orian guard shall show them what it is to
be bitten! Mobs are no new things in Rome. The old way is the proper
way to deal with mobs! Blood, corn and circuses, but principally blood!
By the Dioscuri, I grow weary of your warnings, Marcia!"

He thrust her away from him and went growling like a bear into his own
apartment, where his voice could be heard cursing the attendants whose
dangerous duty it was to divine in an instant what clothes he would wear
and to help him into them. He came out naked through the door, saw
Marcia talking to Narcissus, laughed and disappeared again. Marcia
raised her voice:

"Telamonion! Oh, Telamonion!"

A curly-headed Greek boy hardly eight years old came running from the
outer corridor--all laughter--one of those spoiled favorites of fortune
whom it was the fashion to keep as pets. Their usefulness consisted
mainly in retention of their innocence.

"Telamonion, go in and play with him. Go in and make him laugh. He is
bad tempered."

Confident of everybody's good-will, the child vanished through the
curtains where Commodus roared him a greeting. Marcia continued talking
to Narcissus in a low voice.

"When did you see Sextus last?" she asked.

"But yesterday."

"And what has he done, do you say? Tell me that again."

"He has found out the chiefs of the party of Lucius Septimius Severus.
He has also discovered the leaders of Pescennius Niger's party. He
says, too, there is a smaller group that looks toward Clodius Albinus,
who commands the troops in Britain."

"Did he tell you names?"

"No. He said he knew I would tell you, and you might tell Commodus, who
would write all the names on his proscription list. Sextus, I tell you,
reckons his own life nothing, but he is extremely careful for his
friends."

"It would be easy to set a trap and catch him. He is insolent. He has
had too much rein," said Marcia. "But what would be the use?" Narcissus
answered. "There would be Norbanus, too, to reckon with. Each plays
into the other's hands. Each knows the other's secrets. Kill one, and
there remains the other--doubly dangerous because alarmed. They take
turns to visit Rome, the other remaining in hiding with their following
of freedmen and educated slaves. They only commit just enough robbery
to gain themselves an enviable reputation on the countryside. They
visit their friends in Rome in various disguises, and they travel all
over Italy to plot with the adherents o