own."

Andreas started up, and after convincing himself that she was indeed
right, for the youth himself had recognized his sister, who waved her
hand to him, he wrathfully exclaimed:

"Madman!" and by intelligible and commanding signs he ordered the
reckless young artist to turn his little skiff, and follow in the wake of
the ferry-boat, which was by this time nearing land.

But Alexander signaled a negative, and, after gayly blowing a kiss to
Melissa, plied his oars again with as much speed and energy as though he
were rowing for a wager. How swiftly and steadily the keel of his little
boat cut through the crisply foaming waves on which it rose and fell! The
daring youth did not lack strength, that was certain, and the couple who
watched him with so much uneasiness soon understood that he was striving
to overtake another and larger bark which was at some distance in front
of him. It was being pulled by slaves, whose stalwart arms made the pace
a good one, and under the linen awning which shaded the middle part of it
two women were seated.

The rays of the sun, whose fiery globe was now sinking behind the
palm-groves on the western shore, flooded the sky with ruby light, and
tinged the white robes of these women, the light canopy over their heads,
and the whole face of the lake, with a rosy hue; but neither Andreas nor
his companion heeded the glorious farewell of departing day.

Melissa pointed out to her friend the strangeness of her brother's
attire, and the hood which, in the evening light, seemed to be bordered
with gold. He had on, in fact, a Gallic mantle, such as that which had
gained Caesar the nickname of Caracalla, and there was in this disguise
something to reassure them; for, if Alexander pulled the hood low enough,
it would hide the greater part of his face, and make it difficult to
recognize him. Whence he had procured this garment was not hard to
divine, for imperial servants had distributed them in numbers among the
crowd. Caesar was anxious to bring them into fashion, and it might safely
be expected that those Alexandrians who had held out their hands to
accept them would appear in them on the morrow, as no order required that
they should be worn. Alexander could not do better than wear one, if only
by such means he could escape Zminis and his men.

But who were the women he was pursuing? Before Melissa could ask the
question, Andreas pointed to the foremost boat, and said:

"Those are Christia