"Do not die, Rhanto," murmured the Greek, impulsively, "wait; I will
draw out that iron; I will carry you on my back to the Forum so that
they shall cure you."

But the girl shook her head sadly. No, she wished to die. She wished to
join Erotion, near the gods, among the clouds of rose and gold where
wandered the Mother of Love, followed by those who had loved each other
devotedly on earth. She had roamed for weeks like a shadow among the
horrors of the besieged city, believing that Erotion still lived,
searching for him everywhere; but Erotion was dead; she remembered it
well now; she herself had seen his corpse.

"Since he is dead why should I live?"

"Live for me!" cried Actaeon, stung with grief, unconscious of his
surroundings, deaf to the cries of the defenders on the wall and to the
footsteps of someone approaching on the street.

"Rhanto, shepherdess, listen to me! Now I understand why I longed to see
you; why your memory came to me so often in Rome whenever I thought of
Saguntum. Live and be to Actaeon the last spring of his existence! I love
you, Rhanto! You are my last love; the flower which blooms in the winter
of my life! I love you, Rhanto! I have loved you since that day when I
saw you revealed like a goddess. Live and let me be your Erotion!"

The girl, her face clouded by the shadow of death, smiled, murmuring:

"Actaeon, good Greek, thank you, thank you!"

Her head slipped from between Actaeon's hands and fell heavily on the
ground. The Athenian remained motionless, mutely gazing at the body of
the girl. The silence which suddenly fell on the wall seemed to arouse
him from his painful stupor. The besiegers had suspended the attack. The
Greek stood up, but he knelt again to press kisses on the still warm
mouth of the shepherdess and upon her unquivering wide-open eyes, in
which the red splendor of the setting sun was reflected as in quiet
waters.

As he arose he was startled by Sonnica standing quietly before him, with
cold, ironic stare.

"Sonnica! You!"

"I came to tell you to hasten to the Forum. A messenger from the hostile
camp has presented himself at the gates of the city asking to speak to
the Elders. The people are gathered in the Forum."

Despite the importance of the news Actaeon did not stir. He was
transfixed by Sonnica's cold rigidity.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see how you bade my slave farewell forever!"

She was silent for a moment, then as if