A THORNY PATH

By Georg Ebers

Volume 8. 

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 of day, 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 returned from thegalleys very ill, and they had carried him forthwith to the bedchamber, where Dido was now nursing him. It was a good thing that she had notbeen there to hear how the master had stormed and cursed over the infamythey had had to endure; but the meeting with his birds had calmed himdown 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 as hehad removed all traces of his captivity and his shameful work at thegalleys in the bath. Philip she would, of course, find at home, he beingtoo 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 door only. In a moment Melissa was standing by the hearth; but the slave, speechlesswith happiness, could only point with fork and spoon, first to the pot inwhich a large piece of meat was being boiled down into a strengtheningsoup for Philip, then to a spit on which two young chickens were browningbefore the fire, and then to the pan where she was frying the little fishof which the returned wanderer was so fond. 

But the old woman's struggle between the duty that kept her near the fireand the love that drew her away from it was not of long duration. In afew minutes Melissa, her hands clasping the slave's withered arm, waslistening to the tender words of welcome that Dido had ready for her. The slave woman declared that she scarcely dared to let her eyes restupon her mistress, much less touch her with the fingers that had justbeen cleaning fish; for the girl was dressed as grandly as the daughterof the high-priest. Melissa laughed at this; but the slave went on tosay that they had not been able to detain her master. His longing to seehis daughter and the desire to speak with Caesar had driven him out ofthe house, and Alexander had, of course, accompanied him. Only Philip, poor, crushed worm, was at home, and the sight of her would put morestrength into him than the strong soup and the old wine which his fatherhad fetched for him from the store-room, although he generally reservedit 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 from timeto 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, witha 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. That athinking being could become so utterly callous to everything--everything, be it what it may--even I could never have believed!" He sank intosilence, but his sister urged him to take courage--surely many a glad daywas 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 her howgreat was the pain he endured, and in her compassionate heart pity stroveagainst righteous anger. The struggle was sharp, but pity prevailed;and, instead of punishing him by a sharp retort, she forced herself toexplain to him in a few gentle words what had happened, in order todispel the unworthy suspicion that must surely hurt him as much as it didher. She felt convinced that the sufferer would be cheered by her words;but he made no attempt to show that he appreciated her kindly moderation, nor to express any satisfaction. On the contrary, when he spoke it wasin 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 his facein 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 will not bedriven away thus. The misfortunes that have befallen you in these dayswill end by destroying you, if you will not pull yourself together. Wemust have patience, and it can only come about slowly, but you must makean effort. The least thing that pains you hurts us too, and you, inreturn, may not remain indifferent to what we feel. See, Philip, ourmother and Andrew taught us often not to think only of ourselves, butof others. 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 this hehid 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 had beenleft 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 the fowldestined 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 of her;and, though the ship should bear her far away, would it be right to bringDiodoros away from his old father to follow her? She must see her lover, and if possible tell him all. The rose, too, which the Christian hadgiven her for him, and which lay in her lap, she wished so much tocarry to him herself. She could not go alone to the chamber of theconvalescent, and the attendance of a slave counted for nothing in theeyes 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 meeting withher 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 as soon asit was dark. Just as she was entering the house, she perceived Andreascoming toward them along the street of Hermes, and she at once bade theslave call him. He was soon at her side, and declared himself willing toaccompany 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 joy ashe 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 last Melissaheard Andreas's deep voice promising the young man to tell him everythinglater on; and when the convalescent impatiently asked for an immediateexplanation, the Christian exhorted him to be calm, and finally requestedthe 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 had beenforced to do in these last days, but maidenly shyness restrained her, till at last Andreas came out. The freedman's honest face expressed thedeepest solicitude, and his voice sounded rough and hasty as heexclaimed, "You must fly--fly this day!" And my father and brother, andDiodoros?" she asked, anxiously. But he answered, urgently:

"Let them get away as they may. There is no hole or corner obscureenough to keep you hidden. Therefore take advantage of the ship thatwaits for you. Follow Argutis at once to the lady Berenike. I can notaccompany you, for it lies with me to occupy for the next few hours theattention of the body-physician, from whom you have the most to fear. He has consented to go with me to my garden across the water. There Ipromised him a delicious, real Alexandrian feast, and you know how gladlyPolybius will seize the opportunity to share it with him. No doubt, too, some golden means may be found to bind his tongue; for woe to you ifCaracalla discovers prematurely that you are promised to another, andwoe then to your betrothed! After sundown, when every one here has goneto the Circus, I will take Diodoros to a place of safety. Farewell, child, and may our heavenly Father defend you!"

