more capable
of awakening in others the hope of brighter times than amid the sorest
privations; one tone of the orator's deep, resonant voice, which
so often came from the heart and therefore gained hearts with such
resistless power; the recollection of numberless instances of the bright
cheerfulness of his nature and his boundless generosity sufficiently
explained the lamentations which burst forth at that banquet, the tears
which flowed--tears of genuine feeling. They were also shed for the
beautiful Queen who, unmindful of the spectators, rested her noble brow,
with its coronal of pearls, upon his mighty shoulder.

But the grief did not last long, for Mark Antony, shouted: "Hence with
melancholy! We do not need the larva!

[At the banquets of the Egyptians a small figure in the shape of a
mummy was passed around to remind the guests that they, too, would
soon be in the same condition, and have no more time to enjoy life
and its pleasures. The Romans imitated this custom by sending the
larva, a statuette in the form of a skeleton, to make the round of
the revellers. The Greek love of beauty converted this ugly
scarecrow into a winged genius.]

We know, without its aid, that pleasure will soon be over!--Xuthus,
a joyous festal song!--And you, Metrodor, lead the dancers! The first
beaker to the fairest, the best, the wisest, the most cherished, the
most fervently beloved of women!" As he spoke he waved his goblet
aloft, the flute-player, Xuthus, beckoned to the chorus, and the dancer
Metrodor, in the guise of a butterfly, led forth a bevy of beautiful
girls, who, in the cloud of ample robes of transparent coloured bombyx
which floated around them, executed the most graceful figures and
now hovered like mists, now flitted to and fro as if borne on wings,
affording the most charming variety to the delighted spectators.

The "Comrades of Death" had again become companions in pleasure; and
when Charmian, who did not lose sight of her mistress, noticed the
sorrowful quiver of her lips and glided out of the circle of guests, the
faithful Nubian had approached to inform her of Dion's arrival.

Then--but this she concealed from her friends--she hastened to her own
apartments to prepare to go out, and when Iras opened the door to enter
her rooms she went to speak to her about the night attendance upon the
Queen. But her niece had not perceived her; shaken by convulsive sobs,
she had pressed her face amo