but he appeared, suddenly, a changed man, as if
dazed and stunned by recent events. He, who had been continually on the
go, living in a round of social pleasures, became averse to much of what
he had before revelled in. My most ingenious pleadings were required to
induce him to go to the Public Baths, which fashionable clubhouses he had
frequented every afternoon from his first arrival at Rome. Until the death
of Pertinax he had only very occasionally dined alone with me: nearly
every day he went out to a formal dinner or entertained a large batch of
guests at a lavish banquet. After Pertinax's murder he began to refuse
invitations to dine and he gave fewer dinners. He spent a great deal of
his time with his lawyers and accountants and went over the affairs of his
African estates, minutely, one by one and all of them. He made a new will
and told me of it.

"Phorbas," he said, "I am troubled with forebodings. I have never thought
of death until recently, except as of something far off and to be
considered much later: since the murder of our good Emperor I think of it
continually. If I live long enough to see normal conditions restored I
shall follow the suggestions given to me by the addresses of Pertinax and
shall auction my gems. Meanwhile I dread that I may not live to do so.
Therefore I have made a will leaving my entire collection to you. I hereby
enjoin you, should you come into possession of them, to sell the gems at
auction, as soon as you see fit, and to invest the proceeds in enterprises
which shall add to the wealth of the Republic. This bequest is a trust.
Besides I have, as in former wills, bequeathed to you your freedom, and a
legacy sufficient to make you comfortable for life. Moreover I have made
you the heir of one-fourth of my estate, what remains of it after the gem
collections is yours and all specific legacies are paid. I do not love my
nephews and cousins and have bequeathed to them more than they deserve; as
to the toadies who have hung about me and fawned on me in the hope of
legacies, I despise them all. You are my best friend and chief heir."

I thanked him effusively and was so much affected that I myself began to
have uncomfortable, vague forebodings. Agathemer happened to visit me and
I confided to him the contents of my old leather amulet-bag. Of course I
had not worn it since I began life with Falco, as a greasy old amulet-bag
of the meanest material and pattern was wholly out of keeping wit