er his
shoulders, ordered Theocritus to take care of Tarautas and carry him a
purse of gold--which he handed to the favorite--and then, pulling the
hood over his head, led the way, followed by his impatient courtiers;
but not till he had answered Heron, who had come forward to ask him what
he thought of the mechanical arts of the Alexandrians, desiring him to
postpone that matter till the morrow.

The storm had silenced the music. Only a few stanch trumpeters had
remained in their places; and when they saw by the lanterns that Caesar
had left the Circus, they sounded a fanfare after him, which followed
the ruler of the world with a dull, hoarse echo.

Outside, the streets were still crowded with people pouring out of
the amphitheatre. Those of the commoner sort sought shelter under the
archways of the building, or else hurried boldly home through the
rain. Heron stood waiting at the entrance for his daughter, though the
purple-hemmed toga was wet, through and through. But she had, in fact,
hurried out while he was pushing forward to speak to Caesar, and in
his excitement overlooked everything else. The behavior of his
fellow-citizens had annoyed him, and he had an obscure impression that
it would be a blunder to claim Caesar's approval of anything they had
done; still, he had not self-control enough to suppress the question
which had fluttered on his lips all through the performance. At last, in
high dudgeon at the inconsiderateness of young people and at the rebuff
he had met with--with the prospect, too, of a cold for his pains--he
made his way homeward on foot.

To Caracalla the bad weather was for once really an advantage, for it
put a stop to the unpleasant demonstrations which the "Green" party had
prepared for him on his way home.

Alexander soon found the closed carruca intended for Melissa, and placed
her in it as soon as he had helped Euryale into her harmamaxa. He was
astonished to find a man inside it, waiting for his sister. This
was Diodoros, who, while Alexander was giving his directions to the
charioteer, had, under cover of the darkness, sprung into the vehicle
from the opposite side. An exclamation of surprise was followed by
explanations and excuses, and the three young people, each with a
heart full almost to bursting, drove off toward Heron's house. Their
conveyance was already rolling over the pavement, while most of the
magnates of the town were still waiting for their slaves to find their
ch