--awayhence--far, far, away!"

Tears nearly choked her voice, but she struggled bravely against them. Philostratus, however, did not fail to observe it, and gazed, firstmournfully into her face and then thoughtfully on the ground. At lengthhe spoke with a slight sigh:

"We gather experience in life, and yet, however old we may be, we actcontrary to it. Now I have to pay for it. And yet it still lies in yourhands to make me bless the day on which I spoke on your behalf. Couldyou but succeed in rising to real greatness of soul, girl--through you, I swear it, the subjects of this mighty kingdom would be saved fromgreat tribulations!"

"But, my lord, " Melissa broke in, "who would ask such lofty things ofa lowly maiden? My mother taught me to be kind and helpful to others inthe house, to my friends, and fellow-citizens; my own heart tells me tobe faithful to my betrothed. But I care not greatly for the Romans, andwhat to me are Gauls, Dacians, or whatever else these barbarians may becalled?"

"And yet, " said Philostratus, "you offered a sacrifice for the foreigntyrant. "

"Because his pain excited my compassion, " rejoined Melissa, blushing. 

"And would you have done the same for any masterless black slave, covered with pitiably deep wounds?" asked the philosopher. 

"No, " she answered, quickly; "him I would have helped with my ownhand. When I can do without their aid, I do not appeal to the gods. And then--I said before, his trouble seemed doubly great because itcontrasted so sharply with all the splendor and joy that surroundedhim. "

"Aye, " said the philosopher, earnestly, "and a small thing that affectsthe ruler recoils tenfold--a thousand-fold-on his subjects. Look at onetree through a cut glass with many facets, and it be comes a forest. Thus the merest trifle, when it affects the emperor, becomes importantfor the millions over whom he rules. Caracalla's vexation entails evilon thousands--his anger is death and ruin. I fear me, girl, your flightwill bring down heavy misfortune on those who surround Caesar, and firstof all upon the Alexandrians, to whom you belong, and against whom healready bears a grudge. You once said your native city was dear to you. "

"So it is, " returned Melissa, who, at his last words had grown firstred and then pale; "but Caesar can not surely be so narrow-minded as topunish a whole great city for what the poor daughter of a gem-cutter hasdone. "

"You are thinking of my Achilles, " answered the philosopher. "But I onlytransferred what I saw of good in Caracalla to the figure of my hero. Besides, you know that Caesar is not himself when he is in wrath. Hasnot experience taught me that no reasons are strong enough to convince aloving woman's heart? Once more I entreat you, stay here! Reject not thesplendid gift which the gods offer you, that trouble may not come uponyour city as it did on hapless Troy, all for a woman's sake. 

"What says the proverb? 'Zeus hearkens not to lovers' vows'; but I saythat to renounce love in order to make others happy, is greater andharder than to hold fast to it when it is menaced. "

These words reminded her of many a lesson of Andreas, and went to herheart. In her mind's eye she saw Caracalla, after hearing of her flight, set his lions on Philostratus, and then, foaming with rage, give ordersto drag her father and brothers, Polybius and his son, to the place ofexecution, like Titianus. And Philostratus perceived what was going onin her mind, and with the exhortation, "Remember how many persons' wealor woe lies in your hands!" he rose and began a conversation with theThracian commander of the Germanic guard. 

Melissa remained alone upon the divan. The picture changed before her, and she saw herself in costly purple raiment, glittering with jewels, and seated by the emperor's side in a golden chariot. A thousand voicesshouted to her, and beside her stood a horn of plenty, running over withgolden solidi and crimson roses, and it never grew empty, however muchshe took from it. Her heart was moved; and when, in the crowd which herlively imagination had conjured up before her, she caught sight ofthe wife of the blacksmith Herophilus, who had been thrown into prisonthrough an accusation from Zminis, she turned to Caracalla whom shestill imagined seated beside her, and cried, "Pardon!" and Caracallanodded a gracious consent, and the next moment Herophilus's wife lay onher liberated husband's breast, while the broken fetters still clankedupon his wrists. Their children were there, too, and stretched up theirarms to their parents, offering their happy lips first to them and thento Melissa. 

How beautiful it all was, and how it cheered her compassionate heart!

And this, said the newly awakened, meditative spirit within her, needbe no dream; no, it lay in her power to impart this happiness to herselfand many others, day by day, until the end. 

Then she felt that she must arise and cry to her friend, "I will followyour counsel and remain!" But her imagination had already begun to workagain, and showed her the widow of Titianus, as she entreated Caesar tospare her noble, innocent husband, while he mercilessly repulsed her. And it flashed through her mind that her petitions might share the samefate, when at that moment the emperor's threatening voice sounded fromthe adjoining room. 

How hateful its strident tones were to her ear! She dropped her eyes andcaught sight of a dark stain on the snow-white plumage of the doves inthe mosaic pavement at her feet. 

That was a last trace of the blood of the young tribune, which theattendants had been unable to remove. And this indelible mark of thecrime which she had witnessed brought the image of the wounded Aureliusbefore her: just as he now lay, shaken with fever, so had she seen herlover a few days before. His pale face rose before her inward sight;would it not be to him a worse blow than that from the stone, when heshould learn that she had broken her faith to him in order to gain powerand greatness, and to protect others, who were strangers to her, fromthe fury of the tyrant?

His heart had been hers from childhood's hour, and it would bleed andbreak if she were false to the vows in which he placed his faith. Andeven if he succeeded at last in recovering from the wound she must dealhim, his peace and happiness would be destroyed for many a long day. Howcould she have doubted for a moment where her real duty lay?

If she followed Philostratus's advice--if she acceded to Caracalla'swishes--Diodoros would have every right to condemn and curse her. Andcould she then feel so entirely blameless? A voice within her instantlysaid no; for there had been moments in which her pity had grown sostrong that she felt more warmly toward the sick Caesar than wasjustifiable. She could not deny it, for she could not without ablush have described to her lover what she felt when that mysterious, inexplicable power had drawn her to the emperor. 

And now the conviction rapidly grew strong in her that she must not onlypreserve her lover from further trouble, but strive to make good to himher past errors. The idea of renouncing her love in order to intercedefor others, most likely in vain, and lighten their lot by sacrificingherself for strangers, while rendering her own and her lover's lifemiserable, now seemed to her unnatural, criminal, impossible; and with asigh of relief she remembered her promise to Andreas. Now she could oncemore look freely into the grave and earnest face of him who had everguided her in the right way. 

This alone was right--this she would do!

But after the first quick step toward Philostratus, she stood still, once more hesitating. The saying about the fulfilling of the timerecurred to her as she thought of the Christian, and she said to herselfthat the critical moment which comes in every life was before her now. The weal or woe of her whole future depended on the answer she shouldgive to Philostratus. The thought struck terror to her heart, but onlyfor a moment. Then she drew herself up proudly, and, as she approachedher friend, felt with joy that she had chosen the better part; yea, thatit would cost her but little to lay down her life for it. 

Though apparently absorbed in his conversation with the Thracian, Philostratus had not ceased to observe the girl, and his knowledge ofhuman nature showed him quickly to what decision she had come. Firmlypersuaded that he had won her over to Caracalla's side, he had left herto her own reflections. He was certain that the seed he had sown inher mind would take root; she could now clearly picture to herself whatpleasures she would enjoy as empress, and from what she could preserveothers. For she was shrewd and capable of reasoning, and above all--andfrom this he hoped the most--she was but a woman. But just because shewas a woman he could not be surprised at her disappointing him in hisexpectations. For the sake of Caracalla and those who surrounded him hewould have wished it to be otherwise; but he had become too fond of her, and had too good a heart, not to be distressed at the thought of seeingher fettered to the unbridled young tyrant. 

Before she could address him, he took his leave of the Thracian. Then, as he led her back to the divan, he whispered: "Well, I have gained onemore experience. The next time I leave a woman to come to a decision, I shall anticipate from the first that she will come to an oppositeconclusion to that which, as a philosopher and logical thinker, I shouldexpect of her. You are determined to keep faith with your betrothed andstab the heart of this highest of all wooers--after death he will beranked among the gods--for such will be the effect of your flight. "

Melissa nodded gayly, and rejoined, "The blunt weapon that I carry wouldsurely not cost Caesar his life, even if he were no future immortal. "

"Scarcely, " answered Philostratus; "but what he may suffer throughyou will drive him to turn his own all-too-sharp sword against others. Caracalla being a man, my calculations regarding him have generallyproved right. You will see how firmly I believe in them in this case, when I tell you that I have already taken advantage of a letter broughtby the messengers of the empress-mother to take my leave of the emperor. For, I reasoned, if Melissa listens to the emperor, she will need noother confederate than the boy Eros; if, however, she takes flight--thenwoe betide those who are within range of the tyrant's arm, and ten timeswoe to me who brought the fugitive before his notice! Early to-morrow, before Caracalla leaves his couch, I shall return with the messengers toJulia; my place in the ship--"

"O my lord, " interrupted Melissa, in consternation, "if you, my kindprotector, forsake me, to whom shall I look for help?"

"You will not require it if you carry out your intentions, " said thephilosopher. "Throughout this day you will doubtless need me; and let meimpress upon you once more to behave before Caracalla in such a mannerthat even his suspicious mind may not guess what you intend to do. To-day you will still find me ready to help you. But, hark! That isCaesar raging again. It is thus he loves to dismiss ambassadors, whenhe wishes they should clearly understand that their conditions are notagreeable to him. And one word more: When a man has grown gray, it isdoubly soothing to his heart that a lovely maiden should so franklyregret the parting. I was ever a friend of your amiable sex, and even tothis day Eros is sometimes not unfavorably inclined to me. But you, themore charming you are, the more deeply do I regret that I may not bemore to you than an old and friendly mentor. But pity at first kept lovefrom speaking, and then the old truth that every woman's heart may bewon save that which already belongs to another. "

The elderly admirer of the fair sex spoke these words in such apleasant, regretful tone that Melissa gave him an affectionate glancefrom her large, bright eyes, and answered, archly: "Had Eros shownPhilostratus the way to Melissa instead of Diodoros, Philostratus mightnow be occupying the place in this heart which belongs to the son ofPolybius, and which must always be his in spite of Caesar!"

CHAPTER XXIV. 

The door of the tablinum flew open, and through it streamed the Parthianambassadors, seven stately personages, wearing the gorgeous costumeof their country, and followed by an interpreter and several scribes. Melissa noticed how one of them, a young warrior with a fair beardframing his finely molded, heroic face, and thick, curling locksescaping from beneath his tiara, grasped the hilt of his sword inhis sinewy hand, and how his neighbor, a cautious, elderly man, wasendeavoring to calm him. 

Scarcely had they left the antechamber than Adventus called Melissa andPhilostratus to the emperor. Caracalla was seated on a raised throne ofgold and ivory, with bright scarlet cushions. As on the preceding day, he was magnificently dressed, and wore a laurel wreath on his head. Thelion, who lay chained beside the throne, stirred as he caught sight ofthe new-comers, which caused Caracalla to exclaim to Melissa: "You havestayed away from me so long that my 'Sword of Persia' fails to recognizeyou. Were it not more to my taste to show you how dear you are to me, Icould be angry with you, coy bird that you are!"

As Melissa bent respectfully before him, he gazed delighted into herglowing face, saying, as he turned half to her and half to Philostratus:"How she blushes! She is ashamed that, though I could get no sleepduring the night, and was tortured by an indescribable restlessness, she refused to obey my call, although she very well knows that the oneremedy for her sleepless friend lies in her beautiful little hand. Hush, hush! The high-priest has told me that you did not sleep beneath thesame roof as I. But that only turned my thoughts in the right direction. Child, child!--See now, Philostratus--the red rose has become a whiteone. And how timid she is! Not that it offends me, far from it--itdelights me. --Those flowers, Philostratus! Take them, Melissa; they addless to your beauty than you to theirs. " He seized the splendid roseshe had ordered for her early that morning and fastened the finest in hergirdle himself. She did not forbid him, and stammered a few-low words ofthanks. 

How his face glowed! His eyes rested in ecstatic delight upon his chosenone. In this past night, after he had called for her and waited invain with feverish longing for her coming, it had dawned on him withconvincing force that this gentle child had awakened a new, intensepassion in him. He loved her, and he was glad of it--he who till now hadtaken but a passing pleasure in beautiful women. Longing for her till itbecame torture, he swore to himself to make her his, and share his allwith her, even to the purple. 

It was not his habit to hesitate, and at daybreak he had sent for hismother's messengers that they might inform her of his resolve. No onedared to gainsay him, and he expected it least of all from her whom hedesigned to raise so high. But she felt utterly estranged from him, andwould gladly have told him to his face what she felt. 

Still, it was absolutely necessary that she should restrain herself andendure his insufferable endearments, and even force herself to speak. And yet her tongue seemed tied, and it was only by the utmost effort ofher will that she could bring herself to express her astonishment at hisrapid return to health. 

"It is like magic, " she concluded, and he heartily agreed. Attacks ofthat kind generally left their effects for four days or more. But themost astonishing thing was that in spite of being in the best of health, he was suffering from the gravest illness in the world. "I have fallena victim to the fever of love, my Philostratus, " he cried, with a tenderglance at Melissa. 

"Nay, Caesar, " interrupted the philosopher, "love is not a disease, butrather not loving. "

"Prove this new assertion, " laughed the emperor; and the philosopherrejoined, with a meaning look at the maiden, "If love is born in theeyes, then those who do not love are blind. "

"But, " answered Caracalla, gayly, "they say that love comes not onlyfrom what delights the eye, but the soul and the mind as well. "

"And have not the mind and the spirit eyes also?" was the reply, towhich the emperor heartily assented. 

Then he turned to Melissa, and asked with gentle reproach why she, whohad proved herself so ready of wit yesterday, should be so reservedtoday; but she excused her taciturnity on the score of the violentemotions that had stormed in upon her since the morning. 

Her voice broke at the end of this explanation, and Caracalla, concluding that it was the thought of the grandeur that awaited herthrough his favor which confused her and brought the delicate color toher cheeks, seized her hand, and, obedient to an impulse of his betternature, said:

"I understand you, child. Things are befalling you that would make astouter heart tremble. You have only heard hints of what must effectsuch a decisive change in your future life. You know how I feel towardyou. I acknowledged to you yesterday what you already knew withoutwords. We both feel the mysterious power that draws us to one another. We belong to each other. In the future, neither time nor space nor anyother thing may part us. Where I am there you must be also. You shallbe my equal in every respect. Every honor paid to me shall be offered toyou likewise. I have shown the malcontents what they have to expect. The fate which awaits the consul Claudius Vindex and his nephew, who bytheir want of respect to you offended me, will teach the others to havea care. "

"O my lord, that aged man!" cried Melissa, clasping her hands, imploringly. 

"He shall die, and his nephew, " was the inexorable answer. "During myconference with my mother's messengers they had the presumption to raiseobjections against you and the ardent desire of my heart in a mannerwhich came very near to being treason. And they must suffer for it. "

"You would punish them for my sake?" exclaimed Melissa. "But I forgivethem willingly. Grant them pardon! I beg, I entreat you. "

"Impossible! Unless I make an example, it will be long before theslanderous tongues would hold their peace. Their sentence stands. "

But Melissa would not be appeased. With passionate eagerness sheentreated the emperor to grant a pardon, but he cut her short with therequest not to interfere in matters which he alone had to decide andanswer for. 

"I owe it to you as well as to myself, " he continued, "to remove everyobstacle from the path. Were I to spare Vindex, they would never againbelieve in my strength of purpose. He shall die, and his nephew withhim! To raise a structure without first securing a solid foundationwould be an act of rashness and folly. Besides, I undertake nothingwithout consulting the omens. The horoscope which the priest ofthis temple has drawn up for you only confirms me in my purpose. Theexamination of the sacrifices this morning was favorable. It now onlyremains to be seen what the stars say to my resolve. I had not yet takenit when I last questioned the fortune-tellers of the sky. This night weshall learn what future the planets promise to our union. From the signson yonder tablet it is scarcely possible that their answer should beotherwise than favorable. But even should they warn me of misfortune atyour side, I could not let you go now. It is too late for that. Ishould merely take advantage of the warning, and continue with redoubledseverity to sweep away every obstacle that threatens our union. And onething more--"

But he did not finish, for Epagathos here reminded him of the deputationof Alexandrian citizens who had come to speak about the games inthe Circus. They had been waiting several hours, and had still manyarrangements to make. 

"Did they send you to me?" inquired Caracalla, with irritation, and thefreedman answering in the affirmative, he cried: "The princes who waitin my antechamber do not stir until their turn comes. These tradesmen'ssenses are confused by the dazzle of their gold! Tell them they shall becalled when we find time to attend to them. "

"The head of the night-watch too is waiting, " said the freedman; and tothe emperor's question whether he had seen him, and if he had anythingof consequence to report, the other replied that the man was muchdisquieted, but seemed to be exercising proper severity. He ventured toremind his master of the saying that the Alexandrians must have 'Panemet circenses'; they did not trouble themselves much about anything else. In these days, when there had been neither games, nor pageants, nordistribution of corn, the Romans and Caesar had been their sole subjectsof conversation. However, there was to be something quite unusuallygrand in the Circus to-night. That would distract the attention of theimpudent slanderers. The night-watchman greatly desired to speak to theemperor himself, to prepare him for the fact that excitement ran higherin the Circus here than even in Rome. In spite of every precaution, hewould not be able to keep the rabble in the upper rows quiet. 

"Nor need they be, " broke in the emperor; "the louder they shout thebetter; and I fancy they will see things which will be worth shoutingfor. I have no time to see the man. Let him thoroughly realize that heis answerable for any real breach of order. "

He signed to Epagathos to retire, but Melissa went nearer to Caesar andbegged him gently not to let the worthy citizens wait any longer on heraccount. 

At this Caracalla frowned ominously, and cried: "For the second time, let me ask you not to interfere in matters that do not concern you! Ifany one dares to order me--" Here he stopped short, for, as Melissa drewback from him frightened, he was conscious of having betrayed that evenlove was not strong enough to make him control himself. He was angrywith himself, and with a great effort he went on, more quietly:

"When I give an order, my child, there often lies much behind it ofwhich I alone know. Those who force themselves upon Caesar, as thesecitizens do, must learn to have patience. And you--if you would fill theposition to which I intend to raise you--must first take care to leaveall paltry considerations and doubts behind you. However, all that willcome of itself. Softness and mercy melt on the throne like ice beforethe sun. You will soon learn to scorn this tribe of beggars who comewhining round us. If I flew in a passion just now, it was partly yourfault. I had a right to expect that you would be more eager to hear meout than to shorten the time of waiting for these miserable merchants. "

With this his voice grew rough again, but as she raised her eyes to himand cried beseechingly, "O, my lord!" he continued, more gently:

"There was not much more to be said. You shall be mine. Should the starsconfirm their first revelations, I shall raise you to-morrow to my side, here in the city of Alexandria, and make the people do homage to you astheir empress. The priest of Alexandria is ready to conduct the marriageceremonial. Philostratus will inform my mother of my determination. "

Melissa had listened to these arrangements with growing distress; herbreath came fast, and she was incapable of uttering a word; but Caesarwas delighted at the lovely confusion painted on her features, andcried, in joyful excitement:

"How I have looked forward to this moment--and I have succeeded insurprising her! This is what makes imperial power divine; by one wave ofthe hand it can raise the lowest to the highest place!"

With this he drew Melissa toward him, kissed the trembling girl upon thebrow, and continued, in delighted tones:

"Time does not stand still, and only a few hours separate us from theaccomplishment of our desires. Let us lend them wings. We resolvedyesterday to show one another what we could do as singers andlute-players. There lies my lyre--give it me, Philostratus. I know whatI shall begin with. "

The philosopher brought and tuned the instrument; but Melissa had somedifficulty in keeping back her tears. Caracalla's kiss burned like abrand of infamy on her brow. A nameless, torturing restlessness had comeover her, and she wished she could dash the lyre to the ground, whenCaracalla began to play, and called out to Philostratus:

"As you are leaving us to-morrow, I will sing the song which you honoredwith a place in your heroic tale. "

He turned to Melissa, and, as she owned to having read the work of thephilosopher, he went on "You know, then, that I was the model for hisAchilles. The departed spirit of the hero is enjoying in the island ofLeuke, in the Pontus, the rest which he so richly deserves, after alife full of heroic deeds. Now he finds time to sing to the lyre, andPhilostratus put the following verses--but they are mine--into hismouth. --I am about to play, Adventus! Open the door!"

The freedman obeyed, and the emperor peered into the antechamber to seefor himself who was waiting there. 

He required an audience when he sang. The Circus had accustomed him tolouder applause than his beloved and one skilled musician could awardhim. At last he swept the strings, and began singing in a well-trainedtenor, whose sharp, hard quality, however, offended the girl's criticalear, the song to the echo on the shores of Pontus:

 Echo, by the rolling waters Bathing Pontus' rocky shore, Wake, and answer to the lyre Swept by my inspired hand!

 Wake, and raise thy voice in numbers Sing to Homer, to the bard Who has given life immortal To the heroes of his lay. 

 He it was from death who snatched me; He who gave Patroclus life; Rescued, in perennial glory, Godlike Ajax from the dead!

 His the lute to whose sweet accents, Ilion owes undying fame, And the triumph and the praises Which surround her deathless name. 

The "Sword of Persia" seemed peculiarly affected by his master's song, which he accompanied by a long-drawn howl of woe; and, before theimperial virtuoso had concluded, a discordant cry sounded for a shorttime from the street, in imitation of the squeaking of young pigs. Itarose from the crowd who were waiting round the Serapeum to see Caesardrive to the Circus; and Caracalla must have noticed it, for, when itwaxed louder, he gave a sidelong glance toward the place from which itcame, and an ominous frown gathered upon his brow. 

But it soon vanished, for scarcely had he finished when stormy shouts ofapplause rose from the antechamber. They proceeded from the friends ofCaesar, and the deep voices of the Germanic bodyguard, who, joining inwith the cries they had learned in the Circus, lent such impetuous forceto the applause, as even to satisfy this artist in the purple. 

Therefore, when Philostratus spoke words of praise, and Melissa thankedhim with a blush, he answered with a smile: "There is something frankand untrammeled in their manner of expressing their feelings outside. Forced applause sounds differently. There must be something in mysinging that carries the hearers away. My Alexandrian hosts, however, are overready to show me what they think. It did not escape me, and Ishall add it to the rest. "

Then he invited Melissa to make a return for his song by singingSappho's Ode to Aphrodite. Pale, and as if obeying some strangecompulsion, she seated herself at the instrument, and the preludesounded clear and tuneful from her skillful fingers. 

"Beautiful! Worthy of Mesomedes!" cried Caracalla, but Melissa could notsing, for at the first note her voice was broken by stormy sobs. 

"The power of the goddess whom she meant to extol!" said Philostratus, pointing to her; and the tearful, beseeching look with which she met theemperor's gaze while she begged him in low tones--"Not now! I can not doit to-day!"--confirmed Caracalla in his opinion that the passion he hadawakened in the maiden was in no way inferior to his own-perhapseven greater. He relieved his full heart by whispering to Melissa apassionate, "I love you, " and, desiring to show her by a favor howkindly he felt toward her, added: "I will not let your fellow-citizenswait outside any longer--Adventus! The deputation from the Circus!"

The chamberlain withdrew at once, and the emperor throwing himself backon the throne, continued, with a sigh:

"I wonder how any of these rich tradesmen would like to undertake whatI have already gone through this day. First, the bath; then, while Irested, Macrinus's report; after that, the inspection of the sacrifices;then a review of the troops, with a gracious word to every one. Scarcelyreturned, I had to receive the ambassadors from my mother, and thencame the troublesome affair with Vindex. Then the dispatches from Romearrived, the letters to be examined, and each one to be decided on andsigned. Finally the settling of accounts with the idiologos, who, ashigh-priest of my choosing, has to collect the tribute from all thetemples in Egypt. .. . Next I gave audience to several people--to yourfather among the rest. He is strange, but a thorough man, and a trueMacedonian of the old stock. He repelled both greeting and presents, buthe longed to be revenged--heavily and bloodily--on Zminis, who denouncedhim and brought him to the galleys. .. . How the old fellow must haveraged and stormed when he was a prisoner! I treated the droll oldgray-beard like my father. The giant pleases me, and what skillfulfingers he has on his powerful hands! He gave me that ring with theportraits of Castor and Pollux. "

"My brothers were the models, " remarked Melissa, glad to find somethingto say without dissembling. 

Caracalla examined the stone in the gold ring more closely, andexclaimed in admiration: "How delicate the little heads are! At thefirst glance one recognizes the hand of the happily gifted artist. Yourfather's is one of the noblest and most refined of the arts. If I canraise a statue to a lute-player, I can do so to a gem-cutter. "

Here the deputation for the arrangement of the festival was announced, but the emperor, calling out once more, "Let them wait, " continued:

"You are a handsome race--the men powerful, the women as lovely asAphrodite. That is as it should be! My father before me took the wisestand fairest woman to wife. You are the fairest--the wisest?--well, thattoo, perhaps. Time will show. But Aphrodite never has a high forehead, and, according to Philostratus, beauty and wisdom are hostile sisterswith you women. "

"Exceptions, " interposed the philosopher, as he pointed to Melissa, "prove the rule. "

"Describe her in that manner to my mother, " said Caracalla. "I would notlet you go from me, were you not the only person who knows Melissa. Imay trust in your eloquence to represent her as she deserves. And now, "he continued, hurriedly, "one thing more. As soon as the deputationis dismissed and I have received a few other persons, the feast isto begin. You would perhaps be entertained at it. However, it will bebetter to introduce you to my 'friends' after the marriage ceremony. After dark, to make up for it, there is the Circus, to which you will, of course, accompany me. "

"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed the maiden, frightened and unwilling. ButCaracalla cried, decisively: "No refusal, I must beg! I imagine that Ihave proved sufficiently that I know how to shield you from what is notfitting for a maiden. What I ask of you now is but the first step on thenew path of honor that awaits you as future empress. "

Melissa raised both voice and hands in entreaty, but in vain. Caracallacut her short, saying in authoritative tones:

"I have arranged everything. You will go to the Circus. Not alone withme-that would give welcome work to scandalous tongues. Your father shallaccompany you--your brothers, too, if you wish it. I shall not join youtill after the performance has begun. Your fellow-citizens will divinethe meaning of this visit. Besides, Theocritus and the rest have ordersto acquaint the people with the distinction that awaits you and theAlexandrians. But why so pale? Your cheeks will regain their colorin the Circus. I know I am right--you will leave it delightedand enthralled. You have only to learn for the first time how theacclamations of tens of thousands take hold upon the heart andintoxicate the senses. Courage, courage, Macedonian maiden! Everythinggrand and unexpected, even unforeseen happiness, is alarming andbewildering. But we become accustomed even to the impossible. A strongspirit like yours soon gets over anything of the kind. But the time isrunning on. One word more: You must be in the Circus by sunset. In anycase, you must be in your place before I come. Adventus will see thatyou have a chariot or a litter, whichever you please. Theocritus will bewaiting at the entrance to lead you to your seats. "

Melissa could restrain herself no longer, and, carried away by the wildconflict of passions in her breast, she threw control and prudence tothe winds, and cried:

"I will not!" Then throwing back her head as if to call the heavens towitness, she raised her great, wide-open eyes and gazed above. 

But not for long. Her bold defiance had roused Caesar's utmost fury, andhe broke out with a growl of rage:

"You will not, you say? And you think, unreasoning fool, that thissettles the matter?"

He uttered a wild laugh, pressed his hand firmly on his left eyelid, which began to twitch convulsively, and went on in a lower but defiantlycontemptuous tone:

"I know better! You shall! And you will not only go to the Circus, butyou will do it willingly, or at least with smiling lips. You will startat sunset! At the time appointed I shall find you in your place. Ifnot!--Must I begin so soon to teach you that I can be serious? Have acare, girl! You are dear to me; yet--by the head of my father!--if youdefy me, my Numidian lion-keepers shall drag you to the place you belongto!"

Thus far Melissa had listened to the emperor's raging with panting bosomand quivering nostrils, as at a performance, which must sooner or latercome to an end; and now she broke in regardless of the consequences:

"Send for them, " she cried, "and order them to throw me to the wildbeasts! It will doubtless be a welcome surprise to the lookers-on. Whichof them can say they have ever seen the daughter of a free Roman citizenwho never yet came before the law, torn to pieces in the sand ofthe arena? They delight in anything new! Yes, murder me, as you didPlautilla, although I never offended either you or your mother! Betterdie a hundred deaths than parade my dishonor before the eyes of themultitude in the open Circus!"

She ceased, incapable of further resistance, threw herself weeping onthe divan, and buried her face in the cushions. 

Confounded and bewildered by such audacity, the emperor had heard herout. The soul of a hero dwelt in the frail body of this maiden! Majesticas all-conquering Venus she had resisted him for the second tune, andnow how touching did she appear in her tears and weakness! He loved her, and his heart yearned to raise her in his arms, to beg her forgiveness, and fulfill her every wish. But he was a man and a monarch, and hisdesire to show Melissa to the people in the Circus as his chosen bridehad become a fixed resolve during the past sleepless night. And indeedhe was incapable of renouncing any wish or a plan, even if he feltinclined to do so. Yet he heartily regretted having stormed at thegentle Greek girl like some wild barbarian, and thus himself thrownobstacles in the way of attaining his desire. His hot blood had carriedhim away again. Surely some demon led him so often into excesses whichhe afterward repented of. This time the fiend had been strong in him, and he must use every gentle persuasion he knew of to bend the deeplyoffended maiden to his will. 

He was relieved not to meet her intense gaze as he advanced toward herand took Philostratus's place, who whispered to her to control herselfand not bring death and ruin upon them all. 

"I Truly I meant well toward you, dearest, " he began, in alteredtones. "But we are both like overfull vessels--one drop will make themoverflow. You--confess now that you forgot yourself. And I--On thethrone we grow unaccustomed to opposition. It is fortunate that theflame of my anger dies out so quickly. But it lies with you to preventit from ever breaking out; for I should always endeavor to fulfill akindly expressed wish, if it were possible. This time, however, I mustinsist--"

Melissa turned toward the emperor, and stretching out beseeching hands, she cried:

"Bid me do anything, however hard, and it shall be done, but do notforce me to go with you to the Circus. If my mother were only alive!Wherever I could go with her was right. But my father, not to speak ofmy madcap brother Alexander, do not know what befits a maiden, nor doesanybody expect it of them. "

"And rightly, " interposed Caracalla. "Now I understand your opposition, and thank you for it. But it fortunately lies in my power to remove yourobjection. The women have to obey me, too. I shall at once issue thenecessary orders. You shall appear in the Circus surrounded by thenoblest matrons of the city. The wives of these citizens shall accompanyyou. Even my mother will be sure to approve of this arrangement. Farewell, then, till we meet again in the Circus!"

He spoke the last words with proud satisfaction, and with the gravedemeanor that Cilo had taught him to adopt in the curia. 

He then gave the order to admit the Alexandrian citizens, and the wordsof entreaty died upon the lips of the unfortunate imperial bride, forthe folding doors were thrown open and the deputation advanced throughthem. 

Old Adventus signed to Melissa, and with drooping head she followedhim through the rooms and corridors that led to the apartments of thehighpriest. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Melissa had wept her fill on the breast of the lady Euryale, wholistened to her woes with motherly sympathy, and yet she felt as if abiting frost had broken and destroyed the blossoms which only yesterdayhad so richly and hopefully decked her young heart. Diodoros's love hadbeen to her like the fair and sunny summer days that turn the sour, hardfruit into sweet and juicy grapes. And now the frost had nipped them. The whole future, and everything round her, now looked gray, colorless, and flat. Only two thoughts held possession of her mind: on theone hand, that of her betrothed, from whom this visit to the Circusthreatened to separate her forever; and on the other, that of herimperial lover, to escape whom she would have flown anywhere, even tothe grave. 

Euryale remarked with concern how weary and broken Melissa looked--sodifferent from her usual bright self, while she listened to herfather and Alexander as they consulted with the lady as to the future. Philostratus, who had promised his advice, did not appear; and to thegem-cutter, no proposal could seem so unwelcome as that of leaving hisnative city and his sick favorite, Philip. 

He considered it senseless, and a result of the thoroughly wrong-headedviews of sentimental women, to reject the monarch of the world whenhe made honorable proposals to an unpretending girl. But the ladyEuryale--of whom his late wife had always spoken with the highestrespect--and, supported by her, his son Alexander, had both representedto him so forcibly that a union with the emperor would render Melissamost unhappy, if it did not lead to death, that he had been reduced tosilence. Only, when they spoke of the necessity of flight, he burstout again, declaring that the time had not yet come for such extrememeasures. 

When Melissa now rejoined them, he spoke of the emperor's behaviortoward her as being worthy of a man of honor, and endeavored to touchher heart by representing what an old man must feel who should be forcedto leave the house where his father and grandfather had lived beforehim, and even the town whose earth held all that was dearest to him. 

Here the tears which so easily rose to his eyes began to flow, and, seeing that Melissa's tender heart was moved by his sorrow, he gainedconfidence, and reproached his daughter for having kindled Caracalla'slove, by her radiant eyes--so like her mother's! Honestly believing thathis affection was returned, Caesar was offering her the highest honor inhis power; if she fled from him, he would have every right to complainof having been basely deceived, and to call her a heartless wanton. 

Alexander now came to his sister's aid, and reminded him how Melissahad hazarded life and liberty to save him and her brothers. She had beenforced to look so kindly into the tyrant's face if only to sue for theirpardon, and it became him ill to make this a reproach to his daughter. 

Melissa nodded gratefully to her brother, but Heron remained firm inhis assertion that to think of flight would be foolish, or at leastpremature. 

At this, Alexander repeated to him that Melissa had whispered in hisear that she would rather die at once than live in splendor, but inperpetual fear, by the side of an unloved husband; whereupon Heron beganto breathe hard, as he always did before an outburst of anger. 

But a message, calling him to the emperor's presence, soon calmed him. 

At parting, he kissed Melissa, and murmured "Would you really drive yourold father out of our dear home, away from his work, and his birds--fromhis garden, and your mother's grave? Is it then so terrible to live asempress, in splendor and honor? I am going to Caesar--you can not hinderme from greeting him kindly from you?"

Without waiting for an answer, he left the room; but when he was outsidehe took care to glance at himself in the mirror, arrange his beard andhair, and place his gigantic form in a few of the dignified attitudes heintended to adopt in the presence of the emperor. 

Meanwhile Melissa had thrown off the indifference into which she hadfallen, and her old doubts raised their warning heads with renewedforce. 

Alexander swore to be her faithful ally; Euryale once more assured herof her assistance; and yet, more especially when she was moved with pityfor her father, who was to leave all he loved for her sake, she felt asif she were being driven hither and thither, in some frail bark, at themercy of the waves. 

Suddenly a new idea flashed through her mind. She rose quickly. 

"I will go to Diodoros, " she cried, "and tell him all! He shall decide. "

"Just now?" asked Euryale, startled. "You would certainly not findyour betrothed alone, and since all the world knows of Caracalla'sintentions, and gazes curiously after you, your visit would instantlybe reported to Caesar. Nor is it advisable for you to present yourselfbefore your offended lover, when you have neither Andreas nor any oneelse to speak for you and take your part. "

Melissa burst into tears, but the matron drew her to her and continuedtenderly:

"You must give that up--but, Alexander, do you go to your friend, and beyour sister's mouthpiece!"

The artist consented with all the ardor of brotherly affection, andhaving received from Melissa, whose courage began to rise again, strictinjunctions as to what he was to say to her lover, he departed on hiserrand. 

Wholly absorbed by the stormy emotions of her heart, the maiden hadforgotten time and every external consideration; but the lady Euryalewas thoughtful for her, and now led her to her chamber to have her hairdressed for the Circus. The matron carefully avoided, for the present, all mention of her young friend's flight, though her mind was constantlyoccupied with it--and not in vain. 

The skillful waiting-woman, whom she had bought from the house ofthe priest of Alexander, who was a Roman knight, loosened the girl'sabundant brown hair, and, with loud cries of admiration, declared itwould be easy to dress such locks in the most approved style of fashion. She then laid the curling-irons on the dish of coals which stood on aslender tripod, and was about to twist it into ringlets; but Melissa, who had never resorted to such arts, refused to permit it. The slaveassured her, however, as earnestly as if it were a matter of the highestimportance, that it was impossible to arrange the curls of a lady ofdistinction without the irons. Euryale, too, begged Melissa to allow it, as nothing would make her so conspicuous in her overdressed surroundingsas excessive simplicity. That was quite true, but it made the girlrealize so vividly what was before her, that she covered her face withher hands and sobbed out:

"To be exposed to the gaze of the whole city--to its envy and itsscorn!"

The matron's warning inquiry, what had become of her favorite'shigh-minded calm, and her advice to restrain her weeping, lest sheshould appear before the public in the Amphitheater with tear-stainedeyes, helped her to compose herself. 

The tire-woman had not finished her work when Alexander returned, andMelissa dared not turn her head for fear of disturbing her in her task. But when Alexander began his report with the exclamation, "Who knowswhat foolish gossip has driven him to this?" she sprang up, regardlessof the slave's warning cry. And as her brother went on to relate howDiodoros had left the Serapeum, in spite of the physician's entreatyto wait at least until next morning, but that Melissa need not take itgreatly to heart, it was too much for the girl who had already that daygone through such severe and varied experiences. The ground seemed toheave beneath her feet; sick and giddy she put out her hand to find somesupport, that she might not sink on her knees; in so doing, she caughtthe tall tripod which held the dish of coals. It swayed and fellclattering to the ground, bringing the irons with it. Its burningcontents fell partly on the floor and partly on the festal robe whichMelissa had thrown over a chair before loosening her hair. Alexandercaught her just in time to prevent her falling. 

With her healthy nature, Melissa soon regained consciousness, and duringthe first few moments her distress over the spoiled garment threw everyother thought into the background. Shaking her head gravely over theblack-edged holes which the coals had burned in the peplos and theunder-robes, Euryale secretly rejoiced at the accident. She rememberedthat when her heart was torn and bleeding, after the death of her onlychild, her thoughts were taken off herself by the necessary duty ofproviding mourning garments for herself, her husband, and the slaves. This trivial task had at least helped her to forget for a few hours thebitterness of her grief. 

Only anxious to lighten in some sort the fate of the sweet youngcreature whom she had learned to love, she made much of the difficultyof procuring a fresh dress for Melissa, though she was perfectly awarethat her sister-in-law possessed many such. Alexander was commissionedto take one of the emperor's chariots--which always stood ready forthe use of the courtiers between the Serapeum and the springs on theeast--and to hasten to the lady Berenike. The lady begged that he, as anartist, would assist in choosing the robe; and the less conspicuous andcostly it was the better. 

To this Melissa heartily agreed, and, after Alexander had gone, Euryalebore off her pale young charge to the eating-room, where she forcedher to take some old wine and a little food, which she would not touchbefore. As the attendant filled the wine-cup, the high-priest himselfjoined them, greeted Melissa briefly and with measured courtesy, andbegged his wife to follow him for a moment into the tablinum. 

The attendant, a slave who had grown gray in the service of Timotheus, now begged the young guest, as though he represented his mistress, totake a little food, and not to sip so timidly from the winecup. But thelonely repast was soon ended, and Melissa, strengthened and refreshed, withdrew to the sleeping-apartment. Only light curtains hung at thedoors of the high-priest's hurriedly furnished rooms, and no one noticedMelissa's entrance into the adjoining chamber. 

She had never played the eavesdropper, but she had neither the presenceof mind to withdraw, nor could she avoid hearing that her own name wasmentioned. 

It was the lady who spoke, and her husband answered in excited tones:

"As to your Christianity, and whatever there may be in it that isoffensive to me as high-priest of a heathen god, we will speak of thatlater. It is not a question now of a difference of opinion, but of aserious danger, which you with your easily-moved heart will bring downupon yourself and me. The gem-cutter's daughter is a lovely creature--Iwill not deny it--and worthy of your sympathy; besides which, you, as awoman, can not bear to see her most sacred feelings wounded. "

"And would you let your hands he idle in your lap, " interposed his wife, "if you saw a lovable, innocent child on the edge of a precipice, andfelt yourself strong enough to save her from falling? You can not haveasked yourself what would be the fate of a girl like Melissa if she wereCaracalla's wife. "

"Indeed I have, " Timotheus assured her gravely, "and nothing wouldplease me better than that the maiden should succeed in escaping thatfate. But--the time is short, and I must be brief--the emperor is ourguest, and honors me with boundless confidence. Just now he disclosedto me his determination to make Melissa his wife, and I was forced toapprove it. Thus he looks to me to carry out his wishes; and if themaiden escapes, and there falls on you, or, through you, on me, theshadow of a suspicion of having assisted in her flight, he will haveevery right to regard me as a traitor and to treat me as such. To othersmy life is made sacred by my high office, but the man to whom a humanlife--no matter whose--is no more than that of a sacrificial animal isto you or me, that man would shed the blood of us both without a quiverof the eyelid. "

"Then let him!" cried Euryale, hotly. "My bereaved and worn-out life isbut a small price to pay for that of an innocent, blameless creature, glowing with youth and all the happiness of requited love, and with aright to the highest joys that life can offer. "

"And I?" exclaimed Timotheus, angrily. "What am I to you since the deathof our child? For the sake of the first person that came to you asa poor substitute for our lost daughter, you are ready to go to yourdeath, and to drag me with you into the gloom of Hades. There speaks theChristian! Even that gentle philosopher on the throne, Marcus Aurelius, was disgusted at your fellow-believers' hideous mania for death. TheChristian expects in the next world all that is denied to him in this. But we think of this life, in which the Deity has placed us. To melife is the highest blessing, and yours is dearer to me than my own. Therefore I say, firmly and decidedly: Melissa must not make her escapefrom this house. If she is determined to fly this night, let her doso--I shall not hinder her. If your counsel is of service to her, I amglad; but she must not enter this house again after the performance inthe Circus, unless she be firmly resolved to become Caesar's wife. Ifshe can not bring herself to this, the apartments which belong to usmust be closed against her, as against a dangerous foe. "

"And whither can she go?" asked Euryale, sadly and with tearful eyes, for there was no gainsaying so definite an order from her lord andmaster. "The moment she is missed, they will search her father'shouse; and, if she takes advantage of Berenike's ship, it will soon bediscovered that it was your brother's wife who helped her to escape fromCaracalla. "

"Berenike will know what to do, " answered Timotheus, composedly. "She, if any one, knows how to take care of herself. She has the protection ofher influential brother-in-law, Coeranus; and just now there is nothingshe would not do to strike a blow at her hated enemy. "

"How sorrow and revenge have worked upon that strange woman!" exclaimedthe lady, sadly. "Caracalla has injured her, it is true--"

"He has, and to-day he has added a further, deeper insult, for he forcesher to appear in the Amphitheater, with the wives of the other citizenswho bear the cost of this performance. I was there, and heard him sayto Seleukus, who was acting as spokesman, that he counted on seeing hiswife, of whom he had heard so much, in her appointed place this evening. 

"This will add fuel to the fire of her hatred. If she only does notallow her anger to carry her away, and to show it in a manner that shewill afterward regret!--But my time is short. I have to walk beforethe sacred images in full ceremonial vestments, and accompanied bythe priest of Alexander. You, unfortunately, take no pleasure in suchspectacles. Once more, then--if the girl is determined to fly, she mustnot return here. I repeat, if any one can help her to get away, it isBerenike. Our sister-in-law must take the consequences. Caesar can notaccuse her of treason, at any rate, and her interference in the matterwill clear us of all suspicion of complicity. "

No word of this conversation had escaped Melissa. She learned nothingnew from it, but it affected her deeply. 

Warm-hearted as she was, she fully realized the debt of gratitude sheowed to the lady Euryale; and she could not blame the high-priest, whomprudence certainly compelled to close his doors against her. And yet shewas wounded by his words. She had struggled so hard in these last daysto banish all thought of her own happiness, and shield her dear onesfrom harm, that such selfishness appeared doubly cruel to her. Didit not seem as if this priest of the great Deity to whom she had beentaught to pray, cared little what became of his nearest relatives, solong as he and his wife were unmolested? That was the opposite of whatAndreas had praised as the highest duty, the last time she had walkedwith him to the ferry; and since then Johanna had told her the storyof Christ's sufferings, and she understood the fervor with which thefreedman had spoken of the crucified Son of God--the great example ofall unselfishness. 

In the enthusiasm of her warm young heart she felt that what she hadheard of the Christians' teacher was beautiful, and that she too wouldnot find it hard to die for those she loved. 

With drooping head Euryale re-entered the room, and gazed with kind, anxious eyes into the girl's face, as if asking her forgiveness. Following the impulse of her candid heart, Melissa threw her fair youngarms round the aged lady, and, to her great surprise, after kissing herwarmly on brow and mouth and eyes, cried in tones of tender entreaty:

"Forgive me. I did not want to listen, and yet I could not choose buthear. No word of your discourse escaped me. I know now that I must notfly, and that I must bear whatever fate the gods may send me. I usedoften to say to myself, 'Of how little importance is my life or myhappiness!' And now that I must give up my lover, come what may I carenot what the future has in store for me. I can never forget Diodoros;and, when I think that everything is at an end between us, it is as ifmy heart were torn in pieces. But I have found out, in these last days, what heavy troubles one may bear without breaking down. If my flight isto bring danger, if not death and ruin, upon so many good people, I hadbetter stay. The man who lusts after me--it is true, when I think of hisembrace my blood runs cold! But perhaps I shall be able to endure eventhat. And then--if I crush my heart into silence, and renounce Diodorosforever, and give myself up to Caesar--as I must--tell me you will notthen close your doors against me, but that I may stay with you till thehorrid hour comes when Caracalla calls me?"

