had reached their destination, he showed her the bed, and
begged her to keep awake, till he should have prepared a dish of warm
food for her, and he shortly brought her a simple supper, and wished her
a good night's rest, after she had taken it.

Sirona shared the bread and the salted meal-porridge with her dog,
and then lay down on the couch, where she sank at once into a deep,
dreamless sleep, while Paulus passed the night sitting by the hearth.

He strove to banish sleep by constant prayer, but fatigue frequently
overcame him, and he could not help thinking of the Gaulish lady, and of
the many things, which if only he were still the rich Menander, he would
procure in Alexandria for her and for her comfort. Not one prayer could
he bring to its due conclusion, for either his eyes closed before he
came to the "Amen," or else worldly images crowded round him, and
forced him to begin his devotions again from the beginning, when he
had succeeded in recollecting himself. In this half-somnolent state he
obtained not one moment of inward collectedness, of quiet reflection;
not even when he gazed up at the starry heavens, or looked down on the
oasis, veiled in night, where many others like himself were deserted by
sleep. Which of the citizens could it be that was watching by that light
which he saw glimmering down there in unwonted brightness?--till he
himself, overpowered by fatigue, fell asleep.

CHAPTER XIII.

The light in the town, which had attracted Paulus, was in Petrus'
house, and burnt in Polykarp's room, which formed the whole of a small
upper-story, which the senator had constructed for his son over the
northern portion of the spacious flat roof of the main building. The
young man had arrived about noon with the slaves he had just procured,
had learned all that had happened in his absence, and had silently
withdrawn into his own room after supper was ended. Here he still
lingered over his work.

A bed, a table on and under which lay a multitude of wax-tablets,
papyrus-rolls, metal-points, and writing-reeds, with a small bench, on
which stood a water-jar and basin, composed the furniture of this room;
on its whitewashed walls hung several admirable carvings in relief, and
figures of men and animals stood near them in long rows. In one corner,
near a stone water-jar, lay a large, damp, shining mass of clay.

Three lamps fastened to stands abundantly lighted this work-room, but
chiefly a figure standing on