rked to another--but loud enough to
be heard--on the brightness of her eyes which were clearer than the
sapphires on her brow, while the Athenian waiting-woman, Thais, declared
that Cleopatra had grown fatter, for her golden belt was less easy to
clasp than it had been ten days previously.

The queen presently signed to Zoe, who threw a little silver ball into a
bowl of the same metal, elaborately wrought and decorated, and in a few
minutes the tramp of the body-guard was audible outside the door of the
tent.

Cleopatra went out, casting a rapid glance over the roof--now brightly
illuminated with cressets and torches--and the white marble statues
that gleamed out in relief against the dark clumps of shrubs; and then,
without even looking at the tent where her children were asleep, she
approached the litter, which had been brought up to the roof for her by
the young Macedonian nobles. Zoe and Thais assisted her to mount into
it, and her ladies, waiting-women, and others who had hurried out of
the other tents, formed a row on each side of the way, and hailed their
mistress with loud cries of admiration and delight as she passed by,
lifted high above them all on the shoulders of her bearers. The diamonds
in the handle of her feather-fan sparkled brightly as Cleopatra waved a
gracious adieu to her women, an adieu which did not fail to remind them
how infinitely beneath her were those she greeted. Every movement of
her hand was full of regal pride, and her eyes, unveiled and untempered,
were radiant with a young woman's pleasure in a perfect toilet, with
satisfaction in her own person, and with the anticipation of the festive
hours before her.

The litter disappeared behind the door of the broad steps that led up to
the roof, and Thais, sighing softly, said to herself, "If only for once
I could ride through the air in just such a pretty shell of colored and
shining mother-of-pearl, like a goddess! carried aloft by young men, and
hailed and admired by all around me! High up there the growing Selene
floats calmly and silently by the tiny stars, and just so did she
ride past in her purple robe with her torch-bearers and flames
and lights-past us humble creatures, and between the tents to the
banquet--and to what a banquet, and what guests! Everything up here
greets her with rejoicing, and I could almost fancy that among those
still marble statues even the stern face of Zeno had parted its lips,
and spoken flattering words to