Arachne | Page 6

fool, who should have warned her,
left her alone, and if she yielded to Hermon's temptations the fault is
mine, wholly mine."
During this outburst the light of the fire, which old Tabus had fed with
fresh straw and dry rushes, fell upon the face of the agitated girl. It
revealed her thoughts plainly enough, and, pleased with the success of
his warning, Bias exclaimed: "And Ledscha, you, too, will not grant
him that from which you would so gladly have withheld your sister. So
I will go and tell my master that you refuse to give him another
appointment."
He had confidently expected an assent, and therefore started
indignantly at her exclamation: "I intend to do just the contrary." Yet
she eagerly added, as if in explanation: "He must give me an account of
himself, no matter where, and, since it can not be to-day, to-morrow at
latest."
The slave, disappointed and anxious, now tried to make her understand
how foolish and hard to accomplish her wish was, but she obstinately
insisted upon having her own way.
Bias angrily turned his back upon her and, in the early light of the
moon, walked toward the shore, but she hastened after him, seized his
arm and, with imperious firmness, commanded: "You will stay! I must
first know whether Hermon really means to leave Tennis so soon."
"That was his intention early this morning," replied the other, releasing

himself from her grasp. "What are we to do here longer, now that his
work is as good as finished?"
"But when is he going?" she urged with increased eagerness.
"Day after to-morrow," was the reply, "in five, or perhaps even in six
days, just as it suits him. Usually we do not even know to-day what is
to be done to-morrow. So long as the Alexandrian remains, he will
scarcely leave her, or Myrtilus either. Probably she will take both
hunting with her, for, though a kind, fair-minded woman, she loves the
chase, and as both have finished their work, they probably will not be
reluctant to go with Daphne."
He stepped into the boat as he spoke, but Ledscha again detained him,
asking impatiently: "And 'the work,' as you call it? It was covered with
a cloth when I visited the studio, but Hermon himself termed it the
statue of a goddess. Yet what it represents--Does it look like my sister
Taus--enough like her, I mean, to be recognised?"
A half-compassionate, half-mocking smile flitted over the Biamite's
copper-coloured visage, and in a tone of patronizing instruction
assumed by the better informed, he began: "You are thinking of the
face? Why no, child! What that requires can be found in the
countenance of no Biamite, hardly even in yours, the fairest of all."
"And the goddess's figure?" asked Ledscha eagerly.
"For that he first used as a model the fair-haired Heliodora, whom he
summoned from Alexandria, and as the wild cat could endure the
loneliness only a fortnight, the sisters Nico and Pagis came together.
But Tennis was too quiet for them too. The rabble can only be
contented among those of their own sort in the capital. But the great
preliminary work was already finished before we left Alexandria."
"And Gula--my sister?"
"They were not used for the Demeter," said the slave, smiling. "Just
think, that slender scarcely grown creature, Taus, and the matronly

patroness of marriage. And Gula? True, her little round face is fresh
and not ill-looking--but the model of a goddess requires something
more. That can only be obtained in Alexandria. What do not the women
there do for the care of the body! They learn it in the Aphrodision, as
the boys study reading and writing. But you! What do you here know
even about colouring the eyelids and the lips, curling the hair, and
treating the nails on the hands and feet? And the clothes! You let them
hang just as you put them on, and my master's work is full of folds and
little lines in the robe and the peplos--But I have staid too long already.
Do you really insist upon meeting Hermon again?
"I will and must see him," she eagerly declared.
"Well, then," he answered harshly. "But if you cast my warning to the
winds, pity will also fly away with it."
"I do not need it," the girl retorted in a contemptuous tone.
"Then let Fate take its course," said the slave, shrugging his shoulders
regretfully. "My master shall learn what you wish. I shall remain at
home until the market is empty. There are plenty of servants at your
farm. Your messenger shall bring you Hermon's answer."
"I will come myself and wait for it under the acacia," she cried hastily,
and went toward the house, but this time it was Bias