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+The Project Gutenberg EBook Serapis, by Georg Ebers, Volume 6.
+#67 in our series by Georg Ebers
+
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+Title: Serapis, Volume 6.
+
+Author: Georg Ebers
+
+Release Date: April, 2004  [EBook #5506]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on June 5, 2002]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, 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.]
+
+
+
+
+
+SERAPIS
+
+By Georg Ebers
+
+Volume 6.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+The spacious Hippodrome was filled with some thousands of spectators.
+At first many rows of seats had been left vacant, though usually on the
+eve of the great races, the people would set out soon after midnight and
+every place would be filled long before the games began; indeed the upper
+tiers of the tribune, which were built of wood and were free to all
+comers, with standing-room behind, were commonly so crowded early in the
+morning that the crush ended in a free fight.
+
+On this occasion, the storm of the previous night, the anxiety caused by
+the conflict round the Serapeum, and the prevalent panic as to the
+approaching end of the world, kept great numbers away from their favorite
+diversion; but when the sky recovered its radiant blue, and when it
+became known that the statue of Serapis had escaped uninjured in the
+siege of his sanctuary--when Cynegius, the Imperial legate, and Evagrius,
+the city-prefect, had entered the theatre with much pomp, followed by
+several senators and ladies and gentlemen of rank-Christians, Heathen,
+and Jews--the most timid took courage; the games had been postponed for
+an hour, and before the first team was led into the arched shed whence
+the chariots started, the seats, though less densely packed than usual,
+were amply filled.
+
+The number of chariots entered for competition was by no means smaller
+than on former occasions, for the heathen had strained every nerve to
+show their fellow-citizens of different creeds, and especially Caesar's
+representative, that, in spite of persecution and in defiance of Imperial
+edicts, they were still a power worthy of consideration.  The Christians,
+on their part, did their utmost to outdo the idolaters on the same ground
+where, not long since, they had held quite the second place.
+
+The Bishop's epigram: That Christianity had ceased to be the religion of
+the poor, was amply confirmed; the greater proportion of the places for
+senators, officials and rich citizens were occupied by its adherents, and
+the men and women who professed the Faith were by no means behind their
+heathen peers in magnificence of dress and jewels.
+
+The horses, too, entered by the Christians could not fail to please the
+connoisseur, as they punctually made their appearance behind the
+starting-place, though he might have felt more confidence--and not
+without reason--in the heathen steeds, and more particularly in their
+drivers, each of whom had won on an average nine races out of ten.
+
+The horses in the quadriga with which Marcus, the son of Mary, made his
+appearance in the arena had never before been driven in the Hippodrome.
+Demetrius, the owner's brother, had bred and trained them--four
+magnificent black Arabs--and they excited much interest among the knowing
+judges who were wont to collect and lounge about the 'oppidum', as it was
+called, behind the 'carceres'--[The covered sheds or stalls in which the
+horses were brought to wait for the start.]--to inspect the racers,
+predict the winner, offer counsel to the drivers, and make bets.  These
+perfect creatures were perhaps as fine as the famous team of golden bays
+belonging to Iphicrates, which so often had proved victorious; but the
+agitatores, or drivers, attracted even more interest than the horses.
+Marcus, though he knew how to handle the reins--he had already been seen
+in experimental races--could hardly hold his own against Hippias, the
+handsome young heathen, who, like most of the drivers in the arena, was
+an agitator by profession.  A story was told of his having driven over a
+bridge which was not quite as wide as the outside edges of his chariot-
+wheels; and there were many witnesses to the feat he had performed of
+writing his mistress' name with his chariot-tracks in the sand of the
+Hippodrome.
+
+The betting was freest and the wagers highest on Hippias and the team
+belonging to Iphicrates.  Some few backed Marcus and his Arabs, but for
+smaller sums; and when they compared the tall but narrow-shouldered
+figure of the young Christian with the heroic breadth of Hippias' frame,
+and his delicate features, dreamy blue eyes and downy black moustache
+with the powerful Hermes-head of his rival, they were anxious about their
+money.  If his brother now, the farmer Demetrius--who was standing by the
+horses' heads--or some well-known agitator had held the reins, it would
+have been a pleasure and a profit to back such horses.  Marcus had been
+abroad, too, and men shrugged their shoulders over that, for it was not
+till the last few days that he had been seen exercising his horses in the
+Hippodrome.
+
+Time was going on, and the Imperial envoy, who had been elected to
+preside as judge, at length took his place; Demetrius whispered a few
+last words of advice to his brother and went back into the arena.  He had
+secured a good place on the stone podium and on the shady side, though
+there were several seats vacant among those belonging to his family; but
+he did not care to occupy one of these, preferring to keep out of the way
+of his step-mother, who had made her appearance with a senator and his
+wife to whom she was related.  He had not seen her for two days; his
+promise to Karnis that he would try to find Dada, had kept him fully
+occupied, and he had done his best in all earnest to discover the girl.
+
+The honest indignation with which this young creature had refused his
+splendid offers, in spite of the modest circumstances of her life, had
+roused his respect, and he had felt it an insult to himself and to his
+brother when Gorgo had spoken of her with contempt.  For his part, he had
+never met with any one more fascinating; he could not cease dreaming of
+her, and the thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of a
+great city made him miserable.  His brother had the first claim on her
+and he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly in every
+resort of the young and gay--nay even in Canopus--he had only meant to
+place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being lost to the
+family, though, when at last its possession is secured, it becomes the
+property of the member who can prove the best right of ownership.  But
+all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an unhappy mood that he
+went at last to the Hippodrome.  There the bitter hostility and party-
+feeling which he had everywhere observed during his present visit to his
+native city, were not less conspicuous than they had been in the streets.
+The competing chariots usually arrived at the amphitheatre in grand
+procession, but this had not been thought advisable in the prevailing
+excitement; they had driven into the oppidum singly and without any
+display; and the images of the gods, which in former days had always been
+placed on the spina before the games began, had long since fallen into
+disuse.
+
+     [The spina was the division down the middle of the arena.  At each
+     end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of
+     about 13 feet.  The spina was originally constructed of wood,
+     subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29
+     feet.  The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet
+     long.]
+
+All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat it
+was in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of
+spectators.
+
+His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins
+which was reserved for the family.  Her tunic and skirt displayed the
+color blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and
+silver brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and
+the olive-branch were elegantly combined.  Her black hair was closely and
+simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string of
+large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals,
+lying on her forehead.  A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat
+gazing into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were
+folded and held a cross.  This placid and demure attitude she deemed
+becoming to a Christian matron and widow.  Everyone might see that she
+had not come for worldly pleasure, but merely to be present at a triumph
+of her fellow-Christians--and especially her son--over the idolaters.
+Everything about her bore witness to the Faith, even the pattern on her
+dress and the shape of her ornaments; down to the embroidery on her silk
+gloves, in which a cross and an anchor were so designed as to form a
+Greek X, the initial letter of the name of Christ.  Her ambition was to
+appear simple and superior to all worldly vanities; still, all she wore
+must be rich and costly, for she was here to do honor to her creed.  She
+would have regarded it as a heathen abomination to wear wreaths of fresh
+and fragrant flowers, though for the money which that string of pearls
+had cost she might have decked the circus with garlands from end to end,
+or have fed a hundred poor for a twelvemonth.  It seems so much easier to
+cheat the omniscient Creator of the Universe than our fellow-fools!
+
+So Dame Maria sat there in sour and virtuous dignity, looking like the
+Virgin Mary as painters and sculptors were at that time wont to represent
+her; and her farmer-son shuddered whenever his eye fell on his step-
+mother.  It did him good, by contrast, to hear a hearty peal of laughter
+that came up from the lowest ranks of the podium.  When he had discovered
+the spot from whence it proceeded he could hardly believe his eyes, for
+there sat the long-sought Dada, between an old man and a young woman,
+laughing as though something had just occurred to amuse her extremely.
+Demetrius stretched his limbs with a feeling of relief and satisfaction;
+then he rose, and seeing his city agent seated just behind the girl, he
+begged him to change places with him, as he thought it advisable not to
+lose sight of the game now it was caught; the old man was very ready to
+oblige him and went up to the other seat with a meaning smile.
+
+For the first time since she could recollect anything Dada had spent a
+sleepless night.  Whether the wind and thunder would have sufficed to
+keep her awake who can tell; but the thoughts that had whirled through
+her brain had been varied and exciting enough to rob her of sleep.  Her
+own people who were fighting for Serapis--how were they faring; and Agne
+--what had become of her?  Then her mind turned to the church, and the
+worthy old priest's sermon; to the races that she was to see--and the
+face and figure of the handsome young Christian rose vividly and
+irresistibly before her fancy.  Of course--of course, she wished his
+horses to win; but it was strange enough that she, Karnis' niece, should
+be on the side of the Christians.  Stranger still that she had entirely
+ceased to believe in all the abuse which, from her earliest childhood,
+she had heard heaped on the followers of the crucified Jew.  It could
+only be that Karnis had never been able to forgive them for having ruined
+his theatre at Tauromenium, and so, perhaps, had never known them
+thoroughly.
+
+She had enjoyed many a happy hour at the festivals of the old gods; and
+they were no doubt beautiful and festive divinities, or terrible when
+they were wroth; still, in the depths of her soul there had for some time
+lurked a vague, sweet longing which found no fulfilment in any heathen
+temple.  She knew no name for it and would have found it hard to
+describe, but in the church, listening to the prayers and hymns and the
+old deacon's discourse, it had for the first time been stilled; she had
+felt then and there that, helpless and simple as she was, and even if she
+were to remain parted from her foster parents, she need never feel
+abandoned, but could rest and hope in a supreme, loving, and helpful
+power.  And indeed she needed such a protector; she was so easily
+beguiled.  Stephanion, a flute-player she had known in Rome, had wheedled
+everything she had a fancy for out of poor Dada, and when she had got
+into any mischief laid it all on Dada's shoulders.  There must be
+something particularly helpless about her, for everyone, as a matter of
+course, took her in hand and treated her like a child, or said things
+that made her angry.
+
+In the Hippodrome, however, she forgot everything in the present
+pleasure, and was happy enough in finding herself in the lowest row of
+places, in the comfortable seats on the shady side, belonging to
+Posidonius, the wealthy Magian.  This was quite different from her
+experience in Rome, where once, in the Circus Maximus, she had stood in
+the second tier of the wooden gallery and had been squeezed and pushed,
+while no one had taken any notice of her and she had only seen the races
+from a distance, looking down on the heads of the men and horses.  Herse
+never would take her a second time, for, as they came out, they had been
+followed and spoken to by men, young and old; and after that her aunt had
+fancied she never could be safe, scenting danger at every turn, and would
+not allow her ever again to go out alone in the city.
+
+This was altogether a much finer place, for here she was parted from the
+race-course only by a narrow watercourse which, as it happened, was
+bridged over just in front of her; the horses would pass close to her;
+and besides, it was pleasant to be seen and to feel conscious of a
+thousand flattering glances centered on herself.
+
+Even the great Cynegius, Caesar's envoy and deputy, who had often noticed
+her on board ship, turned again and again to look at her.  He was carried
+in on a golden litter by ten huge negroes, preceded by twelve lictors
+bearing fasces wreathed with laurel; and he took his seat, robed in
+purple and embroidery, on a magnificent throne in the middle of the
+tribune above the starting sheds; however, Dada troubled herself no more
+about the overdressed old man.
+
+Her eyes were everywhere, and she made Medius or his daughter name
+everybody and explain everything.  Demetrius was delighted with her eager
+enjoyment; presently, nudging the singer, she whispered to him with much
+satisfaction:
+
+"Look how the people down below are craning their necks to look at us!
+My dress is so very pretty--I wonder where your friend Posidonius gets
+these lovely roses.  There are above a hundred buds in this garland
+across my shoulders and down to my girdle, I counted them in the litter
+as I came along.  It is a pity they should die so soon; I shall dry the
+leaves and make scent of them."
