our winds came from all sides the
senseless, odious, horrible cry: "Stop thief!--stop thief!" it seemed to
deprive him of his senses.

But the passionate cry of his heart: "To Lochias, to Arsinoe! keep free,
save your liberty if only to be of use at Lochias!" drowned the shouts
of his pursuers and urged him through the streets that led to the old
palace.

On he went faster and farther, each step a leap; the briny breeze from
the sea already fanned his glowing cheeks and the narrow empty street
yonder he well knew led to the quay by the King's harbor, where he could
hide from his pursuers among the tall piles of wood. He was just turning
the corner into the alley when an Egyptian ox-driver threw his goad
between his legs; he stumbled, fell to the ground, and instantly felt
that a dog which had rushed upon him was tearing the chiton he wore,
while he was seized by a number of men. An hour later and he found
himself in prison, bitten, beaten, and bound among a crew of malefactors
and real thieves.

Night had fallen. His parents were waiting for him and he came not; and
in Lochias which he had not been able to reach there were misery and
trouble enough, and the only person in the world who could carry comfort
to Arsinoe in her despair was absent and nowhere to be found.

CHAPTER X.

The story told by Mastor which had so greatly agitated Pollux and had
prompted him to his mad flight was the history of events which had taken
place in the steward's rooms during the hours when the young artist
was helping his parents to transfer their household belongings into
his sister's tiny dwelling. Keraunus was certainly not one of the most
cheerful of men, but on the morning when Sabina came to the palace and
the gate-keeper was driven from his home, he had worn the aspect of a
thoroughly-contented man.

Since visiting Selene the day before he had given himself no farther
concern about her. She was not dangerously ill and was exceptionally
well taken care of, and the children did not seem to miss her. Indeed,
he himself did not want her back to-day. He avoided confessing this to
himself it is true, still he felt lighter and freer in the absence
of his grave monitor than he had been for a long time. It would be
delightful, he thought, to go on living in this careless manner, alone
with Arsinoe and the children, and now and again he rubbed his hands and
grinned complacently. When the old slave-woman brought a large dish full