ll the
pleasures which he will not have known;--and he, likewise, contemplates
the side of the altar.

But the man in the black tunic rushes up to him:

"How scandalous! What? You a victim of election? Think of all these
women who are looking at you! And then, God sometimes performs a
miracle. Pionius benumbed the hands of his executioners; and the blood
of Polycarp extinguished the flames of his funeral-pile."

He turns towards the old man. "Father, father! You ought to edify us by
your death. By deferring it, you will, without doubt, commit some bad
action which will destroy the fruit of your good deeds. Besides, the
power of God is infinite. Perhaps your example will convert the entire
people."

And, in the den opposite, the lions stride up and down, without
stopping, rapidly, with a continuous movement. The largest of them all
at once fixes his eyes on Antony and emits a roar, and a mass of vapour
issues from his jaws.

The women are jammed up against the men.

The consoler goes from one to another:

"What would ye say--what would any of you say--if they burned you with
plates of iron; if horses tore you asunder; if your body, coated with
honey, was devoured by insects? You will have only the death of a hunter
who is surprised in a wood."

Antony would much prefer all this than the horrible wild beasts; he
imagines he feels their teeth and their talons, and that he hears his
back cracking under their jaws.

A belluarius enters the dungeon; the martyrs tremble. One alone amongst
them is unmoved--the Phrygian, who has gone into a corner to pray. He
had burned three temples. He now advances with lifted arms, open mouth,
and his head towards Heaven, without seeing anything, like a
somnambulist.

The consoler exclaims:

"Keep back! Keep back! The Spirit of Montanus will destroy ye!"

All fall back, vociferating:

"Damnation to the Montanist!"

They insult him, spit upon him, would like to strike him. The lions,
prancing, bite one another's manes. The people yell:

"To the beasts! To the beasts!"

The martyrs, bursting into sobs, catch hold of one another. A cup of
narcotic wine is offered to them. They quickly pass it from hand to
hand.

Near the door of the den another belluarius awaits the signal. It opens;
a lion comes out.

He crosses the arena with great irregular strides. Behind him in a row
appear the other lions, then a bear, three panthers, and leopards. They
scatter like a flock in a p