s his astonishment when he
found the Emperor standing there.

Hadrian stood in the midst of the crowd, and at the instant when Verus
appeared on the scene had wrenched the torch out of the hand of the
infuriated tailor. At the same time, in a thundering voice, he commanded
the Alexandrians--who were not accustomed to the imperial tone--to
desist from their mad project. Whistling, grunting, and words of scorn
overpowered the mandate of the sovereign, and when Verus and his slaves
had reached the spot where he stood, a few drunken Egyptians had gone
up to him and were about to lay hands on the unwelcome counsellor. The
praetor stood in their way. He first whispered to Hadrian that Jupiter
ought to be ruling the world, and might well leave it to smaller folks
to rescue a houseful of Jews; and that in a few seconds the soldiers
would arrive. Then he shouted to him in a loud voice:

"Away from this Sophist! Your place is in the Museum, or in the temple
of Serapis with your books, and not among the misguided and ignorant.
Am I right Macedonian citizens, or am I wrong?" A murmur of assent was
heard which became a roar of laughter when Verus, after Hadrian had got
away, went on:

"He has a beard like Caesar, and so he behaves as if he wore the purple!
You did well to let him escape, his wife and children are waiting for
him over their porridge."

Verus had often been implicated in wild adventure among the populace and
knew how to deal with them; if he now could only detain them till the
advent of the soldiers he might consider the game as won. Hadrian could
be a hero when it suited him; but here where no laurels were to be won,
he left to Verus the task of quieting the crowd.

As soon as he was fairly gone Verus desired his slaves to lift him on
their shoulders; his handsome good-natured face looked down upon the
crowd from high above them. He was immediately recognized, and many
voices called out:

"The crazy Roman! the praetor! the sham Eros!"

"I am he, Macedonian citizens, yes, I am he," answered Verus in a clear
voice. "And I will tell you a story."

"Listen, Listen."

"No let us get into the Jew's house."

"Presently--listen a minute to what the sham Eros says."

"I will knock your teeth down your throat boy, if you don't hold your
tongue."

All the crowd were shouting in wild confusion.

Curiosity, on the one hand, to hear the noble gentleman's speech, and
the somewhat superficial fury of the mob contend