The matron had listened with deep emotion to Melissa's victory over herdesires and her aversions. This heathen maiden, brought up in the rightway by a good mother, and to whom life had taught many a hard lesson, was she not already treading in the footsteps of the Saviour? This childwas offering up the great and pure love of her heart to preserve othersfrom sorrow and danger; and what a different course of action was sheherself to pursue in obedience to her husband's orders--her husband, whose duty it was to offer a shining example to the whole heathen world!

She thought of Abraham's sacrifice, and wondered if the Lord might notperhaps be satisfied with Melissa's willingness to lay her love upon thealtar. In any case, whatever she, Euryale, could do to save her from theworst fate that could befall a woman, that should be done, and this timeit was she who drew the other toward her and kissed her. 

Her heart was full to overflowing, and yet she did not forget to warnMelissa to be careful, when she was about to lay her head with itsartificially arranged curls upon the lady's breast. 

"No, no, " she said, tenderly warding off the maiden's embrace. Then, laying her hands on the girl's shoulders, she looked her straight in theface, and continued: "Here you will ever find a resting-place. When yourhair lies smoothly round your sweet face, as it did yesterday, then layit on my breast as often as you will. Aye, and it can and shall be herein the Serapeum; though not in these rooms, which my lord and mastercloses against you. I told you of the time being fulfilled for each oneof us, and when yours came you proved yourself to be the good tree ofwhich our Lord speaks as bearing good fruit. You look at me inquiringly;how indeed should you understand the words of a Christian? But I shallfind time enough in the next few days to explain them to you; for--I sayit again--you shall remain near me while the emperor searches the cityand half the world over for you. Keep that firmly in your mind and letit help to give you courage in the Circus. "

"But my father?" cried Melissa, pointing to the curtain, through whichHeron's loud voice now became audible. 

"Depend on me, " whispered the lady, hurriedly; "and rest assured that hewill be warned in time. Do not betray my promise. If we were to take himinto our confidence now, he would spoil all. As soon as he is gone, andyour brother has returned, you two shall hear--"

They were interrupted by the steward, who, with a peculiar smile uponhis clean-shaven lips, came to announce Heron's visit. 

The communicative gem-cutter had already confided to the servant whatit was that agitated him so greatly, but Melissa was astonished at thechange in her father's manner. 

The shuffling gait of the gigantic, unwieldy man, who had grown graystooping over his work, had gained a certain majestic dignity. Hischeeks glowed, and the gray eyes, which had long since acquired a fixedlook from straining over the gemcutting, now beamed with a blissfulradiance. Something wonderful must have happened to him, and, withoutwaiting to be questioned by the lady, he poured out to her the news thathe would have been overjoyed to have shouted in the market-place for allto hear. 

The reception accorded to him at Caesar's table, he declared, had beenflattering beyond all words. The godlike monarch had treated him moreconsiderately, nay, sometimes with more reverence, than his own sons. The best dishes had been put before him, and Caracalla had asked allsorts of questions about his future consort, and, on hearing thatMelissa had sent him greetings, he had raised himself and drunk to himas if he were a friend. 

His table-companions, too, had treated Heron with every distinction. Immediately on his arrival the monarch had desired them to honor himas the father of the future empress. They had all agreed with him indemanding that Zminis the Egyptian should be punished with death, andhad even encouraged him to give the reins to his righteous anger. He, ifany one, was in the habit of being moderate in all things, if only asa good example to his sons; and he had proved in many a Dionysiac feastthat the god could not easily overpower him. The amount of wine hehad drunk to-day would generally have had no more effect upon him thanwater, and yet he had felt now and then as if he were drunken, and thewhole festal hall turned round with him. Even now he would be quiteincapable of walking forward in a given straight line. 

With the exclamation, "Such is life!--a few hours ago on therowing-bench, and fighting with the brander of the galleys for tryingto brand me with the slave-mark, and now one of the greatest among thegreat!" he closed his tale, for a glance through the window showed himthat time pressed. 

With strange bashfulness he then gazed at a ring upon his right hand, and said hesitatingly that his own modesty made the avowal difficult tohim; but the fact was, he was not the same man as when he last leftthe ladies. By the grace of the emperor he had been made a praetorian. Caesar had at first wanted to make him a knight; but he esteemed hisMacedonian descent higher than that class, to which too many freedslaves belonged for his taste. This he had frankly acknowledged, and theemperor must have considered his objections valid, for he immediatelyspoke a few words to the prefect Macrinus, and then told the others togreet him as senator with the rank of praetorian. 

Then indeed he felt as if the seat beneath him were transformed into awild steed carrying him away, through sea and sky-wherever it pleased. He had had to hold tightly to the arm of the couch, and only rememberedthat some one--who it was he did not know--had whispered to him to thankCaesar. 

"This, " continued the gem-cutter, "restored me so far to myself that Icould express my gratitude to your future husband, my child. I am onlythe second Egyptian who has entered the senate. Coeranus was the onlyone before me. What favor! And how can I describe what followed? All thedistinguished members of the senate and the past consuls offered me abrotherly embrace as their new colleague. When Caesar commanded me toappear at your side in the Circus, wearing the white toga with thebroad purple stripe, and I remarked that the shops of the betterclothes-sellers would be shut by this time on account of theperformance, and that such a toga was not to be obtained, there was agreat laugh over the Alexandrian love of amusement. From all sides theyoffered me what I required; but I gave the preference to Theocritus, onaccount of his height. What is long enough for him will not be too shortfor me. --And now one of the emperor's chariots is waiting for me. Ifonly Alexander were at home! The house ought to have been illuminatedand hung with garlands for my arrival, and a crowd of slaves waiting tokiss my hands. 

"There will soon be more than our two. I hope Argutis may understand howto fasten on the shoes with the straps and the crescent! Philip knowseven less of these things than I do myself, besides which the poorboy is laid low. It is lucky that I remembered him. I had very nearlyforgotten his existence. Ah!--if your mother were still alive! She hadclever-fingers! She--Ah, lady Euryale, Melissa has perhaps told youabout her. Olympias she was called, like the mother of the greatAlexander, and, like her, she bore good children. You yourself werepraising my boys just now. And the girl!. . Only a few days ago, it wasa pretty, shy thing that no one would ever have expected to do anythinggreat; and now, what have we not to thank that gentle child for? Thelittle one was always her mother's darling. Eternal gods! I dare notthink of it! If only she who is gone might have had the joy of hearingme called senator and praetor! O child! if she could have sat withus to-day in the emperor's seats, and we two could have seen youthere--you, our pride, honored by the whole city, Caesar's futurebride. "

Here the strong man with the soft heart broke down, and, claspinghis hands over his face, sobbed aloud, while Melissa clung to him andstroked his bearded cheeks. 

Under her loving words of consolation he soon regained his composure, and, still struggling against the rising tears, he cried:

"Thank Heaven, there can be no more foolish talk of flight! I shall stayhere; I shall never take advantage of the ivory chair that belongs tome in the curia in Rome. Your husband, my child, and the state, wouldscarcely expect it of me. If, however, Caesar presents me as hisfather, with estates and treasures, my first thought shall be to raise amonument to your mother. You shall see! A monument, I tell you, withouta rival. It shall represent the strength of man submissive to womanlycharm. "

He bent down to kiss his daughter's brow, and whispered in her ear:

"Gaze confidently into the future, my girl. A father's eye is not easilydeceived, and so I tell you--that the emperor has been forced to shedblood do insure the safety of the throne; but, in personal intercoursewith him, I learned to know your future husband as a noble-hearted man. Indeed, I am not rich enough to thank the gods for such a son-in-law!"

Melissa gazed after her father, incapable of speaking. It went toher heart that all these hopes should be changed to sorrow anddisappointment through her. And so she said, with tearful eyes, andshook hey head when the lady assured her that with her it was a questionof a cruelly spoiled life, whereas her father would only have torenounce some idle vanities which he would forget as easily as he hadseized upon them. 

"You do not know him, " answered the maiden, sadly. "If I fly, then hetoo must hide himself in a far country. He will never be happy again ifthey take him from the little house--his birds--our mother's grave. Itwas for her sake alone that he took no thought for the ivory seat in thecuria. If you only knew how he clings to everything that reminds him ofour mother, and she never left our city. "

Here she was interrupted by the entrance of Philostratus. He was notalone; an imperial slave accompanied him, bringing a graceful basketwith gifts from the emperor to Melissa. 

First came a wreath of roses and lotos-flowers, looking as if they hadbeen plucked just before sunrise, for among the blossoms and leavesthere flashed and sparkled a glittering dew of diamonds, lightlyfastened on delicate silver wires. Next came a bunch of flowers, roundwhose stems a supple golden snake was twined, covered with rubies anddiamonds and destined to coil itself round a woman's arm. The thirdwas a necklace of extremely costly Persian pearls, which had oncebelonged--so the merchant had declared--to great Cleopatra's treasure. 

Melissa loved flowers; and the costly gifts that accompanied themcould not fail to rejoice a woman's heart. And yet she only gave them apassing glance, reddening painfully as she did so. 

What the bearer had to say to her was of more importance to her thanthe gifts he brought, and in fact the troubled manner of the usuallycomposed philosopher betrayed that he had something more serious todeliver than the gifts of his love-sick lord. 

The lady Euryale, perceiving that he meant to try once more to persuadeMelissa to yield, hastened to declare that she had found ways and meansto help the maiden to escape; but he shook his head with a sigh, andsaid, thoughtfully:

"Well--well--I shall go on board the ship while the wild beasts aredoing their part in the Circus. May we meet again happily, either hereor else where! My way leads me first to Caesar's mother, to inform herof his choice of a wife. Not that he needs her consent: whose consent ordisapproval does Caracalla care for? But I am to win Julia's heart foryou. Possibly I may succeed; but you--you scorn it, and fly from herson. And yet--believe me, child--the heart of that woman is a treasurethat has no equal, and, if she should open her arms to you, there wouldbe little that you could not endure. When I left you, just now, I putmyself in your place, and approved of your resolve; but it would bewrong not to remind you once more of what you must expect if you followyour own will, and if Caesar considers himself scorned, ill-treated, anddeceived by you. "

"In the name of all the gods, what has happened?" broke in Melissa, pallid with fear. Philostratus pressed his hand to his brow, and hisvoice was hoarse with suppressed emotion as he continued: "Nothingnew-only things are taking their old course. You know that Caracallathreatened old Claudius Vindex and his nephew with death because oftheir opposition to his union with you. We all hoped, however, that hewould be moved to exercise mercy. He is in love--he was so gracious atthe feast! I myself was foremost among those who did their utmost todispose Caesar to clemency. . But he would not be moved, and, before thesun goes down upon this day, the old man and the young one--the chiefestamong the nobles of Rome--will be no more. And it is Caracalla's lovefor you, child, that sheds this blood. Ask yourself after this how manylives will be sacrificed when your flight causes hatred and fury toreign supreme in the soul of the cheated monarch!"

With quickened breath Euryale had listened to the philosopher, withoutregarding the girl; but scarcely had Philostratus uttered his last wordsthan Melissa ran to her, and, clasping her hands passionately on thematron's arm, she cried, "Ought I to obey you, Euryale, and the terrorsof my own heart, and flee?"

Then releasing the lady, she turned again to the philosopher, and burstout: "Or are you in the right, Philostratus? Must I stay, to prevent themisery that threatens to overtake others?"

Beside herself, torn by the storm that raged in her soul, she claspedher hands upon her brow and continued, wildly: "You are both of youso wise, and surely wish the best. How can you give me such oppositeadvice? And my own heart?--why have the gods struck it dumb? Time waswhen it spoke loudly enough if ever I was in doubt. One thing I knowfor certain: if by the sacrifice of my life I could undo it all, I wouldjoyfully cast myself before the lions and panthers, like the Christianmaiden whom my mother saw smiling radiantly as she was led into thearena. Splendor and power are as hateful to me as the flowers yonderwith their false dew. I was ever taught to close my ear to the voiceof selfishness. If I have any wish for myself, it is that I may keep myfaith with him to whom it was promised. But for love of my father, andif I could be certain of saving many from death and misery, I wouldstay, though I should despise myself and be separated forever from mybeloved!"

"Submit to the inevitable, " interposed the philosopher, with eagerentreaty. "The immortal gods will reward you with the blessingsof hundreds whom a word from you will have saved from ruin anddestruction. "

"And what say you?" asked the maiden, gazing with anxious expectancyinto the matron's face. "Follow your own heart!" replied the lady, deeply moved. 

Melissa had hearkened to both counselors with eager ear, and both hunganxiously on her lips, while, as if taken out of herself, she gazed withpanting bosom into the empty air. They had not long to wait. Suddenlythe maiden approached Philostratus and said with a firmness and decisionthat astonished her friend:

"This will I do--this--I feel it here--this is the right. I remain, Irenounce the love of my heart, and accept what Fate has laid upon me. Itwill be hard, and the sacrifice that I offer is great. But I must firsthave the certainty that it shall not be in vain. "

"But, child, " cried Philostratus, "who can look into the future, andanswer for what is still to come?"

"Who?" asked Melissa, undaunted. "He alone in whose hand lies my future. To Caesar himself I leave the decision. Go you to him now and speak forme. Bring him greeting from me, and tell him that I, whom he honors withhis love, dare to entreat him modestly but earnestly not to punish theaged Claudius Vindex and his nephew for the fault they were guilty of onmy account. For my sake would he deign to grant them life--and liberty?Add to this that it is the first proof I have asked of his magnanimity, and clothe it all in such winning words as Peitho can lay upon youreloquent lips. If he grants pardon to these unfortunate ones, it shallbe a sign to me that I may be permitted to shield others from his wrath. If he refuses, and they are put to death, then will he himself havedecided our fate otherwise, and he sees me for the last time alive inthe Circus. Thus shall it be--I have spoken. "

The last words came like a stern order, and Philostratus seemed tohave some hopes of the emperor's clemency, for his love's sake, and thephilosopher's own eloquence. The moment Melissa ceased, he seized herhand and cried, eagerly:

"I will try it; and, if he grant your request, you remain?"

"Yes, " answered the maiden, firmly. "Pray Caesar to have mercy, softenhis heart as much as you are able. I expect an answer before going tothe Circus. "

She hurried back into the sleeping-room without regarding Philostratus'sanswer. Once there, she threw herself upon her knees and prayed, nowto the manes of her mother, now--it was for the first time--to thecrucified Saviour of the Christians, who had taken upon himself apainful death to bring happiness to others. First she prayed forstrength to keep her vow, come what might; and then she prayed forDiodoros, that he might not be made wretched if she found herselfcompelled to break her troth with him. Her father and brothers, too, were not forgotten, as she commended their lives to a higher power. 

When Euryale looked into the room, she found Melissa still upon herknees, her young frame shaken as with fever. So she withdrew softly, andin the Temple of Serapis, where her husband served as high-priest, sheprayed to Jesus Christ that he who suffered little children to come untohim would lead this wandering lamb into the right path. 

CHAPTER XXVI

The lady Euryale's silent prayer was interrupted by the return ofAlexander. He brought the clothes which Seleukus's wife had given himfor Melissa. He was already dressed in his best, and crowned like allthose who occupied the first seats in the Circus; but his festal garbaccorded ill with the pained look on his features, from which everytrace had vanished of the overflowing joy in life which had embellishedthem only this morning. 

He had seen and heard things which made him feel that it would no longerbe a sacrifice to give his life to save his sister. 

Sad thoughts had flitted across his cheerful spirit like dark bats, evenwhile he was talking with Melissa and her protectress, for he knew wellhow infinitely hard his father would find it to have to quit Alexandria;and if he himself fled with Melissa he would be obliged to give up thewinning of fair Agatha. The girl's Christian father had indeed receivedhim kindly, but had given him to understand plainly enough that he wouldnever allow a professed heathen to sue for his daughter's hand. Besidesthis, he had met with other humiliations which placed themselves like awall between him and his beloved, the only child of a rich and respectedman. He had forfeited the right of appearing before Zeus as a suitor;for indeed he was no longer such as he had been only yesterday. 

The news that Caracalla proposed to marry Melissa had been echoed byinsolent tongues, with the addition that he, Alexander, had ingratiatedhimself with Caesar by serving him as a spy. No one had expressly saidthis to him; but, while he was hurrying through the city in Caesar'schariot, on the ladies' message, it had been made very plain to hisapprehension. Honest men had avoided him--him to whom hitherto every onefor whose regard he cared had held out a friendly hand; and much elsethat he had experienced in the course of this drive had been unpleasantenough to give rise to a change of his whole inner being. 

The feeling that every one was pointing at him the finger of scorn, or of wrath, had never ceased to pursue him. And he had been under noillusion; for when he met the old sculptor Lysander, who only yesterdayhad so kindly told him and Melissa about Caesar's mother, as he noddedfrom the chariot his greeting was not returned; and the honest artisthad waved his hand with a gesture which no Alexandrian could fail tounderstand as meaning, "I no longer know you, and do not wish to berecognized by you. "

He had from his childhood loved Diodoros as a brother, and in one of theside streets, down which the chariot had turned to avoid the tumult inthe Kanopic way, Alexander had seen his old friend. He had desired thecharioteer to stop, and had leaped out on the road to speak to Diodorosand give him at once Melissa's message; but the young man had turnedhis back with evident displeasure, and to the painter's pathetic appeal, "But, at any rate, hear me!" he answered, sharply: "The less I hear ofyou and yours the better for me. Go on--go on, in Caesar's chariot!"

With this he had turned away and knocked at the door of an architect whowas known to them both; and Alexander, tortured with painful feelings, had gone on, and for the first time the idea had taken possession of himthat he had indeed descended to the part of spy when he had betrayed toCaesar what Alexandrian wit had to say about him. He could, of course, tell himself that he would rather have faced death or imprisonment thanhave betrayed to Caracalla the name of one of the gibers; still, hehad to admit to himself that, but for the hope of saving his father andbrother from death and imprisonment, he would hardly have done Caesarsuch service. The mercy shown to them was certainly too like payment, and his own part in the matter struck him as hateful and base. Hisfellow-townsmen had a right to bear him a grudge, and his friends tokeep out of his way. A feeling came over him of bitter self-contempt, hitherto strange to him; and he understood for the first time how Philipcould regard life as a burden and call it a malicious Danaus-gift of thegods. When, finally, in the Kanopic way, close in front of Seleukus'shouse, a youth unknown to him cried, scornfully, as the chariot wasslowly making its way through the throng, "The brother-in-law ofTarautas!" he had great difficulty in restraining himself from leapingdown and letting the rascal feel the weight of his fists. He knew, too, that Tarautas was the name of a hateful and bloodthirsty gladiator whichhad been given as a nickname to Caesar in Rome; and when he heardthe insolent fellow's cry taken up by the mob, who shouted after him, "Tarautas's brother-in-law!" wherever he went, he felt as though he werebeing pelted with mire and stones. 

It would have been a real comfort to him if the earth would have openedto swallow him with the chariot, to hide him from the sight of men. Hecould have burst out crying like a child that has been beaten. When atlast he was safe inside Seleukus's house, he was easier; for here he wasknown; here he would be understood. Berenike must know what he thoughtof Caesar's suit, and seeing her wholesome and honest hatred, he hadsworn to himself that he would snatch his sister from the hands of thetyrant, if it were to lead him to the most agonizing death. 

While she was engaged in selecting a dress for her protegee, he relatedto the lady Euryale what had happened to him in the street and inthe house of Seleukus. He had been conducted past the soldiers in thevestibule and impluvium to the lady's private rooms, and there he hadbeen witness to a violent matrimonial dispute. Seleukus had previouslydelivered to his wife Caesar's command that she should appear in theAmphitheater with the other noble dames of the city. Her answer wasa bitter laugh, and a declaration that she would mingle with thespectators in none but mourning robes. Thereupon her husband, pointingout to her the danger to which such conduct would expose them, hadraised objections, and she at last had seemed to yield. When Alexanderjoined her he had found her in a splendid dress of shining purplebrocade, her black hair crowned with a wreath of roses, and a splendiddiadem; a garland of roses hung across her bosom, and precious stonessparkled round her throat and arms. In short, she was arrayed like ahappy mother for her daughter's wedding-day. 

Soon after Alexander's arrival Seleukus had come in, and thisconspicuously handsome dress, so unbecoming to the matron's age, andso unlike her usual attire-chosen, evidently, to put the monstrosity ofCaesar's demand in the strongest light--had roused her husband's wrath. He had expressed his dissatisfaction in strong terms, and again pointedout to her the danger in which such a daring demonstration might involvethem; but this time there was no moving the lady; she would not despoilherself of a single rose. After she had solemnly declared that shewould appear in the Circus either as she thought fit or not at all, herhusband had left her in anger. 

"What a fool she is!" Euryale exclaimed. 

Then she showed him a white robe of beautiful bombyx, woven in the isleof Kos, which she had decided on for Melissa, and a peplos with a borderof tender sea-green; and Alexander approved of the choice. 

Time pressed, and Euryale went at once to Melissa with the new festalraiment. Once more she nodded kindly to the girl, and begged her, asshe herself had something to discuss with Alexander, to allow thewaiting-woman to dress her. She felt as if she were bringing the robeto a condemned creature, in which she was to be led to execution, andMelissa felt the same. 

Euryale then returned to the painter, and bade him end his narrative. 

The lady Berenike had forthwith desired Johanna to pack together all thedead Korinna's festal dresses. Alexander had then followed her guidance, accompanying her to a court in the slaves' quarters, where a numberof men were awaiting her. These were the captains of Seleukus's ships, which were now in port, and the superintendents of his granaries andoffices, altogether above a hundred freedmen in the merchant's service. Each one seemed to know what he was here for. 

The matron responded to their hearty greetings with a word of thanks, and added, bitterly:

"You see before you a mourning mother whom a ruthless tyrant compels togo to a festival thus--thus--only look at me--bedizened like a peacock!"

At this the bearded assembly gave loud expression to theirdissatisfaction, but Berenike went on "Melapompus has taken care tosecure good places; but he has wisely not taken them all together. Youare all free men; I have no orders to give you. But, if you are indeedindignant at the scorn and heart-ache inflicted on your lord's wife, make it known in the Circus to him who has brought them on her. You areall past your first youth, and will carefully avoid any rashness whichmay involve you in ruin. May the avenging gods aid and protect you!"

With this she had turned her back on the multitude; but Johannes, theChristian lawyer, the chief freedman of the household, had hurried intothe court-yard, just in time to entreat her to give up this ill-starreddemonstration, and to extinguish the fire she had tried to kindle. So long as Caesar wore the purple, rebellion against him, to whom theDivinity had intrusted the sovereignty, was a sin. The scheme she wasplotting was meant to punish him who had pained her; but she forgotthat it might cost these brave men, husbands and fathers, their life orliberty. The vengeance she called on them to take might be balm to thewounds of her own heart; but if Caesar in his wrath brought destructiondown on these, her innocent instruments, that balm would turn to burningpoison. 

These words, whispered to her with entire conviction, had not beenwithout their effect. For some minutes Berenike had stared gloomily atthe ground; but then she had again approached the assembly, to repeatthe warning given her by the Christian, whom all respected, and by whomsome indeed had been persuaded to be baptized. 

"Johannes is right, " she ended. "This ill-used heart did wrong when itsent up its cry of anguish before you. Rather will I be trodden underfoot by the enemy, as is the manner of the Christians, than bringsuch misfortune on innocent men, who are so faithful to our house. Becautious, then. Give no overt expression to your feelings. Let each onewho feels too weak to control his wrath, avoid the Circus; and those whogo, keep still if they feel moved to act in my behalf. One thing onlyyou may do. Tell every one, far and wide, what I had purposed. Whatothers may do, they themselves must answer for. "

The Christian had strongly disapproved of this last clause; but Berenikehad paid no heed, and had left the court-yard, followed by Alexander. 

The shouts of the indignant multitude had rung in their ears, and, inspite of her warning, they had sounded like a terrible threat. Johannes, to be sure, had remained, to move them to moderation by furtherremonstrances. 

"What were the mad creatures plotting?" Euryale anxiously broke in;and he hastily went on "They call Caesar by no name but Tarautas; everymouth is full of gibes and rage at the new and monstrous taxes, thebilleting of the troops, and the intolerable insolence of the soldiery, which Caracalla wickedly encourages. His contemptuous indifference hasdeeply offended the heads of the town. And then his suit to my sister!Young and old are wagging their tongues over it. "

"It would be more like them to triumph in it, " said the matron, interrupting him. "An Alexandrian in the purple, on the throne of theCaesars!"

"I too had hoped that, " cried Alexander, "and it seemed so likely. Butwho can understand the populace? Every woman in the place, I should havethought, would hold her head higher, at the thought that an Alexandriangirl was empress; but it was from the women that I heard the mostvindictive and shameless abuse. I heard more than enough; for, as wegot closer to the Serapeum, the more slowly was the chariot obliged toproceed, to make its way through the crowd. And the things I heard! Iclinch my fists now as I only think of them. --And what will it be in theCircus? What will not Melissa have to endure!"

"It is envy, " the matron murmured to herself; but she was immediatelysilent, for the young girl came toward them, out of the bedroom. Hertoilet was complete; the beautiful white dress became her well. Thewreath of roses, with diamond dewdrops, lay lightly on her hair, thesnake-shaped bracelet which her imperial suitor had sent her clasped herwhite arm, and her small head, somewhat bent, her pale, sweet face, and large, bashful, inquiring, drooping eyes formed such an engaging, modest, and unspeakably touching picture, that Euryale dared to hopethat even in the Circus none but hardened hearts could harbor a hostilefeeling against this gentle, pure blossom, slightly drooping withsilent sorrow. She could not resist the impulse to kiss Melissa, andthe half-formed purpose ripened within her to venture the utmost for thechild's protection. The pity in her heart had turned to love; and whenshe saw that to this sweet creature, at the mere sight of whom her heartwent forth, the most splendid jewels, in which any other girl would havebeen glad to deck herself, were as a heavy burden to be borne but sadly, she felt it a sacred duty to comfort her and lighten this trial, and shelter Melissa, so far as was in her power, from insult andhumiliation. 

It was many years since she had visited the Amphitheater, where thehorrible butchery was an abomination to her; but to-day her heart badeher conquer her old aversion, and accompany the girl to the Circus. 

Had not Melissa taken the place in her heart of her lost daughter? Wasnot she, Euryale, the only person who, by showing herself with Melissaand declaring herself her friend, could give the people assurance thatthe girl, who was exposed to misapprehension and odium by the favor shehad met with from the ruthless and hated sovereign, was in truth pureand lovable? Under her guardianship, by her side, the girl, as she knew, would be protected from misapprehension and insult; and she, an oldwoman and a Christian, should she evade the first opportunity of takingup a cross in imitation of the Divine Master, among whose followers shejoyfully counted herself--though secretly, for fear of men? All thisflashed through her mind with the swiftness of lightning, and her call, "Doris!" addressed to her waiting-woman, was so clear and unexpectedthat Melissa's overstrung nerves were startled. She looked up at thelady in amazement, as, without a word of explanation, she said to thewoman who had hurried in:

"The blue robe I wore at the festival of Adonis, my mother's diadem, and a large gem with the head of Serapis for my shoulder. My hair--oh, a veil will cover it! What does it matter for an old woman?--You, child, why do you look at me in such amazement? What mother would allow apretty young daughter to appear alone in the Circus? Besides, I maysurely hope that it will confirm your courage to feel that I am at yourside. Perhaps the populace may be moved a little in your favor if thewife of the high-priest of their greatest god is your companion. "

But she could scarcely end her speech, for Melissa had flown into herarms, exclaiming, "And you will do this for me?" while Alexander, deeplytouched by gratitude and joy, kissed her thin arm and the hem of herpeplos. 

While Melissa helped the matron to change her dress--in the next roomAlexander paced to and fro in great unrest. He knew the Alexandrians, and there was not the slightest doubt but that the presence of thisuniversally revered lady would make them look with kindlier eyes on hissister. Nothing else could so effectually impress them with the entirepropriety of her appearance in the Circus. The more seriously he hadfeared that Melissa might be deeply insulted and offended by the roughdemonstrations of the mob, the more gratefully did his heart beat; nay, his facile nature saw in this kind act the first smile of returning goodfortune. 

He only longed to be hopeful once more, to enjoy the present--as so manyphilosophers and poets advised--and especially the show in the Circus, his last pleasure, perhaps; to forget the imminent future. 

The old bright look came back to his face; but it soon vanished, foreven while he pictured himself in the amphitheatre, he remembered thatthere, too, his former acquaintances might refuse to speak to him; thatthe odious names of "Tarautas' brother-in-law" or of "traitor" might beshouted after him on the road. A cold chill came over him, and the imageof pretty Ino rose up before him--Ino, who had trusted in his love;and to whom, of all others, he had given cause to accuse him offalse-heartedness. An unpleasant sense came over him of dissatisfactionwith himself, such as he, who always regarded self-accusation, repentance, and atonement as a foolish waste of life, had never beforeexperienced. 

The fine, sunny autumn day had turned to a sultry, dull evening, andAlexander went to the window to let the sea-breeze fan his dewy brow;but he soon heard voices behind him, for Euryale and Melissa hadre-entered the room, followed by the house-steward, who presented tohis mistress a sealed tablet which a slave had just brought fromPhilostratus. The women had been talking of Melissa's vow; and Euryalehad promised her that, if Fate should decide against Caesar, she wouldconvey the girl to a place of safety, where she could certainly not bediscovered, and might look forward in peace to the future. Then she hadimpressed on her that, if things should be otherwise ordered, she mustendure even the unendurable with patience, as an obedient wife, asempress, but still ever conscious of the solemn and beneficent power shemight wield in her new position. 

The tablets would now settle the question; and side by side the twowomen hastily read the missive which Philostratus had written on thewax, in his fine, legible hand. It was as follows:

"The condemned have ceased to live. Your efforts had no effect but tohasten their end. Caesar's desire was to rid you of adversaries evenagainst your will. Vindex and his nephew are no more; but I embarkedsoon enough to escape the rage of him who might have attained thehighest favors of fortune if he had but known how to be merciful. "

"God be praised!--but alas, poor Vindex!" cried Euryale, as she laiddown the tablets. But Melissa kissed her, and then exclaimed to herbrother:

"Now all doubts are at an end. I may fly. He himself has settled thematter!"

Then she added, more gently, but still urgently "Do you take care of myfather, and Philip, and of yourself. The lady Euryale will protect me. Oh, how thankful am I!"

She looked up to heaven with fervent devotion Euryale whispered to them:"My plan is laid. As soon as the performance is over, Alexander shalltake you home, child, to your father's house; you must go in one ofCaesar's chariots. Afterward come back here with your brother; I willwait for you below. But now we will go together to the Circus, and candiscuss the details on our way. You, my young friend, go now and orderaway the imperial litter; bid my steward to have the horses put to mycovered harmamaxa. There is room in it for us all three. "

By the time Alexander returned, the daylight was waning, and the clatterof the chariots began to be audible which conveyed Caesar's court to theCircus. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

The great Amphitheatre of Dionysus was in the Bruchium, the splendidpalatial quarter of the city, close to the large harbor between theChoma and the peninsula of Lochias. Hard by the spacious and loftyrotunda, in which ten thousand spectators could be seated, stood themost fashionable gymnasia and riding-schools. These buildings, which hadbeen founded long since by the Ptolemiac kings, and had been repeatedlyextended and beautified, formed, with the adjoining schools forgladiators and beast-fighters, and the stables for wild beasts fromevery part of the world, a little town by themselves. 

At this moment the amphitheatre looked like a beehive, of which everycell seems to be full, but in which a whole swarm expects yet to findroom. The upper places, mere standing-room for the common people, andthe cheaper seats, had been full early in the day. By the afternoon thebetter class of citizens had come in, if their places were not reserved;and now, at sunset, those who were arriving in litters and chariots, just before the beginning of the show, were for the most part inCaesar's train, court officials, senators, or the rich magnates of thecity. 

The strains of music were by this time mingling with the shouting andloud talk of the spectators, or of the thousands who were crowding roundthe building without hoping to obtain admission. But even for them therewas plenty to be seen. How delightful to watch the well-dressedwomen, and the men of rank and wealth, crowned with wreaths, as theydismounted; to see the learned men and artists arrive--more or lesseagerly applauded, according to the esteem in which they were heldby the populace! The most splendid sight of all was the procession ofpriests, with Timotheus, the high-priest of Serapis, at their head, andby his side the priest of Alexander, both marching with dignity undera canopy. They were followed by the animals to be slaughtered forsacrifice, and the images of the gods and the deified Caesars, whichwere to be placed in the arena, as the most worshipful of all thespectators. Timotheus wore the splendid insignia of his office; thepriest of Alexander was in purple, as being the idiologos and head ofall the temples of Egypt, and representative of Caesar. 

The advent of the images of the Caesars gave rise to a sort of judgmentof the dead: for the mob hailed that of Julius Caesar with enthusiasm, that of Augustus, with murmurs of disapproval; when Caligula appeared, he was hissed; while the statues of Vespasian, Titus, Hadrian, andAntonine, met with loud acclamations. That of Septimius Severus, Caracalla's father, to whom the town owed many benefits, was very wellreceived. The images of the gods, too, had very various fates. Serapis, and Alexander, the divine hero of the town, were enthusiasticallywelcomed, while scarcely a voice was heard on the approach ofZeus-Jupiter and Ares-Mars. They were regarded as the gods of the hatedRomans. 

The companies of the imperial body-guard, who were placed about theamphitheatre, found no great difference, so long as it was daylight, between the crowd round the Circus of Alexandria and that by the Tiber. What chiefly struck them was the larger number of dusky faces, and thefanciful garb of the Magians. The almost naked rabble, too, with nothingon but a loin-cloth, who wriggled in and out of the throng, ready forany service or errand, formed a feature unknown at Rome. But, as it grewdarker, the Romans began to perceive that it was not for nothing thatthey had come hither. 

At Rome, when some great show was promised, of beast-fighting, gladiators, and the like, there were, no doubt, barbarian princes tobe seen, and envoys from the remotest ends of the earth in strange andgorgeous array; and there, too, small wares of every kind were for sale. By the Tiber, again, night shows were given, with grand illuminations, especially for the feast of Flora; but here, as soon as the sun hadset, and the sports were about to begin, the scene was one never tobe forgotten. Some of the ladies who descended from the litters, woregarments of indescribable splendor; the men even displayed strangeand handsome costumes as they were helped out of their gilt and platedchariots by their servants. What untold wealth must these men haveat their command, to be able to dress their slaves in gold and silverbrocade; and the runners, who kept up with the swiftest horses, musthave lungs of iron! The praetorians, who had not for many a day seenanything to cause them to forget the motto of the greatest philosopheramong their poets--never to be astonished at anything--repeatedly pushedeach other with surprise and admiration; nay, the centurion JuliusMartialis, who had just now had a visit in camp from his wife andchildren, in defiance of orders, while Caesar himself was looking on, struck his fist on his greaves, and, exclaiming loudly, "Look out!"pointed to Seleukus's chariot, for which four runners, in tunics withlong sleeves, made of sea-green bombyx, richly embroidered with silver, were making a way through the crowd. 

The barefooted lads, with their nimble, gazellelike legs, were all welllooking, and might have been cast all in one mold. But what struck thecenturion and his comrades as most remarkable in their appearance werethe flash and sparkle from their slender ankles, as the setting sunsuddenly shot a fleeting ray through a rift in the heavy clouds. Each ofthese fellows wore on his legs gold bands set with precious stones, andthe rubies which glittered on the harness of Seleukus's horse were offar greater value. 

He, as master of the festival, had come betimes, and this was the firstof many such displays of wealth which followed each other in quicksuccession, as soon as the brief twilight of Egypt had given way todarkness, and the lighting up of the Circus was begun. 

Here came a beautifully dressed woman in a roomy litter, over whichwaved a canopy entirely of white ostrich-plumes, which the eveningbreeze swayed like a thicket of fern-leaves. This throne was borne byten black and ten white slave-girls, and before it two fair childrenrode on tame ostriches. The tall heir of a noble house, who, like Caesarat Rome, belonged to the "Blues, " drove his own team of four splendidwhite horses; and he himself was covered with turquoises, while theharness was set with cut sapphires. 

The centurion shook his head in silent admiration. His face had beentanned in many wars, both in the East and West, and he had fought evenin distant Caledonia, but the low forehead, loose under lip, and dulleye spoke of small gifts of intellect. Nevertheless, he was not lackingin strength of will, and was regarded by his comrades as a good beastof burden who would submit to a great deal before it became too much forhim. But then he would break out like a mad bull, and he might longago have risen to higher rank, had he not once in such a fit of passionnearly throttled a fellow-soldier. For this crime he had been severelypunished, and condemned to begin again at the bottom of the ladder. Heowed it chiefly to the young tribune Aurelius Apollinaris that he hadvery soon regained the centurion's staff, in spite of his humble birth;he had saved that officer's life in the war with the Armenians--to behere, in Alexandria, cruelly mutilated by the hand of his sovereign. 

The centurion had a faithful heart. He was as much attached to the twonoble brothers as to his wife and children, for indeed he owed themmuch; and if the service had allowed it he would long since have madehis way to the house of Seleukus to learn how the wounded tribune wasfaring. But he had not time even to see his own family, for his youngerand richer comrades, who wanted to enjoy the pleasures of the city, hadput upon him no small share of their own duties. Only this morning ayoung soldier of high birth, who had begun his career at the sametime as Martialis, had promised him some tickets of admission to theevening's performance in the Circus if he would take his duty on guardoutside the amphitheatre. And this offer had been very welcome to thecenturion, for he thus found it possible to give those he loved best, his wife and his mother, the greatest treat which could be offeredto any Alexandrian. And now, when anything noteworthy was to be seenoutside, he only regretted that he had already some time since conductedthem to their seats in one of the upper rows. He would have liked thatthey, too, should have seen the horses and the chariots and the "Blue"charioteer's turquoises and sapphires; although a decurion observed, ashe saw them, that a Roman patrician would scorn to dress out his personwith such barbaric splendor, and an Alexandrian of the praetorian guarddeclared that his fellow-citizens of Greek extraction thought more of agraceful fold than of whole strings of precious stones. 

"But why, then, was this 'Blue' so vehemently hailed by the mob!" askeda Pannonian in the guard. 

"The mob!" retorted the Alexandrian, scornfully. "Only the Syrians andother Asiatics. Look at the Greeks. The great merchant Seleukus is therichest of them all, but splendid as his horses, his chariots, and hisslaves are, he himself wears only the simple Macedonian mantle. Thoughit is of costly material, who would suspect it? If you see a manswaggering in such a blaze of gems you may wager your house--if you haveone--that his birthplace lies not very far from Syria. "

"Now, that one, in a mother-of-pearl shell on two wheels, is the JewPoseidonius, " the Pannonian put in. "I am quartered on his father. Buthe is dressed like a Greek. "

At this the centurion, in his delight at knowing something, opened hismouth with a broad grin: "I am a native here, " said he, "and I can tellyou the Jew would make you answer for it if you took him for anythingbut a Greek. "

"And quite right, " added another soldier, from Antioch. "The Jews hereare many, but they have little in common with those in Palestine. Theywish to pass for Greeks; they speak Greek, assume Greek names, andeven cease to believe in the great God their father; they study Greekphilosophy, and I know one who worships in the Temple of Serapis. "

"Many do the same in Rome, " said a man of Ostia. "I know an epigramwhich ridicules them for it. "

At this point they were interrupted, for Martialis pointed to a tallman who was coming toward them, and whom his sharp eye had recognizedas Macrinus, the prefect of the praetorians. In an instant the soldierswere erect and rigid, but still many a helmeted head was turned towardthe spot where their chief stood talking in an undertone to the MagianSerapion. 

Macrinus had persuaded Caesar to send for the exorciser, to test hisarts. Immediately after the performance, however late it might be, theMagian was to be admitted to his presence. 

Serapion thanked the prefect, and then whispered to him, "I have had asecond revelation. "

"Not here!" exclaimed Macrinus, uneasily, and, leading away his handsomelittle son, he turned toward the entrance. 

Dusk, meanwhile, had given way to darkness, and several slaves stoodready to light the innumerable little lamps which were to illuminate theoutside of the Circus. They edged the high arches which surroundedthe two lower stories, and supported the upper ranks of the enormouscircular structure. Separated only by narrow intervals, the rows oflights formed a glittering series of frames which outlined the noblebuilding and rendered it visible from afar. 

The arches on the ground-floor led to the cells from which the men andbeasts were let out into the arena; but some, too, were fitted withshops, where flowers and wreaths, refreshments, drinks, handkerchiefs, fans, and other articles in request, were sold. On the footway betweenthe building and the row of pitch torches which surrounded it, men andwomen in thousands were walking to and fro. Smart, inquisitive girlswere pushing their way singly or in groups, and their laughter drownedthe deep, tragical voices of the soothsayers and Magians who announcedtheir magic powers to the passersby. Some of these even made their wayinto the waiting-rooms of the gladiators and wrestlers, who to-day sogreatly needed their support that, in spite of severe and newly enforcedprohibitions, many a one stole out into the crowd to buy some effectualcharm or protecting amulet. 

Where the illuminations were completed, attempts of another kindwere being made to work upon the mood of the people; nimble-tonguedfellows--some in the service of Macrinus and some in that of the anxioussenate--were distributing handkerchiefs to wave on Caesar's approach, or flowers to strew in his path. More than one, who was known for amalcontent, found a gold coin in his hand, with the image of the monarchhe was expected to hail; and on the way by which Caesar was to come manyof those who awaited him wore the caracalla. These were for the mostpart bribed, and their acclamations were to mollify the tyrant's mood. 

As soon as the prefect had disappeared within the building, thepraetorian ranks fell out again. It was lucky that among them wereseveral Alexandrians, besides the centurion Martialis, who had not longbeen absent from their native town; for without them much would haveremained incomprehensible. The strangest thing to foreign eyes wasa stately though undecorated harmamaxa, out of which stepped first ahandsome wreathed youth, then a matron of middle age, and at last anelegantly dressed girl, whose rare beauty made even Martialis--whorarely noticed women--exclaim, "Now, she is to my taste thesweetest-thing of all. "

But there must have been something very remarkable about these three;for when they appeared the crowd broke out at first in loud shouts andoutcries, which soon turned to acclamations and welcome, though throughit all shrill whistles and hisses were heard. 

"Caesar's new mistress, the daughter of a gemcutter!" the Alexandrianmuttered to his comrades. "That handsome boy is her brother, no doubt. He is said to be a mean sycophant, a spy paid by Caesar. "

"He?" said an older centurion, shaking his scarred head. "Sooner would Ibelieve that the shouts of the populace were intended for the old womanand not for the young one. "

"Then a sycophant he is and will remain, " said the Alexandrian witha laugh. "For, as a matter of fact, it is the elder lady they aregreeting, and, by Heracles, she deserves it! She is the wife of thehigh-priest of Serapis. There are few poor in this city to whom she hasnot done a kindness. She is well able, no doubt, for her husband is thebrother of Seleukus, and her father, too, sat over his ears in gold. "

"Yes, she is able, " interrupted Martialis, with a tone of pride, asthough it were some credit to himself. "But how many have even more, andkeep their purse-strings tight! I have known her since she was a child, and she is the best of all that is good. What does not the town owe toher! She risked her life to move Caesar's father to mercy toward thecitizens, after they had openly declared against him and in favor of hisrival Pescennius Niger. And she succeeded, too. "

"Why, then, are they whistling?" asked the older centurion. 

"Because her companion is a spy, " repeated the Alexandrian. "And thegirl--In Caesar's favor! But, after all, which of you all would notgladly see his sister or his niece Caesar's light of love?"

"Not I!" cried Martialis. "But the man who speaks ill of that girl onlydoes so because he likes blue eyes best. The maiden who comes in thelady Euryale's chariot is spotless, you may swear. "

"Nay, nay, " said the younger Alexandrian soothingly. "That black-hairedfellow and his companions would whistle another tune if they knew anyevil of her, and she would not be in the lady Euryale's company--thatis the chief point--. But, look there! The shameless dogs are stoppingtheir way! 'Green' to a man. --But here come the lictors. "

"Attention!" shouted Martialis, firmly resolved to uphold the guardiansof the peace, and not to suffer any harm to the matron and her faircompanion; for Euryale's husband was the brother of Seleukus, whom hisfather and father-in-law had served years ago, while in the villa atKanopus his mother and wife were left in charge to keep it in order. Hefelt that he was bound in duty to the merchant, and that all who wereof that household had a right to count on his protection. But no activemeasures were needed; a number of "Blues" had driven off the "Greens"who had tried to bar Alexander's way, and the lictors came to theirassistance. 

A young man in festal array, who had pushed into the front rank of thebystanders, had looked on with panting breath. He was very pale, and thethick wreath he wore was scarcely sufficient to hide the bandage underit. This was Diodoros, Melissa's lover. After resting awhile at hisfriend's house he had been carried in a litter to the amphitheatre, forhe could yet hardly walk. His father being one of the senators of thetown, his family had a row of seats in the lowest and best tier; butthis, on this occasion, was entirely given up to Caesar and his court. Consequently the different members of the senate could have only halfthe usual number of seats. Still, the son of Polybius might in anycase claim two in his father's name; and his friend Timon--who had alsoprovided him with suitable clothing--had gone to procure the ticketsfrom the curia. They were to meet at the entrance leading to theirplaces, and it would be some little time yet before Timon could return. 

