ng to the north and east, he
crossed the river which we now call the Dniester, and there, finding a
rocky hill rising from an immense plain, he formed a cell near its
summit, and settled himself down to end his life in self-denial and
meditation. There were fish in the stream, the country teemed with game,
and there was an abundance of wild fruits, so that his spiritual
exercises were not unduly interrupted by the search of sustenance for
his mortal frame.

In this distant retreat he expected to find absolute solitude, but the
hope was in vain. Within a week of his arrival, in an hour of worldly
curiosity, he explored the edges of the high rocky hill upon which he
lived. Making his way up to a cleft, which was hung with olives and
myrtles, he came upon a cave in the opening of which sat an aged man,
white-bearded, white-haired, and infirm--a hermit like himself. So long
had this stranger been alone that he had almost forgotten the use of his
tongue; but at last, words coming more freely, he was able to convey the
information that his name was Paul of Nicopolis, that he was a Greek
citizen, and that he also had come out into the desert for the saving of
his soul, and to escape from the contamination of heresy.

"Little I thought, brother Simon," said he, "that I should ever find any
one else who had come so far upon the same holy errand. In all these
years, and they are so many that I have lost count of them, I have never
seen a man, save indeed one or two wandering shepherds far out upon
yonder plain."

From where they sat, the huge steppe, covered with waving grass and
gleaming with a vivid green in the sun, stretched away as level and as
unbroken as the sea, to the eastern horizon. Simon Melas stared across
it with curiosity.

"Tell me, brother Paul," said he, "you who have lived here so long--what
lies at the further side of that plain?"

The old man shook his head. "There is no further side to the plain,"
said he. "It is the earth's boundary, and stretches away to eternity.
For all these years I have sat beside it, but never once have I seen
anything come across it. It is manifest that if there had been a
further side there would certainly at some time have come some traveller
from that direction. Over the great river yonder is the Roman post of
Tyras; but that is a long day's journey from here, and they have never
disturbed my meditations."

"On what do you meditate, brother Paul?"

"At first I meditated o