than those in Pelusium, and at first answered their query what this had
to do with the war merely by a shrug of the shoulders; but when the
overseer of the porters also put the question, he went on "The omen made
a specially deep impression upon our minds, for we know what Pisaura is,
or rather how it came into existence. The hapless city which dark Hades
ingulfed really belonged to Antony, for in the days of its prosperity he
was its founder."

He measured the group with a defiant glance, and there was no lack of
evidences of horror; nay, one of the maid-servants shrieked aloud, for
the storm had just snatched a torch from the iron rings in the wall and
hurled it on the floor close beside the listener.

Suspense seemed to have reached its height. Yet it was evident that
Beryllus had not yet drawn his last arrow from the quiver.

The maid-servant, whose scream had startled the others, had regained her
composure and seemed eager to hear some other new and terrible omen, for,
with a beseeching glance, she begged the freedman not to withhold the
knew.

He pointed to the drops of perspiration which, spite of the wind sweeping
through the hall, covered her brow: "You must use your handkerchief.
Merely listening to my tale will dampen your skin. Stone statues are
made of harder material, but a soul dwells within them too. Their
natures may be harsher or more gentle; they bring us woe or heal heavy
sorrows, according to their mood. Every one learns this who raises his
hands to them in prayer. One of these statues stands in Alba. It
represents Mark Antony, in whose honour it was erected by the city. And
it foresaw what menaced the man whose stone double it is. Ay, open your