"’Ah!’ she cried, ’so the slave is beginning to recognize her mistress; and she shall do so with good reason before we let her go!’ Then, turning to Aureus, she said, ’Take the whip, and let me see that you use it like a man, or by the gods I will have you lashed and sold in the public slave-market.’ "The boy, though he had often witnessed such scenes before, hesitated; he had never been called upon to hit a woman, and the thought was instinctively repugnant to him. On the other hand, he had never disobeyed his mistress, and her will was his law. He lifted the whip and let it fall gently upon the prostrate woman, who was bound down upon one of the raised stone seats. Then Viola came up to him, and grinding her teeth with anger, she seized his arm. "’If you do not hit her,’ she hissed, ’hit her so that the blood shall flow forth freely, I will kill you both! Brute!’ she cried; ’you love her--you dare to love her!’ "Then the boy did as his mistress told him, and a great curse entered into his soul, for the brute nature was awakened, and he knew the delight of cruelty; for the sister fiend of lust, with her horrible fascination, took, for the time, possession of him as he watched the writhing body of his victim. But the young girl Viola stood by more damned than the slave who did her bidding, for a double curse fell upon her soul. "On a lovely day towards the end of summer, Viola at last obtained her father’s consent to ride with the huntsmen, and Aureus, who was a skilful horseman, was told off to be her attendant, and made responsible for her safety. "It was late in the day before the wild beasts broke cover and the riders galloped over the plain in pursuit. The girl selected for her quarry a hart which had been slightly wounded by one of the archers, and soon she and her companion were urging their horses over the ground. They were both well mounted, but the animals at that date were ill fitted for speed, and there seemed little chance of their overtaking the stag unless his wound exhausted him. The girl, however, was far too excited to consider possibilities, and they soon left the other huntsmen far behind, the sound of the horns growing fainter and fainter. "At last the hart came to a small wood, and disappeared among the undergrowth. "’Had we not better return?’ the boy asked. ’We shall find it no easy matter to follow him further.’ "But the girl had no mind to give up the chase. A few hounds had followed them, and she put them upon the track and began forcing her horse through the dense thicket. They had not far to go before once more the open country could be seen through the willow-stems, and after wading a small stream they came in sight of the stag who had just been driven from his place of concealment. The hounds, now also emerging from the stream, gave tongue joyfully at view of their prey.