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The Bride of the Nile — Volume 11 by Georg Ebers
page 22 of 59 (37%)
silence fell and spread till, when a man opened his mouth to shout or to
speak, a neighbor gave him a shove and bid him hold his tongue. At this
the widow held Mary's ankles more tightly, asking, while she wiped the
drops from her brow:

"What is going on?" and the child answered quickly, never taking her
eyes off the scene:

"Look, look up at the balcony of the Curia; there stands the chief of the
Senate--Alexander the dyer of purple--he often used to come to see my
grandfather, and grandmother could not bear his wife. And by his side--
do you not see who the man is close by him?

"It is old Horapollo. He is taking the laurel-crown off his wig!--
Alexander is going to speak."

She was interrupted by another trumpet call, and immediately after a
loud, manly voice was heard from the Curia, while the silence was so
profound that even the widow and her daughter lost very little of the
speech which followed:

"Fellow-citizens, Memphites, and comrades in misfortune," the president
began in slow, ringing tones, "you know what the sufferings are which we
all share. There is not a woe that has not befallen us, and even worse
loom before us."

The crowd expressed their agreement by a fearful outcry, but they were
reduced to silence by the sound of the tuba, and the speaker went on:

"We, the Senate, the fathers of the city, whom you have entrusted with
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