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 can Ileave 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 her moretenderly on brow and eyes than he had ever clone before, whispering gaylyto her: "Dry your tears, my darling. You have been a brave maiden, andnow 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 have beenrightly 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. Butwhen Caesar, 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 son ofPolybius no ill, so I forbore to betray to Caesar what tie had once boundyou, 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 Caracalla hadinformed 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 scarcely havebeen 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 a husbandat whose name even men trembled. He should remember her mother, and whatshe would have said to such a union. There was little, time to escapefrom 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 open court-yard, in front of his children. Here he looked at his daughter, who wasbreathing fast, and evidently prepared to resist to the last. And as hebeheld her in Korinna's white and costly robes, like a noble priestess, it occurred to him that even before his captivity she had ceased to bethe humble, unquestioning instrument of his capricious temper. Into whata haughty beauty the quiet embroideress had been transformed!

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 crowded galleriesand 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, as ifseeking 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 face ofhis monarch's direct commands; therefore, hard as it was to him, he said, resolutely: "I well understand what holds you back; still, if you wouldnot ruin yourself and your family, you must submit. Besides which, youknow not what Caesar is about to offer you-fortunate, unhappy child!"

"I know--oh, I know it!" sobbed Melissa; "but it is just that . . . I have served the emperor willingly, but before I consent become the wifeof such 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 come with menow, my child, and pretend that you know nothing of Caesar's intentionstoward you. It is the only way to save you. But while you are with theemperor, who, in any case, can devote but a short time to you to-day, Iwill return here and consult with your people. There is much to bedecided, of the greatest moment, and not to you alone. " Melissa turnedwith tearful eyes to Euryale, and questioned her with a look; whereuponthe lady drew the girl's hand out of that of the philosopher, and sayingto him, "She shall be with you directly, " took her away to her ownapartment. 

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 walked withhim 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 before heled her to the monarch; while she wished for nothing so earnestly as thatthe door which separated her from her terrible wooer might remain closedto the end of time. When the chamberlain Adventus looked out from theimperial 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 of herheart. He employed all the eloquence at his command to make hercomprehend what it meant to be an empress and the consort of the ruler ofthe world. In flaming colors he painted to her the good she might do insuch a position, and the tears she might wipe away. Then he reminded herof the healing and soothing influence she had over Caracalla, and thatthis influence came doubtless from the gods, since it passed the boundsof nature and acted so beneficently. No one might reject such a giftfrom 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 find nodifficulty in getting a substitute, though not so beautiful a one. Onthe other hand, she was the only one among millions whose heart, obedientto a heaven-sent impulse, had turned in pity toward Caracalla. If shefled, she would deprive the emperor of the only being on whose love hefelt he had some claim. If she listened to the wooing of her noblelover, she would be able to tame this ungovernable being and soothe hisfury, and would gain in return for a sacrifice such as many had madebefore her, the blissful consciousness of having rendered an inestimableservice to the whole world. For by her means and her love, the imperialtyrant would be transformed into a beneficent ruler. The blessing of thethousands whom she could protect and save would make the hardest tasksweet 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 feel thatyour 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 that Ishould 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 should bea 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 from greattribulations!"

"But, my lord, " Melissa broke in, "who would ask such lofty things of alowly 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, coveredwith pitiably deep wounds?" asked the philosopher. 

"No, " she answered, quickly; "him I would have helped with my own hand. 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 it contrasted sosharply with all the splendor and joy that surrounded him. "

"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 first redand 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 notthe splendid gift which the gods offer you, that trouble may not comeupon your 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, andseated 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 of thewife of the blacksmith Herophilus, who had been thrown into prisonthrough an accusation from Zminis, she turned to Caracalla whom she stillimagined seated beside her, and cried, "Pardon!" and Caracalla nodded agracious consent, and the next moment Herophilus's wife lay on herliberated husband's breast, while the broken fetters still clanked uponhis wrists. Their children were there, too, and stretched up their armsto their parents, offering their happy lips first to them and then toMelissa. 

How beautiful it all was, and how it cheered her compassionate heart!

