ptians had succeeded
in defeating a party of Arab soldiers; so the Memphites heard no more
than a dark rumor of what had occurred.

Philippus had known nothing of the old man's purpose till he had gone too
far to be dissuaded; and it was misery to him now to reflect that his
dear old friend, and his whole household, might come to ruin for the sake
of the sisterhood who were nothing to them; for he had received private
information that there had been a skirmish between the Moslems and the
deliverers of the nuns, which had cost the lives of several combatants on
both sides.

And Paula! If only he could have seen her happy--But she was pale; and
that which robbed the young girl--healthy as she was in mind and body--of
her proud, frank, independent bearing was not the heat, which tormented
all creation, but a secret, devouring sorrow; and this sorrow was the
work of one alone--of him on whom she had set her heart, and who made,
ah! what a return, for the royal gift of her love.

Philippus had frequent business at the governor's residence, and a
fortnight since he had plainly perceived what it was that had brought
Neforis into this strange state. She was taking the opium that her
husband had had, taking it in excessive quantities; and she could easily
procure more through some other physician. However, her piteous prayer
that Philippus would not abandon her to her fate had prevailed to induce
him to continue to see her, in the hope of possibly restricting her use
of the drug.

The senator's wife, Martina, also required his visits to the palace. She
was not actually ill, but she suffered cruelly from the heat, and she had
always been wont to see her worthy old house-physician every day, to hear
all the latest gossip, and complain of her little ailments when anything
went wrong with her usually sound health. Philippus was indeed too much
overburdened to chatter, but his professional advice was good and helped
her to endure the fires of this pitiless sky. She liked this incisive,
shrewd, plain-spoken man--often indeed sharp and abrupt in his
freedom--and he appreciated her bright, natural ways. Now and then
Martina even succeeded in winning a smile from "Hermes Trismegistus," who
was "generally as solemn as though there was no such thing on earth as a
jest," and in spurring him to a rejoinder which showed that this dolorous
being had a particularly keen and ready wit.

Heliodora attracted him but little. There was, to be s