o shatter the new and undeserved
good fortune which you--yes, you--do you hear?--enjoyed, I remained with
him among the Gauls. More than one Alexandrian brought me the news that
you were revelling in golden wealth, and the wretch promised to make you
and your uncle beggars if the surprise succeeded. He did this, though he
knew that it was you who took him up from the road and saved his life;
for nothing good and noble dwells in his knavish soul. He yearned for me,
and still more ardently for the Alexandrians' gold. Worse than the wolf
that licked the hand of the man who bandaged its wounds, he would have
shown his teeth to the preserver of his life. I have learned this, and if
he dies here of starvation and thirst he will receive only what he
deserves. He knows, too, what I think of him. The greedy beast of prey
was not permitted even to touch my hand. Just ask him! There he is. Let
him tell you how I listened to his vows of love. Before I would have
permitted yonder wretch to recall to life what you crushed in this
heart--"

Here Lutarius interrupted her with a flood of savage, scarcely
intelligible curses, but very soon one of the guards, who came out of the
hut, stopped him with a lash.

When the Gaul, howling under the blows, was silenced, Hermon asked, "So
your mad thirst for vengeance also caused this suicidal attack?"

"No," she answered simply; "but when they determined upon the assault,
and had killed their leader, Belgius, yonder monster stole to their head.
So it happened--I myself do not know how--that they also obeyed me, and I
took advantage of it and induced them to begin with your house and
Archias's. When they had captured the royal palaces, they intended to
assail the Temple of Demeter also."

"Then you thought that even the terrible affliction of blindness would
not suffice to punish the man you hated?" asked Hermon.

"No," she answered firmly; "for you could buy with your gold everything
life offers except sight, while in me--yes, in me--gloom darker than the
blackest night shrouded my soul. Through your fault I was robbed of all,
all that is clear to woman's heart: my father's house, his love, my
sister. Even the pleasure in myself which had been awakened by your sweet
flatteries was transformed by you into loathing."

"By me?" cried Hermon, amazed by the injustice of this severe reproach;
but Ledscha answered his question with the resolute assertion, "By you
and you alone!" and then impatient