ith weeping, had moved her, Perpetua, to tears. She
trusted that God would forgive him for his sins against herself and
Paula; he must have been possessed by some evil demon; he had not been
at all like himself; for he had a kind, warm heart, and though he had
been so hard and unjust yesterday to poor Hiram he had made it up to him
the first thing this morning, and had not only let him out of prison
but had sent him and his son home to Damascus with large gifts and two
horses. Nilus had told her this. He who hoped to be forgiven by his
neighbor must also be ready to forgive. The great Augustine, even, had
been no model of virtue in his youth and yet he had become a shining
light in the Church; and now the son of the Mukaukas would tread in his
father's footsteps. He was a handsome, engaging man, who would be the
joy of their hearts yet, they might be very sure. Why, he had been as
grave and as solemn as a bishop to-day; perhaps he had already turned
over a new leaf. He himself had put her into his mother's chariot and
desired the charioteer to drive her hither: what would Paula say to
that? Her things were to be given over to her to-morrow morning, and
packed under her own eyes, and sent after her. Nilus, the treasurer, had
come with her to deliver a message to Paula; but he had gone first to
the convent.

Paula desired the old woman to go thither and fetch him; as soon as
Perpetua had left the room, she exclaimed:

"There, you see, is some one who is quite of your opinion. What
creatures we are! Last evening my good Betta would have thought no pit
of hell too deep for our enemy, and now? To be led to a chariot by such
a fine gentleman in person is no doubt flattering; and how quickly the
old body has forgotten all her grievances, how soothed and satisfied
she is by the gracious permission to pack her precious and cherished
possessions with her own hands.--You told me once that the Jacobites had
made a Saint Orion out of the pagan god Osiris, and my old Betta sees a
future Saint Augustine in the governor's son. I can see that she already
regards him as her tutelary patron, and when we get back to Syria, she
will be begging me to join her in a pilgrimage to his shrine!"

"And you will perhaps consent," replied the physician, to whom Paula at
this moment, for the first time since his heart had glowed with love
for her, did not seem to be quite what a man looks for in the woman he
adores. Hitherto he had seen and heard n