"Hadrian is our ruler as well as yours," answered the young girl. "I am in haste for there are sick people on the island."
"You will bring them no good!" cried the beggar. "Who knows what is hidden there in the basket?"
"Silence!" interrupted the tribune. "They say, girl that your fellow- believers overthrew the statue of Caesar in the night."
"How should that be? We honor Caesar no less than you do."
"I will believe you, and you shall prove it. There stands the statue of the divine Caesar. Come with me and worship it." Selene looked with horror in the face of the stern man, and could not find a word of reply.
"Well!" asked the captain, "will you come? Yes or no?"
Selene struggled for self-possession, and when the soldier held out his hand to her she said with a trembling voice:
"We honor the Emperor but we pray to no statue—only to our Father in
Heaven."
"There you have it!" laughed the beggar.
"Once more I ask you," cried the tribune. "Will you worship this statue, or do you refuse to do so?"