“Thank you, thank you; I understand you. You are not fond of these Christians, then?”
“Fond of them? I hate the entire race. The spirits which I worship are the deadly enemies of their very name.” And she grinned horrible a ghastly smile as she proceeded: “I suspect one of my fellow-servants is one. Oh, how I detest her!”
“What makes you think it?”
“In the first place, she would not tell a lie for anything, and gets us all into dreadful scrapes by her absurd truthfulness.”
“Good! what next?”
“Then she cares not for money or gifts; and so prevents our having them offered.”
“Better!”
“And moreover she is—” the last word died in the ear of Corvinus, who replied:
“Well, indeed, I have to-day been out of the gate to meet a caravan of your countryfolk coming in; but you beat them all!”
“Indeed!” exclaimed Afra with delight, “who were they?”