+
+Demetrius could not resist the temptation; he leaned forward and said
+over her shoulder: "There are hardly enough for that."
+
+At this unexpected address Dada looked round, and she blushed as she
+recognized Marcus' brother; he, however, hastened to assure her that he
+deeply regretted his audacious proposals of two days since, and the girl
+laughed, and said that he had come off worst, and that she might have
+sent him away a little more civilly perhaps; but the truth was she had
+been out of temper to begin with--any one would be cross that was treated
+as Dame Herse had treated her: hiding her shoes and leaving her a
+prisoner on the deck of a barge in the middle of a lake!  Then she
+introduced him to Medius, and finally enquired about Marcus and his
+horses, and whether he had any chance of winning the race.
+
+The countryman answered all her questions; and when, presently, a flower-
+girl came along the ranks of seats, selling wreaths of blue and red
+flowers and ribbands, Demetrius bought two lovely olive-wreaths to fling
+to the winner--his brother he hoped.  Medius and his daughter wore red
+knots--the color of the Heathen, and Dada, following their example, had a
+similar bow on her shoulder; now, however, she accepted a blue ribband
+that Demetrius bought for her and pinned it in the place of the red one
+as being the color of Marcus, to the old singer's great annoyance.
+Demetrius laughed loudly in his deep bass tones, declaring that his
+brother was already most anxious to win, and that, when he saw her with
+these ribbands he would strain every nerve, in gratitude for her
+partisanship.  He could assure her that Marcus thought of her constantly.
+
+"I am glad of that," she said simply; and she added that it was the same
+with her, for she had been thinking all night of Marcus and his horses.
+Medius could not help remarking that Karnis and Herse would take it very
+ill that she should display the Christian color to-day of all days; to
+which she only replied that she was sorry for that, but that she liked
+blue better than red.  The answer was so abrupt and short that it
+startled Demetrius, who had hitherto seen Dada gentle and pliant; and it
+struck him at once how deep an aversion the girl felt for her present
+protectors.
+
+There was music, as usual, in the towers at either end of the row of
+carceres; but it was less stirring and cheerful than of yore, for flutes,
+and several of the heathen airs had been prohibited.  Formerly, too, the
+Hippodrome had been a place where lovers could meet and where many a
+love-affair had been brought to a happy climax; but to-day none of the
+daughters of the more respectable families were allowed to quit the
+women's apartments in their own homes, for danger was in the air; the
+course of events in the Serapeum had kept many of the younger men from
+witnessing the races, and some mysterious influence seemed to weigh upon
+the gaiety and mirth of which the Hippodrome on a gala day was usually
+the headquarters.
+
+Wild excitement, expectation strung to the highest pitch, and party-
+feeling, both for and against, had always, of course, been rife here; but
+to-day they were manifest in an acuter form--hatred had added its taint
+and lent virulence to every emotion.  The heathen were oppressed and
+angered, their rights abridged and defied; they saw the Christians
+triumphant at every point, and hatred is a protean monster which rages
+most fiercely and most venomously when it has lurked in the foul career
+of envy.
+
+The Christians could hate, too, and they hated the idolaters who gloried
+with haughty self-sufficiency in their intellectual inheritance; the
+traditions of a brilliant past.  They, who had been persecuted and
+contemned, now had the upper hand; they were in power, and the more
+insolently they treated their opponents, the more injustice they did
+them, and the less the victimized heathen were able to revenge
+themselves, the more bitterly did the Christians detest the party they
+contemned as superstitious idolaters.  In their care for the soul--the
+spiritual and divine part--the Christians had hitherto neglected the
+graces of the body; thus the heathen had remained the undisputed masters
+of the palaestra and the hippodrome.  In the gymnasium the Christian
+refused even to compete, for the exhibition of his naked body he regarded
+as an abomination; but on the race-course he had lately been willing to
+display his horses, and many times had disputed the crown with the
+hereditary victors, so that, even here, the heathen felt his time-honored
+and undisputed supremacy endangered.  This was intolerable--this must be
+averted--the mere thought of being beaten on this ground roused the
+idolaters to wrath and malice.  They displayed their color in wreaths of
+scarlet poppies, pomegranate flowers and red roses, with crimson ribbands
+and dresses; white and green, the colors formerly adopted by the
+competitors, were abandoned; for all the heathen were unanimous in
+combining their forces against the common foe.  The ladies used red sun-
+shades and the very baskets, in which the refreshments were brought for
+the day, were painted red.
+
+The widow Mary, on the other hand, and all the Christians were robed in
+blue from head to foot, their sandals being tied with blue ribbands; and
+Dada's blue shoulder-knot was in conspicuous contrast to her bright rose-
+colored dress.
+
+The vendors of food who wandered round the circus had eggs dyed blue and
+red, cakes with sugared icing and refreshing drinks in jars of both
+colors.  When a Christian and a Heathen found themselves seated side by
+side, each turned a shoulder to the other, or, if they were forced to sit
+face to face, eyed each other with a scowl.
+
+Cynegius did all he could to postpone the races as long as possible; he
+was anxious to wait till the Comes had finished his task in the Serapeum,
+so that the troops might be free to act in any emergency that might arise
+before the contests in the Hippodrome were fairly ended.  Time did not
+hang heavy on his hands for the vast multitude here assembled interested
+him greatly, though he had frequently been a spectator of similar
+festivities in Rome and Constantinople; but this crowd differed in many
+particulars from the populace of those cities.  In the topmost tiers of
+free seats black and brown faces predominated greatly over white ones; in
+the cushioned and carpeted ranks of the stone podium--the lower portion
+of the amphitheatre--mingled with Greeks and Egyptians, sat thousands of
+splendidly dressed men and women with strongly-marked Semitic features:
+members of the wealthy Jewish community, whose venerable head, the
+Alabarch, a dignified patriarch in Greek dress, sat with the chief
+members of the senate, near the envoy's tribune.
+
+The Alexandrians were not a patient race and they were beginning to rebel
+against the delay, making no small noise and disturbance, when Cynegius
+rose and with his white handkerchief waved the signal for the races to
+begin.  The number of spectators had gradually swelled from fifty to
+sixty and to eighty thousand; and no less than thirty-six chariots were
+waiting behind the carceres ready to start.
+
+Four 'missus' or races were to be run.  In each of the three first twelve
+chariots were to start, and in the fourth only the leaders in the three
+former ones were to compete.  The winner of the olive-wreath and
+palmbranch in this final heat would bear the honors of the day; his party
+would be victorious and he would quit the Hippodrome in triumph.
+
+Lots were now drawn in the oppidum to decide which shed each chariot was
+to start from, and in which naissus each was to run.  It was Marcus' fate
+to start among the first lot, and, to the horror of those who had backed
+his chances, Hippias, the hero of the Hippodrome, was his rival, with the
+four famous bays.
+
+Heathen priests poured libations to Poseidon, and Phoebus Apollo, the
+patron divinities of horses and of the Hippodrome--for sacrifices of
+blood were prohibited; while Christian presbyters and exorcists blessed
+the rival steeds in the name of the Bishop.  A few monks had crept in,
+but they were turned out by the heathen with bitter jeers, as unbidden
+intruders.
+
+Cynegius repeated his signal.  The sound of the tuba rang through the
+air, and the first twelve chariots were led into the starting-sheds.  A
+few minutes later a machine was set in motion by which a bronze eagle was
+made to rise with outspread wings high into the air, from an altar in
+front of the carceres; this was the signal for the chariots to come forth
+from their boxes.  They took up their positions close behind a broad
+chalk line, traced on the ground with diagonal slope, so as to reduce the
+disadvantage of standing outermost and having a larger curve to cover.
+
+Until this moment only the privileged possessors of the seats over the
+carceres had been able, by craning backwards, to see the horses and
+drivers; now the competitors were visible to the multitude which, at
+their first appearance, broke out into vociferous applause.  The
+agitatores had to exert all their strength to hold in the startled and
+eager teams, and make them stand even for a few short minutes; then
+Cynegius signalled for the third time.  A golden dolphin, which had been
+suspended from a beam, and on which the eye of every charioteer was
+fixed, dropped to the ground, a blast on the 'salpinx', or war-trumpet,
+was sounded, and forty-eight horses flew forth as though thrown forward
+by one impulsion.
+
+The strength of four fine horses whirled each light, two-wheeled chariot
+over the hard causeway as though it were a toy.  The down-pour of the
+previous night had laid the dust; the bright sunshine sparkled and danced
+in rapidly-changing flashes, mirrored in the polished gilding of the
+bronze or the silver fittings of the elegantly-decorated, semicircular
+cars in which the drivers stood.
+
+Five blue and seven red competitors had drawn the first lots.  The eye
+rested with pleasure on the sinewy figures whose bare feet seemed rooted
+to the boards they stood on, while their eyes were riveted on the goal
+they were striving to reach, though--as the eye of the archer sees arrow,
+bow and mark all at once--they never lost sight of the horses they were
+guiding.  A close cap with floating ribbands confined their hair, and
+they wore a short sleeveless tunic, swathed round the body with wide
+bands, as if to brace their muscles and add to their strength.  The reins
+were fastened around the hips so as to leave the hands free, not only to
+hold them but also to ply the whip and use the goad.  Each charioteer had
+a knife in his girdle, to enable him to release himself, in case of
+accident, from a bond that might prove fatal.
+
+Before long the bay team was leading alone.  Behind were two Christian
+drivers, followed by three red chariots; Marcus was last of all, but it
+was easy to see that it was by choice and not by necessity that he was
+hanging back.  He was holding in his fiery team with all his strength and
+weight--his body thrown back, his feet firmly set with his knees against
+the silver bar of the chariot, and his hands gripping the reins.  In a
+few minutes he came flying past Dada and his brother, but he did not see
+them.  He had not even caught sight of his own mother, while the
+professional charioteers had not failed to bow to Cynegius and nod to
+their friends.  He could only keep his eyes and mind fixed on his horses
+and on the goal.
+
+The multitude clapped, roared, shouted encouragement to their party,
+hissed and whistled when they were disappointed--venting their utmost
+indignation on Marcus as he came past behind the others; but he either
+heard them not or would not hear.  Dada's heart beat so wildly that she
+thought it would burst.  She could not sit still; she started to her feet
+and then flung herself back on her cushions, shouting some spurring words
+to Marcus in the flash of time when he might perhaps hear them.  When he
+had passed, her head fell and she said sadly enough: "Poor fellow!--We
+have bought our wreaths for nothing after all, Demetrius!"
+
+But Demetrius shook his head and smiled.
+
+"Nay," he said, "the boy has iron sinews in that slight body.  Look how
+he holds the horses in!  He is saving their strength till they need it.
+Seven times, child, seven times he has to go round this great circus and
+past the 'nyssa'.  You will see, he will catch up what he has lost, yet.
+Hippias, you see, is holding in his horses, too; it is his way of giving
+himself airs at starting.  Now he is close to the 'nyssa'--the 'kampter'
+--the 'meta' they call it at Rome; the smaller the bend he can make round
+it the better for him, but it is risky work.  There--you see!--They drive
+round from right to left and that throws most of the work on the lefthand
+beast; it has to turn almost in its own length.  Aura, our first horse,
+is as supple as a panther and I trained her to do it, myself.--Now, look
+out there! that bronze figure of a rearing horse--the 'Taraxippos' they
+call it--is put there to frighten the horses, and Megaera, our third
+horse, is like a mad thing sometimes, though she can go like a stag;
+every time Marcus gets her quietly past the Taraxippos we are nearer to
+success.--Look, look,=-the first chariot has got round the nyssa!  It is
+Hippias!  Yes, by Zeus, he has done it!  He is a detestable braggart, but
+he knows his business!"
+
+This was one of the decisive moments of the race.  The crowd was silent;
+expectation was at the utmost pitch of tension, and Dada's eyes were
+fixed spell-bound on the obelisk and on the quadrigas that whirled round
+the bourn.
