gs. I dare not for my head have it carried up that narrow ladder
from the causeway.

RUFIO. Swing it up by the crane, then. We will send the eggs to the
cook; drink our wine from the goblets; and the carpet will make a bed
for Caesar.

APOLLODORUS. The crane! Caesar: I have sworn to tender this bale of
carpet as I tender my own life.

CAESAR (cheerfully). Then let them swing you up at the same time; and
if the chain breaks, you and the pigeons' eggs will perish together. (He
goes to the chairs and looks up along it, examining it curiously.)

APOLLODORUS (to Britannus). Is Caesar serious?

BRITANNUS. His manner is frivolous because he is an Italian; but he
means what he says.

APOLLODORUS. Serious or not, he spoke well. Give me a squad of soldiers
to work the crane.

BRITANNUS. Leave the crane to me. Go and await the descent of the chain.

APOLLODORUS. Good. You will presently see me there (turning to them
all and pointing with an eloquent gesture to the sky above the parapet)
rising like the sun with my treasure.

He goes back the, way he came. Britannus goes into the lighthouse.

RUFIO (ill-humoredly). Are you really going to wait here for this
foolery, Caesar?

CAESAR (backing away from the crane as it gives signs of working). Why
not?

RUFIO. The Egyptians will let you know why not if they have the sense
to make a rush from the shore end of the mole before our barricade is
finished. And here we are waiting like children to see a carpet full of
pigeons' eggs.

The chain rattles, and is drawn up high enough to clear the parapet. It
then swings round out of sight behind the lighthouse.

CAESAR. Fear not, my son Rufio. When the first Egyptian takes his first
step along the mole, the alarm will sound; and we two will reach the
barricade from our end before the Egyptians reach it from their end--we
two, Rufio: I, the old man, and you, his biggest boy. And the old man
will be there first. So peace; and give me some more dates.

APOLLODORUS (from the causeway below). So-ho, haul away. So-ho-o-o-o!
(The chain is drawn up and comes round again from behind the lighthouse.
Apollodorus is swinging in the air with his bale of carpet at the end of
it. He breaks into song as he soars above the parapet.)

Aloft, aloft, behold the blue That never shone in woman's eyes

Easy there: stop her. (He ceases to rise.) Further round! (The chain
comes forward above the platform.)

RUFIO (calling up). Lower away there. (T