ts of the afternoon, and bided the time when he
might turn them to his own ends. Eudemius also was more silent than his
position as host seemed to warrant. That he was in bad humor was to be
seen from the threatening glances he cast at the luckless slave when a
dish was delayed or a wine too warm. He was an old man, this latter,
white-haired and bent and very skilful, with a sunken face as pale as
parchment. Marius, as keen to observe as he was silent, saw that always
the old man watched his lord's face with an eager anxiety, like a dog
that would read every thought in its master's eyes.

Eudemius, as was his custom, took only fruit and one of the light Cyprus
wines. Marius, not at all disturbed by his host's example, dined
luxuriously and drank freely. Wine had small effect on him; but he
noticed that each time his glass was filled Eudemius glanced at him,
with apparent carelessness. This amused him, and, sure of himself, out
of sheer perversity, he took care to have it replenished many times.

Halfway through the meal, Eudemius clapped his hands.

"Marcus, come hither!" he said shortly. Marcus came, with servile
submission. "Go to Nerissa, and bid her bring her mistress here. She
will know what to do."

The old man hesitated a bare instant, with a strange glance at his lord,
crossed his arms, and went.

"Marius." Marius's keen wits, instantly at work upon the name and the
half-forgotten idea it conjured up, found the thread they sought.
"Marcus came once and tried to play; he was the third," Varia had said.
Marius's eyes lightened to a secret satisfaction. Here was one, at his
hand, who could supply the information he wanted. He leaned forward
across the table.

"To-day I had speech with thy daughter," he said, as one introducing a
topic which may prove of interest. Eudemius turned his inscrutable eyes
on him.

"So?" he said calmly.

"She told me a wondrous tale of a man who came to her in a garden," said
Marius; and watched suspicion grow into the other's eyes and burn there.
"She said it was a game they played--what game, thou and I may guess. I
put it down to the--fancies she hath at times, and paid no heed. But
when she said that one Marcus had seen this man there also, it came to
me that perhaps there might be more in it than might be thought. If this
be the Marcus of whom she spoke, it may be that he would have something
to tell.--Try these roasted snails, I pray thee; they are beyond praise.
It would