A Struggle For Rome Volume Ii Part 56

"Properly I should refuse to do so, and let you remain in suspense, to punish you for your impudent lies," laughed the Prefect. "This piece of leather is worth your life, my panther! How will you ransom it?"

"With important news. I now know all the particulars of the plan against the life of Belisarius; the place and time, and the names of the confederates. They are--Teja, Totila, and Hildebad."

"Each one of whom is a match for the magister militum," remarked Cethegus, with evident pleasure.

"I think, sir, that you have prepared another nice trap for the barbarians! According to your order, I have told them that Belisarius himself will sally out from the Tiburtinian Gate to-morrow, in order to forage for supplies."

"Yes; he goes himself because the Huns, who have so often been beaten, will not again venture out alone. He will take only four hundred men."

"And the three confederates will place an ambush of a thousand men in order to surprise Belisarius."

"This news is really worth the shoe!" said Cethegus, and threw it to Syphax.

"Meanwhile King Witichis will make a feigned a.s.sault upon the Gate of St. Paul, in order to divert attention from Belisarius. So I will now hasten to the latter, as you ordered, and tell him to take three thousand men with him, and destroy the confederates and their band."

"Stop," said Cethegus quietly; "do not be in such a hurry. You will tell him nothing."

"What?" asked Syphax in surprise. "If he be not warned, he will be lost!"

"One must not always interfere with the commander's guardian angel.

To-morrow Belisarius may prove his good fortune."

"Aye, aye," said Syphax, with a cunning smile, "is such your pleasure?

Then I would rather be Syphax the slave than Belisarius the magister militum. Poor widowed Antonina!"

Cethegus was just about to stretch himself upon his couch for a short rest, when Fidus, the ostiarius, announced:

"Kallistratos, of Corinth!"

"Always welcome!"

The young Greek with the gentle countenance entered. A flush of shame or pleasure coloured his cheeks; it was evident that some special cause had led him to the Prefect.

"What of beauty do you bring besides yourself?" asked Cethegus in the Grecian tongue.

The Greek looked up with sparkling eyes.

"A heart full of admiration for you, and the wish to prove it to you. I beg for permission to fight for you and Rome, like the two Licinii and Piso."

"My Kallistratos! What have you, our peaceful guest, the most amiable of Greeks, to do with our b.l.o.o.d.y business with the Goths? Leave such hard work alone, and cherish your bright inheritance--beauty!"

"I know well that the days of Salamis have become a myth, and that you iron Romans have never believed in our strength. That is hard; but yet it is easier to bear, because it is you who defend our world of art and n.o.ble customs against the dull barbarians; you--that is, Rome, and to me Cethegus is Rome. As such, I understand this struggle, and, understanding it thus, you see that it also concerns the h.e.l.lenes."

The Prefect smiled with pleasure.

"Well, if to you Cethegus is Rome, then Rome gladly accepts the help of the h.e.l.lenes. Henceforward you are a tribune of the Milites Romani, like Licinius."

"My deeds shall thank you. But I must confess one thing more; for I know that you do not love to be surprised. I have often seen how dear to you is the Mausoleum of Hadrian, with its treasure of statues.

Lately I counted these marble G.o.ds, and found that there were two hundred and ninety-eight. I have made the third hundred complete by placing amongst them my two Letoides, Apollo and Artemis, which you praised so highly. They are a votive offering to you and Rome."

"Dear, extravagant youth!" said Cethegus. "What have you done?"

"That which is right and beautiful," answered Kallistratos simply.

"But reflect; the Mausoleum is now a fortress. If the Goths storm----"

"The Letoides stand upon the second and inner wall; and how can I fear that the barbarians will ever again conquer the favourite place of Cethegus? Where can the beauteous G.o.ds be more secure than in your citadel? Your fortress is their best, because safest, temple. My offering shall be at the same time a happy omen."

"It shall!" cried Cethegus with animation. "And I myself believe that your gift is well protected. But allow me, in return----"

"In return you have allowed me to fight for you. Chaire!" laughed the Greek, and was gone.

"The boy loves me dearly," said Cethegus. "And I am like other human fools--it does me good; and that not merely because I can thereby rule him."

Heavy footsteps were now heard upon the marble of the vestibule, and a tribune of the army entered.

It was a young Roman with n.o.ble features, but of a graver expression than his years warranted. His cheek-bones made a right angle with his straight and severe brow, in true Roman outline; in the deep-sunk eyes lay Roman strength and--at this moment--resolute earnestness, and a self-will regardless of all but itself.

"Aha! Severinus, son of Boethius! Welcome, my young hero and philosopher! I have not seen you for many months. Whence come you?"

"From the grave of my mother!" answered Severinus, with a fixed look at the questioner.

Cethegus sprang from his seat.

"What! Rusticiana? The friend of my youth? The wife of my Boethius?"

"She is dead," said the son shortly.

The Prefect would have taken his hand, but Severinus withdrew it.

"My son! my poor Severinus! And did she die--without a word for me?"

"I bring you her last words--they concern you!"

"How did she die? Of what illness?"

"Of grief and remorse."

"Grief!" sighed Cethegus; "that I understand. But why should she feel remorse? And her last word was for me? Tell me, what did she say?"

Severinus approached the Prefect so closely that he touched his knee, and looking piercingly into his eyes, he answered:

"She said, 'A curse, a curse upon Cethegus, who poisoned my child!"

Cethegus looked at him quietly.

"Did she die delirious?" he coldly asked.

"No, murderer! Her delirium was to trust in you! In the hour of her death she confessed to Ca.s.siodorus and to me that it was her hand which administered the poison--with which you had furnished her--to the young tyrant. She told us all the circ.u.mstances. She was supported as she spoke by old Corbulo and his daughter, Daphnidion. 'Too late I learned,' she concluded, 'that my child had drunk of the deadly cup.