g her--each time they visited him
had some message or note to carry to Paula, telling her how far his work
had progressed; and to her it was a consolation and heartfelt joy to be
able to follow him in his labors. And many a token of his love, esteem,
and admiration gave her courage, when even her brave heart began to
quail.

Ah! It was not alone her terror of a horrible death that tortured her
soul. Her father, whom she considered it her greatest joy in life to have
found again, was fading beyond all hope under her loving hands. His poor
wounded lungs refused its service. It was with great difficulty that he
could swallow a few drops of wine and mouthfuls of food; and in these
last days his clear mind had lain as it were under a shroud--perhaps it
was happier so, as she told herself and as her friends said to comfort
her.

He, too, had heard the cries of: "Hail to the Bride of the Nile!"

"Bring out the Bride!"

"Away with the Bride of the Nile!" Though he had no suspicion of their
meaning, they had haunted his thoughts incessantly during the last few
days; and the terrible, strange words had seemed to charm his fancy, for
to Paula's distress he would murmur them to himself tenderly or
thoughtfully as the case might be.

Many times the idea occurred to her that she might put an end to her life
before the worst should befall, before she became a spectacle for a whole
nation, to be jeered at and made a delightful and exciting show to rouse
their cruelty or their compassion. But dared she do it? Dared she defy
the Most High, the Lord in whom she put her trust, into whose hand she
commended herself in a thousand dumb but fervent prayers.

No. To the very last she would trust and hope. And wonderful to say! Each
time she had reached the very limits of her powers of endurance, feeling
she could certainly bear no more and must succumb, something came to her
to revive her faith or her courage: a message would be brought her from
Orion, or Dame Joanna or Pulcheria came to see her; the bishop sought an
interview, or her father's mind rallied and he could speak to her in
beautiful and stimulating words. Often the warder would announce the
senator and his wife, and their vigorous and healthy minds always hit on
the very thing she needed. Martina, particularly, with her subtle
motherly instinct, always understood whatever was agitating her; and once
she showed her a letter from Heliodora, in which she spoke of the
calmness sh