thought that she might be swallowed up in the foul mire of
a great city made him miserable. His brother had the first claim on
her and he would not dispute it; while he had sought her unweariedly
in every resort of the young and gay--nay even in Canopus--he had only
meant to place her in safety, as a treasure which runs a risk of being
lost to the family, though, when at last its possession is secured,
it becomes the property of the member who can prove the best right
of ownership. But all his efforts had been in vain; and it was in an
unhappy mood that he went at last to the Hippodrome. There the bitter
hostility and party-feeling which he had everywhere observed during his
present visit to his native city, were not less conspicuous than they
had been in the streets. The competing chariots usually arrived at
the amphitheatre in grand procession, but this had not been thought
advisable in the prevailing excitement; they had driven into the oppidum
singly and without any display; and the images of the gods, which in
former days had always been placed on the spina before the games began,
had long since fallen into disuse.

[The spina was the division down the middle of the arena. At each
end of it were placed the metae or goals, at a distance from it of
about 13 feet. The spina was originally constructed of wood,
subsequently it was of stone, and its height was generally about 29
feet. The spina in the Circus of Caracalla was more than 900 feet
long.]

All this was vexatious to Demetrius, and when he had taken his seat
it was in no pleasant temper that he looked round at the ranks of
spectators.

His step-mother was sitting on the stuffed bench covered with lion-skins
which was reserved for the family. Her tunic and skirt displayed the
color blue of the Christian charioteer, being made of bright blue and
silver brocade of a beautiful pattern in which the cross, the fish, and
the olive-branch were elegantly combined. Her black hair was closely and
simply smoothed over her temples and she wore no garland, but a string
of large grey pearls, from which hung a chaplet of sapphires and opals,
lying on her forehead. A veil fell over the back of her head and she sat
gazing into her lap as if she were absorbed in prayer; her hands were
folded and held a cross. This placid and demure attitude she deemed
becoming to a Christian matron and widow. Everyone might see that she
had not come for worldly pleasure, but