CENTURION (_interrupting him_). The Queen! Yes, yes: (_to the sentinel_) pass him in. Pass all these bazaar people in to the Queen, with their goods. But mind you pass no one out that you have not passed in--not even the Queen herself. SENTINEL. This old woman is dangerous: she is as strong as three men. She wanted the merchant to stab me. APOLLODORUS. Centurion: I am not a merchant. I am a patrician and a votary of art. CENTURION. Is the woman your wife? APOLLODORUS (_horrified_). No, no! (_Correcting himself politely_) Not that the lady is not a striking figure in her own way. But (_emphatically_) she is _not_ my wife. FTATATEETA (_to the Centurion_). Roman: I am Ftatateeta, the mistress of the Queen's household. CENTURION. Keep your hands off our men, mistress; or I will have you pitched into the harbor, though you were as strong as ten men. (_To his men_) To your posts: march! (_He returns with his men the way they came._) FTATATEETA (_looking malignantly after him_). We shall see whom Isis loves best: her servant Ftatateeta or a dog of a Roman. SENTINEL (_to Apollodorus, with a wave of his pilum towards the palace_). Pass in there; and keep your distance. (_Turning to Ftatateeta_) Come within a yard of me, you old crocodile; and I will give you this (_the pilum_) in your jaws. CLEOPATRA (_calling from the palace_). Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta. FTATATEETA (_Looking up, scandalized_). Go from the window, go from the window. There are men here. CLEOPATRA. I am coming down. FTATATEETA (_distracted_). No, no. What are you dreaming of? O ye gods, ye gods! Apollodorus: bid your men pick up your bales; and in with me quickly. APOLLODORUS. Obey the mistress of the Queen's household. FTATATEETA (_impatiently, as the porters stoop to lift the bales_). Quick, quick: she will be out upon us. (_Cleopatra comes from the palace and runs across the quay to Ftatateeta._) Oh that ever I was born! CLEOPATRA (_eagerly_). Ftatateeta: I have thought of something. I want a boat--at once. FTATATEETA. A boat! No, no: you cannot. Apollodorus: speak to the Queen. APOLLODORUS (_gallantly_). Beautiful Queen: I am Apollodorus the Sicilian, your servant, from the bazaar. I have brought you the three most beautiful Persian carpets in the world to choose from. CLEOPATRA. I have no time for carpets to-day. Get me a boat. FTATATEETA. What whim is this? You cannot go on the water except in the royal barge. APOLLODORUS. Royalty, Ftatateeta, lies not in the barge but in the Queen. (_To Cleopatra_) The touch of your majesty's foot on the gunwale of the meanest boat in the harbor will make it royal. (_He turns to the harbor and calls seaward_) Ho there, boatman! Pull in to the steps.