I swear it, by my right hand, and by the moon!'

'Hush! speak low--bend near--give me thy hand; knowest thou Arbaces?
Hast thou laid flowers at the feet of the dead? Ah! thy hand is
cold--hark yet!--hast thou taken the awful vow?'

'Who art thou, whence comest thou, pale maiden?' said Apaecides,
fearfully: 'I know thee not; thine is not the breast on which this head
hath lain; I have never seen thee before.'

'But thou hast heard my voice: no matter, those recollections it should
shame us both to recall. Listen, thou hast a sister.'

'Speak! speak! what of her?'

'Thou knowest the banquets of the dead, stranger--it pleases thee,
perhaps, to share them--would it please thee to have thy sister a
partaker? Would it please thee that Arbaces was her host?'

'O gods, he dare not! Girl, if thou mockest me, tremble! I will tear
thee limb from limb!'

'I speak the truth; and while I speak, Ione is in the halls of
Arbaces--for the first time his guest. Thou knowest if there be peril
in that first time! Farewell! I have fulfilled my charge.'

'Stay! stay!' cried the priest, passing his wan hand over his brow. 'If
this be true, what--what can be done to save her? They may not admit
me. I know not all the mazes of that intricate mansion. O Nemesis!
justly am I punished!'

'I will dismiss yon slave, be thou my guide and comrade; I will lead
thee to the private door of the house: I will whisper to thee the word
which admits. Take some weapon: it may be needful!'

'Wait an instant,' said Apaecides, retiring into one of the cells that
flank the temple, and reappearing in a few moments wrapped in a large
cloak, which was then much worn by all classes, and which concealed his
sacred dress. 'Now,' he said, grinding his teeth, 'if Arbaces hath dared
to--but he dare not! he dare not! Why should I suspect him? Is he so
base a villain? I will not think it--yet, sophist! dark bewilderer that
he is! O gods protect--hush! are there gods? Yes, there is one
goddess, at least, whose voice I can command; and that is--Vengeance!'

Muttering these disconnected thoughts, Apaecides, followed by his silent
and sightless companion, hastened through the most solitary paths to the
house of the Egyptian.

The slave, abruptly dismissed by Nydia, shrugged his shoulders, muttered
an adjuration, and, nothing loath, rolled off to his cubiculum.

Chapter VIII

THE SOLITUDE AND SOLILOQUY OF THE EGYPTIAN. HIS CHARACTER ANALYSED.