that she should thus defy
him--before his eyes should bestow endearments upon a slave, the partner
of her apparent guilt, and with whom she acknowledged having had an
intimacy years before, was too astounding for him at first to
understand. Then recovering himself, he cried aloud:

'Is this to be borne? Ho, there, Drumo! Meros! all of you! Take this
wretch and cast him into the prison! See that he does not escape, on
your lives! He shall feed the lions to-morrow! By the gods, he shall
feed the lions! Bear him away! Let me not see him again till I see his
blood lapped up in the arena. Away with him, I say!'

As the first cry of Sergius rang through the halls, the armor bearer
appeared at the door; and before many more seconds had elapsed, other
slaves, armed and unarmed, swarmed forth from different courts and
passages, until the antechamber was filled with them. None of them knew
what had happened, but they saw that, in some way, Cleotos had incurred
the anger of his master, and lay stunned and bleeding before them. To
obey was the work of a moment. The giant Drumo, stooping down, wound his
arm around the body of Cleotos, hoisted him upon his broad shoulder, and
stalked out of the room. The other slaves followed. AEnone, who, in the
delirium of her defiance, might have tried to resist, was overpowered by
her own attendants, who also had flocked in at Sergius's call, and now
gently forced her from the room. And in a moment more, Sergius was left
alone with Leta.

She, crouching in a dark corner of the room, awaited her opportunity to
say the words which she dared not say while he was in this storm of wild
passion; he, thinking himself entirely alone, stalked up and down like a
caged tiger, muttering curses upon himself, upon AEnone, upon the slave,
upon all who directly or indirectly had been concerned in his supposed
disgrace. Let it not be forgotten that, though at first he had acted
hastily and upon slight foundation of proof, and had cruelly wounded her
spirit by abhorrent insinuations, without giving time or opportunity for
her to explain herself, she had afterward given way to an insane
impulse, and had so conducted herself as to fix the suspicion of guilt
upon herself almost ineffaceably. What further proof could he need?
While, with false lips, she had denied all, had she not, at the same
time, lavished tender caresses upon the vile slave?

Then, too, what had he not himself done to add to the sting of his
di