And this, said the newly awakened, meditative spirit within her, need beno dream; no, it lay in her power to impart this happiness to herself andmany 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, from thefury 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. How could 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 so strongthat she felt more warmly toward the sick Caesar than was justifiable. She could not deny it, for she could not without a blush have describedto her lover what she felt when that mysterious, inexplicable power haddrawn 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, oncemore hesitating. The saying about the fulfilling of the time recurred toher as she thought of the Christian, and she said to herself that thecritical moment which comes in every life was before her now. The wealor woe of her whole future depended on the answer she should give toPhilostratus. The thought struck terror to her heart, but only for amoment. Then she drew herself up proudly, and, as she approached herfriend, felt with joy that she had chosen the better part; yea, that itwould 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 in hermind 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 ofher, and had too good a heart, not to be distressed at the thought ofseeing her 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 through youwill 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, when hewishes 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 be moreto you than an old and friendly mentor. But pity at first kept love fromspeaking, and then the old truth that every woman's heart may be won savethat which already belongs to another. "

The elderly admirer of the fair sex spoke these words in such a pleasant, regretful tone that Melissa gave him an affectionate glance from herlarge, bright eyes, and answered, archly: "Had Eros shown Philostratusthe way to Melissa instead of Diodoros, Philostratus might now beoccupying the place in this heart which belongs to the son of Polybius, and which must always be his in spite of Caesar!"

CHAPTER XXI V. 

The door of the tablinum flew open, and through it streamed the Parthianambassadors, seven stately personages, wearing the gorgeous costume oftheir 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 locks escapingfrom beneath his tiara, grasped the hilt of his sword in his sinewy hand, and how his neighbor, a cautious, elderly man, was endeavoring to calmhim. 

Scarcely had they left the antechamber than Adventns called Melissa andPhilostratus to the emperor. Caracalla was seated on a raised throneof gold and ivory, with bright scarlet cushions. As on the precedingday, he was magnificently dressed, and wore a laurel wreath on his head. The lion, who lay chained beside the throne, stirred as he caught sightof the new-comers, which caused Caracalla to exclaim to Melissa: "Youhave stayed away from me so long that my 'Sword of Persia' fails torecognize you. Were it not more to my taste to show you how dear you areto me, I could 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, sherefused to obey my call, although she very well knows that the one remedyfor her sleepless friend lies in her beautiful little hand. Hush, hush!The high-priest has told me that you did not sleep beneath the same roofas I. But that only turned my thoughts in the right direction. Child, child!--See now, Philostratus--the red rose has become a white one. Andhow timid she is! Not that it offends me, far from it--it delights me. --Those flowers, Philostratus! Take them, Melissa; they add less to yourbeauty than you to theirs. " He seized the splendid roses he had orderedfor her early that morning and fastened the finest in her girdle himself. She did not forbid him, and stammered a few-low words of thanks. 

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 in vainwith 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 only fromwhat delights the eye, but the soul and the mind as well. "

"And have not the mind and the spirit eyes also?" was the reply, to whichthe 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, concludingthat it was the thought of the grandeur that awaited her through hisfavor which confused her and brought the delicate color to her cheeks, seized her hand, and, obedient to an impulse of his better nature, 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 have acare. "

"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 of thistemple 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 misfortuneat your 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 in theCircus. 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 wait inmy antechamber do not stir until their turn comes. These tradesmen'ssenses are confused by the dazzle of their gold! Tell them they shallbe called 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 anything ofconsequence 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 'Panem etcircenses'; 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, letme ask you not to interfere in matters that do not concern you! If anyone 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 of whichI alone know. Those who force themselves upon Caesar, as these citizensdo, must learn to have patience. And you--if you would fill the positionto which I intend to raise you--must first take care to leave all paltryconsiderations and doubts behind you. However, all that will come ofitself. Softness and mercy melt on the throne like ice before the sun. You will soon learn to scorn this tribe of beggars who come whining roundus. If I flew in a passion just now, it was partly your fault. I had aright to expect that you would be more eager to hear me out than toshorten 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 thestars confirm their first revelations, I shall raise you to-morrowto my side, here in the city of Alexandria, and make the peopledo homage to you as their empress. The priest of Alexandria is ready toconduct the marriage ceremonial. Philostratus will inform my mother ofmy 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, and cried, 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 waveof the 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 and lute-players. There lies my lyre--give it me, Philostratus. I know what Ishall 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 a lifefull 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 singing Sappho'sOde to Aphrodite. Pale, and as if obeying some strange compulsion, sheseated herself at the instrument, and the prelude sounded clear andtuneful from her skillful fingers. 

