She took her hands from the stone and forced herself, with the whole strength of her will, to be calm.

Where had been the place by pressing which the granite might be moved?

It must have been high up on the right side.  She carefully followed with her fingers the groove in which the stone lay, and having recalled its shape by her sense of touch, she began her search anew.  Suddenly she felt something beneath her finger-tips that was colder than the stone.  She had found the metal bolt!  With a deep breath, and without stopping to think of what might be before her, she pressed the spring; the slab turned-one step-and she was in the street between the racecourse and the Serapeum.

All was still around her.  Not a sound was to be heard except from the square to the north of the temple, where all who carried arms had gathered together to enjoy the wine which flowed in streams as a mark of the emperor’s approbation, and from the inner circle of the race-course voices were audible.  Of the citizens not one dared show himself in the streets, although the butchery had ceased at sundown.  All who did not carry the imperial arms had shut themselves up in their houses, and the streets and squares were deserted since the soldiers had assembled in front of the Serapeum.

No one noticed Melissa.  The dangers that threatened her from afar troubled her but little.  She only knew that she must go on—­go on as fast as her feet would carry her, if she were to reach her loved one in time.

Skirting the south side of the temple, in order to get to the fountain, her chief thought was to keep in its shadow.  The moon had not yet risen, and they had forgotten to light either the pitch-pans or the torches which usually burned in front of the south facade of the temple.  They had been too busy with other matters to-day, and now they needed all hands in heaping the bodies together.  The men whose voices sounded across to her from the race-course had already begun the work.  On—­she must hurry on!

But it was not so easy as last night.  Her light sandals were wet through, and there was ever a fresh impediment in her way.  She knew what it was that had wetted her foot—­blood—­noble, human blood—­and every obstacle against which she stumbled was a human body.  But she would not let herself dwell upon it, and hurried on as though they were but water and stones, ever seeing before her the image of the wounded youth who leaned against the basin.

Thus she reached the east side of the temple.  Already she could hear the splashing of the fountain, she saw the marble gleaming through the darkness, and began seeking for the spot where she had seen her lover.  She suddenly stopped short; at the same time as herself, lights faint and bright were coming along from the south, from the entrance of the street that led to Rhakotis, and down to the water.  She was in the middle of the street, without a possibility of concealing herself except in one of the niches of the Serapeum.