ts were proof against fear.

When they moved away, Lucius looked lovingly towards the shrine, and
beheld Saronia, with her robe of purest white, standing in bold relief
against the rich colour of the great veil which hid the statue of the
goddess from their view; and their eyes met, and from her came a look of
sweetest thanks, filling his soul with unfathomable calm, and he knew
their hearts were tuned in strange resemblance, and that the priestess
of Diana would offer prayer for him whether he dwelt in his lovely home
or paced the poop of his lofty ship when the gale grew loud and the
storm-birds flew.

For a while stillness reigned, and the priests and priestesses were
alone, singing their evening hymns; the great censor swung, and the
burning incense filled the Temple with odour. Then they passed through
the portals to their rest, and the Temple watchers stood at the gates
and kept guard within the Parabolus walls.

The dark eyes of Saronia were filled with tears of joy, for she had seen
Lucius; she was at peace, though the sun had set and the shadows fell.

And thus peace cometh to the mind of the tempest-tossed, but such a
being as Saronia could not long sustain it. Her soul was a spirit in
chase, pursuing something undefinable which she longed to obtain, that
she might be for ever satisfied and her measure of happiness complete. A
calm to her was like a summer day in winter-time, the harbinger of
coming storm.

CHAPTER IX

THE STUDIO OF CHIOS

The studio of Chios was very beautiful, and an artist is pretty well
known by the place in which he paints, provided he has means to gratify
his tastes. It was not a great room filled with materials, leaving him
just a dozen square feet to walk about, but a studio of ample
proportions, and kept as it should be with space to move around. Nothing
of it could be seen from the road, for great clusters of myrtle-trees,
gigantic rose-bushes, and crimson oleanders hid it most effectually; but
those of his friends who went that way knew when they had passed through
the quiet gateway and between the flower-trees that not far away was
one of the sweetest little studios in Ephesus. Yes, there it was close
to the pond of water-lilies, with the bees humming from blossom to
blossom, and the birds singing cheerfully from the foliage which
surrounded it; the birds were quite tame, for Chios was kind to them,
and some would lig