The Emperor | Page 7

unimportant as it might be, which was formed in words in his mind.
Antinous raised his head a little on his hands and asked:
"What is it?"
"I only wanted to tell you," replied the Sarmatian, "that I know who the
little girl was that you so often took upon your shoulders. It was your
little sister, was it not, of whom you were speaking to me lately?"
The lad nodded assent, and then once more buried his head in his hands,
and his shoulders heaved so violently that it would seem that he was
weeping.--Mastor remained silent for a few minutes, then he went up to
Antinous and said:
"You know I have a son and a little daughter at home, and I am always
glad to hear about little girls. We are alone and if it will relieve your
heart."
"Let me alone, I have told you a dozen times already about my mother
and little Parthea," replied Antinous, trying to look composed.
"Then do so confidently for the thirteenth," said the slave. "In the camp
and in the kitchen I can talk about my people as much as I like. But

you--tell me, what do you call the little dog that Panthea made a scarlet
cloak for?"
"We called it Kallista," cried Antinous wiping his eyes with the back of
his hand. "My father would not allow it but we persuaded my mother. I
was her favorite, and when I put my arms round her and looked at her
imploringly she always said 'yes' to anything I asked her."
A bright light shone in the boy's weary eyes; he had remembered a
whole wealth of joys which left no depression behind them.
CHAPTER II.
One of the palaces built in Alexandria by the Ptolemaic kings stood on
the peninsula called Lochias which stretched out into the blue sea like a
finger pointing northwards; it formed the eastern boundary of the great
harbor. Here there was never any lack of vessels but to-day they were
particularly numerous, and the quay-road paved with smooth blocks of
stone, which led from the palatial quarter of the town--the Bruchiom as
it was called--which was bathed by the sea, to the spit of land was so
crowded with curious citizens on foot and in vehicles, that all
conveyances were obliged to stop in their progress before they had
reached the private harbor reserved for the Emperor's vessels.
But there was something out of the common to be seen at the
landing-place, for there lying under the shelter of the high mole were
the splendid triremes, galleys, long boats and barges which had brought
Hadrian's wife and the suite of the imperial couple to Alexandria. A
very large vessel with a particularly high cabin on the after deck and
having the head of a she-wolf on the lofty and boldly-carved prow
excited the utmost attention. It was carved entirely in cedar wood,
richly decorated with bronze and ivory, and named the Sabina. A young
Alexandrian pointed to the name written in gold letters on the stern,
nudging his companion and saying with a laugh:
"Sabina has a wolf's head then!"
"A peacock's would suit her better. Did you see her on her way to the

Caesareum?" replied the other.
"Alas! I did," said the first speaker, but he said no more perceiving,
close behind him, a Roman lictor who bore over his left shoulder his
fasces, a bundle of elmrods skilfully tied together, and who, with a
wand in his right-hand and the assistance of his comrades, was
endeavoring to part the crowd and make room for the chariot of his
master, Titianus, the imperial prefect, which came slowly in the rear.
This high official had overheard the citizens' heedless words, and
turning to the man who stood beside him, while with a light fling he
threw the end of his toga into fresh folds, he said:
"An extraordinary people! I cannot feel annoyed with them, and yet I
would rather walk from here to Canopus on the edge of a knife than on
that of an Alexandrian's tongue."
"Did you hear what the stout man was saying about Verus?"
"The lictor wanted to take him up, but nothing is to be done with them
by violence. If they had to pay only a sesterce for every venomous
word, I tell you Pontius, the city would be impoverished and our
treasury would soon be fuller than that of Gyges at Sardis."
"Let them keep their money," cried the other, the chief architect of the
city, a man of about thirty years of age with highly-arched brows and
eager piercing eyes; and grasping the roll he held in his hand with a
strong grip, he continued:
"They know how to work, and sweat is bitter. While