Diodoros had thought he would behold his imperial rival; however, instead of Caracalla he had seen the contemptuous reception whichawaited Alexander and Melissa, from some at least of the populace. Still, how fair and desirable had she seemed in his eyes, whom, onlythat morning, he had been blessed in calling his! As he now moved awayfrom the main entrance, he asked himself why it was such torture to himto witness the humiliation of a being who had done him such a wrong, andwhom he thought he hated and scorned so utterly. Hardly an hour since hehad declared to Timon that he had rooted his love for Melissa out of hisheart. He himself would feel the better for using the whistle he wore, in derision of her, and for seeing her faithlessness punished by thecrowd. But now? When the insolent uproar went up from the "Greens, "whose color he himself wore, he had found it difficult to refrain fromrushing on the cowardly crew and knocking some of them down. 

He now made his way with feeble steps to the entrance where he wasto meet his friend. The blood throbbed in his temples, his mouthwas parched, and, as a fruit-seller cried her wares from one of thearchways, he took a few apples from her basket to refresh himself withtheir juice. His hand trembled, and the experienced old woman, observingthe bandage under his wreath, supposed him to be one of the excitedmalcontents who had perhaps already fallen into the hands of thelictors. So, with a significant grin, she pointed under the table onwhich her fruit-baskets stood, and said "I have plenty of rotten ones. Six in a wrapper, quite easy to hide under your cloak. For whom youwill. Caesar has given the golden apple of Paris to a goddess ofthis town. I should best like to see these flung at her brother, thesycophant. "

"Do you know them?" asked Diodoros, hoarsely. 

"No, " replied the old woman. "No need for that. I have plenty ofcustomers and good ears. The slut broke her word with a handsome youthof the town for the sake of the Roman, and they who do such things arerepaid by the avenging gods. " Diodoros felt his knees failing underhim, and a wrathful answer was on his lips, when the huckster suddenlyshouted like mad: "Caesar, Caesar! He is coming. "

The shouts of the crowd hailing their emperor had already become audiblethrough the heavy evening air, at first low and distant, and louder bydegrees. They now suddenly rose to a deafening uproar, and while thesound rolled on like approaching thunder, broken by shrill whistlessuggesting lightning, the sturdy old apple-seller clambered unaided onto her table, and shouted with all her might:

"Caesar! Here he is!--Hail, hail, hail to great Caesar!"

At the imminent risk of tumbling off her platform, she bent low downto reach under the table for the blue cloth which covered her store ofrotten apples, snatched it off, and waved it with frantic enthusiasm, as though her elderly heart had suddenly gone forth to the very man forwhom a moment ago she had been ready to sell her disgusting missiles. And still she shouted in ringing tones, "Hail, hail, Caesar!" againand again, with all her might, till there was no breath left in heroverbuxom, panting breast, and her round face was purple with theeffort. Nay, her emotion was so vehement that the bright tears streameddown her fat cheeks. 

And every one near was shrieking like the applewoman, "Hail, Caesar!"and it was only where the crowd was densest that a sharp whistle now andthen rent the roar of acclamations. 

Diodoros, meanwhile, had turned to look at the main entrance, and, carried away by the universal desire to see, had perched himself on anunopened case of dried figs. His tall figure now towered far abovethe throng, and he set his teeth as he heard the old woman, almostspeechless with delight, gasp out:

"Lovely! wonderful! He would never have found the like in Rome. Here, among us--"

But the cheers of the multitude now drowned every other sound. Fathersor mothers who had children with them lifted them up as high as theycould; where a small man stood behind a tall one, way was willinglymade, for it would have been a shame to hinder his view of such aspectacle. Many had already seen the great monarch in his shining, golden chariot, drawn by four splendid horses; but such an array oftorch-bearers as now preceded Caracalla was a thing never seen withinthe memory of the oldest or most traveled man. Three elephants marchedbefore him and three came behind, and all six carried in their trunksblazing torches, which they held now low and now aloft to light hisroad. To think that beasts could be trained to such a service! And thathere, in Alexandria, such a display could be made before the haughty andpampered Romans!

The chariot stood still, and the black Ethiopians who guided the hugefour-footed torch-bearers took the three leaders to join their fellowsbehind the chariot. This really was a fine sight; this could not butfill the heart of every one who loved his native town with pride anddelight. For what should a man ever shout himself hoarse, if not forsuch a splendid and unique show? Diodoros himself could not takehis eyes off the elephants. At first he was delighted with them, butpresently the sight annoyed him even more than it had pleased him;for he reflected that the tyrant, the villain, his deadly enemy, wouldcertainly take to himself the applause bestowed on the clever beasts. With this, he grasped the reed pipe in the breast of his tunic. He hadbeen on the point of using it before now, to retaliate on Melissa forsome portion of the pain she had inflicted on him. At this thought, however, the paltriness of such revenge struck him with horror, and witha hasty impulse he snapped the pipe in two, and flung the pieces onthe ground in front of the apple-stall. The old woman observed it andexclaimed:

"Ay, ay, such a sight makes one forgive a great deal"; but he turned hisback on her in silence, and joined his friend at the appointed spot. 

They made their way without difficulty to the seats reserved for thesenators' families, and when they had taken their places, the young manreplied but briefly to the sympathetic inquiries as to his health whichwere addressed to him by his acquaintances. His friend Timon gazedanxiously into his handsome but pale, sad face, as Diodoros sat crushedand absorbed in thought. He would have liked to urge him to quit thescene at once, for the seats just opposite were those destined to Caesarand his court-among them, no doubt, Melissa. In the dim light whichstill prevailed in the vast amphitheatre it was impossible to recognizefaces. But there would soon be a blaze of light, and what misery mustawait the hapless victim of her faithlessness, still so far from perfecthealth! After the glare of light outside, which was almost blinding, thetwilight within was for the moment a relief to Diodoros. His weary limbswere resting, a pleasant smell came up from the perfumed fountainsin the arena, and his eyes, which could not here rest on anything togratify him, were fixed on vacancy. 

And yet it was a comfort to him to think that he had broken his pipe. It would have disgraced him to whistle it; and, moreover, the tone wouldhave reached the ear of the noble lady who had accompanied Melissa, andwhom he himself had, only yesterday, revered as a second mother. 

Loud music now struck up, he heard shouts and cheers, and just abovehim--for it could only proceed from the uppermost tiers--there was anextraordinary tumult. Still he paid no heed, and as he thought of thatmatron the question suddenly arose in his mind, whether she would haveconsented to be seen with Melissa if she thought that the girl wasindeed capable of ruthless falsehood or any other unworthy act. He, whonever missed a show in the arena, had never seen the lady Euryale here. She could hardly have come to-day for her own pleasure; she had come, then, for Melissa's sake; and yet she knew that the girl was betrothedto him. Unless Caesar had commanded the matron's presence, Melissa muststill be worthy of the esteem and affection of this best of women; andat this reflection Hope once more raised her head in his tortured soul. 

He now suddenly wished that brighter light might dispel the gloom whichjust now he had found so restful; for the lady Euryale's demeanor wouldshow him whether Melissa were still a virtuous maiden. If the matronwere as friendly with her as ever, her heart was perhaps still his;it was not the splendor of the purple that had led her astray, but thecoercion of the tyrant. 

His silent reflections were here interrupted by the loud sounding oftrumpets, battle-cries, and, immediately after, the fall of someheavy body, followed by repeated acclamations, noisy outcries, and theapplause of those about him. Not till then had he been aware that theperformances had begun. Below him, indeed, on the arena from which hehad not once raised his eyes, nothing was to be seen on the yellow sandbut the scented fountain and a shapeless body, by which a second and athird were soon lying; but overhead something was astir, and, from theright-hand side, bright rays flashed across the wide space. Above thevast circle of seats, arranged on seven tiers, suns and huge, strangelyshaped stars were seen, which shed a subdued, many-tinted radiance;and what the youth saw over his head was not the vault of heaven, whichto-night bent over his native city darkened by clouds, but a velarium ofimmense size on which the nocturnal firmament was depicted. This coveredin the whole of the open space. Every constellation which rose overAlexandria was plainly recognizable. Jupiter and Mars, Caesar'sfavorites, outdid the other planets in size and brightness; and in thecenter of this picture of the sky, which slowly revolved round it, stars were set to form the letters of Caracalla's names, Bassianus andAntoninus. But their light, too, was dim, and veiled as it were withclouds. Soft music was heard from these artificial heavens, and inthe stratum of air immediately beneath, the blare of war-trumpetsand battle-cries were heard. Thus all eyes were directed upward, andDiodoros's with the rest. 

He perceived, with amazement, that the givers of the entertainment, in their anxiety to set something absolutely new before their imperialguest, had arranged that the first games should take place in the air. Abattle was being fought overhead, on a level with the highest places, ina way that must surely be a surprise even to the pampered Romans. Blackand gold barks were jostling each other in mid-air, and their crews werefighting with the energy of despair. The Egyptian myth of the gods ofthe great lights who sail the celestial ocean in golden barks, andof the sun-god who each morning conquers the demons of darkness, hadsuggested the subject of this performance. 

The battle between the Spirits of Darkness and of Light was to be foughtout high above the best rows of seats occupied by Caesar and his court;and the combatants were living men, for the most part such as had beencondemned to death or to the hardest forced labor. The black vesselswere manned by negroes, the golden by fair-haired criminals, and theyhad embarked readily enough; for some of them would escape from the fraywith only a few wounds and some quite unhurt, and each one was resolvedto use his weapons so as to bring the frightful combat to a speedy end. 

The woolly-haired blacks did not indeed know that they had been providedwith loosely made swords which would go to pieces at the first shock, and with shields which could not resist a serious blow; while thefair-haired representatives of the light were supplied with sharpand strong weapons of offense and defense. At any cost the spirits ofdarkness must not be allowed to triumph over those of light. Of whatvalue was a negro's life, especially when it was already forfeited?

While Euryale and Melissa sat with eyes averted from the horrible scenegoing on above them, and the matron, holding her young companion's hand, whispered to her:

"O child, child! to think that I should be compelled to bring you here!"loud applause and uproarious clapping surrounded them on every side. 

The gem-cutter Heron, occupying one of the foremost cushioned seats, radiant with pride and delight in the red-bordered toga of his newdignity, clapped his big hands with such vehemence that his immediateneighbors were almost deafened. He, too, had been badly received, onhis arrival, with shrill whistling, but he had been far from troublinghimself about that. But when a troop of "Greens" had met him, just infront of the imperial dais, shouting brutal abuse in his face, he hadpaused, chucked the nearest man under the chin with his powerfulfist, and fired a storm of violent epithets at the rest. Thanks tothe lictors, he had got off without any harm, and as soon as he foundhimself among friends and men of rank, on whom he looked in speechlessrespect, he had recovered his spirits. He was looking forward withintense satisfaction to the moment when he might ask Caesar what he nowthought of Alexandria. 

Like his father, Alexander was intent on the bloody struggle--gazingupward with breathless interest as the combatants tried to fling eachother into the yawning depth below them. But at the same time he neverfor an instant forgot the insults he had endured outside. How deeply hefelt them was legible in his clouded face. Only once did a smile passover it--when, toward the end of this first fight, the place was madelighter, he perceived in the row of seats next above him the daughter ofhis neighbor Skopas, pretty Ino, whom but a few days since he had vowedto love. He was conscious of having treated her badly, and given her theright to call him faithless. Toward her, indeed, he had been guilty oftreachery, and it had really weighed on his soul. Their eyes met, andshe gave him to understand in the plainest way that she had heard himstigmatized as Caesar's spy, and had believed the calumny. The meresight of him seemed to fill her with anger, and she did her utmost toshow him that she had quickly found a substitute for him; and it was toAlexander, no doubt, that Ktesias, her young kinsman, who had long paidher his addresses, owed the kindliness with which Ino now gazed intohis eyes. This was some comfort to the luckless, banished lover. On heraccount, at any rate, he need reproach himself no longer. Diodoroswas sitting opposite to him, and his attention, too, was frequentlyinterrupted. 

The flashing swords and torches in the hands of the Spirits of Light, and the dimly gleaming stars above their heads, had not so far dispelledthe darkness as that the two young people could identify each other. Diodoros, indeed, even throughout this absorbing fight, had frequentlyglanced at the imperial seats, but had failed to distinguish his belovedfrom the other women in Caracalla's immediate vicinity. But it now grewlighter, for, while the battle was as yet undecided, a fresh bark, full of Spirits of Light, flourishing their torches, was unexpectedlylaunched to support their comrades, and Heaven seemed to have sent themforth to win the fight, which had already lasted longer than the mastersof the ceremonies had thought possible. 

The wild shouts of the combatants and the yells of the wounded had longsince drowned the soft music of the spheres above their heads. The callof tubas and bugles rang without ceasing through the great building, to the frequent accompaniment of the most horrible sound of all in thishideous spectacle--the heavy fall of a dead man dropping from above intothe gulf. 

But this dreadful thud was what gave rise to the loudest applause amongthe spectators, falling on their satiated ears as a new sound. Thisfrenzied fight in the air, such as had never before been seen, gave riseto the wildest delight, for it led the eye, which was wont in thisplace to gaze downward, in a direction in which it had never yet beenattracted. And what a glorious spectacle it was when black and whitewrestled together! How well the contrast of color distinguished theindividual combatants, even when they clung together in close embrace!And when, toward the end of the struggle, a bark was overturned bodily, and some of the antagonists would not be parted, even as they fell, trying to kill each other in their rage and hatred, the very walls ofthe great structure shook with the wild clamor and applause of thousandsof every degree. 

Only once did the roar of approval reach a higher pitch, and that wasafter the battle was ended, at what succeeded. Hardly had the victoriousSpirits of Light been seen to stand up in their barks, waving theirtorches, to receive from fluttering genii wreaths of laurel which theyflung down to where Caesar sat, than a perfumed vapor, emanating fromthe place where the painted sky met the wall of the circular building, hid the whole of the upper part of it from the sight of the spectators. The music stopped, and from above there came a strange and ominousgrowling, hissing, rustling, and crackling. A dull light, dimmer eventhan before, filled the place, and anxious suspicions took possession ofthe ten thousand spectators. 

What was happening? Was the velarium on fire; had the machinery forlighting up refused to work; and must they remain in this uncomfortabletwilight?

Here and there a shout of indignation was heard, or a shrill whistlefrom the capricious mob. But the mist had already gradually vanished, and those who gazed upward could see that the velarium with the sun andstars had made way for a black surface. No one knew whether this was thereal cloudy sky, or whether another, colorless awning closed them in. But suddenly the woven roof parted; invisible hands drew away the twohalves. Quick, soft music began as if at a signal from a magician, andat the same time such a flood of light burst down into the theatre thatevery one covered his eyes with his hand to avoid being blinded. Thefull glory of sunshine followed on the footsteps of night, like atriumphant chorus on a dismal mourning chant. 

The machinists of Alexandria had done wonders. The Romans, who, evenat the night performances of the festival of Flora, had never seen thelike, hailed the effect with a storm of applause which showed no signsof ceasing, for, when they had sufficiently admired the source of thelight which flooded the theatre, reflected from numberless mirrors, andglanced round the auditorium, they began again to applaud with hands andvoices. At a given signal thousands of lights appeared round the tiersof seats, and, if the splendor of the entertainment answered at allto that of the Alexandrian spectators, something fine indeed was to beexpected. 

It was now possible to see the beauty of the women and the costliness oftheir attire; not till now had the precious stones shown their flashingand changeful radiance. How many gardens and lotus-pools must have beenplundered, how many laurel-groves stripped to supply the wreaths whichgraced every head in the upper rows! And to look round those ranks andnote the handsome raiment in which men and women alike were arrayed, suggested a belief that all the inhabitants of Alexandria must be rich. Wherever the eye turned, something beautiful or magnificent was to beseen; and the numerous delightful pictures which crowded on the sightwere framed with massive garlands of lotos and mallow, lilies and roses, olive and laurel, tall papyrus and waving palm, branches of pine andwillow-here hanging in thick festoons, there twining round the columnsor wreathing the pilasters and backs of seats. 

Of all the couples in this incomparable amphitheatre one alone neithersaw nor heard all that was going on. Scarcely had the darkness given wayto light, when Melissa's eyes met those of her lover, and recognitionwas immediately followed by a swift inquiry and reply which filled theunhappy pair with revived hopes. Melissa's eyes told Diodoros that sheloved him and him alone, and she read in his that he could never giveher up. Still, his also expressed the doubt and anxiety of his torturedsoul, and sent question after question across to Melissa. 

And she understood the mute appeal as well as though looks were words. Without heeding the curious crowd about her, or considering the dangerof such audacity, she took up her nosegay and waved it toward him asthough to refresh him with its fragrance, and then pressed a hasty kisson the finest of the half-opened buds. His responsive gesture showedthat she had been understood, for her lover's expressive eyes beamedwith unqualified love and gratitude. Never, she thought, had he gazedmore fervently in her face, and again she bent over the bunch of roses. 

But even in the midst of her newly found happiness her cheeks tingledwith maidenly modesty at her own boldness. Too happy to regret what shehad done, but still anxious lest the friend whose opinion was all inall to her should disapprove, she forgot time and place, and, laying herhead on Euryale's shoulder, looked up at her in inquiry with her largeeyes as though imploring forgiveness. The matron understood, for she hadfollowed the girl's glance and felt what it was that stirred her heart;and, little thinking of the joy she was giving to a third person, sheclasped her closely and kissed her on the temple, regardless of thepeople about them. 

At this Diodoros felt as though he had won the prize in a race; and hisfriend Timon, whose artistic eye was feasting on the magnificent scene, started at the vehement and ardent pressure which Diodoros bestowed onhis hand. 

What had come over the poor, suffering youth whom he, Timon, hadescorted to the Circus out of sheer compassion? His eyes sparkled, andhe held his head as high as ever. What was the meaning of his declaringthat everything would go well with him now? But it was in vain that hequestioned the youth, for Diodoros could not reveal, even to his bestfriend, what it was that made him happy. It was enough for him to knowthat Melissa loved him, and that the woman to whom he looked up withenthusiastic reverence esteemed her as highly as ever. And now, for thefirst time, he began to feel ashamed of his doubts of Melissa. How couldhe, who had known her from childhood, have believed of her anythingso base and foul? It must be some strong compulsion which bound her toCaesar, and she could never have looked at him thus unless she hadsome scheme--in which, perhaps, the lady Euryale meant to abet her--forescaping her imperial suitor before it was too late. Yes, it must be so;and the oftener he gazed at her the more convinced he felt. 

Now he rejoiced in the blaze of light about him, for it showed him hisbeloved. The words which Euryale had whispered in her ear must have beenan admonition to prudence, for she only rarely bestowed on him a lovingglance, and he acknowledged that the mute but eager exchange of signalswould have been fraught with danger for both of them. 

The first sudden illumination had revealed too many things to distractthe attention of the spectators, including Caesar's, for theirproceedings to be observed. Now curiosity was to some extent satisfied, and even Diodoros felt that reserve was imperative. 

Caracalla had not yet shown himself to the people. A golden screen, inwhich there were holes for him to look through without being seen, hidhim from public gaze; still Diodoros could recognize those who wereadmitted to his presence. First came the givers of the entertainment;then the Parthian envoys, and some delegates from the municipalauthorities of the town. Finally, Seleukus presented the wives of themagnates who had shared with him the cost of this display, and amongthese, all magnificently dressed, the lady Berenike shone supreme by thepride of her demeanor and the startling magnificence of her attire. Asher large eyes met those of Caesar with a flash of defiance, he frowned, and remarked satirically:

"It seems to be the custom here to mourn in much splendor!"

But Berenike promptly replied:

"It has nothing to do with mourning. It is in honor of the sovereign whocommanded the presence of the mourner at the Circus. "

Diodoros could not see the flame of rage in, Caesar's threatening eye, nor hear his reply to the audacious matron:

"This is a misapprehension of how to do me honor, but an opportunitywill occur for teaching the Alexandrians better. "

Even across the amphitheatre the youth could see the sudden flush andpallor of the lady's haughty face; and immediately after, Macrinus, thepraetorian prefect, approached Caracalla with the master of the games, the superintendent of the school of gladiators. 

At the same time Diodoros heard his next neighbor, a member of the citysenate, say:

"How quietly it is going off! My proposal that Caesar should come in toa dim light, so as to keep him and his unpopular favorites out of sightfor a while, has worked capitally. Who could the mob whistle at, so longas they could not see one from another? Now they are too much delightedto be uproarious. Caesar's bride, of all others, has reason to thankme. And she reminds me of the Persian warriors who, before going intobattle, bound cats to their bucklers because they knew that the Egyptianfoe would not shoot at them so long as the sacred beasts were exposed tobeing hit by his arrows. "

"What do you mean by that?" asked another, and received the brisk reply:

"The lady Euryale is the cat who protects the damsel. Out of respect forher, and for fear of hurting her, too, her companion has hitherto beenspared even by those fellows up there. "

And he pointed to a party of "Greens" who were laying their headstogether in one of the topmost tiers. But his friend replied:

"Something besides that keeps them within bounds. The three beardlessfellows just behind them belong to the city watch, who are scatteredthrough the general mass like raisins in doughcakes. "

"That is very judicious, " replied the senator. 

"We might otherwise have had to quit the Circus a great deal quickerthan we came in. We shall hardly get home with dry garments as it is. Look how the lights up there are flaring; you can hear the lashingof the storm, and such flashes are not produced by machinery. Zeus ispreparing his bolts, and if the storm bursts--"

Here his discourse was interrupted by the sound of trumpets, minglingwith the roar of distant thunder following a vivid flash. The processionnow began, which was the preliminary to every such performance. 

The statues of the gods had, before Caesar's arrival, been placed on thepedestals erected for them to prevent any risk of a demonstration atthe appearance of the deified emperors. The priests now first marchedsolemnly round these statues, and Timotheus poured a libation on thesand to Serapis, while the priest of Alexandria did the same tothe tutelary hero of the town. Then the masters of the games, thegladiators, and beast-fighters came out, who were to make proof of theirskill. As the priests approached Caesar's dais, Caracalla came forwardand greeted the spectators, thus showing himself for the first time. 

While he was still sitting behind the screen, he had sent for Melissa, who had obeyed the command, under the protection of Euryale, and he hadspoken to her graciously. He now took no further notice of her, ofher father, or her brother, and by his orders their places had beenseparated by some little distance from his. By the advice of Timotheushe would not let her be seen at his side till the stars had once morebeen consulted, and he would then conduct Melissa to the Circus as hiswife-the day after to-morrow, perhaps. He thanked the matron for havingescorted Melissa, and added, with a braggart air of virtue, that theworld should see that he, too, could sacrifice the most ardent wish ofhis heart to moral propriety. 

The elephant torch-bearers had greatly delighted him, and in theexpectation of seeing Melissa again, and of a public recognition that hehad won the fairest maid there, he had come into the Circus in the bestspirits. He still wore his natural expression; yet now and then his browwas knit, for he was haunted by the eyes of Seleukus's wife. The haughtywoman--"that bedizened Niobe" he had contemptuously called her inspeaking to Macrinus--had appeared to him as an avenging goddess;strangely enough, every time he thought of her, he remembered, too, theconsul Vindex and his nephew, whose execution Melissa's intercession hadonly hastened, and he was vexed now that he had not lent an ear to herentreaties. The fact that the name Vindex signified an avenger disturbedhim greatly, and he could no more get it out of his mind than the imageof the "Niobe" with her ominous dark eyes. 

He would see her no more; and in this he was helped by the gladiators, for they now approached him, and their frantic enthusiasm kept himfor some time from all other thoughts. While they flourished theirweapons-some the sword and buckler, and others the not less terrible netand harpoon--the time-honored cry rose from their husky throats in eageracclamation: "Hail, Caesar! those about to die salute thee!" Then, inrows of ten men each, they crossed the arena at a rapid pace. 

Between the first and second group one man swaggered past alone, asthough he were something apart, and he strutted and rolled as he walkedwith pompous self-importance. It was his prescriptive right, and inhis broad, coarse features, with a snub nose, thick lips, and white, flashing teeth like those of a beast of prey, it was easy to see thatthe adversary would fare but ill who should try to humble him. And yethe was not tall; but on his deep chest, his enormous square shoulders, and short, bandy legs, the muscles stood out like elastic balls, showingthe connoisseur that in strength he was a giant. A loin-cloth was all hewore, for he was proud of the many scars which gleamed red and white onhis fair skin. He had pushed back his little bronze helmet, so that theterrible aspect of the left side of his face might not be lost on thepopulace. While he was engaged in fighting three panthers and a lion, the lion had torn out his eye and with it part of his cheek. His namewas Tarautas, and he was known throughout the empire as the most brutalof gladiators, for he had also earned the further privilege of neverfighting but for life or death, and never under any circumstances eithergranting or asking quarter. Where he was engaged corpses strewed theplain. 

Caesar knew that he himself had been nicknamed Tarautas after this man, and he was not ill pleased; for, above all things, he aimed at beingthought strong and terrible, and this the gladiator was without a peerin his own rank of life. They knew each other: Tarautas had receivedmany a gift from his imperial patron after hard-won victories in whichhis blood had flowed. And now, as the scarred veteran, who, puffed upwith conceit, walked singly and apart in the long train of gladiators, cast a roving and haughty glance on the ranks of spectators, he wasfilled out of due time with the longing to center all eyes on himself, the one aim of his so frequently risking his life in these games. Hischest swelled, he braced up the tension of his supple sinews, and ashe passed the imperial seats he whirled his short sword round his head, describing a circle in the air, with such skill and such persistentrapidity, that it appeared like a disk of flashing steel. At the sametime his harsh, powerful voice bellowed out, "Hail, Caesar!" soundingabove the shouts of his comrades like the roar of a lion; and Caracalla, who had not yet vouchsafed a friendly word or pleasant look to anyAlexandrian, waved his hand graciously again and again to this audaciousmonster, whose strength and skill delighted him. 

This was the instant for which the "Greens" in the third tier werewaiting. No one could prohibit their applauding the man whom Caesarhimself approved, so they forthwith began shouting "Tarautas!" with alltheir might. They knew that this would suggest the comparison betweenCaesar and the sanguinary wretch whose name had been applied to him, and all who were eager to give expression to their vexation ordissatisfaction took the hint and joined in the outcry. Thus in a momentthe whole amphitheatre was ringing with the name of "Tarautas!"

At first it rose here and there; but soon, no one knew how, the wholecrowd in the upper ranks joined in one huge chorus, giving free vent totheir long-suppressed irritation with childish and increasing uproar, shouting the word with steady reiteration and a sort of involuntaryrhythm. Before long it sounded as though the multitude must havepracticed the mad chant which swelled to a perfect roar. 

"Tarau-Tarau-Tarautas!" and, as is always the case when a breach hasbeen made in the dam, one after another joined in, with here the shrillwhistle of a reed pipe and there the clatter of a rattle. Mingling withthese were the angry outcries of those whom the lictors or guardiansof the peace had laid hands on, or their indignant companions; and thethunder outside rolled a solemn accompaniment to the mutinous tumultwithin. 

Caesar's scowling brow showed that a storm threatened in that quarteralso; and no sooner had he discerned the aim of the crowd than, foamingwith rage, he commanded Macrinus to restore order. 

Then, above the chaos of voices, trumpet-calls were sounded. The mastersof the games perceived that, if only they could succeed in riveting theattention of the mob by some exciting or interesting scene, that wouldsurely silence the demonstration which was threatening ruin to the wholecommunity; so the order was at once given to begin the performance withthe most important and effective scene with which it had been intendedthat the whole should conclude. 

The spectacle was to represent a camp of the Alemanni, surprised andseized by Roman warriors. In this there was a covert compliment toCaesar, who, after a doubtful victory over that valiant people, hadassumed the name of Alemannicus. Part of the gladiators, clothed inskins, represented the barbarians, and wore long flowing wigs of red oryellow hair; others played the part of Roman troops, who were to conquerthem. The Alemanni were all condemned criminals, who were allowed noarmor, and only blunt swords wherewith to defend themselves. But lifeand freedom were promised to the women if, after the camp was seized, they wounded themselves with the sharp knives with which each one wasprovided, at least deeply enough to draw blood. And any who succeeded infeigning death really deceptively were to earn a special reward. Amongthe Germans there were, too, a few gladiators of exceptional stature, armed with sharp weapons, so as to defer the decision for a while. 

In a few minutes, and under the eyes of the spectators, carts, cattle, and horses were placed together in a camp, and surrounded by a wall oftree trunks, stones, and shields. Meanwhile shouts and whistles werestill heard; nay, when Tarautas came out on the arena in the highlydecorated armor of a Roman legate, at the head of a troop of heavilyarmed men, and again greeted the emperor, the commotion began afresh. But Caracalla's patience was exhausted, and the high-priest saw by hispale cheeks and twitching eyelids what was passing in his mind; so, inspired by the fervent hope of averting some incalculable disaster fromhis fellow-citizens, he took his place in front of the statue of thegod, and, lifting up his hands, he began:

"In the name of Serapis, O Macedonians!" His deep, ringing tones soundedabove the voices of the insurgents in the upper rows, and there wassilence. 

Not a sound was to be heard but the long-drawn howling of the wind, andnow and then the flap of a strip of cloth torn from the velarium by thegale. Mingling with these might be heard the uncanny hooting of owlsand daws which the illumination had brought out of their nests in thecornice, and which the storm was now driving in again. 

Timotheus, in a clear and audible address, now appealed to his audienceto remain quiet, not to disturb the splendid entertainment here setbefore them, and above all to remember that great Caesar, the divineruler of the world, was in their midst, an honor to each and all. As theguest of the most hospitable city on earth, their illustrious sovereignhad a right to expect from every Alexandrian the most ardent endeavorsto make his stay here delightful. It was his part as high-priest touplift his warning voice in the name of the greatest of the gods, thatthe ill-will of a few malcontents might not give rise to an idea in themind of their beloved guest that the natives of Alexandria were blind tothe blessings for which every citizen had to thank his beneficent rule. 

A shrill whistle here interrupted his discourse, and a voice shouted:"What blessings? We know of none. "

But Timotheus was not to be checked, and went on more vehemently

"All of you who, by the grace of Caesar, have been made Romancitizens--"

But again a voice broke in--the speaker was the overseer of thegranaries of Seleukus, sitting in the second tier--"And do you supposewe do not know what the honor costs us?"

This query was heartily applauded, and then suddenly, as if by magic, aperfect chorus arose, chanting a distich which one man in the crowd hadfirst given out and then two or three had repeated, to which a fourthhad given a sort of tune, till it was shouted by every one present atthe very top of his voice, with marked application to him of whomit spoke. From the topmost row of places, on every side of theamphitheatre, rang out the following lines, which but a moment before noone had ever heard:

 "Death to the living, to pay for burying those that are dead; Since, what the taxes have spared, soldiers have ruthlessly seized. "

And the words certainly came from the heart; of the people, for theyseemed never weary of repeating them; and it was not till a tremendousclap of thunder shook the very walls that several were silent and lookedup with increasing alarm. The moment's pause was seized on to beginthe fight. Caesar bit his lip in powerless fury, and his hatred of thetowns-people, who had thus so plainly given him to understand theirsentiments, was rising from one minute to the next. He felt it a realmisfortune that he was unable to punish on the spot the insult thusoffered him; swelling with rage, he remembered a speech made byCaligula, and wished the town had but one head, that he might sever itfrom the body. The blood throbbed so fiercely in his temples, and therewas such a singing in his ears, that for some little time he neither sawnor heard what was going on. This terrible agitation might cost him yetsome hours of great suffering. But he need no longer dread them so much;for there sat the living remedy which he believed he had secured by thestrongest possible ties. 

How fair she was! And, as he looked round once more at Melissa, heobserved that her eye was turned on him with evident anxiety. At this alight seemed to dawn in his clouded soul, and he was once more consciousof the love which had blossomed in his heart. But it would never doto make her who had wrought the miracle so soon the confidante of hishatred. He had seen her angry, had seen her weep, and had seen hersmile; and within the next few days, which were to make him a happyman instead of a tortured victim, he longed only to see her great eyessparkle and her lips overflow with words of love, joy, and gratitude. His score with the Alexandrians must be settled later, and it was in hispower to make them atone with their blood and bitterly rue the deeds ofthis night. 

He passed his hand over his furrowed brow, as though to wake himselffrom a bad dream; nay, he even found a smile when next his eyes methers; and those spectators to whom his aspect seemed more absorbing thanthe horrible slaughter in the arena, looked at each other in amazement, for the indifference or the dissimulation, whichever it might be, withwhich Caesar regarded this unequaled scene of bloodshed, seemed to themquite incredible. 

Never, since his very first visit to a circus, had Caracalla leftunnoticed for so long a time the progress of such a battle as this. However, nothing very remarkable had so far occurred, for the actualseizure of the camp had but just begun with the massacre of the Alemanniand the suicide of the women. 

At this moment the gladiator Tarautas, as nimble as a cat and asbloodthirsty as a hungry wolf, sprang on to one of the enemy's piled-upwagons, and a tall swordsman, with a bear-skin over his shoulder, andlong, reddish-gold hair, flew to meet him. 

This was no sham German! Caracalla knew the man. He had been brought toRome among the captive chiefs, and, as he had proved to be a splendidhorseman, he had found employment in Caesar's stables. His conducthad always been blameless till, on the day when Caracalla had enteredAlexandria, he had, in a drunken fit, killed first the man set overhim, a hot-headed Gaul, and then the two lictors who had attempted toapprehend him. He was condemned to death, and had been placed on theGerman side to fight for his life in the arena. 

And how he fought! How he defied the most determined of gladiators, andparried his strokes with his short sword! This was a combat really worthwatching; indeed, it so captivated Caracalla that he forgot everythingelse. The name of the German's antagonist had been applied tohim--Caesar. Just now the many-voiced yell "Tarautas!" had been meantfor him; and, accustomed as he was to read an omen in every incident, hesaid to himself, and called Fate to witness, that the gladiator's doomwould foreshadow his own. If Tarautas fell, then Caesar's days werenumbered; if he triumphed, then a long and happy life would be his. 

He could leave the decision to Tarautas with perfect confidence; he wasthe strongest gladiator in the empire, and he was fighting with a sharpsword against the blunt one in his antagonist's hand, who probably hadforgotten in the stable how to wield the sword as he had done of yore. But the German was the son of a chief, and had followed arms from hisearliest youth. Here it was defense for dear life, however glorious itmight be to die under the eyes of the man whom he had learned to honoras the conqueror and tyrant of many nations, among them his own. So thestrong and practiced athlete did his best. 

He, like his opponent, felt that the eyes of ten thousand were on him, and he also longed to purge himself of the dishonor which, by actualmurder, he had brought on himself and on the race of which he was stilla son. Every muscle of his powerful frame gained more rigid tension atthe thought, and when he was presently hit by the sword of his hithertounconquered foe, and felt the warm blood flow over his breast and leftarm, he collected all his strength. With the battle-cry of his tribe, he flung his huge body on the gladiator. Heedless of the furioussword-thrust with which Tarautas returned the assault, he threw himselfoff the top of the packed wagon on to the stones of the camp inclosure, and the combatants rolled, locked together like one man, from the wallinto the sand of the arena. 

Caracalla started as though he himself had been the injured victim, andwatched, but in vain, to see the supple Tarautas, who had escaped suchperils before now, free himself from the weight of the German's body. 

But the struggle continued to rage round the pair, and neither stirreda finger. At this Caesar, greatly disturbed, started to his feet, anddesired Theocritus to make inquiry as to whether Tarautas were woundedor dead; and while the favorite was gone he could not sit still. Agitated by distressing fears, he rose to speak first to one and thento another of his suite, only to drop on his seat again and glance oncemore at the butchery below. He was fully persuaded that his own end mustbe near, if indeed Tarautas were dead. At last he heard Theocritus'svoice, and, as he turned to ask him the news, he met a look from thelady Berenike, who had risen to quit the theatre. 

He shuddered!--the image of Vindex and his nephew rose once more beforehis mind's eye; at the same moment, however, Theocritus hailed him withthe exclamation:

"That fellow, Tarautas, is not a man at all! I should call him an eel ifhe were not so broad shouldered. The rascal is alive, and the physiciansays that in three weeks he will be ready again to fight four bears ortwo Alemanni!"

A light as of sudden sunshine broke on Caesar's face, and he wasperfectly cheerful again, though a fearful clap of thunder rattledthrough the building, and one of those deluges of rain which are knownonly in the south came pouring down into the open theatre, extinguishingthe fires and lights, and tearing the velarium from its fastenings tillit hung flapping in the wind and lashing the upper tiers of places, soas to drive the spectators to a hasty retreat. 

Men were flying, women screaming and sobbing, and the heralds loudlyproclaimed that the performance was suspended, and would be resumed onthe next day but one. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The amphitheatre was soon emptied, amid the flare of lightning and thecrash and roll of thunder. Caracalla, thinking only of the happy omenof Tarautas's wonderful escape, called out to Melissa, with affectionateanxiety, to fly to shelter as quickly as possible; a chariot was inwaiting to convey her to the Serapeum. On this she humbly representedthat she would rather be permitted to return under her brother's escortto her father's house, and Caracalla cheerfully acceded. He had businesson hand this night, which made it seem desirable to him that she shouldnot be too near him. He should expect her brother presently at theSerapeum. 

With his own hand he wrapped her in the caracalla and hood which oldAdventus was about to put on his master's shoulders, remarking, as hedid so, that he had weathered worse storms in the field. 

Melissa thanked him with a blush, and, going close up to her, hewhispered: "To-morrow, if Fate grants us gracious answers to thequestions I shall put to her presently after this storm--tomorrow thehorn of happiness will be filled to overflowing for you and me. Thethrifty goddess promises to be lavish to me through you. "

Slaves were standing round with lighted lanterns; for the torches in thetheatre were all extinguished, and the darkened auditorium lay likean extinct crater, in which a crowd of indistinguishable figures weremoving to and fro. It reminded him of Hades and a troop of descendingspirits; but he would not allow anything but what was pleasant to occupyhis mind or eye. By a sudden impulse he took a lantern from one ofthe attendants, held it up above Melissa's head, and gazed long andearnestly into her brightly illuminated face. Then he dropped his handwith a sigh and said, as though speaking in a dream: "Yes, this is life!Now I begin to live. "

He lifted the dripping laurel crown from his head, tossed it intothe arena, and added to Melissa: "Now, get under shelter at once, sweetheart. I have been able to see you this whole evening, even whenthe lamps were out; for lightning gives light. Thus even the storm hasbrought me joy. Sleep well. I shall expect you early, as soon as I havebathed. "

Melissa wished him sound slumbers, and he replied, lightly:

"If only all life were a dream, and if to-morrow I might but wake up, no longer the son of Severus, but Alexander; and you, not Melissa, butRoxana, whom you so strongly resemble! To be sure I might find myselfthe gladiator Tarautas. But, then, who would you be? And your stalwartfather, who stands there defying the rain, certainly does not look likea vision, and this storm is not favorable to philosophizing. "

He kissed his hand to her, had a dry caracalla thrown over hisshoulders, ordered Theocritus to take care of Tarautas and carry him apurse of gold--which he handed to the favorite--and then, pulling thehood over his head, led the way, followed by his impatient courtiers;but not till he had answered Heron, who had come forward to ask him whathe thought of the mechanical arts of the Alexandrians, desiring him topostpone that matter till the morrow. 

The storm had silenced the music. Only a few stanch trumpeters hadremained in their places; and when they saw by the lanterns that Caesarhad left the Circus, they sounded a fanfare after him, which followedthe ruler of the world with a dull, hoarse echo. 

Outside, the streets were still crowded with people pouring out ofthe amphitheatre. Those of the commoner sort sought shelter under thearchways of the building, or else hurried boldly home through therain. Heron stood waiting at the entrance for his daughter, though thepurple-hemmed toga was wet, through and through. But she had, in fact, hurried out while he was pushing forward to speak to Caesar, and inhis excitement overlooked everything else. The behavior of hisfellow-citizens had annoyed him, and he had an obscure impression thatit would be a blunder to claim Caesar's approval of anything they haddone; still, he had not self-control enough to suppress the questionwhich had fluttered on his lips all through the performance. At last, inhigh dudgeon at the inconsiderateness of young people and at the rebuffhe had met with--with the prospect, too, of a cold for his pains--hemade his way homeward on foot. 

To Caracalla the bad weather was for once really an advantage, for itput a stop to the unpleasant demonstrations which the "Green" party hadprepared for him on his way home. 

Alexander soon found the closed carruca intended for Melissa, and placedher in it as soon as he had helped Euryale into her harmamaxa. He wasastonished to find a man inside it, waiting for his sister. Thiswas Diodoros, who, while Alexander was giving his directions to thecharioteer, had, under cover of the darkness, sprung into the vehiclefrom the opposite side. An exclamation of surprise was followed byexplanations and excuses, and the three young people, each with aheart full almost to bursting, drove off toward Heron's house. Theirconveyance was already rolling over the pavement, while most of themagnates of the town were still waiting for their slaves to find theirchariots or litters. 

For the lovers this was a very different scene from the terrible onethey had just witnessed in the Circus, for, in spite of the narrowspace and total darkness in which they sat, and the rain rattling andsplashing on the dripping black leather hood which sheltered them, intheir hearts they did not lack for sunshine. Caracalla's saying that thelightning, too, was light, proved true more than once in the courseof their drive, for the vivid flashes which still followed in quicksuccession enabled the reunited lovers to exchange many confidences withtheir eyes, for which it would have been hard to find words. When bothparties to a quarrel are conscious of blame, it is more quickly made upthan when one only needs forgiveness; and the pair in the carruca wereso fully prepared to think the best of each other that there was no needfor Alexander's good offices to make them ready and willing to renewtheir broken pledges. Besides, each had cause to fear for the other; forDiodoros was afraid that the lady Euryale's power was not far-reachingenough to conceal Melissa from Caesar's spies, and Melissa trembled atthe thought that the physician might too soon betray to Caesar that shehad been betrothed before he had ever seen her, and to whom; for, inthat case, Diodoros would be the object of relentless pursuit. So sheurged on her lover to embark, if possible, this very night. 

Hitherto Alexander had taken no part in the conversation. He could notforget the reception he had met with outside the amphitheatre. Euryale'spresence had saved his sister from evil imputations, but had nothelped him; and even his gay spirits could make no head against theconsciousness of being regarded by his fellow-citizens as a hiredtraitor. He had withdrawn to one of the back seats to see theperformance; for as soon as the theatre was suddenly lighted up, he hadbecome the object of dark looks and threatening gestures. For the firsttime in his life he had felt compassion for the criminals torn by wildbeasts, and for the wounded gladiators, whose companion in misfortunehe vaguely felt himself to be. But, what was worst of all, he could notregard himself as altogether free from the reproach of having accepted areward for the service he had so thoughtlessly rendered. 

Nor did he see the remotest possibility of ever making those whoseopinion he cared for understand how it had come to pass that he shouldhave acceded to the desire of the villain in the purple, now that hisfather, by showing himself to the people in the 'toga pretexta', hadset the seal to their basest suspicions. The thought that henceforth hecould never hope to feel the grasp of an honest man's hand gnawed at hisheart. 

The esteem of Diodoros was dear to him, and, when his young comradespoke to him, he felt at first as though he were doing him an unexpectedhonor; but then he fell back into the suspicion that this was only forhis sister's sake. 

The deep sigh that broke from him induced Melissa to speak a few wordsof comfort, and now the unhappy man's bursting heart overflowed. Ineloquent words he described to Diodoros and Melissa all he had felt, andthe terrible consequences of his heedless folly, and as he spoke acuteregret filled his eyes with tears. 

He had pronounced judgment on himself, and expected nothing of hisfriend but a little pity. But in the darkness Diodoros sought and foundhis hand, and grasped it fervently; and if Alexander could but haveseen his old playfellow's face, he would have perceived that his eyesglistened as he said what he could to encourage him to hope for betterdays. 

Diodoros knew his friend well. He was incapable of falsehood; and hisdeed, which under a false light so easily assumed an aspect of villainy, had, in fact, been no more than an act of thoughtlessness such as he hadhimself often lent a hand in. Alexander, however, seemed determined notto hear the comfort offered him by his sister and his friend. A flash oflightning revealed him to them, sitting with a bent head and his handsover his brow; and this gloomy vision of one who so lately had been thegayest of the gay troubled their revived happiness even more than thethought of the danger which, as each knew, threatened the others. 

As they passed the Temple of Artemis, which was brightly illuminated, reminding them that they were reaching their destination, Alexanderat last looked up and begged the lovers to consider their immediateaffairs. His mind had remained clear, and what he said showed that hehad not lost sight of his sister's future. 

As soon as Melissa should have effected her escape, Caesar wouldundoubtedly seize, not only her lover, but his father as well. Diodorosmust forthwith cross the lake and rouse Polybius and Praxilla, to warnthem of the imminent danger, while Alexander undertook to hire a shipfor the party. Argutis would await the fugitives in a tavern bythe harbor, and conduct them on board the vessel which would be inreadiness. Diodoros, who was not yet able to walk far, promised to availhimself of one of the litters waiting outside the Temple of Artemis. 

Just before the vehicle stopped, the lovers took leave. They arrangedwhere and how they might have news of each other, and all they said, inbrief words and a fervent parting kiss, in this moment, when death orimprisonment might await them, had the solemn purport of a vow. 

The swift horses stopped. Alexander hastily leaned over to his friend, kissed him on both cheeks, and whispered:

"Take good care of her; think of me kindly if we should never meetagain, and tell the others that wild Alexander has played another fool'strick, at any rate, not a wicked one, however badly it may turn out forhim. "

For the sake of the charioteer, who, after Melissa's flight, would becertainly cross-examined, Diodoros could make no reply. The carrucarattled off by the way by which it had come; Diodoros vanished in thedarkness, and Melissa clasped her hands over her face. She felt asthough this were her last parting from her lover, and the sun wouldnever shine on earth again. 

