The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

" There was a company of us , fresh from Rome , who had never drawn blade in anger before . Our delight was to launch forth upon a body of the enemy , and cut our way through them . Trajan however called it folly , and compelled us to give

it up . We nearly mutinied , and loudly complained , but Trajan laughed and . called us reckless boys , and we laughed , and so the matter ended , . although Lycus and Sempronius kept up the ¦ offended fit till the great fight with the Dacians .

By the gods that was a sight ; the earth trembled beneath our horses' hoofs—one charge aud the day -was ours , although the Dacians bravely contested every step . " So swept on the tide of talk , Caius and Phryne

became more unrestrained as they became intimate . Lais seeing them so engrossed , turned with a smile to Balbus who was next to her , and spoke to him . Myra had slipped away from the ¦ table unperceived , and was then on her knees at her devotions .

"Murtius , " said Decius , " cannot we speed the happy hours with a song . The fair Phryne doubtless will entrance us with her melody . " Phryne looked at her father , and then at Lais , who nodded . She ordered her lyre to be brought

-and then sung to Caius' surprised delight , one of his own odes . His poems are all lost with the -exception of two or three ; this one has however come down to us , and we give a poor translation -of it : When the Heaven is gleaming ,

Bright with thousand eyes , And the day light ' s dreaming In the western skies : Then I see arising 'Mid the leafy grove , Orb of maiden's prizing ,

Trembling Star of Love ! Oft beneath wild sorrow Have I on it gazed , Seen a bright to-morrow , 'Mid its glory raised , And tlie bright to-morrow

From my heart woe drove ; ¦ Sunk the lingering sorrow , 'Fore the Star of Love ! 0 ! through life ' s paths dreary Through its toil and pain , When my heart is weary ,

May it shine again . Shine still on and brighter Than the planets prove , Making hearts grow lighter , Sweet , sweet Star of Love . A prolonged shout of applause greeted the fair

songstress as she concluded . Lais , who had wreathed a ' crown of bay , lightly placed it on the head of Caius saying , " Let us not forget the author of the verses . " "Nay , rather , " replied Caius , removing the

crown from his own head and placing it upon Phryne ' s , " she best deserves the wreath , who has opened to us the music of the spheres , and let flow upon our banquet the melody of heaven . " " Thou art a flatterer , as well as a poet , " said

Phryne . " What sayeth the proverb , ' the poet is a flatterer , ' but believe me , fair one , I do not flatter thee . " " By the gods , she is fair game for flattery , " cried Aulus Decimus , " if so rare perfection could be flattered . ''

" You pay me rarer flattery , in saying that I am above flattery . Wert thou ever in love , " she continued , when once more the conversation became general , " methinks none but one in love could have penned these verses . "

" Nay , nay , " answered Caius hastily , " I was never in love , fair lady . We poets , they say , write best about what we know least of . It is

the same with me . " Ah , perhaps some lady could tell another tale . " "It would be false then , credit me . " And so the happy evening swept on till the hour when the revel broke up , and Caius went

home . But the witching voice and the beautiful eyes of Phryne hunted him , and a strange emotion troubled his breast , and drove slumber away from his pillow . The long night did he sit , gazing forth upon the night , ancl the early dawn

drove him forth to the hill side to muse over , and in waking dreams recall the magic of her look and voice . What a diffident trembling thing is first love , so easily fed , so easily kept alive . A lock will last a week , a smile a year , a kiss for ever .

Day after day did he visit the fair enchantress , and firmly ancl more strongly did she ply her charms till she rivetted her spell upon his heart , and made him her willing and most abject slave . Oh what a priceless love , Phryne , dost thou think it so ?"

At last Caius awoke to the consciousness of his own feeling's ; it flashed upon him like a ray of light thas he loved her . Then with the diflidend modesty which was his principal characteristic he suspended his visits . But the tortures which he endured during the teu days he did not visit his mistress , were terrible , and the habit of seeing