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+The Project Gutenberg EBook Cleopatra, by Georg Ebers, Volume 6.
+#40 in our series by Georg Ebers
+
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+Title: Cleopatra, Volume 6.
+
+Author: Georg Ebers
+
+Release Date: April, 2004  [EBook #5478]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on May 21, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA, BY GEORG EBERS, V6 ***
+
+
+
+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.]
+
+
+
+
+
+CLEOPATRA
+
+By Georg Ebers
+
+Volume 6.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+During these hours of rest Iras and Charmian had watched in turn beside
+Cleopatra.  When she rose, the younger attendant rendered her the
+necessary services.  She was to devote herself to her mistress until the
+evening; for her companion, who now stood in her way, was not to return
+earlier.  Before Charmian left, she had seen that her apartments--in
+which Barine, since the Queen had placed her in her charge, had been a
+welcome guest--were carefully watched.  The commander of the Macedonian
+guard, who years before had vainly sought her favour, and finally had
+become the most loyal of her friends, had promised to keep them closely.
+
+Yet Iras knew how to profit by her mistress's sleep and the absence of
+her aunt.  She had learned that she would be shut out of her apartments,
+and therefore from Barine also.  Ere any step could be taken against the
+prisoner, she must first arrange the necessary preliminaries with Alexas.
+The failure of her expectation of seeing her rival trampled in the dust
+had transformed her jealous resentment into hatred, and though she was
+her niece, she even transferred a portion of it to Charmian, who had
+placed herself between her and her victim.
+
+She had sent for the Syrian, but he, too, had gone to rest at a late hour
+and kept her waiting a long time.  The reception which the impatient girl
+bestowed was therefore by no means cordial, but her manner soon grew more
+friendly.
+
+First Alexas boasted of having induced the Queen to commit Barine's fate
+to him.  If he should try her at noon and find her guilty, there was
+nothing to prevent him from compelling her to drink the poisoned cup or
+having her strangled before evening.  But the matter would be dangerous,
+because the singer's friends were numerous and by no means powerless.
+Yet, in the depths of her heart, Cleopatra desired nothing more ardently
+than to rid herself of her dangerous rival.  But he knew the great ones
+of the earth.  If he acted energetically and brought matters to a speedy
+close, the Queen, to avoid evil gossip, would burden him with her own
+act.  Antony's mood could not be predicted, and the Syrian's weal or woe
+depended on his favour.  Besides, the execution of the singer at the last
+Adonis festival might have a dangerous effect upon the people of
+Alexandria.  They were already greatly excited, and his brother, who knew
+them, said that some were overwhelmed with sorrow, and others ready, in
+their fury, to rise in a bloody rebellion.  Everything was to be feared
+from this rabble, but Philostratus understood how to persuade them to
+many things, and Alexas had just secured his aid.
+
+Alexas had really succeeded in the work of reconciliation.  During the
+orator's married life with Barine she had forbidden her brother-in-law
+the house, and her husband had quarrelled with the brother who sought his
+wife.  But after the latter had risen to a high place in Antony's favour,
+and been loaded with gold by his lavish hand, Philostratus had again
+approached him to claim his share of the new wealth.  And the source from
+which Alexas drew flowed so abundantly that his favourite did not find it
+difficult to give.  Both men were as unprincipled as they were lavish,
+and experience taught them that base natures always have at their
+disposal a plank with which to bridge chasms.  If it is of gold, it will
+be crossed the more speedily.  Such was the case here, and of late it had
+become specially firm; for each needed the other's aid.
+
+Alexas loved Barine, while Philostratus no longer cared for her.  On the
+other hand, he hated Dion with so ardent a thirst for revenge that, to
+obtain it, he would have resigned even the hope of fresh gains.  The
+humiliation inflicted upon him by the arrogant Macedonian noble, and the
+derision which through his efforts had been heaped upon him, haunted him
+like importunate pursuers; and he felt that he could only rid himself of
+them with the source of his disgrace.  Without his brother's aid, he
+would have been content to assail Dion with his slandering tongue; with
+his powerful assistance he could inflict a heavier injury upon him,
+perhaps even rob him of liberty and life.  They had just made an
+agreement by which Philostratus pledged himself to reconcile the
+populace to any punishment that might be inflicted upon Barine,
+and Alexas promised to help his brother take a bloody vengeance
+upon Dion the Macedonian.
+
+Barine's death could be of no service to Alexas.  The sight of her beauty
+had fired his heart a second time, and he was resolved to make her his
+own.  In the dungeon, perhaps by torture, she should be forced to grasp
+his helping hand.  All this would permit no delay.  Everything must be
+done before the return of Antony, who was daily expected.  Alexas's
+lavish patron had made him so rich that he could bear to lose his favour
+for the sake of this object.  Even without it, he could maintain a
+household with royal magnificence in some city of his Syrian home.
+
+On receiving the favourite's assurance that he would remove Barine from
+Charmian's protection on the morrow, Iras became more gracious.  She
+could make no serious objection to his statement that the new trial might
+not, it is true, end in a sentence of death, but the verdict would
+probably be transportation to the mines, or something of the sort.
+
+Then Alexas cautiously tested Iras's feelings towards his brother's
+mortal foe.  They were hostile; yet when the favourite intimated that he,
+too, ought to be given up to justice, she showed so much hesitation, that
+Alexas stopped abruptly and turned the conversation upon Barine.  Here
+she promised assistance with her former eager zeal, and it was settled
+that the arrest should be made the following morning during the hours of
+Charmian's attendance upon the Queen.
+
+Iras had valuable counsel to offer.  She was familiar with one of the
+prisons, whose doors she had opened to many a hapless mortal whose
+disappearance, in her opinion, might be of service to the Queen.  She had
+deemed it a duty, aided by the Keeper of the Seal, to anticipate her
+mistress in cases where her kind heart would have found it difficult to
+pronounce a severe sentence, and Cleopatra had permitted it, though
+without commendation or praise.  What happened within its walls--thanks
+to the silence of the warder--never passed beyond the portals.  If Barine
+cursed her life there, she would still fare better than she, Iras, who
+during the past few nights had been on the brink of despair whenever she
+thought of the man who had disdained her love and abandoned her for
+another.
+
+As the Syrian held out his hand to take leave, she asked bluntly
+
+"And Dion?"
+
+"He cannot be set free," was the reply, "for he loves Barine; nay, the
+fool was on the eve of leading her home to his beautiful palace as its
+mistress."
+
+"Is that true, really true?" asked Iras, whose cheeks and lips lost every
+tinge of colour, though she succeeded in maintaining her composure.
+
+"He confessed it yesterday in a letter to his uncle, the Keeper of the
+Seal, in which he entreated him to do his utmost for his chosen bride,
+whom he would never resign.  But Zeno has no liking for this niece.  Do
+you wish to see the letter?"
+
+"Then, of course, he cannot be set at liberty," replied Iras, and there
+was additional shrillness in her voice.  "He will do everything in his
+power for the woman he loves, and that is much--far more than you, who
+are half a stranger here, suspect.  The Macedonian families stand by each
+other.  He is a member of the council.  The bands of the Ephebi will
+support him to a man.  And the populace?--He lately spoiled the game of
+your brother, who was acting for me, in a way.  He was finally dragged
+out of the basin of the fountain, dripping with water and overwhelmed
+with shame."
+
+"For that very reason his mouth must be closed."
+
+Iras nodded assent, but after a short pause she exclaimed angrily:
+"I will help you to silence him, but not forever.  Do you hear?
+Theodotus's saying about the dead dogs which do not bite brought no
+blessing to any one who followed it.  There are other ways of getting rid
+of this man."
+
+"A bird sang that you were not unfriendly to him."
+
+"A bird?  Then it was probably an owl, which cannot see in the daylight.
+His worst enemy, your brother, would probably sacrifice himself for his
+welfare sooner than I."
+
+"Then I shall begin to feel sympathy for this Dion."
+
+"I saw recently that your  compassion  surpassed mine.  Death is not the
+hardest punishment."
+
+"Is that the cause of this gracious respite?"
+
+"Perhaps so.  But there are other matters to be considered here.  First,
+the condition of the times.  Everything is tottering, even the royal
+power, which a short time ago was a wall which concealed many things and
+afforded shelter from every assault.  Then Dion himself.  I have already
+numbered those who will support him.  Since the defeat at Actium, the
+Queen can no longer exclaim to that many-headed monster, the people,
+'You must,' but 'I entreat.'  The others--"
+
+"The first considerations are enough; but may I be permitted to know what
+my wise friend has awarded to the hapless wight from whom she withdrew
+her favour?"
+
+"First, imprisonment here at Lochias.  He has stained his hands with the
+blood of Caesarion, the King of kings.  That is high treason, even in the
+eyes of the people.  Try to obtain the order for the arrest this very
+day."
+
+"Whenever I can disturb the Queen with such matters."
+
+"Not for nay sake, but to save her from injury.  Away with everything
+which can cloud her intellect in these decisive days!  First, away with
+Barine, who spoiled her return home; and then let us take care of the man
+who would be capable, for this woman's sake, of causing an insurrection
+in Alexandria.  The great cares associated with the state and the throne
+are hers; for the minor ones of the toilet and the heart I will provide."