"Beautiful! Worthy of Mesomedes!" cried Caracalla, but Melissa couldnot sing, 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-perhaps evengreater. He relieved his full heart by whispering to Melissa apassionate, "I love you, " and, desiring to show her by a favor how kindlyhe felt toward her, added: "I will not let your fellow-citizens waitoutside 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 what Ihave 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 then camethe 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--toyour father among the rest. He is strange, but a thorough man, and atrue Macedonian of the old stock. He repelled both greeting andpresents, but he longed to be revenged--heavily and bloodily--on Zminis, who denounced him and brought him to the galleys. . . . How the oldfellow must have raged and stormed when he was a prisoner! I treated thedroll old gray-beard like my father. The giant pleases me, and whatskillful fingers he has on his powerful hands! He gave me that ring withthe portraits 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, and exclaimedin admiration: "How delicate the little heads are! At the first glanceone recognizes the hand of the happily gifted artist. Your father's isone of the noblest and most refined of the arts. If I can raise a statueto 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. I maytrust in your eloquence to represent her as she deserves. And now, " hecontinued, hurriedly, "one thing more. As soon as the deputation isdismissed and I have received a few other persons, the feast is to begin. You would perhaps be entertained at it. However, it will be better tointroduce 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 delighted andenthralled. You have only to learn for the first time how theacclamations of tens of thousands take hold upon the heart and intoxicatethe senses. Courage, courage, Macedonian maiden! Everything grand andunexpected, even unforeseen happiness, is alarming and bewildering. Butwe become accustomed even to the impossible. A strong spirit like yourssoon gets over anything of the kind. But the time is running on. Oneword more: You must be in the Circus by sunset. In any case, you must bein your place before I come. Adventus will see that you have a chariotor a litter, whichever you please. Theocritus will be waiting at theentrance 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 to thewinds, 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. Which of them can say they have ever seen the daughter of a free Romancitizen who 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 on thedivan, 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!Majestic as all-conquering Venus she had resisted him for the secondtune, and now how touching did she appear in her tears and weakness! Heloved her, and his heart yearned to raise her in his arms, to beg herforgiveness, and fulfill her every wish. But he was a man and a monarch, and his desire to show Melissa to the people in the Circus as his chosenbride had become a fixed resolve during the past sleepless night. Andindeed he 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 altered tones. "But we are both like overfull vessels--one drop will make them overflow. You--confess now that you forgot yourself. And I--On the throne we growunaccustomed to opposition. It is fortunate that the flame of myanger dies out so quickly. But it lies with you to prevent it from everbreaking out; for I should always endeavor to fulfill a kindly expressedwish, if it were possible. This time, however, I must insist--"

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 not forceme to go with you to the Circus. If my mother were only alive! WhereverI could go with her was right. But my father, not to speak of my madcapbrother Alexander, do not know what befits a maiden, nor does anybodyexpect 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, for thefolding doors were thrown open and the deputation advanced through them. 

Old Adventus signed to Melissa, and with drooping head she followed himthrough 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, who listenedto her woes with motherly sympathy, and yet she felt as if a biting frosthad broken and destroyed the blossoms which only yesterday had so richlyand hopefully decked her young heart. Diodoros's love had been to herlike the fair and sunny summer days that turn the sour, hard fruit intosweet and juicy grapes. And now the frost had nipped them. The wholefuture, and everything round her, now looked gray, colorless, and flat. Only two thoughts held possession of her mind: on the one hand, that ofher betrothed, from whom this visit to the Circus threatened to separateher forever; and on the other, that of her imperial lover, to escapewhom she would have flown anywhere, even to the grave. 

Euryale remarked with concern how weary and broken Melissa looked--sodifferent from her usual bright self, while she listened to her fatherand 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 when hemade honorable proposals to an unpretending girl. But the lady Euryale--of whom his late wife had always spoken with the highest respect--and, supported by her, his son Alexander, had both represented to him soforcibly that a union with the emperor would render Melissa most unhappy, if it did not lead to death, that he had been reduced to silence. Only, when they spoke of the necessity of flight, he burst out again, declaringthat the time had not yet come for such extreme measures. 

