not forgotten where to press, so that the heavy stone which
closed the entrance should move aside; but as she sprang from the last
step her lamp had blown out, and blackest darkness concealed the surface
of the smooth granite wall which lay between her and the street.

What if, when she got outside, she should be seen by the lictors or
spies?

At this thought fear overcame her for the first time. As she felt about
the door her hands trembled and beads of perspiration stood upon her
brow. But she must go to her wounded lover! When any one was bleeding to
death every moment might bring the terrible "too late." It meant
Diodoros's death if she did not succeed in opening the granite slab.

She took her hands from the stone and forced herself, with the whole
strength of her will, to be calm.

Where had been the place by pressing which the granite might be moved?

It must have been high up on the right side. She carefully followed with
her fingers the groove in which the stone lay, and having recalled its
shape by her sense of touch, she began her search anew. Suddenly she felt
something beneath her finger-tips that was colder than the stone. She had
found the metal bolt! With a deep breath, and without stopping to think
of what might be before her, she pressed the spring; the slab turned-one
step-and she was in the street between the racecourse and the Serapeum.

All was still around her. Not a sound was to be heard except from the
square to the north of the temple, where all who carried arms had
gathered together to enjoy the wine which flowed in streams as a mark of
the emperor's approbation, and from the inner circle of the race-course
voices were audible. Of the citizens not one dared show himself in the
streets, although the butchery had ceased at sundown. All who did not
carry the imperial arms had shut themselves up in their houses, and the
streets and squares were deserted since the soldiers had assembled in
front of the Serapeum.

No one noticed Melissa. The dangers that threatened her from afar
troubled her but little. She only knew that she must go on--go on as fast
as her feet would carry her, if she were to reach her loved one in time.

Skirting the south side of the temple, in order to get to the fountain,
her chief thought was to keep in its shadow. The moon had not yet risen,
and they had forgotten to light either the pitch-pans or the torches
which usually burned in front of the south facade of the te