ved by Rome's insatiate
ambition.

Catiline looked at him fiercely for a moment, and then nodded his head, as
if in assent to some of his own meditations; then muttering to himself,
"the boar! the mast-fed German boar!" he turned to the Greek, saying
sharply--

"Art thou not gone to Lentulus? methought thou hadst been thither, and
returned ere this time! Yet tarry, since thou art here still. Are any of
my clients in the atrium--any, I mean, of the trustiest!"

"Rufinus, surnamed Lupus, is without, and several others. Stolo, whom you
preserved from infamy, when accused of _dolus malus_, in the matter of
assault with arms on Publius Natro, is waiting to solicit you, I fancy,
for some favor."

"The very man--the Wolf is the very man! and your suitor for favors cannot
refuse to confer what he requests. Stay my Chaerea. Send Glycon to summon
Lentulus, and go yourself and find out what is Stolo's suit. Assure him of
my friendship and support; and, hark you, have him and Rufinus into an
inner chamber, and set bread before them and strong wine, and return to me
presently. Now, then, Arminius," he continued, as the Greek left the room,
"what did we do last night, and what befel us?--for I can remember nothing
clearly."

The giant shook his tawny locks away from his brow, and gazed into his
employer's face with a look of stolid inquiry, and then answered--

"Do! we did nothing, that I know! We followed thee as in duty bound to
that cave by the Almo; and when we had stayed there awhile, we brought
thee back again, seeing thou couldst not go alone. What can I tell? you
know yourself why you took us thither."

"Thou stupid brute!" retorted Catiline, "or worse than brute, rather--for
brutes augment not their brutishness by gluttony and wine-bibbing--thou art
asleep yet! see if this will awaken thee!"

And with the word he snatched up a large brazen ewer full of cold water,
which stood on a slab near him, and hurled it at his head. The gladiator
stood quite still, and merely bent his neck a little to avoid the heavy
vessel, which almost grazed his temples, and then shook himself like a
water spaniel, as the contents flashed full into his face and eyes.

"Do not do that again," he grunted, "unless you want to have your throat
squeezed."

"By Pollux the pugilist! he threatens!" exclaimed Catiline, laughing at
his dogged anger. "Do you not know, cut-throat, that one word of mine can
have your tough hide slashed with whips in