same name."

Ledscha now went clown the steps which led to the lawn, and Bias saw
that she stumbled on the last one and would have fallen had not her
lithe body regained its balance in time.

"A bad omen!" thought the slave. "If I had the power to build a wall
between my master and the spider yonder, it should be higher than the
lighthouse of Sostratus. To heed omens guides one safely through life. I
know what I know, and will keep my eyes open, for my master too."

CHAPTER IX.

Hermon had intended to add a few more touches to his Demeter, but he
could not do it. Ledscha, her demand, and the resentment with which she
had left him, were not to be driven from his mind.

There was no doubt that he must seek her if he was not to lose her, yet
he reproached himself for having acted like a thoughtless fool when he
proposed to divide the night between her and Daphne.

There was something offensive in the proposal to so proud a creature.
He ought to have promised positively to come, and then left the banquet
somewhat earlier. It would have been easy to apologize for his late
arrival, and Ledscha would have had no cause to be angry with him.

Now she had, and her resentment awakened in him--though he certainly
did not lack manly courage--an uncomfortable feeling closely allied to
anxiety.

Angered by his own conduct, he asked himself whether he loved the
barbarian, and could find no satisfactory answer.

At their first meeting he had felt that she was far superior to the
other Biamite maidens, not only in beauty but in everything else. The
very acerbity of her nature had seemed charming. To win this wonderful,
pliant creature, slender as a cypress, whose independence merged into
fierce obstinacy, had appeared to him worth any sacrifice; and having
perceived in her an admirable model for his Arachne, he had also
determined to brave the dangers which might easily arise for the Greek
from a love affair with a Biamite girl, whose family was free and
distinguished.

It had been easier for him to win her heart than he expected; yet at
none of the meetings which she granted him had he rejoiced in the secret
bond between them.

Hitherto her austere reserve had been invincible, and during the
greater part of their interviews he had been compelled to exert all his
influence to soothe, appease her, and atone for imprudent acts which he
had committed.

True, she, too, had often allowed herself to display passionate
te