slave, of the murdered Medon! Behind him followed
the whole household of the Consul; and last, to the extreme astonishment
of Paullus, preceded by his lictors, and leaning on the arm of his most
faithful freedman, came Cicero himself, doing unusual honor, for some
cause known to himself alone, to the manes of his slaughtered servant.

As they passed on toward the Capuan gate of the city, the Consul's eyes
fell directly on the form of Arvina, where he stood revealed in the full
glare of the torch-light; and as he recognised him, he made a sign that he
should join him, which, under those peculiar circumstances, he felt that
he could not refuse to do.

Sadly and silently they swept through the splendid streets, and under the
arched gate, and filed along the celebrated Appian way, passing the tomb
of the proud Scipios on the left hand, with its superb sarcophagi--for that
great house had never, from time immemorial, been wont to burn their
dead--and on the right, a little farther on, the noble temple and the
sacred slope of Mars, and the old statue of the god which had once sweated
blood, prescient of Thrasymene. On they went, frightening the echoes of
the quiet night with their wild lamentations and the clapping of their
hands, sending the glare of their funereal torches far and wide through
the cultured fields and sacred groves and rich gardens, until they reached
at length the pile, hard by the columbarium, or slave-burying-place of
Cicero's household.

Then, the rites performed duly, the dust thrice sprinkled on the body, and
the farewell pronounced, the corpse was laid upon the pile, and the tall
spire of blood-red flame went up, wavering and streaming through the
night, rich with perfumes, and gums, and precious ointment, so noble was
the liberality of the good Consul, even in the interment of his more
faithful slaves.

No words were uttered to disturb the sound of the ceremony, until the
flames died out, and, the smouldering embers quenched with wine, Thrasea,
as the nearest relative of the deceased, gathered the ashes and inurned
them, when they were duly labelled and consigned to their niche in the
columbarium; and then, the final _Ilicet_ pronounced, the sad solemnity
was ended.

Then, though not until then, did Cicero address the young man; but then,
as if to make up for his previous silence, he made him walk by his side
all the way back to the city, conversing with him eagerly about all that
had passed, th