etched over the sleeping city, and far away to the east,
beyond the gilded roof of Augustus' palace, the waning moon, radiant and
serene, outlined the carvings on every temple with a thin band of gold
and put patches of luminous sapphires and emeralds on the bronze figures
that crowned the Capitol.

Taurus Antinor paused awhile, enjoying the restfulness of the night;
from his broad chest came a long-drawn breath of voluptuous delight at
the exquisite sweetness of the air. How far away now seemed that long,
luxurious room, with its stained cloths and crumpled cushions, with the
low tables groaning under the debris of past repasts and the rows of
couches luring to sensuous repose. For the moment even the wranglings of
Caius Nepos' guests seemed remote, their selfish aims and their lying
tongues. Here, beneath the stars, there was stillness and peace.

A gentle breeze from over the distant hills blew on the dreamer's
forehead and eased the wild throbbings of his temples; from somewhere
near tiny petals of heliotrope, chased by the breeze, brought
sweet-scented powder to his nostrils.

He looked around him, gazing with wondering eyes on the mighty city
sleeping upon her seven hills, on the gorgeous palaces of Tiberius and
Caligula and the squalid huts far away on the Aventine Hill, on the
mighty temples with their roofs of gold and the yawning arena down
below, desolate and silent now, but where on the morrow men and beasts
would tear one another to pieces to make holiday for the masters of the
world.

And even as his restless eyes swept over the surrounding landscape, they
turned to where, in the shadow of the stately palaces of Tiberius and of
Augustus, lay the house of Dea Flavia. Its gilded portals threw back
with brilliant intensity the weird and elusive light of the waning
moon, and high above, upon the balustrade of the roof, gigantic bronze
groups of quaint and misshapen beasts looked ghoul-like against the
canopy of the sky.

All within the massive walls was dark and still; near to the vestibule a
couple of ancient cypresses made a natural arch overhead, and in the
tender branches of a group of acacias close by, the evening breeze
sighed with gentle, melancholy murmurings amongst the leaves.

Instinctively Taurus Antinor turned to walk a few steps toward the
house, and soon reached a spot from whence his gaze could command the
colonnaded vestibule, with its mosaic pavement sunk a few steps below
the level of