(_A woman steps forward from the group of the Carpocratians._)
MARCELLINA. "I was once a deaconess at Rome, in a little church, where I used to exhibit to the faithful, the silver images, of Saint Paul, Homer, Pythagoras and Jesus Christ.
A VOICE. "He reappears himself when we call upon him! It is the hour!--come!"
(_And Anthony feels a brutal hand seize him by the arm, and drag him away._
_He mounts a stairway in complete darkness; and after having ascended many steps, he finds himself before a door._
_Then the one who is leading him--(is it Hilarion?--he does not know)--whispers in the ear of another_: "The Lord is about to come!"--_and they are admitted into a chamber, with a very low ceiling, and without furniture._
_The first object which attracts his attention is a long blood-colored chrysalis, with a human head surrounded by rays, and the word_ Knouphus _inscribed all around it in Greek characters. It is placed upon the shaft of a column, which is in turn supported by a broad pedestal. Hanging upon the walls of the chamber are medallions of polished iron representing the heads of various animals:--the head of an ox, the head of a lion, the head of an eagle, the head of a dog, and the head of an ass--again!_
[Illustration: ... a long blood-colored chrysalis]
_Earthen lamps, suspended below these images, create a vacillating light. Through a hole in the wall, Anthony can see the moon shining far off upon the waves; he can even hear the feeble regular sound of lapping water; together with the heavy thud occasionally caused by the bumping of a ship's hull against the stones of the mole._
_There are men crouching down, with their faces hidden by their mantles. From time to time they utter sounds resembling a smothered bark. There are women also, sleeping with their foreheads resting upon their arms, and their arms supported by their knees; they are so hidden by their garments as to resemble heaps of cloth piled up at intervals against the wall. Near them are half naked children, whose persons swarm with vermin. They watch with idiotic stare the burning of the lamps; and nothing is done: all are waiting for something._
_They talk in undertones about family matters, or recommend to each other various remedies for their ailments. Some of them must embark at earliest daylight; the persecution is becoming too terrible to be endured. Nevertheless, the pagans are easily enough deceived_:--"The fools imagine that we are really adoring Knouphus!"