+
+Next to Hippias came a blue team, and close behind were three red ones.
+The Christian who had succeeded in reaching the nyssa second, boldly took
+his horses close round the obelisk, hoping to gain space and get past
+Hippias; but the left wheel of his chariot grazed the granite plinth, the
+light car was overset, and the horses of the red chariot, whose noses
+were almost on his shoulder, could not be pulled up short in time.  They
+fell over the Christian's team which rolled on the ground; the red
+chariot, too, turned over, and eight snorting beasts lay struggling in
+the sand.
+
+The horses in the next chariot bolted as they were being driven past this
+mass of plunging and neighing confusion; they defied their driver's
+impotent efforts and galloped across the course back into the caiceres.
+
+The rest had time and space enough to beware of the wreck and to give it
+a wide berth, among them Marcus.  The melee at the Meta had excited his
+steeds almost beyond control, and as they tore past the Taraxippos the
+third  horse,  Megaera, shied  violently as Demetrius had predicted.  She
+flung herself on one side, thrust her hind quarters under the pole, and
+kicked desperately, lifting the chariot quite off the ground; the young
+charioteer lost his footing and slipped.  Dada covered her face with her
+hands, and his mother turned pale and knit her brows with apprehension.
+The youth was still standing; his feet were on the sand of the arena; but
+he had a firm grip on the right-hand spiral ornament that terminated the
+bar round the chariot.  Many a heart stood still with anxiety, and shouts
+of triumph and mockery broke from the red party; but in less than half a
+minute, by an effort of strength and agility, he had his knees on the
+foot-board, and then, in the winking of an eye, he was on his feet in the
+chariot, had gathered up the reins and was rushing onward.
+
+Meanwhile, however, Hippias had far outstripped all the rest, and as he
+flew past the carceres he checked his pace, snatched a cup from a
+lemonade-seller, tossed the contents down his throat with haughty
+audacity amid the plaudits of the crowd, and then dashed on again.  A
+wide gap, indeed, still lay between him and Marcus.
+
+By the time the competitors again came round to the nyssa, the slaves in
+attendance had cleared away the broken chariots and led off the horses.
+A Christian still came next to Hippias followed by a red agitator; Marcus
+had gained on the others and was now fourth.
+
+In the third round the chariot of the red driver in front of Marcus made
+too sharp a turn and ran up against the granite.  The broken car was
+dragged on by the terrified beasts, and the charioter with it, till, by
+the time they were stopped, he was a corpse.  In the fifth circuit the
+Christian who till now had been second to Hippias shared the same fate,
+though he escaped with his life; and then Marcus drove past the starting-
+sheds next to Hippias.
+
+Hippias had ceased to flout and dally.  In spite of the delay that Marcus
+had experienced from the Taraxippos, the space that parted his bays from
+the black Arabs had sensibly diminished, round after round; and the
+interest of the race now centered entirely in him and the young
+Christian.  Never before had so passionate and reckless a contest been
+fought out on this venerable race-course, and the throng of spectators
+were carried away by the almost frenzied rivalry of the two drivers.
+Not a creature in the upper tiers had been able to keep his seat; men and
+women alike had risen to their feet and were shouting and roaring to the
+competitors.  The music in the towers might have ceased, so completely
+was it drowned by the tumult in the amphitheatre.
+
+Only the ladies, in the best places above the starting-sheds, preserved
+their aristocratic calm; Still, when the seventh and decisive round was
+begun, even the widow Mary leaned forward a little and clasped her hands
+more tightly over the cross in her lap.  Each time that Marcus had driven
+round the obelisk or past the Taraxippos, Dada had clutched her head with
+her hands and set her teeth in her lip; each time, as he happily steered
+clear of the fatal stone and whirled past the dreadful bronze statue, she
+had relaxed her grip and leaned back in her seat with a sigh of relief.
+Her sympathy made her one with Marcus; she felt as if his loss must be
+her death and his victory her personal triumph.
+
+During the sixth circuit Hippias was still a long way ahead of the young
+Christian; the distance which lay between Marcus and the team of bays
+seemed to have become a fixed quantity, for, do what he could, he could
+not diminish it by a hand-breadth.  The two agitatores had now completely
+altered their tactics; instead of holding their horses in they urged them
+onward, leaning over the front of their chariots, speaking to the horses,
+Shouting at them with hoarse, breathless cries, and flogging them
+unsparingly.  Steamy sweat and lathering foam streaked the flanks of the
+desperate, laboring brutes, while clouds of dust were flung up from the
+dry, furrowed and trampled soil.  The other chariots were left further
+and further behind those of Hippias and Marcus, and when, for the seventh
+and last time, these two were nearing the nyssa, the crowd for a moment
+held its breath, only to break out into louder and wilder cries, and then
+again to be hushed.  It seemed as though their exhausted lungs found
+renewed strength to shout with double energy when their excitement had
+kept them silent for a while.
+
+Dada spoke no more; pale and gasping, she sat with her eyes fixed on the
+tall obelisk and on the cloud of dust which, as the chariots neared the
+nyssa, seemed to grow denser.  At about a hundred paces from the nyssa
+she saw, above the sandy curtain, the red cap of Hippias flash past, and
+then--close behind it--the blue cap worn by Marcus.  Then a deafening,
+thundering roar from thousands of throats went up to heaven, while, round
+the obelisk--so close to it that not a horse, not a wheel could have
+found room between the plinth and the driver-the blue cap came forward
+out of the cloud, and, behind it now--no longer in front, though not more
+than a length behind--came the red cap of Hippias.  When within a few
+feet of the nyssa, Marcus had overtaken his antagonist, had passed the
+point with a bold and perilously close turn, and had left the bays behind
+him.
+
+Demetrius saw it all, as though his eye had power to pierce the dust-
+cloud, and now he, too, lost his phlegmatic calm.  He threw up his arms
+as if in prayer and shouted, as though his brother could hear him:
+
+"Well done, splendid boy!  Now for the kentron--the goad--drive it in,
+send it home if they die for it!  Give it them well!"
+
+Dada, who could only guess what was happening, looked round at him,
+asking in tremulous tones: "Has he passed him?  Is he gaining on him?
+Will he win?"  But Demetrius did not answer; he only pointed to the
+foremost of the flying clouds on which the second was fast advancing, and
+cried in a frenzy of excitement:
+
+"Death and Hades!  The other is catching him up.  The dog, the sneak!  If
+only the boy would use his goad.  Give it them, Marcus!  Give it them,
+lad!  Never give in now!  Great Father Poseidon!--there--there!--no!  I
+can hardly stand--Yes, he is still in front, and now--now--this must
+settle it!  Thunder and lightning!  They are close together again--may
+the dust choke him!  No--it is all right; my Arabs are in front!  All is
+well, keep it up, lad, well done!  We have won!"
+
+The horses were pulled up, the dust settled; Marcus, the Christian, had
+won the first missus.  Cynegius held out the crown to the victor, who
+bowed to receive it.  Then he waved his hand to his mother, who
+graciously waved hers in return, and he drove into the oppidurn and was
+lost to sight.
+
+Hippias flung down his whip in a rage, but the triumphant shouts of the
+Christians drowned the music, the trumpet-blasts and the angry murmurs of
+the defeated heathen.  Threatening fists were shaken in the air, while
+behind the carceres the drivers and owners of the red party scolded,
+squabbled and stormed; and Hippias, who by his audacious swagger had
+given away the race to their hated foe--to the Blues, the Christians--
+narrowly escaped being torn in pieces.
+
+The tumult and excitement were unparalleled; but Dada saw and heard
+nothing.  She sat in a blissful dream, gazing into her lap, while tears
+of joyful reaction rolled down her cheeks.  Demetrius saw her tears and
+was glad; then, pointing out Mary to the girl, he in formed her that she
+was the mother of Marcus.  And he registered a secret vow that, cost what
+it might, he would bring his victorious brother and this sweet child
+together.
+
+The second and third missus, like the first, were marked by serious
+accidents; both, however, were won for the Red party.  In the fourth, the
+decisive race, there were but three competitors: Marcus and the two
+heathen winners.  Demetrius watched it with less anxiety; he knew that
+his Arabs were far superior to the Egyptian breed in staying power, and
+they also had the advantage of having had a longer rest.  In fact, the
+final victory was adjudged to the young Christian.
+
+Long before it was decided Dada had been impatiently fingering her
+wreaths, and could hardly wait any longer to fling them into Marcus'
+chariot.  When it was all over she might perhaps have an opportunity of
+speaking to him; and she thought how delightful his voice was and what
+fine, kind eyes he had.  If only he were to bid her be his, she would
+follow him whither and wherever he desired, whatever Karnis and Herse
+might say to the contrary.  She thought no one could be so glad of his
+success as she was; she felt as if she belonged to him, had always
+belonged to him, and only some spiteful trick of Fate had come between
+them.
+
+There was a fresh blast of trumpets; the victor, in obedience to a time-
+honored custom, was to drive round the arena at a foot-pace and show his
+brave team to the multitude.  He came nearer and nearer, and Demetrius
+proposed that they should cross the little watercourse that parted the
+podium from the arena and follow the chariot, so as to give his brother
+the wreaths instead of flinging them to him.  The girl colored and could
+say neither yes or no; but she rose, hung one of the olive-crowns on her
+arm with a happy, bashful smile, and handed the other to her new friend;
+then she followed him across the little bridge on to the race-course
+which, now that the games were over, was crowded with Christians.
+
+The brothers exchanged pleased greetings from afar, but Marcus did not
+see Dada till she was close to him and stood, with a shy but radiant
+glance of intense delight, holding out the olive-wreath for his
+acceptance.  He felt as though Heaven had wrought a miracle in his favor.
+Never before had he thought her half so lovely.  She seemed to have grown
+since he had seen her last, to have gained a deeper and nobler
+expression; and he observed, too, the blue favors on her shoulder and
+among the roses that crowned her fair curls.  Gladness and surprise
+prevented his speaking; but he took the garland she offered him and,
+seizing her hands, stammered out: "Thanks--thank you, Dada."
+
+Their eyes met, and as he gazed into her face he forgot where he was, did
+not even wonder why his brother had suddenly turned away and, beginning
+some long-winded speech, had rushed after a man who hastily covered his
+head and tried to escape; he did not notice that thousands of eyes were
+fixed on him, and among them his mother's; he could merely repeat:
+"thanks" and "Dada"--the only words he could find.  He would perhaps have
+gone on repeating them, but that he was interrupted; the 'porta
+libitinaria'--the gate through which the dead or injured were usually
+carried out, was thrown open, and a rabble of infuriated heathen rushed
+in, crying: "Serapis is fallen!  They have destroyed the image of
+Serapis!  The Christians are ruining the sanctuaries of the gods!"
+
+A sudden panic seized the assembled multitude; the Reds rushed down from
+their places into the arena to hear the details and ask questions--ready
+to fight for the god or to fly for safety.  In an instant the victor's
+chariot was surrounded by an angry mob; Dada clutched it for protection,
+and Marcus, without pausing to reflect--indeed hardly master of his own
+actions--turned and lifted her into it by his side; then, urging his
+horses forward, he forced a way through the crowd, past the caiceres.  He
+glanced anxiously up at the seats but could nowhere see his mother, so he
+guided the exhausted beasts, steaming with sweat and dappled with foam,
+through the open gate and out of the circus.  His stable-slaves had run
+after him; he released himself from the reins on his hips and flung them
+to the grooms.  Then he helped Dada to leap from the car.
+
+"Will you come with me?"  he asked her simply; and the girl's reply was:
+"Wherever you bid me."
+
+At the news that Serapis was overthrown Dame Mary had started from her
+seat with eager haste that ill-became her dignity and, under the
+protection of the body-guard in attendance on Cynegius, had found her way
+to her litter.
+
+In the Hippodrome the tumult rose to a riot; Reds and Blues rushed from
+the upper tiers, down the ranks of the podium and into the dusty race-
+course; falling on each other tooth and nail like wild beasts; and the
+bloody fray--no uncommon termination to the day, even in more peaceful
+times--lasted till the Imperial soldiery parted the unarmed combatants.
