Part 46 (2/2)

They had not discarded their accoutrements and each man had his sword by his side. Not realising that the fury of the mob had been momentarily damped by the storm, they remained prepared to defend the Caesar's life at any moment with their own.

More than one of them had apparently been wounded in one or other of the hand-to-hand combats which they had sustained against the mob earlier in the day, for more than one head was wrapped in a rough piece of bandage and more than one tunic was stained with blood. All the men looked f.a.gged and dirty and for the most part worn out with sleeplessness and want of food.

As the praefect's firm tread resounded from end to end of the colonnaded hall and woke the slumbering echoes of the deserted palace, weary, lack-l.u.s.tre eyes were turned in his direction, and now when his tall figure appeared between two pillars the men recognised him, for his head was uncovered.

One or two of them gave a cry of terror since all of them had thought that the praefect was dead, and this tall, dark presence, wrapped in a long cloak and with tawny hair still dripping from the rain, looked very like an apparition from another world.

”The Caesar?” queried the praefect curtly.

Some of the men struggled to their feet. The voice they knew well; it was as of old, loud and peremptory and not like to be coming from a grave. All did their best to a.s.sume a respectful bearing, and one who was in command made ready to show the praefect into the Caesar's presence.

”I want no escort,” said Taurus Antinor in that same commanding voice which no one in Rome had ever tried to resist. ”Tell me only where I can find the Caesar.”

”In the lararium, O praefect,” replied the soldier without hesitation.

”He ordered us to remain here.”

Without looking to right or left Taurus Antinor walked past the soldiers into the gorgeous tablinium beyond, where great Augustus had been wont to administer justice. This vast hall was deserted, but from an inner room on the left there came to the praefect's ear a curious sound like the snarl of an angry feline creature, a sound which he knew could only come from one human throat. Without hesitation he turned to whence that sound had come. On the right of the huge semi-circular apse, which contained the now vacant throne of Augustus, a narrow door led to the small temple-like room which had once contained the great Emperor's household G.o.ds.

A heavy curtain of embroidered silk masked this entrance. Taurus Antinor pushed it back and walked in.

The temple derived its light solely from a small opening in the vaulted ceiling; that light which came down in a narrow shaft was grey and dull and failed to penetrate the dark and mysterious corners of the room.

Taurus Antinor's eyes were narrowed beneath his frowning brows as he tried to pierce the gloom that lay beyond that shaft of light. He could hear heavy breathing proceeding from there and the muttering of curses, and anon he was able to spy a bundle of stained silken clothes that lay in a heap and which seemed to shrink and to shrivel, to tremble and to cower on the altar steps: a bundle of rags and a gleam of flaccid flesh which stood for the majesty of Caesar.

All at once there was a raucous cry and a growl as of an animal enraged, and the next second something hot and heavy threw itself with violent force against the praefect, even whilst the sharp blade of a dagger caught a gleam of reflected light.

But Taurus Antinor--well knowing the man whom he had come to help--was fully prepared for the treacherous attack. With a rapid movement he had made a s.h.i.+eld of his mantle by winding it closely round his arm, and holding it before his face. The dagger glanced against the woollen material, rendered heavy and sodden with the rain, and Caligula, unnerved by the futile effort, staggered back against the altar steps while the dagger fell with a sharp sound upon the marble floor.

”Traitor!” came in hoa.r.s.e gasps from the Caesar's throat. ”Hast come to murder me!”

”Ho! there! My guard! My guard!”

He was trying to shout, but terror was evidently choking him. He struggled to his feet, and still trembling from head to foot, made pitiable attempts to work his way round to a place of safety behind the altar, whilst keeping his bloodshot eyes fixed upon the praefect.

”Hast come to murder me?” he gasped.

”I came to place my body at thy service, O Caesar,” replied Taurus Antinor quietly. ”I have been sick for nigh on twenty-four hours, else I had come to thee before. They told me that thou wast cut off from those whose duty it is to guard thy person. An thou wilt grant me leave I'll conduct thee to them.”

”Aye! thou'rt ready enough to conduct me to my death, thou treacherous son of slaves,” snarled the Caesar from behind the safe bastion of the stone altar. ”I have learnt thy treachery, I, even I, who trusted thee.

Thou didst lie to me and plan my death even whilst I heaped uncounted favours upon thee.”

”On my soul, O Caesar, thou dost me infinite wrong,” rejoined the praefect calmly. ”But, an it please thee, I am not here to justify myself before thee, though G.o.d knows I would wish thee to believe me true; rather am I here to serve thee, an thou wilt deign to accept my help in thy need.”

”To accept thy help. Nay! By Jupiter, I would as soon trust myself to the snakes that creep under the gra.s.ses of the Campania, as I would place my life in the keeping of a traitor.”

”Had I thought to betray thee, O Caesar,” said Taurus Antinor simply, ”I had not come unarmed and alone. Even the dagger wherewith thou didst threaten my life lies at my foot now, ready to my hand for the mere picking up of it.”

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