ll of foolhardy doctrines and opinions which have already
been condemned by the authorities. His Grace could not approve of such
unwholesome lucubrations. This, then, is what they write to me. But I
will relate your story to Monseigneur. It will prove to him that Lilith
exists and that I do not dream."

I implored Monsieur Safrac to listen to me a moment more.

"When she went away, my father, Leila left me a leaf of cypress on which
certain characters which I cannot decipher had been traced with the
point of a style. It seems to be a kind of amulet."

Monsieur Safrac took the light film which I held out to him and examined
it carefully.

"This," he said, "is written in Persian of the best period and can be
easily translated thus:

"THE PRAYER OF LEILA, DAUGHTER OF LILITH

"_My God, promise me death, so that I may taste of life. My God, give me
remorse, so that I may at last find happiness. My God, make me the equal
of the daughters of Eve._"

LAETA ACILIA

TO ARY RENAN

I.

Laeta Acilia lived in Marseilles during the reign of the Emperor
Tiberius. She had been married for several years to a Roman noble named
Helvius, but she had no children, though she longed passionately to
become a mother. One day as she went to the temple to pray to the gods
she found the entrance crowded by a band of men, half naked, emaciated
and devoured by leprosy and ulcers. She paused in terror on the lowest
step of the temple. Laeta Acilia was not without compassion. She pitied
the poor creatures, but she was afraid of them. Nor had she ever seen
beggars as wild looking as those who at this moment crowded before her,
livid, lifeless, their empty wallets flung at their feet. She grew pale
and held her hand to her heart; she could neither advance nor escape,
and she felt her limbs giving way under her when a woman of striking
beauty detached herself from these unfortunates and came towards her.

"Fear nothing, young woman," and the unknown spoke in a voice both grave
and tender, "the men you see here are not cruel. They are the bearers
not of falsehood and evil, but of truth and love. We have come from
Judaea, where the Son of God has died and risen again. When He ascended
to the right hand of His Father those who believed in Him suffered cruel
wrongs. Stephen was stoned by the people. As for us, the priests placed
us on board a ship without sails or rudder, and we were delivered over
t