por. A little weariness will not hurt
us."

The driver's whip curled about the horses' flanks, and they started
forward; but the disappointed innkeeper laid hold of one of the poles
that supported the covering of the rheda and gasped and sputtered as he
ran:--

"What now! Would you die of the heat? Am I to lose my custom because
I am good-natured and tell the news?"

Caipor turned in his seat and raised the thong used to urge on his
animal; but Marcia, hearing the clamour, thrust the curtain aside again
and, motioning the slave to restrain himself, threw several denarii to
her would-be host. At the same moment, the horses suddenly quickened
their gait, and the pursuer, keeping his hold, was jerked flat upon his
face.

"Be cautious!" shouted Caipor. "There is silver in the dust you are
swallowing," and they hurried on, unable to distinguish whether the
half-choked ejaculations that followed them were thanks or curses.

There was a short silence punctuated by the cracking of the whip, the
clatter of hoofs, and the crunching of wheels along the pavement; then
the curtains once more parted slightly, and Caipor, watchful to serve,
saw Marcia's beckoning hand and drew closer to the rheda.

"Bend down," she said, and, as he obeyed, she whispered:--

"You were my brother's servant, Caipor, and you bear his name. Will
you help me to avenge him?"

The slave's eyes flashed, and he straightened himself on his horse.
Then he lowered his head to hear more.

"Ligurius," she continued, "will be brave and faithful to my family in
all things. I want one who will be faithful to what is greater and to
what is less--to Rome and to me. I seek safety for the Republic; and I
seek revenge for those who are dead. Will you help me when Ligurius
halts?"

"The cross itself will not daunt me," he said simply. "Whatever you
shall do, lady, I will be faithful to the death."

"For me, perhaps, to the death, Caipor," she answered; "but for you, if
the gods favour me, to life and to freedom."

His cheek flushed with the rich blood of his Samnite ancestors, and, as
Ligurius glanced back from his post at the head of the party, the young
man made his horse bound forward, lest his attitude and perturbation
might bring some suspicion of a secret conference to the mind of the
old freedman.

So they descended within the hemicycle of hills. The heights of Mount
Tifata began to fall away on the left, the rough, precipitous line of
cra