Andivius Hedulio | Page 3

this?" I asked.
"There is but one man in Italy," he replied, "who is likely to send you
such a message, and his name is on the tip of your tongue."
"And on the tip of yours, I'll wager," said I. "Both together now!"

I raised my finger and counted.
"One! Two! Three!"
Both together we uttered:
"Opsitius Tanno!"
There was no variation in the Nubian's non-committal grin. We went up
the steps and stood by the balustrade of the terrace, where it
commanded a good view of the valley. We could see a party
approaching, a mounted intendant in advance, a litter, extra bearers and
runners and several baggage mules.
"Nobody but Tanno would send me such a message," I said to
Agathemer.
"No one else," he agreed, "but I should be no more surprised to see the
Emperor himself in this part of the world."
"One of his wild whims," I conjectured. "Nothing else would tear him
away from the city."
I meditated.
"Our arrangements for dinner," I continued, "fall in very well with his
coming. I suppose the guest-rooms are all ready, but you had best go
see to that, and meanwhile turn this fellow over to Ofatulenus."
Agathemer nodded. The pleasantest of his many good qualities was that
whatever he might be asked to do he carried out without comment or
objection. Nothing was too big or too small for him. If he were asked to
arrange for an interview with the Emperor or to attend to the creasing
of a toga he was equally painstaking and obliging. He went off,
followed by the negro. I waited on the terrace for Tanno. There was no
use attempting to bathe until after his arrival. Presently a cheerful
halloo from the litter reached my ears. It was Tanno to a certainty.
Nobody else of my acquaintance had voice enough to make himself

heard at that distance or was sufficiently lacking in dignity to emit a
yawp in that fashion. When his escort came near enough I could see
that all his bearers wore the same livery as his runner. Tanno was
forever changing his liveries and each fresh invention he managed to
make more fantastic than the last. There were eight bearers to the litter
and some twenty reliefs. Travelling long distances by litter, begun as a
necessity to such invalids as my uncle, had become a fashion through
the extreme coxcombery of wealthy fops and the practice of the young
Emperor. Tanno's litter had all its panels slid back, and the curtains
were not drawn. He was sitting almost erect, propped up by countless
down cushions. He greeted me with many waves of the hand and a
smile as genial as his halloo. I went down a little from the terrace to
meet him and walked a few paces beside the litter. He rolled out and
embraced me cordially, appearing as glad to see me as I was delighted
to see him.
"I do not know," I said, "whether I am more surprised or pleased to see
you. To what do I owe my good fortune?"
"We simply cannot get on without you," he answered, "and I am going
to take you back to Rome with me. How soon can you start?"
"You came at the nick of time," said I, "I had expected to go down
three days from now, but I found out this afternoon that I can get away
tomorrow morning."
"Praise be to Hercules and all the gods," said Tanno. "I love the country
frantically, especially when I am in the city. I love it so that three days
on the road is enough country for me. I have been bored to death and
do so want a bath."
"The bath is all hot and ready," said I, "and the slaves waiting. But I am
giving a dinner this evening and nearly all my neighbors are coming.
The diners are almost due to arrive, I need a bath and want one, but I
meant to wait for my guests."
"Well," he said, "you have one guest here already and that's enough.
Let's bathe once, at once, and you can bathe again when your Sabine

clodhoppers get here. Life is too short for a man to get enough baths,
anyhow. Two a day is never enough for me. A pretext for two in an
afternoon is always welcome. Come on, let's bathe quick, so as to have
it over with before the first of the other guests arrives, then we can get a
breath of fresh air and be as keen for the second bath as for the first."
Conversation with Tanno consisted mostly in listening and interjecting
questions. He wallowed in the cold tank like a porpoise; caught me and
ducked me until I yelled for