rawing 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 ques