m; but this time there was no moving the lady; she would not despoil
herself of a single rose. After she had solemnly declared that she would
appear in the Circus either as she thought fit or not at all, her husband
had left her in anger.

"What a fool she is!" Euryale exclaimed.

Then she showed him a white robe of beautiful bombyx, woven in the isle
of Kos, which she had decided on for Melissa, and a peplos with a border
of tender sea-green; and Alexander approved of the choice.

Time pressed, and Euryale went at once to Melissa with the new festal
raiment. Once more she nodded kindly to the girl, and begged her, as she
herself had something to discuss with Alexander, to allow the
waiting-woman to dress her. She felt as if she were bringing the robe to
a condemned creature, in which she was to be led to execution, and
Melissa felt the same.

Euryale then returned to the painter, and bade him end his narrative.

The lady Berenike had forthwith desired Johanna to pack together all the
dead Korinna's festal dresses. Alexander had then followed her guidance,
accompanying her to a court in the slaves' quarters, where a number of
men were awaiting her. These were the captains of Seleukus's ships, which
were now in port, and the superintendents of his granaries and offices,
altogether above a hundred freedmen in the merchant's service. Each one
seemed to know what he was here for.

The matron responded to their hearty greetings with a word of thanks, and
added, bitterly:

"You see before you a mourning mother whom a ruthless tyrant compels to
go to a festival thus--thus--only look at me--bedizened like a peacock!"

At this the bearded assembly gave loud expression to their
dissatisfaction, but Berenike went on "Melapompus has taken care to
secure good places; but he has wisely not taken them all together. You
are all free men; I have no orders to give you. But, if you are indeed
indignant at the scorn and heart-ache inflicted on your lord's wife, make
it known in the Circus to him who has brought them on her. You are all
past your first youth, and will carefully avoid any rashness which may
involve you in ruin. May the avenging gods aid and protect you!"

With this she had turned her back on the multitude; but Johannes, the
Christian lawyer, the chief freedman of the household, had hurried into
the court-yard, just in time to entreat her to give up this ill-starred
demonstration, and to extinguish the fire she had t