When the steward went to summons the musicians to his master’s house he had again had no bidding for Dada, and she was very indignant at being left behind.  “That old cornsack’s daughter,” she said, “was full of her airs, and would have nothing to say to them excepting to make use of them for her own purposes!” If she had not been afraid of being thought intrusive she would have acted on old Damia’s invitation to visit her frequently, and have made her appearance, in defiance of Gorgo, dropping like a shooting-star into the midst of their practising.  It never occurred to her to fancy that the young lady had any personal dislike to her, for, though she might be ignored and forgotten, who had ever had any but a kind word for her.  At the same time she assumed the right of feeling that “she could not bear” the haughty Gorgo, and as the party set out she exclaimed to Agne, “Well, you need not kill her for me, but at any rate, I send her no greeting; it is a shame that I should be left to mope alone with Herse.  Do not be surprised if you find me turned to a stark, brown mummy—­for we are in Egypt, you know, the land of mummies.  I bequeath my old dress to you, my dear, for I know you would never put on the new one.  If you bewail me as you ought I will visit you in a dream, and put a sugarplum in your mouth—­a cake of ambrosia such as the gods eat.  You are not even leaving me Papias to tease!”

For in fact Agne’s little brother, dressed in a clean garment, was to be taken to Gorgo who had expressed a wish to see him.

When they had all left the ship Dada soon betrayed how superficial her indignation had been; for, presently spying through the window of the cabin the young cavalry officer’s grey-bearded father, she sprang up the narrow steps—­barefoot as she was accustomed to be when at home—­and threw herself on a cushion to lean over the gunwale of the upper deck, which was shaded by a canvas awning, to watch the ship-yard and the shore-path.  Before she had begun to weary of this occupation the waiting-slave, who had been up to the house to put various matters in order, came back to the vessel, and squatting down at her feet was ready to give her all the information she chose to require.  Dada’s first questions naturally related to Gorgo.  The young mistress, said the slave, had already dismissed many suitors, the sons of the greatest families of Alexandria, and if her suspicions—­those of Sachepris, the slave—­were well founded, all for the sake of the old shipbuilder’s son, whom she had known from childhood and who was now an officer in the Imperial guard.  However, as she opined, this attachment could hardly lead to marriage, since Constantine was a zealous Christian and his family were immeasurably beneath that of Porphyrius in rank; and though he had distinguished himself greatly and risen to the grade of Prefect, Damia, who on all occasions had the casting-vote, had quite other views for her granddaughter.