[1] The pilum was the Roman pike, and the spatha the short
single-edged Roman sword.
But, before the lowered pikes could fully disperse the crowd, the
throng parted and through the swaying mob there burst a lithe and
flying figure--a brown-skinned maid of twelve with streaming
hair, loose robe, and angry, flashing eyes. Right under the
lowered pikes she darted and, all flushed and panting, defiantly
faced the astonished Rufinus. Close behind her came an equally
excited lad who, when he saw the stricken body of his father on
the marble street, flung himself weeping upon it. But Bath
Zabbai's eyes flashed still more angrily:
"Assassin, murderer!" she cried; "you have slain my kinsman and
Odhainat's father. How dare you; how dare you!" she repeated
vehemently, and then, flushing with deeper scorn, she added:
"Roman, I hate you! Would that I were a man. Then should all
Palmyra know how----"
"Scourge these children home," broke in the stern Rufinus, "or
fetch them by the ears to their nurses and their toys. Let the
boys and girls of Palmyra beware how they mingle in the matters
of their elders, or in the plots of their fathers.
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