Her heart and soul overflowed with boundless emotion and unlimited thankfulness, and weeping loudly, she pressed her clasped hands to her breast.
But she spared only a few moments for the enjoyment of these feelings of delight, for there was no happiness for her without Polykarp, and it was for his sake that she had undertaken this perilous night-journey.
Marthana had tenderly approached her, but she gently put her aside, saying, "Not just now, dear girl.

I have already wasted an hour, for I lost my way in the ravines.

Get ready Petrus to come back to the mountain with me at once, for--but do not be startled Dorothea, Paulus says that the worst danger is over, and if Polykarp--" "For God's sake, do you know where he is ?" cried Dorothea, and her cheeks crimsoned while Petrus turned pale, and, interrupting her, asked in breathless anxiety, "Where is Polykarp, and what has happened to him ?" "Prepare yourself to hear bad news," said Sirona, looking at the pair with mournful anxiety as if to crave their pardon for the evil tidings she was obliged to bring.

"Polykarp had a fall on a sharp stone and so wounded his head.

Paulus brought him to me this morning before he set out against the Blemmyes, that I might nurse him.