ean that girt his
own ancestral home of far away, there glowed neither the fire of
ambition, nor the desire for supreme power. Only the fire of love for
her and the serenity of infinite peace.

"Dear lord," she said, "when the sceptre of Augustus is in thine hands
thou canst wield it at thy pleasure. I know not the way of which thou
speakest; the mountain of Calvary is unknown to me and thou speakest of
things that are strange to mine ear.... But the gods have placed it
within my power to make thee great above all men, the ruler of the
mightiest Empire in the world, and on my knees do I thank them that they
have shown me the way whereby I can guide thy footsteps even to the
throne of Augustus."

"And on my knees do I thank God, O my soul, that thou didst show me the
way to the foot of His Cross. God himself, dear heart!--oh! thou'lt
understand some day for thy soul is beautiful and prepared to receive
just that one breath from Heaven which will show it the way to eternal
life--God Himself, dear heart, who lived amongst us all a lowly, humble
life of patience and of toil! God--think on it!--who might have come
down to us in the fullness of His Majesty, Who might, had He so chosen,
have wielded the sceptre of the world and worn every crown of every
empire throughout the ages, but Whom I saw--aye, I, dear heart--saw with
mine own eyes as He toiled, weary, footsore, anhungered, and athirst,
that He might comfort the poor and bring radiance into the dwellings of
the humble. And I who saw Him thus, I who heard His voice of gentleness
and of peace, I to desire a crown and sceptre, to betray the Caesar and
to mount a throne!!! Dear heart! dear heart! dost not understand that
the sceptre would weigh like lead in my hands and the crown bow my head
down with shame?"

"Then would my whispered words lift the weight from thy brow and my kiss
dissipate the blush of shame from thy cheeks. Day and night would go by
in infinite happiness, thy head upon my breast, mine arms encircling thy
neck. I am ignorant still, yet would I teach thee what love means and
the sweet lesson learnt from me thou wouldst teach me in return."

"And in mine ear the still, small voice would murmur: 'Thou hast seen
the living face of thy God, didst break thine oath to Caesar! thou didst
betray him in his need, even as the Iscariot betrayed his Lord with a
kiss.'"

"The voice of thy god," she retorted, "is no louder than that of the
people of Rome, and the