r flying figure, they set up a drunken whoop,
and attempted to follow. All in vain; for ere they had advanced many
paces, their weakened limbs betrayed them, and they sank powerless upon
the ground, and, forgetting the pursuit, rolled over lovingly in each
other's arms. Meanwhile, AEnone, not daring to look back, and not knowing
that the chase had ended, still fled in wild terror, until at last her
breath failed her, and she tottered helpless into the shade of the
nearest wall.

She was now lost indeed. How long she had been running, or in which
direction, how many divergences she had taken, or how many narrow alleys
threaded, she knew not. She simply realized that she was in a portion of
the city where she had never been before, and from which extrication
seemed impossible, so dark and narrow and winding seemed the passages in
every direction. Far narrower and darker, indeed, than the lane behind
the palace, and without its protecting solitude. In place of high garden
walls, the whole route seemed lined with miserable tenements, the refuge
of the lowest of the Roman population. There, crowded together in close
communication, were the rabble of poorer slaves and beggars, all equally
marked with rags and filth.

In all this there was one comfort. However thronged the tenements along
the side might be, the street itself seemed deserted, nor could AEnone
any longer hear the sound of pursuit. That, at least, she had escaped,
and now again she took partial courage as she reflected that with
moderate caution she might yet be able to extricate herself. There must
be some outlet to that neighborhood of squalid misery; and take
whichever way she might, she could scarcely fail, at the end, to emerge
into some more reputable region.

Again the sound of two persons approaching restrained her, and caused
her to shrink into a corner until they might pass. Unlike the others,
these men had not been drinking, but advanced gravely and steadily, with
a slow, deliberate pace, indicative of weighty reflection. These, also,
were slaves; and before they emerged into sight from the surrounding
darkness, AEnone could distinctly mark the low, plotting whisper with
which they spoke, occasionally rising, from excess of emotion, into a
louder key. As they came opposite to her, they paused--not seeing her,
but simply seeming to be arrested by the vehemence of their debate; and
again their words sank nearly into a whisper.

'Tell me why I should