+
+The Bishop was triumphant; his adherents had won the day at every point;
+nor was he sorry to learn that Olympius, Helladius, Ainmonius and many
+other spiritual leaders of the heathen world had succeeded in escaping.
+They might come back; they might preach and harangue as much as they
+chose: their power was broken.  The Church had nothing now to fear from
+them, and their philosophy and learning would still and always be
+valuable in the mental training of her priests.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+The great Hippodrome of Alexandria was outside the Canopic gate, on the
+northern side of the road leading to Eleusis which to-day was crowded
+with passengers, all moving in the same direction.  The tumult roused by
+the intelligence that Serapis was overthrown made all the more peaceful
+and peace-loving of the spectators hurry homewards; and as these, for the
+most part, were of the richer classes, who came and went in litters or
+chariots, their conveyances left but scanty space on the wide causeway
+for foot passengers, still, there they were, in considerable numbers,
+all wending their way towards the city, and the heathen who came rushing
+towards the Hippodrome behind the first heralds of the disaster, had
+great difficulty in making their way against the stream.
+
+Marcus and Dada allowed themselves to be carried onward by the throng
+which was tending towards the city-walls and the Canopic gate.  Phabis,
+Mary's old steward, whose duty it had been to help his young master to
+dress after the races were over, had snatched the agitator's cap from the
+youth's head and flung a cloak over his shoulders, hastily following him
+as he went off with the young girl by his side.  The old man quite
+understood what was in the wind for he it was who had conducted Dame
+Herse to his mistress' presence.  He had thought her a shrewd and kind-
+hearted woman, and it now struck him that she must certainly have been
+in the right when she accused Marcus of designs on her pretty niece.
+At the time he had refused to believe it, for he had never in his life
+detected his young master in any underhand or forbidden courses; but,
+after all, Marcus was his father's son, and, in his younger days, the old
+man had often and often had to risk his skin in Apelles' love-intrigues.
+And now it was the Son's turn--and if he were to take his fancy for that
+pretty chit as seriously as he did most things, if he got the notion into
+his head of marrying the little singer--what a storm there was brewing
+between him and his mother!
+
+The old man did his best to keep up with Marcus who did not see or heed
+him, for his eyes and attention were centered on the fair companion who
+was clinging to his arm, while he tried to force a passage through the
+mob, towards the gate.  Miracle on miracle seemed to him to have been
+wrought in his behalf; for Heaven had not only sent him Dada, but she was
+wearing blue ribbands; and when he asked her why, she had replied "For
+your sake, and because I like your Faith."
+
+He was tired to death; but as soon as Dada had put her hand through his
+arm he lead felt refreshed as if by magic.  His swollen and blistered
+hands, to be sure, were painful and his shoulders ached and winced from
+stiffness; but as she pressed his arm to her side and looked up gladly in
+his face--telling him how happy she was while he responded: "And how I
+love you!"--he felt himself in Heaven, and pain and discomfort were
+forgotten.  The crush did not allow them to say more than a few words;
+but the things their eyes and lips could smile were sweeter and dearer
+than anything they had ever known before.
+
+They had got through the gate and were in the Canopic way when Dada
+suddenly perceived that his lips were white, and felt the arm tremble on
+which her hand was lying.  She asked him what ailed him; he made no
+reply, but put his hand to his head, so she led him aside into the public
+garden that lay to their right between the little Stadium and the
+Maeandrian circus.  In this pretty spot, fresh with verdure and spring
+flowers, she soon found a bench shaded by a semicircular screen of dark-
+tufted tamarisk, and there she made him lie down.  He yielded at once,
+and his pale face and fixed gaze showed her that he was in a fainting
+state.  Indeed, he must be quite worn out by the terrible struggle of the
+race, and after it was over he had not given himself time to take a cup
+of drink or a scrap of food for refreshment.  It was only too natural
+that his strength should fail him, so, without feeling at all alarmed but
+only very pitiful and anxious to help, she ran back to a fruit-stall
+which they had passed at the entrance to the garden from the street.
+
+How glad she was that she still had the four drachmae which she had
+coaxed out of Karnis in the Xenodochium that evening; she could buy
+whatever she liked for her lover.  When she went back-loaded with
+oranges, apples, hard-boiled eggs, bread and salt, in the skirt of her
+dress that she gathered up with one hand, and with a flask of wine and
+water, and a gourdbowl in the other-she found him still lying
+unconscious.  However, when she had moistened his forehead and lips he
+opened his eyes, and then she peeled him an orange as daintily as she
+could and begged him to try it, and as she was herself very hungry she
+took a hearty share.  She was enchanted at making him her guest, and at
+finding that he enjoyed the simple meal and soon was quite revived.  In
+fact, in a few minutes he had altogether recovered his strength and
+consciousness of satisfaction; and as he lay back with Dada's hand in
+his, gazing happily and thankfully into her sweet eyes, a sense of peace,
+rest and bliss came over him such as he had never before known.  He
+thought he had never tasted such delicious food, or such exquisite wine
+as the wretched Mareotic from the fruitstall.  He took the apple she had
+begun eating out of her hand and bit it where her white teeth had been;
+he made her drink first out of the gourd-cup, and, as one of the three
+eggs she had brought with her was bad, they had quite a little battle for
+the last, till he finally gave way and eat it.
+
+When they had finished Dada's purchases to the last mouthful she asked
+him, for the first time, where he meant to take her, and be said he
+intended placing her in the house of his former tutor, Eusebius, the
+deacon, where she would be a welcome guest and find her old companion
+Agne.  Of this she was sincerely glad; and when, on hearing the title of
+Deacon, she questioned Marcus further, and identified Eusebius as the
+worthy old man whose discourse in the basilica had so deeply impressed
+her, she told Marcus how she had gone into the church, and how, from that
+hour, she had felt at peace.  A quite new feeling had sprung up in her
+soul, and since then she had constantly longed to see him again and talk
+it all over with him:--The little she had learnt of Christian doctrine
+did her heart good and had given her comfort and courage.  The world was
+so beautiful, and there were many more good men than bad.  It was a
+pleasure to love one's neighbor, and as for forgiving a wrong--that she
+had never found difficult.  It must be good to live on earth if everyone
+loved his neighbor as she loved him and he loved her; and life could not
+be a great hardship if in every trouble there was some one who was always
+ready to hear our cry and help us, out of pure beneficence.
+
+Her innocent talk was to Marcus the greatest marvel of this day of
+miracles.  The soul which he had dreamed that he was called to save had,
+of its own accord, turned to walk in the path of salvation; he went on to
+tell her of the things which he felt to be most sublime and glorious in
+his creed, and at length he confessed that, though he had always loved
+his neighbor for Christ's sake, never till now had true and perfect love
+been revealed to him.  No power on earth could now part him from her, and
+when she should have been baptized there would be no further difficulty;
+their love might last till, and beyond, death, through all the ages of
+eternity.  And she listened to him, perfectly content; and said that she
+was his, wholly his, now, and for ever and ever.
+
+There were to-day but few people in the garden which was usually full in
+the afternoon, of idlers, and of children with their nurses; but the
+disturbance in the streets had kept these at home, and the idlers had
+found more to attract them at the Hippodrome and in the crowded roads.
+This favored the lovers, who could sit hand in hand, looking into each
+other's eyes; and when old Phabis, who had lost sight of them long since,
+at length discovered them in the park, he could see from his lurking-
+place as he crept closer, that his young master, after glancing
+cautiously round, pressed a kiss on the little singer's hair,
+and then on her eyes and at last on her lips.
+
+The hours flew fast between serious talk and delightful dalliance, and
+when they tore themselves away from their quiet retreat it was already
+dusk.  They soon found themselves in the Canopic way, in the thick of the
+crowd which they were now occasionally obliged to meet, for those who
+were making homewards had long since dispersed, and thousands were still
+crowding to the Hippodrome where a brisk fight was still going on.  As
+they passed his mother's house Marcus paused and, pointing it out to
+Dada, told her that the day was not far distant when he should bring her
+home hither.  But the girl's face fell.
+
+"Oh no!"  she exclaimed, in a low voice.  "Not here-not to this great
+palace in a street.  Let us live in a little house, quite quietly, by
+ourselves.  A house with a garden, and a seat in the shade.  Your mother
+lives here!"
+
+And then she blushed scarlet and looked down.  He guessed, however, what
+was passing in her mind, and bid her only to have patience, for as soon
+as she was a baptized Christian Eusebius would intercede for her.  And he
+spoke warmly of his mother's piety and virtues, and asked Dada if she had
+seen her at the races.
+
+"Yes," she replied timidly; and when he went on to ask her if she had not
+thought Mary very handsome and dignified, she answered frankly: "Yes--
+very; but then she is so tall and grand-looking-she must wish for a
+daughter-in-law very different from a poor, forsaken orphan like me--a
+mere singer, looked down upon by every one!  It is different with you;
+you are satisfied with me as I am, and you know that I love you.  If I
+never find my uncle again I have no one on earth to care for me but you;
+but I want no other, for you are my one and only hope, and to live for
+you and with you is enough.  Only you must never leave me or I shall die!
+But you never can, for you told me that my soul was dearer to you than
+your own life; and so long as I have you and your love I shall grow
+better and better every day; but if you ever let me be parted from you
+I shall be utterly lost.  Yes, understand that once for all--ruined and
+lost, body and soul!--I do not know what it is that terrifies me, but do
+let us go on, away from this house.  Suppose your mother were to see us!"
+
+He did as she wished and tried to soothe her, praising his mother's
+virtues with the affectionate blindness of a son; but she only half
+listened to his eulogy, for, as they approached Rhacotis the throng grew
+denser, they had no opportunities for conversation, they could think of
+nothing but battling their way through the crowd; still, they were happy.
+
+     [The quarter of the city inhabited by the Egyptians.  It was the old
+     town close to which Alexander the Great built his splendid new
+     city.]
+
+They thus got to the street of the Sun--one of the main arteries of the
+city cutting the Canopic way at right angles--and they went down it
+towards the Gate of Helios in the south wall.  The Serapeum lay to their
+right, several streets leading to it from the street of the Sun.  To
+reach the house where Eusebius lived they ought to have turned down the
+street of the Acropolis, but a compact mass of frenzied creatures came
+storming down it from the Serapeum, and towards them.  The sun was now
+fast setting over the City of the Dead on the western horizon.  Marcus
+tried to get out of the middle of the road and place Dada in safety by
+the house at the corner, but in vain; the rabble that came crowding out
+of the side street was mad with excitement, and could think of nothing
+but the trophies it had snatched from the temple.  Several dozen men,
+black and white alike--and among them some monks and even women, had
+harnessed themselves to an enormous truck, commonly used for the carriage
+of beams, columns, and heavy blocks of stone, on which they had erected a
+huge but shapeless mass of wood, the core, and all that remained, of the
+image of Serapis; this they were dragging through the streets.
+
+"To the Hippodrome!  Burn it!  Down with the idols!  Look at the divine
+form of Serapis!  Behold the god!"
+
+These were the cries that rent the air from a thousand throats, an ear-
+splitting accompaniment to the surging storm of humanity.
+
+The monks had torn the desecrated block from the niche in the Serapeum,
+hauled it through the courts on to the steps, and were now taking it to
+the arena where it was to be burnt.  Others of their kidney, and some of
+the Christian citizens who had caught the destructive mania, had forced
+their way into the temple of Anubis, hard by the Serapeumn, where they
+had overthrown and wrecked the jackal-headed idols and the Canopic gods
+--four huge jars with lids representing respectively a man's head, an
+ape's, a hawk's and a jackal's.  They were now bearing these heads in
+triumph, while others were shouldering the limbs of broken statues of
+Apollo, of Athene, or of Aphrodite, or carrying the fragments in baskets
+to cast them into the flames in the Hippodrome after the wooden stock of
+the great Serapis.  The mob had broken off the noses of all the heads,
+had smeared the marble with pitch, or painted it grossly with the red
+paint they had found in the writing-rooms of the Sera peum.  Every one
+who could get near enough to the remains of the statue, or to a fragment
+of a ruined idol, spit upon it, struck it or thrust at it; and not a
+heathen had, as yet, dared to interfere.
