f Ione's love.

Following up the advantage he gained by this appeal to her pride,
Arbaces reminded Ione that she had never seen the interior of his home.
It might, he said, amuse her. "Devote then," he went on, "to the austere
friend of your youth one of these bright summer evenings, and let me
boast that my gloomy mansion has been honoured with the presence of the
admired Ione."

Unconscious of the pollutions of the mansion, of the danger that awaited
her, Ione readily assented to the proposal. But there was one who, by
accident, had become aware of the nature of the spells cast by Arbaces
upon his visitors, and who was to be the humble means of saving lone
from his toils. This was the blind flower-girl Nydia.

Of Thessalian extraction, and gentle nurture, Nydia had been stolen and
sold into the slavery of an ex-gladiator named Burbo, a relative of the
false priest Calenus. To save her from the cruelty of Burbo, Glaucus had
purchased her, and, in return, the blind girl had become devoted to
him--so devoted that her gentle heart was torn when he made it plain to
her that his action was prompted by mere natural kindness of heart, and
that it was his purpose to send her to Ione.

But she cast all feeling of jealousy aside when she heard of Ione's
visit to the Egyptian, and quickly apprised Glaucus and Apaecides of the
fair Athenian's peril.

On her arrival, Arbaces greeted Ione with deep respect. But he found it
harder than he thought to resist the charm of her presence in his house,
and in a moment of forgetful passion he declared his love for her.
"Arbaces," he declared, "shall have no ambition save the pride of
obeying thee--Ione. Ione, do not reject my love!" And as he spoke he
knelt before her.

Alone, and in the grip of this singular and powerful man, Ione was not
yet terrified; the respect of his language, the softness of his voice,
reassured her; and in her own purity she felt protection. But she was
confused, astonished. It was some moments before she could recover the
power of reply.

"Rise, Arbaces," said she at length. "Rise! and if thou art serious, if
thy language be in earnest----"

"_If_----" said he tenderly.

"Well, then, listen. You have been my guardian, my friend, my monitor.
For this new character I was not prepared. Think not," she added
quickly, as she saw his dark eyes glitter with the fierceness of his
passion, "think not that I scorn; that I am untouched; that I am not
honoured by th