All these things might indeed be the wages of Satan; but if indeed it were so, he—­George the Mukaukas—­would show the Evil One that he was no servant of his, but devoted to the Saviour in whose mercy he trusted.  With what fervent gratitude to the Almighty was his soul filled for the return of such a son!  Every impulse of his being urged him to give expression to this feeling; his terrors and gratitude alike prompted him to spend so vast a sum in order to dedicate a matchless gift to the Church of Christ.  He viewed himself as a prisoner of war whose ransom has just been paid, as he handed to the merchant the tablet with the order for the money; and when he was carried to bed, and his wife was not yet weary of thanking him for his pious intention, he felt happier and more light-hearted than he had done for many years.  Generally he could hear Paula walking up and down her room which was over his; for she went late to rest, and in the silence of the night would indulge in sweet and painful memories.  How many loved ones a cruel fate had snatched from her!  Father, brother, her nearest relations and friends; all at once, by the hand of the Moslems to whom he had abandoned her native land almost without resistance.

“I do not hear Paula to-night,” he remarked, glancing up as though he missed something.  “The poor child has no doubt gone to bed early after what passed.”

“Leave her alone!” said Neforis who did not like to be interrupted in her jubilant effusiveness, and she shrugged her shoulders angrily.  “How she behaved herself again!  We have heard a great deal too much about charity, and though I do not want to boast of my own I am very ready to exercise it—­indeed, it is no more than my duty to show every kindness to a destitute relation of yours.  But this girl!  She tries me too far, and after all I am no more than human.  I can have no pleasure in her presence; if she comes into the room I feel as though misfortune had crossed the threshold.  Besides!—­You never see such things; but Orion thinks of her a great deal more than is good.  I only wish she had been safe out of the house!”

“Neforis!” her husband said in mild reproach; and he would have reproved her more sharply but that since he had become a slave to opium he had lost all power of asserting himself vigorously whether in small matters or great.

Ere long the Mukaukas had fallen into an uneasy sleep; but he opened his eyes more frequently than usual.  He missed the light footfall overhead to which he had been accustomed for these two years past; but she who was wont to pace the floor above half the night through had not gone to rest as he supposed.  After the events of the evening she had indeed retired to her room with tingling cheeks and burning eyes; but the slave-girls, who paid little attention to a guest who was no more than endured and looked on askance by their mistress, had neglected to open her window-shutters after sundown, as she had requested,