n hour the Greek could not resist
this tender coaxing; she allowed Mary to take possession of her hand and
lay it on the Bible; and when once this was done Eudoxia gave way, and
with much head shaking repeated the oath that her pupil dictated, though
much against her will.

After this the governess threw herself on the divan, as if exhausted and
shocked at her own weakness; and the little girl took advantage of her
victory, seating herself at her feet, and telling her all she knew about
Paula and the perils that threatened her and Orion; and she was artful
enough to give special prominence to Orion's danger, having long since
observed how high he stood in Eudoxia's good graces. So far Eudoxia had
not ceased stroking her hair, while she assented to everything that was
said; but when she heard that Mary proposed to undertake the embassy
to Amru herself, she started to her feet in horror, and declared most
positively that she would never, never consent to such rashness, to such
fatal folly.

Mary now brought to bear her utmost resources of persuasion and
flattery. There was no other fit messenger to be found, and the lives
of Orion and Paula were at stake. Was a ride across the mountains such
a tremendous matter after all? How well she knew how to manage a beast,
and how little she suffered from the heat! Had she not ridden more than
once from Memphis to their estates by the seaboard? And faithful Rustem
would be always with her, and the road over the mountains was the safest
in all the country, with frequent stations for the accommodation of
travellers. Then, if they found Amru, she could give a more complete
report than any other living soul.

But Eudoxia was not to be shaken; though she admitted that Mary's
project was not so entirely crazy as it had at first appeared.

At this the little girl began again; after reminding Eudoxia once more
of her oath, she went on to tell her of the doom she herself hoped to
escape by setting out on her errand. She told Eudoxia of her meeting
with the bishop, and that even Joanna was uneasy as to her future
fate. Ah! that life within walls under lock and key seemed to her so
frightful--and she pictured her terrors, her love of freedom and of a
busy, useful, active life among men and her friends, and her hope that
the great general, Amru, would defend her against every one if once she
could place herself under his protection--painting it all so vividly, so
passionately, and so pathet