rds him and, when
Pulcheria came into the room, she placed Mary's hand in hers and said:
"There, now make friends and stay together like good children till I come
back again and have something nice to tell you. You are fond of Orion,
little one, my story shall be all about him."

"He was obliged to go," said Pulcheria, interrupting her. "Here is his
message on this tablet. He was almost dying of impatience, and when he
could wait no longer he wrote this for you."

Paula took the tablet, with a cry of regret, and carried it to her room
to read. He had longed for their meeting as eagerly as herself, but at
last he could wait no longer. How differently--so he wrote--had he hoped
to end this day which must be devoted to the rescue of her friends.

Why, oh why had she allowed herself to be detained here? Why had she not
flown to him, at least for a few moments, to thank him for his kindness
and faithfulness, and to hear him confess publicly and aloud what he had
but murmured in her ear the day before? She returned to the little girl,
anxious and dissatisfied with herself.

Orion had in fact postponed his departure till the last moment; he
thought it necessary to give Amru due notice of his journey and of his
rupture with the patriarch. Of all the motives which could prompt him to
aid the nuns, revenge was that which the Arab could best understand.

CHAPTER VI.

As Orion rode across the bridge of boats to Fostat, the gladness that had
inspired him died away. Could not--ought not Paula to have spared him a
small part of the time she had devoted to the child? He had been left to
make the most of a kind grasp of the hand and a grateful look of welcome.
Would she not have flown to meet him, if the love of which she had
assured him yesterday were as fervent, as ardent as his own? Was the
proud spirit of this girl, who, as his mother said, was cold and
unapproachable, incapable of passionate, self-forgetting devotion? Was
there no way of lighting up in her the sacred fire which burnt in him? He
was tormented by many doubts and a bitter feeling of disappointment, and
a crowd of suspicions forced themselves upon him, which would never have
troubled him if only he had seen her once more, had heard her happy words
of love, and felt his lips consecrated by his mistress' first kiss.

He was out of spirits, indeed out of temper, as he entered the Arab
general's dwelling. In the anteroom he was met by rejected petitioners,
and