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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5519.txt b/5519.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cb7ad2 --- /dev/null +++ b/5519.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2562 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook The Bride of the Nile, by Georg Ebers, v3 +#80 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: The Bride of the Nile, Volume 3. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5519] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 4, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE NILE, BY EBERS, V3 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +THE BRIDE OF THE NILE + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 3. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +After the great excitement of the night Paula had thrown herself on her +bed with throbbing pulses. Sleep would not come to her, and so at rather +more than two hours after sunrise she went to the window to close the +shutters. As she did so she looked out, and she saw Hiram leap into a +boat and push the light bark from the shore. She dared neither signal +nor call to him; but when the faithful soul had reached open water he +looked back at her window, recognized her in her white morning dress and +flourished the oar high in the air. This could only mean that he had +fulfilled his commission and sold her jewel. Now he was going to the +other side to engage the Nabathaean. + +When she had closed the shutters and darkened the room she again lay +down. Youth asserted its rights the weary girl fell into deep, dreamless +slumbers. + +When she woke, with the heat drops on her forehead, the sun was nearly at +the meridian, only an hour till the Ariston would be served, the Greek +breakfast, the first meal in the morning, which the family eat together +as they also did the principal meal later in the clay. She had never yet +failed to appear, and her absence would excite remark. + +The governor's household, like that of every Egyptian of rank, was +conducted more on the Greek than the Egyptian plan; and this was the case +not merely as regarded the meals but in many other things, and especially +the language spoken. From the Mukaukas himself down to the youngest +member of the family, all spoke Greek among themselves, and Coptic, the +old native dialect, only to the servants. Nay, many borrowed and foreign +words had already crept into use in the Coptic. + +The governor's granddaughter, pretty little Mary, had learnt to speak +Greek fluently and correctly before she spoke Coptic, but when Paula had +first arrived she could not as yet write the beautiful language of Greece +with due accuracy. Paula loved children; she longed for some occupation, +and she had therefore volunteered to instruct the little girl in the art. +At first her hosts had seemed pleased that she should render this +service, but ere long the relation between the Lady Neforis and her +husband's niece had taken the unpleasant aspect which it was destined to +retain. She had put a stop to the lessons, and the reason she had +assigned for this insulting step was that Paula had dictated to her pupil +long sentences out of her Orthodox Greek prayerbook. This, it was true, +she had done; but without the smallest concealment; and the passages she +had chosen had contained nothing but what must elevate the soul of every +Christian, of whatever confession. + +The child had wept bitterly over her grandmother's fiat, though Paula had +always taken the lessons quite seriously, for Mary loved her older +companion with all the enthusiasm of a half-grown girl--as a child of ten +really is in Egypt; her passionate little heart worshipped the beautiful +maiden who was in every respect so far above her, and Paula's arms had +opened wide to embrace the child who brought sunshine into the gloomy, +chill atmosphere she breathed in her uncle's house. But Neforis regarded +the child's ardent love for her Melchite relation as exaggerated and +morbid, imperilling perhaps her religious faith; and she fancied that +under Paula's influence Mary had transferred her affections from her to +the younger woman with added warmth. Nor was this idea wholly fanciful; +the child's strong sense of justice could not bear to see her friend +misunderstood and slighted, often simply and entirely misjudged and +hardly blamed, so Mary felt it her duty, as far as in her lay, to make up +for her grandmother's delinquencies in regard to the guest who in the +child's eyes was perfection. + +But Neforis was not the woman to put up with this demeanor in a child. +Mary was her granddaughter, the only child of her lost son, and no one +should come between them. So she forbid the little girl to go to Paula's +room without an express message, and when a Greek teacher was engaged for +her, her instructions were that she should keep her pupil as much as +possible out of the Syrian damsel's way. All this only fanned the +child's vehement affection; and tenderly as her grandmother would +sometimes caress her--while Mary on her part never failed in dutiful +obedience--neither of them ever felt a true and steady warmth of heart +towards the other; and for this Paula was no doubt to blame, though +against her will and by her mere existence. + +Often, indeed, and by a hundred covert hints Dame Neforis gave Paula to +understand that she it was who had alienated her grandchild; there was +nothing for it but to keep the child for whom she yearned, at a distance, +and only rarely reveal to her the abundance of her love. At last her +life was so full of grievance that she was hardly able to be innocent +with the innocent--a child with the child; Mary was not slow to note +this, and ascribed Paula's altered manner to the suffering caused by +her grandmother's severity. + +Mary's most frequent opportunities of speaking to her friend were +just before meals; for at that time no one was watching her, and her +grandmother had not forbidden her calling Paula to table. A visit to her +room was the child's greatest delight--partly because it was forbidden-- +but no less because Paula, up in her own room, was quite different from +what she seemed with the others, and because they could there look at +each other and kiss without interference, and say what ever they pleased. +There Mary could tell her as much as she dared of the events in their +little circle, but the lively and sometimes hoydenish little girl was +often withheld from confessing a misdemeanor, or even an inoffensive +piece of childishness, by sheer admiration for one who to her appeared +nobler, greater and loftier than other beings. + +Just as Paula had finished putting up her hair, Mary, who would rush like +a whirlwind even into her grandmother's presence, knocked humbly at the +door. She did not fly into Paula's arms as she did into those of +Susannah or her daughter Katharina, but only kissed her white arm with +fervent devotion, and colored with happiness when Paula bent down to her, +pressed her lips to her brow and hair, and wiped her wet, glowing cheeks. +Then she took Mary's head fondly between her hands and said: + +"What is wrong with you, madcap?" + +In fact the sweet little face was crimson, and her eyes swelled as if she +had been crying violently. + +"It is so fearfully hot," said Mary. "Eudoxia"--her Greek governess-- +"says that Egypt in summer is a fiery furnace, a hell upon earth. She is +quite ill with the heat, and lies like a fish on the sand; the only good +thing about it is. . ." + +"That she lets you run off and gives you no lessons?" + +Mary nodded, but as no lecture followed the confession she put her head +on one side and looked up into Paula's face with large roguish eyes. + +"And yet you have been crying!--a great girl like you?" + +"I--I crying?" + +"Yes, crying. I can see it in your eyes. Now confess: what has +happened?" + +"You will not scold me?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Well then. At first it was fun, such fun you cannot think, and I do +not mind the heat; but when the great hunt had gone by I wanted to go +to my grand mother and I was not allowed. Do you know, something very +particular had been going on in the fountain-room; and as they all +came out again I crept behind Orion into the tablinum--there are such +wonderful things there, and I wanted just to frighten him a little; +we have often played games together before. At first he did not see me, +and as he was bending over the hanging, from which the gem was stolen--I +believe he was counting the stones in the faded old thing--I just jumped +on to his shoulder, and he was so frightened--I can tell you, awfully +frightened! And he turned upon me like a fighting-cock and--and he gave +me a box on the ear; such a slap, it is burning now--and all sorts of +colors danced before my eyes. He always used to be so nice and kind to +me, and to you, too, and so I used to be fond of him--he is my uncle too +--but a box on the ears, a slap such as the cook might give to the +turnspit--I am too big for that; that I will certainly not put up with +it! Since my last birthday all the slaves and upper servants, too, have +had to treat me as a lady and to bow down to me! And now!--it was just +here.--How dare he?" She began to cry again and sobbed out: "But that +was not all. He locked me into the dark tablinum and left--left me...." +her tears flowed faster and faster, "left me sitting there! It was so +horrible; and I might have been there now if I had not found a gold +plate; I seized my great-grandfather--I mean the silver image of Menas, +and hammered on it, and screamed Fire! Then Sebek heard me and fetched +Orion, and he let me out, and made such a fuss over me and kissed me. +But what is the good of that; my grandfather will be angry, for in my +terror I beat his father's nose quite flat on the plate." + +Paula had listened, now amused and now grave, to the little girl's story; +when she ceased, she once more wiped her eyes and said: + +"Your uncle is a man, and you must not play with him as if he were a +child like yourself. The reminder you got was rather a hard one, no +doubt, but Orion tried to make up for it.--But the great hunt, what was +that?" + +At this question Mary's eyes suddenly sparkled again. In an instant all +her woes were forgotten, even her ancestor's flattened nose, and with a +merry, hearty laugh she exclaimed: + +"Oh! you should have seen it! You would have been amused too. They +wanted to catch the bad man who cut the emerald out of the hanging. He +had left his shoes and they had held them under the dogs' noses and then +off they went! First they rushed here to the stairs; then to the +stables, then to the lodgings of one of the horse-trainers, and I kept +close behind, after the terriers and the other dogs. Then they stopped +to consider and at last they all ran out at the gate towards the town. I +ought not to have gone beyond the court-yard, but--do not be cross with +me--it was such fun!--Out they went, along Hapi Street, across the +square, and at last into the Goldsmith's Street, and there the whole pack +plunged into Gamaliel's shop--the Jew who is always so merry. While he +was talking to the others his wife gave me some apricot tartlets; we do +not have such good ones at home." + +"And did they find the man?" asked Paula, who had changed color +repeatedly during the child's story. + +"I do not know," said Mary sadly. "They were not chasing any one in +particular. The dogs kept their noses to the ground, and we ran after +them." + +"And only to catch a man, who certainly had nothing whatever to do with +the theft.--Reflect a little, Mary. The shoes gave the dogs the scent +and they were set on to seize the man who had worn them, but whom no +judge had examined. The shoes were found in the hall; perhaps he had +dropped them by accident, or some one else may have carried them there. +Now think of yourself in the place of an innocent man, a Christian like +ourselves, hunted with a pack of dogs like a wild beast. Is it not +frightful? No good heart should laugh at such a thing!" + +Paula spoke with such impressive gravity and deep sorrow, and her whole +manner betrayed such great and genuine distress that the child looked tip +at her anxiously, with tearful eyes, threw herself against her, and +hiding her face in Paula's dress exclaimed: "I did not know that they +were hunting a poor man, and if it makes you so sad, I wish I had not +been there! But is it really and truly so bad? You are so often unhappy +when we others laugh!" She gazed into Paula's face with wide, wondering +eyes through her tears, and Paula clasped her to her, kissed her fondly, +and replied with melancholy sweetness: + +"I would gladly be as gay as you, but I have gone through so much to +sadden me. Laugh and be merry to your heart's content; I am glad you +should. But with regard to the poor hunted man, I fear he is my +father's freedman, the most faithful, honest soul! Did your exciting +hunt drive any one out of the goldsmith's shop?" + +Mary shook her head; then she asked: + +"Is it Hiram, the stammerer, the trainer, that they are hunting?" + +"I fear it is." + +"Yes, yes," said the child. "Stay--oh, dear! it will grieve you again, +but I think--I think they said--the shoes belonged--but I did not attend. +However, they were talking of a groom--a freedman--a stammerer. . . ." + +"Then they certainly are hunting down an innocent man," cried Paula with +a deep sigh; and she sat down again in front of her toilet-table to +finish dressing. Her hands still moved mechanically, but she was lost in +thought; she answered the child vaguely, and let her rummage in her open +trunk till Mary pulled out the necklace that had been bereft of its gem, +and hung it round her neck. Just then there was a knock at the +door and Katharina, the widow Susannah's little daughter, came into the +room. The young girl, to whom the governor's wife wished to marry her +tall son scarcely reached to Paula's shoulder, but she was plump and +pleasant to look upon; as neat as if she had just been taken out of a +box, with a fresh, merry lovable little face. When she laughed she +showed a gleaming row of small teeth, set rather wide apart, but as white +as snow; and her bright eyes beamed on the world as gladly as though they +had nothing that was not pleasing to look for, innocent mischief to dream +of. She too, tried to win Paula's favor; but with none of Mary's devoted +and unvarying enthusiasm. Often, to be sure, she would devote herself to +Paula with such stormy vehemence that the elder girl was forced to be +repellent; then, on the other hand, if she fancied her self slighted, or +treated more coolly than Mary, she would turn her back on Paula with +sulky jealousy, temper and pouting. It always was in Paula's power to +put an end to the "Water-wagtails tantrums"--which generally had their +comic side--by a kind word or kiss; but without some such advances +Katharina was quite capable of indulging her humors to the utmost. + +On the present occasion she flew into Paula's arm, and when her friend +begged, more