When Melissa now rejoined them, he spoke of the emperor's behavior towardher as being worthy of a man of honor, and endeavored to touch her heartby representing what an old man must feel who should be forced to leavethe house where his father and grandfather had lived before him, and eventhe 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 complain ofhaving been basely deceived, and to call her a heartless wanton. 

Alexander now came to his sister's aid, and reminded him how Melissa hadhazarded 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 in hisassertion that to think of flight would be foolish, or at leastpremature. 

At this, Alexander repeated to him that Melissa had whispered in his earthat she would rather die at once than live in splendor, but in perpetualfear, by the side of an unloved husband; whereupon Heron began to breathehard, 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 renewed force. 

Alexander swore to be her faithful ally; Euryale once more assured her ofher assistance; and yet, more especially when she was moved with pity forher father, who was to leave all he loved for her sake, she felt as ifshe 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 find yourbetrothed alone, and since all the world knows of Caracalla's intentions, and gazes curiously after you, your visit would instantly be reported toCaesar. Nor is it advisable for you to present yourself before youroffended lover, when you have neither Andreas nor any one else to speakfor 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 Euryale wasthoughtful 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 of thepriest of Alexander, who was a Roman knight, loosened the girl's abundantbrown hair, and, with loud cries of admiration, declared it would be easyto dress such locks in the most approved style of fashion. She then laidthe curling-irons on the dish of coals which stood on a slender tripod, and was about to twist it into ringlets; but Melissa, who had neverresorted to such arts, refused to permit it. The slave assured her, however, as earnestly as if it were a matter of the highest importance, that it was impossible to arrange the curls of a lady of distinctionwithout the irons. Euryale, too, begged Melissa to allow it, as nothingwould make her so conspicuous in her overdressed surroundings asexcessive simplicity. That was quite true, but it made the girl realizeso vividly what was before her, that she covered her face with her handsand sobbed out:

"To be exposed to the gaze of the whole city--to its envy and its scorn!"

The matron's warning inquiry, what had become of her favorite's high-minded calm, and her advice to restrain her weeping, lest she shouldappear before the public in the Amphitheater with tear-stained eyes, 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 knows whatfoolish gossip has driven him to this?" she sprang up, regardless of theslave's warning cry. And as her brother went on to relate how Diodoroshad left the Serapeum, in spite of the physician's entreaty to wait atleast until next morning, but that Melissa need not take it greatly toheart, it was too much for the girl who had already that day gone throughsuch severe and varied experiences. The ground seemed to heave beneathher feet; sick and giddy she put out her hand to find some support, thatshe might not sink on her knees; in so doing, she caught the tall tripodwhich held the dish of coals. It swayed and fell clattering tothe ground, bringing the irons with it. Its burning contents fell partlyon the floor and partly on the festal robe which Melissa had thrown overa chair before loosening her hair. Alexander caught her just in time toprevent 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 the under-robes, Euryale secretly rejoiced at the accident. She remembered thatwhen her heart was torn and bleeding, after the death of her only child, her thoughts were taken off herself by the necessary duty of providingmourning garments for herself, her husband, and the slaves. This trivialtask had at least helped her to forget for a few hours the bitterness ofher grief. 

Only anxious to lighten in some sort the fate of the sweet young creaturewhom she had learned to love, she made much of the difficulty ofprocuring a fresh dress for Melissa, though she was perfectly aware thather sister-in-law possessed many such. Alexander was commissioned totake one of the emperor's chariots--which always stood ready for the useof the courtiers between the Serapeum and the springs on the east--and tohasten to the lady Berenike. The lady begged that he, as an artist, would assist in choosing the robe; and the less conspicuous and costly itwas the better. 

To this Melissa heartily agreed, and, after Alexander had gone, Euryalebore off her pale young charge to the eating-room, where she forced herto 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--I will not deny it--and worthy of your sympathy; besides which, you, as a woman, 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 would pleaseme better than that the maiden should succeed in escaping that fate. But--the time is short, and I must be brief--the emperor is our guest, andhonors me with boundless confidence. Just now he disclosed to me hisdetermination to make Melissa his wife, and I was forced to approve it. Thus he looks to me to carry out his wishes; and if the maiden escapes, and there falls on you, or, through you, on me, the shadow of a suspicionof having assisted in her flight, he will have every right to regard meas a traitor and to treat me as such. To others my life is made sacredby my high office, but the man to whom a human life--no matter whose--isno more than that of a sacrificial animal is to you or me, that man wouldshed the blood of us both without a quiver of 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 as apoor substitute for our lost daughter, you are ready to go to your death, 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 me lifeis the highest blessing, and yours is dearer to me than my own. ThereforeI say, firmly and decidedly: Melissa must not make her escape from thishouse. If she is determined to fly this night, let her do so--I shallnot hinder her. If your counsel is of service to her, I am glad; but shemust not enter this house again after the performance in the Circus, unless she be firmly resolved to become Caesar's wife. If she can notbring herself to this, the apartments which belong to us must be closedagainst her, as against a dangerous foe. "