It was now near midnight. The slaves had heard the approach of thechariot, and received them as heartily as ever, but in obedience toHeron's orders they added the most respectful bows to their usualwell-meant welcome. Since their master had shown himself to Dido, in theafternoon, with braggart dignity, as a Roman magnate, she had feltas though the age of miracles had come, and nothing was impossible. Splendid visions of future grandeur awaiting the whole family, includingherself and Argutis, had not ceased to haunt her; but as to the empress, something seemed to have gone wrong, for why had the girl wet eyes andso sad a face? What was all this long whispering with Argutis? But itwas no concern of hers, after all, and she would know all in good time, no doubt. "What the masters plot to-day the slaves hear next week, " wasa favorite saying of the Gauls, and she had often proved its truth. 

But the cool way in which Melissa received the felicitations whichthe old woman poured out in honor of the future empress, and hertear-reddened eyes, seemed at any rate quite comprehensible. The childwas thinking, no doubt, of her handsome Diodoros. Among the splendorsof the palace she would soon forget. And how truly magnificent were thedress and jewels in which the damsel had appeared in the amphitheatre!

"How they must have hailed her!" thought the old woman when she hadhelped Melissa to exchange her dress for a simpler robe, and the girlsat down to write. "If only the mistress had lived to see this day! Andall the other women must have been bursting with envy. Eternal gods!But, after all, who knows whether the good luck we envy others is greator small? Why, even in this house, which the gods have filled to theroof with gifts and favors, misfortune has crept in through the keyhole. Poor Philip!

"Still, if all goes well with the girl. Things have befallen her suchas rarely come to any one, and yet no more than her due. The fairest andbest will be the greatest and wealthiest in the empire. "

And she clutched the amulets and the cross which hung round her arm andthroat, and muttered a hasty prayer for her darling. 

Argutis, for his part, did not know what to think of it all. He, if anyone, rejoiced in the good fortune of his master and Melissa; but Heron'spromotion to the rank of praetor had been too sudden, and Heron demeanedhimself too strangely in his purple-bordered toga. It was to be hopedthat this new and unexpected honor had not turned his brain! And thestate in which his master's eldest son remained caused him the greatestanxiety. Instead of rejoicing in the honors of his family, he had at hisfirst interview with his father flown into a violent rage; and thoughhe, Argutis, had not understood what they were saying, he perceived thatthey were in vehement altercation, and that Heron had turned away ingreat wrath. And then--he remembered it with horror, and could hardlytell what he had seen to Alexander and Melissa in a reasonable andrespectful manner--Philip had sprung out of bed, had dressed himselfwithout help, even to his shoes, and scarcely had his father set out inhis litter before Philip had come into the kitchen. He looked like onerisen from the grave, and his voice was hollow as he told the slavesthat he meant to go to the Circus to see for himself that justice wasdone. But Argutis felt his heart sink within him when the philosopherdesired him to fetch the pipe his father used to teach the birds towhistle, and at the same time took up the sharp kitchen knife with whichArgutis slaughtered the sheep. 

The young man then turned to go, but even on the threshold he hadstumbled over the straps of his sandals which dragged unfastened, andArgutis had had to lead him, almost to carry him in from the garden, fora violent fit of coughing had left him quite exhausted. The effort ofpulling at the heavy oars on board the galley had been too much for hisweak chest. Argutis and Dido had carried him to bed, and he had soonfallen into a deep sleep, from which he had not waked since. 

And now what were these two plotting? They were writing; and not on waxtablets, but with reed pens on papyrus, as though it were a matter ofimportance. 

All this gave the slave much to think about, and the faithful soul didnot know whether to weep for joy or grief when Alexander told him, witha gravity which frightened him in this light-hearted youth, that, partly as the reward of his faithful service and partly to put him in aposition to aid them all in a crisis of peculiar difficulty, he gave himhis freedom. His father had long since intended to do this, and the deedwas already drawn out. Here was the document; and he knew that, even asa freedman, Argutis would continue to serve them as faithfully as ever. With this he gave the slave his manumission, which he was in any case tohave received within a month, at the end of thirty years' service, andArgutis took it with tears of joy, not unmixed with grief and anxiety, while only a few hours since it would have been enough to make him thehappiest of mortals. 

While he kissed their hands and stammered out words of gratitude, hisuncultured but upright spirit told him that he had been blind ever tohave rejoiced for a moment at the news that Melissa had been chosen tobe empress. All that he had seen during the last half-hour had convincedhim, as surely as if he had been told it in words, that his belovedyoung mistress scorned her imperial suitor, and firmly intended to evadehim--how, Argutis could not guess. And, recognizing this, a spirit ofadventure and daring stirred him also. This was a struggle of the weakagainst the strong; and to him, who had spent his life as one of theoppressed, nothing could be more tempting than to help on the side ofthe weak. 

Argutis now undertook with ardent zeal to get Diodoros and his parentssafely on board the ship he was to engage, and to explain to Heron, assoon as he should have read the letter which Alexander was now writing, that, unless he could escape at once with Philip, he was lost. Finally, he promised that the epistle to Caesar, which Melissa was composing, should reach his hands on the morrow. 

He could now receive his letter of freedom with gladness, and consentedto dress up in Heron's garments; for, as a slave, he would have beenforbidden to conclude a bargain with a ship's captain or any one else. 

All this was done in hot haste, for Caesar was awaiting Alexander, andEuryale expected Melissa. The ready zeal of the old man, free for thefirst time to act on his own responsibility in matters which wouldhave been too much for many a free-born man, but to which he felt quiteequal, had an encouraging effect even on the oppressed hearts of theother two. They knew now that, even if death should be their lot, Argutis would be faithful to their father and sick brother, and theslave at once showed his ingenuity and shrewdness; for, while the youngpeople were vainly trying to think of a hiding-place for Heron andPhilip, he suggested a spot which would hardly be discovered even by thesharpest spies. 

Glaukias, the sculptor, who had already fled, was Heron's tenant. Hiswork-room, a barn-like structure, stood in the little vegetable-gardenwhich the gem-cutter had inherited from his father-in-law, and none butHeron and the slave knew that, under the flooring, instead of acellar, there was a vast reservoir connected with the ancient aqueductsconstructed by Vespasian. Many years since Argutis had helped his masterto construct a trap-door to the entrance to these underground passages, of which the existence had remained unknown even to Glaukias during allthe years he had inhabited the place. It was here that Heron kept hisgold, not taking his children even into his confidence; and only afew months ago Argutis had been down with him and had found the oldreservoir dry, airy, and quite habitable. The gem-cutter would be quitecontent to conceal himself where his treasure was, and the garden andwork-room were only distant a few hundred paces from his own home. To get Philip there without being seen was to Argutis a mere trifle. Alexander, too, old Dido, and, if needful, Diodoros, could all beconcealed there. But for Melissa, neither he nor Alexander thought itsufficiently secure. 

As she took leave of him the young girl once more charged the newlyfreed man to greet her father from her a thousand times, to beseechhis forgiveness of her for the bitter grief she must cause him, and toassure him of her affection. 

"Tell him, " she added, as the tears streamed down her cheeks, "that Ifeel as if I were going to my death. But, come what may, I am always hisdutiful child, always ready to sacrifice anything--excepting only theman to whom, with my father's consent, I pledged my heart. Tell himthat for love of him I might have been ready even to give my hand tothe blood-stained Caesar, but that Fate--and perhaps the manes of her weloved, and who is dead--have ordered it otherwise. "

She then went into the room where her mother had closed her eyes. Aftera short prayer by that bed, which still stood there, she hastened toPhilip's room. He lay sleeping heavily; she bent over him and kissedthe too high brow, which looked as though even in sleep the brain withinwere still busy over some difficult and painful question. 

Her way led her once more through her father's work-room, and she hadalready crossed it when she hastily turned back to look once more--forthe last time-at the little table where she had sat for so many years, busy with her needle, in modest contentment by the artist's side, dreaming with waking eyes, and considering what she, with her smallresources and great love, could do that would be of use to those sheloved, or relieve them if they were in trouble. Then, as though she knewthat she was bidding a last farewell to all the pleasant companionshipof her youth, she looked at the birds, long since gone to roost in theircages. In spite of his recent curule honors Heron had not forgottenthem, and, before quitting the house to display himself to the populacein the 'toga pretexa', he had as usual carefully covered them up. Andnow, as Melissa lifted the cloth from the starling's cage, and the birdmuttered more gently than usual, and perhaps in its sleep, the cry, "Olympias!" a shudder ran through her; and, as she stepped out into theroad by Alexander's side, she said, dejectedly:

"Everything is coming to an end! Well, and so it may; for what has comeover us all in these few days? Before Caesar came, what were you--whatwas Philip? In my own heart what peace reigned!

"And my father? There is one comfort, at any rate; even as praetor hehas not forgotten his birds, and he will find feathered friends go wherehe may. 

"But I--And it is for my sake that he must hide like a criminal!"

But here Alexander vehemently broke in: "It was not you, it was I whobrought all this misery on us!" And he went on to accuse himself sobitterly that Melissa regretted having alluded to the misfortunes oftheir family, and did her best to inspire him with courage. 

As soon as Caesar should have left the city and she had evaded hispursuit, the citizens would be easily persuaded of his innocence. Theywould see then how little she had cared for the splendor and wealth ofempire; why, he himself knew how quickly everything was forgotten inAlexandria. His art, too, would be a comfort to him, and if he only hadthe chance of making his way in his career he would have no difficultyin winning Agatha. He would have her on his side, and Diodoros, and thelady Euryale. 

But to all these kind speeches the young man only sadly shook his head. How could he, despised and contemned, dare to aspire to the daughter ofsuch a man as Zeno? He ended with a deep sigh; and Melissa, whose heartgrew heavier as they approached the Serapeum through the side streets, still forced herself to express her confidence as though the ladyEuryale's protection had relieved her of every anxiety. It was sodifficult to appear calm and cheerful that more than once she had towipe her eyes; still, their eager talk shortened the way, and she stoodstill, surprised to find herself so near her destination, when Alexandershowed her the chain which was stretched across the end of the street ofHermes to close in the great square in front of the Serapeum. 

The storm had passed away and the rain had ceased; the sky was clear andcloudless, and the moon poured its silvery light in lavish splendor, asthough revived, on the temple and on the statues round the square. Herethey must part, for they saw that it was impossible that they shouldcross the open space together. 

It was almost deserted, for the populace were not allowed to go there. Of the hundreds of tents which till lately had covered it, only those ofthe seventh cohort of the praetorian guard remained; for these, havingto protect the person of the emperor, had not been quartered in thetown. If Alexander and Melissa had crossed this vast square, whereit was now as light as clay, they would certainly have been seen, andMelissa would have brought not herself only but her protectress alsointo the greatest danger. 

She still had so much on her mind that she wanted to say to her brother, especially with regard to her father's welfare; and then--what aleavetaking was this when, as her gloomy forebodings told her, theywere parting never to meet again But Euryale must have been long andanxiously waiting for her, and Alexander, too, was very late for hisappointment. 

It was impossible to let the girl cross the square alone, for it wasguarded by soldiers. If she could but reach the side of the sanctuarywhere she was expected, and where the road was in the shadow of theriding-school opposite, all would be well, and it seemed as though therewas no alternative but for Alexander to lead his sister through by-waysto her destination. They had just made up their minds to this inevitablewaste of time, when a young woman was seen coming toward them from oneof the tents with a swift, light step, winged with gladness. Alexandersuddenly released his sister's hand, and saying:

"She will escort you, " he advanced to meet her. This was the wifeof Martialis, who had charge of the villa at Kanopus, and whoseacquaintance the artist had made when he was studying the Galatea in themerchant's country-house for the portrait of Korinna. Alexander had madefriends with the soldier's wife in his winning, lively way, and shewas delighted to meet him again, and quite willing to escort his sisteracross the square, and hold her tongue about it. So, after a short graspof the hand, and a fervent last appeal to her brother, "Never for amoment let us forget one another, and always remember our mother!"Melissa followed her companion. 

This evening the woman had sought her husband to tell him that she andher mother had got safely out of the Circus, and to thank him forthe entertainment, of which the splendor, in spite of the variousdisturbances and interruption, had filled their hearts and minds. 

The first words she spoke to the girl led to the question as to whethershe, too, had been at the Circus; and when Melissa said yes, but thatshe had been too frightened and horrified to see much, the chatteringlittle woman began to describe it all. 

Quite the best view, she declared, had been obtained from the third tierof places. Caesar's bride, too, had been pointed out to her. Poorthing! She would pay dearly for the splendor of the purple. No onecould dispute Caracalla's taste, however, for the girl was lovely beyonddescription; and as she spoke she paused to look at Melissa, for shefancied she resembled Caesar's sweetheart. But she went on again quickerthan before, remarking that Melissa was not so tall, and that the otherwas more brilliant looking, as beseemed an emperor's bride. 

At this Melissa drew her kerchief more closely over her face; but it wasa comfort to her when the soldier's wife, after describing to her whatshe herself had worn, added that Caracalla's choice had fallen ona modest and well-conducted maiden, for, if she had not been, thehigh-priest's wife would never have been so kind to her. And the ladyEuryale was sister-in-law to the master she herself served, and she hadknown her all her life. 

Then, when Melissa, to change the subject, asked why the public wereforbidden to approach the Serapeum, her companion told her thatsince his return from the Circus Caesar had been devoting himself toastrology, soothsaying, and other abstruse matters, and that the noiseof the city disturbed him. He was very learned in such things, and ifshe only had time she could have told Melissa wonderful things. Thusconversing, they crossed the square, and when it lay behind them andthey were under the shadow of the stadium, Melissa thanked her livelycompanion for her escort, while she, on her part, declared that it hadbeen a pleasure to do the friendly painter a service. 

The western side of the immense temple stood quite detached from thetown. There were on that side but few bronze doors, and these, whichwere opened only to the inhabitants of the building, had long sincebeen locked for the night and needed no guard. As the inhabitants wereforbidden to cross the space dividing the stadium from the Serapeum, all was perfectly still. Dark shadows lay on the road, and the highstructures which shut it in like cliffs seemed to tower to the sky. Thelonely girl's heart beat fast with fears as she stole along, close underthe wall, from which a warm vapor breathed on her after the recentrain. The black circles which seemed to stare at her like dark, holloweye-sockets from the wall of the stadium, were the windows of thestables. 

If a runaway slave, an escaped wild beast, or a robber were to rush outupon her! The owls swept across over her head on silent wings, and batsflitted to and fro, from one building to the other, almost touching thefrightened girl. Her terrors increased at every step, and the wall whichshe must follow to the end was so long--so endlessly long!

Supposing, too, that the lady Euryale had been tired of waiting and hadgiven her up! There would then be nothing for it but to make her wayback to the town past the guards, or to enter the temple through thegreat gates--where that dreadful man was--and where she would at once berecognized! Then there could be no escape, none--and she must, yes, shemust evade her dreadful suitor. Every thought of Diodoros cried, "Youmust!"--even at the cost of her young life, of which, indeed, she sawthe imminent end nearer and nearer with every step. She knew not whitherher flight might take her, but a voice within declared that it would beto an early grave. 

Only a narrow strip of sky was visible between the tall buildings, but, as she looked up to the heavens, she perceived that it was two hourspast midnight. She hurried on, but presently checked her pace again. From the square, three trumpet-calls, one after another, rang throughthe silence of the night. What could these signals mean at so unwontedan hour?

There could be but one explanation--Caesar had again condemned somehapless wretch to death, and he was being led to execution. When Vindexand his nephew were beheaded, three trumpet-calls had sounded; herbrother had told her so. 

And now, before her inward eye, rose the crowd of victims to Caracalla'sthirst for blood. She fancied that Plautilla, whom her imperial consorthad murdered, was beckoning her to follow her to an early grave. Theterrors of the night were too much for her; and, as when a child, atplay with her brothers, she flew on as fast as her feet would carry her. She fled as though she were pursued, her long dress hampering her steps, along by the temple wall, till her gaze, fixed on her left, fell on thespot which had been designated to her. 

Here she stopped, out of breath; and, while she was identifying thelandmarks which she had impressed on her memory to guide her to theright doorway, the temple wall seemed to open before her as if by acharm, and a kind voice called her name, and then exclaimed, "At last!"and in a moment she had grasped Euryale's hand and was drawn into thebuilding. 

Here, as if at the touch of a magician's wand, all fear and horrorvanished; and, although she still panted for breath, she would at oncehave explained to her beloved protectress what it was that had promptedher to run so fast, but that Euryale interrupted her, exclaiming: "Onlymake haste! No one must see that block of porphyry turn on its pin. It is invisible from the outside, and closes the passage by which themystics and adepts find their way to the mysteries after dedication. Allwho know of it are sworn to secrecy. "

With this she led the way into a dark vestibule adjoining the temple, and in a few moments the great block of stone which had admitted themhad turned into its place again. Those who passed by, even in broadsunshine, could not distinguish it from all the other blocks of whichthe ground-floor of the edifice was built. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

While the lady Euryale preceded her young charge with a lamp up anarrow, dark staircase, Alexander waited in one of the audience-roomstill the emperor should call him. The high-priest of Serapis, severalsoothsayers of the temple, Aristides, the new head of the night-watch, and other "friends" of the monarch had accompanied him thus far. Butadmittance to the innermost apartments had not been permitted, forCaracalla had ordered the magician Serapion to call up spirits beforehim, and was having the future declared to him in the presence of theprefect of the praetorians and a few other trusty followers. 

The deputation of citizens, who had come to apologize to Caesar forthe annoying occurrences in the Circus, had been told to wait till theexorcisms were over. Alexander would have preferred to hold alooffrom the others, but no one here seemed to think ill of him for histhoughtless behavior. On the contrary, the courtiers pressed roundhim--the brother of the future empress-with the greatest assiduity:the high-priest inquired after his brother Philip; and Seleukus, themerchant, who had come with the deputation, addressed many flatteringremarks to him on his sister's beauty. Some of the Roman senators whoseadvances he had received coldly enough at first, now took up his wholeattention, and described to him the works of art and the paintingsin the new baths of Caracalla; they advised him to offer himself as acandidate for the ornamentation of some of the unfinished rooms withfrescoes, and led him to expect their support. In short, they behavedtoward the young man as if he might command their services, in spite oftheir gray hairs. But Alexander saw through their purpose. 

Their discourse ceased suddenly, for voices were audible in theemperor's apartments, and they all listened with outstretched necks andbated breath if they might catch a word or two. 

Alexander only regretted not having either charcoal or tablets at hand, that he might fix their intent faces on the wood; but at last he stoodup, for the door was opened and the emperor entered from the tablinum, accompanied by the magician who had shown Caesar several spirits of thedeparted. In the middle of the demonstration, at Caracalla's desire, thebeheaded Papinian had appeared in answer to Serapion's call. Invisiblehands replaced his severed head upon his shoulders, and, having greetedhis sovereign, he promised him good fortune. Last of all great Alexanderhad appeared, and assured the emperor in verse, and with many a floweryphrase, that the soul of Roxana had chosen the form of Melissa to dwellin. Caracalla would enjoy the greatest happiness through her, as longas she was not alienated from him by love for another man. Should thishappen, Roxana would be destroyed and her whole race with her, butCaesar's glory and greatness would reach its highest point. The monarchneed have no misgivings in continuing to live out his (Alexander's)life. The spirit of his godlike father Severus watched over him, and hadgiven him a counselor in the person of Macrinus, in whose mortal bodythe soul of Scipio Africanus had awakened to a new life. 

With this, the apparition, which, like the others, had shown itself asa colored picture moving to and fro upon the darkened wall of thetablinum, vanished. The voice of the great Macedonian sounded hollow andunearthly, but what he said had interested the emperor deeply and raisedhis spirits. 

However, his wish to see more spirits had remained unsatisfied. Themagician, who remained upon his knees with uplifted hands while theapparitions were visible, declared that the forces he was obliged toemploy in exercising his magic power over the spirits had exhausted him. His fine, bearded face was deathly pale, and his tall form trembled andshook. His assistants had silently disappeared. They had kept themselvesand their great scrolls concealed behind a curtain. Serapion explainedthat they were his pupils, whose office it was to support hisincantations by efficient formulas. 

Caracalla dismissed him graciously, then turning to the assembledcompany, he gave with much affability a detailed account of the wondershe had seen and heard. 

"A marvelous man, this Serapion, " he exclaimed to the high-priestTimotheus--"a master in his art. What he said before proceeding to theincantations is convincing, and explains much to me. According to him, magic holds the same relation to religion as power to love, as thecommand to the request. Power! What magic effect it has in real life? Wehave seen its influence upon the spirits, and who among the children ofmen can resist it? To it I owe my greatest results, and hope to be stillfurther indebted. Even reluctant love must bow to it. "

He gave a self-satisfied laugh, and continued: "As the pious worshiperof the gods can move the heavenly ones by prayer and sacrifice, so--thewondrous man declared--the magician can force them by means of hissecret lore to do his will. Therefore, he who knows and can call thegods and spirits by the right name, him they must obey, as the slavehis master. The sages who served the Pharaohs in the gray dawn oftime succeeded in fathoming the mystery of these names given to theeverlasting ones at their birth, and their wisdom has come down to himthrough the generations as a priceless secret. But it is not sufficientto murmur the name to one's self, or be able to write it down. Everysyllable has its special meaning like every member of the human frame. It depends, too, on how it is pronounced and where the emphasis lies;and this true name, containing in itself the spiritual essence of theimmortals, and the outward sign of their presence, is different againfrom the names by which they are known among men. 

"Could I have any suspicion--and here Serapion addressed himself tome--which god he forced to obey him when he uttered the words, 'AbarBarbarie Eloce Sabaoth Pachnuphis, ' and more like it! I have onlyremembered the first few words. But, he continued, it was not enough tobe able to pronounce these words. The heavenly spirits would submit onlyto those mortals who shared in some of their highest characteristics. Before the Magian dared to call them, he must purify his soul from allsensual taint, and sanctify his body by long and severe fasting. Whenthe Magian succeeded, as he had done in these days, in rendering himselfimpervious to the allurements of the senses, and in making his soul, asfar as was humanly possible, independent of the body, only then hadhe attained to that degree of godliness which entitled him to haveintercourse with the heavenly ones and the entire spirit-world as withhis equals, and to subdue them to his will. 

"He exerted his power, and we saw with our bodily eyes that the spiritscame to his call. But we discovered that it was not done by wordsalone. What a noble-looking man he is! And the mortifications that hepractices--these, too, are heroic deeds! The cavilers in the Museummight take example from him. Serapion performed an action and adifficult one. They waste their time over words, miserable words! Theywill prove to you by convincing argument that yonder lion is a rabbit. The Magian waved his hands and the king of beasts cringed before him. Like the worthies of the Museum, every one in this city is merely amouth on two legs. Where but here would the Christians--I know theirdoctrines--have invented that term for their sublime teacher--The Wordbecome flesh? I have heard nothing here, " he turned to the deputation, "but words and again words--from you, who humbly assure me of your loveand reverence; from those who think that their insignificant personsmay slip through my fingers and escape me, paltry, would-be witty words, dipped in poison and gall. In the Circus, even, they aimed words at me. The Magian alone dared to offer me deeds, and he succeeded wonderfully;he is a marvelous man!"

"What he showed you, " said the high-priest, "was no more than what thesorcerers achieved, as the old writings tell us, under the builders ofthe Pyramids. Our astrologers, who traced out for you the path of thestars--"

"They, too, " interrupted Caesar, bowing slightly to the astrologers, "have something better to show than words. As I owe to the Magian anagreeable hour, so I thank you, my friends, for a happy one. "

This remark had reference to the information which had been brought toCaesar, during a pause in the incantations, that the stars predictedgreat happiness for him in his union with Melissa, and that thisprediction was well-founded, was proved by the constellations which thechief astrologer showed and explained to him. 

While Caracalla was receiving the thanks of the astrologers, he caughtsight of Alexander, and at once graciously inquired how Melissa had gotback to her fathers house. He then asked, laughingly, if the wits ofAlexandria were going to treat him to another offering like the one onhis arrival. The youth, who had determined in the Circus to risk hislife, if need be, in order to clear himself of the taint of suspicion, judged that the moment had come to make good the mistake which hadrobbed him of his fellow-citizens' esteem. 

The presence of so many witnesses strengthened his courage; and fullyexpecting that, like the consul Vindex, his speech would cost himhis head, he drew himself up and answered gravely, "It is true, greatCaesar, that in a weak moment and without considering the results, Irepeated some of those witticisms to you--"

"I commanded, and you had to obey, " retorted Caesar, and added, coldly, "But what does this mean?"

"It means, " began Alexander--who already saw the sword of execution leapfrom its scabbard--with pathetic dignity, which astonished the emperoras coming from him, "it means that I herewith declare before you, andmy Alexandrian fellow-citizens here present, that I bitterly repentmy indiscretion; nay, I curse it, since I heard from your own lips howtheir ready wit has set you against the sons of my beloved native city. "

"Ah, indeed! Hence these tears?" interposed Caesar, adopting awell-known Latin phrase. He nodded to the painter, and continued, in atone of amused superiority: "Go on performing as an orator, if you like;only moderate the tragic tone, which does not become you, and makeit short, for before the sun rises we all--these worthy citizens andmyself--desire to be in bed. "

Blushes and pallor alternated on the young man's face. Sentence of deathwould have been more welcome to him than this supercilious check to ahazardous attempt, which he had looked upon as daring and heroic. Amongthe Romans he caught sight of some laughing faces, and hurt, humiliated, confused, scarcely capable of speaking a word, and yet moved by thedesire to justify himself, he stammered out: "I have--I meant toassure--No, I am no spy! May my tongue wither before I--You can, ofcourse--It is in your power to take my life!"

"Most certainly it is, " interposed Caracalla, and his tone was morecontemptuous than angry. He could see how deeply excited the artistwas, and to save him--Melissa's brother-from committing a folly which hewould be obliged to punish, he went on with gracious consideration: "ButI much prefer to see you live and wield the brush for a long time tocome. You are dismissed. "

The young man bent his head, and then turned his back upon the emperor, for he felt that he was threatened now with what, to an Alexandrian, wasthe most unbearable fate-to appear ridiculous before so many. 

Caracalla allowed him to go, but, as he stepped across the threshold, he called after him: "Tomorrow, then, with your sister, after the bath!Tell her the stars and the spirits are propitious to our union. "

Caesar then beckoned to the chief of the nightwatch, and, havinglaid the blame of the unpleasant occurrences in the Circus on hiscarelessness, cut the frightened officer short when he proposed to takeevery one prisoner whom the lictors had marked among the noisy. 

"Not yet! On no account to-morrow, " Caracalla ordered. "Mark each onecarefully. Keep your eyes open at the next performance. Put down thenames of the disaffected. Take care that the rope hangs about the neckof the guilty. The time to draw it tight will come presently. When theythink themselves safe, the cowardly show their true faces. Wait tillI give the signal--certainly not in the next few days; then seize uponthem, and let none escape!"

Caesar had given these orders with smiling lips. He wanted first to makeMelissa his, and, like a shepherd, to revel with her in the sweetnessof their love. No moment of this time should be darkened for him by thetears and prayers of his bride. When she should hear, later on, of herhusband's bloody vengeance upon his enemies, she would have to accept itas an accomplished fact; and means, no doubt, would be found to sootheher indignation. 

Those who after the insulting occurrences in the Circus had expectedto see Caesar raging and storming, were hurried from one surprise toanother; for even after his conversation with the night-watch he lookedcheerful and contented, and exclaimed: "It is long since you have seenme thus! My own mirror will ask itself if it has not changed owners. Itis to be hoped it may have cause to accustom itself to reflect me asa happy man as often as I look in it. The two highest joys of life arebefore me, and I know not what would be left for me to desire if onlyPhilostratus were here to share the coming days with me. "

The grave senator Cassius Dio here stepped forward and observed thatthere were advantages in their amiable friend's withdrawal from theturmoil of court life. His Life of Apollonius, to which all the worldwas looking forward, would come all the sooner to a close. 

"If only that I might talk to him of the man of Tyana, " cried theemperor, "I wish his biographer were here to-day. To possess littleand require nothing is the wish of the sage; and I can well imaginecircumstances in which one who has enjoyed power and riches to satietyshould consider himself blessed as a simple countryman following out theprecept of Horace, 'procul negotiis, ' plowing his fields and gatheringthe fruit of his own trees. According to Apollonius, the wise man mustalso be poor, and, though the citizens of his state are permitted toacquire treasures, the wealthy are looked upon as dishonorable. There issome sense in this paradox, for the possessions that are to be obtainedwith money are but vulgar joys. I know by experience what it is thatpurifies the soul, that lifts it up and makes it truly blessed. It doesnot come of power or riches. Whoso has known it, he to whom it has beenrevealed--"

He stopped short, surprised at himself; then laughed as he shook hishead and exclaimed, "Behold, the tragedy hero in the purple with onefoot in an idyl!" and wished the assembled company pleasant slumbers forthe short remains of the night. 

He gave his hand to a few favored ones; but, as he clasped that of theproconsul Julius Paulinus, who, with unheard-of audacity, had put onmourning garments for his brother-in-law Vindex, beheaded that day, Caesar's countenance grew dark, and, turning his back upon them all, he walked rapidly away. Scarcely had he disappeared when the mourningproconsul exclaimed in his dry manner, as if speaking to himself:

"The idyl is to begin. Would it might be the satyr-play that closes thebloodiest of tragedies!"

"Caesar has not been himself to-day, " said the favorite Theocritus; andthe senator Cassius Dio whispered to Paulinus, "And therefore he wasmore bearable to look at. "

Old Adventus gazed in astonishment as Arjuna, the emperor's Indianbody-slave, disrobed him; for, though Caracalla had entered theapartment with a dark and threatening brow, while his sandals were beingunfastened, he laughed to himself, and cried to his old servant withbeaming eyes, "To-morrow!" and the chamberlain called down a blessingon the morrow, and on her who was destined to fill the coming years withsunshine for mighty Caesar. 

 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 

Caracalla, generally an early riser, slept this time longer than onother days. He had retired very late to rest, and the chamberlaintherefore put off waking him, especially as he had been troubled by evildreams, in spite of his happy frame of mind when he sought his couch. When at last he rose he first inquired about the weather, and expressedhis satisfaction when he heard that the sun had risen with burning rays, but was now veiled in threatening clouds. 

His first visit led him to the court of sacrifice. The offerings hadfallen out most favorably, and he rejoiced at the fresh and healthyappearance of the bullocks' hearts and livers which the augursshowed him. In the stomach of one of the oxen they had found a flintarrow-head, and, on showing it to Caracalla, he laughed, and observed tothe high-priest Timotheus: "A shaft from Eros's quiver! A hint from thegod to offer him a sacrifice on this happy day. "

After his bath he caused himself to be arrayed with peculiar care, and then gave orders for the admittance, first, of the prefect of thepraetorians, and then of Melissa, for whom a mass of gorgeous flowersstood ready. 

But Macrinus was not to be found, although Caesar had commanded himyesterday to give in his report before doing anything else. He had twicecome to the antechamber, but had gone away again shortly before, and hadnot yet returned. 

Determined to let nothing damp his spirits, Caesar merely shrugged hisshoulders, and gave orders to admit the maiden, and--should they haveaccompanied her--her father and brother. But neither Melissa nor themen had appeared as yet, though Caracalla distinctly remembered havingcommanded all three to visit him after the bath, which he had takenseveral hours later than usual. 

Vexed, and yet endeavoring to keep his temper, he went to the window. The sky was overcast, and a sharp wind from the sea drove the firstrain-drops in his face. 

In the wide square at his feet a spectacle presented itself which wouldhave delighted him at another time, when in better spirits. 

The younger men of the city--as many as were of Greek extraction--weretrooping in. They were divided into companies, according to thewrestling-schools or the Circus and other societies to which theybelonged. The youths marched apart from the married men, and one couldsee that they came gladly, and hoped for much enjoyment from theevents of the day. Some of the others looked less delighted. They wereunaccustomed to obey the orders of a despot, and many were ill-pleasedto lose a whole day from their work or business. But no one waspermitted to absent himself; for, when the chief citizens had invitedthe emperor to visit their wrestling-schools, he replied that hepreferred to inspect the entire male youths of Alexandria in theStadium. This was situated close by his residence in the Serapeum, andin this great space a spectacle would be afforded to him at one glance, which he could otherwise only enjoy by journeying laboriously from onegymnasium to another. He loved the strong effects produced by greatmasses; and being on the race-course, the wrestlers and boxers, therunners and discus-throwers, could give proof of their strength, dexterity, and endurance. 

It occurred to him at the moment that among these youths and men theremight be some of the descendants of the warriors who, under the commandof the great Alexander, had conquered the world. Here, then, was anopportunity of gathering round him--rejuvenated and, so to speak, bornanew--those troops who, under the guidance of the man whose mission onearth he was destined to accomplish, had won such deathless victories. That was a pleasure he had every right to permit himself, and he wishedto show to Melissa the re-created military forces of him to whom, in aformer existence, as Roxana, she had been so dear. 

Quick as ever to suit the deed to the word, he at once ordered the headcitizens to assemble the youth of Alexandria on the morning of the dayin question, and to form them into a Macedonian phalanx. He wished toinspect them in the stadium, and they were now marching thither. 

He had ordered helmets, shields, and lances to be made after well-knownMacedonian patterns and to be distributed to the new Hellenic legion. Later on they might be intrusted with the guarding of the city, should there be a Parthian war; and he required the attendance of theAlexandrian garrison. 

The inspection of this Greek regiment would be certain to give pleasureto Melissa. He expected, too, to see Alexander among them. When once hisbeloved shared the purple with him, he could raise her brother to thecommand of this chosen phalanx. 

Troop after troop streamed on to the course, and he thought he hadseldom seen anything finer than these slender youths, marching alongwith elastic step, and garlands in their black, brown, or golden locks. 

When the young noblemen who belonged to the school of Timagetes filedpast him, he took such delight in the beauty of their heads, thewonderful symmetry of their limbs strengthened by athletic games, andthe supple grace of most of them, that he felt as if some magic spellhad carried him back to the golden age of Greece and the days of theOlympian games in the Altis. 

What could be keeping Melissa? This sight would assuredly please her, and for once he would be able to say something flattering about herpeople. One might easily overlook a good deal from such splendid youths. 

Carried away by his admiration he waved his scarf to them, which beingremarked by the gymnasiarch, who with his two assistants-herculeanathletes--walked in front, was answered by him with a loud "Hail, Caesar!"

The youths who followed him imitated his example, and the troop thatcame after them returned his greeting loud and heartily. The youngvoices could be heard from afar, and the news soon spread to the lastranks of the first division to whom these greetings were addressed. But, among the men who already were masters of households of their own, therewere many who deemed it shameful and unworthy to raise their voices ingreeting to the tyrant whose heavy hand had oppressed them more thanonce; and a group of young men belonging to the party of the "Greens, "who ran their own horses, had the fatal audacity to agree amongthemselves that they would leave Caesar's greeting unanswered. Amany-headed crowd is like a row of strings which sound together as soonas the note is struck to which they are all attuned; and so each one nowfelt sure that his acclamation would only increase the insolence of thisfratricide, this bloodstained monster, this oppressor and enemy of thecitizens. The succeeding ranks of "Greens" followed the example, andfrom the midst of a troop of young married men, members in the gymnasiumof the society of the Dioscuri, one foolhardy spirit had the recklesstemerity to blow a shrill, far-sounding whistle between his fingers. 

He found no imitators, but the insulting sound reached the emperor'sear, and seemed to him like the signal-call of Fate; for, before it haddied away, the clouds broke, and a stream of brilliant sunshine spreadover the race-course and the assembled multitude. The cloudy day thatwas to have brought happiness to Caesar had been suddenly transformed bythe sun of Africa into a bright one; and the radiant light which cheeredthe hearts of others seemed to him to be a message from above towarn him that, instead of the highest bliss, this day would bring himdisappointment and misfortune. He said nothing of this, for there wasno one there in whom it would be any relief to confide, or of whosesympathy he could be sure. But those who watched him as he retired fromthe window saw plainly that the idyl, which he had promised them shouldbegin to-day, would assuredly not do so for the next few hours at least, unless some miracle should occur. No, he would have to wait awhile forthe pastoral joys he had promised himself. And it seemed as if, insteadof the satyr-play of which old Julius Paulinus had spoken, that fatalwhistle had given the signal for another act in Caracalla's terriblelife-tragedy. 

The "friends" of the emperor looked at him anxiously as, with furrowedbrow, he asked, impatiently: "Macrinus not here yet?"

Theocritus and others who had looked with envy upon Melissa and herrelatives, and with distrust upon her union with the emperor, nowheartily wished the girl back again. 

But the prefect Macrinus came not; and while the emperor, having sentmessengers to fetch Melissa, turned with darkly boding brow to hisstation overlooking the brightly lighted race-course, still hopingthe augury would prove false, and the sunny day turn yet in his favor, Macrinus was in the full belief that the gate of greatness and power wasopening to him. Superstitious as the emperor himself and every oneelse of his time, he was to-day more firmly persuaded than ever of theexistence of men whose mysterious wisdom gave them powers to which evenhe must bend--the hard-headed man who had raised himself from the lowestto the highest station, next to the Caesar himself. 

In past nights the Magian Serapion had caused him to see and hear muchthat was incomprehensible. He believed in the powers exerted by thatremarkable man over spirits, and his ability to work miracles, for hehad proved in the most startling manner that he had perfect control evenover such a determined mind as that of the prefect. The evening before, the magician had bidden Macrinus come to him at the third hour aftersunrise of the next day, which he had unhesitatingly promised to do. But the emperor had risen later than usual this morning, and the prefectmight expect to be called to his master at any moment. In spite ofthis, and although his absence threatened to rouse Caesar to fury, and everything pointed to the necessity of his remaining within call, Macrinus, drawn by an irresistible craving, had followed the invitation, which sounded more like a command. This, indeed, had seemed to himdecisive; for, as the seer ruled over his stern spirit, albeit he wasalive, even so must the spirits of the departed do his bidding. Hisevery interest urged him now to believe in the prophecy made to himby Serapion, to-day for the third time, which foretold that he, theprefect, should mount the throne of the Caesars, clad in the purple ofCaracalla. But it was not alone to repeat this prophecy that the seerhad called Macrinus to him, but to inform him that the future empresswas betrothed to a young Alexandrian, and that the tender intercoursebetween the lovers had not been interrupted during Caracalla'scourtship. This had come to Serapion's ears yesterday afternoon, through his adroit assistant Kastor, and he had taken advantage of theinformation to prepare Caesar during the night for the faithlessness ofhis chosen bride. 

The Magian assured the prefect that what the spirit of the greatMacedonian had hinted at yesterday had since been confirmed by thedemons in his service. It would now be easy for Macrinus to possiblyhinder Melissa, who might have been all-powerful, from coming betweenhim and the great goal which the spirits had set before him. 

Serapion then repeated the prophecy, which came with such convincingpower from the bearded lips of the sage that the prudent statesman casthis last doubts from him, and, exclaiming, "I believe your words, and shall press forward now in spite of every danger!" he grasped theprophet's hand in farewell. 

Up to this point Macrinus, the son of a poor cobbler, who had haddifficulty in rearing his children at all, had received these propheticutterances with cool deliberation, and had ventured no step nearer tothe exalted aim which had been offered to his ambition. In all goodfaith he had done his best to perform the duties of his office as anobedient servant to his master and the state. This had all changed now, and, firmly resolved to risk the struggle for the purple, he returned tothe emperor's apartments. 

Macrinus had no reason to expect a favorable reception when he enteredthe tablinum, but his great purpose upheld his courage. He, the upstart, was well aware that Fortune requires her favorites to keep their eyesopen and their hands active. He therefore took care to obtain a fullaccount of what had happened from his confidential friend the senatorAntigonus, a soldier of mean birth, who had gained favor with Caesarby a daring piece of horsemanship. Antigonus closed his report withthe impudent whistle of the Greek athlete; he dwelt chiefly on hisastonishment at Melissa's absence. This gave food for thought to theprefect, too; but before entering the tablinum he was stopped by thefreedman Epagathos, who handed over to him a scroll which had beengiven to him for the emperor. The messenger had disappeared directlyafterward, and could not be overtaken. Might it not endanger the life ofthe reader by exhaling a poisonous perfume?

"Nothing is impossible here, " answered the prefect. "Ours it is to watchover the safety of our godlike master. "

This letter was that which Melissa had intrusted to the slave Argutisfor Caesar, and with unwarrantable boldness the prefect and Epagathosnow opened it and ran rapidly over its contents. They then agreed tokeep this strange missive from the emperor till Macrinus should sendto ask whether the youths were assembled in their full number on therace-course. They judged it necessary to prepare Caesar in some sort, toprevent a fresh attack of illness. 

Caracalla was standing near a pillar at the window whence he might seewithout being seen. That whistle still shrilled in his ears. But anotheridea occupied him so intensely that he had not yet thought of wiping outthe insult with blood. 

What could be delaying Melissa and her father and brother?

The painter ought to have joined the other Macedonian youths onthe race-course, and Caracalla was engaged in looking out for him, stretching forward every time he caught sight of some curly head thatrose above the others. 

There was a bitter taste in his mouth, and at every fresh disappointmenthis rebellious, tortured heart beat faster; and yet the idea thatMelissa might have dared to flee from him never entered his mind. 

The high-priest of Serapis had informed him that his wife had seennothing of her as yet. Then it suddenly occurred to him that she mighthave been wet through by the rain yesterday and now lay shaken byfever, and that this must keep her father away, too; a supposition whichcheered the egoist more than it pained him, and with a sigh of relief heturned once more to the window. 

How haughtily these boys carried their heads; their fleet, elastic feetskimmed over the ground; how daringly they showed off the strength anddexterity that almost seemed their birthright! This reminded him that, prematurely aged as he was by the wild excesses of his youngeryears, with his ill-set broken leg and his thin locks, he must makea lamentable contrast to these others of his own age; and he said tohimself that perhaps the whistle had come from the lips of one of thestrongest and handsomest, who had not considered him worth greeting. 

And yet he was not weaker than any single individual down there; aye, and if he chose he could crush them all together, as he would theglow-worm creeping on that window-sill. With one quick squeeze of hisfingers he put an end to the pretty little insect, and at that moment heheard voices behind him. 

Had his beloved come at last?

No, it was only the prefect. He should have been there long ago, ifhe were obedient to his sovereign's commands. Macrinus was therefore aconvenient object on which to vent his anger. How mean was the face ofthis long-legged upstart, with its small eyes, sharp nose, and furrowedbrow! Could the beautiful Diadumenianus really be his son? No matter!The boy, the apple of his father's eye, was in his power, and was asurety for the old man's loyalty. After all, Macrinus was a capable, serviceable officer, and easier to deal with than the Romans of the oldnoble families. 

Notwithstanding these considerations, Caracalla addressed the prefect asharshly as if he had been a disobedient slave, but Macrinus received theflood of abuse with patience and humility. When the emperor reproachedhim with never being at hand when he was wanted, he replied submissivelythat it was just because he found he could be of service to Caesar thathe had dared to absent himself. The refractory young brood down therewere being kept well in hand, and it was entirely owing to his effectualmeasures that they had contented themselves with that one whistle. Lateron it would be their duty to punish such audacity and high-treason withthe utmost rigor. 

The emperor gazed in astonishment at the counselor, who till now hadever advised him to use moderation, and only yesterday had begged him toascribe much to Alexandrian manners, which in Rome would have had tobe treated with severity. Had the insolence of these unruly citizens become unbearable even to this prudent, merciful man?

Yes, that must be it; and the grudge that Macrinus now showed againstthe Alexandrians hastened the pardon which Caesar silently accorded him. 

Caracalla even said to himself that he had underrated the prefect'sintellect, for his eyes flashed and glowed like fire, notwithstandingtheir smallness, and lending a force to his ignoble face which Caracallahad never noticed before. Had Caesar no premonition that in the lastfew hours this man had grown to be such another as himself?--for in hisunyielding mind the firm resolve had been strengthened to hesitate atnothing--not even at the death of as many as might come between him andhis high aim, the throne. 

Macrinus knew enough of human nature to observe the miserabledisquietude that had seized upon the emperor at his bride's continuedabsence, but he took good care not to refer to the subject. WhenCaracalla, however, could no longer conceal his anxiety, and asked afterher himself, the prefect gave the appointed sign to Epagathos, who thenhanded Melissa's freshly re-sealed letter to his master. 

"Let me open it, great Caesar, " entreated Macrinus. "Even Homer calledEgypt the land of poison. "

But the emperor did not heed him. No one had told him, and he had neverin his life received a letter in a woman's hand, except from hismother; and yet he knew that this delicate little roll had come from awoman--from Melissa. 

It was closed with a silken thread, and the seal with which Epagathoshad replaced the one they had broken. If Caracalla tore it open, thepapyrus and the writing might be damaged. He called impatiently fora knife, and the body physician, who had just entered with othercourtiers, handed him his. 

"Back again?" asked Caracalla as the physician drew the blade from itssheath. 

"At break of day, on somewhat unsteady legs, " was the jovial answer. Caracalla took the knife from him, cut the silk, hastily broke the seal, and began to read. 

Till now his hands had performed their office steadily, but suddenlythey began to tremble, and while he ran his eye over Melissa'srefusal--there were but a few lines-his knees shook, and a sharp, lowcry burst from him, like no sound that lies by nature in the throat ofman. Rent in two pieces, the strip of papyrus fluttered to the ground. 

