Time! oh, son and daughter of
Eternity!

"He had hardly returned to his house, when he was interrupted by his
friend Callippus, just a little the worse for wine.

"'What new thing is this?' said Callippus. 'I hear you have consorted
with the Jews, and have been seen at their assembly.'

"'True, my friend.'

"True! By Jupiter! what is the meaning of it? You do not mean to say
that you are bitten by the mad dog?'

"'I believe.'

"'Oh, by God, that it should have come to this! Are you not ashamed to
look him in the face?' pointing to the Apollo statue. 'Ah! the old
prophecy is once more verified!--

"'Tutemet a nobis iam quovis tempore vatum
terriloquis victus dictis desciscere quaeres.' {2}

But I must be prudent. I saw somebody watching your house on the other
side of the street. If I am caught they will think I belong to the
accursed sect too. Farewell."

"The morning came, and about an hour after Charmides had risen two
soldiers presented themselves. He was hurried away, brought before the
judges, and examined. Some little pity was felt for him by two or three
members of the court, as he was well known in Rome, and one of them
condescended to argue with him and to ask him how he could become
ensnared by a brutal superstition which affirmed, so it was said, the
existence of devil-possessed pigs, and offered sacrifices to them.

"'You,' said he, 'an artist and philosopher--if it be true that you are a
pervert, you deserve a heavier punishment than the scum whom we have
hitherto convicted.'

"'For Christ and His Cross!' cried Charmides.

"'Take him away!'

"The next day Charmides and Demariste met outside the prison gates. They
were chained together in mockery, the seducer, Demariste, and the
seduced, Charmides. They were marched through the streets of Rome, the
crowd jeering them and thronging after them to enjoy the sport of their
torments and death. Charmides saw the eyes of Demariste raised
heavenward and her lips moving in prayer.

"'He has heard me,' she said, 'and you will endure.'

"He pressed her hand, and replied, with unshaken voice, 'Fear not.'

"They came to the place of execution, but before the final stroke they
were cruelly tortured. Charmides bore his sufferings in silence, but in
her extremest agony the face of Demariste was lighted with rapture.

"'Look, look, my beloved, there, there!' trying to lift her mangled arm,
'Christ the Lord! One moment more and we ar