ures of Hercules and the Nemean lion which were embossed on
the gold. "You forget," observed Pollux, "that I am a worshipper of
the deities of Olympus, that I sacrifice to the mighty Jove."

"I asked not what was your religion," said Lycidas; "my question
regarded that held by the Hebrews, of which you can scarcely be
ignorant. What is the name of that God whom they would not deny, even
to save themselves from torture and death?"

"I cannot tarry here longer, noble stranger," was the hurried reply of
Pollux. "The sun has sunk; I must return to the city; Antiochus the
king expects my attendance at his banquet to-night."

"I am bidden to it, but I go not," said the young Athenian; "slaughter
in the daytime, feasting at night--blood on the hands--wine at the
lips--I hate, I loathe this union of massacre and mirth! Go you and
enjoy the revel in the palace of your king; were I present, I should
see at the banquet the shadowy forms of that glorious matron and her
sons; I should hear above the laughter, the shout, and the song, the
thrilling tones of voices confessing unshaken confidence in the power
and mercy of their God, and the glorious hope of immortality where the
oppressor can torture no more."

And with a somewhat constrained interchange of parting courtesies, the
free Greek and the sycophant of a tyrant went on their several ways.

CHAPTER II.

THE MIDNIGHT BURIAL.

The scene which he had witnessed had left the mind of Lycidas in an
excited and feverish state. The cooling breeze which whispered amongst
the leaves of the olives, and the solitude of the secluded place where
Pollux had left him, were refreshing to the young Greek's spirit. He
threw himself on the grass beneath one of the trees, leant against its
trunk, and gazed upwards at the stars as, one by one, they appeared,
like gems studding the deep azure sky.

"Are these brave spirits now reigning in one of these orbs of beauty?"
thought the poet; "or are the stars themselves living souls, spirits
freed from the chains of matter, shining for ever in the firmament
above? I must know more of that Hebrew religion, and seek out those
who can initiate me into its mysteries, if it be lawful for a stranger
to learn them."

And then the thoughts of Lycidas turned to his poem, and he tried to
throw into verse some of the ideas suggested to his mind by the
martyrdoms which he had witnessed, but he speedily gave up the attempt
in despair.

"Poetic