the stadium the street was crowded, and at every door of the Serapeum
lictors were posted, even at that stone door known only to the
initiated, with the temple slaughterers and other servants who seemed
all to be on guard. If Melissa were to come out now she would be seized,
and it must become known who had shown her the way into the hiding-place
that had sheltered her.

At this moment Theokritus came leaping down the stairs, crying out to
her: "The lion--a physician--where shall I find a leech?"

The matron pointed to the old man, who was one of the medical students
of the sanctuary, and the favorite shouted out to him, "Come up!" and
then rushed on, paying no heed to Euryale's inquiry for Melissa; but
the old man laughed scornfully and shouted after him, "I am no
beast-healer."

Then, turning to the lady, he added:

"I am sorry for the lion. You know me, lady. I could never till
yesterday bear to see a fly hurt. But this brute! It was as a son to
that bloodhound, and he shall feel for once something to grieve him.
The lion has had his portion. No physician in the world can bring him to
life again."

He bent his head and returned to his laboratory; but the matron
understood that this kind, peaceable man, in spite of his white hair,
had become a poisoner, and that the splendid, guiltless beast owed its
death to him. She shuddered. Wherever this unblest man went, good
turned to evil; terror, suffering, and death took the place of peace,
happiness, and life. He had forced her even into the sin of disobedience
to her husband and master. But now her secret hiding of Melissa against
his will would be avenged. He and she alike would probably pay for the
deed with their life; for the murder of his lion would inevitably rouse
Caesar's wildest passions.

Still, she knew that Caracalla respected her; for her sake, perhaps, he
would spare her husband. But Melissa? What would her fate be if she were
dragged out of her hiding-place?--and she must be discovered! He had
threatened to cast her to the beasts; and ought she not to prefer
even that fearful fate to forgiveness and a fresh outburst of Caesar's
passion?

Pale and tearless, but shaken with alarms, she bent over the balustrade
of the stairs and murmured a prayer commending herself, her husband, and
Melissa to God. Then she hastened up the steps. The great doors leading
to the chambers of mystery stood wide open, and the first person she met
was her husband.

"You h