waited for the return of the lady and the
Christian waiting-woman, but in vain. At last her eye fell upon the
scrolls which the lady Berenike had pointed out to her. They lay in
beautiful alabaster caskets on an ebony stand. If they had only been the
writings of the Christians, telling of the life and death of their
Saviour! But how should writings such as those come here? The casket only
held the works of Philostratus, and she took from it the roll containing
the story of the hero of whom he had himself spoken to her. Full of
curiosity, she smoothed out the papyrus with the ivory stick, and her
attention was soon engaged by the lively conversation between the vintner
and his Phoenician guest. She passed rapidly over the beginning, but soon
reached the part of which Philostratus had told her. Under the form of
Achilles he had striven to represent Caracalla as he appeared to the
author's indulgent imagination. But it was no true portrait; it described
the original at most as his mother would have wished him to be. There it
was written that the vehemence flashing from the hero's bright eyes, even
when peacefully inclined, showed how easily his wrath could break forth.
But to those who loved him he was even more endearing during these
outbursts than before. The Athenians felt toward him as they did toward a
lion; for, if the king of beasts pleased them when he was at rest, he
charmed them infinitely more when, foaming with bloodthirsty rage, he
fell upon a bull, a wild boar, or some such ferocious animal.

Yes, indeed! Caracalla, too, fell mercilessly upon his prey! Had she not
seen him hewing down Apollinaris a few hours ago?

Furthermore, Achilles was said to have declared that he could drive away
care by fearlessly encountering the greatest dangers for the sake of his
friends. But where were Caracalla's friends?

At best, the allusion could only refer to the Roman state, for whose sake
the emperor certainly did endure many a hardship and many a wearisome
task, and he was not the only person who had told her so.

Then she turned back a little and found the words: "But because he was
easily inclined to anger, Chiron instructed him in music; for is it not
inherent in this art to soothe violence and wrath--And Achilles acquired
without trouble the laws of harmony and sang to the lyre."

This all corresponded with the truth, and tomorrow she was to discover
what had suggested to Philostratus the story that when Achilles