Page:The Great Secret.djvu/251

Rh destroy him, banished him from Rome. In Egypt he was followed by prodigious multitudes, and consulted by Vespasian, whom he advised to rule with justice and moderation. When the mad Domitian, enraged at his seditious virtue, had him arrested and sent from Asia to Rome in chains, he was already on his way to face the tyrant, and when brought before the emperor was particularly severe in his rebuke, warning him of the evil consequences of giving ear to informers, adding loftily,—'As for myself, I have no fears. You may cause me to be seized, as I choose, but put me to death you cannot.' Domitian listened with dread to his words and declared him innocent; thus Apollonius passed from his presence, and was seen that same evening at Patioli, three days' journey from Rome.

"On the day and hour of the assassination of Domitian the sage was preaching at Ephesus, when suddenly he stopped, and, fixing his eyes on the ground, after a short silence, exclaimed,—'Strike home! Strike the tyrant dead! Courage,' then he looked up and said to his numerous hearers,—'Rejoice, for Domitian is no more. Stephanus has just now struck the blow.'

"His friend Nerva succeeded Domitian, and invited him at once to Rome, but he replied by letter, sent by Damis, his disciple, that by the decree of fate they would see each other no more in the body, yet he gave much excellent political advice, and while his disciple Damis was on the way he embarked at Ephesus for Lindus, in the Island of Rhodes, and was never afterwards seen."

They were gliding softly through space as Philip imparted to her these historical items, her head on his breast and her eyes looking into his with admiring tenderness, while he held her in his arms and watched