hat which you
now see with your own eyes."

He laid the widow's hand within the trembling right hand of Albinus.

"Look! Rusticiana forgives! Who will now resist?"

Vanquished and overruled, all remained silent. For Cethegus all further
proceedings seemed to have lost interest. He retired into the
background with Rusticiana. But the priest now said:

"Albinus is a member of the league."

"And the oath that he swore to the tyrant?" hesitatingly asked Scaevola.

"Was forced, and he is absolved from it by Holy Church. But now it is
time to depart. Let us only conclude the most pressing business. Here,
Licinius, is the plan of the fortress of Neapolis: you must have it
copied by to-morrow; it goes to Belisarius. Here, Scaevola, letters from
Byzantium, from Theodora, the pious wife of Justinian: you must answer
them. Here, Calpurnius, is an assignment of half a million _solidi_
from Albinus: you will send them to the Frankish major domus; he has
great influence with his king. Here, Pomponius, is a list of the
patriots in Dalmatia; you know men and things there, take notice if
important names are omitted. And be it known to all of you, that,
according to news received to-day from Ravenna, the hand of the Lord
lies heavy on the tyrant. Deep melancholy, too tardy remorse for all
his sins, oppresses him, and the consolations of the true faith have
not yet penetrated into his soul. Have patience but a little while; the
angry voice of the Judge will soon summon him; then comes the day of
freedom. At the next Ides, at the same hour, we shall meet here again.
The blessing of the Lord be with you!"

A motion of his hand dismissed the assembly; the young priests came out
of the side-passage with torches, and led the members, each one singly,
in different directions, to the secret exits of the Catacombs.

CHAPTER IV.

Silverius, Cethegus, and Rusticiana went together up the steps which
led to the crypt of the basilica of St. Sebastian. From thence they
passed through the church into the adjoining house of the archdeacon.
On arriving there, Silverius convinced himself that all the inhabitants
of the house were asleep, with the exception of an old slave, who was
watching in the atrium near a half-extinguished lamp. At a sign from
his master he lighted a silver lamp which stood near him, and pressed a
secret spring in the marble wainscot of the room.

A slab of marble turned on its hinges and a