+
+Here she was interrupted by one of Cleopatra's waiting-maids.  The Queen
+had awakened, and Iras hastened to her post.
+
+As she passed Charmian's apartments and saw two handsome soldiers,
+belonging to the Macedonian body-guard, pacing to and fro on duty before
+them, her face darkened.  It was against her alone that Charmian was
+protecting Barine.  She had been harshly reproved by the older woman on
+account of the artist's daughter, who had been the source of so many
+incidents which had caused her pain, and Iras regretted that she had ever
+confided to her aunt her love for Dion.  But, no matter what might
+happen, the upas-tree whence emanated all these tortures, anxieties, and
+vexations, must be rooted out--stricken from the ranks of the living.
+
+Ere she entered the Queen's anteroom she had mentally pronounced sentence
+of death on her enemy.  Her inventive brain was now busy in devising
+means to induce the Syrian to undertake its execution.  If this stone of
+offence was removed it would again be possible to live in harmony with
+Charmian.  Dion would be free, and then, much as he had wounded her, she
+would defend him from the hatred of Philostratus and his brother.
+
+She entered the Queen's presence with a lighter heart.  The death of a
+condemned person had long since ceased to move her deeply.  While
+rendering the first services to her mistress, who had been much refreshed
+by her sleep, her face grew brighter and brighter; for Cleopatra
+voluntarily told her that she was glad to have her attendance, and not
+be constantly annoyed by the same disagreeable matter, which must soon
+be settled.
+
+In fact, Charmian, conscious that no one else at court would have
+ventured to do so, had never grown weary, spite of many a rebuff, of
+pleading Barine's cause until, the day before, Cleopatra, in a sudden
+fit of anger, had commanded her not to mention the mischief-maker again.
+
+When Charmian soon after requested permission to let Iras take her place
+the following day, the Queen already regretted the harsh reproof she had
+given her friend, and, while cordially granting the desired leave, begged
+her to attribute her angry impatience to the cares which burdened her.
+"And when you show me your kind, faithful face again," she concluded,
+"you will have remembered that a true friend withholds from an unhappy
+woman whom she loves whatever will shadow more deeply her already clouded
+life.  This Barine's very name sounds like a jeer at the composure I
+maintain with so much difficulty.  I do not wish to hear it again."
+
+The words were uttered in a tone so affectionate and winning, that
+Charmian's vexation melted like ice in the sun.  Yet she left the Queen's
+presence anxious and troubled; for ere she quitted the room Cleopatra
+remarked that she had committed the singer's affairs to Alexas.  She was
+now doubly eager to obtain a day's freedom, for she knew the unprincipled
+favourite's feelings towards the young beauty, and longed to discuss with
+Archibius the best means of guarding her from the worst perils.
+
+When at a late hour she went to rest, she was served by the Nubian maid,
+who had accompanied her to the court from her parents' home.  She came
+from the Cataract, where she had been bought when the family of Alypius
+accompanied the child Cleopatra to the island of Philae.  Anukis was
+given to Charmian, who at the time was just entering womanhood, as the
+first servant who was her sole property, and she had proved so clever,
+skilful, apt to learn, and faithful, that her mistress took her, as her
+personal attendant, to the palace.
+
+Charmian's warm, unselfish love for the Queen was equalled by Anukis's
+devotion to the mistress who had long since made her free, and had become
+so strongly attached to her that the Nubian's interests were little less
+regarded than her own.  Her sound, keen judgment and natural wit had
+gained a certain renown in the palace, and as Cleopatra often
+condescended to rouse her to an apt answer, Antony had done so, too;
+and since the slight crook in the back, which she had from childhood,
+had grown into a hump, he gave her the name of Aisopion--the female
+AEsop.  All the Queen's attendants now used it, and though others of
+lower rank did the same, she permitted it, though her ready wit would
+have supplied her tongue with a retort sharp enough to respond to any
+word which displeased her.
+
+But she knew the life and fables of AEsop, who had also once been a
+slave, and deemed it an honour to be compared with him.
+
+When Charmian had left Cleopatra and sought her chamber, she found Barine
+sound asleep, but Anukis was awaiting her, and her mistress told her
+with what deep anxiety for Barine she had quitted the presence of the
+Queen.  She knew that the Nubian was fond of the young matron, whom in
+her childhood she had carried in her arms, and whose father, Leonax, had
+often jested with her.  The maid had watched her career with much
+interest, and while Barine had been her mistress's guest her efforts to
+amuse and soothe her were unceasing.
+
+She had gone every morning to Berenike to ask tidings of Dion's health,
+and always brought favourable news.  Anukis knew Philostratus and his
+brother, too, and as she liked Antony, who jested with her so kindly, she
+grieved to see an unprincipled fellow like Alexas his chief confidant.
+She knew the plots with which the Syrian had persecuted Barine, and when
+Charmian told her that the Queen had committed the young beauty's fate to
+this man's keeping her dark face grew fairly livid; but she forced
+herself to conceal the terror which the news inspired.  Her mistress was
+also aware what this choice meant to Barine.  But Anukis would have
+thought it wrong to disturb Charmian's sleep by revealing her own
+distress.  It was fortunate that she was going early the next morning to
+seek the aid of Archibius, whom Anukis believed to be the wisest of men;
+but this by no means soothed her.  She knew the fable of the lion and the
+mouse, which had been told in her home long before the time of the author
+for whom she was nicknamed, and already more than once she had been in a
+position to render far greater and more powerful persons an important
+service.  To soothe Charmian to sleep and turn her thoughts in another
+direction, she told her about Dion, whom she had found much better that
+day, how tenderly he seemed to love Barine, and how touchingly patient
+and worthy of her father the daughter of Leonax had been.
+
+After her mistress had fallen asleep she went to the hall where, spite of
+the late hour, she expected to meet some of the servants--sure of being
+greeted as a welcome guest.  When, a short time later, Alexas's body-
+slave appeared, she filled his wire cup, sat down by his side, and tried
+with all the powers at her command to win his confidence.  And so well
+did the elderly Nubian succeed that Marsyas, a handsome young Ligurian,
+after she had gone, declared that Aisopion's jokes and stories were
+enough to bring the dead to life, and it was as pleasant to talk
+seriously with the brown-skinned monster as to dally with a fair-haired
+sweetheart.
+
+After Charmian had left the palace the following morning, Anukis again
+sought Marsyas and learned from him for what purpose and at what hour
+Iras had summoned Alexas.  His master was continually whispering with the
+languishing Macedonian.
+
+When Anukis returned, Barine seemed troubled because she brought no
+tidings from her mother and Dion; but the Nubian entreated her to have
+patience, and gave her some books and a spindle, that she might have
+occupation in her solitude.  She, Anukis, must go to the kitchen, because
+she had heard yesterday that the cook had bought some mushrooms, which
+might be poisonous; she knew the fungi and wanted to see them.
+
+Then, passing into Charmian's chamber, she glided through the corridor
+which connected the apartments of Cleopatra's confidential attendants,
+and slipped into Iras's room.  When Alexas entered she was concealed
+behind one of the hangings which covered the walls of the reception-room.
+
+After the Syrian had retired and Iras had been called away, Anukis
+returned to Barine and said that the mushrooms had really been poisonous,
+and of the deadliest species.  They had been cooked, and she must go out
+to seek an antidote.  Since a precious human life might be at stake,
+Barine would not wish to keep her.
+
+"Go," said the latter, kindly.  "But if you are the old obliging
+Aisopion, you won't object to going a little farther."
+
+"And inquiring at the house near the Paneum garden," added Anukis.
+"That was already settled.  Longing is also a poison for a loving heart,
+and its antidote is good news."
+
+With these laughing words she left her favourite; but as soon as she was
+out of doors her black brow became lined with earnest thought, and she
+stood pondering a long time.  At last she went to the Bruchium to hire a
+donkey to ride to Kanopus, where she hoped to find Archibius.  It was
+difficult to reach the nearest stand; for a great crowd had assembled on
+the quay between the Lochias and the Corner of the Muses, and groups of
+the common people, sailors, and slaves were constantly flocking hither.
+But she at last forced her way to the spot and, while the driver was
+helping her to mount the animal she had chosen, she asked what had
+attracted the throng, and he answered:
+
+"They are tearing down the house of the old Museum fungus, Didymus."
+
+"How can that be?" cried the startled woman.  "The good old man!"
+
+"Good?"  repeated the driver, scornfully.  "He's a traitor, who has
+caused all the trouble.  Philostratus, the brother of the great Alexas,
+a friend of Mark Antony, told us so.  He wanted to prove it, so it must
+be true.  Hear the shouts, and how the stones are flying!  Yes, yes.  His
+granddaughter and her lover set an ambush for the King Caesarion.  They
+would have killed him, but the watch interfered, and now he lies wounded
+on his couch.  If mighty Isis does not lend her aid, the young prince's
+life will soon be over."
+
+Then, turning to the donkey, he dealt him two severe blows on the right
+and left haunches, shouting: "Hi, Grey!  It does one good to hear that
+royal backs have room for the cudgel too."
+
+Meanwhile, the Nubian was hesitating whether she should not first turn
+the donkey to the right and seek Didymus; but Barine was threatened by
+greater peril, and her life was of more value than the welfare of the
+aged pair.  This decided the question, and she rode forward.
