But he did not
desist. The things that were occurring were unheard of, astounding.
Flowers, large as the sun, turned around before my eyes, and I heard a
harp of gold vibrating in mid-air. The day sank to its close. My arms
let go the iron bars; my strength was exhausted; and when he bore me
away to his house--"

_Antony_--"Whom are you talking about?"

_Priscilla_--"Why, of Montanus!"

_Antony_--"But Montanus is dead."

_Priscilla_--"That is not true."

_A voice_--"No, Montanus is not dead!"

Antony comes back; and near him, on the other side upon a bench, a
second woman is seated--this one being fair, and paler still, with
swellings under her eyelids, as if she had been a long time weeping.
Without waiting for him to question her, she says:

_Maximilla_--"We were returning from Tarsus by the mountains, when, at a
turn of the road, we saw a man under a fig-tree. He cried from a
distance, 'Stop!' and he sprang forward, pouring out abuse on us. The
slaves rushed up to protect us. He burst out laughing. The horses
pranced. The mastiffs all began to howl. He was standing up. The
perspiration fell down his face. The wind made his cloak flap.

"While addressing us by name, he reproached us for the vanity of our
actions, the impurity of our bodies; and he raised his fist towards the
dromedaries on account of the silver bells which they wore under their
jaws. His fury filled my very entrails with terror; nevertheless, it was
a voluptuous sensation, which soothed, intoxicated me. At first, the
slaves drew near. 'Master,' said they, 'our beasts are fatigued'; then
there were the women: 'We are frightened'; and the slaves ran away.
After that, the children began to cry, 'We are hungry.' And, as no
answer was given to the women, they disappeared. And now he began to
speak. I perceived that there was some one close beside me. It was my
husband: I listened to the other. The first crawled between the stones,
exclaiming, 'Do you abandon me?' and I replied, 'Yes! begone!' in order
to accompany Montanus."

_Antony_--"A eunuch!"

_Priscilla_--"Ah! coarse heart, you are astonished at this! Yet
Magdalen, Jane, Martha and Susanna did not enter the couch of the
Saviour. Souls can be madly embraced more easily than bodies. In order
to retain Eustolia with impunity, the Bishop Leontius mutilated
himself--cherishing his love more than his virility. And, then, it is
not my own fault. A spirit compels me to do it; Eotas cannot cure m