r eyes, was a
grace from the gods.

While Damia was vainly struggling to liberate her soul from the bondage
of the flesh, Gorgo had been wandering uneasily about the house; now
going to the slaves, encouraging them with brave words, and giving them
employment to keep them from utter desperation, and then stealing up to
see whether her grandmother might not by this time be in need of her. As
it grew dark she observed that several of the women, and even some of the
men, had made their escape. These were such as had already shown a
leaning towards the new faith, and who now made off to join their
fellow-Christians, or to seek refuge in the churches under the protection
of the crucified God whose supreme power might, perhaps, even yet, avert
the impending catastrophe.

Twice had Porphyrius sent a messenger to assure his mother and daughter
that all was well with him, that a powerful party was prepared to defend
the Serapeum, and that he should pass the night in the temple. The Romans
were evidently hesitating to attack it, and if, next morning, the heathen
should succeed in repelling the first onset, reinforcements might yet be
brought up in time. Gorgo could not share these hopes; a client of her
father's had brought in a rumor that the Biamites, after advancing as far
as Naucratis, had been dispersed by a few of the Imperial maniples. Fate
was stalking on its way, and no one could give it pause.

The evening brought no coolness, and when it was already quite dark, as
her grandmother had not yet called her, Gorgo could no longer control her
increasing anxiety, so, after knocking in vain at the door of the
observatory, she went in. Her old nurse preceded her with a lamp, and the
two women stood dumb with consternation, for the old lady lay senseless
on the ground. Her head was thrown back against the seat of the chair off
which she had slipped, and her pale face was lifeless and horrible to
look at, with its half-closed eyes and dropped jaw. Wine, water, and
strong essences were all at hand, and they laid the unconscious woman on
a couch intended for the occasional use of the wearied observer. In a few
minutes they had succeeded in reviving the old lady; but her eyes rested
without recognition on the girl who knelt by her side, and she murmured
to herself: "The ravens--where are they gone? Ravens!"

Her glance wandered round the room, to the tablets and rolls which had
been tossed off the couch and the table to make room