hout any
confidence, I had arrived at these conclusions, and beguiled my uneasy
spirit, I covered my head with my tunic and began to feign sleep, when
all of a sudden, as though Fortune were bent upon annihilating my peace
of mind, a voice upon the ship's deck gritted out something like this
--"So he fooled me after all."--As this voice, which was a man's, and was
only too familiar, struck my ears, my heart fluttered. And then a woman,
equally furious, spat out more spitefully still--"If only some god would
put Giton into my hands, what a fine time I would give that runaway."
--Stunned by these unexpected words, we both turned pale as death. I was
completely terrified, and, as though I were enveloped in some turbulent
nightmare, was a long time finding my voice, but at last, with trembling
hands, I tugged at the hem of Eumolpus' clothing, just as he was sinking
into slumber. "Father," I quavered, "on your word of honor, can you tell
me whose ship this is, and whom she has aboard?" Peeved at being
disturbed, "So," he snapped, "this was the reason you wished to have us
quartered in the most inaccessible spot on deck, was it? So we could get
no rest! What good will it do you when I've informed you that Lycas of
Tarentum is master of this ship and that he carries Tryphaena as an exile
to Tarentum?"

CHAPTER THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIRST.

I shivered, horror-struck, at this thunderbolt and, beating my throat,
"Oh Destiny," I wailed, "you've vanquished me completely, at last!" As
for Giton, he fell in a faint upon my bosom and remained unconscious for
quite a while, until a sweat finally relieved our tension, whereupon,
hugging Eumolpus around the knees, "Take pity upon the perishing," I
besought him, "in the name of our common learning, aid us! Death himself
hangs over us, and he will come as a relief unless you help us!"
Overwhelmed by this implication, Eumolpus swore by all the gods and
goddesses that he knew nothing of what had happened, nor had he had any
ulterior purpose in mind, but that he had brought his companions upon
this voyage which he himself had long intended taking, with the most
upright intentions and in the best of good faith. "But," demanded he,
"what is this ambush? Who is this Hannibal who sails with us? Lycas of
Tarentum is a most respectable citizen and the owner, not only of this
ship, which he commands in person, but of landed estates as well as
commercial houses under the management of