+
+Behind the oak block of the image of Serapis and the other trophies of
+victory, came an endless stream of men of all ages, of monks and of
+women, compelling a large carruca--[A four-wheeled chariot used in the
+city and for travelling.]--that had fallen into their hands, and which
+they had completely surrounded, to keep pace with them.  The two fine
+horses that drew it had to be led by the bridle; they were trembling with
+terror and excitement and made repeated attempts to kick over the pole or
+to rear.
+
+In this vehicle was Porphyrius, who had fully recovered consciousness,
+and by his side sat Gorgo.  Constantine had not stirred from the side of
+the convalescent till Apuleius had pronounced him out of all danger; but
+then the young officer's duty had called him away.  The merchant had
+hailed the news of his daughter's, union with the companion of her
+childhood as a most satisfactory and long-expected event.
+
+A party of the Prefect's guards had been charged to bring the carriage
+for Porphyrius to the door of the temple, and the abbot of a monastery at
+Arsinoe, who was well known to the Prefect, undertook to escort them on
+their road home and protect them from the attacks of the raving mob.  At
+the spot where the side street intersected the street of the Sun, and
+where Marcus and Dada had been forced to stop, unable either to proceed
+or to return, a troop of armed heathen had given the Christian rabble a
+check at the very moment when the carruca came up, and falling on the foe
+who had mocked and insulted their most sacred treasure, began a furious
+fray.  Quite close to the young lovers a heathen cut down a Christian who
+was carrying the besmirched head of a Muse.  Dada clung in terror to
+Marcus, who was beginning to be seriously alarmed for her when, looking
+round for aid or refuge, he caught sight of his brother forcing his way
+through the throng, and gesticulating vehemently.  The farmer was
+telegraphing to the occupants of the carruca as well, and when he at last
+reached Marcus he briefly explained to him that the first thing to be
+done was to place Dada in safety.
+
+Only too glad to be out of the crush and danger, the girl nimbly climbed
+into the chariot, and, after hastily greeting the father and daughter,
+signed to Marcus to follow her; but Demetrius held his brother back, and
+it was hurriedly agreed that Dada should be sent for that evening to the
+house of Porphyrius.  Demetrius whispered a few words of enthusiastic
+praise of the little singer into Gorgo's ear; then the carriage moved on
+again.  Many of the heathen who had collected round it recognized
+Porphyrius, the noble friend of the great Olympius, and cleared a passage
+for him, so that at last he got out of the gate uninjured, and turned
+into the quieter street of Euergetes which led to the temple of Isis, the
+ship-yard and the merchant's residence.
+
+But few words were exchanged in the chariot, for it was only step by step
+and with considerable difficulty that the horses could get along.  It was
+now quite dark and the mob had spread even into this usually deserted
+quarter.
+
+A flaring glow that tinged the temple, the wharf and the deep sky itself
+with a gorgeous crimson glare, showed very plainly what the populace were
+employed in doing.  The monks had set fire to the temple of Isis and the
+flames had been driven by the northwest wind down into the ship-yard,
+where they had found ample food in the enormous timber stacks and the
+skeletons of ships.  Tall jets of rushing and crackling sparks were
+thrown skywards to mingle with the paler stars.  Porphyrius could see
+what danger his house was in; but thanks to the old steward's foresight
+and the indefatigable diligence of the slaves, it escaped the
+conflagration.
+
+The two brothers, meanwhile, had left the mob far behind them.  Demetrius
+was not alone, and as soon as he had introduced Marcus to his companion,
+an abbot of friendly mien, the monk warmly expressed his pleasure at
+meeting another son of Apelles,  to whom he had once owed his life.
+Demetrius then told his brother what his adventures had been during the
+last few hours, and where he had met this worthy Father.
+
+While taking Dada down into the arena to join Marcus, he had caught sight
+of Anubis, the Egyptian slave who had been his father's companion in his
+last memorable journey to Syria, and who, since the death of Apelles, had
+totally disappeared, the countryman had instantly followed him, seized
+him--not without a struggle and some little danger--and then had him led
+off by the city-guard to the prison by the Prefect's house.  Once secured
+he had been induced to speak, and his narrative proved beyond a doubt
+that Apelles had perished in a skirmish with the Saracens; the Egyptian
+slave had only taken advantage of his master's death to make off with the
+money he had with him.  He had found his way to Crete, where he had
+purchased a plot of ground with his plunder; but then, craving to see his
+wife and children once more, he had come back to fetch them away to his
+new home.  Finally, to confirm the truth of his story, which--clearing
+him apparently of the murder of his master--did not invite implicit
+belief, he told Demetrius that he had seen in Alexandria, only the day
+before, a recluse who had been present when Apelles fell, and Demetrius
+had at once set out to find this monk, enquiring among those who had
+swarmed into the city.  He had very soon been successful; Kosnias, who
+since then had been elected abbot of the monastery to which he belonged,
+now again told Marcus the story of his father's heroic courage in the
+struggle with the freebooters who had attacked his caravan.  Apelles, he
+said, had saved his life and that of two other anchorites, one of whom
+was in Alexandria at this very time.  They were travelling from Hebron to
+Aila, a party of seven, and had placed themselves under the protection of
+the Alexandrian merchant's escort; everything had gone well till the
+infidel Saracens had fallen upon them in the high land south of Petra.
+Four of the monks had been butchered out of hand; but Apelles, with a few
+of the more resolute spirits in the company, had fought the heathen with
+the valor of a lion.  He, Kosmas, and his two surviving comrades had
+effected their escape, while Apelles engaged the foe; but from a rocky
+height which they climbed in their flight they saw him fall, and from
+that hour they had always mentioned him in their prayers.  It would be an
+unspeakable satisfaction to him to do his utmost to procure for such a
+man as Apelles the rank he deserved in the list of martyrs for the Faith.
+
+Marcus, only too happy, wanted to hurry away at once to his mother and
+tell her what he had heard, but Demetrius detained him.  The Bishop-he
+told his brother--had desired his immediate presence, to be congratulated
+on his victory; his first duty was to obey that mandate, and he should at
+once avail himself of its favorable opportunity to obtain for his
+deceased parent the honor he had earned.
+
+It rather startled Marcus to find his brother taking its interest in a
+matter which, so lately, he had vehemently opposed; however, he proceeded
+at once to the episcopal palace, accompanied by the abbot, and half an
+hour later Demetrius, who had awaited his return, met him coming out with
+sparkling eyes.  The Prelate, he said, had received him very graciously,
+had thanked him for his prowess and had bid him crave a reward.  He at
+once had spoken of his father, and called the recluse to witness to the
+facts.  The Bishop had listened his story, and had ended by declaring
+himself quite willing to put the name of Apelles on the list of the
+Syrian martyrs.  Theophilus had been most unwilling hitherto to reject
+the petitions of so good and illustrious Christian as Mary; and now,
+after such ample testimony as to the manner of her husband's death, it
+was with sincere satisfaction that he bestowed this high mark of honor on
+the Christian victor and his admirable mother.  "So now," added the young
+man, "I shall fly home, and how happy my mother will be...."
+
+But Demetrius would not allow him to finish his sentence.  He laid his
+hand on the young man's shoulder saying: "Patience, my dear fellow,
+patience!  You must stay with me for the present, and not go to your
+mother till I have settled everything that is necessary.  Do not
+contradict me I entreat you, unless you want to deprive me of the
+happiness of remedying an injustice to your pretty Dada.  What you most
+desire for yourself and her is your mother's blessing--and do you think
+that will be easy to obtain?  Far from it, lad!  But I can manage it for
+you; and I will, too, if only you will do as I bid you, and if the old
+Heathen's niece can be induced to be baptized...."
+
+"She is a Christian already!"  exclaimed Marcus eagerly.
+
+"Well then, she can be yours to-morrow," Demetrius went on calmly, "if
+you listen to the advice of your older and wiser brother.  It cannot be
+very hard upon you, for you must own that if I had not fought it out with
+Anubis--and the rascal bit all he could reach like a trapped fox--if I
+had not got him locked up and almost run my legs off in hunting down the
+worthy abbot, our father would never have enjoyed the promotion which he
+is at last to obtain.  Who would ever have believed that I should get any
+satisfaction out of this 'Crown of Martyrdom'?  By the gods!  It is by no
+means impossible, and I hope the manes of the deceased will forgive me
+for your sake.  But it is getting late, so only one thing more: for my
+own share of the business all I claim is my right to tell your mother
+myself of all that has occurred; you, on your part, must go at once to
+Eusebius and beg him to receive Dada in his house.  If he consents--and
+he certainly will--take him with you to our uncle Porphyrius and wait
+there till I come; then, if all goes well, I will take you and Dada to
+your mother--or, if not, we will go with Eusebius."
+
+"Dada to my mother!"  cried Marcus.  "But what will she ......"
+
+"She will receive her as a daughter," interrupted his brother, "if you
+hold your tongue about the whole business till I give you leave to
+speak.--There, the tall gate-keeper is closing the episcopal palace,
+so nothing more can come out of there to-night.  You are a lucky fellow
+--well good-bye till we meet again; I am in a hurry."
+
+The farmer went off, leaving Marcus with a thousand questions still
+unasked.  However, the young man did his bidding and went, hopeful though
+not altogether free from doubts, to find his old tutor and friend.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+While Marcus carried out his brother's instructions Dada was expecting
+him and Eusebius with the greatest impatience.  Gorgo had charged her
+waiting-woman to conduct the girl into the music-room and to tell her
+that she would join her there if her father was in such a state as to
+allow of it.  Some refreshments were brought in to her, all delicate and
+tempting enough; but Dada would not touch them, for she fancied that the
+merchant's daughter was avoiding her intentionally, and her heart ached
+with a sense of bereavement and loneliness.  To distract her thoughts she
+wandered round the room, looking at the works of art that stood against
+the walls, feeling the stuffs with which the cushions were covered and
+striking a lute which was leaning against the pedestal of a Muse.  She
+only played a few chords, but they sufficed to call up a whole train of
+memories; she sank on a divan in the darkest corner she could find in the
+brilliantly-lighted room, and gave herself up to reviewing the many
+events of the last few days.  It was all so bright, so delightful, that
+it hardly seemed real, and her hopes were so radiantly happy that for a
+moment she trembled to think of their fulfilment--but only for a moment;
+her young soul was full of confidence and elation, and if a doubt weighed
+it down for an instant it was soon cast off and her spirit rose with bold
+expectancy.
+
+Her heart overflowed with happiness and thankfulness as she thought of
+Marcus and his love for her; her fancy painted the future always by his
+side, and though her annoyance at Gorgo's continued absence, and her
+dread of her lover's mother slightly clouded her gladness, the sense of
+peace and rapture constantly came triumphantly to the front.  She forgot
+time as it sped, till at length Gorgo made her appearance.
+
+She had not deliberately kept out of the little singer's way; on the
+contrary, she had been detained by her father, for not till now had she
+dared to tell him that his mother, the beloved mistress of his house, was
+no more.  In the Serapeum she had not mentioned it, by the physician's
+orders; and now, in addition, through the indiscretion of a friend, he
+had received some terrible tidings which had already been known for some
+hours in the city and which dealt him a serious blow.  His two sons were
+in Thessalonica, and a ship, just arrived from thence, brought the news-
+only too well substantiated, that fifteen thousand of the inhabitants of
+that town had been treacherously assassinated in the Circus there.
+
+This hideous massacre had been carried out by the Imperial troops at
+Caesar's command, the wretched citizens having been bidden to witness the
+races and then ruthlessly butchered.  A general of the Imperial army--a
+Goth named Botheric--had been killed by the mob, and the Emperor had thus
+avenged his death.
