"She waited at the door while he went inside to fetch in the parchment. He brought it out and gave it to her, and as he stood opposite to her he looked in her face, and her eyes were not averted. He caught her hand, but she drew back. "''Tis but for a day or two,' she said; 'a week will see the end.' "'A week!' he cried! 'Oh, my Demariste, rather a week with thee than an age with anything less than thee!' "'You will have to die too. Dare you die? The spirit may be willing, but the flesh may be weak.' "'Death? Yes, death, if only I am yours!' "'Nay, nay, my beloved, not for me, but for the Lord Jesus!' "He bent nearer to her; his head was on her neck, and his arms were round her body. Oh, son and daughter of Time! oh, son and daughter of Eternity! "He had hardly returned to his house, when he was interrupted by his friend Callippus, just a little the worse for wine. "'What new thing is this?' said Callippus. 'I hear you have consorted with the Jews, and have been seen at their assembly.' "'True, my friend.' "True! By Jupiter! what is the meaning of it? You do not mean to say that you are bitten by the mad dog?' "'I believe.' "'Oh, by God, that it should have come to this! Are you not ashamed to look him in the face?' pointing to the Apollo statue. 'Ah! the old prophecy is once more verified!-- "'Tutemet a nobis iam quovis tempore vatum terriloquis victus dictis desciscere quaeres.' {2} But I must be prudent. I saw somebody watching your house on the other side of the street. If I am caught they will think I belong to the accursed sect too. Farewell." "The morning came, and about an hour after Charmides had risen two soldiers presented themselves. He was hurried away, brought before the judges, and examined. Some little pity was felt for him by two or three members of the court, as he was well known in Rome, and one of them condescended to argue with him and to ask him how he could become ensnared by a brutal superstition which affirmed, so it was said, the existence of devil-possessed pigs, and offered sacrifices to them. "'You,' said he, 'an artist and philosopher--if it be true that you are a pervert, you deserve a heavier punishment than the scum whom we have hitherto convicted.' "'For Christ and His Cross!' cried Charmides. "'Take him away!' "The next day Charmides and Demariste met outside the prison gates. They were chained together in mockery, the seducer, Demariste, and the seduced, Charmides. They were marched through the streets of Rome, the crowd jeering them and thronging after them to enjoy the sport of their torments and death. Charmides saw the eyes of Demariste raised heavenward and her lips moving in prayer. "'He has heard me,' she said, 'and you will endure.' "He pressed her hand, and replied, with unshaken voice, 'Fear not.'