quietly than usual that she would allow her first to finish +dressing, she turned away without any display of touchiness and took +the necklace from Mary's hand to put it on herself. It was of fine +workmanship, set with pearls, and took her fancy greatly; only the empty +medallion from which Hiram had removed the emerald with his knife spoiled +the whole effect. Still, it was a princely jewel, and when she had also +taken from the chest a large fan of ostrich feathers she showed off to +her play-fellow, with droll, stiff dignity, how the empress and +princesses at Court curtsied and bowed graciously to their inferiors. +At this they both laughed a great deal. When Paula had finished her +toilet and proceeded to take the necklace off Katharina, the empty +setting, which Hiram's knife had bent, caught in the thin tissue of her +dress. Mary disengaged it, and Paula tossed the jewel back into the +trunk. + +While she was locking the box she asked Katharina whether she had met +Orion. + +"Orion!" repeated the younger girl, in a tone which implied that she +alone had the right to enquire about him. "Yes, we came upstairs +together; he went to see the wounded man. Have you anything to say to +him?" + +She crimsoned as she spoke and looked suspiciously at Paula, who simply +replied: "Perhaps," and then added, as she hung the ribbon with the key +round her neck: "Now, you little girls, it is breakfast time; I am not +going down to-day." + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mary disappointed, "my grandfather is ailing and +grandmother will stay with him; so if you do not come I shall have to sit +alone with Eudoxia; for Katharina's chariot is waiting and she must go +home at once. Oh! do come. Just to please me; you do not know how +odious Eudoxia can be when it is so hot." + +"Yes, do go down," urged Katharina. "What will you do up hereby +yourself? And this evening mother and I will come again." + +"Very well," said Paula. "But first I must go to see the invalids." + +"May I go with you?" asked the Water wagtail, coaxingly stroking Paula's +arm. But Mary clapped her hands, exclaiming: + +"She only wants to go to Orion--she is so fond of him. . . ." + +Katharina put her hand over the child's mouth, but Paula, with quickened +breath, explained that she had very serious matters to discuss with +Orion; so Katharina, turning her back on her with a hasty gesture of +defiance, sulkily went down stairs, while Mary slipped down the bannister +rail. Not many days since, Katharina, who was but just sixteen, would +gladly have followed her example. + +Paula meanwhile knocked at the first of the sickrooms and entered it as +softly as the door was opened by a nursing-sister from the convent of St. +Katharine. Orion, whom she was seeking, had been there, but had just +left. + +In this first room lay the leader of the caravan; in that beyond was the +crazy Persian. In a sitting-room adjoining the first room, which, being +intended for guests of distinction, was furnished with royal +magnificence, sat two men in earnest conversation: the Arab merchant and +Philippus the physician, a young man of little more than thirty, tall and +bony, in a dress of clean but very coarse stuff without any kind of +adornment. He had a shrewd, pale face, out of which a pair of bright +black eyes shone benevolently but with keen vivacity. His large cheek- +bones were much too prominent; the lower part of his face was small, ugly +and, as it were, compressed, while his high broad forehead crowned the +whole and stamped it as that of a thinker, as a fine cupola may crown an +insignificant and homely structure. + +This man, devoid of charm, though his strongly-characterized +individuality made it difficult to overlook him even in the midst of +a distinguished circle, had been conversing eagerly with the Arab, who, +in the course of their two-days' acquaintance, had inspired him with a +regard which was fully reciprocated. At last Orion had been the theme of +their discourse, and the physician, a restless toiler who could not like +any man whose life was one of idle enjoyment, though he did full justice +to his brilliant gifts and well-applied studies, had judged him far more +hardly than the older man. To the leech all forms of human life were +sacred, and in his eyes everything that could injure the body or soul of +a man was worthy of destruction. He knew all that Orion had brought upon +the hapless Mandane, and how lightly he had trifled with the hearts of +other women; in his eyes this made him a mischievous and criminal member +of society. He regarded life as an obligation to be discharged by work +alone, of whatever kind, if only it were a benefit to society as a whole. +And such youths as Orion not only did not recognize this, but used the +whole and the parts also for base and selfish ends. The old Moslem, on +the contrary, viewed life as a dream whose fairest portion, the time of +youth, each one should enjoy with alert senses, and only take care that +at the waking which must come with death he might hope to find admission +into Paradise. How little could man do against the iron force of fate! +That could not be forefended by hard work; there was nothing for it but +to take up a right attitude, and to confront and meet it with dignity. +The bark of Orion's existence lacked ballast; in fine weather it drifted +wherever the breeze carried it, He himself had taken care to equip it +well; and if only the chances of life should freight it heavily--very +heavily, and fling it on the rocks, then Orion might show who and what he +was; he, Haschim, firmly believed that his character would prove itself +admirable. It was in the hour of shipwreck that a man showed his worth. + +Here the physician interrupted him to prove that it was not Fate, as +imagined by Moslems, but man himself who guided the bark of life--but at +this moment Paula looked into the room, and he broke off. The merchant +bowed profoundly, Philippus respectfully, but with more embarrassment +than might have been expected from the general confidence of his manner. +For some years he had been a daily visitor in the governor's house, and +after carefully ignoring Paula on her first arrival, since Dame Neforis +had taken to treating her so coolly he drew her out whenever he had the +opportunity. Her conversations with him had now become dear and even +necessary to her, though at first his dry, cutting tone had displeased +her, and he had often driven her into a corner in a way that was hard to +bear. They kept her mind alert in a circle which never busied itself +with anything but the trivial details of family life in the decayed city, +or with dogmatic polemics--for the Mukaukas seldom or never took part in +the gossip of the women. + +The leech never talked of daily events, but expressed his views as to +other and graver subjects in life, or in books with which they were both +familiar; and he had the art of eliciting replies from her which he met +with wit and acumen. By degrees she had become accustomed to his bold +mode of thought, sometimes, it is true, too recklessly expressed; and the +gifted girl now preferred a discussion with him to any other form of +conversation, recognizing that a childlike and supremely unselfish soul +animated this thoughtful reservoir of all knowledge. Almost everything +she did displeased her uncle's wife, and so, of course, did her familiar +intercourse with this man, whose appearance certainly had in it nothing +to attract a young girl.--The physician to a family of rank was there to +keep its members in good health, and it was unbecoming in one of them to +converse with him on intimate terms as an equal. She reproached Paula-- +whose pride she was constantly blaming--for her unseemly condescension +to Philippus; but what chiefly annoyed her was that Paula took up many +a half-hour which otherwise Philippus would have devoted to her husband; +and in him and his health her life and thoughts were centred. + +The Arab at once recognized his foe of the previous evening; but they +soon came to a friendly understanding--Paula confessing her folly in +holding a single and kindly-disposed man answerable for the crimes of a +whole nation. Haschim replied that a right-minded spirit always came to +a just conclusion at last; and then the conversation turned on her +father, and the physician explained to the Arab that she was resolved +never to weary of seeking the missing man. + +"Nay, it is the sole aim and end of my life," cried the girl. + +"A great mistake, in my opinion," said the leech. But the merchant +differed: there were things, he said, too precious to be given up for +lost, even when the hope of finding them seemed as feeble and thin as a +rotten reed. + +"That is what I feel!" cried Paula. "And how can you think differently, +Philip? Have I not heard from your own lips that you never give up all +hope of a sick man till death has put an end to it? Well, and I cling to +mine--more than ever now, and I feel that I am right. My last thought, +my last coin shall be spent in the search for my father, even without my +uncle and his wife, and in spite of their prohibition." + +"But in such a task a young girl can hardly do without a man's succor," +said the merchant. "I wander a great deal about the world, I speak with +many foreigners from distant lands, and if you will do me the honor, pray +regard me as your coadjutor, and allow me to help you in seeking for the +lost hero." + +"Thanks--I fervently thank you!" cried Paula, grasping the Moslem's hand +with hearty pleasure. "Wherever you go bear my lost father in mind; I am +but a poor, lonely girl, but if you find him. . ." + +"Then you will know that even among the Moslems there are men. . ." + +"Men who are ready to show compassion and to succor friendless women!" +interrupted Paula. + +"And with good success, by the blessing of the Almighty," replied the +Arab. "As soon as I find a clue you shall hear from me; now, however, +I must go across the Nile to see Amru the great general; I go in all +confidence for I know that my poor, brave Rustem is in good hands, friend +Philippus. My first enquiries shall be made in Fostat, rely upon that, +my daughter." + +"I do indeed," said Paula with pleased emotion. "When shall we meet +again?" + +"To-morrow, or the morning after at latest." + +The young girl went up to him and whispered: "We have just heard of a +clue; indeed, I hope my messenger is already on his way. Have you time +to hear about it now?" + +"I ought long since to have been on the other shore; so not to-day, but +to-morrow I hope." The Arab shook hands with her and the physician, and +hastily took his leave. + +Paula stood still, thinking. Then it struck her that Hiram was now on +the further side of the Nile, within the jurisdiction of the Arab ruler, +and that the merchant could perhaps intercede for him, if she were to +tell him all she knew. She felt the fullest confidence in the old man, +whose kind and sympathetic face was still visible to her mind's eye, and +without paying any further heed to the physician she went quickly towards +the door of the sick-room. A crucifix hung close by, and the nun had +fallen on her knees before it, praying for her infidel patient, and +beseeching the Good Shepherd to have mercy on the sheep that was not of +His fold. Paula did not venture to disturb the worshipper, who was +kneeling just in the narrow passage; so some minutes elapsed before the +leech, observing her uneasiness, came out of the larger room, touched the +nun on the shoulder, and said in a low voice of genuine kindness: + +"One moment, good Sister. Your pious intercession will be heard--but +this damsel is in haste." The nun rose at once and made way, sending a +wrathful glance after Paula as she hurried down the stairs. + +At the door of the court-yard she looked out and about for the Arab, but +in vain. Then she enquired of a slave who told her that the merchant's +horse had waited for him at the gate a long time, that he had just come +galloping out, and by this time must have reached the bridge of boats +which connected Memphis with the island of Rodah and, beyond the island, +with the fort of Babylon and the new town of Fostat. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +Paula went up-stairs again, distressed and vexed with herself. Was it +the heat that had enervated her and robbed her of the presence of mind +she usually had at her command? She herself could not understand how it +was that she had not at once taken advantage of the opportunity to plead +to Haschim for her faithful retainer. The merchant might have interested +himself for Hiram. + +The slave at the gate had told her that he had not yet been taken; the +time to intercede, then, had not yet come. But she was resolved to do +so, to draw the wrath of her relations down on herself, and, if need +should be, to relate all she had seen in the course of the night, to save +her devoted servant. It was no less than her duty: still, before +humiliating Orion so deeply she would warn him. The thought of charging +him with so shameful a deed pained her like the need for inflicting an +injury on herself. She hated him, but she would rather have broken the +most precious work of art than have branded him--him whose image still +reigned in her heart, supremely glorious and attractive. + +Instead of following Mary to breakfast, or offering herself as usual to +play draughts with her uncle, she went back to the sick-room. To meet +Neforis or Orion at this moment would have been painful, indeed odious +to her. It was long since she had felt so weary and oppressed. +A conversation with the physician might perhaps prove refreshing; after +the various agitations of the last few hours she longed for something, be +it what it might, that should revive her spirits and give a fresh turn to +her thoughts. + +In the Masdakite's room the Sister coldly asked her what she wanted, and +who had given her leave to assist in tending the sufferers. The leech, +who at that moment was moistening the bandage on the wounded man's head, +at this turned to the nun and informed her decidedly that he desired the +young girl's assistance in attending on both his patients. Then he led +the way sitting-room, saying in subdued into the adjoining tones: + +"For the present all is well. Let us rest here a little while." + +She sat down on a divan, and he on a seat opposite, and Philippus began: + +"You were seeking handsome Orion just now, but you must. . . ." + +"What?" she asked gravely. "And I would have you to know that the son +of the house is no more to me than his mother is. Your phrase 'Handsome +Orion' seems to imply something that I do not again wish to hear. But I +must speak to him, and soon, in reference to an important matter." + +"To what, then, do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here again? To +confess the truth I did not hope for your return." + +"And why not?" + +"Excuse me from answering. No one likes to hear unpleasant things. If +one of my profession thinks any one is not well. . . ." + +"If that is meant for me," replied the girl, "all I can tell you is that +the one thing on which I still can pride myself is my health. Say what +you will--the very worst for aught I care. I want something to-day to +rouse me from lethargy, even if it should make me angry." + +"Very well then," replied the leech, "though I am plunging into deep +waters!