Terentia Rufilla had seen many of the proud ones brought low, and the vain and frivolous ones made shipwreck. The cases of the latter were rare, but there had been such, even during her time of office, and her heart might well be heavy as she thought over them. The beauty and rare simplicity of her little kinswoman had touched her from the first moment of their meeting, and now as she led her up to the old priest, who was awaiting them in a side vestibule, she felt a yearning tenderness and love for Hyacintha which made her silvery voice almost mournful as she said-- “I bring you the daughter of the noble Severus, to be consecrated for the service of the goddess and of Rome, in this temple.” The priest, an old man, who had received the candidates for many, many years, went through the usual form of questions as to Hyacintha’s willingness to take the solemn oath he tendered to her. The child understood but little of the meaning of much that was said to her, but she knew that the penalty was death if she should break her vow. As she knelt before the old priest her childlike transparent soul received no impression but that she was never to have any other home than the temple; and she wished for no other. She was to learn to spin and weave the sacred curtains and veils for the altar, and she desired nothing better. She was to submit herself entirely to the rule of the Vestal Maxima and those of the sacred virgins whom she should appoint to watch over her and instruct her. She was to be under training for eight or ten years, as the Vestal Maxima should see good, and then her full consecration would take place, and she would take her turn in watching in the temple at night and feeding the sacred fire--which only the fully consecrated were ever allowed to do. “And now, beloved,” the priest said, “Hyacintha, the daughter of the noble Severus, I give thee entrance as a disciple, to be educated for a vestal priestess, to minister in sacred things, and to do for the Roman people what the law has appointed.” Then Hyacintha took the vow in the prescribed form, and, rising, the Vestal Maxima invested her with the stole, and bound a purple fillet round her head; then bending with an irresistible impulse, she kissed the pure sweet brow of her little kinswoman, and with a reverence to the priest, she committed her to the care of Lucia, and, followed by the band of vestals, chanting low as they went, she slowly left the temple. * * * * * Hyacintha’s new life was hardly what she had pictured it would be; what seemed so solemn and grave a responsibility to her, was an everyday routine to many of her companions. The appointed tasks were done, and the appointed work fulfilled, and then Hyacintha was free to wander about in the gardens, which sloped up the Cælian Hill, and where the pure cold water of the spring was drawn of which Hyacintha had drunk a refreshing draught on the first evening of her arrival.