“Their kindness to me, their cheerful piety, their holy lives, won on me as I recovered. I saw the religion which I had persecuted in a sublime form; and rapidly recalled to mind the instructions of my dear mother, and the example of my sister; so that yielding to grace, I bewailed my sins at the feet of God’s minister,[243] and received baptism on Easter-eve.”
“Then we are doubly brethren, nay twin children of the Church; for I was born to eternal life, also, on that day. But what do you intend to do now?”
“Set out this evening on my return. I have accomplished the two objects of my journey. The first was to cancel my debt; my second was to lay an offering on the shrine of Agnes. You will remember,” he added, smiling, “that your good father unintentionally deceived me into the idea, that she coveted the jewels I displayed. Fool that I was! But I resolved, after my conversion, that she should possess the best that remained in Eurotas’s keeping; so I brought it to her.”
“But have you means for your journey?” asked the lady, timidly.
“Abundant,” he replied, “in the charity of the faithful. I have letters from the Bishop of Gaza, which procure me every where sustenance and lodging; but I will accept from you a cup of water and a morsel of bread, in the name of a disciple.”
They rose, and were advancing towards the house, when a woman rushed madly through the shrubs, and fell at their feet, exclaiming: “Oh, save me! dear mistress, save me! He is pursuing me, to kill me!”
Fabiola recognized, in the poor creature, her former slave Jubala; but her hair was grizzly and dishevelled, and her whole aspect bespoke abject misery. She asked whom she meant.
“My husband,” she replied; “long has he been harsh and cruel, but to-day he is more brutal than usual. Oh, save me from him!”
“There is no danger here,” replied the lady; “but I fear, Jubala, you are far from happy. I have not seen you for a long, long time.”
“No, dear lady, why should I come to tell you of all my woes? Oh! why did I ever leave you and your house, where I ought to have been so happy? I might then with you, and Graja, and good old departed Euphrosyne, have learnt to be good myself, and have embraced Christianity!”