“How kind of you, Afra, to be thinking of me, especially as I was not just then thinking of you, but of your countrymen in those cells.” “Cease your impertinence, and call people by their proper names. I am not Afra the slave any longer; at least I shall not be so in a few hours; but Jubala, the wife of Hyphax, commander of the Mauritanian archers.” “A very respectable man, no doubt, if he could speak any language besides his gibberish; but these few hours of interval may suffice for the transaction of our business. You made a mistake, methinks, in what you said just now. It was _you_, was it not, that made a fool of me at our last meeting? What has become of your fair promises, and of my fairer gold, which were exchanged on that occasion? Mine, I know, proved sterling; yours, I fear, turned out but dust.” “No doubt; for so says a proverb in my language: ‘the dust on a wise man’s skirts is better than the gold in the fool’s girdle.’ But let us come to the point; did you really ever believe in the power of my charms and philters?” “To be sure I did; do you mean they were all imposture?” “Not quite all; you see we have got rid of Fabius, and the daughter is in possession of the fortune. That was a preliminary step of absolute necessity.” “What! do you mean that your incantations removed the father?” asked Corvinus, amazed, and shrinking from her. It was only a sudden bright thought of Afra’s, so she pushed her advantage, saying: “To be sure; what else? It is easy thus to get rid of any one that is too much in the way.” “Good night, good night,” he replied in great fear. “Stay a moment,” she answered, somewhat propitiated: “Corvinus, I gave you two pieces of advice worth all your gold that night. One you have acted against; the other you have not followed.” “How?” “Did I not tell you not to hunt the Christians, but to catch them in your toils? Fulvius has done the second, and has gained something. You have done the first, and what have you earned?” “Nothing but rage, confusion, and stripes.” “Then I was a good counsellor in the one advice; follow me in the second.” “What was it?” “When you had become rich enough by Christian spoil, to offer yourself, with your wealth, to Fabiola. She has till now coldly rejected every offer; but I have observed one thing carefully. Not a single suit has been accompanied by riches. Every spendthrift has sought her fortune to repair his own; depend upon it, he that wins the prize must come on the principle that two and two make four. Do you understand me?” “Too well, for where are my two to come from?”