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Thorny Path, a — Volume 05 by Georg Ebers
page 17 of 48 (35%)
imminent danger, and Melissa, seeking help, laid her head on that kind
breast. Berenike was reminded, by the scent that rose up from the girl's
hair, of the hours when her own child had thus fondly clung to her.
Her motherly heart had found a new object to love, and exclaiming,
"Impossible!" she clasped Melissa more closely.

But Philostratus begged to be heard. Any plea urged by a third person he
declared would only be the ruin of the rash mediator.

"Caracalla," he went on, looking at Melissa, "is terrible in his
passions, no one can deny that; but of late severe suffering has made
him irritably sensitive, and he insists on the strictest virtue in all
who are about his person. He pays no heed to female beauty, and this
sweet child, at any rate, will find many protectors. He shall know that
the high-priest's wife, one of the best of women, keeps an anxious eye on
Melissa's fate; and I myself, his mother's friend, shall be at hand. His
passion for revenge, on the other hand, is boundless--no one living can
control it; and not even the noble Julia can shield those who provoke it
from a cruel end. If you do not know it, child, I can tell you that he
had his brother Geta killed, though he took refuge in the arms of the
mother who bore them both. You must understand the worst; and again I
ask you, are you ready to risk all for those you love? Have you the
courage to venture into the lion's den?"

Melissa clung more closely to the motherly woman, and her pale lips
answered faintly but firmly, "I am ready, and he will grant my prayer."

"Child, child," cried Berenike in horror, "you know not what lies before
you! You are dazzled by the happy confidence of inexperienced youth.
I know what life is. I can see you, in your heart's blood, as red and
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