+
+The donkey and his driver did their best, but they came too late;
+for in the little palace at Kanopus, Anukis learned from the porter
+that Archibius had gone to the city with his old friend Timagenes,
+the historian, who lived in Rome, and seemed to have come to Alexandria
+as an envoy.
+
+Charmian, too, had been here, but also failed to find the master of the
+house, and followed him.  Evil tidings-which, owing to the loss of time
+involved, might prove fatal.  If the donkey had only been swifter!  True,
+Archibius's stable was full of fine animals, but who was she that she
+should presume to use them?  Yet she had gained something which rendered
+her the equal of many who were born free and occupied a higher station--
+the reputation for trustworthiness and wisdom; and relying upon this, she
+told the faithful old steward, as far as possible, what was at stake, and
+soon after he himself took her, both mounted on swift mules, to the city
+and the Paneum garden.
+
+He chose the nearest road thither through the Gate of the Sun and the
+Kanopic Way.  Usually at this hour it was crowded with people, but to-day
+few persons were astir.  All the idlers had thronged to the Bruchium and
+the harbour to see the returning ships of the vanquished fleet, hear
+something new, witness the demonstrations of joy, the sacrifices and
+processions, and--if Fortune favoured--meet the Queen and relieve their
+overflowing hearts by acclamations.
+
+When the carriage turned towards the left and approached the Paneum,
+progress for the first time became difficult.  A dense crowd had gathered
+around the hill on whose summit the sanctuary of Pan dominated the
+spacious garden.  Anukis's eye perceived the tall figure of Philostratus.
+Was the mischief-maker everywhere?  This time he seemed to encounter
+opposition, for loud shouts interrupted his words.  Just as the carriage
+passed he pointed to the row of houses in which the widow of Leonax
+lived, but violent resistance followed the gesture.
+
+Anukis perceived what restrained the crowd; for, as the equipage
+approached its destination, a body of armed youths stopped it.  Their
+finely-formed limbs, steeled by the training of the Palaestra, and the
+raven, chestnut, and golden locks floating around their well-shaped
+heads, were indeed beautiful.  They were a band of the Ephebi, formerly
+commanded by Archibius, and to whose leadership more recently Dion had
+been elected.  The youths had heard what had occurred--that imprisonment,
+perhaps even worse disaster, threatened him.  At any other time it would
+scarcely have been possible to oppose the decree of the Government and
+guard their imperilled friend, but in these dark days the rulers must
+deal with them.  Though they were loyal to the Queen, and had resolved,
+spite of her defeat, to support her cause, as soon as she needed them,
+they would not suffer Dion to be punished for a crime which, in their
+eyes, was an honour.  Their determination to protect him grew more eager
+with every vexatious delay on the part of the city council to deal with a
+matter which concerned one of their own body.  They had not yet decided
+whether to demand a full pardon or only a mild sentence for the man who
+had wounded the "King of kings," the son of the sovereign.  Moreover, the
+quiet Caesarion, still subject to his tutor, had not understood how to
+win the favour of the Ephebi.  The weakling never appeared in the
+Palaestra, which even the great Mark Antony did not disdain to visit.
+The latter had more than once given the youths assembled there proofs of
+his giant strength, and his son Antyllus also frequently shared their
+exercises.  Dion had merely dealt Caesarion with his clenched fist one of
+the blows which every one must encounter in the arena.
+
+Philotas of Amphissa, the pupil of Didymus, had been the first to inform
+them of the attack and, with fiery zeal, had used his utmost power to
+atone for the wrong done to his master's granddaughter.  His appeal had
+roused the most eager sympathy.  The Ephebi believed themselves strong
+enough to defend their friend against any one and, if the worst should
+come, they knew they would be sustained by the council, the Exegetus, the
+captain of the guard--a brave Macedonian, who had once been an ornament
+of their own band--and the numerous clients of Dion and his family.
+There was not a single weakling among them.  They had already found an
+opportunity to prove this; for, though they had arrived too late to
+protect Didymus's property from injury, they had checked the fury of the
+mob whose passions Philostratus had aroused, and forced back the crowd
+whom the Syrian led to Barine's dwelling to devote it to the same fate.
+
+Another equipage was already standing before the door of Berenike's
+house--one of the carriages which were always at the disposal of the
+Queen's officials--when Anukis left Archibius's vehicle.  Had some of
+Alexas's myrmidons arrived, or was he himself on the way to examine Dion,
+or even arrest him?  The driver, like all the palace servants, knew
+Anukis, and she learned from him that he had brought Gorgias, the
+architect.
+
+Anukis had never met the latter, though, during the rebuilding of
+Caesarion's apartments, she had often seen him, and heard much of him;
+among other things, that Dion's beautiful palace was his work.  He was
+a friend of the wounded man, so she need not fear him.
+
+When she entered the atrium she heard that Berenike had gone out to drive
+with Archibius and his Roman friend.  The leech had forbidden his patient
+to see many visitors.  No one had been admitted except Gorgias and one of
+Dion's freedmen.
+
+But time pressed; people of the same rank and disposition understand
+one another; the old porter and the Nubian were both loyal to their
+employers, and, moreover, were natives of the same country; so it
+required only a few words to persuade the door-keeper to conduct her
+without delay to the bedside of the wounded man.
+
+The freedman, a tall, weather-beaten greybeard, simply clad, who looked
+like a pilot, was waiting outside the sick-room.  He had not yet been
+admitted to Dion's presence, but this did not appear to vex him, for he
+stood leaning quietly against the wall beside the door, gazing at the
+broad-brimmed sailor's hat which he was slowly turning in his hands.
+
+Scarcely had Dion heard Anukis's name, when an eager "Let her come in"
+reached her ears through the half-open door.
+
+The Nubian waited to be summoned, but her dark face must have showed
+distinctly that something important and urgent had brought her here, for
+the wounded man added to his first words of greeting the expression of a
+fear that she had no good news.
+
+Her reply was an eager nod of assent, accompanied by a doubtful glance at
+Gorgias; and Dion now curtly told the architect the name of the newcomer,
+and assured her that his friend might hear everything, even the greatest
+secret.
+
+Anukis uttered a sigh of relief and then, in a tone of the most earnest
+warning, poured forth the story of the impending danger.  She would not
+be satisfied when he spoke of the Ephebi, who were ready to defend him,
+and the council, which would make the cause of one of its members its
+own, but entreated him to seek some safe place of refuge, no matter
+where; for powers against whom no resistance would avail were stretching
+their hands towards him.  Even this statement, however, proved useless,
+for Dion was convinced that the influence of his uncle, the Keeper of the
+Seal, would guard him from any serious danger.  Then Anukis resolved to
+confess what she had overheard; but she told the story without mentioning
+Barine, and the peril threatening her also.  Finally, with all the warmth
+of a really anxious heart, she entreated him to heed her warning.
+
+Even while she was still speaking, the friends exchanged significant
+glances; but scarcely had the last words fallen from her lips when the
+giant figure of the freedman passed through the door, which had remained
+open.
+
+"You here, Pyrrhus?" cried the wounded man kindly.
+
+"Yes, master, it is I," replied the stalwart fellow, twirling his sailor
+hat still faster.  "Listening isn't exactly my trade, and I don't usually
+enter your  presence uninvited;  but I couldn't help hearing what came
+through the door, and the croaking of the old raven drew me in."
+
+"I wish you had heard more cheerful things," replied Dion; "but the
+brown-skinned bird of ill omen usually sings pleasant songs, and they all
+come from a faithful heart.  But when my silent Pyrrhus opens his mouth
+so far, something important must surely follow, and you can speak freely
+in her presence."
+
+The sailor cleared his throat, gripped his coarse felt hat in his sinewy
+hands, and said, in such a tremulous, embarrassed tone that his heavy
+chin quivered and his voice sometimes faltered: "If the woman is to be
+trusted, you must leave here, master, and seek some safe hiding-place.
+I came to offer one.  On my way I heard your name.  It was said that you
+had wounded the Queen's son, and it might cost you your life.  Then I
+thought: 'No, no, not that, so long as Pyrrhus lives, who taught his
+young master Dion to use the oars and to set his first sail--Pyrrhus and
+his family.'  Why repeat what we both know well enough?  From my first
+boat and the land on our island to the liberty you bestowed upon us, we
+owe everything to your father and to you, and a blessing has rested upon
+your gift and our labour, and what is mine is yours.  No more words are
+needed.  You know our cliff beyond the Alveus Steganus, north of the
+great harbour--the Isle of Serpents.  It is quickly gained by any one who
+knows the course through the water, but is as inaccessible to others as
+the moon and stars.  People are afraid of the mere name, though we rid
+the island of the vermin long ago.  My boys Dionysus, Dionichus, and
+Dionikus--they all have 'Dion' in their name--are waiting in the fish
+market, and when it grows dusk--"  Here the wounded man interrupted the
+speaker by holding out his hand and thanking him warmly for his fidelity
+and kindness, though he refused the well-meant invitation.  He admitted
+that he knew no safer hiding-place than the cliff surrounded by
+fluttering sea-gulls, where Pyrrhus lived with his family and earned
+abundant support by fishing and serving as pilot.  But anxiety concerning
+his future wife prevented his leaving the city.
