the greater part of the brethren, and the want of reverence in their whole manner and deportment.

"This is not the service that the Lord requires," he said to himself, as he left the tomb. "This does not tend to his honour and glory, or the good of our fellow-creatures' souls or bodies. I will bear it all in mind, and tell Augustine how this new system works. We have been too much in favour of this so-called devotion." For shortly after their baptism Alypius and Augustine had united themselves into a sort of monastic brotherhood.

When he again saw his revered and beloved friend Augustine, he endeavoured to convince him that a life of religious seclusion was not necessarily a life of piety and usefulness. But his arguments and representations were unavailing; for we know that the great and good Bishop of Hippo did, in the latter years of his life, institute several monastic establishments, which, though leading to great evils, were so far useful in that early period of the church's history as schools and depositories of learning and religion, and from whence many men distinguished for piety were sent forth into the world.

CHAPTER XX.

HE vessel in which the travellers had engaged a passage as far as the village near the cataracts, was ready to proceed on her way the day after the visit of the young Roman to the Tombs of the Kings.

Pleasantly they were borne up the stream, which at times became very narrow, from the near approach of the rocky boundaries; a mere strip of earth being left on the river side to be cultivated by the teeming population. At other spots the bed of the great Nile widened, until it looked like a large lake, as smooth and shining as a mirror, and everywhere bordered with villages, and groves, and fertile fields.

As they advanced towards the sacred island the vegetation on the river banks bore evident signs of a more southern climate. Not only were the meadows more luxuriantly fertile than those in Lower Egypt, but the wild creeping plants that clothed the rocks, and hung in garlands from every crevice, had an almost tropical character; and the flowers glowed with a richness of hue that Alypius had never beheld elsewhere. Claudia was

amused and delighted at the admiration which her companion expressed of the scene around him, and she almost forgot her own abiding cares and anxieties in her sympathy with his pleasure and astonishment at what was so entirely new to him.

The efforts of the sturdy boatmen were redoubled as the bed

of the stream became narrower, and the force of the waters consequently increased. By-and-by the roar of the still distant cataracts caught their ears, and they knew that they must prepare for the struggle and the danger which always attended the passage of a boat through the craggy rocks, and the foaming, dashing water.

But ere they entered on the expected conflict the boatmen drew to the land, and requested all the passengers to go on shore, as the ascent of the cataracts was not to be attempted by ladies, or indeed by any one who could not depend on his own strength of muscle and steadiness of nerve; neither, indeed, could the vessel in which they then were be taken up the falls.

The sound of the cataracts had at first been softened by distance, and had a sweet and soothing effect; but as the boat had advanced towards the rocky elevations it had become louder and grander, until the roar equalled that of prolonged thunder, and struck awe into the breasts of some of the

passengers.

Most of the travellers, both male and female, were requested to proceed by land to the summit of the acclivity, and to a neighbouring spot on the river side, where the crew would meet them and convey them to Phile in the small light boat that was to carry the luggage up the falls. A rude kind of vehicle received the females, while the men of the party accompanied them on foot, as they prepared slowly to ascend the steep and rugged road that lead by a winding way over the elevated ridge, through a chasm in which the mighty river must once have forced its tumultuous course.

Alypius resolved to ascend the cataract in the boat with the greater part of the crew. A party of half-naked Arabs were

waiting with the boat that was to ascend the cataract. Claudia saw the wild, active men dash into the water, and wade and swim round the boat, ready to assist in the coming struggle.

She remarked that one of the party was the leader, or sheik; and that he took the command not only of his own followers, but also of the Egyptian boatmen, with a look of stern authority that was evidently not to be disputed. He was a very striking looking man; his bronzed and muscular frame was seen to advantage as he threw aside his rough burnouse, and, in the light clothing which he still retained, prepared to combat with the foaming waves with all the dignity of a monarch at the head of his army.

There was something in this Arab chief that attracted Claudia's attention in a peculiar manner. peculiar manner. She involuntarily watched him, and a feeling akin to fear entered her breast as she observed the dark expression of his countenance, and the look of fierce determination with which he issued his orders.

As the rough carriage in which she was seated was leaving the shore, a boy came out of a hut at a little distance and rather timidly approached the sheik. Claudia could not hear the words which he addressed to him, nor would she have understood them if she had been nearer, for the boy spoke in Arabic. It was, however, easy to perceive that he was making an earnest request; for his attitude was pleading, and his upturned face expressed both eager excitement and doubting fear.

The sheik hardly noticed him at first; but as the boy urged his entreaty he gave a nod of assent, then took the light and graceful child by the arm and threw him into the water by the side of the already moving boat.

The boy's head struck one of the outstretched oars, and he would have sunk stunned to the bottom of the river, had not Alypius, who had seen the action of the rude Arab, leaned over the boat, caught the boy's arm, and quickly drawn him in. Claudia saw no more, for the carriage was already in motion, drawn by several oxen, which were led by men on foot; and the river was soon concealed from her view.

As they proceeded over the acclivity, they again caught sight of the narrow boat as it stemmed the foaming current far below; and Claudia and Calanthe watched the hardy crew as they strove to propel the little frail-looking vessel between the masses of rock that formed the cataract.

Sometimes almost all the boatmen sprang into the water to lighten the boat, and joined their Arab comrades in dragging it through some narrow channel, or even in lifting it over the rocks where there was not depth of water sufficient to float it.

Claudia's attention was divided between Alypius, the Arab chief, and the boy towards whom he had shown such violence. She could just distinguish them all, and observe their actions when the road ran near the edge of the cliff.

Alypius was provided with an oar, and he used it with strength and dexterity whenever the boat was in water sufficiently wide and deep to admit of rowing. Then the Arabs swam around the vessel, or leaped from rock to rock near the river's edge; the deep, sonorous voice of their chief sounding clearly, even above the roar of the cataract, as he gave the word of command, and led the way through foam and rushing water, and over slippery crags, as if he could rule the elements as easily as he governed his half-naked followers.