--As to health, as it is commonly understood, a fish might envy +you; but the higher health--health of mind: that I fear you cannot boast +of." + +"This is a serious beginning," said Paula. "Your reproof would seem to +imply that I have done you or some one else a wrong." + +"If only you had!" exclaimed he. "No, you have not sinned against us in +any way.--'I am as I am' is what you think of yourself; and what do you +care for others?" + +"That must depend on whom you mean by 'others!'" + +"Nothing less than all and each of those with whom you live--here, in +this house, in this town, in this world. To you they are mere air--or +less; for the air is a tangible thing that can fill a ship's sails and +drive it against the stream, whose varying nature can bring comfort or +suffering to your body." + +"My world is within!" said Paula, laying her hand on her heart. + +"Very true. And all creation may find room there; for what cannot the +human heart, as it is called, contain! The more we require it to take +and keep, the more ready it is to hold it. It is unsafe to let the lock +rust; for, if once it has grown stiff, when we want to open it no pulling +and wrenching will avail. And besides--but I do not want to grieve you. +--You have a habit of only looking backwards...." + +"And what that is pleasurable lies before me? Your blame is harsh and at +the same time unjust.--Indeed, and how can you tell which way I look?" + +"Because I have watched you with the eye of a friend. In truth, Paula, +you have forgotten how to look around and forward. The life which lies +behind you and which you have lost is all your world. I once showed you +on a fragmentary papyrus that belonged to my foster father, Horus Apollo, +a heathen demon represented as going forwards, while his head was turned +on his neck so that the face and eyes looked behind him." + +"I remember it perfectly." + +Well, you have long been just like him. 'All things move,' says +Heraclitus, so you are forced to float onwards with the great stream; +or, to vary the image, you must walk forwards on the high-road of life +towards the common goal; but your eye is fixed on what lies behind you, +feasting on the prospect of a handsome and wealthy home, kindness and +tenderness, noble and loving faces, and a happy, but alas! long-lost +existence. All the same, on you must go.--What must the result be?" + +"I must stumble, you think, and fall?" + +The physician's reproof had hit Paula all the harder because she could +not conceal from herself that there was much truth in it. She had come +hither on purpose to find encouragement, and these accusations troubled +even her sense of high health. Why should she submit to be taken to task +like a school-girl by this man, himself still young? If this went on she +would let him hear.... But he was speaking again, and his reply calmed +her, and strengthened her conviction that he was a true and well-meaning +friend. + +"Not that perhaps," he said, "because--well, because nature has blessed +you with perfect balance, and you go forward in full self-possession as +becomes the daughter of a hero. We must not forget that it is of your +soul that I am speaking; and that maintains its innate dignity of feeling +among so much that is petty and mean." + +"Then why need I fear to look back when it gives me so much comfort?" +she eagerly enquired, as she gazed in his face with fresh spirit. + +"Because it may easily lead you to tread on other people's feet! That +hurts them; then they are annoyed, and they get accustomed to think +grudgingly of you--you who are more lovable than they are." + +"But quite unjustly; for I am not conscious of ever having intentionally +grieved or hurt any one in my whole life." + +"I know that; but you have done so unintentionally a thousand times." + +"Then it would be better I should quit them altogether." + +"No, and a thousand times no! The man who avoids his kind and lives in +solitude fancies he is doing some great thing and raising himself above +the level of the existence he despises. But look a little closer: it is +self-interest and egoism which drive him into the cave and the cloister. +In any case he neglects his highest duty towards humanity--or let us say +merely towards the society he belongs to--in order to win what he +believes to be his own salvation. Society is a great body, and every +individual should regard himself as a member of it, bound to serve and +succor it, and even, when necessary, to make sacrifices for it. The +greatest are not too great. But those who crave isolation,--you +yourself--nay, hear me out, for I may never again risk the danger of +incurring your wrath--desire to be a body apart. What Paula has known +and possessed, she keeps locked in the treasure-house of her memory under +bolt and key; What Paula is, she feels she still must be--and for whom? +Again, for that same Paula. She has suffered great sorrow and on that +her soul lives; but this is evil nourishment, unwholesome and bad for +her." + +She was about to rise; but he bent forward, with a zealous conviction +that he must not allow himself to be interrupted, and lightly touched her +arm as though to prevent her quitting her seat, while he went on +unhesitatingly: + +"You feed on your old sorrows! Well and good. Many a time have I seen +that trial can elevate the soul. It can teach a brave heart to feel the +woes of others more deeply; it can rouse a desire to assuage the griefs +of others with beautiful self-devotion. Those who have known pain and +affliction enjoy ease and pleasure with double satisfaction; sufferers +learn to be grateful for even the smaller joys of life. But you?-- +I have long striven for courage to tell you so--you derive no benefit +from suffering because you lock it up in your breast--as if a man were to +enclose some precious seed in a silver trinket to carry about with him. +It should be sown in the earth, to sprout and bear fruit! However, I do +not blame you; I only wish to advise you as a true and devoted friend. +Learn to feel yourself a member of the body to which your destiny has +bound you for the present, whether you like it or not. Try to contribute +to it all that your capacities allow you achieve. You will find that you +can do something for it; the casket will open, and to your surprise and +delight you will perceive that the seed dropped into the soil will +germinate, that flowers will open and fruit will form of which you may +make bread, or extract from it a balm for yourself or for others! Then +you will leave the dead to bury the dead, as the Bible has it, and +dedicate to the living those great powers and gracious gifts which an +illustrious father and a noble mother--nay, and a long succession of +distinguished ancestors, have bequeathed to a descendant worthy of them. +Then you will recover that which you have lost: the joy in existence +which we ought both to feel and to diffuse, because it brings with it an +obligation which it which is only granted to us once to fulfil. Kind +fate has fitted you above a hundred thousand others for being loved; and +if you do not forget the gratitude you owe for that, hearts will be +turned to you, though now they shun the tree which has beset itself +intentionally with thorns, and which lets its branches droop like the +weeping-willows by the Nile. Thus you will lead a new and beautiful +life, receiving and giving joy. The isolated and charmless existence you +drag through here, to the satisfaction of none and least of all to your +own, you can transform to one of fruition and satisfaction--breathing and +moving healthily and beneficently in the light of day. It lies in your +power. When you came up here to give your care to these poor injured +creatures, you took the first step in the new path I desire to show you, +to true happiness. I did not expect you, and I am thankful that you have +come; for I know that as you entered that door you may have started on +the road to renewed happiness, if you have the will to walk in it.--Thank +God! That is said and over!" + +The leech rose and wiped his forehead, looking uneasily at Paula who had +remained seated; her breath came fast, and she was more confused and +undecided than he had ever seen her. She clasped her hand over her brow, +and gazed, speechless, into her lap as though she wished to smother some +pain. + +The young physician beat his arms together, like a laborer in the winter +when his hands are frozen, and exclaimed with distressful emotion: "Yes, +I have spoken, and I cannot regret having done so; but what I foresaw has +come to pass: The greatest happiness that ever sweetened my daily life +is gone out of it! To love Plato is a noble rule, but greater than Plato +is the truth; and yet, those who preach it must be prepared to find that +truth scares away friends from the unpleasing vicinity of its ill-starred +Apostles!" + +At this Paula rose, and following the impulse of her generous heart, +offered the leech her hand in all sincerity; he grasped it in both his, +pressing it so tightly that it almost hurt her, and his eyes glistened +with moisture as he exclaimed: "That is as I hoped; that is splendid, +that is noble! Let me but be your brother, high-souled maiden!--Now, +come. That poor, crazy, lovely girl will heal of her death-wound under +your hands if under any!" + +"I will come!" she replied heartily; and there was something healthy and +cheerful in her manner as they entered the sick-room; but her expression +suddenly changed, and she asked pensively: + +"And supposing we restore the unhappy girl--what good will she get by +it?" + +"She will breathe and see the sunshine," replied the leech; "she will be +grateful to you, and finally she will contribute what she can to the +whole body. She will be alive in short, she will live. For life--feel +it, understand it as I do--life is the best thing we have." Paula gazed +with astonishment in the man's unlovely but enthusiastic face. How +radiantly joyful! + +No one could have called it ugly at this moment, or have said that it +lacked charm. + +He believed what he had asserted with such fervent feeling, though it was +in contradiction to a view he had held only yesterday and often defended: +that life in itself was misery to all who could not grasp it of their own +strength, and make something of it worth making. At this moment he +really felt that it was the best gift. + +Paula went forward, and his eyes followed her, as the gaze of the pious +pilgrim is fixed on the holy image he has travelled to see, over seas and +mountains, with bruised feet. + +They went up to the sick girl's bed. The nun drew back, making her own +reflections on the physician's altered mien, and his childlike, beaming +contentment, as he explained to Paula what particular peril threatened +the sufferer, and by what treatment he hoped to save her; how to make the +bandages and give the medicines, and how necessary it was to accept the +poor crazy girl's fancies and treat them as rational ideas so long as the +fever lasted. + +At last he was forced to go and attend to other patients. Paula remained +sitting at the head of the bed and gazing at the face of the sufferer. + +How fair it was! And Orion had snatched this rose in the bud, and +trodden it under foot! She had, no doubt, felt for him what Paula +herself felt. And now? Did she feel nothing but hatred of him, or could +her heart, in spite of her indignation and scorn, not altogether cast off +the spell that had once bound it? + +What weakness was this! She was, she must, she would be his foe! + +Her thoughts went back to the idle and futile life that she had led for +so many years. The physician had hit the mark; and he had been too easy +rather than severe. Yes, she would begin to make good use of her powers +--but how, in what way, here and among these people? How transfigured +poor Philippus had seemed when she had given him her hand; with what +energy had he poured forth his words. + +"And how false," she mused, "is the saying that the body is the mirror of +the soul! If it were so, Philippus would have the face of Orion, and +Orion that of Philippus." But could Orion's heart be wholly reprobate? +Nay, that was impossible; her every impulse resisted the belief. She +must either love him or hate him, there was no third alternative; but as +yet the two passions were struggling within her in a way that was quite +intolerable. + +The physician had spoken of being a brother to her, and she could not +help smiling at the idea. She could, she thought, live very happily and +calmly with him, with her nurse Betta, and with the learned old friend +who shared his home, and of whom he had often talked to her; she could +join him in his studies, help him in his calling, and discuss many things +well worth knowing. Such a life, she told herself, would be a thousand +times preferable to this, with Neforis. In him she had certainly found +a friend; and her glad recognition of the fact was the first step towards +the fulfilment of his promise, since it showed that her heart was still +ready to go forth to the kindness of another. + +Amid these meditations, however, her anxiety for Hiram constantly +recurred to her, and it was clear to her mind that, if she and Orion +should come to extremities, she could no longer dwell under the +governor's roof. Often she had longed for nothing so fervently as to be +able to quit it; but to-day it filled her with dread, for parting from +her uncle necessarily involved parting from his son. She hated him; +still, to lose sight of him altogether would be very hard to bear. +To go with Philippus and live with him as his sister would never do; +nay, it struck her as something inconceivable, strangely incongruous. + +Meanwhile she listened to Mandane's breathing and treated her in +obedience to the leech's orders, longing for his return; presently +however, not he but the nun came to the bed-side, laid her hand on the +girl's forehead, and without paying any heed to Paula, whispered kindly: +"That is right child, sleep away; have a nice long sleep. So long as she +can be kept quiet; if only she goes on like this!