t night be forgotten.
It gives you the right to do much that might pain me, and has graven your
name on my heart, the foremost among those to whom I am indebted for any
benefit.--They are but few."

Hadrian held out his hand to Antinous as he spoke. The boy, who had kept
his eyes fixed on the ground in much confusion, raised it to his lips and
pressed it against them in violent agitation. Then he raised his large
eyes to the Emperor's and said:

"You must not speak to me so kindly, for I do not deserve such goodness.
What is my life after all? I would let it go, as a child leaves go of a
beetle it has caught, to spare you one single anxious day."

"I know it," answered Hadrian firmly, and he went to the prefect in the
adjoining room.

Titianus had come in obedience to Hadrian's orders; the matter to be
settled was what indemnification was to be paid to the city and to the
individual owners of the storehouses that had been destroyed, for Hadrian
had caused a decree to be proclaimed that no one should suffer any loss
through a misfortune sent by the gods and which had originated in his
residence. The prefect had already instituted the necessary inquiries and
the private secretaries, Phlegon, Heliodorus and Celer, were now charged
with the duty of addressing documents to the injured parties in which
they were invited, in the name of Caesar, to declare the truth as to the
amount of the loss they had suffered. Titianus also brought the
information that the Greeks and Jews had determined to express their
thankfulness for Caesar's preservation by great thank-offerings.

"And the Christians," asked Hadrian.

"They abominate the sacrifice of animals, but they will unite in a common
act of thanksgiving."

"Their gratitude will not cost them much," said Hadrian.

"Their bishop, Eumenes, brought me a sum of money for which a hundred
oxen might be bought, to distribute among the poor. He said the God of
the Christians is a spirit and requires none but spiritual sacrifices;
that the best offering a man can bring him is a prayer prompted by the
spirit and proceeding from a loving heart."

"That sounds very well for us," said Hadrian. "But it will not do for the
people. Philosophical doctrines do not tend to piety; the populace need
visible gods and tangible sacrifices. Are the Christians here good
citizens and devoted to the welfare of the state?"

"We need no courts of justice for them."

"Then take their money and distr