ly.

"A matter which touches me nearly," he said, and all at once dropped
into a more familiar mode of speech. "Thou art my oldest friend, and
there is none to whom I would sooner speak in confidence. Thou knowest
that I am growing old. Soon the gods of the shades will lay their hands
upon mine eyes, and my daughter and my house will be left alone. And a
heavy time of trial it will be for her, incompetent, with the burden of
my wealth upon her. Were it not for this, I could willingly leave all
this; but some one first I must find to charge himself with that burden
for the recompense it may bring him. And there is but one way to do
this; I must mate her to some worthy man. If he be in humble
circumstances, her gold shall alter that; if he be great, it shall make
him greater. To take her with it would be, after all, but a little
thing, since she is too much a child to want more than is given her, and
is content with little. With her unmated, as she is, fancy what would
follow were she alone. No--it needs a strong hand to guard what I have
guarded; but it is a task well worth the taking. And it is in my mind
that I have found that strong hand I seek--if so it be that the owner
thereof is willing."

He paused, to see that the sick man's eyes were on him in quickened
interest.

"That man, friend," Eudemius said slowly, "is thy son. Him I would have,
and none other, to reign in my stead and take the place of that son
denied me, who was to rear his children in the traditions of my house
and his. What say you to this, friend, if it chances that Marius himself
is willing?"

For a moment there was a pause. Livinius lay back on his pillows, and
his face was a battleground of contending thought. Plainly it said:
"Power is great, but gold is greater, since it can purchase power;
therefore gold is a good thing to have. Yet no bargain was ever offered
without a 'but,' and what goes with this bargain of thine, O friend? An
incubus which a man might well hesitate to let fasten upon him; a
hindrance to himself and, it may be, a menace to generations yet unborn.
And yet, the prize is worth risking much for, and the temptation is
great."

At this point came wavering, uncertainty, a look of greed, cautious and
eager. Eudemius, watching, let the battle wage itself. When Livinius
finally spoke, it was slowly, weighing his words with care.

"You have spoken with all the frankness one friend could wish from
another. It is only meet that