greatly promoted; and now the first point was to ensure
the favor of the black Vekeel, for everything depended on his consent.

Joanna and Pulcheria thought him more good-humored and amiable than they
had ever known him; his proposal that he and Philippus should join their
household was hailed with delight even by little Mary, and the women
conducted him all over the house, supporting his steps with affectionate
care. All he saw there pleased him beyond measure. Such neatness and
comfort could only exist where there was a woman's eye to direct and
watch over everything. The rooms on the ground floor, which had been the
master's, should be his, and the corresponding wing on the other
side could be made ready for Philippus. The dining-room, the large
ante-chamber, and the viridarium would be common ground, and the upper
story was large enough for the women and any guests. He would move in as
soon as he had settled some business he had in hand.

It must be something of a pleasant nature, for as the old man spoke of
it his sunken lips mumbled with satisfaction, while his sparkling eyes
seemed to say to Pulcheria: "And I have something good in store for you,
too, dear child."

CHAPTER XVII.

Paula passed a fearful night in the small, frightfully hot prison-cell
in which she and Betta were shut up. She could not sleep, and when
once she succeeded in closing her eyes she was roused by the yells and
clanking chains of the captives in the common prison and the heavy step
of another sufferer who paced the room overhead, even more restless than
herself.

Poor fellow-victim! Was it a tortured conscience that drove him hither
and thither, or was he as innocent as she was, and was it longing, love,
and anxiety that bereft him of sleep?

He was no vulgar criminal. There was no room for those in this part
of the building; and at midnight, when the noise in the large hall was
suddenly silenced, soft sounds of the lute came down to her from his
cell, and only a master could strike the strings with such skill.

She cared nothing for the stranger; but she was grateful for his gift of
music, for it diverted her thoughts from herself, and she listened with
growing interest. Glad of an excuse for rising from her hard, hot bed,
she sprang up and placed herself close to the one window, an opening
barred with iron. But then the music ceased and a conversation began
between the warder and her fellow-prisoner.

What voice was that?