await the fugitives in a tavern by
the harbor, and conduct them on board the vessel which would be in
readiness. Diodoros, who was not yet able to walk far, promised to avail
himself of one of the litters waiting outside the Temple of Artemis.

Just before the vehicle stopped, the lovers took leave. They arranged
where and how they might have news of each other, and all they said, in
brief words and a fervent parting kiss, in this moment, when death or
imprisonment might await them, had the solemn purport of a vow.

The swift horses stopped. Alexander hastily leaned over to his friend,
kissed him on both cheeks, and whispered:

"Take good care of her; think of me kindly if we should never meet
again, and tell the others that wild Alexander has played another fool's
trick, at any rate, not a wicked one, however badly it may turn out for
him."

For the sake of the charioteer, who, after Melissa's flight, would be
certainly cross-examined, Diodoros could make no reply. The carruca
rattled off by the way by which it had come; Diodoros vanished in the
darkness, and Melissa clasped her hands over her face. She felt as
though this were her last parting from her lover, and the sun would
never shine on earth again.

It was now near midnight. The slaves had heard the approach of the
chariot, and received them as heartily as ever, but in obedience to
Heron's orders they added the most respectful bows to their usual
well-meant welcome. Since their master had shown himself to Dido, in the
afternoon, with braggart dignity, as a Roman magnate, she had felt
as though the age of miracles had come, and nothing was impossible.
Splendid visions of future grandeur awaiting the whole family, including
herself and Argutis, had not ceased to haunt her; but as to the empress,
something seemed to have gone wrong, for why had the girl wet eyes and
so sad a face? What was all this long whispering with Argutis? But it
was no concern of hers, after all, and she would know all in good time,
no doubt. "What the masters plot to-day the slaves hear next week," was
a favorite saying of the Gauls, and she had often proved its truth.

But the cool way in which Melissa received the felicitations which
the old woman poured out in honor of the future empress, and her
tear-reddened eyes, seemed at any rate quite comprehensible. The child
was thinking, no doubt, of her handsome Diodoros. Among the splendors
of the palace she would soon forget. And how tr