+
+The freedman however gave him no rest.  He represented how quickly the
+harbour could be reached from his island, that fish were brought thence
+from it daily, and he would therefore always have news of what was
+passing.  His sons were like him, and never used any unnecessary words;
+talking did not suit them.  The women of the household rarely left the
+island.  So long as it sheltered their beloved guest, they should not set
+foot away from it.  If occasion should require, the master could be in
+Alexandria again quickly enough to put anything right.
+
+This suggestion pleased the architect, who joined in the conversation to
+urge the freedman's request.  But Dion, for Barine's sake, obstinately
+refused, until Anukis, who had long been anxious to go in pursuit of
+Archibius, thought it time to give her opinion.
+
+"Go with the man, my lord!" she cried.  "I know what I know.  I will tell
+our Barine of your faithful resolution; but how can she show her
+gratitude for it if you are a dead man?"
+
+This question and the information which followed it turned the scale;
+and, as soon as Dion had consented to accompany the freedman, the Nubian
+prepared to continue her errands, but the wounded man detained her to
+give many messages for Barine, and then she was stopped by the architect,
+who thought he had found in her the right assistant for numerous plans he
+had in his mind.
+
+He had returned early that morning from Heroonpolis, where, with other
+members of his profession, he had inspected the newly constructed
+waterway.  The result of the first investigation had been unfavourable to
+the verge of discouragement; and, in behalf of the others, he had gone to
+the Queen to persuade her to give up the enterprise which, though so full
+of promise, was impracticable in the short time at their disposal.
+
+He had travelled all night, and was received as soon as Cleopatra rose
+from her couch.  He had driven from the Lochias in the carriage placed at
+his disposal because he had business at the arsenal and various points
+where building was going on, in order to inspect the wall erected for
+Antony on the Choma, and the Temple of Isis at the Corner of the Muses,
+to which Cleopatra desired to add a new building.  But scarcely had he
+quitted the Bruchium when he was detained by the crowd assailing the
+house of Didymus with beams and rams, and at the same time keeping off
+the Ephebi who had attacked them.
+
+He had forced his way through the raging mob to aid the old couple and
+their granddaughter.  The slave Phryx had been busily preparing the boats
+which lay moored in the harbour of the seawashed estate, but Gorgias had
+found it difficult to persuade the grey-haired philosopher to go with him
+and his family to the shore.  He was ready to face the enraged rioters
+and--though it should cost his life--cry out that they were shamefully
+deceived and were staining themselves with a disgraceful crime.  Not
+until the architect represented that it was unworthy of a Didymus to
+expose to bestial violence a life on which helpless women and the whole
+world--to whom his writings were guide-posts to the realms of truth--
+possessed a claim, could he be induced to yield.  Nevertheless, the sage
+and his relatives almost fell into the hands of the furious rabble, for
+Didymus would not depart until he had saved this, that, and the other
+precious book, till the number reached twenty or thirty.  Besides, his
+old deaf wife, who usually submitted quietly when her defective hearing
+prevented her comprehension of many things, insisted upon knowing what
+was occurring.  She ordered everybody who came near her to explain what
+had happened, thus detaining her granddaughter Helena, who was trying to
+save the most valuable articles in the dwelling.  So the departure was
+delayed, and only the brave defence of young Philotas, Didymus's
+assistant, and some of the Ephebi, who joined him, enabled them to escape
+unharmed.
+
+The Scythian guards, which at last put a stop to the frantic rage of the
+deluded populace, arrived too late to prevent the destruction of the
+house, but they saved Philotas and the other youths from the fists and
+stones of the rabble.  When the boats had gone farther out into the
+harbour the question of finding a home for the philosopher and his family
+was discussed.  Berenike's house was also threatened, and the rules of
+the museum prevented the reception of women.  Five servants had
+accompanied the family, and none of Didymus's learned friends had room
+for so many guests.  When the old man and Helena began to enumerate the
+lodgings of which they could think, Gorgias interposed with an entreaty
+that they would come to his house.
+
+He had inherited the dwelling from his father.  It was very large and
+spacious, almost empty, and they could reach it speedily, as it stood on
+the seashore, north of the Forum.  The fugitives would be entirely at
+liberty there, since he had work on hand which would permit him to spend
+no time under his own roof except at night.  He soon overcame the trivial
+objections made by the philosopher and, fifteen minutes after they had
+left the Corner of the Muses, he was permitted to open the door of his
+house to his guests, and he did so with genuine pleasure.  The old
+housekeeper and the grey-haired steward, who had been in his father's
+service, looked surprised, but worked zealously after Gorgias had
+confided the visitors to their charge.  The pressure of business forbade
+his fulfilling the duties of host in his own person.
+
+Didymus and his family had reason to be grateful; and when the old sage
+found in the large library which the architect placed at his disposal
+many excellent books and among them some of his own, he ceased his
+restless pacing to and fro and forced himself to settle down.  Then he
+remembered that, by the advice of a friend, he had placed his property in
+the keeping of a reliable banker and, though life still seemed dark grey,
+it no longer looked as black as before.
+
+Gorgias briefly related all this to the Nubian, and Dion added that she
+would find Archibius with his Roman friend at the house of Berenike's
+brother, the philosopher Arius.  Like himself, the latter was suffering
+from an injury inflicted by a reckless trick of Antyllus.  Barine's
+mother was there also, so Anukis could inform them of the fate of Didymus
+and his brother, and tell them that he, Dion, intended to leave her house
+and the city an hour after sunset.
+
+"But," interrupted Gorgias, "no one, not even your hostess Berenike and
+her brother, must know your destination.--You look as if you could keep a
+secret, woman."
+
+"Though she owes her nickname Aisopion to her nimble tongue," replied
+Dion.
+
+"But this tongue is like the little silver fish with scarlet spots in the
+palace garden," said Anukis.  "They dart to and fro nimbly enough; but as
+soon as danger threatens they keep as quiet in the water as though they
+were nailed fast.  And--by mighty Isis!--we have no lack of peril in
+these trying times.  Would you like to see the lady Berenike and the
+others before your departure?"
+
+"Berenike, yes; but the sons of Arius--they are fine fellows--would be
+wise to keep aloof from this house to-day."
+
+"Yes indeed!" the architect chimed in.  "It will be prudent for their
+father, too, to seek some hiding-place.  He is too closely connected with
+Octavianus.  It may indeed happen that the Queen will desire to make use
+of him.  In that case he may be able to aid Barine, who is his sister's
+child.  Timagenes, too, who comes from Rome as a mediator, may have some
+influence."
+
+"The same thoughts entered my poor brain also," said Anukis.  "I am now
+going to show the gentlemen the danger which threatens her, and if I
+succeed--Yet what could a serving-woman of my appearance accomplish?
+Still--my house is nearer to the brink of the stream than the dwelling of
+most others, and if I fling in a loaf, perhaps the current will bear it
+to the majestic sea."
+
+"Wise Aisopion!" cried Dion; but the worthy maid-servant shrugged her
+crooked shoulders, saying: "We needn't be free-born to find pleasure in
+what is right; and if being wise means using one's brains to think, with
+the intention of promoting right and justice, you can always call me so.
+Then you will start after sundown?"
+
+With these words she was about to leave the room, but the architect, who
+had watched her every movement, had formed a plan and begged her to
+follow him.
+
+When they reached the next room he asked for a faithful account of Barine
+and the dangers threatening her.  After consulting her as if she were an
+equal, he held out his hand in farewell, saying: "If it is possible to
+bring her to the Temple of Isis unseen, these clouds may scatter.  I
+shall be in the sanctuary of the goddess from the first hour after
+sunset.  I have some measurements to take there.  When you say you know
+that the immortals will have pity on the innocent woman whom they have
+led to the verge of the abyss, perhaps you may be right.  It seems as if
+matters here were combining in a way which would be apt to rob the story-
+teller of his listener's faith."
+
+After Aisopion had gone, Gorgias returned to Dion's room and asked the
+freedman to be ready with his boat at a place on the shore which he
+carefully described.
+
+The friends were again alone.  Gorgias had his hands full of work, but he
+could not help expressing his surprise at the calm bearing which Dion
+maintained.  "You behave as if you were going to an oyster supper at
+Kanopus," he said, shaking his head as though perplexed by some
+incomprehensible problem.
+
+"What else would you have me do?"  asked the Macedonian.  "The vivid
+imagination of you artists shows you the future according to your own
+varying moods.  If you hope, you transform a pleasant garden into the
+Elysian fields; if you fear anything you behold in a burning roof the
+conflagration of a world.  We, from whose cradle the Muse was absent, who
+use only sober reason to provide for the welfare of the household and the
+state, as well as for our own, see facts as they are and treat them like
+figures in a sum.  I know that Barine is in danger.  That might drive me
+frantic; but beyond her I see Archibius and Charmian spreading their
+protecting wings over her head; I perceive the fear of my faction,
+including the museum, of the council of which I am a member, of my
+clients and the conditions of the times, which precludes arousing the
+wrath of the citizens.  The product which results from the correct
+addition of all these known quantities--"
+
+"Will be correct," interrupted his friend, "so long as the most
+incalculable of all factors, passion, does not blend with them--the
+passion of a woman--and the Queen belongs to the sex which is certainly
+more powerful in that domain."