+
+Porphyrius knew only too well that his sons would never have been
+absent from any races or games.  They certainly must have been among the
+spectators and have fallen victims to the sword of the slaughterer.  His
+mother and two noble sons were snatched from him in a day; and he would
+again have had recourse to poison as a refuge from all, if a dim ray of
+hope had not permitted him to believe in their escape.  But all the same
+he was sunk in despair, and behaved as though he had nothing on earth
+left to live for.  Gorgo tried to console him, encouraged his belief in
+her brothers' possible safety, reminded him that it was the duty of a
+philosopher to bear the strokes of Fate with fortitude; but he would not
+listen to her, and only varied his lamentations with bursts of rage.
+
+At last he said he wished to be alone and reminded Gorgo that she ought
+to go to Dada.  His daughter obeyed, but against her will; in spite of
+all that Demetrius had said in the young girl's favor she felt a little
+shy of her, and in approaching her more closely she had something of the
+feeling of a fine lady who condescends to enter the squalid hovel of
+poverty.  But her father was right: Dada was her guest and she must treat
+her with kindness.
+
+Outside the door of the music-room she dried away her tears for her
+brothers, for her emotion seemed to her too sacred to be confessed to a
+creature who boldly defied the laws laid down by custom for the conduct
+of women.  From Dada's appearance she felt sure that all those lofty
+ideas, which she herself had been taught to call "moral dignity" and
+"a yearning for the highest things," must be quite foreign to this girl
+with whom her cousin had condescended to intrigue.  She felt herself
+immeasurably her superior; but it would be ungenerous to allow her to see
+this, and she spoke very kindly; but Dada answered timidly and formally.
+
+"I am glad," Gorgo began, "that accident brought you in our way;" and
+Dada replied hastily: "I owe it to your father's kindness, and not to
+accident."
+
+"Yes, he is very kind," said Gorgo, ignoring Dada's indignant tone.
+"And the last few hours have brought him terrible sorrows.  You have
+heard, no doubt, that he has lost his mother; you knew her--she had taken
+quite a fancy to you, I suppose you know."
+
+"Oh! forget it!"  cried Dada.
+
+"She was hard to win," Gorgo went on, "but she liked you.  Do you not
+believe me?  You should have seen how carefully she chose the dress you
+have on at this minute, and matched the ornaments to wear with it."
+
+"Pray, pray say no more about it," Dada begged.  "She is dead, and I have
+forgiven her--but she thought badly, very badly of me."
+
+"It is very bad of you to speak so," interrupted Gorgo, making no attempt
+to conceal her annoyance at the girl's reply.  "She--who is dead--
+deserves more gratitude for her liberality and kindness!"
+
+Dada shook her head.
+
+"No," she said firmly.  "I am grateful, even for the smallest kindness;
+I have not often met with disinterested generosity.  But she had an end
+in view--I must say it once for all.  She wanted to make use of me to
+bring shame on Marcus and grief on his mother.  You surely must know it;
+for why should you have thought me too vile to sing with you if you did
+not believe that I was a good-for-nothing hussy, and quite ready to do
+your dead grandmother's bidding?  Everybody, of course, looked down upon
+us all and thought we must be wicked because we were singers; but you
+knew better; you made a distinction; for you invited Agne to come to your
+house and sing with you.--No, unless you wish to insult me, say no more
+about my owing the dead lady a debt of gratitude!"
+
+Gorgo's eyes fell; but presently she looked up again and said:
+
+"You do not know what that poor soul had suffered.  Mary, her son's
+widow, had been very cruel to her, had done her injuries she could never
+forgive--so perhaps you are right in your notion; but all the same,
+my grandmother had a great liking for you--and after all her wish is
+fulfilled, for Marcus has found you and he loves you, too, if I am not
+mistaken!"
+
+"If you are not mistaken!"  retorted Dada.  "The gods forefend!--Yes, we
+have found each other, we love each other.  Why should I conceal it?"
+
+"And Mary, his mother--what has she to say to it?"  asked Gorgo.
+
+"I do not know," replied Dada abashed.
+
+"But she is his mother, you know!"  cried Gorgo severely.  "And he will
+never--never--marry against her will.  He depends on her for all that he
+has in the world."
+
+"Then let her keep it!"  exclaimed Dada.  "The smaller and humbler the
+home he gives me the better I shall like it.  I want his love and nothing
+more.  All--all he desires of me is right and good; he is not like other
+men; he does not care for nothing but my pretty face.  I will do whatever
+he bids me in perfect confidence; and what he thinks about me you may
+judge for yourself, for he is going to put me in the care of his tutor
+Eusebius."
+
+"Then you have accepted his creed?"  asked Gorgo.  "Certainly I have,"
+said Dada.
+
+"I am glad of that for his sake," said the merchant's daughter.  "And if
+the Christians only did what their preachers enjoin on them one might be
+glad to become one.  But they make a riot and destroy everything that
+is fine and beautiful.  What have you to say to that--you, who were
+brought up by Karnis, a true votary of the Muses?"
+
+"I?"  said Dada.  "There are bad men everywhere, and when they rise to
+destroy what is beautiful I am very sorry.  But we can love it and
+cherish it all the same."
+
+"You are happy indeed if you can shut your eyes at the dictates of your
+heart!" retorted Gorgo, but she sighed.  "Happy are they and much to be
+envied who can compel their judgment to silence when it is grief to hear
+its voice.  I--I who have been taught to think, cannot abandon my
+judgment; it builds up a barrier between me and the happiness that
+beckons me.  And yet, so long as truth remains the highest aim of man,
+I will bless the faculty of seeking it with all the powers of my mind.
+My betrothed husband, like yours, is a Christian; and I would I could
+accept his creed as unflinchingly as you; but it is not in my nature to
+leap into a pool when I know that it is full of currents and whirlpools.
+--However, the present question has to do with you and not with me.
+Marcus, no doubt, will be happy to have won you; but if he does not
+succeed in gaining his mother's consent he will not continue happy you
+may rely upon it.  I know these Christians! they cannot conceive of any
+possible joy in married life without their parents' blessing, and if
+Marcus defies his mother he will torture his conscience and lead a death-
+in-life, as though he were under some heavy load of guilt."
+
+"For all that, and all that," Dada insisted, "he can no more be happy
+without me than I can without him.  I have never in my life paid court to
+any one, but I have always met with kindness.  Why then should I not be
+able to win his mother's heart?  I will wager anything and everything
+that she will take kindly to me, for, after all, she must be glad when
+she sees her son happy.  Eusebius will speak for us and she will give its
+her blessing!  But if it is not to be, if I may never be his wife
+honestly and in the face of the world, still I will not give him up, nor
+he me.  He may deal with me as he will--as if he were my god and I were
+his slave!"
+
+"But, my poor child, do you know nothing of womanly honor and womanly
+dignity?" cried Gorgo clasping her hands.  "You complain of the lot of a
+singing-girl, and the cruel prejudices of the world--and what are you
+saying?  Let me have my way, you would say, or I scorn your morality?"
+
+"Scorn!" exclaimed Dada firing up.  "Do you say I scorn morality?  No,
+indeed no.  I am an insignificant little person; there is nothing proud
+or great about me, and as I know it full well I am quite humble; in all
+my life I never dared to think of scorn, even of a child.  But here, in
+my heart, something was awoke to life--through Marcus, only through him
+--something that makes me strong; and when I see custom and tradition in
+league against me because I am a singer, when they combine to keep me out
+of what I have a right to have--well, within these few hours I have found
+the spirit to defend myself, to the death if need be!  What you call
+womanly honor I have been taught to hold as sacred as you yourself, and
+I have kept it as untainted as any girl living.  Not that I meant to do
+anything grand, but you have no idea of what it is when every man thinks
+he has a right to oppress and insult a girl and try to entrap her.  You,
+and others like you, know nothing of small things, for you are sheltered
+by walls and privileges.  We are every man's game, while they approach
+you as humbly as if you were goddesses.--Besides!  It is not only what I
+have heard from Karnis, who knows the world and fine folks like you; I
+have seen it for myself at Rome, in the senators' houses, where there
+were plenty of young lords and great men's daughters--for I have not gone
+through life with my eyes shut; with you love is like lukewarm water in a
+bath, but it catches us like fire.  Sappho of Lesbos flung herself from
+the Leucadian rock because Phaon flouted her, and if I could save Marcus
+from any calamity by doing the same, I would follow her example.--You
+have a lover, too; but your feeling for him, with all the 'intellect'
+and 'reflections,' and 'thought' of which you spoke, cannot be the right
+one.  There is no but or if in my, love at any rate; and yet, for all
+that, my heart aches so sorely and beats so wildly, I will wait patiently
+with Eusebius and submit to whatever I am bidden.--And in spite of it
+all you condemn me unheard, for you. . . .  But why do you stand and look
+like that?  You look just like you did that time when I heard you sing.
+By all the Muses! but you, too, like us, have some fire in your veins,
+you are not one of the lukewarm sort; you are an artist, and a better one
+than I; and if you ever should feel the right love, then--then take care
+lest you break loose from propriety and custom--or whatever name you give
+to the sacred powers that subdue passion--even more wildly than I--who am
+an honest girl, and mean to remain so, for all the fire and flame in my
+breast!"
+
+Gorgo remembered the hour in which she had, in fact, proffered to the
+man of her choice as a free gift, the love which, by every canon of
+propriety, she ought only to have granted to his urgent wooing.  She
+blushed and her eyes fell before the humble little singer; but while she
+was considering what answer she could make men's steps were heard
+approaching, and presently Eusebius and Marcus entered the room, followed
+by Gorgo's lover.  Constantine was in deep dejection, for one of his
+brothers had lost his life in the burning of his father's ship-yard, and
+as compared with this grief, the destruction of the timber stores which
+constituted the chief part of his wealth scarcely counted as a calamity.
+
+Gorgo had met him with a doubtful and embarrassed air; but when she
+learnt of the blow that had fallen on him and his parents, she clung to
+him caressingly and tried to comfort him.  The others sympathized deeply
+with his sorrow; but soon it was Dada's turn to weep, for Eusebius
+brought the news of her foster-parent's death in the fight at the
+Serapeum, and of Orpheus being severely wounded.
+
+The cheerful music-room was a scene of woe till Demetrius came to conduct
+his brother and Dada to the widow Mary who was expecting them.  He had
+arrived in a chariot, for he declared his legs would no longer carry him.
+"Men," said he, "are like horses.  A swift saddle-horse is soon tired
+when it is driven in harness and a heavy cart-horse when it is made to
+gallop.  His hoofs were spoilt for city pavements, and scheming,
+struggling and running about the streets were too much for his country
+brains and wore him out, as trotting under a saddle would weary a plough-
+horse.  He thanked the gods that this day was over.  He would not be
+rested enough till to-morrow to be really glad of all his success."--But
+in spite of this assertion he was radiant with overflowing satisfaction,
+and that in itself cheered the mourners whom he tried to encourage.  When
+he said they must be going, Gorgo kissed the little singer; indeed, as
+soon as she saw how deeply she was grieved, shedding bitter but silent
+tears, she had hastened to take her in her arms and comfort her like a
+sister.
+
+Constantine, Gorgo and old Eusebius were left together, and the young
+girl was longing to unburden her over-full heart.  She had agreed to her
+lover's request that she would at once accompany him to see his sorrowing
+parents; still, she could not appear before the old Christian couple and
+crave their blessing in her present mood.  Recent events had embittered
+her happy belief in the creed into which she had thrown herself, and much
+as it pained her to add a drop to Constantine's cup of sorrow, duty and
+honesty commanded that she should show him the secrets of her soul and
+the doubts and questionings which had begun to trouble her.  The old
+priest's presence was a comfort to her; for her earnest wish was to
+become a Christian from conviction; as soon as they were alone she poured
+out before them all the accusations she had to bring against the
+adherents of their Faith: They had triumphed in ruining the creations of
+Art; the Temple of Isis and the ship-yard lay in ashes, destroyed by
+Christian incendiaries; their tears were not yet dry when they flowed
+afresh for the sons of Porphyrius--Christians themselves--who, unless
+some happy accident had saved them, must have perished with thousands of
+innocent sufferers--believers and infidels together--by the orders of the
+Emperor whom Constantine had always lauded as a wise sovereign and pious
+Christian, as the Defender of the Faith, and as a faithful disciple of
+the Redeemer.
