Rufinus, and every day he saw Paula; but, as a murdered body bleeds
afresh in the presence of the assassin, so every day the old pain revived
when he was forced to meet her and speak with her. The only cure for
this particular sufferer was to remove the cause of his pain: that is to
say, to take Paula away out of his path; and this the old man made his
care and duty.

Little Mary and the other patients under Rufinus' roof were on the way to
recovery; still there was much to cast gloomy shadows over this happy
termination. Joanna and Pulcheria were very anxious as to the fate of
Rufinus. No news had been received of him or of the sisters, and
Philippus was the vessel into which the forsaken wife and Pulcheria--
who looked up to him as to a kind, faithful, and all-powerful protecting
spirit-poured all their sorrows, cares, and fears. Their forebodings
were aggravated by the fact that three times Arab officials had come to
the house to enquire about the master and his continued absence. All
that the women told them was written down, and Dame Joanna, whose lips
had never yet uttered a lie, had found herself forced to give a false
clue by saying that her husband had gone to Alexandria on business, and
might perhaps have to proceed to Syria.--What could these enquiries
forebode? Did they not indicate that Rufinus' complicity in the rescue
of the nuns was known at Fostat?

The authorities there were, in fact, better informed than the women
could suspect. But they kept their knowledge a secret, for it would
never do to let the oppressed people know that a handful of Egyptians
had succeeded in defeating a party of Arab soldiers; so the Memphites
heard no more than a dark rumor of what had occurred.

Philippus had known nothing of the old man's purpose till he had gone too