--Her head is cooler. +Philippus will certainly say there is scarcely any fever. Thank God, the +worst danger is over!" + +"Oh, how glad I am!" cried Paula, and she spoke with such warmth and +sincerity that the nun gave her a friendly nod and left the sick girl to +her care, quite satisfied. + +It was long since Paula had felt so happy. She fancied that her presence +had had a good affect on the sufferer, that Mandane had already been +brought by her nursing to the threshold of a new life. Paula, who but +just now had regarded herself as a persecuted victim of Fate, now +breathed more freely in the belief that she too might bring joy to some +one. She looked into Mandane's more than pretty face with real joy and +tenderness, laid the bandage which had slipped aside gently over her +ears, and breathed a soft kiss on her long silken lashes. + +She rapidly grew in favor with the shrewd nun; when the hour for prayer +came round, the sister included in her petitions--Paula--the orphan under +a stranger's roof, the Greek girl born, by the inscrutable decrees of +God, outside the pale of her saving creed. At length Philippus returned; +he was rejoiced at his new friend's brightened aspect, and declared that +Mandane had, under her care, got past the first and worst danger, and +might be expected to recover, slowly indeed, but completely. + +After Paula had renewed the compress--and he intentionally left her to do +it unaided, he said encouragingly: + +"How quickly you have learnt your business.--Now, the patient is asleep +again; the Sister will keep watch, and for the present we can be of no +use to the girl; sleep is the best nourishment she can have. But with +us--or at any rate with me, it is different. We have still two hours to +wait for the next meal: my breakfast is standing untouched, and yours no +doubt fared the same; so be my guest. They always send up enough to +satisfy six bargemen." + +Paula liked the proposal, for she had long been hungry. The nun was +desired to hasten to fetch some more plates, of drinking-vessels there +was no lack--and soon the new allies were seated face to face, each at a +small table. He carved the duck and the roast quails, put the salad +before her and some steaming artichokes, which the nun had brought up at +the request of the cook whose only son the physician had saved; he +invited her attention to the little pies, the fruits and cakes which were +laid ready, and played the part of butler; and then, while they heartily +enjoyed the meal, they carried on a lively conversation. + +Paula for the first time asked Philippus to tell her something of his +early youth; he began with an account of his present mode of life, as a +partner in the home of the singular old priest of Isis, Horus Apollo, a +diligent student; he described his strenuous activity by day and his +quiet studies by night, and gave everything such an amusing aspect that +often she could not help laughing. But presently he was sad, as he told +her how at an early age he had lost his father and mother, and was left +to depend solely on himself and on a very small fortune, having no +relations; for his father had been a grammarian, invited to Alexandria +from Athens, who had been forced to make a road for himself through life, +which had lain before him like an overgrown jungle of papyrus and reeds. +Every hour of his life was devoted to his work, for a rough, outspoken +Goliath, such as he, never could find it easy to meet with helpful +patrons. He had managed to live by teaching in the high schools of +Alexandria, Athens, and Caesarea, and by preparing medicines from choice +herbs--drinking water instead of wine, eating bread and fruit instead of +quails and pies; and he had made a friend of many a good man, but never +yet of a woman--it would be difficult with such a face as his! + +"Then I am the first?" said Paula, who felt deep respect for the man who +had made his way by his own energy to the eminent position which he had +long held, not merely in Memphis, but among Egyptian physicians +generally. + +He nodded, and with such a blissful smile that she felt as though a +sunbeam had shone into her very soul. He noticed this at once, raised +his goblet, and drank to her, exclaiming with a flush on his cheek: + +"The joy that comes to others early has come to me late; but then the +woman I call my friend is matchless!" + +"Well, it is to be hoped she may not prove to be so wicked as you just +now described her.--If only our alliance is not fated to end soon and +abruptly." + +"Ah!" cried the physician, "every drop of blood in my veins......" + +"You would be ready to shed it for me," Paula broke in, with a pathetic +gesture, borrowed from a great tragedian she had seen at the theatre in +Damascus. "But never fear: it will not be a matter of life and death-- +at worst they will but turn me out of the house and of Memphis." + +"You?" cried Philippus startled, "but who would dare to do so?" + +"They who still regard me as a stranger.--You described the case +admirably. If they have their way, my dear new friend, our fate will be +like that of the learned Dionysius of Cyrene." + +"Of Cyrene?" + +"Yes. It was my father who told me the story. When Dionysius sent his +son to the High School at Athens, he sat down to write a treatise for him +on all the things a student should do and avoid. He devoted himself to +the task with the utmost diligence; but when, at the end of four years, +he could write on the last leaf of the roll. "Here this book hath a +happy ending," the young man whose studies it was intended to guide +came home to Cyrene, a finished scholar." + +"And we have struck up a friendship.... ?" + +"And made a treaty of alliance, only to be parted ere long." + +Philippus struck his fist vehemently on the little table in front of his +couch and exclaimed: "That I will find means to prevent!--But now, tell +me in confidence, what has last happened between you and the family down- +stairs?" + +"You will know quite soon enough." + +"Whichever of them fancies that you can be turned out of doors without +more ado and there will be an end between us, may find himself mistaken!" +cried the physician with an angry sparkle in his eyes. "I have a right +to put in a word in this house. It has not nearly come to that yet, and +what is more, it never shall. You shall quit it certainly; but of your +own free will, and holding your head high...." + +As he spoke the door of the outer room was hastily opened and the next +instant Orion was standing before them, looking with great surprise at +the pair who had just finished their meal. He said coldly: + +"I am disturbing you, I see." + +"Not in the least," replied the leech; and the young man, perceiving what +bad taste it would be and how much out of place to give expression to his +jealous annoyance, said, with a smile: "If only it had been granted to a +third person to join in this symposium!" + +"We found each other all-sufficient company," answered Philippus. + +"A man who could believe in all the doctrines of the Church as readily as +in that statement would be assured of salvation," laughed Orion. "I am +no spoilsport, respected friends; but I deeply regret that I must, on the +present occasion, disturb your happiness. The matter in question......" +And he felt he might now abandon the jesting tone which so little +answered to his mood, "is a serious one. In the first instance it +concerns your freedman, my fair foe." + +"Has Hiram come back?" asked Paula, feeling herself turn pale. + +"They have brought him in," replied Orion. "My father at once summoned +the court of judges. Justice has a swift foot here with us; I am sorry +for the man, but I cannot prevent its taking its course. I must beg of +you to appear at the examination when you are called." + +"The whole truth shall be told!" said Paula sternly and firmly. + +"Of course," replied Orion. Then turning to the physician, he added: "I +would request you, worthy Esculapius, to leave me and my cousin together +for a few minutes. I want to give her a word of counsel which will +certainly be to her advantage." + +Philippus glanced enquiringly at the girl; she said with clear decision: +"You and I can have no secrets. What I may hear, Philippus too may +know." + +Orion, with a shrug, turned to leave the room: + +On the threshold he paused, exclaiming with some excitement and genuine +distress: + +"If you will not listen to me for your own sake, do so at least, whatever +ill-feeling you may bear me, because I implore you not to refuse me this +favor. It is a matter of life or death to one human being, of joy or +misery to another. Do not refuse me.--I ask nothing unreasonable, +Philippus. Do as I entreat you and leave us for a moment alone." + +Again the physician's eyes consulted the young girl's; this time she +said: "Go!" and he immediately quitted the room. + +Orion closed the door. + +"What have I done, Paula," he began with panting breath, "that since +yesterday you have shunned me like a leper--that you are doing your +utmost to bring me to ruin?" + +"I mean to plead for the life of a trusty servant; nothing more," she +said indifferently. + +"At the risk of disgracing me!" he retorted bitterly. + +"At that risk, no doubt, if you are indeed so base as to throw your +own guilt on the shoulders of an honest man." + +"Then you watched me last night?" + +"The merest chance led me to see you come out of the tablinum...." + +"I do not ask you now what took you there so late," he interrupted, "for +it revolts me to think anything of you but the best, the highest.--But +you? What have you experienced at my hands but friendship--nay, for +concealment or dissimulation is here folly--but what a lover....?" + +"A lover!" cried Paula indignantly. "A lover? Dare you utter the +word, when you have offered your heart and hand to another--you. . . ." + +"Who told you so?" asked Orion gloomily. + +"Your own mother." + +"That is it; so that is it?" cried the young man, clasping his hands +convulsively. "Now I begin to see, now I understand. But stay. For if +it is indeed that which has roused you to hate me and persecute me, you +must love me, Paula--you do love me, and then, noblest and sweetest...." +He held out his hand; but she struck it aside, exclaiming in a tremulous +voice: + +"Be under no delusion. I am not one of the feeble lambs whom you have +beguiled by the misuse of your gifts and advantages; and who then are +eager to kiss your hands. I am the daughter of Thomas; and another +woman's betrothed, who craves my embraces on the way to his wedding, will +learn to his rueing that there are women who scorn his disgraceful suit +and can avenge the insult intended them. Go--go to your judges! You, +a false witness, may accuse Hiram, but I will proclaim you, you the son +of this house, as the thief! We shall see which they believe." + +"Me!" cried Orion, and his eyes flashed as wrathfully and vindictively +as her own. "The son of the Mukaukas! Oh, that you were not a woman! +I would force you to your knees and compel you to crave my pardon. How +dare you point your finger at a man whose life has hitherto been as +spotless as your own white raiment? Yes, I did go to the tablinum--I did +tear the emerald from the hanging; but I did it in a fit of recklessness, +and in the knowledge that what is my father's is mine. I threw away the +gem to gratify a mere fancy, a transient whim. Cursed be the hour when +I did it!--Not on account of the deed itself, but of the consequences it +may entail through your mad hatred. Jealousy, petty, unworthy jealousy +is at the bottom of it! And of whom are you jealous?" + +"Of no one; not even of your betrothed, Katharina," replied Paula with +forced composure. "What are you to me that, to spare you humiliation, +I should risk the life of the most honest soul living? I have said: +The judges shall decide between you." + +"No, they shall not!" stormed Orion. "At least, not as you intend! +Beware, beware, I say, of driving me to extremities! I still see in you +the woman I loved; I still offer you what lies within my power: to let +everything end for the best for you. . . ." + +"For me! Then I, too, am to suffer for your guilt?" + +"Did you hear the barking of hounds just now?" + +"I heard dogs yelping." + +"Very well.--Your freedman has been brought in, the pack got on his +scent and have now been let into the house close to the tablinum. The +dogs would not stir beyond the threshold and on the white marble step, +towards the right-hand side, the print of a man's foot was found in the +dust. It is a peculiar one, for instead of five toes there are but +three. Your Hiram was fetched in, and he was found to have the same +number of toes as the mark on the marble, neither more nor less. A horse +trod on his foot, in your father's stable, and two of his toes had to be +cut off: we got this out of the stammering wretch with some difficulty. +--On the other side of the door-way there was a smaller print, but though +the dogs paid no heed to that I examined it, and assured myself--how, +I need not tell you--that it was you who had stood there. He, who has no +business whatever in the house, must have made his way last night into +the tablinum, our treasury. Now, put yourself in the judges' place. How +can such facts be outweighed by the mere word of a girl who, as every one +knows, is on anything rather than good terms with my mother, and who will +leave no stone unturned to save her servant." + +"Infamous!" cried Paula. "Hiram did not steal the gem, as you must know +who stole it. The emerald he sold was my property; and were those stones +really so much alike that even the seller. . ." + +"Yes, indeed. He could not tell one from the other. Evil spirits have +been at work all through, devilish, malignant demons. It would be enough +to turn one's brain, if life were not so full of enigmas! You yourself +are the greatest.--Did you give the Syrian your emerald to sell in +order to fly from this house with the money?--You are silent? Then I am +right. What can my father be to you--you do not love my mother--and the +son!--Paula, Paula, you are perhaps doing him an injustice--you hate him, +and it is a pleasure to you to injure him." + +"I do not wish to hurt you or any one," replied the girl. "And you have +guessed wrongly. Your father refused me the means of seeking mine." + +"And you wanted to procure money to search for one who is long since +dead!--Even my mother admits that you speak the truth; if she is right, +and you really take no pleasure in doing me a mischief, listen to me, +follow my advice, and grant my prayer! I do not ask any great matter." + +"Speak on then." + +"Do you know what a man's honor is to him? Need I tell you that I am a +lost and despised man if I am found guilty of this act of the maddest +folly by the judges of my own house? It may cost my father his life if +he hears that the word 'guilty' is pronounced on me; and I--I--what would +become of me I cannot foresee!--I--oh God, oh God, preserve me from +frenzy!--But I must be calm; time presses.... How different it is for +your servant; he seems ready even now to take the guilt on himself, for, +whatever he is asked, he still keeps silence. Do you do the same; and +if the judges insist on knowing what you had to do with the Syrian last +night--for the dogs traced the scent to your staircase--hazard a +conjecture that the faithful fellow stole the emerald in order to gratify +your desire to search for your father, his beloved master. If you can +make up your mind to so great a sacrifice--oh, that I should have to ask +it of you!--I swear to you by all I hold sacred, by yourself and by my +father's head, I will set Hiram free within three days, unbeaten and +unhurt, and magnificently indemnified; and I will myself help him on the +way whither he may desire to go, or you to send him, in search of your +father.