A Friend of Caesar | Page 9

would be terribly offended to give his niece in
marriage to a political enemy. But it may all turn out well. Who
knows?" And he went into the house.
Chapter II
The Upper Walks of Society
I
It was very early in the morning. From the streets, far below, a dull
rumbling was drifting in at the small, dim windows. On the couch,
behind some faded curtains, a man turned and yawned, grunted and
rubbed his eyes. The noise of the heavy timber, stone, and merchandise

wagons hastening out of the city before daybreak,[25] jarred the room,
and made sleep almost impossible. The person awakened swore quietly
to himself in Greek.
[25] No teaming was allowed in Rome by day.
"Heracles! Was ever one in such a city! What malevolent spirit brought
me here? Throat-cutting on the streets at night; highwaymen in every
foul alley; unsafe to stir at evening without an armed band! No police
worth mentioning; freshets every now and then; fires every day or else
a building tumbles down. And then they must wake me up at an
unearthly hour in the morning. Curses on me for ever coming near the
place!" And the speaker rolled over on the bed, and shook himself,
preparatory to getting up.
"Bah! Can these Roman dogs never learn that power is to be used, not
abused? Why don't they spend some of their revenues to level these
seven hills that shut off the light, and straighten and widen their
abominable, ill-paved streets, and keep houses from piling up as if to
storm Olympus? Pshaw, I had better stop croaking, and be up and
about."
The speaker sat up in bed, and clapped his hands. Into the ill-lighted
and unpretentiously furnished room came a tall, bony, ebon-skinned
old Ethiopian, very scantily attired, who awaited the wishes of his
master.
"Come, Sesostris," said the latter, "get out my best himation[26]--the
one with the azure tint. Give me a clean chiton,[27] and help me dress."
[26] Greek outer mantle.
[27] Greek under garment.
And while the servant bustled briskly about his work, Pratinas, for such
was his lord's name, continued his monologue, ignoring the presence of
his attendant. "Not so bad with me after all. Six years ago to-day it was
I came to Rome, with barely an obol of ready money, to make my

fortune by my wits. Zeus! But I can't but say I've succeeded. A
thousand sesterces here and five hundred there, and now and then a
better stroke of fortune--politics, intrigues, gambling; all to the same
end. And now?--oh, yes, my 'friends' would say I am very respectable,
but quite poor--but they don't know how I have economized, and how
my account stands with Sosthenes the banker at Alexandria. My old
acquaintance with Lucius Domitius was of some use. A few more
months of this life and I am away from this beastly Rome, to enjoy
myself among civilized people."
Pratinas went over to a large wooden chest with iron clasps, unlocked it,
and gazed for a moment inside with evident satisfaction. "There are six
good talents in there," he remarked to himself, "and then there is
Artemisia."
He had barely concluded this last, hardly intelligible assertion, when
the curtain of the room was pushed aside, and in came a short, plump,
rosy-faced little maiden of twelve, with a clearly chiselled Greek
profile and lips as red as a cherry. Her white chiton was mussed and a
trifle soiled; and her thick black hair was tied back in a low knot, so as
to cover what were two very shapely little ears. All in all, she presented
a very pretty picture, as the sunlight streamed over her, when she drew
back the hangings at the window.
"Good morning, Uncle Pratinas," she said sweetly.
"Good morning, Artemisia, my dear," replied the other, giving her
round neck a kiss, and a playful pinch. "You will practise on your lyre,
and let Sesostris teach you to sing. You know we shall go back to
Alexandria very soon; and it is pleasant there to have some
accomplishments."
"And must you go out so early, uncle?" said the girl. "Can't you stay
with me any part of the day? Sometimes I get very lonely."
"Ah! my dear," said Pratinas, smoothly, "if I could do what I wished, I
would never leave you. But business cannot wait. I must go and see the
noble Lucius Calatinus on some very important political matters, which

you could not understand. Now run away like a good girl, and don't
become doleful."
Artemisia left the room, and Pratinas busied himself about the fine
touches of his toilet. When he held the silver mirror up to his face, he
remarked to himself that he was not an unhandsome man. "If I did not
have