The prefect caught the despot, who, seized with giddiness, stretched outhis hands as if seeking a support. The physician hurriedly brought outthe drug which Galenus had advised him to use in such cases, and whichhe always carried with him, and then, pointing to the letter, asked theprefect:

"In the name of all the gods, from whom?"

"From the gem-cutter's fair daughter, " replied Macrinus, with acontemptuous shrug. 

"From her?" cried the physician, indignantly. From that light Phryne, who kissed and embraced my rich host's son down there in his sick-room?

"At this the emperor, who had not lost consciousness for one moment, started as if stung by a serpent, and sprang at the physician's throatscreaming while he threatened to strangle him:

"What was that? What did you say? Cursed babbler! The truth, villain, and the whole truth, if you love your life!"

The half-choked man, ever prone to talking, had no reason for concealingfrom Caesar what he had seen with his own eyes, and had subsequentlyheard in the Serapeum and at the table of Polybius. 

When life was at stake a promise to a freedman could be of no account, so he gave free rein to his tongue, and answered the questions Caracallahoarsely put to him without reserve, and--being a man used to the waysof a court--with insinuations that were doubly welcome to a judge soeager for damning evidence. 

Yesterday, the day before, and the day before that--every day on whichMelissa had pretended to feel the mysterious ties that bound her heartto his, every day that she had feigned love and led him on to woo her, she had--as he now learned--granted to another what she had refused tohim with such stern discretion. Her prayer for him, the sympathyshe said she felt, the maidenly sensibility which had charmed him inher--all, all had been lies, deceit, sham, in order to attain anobject. And that old man and the brothers to serve whom she had dared toapproach him--they all knew the cruel game she was playing with him andhis heart's love. The lips that had lured him into the vilest trapwith lying words had kissed another. He seemed to hear the Alexandrianslaughing at the forsaken bridegroom, to see them pointing the fingerof derision at the man whom cunning woman had deceived even beforemarriage. What a feast for their ribald wit!

And yet--he would have willingly borne it all, and more, for thecertainty that she had really loved him once; that her heart had beenhis, if only for one short hour. 

On those shreds of papyrus scattered over the floor she confessed shewas not able to accede to his wishes, because she had already given herfaith to another before she ever saw Caracalla. It was true she had feltherself drawn to him as to no other but her betrothed; and had he beencontent to let her be near him as a faithful servant and sicknurse, thenindeed. .. In short, he was informed in so many words that every tiethat bound her to him must be broken in favor of another, and thehypocritical regret with which she sought to cover up the hard factsonly made him doubly indignant. 

Lies, lies--even in this letter nothing but lies and heartlessdissimulation!

How it stabbed his heart! But he possessed the power to wound her inreturn. Wild beasts should tear her fair body limb from limb, as she hadtorn his soul in this hour. 

One wish alone filled his heart--to see her whom he had loved above allothers, to whom he had revealed his inmost soul, for whose sake he hadamended his actions as he had never done for his own mother--to see herlying in the dust before him, and to inflict upon her such tortures asno mortal had ever endured before. And not only she, but all whom sheloved and who were her accomplices, should atone for the torment of thishour. The time of reckoning had come, and every evil instinct of hisnature mingled its exulting voice with the anguished cries of hisbleeding heart. 

The prefect knew his master well, and watched his every expression whileapparently listening to the voluble physician, but in reality absorbedin a train of thought. By the twitching of his eyelids, the sharplyoutlined red patches on his cheeks, the quivering nostrils, and the deepfurrows between his eyes, he must be revolving some frightful plan inhis mind. 

Yesterday, had he found him in this condition, Macrinus would haveendeavored by every means in his power to calm his wrath; but to-day, ifCaesar had set the world in flames, he would only have added fuel to thefire, for who could more surely upset the firmly established power ofthis emperor and son of emperors as Caracalla himself? The people ofRome had endured unimaginable sufferings at his hands; but the cup wasfull, and, judging from Caesar's looks, he would cause it to overflowthis day. Then the rising flood which tore the son of an idolized fatherfrom the throne, might possibly bear him, the child of lowliness andpoverty, into the palace. 

But Macrinus remained silent. No word from him should change the tenorof the emperor's thoughts. The plan he was thinking out must be allowedto ripen to its full horror. The lowering, uncertain glance thatCaracalla cast round the tablinum at the close of the physician'snarrative showed that the prefect's reticence was an unnecessaryprecaution. 

Caesar's mind and tongue still seemed paralyzed; but at that momentsomething occurred which recalled him to himself and brought firmness tohis wandering gaze. 

There was a sudden disturbance in the antechamber, with a confused soundof cries and shouting. Those friends of Caesar who wore swords drewthem, and Caracalla, who was unarmed, called to Antigonus to give himhis. 

"A revolt?" he asked Macrinus with flashing eyes, and as if he wishedthe answer to be in the affirmative; but the prefect had hastened tothe door with drawn sword. Before he reached it, it was thrown open, andJulius Asper, the legate, burst into the tablinum as if beside himself, crying: "Cursed den of murderers! An attempt on your life, great Caesar;but we have him fast!"

"Assassination!" interrupted Caracalla with furious joy. "That was theonly thing left undone! Bring the murderer! But first"--and he addressedhimself to Aristides--"close the city gates and the harbor. Not a man, not a ship must be let through without being searched. The vessels thathave weighed anchor since daybreak must be followed and brought back. Mounted Numidians under efficient officers must scour the high-roads assoon as the gate-keepers have been examined. Every house must be open toyour men, every temple, every refuge. Seize Heron, the gem-cutter, his daughter, and his two sons. Also--Diodoros is the young villain'sname?--him, his parents, and everybody connected with them! Thephysician knows where they are to be found. Alive, do you hear?--notdead! I will have them alive! I give you till midnight! Your head, ifyou let the jade and her brothers escape!"

With drooping head the unhappy officer departed. On the threshold he wasmet by Martialis, the praetorian centurion. After him, his hands boundbehind his back, walked the criminal. A deep flush overspread hishandsome face, his eyes glowed under the too lofty brow with the fiercelight of fever, his waving locks stood out in wild confusion round hishead, while the finely cut upper lip with its disdainful curl seemed thevery seat of scorn and bitterest contempt. Every feature wore that sameexpression, and not a trace of fear or regret. But his panting breastbetrayed to the physician's first glance that they had here to deal witha sick man in raging fever. 

They had already torn off his mantle and discovered beneath its foldsthe sharp-edged butcher's knife which plainly betrayed his intentions. He had penetrated to the first antechamber when a soldier of theGermanic body-guard laid hold on him. Martialis had him by the girdlenow, and the emperor looked sharply and mistrustfully at the praetorian, as he asked if it were he who had captured the assassin. 

The centurion replied that he had not. Ingiomarus, the German, hadnoticed the knife; he, Martialis, was here only in right of hisprivilege as a praetorian to bring such prisoners before great Caesar. 

Caracalla bent a searching gaze upon the soldier; for he thought herecognized in him the man who had aroused his envy and whose happinesshe had once greatly desired to damp, when against orders he had receivedhis wife and child in the camp. Recollections rose in his mind thatdrove the hot blood to his cheek, and he cried, disdainfully:

"I might have guessed it! What can be expected beyond the letter oftheir service from one who so neglects his duties? Did you not disportyourself with lewd women in the camp before my very eyes, setting atnaught the well-known rules? Hands off the prisoner! This is yourlast day as praetorian and in Alexandria. As soon as the harbor isopened--to-morrow, I expect--you go on board the ship that carriesreinforcements to Edessa. A winter on the Pontus will cool yourlascivious blood. "

This attack was so rapid and so unexpected to the somewhat dull-wittedcenturion, that he failed at first to grasp its full significance. Heonly understood that he was to be banished again from the loved oneshe had so long been deprived of. But when he recovered sufficiently toexcuse himself by declaring that it was his own wife and children whohad visited him, Caesar cut him short by commanding him to report hischange of service at once to the tribune of the legion. 

The centurion bowed in silence and obeyed. Caracalla then went up to theprisoner, and dragging him, weakly resisting, from the dark back groundof the room to the window, he asked with a sneer:

"And what are assassins like in Alexandria? Ah, ha! this is not the faceof a hired cut-throat! Only thus do they look whose sharp wit I willanswer with still sharper steel. "

"For that answer at least you are not wont to be at a loss, " camecontemptuously from the lips of the prisoner. 

The emperor winced as if he had been struck, and then exclaimed

"You may thank your bound hands that I do not instantly return you theanswer you seem to expect of me. "

Then turning to his courtiers, he asked if any of them could give himinformation as to the name and history of the assassin; but no oneappeared to know him. Even Timotheus, the priest of Serapis, who as headof the Museum had so often delighted in the piercing intellect of thisyouth, and had prophesied a great future for him, was silent, and lookedat him with troubled gaze. 

It was the prisoner himself who satisfied Caesar's curiosity. Glancinground the circle of courtiers, and casting a grateful look at hispriestly patron, he said:

"It would be asking too much of your Roman table-companions that theyshould know a philosopher. You may spare yourself the question, Caesar. I came here that you might make my acquaintance. My name is Philippus, and I am son to Heron, the gem-cutter. "

"Her brother!" screamed Caracalla, as he rushed at him, and thrustinghis hand into the neck of the sick youth's chiton--who already couldscarcely stand upon his feet--he shook him violently, crying, with ascoffing look at the high-priest:

"And is this the ornament of the Museum, the free-thinker, the profoundskeptic Philippus?"

He stopped suddenly, and his eyes flashed as if a new light had burstupon him; he dropped his hand from the prisoner's robe, and bending hishead close to the other, he whispered in his ear, "You have come fromMelissa?"

"Not from her, " the other answered quickly, the flush deepening on hisface, "but in the name of that most unhappy, most pitiable maiden, andas the representative of her noble Macedonian house, which you woulddefile with shame and infamy; in the name of the inhabitants of thiscity, whom you despoil and tread under foot; in the interests of thewhole world, which you disgrace!"

Trembling with fury Caracalla broke in:

"Who would choose you for their ambassador, miserable wretch?"

To which the philosopher replied with haughty calm:

"Think not so lightly of one who looks forward with longing to that ofwhich you have an abject fear. "

"Of death, do you mean?" asked Caracalla, sneering, for his wrath hadgiven place to astonishment. 

And Philip answered: "Yes, Death--with whom I have sworn friendship, and who should be ten times blessed to me if he would but atone for myclumsiness and rid the world of such a monster!"

The emperor, still spell-bound by the unheard-of audacity of the youthbefore him, now felt moved to keep step with the philosopher, whom fewcould equal in sharpness of wit; and, controlling the raging fury of hisblood, he cried, in a tone of superiority:

"So that is the boasted logic of the Museum? Death is your dearestdesire, and yet you would give it to your enemy?"

"Quite right, " replied Philip, his lip curling with scorn. "For thereis something which to the philosopher stands higher than logic. It is astranger to you, but you know it perhaps by name--it is called justice. "

These words, and the contemptuous tone in which they were spoken, burstthe flood-gates of Caracalla's painfully restrained passion; his voicerose harsh and loud, till the lion growled angrily and dragged at hischain, while his master flung hasty words of fury in the face of hisenemy:

"We shall soon see, my cunning fencer with words, whether I know how tofollow your advice, and how sternly I can exercise that virtue denied tome by an assassin. Will any one accuse me now of injustice if I punishthe accursed brood that has grown up in this den of iniquity with allthe rigor that it deserves? Yes, glare at me with those great, burningeyes! Alexandrian eyes, promising all and granting nothing--persuadinghim who trusts in them to believe in innocence and chastity, truthand affection. But let him look closer, and he finds nothing butdeep corruption, foul cunning, despicable self-seeking, and atrociousfaithlessness!

"And everything else in this city is like those eyes! Where are there somany gods and priests, where do they sacrifice so often, where do theyfast and apply themselves so assiduously to repentance and the cleansingof the soul? And yet, where does vice display itself so freely andso unchecked? This Alexandria--in her youth as dissolute as she wasfair--what is she now but an old hag? Now that she is toothless, nowthat wrinkles disfigure her face, she has turned pious, that, like thewolf in sheep's clothing, she may revenge herself by malice for the lossof joy and of the admiration of her lovers! I can find no more strikingcomparison than this; for, even as hags find a hideous pleasure inempty chatter and spiteful slanderings, so she, once so beautiful andrenowned, has sunk deeper and deeper in the mire, and can not endure tosee anything that has achieved greatness or glory without maliciouslybespattering it with poison. 

"Justice!--yes, I will exercise justice, oh, sublime and virtuous hero, going forth to murder--a dagger hidden in your bosom! I thank you forthat lesson!

"Pride of the Museum!--you lead me to the source whence all yourcorruption flows. It is that famous nursery of learning where you, too, were bred up. There, yes, there they cherish the heresy that makes thegods into puppets of straw, and the majesty of the throne into an owlfor pert and insignificant birds to peck at. Thence comes the doctrinethat teaches men and women to laugh at virtue and to break their word. There, where in other days noble minds, protected by the overshadowingfavor of princes, followed out great ideas, they now teach nothing butwords--empty, useless words. I saw and said that yesterday, and now Iknow it for certain--every poison shaft that your malice has aimed at mewas forged in the Museum. "

He paused for breath, and then continued, with a contemptuous laugh:

"If the justice which you rate higher than logic were to take itscourse, nothing would be juster than to make an end this day of thishot-bed of corruption. But your unlearned fellow-citizens shall tasteof my justice, too. You yourself will be prevented by the beasts in theCircus from looking on at the effect your warning words have produced. But as yet you are alive, and you shall hear what the experiences arewhich make the severest measures the highest justice. 

"What did I hope to find, and what have I really found? I heard theAlexandrians praised for their hospitality--for the ardor withwhich they pursue learning--for the great proficiency of theirastronomers--for the piety which has raised so many altars and inventedso many doctrines; and, lastly, for the beauty and fine wit of theirwomen. 

"And this hospitality! All that I have known of it is a flood ofmalicious abuse and knavish scoffing, which penetrated even to the gatesof this temple, my dwelling. I came here as emperor, and treason pursuedme wherever I went--even into my own apartments; for there you stand, whom a barbarian had to hinder from stabbing me with the knife of theassassin. And your learning? You have heard my opinion of the Museum. And the astrologers of this renowned observatory? The very opposite ofall they promised me has come to pass. 

"Religion? The people, of whom you know as little from the musty volumesof the Museum as of 'Ultima Thule'--the people indeed practice it. Theold gods are necessary to them. They are the bread of life to them. But instead of those you have offered them sour, unripe fruit, with aglittering rind-from your own garden, of your own growing. The fruit oftrees is a gift from Nature, and all that she brings forth has some goodin it; but what you offer to the world is hollow and poisonous. Yourrhetoric gives it an attractive exterior, and that, too, comes from theMuseum. There they are shrewd enough to create new gods, which start upout of the earth like mushrooms. If it should only occur to them, theywould raise murder to the dignity of god of gods, and you to be hishigh-priest. "

"That would be your office, " interposed the philosopher. 

"You shall see, " returned the emperor, laughing shrilly, "and thewitlings of the Museum with you! You use the knife; but hear the wordsof the master: The teeth of wild beasts and their claws are weapons notto be despised. Your father and brother, and she who taught me what tothink of the virtue and faith of Alexandrian women, shall tell you thisin Hades. Soon shall every one of those follow you thither who forgot, even by a glance of the eye, that I was Caesar and a guest of this city!After the next performance in the Circus the offenders shall tell youin the other world how I administer justice. No later than the day afterto-morrow, I imagine, you may meet there with several companions fromthe Museum. There will be enough to clap applause at the disputations!"Caracalla ended his vehement speech with a jeering laugh, and lookedround eagerly for applause from the "friends" for whose benefit his lastwords had been spoken; and it was offered so energetically as to drownthe philosopher's reply. 

But Caracalla heard it, and when the noise subsided he asked hiscondemned victim:

"What did you mean by your exclamation, 'And yet I would that deathmight spare me'?"

"In order, if that should come true, " returned the philosopher quickly, his voice trembling with indignation, "that I might be a witness of thegrim mockery with which the all-requiting gods will destroy you, theirdefender. "

"The gods!" laughed the emperor. "My respect for your logic grows lessand less. You, the skeptic, expect the deeds of a mortal man from thegods whose existence you deny!"

Then cried Philip, and his great eyes burning with hatred andindignation sought the emperor's: "Till this hour I was sure of nothing, and therefore uncertain of the existence of a god; but now I believefirmly that Nature, by whom everything is carried out according toeverlasting, immutable laws, and who casts out and destroys anythingthat threatens to bring discord into the harmonious workings of all herparts, would of her own accord bring forth a god, if there be not onealready, who should crush you, the destroyer of life and peace, in hisall-powerful hand!"

Here his wild outburst of indignation was brought to an abrupt close, for a furious blow from Caracalla's fist sent his enfeebled enemystaggering back against the wall near the window. 

Mad with rage, Caracalla shrieked hoarsely

"To the beasts with him! No, not to the beasts--to the torture! He andhis sister! The punishment I have bethought me of--scum of the earth--"

But the wild despair of the other, in whose breast hatred and feverburned with equal strength, now reached the highest pitch. Like a hunteddeer which stays its flight for a moment to find an outlet or to turnupon his pursuers, he gazed wildly round him, and before the emperorcould finish his threat; leaning against the pillar of the window as ifprepared to receive his death-blow, he interrupted Caracalla:

"If your dull wit can invent no death to satisfy your cruelty, theblood-hound Zminis can aid you. You are a worthy couple. Curses onyou!. .. 

"At him!" yelled the emperor to Macrinus and the legate, for nosubstitute had appeared for the centurion he had dismissed. 

But while the nobles advanced warily upon the madman, and Macrinuscalled to the Germanic body-guard in the anteroom, Philip had turnedlike lightning and disappeared through the window. 

The legates and Caesar came too late to hold him back, and from belowcame cries of: "Crushed!--dead!. .. What crime has he committed? Theycast him down!. .. He can not have done it himself. .. Impossible! . .. His arms are bound. .. . A new manner of death invented specially for theAlexandrians!"

Then another whistle sounded, and the shout, "Down with the tyrant!"

But no second cry followed. The place was too full of soldiers andlictors. 

"Caracalla heard it all. He turned back into the room, wiped theperspiration from his brow, and said in a voice of studied unconcern, yet with horrible harshness:

"He deserved his death-ten times over. However, I have to thank him fora good suggestion. I had forgotten the Egyptian Zminis. If he is stillalive, Macrinus, take him from his dungeon and bring him here. Butquickly--in a chariot! Let him come just as he is. I can make use of himnow. "

The prefect bowed assent, and by the rapidity with which he departed hebetrayed how willingly he carried out this order of his master's. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Scarcely had Macrinus closed the door behind him, when Caracalla threwhimself exhausted on the throne, and ordered wine to brought. 

The gloomy gaze he bent upon the ground was not affected this time. The physician noted with anxiety how his master's breast heaved and hiseyelids quivered; but when he offered Caesar a soothing potion, he wavedhim away, and commanded him to cease from troubling him. 

For all that, he listened a little later to the legate, who broughtthe news that the youths of the city assembled on the race-coursewere beginning to be impatient. They were singing and applaudingboisterously, and the songs they so loudly insisted on having repeatedwould certainly not contain matter flattering to the Romans. 

"Leave them alone, " answered Caesar, roughly. "Every line is aimed at meand no other. But the condemned are always allowed their favorite mealbefore the last journey. The food they love is venomous satire. Let themenjoy it to the full once more!--Is it far to Zminis's prison?"

The reply was in the negative; and as Caracalla exclaimed, "So much thebetter!" a significant smile played on his lips. 

The high-priest of Serapis had looked on in much distress of mind. He, as the head of the Museum, had set high hopes on the youth who hadcome to such a terrible end. If Caesar should carry his threats intoexecution, there would be an end to that celebrated home of learningwhich, in his opinion, bore such noble fruits of study. And what couldCaracalla mean by his dark saying that the sport and mockery of thoseyouths below was their last meal? The worst might indeed be expectedfrom the fearful tyrant who was at once so deeply wounded andso grievously offended; and the high-priest had already sentmessengers--Greeks of good credit--to warn the insurgent youths in thestadium. But, as the chief minister of the divinity, he also esteemed ithis duty, at any risk to himself, to warn the despot, whom he saw on theverge of being carried away to deeds of unparalleled horror. He thoughtthe time had come, when Caracalla looked up from the brooding reverieinto which he had again sunk, and with an ominous scowl asked Timotheuswhether his wife, under whose protection Melissa had been seen theday before, had known that the false-hearted girl had given herself toanother man while she feigned love for him. 

The high-priest repelled the suspicion with his usual dignity, and wenton to adjure Caesar not to visit on an industrious and dutiful communitythe sins of a light-minded girl's base folly and falsehood. 

But Caracalla would not suffer him to finish; he wrathfully inquired whohad given him a right to force his advice on Caesar. 

On this Timotheus replied, with calm dignity:

"Your own noble words, great Caesar, when, to your honor be it spoken, you reminded the misguided skeptic of the true meaning of the old godsand of what is due to them. The god whom I serve, great Caesar, issecond to none: the heavens are his head, the ocean is his body, andthe earth his feet; the sunshine is the light of his all-seeing eye, andeverything which stirs in the heart or brain of man is an emanation ofhis divine spirit. Thus he is the all-pervading soul of the universe, and a portion of that soul dwells in you, in me, in all of us. His poweris greater than any power on earth, and, though a well-grounded wrathand only too just indignation urge you to exert the power lent you byhim--"

"And I will exert it!" Caesar exclaimed with haughty rage. "It reachesfar. I need no help, not even that of your god!"

"That I know, " replied Timotheus. "And the god will let those fall intoyour hands who have sinned against your sacred majesty. Any punishment, even the severest, will be pleasing in his sight which you may inflicton those guilty of high-treason, for you wear the purple as his gift andin his name; those who insult you sin also against the god. I myself, with my small power, will help to bring the criminals to justice. Butwhen a whole population is accused, when it is beyond the power of humanjustice to separate the innocent from the guilty, punishment is theprerogative of the god. He will visit on this city the crimes it hascommitted against you; and I implore you, in the name of your noble andadmirable mother--whom it has been my privilege to entertain under thisroof, and who in gratitude for the favors of Serapis--"

"And have I grudged sacrifices?" Caesar broke in. "I have done my utmostto win the graces of your god--and with what success? Everything thatcan most aggrieve the heart of man has befallen me here under his eyes. I have as much reason to complain of him as to accuse the reprobatenatives of your city. He, no doubt, knows how to be avenged; thethree-headed monster at his feet does not look like a lap-dog. Why, hewould despise me if I should leave the punishment of the criminals tohis tender mercies! Nay, I can do that for myself. Though you have seenme in many cases show mercy, it has always been for my mother's sake. You have done well to remind me of her. That lady--she is, I know, avotary of your god. But to me the Alexandrians have dared to violatethe laws of hospitality; to her they were cordial hosts. I will rememberthat in their favor. And if many escape unpunished, I would have thetraitors to know that they owe it to the hospitality shown to my motherby their parents, or perhaps by themselves. "

He was here interrupted by the arrival of Aristides, who entered ingreat haste and apparently pleased excitement. His spies had seized amalefactor who had affixed an epigram of malignant purport to the statueof Julia Domna in the Caesareum. The writer was a pupil of the Museum, and had been taken in the stadium, where he was boasting of his exploit. A spy, mingling with the crowd, had laid hands on him, and the captainof the watch had forthwith hurried to the Serapeum to boast of a successwhich might confirm him in his yet uncertain position. The rough sketchof the lines had been found on the culprit, and Aristides held thetablets on which they were written while Caracalla listened to hisreport. Aristides was breathless with eagerness, and Caesar, snatchingthe tablets impatiently from his hand, read the following lines:

"Wanton, I say, is this dam of irreconcilable brothers!" "Mean youJocasta?" "Nay, worse--Julia, the wife of Severus. "

"The worst of all--but the last!" Caracalla snarled, as, turning pale, he laid the tablets down. But he almost instantly took them up again, and handing the malignant and lying effusion to the high-priest, heexclaimed, with a laugh:

"This seals the warrant! Here is my mother slandered, too! Now, the manwho sues for mercy condemns himself to death!" And, clinching his fist, he muttered, "And this, too, is from the Museum. "

Timotheus, meanwhile, had also read the lines. Even paler thanCaracalla, and fully aware that any further counsel would be thrownaway and only turn the emperor's wrath against himself, he expressed hisanger at this calumny directed against the noblest of women, and by aboy hardly free from school!

But Caracalla furiously broke in:

"And woe to you if your god refuses me the only thing I crave in returnfor so many sacrifices--revenge, complete and sanguinary; atonement fromgreat and small alike!" But he interrupted himself with the exclamation:"He grants it! Now for the tool I need. "

The tool was ready--Zminis, the Egyptian, answering in every particularto the image which Caracalla had had in his mind of the instrument whomight execute his most bloodthirsty purpose. 

With hair in disorder and a blue-black stubble of beard on his haggardyellow cheeks, in a dirty gray prison shirt, barefoot, and treading assilently as Fate when it creeps on a victim, the rascal approached hissovereign. He stood before Caracalla exactly as the prefect, in a swiftchariot, had brought him out of prison. The white of his long, narroweyes, which had so terrified Melissa, had turned yellow, and his glancewas as restless and shifting as that of a hyena. His small head on itslong neck was never for a moment still; the ruthless wretch had satwaiting day after day in expectation of death, and it was by a miraclethat he found himself once more at the height of his ambition. But whenat last he inquired of Caracalla, in the husky voice which had gained anadded hoarseness from the damp dungeon whence he had been brought, whathis commands were, looking up at him like a starving dog which hopes fora titbit from his master's hand, even the fratricide, who himself heldthe sword sharpened to kill, shuddered at the sight and sound. 

But Caesar at once recovered himself, and when he asked the Egyptian:

"Will you undertake to help me, as captain of the night-watch, to punishthe traitors of Alexandria?" the answer was confident:

"What man can do, I can do. "

"Good!" replied Caracalla. "But this is not a matter of merely capturingone or another. Every one--mark me--every one has merited death who hasbroken the laws of hospitality, that hospitality which this lying cityoffered me. Do you understand? Yes? Well, then, how are we to detect theguilty? Where are we to find spies and executioners enough? How canwe punish worst those whose wickedness has involved the rest in guilt, especially the epigramatists of the Museum? How are we to discover theringleaders of those who insulted me yesterday in the Circus, and ofthose among the youths in the stadium who have dared to express theirvile disapproval by whistling in my very face? What steps will you taketo hinder a single one from escaping? Consider. How is it to be done soeffectually that I may lie down and say 'They have had their deserts. Iam content'?"

The Egyptian's eyes wandered round the floor, but he presently drewhimself up and answered briefly and positively, as though he wereissuing an order to his men:

"Kill them all!"

Caracalla started, and repeated dully, "All?"

"All!" repeated Zminis, with a hideous grin. "The young ones are allthere, safe in the stadium. The men in the Museum fear nothing. Thosewho are in the streets can be cut down. Locked doors can be broken in. "

At this, Caesar, who had dropped on to his throne, started to hisfeet, flung the wine-cup he held across the room, laughed loudly, andexclaimed:

"You are the man for me! To work at once! This will be a day!--Macrinus, Theocritus, Antigonus, we need your troops. Send up the legates. Thosewho do not like the taste of blood, may sweeten it with plunder. "

He looked young again, as if relieved from some burden on his mind, andthe thought flashed through his brain whether revenge were not sweeterthan love. 

No one spoke. Even Theocritus, on whose lips a word of flattery orapplause was always ready, looked down in his dismay; but Caracalla, inhis frenzy of excitement, heeded nothing. 

The hideous suggestion of Zminis seemed to him worthy of his greatnessby its mere enormity. It must be carried out. Ever since he hadfirst donned the purple he had made it his aim to be feared. If thistremendous deed were done, he need never frown again at those whom hewished to terrify. 

And then, what a revenge! If Melissa should hear of it, what an effectit must have on her!

To work, then!

And he added in a gentler tone, as if he had a delightful surprise instore for some old friend:

"But silence, perfect silence--do you hear?--till all is ready. --You, Zminis, may begin on the pipers in the stadium and the chatterers in theMuseum. The prize for soldiers and lictors alike lies in the merchants'chests. "

Still no one spoke; and now he observed it. His scheme was too grand forthese feeble spirits. He must teach them to silence their conscienceand the voice of Roman rectitude; he must take on himself the wholeresponsibility of this deed, at which the timid quaked. So he drewhimself up to his full height, and, affecting not to see the hesitancyof his companions, he said, in a tone of cheerful confidence:

"Let each man do his part. All I ask of you is to carry out the sentenceI pronounce as a judge. You know the crime of the citizens of this town, and, by virtue of the power I exercise over life and death, be it knownto all that I, Caesar, condemn--mark the word, condemn--every free maleof Alexandria, of whatever age or rank, to die by the sword of a Romanwarrior! This is a conquered city, which has forfeited every claim toquarter. The blood and the treasure of the inhabitants are the prize ofmy soldiery. Only"--and he turned to Timotheus--"this house of your god, which has given me shelter, with the priests and the treasure of greatSerapis, are spared. Now it lies with each of you to show whether or nohe is faithful to me. All of you"--and he addressed his friends--"allwho do me service in avenging me for the audacious insults which havebeen offered to your sovereign, are assured of my imperial gratitude. "

This declaration was not without effect, and murmurs of applauserose from the "friends" and favorites, though less enthusiasticthan Caracalla was accustomed to hear. But the feebleness of thisdemonstration made him all the prouder of his own undaunted resolve. 

Macrinus was one of those who had most loudly approved him, andCaracalla rejoiced to think that this prudent counselor should advisehis drinking the cup of vengeance to the dregs. Intoxicated alreadybefore he had even sipped it, he called Macrinus and Zminis to his side, and with glowing looks impressed on them to take particular care thatMelissa, with her father, Alexander, and Diodoros were brought to himalive. 

"And remember, " he added, "there will be many weeping mothers here byto-morrow morning; but there is one I must see again, and that not as acorpse--that bedizened thing in red whom I saw in the Circus--I mean thewife of Seleukus, of the Kanopic way. "

CHAPTER XXXI. 

On the wide ascent leading to the Serapeum the praetorians stoodawaiting Caesar's commands. They had not yet formed in rank and file, but were grouped round the centurion Martialis, who had come totell them, sadly, of his removal to Edessa, and to take leave of hiscomrades. He gave his hand to each one of them in turn, and received akindly pressure in return; for the stubborn fellow, though not of thecleverest, had proved himself a good soldier, and to many of them atrusty friend. There was not one who did not regret his going from amongthem. But Caesar had spoken, and there was no gainsaying his orders. In the camp, after service, they might talk the matter over; for thepresent it were wise to guard their tongues. 

The centurion had just said farewell to the last of his cohort, whenthe prefect, with the legate Quintus Flavius Nobilior, who commanded thelegion, and several other higher officers, appeared among them. Macrinusgreeted them briefly, and, instead of having the tuba blown as usual andletting them fall into their ranks, he told them to gather close roundhim, the centurions in front. He then disclosed to them the emperor'ssecret orders. Caesar, he began, had long exercised patience andmercy, but the insolence and malice of the Alexandrians knew no bounds;therefore, in virtue of his power over life and death, he had pronouncedjudgment upon them. To them as being nearest to his person he handedover the most remunerative part of the work of punishment. Whomsoeverthey found on the Kanopic way, the greatest and richest thoroughfare ofthe city, they were to cut down as they would the rebellious inhabitantsof a conquered town. Only the women and children and the slaves were tobe spared. If for this task, a hideous one at best, they chose to paythemselves out of the treasures of the citizens, nobody would blamethem. 

A loud cheer followed these orders, and many an eye gleamed brighter. Even the coolest among them seemed to see a broad, deep pool of bloodinto which he need only dip his hand and bring out something worth thecatching. And the fish that were to be had there were not miserablecarp, but heavy gold and silver vessels, and coins and magnificentornaments. Macrinus then proceeded to inform the higher and lowerofficers of the course of action he had agreed upon with the emperor andZminis. Seven trumpet-blasts from the terrace of the Serapeum would givethe signal for the attack to begin. Then they were to advance, manipleon maniple; but they were not required to keep their ranks--each man hadhis own work to do. The legion was to assemble again at sunset at theGate of the Sun, at the eastern end of the road, after having swept itfrom end to end. 

By order of the emperor, each man, however, must be particularly carefulwhom he cut down in any hiding-place, for Caesar wished to give thefollowing Alexandrians--who had sinned most flagrantly against him--thebenefit of a trial, and they must therefore be taken alive. He thennamed the gem-cutter Heron, his son Alexander, and his daughter Melissa, the Alexandrian senator Polybius, his son Diodoros, and the wife ofSeleukus. 

He described them as well as he was able. For each one Caesar promiseda reward of three thousand drachmas, and for Heron's daughter twice asmuch, but only on condition of their being delivered up unhurt. Itwould therefore be to their own advantage to keep their eyes open inthe houses, and to be cautious. Whoever should take the daughter of thegem-cutter--and he described Melissa once more--would render a specialservice to Caesar and might reckon on promotion. 

The centurion Julius Martialis stayed to hear the end of this discourse, and then hurriedly departed. He felt just as he had done in the war withthe Alemanni when a red-haired German had dealt him a blow on the helmetwith his club. His head whirled and swam as it did then--only to-dayblood-red lights danced before his eyes instead of deep blue and gold. It was some time before he could collect his thoughts to any purpose;but when he did, he clinched his fists as he recalled Caesar's malignantcruelty in forcing him away from his family. 

Presently his large mouth widened into a satisfied smile. He was nolonger in that company, and need take no part in the horrid butchery. Inany other place he would no doubt have joined in it like the rest, gladof the rich booty; but here, in his own home, where his mother and wifeand child dwelt, it seemed a monstrous and accursed deed. Besides thegemcutter's family, in whom Martialis took no interest, Caesar seemed tohave a special grudge against the lady Berenike, whose husband Seleukushad been master to the centurion's father; nay, his own wife was stillin the service of the merchant. 

Not being skilled in any trade, he had entered the army early. AsEvocatus he had married the daughter of a free gardener of Seleukus, and when he was ordered to Rome to join the praetorians his wife hadobtained the post of superintendent of the merchant's villa at Kanopus. For this they had to thank the kindness of the lady Berenike and hernow dead daughter Korinna; and he was honestly grateful to the wife ofSeleukus, for, as his wife was established in the villa, he could leaveher without anxiety and go with the army wherever it was ordered. 

Having by this time reached the Kanopic street on his way to his family, he perceived the statues of Hermes and Demeter which stood on each sideof the entrance to the merchant's house, and his slow mind recapitulatedthe long list of benefits he had received from Seleukus and his wife; asecret voice urged upon him that it was his duty to warn them. 

He owed nothing to Caesar, that crafty butcher, who out of pure malicecould deprive an honest soldier of his only joy in life and cheat himof half his pay--for the praetorians had twice the wages of the othertroops; and if he only knew some handicraft, he would throw away hissword today. 

Here, at least, he could interfere with Caesar's ruthless schemes, besides doing his benefactors a good turn. He therefore entered thehouse of the merchant, instead of pursuing on his homeward way. 

He was well known, and the mistress of the house was at once apprised ofhis arrival. 

All the lower apartments were empty, the soldiers who had been quarteredin them having joined the others at the Serapeum. 

But what had happened to the exquisite garden in the impluvium? Whathideous traces showed where the soldiers had camped, and, drunk withtheir host's costly wine, had given free play to their reckless spirits!

The velvet lawn looked like a stable-floor; the rare shrubs had beendenuded of their flowers and branches. Blackened patches on the mosaicpavement showed where fires had been kindled; the colonnades were turnedinto drying-grounds for the soldiers' linen, and a rope on which hungsome newly washed clothes was wound at one end round the neck of aVenus from the hand of Praxiteles, and at the other round the lyre of anApollo fashioned in marble by Bryaxis. Some Indian shrubs, of which hisfather-in-law had been very proud, were trampled underfoot; and in thegreat banqueting-hall, which had served as sleeping-room for a hundredpraetorians, costly cushions and draperies were strewn, torn from thecouches and walls to make their beds more comfortable. 

Used to the sights of war as he was, the soldier ground his teeth withwrath at this scene. As long as he could remember, he had looked uponeverything here with reverence and awe; and to think that his comradeshad destroyed it all made his blood boil. 

As he approached the women's apartments he took fright. How was he todisclose to his mistress what threatened her?

But it must be done; so he followed the waiting-maid Johanna, who ledhim to her lady's livingroom. 

In it sat the Christian steward Johannes, with writing tablets andscrolls of papyrus, working in the service of his patroness. She herselfwas with the wounded Aurelius; and Martialis, on hearing this, begged tobe admitted to her. 

Berenike was in the act of renewing the wounded soldier's bandages, andwhen the centurion saw how cruelly disfigured was the handsome, bloomingface of the young tribune, to whom he was heartily attached, the tearsrose to his eyes. The matron observed it, and witnessed with muchsurprise the affectionate greeting between the young noble and the plainsoldier. 

The centurion greeted her respectfully; but it was not till Nernesianusasked him how it was that the troops had been called to arms at thishour, that Martialis plucked up courage and begged the lady of the houseto grant him an interview. 

But Berenike had still to wash and bandage the wounds of her patient--atask which she always performed herself and with the greatest care; shetherefore promised the soldier to be at his disposal in half an hour. 

"Then it will be too late!" burst from the lips of the centurion; thenshe knew, by his voice and the terror-stricken aspect of the man whomshe had known so long, that he meant to warn her, and there was but onefrom whom the danger could come. 

"Caesar?" she asked. "He is sending out his creatures to murder me?"

The imperious gaze of Berenike's large eyes so overpowered the simplesoldier as to render him speechless for a while. But Caesar hadthreatened his mistress's life--he must collect himself, and thus hemanaged to stammer:

"No, lady, no! He will not have you killed assuredly not! On thecontrary-they are to let you live when they cut down the others!"

"Cut down!" cried Apollinaris, raising himself up and staring horrifiedat this messenger of terror; but his brother laid his hand upon thecenturion's broad shoulder, and, shaking him vigorously, commanded himas his tribune to speak out. 

The soldier, ever accustomed to obey, and only too anxious that hiswarning should not come too late, disclosed in hurried words what he hadlearned from the prefect. The brothers interrupted him from time to timewith some exclamation of horror or disgust, but Berenike remained silenttill Martialis stopped with a deep breath. 

Then the lady gave a shrill laugh, and as the others looked at her inamazement she said coolly "You men will wade through blood and shamewith that reprobate, if he but orders you to do so. I am only a woman, and yet I will show him that there are limits even to his malignity. "

She remained for a few moments lost in thought, and then ordered thecenturion to go and find out where her husband was. 

Martialis obeyed at once, and no sooner was the door closed behind himthan she turned to the two brothers, and addressing herself first to oneand then to the other with equal vehemence, she cried "Who is right now?Of all the villains who have brought shame upon the throne and name ofmighty Caesar, this is the most dastardly. He has written plainly enoughupon Apollinaris's face how much he values a brave soldier, the son of anoble house. And you, Nemesianus--are you not also an Aurelius? You sayso; and yet, had he not chanced to let you care for your brother, youwould at this moment be wandering through the city like a mad dog, biting all who crossed your path. Why do you not speak? Why not tellme once more, Nemesianus, that a soldier must obey his commanderblindly?--And you, Apollinaris, will you dare still to assert thatthe hand with which Caesar tore your face was guided only by righteousindignation at an insult offered to an innocent maiden? Have you thecourage to excuse the murders by Caracalla of his own wife, and manyother noble women, by his anxiety for the safety of throne and state? I, too, am a woman, and may hold up my head with the best; but what have Ito do with the state or with the throne? My eye met his, and from thatmoment the fiend was my deadly enemy. A quick death at the hands of oneof his soldiers seemed too good for the woman he hated. Wild beasts wereto tear me to pieces before his eyes. Is that not sufficient for you?Put every abomination together, everything unworthy of an honorable manand abhorrent to the gods, and you have the man whom you so willinglyobey. I am only the wife of a citizen. But were I the widow of anoble Aurelian and your mother--" Here Apollinaris, whose wounds werebeginning to burn again, broke in: "She would have counseled us to leaverevenge to the gods. He is Caesar!"

"He is a villain!" shrieked the matron--"the curse, the shame ofhumanity, a damnable destroyer of peace and honor and life, such asthe world has never beheld before! To kill him would be to earn thegratitude and blessing of the universe. And you, the scions of a noblehouse, you, I say, prove that there still are men among so manyslaves! It is Rome herself who calls you through me--like her, a womanmaltreated and wounded to the heart's core--to bear arms in her servicetill she gives you the signal for making an end of the dastardly bloodhound!"

The brothers gazed at one another pale and speechless, till at lastNemesianus ventured to say "He deserves to die, we know, a thousanddeaths, but we are neither judges nor executioners. We can not do thework of the assassin. "

"No, lady, we can not, " added Apollinaris, and shook his wounded headenergetically. 

But the lady, nothing daunted, went on: "Who has ever called Brutus amurderer? You are young--Life lies before you. To plunge a sword intothe heart of this monster is a deed for which you are too good. But Iknow a hand that understands its work and would be ready to guide thesteel. Call it out at the right moment and be its guide!"

"And that hand?" Apollinaris asked in anxious expectation. 

"It is there, " replied Berenike, pointing to Martialis, who entered theroom at that moment. Again the brothers interchanged looks of doubt, butthe lady cried: "Consider for a moment! I would fain go hence with thecertainty that the one burning desire shall be fulfilled which stillwarms this frozen heart. "

She motioned to the centurion, left the apartment with him, and precededhim to her own room. Arrived there, she ordered the astonished freedmanJohannes, in his office as notary, to add a codicil to her will. Inthe event of her death, she left to Xanthe, the wife of the centurionMartialis, her lawful property the villa at Kanopus, with all itcontained, and the gardens appertaining to it, for the free use ofherself and her children. 

The soldier listened speechless with astonishment. This gift was worthtwenty houses in the city, and made its owner a rich man. But thetestator was scarcely ten years older than his Xanthe, and, as he kissedthe hem of his mistress's robe in grateful emotion, he cried: "Maythe gods reward you for your generosity; but we will pray and offer upsacrifices that it may be long before this comes into our hands!"

The lady shook her head with a bitter smile, and, drawing the soldieraside, she disclosed to him in rapid words her determination to quitthis life before the praetorians entered the house. She then informedthe horror-stricken man that she had chosen him to be her avenger. Tohim, too, the emperor had dealt a malicious blow. Let him remember that, when the time came to plunge the sword in the tyrant's heart. Shouldthis deed, however, cost Martialis his life--which he had risked in manya battle for miserable pay--her will would enable his widow to bring uptheir children in happiness and comfort. 

The centurion had thrown in a deprecatory word or two, but Berenikecontinued as if she had not heard him, till at last Martialis cried:

"You ask too much of me, lady. Caesar is hateful to me, but I am nolonger one of the praetorians, and am banished the country. How is itpossible that I should approach him? How dare I, a common man--"

The lady came closer to him, and whispered:

"You will perform this deed to which I have appointed you in the nameof all the just. We demand nothing from you but your sword. Greater menthan you--the two Aurelians--will guide it. At their word of commandyou will do the deed. When they give you the signal, brave Martialis, remember the unfortunate woman in Alexandria whose death you swore torevenge. As soon as the tribunes--"

But the centurion was suddenly transformed. "If the tribunes commandit, " he interrupted with decision, his dull eye flashing--"if theydemand it of me, I do it willingly. Tell them Martialis's sword isever at their service. It has made short work of stronger men than thatvicious stripling. "

Berenike gave the soldier her hand, thanked him hurriedly, and beggedhim, as he could pass unharmed through the city, to hasten to herhusband's counting-house by the water-side, to warn him and carry himher last greetings. 

With tears in his eyes Martialis did as she desired. When he had gone, the steward began to implore his mistress to conceal herself, andnot cast away God's gift of life so sinfully; but she turned from himresolutely though kindly, and repaired once more to the brothers' room. 

One glance at them disclosed to her that they had come to no definiteconclusion; but their hesitation vanished as soon as they heard that thecenturion was ready to draw his sword upon the emperor when theyshould give the signal; and Berenike breathed a sigh of relief at thisresolution, and clasped their hands in gratitude. 

They, too, implored her to conceal herself, but she merely answered:

"May your youth grow into happy old age! Life can offer me nothingmore, since my child was taken from me--But time presses--I welcome themurderers, now that I know that revenge will not sleep. "

"And your husband?" interposed Nemesianus. 

She answered with a bitter smile: "He? He has the gift of being easilyconsoled. --But what was that?"

Loud voices were audible outside the sick-room. Nemesianus stationedhimself in front of the lady, sword in hand. This protection, however, proved unnecessary, for, instead of the praetorians, Johanna entered theroom, supporting on her arm the half-sinking form of a young man in whomno one would have recognized the once beautifully curled and carefullydressed Alexander. A long caracalla covered his tall form; Dido theslave had cut off his hair, and he himself had disguised his featureswith streaks of paint. A large, broad-brimmed hat had slipped to theback of his head like a drunken man's, and covered a wound from whichthe red blood flowed down upon his neck. His whole aspect breathed painand horror, and Berenike, who took him for a hired cut-throat sent byCaracalla, retreated hastily from him till Johanna revealed his name. 

He nodded his head in confirmation, and then sank exhausted on his kneesbeside Apollinaris's couch and managed with great difficulty to stammerout: "I am searching for Philip. He went into the town-ill-out of hissenses. Did he not come to you?"

"No, " answered Berenike. "But what is this fresh blood? Has theslaughter begun?"

