Page:Afterglow; pastels of Greek Egypt, 69 B.C. (IA afterglowpastels00buck).pdf/71

Rh vated ground," Antonius continued. "And when I saw her, I was speechless. She was a young girl, dressed like the Egyptians in the kalasiris; it was heavier than that affected by your city women, yet so light that, had it not been for her stola, it would have only shadowed the treasures beneath. One could see she might have disrobed without shame. Her cheeks were clear and light—almost too light for an Egyptian, but holding a delicate pallor, like the cheeks of an unhappy child. Her eyes were dark with an unknown depth, her lips were neither full nor thin, but red as the bloom of the desert rose. And her raised arms were full of flowers, innumerable flowers of all colors, which she held carefully against her young breast. An old woman was with her."

"Thou art poetic," observed Thersites.

"As thou wouldst have been. Hardly have I seen, in all Egypt, even at Alex-