en; some one else will take the letter."

It seemed to Chilo that those words were his final sentence. His bones
were shaking in the terrible hands of Ursus; his eyes were filled with
tears from pain.

"By your God, pity!" cried he; "I am a Christian! Pax vobiscum! I am
a Christian; and if ye do not believe me, baptize me again, baptize me
twice, ten times! Glaucus, that is a mistake! Let me speak, make me a
slave! Do not kill me! Have mercy!"

His voice, stifled with pain, was growing weaker and weaker, when the
Apostle Peter rose at the table; for a moment his white head shook,
drooping toward his breast, and his eyes were closed; but he opened them
then, and said amid silence,--

"The Saviour said this to us: 'If thy brother has sinned against
thee, chastise him; but if he is repentant, forgive him. And if he has
offended seven times in the day against thee, and has turned to thee
seven times, saying, "Have mercy on me!" forgive him.'"

Then came a still deeper silence. Glaucus remained a long time with his
hands covering his face; at last he removed them and said,--"Cephas, may
God forgive thy offences, as I forgive them in the name of Christ."

Ursus, letting go the arms of the Greek, added at once:

"May the Saviour be merciful to thee as I forgive thee."

Chilo dropped to the ground, and, supported on it with his hands, turned
his head like a wild beast caught in a snare, looking around to see
whence death might come. He did not trust his eyes and ears yet, and
dared not hope for forgiveness. Consciousness returned to him slowly;
his blue lips were still trembling from terror.

"Depart in peace!" said the Apostle, meanwhile.

Chilo rose, but could not speak. He approached the bed of Vinicius, as
if seeking protection in it still; for he had not time yet to think that
that man, though he had used his services and was still his accomplice,
condemned him, while those against whom he had acted forgave. This
thought was to come to him later. At present simply astonishment and
incredulity were evident in his look. Though he had seen that they
forgave him, he wished to bear away his head at the earliest from among
these incomprehensible people, whose kindness terrified him almost as
much as their cruelty would have terrified. It seemed to him that
should he remain longer, something unexpected would happen again; hence,
standing above Vinicius, he said with a broken voice,--

"Give the letter, lord,--give the