Page:Ben-Hur a tale of the Christ.djvu/524

Rh even painful resolution she presently finished the sentence—&quot;whom she is at loss what to do with.&quot;

&quot;No, it is not enough,&quot; Ben-Hur said, unmoved by the play—&quot;it is not enough. To-morrow you will determine what to do with me. I may die.&quot;

&quot;True,&quot; she rejoined quickly and with emphasis, &quot;I had something from Sheik Ilderim as he lay with my father in a grove out in the Desert. The night was still, very still, and the walls of the tent, sooth to say, were poor ward against ears outside listening to—birds and beetles flying through the air.&quot;

She smiled at the conceit, but proceeded:

&quot;Some other things—bits of shell for the picture—I had from—&quot;

Whom?&quot;

&quot;The son of Hur himself.&quot;

&quot; Was there no other who contributed ?&quot;

&quot;No, not one.&quot;

Hur drew a breath of relief, and said, lightly, &quot;Thanks. It were not well to keep the Lord Sejanus waiting for you. The Desert is not so sensitive. Again, O Egypt, peace!&quot;

To this time he had been standing uncovered; now he took the handkerchief from his arm where it had been hanging, and adjusting it upon his head, turned to depart. But she arrested him; in her eagerness, she even reached a hand to him.

&quot;Stay,&quot; she said.

He looked back at her, but without taking the hand, though it was very noticeable for its sparkling of jewels; and he knew by her manner that the reserved point of the scene which was so surprising to him was now to come.

&quot;Stay, and do not distrust me, O son of Hur, if I declare I know why the noble Arrius took you for his heir. And, by Isis! by all the gods of Egypt! I swear I tremble to think of you, so brave and generous, under the hand of the remorseless minister. You have left a portion of your youth in the atria of the great capital; consider, as I do, what the Desert will be to you in contrast of life. Oh, I give you pity—pity! And if you but do what I say, I will save you. That, also, I swear, by our holy Isis!&quot;