The Roman Traitor (Vol. 1 of 2)

what

lead me,

us C

had called on either, though they had lingered there for hours in endearments, which, as he judged the spirit of his host, would have cost him his life, if suspected; and though he never dreamed of connivance, he

lected in the tablinum, no slaves were waiting in the atrium; and, as he stole forth cautiously with guarded footsteps, Arvina alm

and on the lock of the outer door, a tall dark figure, which he recognized instantly to be that of his host, stepped fo

hisper, "our Lucia truly is a most soft and fascinating

and half serious; something between a taunting and triumphant assertion of a fact, and a bit

f his entertainer's meaning, and the extent of his knowledge,

lips, so that they can give out no sound? B

back in astonishment, and half expe

ls in the house of Catiline have no ears

the youth, now

herself to you; and you have sold yourself to Catiline! By all the fiends of Hades,

lity betrayed, and feeling the first stings of remorse a

ak! art thou not mine-mine soul a

his soul, and he answered humbly, and in a faint low voice, h

worn, C

to what thou art sworn, or unto whom; but know this, that hell itself, wit

least, n

the bosom of a daughter of the house which entertained thee as a friend

xcited in his breast, but by things perilous and terrible and hat

thou didst wear this

, starting back, as if he had re

f Paul. "I am the slayer of the slave, and regret only that I slew

mechanically-for he was utterly bewildered by all t

? speak! fool! speak, ere I tear

's, Cat

knows he of this ma

know

with you. I comprehend; and you shewed him the poniard. So! so!

rgius," he replied, thorou

valley of Muses, at the fourth hour of night to-morrow. In the meantime, beware that you te

r, Cat

wilt

"And wi

we shall be fast friends forever. Go

remendous passions and vindictive fury of the conspirator, flashed on his mind, and he

pened with his own hand. "Be true, and you shall see her when you will; betray us, and both you an

ture, he closed and bar

the fiend's arch mock, to lip a wanton, and believe her chaste-the dupe of a designing harlot; the sworn tool and slave of a murderer-a monster, who had literally sold his own chi

breast, and tear his dark hair by handfulls

t, and at the same time, its avenger; against the murderer and the traitor, now his tyrant; he utterly forgot that his own dereliction,

and a false curiosity, he had associated himself with a man whom he beli

o undermine his daughter's honor; and had felt no remorse, till he learned that his succe

drew the breath of life, from the far Alps, to the blue waters of the far Tarentum-that he h

ssion of the first ill deed, leads almost surely to the commission of a second, of a third, until the soul is filed and the

ous sin, but now to the depth of his secret soul, he felt

e doubted nothing any longer; it was clear to him as noonday; distinct and definite as if it had been told to him in so many words;

ides. For, though he had not dared say so much to Catiline, he had already sent the poniard to the house of Cicero, and a brief letter indicating all that he had learned from

of the Republic had learned that the murderer of his slave was the very person, whom he had bound himsel

do? how to proceed, since t

ce the poniard at their appointed meeting? how should he escape the

adness was in the very thought! so strangely had she spread her fascinations round him. And yet did he love her? no! perish the thought! Love is a high, a holy, a pure feeling-the purest our poor fallen nature is capable of experiencing; no! this fierce, desperat

eep the appointment with his master-for such he felt that Catiline now was indeed-however he might strive to conceal the fact; endeavor to learn what were his real objects; and then determine what should be hi

ll were combined in that word, country; and could he be untrue to Rome? His better spirit cried out,

he went to Cataline's [pg 114] house, he went with the resolution of leaving it at an early hour, so soon as the feast should be over, and seeking her, while there should yet be time to ramble

ned, and self-disgusted, plunged into peril-perhaps into ruin, by his own guilty conduct; and then, when he did think, it was with remorse, and self-reproach, and consciousness of disloyalty, so bitterly and keenly painful-yet unaccompanied by that repentance, which steadily envisages past wrong, and d

xpected and unfortunate, which had befallen him, since he stood there that morning; each singly trivial; each, unconnected as it seemed with the rest, and of little moment; yet all, when united, forming a chain of circumstances by which he was now fettered hand and foot-his casual interview with Catiline on the hill;

ill funereal strain. And then, upon a bier covered with black, the rude wooden coffin, peculiar to the slave, of the murdered Medon! Behind him followed the whole household of the Consul; and last, to the extreme aston

a, where he stood revealed in the full glare of the torch-light; and as he recognised him, he made a sign

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 lam

the pile, and the tall spire of blood-red flame went up, wavering and streaming through the night, rich with perfumes, and gu

ith wine, Thrasea, as the nearest relative of the deceased, gathered the ashes and inurned them, [pg 116]when they were duly

walk by his side all the way back to the city, conversing with him eagerly about all that had passed, thanking him for the note

him. I judge that it will be best, when we shall have dismissed all these, except the lictors, to visit him this very night. He is

d appearance of composure, which he was very far from feeling, and even to keep up a connected conversation as they walked along. Returning home at a much quicker pace than they had gone out, it was comparativel

d by the Sacred Way to the arch of Fabius; and then, as the young men had gone in the morning, through the Fo

, on purpose that I might create no suspicion in the minds of the slayers. They never will suspect him, we have bu

ed Paullus, feeling that he must say something,

her booths have been closed long ago, and the streets are already silent. There are but few men, even in this great city, of whom I know not

oo mean to occupy a place, even, in

n to occupy the mind of the noblest. Why should it, since it dot

o the creed of Epicu

young friend, do you. Believe me-but ha!" he added in a quick and altered tone, "what have

ght of the lamp became very dim and wavering, as if it had been overset; and in a moment went out altogether. But its last glimm

e recognized the spare but muscular form, all brawn and bone and sinew; he recogn

t, encumbered with their heavy fasces, they would overtake so swift a runn

the Consul speedil

ro! V

came forth

what ho

here came a sound-a plash, as of a heavy drop of water falling on the

ok one step forward, and laid his hand upon the co

er here! Run, my Arvina, run to Furbo's cookshop, across the way ther

And at the cry of murder, many men, some who had not retired for the night, and some half dressed as they had sp

oved or risen from his seat, but had fallen forward with his head upon the board; and from beneath the head was oozing in a con

what blood!" exclaimed

ot an hour since he supped on a pound of s

and the whole face bore an expression neither o

s and jugular veins on both sides; and so strong had been the hand of the assa

it was to cut the throats of the conquered victims on the arena; he

broadbacked knife-the man has been slain by a gl

ven risen from his seat to speak with him; and see, the burnisher is yet grasped in his hand, with which he was at wor

ore, my consul," replie

witnesses; one of you keep watch at the door, until you are relieved; lock it and give the key to the pr?tor, when he shall arrive; the other, go straightway, and summon Cornelius Le

the man of the people!" shouted the crowd

u, that you had found, and Volero sold

ctor, and Aristius Fuscus were with me

one

hey," he added in a breath, "co

one else

s on the Campus, Catiline saw it in

til

] "Ay!

him that Voler

s marble. Had it been daylight, his face had betrayed

lero now. Catiline is the man; but this craves wary walking. Young man, young man, beware! met

g