The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

THE NEMESIS : A TALE OF THE DAYS OF TRAJAN .

By BRO . A . OXEAL HATE , K . 2 L , K . Gal ., Corresponding Member ofthe German Society , Leipzig ; Knight Templar , Scot ; Author of " The History ofthe Knights Templars ;" " Vara Queer ; " " Gatherings -in Wanderings ; " " Songs and Ballads ; " "Poemata" "Legends of Edinburgh . ' " $ c , § 'c , Sfc ; Poet Laureate of the Ganongate , Kilwinning ; P . M . St . Stephens ; P . P . Z . of St . Andrews , B . A ¦ Chap . ; Sfa . ; Sfc . ( Continued from page 29 . )

CHAPTER XVII . HPON THE PONTILE MAKSHES . -Oh ! that the desert were my dwelling place , With one fair spirit for my minister , That I mig ht all forget the human race ,

And hating no one , love but only her I Te elements!—in whose enobling stir I feel myself exalted—Can ye not Accord me such a being ? Do I err In deeming such inhabit many a spot ? Though to converse with them can rarely be our lot . —Byron .

Adrian returned gladly to Ptome , in spite of Lemo ' s wish for him to remain longer at Memp his . He could not have told the reason why , lad he been asked , he could not account for the feeling himself . There was a something which

¦ quickened the pulses of his blood , a fair young face forced itself upon his dreams , and as he gazed ¦ upon the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean , ¦ a form seemed to beckon to him to come to her . The sighing winds bore the sweet accents of a

timid voice , ancl their murmur dissipated philosophy and linked him once more to the earth . Man , after all , is human , the influences of good and evil spring from his humanity , the human race are his teachers or disciples—ancl the only escape

from earth is through the gates of death , through those close barred gates , which hide the distant world from us .

Did he the proud ancl learned , the rich and noble born , love , the daughter of one whom he . suspected Avas a dishonourable man , did he love her of whom he kneAv nothing , entangled by a , face , overcome by a voice ? He dared not think

of such a thing , he trembled as the shadoAv of such an event crossed his soul . But Avhat did she do forth at such a late hour ? Hast thou a -ri ght O Adrian , philosopher of Rome to ask such a question ? Go to , the stars above aAvait thy gaze ,

and the mysteries of nature AYOO thy searching eye . Still it is SAveet to love , to know one heart is true and constant though all the Avorld should turn against us , and prove false . Perhaps his lonely liie , his solitarv studies made him long for

sweeter music than the Avisdom of Plato , snblimer truths than the treaties of Pythagoras . The morning after his arrival at Rome , he went in search of Paulus , who had his residence on the dreary Pontine Marshes , away from all society ,

living ancl seemingly untouched by the malaria of these deadly sAvamps . He easily found Ms residence , ancl crossing over some stepping stones knocked at the door . A feAv seconds elapsed before it was opened , and then he Avas admitted ,

ancl Avarmly Avelcomed by Paulus . A fire of logs burned on the hearth , the house though poorlyfurnished Avas neat and clean , and an air of comfort pervaded the apartment . " Why Paulus do you not have a bridge placed over that Avater course instead of these stepping stones ?"

" ¦ Adrian replied the other with a gentle smile , " in life the stepping- stones are for the poor , the rich alone can afford the bridges . But how fared your voyage ?" " Excellently Avell . Cossus is placed under the

charge of Lemo , who will doubtless make him a good and better man than he was likely to have been under the influence of Roman society . I hear that Cassius has offered a reAvard for his discovery , and that he is firmly of belief that the

author Cenna has been murdered . " " Yes , bub the murderers of Genua are as likely to be discovered as the abductors of Cossus . '"

" Have you any suspicions Avho they are r " Only suspicion . It is currently reported that Cenna had discovered a sect of Bacchanals in Rome . They , in all probability , had learned this and made aAvay with him . The Suburra was

searched by the Emperor ' s orders , but no trace could be found of the sect . " " Could they learn nothing of his doings on the clay of his suspected murder ? Can they discover no trace ?"

" Nothing . It is the most extraordinary crime that has yet taken place in Rome within men ' s remembrance . ''' " You call it a crime . Was it one ?" " I hear that he was first poisoned ; he had on

a festal goAvn Avhen found on the Tiber's bank ; and he seems then to have been thrown into the water , in the hope that the river would carry him down to the sea . "

" You know that ?" " I saAV the body , and such was my impres » sion . "