Jewess saw her advantage in a moment, and ran on, without giving her
time to answer--

'What sort shall it be, then? By glass and water, or by the moonlight
on the wall, or by the sieve, or by the meal? By the cymbals, or by the
stars? By the table of the twenty-four elements, by which the Empire
was promised to Theodosius the Great, or by the sacred counters of the
Assyrians, or by the sapphire of the Hecatic sphere? Shall I threaten,
as the Egyptian priests used to do, to tear Osiris again in pieces, or
to divulge the mysteries of Isis? I could do so, if I chose; for I know
them all and more. Or shall I use the ineffable name on Solomon's seal,
which we alone, of all the nations of the earth, know? No; it would be a
pity to waste that upon a heathen. It shall be by the sacred wafer. Look
here!--here they are, the wonder-working atomies! Eat no food this day,
except one of these every three hours, and come to me to-night at the
house of your porter, Eudaimon, bringing with you the black agate; and
then--why then, what you have the heart to see, you shall see!'

Hypatia took the wafers, hesitating--

'But what are they?'

'And you profess to explain Homer? Whom did I hear the other morning
lecturing away so glibly on the nepenthe which Helen gave the heroes, to
fill them with the spirit of joy and love; how it was an allegory of
the inward inspiration which flows from spiritual beauty, and all
that?--pretty enough, fair lady; but the question still remains, what
was it? and I say it was this. Take it and try; and then confess, that
while you can talk about Helen, I can act her; and know a little more
about Homer than you do, after all.'

'I cannot believe you! Give me some sign of your power, or how can I
trust you?'

'A sign?--A sign? Kneel down then there, with your face toward the
north; you are over tall for the poor old cripple.'

'I? I never knelt to human being.'

'Then consider that you kneel to the handsome idol there, if you
will--but kneel!'

And, constrained by that glittering eye, Hypatia knelt before her.

'Have you faith? Have you desire? Will you submit? Will you obey?
Self-will and pride see nothing, know nothing. If you do not give up
yourself, neither God nor devil will care to approach. Do you submit?'

'I do! I do!' cried poor Hypatia, in an agony of curiosity and
self-distrust, while she felt her eye quailing and her limbs loosening
more and more every moment under that intolerable fas