nd heavy and she could only creep away into
a corner and cry in silence. The old man's heart was very soft towards
the girl; he would have been glad only to speak a few kind words to her
and smoothe down her hair; however, he made an effort, and whispering a
few words to his wife said he was ready, if Dada wished it, to take her
as far as the Canopic way and the Bruchium.
Dada laughed with delight, wiped away her tears, flung her arms round
the musician's neck and kissed his brown cheeks, exclaiming:
"You are the best of them all! Make haste, and Agne shall come too; she
must see something of the city."
But Agne preferred to remain on board, so Karnis and Dada set out
together. Orpheus followed them closely for, though the troops had
succeeded in quelling the uproar, the city was still in a state of
ferment. Closely veiled, and without any kind of adornment--on this
Herse had positively insisted--the girl, clinging to the old man's arm,
made her way through the streets, asking questions about everything she
saw; and her spirits rose, and she was so full of droll suggestions that
Karnis soon forgot his fatigue and gave himself up to the enjoyment
of showing her the old scenes that he knew and the new beauties and
improvements.
In the Canopic way Dada was fairly beside herself with delight. Houses
like palaces stood arrayed on each side. Close to the buildings ran a
covered arcade, and down the centre of the roadway there was a broad
footpath shaded by sycamores. This fine avenue swarmed with pedestrians,
while on each side chariots, drawn by magnificent horses, hurried past,
and riders galloped up and down; at every step there was something new
and interesting to be seen.
Rome, even, could not boast of a handsomer street, and Dada expressed
her delight with frank eagerness; but Karnis did not echo her praises;
he was indignant at finding that the Christians had removed a fine
statue of the venerable Nile-god surrounded by the playful forms of his
infant children, which had formerly graced the fountain in the middle of
the avenue, and had also overthrown or mutilated the statues of Hermes
that had stood by the roadside. Orpheus sympathized in his wrath which
reached its climax when, on looking for two statues, of Demeter and of
Pallas Athene, of which Karnis had spoken to his son as decorating the
gateway of one of the finest houses in the city, they beheld instead,
mounted on the plinths, two coarsely-wrought i
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