Indianapolis
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
Publishers
1908
March

CONTENTS

1. A Prince's Bride 1
2. On the Road to Jerusalem 31
3. The Shepherd of Pella 56
4. The Travelers 85
5. By the Wayside 108
6. Dawn in the Hills 124
7. Imperial Cæsar 148
8. Greek and Jew 169
9. The Young Titus 189
10. The Story of a Divine Tragedy 212
11. The House of Offense 233
12. The Prince Returns 253
13. A New Pretender 274
14. The Pride of Amaryllis 284
15. The Image of Jealousy 300
16. The Spread Net 322
17. The Tangled Web 337
18. In the Sunless Crypt 358
19. The False Prophet 374
20. As the Foam upon Water 390
21. The Faithful Servant 408
22. Vanished Hopes 417
23. The Fulfilment 427
24. The Road to Pella 441

THE CITY OF DELIGHT

Chapter I

A PRINCE'S BRIDE

The chief merchant of Ascalon stood in the guest-chamber of his house.

Although it was a late winter day the old man was clad in the free white garments of a midsummer afternoon, for to the sorrow of Philistia the cold season of the year sixty-nine had been warm, wet and miasmic. An old woman entering presently glanced at the closed windows of the apartment when she noted the flushed face of the merchant but she made no movement to have them opened. More than the warmth of the day was engaging the attention of the grave old man, and the woman, by dress and manner of equal rank with him, stood aside until he could give her a moment.

His porter bowed at his side.

"The servants of Philip of Tyre are without," he said. "Shall they enter?"

"They have come for the furnishings," Costobarus answered. "Take thou all the household but Momus and Hiram, and dismantle the rooms for them. Begin in the library; then the sleeping-rooms; this chamber next; the kitchen last of all. Send Hiram to the stables to except three good camels from the herd for our use. Let Momus look to the baggage. Where is Keturah?"

A woman servant hastening after a line of men bearing a great divan, picking up the draperies and pillows that had dropped, stopped and salaamed to her master.

"Is our apparel ready?" he asked.

"Prepared, master," was the response.

"Then send hither–" But at that moment a man-servant dressed in the garb of a physician hastened into the chamber. Without awaiting the notice of his master he hurried up and whispered in his ear. Costobarus' face grew instantly grave.

"How near?" he asked anxiously.

"In the next house–but a moment since. The household hath fled," was the low answer.

"Haste, haste!" Costobarus cried to the rush of servants about him. "Lose no time. We must be gone from this place before mid-afternoon. Laodice! Where is Laodice?" he inquired.

Then his wife who had stood aside spoke.

"She is not yet prepared," she explained unreadily. "She needs a frieze cloak–"

Costobarus broke in by beckoning his wife to one side, where the servants could not hear him say