"And whither can she go?" asked Euryale, sadly and with tearful eyes, forthere was no gainsaying so definite an order from her lord and master. "The moment she is missed, they will search her father's house; and, ifshe takes advantage of Berenike's ship, it will soon be discovered thatit was your brother's wife who helped her to escape from Caracalla. "

"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 say toSeleukus, 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 not allowher anger to carry her away, and to show it in a manner that she willafterward regret!--But my time is short. I have to walk before thesacred images in full ceremonial vestments, and accompanied by the priestof Alexander. You, unfortunately, take no pleasure in such spectacles. Once more, then--if the girl is determined to fly, she must not returnhere. I repeat, if any one can help her to get away, it is Berenike. Our sister-in-law must take the consequences. Caesar can not accuse herof treason, at any rate, and her interference in the matter will clear usof 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 ones fromharm, that such selfishness appeared doubly cruel to her. Did it notseem as if this priest of the great Deity to whom she had been taught topray, cared little what became of his nearest relatives, so long as heand his wife were unmolested? That was the opposite of what Andreas hadpraised as the highest duty, the last time she had walked with him to theferry; and since then Johanna had told her the story of Christ'ssufferings, and she understood the fervor with which the freedman hadspoken of the crucified Son of God--the great example of allunselfishness. 

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 if myheart 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, wasshe not already treading in the footsteps of the Saviour? This child wasoffering up the great and pure love of her heart to preserve others fromsorrow and danger; and what a different course of action was she herselfto pursue in obedience to her husband's orders--her husband, whose dutyit 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 takehim into our confidence now, he would spoil all. As soon as he is gone, and your brother has returned, you two shall hear--"

They were interrupted by the steward, who, with a peculiar smile upon hisclean-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 that Melissahad sent him greetings, he had raised himself and drunk to him as if hewere 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, and hadeven encouraged him to give the reins to his righteous anger. He, if anyone, was in the habit of being moderate in all things, if only as a goodexample to his sons; and he had proved in many a Dionysiac feast thatthe god could not easily overpower him. The amount of wine he had drunkto-day would generally have had no more effect upon him than water, andyet he had felt now and then as if he were drunken, and the whole festalhall turned round with him. Even now he would be quite incapable ofwalking forward in a given straight line. 

With the exclamation, "Such is life!--a few hours ago on the rowing-bench, and fighting with the brander of the galleys for trying to brandme with the slave-mark, and now one of the greatest among the great!"he closed his tale, for a glance through the window showed him that timepressed. 

With strange bashfulness he then gazed at a ring upon his right hand, andsaid hesitatingly that his own modesty made the avowal difficult to him;but the fact was, he was not the same man as when he last left theladies. 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 freed slavesbelonged 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? Allthe distinguished 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 the broadpurple stripe, and I remarked that the shops of the better clothes-sellers would be shut by this time on account of the performance, andthat such a toga was not to be obtained, there was a great laugh over theAlexandrian love of amusement. From all sides they offered me what Irequired; but I gave the preference to Theocritus, on account of hisheight. What is long enough for him will not be too short for me. --Andnow one of the emperor's chariots is waiting for me. If only Alexanderwere at home! The house ought to have been illuminated and hung withgarlands for my arrival, and a crowd of slaves waiting to kiss 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 poor boy islaid 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, itwas a pretty, shy thing that no one would ever have expected to doanything great; and now, what have we not to thank that gentle child for?The little one was always her mother's darling. Eternal gods! I darenot think of it! If only she who is gone might have had the joy ofhearing me called senator and praetor! O child! if she could have satwith us to-day in the emperor's seats, and we two could have seen youthere--you, our pride, honored by the whole city, Caesar's future bride. "

