"It lasts too long! God knows I cannot help it!"
And he got quickly out from among the roots.
The old woman now raised her half-blind eyes; she saw a glittering form rise from the earth. A ray of ecstasy flashed across her features. She spread out her arms.
"Jucundus!" she cried.
It was her last breath.
The sword of the Byzantine had pierced her heart.
Without a cry, a smile upon her lips, she sank down amid the flowers; Miriam's flowers.
Johannes turned and quickly helped up his brother Perseus, and then the Jew and the first three soldiers.
"Where is the sally-port?"
"Here to the left. I will go and open it!"