iral concluded, was in the King's service, and must
do what his commander in chief ordered.

"Duty," sighed Philippus; "yet what a punishment!"

He held out his hand to his son as he spoke, but the Lady Thyone shook
her head mournfully, saying: "There are four thousand over yonder; and
the philosopher and historian on the throne, the admirable art critic
who bestows upon his capital and Egypt all the gifts of peace, who
understands how to guard and develop it better than any one else--yet
what influence the gloomy powers exert upon him!"

Here she hesitated, and went on in a low whisper: "The blood of two
brothers stains his hand and his conscience. The oldest, to whom
the throne would have belonged, he exiled. And our friend, Demetrius
Phalereus, his father's noble councillor! Because you, Philippus,
interceded for him--though you were in a position of command, because
Ptolemy knows your ability--you were sent to distant Pelusium, and there
we should be still--"

"Guard your tongue, wife!" interrupted the old general in a tone
of grave rebuke. "The vipers on the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt
symbolize the King's swift power over life and death. To the Egyptians
the Philadelphi, Ptolemy and Arsinoe, are gods, and what cause have we
to reproach them except that they use their omnipotence?"

"And, mother," Eumedes eagerly added, "do not the royal pair on the
throne merely follow the example of far greater ones among the immortal
gods? When the very Gauls who are devoted to death yonder, greedy for
booty, attacked Delphi, four years ago, it was the august brother and
sister, Apollo and Artemis, who sent them to Hades with their arrows,
while Zeus hurled his thunderbolts at them and ordered heavy boulders
to fall upon them from the shaken mountains. Many of the men over there
fled from destruction at Delphi. Unconverted, they added new crimes
to the old ones, but now retribution will overtake them. The worse the
crime, the more bloody the vengeance.

"Even the last must die, as my sovereign commands; only I shall
determine the mode of death according to my own judgment, and at the
same time, mother, feel sure of your approval. Instead of lingering
starvation, I shall use swift arrows. Now you know what you were obliged
to learn. It would be wise, mother, for you to leave this abode of
misery. Duty summons me to my ship." He held out his hand to his parents
and Hermon as he spoke, but the latter clasped it firmly, ex