. Egypt is dead by her
own hand."

"Dead! dead!" he whispered, "and is Egypt dead? and is that form of
glory now food for worms? Oh, what a woman was this! E'en now my heart
goes out towards her. And shall she outdo me at the last, I who have
been so great; shall I become so small that a woman can overtop my
courage and pass where I fear to follow? Eros, thou hast loved me from a
boy--mindest thou how I found thee starving in the desert, and made thee
rich, giving thee place and wealth? Come, now pay me back. Draw that
sword thou wearest and make an end of the woes of Antony."

"Oh, Sire," cried the Greek, "I cannot! How can I take away the life of
godlike Antony?"

"Answer me not, Eros; but in the last extreme of fate this I charge
thee. Do thou my bidding, or begone and leave me quite alone! No more
will I see thy face, thou unfaithful servant!"

Then Eros drew his sword and Antony knelt before him and bared his
breast, turning his eyes to heaven. But Eros, crying "I cannot! oh, I
cannot!" plunged the sword to his own heart, and fell dead.

Antony rose and gazed upon him. "Why, Eros, that was nobly done," he
said. "Thou art greater than I, yet I have learned thy lesson!" and he
knelt down and kissed him.

Then, rising of a sudden, he drew the sword from the heart of Eros,
plunged it into his bowels, and fell, groaning, on the couch.

"O thou, Olympus," he cried, "this pain is more than I can bear! Make an
end of me, Olympus!"

But pity stirred me, and I could not do this thing.

Therefore I drew the sword from his vitals, staunched the flow of blood,
and, calling to those who came crowding in to see Antony die, I bade
them summon Atoua from my house at the palace gates. Presently she came,
bringing with her simples and life-giving draughts. These I gave to
Antony, and bade Atoua go with such speed as her old limbs might to
Cleopatra, in the tomb, and tell her of the state of Antony.

So she went, and after a while returned, saying that the Queen yet lived
and summoned Antony to die in her arms. And with her came Diomedes. When
Antony heard, his ebbing strength came back, for he was fain to look
upon Cleopatra's face again. So I called to the slaves--who peeped and
peered through curtains and from behind pillars to see this great man
die--and together, with much toil, we bore him thence till we came to
the foot of the Mausoleum.

But Cleopatra, being afraid of treachery, would no more throw wide the
door;