The prefect was not mistaken; the hasty step he had heard was that of the
official they awaited. At some little distance they could already hear
the man, panting as he hurried up, and as he came, before Titianus could
prevent him, he had snatched down the cords that were stretched across
the court and flung all the washing on the ground. As soon as the
curtain had thus dropped which had divided him from the Emperor's
representative and his companion, he bowed to the former as low as the
rotund dimensions of his person would allow; but his hasty arrival, the
effort of strength he had made, and his astonishment at the appearance of
the most powerful personage in the Nile Province in the building
entrusted to his care, so utterly took away his breath--of which he at
all times was but "scant"--that he was unable even to stammer out a
suitable greeting. Titianus gave him a little time, and then, after
expressing his regret at the sad plight of the washing, now strewn upon
the ground, and mentioning to the steward the name and position of his
friend Pontius, he briefly explained to him that the Emperor wished to
take up his abode in the palace now in his charge; that he--Titianus--was
cognizant of the bad condition in which it then was, and had come to take
council with him and the architect as to what could be done in the course
of a few days to make the dilapidated residence habitable for Hadrian,
and to repair, at any rate, the more conspicuous damage. He then desired
the steward to lead him through the rooms.

"Directly--at once," answered the Greek, who had attained his present
ponderous dimensions through many years of rest: "I will hasten to fetch
the keys." And as he went, puffing and panting, he re-arranged with his
short, fat fingers the still abundant hair on the right side of his head.
Pontius looked after him.