Here the strong man with the soft heart broke down, and, clasping hishands over his face, sobbed aloud, while Melissa clung to him and strokedhis 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 to mein the curia in Rome. Your husband, my child, and the state, wouldscarcely expect it of me. If, however, Caesar presents me as his father, with estates and treasures, my first thought shall be to raise a monumentto your mother. You shall see! A monument, I tell you, without a rival. It shall represent the strength of man submissive to womanly charm. "

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 to herheart that all these hopes should be changed to sorrow and disappointmentthrough her. And so she said, with tearful eyes, and shook hey head whenthe lady assured her that with her it was a question of a cruelly spoiledlife, whereas her father would only have to renounce some idle vanitieswhich he would forget as easily as he had seized 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 basket withgifts 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 leaves thereflashed and sparkled a glittering dew of diamonds, lightly fastened ondelicate silver wires. Next came a bunch of flowers, round whose stems asupple golden snake was twined, covered with rubies and diamonds anddestined to coil itself round a woman's arm. The third was a necklace ofextremely costly Persian pearls, which had once belonged--so the merchanthad declared--to great Cleopatra's treasure. 

Melissa loved flowers; and the costly gifts that accompanied them couldnot 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 than thegifts he brought, and in fact the troubled manner of the usually composedphilosopher betrayed that he had something more serious to deliver thanthe 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 are doingtheir part in the Circus. May we meet again happily, either here or elsewhere! My way leads me first to Caesar's mother, to inform her of hischoice 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 be wrongnot to remind you once more of what you must expect if you follow yourown 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: "Nothing new-only things are taking their old course. You know that Caracallathreatened old Claudius Vindex and his nephew with death because of theiropposition to his union with you. We all hoped, however, that he wouldbe moved to exercise mercy. He is in love--he was so gracious at thefeast! I myself was foremost among those who did their utmost to disposeCaesar to clemency. . But he would not be moved, and, before the sun goesdown upon this day, the old man and the young one--the chiefest among thenobles of Rome--will be no more. And it is Caracalla's love for you, child, that sheds this blood. Ask yourself after this how many liveswill be sacrificed when your flight causes hatred and fury to reignsupreme 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 clasped herhands upon her brow and continued, wildly: "You are both of you so wise, and surely wish the best. How can you give me such opposite advice? Andmy own heart?--why have the gods struck it dumb? Time was when it spokeloudly enough if ever I was in doubt. One thing I know for certain: ifby the sacrifice of my life I could undo it all, I would joyfully castmyself before the lions and panthers, like the Christian maiden whom mymother saw smiling radiantly as she was led into the arena. Splendor andpower are as hateful to me as the flowers yonder with their false dew. I was ever taught to close my ear to the voice of selfishness. If I haveany wish for myself, it is that I may keep my faith with him to whom itwas promised. But for love of my father, and if I could be certain ofsaving many from death and misery, I would stay, though I should despisemyself and be separated forever from my beloved!"

"Submit to the inevitable, " interposed the philosopher, with eagerentreaty. "The immortal gods will reward you with the blessings ofhundreds whom a word from you will have saved from ruin and destruction. "

"And what say you?" asked the maiden, gazing with anxious expectancy intothe matron's face. "Follow your own heart!" replied the lady, deeplymoved. 

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, I renounce the love of my heart, and accept what Fate has laid upon me. It will be hard, and the sacrifice that I offer is great. But I mustfirst have 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 speakfor me. Bring him greeting from me, and tell him that I, whom he honorswith his love, dare to entreat him modestly but earnestly not to punishthe aged Claudius Vindex and his nephew for the fault they were guilty ofon my account. For my sake would he deign to grant them life--andliberty? Add to this that it is the first proof I have asked of hismagnanimity, and clothe it all in such winning words as Peitho can layupon your eloquent lips. If he grants pardon to these unfortunate ones, it shall be a sign to me that I may be permitted to shield others fromhis wrath. If he refuses, and they are put to death, then will hehimself have decided our fate otherwise, and he sees me for the last timealive in the Circus. Thus shall it be--I have spoken. "

The last words came like a stern order, and Philostratus seemed to havesome 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, now tothe manes of her mother, now--it was for the first time--to the crucifiedSaviour of the Christians, who had taken upon himself a painful death tobring happiness to others. First she prayed for strength to keep hervow, come what might; and then she prayed for Diodoros, that he might notbe made wretched if she found herself compelled to break her troth withhim. Her father and brothers, too, were not forgotten, as she commendedtheir 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.