hatred of Paula grew every minute: she had certainly
seen all that had happened and would not hesitate to betray him--that she
had shown last night. War, as it were, was declared between them, and he
vowed to himself, with fire in his eyes, that he would not shirk it! At
the same time he could not deny that she had never looked handsomer than
when she stood, with hair half undone, confronting him--threatening him.
"It is to be love or hate between us." he muttered to himself. "No
half-measures: and she has chosen hate! Good! Hitherto I have only had to
fight against men; but this bold, hard, and scornful maiden, who rejects
every gentle feeling, is no despicable foe. She has me at bay. If she
does her worst by me I will return it in kind!--And who is the owner of
the shoes? I have taken all possible means to find him. Shameful,
shameful! that I cannot hold up my head to look boldly at my own face in
the glass. Heliodora is a sweet creature, an angel of kindness. She loved
me truly; but this--this--Ah; even for her, this is too great a
sacrifice!"

He pressed his hand to his brow and flung himself on a divan. He might
well be weary, for he had not closed his eyes for more than thirty hours
and had already done much business that morning. He had given orders to
Sebek the house-steward and to the captain of the Egyptian guard to hunt
out the owner of the sandals by the aid of the dogs, and to cast him into
prison; next he had of his own accord--since his father generally did not
fall asleep till the morning and had not yet left his room--tried to
pacify the Arab merchant with regard to the mishap that had befallen his
head man under the governor's roof; but with small success.

Finally the young man had indulged his desire to compose a few lines
addressed to the fair Heliodora--for there was no form of physical or
mental effort to which he was not trained. He had not lost the idea that
had occurred to him yesterday before his theft in the tablinum, and to
put it into verse was in his present mood an easy task. He wrote as
follows:

"'Like liketh like' saith the saw; and like to like is but fitting.
Yet, in the hardest of gems thy soft nature rejoices?
Nay, but if noble and rare, if its beauty is priceless,
Then, Heliodora, the stone is like thee--akin to thy beauty.
Thus let this emerald please thee;--and know that the fire
That fills it with light burns more fierce in the heart of thy