obstacle in the way, the house of the old philosopher Didymus, was
destroyed. A messenger from Gorgias brought the news. It is to be the
second monument in Alexandria worthy of notice. The other contains the
body of the great Alexander, to whom the city owes its origin and name.
He who subjected half the world to his power and the genius of the
Greeks, was younger than I when he died. Whence do I, by whose miserable
weakness the battle of Actium was lost, derive the right to walk longer
beneath the sun? Perhaps Mark Antony will arrive in a few hours."

"And will you meet the disheartened hero in this mood?" interrupted
Charmian.

"He does not wish to be received," answered Cleopatra bitterly. "He even
refused to let me greet him, and I understand the denial. But what must
have overwhelmed this joyous nature, so friendly to all mankind, that he
longs for solitude and avoids meeting those who are nearest and dearest?
Iras is now at the Choma--whither he wishes to retire--to see that
everything is in order. She will also provide a supply of the flowers
he loves. It is hard, cruelly hard, not to welcome him as usual.
Oh, Charmian, what joy it was when, with open arms and overflowing heart,
he swung his mighty figure ashore like a youth, while his handsome,
heroic face beamed with ardent love for me! And then--you do not forget
it either--when he raised his deep voice to shout the first greeting,
why, it seemed as if the very fish in the water must join in, and the
palm-trees on the shore wave their feathery tops in joyous sympathy.
And here! The dreams of my childhood, which I made reality for him,
received us, and our existence, wreathed with love and roses, became a
fairy tale. Since the day he rode towards us at Kanopus and offered me
the first bouquet, with his sunny glance wooing my love, his image has
stood before my soul as the embodiment of the virile strength which