dost not meet my words.'

'No. Silent am I for her dear sake. Watch my actions. They may answer
thee.'

'I will, and be careful of the moonstruck lover. I wish thee well, old
friend. Thou art a good fellow. I have done my best to tempt thee from
this wild crusade, and would on my soul I had succeeded. But there is no
cure for love, and thou art in love--a phantom love. Do not lose thyself
in a wild morass.'

'Fear not, Varro. If I love, so didst thou. Mine may grow, and joy with
awakening purity and loveliness; thine is blighted and dead, and from
thy dead love springs up the hate thou bearest towards Saronia, thinking
she in some mysterious way o'ershadowed Nika.'

'Silence, man!'

'No, I will not be silent. I speak to thee as Varro. I speak not to the
Proconsul of Ionia. I say, were Saronia not Saronia and I asked thy aid,
thou wouldst give it; but now thy spirit reaches out for pretext to
blast the one thy faithless wife abhorred. Is not thine a mad, dead
love? Come, change thy mind, and help me. I tell thee, Saronia never
hurt thy Nika, and she is as innocent of this murder as the truest
spirit of God. Now, noble friend, wilt thou not help me?'

'What can I do, Chios? I cannot interfere.'

'Then, promise thou wilt not pursue.'

'Is she really innocent?'

'Yes.'

'Dost thou know this?'

'Yes.'

'And swear it?'

'I do.'

'Then, if Varro cannot help Saronia, he will not pursue her.'

CHAPTER XLIII

MYSTERY

Chios sent for Endora. There was a calm light in her eyes such as he had
never before seen. Ere he could speak, she said:

'I know: it is of Saronia thou wouldst speak.'

'True, woman. Dost thou know she is charged with the murder of the High
Priest?'

'I know all. Fear not, Chios. Saronia shall not suffer for the crime I
have committed.'

'Rash woman! how canst thou atone? She is a prisoner, and has abjured
her faith.'

'That may be, noble Chios; but take my word for once: the guilty shall
suffer for their own sins. This vile body of mine shall be torn limb
from limb rather than one hair of her head shall be plucked. No more of
evil for me!'

'Now, listen, Endora. Your heart is right, but your words are idle. She
must be saved, but in another way. I will rescue her. Thou knowest the
Temple, and must find where she is lodged. Find out if access is
possible; bring me full account, and great reward shall be thine. Canst
th