"Then let it pass. But now for something else; how did this little phial come into the hands of the dealer Hiram?" As he spoke the Emperor took from his table the little bottle of Vasa Murrhina which the lad had given to Arsinoe and which she had sold to the Phoenician, and held it up before the favorite's eyes. Antinous turned pale, and stammered in great confusion. "It is incomprehensible--I cannot in the least recollect--" "Then I will assist your memory," said the Emperor decidedly. "The Phoenician appears to me to be an honester man than that rogue Gabinius. In his collection, which I have just been to see, I found this gem, that Plotina--do you hear me, boy--that Trajan's wife Plotina, my heart's friend, never to be forgotten, gave me years ago. It was one of my dearest possessions and yet I thought it not too precious to give to you on your last birthday." "Oh, my lord, my dear lord!" cried Antinous in a low tone and again lifting his eyes and hands in entreaty. "Now, I ask you," continued Hadrian, gravely, and without allowing himself to yield to the lad's beseeching looks, "how could this object have passed into the possession of one of the daughters of the wretched palace-steward Keraunus from whom Hiram confessed that he had bought it?" Antinous vainly strove for utterance; Hadrian however came to his aid by asking him more angrily than before: "Did the girl steal it from you? Out with the truth!" "No, no," replied the Bithynian quickly and decidedly. "Certainly not. I remember--wait a minute--yes, that was it.--You know it contained excellent balsam, and when the big dog threw down Selene--the steward's daughter is called Selene--threw her down the steps so that she lay hurt on the stones I fetched the phial and gave her the balsam." "With the bottle that held it?" asked the Emperor looking at Antinous. "Yes, my lord--I had no other." "And she kept it and sold it at once." "You know, of course, her father--" "A gang of thieves!" snarled Hadrian. "Do you know what has become of the girl?" "Yes my lord," said Antinous trembling with alarm. "I will have her taken by the lictors," asserted the infuriated sovereign. "No," said the lad positively. "No, you positively must not do that." "No--? we shall see!" "No, positively not, for at the same time you must know that Keraunus' daughter Selene--" "Well?" "She flung herself into the water in despair; yes, into the water, at night--into the sea." "Oh!" said Hadrian more gently, "that certainly alters the case. The lictors would find it difficult to apprehend a shade and the girl has suffered the worst punishment of all.--But you? what shall I say to your perfidy? You knew the value of the gem. You knew how highly I valued it, and could part with it to such hands?" "It contained the salve," stammered the boy. "How could I think--?" The Emperor interrupted the boy, striking his forehead with his hand as he spoke: