, Syra--you shall see directly. Please read me Caesar's
letter once more. Here it is." Julia unfolded the papyrus, which was of
elegant quality, and began:

"Hadrian to his friend Titianus, the Governor of Egypt. The deepest
secrecy--Hadrian greets Titianus, as he has so often done for years at
the beginning of disagreeable business letters, and only with half his
heart. But to-morrow he hopes to greet the dear friend of his youth, his
prudent vicegerent, not merely with his whole soul, but with hand
and tongue. And now to be more explicit, as follows: I come to-morrow
morning, the fifteenth of December, towards evening, to Alexandria, with
none but Antinous, the slave Mastor, and my private secretary, Phlegon.
We land at Lochias, in the little harbor, and you will know my ship by
a large silver star at the prow. If night should fall before I arrive
there, three red lanterns at the end of the mast shall inform you of the
friend that is approaching. I have sent home the learned and witty men
whom you sent to meet me, in order to detain me, and gain time for
the restoration of the old nest in which I had a fancy to roost with
Minerva's birds--which have not, I hope, all been driven out of it--in
order that Sabina and her following may not lack entertainment, nor the
famous gentlemen themselves be unnecessarily disturbed in their labors.
I need them not. If perchance it was not you who sent them, I ask
your pardon. An error in this matter would certainly involve some
humiliation, for it is easier to explain what has happened than to
foresee what is to come. Or is the reverse the truth? I will indemnify
the learned men for their useless journey by disputing this question
with them and their associates in the Museum. The rapid movement
to which the philologer was prompted on my account will prolong his
existence; he bristles with learning at the tip of every hair, and he
sits still more than is good for him.

"We shall arrive in modest disguise and will sleep at Lochias; you know
that I have rested more than once on the bare earth, and, if need
be, can sleep as well on a mat as on a couch. My pillow follows at my
heels--my big dog, which you know; and some little room, where I can
meditate undisturbed on my designs for next year, can no doubt be found.

"I entreat you to keep my secret strictly. To none--man nor woman--and
I beseech you as urgently as friend or Caesar ever besought a favor--let
the least suspicion of my ar