--Be silent; remain neutral in the background; that is all I ask, +and I will keep my word--that, at any rate, you do not doubt?" She had +listened to him with bated breath; she pitied him deeply as he stood +there, a suppliant in bitter anguish of soul, a criminal who still could +not understand that he was one, and who relied on the confidence that, +only yesterday, he still had had the right to exact from all the world. +He appeared before her like a fine proud tree struck by lightning, whose +riven trunk, trembling to its fall, must be crushed to the earth by the +first storm, unless the gardener props it up. She longed to be able to +forget all he had brought upon her and to grasp his hand in friendly +consolation; but her deeply aggrieved pride helped her to preserve the +cold and repellent manner she had so far succeeded in assuming. + +With much hesitation and reserve she consented to be silent as long as +he kept his promise. It was for his father's sake, rather than his own, +that she would so far become his accomplice: at the same time everything +else was at an end between them, and she should bless the hour which +might see her severed from him and his for ever. + +The end of her speech was in a strangely hard and repellent tone; she +felt she must adopt it to disguise how deeply she was touched by his +unhappiness and by the extinction of the sunshine in him which had once +warmed her own heart too with bliss. To him it seemed that an icy rigor +breathed in her words--bitter contempt and hostile revulsion. He had +some difficulty in keeping himself from breaking out again in violent +wrath. He was almost sorry that he had trusted her with his secret and +begged her for mercy, instead of leaving things to run their course, and +if it had come to the worst, dragging her to perdition with him. Sooner +would he forfeit honor and peace than humble himself again before this +pitiless and cold-hearted foe. At this moment he really hated her, and +only wished it were possible to fight her, to break her pride, to see her +vanquished and crying for quarter at his feet. It was with a great +effort--with tingling cheeks and constrained utterance that he said: + +"Severance from you is indeed best for us all.--Be ready: the judges will +send for you soon." + +"Very well," she replied. "I will be silent; you have only to provide +for the Syrian's safety. You have given me your word." + +"And so long as you keep yours I will keep mine. Or else. . ." the +words would come from his quivering lips--"or else war to the knife!" + +"War to the knife!" she echoed with flashing eyes. "But one thing more. +I have proof that the emerald which Hiram sold belonged to me. By all +the saints--proof!" + +"So much the better for you," he said. "Woe to us both, if you force me +to forget that you are a woman!" + +And he left the room with a rapid step. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +Orion went down stairs scowling and clenching his fists. His heart ached +to bursting. + +What had he done, what had befallen him? That a woman should dare to +treat him so!--a woman whom he had deigned to love--the loveliest and +noblest of women; but at the same time the haughtiest, most vengeful, +and most hateful. + +He had once read this maxim: "When a man has committed a base action, +if only one other knows of it he carries the death-warrant of his peace +in the bosom of his garment." He felt the full weight of this sentence; +and the other--the one who knew--was Paula, the woman of all others whom +he most wished should look up to him. But yesterday it had been a vision +of heaven on earth to dream of holding her in his arms and calling her +his; now he had but one wish: that he could humble and punish her. Oh, +that his hands should be tied, that he should be dependent on her mercy +like a condemned criminal! It was inconceivable--intolerable! + +But she should be taught to know him. He had passed through life +hitherto as white as a swan; if this luckless hour and this woman made +him appear as a vulture, it was not his fault, it was hers. She should +soon see which was the stronger of the two. He would punish her in every +way in which a woman can be punished, even if the way to it led through +crime and misery! He was not afraid that the leech bad won her +affections, for he knew, with strange certainty that, in spite of the +hostility she displayed, her heart was his and his alone. "The gold coin +called love," said he to himself, "has two faces: tender devotion and +bitter aversion; just now she is showing me the latter. But, however +different the image and superscription may be on the two sides, if you +ring it, it always gives out the same tone; and I can hear it even in her +most insulting words." + +When the family met at table he made Paula's excuses; he himself ate only +a few mouthfuls, for the judges had assembled some time since and were +waiting for him. + +The right of life and death had been placed in the hands of the ancestors +of the Mukaukas, powerful princes of provinces; they had certainly +wielded it even in the dynasty of Psammitichus, whose power had been put +to a terrible end by Cambyses the Persian. And still the Uraeus snake-- +the asp whose bite caused almost instant death, reared its head as the +time-honored emblem of this privilege, by the side of St. George the +Dragon-slayer, over the palaces of the Mukaukas at Memphis, and at +Lykopolis in Upper Egypt. And in both these places the head of the +family retained the right of arbitrary judgment and capital punishment +over the retainers of his house and the inhabitants of the district he +governed, after Justinian first, and then the Emperor Heraclius, had +confirmed them in their old prerogative. The chivalrous St. George +was placed between the snakes so as to replace a heathen symbol by a +Christian one. Formerly indeed the knight himself had had the head of +a sparrow-hawk: that is to say of the god Horus, who had overthrown the +evil-spirit, Seth-Typhon, to avenge his father; but about two centuries +since the heathen crocodile-destroyer had been transformed into the +Christian conqueror of the dragon. + +After the Arab conquest the Moslems had left all ancient customs and +rights undisturbed, including those of the Mukaukas. + +The court which assembled to sit in judgment on all cases concerning +the adherents of the house consisted of the higher officials of the +governor's establishment. The Mukaukas himself was president, and his +grown-up son was his natural deputy. During Orion's absence, Nilus, the +head of the exchequer, a shrewd and judicious Egyptian, had generally +represented his invalid master; but on the present occasion Orion was +appointed to take his place, and to preside over the assembly. + +The governor's son hastened to his father's bedroom to beg him to lend +him his ring as a token of the authority transferred to him; the Mukaukas +had willingly allowed him to take it off his finger, and had enjoined him +to exercise relentless severity. Generally he inclined to leniency; but +breaking into a house was punishable with death, and in this instance it +was but right to show no mercy, out of deference to the Arab merchant. +But Orion, mindful of his covenant with Paula, begged his father to give +him full discretion. The old Moslem was a just man, who would agree to a +mitigated sentence under the circumstances; besides, the culprit was not +in strict fact a member of the household, but in the service of a +relation. + +The Mukaukas applauded his son's moderation and judgment. If only he +had been in rather better health he himself would have had the pleasure +of being present at the sitting, to see him fulfil for the first time so +important a function, worthy of his birth and position. + +Orion kissed his father's hand with heart-felt but melancholy emotion, +for this praise from the man he so truly loved was a keen pleasure; and +yet he felt that it was of ill-omen that his duties as judge, of which he +knew the sacred solemnity, should be thus--thus begun. + +It was in a softened mood, sunk in thought as to how he could best save +Hiram and leave Paula's name altogether out of the matter, that he went +to the hall of justice; and there he found the nurse Perpetua in eager +discussion with Nilus. + +The old woman was quite beside herself. In the clatter of her loom she +had heard nothing of what had been going on till a few minutes ago; now +she was ready to swear to the luckless Hiram's innocence. The stone he +had sold had belonged to his young mistress, and thank God there was no +lack of evidence of the fact; the setting of the emerald was lying safe +and sound in Paula's trunk. Happily she had had an opportunity of +speaking to her; and that she, the daughter of Thomas, should be brought +before the tribunal, like a citizen's daughter or slave-girl, was unheard +of, shameful! + +At this Orion roughly interfered; he desired the old gate-keeper to +conduct Perpetua at once to the storeroom next to the tablinum, where the +various stuffs prepared for the use of the household were laid by, and to +keep her there under safe guard till further notice. The tone in which +he gave the order was such that even the nurse did not remonstrate; and +Nilus, for his part obeyed in silence when Orion bid him return to his +place among the judges. + +Nilus went back to the judgment-hall in uneasy consternation. Never +before had he seen his young lord in this mood. As he heard the nurse's +statement the veins had swelled in his smooth youthful forehead, his +nostrils had quivered with convulsive agitation, his voice had lost all +its sweetness, and his eyes had a sinister gleam. + +Orion was now alone; he ground his teeth with rage. Paula had betrayed +him in spite of her promise, and how mean was her woman's cunning! +She could be silent before the judges--yes. Silent in all confidence +now, to the very last; but the nurse, her mouthpiece, had already put +Nilus, the keenest and most important member of the court, in possession +of the evidence which spoke for her and against him. It was shocking, +disgraceful! Base and deliberately malicious treachery. But the end was +not yet: he still was free to act and to ward off the spiteful stroke by +a counterthrust. How it should be dealt was clear from Perpetua's +statement; but his conscience, his instincts and long habits of +submission to what was right, good, and fitting held him back. +Not only had he never himself done a base or a mean action; he loathed +it in another, and the only thing he could do to render Paula's perfidy +harmless was, as he could not deny, original and bold, but at the same +time detestable and shameful. + +Still, he could not and he would not succumb in this struggle. Time +pressed. Long reflection was impossible; suddenly he felt carried away +by a fierce and mad longing to fight it out--he felt as he had felt on. +a race-day in the hippodrome, when he had driven his own quadriga ahead +of all the rest. + +Onwards, then, onwards; and if the chariot were wrecked, if the horses +were killed, if his wheels maimed his comrades overthrown in the arena- +still, onwards, onwards! + +A few hasty steps brought him to the lodge of the gate-keeper, a sturdy +old man who had held his post for forty years. He had formerly been a +locksmith and it still was part of his duty to undertake the repairs of +the simple household utensils. Orion as a youth had been a beautiful and +engaging boy and a great favorite with this worthy man; he had delighted +in sitting in his little room and handing him the tools for his work. +He himself had remarkable mechanical facility and had been the old man's +apt pupil; nay, he had made such progress as to be able to carve pretty +little boxes, prayer-book cases, and such like, and provide them with +locks, as gifts to his parents on their birth days--a festival always +kept with peculiar solemnity in Egypt, and marked by giving and receiving +presents. He understood the use of tools, and he now hastily selected +such as he needed. On the window-ledge stood a bunch of flowers which +he had ordered for Paula the day before, and which he had forgotten to +fetch this terrible morning. With this in one hand, and the tools in the +breast of his robe he hastened upstairs. + +"Onwards, I must keep on!" he muttered, as he entered Paula's room, +bolted the door inside and, kneeling before her chest, tossed the flowers +aside. If he was discovered, he would say that he had gone into his +cousin's chamber to give her the bouquet. + +"Onwards; I must go on!" was still his thought, as he unscrewed the +hinge on which the lid of the trunk moved. His hands trembled, his +breath came fast, but he did his task quickly. This was the right way to +work, for the lock was a peculiar one, and could not have been opened +without spoiling it. He raised the lid, and the first thing his hand +came upon in the chest was the necklace with the empty medallion--it was +as though some kind Genius were aiding him. The medallion hung but +slightly to the elegantly-wrought chain; to detach it and conceal it +about his person was the work of a minute. + +But now the most resolute. "On, on. . . ." was of no further avail. +This was theft: he had robbed her whom, if she only had chosen it, he was +ready to load with everything wherewith fate had so superabundantly +blessed him. No, this--this.... + +A singular idea suddenly flashed through his brain; a thought which +brought a smile to his lips even at this moment of frightful tension. +He acted upon it forth with: he drew out from within his under-garment a +gem that hung round his neck by a gold chain. This jewel--a masterpiece +by one of the famous Greek engravers of heathen antiquity--had been given +him in Constantinople in exchange for a team of four horses to which his +greatest friend there had taken a fancy. It was in fact of greater price +than half a dozen fine horses. Half beside himself, and as if +intoxicated, Orion followed the wild impulse to which he had yielded; +indeed, he was glad to have so precious a jewel at hand to hang in the +place of the worthless gold frame-work. It was done with a pinch; but +screwing up the hinge again was a longer task, for his hands trembled +violently--and as the moment drew near in which he meant to let Paula +feel his power, the more quickly his heart beat, and the more difficult +he found it to control his mind to calm deliberation. + +After he had unbolted the door he stood like a thief spying the long +corridor of the strangers' wing, and this increased his excitement to a +frenzy of rage with the world, and fate, and most of all with her who had +compelled him to stoop to such base conduct. But now the charioteer had +the reins and goad in his hand. Onwards now, onwards! + +He flew down stairs, three steps at a time, as he had been wont when a +boy. In the anteroom he met Eudoxia, Mary's Greek governess, who had +just brought her refractory pupil into the house, and he tossed her the +nosegay he still held in his hands; then, without heeding the languishing +glances the middle-aged damsel sent after him with