The wounded man nodded. Then he continued, with a groan: "In frontof the house of your neighbor Milon--the back of my head--I fled--alance--"

His voice failed him, and Berenike cried to the tribune: "Supporthim, Nemesianus! Look after him and tend him. He is the brother of themaiden--you know--If I know you, you will do all in your power for him, and keep him hidden here till all danger is over. "

"We will defend him with our lives!" cried Apollinaris, giving his handto the lady. 

But he withdrew it quickly, for from the impluvium arose the rattle ofarms, and loud, confused noise. 

Berenike threw up her head and lifted her hands as if in prayer. Herbosom heaved with her deep breath, the delicate nostrils quivered, andthe great eyes flashed with wrathful light. For a moment she stood thussilent, then let her arms fall, and cried to the tribunes:

"My curse be upon you if you forget what you owe to yourselves, to theRoman Empire, and to your dying friend. My blessing, if you hold fast towhat you have promised. "

She pressed their hands, and, turning to do the same to the artist, found that he had lost consciousness. Johanna and Nemesianus had removedhis hat and caracalla, to attend to his wound. 

A strange smile passed over the matron's stern features. Snatchingthe Gallic mantle from the Christian's hand, she threw it over her ownshoulders, exclaiming:

"How the ruffian will wonder when, instead of the living woman, theybring him a corpse wrapped in his barbarian's mantle!"

She pressed the hat upon her head, and from a corner of the room wherethe brothers' weapons stood, selected a hunting-spear. She asked if thisweapon might be recognized as belonging to them, and, on their answeringin the negative, said:

"My thanks, then, for this last gift!"

At the last moment she turned to the waiting-woman:

"Your brother will help you to burn Korinna's picture. No shameless gazeshall dishonor it again. " She tore her hand from that of the Christian, who, with hot tears, tried to hold her back; then, carrying her headproudly erect, she left them. 

The brothers gazed shudderingly after her. "And to know, " criedNemesianus, striking his forehead, "that our own comrades will slay her!Never were the swords of Rome so disgraced!"

"He shall pay for it!" replied the wounded man, gnashing his teeth. 

"Brother, we must avenge her!"

"Yes--her, and--may the gods hear me!--you too, Apollinaris, " swore theother, lifting his hand as for an oath. 

Loud screams, the clash of arms, and quick orders sounded from below andbroke in upon the tribune's vow. He was rushing to the window to drawback the curtain and look upon the horrid deed with his own eyes, when Apollinaris called him back, reminding him of their duty towardMelissa's brother, who was lost if the others discovered him here. 

Hereupon Nemesianus lifted the fainting youth in his strong arms andcarried him into the adjoining room, laying him upon the mat which hadserved their faithful old slave as a bed. He then covered him with hisown mantle, after hastily binding up the wound on his head and anotheron his shoulder. 

By the time the tribune returned to his brother the noise outside hadgrown considerably less, only pitiable cries of anguish mingled with theshouts of the soldiers. 

Nemesianus hastily pulled aside the curtain, letting such a flood ofblinding sunshine into the room that Apollinaris covered his woundedface with his hands and groaned aloud. 

"Sickening! Horrible! Unheard of!" cried his brother, beside himselfat the sight that met his eyes. "A battle-field! What do I say? Thepeaceful house of a Roman citizen turned into shambles. Fifteen, twenty, thirty bodies on the grass! And the sunshine plays as brightly on thepools of blood and the arms of the soldiers as if it rejoiced in itall. But there--Oh, brother! our Marcipor--there lies our dear oldMarci!--and beside him the basket of roses he had fetched for the ladyBerenike from the flower-market. There they be, steeped in blood, thered and white roses; and the bright sun looks down from heaven andlaughs upon it!"

He broke down into sobs, and then continued, gnashing his teeth withrage: "Apollo smiles upon it, but he sees it; and wait--wait but alittle longer, Tarautas! The god stretches out his hand already for theavenging bow! Has Berenike ventured among them? Near the fountain-howit flashes and glitters with the hues of Iris!--they are crowding roundsomething on the ground--Mayhap the body of Seleukus. No--the crowd isseparating. Eternal gods! It is she--it is the woman who tended you!"

"Dead?" asked the other. 

"She is lying on the ground with a spear in her bosom. Now thelegate-yes, it is Quintus Flavius Nobilior--bends over her and draws itout. Dead--dead! and slain by a man of our cohort!"

He clasped his hands before his face, while Apollinaris muttered curses, and the name of their faithful Marcipor, who had served their fatherbefore them, coupled with wild vows of vengeance. 

Nemesianus at length composed himself sufficiently to follow the courseof the horrible events going on below. 

"Now, " he went on, describing it to his brother, "now they aresurrounding Rufus. That merciless scoundrel must have done somethingabominable, that even goes beyond what his fellows can put up with. There they have caught a slave with a bundle in his hand, perhaps stolengoods. They will punish him with death, and are themselves no betterthan he. If you could only see how they come swarming from every sidewith their costly plunder! The magnificent golden jug set with jewels, out of which the lady Berenike poured the Byblos wine for you, is theretoo!--Are we still soldiers, or robbers and murderers?"

"If we are, " cried Apollinaris, "I know who has made us so. "

They were startled by the approaching rattle of arms in the corridor, and then a loud knock at the chamber-door. The next moment a soldier'shead appeared in the doorway, to be quickly withdrawn with theexclamation, "It is true--here lies Apollinaris!"

"One moment, " said a second deep voice, and over the threshold steppedthe legate of the legion, Quintus Flavius Nobilior, in all the panoplyof war, and saluted the brothers. 

Like them, he came of an old and honorable race, and was acting in placeof the prefect Macrinus, whose office in the state prevented him fromtaking the military command of that mighty corps, the praetorians. Twenty years older than the twins, and a companion-in-arms of theirfather, he had managed their rapid promotion. He was their faithfulfriend and patron, and Apollinaris's misfortune had disgusted him noless than the order in the execution of which he was now obliged to takepart. Having greeted the brothers affectionately, observed their painfulemotion, and heard their complaints over the murder of their slave, heshook his manly head, and pointing to the blood that dripped from hisboots and greaves, "Forgive me for thus defiling your apartments, " hesaid. "If we came from slaughtering men upon the field of battle, itcould only do honor to the soldier; but this is the blood of defenselesscitizens, and even women's gore is mixed with it. "

"I saw the body of the lady of this house, " said Nemesianus, gloomily. "She has tended my brother like a mother. "

"But, on the other hand, she was imprudent enough to draw down Caesar'sdispleasure upon her, " interposed the Flavian, shrugging his shoulders. "We were to bring her to him alive, but he had anything but friendlyintentions toward her; however, she spoiled his game. A wonderful woman!I have scarcely seen a man look death--and self-sought death--in theface like that! While the soldiers down there were massacring all whofell into their hands--those were the orders, and I looked on atthe butchery, for, rather than--well, you can imagine that foryourselves--through one of the doors there came a tall, extraordinaryfigure. The wide brim of a traveling hat concealed the features, and itwas wrapped in one of the emperor's fool's mantles. It hurried towardthe maniple of Sempronius, brandishing a javelin, and with a sonorousvoice reviling the soldiers till even my temper was roused. Here Icaught sight of a flowing robe beneath the caracalla, and, thehat having fallen back, a beautiful woman's face with large andfear-inspiring eyes. Then it suddenly flashed upon me that this grimdespiser of death, being a woman, was doubtless she whom we were tospare. I shouted this to my men; but--and at that moment I was heartilyashamed of my profession--it was too late. Tall Rufus pierced herthrough with his lance. Even in falling she preserved the dignity ofa queen, and when the men surrounded her she fixed each one separatelywith her wonderful eyes and spoke through the death-rattle in herthroat:

"'Shame upon men and soldiers who let themselves be hounded on like dogsto murder and dishonor!' Rufus raised his sword to make an end of her, but I caught his arm and knelt beside her, begging her to let me see toher wound. With that she seized the lance in her breast with bothhands, and with her last breath murmured, 'He desired to see the livingwoman--bring him my body, and my curse with it! Then with a last supremeeffort she buried the spear still deeper in her bosom; but it was notnecessary. 

"I gazed petrified at the high-bred, wrathful face, still beautifulin death, and the mysterious, wide-open eyes that must have flashedso proudly in life. It was enough to drive a man mad. Even after I hadclosed her eyes and spread the mantle over her--"

"What has been done with the body?" asked Apollinaris. 

"I caused it to be carried into the house and the door of thedeath-chamber carefully locked. But when I returned to the men. I had toprevent them from tearing Rufus to pieces for having lost them the largereward which Caesar had promised for the living prisoner. "

"And you, " cried Apollinaris, excitedly, "had to look on while our men, honest soldiers, plundered this house--which entertained many of us sohospitably--as if they had been a band of robbers! I saw them draggingout things which were used in our service only yesterday. "

"The emperor--his permission!" sighed Flavius. "You know how it is. Thelowest instincts of every nature come out at such a time as this, andthe sun shines upon it all. Many a poor wretch of yesterday will go tobed a wealthy man to-day. But, for all that, I believe much was hiddenfrom them. In the room of the mistress of the house whence I have justcome, a fire was still blazing in which a variety of objects had beenburned. The flames had destroyed a picture--a small painted fragmentbetrayed the fact. They perhaps possessed masterpieces of Apelles orZeuxis. This woman's hatred would lead her to destroy them rather thanlet them fall into the hands of her imperial enemy; and who can blameher?"

"It was her daughter's portrait, " said Nemesianus, unguardedly. 

The legate turned upon him in surprise. "Then she confided in you?" heasked. 

"Yes, " returned the tribune, "and we are proud to have been so honoredby her. Before she went to her death she took leave of us. We let hergo; for we at least could not bring ourselves to lay hands upon a noblelady. "

The officer looked sternly at him and exclaimed, angrily:

"Do you suppose, young upstart, that it was less painful to me and manyanother among us? Cursed be this day, that has soiled our weapons withthe blood of women and slaves, and may every drachma which I take fromthe plunder here bring ill-luck with it! Call the accident that has keptyou out of this despicable work a stroke of good fortune, but beware howyou look down upon those whose oath forces them to crush out everyhuman feeling from their hearts! The soldier who takes part with hiscommander's enemy--"

He was interrupted by the entrance of Johanna, the Christian, whosaluted the legate, and then stood confused and embarrassed by the sideof Apollinaris's bed. The furtive glance she cast first at the side-roomand then at Nemesianus did not pass unobserved by the quick eye of thecommander, and with soldierly firmness he insisted on knowing what wasconcealed behind that door. 

"An unfortunate man, " was Apollinaris's answer. 

"Seleukus, the master of this house?" asked Quintus Flavius, sternly. 

"No, " replied Nemesianus. "It is only a poor, wounded painter. Andyet--the praetorians will go through fire and water for you, if youdeliver up this man to them as their booty. But if you are what I holdyou to be--"

"The opinion of hot-headed boys is of as little consequence to me as thefavor of my subordinates, " interposed the commander. "Whatever my conscience tells me is right, I shall do. Quick, now! Who is in there?"

"The brother of the maiden for whose sake Caesar--" stammered thewounded man. 

"The maiden whom you have to thank for that disfigured face?" cried thelegate. "You are true Aurelians, you boys; and, though you may doubtwhether I am the man you take me for, I confess with pleasure that youare exactly as I would wish to have you. The praetorians have slain yourfriend and servant; I give you that man to make amends for it. "

With deep emotion Nemesianus seized his old friend's hands, andApollinaris spoke words of gratitude to him from his couch. The officerwould not listen to their thanks, and walked toward the door; butJohanna stood before him, and entreated him to allow the twins, whoseservant had been killed, to take another, from whom they need haveno fear of treachery. He had been captured in the impluvium by thepraetorians while trying, in the face of every danger, to enter thehouse where the painter lay, to whose father he had belonged for manyyears. He would be able to tend both Apollinaris and Melissa's brother, and make it possible to keep Alexander's hiding-place a secret. Thesoldiery would be certain to penetrate as far as this, and other liveswould be endangered if they should bear off the faithful servant andforce him on the rack to disclose where Melissa's father and relativeswere hidden. 

The legate promised to insure the freedom of Argutis. 

A few more words of thanks and farewell, and Quintus had fulfilled hismission to the Aurelians. Shortly afterward the tuba sounded to assemblethe plunderers still scattered about Seleukus's house, and Nemesianussaw the men marching in small companies into the great hall. They werefollowed by their armor-bearers, loaded with treasure of every kind;and three chariots, drawn by fine horses, belonging to Seleukus and hismurdered wife, conveyed such booty as was too heavy for men to carry. Inthe last of these stood the statue of Eros by Praxiteles. The glorioussunshine lighted up the smiling marble face; with the charm ofbewitching beauty he seemed to gaze at the lurid crimson pools on theground, and at the armed cohorts which marched in front to shed moreblood and rouse more hatred. 

As Nemesianus withdrew from the window, Argutis came into the room. Thelegate had released him; and when Johanna conducted the faithful fellowto Alexander's bedside, and he saw the youth lying pale and with closedeyes, as though death had claimed him for his prey, the old man droppedon his knees, sobbing loudly. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

While Alexander, well nursed by old Argutis and Johanna, lay in highfever, raving in his delirium of Agatha and his brother Philip, and still oftener calling for his sister, Melissa was alone in herhiding-place. It was spacious enough, indeed, for she was concealedin the rooms prepared to receive the Exoterics before the mysteries ofSerapis. A whole suite of apartments, sleeping-rooms and halls, weredevoted to their use, extending all across the building from east towest. Some of these were square, others round or polygonal, but mostof them much longer than they were wide. Painters and sculptors hadeverywhere covered the walls with pictures in color and in high relief, calculated to terrify or bewilder the uninitiated. The statues, of whichthere were many, bore strange symbols, the mosaic flooring was coveredwith images intended to excite the fancy and the fears of the beholder. 

When Melissa first entered her little sleeping room, darkness hadconcealed all this from her gaze. She had been only too glad to obey thematron's bidding and go to rest at once. Euryale had remained with hersome time, sitting on the edge of the bed to hear all that had happenedto the girl during the last few hours, and she had impressed on her howshe should conduct herself in case of her hiding-place being searched. 

When she presently bade her good-night, Melissa repeated what thewaiting-woman Johanna had told her of the life of Jesus Christ; but sheexpressed her interest in the person of the Redeemer in such a strangeand heathen fashion that Euryale only regretted that she could not atonce enlighten the exhausted girl. With a hearty kiss she left her torest, and Melissa was no sooner alone than sleep closed her weary youngeyes. 

It was near morning when she fell asleep; and when she awoke, accustomedas she was to early hours, she was startled to see how much of the daywas spent. So she rose hastily, and then perceived that the lady Euryalemust already have come to see her, for she found fresh milk by thebedside, and some rolls of manuscript which had not been there the daybefore. Her first thought was for her imperiled relatives--her father, her brothers, her lover--and she prayed for each, appealing first tothe manes of her mother, and then to mighty Serapis and kindly Isis, whowould surely hear her in these precincts dedicate to them. 

The danger of those she loved made her forget her own, and she vividlypictured to herself what might be happening to each, what each one mightbe doing to protect her and save her from the spies of the despot, whoby this time must have received her missive. Still, the doubt whetherhe might not, after all, be magnanimous and forgive her, rose again andagain to her mind, though everything led her to think it impossible. 

During her prayer and in her care for the others she had felt reasonablycalm; but at the first thought of Caesar a painful agitation tookpossession of her soul, and to overcome it she began an inspection ofher spacious hiding-place, where the lady Euryale had prepared her to beamazed. And, indeed, it was not merely strange, but it filled her heartand mind with astonishment and terror. Wherever she looked, mysticfigures puzzled her; and Melissa turned from a picture in relief ofbeheaded figures with their feet in the air, and a representation of thedamned stewing in great caldrons and fanning themselves with diabolicalirony, only to see a painting of a female form over whose writhing bodyboats were sailing, or a four-headed ram, or birds with human headsflying away with a mummified corpse. On the ceiling, too, there wasstrange imagery; and when she looked at the floor to rest her bewilderedfancy, her eyes fell on a troop of furies pursuing the wicked, or a poolof fire by which horrible monsters kept guard. 

And all these pictures were not stiff and formal like Egyptiandecorative art, but executed by Greek artists with such liveliness andtruth that they seemed about to speak; and Melissa could have fanciedmany times that they were moving toward her from the ceiling or thewalls. 

If she remained here long, she thought she must go out of her mind; andyet she was attracted, here by a huge furnace on whose metal floorlarge masses of fuel seemed to be, and there by a pool of water withcrocodiles, frogs, tortoises, and shells, wrought in mosaic. 

Besides these and other similar objects, her curiosity was aroused bysome large chests in which book-rolls, strange vessels, and an endlessvariety of raiment of every shape and size were stored, from the simplechiton of the common laborer to the star-embroidered talar of the adept. 

Her protectress had told her that the mystics who desired to be admittedto the highest grades here passed through fire and water, and had to gothrough many ceremonies in various costumes. She had also informed herthat the uninitiated who desired to enter these rooms had to open threedoors, each of which, as it was closed, gave rise to a violent ringing;so that she might not venture to get away from the room, into which, however, she could bar herself. If the danger were pressing, there was adoor, known only to the initiated, which led to the steps and out of thebuilding. Her sleeping-place, happily, was not far from a windowlooking to the west, so that she was able to refresh her brain after thebewildering impressions which had crowded on her in the inner rooms. 

The paved roadway dividing the Serapeum from the stadium was at firstfairly crowded; but the chariots, horsemen, and foot-passengers on whoseheads she looked down from her high window interested her as little asthe wide inclosure of the stadium, part of which lay within sight. 

A race, no doubt, was to be held there this morning, for slaves wereraking the sand smooth, and hanging flowers about a dais, which was nodoubt intended for Caesar. Was it to be her fate to see the dreadful manfrom the place where she was hiding from him? Her heart began to beatfaster, and at the same time questions crowded on her excited brain, each bringing with it fresh anxiety for those she loved, of whom, tillnow, she had been thinking with calm reassurance. 

Whither had Alexander fled?

Had her father and Philip succeeded in concealing themselves in thesculptor's work-room?

Could Diodoros have escaped in time to reach the harbor with Polybiusand Praxilla?

How had Argutis contrived that her letter should reach Caesar's handswithout too greatly imperiling himself?

She was quite unconscious of any guilt toward Caracalla. There had been, indeed, a strong and strange attraction which had drawn her to him; evennow she was glad to have been of service to him, and to have helped himto endure the sufferings laid upon him by a cruel fate. But she couldnever be his. Her heart belonged to another, and this she had confessedin a letter--perhaps, indeed, too late. If he had a heart really capableof love, and had set it on her, he would no doubt think it hard that heshould have bestowed his affections on a girl who was already plightedto another, even when she first appeared before him as a suppliant, though deeply moved by pity; still, he had certainly no right to condemnher conduct. And this was her firm conviction. 

If her refusal roused his ire--if her father's prophecy andPhilostratus's fears must be verified, that his rage would involve manyothers besides herself in ruin, then--But here her thought broke offwith a shudder. 

Then she recalled the hour when she had been ready and willing to behis, to sacrifice love and happiness only to soften his wild mood andprotect others from his unbridled rage. Yes, she might have been hiswife by this time, if he himself had not proved to her that she couldnever gain such power over him as would control his sudden fits of fury, or obtain mercy for any victim of his cruelty. The murder of Vindexand his nephew had been the death-blow of this hope. She best knew howseriously she had come to the determination to give up every selfishclaim to future happiness in order that she might avert from others thehorrors which threatened them; and now, when she knew the history of theDivine Lord of the Christians, she told herself that she had acted atthat moment in a manner well-pleasing to that sublime Teacher. Still, her strong common sense assured her that to sacrifice the dearest andfondest wish of her heart in vain would not have been right and good, but foolish. 

The evil deeds which Caracalla was now preparing to commit he would havedone even if she were at his side. Of what small worth would she haveseemed to him, and to herself!--When this tyranny should be overpast, when he should be gone to some other part of his immense empire, ifthose she loved were spared she could be happy--ah! so happy with theman to whom she had given her heart--as happy as she would have beenmiserable if she had become the victim to unceasing terrors as Caesar'swife. 

Euryale was right, and Fate, to which she had appealed, had decided wellfor her. That, the greatest conceivable sacrifice, would have been invain; for the sake of a ruthless tyrant's foul desire she would havebeen guilty of the basest breach of faith, have poisoned her lover'sheart and soul, and have wrecked his whole future life as well as herown. Away, then, with foolish doubts! Pythagoras was wise in warning heragainst torturing her heart. The die was cast. She and Caracalla mustgo on divergent roads, Her duty now was to fight for her own happinessagainst any who threatened it, and, above all, against the tyrant whohad compelled her, innocent as she was, to hide like a criminal. 

She was full of righteous wrath against the sanguinary persecutor, andholding her head high she went back into her sleeping-room to finishdressing. She moved more quickly than usual, for the bookrolls whichEuryale had laid by her bed while she was still asleep attracted her eyewith a suggestion of promise. Eager to know what their contents were, she took them up, drew a stool to the window, and tried to read. 

But many voices came up to her from outside, and when she looked downinto the road she saw troops of youths crowding into the stadium. Whatfine fellows they were, as they marched on, talking and singing; and shesaid to herself that Diodoros and Alexander were taller even than mostof these, and would have been handsome among the handsomest! She amusedherself for some time with watching them; but when the last man hadentered the stadium, and they had formed in companies, she again took upthe rolls. 

One contained the gospel of Matthew and the other that of Luke. 

The first, beginning with the genealogy, gave her a string of strange, barbarous names which did not attract her; so she took up the roll ofLuke, and his simple narrative style at once charmed her. There weredifficulties in it, no doubt, and she skipped sundry unintelligiblepassages, but the second chapter captivated her attention. It spoke ofthe birth of the great Teacher whom the Christians worshiped as theirGod. Angels had announced to the shepherds in the field that great joyshould come on the whole world, because the Saviour was born; andthis Saviour and Redeemer was no hero, no sage, but a child wrapped inswaddling-clothes and lying in a manger. 

At this she smiled, for she loved little children, and had long knownno greater pleasure than to play with them and help them. How manydelightful hours did she owe to the grandchildren of their neighborSkopas!

And this child, hailed at its birth by a choir of angels, had becomea God in whom many believed! and the words of the angels' chant were:"Glory to God on high, and on earth peace, good-will toward men!"

How great and good it sounded! With eager excitement she fastened therolls together, and on her features was depicted impatient longing toput an end to an intolerable state of things, as she exclaimed, thoughthere was no one but herself to hear: "Ay, peace, salvation, good-will!Not this hatred, this thirst for revenge, this blood, this persecution, and, as their hideous fruit, this terror, these horrible, cruel fears--"

Here she was interrupted by the clatter of arms and rapping of hammerswhich came up from below. Caesar's Macedonian guard and other infantrytroops were silently coming up in companies and vanishing into theside-doors which led to the upper tiers of the stadium. What could thismean? Meanwhile carpenters were busy fastening up the chief entrancewith wooden beams. It looked like closing up sluice-gates to hinder theinvasion of a high tide. But the stadium was already full of men. Shehad seen thousands of youths march in, and there they stood in closeranks in the arena below her. Besides these, there were now an immensenumber of soldiers. They must all get out again presently, and what acrush there would be in the side exits if the vomitorium were closed!She longed to call down, to warn the carpenters of the folly of theiract. Or was it that the youth of the town were to be pent into thestadium to hear some new and more severe decree, while some of the morerefractory were secured?

It must be so. What a shame!

Then came a few vexilla of Numidian troopers at a slow pace. At theirhead, on a particularly high horse, rode the legate, a very tall man. He glanced up to the side where she was, and Melissa recognized theEgyptian Zminis. At this her hand sought the place of her heart, for shefelt as though it had ceased to beat. What! This wretch, the deadlyfoe of her father and brother, here, at the head of the Roman troops?Something horrible, impossible, must be about to happen!

The sun was mirrored in the shining coat of his horse, and in thelictor's axe he bore, carrying it like a commander's staff. He raised itonce, twice, and, high as she was above him, she could see how sharp thecontrast was between the yellow whites of his eyes and the swarthy colorof his face. 

Now, for the third time, the bright steel of the axe flashed in thesunshine, and immediately after trumpet-calls sounded and were repeatedat short intervals, which still, to her, seemed intolerably long. HowMelissa had presence of mind enough to count them she knew not, but shedid. At the seventh all was still, and soon after a short blast on thetuba rang out from above, below, and from all sides of the stadium. Eachwent like an arrow to the heart of the anxious, breathless girl. Fromthe moment when she had seen Zminis she had expected the worst, but thecry of rage and despair from a thousand voices which now split herear told her how far the incredible reality outdid her most horribleimaginings. 

Breathless, and with a throbbing brain, she leaned out as far as shecould, and neither felt the burning sun-which was now beginning to fallon the western face of the temple--nor heeded the risk of being seen andinvolving herself and her protectress in ruin. Trembling like a gazellein a frosty winter's night, she would gladly have withdrawn from thewindow, but she felt as if some spell held her there. She longed to shuther ears and eyes, but she could not help looking on. Her every instinctprompted her to shriek for help, but she could not utter a sound. 

There she stood, seeing and hearing, and her low moaning changed to thatlaughter which anguish borrows from gladness when it has exhausted allforms of expression. At last she sank on her knees on the floor, andwhile she shed tears of pain still laughed shrilly, till she understoodwith sudden horror what was happening. She started violently; a sobconvulsed her bosom; she wept and wept, and these tears did her good. 

When, at one in the afternoon, the sun fell full on her window, shehad not yet found strength to move. A flood of bright light, in whichwhirled millions of motes, danced before her eyes; and as her breathsent the atoms flying, it passed through her mind that at this verymoment the reprobate utterance of a madman's lips was blowing happiness, joy, peace, and hope out of the lives of many thousands--blowing theminto nothingness, like the blast of a storm. 

Then she commanded herself, for the horrible scene before her threatenedto stamp itself on her eye like the image her father could engrave onan onyx; and she must avoid that, or give up all hope of ever beinglight-hearted again. Hardly an hour since she had seen the arena lookinglike a basket of fresh flowers, full of splendid, youthful men. Then thewarriors of the Macedonian phalanx had taken their places on thelong ranks of seats on which she looked down, with several cohortsof archers, brown Numidians and black Ethiopians, like inquisitivespectators of the expected show--but all in full armor. At firstthe youths and men had formed in companies, with singing, talk, andlaughter, and here and there a satirical chant; but presently therehad been squabbles with the town-watch, and while the younger and morecareless still were gay enough, whole companies on the other hand hadlooked up indignantly at the Romans; some had anxiously questioned eachother's eyes, or stared down in sullen dismay at the sand. 

The hot, seething blood of these men--the sons of a free city, and accustomed to a life of rapid action in hard work and frenziedenjoyment--took the delay very much amiss; and when it was rumored thatthe doors were being locked, impatience and distrust found emphaticutterance. Timid whistling and other expressions of disapproval had beenfollowed by louder demonstrations, for to be locked up was intolerable. But the lictors and guards took no notice, after removing the member ofthe Museum who had perpetrated the epigram on Caesar's mother. This one, who had certainly gone too far, was to pay for all, it would seem. 

Then the trumpets sounded, and the most heedless of the troop of youthsbegan to feel acute anxiety and alarm. From her high post of observationMelissa could see that, although the appearance of Zminis on the scenehad caused a fever of agitation, they now broke their serried squares, wandered about as if undecided what to do, but prepared for the worst, and turned their curly heads now to this side and now to that, till thetrumpetblast from the seats attracted every eye upward, and the butcherybegan. 

Did the cry, "Stop, wretches!" really break from Melissa's lips, or hadshe only intended to shout it down to the people in the stadium? She didnot know; but as she recollected the long rank of Numidians who, quickas lightning, lifted their curved bows and sent a shower of arrows downon the defenseless lads in the arena, she felt as though she had againshrieked out: "Stop!" Then it seemed as though a storm of wind had tornthousands of straight boughs with metallic leaves that flashed in thesunshine from some huge invisible tree, and flung them into the arena;and, as her eve followed their fall, she could have fancied that shelooked on a corn-field beaten down by a terrific hail-storm; but theboughs and leaves were lances and arrows, and each ear of corn cut downwas a young and promising human being. 

Zminis's preposterous suggestion had been acted on. Caracalla wasavenged on the youth of Alexandria. 

Not a tongue could wag now in abuse; every pair of young lips whichhad dared utter a scornful cry or purse up to whistle at the sight ofCaesar, was silenced forever-and, with the few guilty, a hundred timesmore who were innocent. She knew now why the great gate had been barredwith beams, and why the troop had entered by the side-doors. The sceneof the brilliant display had become a lake of blood, full of the deadand dying. Death had invaded the rows of seats; instead of laurelwreaths and prizes, deadly weapons were showered down into the arena. It seemed now as though the sun, with its blinding radiance, weremercifully fain to hinder the human eye from looking down on thehorrible picture. To avoid the sickening sight. Melissa closed her eyesand dragged herself to her feet with an effort, to hide herself she knewnot where. 

But again there was a flourish of trumpets and loud acclamations, andagain an irresistible power dragged her to the window. 

A splendid quadriga had stopped at the gate of the stadium, surroundedby courtiers and guards. It was Caracalla's, for Pandion held the reins. Could Caracalla approve of this most horrible crime, organized by thewretch Zminis, by appearing on the scene; or might it not be that, inhis wrath at the bloodthirsty zeal of his vile tool, he had come todismiss him?

She hoped it was this; and, at any cost, she must know the truth as tothis question, which was not based on mere curiosity. Holding one handto her wildly beating heart, she looked across the bloodstained arenato the rows of seats and the dais decorated for Caesar. There stoodCaracalla, with the Egyptian at his side, pointing down at the arenawith his finger. And what was to be seen on the spot he indicated wasso horrible that she again shut her eyes, and this time she even coveredthem with her hands. But she would and must see, and once more shelooked across; and the man whose assurances she had once believed, thatit was only his care for the throne and state and the compulsion ofcruel fate which had ever made him shed blood--that man was standingside by side with the vile, ruthless spy whose tall figure towered farabove his master's. His hand lay on the villain's arm, his eye rested onthe corpse-strewn arena beneath; and now he raised his head, he turnedhis face, whose look of suffering had once moved her soul, towardher--and he laughed--she could see every feature--laughed so loud, so heartily, so gleefully, as she had never before seen him laugh. Helaughed till his whole body and shoulders shook. Now he took his handfrom the Egyptian's arm and pointed to the dead lying at his feet. 

As she saw that laugh, of which she could not hear a sound, Melissafelt as though a hyena had yelled in her ear, and, yielding to anirresistible impulse, she looked down once more at the destruction ofyouthful life and happiness which had been wrought in one short hour--atthe stream of blood after which so many bitter tears must flow. Thesight indeed cut her to the heart, and yet she was thankful for it; forthe first time the reckless cruelty of that laughing monster was evidentin all its naked atrocity. Horror, aversion, loathing for that man towhom everything but power, cruelty, and cunning, was as nothing, leftno room for fear or pity, or even the least shade of self-reproach forhaving aroused in him a desire which she could not gratify. 

She clenched her little fists, and, without vouchsafing another glanceat the detestable butcher who had dared to cast his eyes on her, shewithdrew from the window and cried out aloud, though startled at thesound of her own voice: "The time, the time! It is fulfilled for himthis day!"

And how her eyes flashed and her bosom heaved and fell! With what afirm step did she pace the long suite of rooms, while the conviction wasborne in on her that this deed of the vile assassin in the purple mustbring the day of salvation and peace nearer--that day of which Andreasdreamed! As in her silent walk she passed the book-rolls which the ladyEuryale had so quietly laid by her bedside, she took up the glad messageof Luke with enthusiastic excitement, held it on high, and shouted theangels' greeting which had impressed itself on her memory out of thewindow, as though she longed that Caracalla should hear it--"Peace onearth and good-will toward men!"

Then she resumed her walk through the rooms of the heathen mystics, repeating to herself all the comfortable words she had ever heard fromEuryale and the freedman Andreas. The image of the divine Lord, whohad come to bestow love on the world, and seal his sublime doctrineby sacrificing his life, rose up before her soul, and all that theChristian Johanna had told her of him made the picture clear, till hestood plainly before her, beautiful and gentle, in a halo of love andkindness, and yet strong and noble, for the crucified One was a heroicSaviour. 

At this she remembered with satisfaction the struggle she herselfhad fought, and her comfort when she had decided to sacrifice her ownhappiness to save others from sorrow. She now resolutely grasped thelady Euryale's book-rolls, for they contained the key to the innerchambers of the wondrous structure into whose forecourt life itself andher own intimate experience had led her. She was soon sitting with herback to the window, and unrolled the gospel of Matthew till she came tothe first sentence which Euryale had marked for her with a red line. 

Melissa was too restless to read straight on; as impatient as a childwho finds itself for the first time in a garden which its parents havebought, she rushed from one tempting passage to another, applyingeach to herself, to those whom she loved, or in another sense to thedisturber of her peace. 

With a joyful heart she now believed the promise which at first hadstaggered her, that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. 

But her eye ran swiftly over the open roll, and was attracted by amark drawing her attention to a whole chapter. She there read how JesusChrist had gone up on to a mountain to address the vast multitude whofollowed him. He spoke of the kingdom of heaven, and of who those werethat should be suffered to enter there. First, they were the poor inspirit--and she no doubt was one of those. Among those who were rich inspirit her brother Philip was certainly one of the richest, and whitherhad an acute understanding and restless brain led him that they soseldom gave his feelings time to make themselves heard?

Then the mourners were to be comforted. Oh, that she could have calledthe lady Berenike to her side and bid her participate in this promise!And the meek--well, they might come to power perhaps after the downfallof the wretch who had flooded the world with blood, and who, of all menon earth, was the farthest removed from the spirit which gazed at herfrom this scripture, so mild and genial. Of those who hungered andthirsted after righteousness she again was one: they should be filled, and the lady Euryale and Andreas had already loaded the board for her. 

The merciful, she read, should obtain mercy; and she, if any one, hada right to regard herself as a peacemaker: thus to her was the promisethat she should be called one of the children of God. 

But at the next verse she drew herself up, and her face was radiant withjoy, for it seemed to have been written expressly for her; nay, to findit here struck her as a marvel of good fortune, for there stood thewords: "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake:for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shallrevile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil againstyou. "

All these things had come upon her in these last days-though not, indeed, for the sake of Jesus Christ and righteousness, but only forthe sake of those she loved; yet she would have been ready to endure theworst. 

And the hapless victims in the arena! Might not the promised bliss awaitthem too? Oh, how gladly would she have bestowed on them the fairestreward! And if this should indeed be their lot after death, where wasthe revenge of their bloodthirsty murderer?

Oh, that her mother were still alive--that she, Melissa, had beenpermitted to share this great consolation with her! In a briefaspiration she uplifted her soul to the beloved dead, and as she furtherunrolled the manuscript her eye fell on the words: "Love your enemies;bless them that curse you, and do good to them that hate you. " No, she could not do this; this seemed to her to be too much to ask; evenAndreas had not attained to this; and yet it must be good and lovely, if only because it helped to cement the peace for which she longed morefervently than for any other blessing. 

Next she read: "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, "and she shuddered as she thought of the future fate of the man who hadby treachery brought murder and death on an industrious and flourishingcity as a punishment for the light words and jests of a few mockers, andthe disappointment he had suffered from an insignificant girl. 

But then, again, she breathed more freely, for she read: "Ask, and itshall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall beopened. " Could there be a more precious promise? And to her, she felt, it was already fulfilled; for her trembling finger had, as it were, butjust touched the door, and, to! it stood open before her, and that whichshe had so long sought she had now found. But it was quite natural thatit should be so, for the God of the Christians loved those who turned tohim as His own children. Here it was written why those who asked shouldreceive, and those who sought should find: "For what man is there of youwhom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?"

If it were only as a peacemaker, she was already a child of Him who hadasked this, and she might look for none but good gifts from Him. Andwhat was commanded immediately after seemed to her so simple, so easyto obey, and yet so wise. She thought it over a little, and saw thatin this precept--of which it was said that it was all the law and theprophets--there was in fact a rule which, if it were obeyed, mustkeep all mankind guiltless, and make every one happy. These words, shethought, should be written over every door and on every heart, as thewinged sun was placed over every Egyptian temple gate, so that no oneshould ever forget them for an instant. She herself would bear them inmind, and she repeated them to herself in an undertone, "Whatsoeverye would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them. " Her eyewandered to the window and out to the stadium. How happy might the worldbe under a sovereign who should obey that law! And Caracalla?--No, shewould not allow the contentment which filled her to be troubled by athought of him. 

With a hasty gesture she placed the ivory rod which she had found inthe middle of the roll so as to flatten it out, and her eye fell on thewords, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and Iwill give you rest. " To her, if to any one, was this glorious biddingaddressed, for few had a heavier burden to bear. But indeed she alreadyfelt it lighter, after the terrors she had gone through on the veryverge of despair; and now, even though she was still surrounded bydangers, she was far from feeling oppressed or terrified. Now her heartbeat higher with hopeful gladness, and she was full of fervent gratitudeas she told herself with lively and confident assurance that she hadfound a new guide, and, holding His loving and powerful hand, could walkin the way in safety. She felt as though some beloved hand had given hera vial of precious medicine that would cure every disease, when she hadlearned this verse, too, by heart. She would never forget the friendlypromise and invitation that lay in those words. And to Alexander, at least--poor, conscience-stricken Alexander--they might bring somecomfort, if not to her father and Philip, since the call of the Son ofGod was addressed to him too. And she looked as happy as though she hadheard something to rejoice her heart and soul. Her red lips parted oncemore, showing the two white teeth which were never to be seen but whenshe smiled and some real happiness stirred her soul. 

She fancied she was alone, but, even while she was reading the wordsin which the Saviour called to him the weary and heavy-laden, thelady Euryale had noiselessly opened a secret door leading to Melissa'shiding-place, known only to herself and her husband, and had come closeto her. She now stood watching the girl with surprise and astonishment, for she had expected to find her beside herself, desperate, and morethan ever needing comfort and soothing. The unhappy girl must have beendrawn to the window by the cries of the massacred, and at least haveglanced at the revolting scene in the stadium. She would have thoughtit more natural if she had found Melissa overcome by the horrors she hadwitnessed, half distraught or paralyzed by distress and rage. And theresat the young creature, whom she knew to be soft-hearted and gentle, smiling and with beaming eyes--though those eyes must have rested on themost hideous spectacle--looking as though the roll in her lap were thefirst enchanting raptures of a lover. The book lying on Melissa's kneeswas the gospel of Matthew, which she herself early this morning, whilethe girl was still sleeping, had laid by her side to comfort her andgive her some insight into the blessings of Christianity. But thesescriptures, so sacred to Euryale, had seemed to count for less thannothing to this heathen girl, the sister of Philip the skeptic. 

Euryale loved Melissa, but far dearer to her was the book to whoseall-important contents the maiden seemed to have closed her heart incoldness. 

It was for Melissa's sake that, when the high-priest's dwelling wassearched by the new magistrate's spies from cellar to garret, she hadpatiently submitted to her husband's hard words. She had liked to thinkthat she might bring this girl as a pure white lamb into the fold of theGood Shepherd, who to herself was so dear, and through whom her saddenedlife had found new charm, her broken heart new joys. A few hours sinceshe had assured her friend Origen that she had found a young Greek whowould prove to him that a heathen who had gone through the school ofsuffering with a pure and compassionate heart needed but a sign, a wordof flame, to recognize at once the beatitude of Christianity and longto be baptized. And here she discovered the maiden of whom she had suchfair hopes, with a smile on her lips and beaming looks, while so manyinnocent men were being slaughtered, as though this were a joy to her!

What had become of the girl's soft, tender heart, which but yesterdayhad been ready for self-sacrifice if only she might secure thewell-being of those she loved? Was she, Euryale, in her dotage, that shecould be so deceived by a child?

Her heart beat faster with disappointment; and yet she would not condemnthe sinner unheard. So, with a swift impulse she took the roll up fromMelissa's lap, and her voice was sorrowful rather than severe as sheexclaimed:

"I had hoped, my child, that these scriptures might prove to you, as toso many before you, a key to open the gates of eternal truth. I thoughtthat they would comfort you, and teach you to love the sublime Beingwhose exemplary life and pathetic death are no longer unknown toyou, since Johanna told you the tale. Nay, I believed that they mightpresently arouse in you the desire to join us who--"

But here she stopped, for Melissa had fallen on her neck, and whileEuryale, much amazed, tried to release herself from her embrace, thegirl cried out, half laughing and half in tears:

"It has all come about as you expected! I will live and die faithfulto that sublime Saviour, whom I love. I am one of you--yes, mother, now--even before the baptism I long for. For I was weary and heavy-ladenabove any, and the word of the Lord hath refreshed me. This book hastaught me that there is but one path to true happiness, and it is thatwhich is shown us by Jesus Christ. O lady, how much fairer would ourlife on earth be if what is written here concerning blessedness werestamped on every heart! I feel as though in this hour I had been bornagain. I do not know myself; and how is it possible that a poor child ofman, in such fearful straits and peril as I, and after such a scene ofhorror, should feel so thankful and so full of the purest gladness?"

The matron clasped her closely in her arms, and her tears bedewed thegirl's face while she kissed her again and again; and the cheerfulnesswhich had just now hurt her so deeply she now regarded as a beautifulmiracle. 

Her time was limited, for she was watched; and she had seized thehalf-hour during which the townguard had been mustered in the square toreport progress. So Melissa had to be brief, and in a few hasty wordsshe told her friend all that she had seen and heard from her highwindow, and how the gospel of Matthew had been to her glad tidings; howit had given her comfort and filled her soul with infinite happiness inthis the most terrible hour of her life. At this, Euryale also forgotthe horrors which surrounded them, till Melissa called her back to thedreadful present; for, with bowed head and in deep anxiety, she desiredto know whether her friend knew anything of her relations and Diodoros. 

The matron had a painful struggle with herself. It grieved her toinflict anxiety on Melissa's heart, as she stood before her eyes likeone of the maidens robed in white and going to be baptized, to whompresents were given on the festive occasion, and who were carefullysheltered from all that could disturb them and destroy the silent, holyjoy of their souls. And yet the question must be answered: so she saidthat of the other two she knew nothing, any more than of Berenike andDiodoros, but that of Philip she had bad news. He was a noble man, and, notwithstanding his errors in the search after truth, well worthyof pity. At this, Melissa in great alarm begged to be told what hadhappened to her brother, and the lady Euryale confessed that he nolonger walked among the living, but she did not relate the manner of hisdeath; and she bade the weeping girl to seek for comfort from the Friendof all who grieve and whom she now knew; but to keep herself preparedfor the worst, in full assurance that none are tried beyond what theyare able to bear, for that the fury of the bloodthirsty tyrant hung likea black cloud over Alexandria and its inhabitants. She herself, merelyby coming to Melissa, exposed herself to great danger, and she could notsee her again till the morrow. To Melissa's inquiry as to whether itwas her refusal to be his which had brought such a fearful fate on theinnocent youth of Alexandria, Euryale could reply in the negative; forshe had heard from her husband that it was a foul epigram written by apupil of the Museum which had led to Caesar's outbreak of rage. 

With a few soothing words she pointed to a basket of food which shehad brought with her, showed the girl once more the secret door, andembraced her at parting as fondly as though Heaven had restored to herin Melissa the daughter she had lost. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Melissa was once more alone. 

She now knew that Philip walked no longer among the living. He musthave fallen a victim to the fury of the monster, but the thought that hemight have been slain for her sake left her mind no peace. 

She felt that with the death of this youth--so gifted, and so dear toher--a corner-stone had been torn from the paternal house. 

In the loving circle that surrounded her, death had made another gapwhich yawned before her, dismal and void. 

One storm more, and what was left standing would fall with the rest. 

Her tears flowed fast, and the torturing thought that the emperor hadslain her brother as a punishment for his sister's flight pierced her tothe heart. 

Now she belonged indeed to the afflicted and oppressed; and asyesterday, in the trouble of her soul, she had called upon Jesus Christ, though she scarcely knew of Him then, so now she lifted up her heart toHim who had become her friend, praying to Him to remember His promise ofcomfort when she came to Him weary and heavy-laden. 

And while she tried to realize the nature of the Saviour who had laiddown His life for others, she remembered all she had dared for herfather and brothers, and what fate had been her's during the time since;and she felt she might acknowledge to herself that even if Philip hadmet his death because of Caracalla's anger toward her, at any rate shewould never have approached Caesar had she not wanted to save her fatherand brothers. She had never glossed over any wrong-doing of her own; buther open and truthful nature was just as little inclined to the tormentof self-reproach when she was not absolutely certain of having committeda fault. 

In this case she was not quite sure of herself; but she now remembered asaying of Euryale and Andreas which she had not understood before. JesusChrist, it said, had taken upon Himself the sins of the world. If sheunderstood its meaning aright, the merciful Lord would surely forgiveher a sin which she had committed unwittingly and in no wise for herown advantage. Her prayer grew more and more to be a discourse with hernew-found friend; and, as she finished, she felt absolutely sure that Heat least understood her and was not angry with her. This reassured her, but her cheerfulness had fled, and she could read no more. 

Deeply troubled, and more and more distressed as time went on by newdisturbing thoughts, she hurriedly paced from side to side of the long, narrow chamber in the gathering darkness. The revolting images aroundher began to affect her unbearably once more. Near her chamber, to thewest, lay the race-course with its horrible scenes; so she turned to theeastern end that looked out upon the street of Hermes, where the sightcould scarcely be so terrible as from the windows at the opposite end. But she was mistaken; for, looking down upon the pavement, she perceivedthat this, too, swam with blood, and that the ground was covered withcorpses. 

