r and curiosity of his servants. He formally executed
his will, as if he were approaching some dangerous crisis. He made
presents to his servants, and actually emancipated one or two of his
favorite slaves. He talked with all he met, in a rapid and
incoherent manner, on various subjects, and with an air of gayety
and cheerfulness which it was obvious to those who observed him was
all assumed; for, in the intervals of these conversations, and at
every pause, he relapsed into a thoughtful and absent mood, as if he
were meditating some deep and dangerous design.

That night, too, he took out his knife from its sheath, and gave it
to one of his servants, named Milichus, to be ground. He directed
Milichus to be particularly attentive to the sharpening of the
point. Before Milichus brought back the knife, Scevinus directed him
to prepare bandages such as would be suitable for binding up wounds
to stop the effusion of blood. Milichus observed all these
directions, and, having made all the preparations required,
according to the orders which Scevinus had given him--keeping the
knife, however, still in his possession--he went to report the whole
case to his wife, in order to consult with her in respect to the
meaning of all these mysterious indications.

[Illustration: THE KNIFE.]

The wife of Milichus soon came to the conclusion, that these strange
proceedings could denote nothing less than a plot against the life
of the emperor; and she urged her husband to go early the next
morning, and make known his discovery. She told him that it was
impossible that such a conspiracy should succeed, for it must be
known to a great many persons, some one of whom would be sure to
divulge it in hope of a reward. "If you divulge it," she added, "you
will secure the reward for yourself; and if you do not, you will be
supposed to be privy to it, when it is made known by others, and so
will be sacrificed with the rest to Nero's anger."

Milichus was convinced by his wife's reasonings, and on the
following morning, as soon as the day dawned, he rose and repaired
to the palace. At first he was refused admittance, but on sending
word to the officer of the household, that he had intelligence of
the most urgent importance to communicate to Nero, they allowed him
to come in. When brought into Nero's presence, he told his story,
describing particularly all the circumstances that he had observed,
which had led him to suppose that a conspiracy was fo