t of it there was meaning in
them. On Nehushta's finger, as it chanced, shone a ring which Miriam
ought to know, seeing that for some years she had worn it on her own.

It would seem that she did know it, at any rate her bosom and neck grew
red and a spasm passed across her face which even the falling hair did
not suffice to hide.

The ring told Miriam that Marcus lived and that Nehushta was his
messenger. This suspense at least was ended.

Now the door-keeper called a warning and the buyers flocked from the
building. Outside, the auctioneer, a smooth-faced, glib-tongued man, was
already mounting the rostrum. Calling for silence he began his speech.
On this evening of festival, he said, he would be brief. The lots he had
to offer to the select body of connoisseurs he saw before him, were the
property of the Imperator Titus, and the proceeds of the sale, it was
his duty to tell them, would not go into Caesar's pocket, but were to be
equally divided between the poor of Rome and deserving soldiers who
had been wounded or had lost their health in the war, a fact which must
cause every patriotic citizen to bid more briskly. These lots, he might
say, were unique, being nothing else than the fifteen most beautiful
girls, believed all of them to be of noble blood, among the many
thousands who had been captured at the sack of Jerusalem, the city of
the Jews, especially selected to adorn the great conqueror's Triumph.
No true judge, who desired a charming memento of the victory of his
country's arms, would wish to neglect such an opportunity, especially
as he was informed that the Jewish women were affectionate, docile, well
instructed in many arts, and very hard-working. He had only one more
thing to say, or rather two things. He regretted that this important
sale should be held at so unusual an hour. The reason was that there
was really no place where these slaves could be comfortably kept without
risk of their maltreatment or escape, so it was held to be best that
they should be removed at once to the seclusion of their new homes, a
decision, he was sure, that would meet the wishes of buyers. The second
point was that among them was one lot of surpassing interest; namely,
the girl who had come to be generally spoken of as Pearl-Maiden.

This young woman, who could not be more than three or four-and-twenty
years of age, was the last representative of a princely family of the
Jews. She had been found exposed upon one of the g