+
+"Granted!  But as soon as Mark Antony returns it will be proved that her
+jealousy was needless."
+
+"We will hope so.  It is only the misled, deceived, abused Cleopatra whom
+I fear; for she herself is matchless in divine goodness.  The charm by
+which she ensnares hearts is indescribable, and the iron power of her
+intellect!  I tell you, Dion--"
+
+"Friend, friend," was the laughing interruption.  "How high your wishes
+soar!  For three years I have kept an account of the conflagrations in
+your heart.  I believe we had reached seventeen; but this last one is
+equal to two."
+
+"Folly!" cried Gorgias in an irritated tone: "May not a man admire what
+is magnificent, wonderful, unique?  She is all these things!  Just now--
+how long ago is it?--she appeared before me in a radiance of beauty--"
+
+"Which should have made you shade both eyes.  Yet you have been speaking
+so warmly of your young guest, her loving caution, her gentle calmness in
+the midst of peril--"
+
+"Do you suppose I wish to recall a single syllable?" the architect
+indignantly broke in.  "Helena has no peer among the maidens of
+Alexandria--but the other--Cleopatra--is elevated in her divine majesty
+above all ordinary mortals.  You might spare me and yourself that
+scornful curl of the lip.  Had she gazed into your face with those
+tearful, sorrowful eyes, as she did into mine, and spoken of her misery,
+you would have gone through fire and water, hand in hand with me, for her
+sake.  I am not a man who is easily moved, and since my father's death
+the only tears I have seen have been shed by others; but when she talked
+of the mausoleum I was to build for her because Fate, she knew not how
+soon, might force her to seek refuge in the arms of death, my calmness
+vanished.  Then, when she cumbered me among the friends on whom she could
+rely and held out her hand--a matchless hand--oh! laugh if you choose--
+I felt I know not how, and kneeling at her feet I kissed it; it was wet
+with my tears.  I am not ashamed of this emotion, and my lips seem
+consecrated since they touched the little white hand which spoke a
+language of its own and stands before my eyes wherever I gaze."
+
+Pushing back his thick locks from his brow as he spoke, he shook his head
+as though dissatisfied with himself and, in an altered tone, hurriedly
+continued: "But this is a time ill-suited for such ebullitions of
+feeling.  I mentioned the mausoleum, whose erection the Queen desires.
+She will see the first hasty sketch to-morrow.  It is already before my
+mind's eye.  She wished to have it adjoin the Temple of Isis, her
+goddess--I proposed the great sanctuary in the Rhakotis quarter, but she
+objected--she wished to have it close to the palace at Lochias.  She had
+thought of the temple at the Corner of the Muses, but the house occupied
+by Didymus stood in the way of a larger structure.  If this were removed
+it would be possible to carry the street through the old man's garden,
+perhaps even to the sea-shore, and we should have had space for a
+gigantic edifice and still left room for a fine garden.  But we had
+learned how the philosopher loved his family estate.  The Queen is
+unwilling to use violence towards the old man.  She is just, and perhaps
+other reasons, of which I am ignorant, influence her.  So I promised to
+look for another site, though I saw how much she desired to have her tomb
+connected with the sanctuary of her favourite goddess  Then--I have
+already told the clever brown witch--then the immortals, Divinity, Fate,
+or whatever we call the power which guides the world and our lives
+according to eternal laws and its own mysterious, omnipotent will,
+permitted a rascally deed, from which I think may come deliverance for
+you and a source of pleasure to the Queen in these days of trial."
+
+"Man, man!  Where will this new passion lead you?  The horses are
+stamping impatiently outside; duty summons the most faithful of men,
+and he stands like a prophet, indulging in mysterious sayings!"
+
+"Whose meaning and purport, spite of your calm calculations of existing
+circumstances, will soon seem no less wonderful to you than to me, whose
+unruly artist nature, according to your opinion, is playing me a trick,"
+retorted the architect.  "Now listen to this explanation: Didymus's house
+will be occupied at once by my workmen, but I shall examine the lower
+rooms of the Temple of Isis.  I have with me a document requiring
+obedience to my orders.  Cleopatra herself laid the plans before me,
+even the secret portion showing the course of the subterranean chambers.
+It will cast some light upon my mysterious sayings if I bear you away
+from the enemy through one of the secret corridors.  They were right in
+concealing from you by how slender a thread, spite of the power of your
+example in mathematics, the sword hangs above your head.  Now that I see
+a possibility of removing it, I can show it to you.  Tomorrow you would
+have fallen, without hope of rescue, into the hands of cruel foes and
+been shamefully abandoned by your own weak uncle, had not the most
+implacable of all your enemies permitted himself the infamous pleasure of
+laying hands on an old man's house, and the Queen, in consequence of an
+agitating message, had the idea suggested of building her own mausoleum.
+The corridor"--here he lowered his voice--"of which I spoke leads to the
+sea at a spot close beside Didymus's garden, and through it I will guide
+you, and, if possible, Barine also, to the shore.  This could be
+accomplished in the usual way only by the greatest risk.  If we use the
+passage we can reach a dark place on the strand unseen, and unless some
+special misfortune pursues us our flight will be unnoticed.  The litters
+and your tottering gait would betray everything if we were to enter the
+boat anywhere else in the great harbour."
+
+"And we, sensible folk, refuse to believe in miracles!" cried Dion,
+holding out his wan hand to the architect.  "How shall I thank you, you
+dear, clever, most loyal of friends to your male friends, though your
+heart is so faithless to fair ones?  Add that malicious speech to the
+former ones, for which I now crave your pardon.  What you intend to
+accomplish for Barine and me gives you a right to do and say to me
+whatever ill you choose all the rest of my life.  Anxiety for her would
+surely have bound me to this house and the city when the time came to
+make the escape, for without her my life would now be valueless.  But
+when I think that she might follow me to Pyrrhus's cliff--"
+
+"Don't flatter yourself with this hope," pleaded Gorgias.  "Serious
+obstacles may interpose.  I am to have another talk with the Nubian
+later.  With no offence to others, I believe her advice will be the best.
+She knows how matters stand with the lofty, and yet herself belongs to
+the lowly.  Besides, through Charmian the way to the Queen lies open, and
+nothing which happens at court escapes her notice.  She showed me that we
+must consider Barine's delivery to Alexas a piece of good fortune.  How
+easily jealousy might have led to a fatal crime one whose wish promptly
+becomes action, unless she curbs the undue zeal of her living tools!
+Those on whom Fate inflicts so many blows rarely are in haste to spare
+others.  Would the anxieties which weigh upon her like mountains
+interpose between the Queen and the jealous rancour which is too petty
+for her great soul?"
+
+"What is great or petty to the heart of a loving woman?"  asked Dion.
+"In any case you will do what you can to remove Barine from the power of
+the enraged princess--I know."
+
+Gorgias pressed his friend's hand closely, then, yielding to a sudden
+impulse, kissed him on the forehead and hurried to the door.
+
+On the threshold a faint moan from the wounded man stopped him.  Would he
+be strong enough to follow the long passage leading to the sea?
+
+Dion protested that he confidently expected to do so, but his deeply
+flushed face betrayed that the fever which had once been conquered had
+returned.
+
+Gorgias's eyes sought the floor in deep thought.  Many sick persons were
+borne to the temple in the hope of cure; so Dion's appearance would cause
+no special surprise.  On the other hand, to have strangers carry him
+through the passage seemed perilous.  He himself was strong, but even the
+strongest person would have found it impossible to support the heavy
+burden of a grown man to the sea, for the gallery was low and of
+considerable length.  Still, if necessary, he would try.  With the
+comforting exclamation, "If your strength does not suffice, another way
+will be found," he took his leave, gave Barine's maid and the wounded
+man's body-slave the necessary directions, commanded the door-keeper to
+admit no one save the physician, and stepped into the open air.
+
+A little band of Ephebi were pacing to and fro before the house.  Others
+had flung themselves down in an open space surrounded by shrubbery in the
+Paneum garden, and were drinking the choice wine which Dion's cellarer,
+by his orders, had brought and was pouring out for the crowd.
+
+It was an animated scene, for the clients of the sufferer, who, after
+expressing their sympathy, had been dismissed by the porter, and
+bedizened girls had joined the youths.  There was no lack of jests and
+laughter, and when some pretty young mother or female slave passed by
+leading children, with whom the garden was a favourite playground, many a
+merry word was exchanged.
+
+Gorgias waved his hands gaily to the youths, pleased with the
+cheerfulness with which the brave fellows transformed duty into a
+festival, and many raised their wine-cups, shouting a joyous "Io" and
+"Evoe," to drink the health of the famous artist who not long ago had
+been one of themselves.
