It was true that only that day she had gone to the nearest temple, and
had been assured by the god that her husband was going to recover; but
he had been growing steadily weaker and weaker, and now the tempest had
broken her courage and filled her with an unspeakable dread. What a
tumult there was outside! Whose were the hideous voices that shrieked
round the building, and whose were the hands that tore at the doors and
windows until they shook and rattled under their grasp?

At last she could stand it no longer. She felt she must get up and see
whether the mad and furious spirits, who had evidently gathered in
force around the dwelling, were going to prove to be true prophets of
evil.

The room was in darkness, so she lit the tiny wick that lay in a saucer
of oil, and, peering into her husband's face, she looked with all her
heart in her eyes into his sunken features. He seemed to know her, for
a wan and wintry smile flickered round his lips and died out in a
moment. She gazed at him with an almost breaking heart, for her
instinct told her that the greyness of his face and the sudden paling
of his lips were the forerunners of death. A long-drawn sigh, and a
sob or two, and the one who was the dearest to her in all the world had
left her forever.

After the funeral, which swallowed up everything she possessed, even to
the very fields, which she had been compelled to sell in order to meet
the expenses, the widow was left almost destitute. She was a woman,
however, with a very strong character, and she realized the absolute
necessity of making up her mind at once as to her course of action.
That she should marry again seemed to every one the only course open to
her; but this she determined she would never do. The memory of her
dead husband was too precious to her, and besides it was her duty to
rear up her little son to manhood, so that he might take his place
amongst the scholars and thinkers of the Empire.

Soon a scheme, as original as it was daring, sprang up within her
brain. No one must ever learn what it was. It must be the secret of
her life, which she should bury within her own bosom, and which not
even her own son should ever know, if she could possibly help it.

Having sold her cottage, she moved away to a quiet suburb outside the
great city which was so renowned for learning. Then she discarded her
woman's attire and dressed herself as a man. In no other way could she
support herself and h