her thanks, he +hastened back to the gate-keeper's lodge where he hurriedly disburdened +himself of the locksmith's tools. + +A few minutes later he entered the judgment-hall. Nilus the treasurer +showed him to the governor's raised seat, but an overpowering bashfulness +kept him from taking this position of honor. It was with a burning brow, +and looks so ominously dark that the assembly gazed at him with timid +astonishment, that he opened the proceedings with a few broken sentences. +He himself scarcely knew what he was saying, and heard his own voice as +vaguely as though it were the distant roar of waves. However, he +succeeded in clearly stating all that had happened: he showed the +assembly the stone which had been stolen and recovered; he explained how +the thief had been taken; he declared Paula's freedman to be guilty of +the robbery, and called upon him to bring forward anything he could in +his own defence. But the accused could only stammer out that he was not +guilty. He was not able to defend himself, but his mistress could no +doubt give evidence that would justify him. + +Orion pushed the hair from his forehead, proudly raised his aching head, +and addressed the judges: + +"His mistress is a lady of rank allied to our house. Let us keep her +out of this odious affair as is but seemly. Her nurse gave Nilus some +information which may perhaps avail to save this unhappy man. We will +neglect nothing to that end; but you, who are less familiar with the +leading circumstances, must bear this in mind to guard yourselves against +being misled: This lady is much attached to the accused; she clings to +him and Perpetua as the only friends remaining to her from her native +home. Moreover, there is nothing to surprise me or you in the fact that +a noble woman, as she is, should assume the onus of another's crime, and +place herself in a doubtful light to save a man who has hitherto been +honest and faithful. The nurse is here; shall she be called, or have +you, Nilus, heard from her everything that her mistress can say in favor +of her freedman?" + +"Perpetua told me, and told you, too, my lord, certain credible facts," +replied the treasurer. "But I could not repeat them so exactly as she +herself, and I am of opinion that the woman should be brought before the +court." + +"Then call her," said Orion, fixing his eyes on vacancy above the heads +of the assembly, with a look of sullen dignity. + +After a long and anxious pause the old woman was brought in. Confident +in her righteous cause she came forward boldly; she blamed Hiram somewhat +sharply for keeping silence so long, and then explained that Paula, to +procure money for her search for her father, had made the freedman take a +costly emerald out of its setting in her necklace, and that it was the +sale of this gem that had involved her fellow-countryman in this +unfortunate suspicion. + +The nurse's deposition seemed to have biased the greater part of the +council in favor of the accused; but Orion did not give them time to +discuss their impressions among themselves. Hardly had Perpetua ceased +speaking, when Orion took up the emerald, which was lying on the table +before him, exclaiming excitedly, nay, angrily: + +"And the stone which is recognized by the man who sold it--an expert in +gems--as being that which was taken from the hanging, and unique of its +kind, is supposed, by some miracle of nature, to have suddenly appeared +in duplicate?--Malignant spirits still wander through the world, but +would hardly dare to play their tricks in this Christian house. You all +know what 'old women's tales' are; and the tale that old woman has told +us is one of the most improbable of its class. 'Tell that to Apelles the +Jew,' said Horace the Roman; but his fellow-Israelite, Gamaliel'--and he +turned to the jeweller who was sitting with the other witnesses will +certainly not believe it; still less I, who see through this tissue of +falsehood. The daughter of the noble Thomas has condescended to weave it +with the help of that woman--a skilled weaver, she--to spread it before +us in order to mislead us, and so to save her faithful servant from +imprisonment, from the mines, or from death. These are the facts.--Do I +err, woman, or do you still adhere to your statement?" + +The nurse, who had hoped to find in Orion her mistress' advocate, had +listened to his speech with growing horror. Her eyes flashed as she +looked at him, first with mockery and then with vehement disgust; but, +though they filled with tears at this unlooked-for attack, she preserved +her presence of mind, and declared she had spoken the truth, and nothing +but the truth, as she always did. The setting of her mistress' emerald +would prove her statement. + +Orion shrugged his shoulders, desired the woman to fetch her mistress, +whose presence was now indispensable, and called to the treasurer: + +"Go with her, Nilus! And let a servant bring the trunk here that the +owner may open it in the presence of us all and before any one else +touches the contents. I should not be the right person to undertake it +since no one in this Jacobite household--hardly even one of yourselves-- +has found favor in the eyes of the Melchite. She has unfortunately a +special aversion for me, so I must depute to others every proceeding that +could lead to a misunderstanding.--Conduct her hither, Nilus; of course +with the respect due to a maiden of high rank." + +While the envoy was gone Orion paced the room with swift, restless steps, +Once only he paused and addressed the judges: + +"But supposing the empty setting should be found, how do you account for +the existence of two--two gems, each unique of its kind? It is +distracting. Here is a soft-hearted girl daring to mislead a serious +council of justice for the sake, for the sake of. . . ." he stamped his +foot with rage and continued his silent march. + +"He is as yet but a beginner," thought the assembled officials as they +watched his agitation. "Otherwise how could he allow such an absurd +attempt to clear an accused thief to affect him so deeply, or disturb +his temper?" + +Paula's arrival presently put an end to Orion's pacing the room. He +received her with a respectful bow and signed to her to be seated. Then +he bid Nilus recapitulate the results of the proceedings up to the +present stage, and what he and his colleagues supposed to be her motive +for asserting that the stolen emerald was her property. He would as far +as possible leave it to the others to question her, since she knew full +well on what terms she was with himself. Even before he had come into +the council-room she had offered her explanation of the robbery to Nilus, +through her nurse Perpetua; but it would have seemed fairer and more +friendly in his eyes--and here he raised his voice--if she had chosen to +confide to him, Orion, her plan for helping the freedman. Then he might +have been able to warn her. He could only regard this mode of action, +independently of him, as a fresh proof of her dislike, and she must hold +herself responsible for the consequences. Justice must now take its +course with inexorable rigor. + +The wrathful light in his eyes showed her what she had to expect from +him, and that he was prepared to fight her to the end. She saw that he +thought that she had broken the promise she had but just now given him; +but she had not commissioned Perpetua to interfere in the matter; on the +contrary, she had desired the woman to leave it to her to produce her +evidence only in the last extremity. Orion must believe that she had +done him a wrong; still, could that make him so far forget himself as to +carry out his threats, and sacrifice an innocent man--to divert suspicion +from himself, while he branded her as a false witness? Aye, even from +that he would not shrink! His flaming glance, his abrupt demeanor, his +laboring breath, proclaimed it plainly enough.--Then let the struggle +begin! At this moment she would have died rather than have tried to +mollify him by a word of excuse. The turmoil in his whole being vibrated +through hers. She was ready to throw herself at his feet and implore him +to control himself, to guard himself against further wrong-doing--but she +maintained her proud dignity, and the eyes that met his were not less +indignant and defiant than his own. + +They stood face to face like two young eagles preparing to fight, with +feathers on end, arching their pinions and stretching their necks. She, +confident of victory in the righteousness of her cause, and far more +anxious for him than for herself; he, almost blind to his own danger, +but, like a gladiator confronting his antagonist in the arena, far more +eager to conquer than to protect his own life and limb. + +While Nilus explained to her what, in part, she already knew, and +repeated their suspicion that she had been tempted to make a false +declaration to save the life of her servant, whose devotion, no doubt, +to his missing master had led him to commit the robbery; she kept her +eye on Orion rather than on the speaker. At last Nilus referred to the +trunk, which had been brought from Paula's room under her own eyes, +informing her that the assembly were ready to hear and examine into +anything she had to say in her own defence. + +Orion's agitation rose to its highest pitch. He felt that the blood had +fled from his cheeks, and his thoughts were in utter confusion. The +council, the accused, his enemy Paula--everything in the room lay before +him shrouded in a whirl of green mist. All he saw seemed to be tinted +with light emerald green. The hair, the faces, the dresses of those +present gleamed and floated in a greenish light; and not till Paula went +up to the chest with a firm, haughty step, drew out a small key, gave it +to the treasurer, and answered his speech with three words: "Open the +box!"--uttering them with cold condescension as though even this were too +much--not till then did he see clearly once more: her bright brown hair, +the fire of her blue eyes, the rose and white of her complexion, the +light dress which draped her fine figure in noble folds, and her +triumphant smile. How beautiful, how desirable was this woman! A few +minutes and she would be worsted in this contest; but the triumph had +cost him not only herself, but all that was good and pure in his soul, +and worthy of his forefathers. An inward voice cried it out to him, but +he drowned it in the shout of "Onwards," like a chariot-driver. Yes--on; +still on towards the goal; away over ruins and stones, through blood and +dust, till she bowed her proud neck, crushed and beaten, and sued for +mercy. + +The lid of the trunk flew open. Paula stooped, lifted the necklace, held +it out to the judges, pulling it straight by the two ends.... Ah! what +a terrible, heartrending cry of despair! Orion even, never, never wished +to hear the like again. Then she flung the jewel on the table, +exclaiming: "Shameful, shameful! atrocious!" she tottered backwards and +clung to her faithful Betta; for her knees were giving way, and she felt +herself in danger of sinking to the ground. + +Orion sprang forward to support her, but she thrust him aside, with a +glance so full of anguish, rage and intense contempt that he stood +motionless, and clasped his hand over his heart.--And this deed, which +was to work such misery for two human beings, he had smiled in doing! +This practical joke which concealed a death-warrant--to what fearful +issues might it not lead? + +Paula had sunk speechless on to a seat, and he stood staring in silence, +till a burst of laughter broke from the assembly and old Psamtik, the +captain of the guard, who had long been a member of the council of +justice, exclaimed: + +"By my soul, a splendid stone! There is the heathen god Eros with his +winged sweetheart Psyche smiling in his face. Did you never read that +pretty story by Apuleius--'The Golden Ass' it is called? The passage is +in that. Holy Luke! how finely it is carved. The lady has taken out +the wrong necklace. Look, Gamaliel, where could your green pigeon's egg +have found a place in that thing?" and he pointed to the gem. + +"Nowhere," said the Jew. "The noble lady. . ." But Orion roughly bid +the witness to be silent, and Nilus, taking up the engraved gem, examined +it closely. Then he--he the grave, just man, on whose support Paula had +confidently reckoned--went up to her and with a regretful shrug asked her +whether the other necklace with the setting of which she had spoken was +in the trunk. + +The blood ran cold in her veins. This thing that had happened was as +startling as a miracle. But no! No higher Power had anything to do with +this blow. Orion believed that she had failed in her promise of +screening him by her silence, and this, this was his revenge. By what +means--how he had gone to work, was a mystery. What a trick!--and it had +succeeded! But should she take it like a patient child? No. A thousand +times no! Suddenly all her old powers of resistance came back; hatred +steeled her wavering will; and, as in fancy, he had seen himself in the +circus, driving in a race, so she pictured herself seated at the chess- +board. She felt herself playing with all her might to win; but not, as +with his father, for flowers, trifling presents or mere glory; nay, for a +very different stake Life or Death! + +She would do everything, anything to conquer him; and yet, no--come what +might--not everything. Sooner would she succumb than betray him as the +thief or reveal what she had discovered in the viridarium. She had +promised to keep the secret; and she would repay the father's kindness +by screening the son from this disgrace. How beautiful, how noble had +Orion's image been in her heart. She would not stain it with this +disgrace in her own eyes and in those of the world. But every other +reservation must be cast far, far away, to snatch the victory from him +and to save Hiram. Every fair weapon she might use; only this treachery +she could not, might not have recourse to. He must be made to feel that +she was more magnanimous than he; that she, under all conceivable +circumstances, kept her word. That was settled; her bosom once more rose +and fell, and her eye brightened again; still it was some little time +before she could find the right words with which to begin the contest. + +Orion could see the seething turmoil in her soul; he felt that she was +arming herself for resistance, and he longed to spur her on to deal the +first blow. Not a word had she uttered of surprise or anger, not a +syllable of reproach had passed her lips. What was she thinking of, what +was she plotting? The more startling and dangerous the better; the more +bravely she bore herself, the more completely in the background might he +leave the painful sense of fighting against a woman. Even heroes had +boasted of a victory over Amazons. + +At last, at last!