Seized with a sudden horror, she flew back into the middle of the longroom. There she remained standing, for the scene of slaughter in thewest was still more appalling than that from which she had just fled. She could not help wondering who could here have fallen a victim to thetyrant after he had swept all the youth of the city off the face of theearth. 

The evening sun cast long shafts of golden light across the race-courseand in at the western window, and Melissa knew how quickly the nightfell in Alexandria. If she wished to find out who they were who had beensacrificed to the fury of the tyrant, it must be done at once, for theimmense building of the temple already cast long shadows. Determined toforce herself to look out, she walked quickly to the eastern window andgazed below. But it was some moments before she had the fortitude todistinguish one form from another; they melted before her reluctant eyesinto one repulsive mass. 

At last she succeeded in looking more calmly and critically. 

Not heaped on one another as on the racecourse, hundreds of Caracalla'svictims lay scattered separately over the open square as far as theentrance to the street of Hermes. Here lay an old man with a thickbeard, probably a Syrian or a Jew; there, his dress betraying him, a seaman; and farther on-no, she could not be mistaken--the youthfulcorpse that lay so motionless just beneath the window was that ofMyrtilos, a friend of Philip, and, like him, a member of the Museum. 

In a fresh fit of terror she was going to flee again into her dreadfulhiding-place, when she caught sight of a figure leaning against thebasin of the beautiful marble fountain just in front of the easternside-door of the Serapeum, and immediately below her. The figure moved, and could therefore only be wounded, not dead; and round the headwas bound a white cloth, reminding her of her beloved, and therebyattracting her attention. The youth moved again, turning his faceupward, and with a low cry she leaned farther forward and gazed andgazed, unmindful of the danger of being seen and falling a victim to thetyrant's fury. The wounded, living man-there, he had moved again--was noother than Diodoros, her lover!

Till the last glimmer of light disappeared she stood at the windowwith bated breath, and eyes fixed upon him. No faintest movement of hisescaped her, and at each one, trembling with awakening hope, she thankedHeaven and prayed for his rescue. At length the growing darkness hidhim from her sight. With every instant the night deepened, and withoutthinking, without stopping to reflect--driven on by one absorbingthought--she felt her way back to her couch, beside which stood the lampand fire-stick, and lighted the wick; then, inspired with new courageat the thought of rescuing her lover from death, she considered for amoment what had best be done. 

It was easy for her to get out. She had a little money with her; on herpeplos she wore a clasp that had once belonged to her mother, withtwo gems in it from her father's hand, and on her rounded arm a goldencirclet. With these she could buy help. The only thing now was todisguise herself. 

On the great, smoke-blackened metal plate over which those mysticspassed who had to walk through fire, there lay plenty of charcoal, andyonder hung robes of every description. The next moment she had thrownoff her own, in order to blacken her glistening white limbs and her facewith soot. Among the sewing materials which the lady Euryale had laidbeside the scrolls was a pair of scissors. These the girl seized, andwith quick, remorseless hand cut off the long, thick locks that were herbrother's and her lover's delight. Then she chose out a chiton, which, reaching only to her knees, gave her the appearance of a boy. Her breathcame fast and her hands trembled, but she was already on her way to thesecret door through which she should flee from this place of horror, when she came to a standstill, shaking her head gently. She had lookedaround her, and the wild disorder she was leaving behind her in thelittle room went against her womanly feelings. But though this feelingwould not in itself have kept her back, it warned her to steady her mindbefore leaving the refuge her friend had accorded to her. Thoughtful, and accustomed to have regard for others, she realized at once howdangerous it might prove to Euryale if these unmistakable traces of herpresence there should be discovered by an enemy. The kindness of hermotherly friend should not bring misfortune upon her. With activepresence of mind she gathered up her garments from the floor, swept thelong locks of hair together, and threw them all, with the sewing and thebasket that had contained the food, into the stove on the hearth, andset them alight. The scissors she took with her as a weapon in case ofneed. 

Then, laying the books of the gospels beside the other manuscripts, and casting a last look round to assure herself that every sign of herpresence had been destroyed, she addressed one more prayer to the tenderComforter of the afflicted, who has promised to save those that are indanger. 

She then opened the secret door. 

With a beating heart, and yet far more conscious of the desire to saveher lover while there was yet time than of the danger into which she wasrushing headlong, she flitted down the hidden staircase as lightly as achild at play. So much time had been lost in clearing the room--and yetshe could not have left it so!

She had not forgotten where to press, so that the heavy stone whichclosed the entrance should move aside; but as she sprang from the laststep her lamp had blown out, and blackest darkness concealed the surfaceof the smooth granite wall which lay between her and the street. 

What if, when she got outside, she should be seen by the lictors orspies?

At this thought fear overcame her for the first time. As she felt aboutthe door her hands trembled and beads of perspiration stood upon herbrow. But she must go to her wounded lover! When any one was bleedingto death every moment might bring the terrible "too late. " It meantDiodoros's death if she did not succeed in opening the granite slab. 

She took her hands from the stone and forced herself, with the wholestrength of her will, to be calm. 

Where had been the place by pressing which the granite might be moved?

It must have been high up on the right side. She carefully followed withher fingers the groove in which the stone lay, and having recalled itsshape by her sense of touch, she began her search anew. Suddenly shefelt something beneath her finger-tips that was colder than the stone. She had found the metal bolt! With a deep breath, and without stoppingto think of what might be before her, she pressed the spring; the slabturned-one step-and she was in the street between the racecourse and theSerapeum. 

All was still around her. Not a sound was to be heard except fromthe square to the north of the temple, where all who carried arms hadgathered together to enjoy the wine which flowed in streams as a mark ofthe emperor's approbation, and from the inner circle of the race-coursevoices were audible. Of the citizens not one dared show himself in thestreets, although the butchery had ceased at sundown. All who did notcarry the imperial arms had shut themselves up in their houses, and thestreets and squares were deserted since the soldiers had assembled infront of the Serapeum. 

No one noticed Melissa. The dangers that threatened her from afartroubled her but little. She only knew that she must go on--go on asfast as her feet would carry her, if she were to reach her loved one intime. 

Skirting the south side of the temple, in order to get to the fountain, her chief thought was to keep in its shadow. The moon had not yet risen, and they had forgotten to light either the pitch-pans or the torcheswhich usually burned in front of the south facade of the temple. Theyhad been too busy with other matters to-day, and now they needed allhands in heaping the bodies together. The men whose voices soundedacross to her from the race-course had already begun the work. On--shemust hurry on!

But it was not so easy as last night. Her light sandals were wetthrough, and there was ever a fresh impediment in her way. She knew whatit was that had wetted her foot--blood--noble, human blood--and everyobstacle against which she stumbled was a human body. But she would notlet herself dwell upon it, and hurried on as though they were but waterand stones, ever seeing before her the image of the wounded youth wholeaned against the basin. 

Thus she reached the east side of the temple. Already she could hearthe splashing of the fountain, she saw the marble gleaming through thedarkness, and began seeking for the spot where she had seen her lover. She suddenly stopped short; at the same time as herself, lights faintand bright were coming along from the south, from the entrance of thestreet that led to Rhakotis, and down to the water. She was in themiddle of the street, without a possibility of concealing herself exceptin one of the niches of the Serapeum. 

Should she abandon him? She must go on, and to seek protection in theouter wall of the temple meant turning back. So she stood still and heldher breath as she watched the advancing lights. Now they stopped. Sheheard the rattle of arms and men's voices. The lantern-bearers werebeing detained by the watch. They were the first soldiers she had seen, the others being engaged in drinking, or in the work on the race-course. Would the soldiers find her, too? But, no! They moved on, thetorch-bearers in front, toward the street of Hermes. 

Who were those people who went wandering about among the slain, turningfirst to this side and then to that, as if searching for something?

They could not be robbing the dead, or the watch would have seized them. 

Now they came quite close to her, and she trembled with fright, for oneof them was a soldier. The light of the lantern shone upon his armor. He went before a man and two lads who were following a laden ass, andin one of them Melissa recognized with beating heart a garden slave ofPolybius, who had often done her a service. 

And now she took courage to look more closely at the man--and itwas--yes, even in the peasant's clothes he wore he could not deceive herquick eyes--it was Andreas!

She felt that every breath that came from her young bosom must be aprayer of thanksgiving; nor was it long before the freedman recognizedMelissa in the light-footed black boy who seemed to spring from theearth in order to show them the way, and he, too, felt as if a miraclehad been wrought. 

Like fair flowers that spring up round a scaffold over which the hungryravens croak and hover, so here, in the midst of death and horror, joy and hope began to blossom in thankful hearts. Diodoros lived!No word-only a fleeting pressure of the hand and a quick look passedbetween the elderly man and the maiden--who looked like a boy scarcelypassed his school-days--to show what they felt as they knelt beside thewounded youth and bound up the deep gash in his shoulder dealt by thesword that had felled him. 

A little while afterward, Andreas drew from the basket which the asscarried, and from which he had already taken bandages and medicine, alight litter of matting. He then lifted Melissa on to the back of thebeast of burden, and they all moved onward. 

The sights that surrounded them as long as they were near the Serapeumforced her to close her eyes, especially when the ass had to walk roundsome obstruction, or when it and its guide waded through slimy pools. She could not forget that they were red, nor whence they came; and thisride brought her moments in which she thought to expire of shudderinghorror and sorrow and wrath. 

Not till they reached a quiet lane in Rhakotis, where they could advancewithout let or hindrance, did she open her eyes. But a strange, heavypain oppressed her that she had never felt before, and her head burnedso that she could scarcely see Andreas and the two slaves, who, strongin the joy of knowing that their young lord was alive, carried Diodorossteadily along in the litter. The soldier--it was the centurionMartialis, who had been banished to the Pontus--still accompanied them, but Melissa's aching head pained her so much that she did not think ofasking who he was or why he was with them. 

Once or twice she felt impelled to ask whither they were taking her, butshe had not the power to raise her voice. When Andreas came to her sideand pointed to the centurion, saying that without him he would neverhave succeeded in saving her beloved, she heard it only as a hollowmurmur, without any consciousness of its meaning. Indeed, she wishedrather that the freedman would keep silent when he began explaining hisopportune arrival at the fountain, which must seem such a miracle toher. 

The slave-brand on his arm had enabled him to penetrate into the houseof Seleukus, where he hoped to obtain news of her. There Johanna had ledhim to Alexander, and with the Aurelians he had found the centurion andthe slave Argutis. Argutis had just returned from the lady Euryale, andswore that he had seen the wounded Diodoros. Andreas had then declaredhis intention of bringing the son of his former master to a place ofsafety, and the centurion had been prevailed upon by the young tribunesto open a way for the freedman through the sentinels. The gardeners ofPolybius, with their ass, had been detained in an inn on this side ofLake Mareotis by the closing of the harbor, and Andreas had taken theprecaution of making use of them. Had it not been for the centurion, whowas known to the other soldiers, the watch would never have allowed thefreedman to get so far as the fountain; Andreas therefore begged Melissato thank their preserver. But his words fell upon her ear unnoticed, andwhen the strange soldier left her to devote himself again to Diodorosshe breathed more freely, for his rapidly spoken words hurt her. 

If he would only not come again--only not speak to her!

She had even ceased to look for her lover. Her one desire was to see andhear nothing. When she did force herself to raise her heavy, throbbinglids, she noticed that they were passing poor-looking houses which shenever remembered seeing before. She fancied, however, from the damp windthat blew in her face and relieved her burning head, that they mustbe nearing the lake or the sea. Surely that was a fishing-net hangingyonder on the fence round a but on which the light of the lantern fell. But perhaps it was something quite different, for the images that passedbefore her heavy eyes began to mingle confusedly, to repeat themselves, and be surrounded by a ring of rainbow colors. Her head had grownso heavy that her mind had lost all sense of hope or fear; only herthoughts stirred faintly as the procession moved on and on through thedarkness, without a pause for rest. 

When they had passed the last of the huts she managed to look upward. 

The evening star stood out clear against the sky, and she seemed to seethe other stars revolving quickly round it. 

Her mouth was painful and parched, and more than once she had beenseized with giddiness, which forced her to hold tightly to the saddle. 

Now they stopped beside a large piece of water, and she felt strangelywell and light of heart. That must be the dear, familiar lake. And therestood Agatha waving to her, and at her side the lady Euryale under thespreading shade of a mighty palm. Bright sunshine flooded them both, andyet it was the night; for there was the evening star beaming down uponher. 

How could that be?

Yet, when she tried to understand it all, her head pained her so, andshe turned so giddy, that she clutched the neck of the ass to saveherself from falling. 

When she raised herself again she saw a large boat, out of which severalpeople came to meet them, the foremost of them a tall man in a long, white garment. That was no dream, she was quite certain. And yet-why didthe lantern which one of them held aloft burn her face so much and nothis? Oh, how it burned!

Everything turned in a circle round her, and grew dark before her eyes. 

But not for long; suddenly it became light as day, and she heard a deepand friendly voice calling her by name. She answered without fear, "Heream I, " and saw before her a stranger in a long, white robe, of loftyyet gentle aspect, just as she had imagined the crucified Saviour of theChristians, and in her ear sounded the loving message with which he bidsthe weary and heavy-laden come to him that he may give them rest. 

How gentle, how consoling, and how full of gracious promise were thewords, and how gladly would she do his bidding! "Here am I!" she criedagain, and saw the arms of the white-robed man stretched out to receiveher. She staggered toward him, and felt a firm and manly hand clasphers, and then rest in blessing on her throbbing brow. All grew darkagain before her, and she saw and heard no more. 

Andreas had lifted her from the ass and supported her, while the twoChristians thanked the soldier for his timely aid. 

Having assured them that he had had no thought of helping them, but onlyof obeying his superior officers, he disappeared into the night, andthe freedman lifted Melissa in his strong arms and carried her down toZeno's boat, which was waiting for them. 

"Her mind wanders, " said the freedman, with a loving look at theprecious burden in his arms. "Her spirit is strong, but the shocks shehas sustained this day have been too much for her. 'Thou wilt give merest, ' were her last words before losing consciousness. Can she havebeen thinking of the promise of the Saviour?"

"If not, " answered the deep, musical voice of Zeno, "we will showher Him who called the little children to Him, and the weary andheavy-laden. She belongs to them, and she will see that the Lordfulfills what He so lovingly promises. "

"One of Christ's sayings, and repeated by Paul in his letter to theGalatians, has taken great hold upon her, " added Andreas, "and I thinkthat in these days of terror, for her, too, the fullness of time hascome. "

As he spoke he stepped on to the plank which led to the boat from theshore: Diodoros had already been placed on board. When Andreas laid thegirl on the cushioned seat in the little cabin, he exclaimed, with asigh of relief, "Now we are safe!"

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Caracalla's evening meal was ended, and for years past his friendshad never seen the gloomy monarch in so mad a mood. The high-priest ofSerapis, with Dio Cassius the senator, and a few others of his suite, had not indeed appeared at table; but the priest of Alexander, theprefect Macrinus, his favorites Theocritus, Pandion, Antigonus, andothers of their kidney, had crowded round him, had drunk to his health, and wished him joy of his glorious revenge. 

Everything which legend or history had recorded of similar deeds wascompared with this day's work, and it was agreed that it transcendedthem all. This delighted the half-drunken monarch. To-day, he declaredwith flashing eyes, and not till to-day, he had dared to be entirelywhat Fate had called him to be--at once the judge and the executioner ofan accursed and degenerate race. As Titus had been named "the Good, "so he would be called "the Terrible. " And this day had secured him thatgrand name, so pleasing to his inmost heart. 

"Hail to the benevolent sovereign who would fain be terrible!" criedTheocritus, raising his cup; and the rest of the guests echoed him. 

Then the number of the slain was discussed. No one could estimate itexactly. Zminis, the only man who could have seen everything, had notappeared: Fifty, sixty, seventy thousand Alexandrians were supposed tohave suffered death; Macrinus, however, asserted that there must havebeen more than a hundred thousand, and Caracalla rewarded him for hisstatement by exclaiming loudly "Splendid! grand! Hardly comprehensibleby the vulgar mind! But, even so, it is not the end of what I mean togive them. To-day I have racked their limbs; but I have yet to strikethem to the heart, as they have stricken me!"

He ceased, and after a short pause repeated unhesitatingly, and asthough by a sudden impulse, the lines with which Euripides ends severalof his tragedies:

 "Jove in high heaven dispenses various fates; And now the gods shower blessings which our hope Dared not aspire to, now control the ills We deemed inevitable. Thus the god To these hath given an end we never thought. "

 --Potter's translation. 

And this was the end of the revolting scene, for, as he spoke, Caesarpushed away his cup and sat staring into vacancy, so pale that hisphysician, foreseeing a fresh attack, brought out his medicine vial. 

The praetorian prefect gave a signal to the rest that they should notnotice the change in their imperial host, and he did his best to keepthe conversation going, till Caracalla, after a long pause, wiped hisbrow and exclaimed hoarsely: "What has become of the Egyptian? He wasto bring in the living prisoners--the living, I say! Let him bring methem. "

He struck the table by his couch violently with his fist; and then, asif the clatter of the metal vessels on it had brought him to himself, he added, meditatively: "A hundred thousand! If they burned their deadhere, it would take a forest to reduce them to ashes. "

"This day will cost him dear enough as it is, " the high-priest ofAlexander whispered; he, as idiologos, having to deposit the tributefrom the temples and their estates in the imperial treasury. Headdressed his neighbor, old Julius Paulinus, who replied:

"Charon is doing the best business to-day. A hundred thousand obolusin a few hours. If Tarautas reigns over us much longer, I will farm hisferry!"

During this whispered dialogue Theocritus the favorite was assuringCaesar in a loud voice that the possessions of the victims would sufficefor any form of interment, and an ample number of thank-offerings intothe bargain. 

"An offering!" echoed Caracalla, and he pointed to a short sword whichlay beside him on the couch. "That helped in the work. My father wieldedit in many a fight, and I have not let it rust. Still, I doubt whetherin my hands and his together it ever before yesterday slaughtered ahundred thousand. "

He looked round for the high-priest of Serapis, and after seeking him invain among the guests, he exclaimed:

"The revered Timotheus withdraws his countenance from us to-day. Yet itwas to his god that I dedicated the work of vengeance. He laments theloss of worshipers to great Serapis, as you, Vertinus"--and he turned tothe idiologos--"regret the slain tax-payers. Well, you are thinking ofmy loss or gain, and that I can not but praise. Your colleague in theservice of Serapis has nothing to care for but the honor of his god; buthe does not succeed in rising to the occasion. Poor wretch! I willgive him a lesson. Here Epagathos, and you, Claudius--go at once toTimotheus; carry him this sword. I devote it to his god. It is tobe preserved in his holy of holies, in memory of the greatest act ofvengeance ever known. If Timotheus should refuse the gift--But no, hehas sense--he knows me!"

He paused, and turned to look at Macrinus, who had risen to speak tosome officials and soldiers who had entered the room. They brought thenews that the Parthian envoys had broken off all negotiations, and hadleft the city in the afternoon. They would enter into no alliance, andwere prepared to meet the Roman army. 

Macrinus repeated this to Caesar with a shrug of his shoulders, but hewithheld the remark added by the venerable elder of the ambassadors, that they did not fear a foe who by so vile a deed had incurred thewrath of the gods. 

"Then it is war with the Parthians!" cried Caracalla, and his eyesflashed. "My breast-plated favorites will rejoice. "

But then he looked grave, and inquired: "They are leaving the town, yousay? But are they birds? The gates and harbor are closed. "

"A small Phoenician vessel stole out just before sundown between ourguard-ships, " was the reply. "Curse it!" broke from Caesar's lips ina loud voice, and, after a brief dialogue in an undertone with theprefect, he desired to have papyrus and writing materials brought tohim. He himself must inform the senate of what had occurred, and he didso in a few words. 

He did not know the number of the slain, and he did not think it worthwhile to make a rough estimate. All the Alexandrians, he said, had infact merited death. A swift trireme was to carry the letter to Ostia atdaybreak. 

He did not, indeed, ask the opinion of the senate, and yet he felt thatit would be better that news of the day's events should reach the curiaunder his own hand than through the distorting medium of rumor. 

Nor did Macrinus impress on him, as usual, that he should give hisdispatch a respectful form. This crime, if anything, might help him tothe fulfillment of the Magian's prophecy. 

As Caesar was rolling up his missive, the long-expected Zminis came intothe room. He had attired himself splendidly, and bore the insignia ofhis new office. He humbly begged to be pardoned for his long delay. He had had to make his outer man fit to appear among Caesar's guests, for--as he boastfully explained--he himself had waded in blood, and inthe court-yard of the Museum the red life-juice of the Alexandrians hadreached above his horse's knees. The number of the dead, he declaredwith sickening pride, was above a hundred thousand, as estimated by theprefect. 

"Then we will call it eleven myriad, " Caracalla broke in. "Now, we havehad enough of the dead. Bring in the living. "

"Whom?" asked the Egyptian, in surprise. Hereupon Caesar's eyelids beganto quiver, and in a threatening tone he reminded his bloody-handed toolof those whom he had ordered him to take alive. Still Zminis was silent, and Caesar furiously shrieked his demand as to whether by his blunderingHeron's daughter had escaped; whether he could not produce thegem-cutter and his son. The blood-stained butcher then perceived thatCaesar's murderous sword might be turned against him also. Still, he wasprepared to defend himself by every means in his power. His brain wasinventive, and, seeing that the fault for which he would least easily beforgiven was the failure to capture Melissa, he tried to screen himselfby a lie. Relying on an incident which he himself had witnessed, hebegan: "I felt certain of securing the gem-cutter's pretty daughter, formy men had surrounded his house. But it had come to the ears of theseAlexandrian scoundrels that a son of Heron's, a painter, and his sister, had betrayed their fellow-citizens and excited your wrath. It was tothem that they ascribed the punishment which I executed upon them inyour name. This rabble have no notion of reflection; before we couldhinder them they had rushed on the innocent dwelling. They flungfire-brands into it, burned it, and tore it down. Any one who was withinperished, and thus the daughter of Heron died. That is, unfortunately, proved. I can take the old man and his son tomorrow. To-day I have hadso much to do that there has not been time to bind the sheaves. It issaid that they had escaped before the mob rushed on the house. "

"And the gem-cutter's daughter?" asked Caracalla, in a trembling voice. "You are sure she was burned in the building?"

"As sure as that I have zealously endeavored to let the Alexandriansfeel your avenging hand, " replied the Egyptian resolutely, and with abold face he confirmed his he. "I have here the jewel she wore on herarm. It was found on the charred body in the cellar. Adventus, yourchamberlain, says that Melissa received it yesterday as a gift from you. Here it is. "

And he handed Caracalla the serpent-shaped bracelet which Caesar hadsent to his sweetheart before setting out for the Circus. The fire haddamaged it, but there was no mistaking it. It had been found beneath theruins on a human arm, and Zminis had only learned from the chamberlain, to whom he had shown it, that it had belonged to the daughter of Heron. 

"Even the features of the corpse, " Zminis added, "were stillrecognizable. "

"The corpse!" Caesar echoed gloomily. "And it was the Alexandrians, yousay, who destroyed the house?"

"Yes, my lord; a raging mob, and mingled with them men of everyrace-Jews, Greeks, Syrians, what not. Most of them had lost a father, ason, or a brother, sent to Hades by your vengeance. Their wildest curseswere for Alexander, the painter, who in fact had played the spy for you. But the Macedonian phalanx arrived at the right moment. They killedmost of them and took some prisoners. You can see them yourself in themorning. As regards the wife of Seleukus--"

"Well, " exclaimed Caesar, and his eye brightened again. 

"She fell a victim to the clumsiness of the praetorians. "

"Indeed!" interrupted the legate Quintus Flavius Nobilior, who hadgranted Alexander's life to the prayer of the twins Aurelius; andMacrinus also forbade any insulting observations as to the blamelesstroops whom he had the honor to command. 

But the Egyptian was not to be checked; he went on eagerly: "Pardon, my lords. It is perfectly certain, nevertheless, that it was apraetorian--his name is Rufus, and he belongs to the second cohort--whopierced the lady Berenike with his spear. "

Flavius here begged to be allowed to speak, and reported how Berenikehad sought and found her end. And he did so as though he were narratingthe death of a heroine, but he added, in a tone of disapproval:"Unhappily, the misguided woman died with a curse on you, great Caesar, on her treasonable lips. "

"And this female hero finds her Homer in you!" cried Caesar. "We willspeak together again, my Quintus. "

He raised a brimming cup to his lips and emptied it at a draught; then, setting it on the table with such violence that it rang, he exclaimed"Then you have brought me none of those whom I commanded you to capture?Even the feeble girl who had not quitted her father's house you allowedto be murdered by those coarse monsters! And you think I shall lookon you with favor? By this time to-morrow the gem-cutter and his sonAlexander are here before me, or by the head of my divine father you goto the wild beasts in the Circus. "

"They will not eat such as he, " observed old Julius Paulinus, and Caesarnodded approvingly. The Egyptian shuddered, for this imperial nod showedhim by how slender a thread his life hung. 

In a flash he reflected whither he might fly if he should fail to findthis hated couple. If, after all, he should discover Melissa alive, somuch the better. Then, he might have been mistaken in identifying thebody; some slave girl might have stolen the bracelet and put it onbefore the house was burned down. He knew for a fact that the charredcorpse of which he had spoken was that of a street wench who hadrushed among the foremost into the house of the much-envied imperialfavorite--the traitress--and had met her death in the spreading flames. 

Zminis had but a moment to rack his inventive and prudent brain, but healready had thought of something which might perhaps influence Caesar inhis favor. Of all the Alexandrians, the members of the Museum were thosewhom Caracalla hated most. He had been particularly enjoined not tospare one of them; and in the course of the ride which Caesar, attendedby the armed troopers of Arsinoe, had taken through the streetsstreaming with blood, he had stayed longest gazing at the heap ofcorpses in the court-yard of the Museum. In the portico, a colonnadecopied from the Stoa at Athens, whither a dozen or so of thephilosophers had fled when attacked, he had even stabbed several withhis own hand. The blood on the sword which Caracalla had dedicated toSerapis had been shed at the Museum. 

The Egyptian had himself led the massacre here, and had seen that it wasthoroughly effectual. The mention of those slaughtered hair-splittersmust, if anything, be likely to mitigate Caesar's wrath; so no soonerhad the applause died away with which the proconsul's jest at hisexpense had been received, than Zminis began to give his report of thegreat massacre in the Museum. He could boast of having spared scarcelyone of the empty word-pickers with whom the epigrams against Caesarand his mother had originated. Teachers and pupils, even the domesticofficials, had been overtaken by the insulted sovereign's vengeance. Nothing was left but the stones of that great institution, which hadindeed long outlived its fame. The Numidians who had helped in thework had been drunk with blood, and had forced their way even into thephysician's lecture-rooms and the hospital adjoining. There, too, theyhad given no quarter; and among the sufferers who had been carriedthither to be healed they had found Tarautas, the wounded gladiator. ANumidian, the youngest of the legion, a beardless youth, had pinned theterrible conqueror of lions and men to the bed with his spear, andthen, with the same weapon, had released at least a dozen of hisfellow-sufferers from their pain. 

As he told his story the Egyptian stood staring into vacancy, as thoughhe saw it all, and the whites of his eyeballs gleamed more hideouslythan ever out of his swarthy face. The lean, sallow wretch stoodbefore Caesar like a talking corpse, and did not observe the effect hisnarrative of the gladiator's death was producing. But he soon found out. While he was yet speaking, Caracalla, leaning on the table by his couchwith both hands, fixed his eyes on his face, without a word. 

Then he suddenly sprang up, and, beside himself with rage, heinterrupted the terrified Egyptian and railed at him furiously:

"My Tarautas, who had so narrowly escaped death! The bravest hero of hiskind basely murdered on his sick-bed, by a barbarian, a beardless boy!And you, you loathsome jackal, could allow it? This deed--and you knowit, villain--will be set down to my score. It will be brought up againstme to the end of my days in Rome, in the provinces, everywhere. I shallbe cursed for your crime wherever there is a human heart to throb andfeel, and a human tongue to speak. And I--when did I ever order you toslake your thirst for blood in that of the sick and suffering? Never! Icould never have done such a thing! I even told you to spare the womenand helpless slaves. You are all witnesses, But you all hear me--I willpunish the murderer of the wretched sick! I will avenge you, foullymurdered, brave, noble Tarautas!--Here, lictors! Bind him--away with himto the Circus with the criminals thrown to the wild beasts! He allowedthe girl whose life I bade him spare to be burned to death before hiseyes, and the hapless sick were slain at his command by a beardlessboy!--And Tarautas! I valued him as I do all who are superior to theirkind; I cared for him. He was wounded for our entertainment, my friends. Poor fellow--poor, brave Tarautas!"

He here broke into loud sobs, and it was so unheard-of, soincomprehensible a thing that this man should weep who, even at hisfather's death had not shed a tear, that Julius Paulinus himself heldhis mocking tongue. 

The rest of the spectators also kept anxious and uneasy silence whilethe lictors bound Zminis's hands, and, in spite of his attempts to raisehis voice once more in self-defense, dragged him away and thrust him outacross the threshold of the dining-hall. The door closed behind him, and no applause followed, though every one approved of the Egyptian'scondemnation, for Caracalla was still weeping. 

Was it possible that these tears could be shed for sick people whomhe did not know, and for the coarse gladiator, the butcher of men andbeasts, who had had nothing to give Caesar but a few hours of excitementat the intoxicating performances in the arena? So it must be; for fromtime to time Caracalla moaned softly, "Those unhappy sick!" or "PoorTarautas!"

And, indeed, at this moment Caracalla himself could not have saidwhom he was lamenting. He had in the Circus staked his life on that ofTarautas, and when he shed tears over his memory it was certainlyless for the gladiator's sake than over the approaching end of hisown existence, to which he looked forward in consequence of Tarautas'sdeath. But he had often been near the gates of Hades in the battle-fieldwith calm indifference; and now, while he thus bewailed the sick andTarautas with bitter lamentations, in his mind he saw no sick-bed, nor, indeed, the stunted form of the braggart hero of the arena, but theslender, graceful figure of a sweet girl, and a blackened, charred armon which glittered a golden armlet. 

That woman! Treacherous, shameless, but how lovely and beloved! Thatwoman, under his eyes, as it were, was swept out of the land of theliving; and with her, with Melissa, the only girl for whom his heart hadever throbbed faster, the miracle-worker who had possessed the uniquepower of exorcising his torments, whose love--for so he still chose tobelieve, though he had always refused her petitions that he would showmercy--whose love would have given him strength to become a benefactorto all mankind, a second Trajan or Titus. He had quite forgotten thathe had intended her to meet a disgraceful end in the arena under fearfultorments, if she had been brought to him a prisoner. He felt as thoughthe fate of Roxana, with whom his most cherished dream had perished, hadquite broken his heart; and it was Melissa whom he really bewailed, withthe gladiator's name on his lips and the jewel before his eyes which hadbeen his gift, and which she had worn on her arm even in death. But heere long controlled this display of feeling, ashamed to shed tears forher who had cheated him and who had fled from his love. Only oncemore did he sob aloud. Then he raised himself, and while holding hishandkerchief to his eyes he addressed the company with theatricalpathos:

"Yes, my friends, tell whom you will that you have seen Bassianus weep;but add that his tears flowed from grief at the necessity for punishingso many of his subjects with such rigor. Say, too, that Caesar wept withpity and indignation. For what good man would not be moved to sorrowat seeing the sick and wounded thus maltreated? What humane heart couldrefrain from loud lamentations at the sight of barbarity which is notwithheld from laying a murderous hand even on the sacred anguish of thesick and wounded? Defend me, then, against those Romans who may shrugtheir shoulders over the weakness of a weeping Caesar--the Terrible. Myoffice demands severity; and yet, my friends, I am not ashamed of thesetears. "

With this he took leave of his guests and retired to rest, and thosewho remained were soon agreed that every word of this speech, as wellas Caesar's tears, were rank hypocrisy. The mime Theocritus admiredhis sovereign in all sincerity, for how rarely could even the greatestactors succeed in forcing from their eyes, by sheer determination, aflood of real, warm tears--he had seen them flow. As Caesar quitted theroom, his hand on the lion's mane, the praetor Priscillianus whisperedto Cilo:

"Your disciple has been taking lessons here of the weeping crocodile. "

 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 

Out on the great square the soldiers were resting after the day's bloodywork. They had lighted large fires in front of the most sacred sanctuaryof a great city, as though they were in the open field. Round each ofthese, foot and horse soldiers lay or squatted on the ground, accordingto their companies; and over the wine allowed them by Caesar they toldeach other the hideous experiences of the day, which even those who hadgrown rich by it could not think of without disgust. Gold and silvercups, the plunder of the city, circulated round those camp-fires and thejuice of the vine was poured into them out of jugs of precious metal. Tongues were wagging fast, for, though there was indeed but one opinionas to what had been done, there were mercenaries enough and ambitiouspretenders who could dare to defend it. Every word might reach thesovereign's ears, and the day might bring promotion as well as gold andbooty. Even the calmest were still in some excitement over the massacrethey had helped in; the plunder was discussed, and barter and exchangewere eagerly carried on. 

As Caracalla passed the balcony he stepped out for a moment, followedby the lamp-bearers, to thank his faithful warriors for the valor andobedience they had shown this day. The traitorous Alexandrians had nowmet their deserts. The greater the plunder his dear brethren in armscould win, the better he would be pleased. This speech was hailed witha shout of glee drowning his words; but Caracalla had heard his dearlybought troops cheer him with greater zeal and vigor. There were herewhole groups of men who did not join at all, or hardly opened theirmouths. And his ear was sharp. 

What cause could they have for dissatisfaction after such splendidbooty, although they did not yet know that a war with the Parthians wasin prospect?

He must know; but not to-day. They were to be depended on, he felt sure, for they were those to whom he was most liberal, and he had taken carethat there should be no one in the empire whose means equaled his own. But that they should be so lukewarm annoyed him. To-day, of all days, anenthusiastic roar of acclamations would have been peculiarly gratifying. They ought to have known it; and he went to his bedroom in silent anger. There his freedman Epagathos was waiting for him, with Adventus and hislearned Indian body slave Arjuna. The Indian never spoke unless he wasspoken to, and the two others took good care not to address their lord. So silence reigned in the spacious room while the Indian undressedCaracalla. Caesar was wont to say that this man's hands were matchlessfor lightness and delicacy of touch, but to-day they trembled as helifted the laurel wreath from Caesar's head and unbuckled the paddedbreast plate. The events of the day had shaken this man's soul to thefoundations. In his Eastern home he had been taught from his infancyto respect life even in beasts, living exclusively on vegetables, andholding all blood in abhorrence. He now felt the deepest loathing of allabout him; and a passionate longing for the peaceful and pure home amongsages, from which he had been snatched as a boy, came over him withincreasing vehemence. There was nothing here but what it defiled him tohandle, and his fingers shrank involuntarily from their task, asduty compelled him to touch the limbs of a man who, to his fancy, wasdripping with human blood, and who was as much accursed by gods and menas though he were a leper. 

Arjuna made haste that he might escape from the presence of the horribleman, and Caesar took no heed either of the pallor of his handsome brownface or the trembling of his slender fingers, for a crowd of thoughtsmade him blind and deaf to all that was going on around him. Theyreverted first to the events of the day; but as the Indian removedthe warm surcoat, the night breeze blew coldly into the room, and heshivered. Was it the spirit of the slain Tarautas which had floated inat the open window? The cold breath which fanned his cheek was certainlyno mere draught. It was exactly like a human sigh, only it was coldinstead of warm. If it proceeded from the ghost of the dead gladiator hemust be quite close to him. And the fancy gained reality in his mind; hesaw a floating human form which beckoned him and softly laid a cold handon his shoulder. 

He, Caesar, had linked his fate to that of the gladiator, and nowTarautas had come to warn him. But Caracalla had no mind to follow him;he forbade the apparition with a loud cry of "Away!" At this the Indianstarted, and though he could scarcely utter the words, he besoughtCaesar to be seated that he might take off his laced shoes; and thenCaracalla perceived that it was an illusion that had terrified him, andhe shrugged his shoulders, somewhat ashamed. While the slave was busy hewiped his damp brow, saying to himself with a proud smile that of coursespirits never appeared in broad light and when others were present. 

At last he dismissed the Indian and lay down. His head was burning, andhis heart beat too violently for sleep. At his bidding Epagathos andAdventus followed the Indian into the adjoining room after extinguishingthe lamp. .. Caracalla was alone in the dark. Awaiting sleep, hestretched himself at full length, but he remained as wide awake as byday. And still he could not help thinking of the immediate past. Evenhis enemies could not deny that it was his duty as a man and an emperorto inflict the severest punishment on this town, and to make it feel hisavenging hand; and yet he was beginning to be aware of the ruthlessnessof his commands. He would have been glad to talk it all over with someone else. But Philostratus, the only man who understood him, was out ofreach; he had sent him to his mother. And for what purpose? To tell herthat he, Caesar, had found a wife after his own heart, and to win herfavor and consent. At this thought the blood surged up in him with rageand shame. Even before they were wed his chosen bride had been false tohim; she had fled from his embraces, as he now knew, to death, never toreturn. 

He would gladly have sent a galley in pursuit to bring Philostratus backagain; but the vessel in which the philosopher had embarked was one ofthe swiftest in the imperial fleet, and it had already so long a startthat to overtake it would be almost impossible. So within a few daysPhilostratus would meet his mother; he, if any one, could describeMelissa's beauty in the most glowing colors, and that he would do so tothe empress, his great friend, was beyond a doubt. But the haughtyJulia would scarcely be inclined to accept the gem-cutter's child for adaughter; indeed, she did not wish that he should ever marry again. 

But what was he to her? Her heart was given to the infant son ofher niece Mammaea;--[The third Caesar after Caracalla, AlexanderSeverus]--in him she discovered every gift and virtue. What joy therewould be among the women of Julia's train when it was known thatCaesar's chosen bride had disdained him, and, in him, the very purple. But that joy would not be of long duration, for the news of thepunishment by death of a hundred thousand Alexandrians would, he knew, fall like a lash on the women. He fancied he could hear their howls andwailing, and see the horror of Philostratus, and how he would join thewomen in bemoaning the horrible deed! He, the philosopher, would perhapsbe really grieved; aye, and if he had been at his side this morningeverything might perhaps have been different. But the deed was done, andnow he must take the consequences. 

That the better sort would avoid him after such an act wasself-evident--they had already refused to eat with him. On the otherhand, it had brought nearer to him the favorites whom he had attractedto his person. Theocritus and Pandion, Antigonus and Epagathos, thepriest of Alexander, who at Rome was overwhelmed with debt, and who inEgypt had become a rich man again, would cling to him more closely. 

"Base wretches!" he muttered to himself. 

If only Philostratus would come back to him! But he scarcely daredhope it. The evil took so much more care for their own well-being andmultiplication than the good. If one of the righteous fell away, allthe others forthwith turned their backs on him; and when the penitentdesired to return to the fold, the immaculate repelled or avoided him. But the wicked could always find the fallen man at once, and would clingto him and hinder him from returning. Their ranks were always opento him, however closely he might formerly have been attached to thevirtuous. To live in exclusive intercourse with these reprobates was anodious thought. He could compel whom he chose to live with him; but ofwhat use were silent and reluctant companions? And whose fault was itthat he had sent away Philostratus, the best of them all? Hers--thefaithless traitoress, from whom he had looked for peace and joy, who haddeclared that she felt herself bound to him, the trickster in whom hehad believed he saw Roxana--But she was no more. On the table by hisbed, among his own jewels, lay the golden serpent he had given her--hefancied he could see it in the dark--and she had worn it even in death. He shuddered; he felt as though a woman's arm, all black and charred, was stretched out to him in the night, and the golden snake uncurledfrom it and reached forth as though to bite him. 

He shivered, and hid his head under the coverlet; but, ashamed and vexedat his own foolish weakness, he soon emerged from the stifling darkness, and an inward voice scornfully asked him whether he still believed thatthe soul of the great Macedonian inhabited his body. There was an endof this proud conviction. He had no more connection with Alexander thanMelissa had with Roxana, whom she resembled. 

The blood seethed hotly in his veins; to live on these terms seemed tohim impossible. 

As soon as it was day it must surely be seen that he was very seriouslyill. The spirit of Tarautas would again appear to him--and not merely asa vaporous illusion--and put an end to his utter misery. 

But he felt his own pulse; it beat no more quickly than usual. He had nofever, and yet he must be ill, very ill. And again he flushed so hotlythat he felt as if he should choke. Breathing hard, he sat up to callhis physician. Then he observed a light through the half-closed door ofthe adjoining room. He heard voices--those of Adventus and the Indian. 

Arjuna was generally so silent that Philostratus had vainly endeavoredto discover from him any particulars as to the doctrine of the Brahmans, among whom Apollonius of Tyana declared that he had found the highestwisdom, or concerning the manners of his people. And yet the Indian wasa man of learning, and could even read the manuscripts of his country. The Parthian ambassador had expressly dwelt on this when he deliveredArjuna to Caesar as a gift from his king. But Arjuna had never favoredany of these strangers with his confidence. Only with old Adventus didhe ever hold conversation, for the chamberlain took care that he shouldbe supplied with the vegetables and fruit on which he was accustomed tolive--for meat never passed his lips; and now he was talking with theold man, and Caracalla sat up and laid his hand to his ear. 

The Indian was absorbed in the study of a bookroll in his own tongue, which he carried about him. "What are you reading?" asked Adventus. 

"A book, " replied Arjuna, "from which a man may learn what will becomeof you and me, and all these slaughtered victims, after death. "

"Who can know that?" said the old man with a sigh; and Arjuna repliedvery positively:

"It is written here, and there is no doubt about it. Will you hear it?"

"Certainly, " said Adventus eagerly, and the Indian began translating outof his book:

"When a man dies his various parts go whither they belong. His voicegoes to the fire, his breath to the winds, his eyes to the sun, hisspirit to the moon, his hearing becomes one with space, his body goes tothe earth, his soul is absorbed into ether, his hairs become plants, thehair of his head goes to crown the trees, his blood returns to water. Thus, every portion of a man is restored to that portion of the universeto which it belongs; and of himself, his own essence, nothing remainsbut one part what that is called is a great secret. "

Caracalla was listening intently. This discourse attracted him. 

He, like the other Caesars, must after his death be deified by thesenate; but he felt convinced, for his part, that the Olympianswould never count him as one of themselves. At the same time he wasphilosopher enough to understand that no existing thing could ever ceaseto exist. The restoration of each part of his body to that portion ofthe universe to which it was akin, pleased his fancy. There was no placein the Indian's creed for the responsibility of the soul at the judgmentof the dead. Caesar was already on the point of asking the slave toreveal his secret, when Adventus prevented him by exclaiming:

"You may confide to me what will be left of me--unless, indeed, you meanthe worms which shall eat me and so proceed from me. It can not be goodfor much, at any rate, and I will tell no one. "

To this Arjuna solemnly replied: "There is one thing which persists toall eternity and can never be lost in all the ages of the universe, andthat is--the deed. "

"I know that, " replied the old man with an indifferent shrug; but theword struck Caesar like a thunder-bolt. He listened breathlessly to hearwhat more the Indian might say; but Arjuna, who regarded it as sacrilegeto waste the highest lore on one unworthy of it, went on reading tohimself, and Adventus stretched himself out to sleep. 

All was silent in and about the sleeping-room, and the fearful words, "the deed, " still rang in the ears of the man who had just committed themost monstrous of all atrocities. He could not get rid of the hauntingwords; all the ill he had done from his childhood returned to him infancy, and seemed heaped up to form a mountain which weighed on him likean incubus. 

The deed!

His, too, must live on, and with it his name, cursed and hated to thelatest generations of men. The souls of the slain would have carriedthe news of the deeds he had done even to Hades; and if Tarautas were tocome and fetch him away, he would be met below by legions of indignantshades--a hundred thousand! And at their head his stern father, and theother worthy men who had ruled Rome with wisdom and honor, would shoutin his face: "A hundred thousand times a murderer! robber of the state!destroyer of the army!" and drag him before the judgment-seat; andbefore judgment could be pronounced the hundred thousand, led by thenoblest of all his victims, the good Papinian, would rush upon him andtear him limb from limb. 

Dozing as he lay, he felt cold, ghostly hands on his shoulder, on hishead, wherever the cold breath of the waning night could fan him throughthe open window; and with a loud cry he sprang out of bed as he fanciedhe felt a touch of the shadowy hand of Vindex. On hearing his voice, Adventus and the Indian hurried in, with Epagathos, who had even heardhis shriek in the farther room. They found him bathed in a sweat ofhorror, and struggling for breath, his eyes fixed on vacancy; and thefreedman flew off to fetch the physician. When he came Caesar angrilydismissed him, for he felt no physical disorder. Without dressing, hewent to the window. It was about three hours before sunrise. 

However, he gave orders that his bath should be prepared, and desired tobe dressed; then Macrinus and others were to be sent for. Sooner wouldhe step into boiling water than return to that bed of terror. Day, life, business must banish his terrors. But then, after the evening would comeanother night; and if the sufferings he had just gone through shouldrepeat themselves then, and in those to follow, he should lose his wits, and he would bless the spirit of Tarautas if it would but come to leadhim away to death. 

But "the deed"! The Indian was right--that would survive him on earth, and mankind would unite in cursing him. 

Was there yet time--was he yet capable of atoning for what was done bysome great and splendid deed? But the hundred thousand--

The number rose before him like a mountain, blotting out every schemehe tried to form as he went to his bath--taking his lion with him; hereveled in the warm water, and finally lay down to rest in cleanlinen wrappers. No one had dared to speak to him. His aspect was toothreatening. 

