looked, and saw a man coming along the side of the arena with a
key in his hand. When the man came near, he looked at Mr. George and
Rollo, and also at the door, and then asked a question in Italian.
"_Si, signore_," said Mr. George.
So the man advanced and unlocked the door. As soon as he had unlocked
it, and Mr. George and Rollo had passed through, he looked towards them
again, and asked another question.
"_No, signore_," said Mr. George.
Mr. George and Rollo then began to go up the stairs, while the man,
having locked the door after them, went away.
CHAPTER VII.
THE GLADIATOR.
"How did you know what it was that that man asked you?" asked Rollo.
"I knew from the circumstances of the case," replied Mr. George. "The
first question I knew must be whether we wished to go up; and the
second, whether we wished him to go with us."
"What do you suppose they keep the gate locked for?" asked Rollo.
"So as to _make_ us pay when we come down," said Mr. George.
"Do you suppose they mean to make us pay?" asked Rollo.
"They will not make us, exactly," said Mr. George; "but they will expect
something, no doubt. There may be another reason, however, why they keep
the gate locked; and that is, to prevent children and stragglers from
going up, where they might fall and break their necks at some of the
exposed and dangerous places."
"Do you suppose that there are dangerous places up here?" asked Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "I suppose there are a great many; and I advise
you to be very careful where you go."
The flight of stairs where Mr. George and Rollo were ascending was very
broad; and it was formed of the long, flat bricks, such as Rollo had
observed below. The bricks were placed edgewise.
"I suppose that these steps were covered with slabs of marble, in old
times," said Rollo.
"Probably," said Mr. George; "either with marble, or some other harder
stone."
After ascending some distance, Rollo, who went forward, came out upon
the landing which led to a range of corridors in the second story, as it
were. There were several of these corridors, running side by side, all
along the building. On one side, you could pass through arches, and come
out to the platforms where the seats had originally been arranged, and
where you could look down upon the arena. The seats themselves were all
gone, and in their places nothing was left but sloping platforms, all
gone to ruin, and covered now with gr
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