nstruction to endure; but she took it all
patiently, and it was a consolation to her to bear such annoyance for
her little favorite.

Next morning, when she had delivered Mary's letter to Dame Joanna,
her love and endurance were put to still severer proof; indeed, the
meek-tempered widow allowed herself to be carried away to such an
outbreak as hitherto would undoubtedly have led Eudoxia to request her
dismissal, with sharp recrimination; but she took it all calmly.

It was not till noon-day--when the bishop made his appearance to
carry the child off to the convent, and was highly wrathful at Mary's
disappearance, threatening the widow, and declaring that he would search
the whole country through for the little girl and find her at last,
that Eudoxia felt that the moment of her triumph had come. She quietly
allowed the bishop to depart, and then only did she send her last and
best shaft at Joanna by informing her that she had in fact encouraged
the child in her exploit on purpose to save her from the cloister. Her
newly-found motherly feeling made her eloquent, and with a result that
she had almost ceased to hope for: the warm-hearted little woman, who
had hurt her with such cruel words, threw her arms round Eudoxia's tall,
meagre figure, put up her face to kiss her, called her a brave, clever
girl, and begged her forgiveness for all she had said and done the day
before.

So, when the Greek went to bed, she felt as if her life had turned
backwards and she had grown more like the happy young creature she had
once been with her sisters in her parents' house.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Paula now understood what hung over her. It is Bishop John who had told
her, as gently as he could, and with every assurance that he still clung
to the hope that he could stop the hideous heathen abomination; but
even without this she would certainly have known what was impending,
for large crowds of people gathered every day under the prisonwalls, and
loud cries reached her, demanding to see the "Bride of the Nile."

Now and again shouts of "Hail!" came up to her; but when the demented
creatures had shrieked themselves hoarse, and in vain, they would abuse
her vilely. The cry for the "Bride" never ceased from morning till
night, and the head warder of the prison was glad that the bishop had
relieved him of the task of explaining to Paula the meaning of the
fateful word, whose significance she had repeatedly asked him.

At first this fre