"Holy gods!" he muttered; and then--"Holy gods! Am I mad--or do I dream
again?"

The sight burst upon him in all its blinding suddenness and appalling
hideousness,--a smoking ruin where had been the stately mansion of his
lord; blank windows grinning at him like dead, open eyes; the garden of
his dreams desecrated, its wall shattered, lying open, naked and
despoiled, before the world. At the tinge of smoke which hovered like
the breath of death above the place, his horse flung up its head and
snorted. Nicanor lifted his arms to the high heaven which for him was
empty, and brought them slowly down before his face.

"Oh, thou heedless god, whoever thou mayest be that hast done this
thing!" he cried into the bitterness of the desolation before him,
"smite thou me also, for there is naught left for me! The stars fight
against me; I am cursed with unending bitterness, and all that I can do
is of no avail."

The shock was as great as though he saw her whom he sought lying dead
before him. For the first time he faltered, not knowing whither to go or
what to do, not daring to search for what he feared to find. His horse,
standing with legs spread wide and drooping head, heaved a great sob of
exhaustion from its panting flanks. Nicanor, staring ahead of him with
gloomy eyes, roused, picked up his loose reins, and rode down the hill.
At the yawning doorway, where no porter challenged, he swung himself
from the saddle and went into the great central court. Here was grass
uprooted, a fountain wrecked; marble walks were stained with blood and
the marks of feet; plants were torn up and broken. Through empty room
after empty room he hurried,--to hers, his lady's, first of all. And at
the threshold of her bedchamber he stumbled over a body,--Nerissa's, the
old nurse; and behind her lay Mycon, chief of the eunuchs. The room was
in confusion; chests were torn open and their contents rifled; furniture
was upset and hacked. In the bathroom near by, the marble bath, sunken
in the floor, was filled with water, and there were towels and unguents
and perfumes ready at hand. A bronze strigil lay across the threshold,
where it had been dropped in someone's hasty flight.

On from here he went, sick with fear of what might have been, and passed
through other rooms. Here were the same signs of wanton destruction;
mosaic floors cracked and defaced, statues overthrown, hangings torn
down and swaying to the wind in rags. He found other bodies; H