ll
of water. Vinicius, who had fallen from exhaustion, but had not lost
consciousness, seized a gourd with both hands and emptied one-half of
it.

"Thanks," said he; "place me on my feet; I can walk on alone."

The other laborer poured water on his head; the two not only placed him
on his feet, but raised him from the ground and carried him to the
others, who surrounded him and asked if he had suffered seriously. This
tenderness astonished Vinicius.

"People, who are ye?" asked he.

"We are breaking down houses, so that the fire may not reach the Via
Portuensis," answered one of the laborers.

"Ye came to my aid when I had fallen. Thanks to you."

"We are not permitted to refuse aid," answered a number of voices.

Vinicius, who from early morning had seen brutal crowds slaying and
robbing, looked with more attention on the faces around him and said:

"May Christ reward you."

"Praise to his name!" exclaimed a whole chorus of voices.

It was evening, but one could see as in daylight, for the conflagration
had increased. It seemed that not single parts of the city were burning,
but the whole city through the length and the breadth of it. The sky was
red as far as the eye could see it, and that night in the world was a
red night.

The light from the burning city filled the sky as far as human eye could
reach. The moon rose large and full from behind the mountains, and,
inflamed at once by the glare, took on the color of heated brass. It
seemed to look with amazement on the world-ruling city which was
perishing. In the rose-colored abysses of heaven rose-colored stars were
glittering; but in distinction from usual nights the earth was brighter
than the heavens. Rome, like a giant pile, illuminated the whole
Campania.

In the bloody light were seen distant mountains, towns, villas, temples,
monuments, and the aqueducts stretching toward the city from all the
adjacent hills; on the aqueducts were swarms of people who had gathered
there for safety or to gaze at the burning. Meanwhile the dreadful
element was embracing new divisions of the city. It was impossible to
doubt that criminal hands were spreading the fire, since new
conflagrations were breaking out all the time in places remote from the
principal fire.

From the heights on which Rome was founded the flames flowed like waves
of the sea into the valleys densely occupied by houses--houses of five
and six stories, full of shops, booths, movable wooden amp