“And to my belief our Saviour is too purely divine to hate those who regard Him as only ‘God-like.’  He is Love.  And when Arius goes to Heaven and sees Jesus Christ in all His divine glory, and falls down before Him in an ecstasy of joy and repentance, the worst the Lord will do to him will be to take him by the ear and say:  ’Thou fool!  Now thou seest what I really am; but thine errors be forgiven!’”

Elizabeth nodded assent.  “Amen,” she said, “so be it.—­And so, no doubt, it will be.  Did the Lord cast out the woman taken in adultery?  Did he not give us the parable of the Samaritan?—­Poor little girl!  We have often wished for a daughter and now we have found one; a pretty creature she is too.  God grants us all our wishes!  But you must be tired, old man; go to rest now.”

“Directly, directly,” said Eusebius; but then, striking his forehead with his hand, he went on in much annoyance:  “And with all this tumult and worry I had quite forgotten the most important thing of all:  Marcus!  He is like a possessed creature, and if I do not make a successful appeal to his conscience before he sleeps this night mischief will come of it.  Yes, I am very tired; but duty before rest.  It is of no use to contradict me, Mother.  Get me my cloak; I must go to the lad.”  And a few minutes later the old man was making his way to the house in the Canopic street.

CHAPTER XV.

Dread and anxiety had taken possession of the merchant’s household after Constantine had left them.  Messengers came hurrying in, one after another, to request the presence of Olympius.  A heathen secretary of Evagrius the Governor, had revealed what was astir, and the philosopher had at once prepared to return to the Serapeum.  Porphyrius himself ordered his closed harmamaxa to be brought out, and undertook to fetch weapons and standards to the temple from a storehouse where they were laid by.  This building stood on a plot of ground belonging to him in Rhacotis, behind a timber-yard which was accessible from the streets in front and behind, but sheltered from the public gaze by sheds and wood-stacks.

The old aqueduct, which supplied the courts of sacrifice and the Subterranean crypts of the temple where the mysteries of Serapis were celebrated, passed close by the back-wall of this warehouse.  Since the destruction of the watercourse, under the Emperor Julian, the underground conduit had been dry and empty, and a man by slightly stooping could readily pass through it unseen into the Serapeum.  This mysterious passage had lately been secretly cleared out, and it was now to be used for the transport of the arms to the temple precincts.

Damia had been present at the brief but vehement interview between her son and Olympius, and had thrown in a word now and again:  “It is serious, very serious!” or, “Fight it out—­no quarter!”