In a room adjoining the bath-room he had breakfast served him. It was, as usual, a simple meal, and yet he could only swallow a few mouthfuls, for everything had a bitter taste. The praetorian prefect was roused, and Caesar was glad to see him, for it was in attending to affairs thathe most easily forgot what weighed upon him. The more serious theywere, the better, and Macrinus looked as if there was something of graveimportance to be settled. 

Caracalla's first question was with reference to the Parthianambassadors. They had, in fact, departed; now he must prepare for war. Caesar was eager to decide at once on the destination of each legion, and to call the legates together to a council of war; but Macrinuswas not so prompt and ready as usual on such occasions. He had thatto communicate which, as he knew, would to Caesar take the head of allelse. If it should prove true, it must withdraw him altogether from theaffairs of government; and this was what Macrinus aimed at when, beforesummoning the legates, he observed with a show of reluctance that Caesarwould be wroth with him if, for the sake of a council of war, he were todefer a report which had just reached his ears. 

"Business first!" cried Caracalla, with decisive prohibition. 

"As you will. I thought only of what I was told by an official of thistemple, that the gem-cutter's daughter--you know the girl--is stillalive--"

But he got no further, for Caesar sprang to his feet, and desired tohear more of this. 

Macrinus proceeded to relate that a slaughterer in the court ofsacrifice had told him that Melissa had been seen last evening, andwas somewhere in the Serapeum. More than this the prefect knew not, andCaesar forthwith dismissed him to make further inquiry before he himselfshould take steps to prove the truth of the report. 

Then he paced the room with revived energy. His eye sparkled, and, breathing fast, he strove to reduce the storm of schemes, plans, andhopes which surged up within him to some sort of order. He must punishthe fugitive--but yet more surely he would never again let her out ofhis sight. But if only he could first have her cast to the wild beasts, and then bring her to life again, crown her with the imperial diadem, and load her with every gift that power and wealth could procure! Hewould read every wish in her eyes, if only she would once more layher hand on his forehead, charm away his pain, and bring sleep to hishorror-stricken bed. He had done nothing to vex her; nay, every petitionshe had urged--But suddenly the image rose before him of old Vindex andhis nephew, whom he had sent to execution in spite of her intercession;and again the awful word, "the deed, " rang in his inward ear. Were thesehideous thoughts to haunt him even by day?

No, no! In his waking hours there was much to be done which might givehim the strength to dissipate them. 

The kitchen-steward was by this time in attendance; but what didCaracalla care for dainties to tickle his palate now that he had ahope of seeing Melissa once more? With perfect indifference he left thecatering to the skillful and inventive cook; and hardly had he retiredwhen Macrinus returned. 

The slaughterer had acquired his information through a comrade, who saidthat he had twice caught sight of Melissa at the window of the chambersof mystery in the upper story of the Serapeum, yesterday afternoon. Hehad hoped to win the reward which was offered for the recovery of thefugitive, and had promised his colleague half the money if he would helphim to capture the maiden. But just at sunset, hearing that the massacrewas ended, the man had incautiously gone out into the town, where he hadbeen slain by a drunken solder of the Scythian legion. The hapless man'sbody had been found, but Macrinus's informant had assured him that hecould entirely rely on the report of his unfortunate colleague, who wasa sober and truthful man, as the chief augur would testify. 

This was enough for Caracalla. Macrinus was at once to go for thehigh-priest, and to take care that he took no further steps to concealMelissa. The slaughterer had ever since daybreak kept secret watch onall the doors of the Serapeum, aided by his comrades, who were to sharein the reward, and especially on the stairway leading from the groundfloor up to the mystic's galleries. 

The prefect at once obeyed the despot's command. On the threshold he metthe kitchen-steward returning to submit his list of dishes for Caesar'sapproval. 

He found Caracalla in an altered mood, rejuvenescent and in the highestspirits. After hastily agreeing to the day's bill of fare, he asked thesteward in what part of the building the chambers of mystery were; andwhen he learned that the stairs leading up to them began close to thekitchens, which had been arranged for Caesar's convenience under thetemple laboratory, Caracalla declared in a condescending tone that hewould go to look round the scene of the cook's labors. And the lionshould come too, to return thanks for the good meat which was brought tohim so regularly. 

The head cook, rejoiced at the unwonted graciousness of a master whosewrath had often fallen on him, led the way to his kitchen hearth. Thishad been constructed in a large hall, originally the largest of thelaboratories, where incense was prepared for the sanctuary and medicinesconcocted for the sick in the temple hospital. There were smallerhalls and rooms adjoining, where at this moment some priests were busypreparing kyphi and mixing drugs. 

The steward, proud of Caesar's promised visit, announced to hissubordinates the honor they might expect, and he then went to the doorof the small laboratory to tell the old pastophoros who was employedthere, and who had done him many a good turn, that if he wished to seethe emperor he had only to open the door leading to the staircase. Hewas about to visit the mystic chambers with his much-talked-of lion. Noone need be afraid of the beast; it was quite tame, and Caesar loved itas a son. 

At this the old drug-pounder muttered some reply, which sounded morelike a curse than the expected thanks, and the steward regretted havingcompared the lion to a son in this man's presence, for the pastophoroswore a mourning garment, and two promising sons had been snatched fromhim, slain yesterday with the other youths in the stadium. 

But the cook soon forgot the old man's ill-humor; he had to clear hissubordinates out of the way as quickly as possible and prepare for hisillustrious visitor. As he bustled around, here, there, and everywhere, the pastophoros entered the kitchen and begged for a piece of mutton. This was granted him by a hasty sign toward a freshly slaughtered sheep, and the old man busied himself for some time behind the steward'sback. At last he had cut off what he wanted, and gazed with singulartenderness at the piece of red, veinless meat. On returning to hislaboratory, he hastily bolted himself in, and when he came out again afew minutes later his calm, wrinkled old face had a malignant andevil look. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking about himcautiously; then he flew up the steps with the agility of youth, and ata turn in the stairs he stuck the piece of meat close to the foot of thebalustrade. 

He returned as nimbly as he had gone, cast a sorrowful glance throughthe open laboratory window at the arena where all that had graced hislife lay dead, and passed his hand over his tearful face. At last hereturned to his task, but he was less able to do it than before. It waswith a trembling hand that he weighed out the juniper berries and cedarresin, and he listened all the time with bated breath. 

Presently there was a stir on the stairs, and the kitchen slaves shoutedthat Caesar was coming. So he went out of the laboratory, which wasbehind the stairs, to see what was going forward, and a turnspit at oncemade way for the old man so as not to hinder his view. 

Was that little young man, mounting the steps so gayly, with thehigh-priest at his side and his suite at his heels, the dreadful monsterwho had murdered his noble sons? He had pictured the dreadful tyrantquite differently. Now Caesar was laughing, and the tall man next himmade some light and ready reply--the head cook said it was the Romanpriest of Alexander, who was not on good terms with Timotheus. Couldthey be laughing at the high-priest? Never, in all the years he hadknown him, had he seen Timotheus so pale and dejected. 

The high-priest had indeed good cause for anxiety, for he suspected whoit was that Caesar hoped to find in the mystic rooms, and feared thathis wife might, in fact, have Melissa in hiding in that part of thebuilding to which he was now leading the way. After Macrinus had cometo fetch him he had had no opportunity of inquiring, for the prefecthad not quitted him for a moment, and Euryale was in the town busy withother women in seeking out and nursing such of the wounded as had beenfound alive among the dead. 

Caesar triumphed in the changed, gloomy, and depressed demeanor of aman usually so self-possessed; for he fancied that it betrayed someknowledge on the part of Timotheus of Melissa's hiding-place; and hecould jest with the priest of Alexander and his favorite Theokritus andthe other friends who attended him, while he ignored the high-priest'spresence and never even alluded to Melissa. 

Hardly had they gone past the old man when, just as the kitchen slaveswere shouting "Hail, Caesar!" the lady Euryale, as pale as death, hurried in, and with a trembling voice inquired whither her husband wasconducting the emperor. 

She had turned back when half way on her road, in obedience to theimpulse of her heart, which prompted her, before she went on herSamaritan's errand, to visit Melissa in her hiding-place, and let hersee the face of a friend at the beginning of a new, lonely, and anxiousday. On hearing the reply which was readily given, her knees trembledbeneath her, and the steward, who saw her totter, supported her and ledher into the laboratory, where essences and strong waters soon restoredher to consciousness. Euryale had known the old pastophoros a long time, and, noticing his mourning garb, she asked sympathetically: "And you, too, are bereft?"

"Of both, " was the answer. "You were always so good to them--Slaughteredlike beasts for sacrifice--down there in the stadium, " and tears flowedfast down the old man's furrowed cheeks. The lady uplifted her hands asthough calling on Heaven to avenge this outrageous crime; at the sameinstant a loud howl of pain was heard from above, and a great confusionof men's voices. 

Euryale was beside herself with fear. If they had found Melissa in herroom her husband's fate was sealed, and she was guilty of his doom. But they could scarcely yet have opened the chambers, and the girl wasclever and nimble, and might perhaps escape in time if she heard the menapproaching. She eagerly flew to the window. She could see below her thestone which Melissa must move to get out; but between the wall andthe stadium the street was crowded, and at every door of the Serapeumlictors were posted, even at that stone door known only to theinitiated, with the temple slaughterers and other servants who seemedall to be on guard. If Melissa were to come out now she would be seized, and it must become known who had shown her the way into the hiding-placethat had sheltered her. 

At this moment Theokritus came leaping down the stairs, crying out toher: "The lion--a physician--where shall I find a leech?"

The matron pointed to the old man, who was one of the medical studentsof the sanctuary, and the favorite shouted out to him, "Come up!" andthen rushed on, paying no heed to Euryale's inquiry for Melissa; butthe old man laughed scornfully and shouted after him, "I am nobeast-healer. "

Then, turning to the lady, he added:

"I am sorry for the lion. You know me, lady. I could never tillyesterday bear to see a fly hurt. But this brute! It was as a son tothat bloodhound, and he shall feel for once something to grieve him. The lion has had his portion. No physician in the world can bring him tolife again. "

He bent his head and returned to his laboratory; but the matronunderstood that this kind, peaceable man, in spite of his white hair, had become a poisoner, and that the splendid, guiltless beast owed itsdeath to him. She shuddered. Wherever this unblest man went, goodturned to evil; terror, suffering, and death took the place of peace, happiness, and life. He had forced her even into the sin of disobedienceto her husband and master. But now her secret hiding of Melissa againsthis will would be avenged. He and she alike would probably pay for thedeed with their life; for the murder of his lion would inevitably rouseCaesar's wildest passions. 

Still, she knew that Caracalla respected her; for her sake, perhaps, hewould spare her husband. But Melissa? What would her fate be if she weredragged out of her hiding-place?--and she must be discovered! He hadthreatened to cast her to the beasts; and ought she not to prefereven that fearful fate to forgiveness and a fresh outburst of Caesar'spassion?

Pale and tearless, but shaken with alarms, she bent over the balustradeof the stairs and murmured a prayer commending herself, her husband, andMelissa to God. Then she hastened up the steps. The great doors leadingto the chambers of mystery stood wide open, and the first person she metwas her husband. 

"You here?" said he in an undertone. "You may thank the gods that yourkind heart did not betray you into hiding the girl here. I trembled forher and for ourselves. But there is not a sign of her; neither here noron the secret stair. What a morning--and what a day must follow! Therelies Caesar's lion. If his suspicion that it has been poisoned should beproved true, woe to this luckless city, woe to us all!"

And Caesar's aspect justified the worst anticipations. He had thrownhimself on the floor by the side of his dead favorite, hiding his facein the lion's noble mane, with strange, quavering wailing. Then heraised the brute's heavy head and kissed his dead eyes, and as itslipped from his hand and fell on the floor, he started to his feet, shaking his fist, and exclaiming:

"Yes, you have poisoned him! Bring the miscreant here, or you shallfollow him!"

Macrinus assured him that if indeed some basest of base wretches haddared to destroy the life of this splendid and faithful king of beasts, the murderer should infallibly be found. But Caracalla screamed in hisface:

"Found? Dare you speak of finding? Have you even brought me the girl whowas hidden here? Have you found her? Where is she? She was seen here andshe must be here!"

And he hurried from room to room in undignified haste, like a slavehunting for some lost treasure of his master's, tearing open closets, peeping behind curtains and up chimneys, and snatching the clothes, behind which she might have hidden, from the pegs on which they hung. Heinsisted on seeing every secret door, and ran first down and then up thehidden stairs by which Melissa had in fact escaped. 

In the great hall, where by this time physicians and courtiers hadgathered round the carcass of the lion, Caesar sank on to a seat, hisbrow damp with heat, and stared at the floor; while the leeches, who, asAlexandrians for the most part, were anxious not to rouse the despot'srage, assured him that to all appearance the lion, who had been highlyfed and getting little exercise, had died of a fit. The poison hadindeed worked more rapidly than any the imperial body physician wasacquainted with; and he, not less anxious to mollify the sovereign, borethem out in this opinion. But their diagnosis, though well meant, hadthe contrary effect to that they had intended. The prosecution andpunishment of a murderer would have given occupation to his revengefulspirit and have diverted his thoughts, and the capture of the criminalwould have pacified him; as it was, he could only regard the death ofthe lion as a fresh stroke of fate directed against himself. He satabsorbed in sullen gloom, muttering frantic curses, and haughtilydesired the high-priest to restore the offering he had wasted on a godwho was so malignant, and as hostile to him as all else in this city ofabomination. 

He then rose, desired every one to stand back from where the lion lay, and gazed down at the beast for many minutes. And as he looked, hisexcited imagination showed him Melissa stroking the noble brute, and thelion lashing the ground with his tail when he heard the light step ofher little feet. He could hear the music of her voice when she spokecoaxingly to the lion; and then again he started off to search the roomsonce more, shouting her name, heedless of the bystanders, till Macrinusmade so bold as to assure him that the slaughterer's report must havebeen false. He must have mistaken some one else for Melissa, for itwas proved beyond a doubt that Melissa had been burned in her father'shouse. 

At this Caesar looked the prefect in the face with glazed and wanderingeyes, and Macrinus started in horror as he suddenly shrieked, "The deed, the deed!" and struck his brow with his fist. 

From that hour Caracalla had lost forever the power of distinguishingthe illusions which pursued him from reality. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

A week later Caracalla quitted Alexandria to make war on the Parthians. What finally drove the unhappy man to hurry from the hated place was thetorturing fear of sharing his lion's fate, and of being sent after themurdered Tarautas by the friends who had heard his appeal to fate. 

Quite mad he was not, for the illusions which haunted him were oftenabsent for several hours, when he spoke with perfect lucidity, receivedreports, and gave orders. It was with peculiar terror that his soulavoided every recollection of his mother, of Theokritus, and allthose whose opinion he had formerly valued and whose judgment was notindifferent to him. 

In constant terror of the dagger of an avenger--a dread which, withmany other peculiarities, the leech could hardly ascribe to the diseasedphenomena of his mental state--he only showed himself to his soldiers, and he might often be seen making a meal off a pottage he himself hadcooked to escape the poison which had been fatal to his lion. He wasnever for an instant free from the horrible sense of being hated, shunned, and persecuted by the whole world. 

Sometimes he would remember that once a fair girl had prayed for him;but when he tried to recall her features he could only see the charredarm with the golden snake held up before him as he had pictured it thatnight after the most hideous of his massacres; and every time, at thesight of it, that word came back to him which still tortured his soulabove all else--"The deed. " But his attendants, who heard him repeatingit day and night, never knew what he meant by it. 

When Zminis met his end by the wild beasts in the arena, it was beforehalf-empty seats, though several legions had been ordered into theamphitheatre to fill them. The larger number of the citizens were slain, and the remainder were in mourning for relatives more or less near; andthey also kept away from the scene to avoid the hated despot. 

Macrinus now governed the empire almost as a sovereign, for Caesar, formerly a laborious and autocratic ruler, shrank from all business. Even before they left Alexandria the plebeian prefect could see thatSerapion's prophecy was fulfilling itself. He remained in close intimacywith the soothsayer; but only once more, and just before Caesar'sdeparture, could the magian be induced to raise the spirits of the dead, for his clever accomplice, Castor, had fallen a victim in the massacrebecause, prompted by the high price set on Alexander's head, and his ownfierce hatred of the young painter, he would go out to discover where heand his sister had concealed themselves. 

When at last the unhappy monarch quitted Alexandria one rainy morning, followed by the curses of innumerable mourners--fathers, mothers, widows, and orphans--as well as of ruined artisans and craftsmen, theill-used city, once so proudly gay, felt itself relieved of a crushingnightmare. This time it was not to Caesar that the cloudy sky promisedwelfare--his life was wrapped in gloom--but to the people he had sobitterly hated. Thousands looked forward hopefully to life once more, inspite of their mourning robes and widows' veils, and notwithstanding theserious hindrances which the malice of their "afflicted" sovereign hadplaced in the way of the resuscitation of their town, for Caracalla hadcommanded that a wall should be built to divide the great merchant cityinto two parts. 

Nay, he had intended to strike a death-blow even at the learning towhich Alexandria owed a part of her greatness, by decreeing that theMuseum and schools should be removed and the theatres closed. 

Maddening alike to heart and brain was the memory that he left behindhim, and the citizens would shake their fists if only his name werespoken. But their biting tongues had ceased to mock or jest. Most of theepigramatists were silenced forever, and the nimble wit of the survivorswas quelled for many a month by bitter curses or tears of sorrow. 

But now--it was a fortnight since the dreadful man had left--the shopsand stores, which had been closed against the plunderers, were beingreopened. Life was astir again in the deserted and silent baths andtaverns, for there was no further fear of rapine from insolent soldiers, or the treacherous ears of spies and delators. Women and girls couldonce more venture into the highways, the market was filled with dealers, and many an one who was conscious of a heedless speech or suspected ofwhistling in the circus, or of some other crime, now came out of hiswell-watched hiding-place. 

Glaukias, the sculptor, among others, reopened his work-rooms in Heron'sgarden-plot. In the cellar beneath the floor the gem-cutter had remainedhidden with Polybius and his sister Praxilla, for the easy-going old mancould not be induced to embark in the vessel which Argutis had hired forthem. Sooner would he die than leave Alexandria. He was too muchpetted and too infirm to face the discomforts of a sea voyage. And hisobstinacy had served him well, for the ship in which they were to havesailed, though it got out before the harbor was closed, was overtakenand brought back by an imperial galley. 

Polybius was, however, quite willing to accept Heron's invitation toshare his hiding-place. 

Now they could both come out again; but these few weeks had affectedthem very differently. The gem-cutter looked like the shadow of himself, and had lost his upright carriage. He knew, indeed, that Melissa wasalive, and that Alexander, after being wounded, had been carried byAndreas to the house of Zeno, and was on the way to recovery; butthe death of his favorite son preyed on his mind, and it was a greatgrievance that his house should have been wrecked and burned. His hiddengold, which was safe with him, would have allowed of his building afar finer one in its stead, but the fact that it should be hisfellow-citizens who had destroyed it was worst of all. It weighed on hisspirits, and made him morose and silent. 

Old Dido, who had risked her life more than once, looked at him withmournful eyes, and besought all the gods she worshiped to restore hergood master's former vigor, that she might once more hear him curseand storm; for his subdued mood seemed to her unnatural and alarming--aportent of his approaching end. 

Praxilla, too, the comfortable widow, had grown pale and thin, but oldDido had learned a great deal from her teaching. Polybius only was morecheerful than ever. He knew that his son and Melissa had escaped themost imminent dangers. This made him glad; and then his sister haddone wonders that he might not too greatly miss his cook. His meals hadnevertheless been often scanty enough, and this compulsory temperancehad relieved him of his gout and done him so much good that, whenAndreas led him out into daylight once more, the burly old manexclaimed: "I feel as light as a bird. If I had but wings I could flyacross the lake to see the boy. It is you, my brother, who have helpedto make me so much lighter. " He laid his arm on the freedman's shoulderand kissed him on the cheeks. It was for the first time; and neverbefore had he called him brother. But that his lips had obeyed theimpulse of his heart might be seen in the tearful glitter of his eyes, which met those of Andreas, and they, too, were moist. 

Polybius knew all that the Christian had done for his son and forMelissa, for him and his, and his jest in saying that Andreas had helpedto make him lighter referred to his latest achievement. Julianus, thenew governor of the city, who now occupied the residence of the prefectTitianus, had taken advantage of the oppressed people to extract money, and Andreas, by the payment of a large sum, had succeeded in persuadinghim to sign a document which exonerated Polybius and his son from allcriminality, and protected their person and property against soldiersand town guards alike. This safe-conduct secured a peaceful futureto the genial old man, and filled the measure of what he owed to thefreedman, even to overflowing. Andreas, on his part, felt that hisformer owner's kiss and brotherly greeting had sealed his acceptance asa free man. He asked no greater reward than this he had just received;and there was another thing which made his heart leap with gladness. Heknew now that the fullness of time had come in the best sense for thedaughter of the only woman he had ever loved, and that the Good Shepherdhad called her to be one of His flock. He could rejoice over thiswithout a pang, for he had learned that Diodoros, too, had entered onthe path which hitherto he had pointed out to him in vain. 

A calm cheerfulness, which surprised all who knew him, brightenedthe grave man; for him the essence of Christian love lay in theResurrection, and he saw with astonishment that a wonderful new vitalitywas rising out of death. For Alexandria, too, the time was fulfilled. Men and women crowded to the rite of baptism. Mothers brought theirdaughters, and fathers their sons. These days of horror had multipliedthe little Christian congregation to a church of ten thousand members. Caracalla turned hundreds from heathenism by his bloody sacrifices, hislove of fighting, his passion for revenge, and the blindness which madehim cast away all care for his eternal soul to secure the enjoyment of abrief existence. That the sword which had slain thousands of theirsons should have been dedicated to Serapis, and accepted by the god, alienated many of the citizens from the patron divinity of the town. Then the news that Timotheus the high-priest had abdicated his officesoon after Caesar's departure, and, with his revered wife Euryale, hadbeen baptized by their friend the learned Clemens, confirmed many intheir desire to be admitted into the Christian community. 

After these horrors of bloodshed, these orgies of hatred and vengeance, every heart longed for love and peace and brotherly communion. Whoof all those that had looked death in the face in these days was notanxious to know more of the creed which taught that the life beyond thegrave was of greater importance than that on earth?--while those whoalready held it went forth to meet, as it were, a bridegroom. They hadseen men trodden down and all their rights trampled on, and now everyear was open when a doctrine was preached which recognized the supremevalue of humanity, by ascribing, even to the humblest, the dignity of achild of God. They were accustomed to pray to immortal beings who livedin privileged supremacy and wild revelry at the golden tables ofthe Olympian banquet; and now they were told that the church of theChristians meant the communion of the faithful with their fatherly God, and with His Son who had mingled with other mortals in the form of manand who had done more for them than a brother, inasmuch as He had takenupon Himself to die on the cross for love of them. 

To a highly cultured race like the Alexandrians it had long seemed anabsurdity to try to purchase the favor of the god; by blood-offerings. Many philosophical sects, and especially the Pythagoreans, had forbiddensuch sacrifices, and had enjoined the bringing of offerings not topurchase good fortune, but only to honor the gods; and now they saw theChristians not making any offerings at all, but sharing a love-feast. This, as they declared, was to keep them in remembrance of theirbrotherhood and of their crucified Lord, whose blood, once shed, Hisheavenly Father had accepted instead of every other sacrifice. Thevoluntary and agonizing death of the Redeemer had saved the soul ofevery Christian from sin and damnation; and many who in the late scenesof horror had been inconsolable in anticipation of the grave, felt movedto share in this divine gift of grace. 

Beautiful, wise, and convincing sentences from the Bible went from lipto lip; and a saying of Clemens, whose immense learning was well known, was especially effective and popular. He had said that "faith wasknowledge of divine things through revelation, but that learningmust give the proof thereof"; and this speech led many men of highattainments to study the new doctrines. 

The lower classes were no doubt those most strongly attracted, the poorand the slaves; and with them the sorrowing and oppressed. There weremany of these now in the town; ten thousand had seen those dearestto them perish, and others, being wounded, had within a few days beenruined both in health and estate. 

As to Melissa in her peril, so to all these the Saviour's call to theheavy-laden that He would give them rest had come as a promise of newhope to car and heart. At the sound of these words they saw the budsof a new spring-time for the soul before their eyes; any one who knewa Christian improved his intimacy that he might hear more about thetender-hearted Comforter, the Friend of children, the kind and helpfulPatron of the poor, the sorrowful, and the oppressed. 

Assemblies of any kind were prohibited by the new governor; but the lawof Aelius Marcianus allowed gatherings for religious purposes, and thelearned lawyer, Johannes, directed his fellow-Christians to rely onthat. All Alexandria was bidden to these meetings, and the text withwhich Andreas opened the first, "Now the fullness of time is come, "passed from mouth to mouth. 

Apart from that period which had preceded the birth of Christ, thesewords applied to none better than to the days of death and terror whichthey had just gone through. Had a plainer boundary-stone ever beenerected between a past and a future time? Out of the old vain andcareless life, which had ended with such fearful horrors, a new lifewould now proceed of peace and love and pious cares. 

The greater number of the citizens, and at their head the wealthy andproud, still crowded the heathen temples to serve the old gods andpurchase their favor with offerings; still, the Christian churches weretoo small and few to hold the faithful, and these had risen to higherconsideration, for the community no longer consisted exclusively of thelower rank of people and slaves. No, men and women of the best familiescame streaming in, and this creed--as was proclaimed by Demetrius, theeloquent bishop; by Origen, who in power and learning--was the superiorof any heathen philosopher; by the zealous Andreas, and many anotherchosen spirit--this creed was the religion of the future. 

The freedman had never yet lived in such a happy and elevated frame ofmind; as he looked back on his past existence he often remembered withthankful joy the promise that the last should be first, and that thelowly should be exalted. If the dead had risen from their graves beforehis eyes it would scarcely have surprised him, for in these latterdays he had seen wonder follow on wonder. The utmost his soul hadso fervently desired, for which he had prayed and longed, had foundfulfillment in a way which far surpassed his hopes; and through whatblood and fear had the Lord led His own, to let them reach the highestgoal! He knew from the lady Euryale that his desire to win Melissa'ssoul to the true faith had been granted, and that she craved to bebaptized. This had not been confirmed by the girl herself, for, attackedby a violent fever, she had during nine days hovered between life anddeath; and since then Andreas had for more than a week been detained inthe town arranging affairs for Polybius. 

The task was now ended which he had set himself to carry through. Hecould leave the city and see once more the young people he loved. Heparted from Polybius and his sister at the garden gate, and led Heronand old Dido to a small cottage which his former master had given him tolive in. 

The gem-cutter was not to be allowed to see his children till theleech should give leave, and the unfortunate man could not get over hissurprise and emotion at finding in his new home not only a work-table, with tools, wax, and stones, but several cages full of birds, and amongthese feathered friends a starling. His faithful and now freed slave, Argutis, had, by Polybius's orders, supplied everything needful; butthe birds were a thought of the Christian girl Agatha. All this was aconsolation in his grief, and when the gem-cutter was alone with oldDido he burst into sobs. The slave woman followed his example, but hestopped her with loud, harsh scolding. At first she was frightened; butthen she exclaimed with delight from the very bottom of her faithfulheart, "The gods be praised!" and from the moment when he could storm, she always declared, Heron's recovery began. 

 . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 

The sun was setting when Andreas made his way to Zeno's house--a long, white-washed building. 

The road led through a palm-grove on the Christian's estate. His anxietyto see the beloved sufferers urged him forward so quickly that hepresently overtook another man who was walking in the same direction inthe cool of the evening. This was Ptolemaeus, the physician. 

He greeted Andreas with cheerful kindness, and the freedman knew what hemeant when, without waiting to be asked, he said:

"We are out of the wood now; the fever has passed away. The deliriousfancies have left her, and since noon she has slept. When I quitted heran hour ago she was sleeping soundly and quietly. Till now the shakensoul has been living in a dream; but now that the fever has passedaway, she will soon be herself again. As yet she has recognized no one;neither Agatha nor the lady Euryale; not even Diodoros, whom I allowedto look at her yesterday for a moment. We have taken her away from thelarge house in the garden, on account of the children, to the littlevilla opposite the place of worship. It is quiet there, and the airblows in on her through the open veranda. The Empress herself could notwish for a better sick-room. And the care Agatha takes of her! You areright to hasten. The last glimmer of sunshine is extinct, and divineservice will soon begin. I am satisfied with Diodoros too; youth is asoil on which the physician reaps easy laurels. What will it not healand strengthen! Only when the soul is so deeply shaken, as with Melissaand her brother, matters go more slowly, even with the young. However, as I said, we are past the crisis. "

"God be praised!" said Andreas. "Such news makes me young again. I couldrun like a boy. " They now entered the well-kept gardens which lay behindZeno's house. Noble clumps of tall old trees rose above the green grassplots and splendid shrubs. Round a dancing fountain were carefully keptbeds of beautiful flowers. The garden ended at a palm-grove, whichcast its shade on Zeno's little private place of worship--an openplot inclosed by tamarisk hedges like walls. The little villa in whichMelissa lay was in a bower of verdure, and the veranda with the widedoor through which the bed of the sufferer had been carried in, stoodopen in the cool evening to the garden, the palm-grove, and the place ofworship with its garland, as it were, of fragile tamarisk boughs. 

Agatha was keeping watch by Melissa; but as the last of the figures, great and small, who could be seen moving across the garden, all inthe same direction, disappeared behind the tamarisk screen, the youngChristian looked lovingly down at her friend's pale and all too delicateface, touched her forehead lightly with her lips, and whispered to thesleeper, as though she could hear her voice:

"I am only going to pray for you and your brother. "

And she went out. 

A few moments later the brazen gong was heard--muffled out of regard forthe sick--which announced the hour of prayer to the little congregation. It had sounded every evening without disturbing the sufferer, butto-night it roused her from her slumbers. 

She looked about her in bewilderment and tried to rise, but she was tooweak to lift herself. Terror, blood, Diodoros wounded, Andreas, the asson which she had ridden that night, were the images which first crowdedon her awakening spirit in bewildering confusion. She had heard thatpiercing ring of smitten brass in the Serapeum. Was she still there? Hadshe only dreamed of that night-ride with her wounded lover? Perhaps shehad lost consciousness in the mystic chambers, and the clang of the gonghad roused her. 

And she shuddered. In her terror she dared not open her eyes for fearof seeing on all hands the hideous images on the walls and ceiling. Merciful gods! If her flight from the Serapeum and the rescue ofDiodoros by Andreas had really been but a dream, then the door mightopen at any moment, and the Egyptian Zminis or his men might come in todrag her before that dreadful Caesar. 

She had half recovered consciousness several times, and as thesethoughts had come over her, her returning lucidity had vanished anda fresh attack of fever had shaken her. But this time her head seemedclearer; the cloud and humming had left her which had impeded the use ofher ears and eyes. 

Her brain too had recovered its faculties. As soon as she tried tothink, her restored intelligence told her that if she were indeed stillin the Serapeum and the door should open, the lady Euryale might come into speak courage to her and take her in her motherly arms, and--Andshe suddenly recollected the promise which had come to her from theScriptures of the Christians. It stood before her soul in perfectclearness that she had found a loving comforter in the Saviour; sheremembered how gladly she had declared to the lady Euryale that thefullness of time had now indeed come to her, and that she had no morefervent wish than to become a fellow-believer with her kind friend--abaptized Christian. And all the while she felt as though light werespreading in her and around her, and the vision she had last seen whenshe lost consciousness rose again before her inward eye. Again shesaw the Redeemer as He had stood before her at the end of her ride, stretching out His arms to her in the darkness, inviting her, who wasweary and heavy laden, to be refreshed by him. A glow of thankfulnesswarmed her heart, and she closed her eyes once more. 

But she did not sleep; and while she lay fully conscious, with her handson her bosom as it rose and fell regularly with her deep breathing, thinking of the loving Teacher, of the Christians, and of all theglorious promises she had read in the Sermon on the Mount, and whichwere addressed to her too, she could fancy that her head rested onEuryale's shoulder, while she saw the form of the Saviour robed in lightand beckoning to her. 

Her whole frame was wrapped in pleasant languor. Just so had she feltonce before-she remembered it well--and she remembered when it was. She had felt just as she did now after her lover had for the first timeclasped her to his heart, when, as night came on, she had sat by hisside on the marble bench, while the Christian procession passed. She hadtaken the chanting train for the wandering souls of the dead and--howstrange! No--she was not mistaken. She heard at this moment the selfsamestrain which they had then sung so joyfully, in spite of its solemnmode. She did know when it had begun, but again it filled her with abitter-sweet sense of pity. Only it struck deeper now than before, forshe knew now that it applied to all human beings, since they were allthe children of the same kind Father, and her own brethren and sisters. 

But whence did the wonderful music proceed--Was she--and a shock ofalarm thrilled her at the thought--was she numbered with the dead? Hadher heart ceased to beat when the Saviour had taken her in His armsafter her ride through blood and darkness, when all had grown dim to hersenses? Was she now in the abode of the blest?

Andreas had painted it as a glorious place; and yet she shuddered at thethought. But was not that foolish? If she were really dead, all terrorand pain were at an end. She would see her mother once more; andwhatever might happen to those she loved, she might perhaps be sufferedto linger near them, as she had done on earth, and hope with assuranceto meet them again here, sooner or later. 

But no! Her heart was beating still; she could feel how strongly itthrobbed. Then where was she?

There certainly had not been any such coverlet as this on her bed in theSerapeum, and the room there was much lower. She looked about her andsucceeded in turning on her side toward the evening breeze which blewin on her, so pure and soft and sweet. She raised her delicate emaciatedhand to her head and found that her thick hair was gone. Then she musthave cut it off to disguise herself. 

But where was she? Whither had she fled?

It mattered not. The Serapeum was far away, and she need no longerfear Zminis and his spies. Now for the first time she raised her eyesthankfully to Heaven, and next she looked about her; and while she gazedand let her eyes feed themselves full, a faint cry of delight escapedher lips. Before her, in the silvery light of the bright disk of theyoung moon lay a splendid blooming garden, and over the palms whichtowered above all else, in shadowy masses, in the distance the eveningstar was rising just in front, the moonlight twinkled and flashed in therising and falling drops of the fountain; and as she lay, stirred to thedepths of her soul by this silent splendor, thinking of kindly Selenemoving on her peaceful path above, of Artemis hunting in the moonlight, of the nymphs of the waters, and the dryads just now perhaps stealingout of the great trees to dance with sportive fauns, the chant suddenlybroke out again in solemn measure, and she heard, to deep manly voices, the beginning of the Psalm:

"Give thanks unto the Lord and declare his name; proclaim his wondersamong the nations. 

"Sing of him and praise him; tell of all his wonders; glorify his holyname; their hearts rejoice that seek the Lord. "

Here the men ceased and the women began as though to confirm theirpraise of the most High, singing the ninetieth Psalm with enthusiasticjoy:

"O Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or, ever thou hadst formed theearth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 

"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it ispassed, and as a watch in the night. "

Then the men's voices broke in again

"The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth hishandiwork. 

"Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. "

And the women in their turn took up the chant, and from their gratefulbreasts rose clear and strong the Psalm of David:

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holyname. 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. 

"Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases. 

"Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee withloving-kindness and tender mercies. "

Melissa listened breathlessly to the singing, of which she could hearevery word; and how gladly would she have mingled her voice with theirsin thanksgiving to the kind Father in heaven who was hers as well astheirs! There lay His wondrous works before her, and her heart echoedthe verse:

"Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee withloving-kindness and tender mercies, " as though it were addressedespecially to her and sung for her by the choir of women. 

The gods of whom she had but just been thinking with pious remembranceappeared to her now as beautiful, merry, sportive children, as gracefulcreatures of her own kind, in comparison with the Almighty Creator andRuler of the universe, whose works among the nations, whose holy name, whose wonders, greatness, and loving-kindness these songs of praisecelebrated. The breath of His mouth dispersed the whole world of godsto whom she had been wont to pray, as the autumn wind scatters themany-tinted leaves of faded trees. She felt as though He embraced thegarden before her with mighty and yet loving arms, and with it the wholeworld. She had loved the Olympian gods; but in this hour, for the firsttime, she felt true reverence for one God, and it made her proud tothink that she might love this mighty Lord, this tender Father, and knowthat she was beloved by Him. Her heart beat faster and faster, and shefelt as though, under the protection of this God, she need never morefear any danger. 

As she looked out again at the palm-trees beyond the tamarisks, abovewhose plumy heads the evening star now rode in the azure blue of thenight sky, the singing was taken up again after a pause; she heardonce more the angelic greeting which had before struck her soul as socomforting and full of promise when she read it in the Gospel:

"Glory to God on high, on earth peace, good-will toward men. "

That which she had then so fervently longed for had, she thought, cometo pass. The peace, the rest for which she had yearned so miserablyin the midst of terror and bloodshed, now filled her heart-all thatsurrounded her was so still and peaceful! A wonderful sense of home cameover her, and with it the conviction that here she would certainly findthose for whom she was longing. 

Again she looked up to survey the scene, and she was now aware ofa white figure coming toward her from the tamarisk hedge. This wasEuryale. She had seen Agatha among the worshipers, and had quitted thecongregation, fearing that the sick girl might wake and find no one nearher who cared for her or loved her. She crossed the grass plot witha swift step. She had passed the fountain; her head came into themoonlight, and Melissa could see the dear, kind face. With gladexcitement she called her by name, and as the matron entered the verandashe heard the convalescent's weak voice and hastened to her side. Lightly, as if joy had made her young again, she sank on her knees bythe bed of the resuscitated girl to kiss her with motherly tendernessand press her head gently to her bosom. While Melissa asked a hundredquestions the lady had to warn her to remain quiet, and at last to bidher to keep silence. 

First of all Melissa wanted to know where she was. Then her lipsoverflowed with thankfulness and joy, and declarations that she felt asshe was sure the souls in bliss must feel, when Euryale had told her insubdued tones that her father was living, that Diodoros and her brotherhad found a refuge in the house of Zeno, and that Andreas, Polybius, andall dear to them were quite recovered after those evil days. Thetown had long been rid of Caesar, and Zeno had consented to allow hisdaughter Agatha to marry Alexander. 

In obedience to her motherly adviser, the convalescent remained quietfor a while; but joy seemed to have doubled her strength, for shedesired to see Agatha, Alexander, and Andreas, and--she colored, and abeseeching glance met Euryale's eyes--and Diodoros. 

But meanwhile the physician Ptolemaeus had come into the room, and hewould allow no one to come near her this evening but Zeno's daughter. His grave eyes were dim with tears as, when taking leave, he whisperedto the Lady Euryale:

"All is well. Even her mind is saved. "

He was right. From day to day and from hour to hour her recoveryprogressed and her strength improved. And there was much for her to seeand hear, which did her more good than medicine, even though she hadbeen moved to fresh grief by the death of her brother and many friends. 

Like Melissa, her lover and Alexander had been led by thorny paths tothe stars which shine on happy souls and shed their light in the heartsof those to whom the higher truth is revealed. It was as Christians thatDiodoros and Alexander both came to visit the convalescent. That whichhad won so many Alexandrians to the blessings of the new faith hadattracted them too, and the certainty of finding their beloved among theChristians had been an added inducement to crave instruction from Zeno. And it had been given them in so zealous and captivating a manner that, in their impressionable hearts, the desire for learning had soon beenturned to firm conviction and inspired ardor. 

Agatha was betrothed to Alexander. 

The scorn of his fellow-citizens, which had fallen on the innocent youthand which he had supposed would prevent his ever winning her love, hadin fact secured it to him, for Agatha's father was very ready to trusthis child to the man who had rescued her, whom she loved, and in whom hesaw one of the lowly who should be exalted. 

Alexander was not told of Philip's death till his own wounds werehealed; but he had meanwhile confided to Andreas that he had made up hismind to fly to a distant land that he might never again see Agatha, andthus not rob the brother on whom he had brought such disaster of thewoman he loved. The freedman had heard him with deep emotion, and withina few hours after Andreas had reported to Zeno the self-sacrificingyouth's purpose, Zeno had gone to Alexander and greeted him as his son. 

Melissa found in Agatha the sister she had so long pined for; and howhappy it made her to see her brother's eyes once more sparkle withgladness! Alexander, even as a Christian and as Agatha's husband, remained an artist. 

The fortune accumulated by Andreas--the solidi with which he hadformerly paid the scapegrace painter's debts included--was appliedto the erection of a new and beautiful house of God on the spot whereHeron's house had stood. Alexander decorated it with noble pictures, andas this church was soon too small to accommodate the rapidly increasingcongregation, he painted the walls of yet another, with figures whoseextreme beauty was famous throughout Christendom, and which werepreserved and admired till gloomy zealots prohibited the arts inchurches and destroyed their works. 

Melissa could not be safe in Alexandria. After being quietly married inthe house of Polybius, she, with her young husband and Andreas, movedto Carthage, where an uncle of Diodoros dwelt. Love went them, and, withlove, happiness. They were not long compelled to remain in exile; a fewmonths after their marriage news was brought to Carthage that Caesarhad been murdered by the centurion Martialis, prompted by the tribunesApollinaris and Nemesianus Aurelius. Immediately on this, Macrinus, thepraetorian prefect, was proclaimed emperor by the troops. 

The ambitious man's sovereignty lasted less than a year; still, theprophecy of Serapion was fulfilled. It cost the Magian his life indeed;for a letter written by him to the prefect, in which he reminded himof what he had foretold, fell into the hands of Caracalla's mother, whoopened the letters addressed to her ill-fated son at Antioch, where shewas then residing. The warning it contained did not arrive, however, till after Caesar's death, and before the new sovereign couldeffectually protect the soothsayer. As soon as Macrinus had mounted thethrone the persecution of those who had roused the ire of the unhappyCaracalla was at an end. Diodoros and Melissa, Heron and Polybius, couldmingle once more with their fellow-citizens secure from all pursuit. 

Diodoros and other friends took care that the suspicion of treacherywhich had been cast on Heron's household should be abundantly disproved. Nay, the death of Philip, and Melissa's and Alexander's evil fortunes, placed them in the ranks of the foremost foes of tyranny. 

Within ten months of his accession Macrinus was overthrown, after hisdefeat at Immae, where, though the praetorians still fought for himbravely, he took ignominious flight; Julia Domna's grandnephew was thenproclaimed Caesar by the troops, under the name of Heliogabalus, andthe young emperor of fourteen had a statue and a cenotaph erected atAlexandria to Caracalla, whose son he was falsely reputed to be. Thesetwo works of art suffered severely at the hands of those on whom thehated and luckless emperor had inflicted such fearful evils. Still, oncertain memorial days they were decked with beautiful flowers; and whenthe new prefect, by order of Caracalla's mother, made inquiry as to whoit was that laid them there, he was informed that they came from thefinest garden in Alexandria, and that it was Melissa, the wife of theowner, who offered them. This comforted the heart of Julia Domna, andshe would have blessed the donor still more warmly if she could haveknown that Melissa included the name of her crazed son in her prayers toher dying day. 

Old Heron, who had settled on the estate of Diodoros and lived thereamong his birds, less surly than of old, still produced his miniatureworks of art; he would shake his head over those strange offerings, andonce when he found himself alone with old Dido, now a freed-woman, hesaid, irritably: "If that little fool had done as I told her she wouldbe empress now, and as good as Julia Domna. But all has turned outwell--only that Argutis, whom every one treats as if our old Macedonianblood ran in his veins, was sent yesterday by Melissa with finerflowers for Caracalla's cenotaph than for her own mother's tomb--Mayher new-fangled god forgive her! There is some Christian nonsense at thebottom of it, no doubt. I stick to the old gods whom my Olympias served, and she always did the best in everything. "

Old Polybius, too, remained a heathen; but he allowed the children toplease themselves. He and Heron saw their grandchildren brought upas Christians without a remonstrance, for they both understood thatChristianity was the faith of the future. 

Andreas to his latest day was ever the faithful adviser of old and youngalike. In the sunshine of love which smiled upon him his austere zealturned to considerate tenderness. When at last he lay on his death-bed, and shortly before the end, Melissa asked him what was his favoriteverse of the Scriptures, he replied firmly and decidedly:

"Now the fullness of time is come. "

"So be it, " replied Melissa with tears in her eyes. He smiled andnodded, signed to Diodoros to draw off his signet ring--the only thinghis father had saved from the days of his wealth and freedom--anddesired Melissa to keep it for his sake. Deeply moved, she put it onher finger; but Andreas pointed to the motto, and said with failingutterance:

"That is your road--and mine--my father's motto: Per aspera ad astra. It has guided me to my goal, and you--all of you. But the words are inLatin; you understand them? By rough ways to the stars--Nay what theysay to me is: Upward, under the burden of the cross, to bliss here andhereafter--And you too, " he added, looking in his darling's face. "Youtoo, both of you; I know it. "

He sighed deeply, and, laying his hand on Melissa's head as she knelt byhis bed, he closed his faithful eyes in the supporting arms of Diodoros. 

 ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

 Begun to enjoy the sound of his own voice Cast off their disease as a serpent casts its skin For what will not custom excuse and sanctify? Force which had compelled every one to do as his neighbors Galenus--What I like is bad for me, what I loathe is wholesome He has the gift of being easily consoled He only longed to be hopeful once more, to enjoy the present It is the passionate wish that gives rise to the belief Man, in short, could be sure of nothing Misfortunes commonly come in couples yoked like oxen Never to be astonished at anything Obstacles existed only to be removed Possess little and require nothing Speaking ill of others is their greatest delight The past must stand; it is like a scar