--She rose and went towards Hiram. He had been tied to +the stake to which criminals were bound, and as an imploring glance from +his honest eyes met hers, the spell that fettered her tongue was +unloosed; she suddenly understood that she had not merely to protect +herself, but to fulfil a solemn duty. With a few rapid steps she went up +to the table at which her judges sat in a semi-circle, and leaning on it +with her left hand, raised her right high in the air, exclaiming: + +"You are the victims of a cruel fraud; and I of an unparalleled and +wicked trick, intended to bring me to ruin!--Look at that man at the +stake. Does he look like a robber? A more honest and faithful servant +never earned his freedom, and the gratitude Hiram owed to his master, my +father, he has discharged to the daughter for whose sake he quitted his +home, his wife and child. He followed me, an orphan, here into a strange +land.--But that matters not to you.--Still, if you will hear the truth, +the strict and whole. . . ." + +"Speak!" Orion put in; but she went on, addressing herself exclusively +to Nilus, and his peers, and ignoring him completely: + +"Your president, the son of the Mukaukas, knows that, instead of the +accused, I might, if I chose, be the accuser. But I scorn it--for love +of his father, and because I am more high-minded than he. He will +understand!--With regard to this particular emerald Hiram, my freedman, +took it out of its setting last evening, under my eyes, with his knife; +other persons besides us, thank God! have seen the setting, empty, on the +chain to which it belonged. This afternoon it was still in the place to +which some criminal hand afterwards found access, and attached that gem +instead. That I have just now seen for the first time--I swear it by +Christ's wounds. It is an exquisite work. Only a very rich man--the +richest man here, can give away such a treasure, for whatever purpose he +may have in view--to destroy an enemy let us say.--Gamaliel," and she +turned to the Jew--"At what sum would you value that onyx?" + +The Israelite asked to see the gem once more; he turned it about, and +then said with a grin: "Well, fair lady, if my black hen laid me little +things like that I would feed it on cakes from Arsinoe and oysters from +Canopus. The stone is worth a landed estate, and though I am not a rich +man, I would pay down two talents for it at any moment, even if I had to +borrow the money." + +This statement could not fail to make a great impression on the judges. +Orion, however, exclaimed: "Wonders on wonders mark this eventful day! +The prodigal generosity which had become an empty name has revived again +among us! Some lavish demon has turned a worthless plate of gold into a +costly gem.--And may I ask who it was that saw the empty setting hanging +to your chain?" Paula was in danger of forgetting even that last reserve +she had imposed on herself; she answered with trembling accents: + +"Apparently your confederates or you yourself did. You, and you alone, +have any cause. . . ." + +But he would not allow her to proceed. He abruptly interrupted her, +exclaiming: "This is really too much! Oh, that you were a man! How far +your generosity reaches I have already seen. Even hatred, the bitterest +hostility. . . ." + +"They would have every right to ruin you completely!" she cried, roused +to the utmost. "And if I were to charge you with the most horrible +crime. . . ." + +"You yourself would be committing a crime, against me and against this +house," he said menacingly. "Beware! Can self-delusion go so far that +you dare to appeal to me to testify to the fable you have trumped up...." + +"No. Oh, no! That would be counting on some honesty in you yet," she +loudly broke in. "I have other witnesses: "Mary, the granddaughter of +the Mukaukas," and she tried to catch his eye. + +"The child whose little heart you have won, and who follows you about +like a pet dog!" he cried. + +"And besides Mary, Katharina, the widow Susannah's daughter," she added, +sure of her triumph, and the color mounted to her cheeks. "She is no +longer a child, but a maiden grown, as you know. I therefore demand of +you--" and she again turned to the assembly--"that you will fulfil your +functions worthily and promote justice in my behalf by calling in both +these witnesses and hearing their evidence." + +On this Orion interposed with forced composure: "As to whether a soft- +hearted child ought to be exposed to the temptation to save the friend +she absolutely worships by giving evidence before the judges, be it what +it may, only her grandparents can decide. Her tender years would at any +rate detract from the validity of her evidence, and I am averse to +involving a child of this house in this dubious affair. With regard to +Katharina, it is, on the contrary, the duty of this court to request her +presence, and I offer myself to go and fetch her." + +He resolutely resisted Paula's attempts to interrupt him again: she +should have a patient hearing presently in the presence of her witness. +The gem no doubt had come to her from her father. But at this her +righteous indignation was again too much for her; she cried out quite +beside herself: + +"No, and again no. Some reprobate scoundrel, an accomplice of yours-- +yes, I repeat it--made his way into my room while I was in the sick-room, +and either forced the lock of my trunk or opened it with a false key." + +"That can easily be proved," said Orion. In a confident tone he desired +that the box should be placed on the table, and requested one of the +council, who understood such matters, to give his opinion. Paula knew +the man well. He was one of the most respected members of the household, +the chief mechanician whose duty it was to test and repair the water- +clocks, balances, measures and other instruments. He at once proceeded +to examine the lock and found it in perfect order, though the key, which +was of peculiar form, could certainly not have found a substitute in any +false key; and Paula was forced to admit that she had left the trunk +locked at noon and had worn the key round her neck ever since. Orion +listened to his opinion with a shrug, and before going to seek Katharina +gave orders that Paula and the nurse should be conducted to separate +rooms. To arrive at any clear decision in this matter, it was necessary +that any communication between these two should be rendered impossible. +As soon as the door was shut on them he hastened into the garden, where +he hoped to find Katharina. + +The council looked after him with divided feelings. They were here +confronted by riddles that were hard to solve. No one of them felt that +he had a right to doubt the good intentions of their lord's son, whom +they looked up to as a talented and high-minded youth. His dispute with +Paula had struck them painfully, and each one asked himself how it was +that such a favorite with women should have failed to rouse any sentiment +but that of hatred in one of the handsomest of her sex. The marked +hostility she displayed to Orion injured her cause in the eyes of her +judges, who knew only too well how unpleasant her relations were with +Neforis. It was more than audacious in her to accuse the Mukaukas' son +of having broken open her trunk; only hatred could have prompted her to +utter such a charge. Still, there was something in her demeanor which +encouraged confidence in her assertions, and if Katharina could really +testify to having seen the empty medallion on the chain there would be no +alternative but to begin the enquiry again from a fresh point of view, +and to inculpate another robber. But who could have lavished such a +treasure as this gem in exchange for mere rubbish? It was inconceivable; +Ammonius the mechanician was right when he said that a woman full of +hatred was capable of anything, even the incredible and impossible. + +Meanwhile it was growing dusk and the scorching day had turned to the +tempered heat of a glorious evening. The Mukaukas was still in his room +while his wife with Susannah and her daughter, Mary and her governess, +were enjoying the air and chatting in the open hall looking out on the +garden and the Nile. The ladies had covered their heads with gauze veils +as a protection against the mosquitoes, which were attracted in swarms +from the river by the lights, and also against the mists that rose from +the shallowing Nile; they were in the act of drinking some cooling fruit- +syrup which had just been brought in, when Orion made his appearance. + +"What has happened?" cried his mother in some anxiety, for she concluded +from his dishevelled hair and heated cheeks that the meeting had gone +anything rather than smoothly. + +"Incredible things," he replied. "Paula fought like a lioness for her +father's freedman. . ." + +"Simply to annoy us and put us in a difficulty," replied Neforis. + +"No, no, Mother," replied Orion with some warmth. "But she has a will of +iron; a woman who never pauses at anything when she wants to carry her +point; and at the same time she goes to work with a keen wit that is +worthy of the greatest lawyer that I ever heard defend a cause in the +high court of the capital. Besides this her air of superiority, and her +divine beauty turn the heads of our poor household officers. It is fine +and noble, of course, to be so zealous in the cause of a servant; but it +can do no good, for the evidence against her stammering favorite is +overwhelming, and when her last plea is demolished the matter is ended. +She says that she showed a necklace to the child, and to you, charming +Katharina." + +"Showed it?" cried the young girl. "She took it away from us--did not +she, Mary?" + +"Well, we had taken it without her leave," replied the child. + +"And she wants our children to appear in a court of justice to bear +witness for her highness?" asked Neforis indignantly. + +"Certainly," replied Orion. "But Mary's evidence is of no value in law." + +"And even if it were," replied his mother, "the child should not be mixed +up with this disgraceful business under any circumstances." + +"Because I should speak for Paula!" cried Mary, springing up in great +excitement. + +"You will just hold your tongue," her grandmother exclaimed. + +"And as for Katharina," said the widow, "I do not at all like the notion +of her offering herself to be stared at by all those gentlemen." + +"Gentlemen!" observed the girl. "Men--household officials and such +like. They may wait long enough for me!" + +"You must nevertheless do their bidding, haughty rosebud," said Orion +laughing. "For you, thank God, are no longer a child, and a court of +justice has the right of requiring the presence of every grown person as +a witness. No harm will come to you, for you are under my protection. +Come with me. We must learn every lesson in life. Resistance is vain. +Besides, all you will have to do will be to state what you have seen, and +then, if I possibly can, I will bring you back under the tender escort of +this arm, to your mother once more. You must entrust your jewel to me +to-day, Susannah, and this trustworthy witness shall tell you afterwards +how she fared under my care." + +Katharina was quite capable of reading the implied meaning of these +words, and she was not ill-pleased to be obliged to go off alone with the +governor's handsome son, the first man for whom her little heart had beat +quicker; she sprang up eagerly; but Mary clung to her arm, and insisted +so vehemently and obstinately on being taken with them to bear witness in +Paula's behalf, that her governess and Dame Neforis had the greatest +difficulty in reducing her to obedience and letting the pair go off +without her. Both mothers looked after them with great satisfaction, and +the governor's wife whispered to Susannah: "Before the judges to-day, but +ere long, please God, before the altar at Church!" + +To reach the hall of judgment they could go either through the house or +round it. If the more circuitous route were chosen, it lay first through +the garden; and this was the course taken by Orion. He had made a very +great effort in the presence of the ladies to remain master of the +agitation that possessed him; he saw that the battle he had begun, and +from which he, at any rate, could not and would not now retire, was +raging more and more fiercely, obliging him to drag the young creature +who must become his wife--the die was already cast--into the course of +crime he had started on. + +When he had agreed with his mother that he was not to prefer his suit for +Katharina till the following day, he had hoped to prove to her in the +interval that this little thing was no wife for him; and now--oh! Irony +of Fate--he found himself compelled to the very reverse of what he longed +to do: to fight the woman he loved--Yes, still loved--as if she were his +mortal foe, and pay his court to the girl who really did not suit him. +It was maddening, but inevitable; and once more spurring himself with the +word "Onwards!" be flung himself into the accomplishment of the unholy +task of subduing the inexperienced child at his elbow into committing +even a crime for his sake. His heart was beating wildly; but no pause, +no retreat was possible: he must conquer. "Onwards, then, onwards!" + +When they had passed out of the light of the lamps into the shade he took +his young companion's slender hand-thankful that the darkness concealed +his features--and pressed the delicate fingers to his lips. + +"Oh!--Orion!" she exclaimed shyly, but she did not resist. + +"I only claim my due, sunshine of my soul!" he said insinuatingly. +"If your heart beat as loud as mine, our mothers might hear them!" + +"But it does!" she joyfully replied, her curly head bent on one side. + +"Not as mine does," he said with a sigh, laying her little hand on his +heart. He could do so in all confidence, for its spasmodic throbbing +threatened to suffocate him. + +"Yes indeed," she said. "It is beating. . ." + +"So that they can hear it indoors," he added with a forced laugh. +"Do you think your dear mother has not long since read our feelings?" + +"Of course she has," whispered Katharina. "I have rarely seen her in +such good spirits as since your return." + +"And you, you little witch?" + +"I? Of course I was glad--we all were.--And your parents!" + +"Nay, nay, Katharina! What you yourself felt when we met once more, that +is what I want to know." + +"Oh, let that pass! How can I describe such a thing?" + +"Is that quite impossible?" he asked and clasped her arm more closely +in his own. He must win her over, and his romantic fancy helped him to +paint feelings he had never had, in glowing colors. He poured out sweet +words of love, and she was only too ready to believe them. At a sign +from him she sat down confidingly on a wooden bench in the old avenue +which led to the northern side of the house. Flowers were opening on +many of the shrubs and shedding rich, oppressive perfume. The moonlight +pierced through the solemn foliage of the sycamores, and shimmering +streaks and rings of light played in the branches, on the trunks, and on +the dark ground. The heat of the day still lingered in the leafy roofs +overhead, sultry and heavy even now; and in this alley he called her for +the first time his own, his betrothed, and enthralled her heart in chains +and bonds. Each fervent word thrilled with the wild and painful +agitation that was torturing his soul, and sounded heartfelt and sincere. +The scent of flowers, too, intoxicated her young and inexperienced heart; +she willingly offered her lips to his kisses, and with exquisite bliss +felt the first glow of youthful love returned. + +She could have lingered thus with him for a lifetime; but in a few +minutes he sprang up, anxious to put an end to this tender dalliance +which was beginning to be too much even for him, and exclaimed: + +"This cursed, this infernal trial! But such is the fate of man! Duty +calls, and he must return from all the bliss of Paradise to the world +again. Give me your arm, my only love, my all!" + +And Katharina obeyed. Dazzled and bewildered by the extraordinary +happiness that had come to meet her, she allowed him to lead her on, +listening with suspended breath as he added: "Out of this beatitude back +to the sternest of duties!