+
+The others were led by a slender youth, the student Philotas, from
+Amphissa, Didymus's assistant, whom the architect, a few days before,
+had helped to liberate from the demons of wine.  Even while Gorgias was
+beckoning to him from the two-wheeled chariot, the thought entered his
+mind that yonder handsome youth, who had so deeply wronged Barine and
+Dion, would be the very person to help carry his friend through the low-
+roofed passage to the sea.  If Philotas was the person Gorgias believed
+him to be, he would deem it a special favour to make amends for his crime
+to those whom he had injured, and he was not mistaken; for, after the
+youth had taken a solemn oath not to betray the secret to any one, the
+architect asked him to aid in Dion's rescue.  Philotas, overflowing with
+joyful gratitude, protested his willingness to do so, and promised to
+wait at the appointed spot in the Temple of Isis at the time mentioned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+While Gorgias was examining the subterranean chambers in the Temple of
+Isis, Charmian returned to Lochias earlier than she herself had expected.
+She had met her brother, whom she did not find at Kanopus, at Berenike's,
+and after greeting Dion on his couch of pain, she told Archibius of her
+anxiety.  She confided to him alone that the Queen had committed Barine's
+fate to Alexas, for the news might easily have led the mother of the
+endangered woman to some desperate venture; but even Archibius's
+composure, so difficult to disturb, was not proof against it.  He would
+have sought the Queen's presence at once--if necessary, forced his way
+to it; but the historian Timagenes, who had just come from Rome, was
+expecting him, and he had not returned to his birthplace as a private
+citizen, but commissioned by Octavianus to act as mediator in putting an
+end to the struggle which had really been decided in his favour at the
+battle of Actium.  The choice of this mediator was a happy one; for he
+had taught Cleopatra in her childhood, and was the self-same quick-witted
+man who had so often roused her to argument.  His share in a popular
+insurrection against the Roman rule had led to his being carried as a
+slave to the Tiber.  There he soon purchased his freedom, and attained
+such distinction that Octavianus entrusted this important mission to the
+man who was so well known in Alexandria.  Archibius was to meet him at
+the house of Arius, who was still suffering from the wounds inflicted by
+the chariot-wheels of Antyllus, and Berenike had accompanied Timagenes to
+her brother.
+
+Charmian did not venture to go there; a visit to Octavianus's former
+teacher would have been misinterpreted, and it was repugnant to her own
+delicacy of feeling to hold intercourse at this time with the foe and
+conqueror of her royal mistress.  She therefore let her brother drive
+with Berenike to the injured man's; but before his departure Archibius
+had promised, if the worst came, to dare everything to open the eyes of
+the Queen, who had forbidden her, Charmian, to speak in behalf of Barine
+and thwart the plans of Alexas.
+
+From the Paneum garden she was carried to the Kanopic Way and the Jewish
+quarter, where she had many important purchases to make for Cleopatra.
+It was long after noon when the litter was again borne to Lochias.
+
+On the way she had severely felt her own powerlessness.  Without having
+accomplished anything herself, she was forced to wait for the success of
+others; and she had scarcely crossed the threshold of the palace ere
+fresh cares were added to those which already burdened her soul.
+
+She understood how to read the faces of courtiers, and the door-keeper's
+had taught her that since her departure something momentous had occurred.
+She disliked to question the slaves and lower officials, so she
+refrained, though the interior of the palace was crowded with guards,
+officials of every grade, attendants, and slaves.  Many who saw her gazed
+at her with the timidity inspired by those over whom some disaster is
+im pending.  Others, whose relations were more intimate, pressed forward
+to enjoy the mournful satisfaction of being the first messengers of evil
+tidings.  But she passed swiftly on, keeping them back with grave words
+and gestures, until, before the door of the great anteroom thronged with
+Greek and Egyptian petitioners, she met Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal.
+Charmian stopped him and inquired what had happened.
+
+"Since when?" asked the old courtier.  "Every moment has brought some
+fresh tidings and all are mournful.  What terrible times, Charmian, what
+disasters!"
+
+"No messenger had arrived when I left the Lochias," replied Charmian.
+"Now it seems as though the old monster of a palace, accustomed to so
+many horrors, is holding its breath in dread.  Tell me the main thing,
+at least, before I meet the Queen."
+
+ The main thing?  Pestilence  or  famine--which shall we call the worse?"
+
+"Quick, Zeno!  I am expected."
+
+"I, too, am in haste, and really there is nothing to relate over which
+the tongue would care to dwell.  Candidus arrived first.  Came himself
+straight from Actium.  The fellow is bold enough."
+
+"Is the army defeated also?"
+
+"Defeated, dispersed, deserted to the foe--King Herod with his legions in
+the van."
+
+Charmian covered her face with her hands and groaned aloud, but Zeno
+continued:
+
+"You were with her in the flight.  When Mark Antony left you, he sailed
+with the ships which joined him for Paraetonium.  A large body of troops
+on which the Queen and Mardion had fixed their hopes was encamped there.
+Reinforcements could easily be gained and we should once more have a fine
+army at our disposal."
+
+"Pinarius Scarpus, a cautious soldier, was in command; and I, too,
+believed--"
+
+"The more you trusted him, the greater would be your error.  The
+shameless rascal--he owes everything to Antony--had received tidings of
+Actium ere the ships arrived, and had already made overtures to
+Octavianus when the Imperator came.  The veterans who opposed the
+treachery were hewn down by the wretch's orders, but the brave garrison
+of the city could not be won over to the monstrous crime.  It is due to
+these men that Mark Antony still lives and did not come to a miserable
+end at the hands of his own troops.  The twice-defeated general--
+a courier brought the news--will arrive to-night.  Strangely enough, he
+will not come to Lochias, but to the little palace on the Choma."
+
+"Poor, poor Queen!" cried Charmian; "how did she bear all this?"
+
+"In the presence of the defeated Candidus and Antony's messenger like a
+heroine.  But afterwards----Her raving did not last long; but the mute,
+despairing silence!  Ere she had fully recovered her self-command she
+sent us all away, and I have not seen her since.  But all the thoughts
+and feelings which dwell here"--he pointed to his brow and breast--"have
+left their abode and linger with her.  I totter from place to place like
+a soulless body.  O Charmian! what has befallen us?  Where are the days
+when care and trouble lay buried with the other dead--the days and nights
+when my brain united with that of the Queen to transform this desolate
+earth into the beautiful Elysian Fields, every-day life to a festival,
+festivals to the very air of Olympus?  What unprecedented scenes of
+splendour had I not devised for the celebration of the victory, the
+triumph--nay, even the entry into Rome!  Whole chests are filled with the
+sketches, programmes, drawings, and verses.  All who handle brush and
+chisel, compose and execute music, would have lent their aid, and--you
+may believe me-the result would have been something which future
+generations would have discussed, lauded, and extolled in song.
+And now--now?"
+
+"Now we will double our efforts to save what is yet to be rescued!"
+
+"Rescued?" repeated the courtier in a hollow tone.  "The Queen, too,
+still clings to this fine word.  When I saw her at work yesterday, it
+seemed as if I beheld her drawing water with the bottomless vessel of the
+Danaides.  True, today, when I left her, her arms had fallen--and in this
+attitude she now stands before me with her tearful eyes.  And besides, I
+can't get my nephew Dion out of my mind.  Cares--nothing but cares
+concerning him!  And my intentions towards him were so kind!  My will
+gives him my entire fortune; but now he actually wants to marry the
+singer, the daughter of the artist Leonax.  You have taken her under your
+protection, but surely your own niece, Iras, is dearer to you, so you
+will approve of my destroying the will if Dion insists upon his own way.
+He shall not have a solidus of my property if he does not give up the
+woman who is a thorn in the Queen's flesh.  And his choice does not suit
+our ancient race.  Iras, on the contrary, was Dion's playfellow, and I
+have long destined her for his wife.  No better match, nor one more
+acceptable to the Queen, could be found for him.  He cared for her until
+the singer bewitched him.  Bring them together, and they shall be like my
+own children.  If the fool resists his uncle, whose sole desire is to
+benefit him, I will withdraw my aid.  Whatever intrigues his foes may
+weave, I shall fold my arms and not interfere.  I stand in the place of
+his father, my dead brother, and demand obedience.  The Queen is my
+universe, and her favour is of more value than twenty refractory
+nephews."
+
+"You will retain her Majesty's favour, even if you intercede for your
+brother's son."
+
+"And Iras?  When she finds herself deceived--and she will soon discover
+it--she will not rest--"
+
+"Until she has brought ruin upon him," interrupted Charmian, in a tone of
+sorrow rather than reproach as though she already beheld the impending
+disaster.  "But Iras has no greater influence with the Queen than I, and
+if you and I unite to protect the brave young fellow, who is of your own
+blood--"
+
+"Then, of course--no doubt, on account of your longer period of service,
+you have more influence with her Majesty than Iras--however--such matters
+must be considered--and I have already said--my mind leaves its abode to
+follow the Queen like her shadow.  It heeds only what concerns her.  Let
+everything else go as it will.  The fleet the same as destroyed, Candidus
+defeated, Herod a deserter, treason on treason--the African legions lost!
+What in the name of the god who tried to roll back the wheel dashing down
+the mountain-side!--And yet!  Let us offer sacrifices, my friend, and
+hope for better days!"
