once more lay her hand on his forehead, charm away his pain, and bring sleep to his horror-stricken bed.  He had done nothing to vex her; nay, every petition she had urged—­ But suddenly the image rose before him of old Vindex and his nephew, whom he had sent to execution in spite of her intercession; and again the awful word, “the deed,” rang in his inward ear.  Were these hideous thoughts to haunt him even by day?

No, no!  In his waking hours there was much to be done which might give him the strength to dissipate them.

The kitchen-steward was by this time in attendance; but what did Caracalla care for dainties to tickle his palate now that he had a hope of seeing Melissa once more?  With perfect indifference he left the catering to the skillful and inventive cook; and hardly had he retired when Macrinus returned.

The slaughterer had acquired his information through a comrade, who said that he had twice caught sight of Melissa at the window of the chambers of mystery in the upper story of the Serapeum, yesterday afternoon.  He had hoped to win the reward which was offered for the recovery of the fugitive, and had promised his colleague half the money if he would help him to capture the maiden.  But just at sunset, hearing that the massacre was ended, the man had incautiously gone out into the town, where he had been slain by a drunken solder of the Scythian legion.  The hapless man’s body had been found, but Macrinus’s informant had assured him that he could entirely rely on the report of his unfortunate colleague, who was a sober and truthful man, as the chief augur would testify.

This was enough for Caracalla.  Macrinus was at once to go for the high-priest, and to take care that he took no further steps to conceal Melissa.  The slaughterer had ever since daybreak kept secret watch on all the doors of the Serapeum, aided by his comrades, who were to share in the reward, and especially on the stairway leading from the ground floor up to the mystic’s galleries.

The prefect at once obeyed the despot’s command.  On the threshold he met the kitchen-steward returning to submit his list of dishes for Caesar’s approval.

He found Caracalla in an altered mood, rejuvenescent and in the highest spirits.  After hastily agreeing to the day’s bill of fare, he asked the steward in what part of the building the chambers of mystery were; and when he learned that the stairs leading up to them began close to the kitchens, which had been arranged for Caesar’s convenience under the temple laboratory, Caracalla declared in a condescending tone that he would go to look round the scene of the cook’s labors.  And the lion should come too, to return thanks for the good meat which was brought to him so regularly.

The head cook, rejoiced at the unwonted graciousness of a master whose wrath had often fallen on him, led the way to his kitchen hearth.  This had been constructed in a large hall, originally the largest of the laboratories, where incense was prepared for the sanctuary and medicines concocted for the sick in the temple hospital.  There were smaller halls and rooms adjoining, where at this moment some priests were busy preparing kyphi and mixing drugs.