strode gently
up to her on his padded paws. He bent his head and licked her little
bare feet, and then he crouched down by her side, as a Saint Bernard dog
might place himself to guard his little mistress. And this is why the
old pictures of Saint Prisca represent her with a lion by her side.

There fell a great silence on the tented place. The Emperor and all the
people sat perfectly still, wondering at the strange sight and admiring
the courage of the child; for she had reached out her hand and was
stroking the yellow head of the lion, playing with his mane. She bent
her head and no one heard her whisper into his ear:--

"My good friend! you will not hurt me, I know, for the Lord has closed
your mouth, just as he did the mouths of the lions into whose den Daniel
was thrown by wicked men. These cruel men will put me to death, but you
are kinder than they."

And the lion looked up in her face as though he understood, and growled
softly. He was quite gentle with her, but when the keeper came towards
them he roared and bristled and showed his great teeth, so that for a
long time no one dared to come near.

But even the lion could not save her from the death which she had no
wish to shun. At last they captured him and took him away. The Emperor's
heart was softened by Prisca's bravery, and he wished to give her one
more chance to save her life. They shut her up for many days in the
heathen temple, and tried in every way to make her sacrifice to the
gods and give up Christianity. They coaxed her and made her fine
promises; they threatened and punished her. But still Prisca stood firm,
although she was now very worn and tired and ill because she had
suffered so much.

So when she had borne it all patiently and bravely, and they saw it was
impossible to make a little Christian turn back again into a little
heathen, they led her away down the road which leads south from the
Palatine hill, to the place of execution. This was just outside the
Ostian gate, an archway in the great wall which surrounded Rome, through
which the road led to the town of Ostium and to the sea. Just outside
this gate, to show that they were no longer worthy of being Romans and
living within its walls, criminals were executed. And here many
Christian martyrs lost their lives. Prisca was one of these, for here
she was beheaded. And till the very end she neither cried nor screamed
nor was in any way afraid. And so she became Saint Prisca, a little
ma