worship his statue in place of the great God who made the sun and
everything else. So Prisca refused to burn the incense.

Then the Emperor was very angry, and bade the soldiers whip her until
she obeyed his command. But they could not make her yield by cruelty.
Even the hard-hearted Romans who had come to look on admired her bravery
and pitied her suffering. The women wept to see her so cruelly treated,
and the men cried, "Shame! shame! To torture a little child."

And then a beautiful thing happened; for Prisca appeared dressed in a
robe of yellow sunshine. A wonderful light shone all about her, and she
seemed herself a little star giving out light, so brightly did her brave
spirit shine among those cruel men.

It seemed as if no child could bear all this suffering without yielding,
and the Emperor hoped she would give in, for he did not want to have her
killed. But Prisca was firm, and would not make the sacrifice. The
Emperor was surprised to find a child so brave. He ordered them to drag
her away to prison and to keep her there for many days. Here she was
most unhappy,--lonely and cold and hungry often, wondering what dreadful
thing was to happen next. But her heart was always brave, and she was
not afraid.

After a long time, one morning the guard came for little Prisca. They
led her forth into the dear sunshine, and glad she was to see it and the
blue sky once more. But it was only for a short time that they let her
enjoy even this little pleasure; for they brought her to the
amphitheatre, a great open place like the circus, with tiers upon tiers
of seats all about, and crowds of faces looking down into the centre
where she was.

Prisca knew what this meant, for she had often heard how the Christians
were put into the arena to be torn in pieces by wild beasts. And
kneeling down on the sand she made a little prayer, not that she might
be saved from the fierce beasts, but that she might have courage to show
her Christian bravery and teach a lesson to these fiercer men and women
who were looking on.

Then the keeper opened the grated door of a den at the end of the arena,
and out stalked a great yellow lion. With a dreadful roar he rushed into
the centre of the circle, and stood there lashing his tail and flashing
his big yellow eyes all about the place. Then suddenly he spied the
little girl standing quietly at one side with her hands clasped in front
of her, looking at him without fear. And the great beast