ved ribs one or two foremen
were busily measuring with tape and rule.

An elderly man of dignified aspect was standing close by, who, as Dada
had already discovered, was the head of the ship-yard, and the warrior
hastened towards him. She heard him say: "Father," and in the next
instant she saw the old man open his arms and the officer rush to embrace
him.

Dada never took her eyes off the couple who walked on, arm in arm and
talking eagerly, till they disappeared into a large house on the further
side of the dockyard.

"What a handsome man!" Dada repeated to herself, but while she waited to
see him return she gazed across the lake by which Marcus might find his
way to her. And as she lingered, idly dreaming, she involuntarily
compared the two men. There were fine soldiers in plenty in Rome, and the
ship-builder's son was in no particular superior to a hundred others; but
such a man as Marcus she had never before seen--there could hardly be
such another in the world. The young guard was one fine tree among a
grove of fine trees; but Marcus had something peculiar to himself, that
distinguished him from the crowd, and which made him exceptionally
attractive and lovable. His image at length so completely filled her mind
that she forgot the handsome officer, and the shipmaster and every one
else.

ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:

Christian hypocrites who pretend to hate life and love death
He may talk about the soul--what he is after is the girl
Love means suffering--those who love drag a chain with them
To her it was not a belief but a certainty
Trifling incident gains importance when undue emphasis is laid

SERAPIS

By Georg Ebers

Volume 2.

CHAPTER V.

Karnis and his two companions were a long time away. Dada had almost
forgotten her wish to see the young soldier once more, and after playing
with little Papias for some time, as she might have played with a dog,
she began to feel dull and to think the quiet of the boat intolerable.
The sun was sinking when the absentees returned, but she at once reminded
Karnis that he had promised to take her for a walk and show her
Alexandria. Herse, however, forbid her going on such an expedition till
the following day. Dada, who was more irritable and fractious than usual,
burst into tears, flung the distaff that her foster-mother put into her
hand over the side of the ship, and declared between her sobs that she
was not a slave,