called Smid
laughingly after him, as he went off to man the boat.

CHAPTER XXV: SEEKING AFTER A SIGN

'What answer has he sent back, father?' asked Hypatia, as Theon
re-entered her chamber, after delivering that hapless letter to
Philammon.

'Insolent that he is! he tore it to fragments and tied forth without a
word.'

'Let him go, and desert us like the rest, in our calamity!'

'At least, we have the jewels.'

'The jewels? Let them be returned to their owner. Shall we defile
ourselves by taking them as wages for anything--above all, for that
which is unperformed?'

'But, my child, they were given to us freely. He bade me keep
them; and--and, to tell you the truth, I must keep them. After this
unfortunate failure, be sure of it, every creditor we have will be
clamouring for payment.'

'Let them take our house and furniture, and sell us as slaves, then. Let
them take all, provided we keep our virtue.'

'Sell us as slaves? Are you mad?'

'Not quite mad yet, father,' answered she with a sad smile. 'But how
should we be worse than we are now, were we slaves? Raphael Aben-Ezra
told me that he obeyed my precepts, when he went forth as a houseless
beggar; and shall I not have courage to obey them myself, if the need
come? The thought of his endurance has shamed my luxury for this many a
month. After all, what does the philosopher require but bread and
water, and the clear brook in which to wash away the daily stains of his
earthly prison-house? Let what is fated come. Hypatia struggles with the
stream no more!'

'My daughter! And have you given up all hope? So soon disheartened!
What! Is this paltry accident to sweep away the purposes of years?
Orestes remains still faithful. His guards have orders to garrison the
house for as long as we shall require them.'

'Send them away, then. I have done no wrong, and I fear no punishment.'

'You do not know the madness of the mob; they are shouting your name in
the streets already, in company with Pelagia's.'

Hypatia shuddered. Her name in company with Pelagia's! And to this she
had brought herself!

'I have deserved it! I have sold myself to a lie and a disgrace! I
have stooped to truckle, to intrigue! I have bound myself to a sordid
trickster! Father! never mention his name to me again! I have leagued
myself with the impure and the bloodthirsty, and I have my reward! No
more politics for Hypatia from henceforth, my father; no more orations
and lectures; no