+
+Zeno retired as he spoke, but Charmian moved forward with a drooping head
+to find Barine and her faithful Anukis, and weep her fill ere she went to
+perform the duty of consoling and sustaining her beloved mistress.  Yet
+she herself so sorely needed comfort.  Wherever she turned her eyes she
+beheld disaster, peril, treachery, and base intrigues.  She felt as if
+she had lived long enough, and that her day was over.  Hitherto her
+gentle nature, her intellect, which yearned to expand, gather new riches,
+and exchange what it had gained with others, had possessed much to offer
+to the Queen.  She had not only been Cleopatra's confidante, but
+necessary to her to discuss questions far in advance of the demands of
+the times, which occupied her restless mind.  Now the Queen's attention
+was wholly absorbed by events--hard, cruel facts--which she must resist
+or turn to her own advantage.  Her life had become a conflict, and
+Charmian felt that she was by no means combative.  The hard, supple,
+keenly polished intellect of Iras now asserted its value, and the elderly
+woman told herself that she was in danger of being held in less regard
+than her younger companion.  To resign her office would have given her
+peace of mind, but she repelled the thought.  For the very reason that
+these days were so full of misery and perhaps drawing nearer to the end,
+she must remain, first for the sake of the Queen, but also to watch over
+Barine.
+
+Now she longed to go to Cleopatra.  Her mere presence, she knew, would do
+her sore heart good.  The silvery laugh of a child reached her ears
+through the open gate of the garden which she was rapidly approaching.
+Little six-year-old Alexander ran towards her with open arms, hugged her
+closely, pressed his curly head against her, and gazed into her face with
+his large clear eyes.
+
+Charmian's heart swelled; and as she raised the child in her arms and
+kissed him, she thought of the sad fate impending, and the composure
+maintained with so much difficulty gave way; tears streamed from her eyes
+and, sobbing violently, she pressed the boy closer to her breast.
+
+The prince, accustomed to bright faces and tender caresses, broke away
+from her in terror to run back to his brother and sisters.  But he had a
+kind little heart, and, knowing that no one weeps and sobs unless in
+pain, Alexander pitied Charmian, whom he loved, and hurried to her again.
+
+What he meant to show her had pleased his mother, too, and dried the
+tears in her eyes.  So he took Charmian by the hand and drew her along,
+saying that he wanted her to see the prettiest thing.  She willingly
+allowed herself to be led over the paths, strewn with red sand, of the
+little garden which Antony had had laid out for his children in the
+magnificent style which pleased his love of splendour, and filled with
+rare and beautiful things.
+
+There was a pond with tiny gold and silver fish, where the rare lotus
+flowers with pink blossoms arose from amid their smooth green leaves, and
+another where dwarf ducks of every colour, which seemed as if they had
+been created for children, swam to and fro.  A bit of the sea which
+washed its shore had been enclosed by a gilded latticework, and on its
+surface floated a number of snow-white swans and black ones with scarlet
+bills.  Native and Indian flowers of every hue adorned the beds, and the
+narrow paths were shaded by arbours made of gold wire, over which ran
+climbing vines filled with bright blossoms.
+
+A grotto of stalactites behind the dense foliage of an Indian tree
+offered a resting-place, and beside it was a little house where the
+children could stay.  The interior lacked none of the requisites of
+living, not even the cooking utensils in the kitchen, and the family
+portraits in the tablinum, delicately painted by an artist on small ivory
+slabs.  Everything was made to suit the size of children, but of the most
+costly material and careful workmanship.
+
+Behind the house was a little stable where four tiny horses with spotted
+skins, the rarest and prettiest creatures imaginable--a gift from the
+King of Media--were stamping the ground.
+
+In another place was an enclosure containing gazelles, ostriches, young
+giraffes, and other grass-eating animals.  Bright-plumaged birds and
+monkeys filled the tops of the trees, gay balls rose and fell on the jets
+of the fountains, and child genii and images of the gods in bronze and
+marble peered from the foliage.  This whole enchanted world was comprised
+within a narrow space, and, with its radiance of colour and wealth of
+form, its  perfume, songs, and warbling, exerted a bewildering influence
+upon the excited imaginations of grown people as well as children.
+
+Little Alexander, without even casting a glance at all this, drew
+Charmian forward.  He did not pause until he reached the shore of the
+lotus pond; then, putting his fingers on his lips, he said: "There, now,
+I'll show you.  Look here!"
+
+Rising cautiously upon tip-toe as he spoke, he pointed to the hollow in
+the trunk of a tree.  A pair of finches had built their nest in it, and
+five young ones with big yellow beaks stretched their ugly little heads
+hungrily upward.
+
+"That's so pretty!" cried the prince.  "And you must see the old ones
+come to feed them."  The beautiful boy's sweet face fairly beamed with
+delight, and Charmian kissed him tenderly.  Yet, even as she did so, she
+thought of the young swallows hacked to death in his mother's galley, and
+a chill ran through her veins.
+
+Just at that moment voices were heard calling Alexander from a neglected
+spot behind the dainty little house built for the children, and the boy
+exclaimed peevishly:
+
+"There, now, I showed you the little nest, so I forgot.  Agatha fell
+asleep and Smerdis went away, so we were alone.  Then they sent me to
+Horus, the gate-keeper, to get some of his spelt bread.  He never says no
+to anything, and it does taste so good.  We're peasants, and have been
+using the axe and the hoe, so we want something to eat.  Have you seen
+our house?  We built it ourselves.  Selene, Helios, Jotape, my future
+wife, and I--yes, I!  They let me help, and we finished it alone, all
+alone!  Everything is here.  We shall build the shed for the cow
+to-morrow.  The others mustn't see it, but I may show it to you."
+
+While speaking, he drew her forward again, and Charmian obediently
+followed.  The twins and little Jotape, who had been chosen for the
+future bride of the six-year-old Prince Alexandera pretty, delicate,
+fair-haired child of his own age, the daughter of the Median king, who
+had been betrothed to the boy after the Parthian war, and now remained as
+a hostage at Cleopatra's court--welcomed her with joyous shouts.  With
+the exception of the little Median princess, Charmian had witnessed their
+birth, and they all loved her dearly.
+
+The little royal labourers showed their work with proud delight, and it
+really was well done.
+
+They had toiled at it for weeks, paying no heed to the garden and all its
+costly rarities.  They pointed with special pride to the two planks which
+Helios, aided by Alexander, had fished out of the sea after the last
+storm, when they were left alone, and to the lock on the door which they
+had secretly managed to wrench from an old gate.  Selene herself had
+woven the curtain in front of the door.  Now they were going to build a
+hearth too.
+
+Charmian praised their skill, while they--all talking merrily together--
+told her how they had conquered the greatest difficulties.  Their bright
+eyes sparkled with pleasure while describing the work of their own hands,
+and they were so absorbed in eager delight that they did not notice the
+approach of a man until startled by his words: "Enough of this idle sport
+now, your Highnesses.  Too much time has already been wasted on it."
+
+Then, turning to the Queen, who had accompanied him, he continued in a
+tone of apology: "This amusement might seem somewhat hazardous, yet there
+is much to be said in its favour.  Besides, it appeared to afford the
+royal children so much pleasure that I permitted it for a short time.
+But if your Majesty commands:
+
+"Let them have their pleasure," the Queen interrupted kindly; and as soon
+as the children saw their mother they rushed forward, crowded around her
+with fearless love, thanked her, and eagerly assured her that nothing in
+the whole garden was half so dear to them as their little house.  They
+meant to build a stable too.
+
+"That might be too much," said the tutor Euphronion, a grey-haired man
+with a shrewd, kindly face.  "We must remember how many things are yet to
+be learned, that we may reach the goal fixed for your Majesty's birthday
+and pass the examination."
+
+But all the children now joined in the entreaty to be allowed to build
+the stable too, and it was granted.
+
+When the tutor at last began to lead them away, the royal mother stopped
+them, asking "Suppose, instead of this garden, I should give you a bit of
+bare land, such as the peasants till, where, after your lessons, you
+might dig and build as much as you please?"
+
+Loud shouts of joy from the children answered the question; but the
+little Median girl, Jotape, said hesitatingly:
+
+"Could I take my doll too--only the oldest, Atossa?  She has lost one
+arm, yet I love her the best."
+
+"Deprive us of anything you choose!" cried Helios, drawing little
+Alexander towards him, to show that they, the men, were of the same mind,
+"only give us some ground and let us build."
+
+"We will consider whether it can be done," replied Cleopatra.  "Perhaps,
+Euphronion, you would be the right person--But we will discuss the matter
+at a more quiet hour."
+
+The tutor withdrew and the children, who followed, looked back, waving
+their hands and calling to their mother for a long time.
+
+When they had disappeared behind the shrubbery in the garden Charmian
+exclaimed, "However dark the sky may be, so long as you possess these
+little ones you can never lack sunshine."
+
+"If," replied Cleopatra, gazing pensively at the ground, "with a thought
+of them another did not blend which makes the gloom become deeper still.
+You know the tidings this terrible day has brought?"
+
+"All," replied Charmian, sighing heavily.
+
+"Then you know the abyss on whose verge we are walking; and to see them--
+them also dragged into the yawning gulf by their unhappy mother--
+Oh, Charmian, Charmian!"
+
+She sobbed aloud, threw her arms around the neck of her friend and
+playfellow, and laid her head upon her bosom like a child seeking
+consolation.  Cleopatra wept for several minutes, and when she again
+raised her tear-stained face she said softly:
+
+"That did me good!  O, Charmian!  no one needs love as I do.  On your
+warm heart my own has already grown calmer."
