time.'"

A quick step sounded on the marble floor; the curtains at the entrance
parted, and Marius came in. He went clad in spotless white, which oddly
accentuated his bulk and made his swarthiness darker by contrast. He
stopped short at sight of the two apparently in earnest conversation.

"Pardon!" he said easily. "I was told that I should find my father here,
but I intrude."

"Not at all!" Eudemius answered. "We had finished our talk, and it was
over time we were brought back from the memory of other days."

Livinius smiled at his son as the latter sat down on the wide low ledge
of the window, and his genial eyes were full of pride. Eudemius caught
the look, and his own eyes darkened, even though the mask of his face
never changed. This indeed was a son of whom one might be proud--a son
such as he himself should have had but for the mockery of the gods; a
son strong of mind and body, able to hold his own against all men, to
assume the burdens that one by one slipped from his father's shoulders.
There was hint of dissipation in the clear-cut face; there was more than
a trace of headstrong will, which might easily enough turn to sheer
brutality against whoever crossed it. There was hardness, and small
tenderness, in the firm jaw and the black keen eyes; but what Roman
father could not condone such things as these? For to Roman eyes, all
this went to spell strength; and Romans worshipped strength as Athenians
worshipped beauty. And Marius was strong, so that Eudemius, who was
strong also, with the most unbreakable strength of all, and could
appreciate mere physical vigor the more since his own had gone from him,
looked at him and envied the father of him with bitterness.

"To-day I go on to Londinium," Marius said, gazing out into the
sun-flecked courtyard. "Will you wait here, father, for me? To-morrow I
shall return, or next day at most--the business will not take long." He
turned to Eudemius with an explanation. "There is trouble about one of
the transports which are assigned to my cohort for our return to Gaul.
She has been discovered unseaworthy and in need of repairs, and may not
be able to start with the rest of the fleet. This is doubly
inconvenient, as there is small prospect of securing a vessel to take
her place, and our orders are to sail for Gaul with as little delay as
possible. So much misunderstanding and confusion has resulted, that I
have been sent to report personally what are the chances for a s