himself weighs. He guards that maiden better than Cerberus does Hades.
But may Hades swallow him, for all that! I will have nothing to do with
him. He is too bony. But where shall I begin in this case? A dreadful
thing has happened. If he has broken the bones of such a man as Croton,
beyond a doubt the soul of Vinicius is puling above that cursed house
now, awaiting his burial. By Castor! but he is a patrician, a friend of
Cæsar, a relative of Petronius, a man known in all Rome, a military
tribune. His death cannot pass without punishment. Suppose I were to go
to the pretorian camp, or the guards of the city, for instance?"

Here he stopped and began to think, but said after a while,--"Woe is me!
Who took him to that house if not I? His freedmen and his slaves know
that I came to his house, and some of them know with what object. What
will happen if they suspect me of having pointed out to him purposely
the house in which his death met him? Though it appear afterward, in
the court, that I did not wish his death, they will say that I was the
cause of it. Besides, he is a patrician; hence in no event can I avoid
punishment. But if I leave Rome in silence, and go far away somewhere,
I shall place myself under still greater suspicion."

It was bad in every case. The only question was to choose the less
evil. Rome was immense; still Chilo felt that it might become too small
for him. Any other man might go directly to the prefect of the city
guards and tell what had happened, and, though some suspicion might fall
on him, await the issue calmly. But Chilo's whole past was of such
character that every closer acquaintance with the prefect of the city or
the prefect of the guard must cause him very serious trouble, and
confirm also every suspicion which might enter the heads of officials.

On the other hand, to flee would be to confirm Petronius in the opinion