+
+When, at last, she came to an end of her indictment she appealed to
+Constantine and Eusebius to defend the proceedings of their co-
+religionists, and to give her good grounds for confessing a creed
+which could sanction such ruthless deeds.
+
+Neither the Deacon nor his pupil attempted to excuse these acts; nay,
+Constantine thought they were in plain defiance of that high law of Love
+which the Christian Faith imposes on all its followers.  The wicked
+servant, he declared, had committed crimes in direct opposition to the
+spirit and the letter of the Master.
+
+But this admission by no means satisfied Gorgo; she represented to the
+young Christian that a master must be judged by the deeds of his servant;
+she herself had turned from the old gods only because she felt such
+intense contempt for their worshippers; but now it had been her lot to
+see--the Deacon must pardon her for saying so--that many a Christian far
+outdid the infidels in coarse brutality and cruelty.  Such an experience
+had filled her with distrust of the creed she was required to subscribe
+to--she was shaken to the very foundations of her being.
+
+Eusebius had, till now, listened in silence; but as she ended he went
+towards her, and asked her gently whether she would think it right to
+turn the fertilizing Nile from its bed and leave its shores dry, because,
+from time to time, it destroyed fields and villages in the excess of its
+overflow?  "This day and its deeds of shame," he went on sadly, "are a
+blot on the pure and sublime book of the History of our Faith, and every
+true Christian must bitterly bewail the excesses of a frenzied mob.  The
+Church must no less condemn Caesar's sanguinary vengeance; it casts a
+shade on his honor and his fair name, and his conscience no doubt will
+punish him for such a crime.  Far be it from me to defend deeds which
+nothing can justify. . ."
+
+But Gorgo interrupted him.  "All this," she said, "does not alter the
+fact that such crimes are just as possible and as frequent with you, as
+with those whom I am expected to give up, and who. . ."
+
+"But it is not merely on account of their ill deeds that you are giving
+them up, Gorgo," Constantine broke in.  "Confess, dear girl, that your
+wrath makes you unjust to yourself and your own heart.  It was not out of
+aversion for the ruthless and base adherents of the old gods but--as I
+hope and believe--out of love for me that you consented to adopt my
+faith--our faith."
+
+"True, true," she exclaimed, coloring as she remembered the doubts Dada
+had cast on the truth of her love.
+
+"True, out of love for you--love of Love and of peace, I consented to
+become a Christian.  But with regard to the deeds committed by your
+followers, tell me yourself--and I appeal to you reverend Father--what
+inspired them: Love or Hate."
+
+"Hate!" said Constantine gloomily; and Eusebius added sorrowfully
+
+"In these dark days our Faith is seen under an aspect that by no means
+fairly represents its true nature, noble lady; trust my words!  Have you
+not yourself seen, even in your short life, that what is highest and
+greatest can in its excess, be all that is most hideous?  A noble pride,
+if not kept within bounds, becomes overweening ambition; the lovely grace
+of humility degenerates into an indolent sacrifice of opinion and will;
+high-hearted enterprise into a mad chase after fortune, in which we ride
+down everything that comes in the way of success.  What is nobler than a
+mother's love, but when she fights for her child she becomes a raving
+Megaera.  In the same way the Faith--the consoler of hearts--turns to a
+raging wild-beast when it stoops to become religious partisanship.  If
+you would really understand Christianity you must look neither down to
+the deluded masses, and those ambitious worldlings who only use it as a
+means to an end by inflaming their baser passions, nor up to the throne,
+where power translates the impulse of a disastrous moment into sinister
+deeds.  If you want to know what true and pure Christianity is, look into
+our homes, look at the family life of our fellow believers.  I know them
+well, for my humble functions lead me into daily and hourly intercourse
+with them.  Look to them if you purpose to give your hand to a Christian
+and make your home with him.  There, my child, you will see all the
+blessings of the Saviour's teaching, love and soberness, pitifulness to
+the poor and a real heart-felt eagerness to forgive injuries.  I have
+seen a Christian bestow his last crust on his hapless foe, on the enemy
+of his house, on the Heathen or the Jew, because they, too, are men,
+because our neighbor's woes should be as our own--I have seen them taken
+in and cherished as though they were fellow-Christians.--There you will
+find a striving after all that is good, a never-fading hope in better
+days to come, even under the worst afflictions; and when death requires
+the sacrifice of all that is dearest, or swoops down on life itself, a
+firm assurance of the forgiveness of sins through Christ.  Believe me,
+mistress, there is no home so happy as that of the Christian; for he who
+really apprehends the Saviour and understands his teaching need not mar
+his own joys in this life to the end that he may be a partaker of the
+bliss of the next.  On the contrary: He who called the erring to himself,
+who drew little children to his heart, who esteemed the poor above the
+rich, who was a cheerful guest at wedding-feasts, who bid us gain
+interest on the spiritual talents in our care, who commanded us to
+remember Him at a social meal, who opened hearts to love--He longed to
+release the life of the humblest creature from want and suffering.  Where
+love and peace reign must there not be happiness?  And as He preached
+love and peace above all else, He cannot have desired that we should
+intentionally darken our lives on earth and load them with sorrow and
+miseries in order to will our share of Heaven.  The soul that is full of
+the happy confidence of being one with Him and his love, is released from
+the bondage of sin and sorrow, even here below; for Jesus has taken all
+the sins and pains of the world on himself; and if Fate visits the
+Christian with the heaviest blows he bears them in silence and patience.
+Our Lord is Love itself; neither hatred nor envy are known to Him as they
+are to the gods of the Heathen; and when he afflicts us, it is as the
+wise and tender pastor of our souls, and for our good.  The omniscient
+Lord knows his own counsel, and the Christian submits as a child does to
+a wise father whose loving kindness he can always trust; nay, he can even
+thank him for sorrow and pain as though they were pleasurable benefits."
+
+Gorgo shook her head.
+
+"That all sounds very beautiful and good; it is required of the
+Christian, and sometimes, no doubt, fulfilled; but the Stoa demands the
+same virtues of its disciples.  You, Constantine, knew Damon the Stoic,
+and you will remember how strictly he enjoined on all that they should
+rise superior to pain and grief.  And then, when his only daughter lost
+her sight--she was a great friend of mine--he behaved like one possessed.
+My father, too, has often spoken to you of philosophy as a help to
+contemning the discomforts of life, and bearing the sports of Fate with a
+lofty mind; and now?  You should see the poor man, reverend Father.  What
+good have all the teachings of the great master done him?"
+
+"But he has lost so much--so much!"  sighed Constantine thinking of his
+own loss; and Eusebius shook his head.
+
+"In sorrow such as his, no philosophy, no mental effort can avail.  The
+blows that wound the affections can only be healed by the affections, and
+not by the intellect and considerations of reason.  Faith, child!  Faith
+is the true Herb of Grace.  The intellect is its foe; the feelings are
+its native soil where it finds constant nourishment; and however deep the
+bleeding wound of the mourner may be, Faith can heal it and reconcile
+the sufferer to his loss.  You have been taught to value a fine
+understanding, to measure everything by it, to build everything on its
+decisions.  To you the knowledge you have attained to by argument and
+inference is supreme; but the Creator has given us a heart as well as
+a brain; our affections, too, stir and grow in their own way, and the
+knowledge they can attain to, my child, is Faith.  You love--and Love
+is part of your affections; and now take my advice; do not let that
+reasoning intelligence, which has nothing to do with love, have anything
+to say in the matter; cherish your love and nurture it from the rich
+stores of your heart; thus only can it thrive to beauty and harmony.--And
+this must suffice for to-day, for I have already kept the wounded waiting
+too long in the Serapeum.  If you desire it, another time I will show you
+Christianity in all its depth and beauty, and your love for this good man
+will prepare the way and open your heart to my teaching.  A day will come
+when you will be able to listen to the voice of your heart as gladly as
+you have hitherto obeyed the dictates of your intellect; something new
+will be born in you which you will esteem as a treasure above all you
+ever acquired by reason and thought.  That day will assuredly dawn on
+you; for he whom you love has opened the path for you that leads to the
+gates of Truth; and as you seek you will not fail to find.--And so
+farewell.  When you crave a teacher you have only to come to him
+--and I know he will not have long to wait."
+
+Gorgo looked thoughtfully at the old man as he went away and then went
+with Constantine to see his parents.  It was in total silence that they
+made their way along the short piece of road to the house of Clemens.
+Lights were visible in the viridarium and the curtains of the doorway
+were drawn back; as they reached the threshold Constantine pointed to a
+bier which had been placed in the little court among the flower-beds; his
+parents were on their knees by the side of it.
+
+Neither he nor Gorgo ventured to disturb their wordless devotions, but
+presently the ship-master rose, drawing his fine, stalwart figure to its
+full height; then turning his kind, manly, grave face to his wife, who
+had also risen to her feet, he laid one hand on her still abundant white
+hair and held out the other which she took in hers.  Mariamne dried her
+eyes and looked up, in her husband's face as he said firmly and calmly:
+
+"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away!' She hid her face on his
+shoulder and responded sadly but fervently:
+
+"Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
+
+"Yea--Blessed!"  repeated Clemens emphatically but he passed his arm
+across his eyes.  "For thirty-two years hath He lent him to us; and in
+our hearts . . . ." and he struck his broad breast, "in here, he will
+never die for you or for me.  As for the rest--and there was a deal of
+property of our own and of other folks in these wood-piles--well, in time
+we shall get over that.  We may bless the Almighty for what we have
+left!"
+
+Gorgo felt her lover's hand grasp hers more tightly and she understood
+what he meant; she clung closer to him and whispered softly: "Yes, that
+is grand--that is the Truth."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+In the great house in the Canopic street it was late ere all was quiet
+for the night.  Even Demetrius, in spite of his fatigue, broke through
+his rule of "early to bed"; he felt he must see the reaping of the
+harvest he had sown for his brother.
+
+It had been no easy task to persuade Mary to accede to his importunities,
+but to his great joy he at last succeeded.
+
+He would have met with a rough dismissal if he had begun by praising Dada
+and expressing his wish to see her married to Marcus; he had gained his
+point inch by inch, very quietly; but when he had explained to her that
+it was in his hands to secure the martyr's crown for her husband she had
+turned suspicious and ironical, had made him swear that it was true,
+threatening him with punishments in this world and in the next; but he
+had let it all pass over his head, had solemnly sworn as she desired him,
+pledging not merely the salvation of his soul but his possessions in this
+world; till, at length, convinced that it really was in his power to
+gratify the dearest wish of her heart, she had yielded somewhat and
+altered her demeanor.  Still, he had not spoken a word to help her
+through her deliberations and bewilderment, but had left her to fight
+out the hard struggle with her own soul; not without some malicious
+enjoyment but also not without anxiety, till the first decisive
+question was put to him by his stepmother.
+
+She had heard that Dada was quite resolved to be baptized, and having
+once more made sure of the fact that the girl was anxious to become a
+Christian, she next asked:
+
+"And it was Marcus who won her to the faith?"
+
+"He alone."
+
+"And you can swear that she is a pure-minded and well-conducted girl?"
+
+Certainly, with the firmest conviction."
+
+"I saw her in the arena--she is pretty, uncommonly charming indeed--and
+Marcus...?"
