agreeable to suggest delay. After a brief silence he
remarked--

"There is to be a special gathering of the Christians in the Church of
the Triple Arch to-night. The bishop is away at Myra. But Orestes,
the shepherd, is to be present, and I promise thee something will be
said that will give us a plausible backing; his words are plain, ay
even bold as the cliffs of Mount Taurus, where he dwells. Should we
not wait till then, Demonicus?"

"I shall not," answered he, stamping his heavy, sandalled foot
viciously; "it would be our last chance, and the woman might not be
there."

"The lady is sure to be," rejoined Timon, "she is the spirit of the
whole movement."

Demonicus paced about reflecting, and having cooled down, he
mumbled,--"I shall see, but I shall miss no chance before."

Timon now stepped out and looked along the street, then turning
immediately round to his companion with a hesitating, half-regretful
look, he whispered--

"She is coming!"

The face of Demonicus glowed with an evil flame, as he went forward
quickly to assure himself. The lady with her attendant, a liberated
female slave, was seen approaching on foot, and both men retreated into
the recess and waited.

CHAPTER II.

A MINISTERING ANGEL.

Pathema, the eldest daughter of a prosperous merchant, walked with her
servant Miriam through the crowded street, heedless or unconscious of
danger; then passing two pairs of eyes directed towards her veiled
face, she turned at right angles into the Stenos, a short quiet street
leading towards the river Xanthus.

Without haste, yet her progress was steady and good, with a natural
grace set free by the loose Ionic dress--a cream-coloured _chiton_,
girdled at the waist and falling from the shoulders to the feet in many
folds, and above it a short mantle in gold-brown, bordered with white.
Full of work of a high order, her dark eyes and finely carved mouth
spoke beneficent purpose, while her fair countenance showed an Oriental
seriousness and thought.

Pathema might have spared herself a life of labour and risk and
self-sacrifice. She might have enjoyed a life of fashion and pleasure
and ease. Besides this, her beauty and accomplishments could have
easily secured for her a home and affluence, had she so desired. But
she had cast in her lot with One who had lived a higher life, which in
working-out had made him a man of "no reputation." Pathema was a
Christian, and as such had made hers