n Petrus' house, if
anywhere, all hearts were united by a tender affection. It then occurred
to her that Paulus had just now advised her to turn to the crucified God
of the Christians, who was full of an equal and divine love to all men.
To him Polykarp also prayed--was praying perhaps this very hour; and if
she now did the same her prayers would ascend together with his, and so
she might be in some sort one with that beloved friend, from whom
everything else conspired to part her.

She knelt down and folded her hands, as she had so often seen Christians
do, and she reflected on the torments that the poor Man, who hung with
pierced hands on the cross, had so meekly endured, though He suffered
innocently; she felt the deepest pity for Him, and softly said to
herself, as she raised her eyes to the low roof of her cave-dwelling:

"Thou poor good Son of God, Thou knowest what it is when all men condemn
us unjustly, and surely, Thou canst understand when I say to Thee how
sore my poor heart is! And they say too, that of all hearts Thine is the
most loving, and so thou wilt know how it is that, in spite of all my
misery, it still seems to me that I am a happy woman. The very breath of
a God must be rapture, and that Thou too must have learned when they
tortured and mocked Thee, for Thou halt suffered out of love. They say,
that Thou wast wholly pure and perfectly sinless. Now I--I have committed
many follies, but not a sin--a real sin--no, indeed, I have not; and Thou
must know it, for Thou art a God, and knowest the past, and canst read
hearts. And, indeed, I also would fain remain innocent, and yet how can
that be when I cannot help being devoted to Polykarp, and yet I am
another man's wife. But am I indeed the true and lawful wife of that
horrible wretch who sold me to another? He is as far from my heart--as
far as if I had never seen him with these eyes. And yet--believe me--I
wish him no ill, and I will be quite content, if only I need never go
back to him.

"When I was a child, I was afraid of frogs; my brothers and sisters knew
it, and once my brother Licinius laid a large one, that he had caught, on
my bare neck. I started, and shuddered, and screamed out loud, for it was
so hideously cold and damp--I cannot express it. And that is exactly how
I have always felt since those days in Rome whenever Phoebicius touched
me, and yet I dared not scream when he did.

"But Polykarp! oh! would that he were here, and might onl