+
+"Use it, nestle there whenever you need it, to the end," cried Charmian,
+deeply moved.
+
+"To the end," repeated Cleopatra, wiping her eyes.  "It began to-day, I
+think.  I have just spent an hour alone.  I meant to commit a crime, and
+you know how impatiently passion sweeps me along.  But what misfortunes
+have assailed me!  The army destroyed; the desertion of Herod and
+Pinarius; Antony's generous, trusting heart torn by base treachery, his
+soul darkened; the reconstruction of the canal, the last hope--Gorgias
+brought the news--the same as destroyed.  Just then little Alexander came
+to show me his bird's nest.  Everything else in the garden seemed to him
+worthless by comparison.  This awakened new thoughts, and now here is the
+little house which the children have built with their own hands.  All
+these things forced me by some mysterious power to look back along the
+course of my life to the distant days in your father's  house--I--These
+children!  Upon what different foundations our lives have been built!
+I made them begin at the point I had gained when youth lay behind me.
+My childhood commenced among the disorders of the government, clouded by
+my father's exile and my mother's death, on the brink of ruin.  That of
+the twins--they are ten years old--will soon be over--and now, after
+enjoying pleasures not one of which was bestowed on me, they must endure
+the same sorrow.  But did not we have better ones?  What they daily
+possessed we only dreamed of in our simple garden.  How often I let you
+share the radiant visions which my soul revealed to me!  You willingly
+accompanied me into the splendid fairy world of my dreams.  All that my
+imagination conjured up during the years of quiet and repose accompanied
+me into my after-life.  Again and again I have beheld them, rich and
+powerful, upon the throne.  The means of rendering the vision a varity
+were at hand; and when I met the man whose own life resembled the
+realization of a dream, I recalled those childish fancies and made them
+facts.  The marvels with which I adorned my lover's existence were
+childish dreams to which I gave tangible form.  This garden is an image
+of the life to which I intended to rise; in reality, fell.  We collected
+within the limits of this bit of earth everything which can delight the
+senses; not a single one is omitted in this narrow space, whose crowded
+maze of pleasures fairly impede freedom of movement.  Yet in your home,
+and guided by your wise father, I had learned to be content with so
+little, and commenced the struggle to attain peace.  That painless peace
+--our chief good--whence came it?  Through me it was lost to you both
+But the children--I made them begin their lives in an arena of every
+disturbing influence; and now I see how their own healthy natures yearn
+to escape from the dazzling wealth of colour, the stupefying fragrance,
+the bewildering songs and twittering.  They long to return to the
+untilled earth, where the life of struggling mortals began.
+
+"The boy casts away the baubles, to test his own creative powers.  The
+girl follows his example, and clings fast only to the doll in which she
+sees the living child, in order to do justice to the maternal instinct,
+the token of her sex.  But what they so eagerly desire is right, and
+shall be granted.  When I was ten years old, like the twins, my life and
+efforts were already directed towards one fixed goal.  They are still
+blindly following the objects set before them.  Let them return to the
+place whence their mother started, where she received everything good
+which is still hers.  They shall go to the garden of Epicurus, no matter
+whether it is the old one in Kanopus or elsewhere.  All that their mother
+beheld in vivid dreams, which she often strove with wanton extravagance
+to realize, has surrounded them from their birth and early satiated them.
+When they enter life, they will scorn what merely stirs and dazzles the
+senses, and cling to the aspiration for painless peace of mind, if a wise
+guide directs them and protects them from the dangers which the teachings
+of Epicurus contain for youth.  I have found this guide, and you, too,
+will trust him--I mean your brother Archibius."
+
+"Archibius?" asked Charmian in surprise.  "Yes, he who grew up in the
+garden of Epicurus, and in life and philosophy found the support which
+has preserved his peace of mind during all the conflicts of existence--
+he who loves the mother, and to whom the children are also dear--
+he to whom the boys and girls cling with affectionate confidence.  I wish
+to place the children under his protection and, if he will consent to
+grant this desire of the most hapless of women, I shall look forward
+calmly to the end.  It is approaching!  I feel, I know it!  Gorgias is
+already at work upon the plan for my tomb."
+
+"O my Queen!" cried Charmian sorrowfully.  Whatever may happen, your
+illustrious life cannot be in danger!  The generous heart of Mark Antony
+does not throb in Octavianus's breast, but he is not cruel, and for the
+very reason that cool calculation curbs ambition he will spare you.  He
+knows that you are the idol of the city, the whole country; and if he
+really succeeds in adding fresh victories to this first conquest, if the
+immortals permit your throne and--may they avert it!--your sacred person,
+too, to fall into his power--"
+
+"Then," cried Cleopatra, her clear eyes flashing, "then he shall learn
+which of us two is the greater--then I shall know how to maintain the
+right to despise him, though blind Fate should make the whole power of
+the world subject to him who robbed my son and Caesar's of his heritage!"
+
+Her eyes had blazed with anger as she uttered the words; then, letting
+her little clenched hand fall, she went on in an altered tone:
+
+"Months may pass before he is strong enough to risk the attack, and the
+immortals themselves approved the erection of the monument.  The only
+obstacle in the way, the house of the old philosopher Didymus, was
+destroyed.  A messenger from Gorgias brought the news.  It is to be the
+second monument in Alexandria worthy of notice.  The other contains the
+body of the great Alexander, to whom the city owes its origin and name.
+He who subjected half the world to his power and the genius of the
+Greeks, was younger than I when he died.  Whence do I, by whose miserable
+weakness the battle of Actium was lost, derive the right to walk longer
+beneath the sun?  Perhaps Mark Antony will arrive in a few hours."
+
+"And will you meet the disheartened hero in this mood?" interrupted
+Charmian.
+
+"He does not wish to be received," answered Cleopatra bitterly.  "He even
+refused to let me greet him, and I understand the denial.  But what must
+have overwhelmed this joyous nature, so friendly to all mankind, that he
+longs for solitude and avoids meeting those who are nearest and dearest?
+Iras is now at the Choma--whither he wishes to retire--to see that
+everything is in order.  She will also provide a supply of the flowers
+he loves.  It is hard, cruelly hard, not to welcome him as usual.
+Oh, Charmian, what joy it was when, with open arms and overflowing heart,
+he swung his mighty figure ashore like a youth, while his handsome,
+heroic face beamed with ardent love for me!  And then--you do not forget
+it either--when he raised his deep voice to shout the first greeting,
+why, it seemed as if the very fish in the water must join in, and the
+palm-trees on the shore wave their feathery tops in joyous sympathy.
+And here!  The dreams of my childhood, which I made reality for him,
+received us, and our existence, wreathed with love and roses, became a
+fairy tale.  Since the day he rode towards us at Kanopus and offered me
+the first bouquet, with his sunny glance wooing my love, his image has
+stood before my soul as the embodiment of the virile strength which
+conquers everything, and the bright, undimmed joy which renders the whole
+world happy.  And now--now?  Do you remember the dull dreamer whom we
+left ere he set forth for Paraetonium?  But no, no, a thousand times no,
+he must not remain so!  Not with bowed head, but erect as in the days of
+happiness, must he cross the threshold of Hades, hand in hand with her
+whom he loved.  And he does love me still.  Else would he have followed
+me hither, though no magic goblet drew him after me?  And I?  The heart
+which, in the breast of the child, gave him its first young love, is
+still his, and will be forever.  Might I not go to the harbour and await
+him there?  Look me in the face, Charmian, and answer me as fearlessly as
+a mirror: did Olympus really succeed in effacing the wrinkles?"
+
+"They were scarcely visible before," was the reply, "and even the keenest
+eye could no longer discover them.  I have brought the pomade, too, and
+the prescription Olympus gave me for--"
+
+"Hush, hush!" interrupted Cleopatra softly.  "There are many living
+creatures in this garden, and they say that even the birds are good
+listeners."
+
+A roguish smile deepened the dimples in her cheeks as she spoke, and
+delight in her bewitching grace forced from Charmian's lips the
+exclamation:
+
+"If Mark Antony could only see you now!"
+
+"Flatterer!" replied the Queen with a grateful smile.  But Charmian felt
+that the time had now come to plead once more for Barine, and she began
+eagerly:
+
+"No, I certainly do not flatter.  No one in Alexandria, no matter what
+name she bears, could venture to vie even remotely with your charms.  So
+cease the persecution of the unfortunate woman whom you confided to my
+care.  It is an insult to Cleopatra--"
+
+But here an indignant "Again!"  interrupted her.
+
+Cleopatra's face, which during the conversation had mirrored every
+emotion of a woman's soul, from the deepest sorrow to the most
+mischievous mirth, assumed an expression of repellent harshness, and,
+with the curt remark, "You are forgetting what I had good reason to
+forbid--I must go to my work," she turned her back upon the companion of
+her youth.
+
+
+
+
+ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
+
+See facts as they are and treat them like figures in a sum
+
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA, BY GEORG EBERS, V6 ***
+
+*********This file should be named 5478.txt or 5478.zip **********
+
+This eBook was produced by David Widger
+
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