ftly to himself. In the Imperial gardens at Constantinople he had once
seen a strange Indian bird, with a tiny body and head and an immensely
long tail, shining like silver and mother of pearl. This was Katharina!
She herself a mere nothing; but then her tail! vast estates and immense
sums of money; and this--this was all his mother saw. But did he need
more than he had? How rich his father must be to spend so large a sum on
an offering to the Church as heedlessly as men give alms to a beggar.

Katharina--and Paula!

Yes, the little girl was a bright, brisk creature; but then Thomas'
daughter--what power there was in her eye, what majesty in her gait,
how--how--how enchanting her--her voice could be--her voice....

He was asleep, worn out by heat and fatigue; and in a dream he saw Paula
lying on a couch strewn with roses while all about her sounded wonderful
heart-ensnaring music; and the couch was not solid but blue water,
gently moving: he went towards her and suddenly a large black
eagle swooped down on him, flapped his wings in his face and when,
half-blinded, he put his hand to his eyes the bird pecked the roses as a
hen picks millet and barley. Then he was angry, rushed at the eagle, and
tried to clutch him with his hands; but his feet seemed rooted to the
ground, and the more he struggled to move freely the more firmly he was
dragged backwards. He fought like a madman against the hindering force,
and suddenly it released him. He was still under this impression when
he woke, streaming with perspiration, and opened his eyes. By his couch
stood his mother who had laid her hand on his feet to rouse him.

She looked pale and anxious and begged him to come quickly to his father
who was much disturbed, and wished to speak with him. Then she hurried
away.

While he hastily arranged his hair and had his shoes clasped he felt
vexed that, under the influence of that foolish dream, and still
half asleep, he had let his mother go before ascertaining what the
circumstances were that had given rise to his father's anxiety. Had it
anything to do with the incidents of the past night? No.--If he had been
suspected his mother would have told him and warned him. It must refer
to something else. Perhaps the old merchant's stalwart headman had died
of his wounds, and his father wished to send him--Orion--across the Nile
to the Arab viceroy to obtain forgiveness for the murder of a Moslem,
actually within the precincts of the gover