+
+"He has set his heart on the girl, and I am sure that his passion is
+sincere and unselfish.  On the other hand I need hardly remind you that
+in this city there are many women, even among those of the first rank,
+whose birth and origin are far more doubtful than those of your son's
+little friend, for she, at any rate, is descended from free and
+respectable parents.  Her uncle's connections are among the best families
+in Sicily; not that we need trouble ourselves about that, for the wife of
+Philip's grandson would command respect even if she were only a freed-
+woman."
+
+"I know, I know," murmured Mary, as though all this were of minor
+importance in her eyes; and then for some little time she remained
+silent.  At last she looked up and exclaimed in a voice that betrayed the
+struggle still going on in her soul:
+
+"What have I to care for but my child's happiness?  In the sight of God
+we are all equal--great and small alike; and I myself am but a weak
+woman, full of defects and sins--but for all that I could have wished
+that the only son of a noble house might have chosen differently.  All I
+can say is that I must look upon this marriage as a humiliation laid upon
+me by the Almighty--still, I give it my sanction and blessing, and I will
+do freely and with my whole heart if my son's bride brings as her
+marriage-portion the one thing which is the first and last aim of all my
+desires: The everlasting glory of Apelles.  The martyr's crown will open
+the gates of Heaven to him--who was your father, too, Demetrius.  Gain
+that and I myself will lead the singer to my son's arms."
+
+"That is a bargain!"  cried Demetrius--and soon after midnight he had
+retired to rest, after seeing Mary fulfil her promise to give a parental
+blessing to the betrothed pair.
+
+A few weeks later Dada and Gorgo were both baptized, and both by the name
+of Cecilia; and then, at Mary's special entreaty, Marcus' marriage was
+solemzed with much pomp by the Bishop himself.
+
+Still, and in spite of the lavish demonstrations of more than motherly
+affection which the widow showered her daughter-in-law, Dada felt a
+stranger, and ill at ease in the great house in the Canopic way.  When
+Demetrius, a few weeks after their marriage, proposed Marcus that he
+should undertake the management of family estates in Cyrenaica, she
+jumped at the suggestion; and Marcus at once decided to act upon it when
+his brother promised to remain with him for the first year or two,
+helping him with his advice and instructions.
+
+Their fears lest Mary should oppose the project, proved unfounded; for,
+though the widow declared that life would be a burden to her without her
+children, she soon acceded to her son's wishes and admitted that they
+were kind and wise.  She need not fear isolation, for, as the widow of
+the martyred Apelles, she was the recognized leader of the Christian
+sisterhood in the town, and preferred working in a larger circle than
+that of the family.  She always spoke with enthusiasm to her visitors of
+her daughter-in-law Cecilia, of her beauty, her piety and her gentleness;
+in fact, she did all she could to make it appear that she herself had
+chosen her son's wife.  But she did not care to keep this "beloved
+daughter" with her in Alexandria, for the foremost position in every
+department of social life was far more certain to be conceded to the
+noble widow of a "martyred witness" in the absence of the pretty little
+converted singer.
+
+So the young couple moved to Cyrenaica, and Dada was happy in learning to
+govern her husband's large estates with prudence and good sense.  The gay
+singing-girl became a capable housewife, and the idle horse-loving Marcus
+a diligent farmer.  For three years Demetrius staid with them as adviser
+and superintendent; even afterwards he frequently visited them, and for
+months at a time, and he was wont to say:
+
+"In Alexandria I am heart and soul, a Heathen, but in the house with your
+Cecilia I am happy to be a Christian."
+
+Before they quitted the city a terrible blow fell on Eusebius.  The
+sermon he had delivered just before the overthrow of Serapes, to soothe
+the excited multitude and guide them in the right way, had been regarded
+by the Bishop of the zealot priests, who happened to be present, as
+blasphemous and as pandering to the infidels; Theophilus, therefore, had
+charged his nephew Cyril--his successor in the see--to verify the facts
+and enquire into the deacon's orthodoxy.  It thus came to light that
+Agne, an Arian, was not only living under his roof, but had been trusted
+by him to nurse certain sick persons among the orthodox; the old man was
+condemned by Cyril to severe acts of penance, but Theophilus decided that
+he must be deprived of his office in the city, where men of sterner stuff
+were needed, and only allowed the charge of souls in a country
+congregation.
+
+It was a cruel blow to the venerable couple to be forced to quit the
+house and the little garden where they had been happy together for half a
+lifetime; however, the change proved to be to their advantage, for Marcus
+invited his worthy teacher to be the spiritual pastor of his estates.
+The churches he built for his peasants were consecrated by Eusebius,
+whose mild doctrine and kindly influence persuaded many laborers and
+slaves to be baptized and to join his flock of disciples.  But the
+example and amiability of their young mistress was even more effectual
+than his preaching.  Men and women, slaves and free, all adored and
+respected her; to imitate her in all she did could only lead to honor and
+happiness, could only be right and good and wise.  Thus by degrees, and
+without the exertion of any compulsion, the temples and shrines on the
+Martyr's inheritance were voluntarily abandoned, and fell into ruin and
+decay.
+
+It was the same on the property of Constantine, which lay at no more than
+a day's journey from that of Marcus; the two young couples were faithful
+friends and good neighbors.  The estate which had come into Constantine's
+possession had belonged to Barkas, the Libyan, who, with his troops, had
+been so anxiously and vainly expected to succor the Serapeum.  The State
+had confiscated his extensive and valuable lands, and the young officer,
+after retiring from the service, had purchased them with the splendid
+fortune left to Gorgo by her grandmother.
+
+The two sons of Porphyrius had, as it proved, been so happy as to escape
+in the massacre at Thessalonica; and as they were Christians and piously
+orthodox, the old man transferred to them, during his lifetime, the chief
+share of his wealth; so that henceforth he could live honestly--alienated
+from the Church and a worshipper of the old gods, without anxiety as to
+his will.  The treasures of art which Constantine and Gorgo found in the
+house of Barkas they carefully preserved, though, ere long, few heathen
+were to be found even in this neighborhood which had formerly been the
+headquarters of rebellion on behalf of the old religion.
+
+Papias was brought up with the children of Marcus and Dada Cecilia, while
+his sister Agne, finding herself relieved of all care on his account,
+sought and found her own way through life.
+
+Orpheus, after seeing his parents killed in the fight at the Serapeum,
+was carried, sorely wounded, to the sick-house of which Eusebius was
+spiritual director.  Agne had volunteered to nurse him and had watched by
+his couch day and night.  Eusebius had also brought Dada and Papias to
+visit them, and Dada had promised, on behalf of Marcus, that Agne and her
+brother should always be provided for, even in the event of the good
+Deacon's death.  The little boy was for the moment placed in Eusebius'
+care, and it was a, cause of daily rejoicing to Agne to hear from the
+kind old man of all the charming qualities he discovered in the child who
+was perfectly happy with the old folks, and who, though he was always
+delighted to see his sister, was quite content to part from her and
+return home with Eusebius, or with Dada, to whole he was devoted.
+
+Orpheus recognized no one, neither Agne nor the child--and when visitors
+had been to see him, in his fevered ravings he would talk more vehemently
+than ever of great Apollo and other heathen divinities.  Then he would
+fancy that he was still fighting in the Serapeum and butchering thousands
+of Christian foes with his own hand.  Agne, whom he rarely recognized for
+a moment, would talk soothingly to him, and even try to say a few words
+about the Saviour and the life to come; but he always interrupted her
+with blasphemous exclamations, and cursed and abused her.  Never had she
+gone through such anguish of soul as by his bed of suffering, and yet she
+could not help gazing at his face; and when she told herself that he must
+soon be no more, that the light of his eyes would cease to shine on hers,
+she felt as though the sun were about to be extinguished and the earth
+darkened for all time.  However, his healthy vigor kept him lingering for
+many days and nights.
+
+On the last evening of his life he took Agne for a Muse, and calling to
+her to come to him seized her hand and sank back unconscious, never to
+move again.  She stood there as the minutes slowly passed, waiting in
+agonized suspense till his hand should be cold in hers; and as she waited
+she overheard a dialogue between two deaconesses who were watching by a
+sleeping patient.  One of them was telling the other that her sister's
+husband, a mason, had died an obdurate heathen and a bitter enemy of the
+Christian Church.  Then Dorothea, his widow, had devoted herself to
+saving his soul; she left her children, abandoning them to the charity of
+the congregation, and had withdrawn to a cloister to pray in silence and
+unceasingly for the soul of her deceased husband.  At first he used to
+appear to her in her dreams, with furious gestures, accompanied by
+centaurs and goat-footed creatures, and had desired her to go home to
+her children and leave his soil in peace, for that he was in very good
+quarters with the jolly devils; but soon after she had seen him again
+with scorched limbs, and he lead implored her to pray fervently for mercy
+on him, for that they were torturing him cruelly in hell.
+
+Dorothea had then retired into the desert of Kolzoum where she was still
+living in a cave, feeding on herbs, roots, and shell-fish thrown up on
+the sea-shore.  She had schooled herself to do without sleep, and prayed
+day and night for her husband's soul; and she lead obtained strength
+never to think of anything but her own and her husband's salvation, and
+to forget her children completely.  Her fervid devotion had at length met
+with full reward; for some little time her husband had appeared to her in
+a robe of shining light and often attended by lovely angels.
+
+Agne had not lost a word of this narrative, and when, next morning, she
+felt the cold hand of the dead youth and looked at his drawn and pain-
+stricken features, she shuddered with vague terrors: he, she thought,
+like Dorothea's husband, must have hell-torments to endure.  When she
+presently found herself alone with the corpse she bent over it and kissed
+the pale lips, and swore to herself that she would save his soul.
+
+That same evening she went back to Eusebius and told him of her wish to
+withdraw to the desert of Koizoum and become a recluse.  The old man
+besought her to remain with him, to take charge of her little brother,
+and not to abandon him and his old wife; for that it was a no less lovely
+Christian duty to be compassionate and helpful, and cherish the feeble in
+their old age.  His wife added her entreaties and tears; but a sudden
+chill had gripped Agne's heart; dry-eyed and rigid she resisted their
+prayers, and took leave of her benefactors and of Papias.  Bare-foot and
+begging her way, she started for the south-east and reached the shores of
+the Red Sea.  There she found the stonemason's widow, emaciated and
+haggard, with matted hair, evidently dying.  Agne remained with her,
+closed her eyes, and then lived on as Dorothea had lived, in the same
+cave, till the fame of her sanctity spread far beyond the boundaries of
+Egypt.
+
+When Papias had grown to man's estate and was installed as steward to
+Demetrius, he sought his sister many times and tried to persuade her to
+live with him in his new home; but she never would consent to quit her
+solitary cell.  She would not have exchanged it for a king's palace; for
+Orpheus appeared to her in nightly visions, radiant with the glories of
+Heaven; and time was passing and the hour drawing near when she might
+hope to be with him once more.
+
+The widow Mary, in her later years, made many pilgrimages to holy places
+and saintly persons, and among others to Agne, the recluse; but she would
+never be induced to visit Cyrenaica, whither she was frequently invited
+by her children and grandchildren; some more powerful excitant was needed
+to prompt her to face the discomforts of a journey.
+
+The old Heathen cults had completely vanished from the Greek capital long
+before her death.  With it died the splendor and the power of the second
+city in the world; and of all the glories of the city of Serapis nothing
+now remains but a mighty column--[Known as Pompey's Pillar.]--towering to
+the skies, the last surviving fragment of the beautiful temple of the
+sovereign-god whose fall marked so momentous an epoch in the life of the
+human race.  But, like this pillar, outward Beauty--the sense of form
+that characterized the heathen mind--has survived through the ages.  We
+can gaze up at the one and the other, and wherever the living Truth--the
+Spirit of Christianity--has informed and penetrated that form of Beauty,
+the highest hopes of old Eusebius have been realized.  Their union is
+solemnized in Christian Art.
+
+
+
+
+ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
+
+What have I to care for but my child's happiness?
+Faith is the true Herb of Grace.  The intellect is its foe
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SERAPIS, BY GEORG EBERS, V6 ***
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