--And how odious, how immeasurably loathesome +is the case in question! How gladly would I have been a friend to Paula, +a faithful protector instead of a foe!" + +As he spoke he felt the girl's left hand clench tighter on his arm, +and this spurred him on in his guilty purpose. Katharina herself had +suggested to his mind the course he must pursue to attain his end. +He went on to influence her jealousy by praising Paula's charm and +loftiness, excusing himself in his own eyes by persuading himself that a +lover was justified in inducing his betrothed to save his happiness and +his honor. + +Still, as he uttered each flattering word, he felt that he was lowering +himself and doing a fresh injustice to Paula. He found it only too easy +to sing her praises; but as he did so with growing enthusiasm Katharina +hit him on the arm exclaiming, half in jest and half seriously vexed: + +"Oh, she is a goddess! And pray do you love her or me? You had better +not make me jealous! Do you hear?" + +"You little simpleton!" he said gaily; and then he added soothingly: +"She is like the cold moon, but you are the bright warming sun. +Yes, Paula!--we will leave Paula to some Olympian god, some archangel. +I rejoice in my gladsome little maiden who will enjoy life with me, +and all its pleasures!" + +"That we will!" she exclaimed triumphantly; the horizon of her future +was radiant with sunshine. + +"Good Heavens!" he exclaimed as if in surprise. "The lights are already +shining in that miserable hall of justice! Ah, love, love! Under that +enchantment we had forgotten the object for which we came out.--Tell me, +my darling, do you remember exactly what the necklace was like that you +and Mary were playing with this afternoon?" + +"It was very finely wrought, but in the middle hung a rubbishy broken +medallion of gold." + +"You are a pretty judge of works of art! Then you overlooked the fine +engraved gem which was set in that modest gold frame?" + +"Certainly not." + +"I assure you, little wise-head!" + +"No, my dearest." As she spoke she looked up saucily, as though she had +achieved some great triumph. "I know very well what gems are. My father +left a very fine collection, and my mother says that by his will they are +all to belong to my future husband." + +"Then I can set you, my jewel, in a frame of the rarest gems." + +"No, no," she cried gaily. "Let me have a setting indeed, for I am but a +fugitive thing; but only, only in your heart." + +"That piece of goldsmith's work is already done.--But seriously my child; +with regard to Paula's necklace: it really was a gem, and you must have +happened to see only the back of it. That is just as you describe it: a +plain setting of gold." + +"But Orion. . . ." + +"If you love me, sweetheart, contradict me no further. In the future +I will always accept your views, but in this case your mistake might +involve us in a serious misunderstanding, by compelling me to give in to +Paula and make her my ally.--Here we are! But wait one moment longer.-- +And once more, as to this gem. You see we may both be wrong--I as much +as you; but I firmly believe that I am in the right. If you make a +statement contrary to mine I shall appear before the judges as a liar. +We are now betrothed--we are but one, wholly one; what damages or +dignifies one of us humiliates or elevates the other. If you, who love +me--you, who, as it is already whispered, are soon to be the mistress of +the governor's house--make a statement opposed to mine they are certain +to believe it. You see, your whole nature is pure kindness, but you are +still too young and innocent quite to understand all the duties of that +omnipotent love which beareth and endureth all things. If you do not +yield to me cheerfully in this case you certainly do not love me as you +ought. And what is it to ask? I require nothing of you but that you +should state before the court that you saw Paula's necklace at noon +to-day, and that there was a gem hanging to it--a gem with Love and +Psyche engraved on it." + +"And I am to say that before all those men?" asked Katharina doubtfully. + +"You must indeed, you kind little angel!" cried Orion tenderly. "And +do you think it pretty in a betrothed bride to refuse her lover's first +request so grudgingly, suspiciously, and ungraciously? Nay, nay. If +there is the tiniest spark of love for me in your heart, if you do not +want to see me reduced to implore Paula for mercy. . . ." + +"But what is it all about? How can it matter so much to any one whether +a gem or a mere plate of gold....?" + +"All that I will explain later," he hastily replied. + +"Tell me now...." + +"Impossible. We have already put the patience of the judges to too +severe a test. We have not a moment to lose." + +"Very well then; but I shall die of confusion and shame if I have to make +a declaration. . . ." + +"Which is perfectly truthful, and by which you can prove to me that you +love me," he urged. + +"But it is dreadful!" she exclaimed anxiously. "At least fasten my veil +closely over my face.--All those bearded men. . . ." + +"Like the ostrich," said Orion, laughing as he complied. "If you really +cannot agree with your.... What is it you called me just now? Say it +again." + +"My dearest!" she said shyly but tenderly. + +She helped Orion to fold her veil twice over her face, and did not thrust +him aside when he whispered in her ear: "Let us see if a kiss cannot be +sweet even through all that wrapping!--Now, come. It will be all over in +a few minutes." + +He led the way into the anteroom to the great hall, begged her to wait +a moment, and then went in and hastily informed the assembly that Dame +Susannah had entrusted her daughter to him only on condition that he +should escort her back again as soon as she had given her testimony. +Then Paula was brought in and he desired her to be seated. + +It was with a sinking and anxious heart that Katharina had entered the +anteroom. She had screened herself from a scolding before now by trivial +subterfuges, but never had told a serious lie; and every instinct +rebelled against the demand that she should now state a direct falsehood. +But could Orion, the noblest of mankind, the idol of the whole town, so +pressingly entreat her to do anything that was wrong? Did not love--as +he had said--make it her duty to do everything that might screen him from +loss or injury? It did not seem to her to be quite as it should be, but +perhaps she did not altogether understand the matter; she was so young +and inexperienced. She hated the idea, too, that, if she opposed her +lover, he would have to come to terms with Paula. She had no lack of +self-possession, and she told herself that she might hold her own with +any girl in Memphis; still, she felt the superiority of the handsome, +tall, proud Syrian, nor could she forget how, the day before yesterday, +when Paula had been walking up and down the garden with Orion the chief +officer of Memphis had exclaimed: "What a wonderfully handsome couple!" +She herself had often thought that no more beautiful, elegant and lovable +creature than Thomas' daughter walked the earth; she had longed and +watched for a glance or a kind word from her. But since hearing those +words a bitter feeling had possessed her soul against Paula, and there +had been much to foster it. Paula always treated her like a child +instead of a grown-up girl, as she was. Why, that very morning, had she +sought out her betrothed--for she might call him so now--and tried to +keep her away from him? And how was it that Orion, even while declaring +his love for her, had spoken more than warmly--enthusiastically of Paula? +She must be on her guard, and though others should speak of the great +good fortune that had fallen to her lot, Paula, at any rate, would not +rejoice in it, for Katharina felt and knew that she was not indifferent +to Orion. She had not another enemy in the world, but Paula was one; +her love had everything to fear from her--and suddenly she asked herself +whether the gold medallion she had seen might not indeed have been a gem? +Had she examined the necklace closely, even for a moment? And why should +she fancy she had sharper sight than Orion with his large, splendid eyes? + +He was right, as he always was. Most engraved gems were oval in form, +and the pendant which she had seen and was to give evidence about, was +undoubtedly oval. Then it was not like Orion to require a falsehood of +her. In any case it was her duty to her betrothed to preserve from evil, +and prevent him from concluding any alliance with that false Siren. She +knew what she had to say; and she was about to loosen a portion of her +veil from her face that she might look Paula steadfastly in the eyes, +when Orion came back to fetch her into the hall where the Court was +sitting. To his delight--nay almost to his astonishment--she stated with +perfect confidence that a gem had been hanging to Paula's necklace at +noon that day; and when the onyx was shown her and she was asked if she +remembered the stone, she calmly replied: + +"It may or it may not be the same; I only remember the oval gold back to +it: besides I was only allowed to have the necklace in my hands for a +very short time." + +When Nilus, the treasurer, desired her to look more closely at the +figures of Eros and Psyche to refresh her memory, she evaded it by +saying: "I do not like such heathen images: we Jacobite maidens wear +different adornments." + +At this Paula rose and stepped towards her with a look of stern reproof; +little Katharina was glad now that it had occurred to her to cover her +face with a double veil. But the utter confusion she felt under the +Syrian girl's gaze did not last long. Paula exclaimed reproach fully: +"You speak of your faith. Like mine, it requires you to respect the +truth. Consider how much depends on your declaration; I implore you, +child. . ." + +But the girl interrupted her rival exclaiming with much irritation and +vehement excitement: + +"I am no longer a child, not even as compared with you; and I think +before I speak, as I was taught to do." + +She threw back her little head with a confident air, and said very +decidedly: + +"That onyx hung to the middle of the chain." + +"How dare you, you audacious hussy!" It was Perpetua, quite unable to +contain herself, who flung the words in her face. Katharina started as +though an asp had stung her and turned round on the woman who had dared +to insult her so grossly and so boldly. She was on the verge of tears as +she looked helplessly about her for a defender; but she had not long to +wait, for Orion instantly gave orders that Perpetua should be imprisoned +for bearing false witness. Paula, however, as she had not perjured +herself, but had merely invented an impossible tale with a good motive, +was dismissed, and her chest was to be replaced in her room. + +At this Paula once more stepped forth; she unhooked the onyx from the +chain and flung it towards Gamaliel, who caught it, while she exclaimed: + +"I make you a present of it, Jew! Perhaps the villain who hung it to my +chain may buy it back again. The chain was given to my great-grandmother +by the saintly Theodosius, and rather than defile it by contact with that +gift from a villain, I will throw it into the Nile!--You--you, poor, +deluded judges--I cannot be wroth with you, but I pity you!--My Hiram..." +and she looked at the freedman, "is an honest soul whom I shall remember +with gratitude to my dying day; but as to that unrighteous son of a most +righteous father, that man. . ." and she raised her voice, while she +pointed straight at Orion's face; but the young man interrupted her with +a loud: + +"Enough!" + +She tried to control herself and replied: + +"I will submit. Your conscience will tell you a hundred times over what +I need not say. One last word. . ." She went close up to him and said +in his ear: + +"I have been able to refrain from using my deadliest weapon against you +for the sake of keeping my word. Now you, if you are not the basest +wretch living, keep yours, and save Hiram." + +His only reply was an assenting nod; Paula paused on the threshold and, +turning to Katharina, she added: "You, child--for you are but a child-- +with what nameless suffering will not the son of the Mukaukas repay you +for the service you have rendered him!" Then she left the room. Her +knees trembled under her as she mounted the stairs, but when she had +again taken her place by the side of the hapless, crazy girl a merciful +God granted her the relief of tears. Her friend saw her and left her to +weep undisturbed, till she herself called him and confided to him all she +had gone through in the course of this miserable day. + +Orion and Katharina had lost their good spirits; they went back to the +colonnade in a dejected mood. On the way she pressed him to explain to +her why he had insisted on her making this declaration, but he put her +off till the morrow. They found Susannah alone, for his mother had been +sent for by her husband, who was suffering more than usual, and she had +taken Mary with her. + +After bidding the widow good-night and escorting her to her chariot, +he returned to the hall where the Court was still sitting. There he +recapitulated the case as it now stood, and all the evidence against +the freed man. The verdict was then pronounced: Hiram was condemned +to death with but one dissentient voice that of Nilus the treasurer. + +Orion ordered that the execution of the sentence should be postponed; he +did not go back into the house, however, but had his most spirited horse +saddled and rode off alone into the desert. He had won, but he felt as +though in this race he had rushed into a morass and must be choked in it. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Love has two faces: tender devotion and bitter aversion +Self-interest and egoism which drive him into the cave +The man who avoids his kind and lives in solitude +You have a habit of only looking backwards + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIDE OF THE NILE, BY EBERS, V3 *** + +********** This file should be named 5519.txt or 5519.zip ********** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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