nephew substituted for another, and
had to give over his wonder at Agellius, in order to commence a series of
acts of amazement and consternation at Juba. He summoned Jupiter and Juno,
Bacchus, Ceres, Pomona, Neptune, Mercury, Minerva, and great Rome, to
witness the marvellous occurrence; and then he had recourse to the
infernal gods, Pluto and Proserpine, down to Cerberus, if he be one of
them; but, after all, there the portent was, in spite of all the deities
which Olympus, or Arcadia, or Latium ever bred; and at length it had a
nervous effect upon the old gentleman's system, and, for the first evening
after it, he put all his good things from him, and went to bed supperless
and songless. What had been Juba's motive in the exploit which so
unpleasantly affected his uncle, it is of course quite impossible to say.
Whether his mention of Callista's name was intended to be for the benefit
of her soul, or the ruin of Agellius's, must be left in the obscurity in
which the above narrative presents it to us; so far alone is certain,
though it does not seem to throw light on the question, that, on his
leaving his uncle's house in the course of the forenoon, which he did,
without being pressed to stay, he was discovered prancing and
gesticulating in the neighbourhood of Callista's prison, so as to excite
the attention of the _apparitor_, or constable, who guarded the entrance,
and who, alarmed at his wildness, sent for some of his fellows, and, with
their assistance, repelled the intruder, who, thereupon, scudding out at
the eastern gate, was soon lost in the passes of the mountain.

To one thing, however, we may pledge ourselves, that Juba had no intention
of shaking, even for one evening, the nerves of Jucundus; yet shaken they
were till about the same time twenty-four hours afterwards. And when in
that depressed state, he saw nothing but misery on all sides of him. Juba
was lost; Agellius worse. Of course, he had joined himself to his sect,
and he should never see him again; and how should he ever hold up his
head? Well, he only hoped Agellius would not be boiled in a caldron, or
roasted at a slow fire. If this were done, he positively must leave Sicca,
and the most thriving trade which any man had in the whole of the
Proconsulate. And then that little Callista! Ah!--what a real calamity was
there! Anyhow he had lost her, and what should he do for a finisher of his
fine work in marble, or metal? She was a treasure in herself.