, she remembered for what purpose the sculptor was said to have
lured Gula, the sailor's wife, and her own young sister Taus, to his
studio, and in increasing excitement she drew the cloth also from the
bust beside the Demeter.

Again the Alexandrian's face--the likeness was even more unmistakable
than in the goddess.

The Greek girl alone occupied his thoughts. Hermon had disdained to model
the Biamite's head.

What could the others, or she herself, be to him, since he loved the rich
foreigner in the tent outside, and her alone? How firmly her image must
have been impressed upon his soul, that he could reproduce the features
of the absent one with such lifelike fidelity!

Yet with what bold assurance he had protested that his heart belonged
solely to her. But she thought that she now perceived his purpose. If the
slave was right, it was done that she might permit him to model what he
admired in her figure, only not the head and face, whose beauty,
nevertheless, he praised so extravagantly.

Had he attracted Gula and her sister with similar sweet flatteries? Had
the promise to bestow their charms upon a goddess been made to them also?

The swift throbbing of her indignant heart made it impossible for her to
think calmly, but its vehement pulsation reminded her of the object of
her presence here.

She had come to obtain a clear understanding between him and herself.

She stood here as a judge.

She must know whether she had been betrayed or deceived.

He should confess what his intentions toward her were. The next moments
must decide the fate of her life, and she added, drawing a long breath,
perhaps of his also.

Suddenly Ledscha started. She had not heard Hermon enter the studio, and
was now startled by his greeting.

It was not positively unkind, but certainly not a lover's.

Perhaps the words might have been warmer, but for his annoyance at the
insolent boldness with which she had removed the coverings from his
works. He restrained himself from openly blaming her, it is true, but he
exclaimed, with a tinge of gay sarcasm: "You seem to feel very much at
home here already, fairest of the fair. Or was it the goddess herself who
removed the curtain from her image in order to show herself to her
successor upon this pedestal?"

But the question was to remain unanswered, for under the spell of the
resentment which filled her heart, and in the effort not to lose sight of
the object that brought her here, Led