f her heart? A rush of burning words
from his lips would have driven her off at once to the desert and to
death; his silence held her back--it puzzled her and dropped like cool
rain on the soaring flames of her pride, fell on the raging turmoil of
her soul like oil on troubled water. She could not part from him thus,
and her lips parted to call him once more by his name.

While she had been making confession of her love to the Roman as if
it were her last will and testament, Publius felt like a man dying
of thirst, who has been led to a flowing well only to be forbidden
to moisten his lips with the limpid fluid. His soul was filled with
passionate rage approaching to despair, and as with rolling eyes he
glanced round his prison an iron crow-bar leaning against the wall met
his gaze; it had been used by the workmen to lift the sarcophagus of the
last deceased Apis into its right place. He seized upon this tool, as a
drowning man flings himself on a floating plank: still he heard Klea's
last words, and did not lose one of them, though the sweat poured from
his brow as he inserted the metal lever like a wedge between the two
halves of the door, just above the threshold.

All was now silent outside; perhaps the distracted girl was already
hurrying towards the assassins--and the door was fearfully heavy and
would not open nor yield. But he must force it--he flung himself on the
earth and thrust his shoulder under the lever, pushing his whole
body against the iron bar, so that it seemed to him that every joint
threatened to give way and every sinew to crack; the door rose--once
more he put forth the whole strength of his manly vigor, and now the
seam in the wood cracked, the door flew open, and Klea, seized with
terror, flew off and away--into the desert--straight towards the
murderers.

Publius leaped to his feet and flung himself out of his prison; as he
saw Klea escape he flew after her with, hasty leaps, and caught her in
a few steps, for her mantle hindered her in running, and when she would
not obey his desire that she should stand still he stood in front of her
and said, not tenderly but sternly and decidedly:

"You do not go a step farther, I forbid it."

"I am going where I must go," cried the girl in great agitation. "Let me
go, at once!"

"You will stay here--here with me," snarled Publius, and taking both
her hands by the wrists he clasped them with his iron fingers as with
handcuffs. "I am the man and you