eat, and the more difficult
he found it to control his mind to calm deliberation.

After he had unbolted the door he stood like a thief spying the long
corridor of the strangers' wing, and this increased his excitement to
a frenzy of rage with the world, and fate, and most of all with her who
had compelled him to stoop to such base conduct. But now the charioteer
had the reins and goad in his hand. Onwards now, onwards!

He flew down stairs, three steps at a time, as he had been wont when
a boy. In the anteroom he met Eudoxia, Mary's Greek governess, who had
just brought her refractory pupil into the house, and he tossed her
the nosegay he still held in his hands; then, without heeding the
languishing glances the middle-aged damsel sent after him with her
thanks, he hastened back to the gate-keeper's lodge where he hurriedly
disburdened himself of the locksmith's tools.

A few minutes later he entered the judgment-hall. Nilus the treasurer
showed him to the governor's raised seat, but an overpowering
bashfulness kept him from taking this position of honor. It was with a
burning brow, and looks so ominously dark that the assembly gazed at
him with timid astonishment, that he opened the proceedings with a few
broken sentences. He himself scarcely knew what he was saying, and heard
his own voice as vaguely as though it were the distant roar of waves.
However, he succeeded in clearly stating all that had happened: he
showed the assembly the stone which had been stolen and recovered; he
explained how the thief had been taken; he declared Paula's freedman to
be guilty of the robbery, and called upon him to bring forward anything
he could in his own defence. But the accused could only stammer out that
he was not guilty. He was not able to defend himself, but his mistress
could no doubt give evidence that would justify him.

Orion pushed the hair from his forehead, proudly raised his aching head,
and addressed the judges:

"His mistress is a lady of rank allied to our house. Let us keep her
out of this odious affair as is but seemly. Her nurse gave Nilus some
information which may perhaps avail to save this unhappy man. We will
neglect nothing to that end; but you, who are less familiar with the
leading circumstances, must bear this in mind to guard yourselves
against being misled: This lady is much attached to the accused; she
clings to him and Perpetua as the only friends remaining to her from
her native home. Moreover,