e that possible. To-morrow morning I hope I may be permitted
to take leave of my uncle in peace, for I love him; and of little Mary."

"But you need not go now! On the contrary, I urgently request you to
stay," Neforis eagerly put in.

"George will not let you leave. You yourself know how fond he is of
you."

"He has often been as a father to me," said Paula, and even her eyes
shone through tears. "I would gladly have stayed with him till the end.
Still, it is fixed--I must go."

"And if your uncle adds his entreaties to mine?"

"It will be in vain."

Neforis took the maiden's hand in her own again, and tried with genuine
anxiety to persuade her,--but Paula was firm. She adhered to her
determination to leave the governor's house in the morning.

"But where will you find a suitable house?" cried Neforis. "A residence
that will be fit for you?"

"That shall be my business," replied the physician. "Believe me, noble
lady, it would be best for all that Paula should seek another home. But
it is to be hoped that she may decide on remaining in Memphis."

At this Neforis exclaimed:

"Here, with us, is her natural home!--Perhaps God may turn your heart
for your uncle's sake, and we may begin a new and happier life." Paula's
only reply was a shake of the head; but Neforis did not see it the metal
tinkle sounded for the third time, and it was her duty to respond to its
call.

As soon as she had left the room Paula drew a deep breath, exclaiming:

"O God! O God! How hard it was to refrain from flinging in her teeth the
crime her wicked son.... No, no; nothing should have made me do that.
But I cannot tell you how the mere sight of that woman angers me, how
light-hearted I feel since I have broken down the bridge that connected
me with this house and with Memphis."

"With Memphis?" asked Philippus.

"Yes," said Paula gladly. "I go away--away from hence, out of the
vicinity of this woman and her son!--Whither? Oh! back to Syria, or to
Greece--every road is the right one, if it only takes me away from this
place."

"And I, your friend?" asked Philippus.

"I shall bear the remembrance of you in a grateful heart."

The physician smiled, as though something had happened just as he
expected; after a moment's reflection he said:

"And where can the Nabathaean find you, if indeed he discovers your
father in the hermit of Sinai?"

The question startled and surprised Paula, and Philippus now adduced
every argument to