at the same time a rose fell out on the ground. Only her hands were
busy; her eyes were elsewhere, and suddenly they brightened again, for
the couple on which she kept them fixed were coming back, straight
towards the hedge, and she would soon be able again to hear what they
were saying.




CHAPTER XXIII.

Orion and Paula had had much to talk about, since the young man had
arrived. The discussion over the safe keeping of the girl's money had
been tedious. Finally, her counsellors had decided to entrust half of it
to Gamaliel the jeweller and his brother, who carried on a large business
in Constantinople. He happened to be in Memphis, and they had both
declared themselves willing each to take half of the sum in question and
use it at interest. They would be equally responsible for its security,
so that each should make good the whole of the property in their hands in
case of the other stopping payment. Nilus undertook to procure legal
sanction and the necessary sixteen witnesses to this transaction.

The other half of her fortune was, by the advice of Philippus, to be
placed in the hands of a brother of Haschim's, the Arab merchant, who had
a large business as money changer in Fostat, the new town on the further
shore, in which the merchant himself was a partner. This investment had
the advantage of being perfectly safe, at any rate so long as the Arabs
ruled the land.

After all this was settled Nilus departed with that half of the money