ful! Bah!"

"And that it didn't matter what came to pass, he had me with him."

"Of course! Spoken like a father."

"And you," continued the boy, "a true old friend in whom he could
trust."

"What!" cried the old soldier. "What! Friend? Did he say that?"

"Of course. He often talks like that."

"A friend in whom he could trust!" muttered the old soldier. "And here
have I been listening to you and doing what I know he'd hate."

He gripped the boy sharply by the wrist as he spoke.

"Why, Serge, what do you mean?" cried the boy, wonderingly.

"Mean! Why, what have I been doing? Doesn't he want you to grow up as
one who hates fighting, and a lover of peace? And here have I been
teaching you how to use the sword and spear and shield, making of you
one who knows how to lead a phalanx to the fight--a man of war. What
would he say if he knew?"

Marcus was silent.

"I have done wrong, boy," continued the old soldier, "and some day he'll
find us out."

The boy was still silent for a few moments. Then quickly--

"I must tell him some day, Serge, that it was all my doing--that I
wouldn't let you rest until you had taught me what I know."

"That's true, boy," said Serge, in a sombre tone, "and it all comes of
letting you see me take so much care of his old armour and his sword and
spear. Yes, like my own old arms and weapons, I have kept them all
bright and ready for use, for it's always seemed to me as if the time
might come and bring the order for us to march to tackle some of Rome's
old enemies, or to make new conquests--perhaps to Gaul--and that we must
be ready for that day. I oughtn't to have done it, boy, but I was an
old soldier, one who loved to see his weapons ready for the fight, and
somehow I did. There, off you go! It's no use to think now of what is
done."

CHAPTER FOUR.

CAUGHT.

It was the next day, under a brilliant blue Italian sky, that Marcus,
after spending the morning with his father in the room he devoted to his
studies, hurried out with a sense of relief to seek out the old soldier,
whom he expected to find repairing damages amongst the vines. But the
damages were repaired, and very few traces remained of the mischief that
had been done; but several of the upright fir-poles looked new, and
there were marks of knife and bill-hook upon some of the fresh
cross-pieces that had been newly bound in their places. But a freshly
tied-in cane and the careful distribution of t