Crispus, though awake, heard nothing of this conversation, being too faint and confused at first to understand anything. Gradually, with the clearing of his senses, he discovered himself to be lying upon the floor of a low-roofed chamber that had latticed windows, and was prettily furnished in Oriental style. He wondered what place it was, and how he came to be there. Then, as memory began to assert its sway, he recalled the scene in which he had last closed his eyes--Eleazar’s glare of hatred, the swift sword-flash, the sharp pang of pain, and the sinking into darkness and insensibility. He had expected sudden death at the hands of Eleazar; but clearly he was not dead yet. Some person must have removed his supposed corpse from the pile of massacred Romans, and who could that person be but the lovely maiden that knelt beside him? He tried to lift himself upon one elbow, but fell back exhausted by the effort. There was no strength left in him. “Are you in pain?” asked Vashti. “No; only weak--weak!” he said in a voice that startled him; he could not speak above a hollow whisper. Vashti placed her left arm beneath him; and, lifting him, she put a cup to his lips. “Drink!” said she. Crispus drank, of what he knew not--some dark liquid--but it seemed to endow him with new life. “Eat!” was her next command. Submissive as a child, Crispus ate of whatever her hand offered. “And now,” continued she, “sleep, and sleep will give you strength.” He wanted to ask questions, but Vashti enjoined silence by placing her finger upon his lip in so pretty a way that he was fain to do her bidding; so, closing his eyes, Crispus, almost against his will, dropped off to sleep again. His sleep extended over several hours. On waking he found Vashti by his side again, ready to minister to his wants; and, as these wants included a desire for knowledge on certain points, she proceeded to enlighten him. “You are in my mother’s house,” said she. “This is my own chamber; and there,” she continued, pointing with pride to several tiers of shelves filled with papyrus rolls, “there are my Greek books.” She then went on to tell him how he came to be there. After the massacre of the Roman garrison, Josephus, at her request, went to the fierce Eleazar and asked for the body of Crispus, saying, “He is a Roman noble, known to me. I pray you, let me give him honorable burial.” Eleazar’s reply was, “Take him; I war not with the dead.” When the supposed corpse of Crispus had been conveyed to her house Vashti sorrowed over it, but her grief suddenly turned to joy when she detected a movement of his lips.