breath was out of it!"

"Galen has deserted you," said Cornificia. The murder was
uninteresting; nobody made any comment.

"Not he!" Pertinax answered, and went and sat on Galen's couch. "You
find me not man enough for the senate to make a god of me--is that it,
Galen?"

"Too much of a man to be an emperor," said Galen, smiling amid wrinkles.
"By observing a man's virtues one may infer what his faults are. You
would try to rule the empire honestly, which is impossible. A more
dishonest man would let it rule itself and claim the credit, whereas you
would give the praise to others, who would shoulder off the work and all
the blame on to you. An empire is like a human body, which heals itself
if the head will let it. Too many heads--a conference of doctors--and
the patient dies! One doctor, doing nothing with an air of confidence,
and the patient gets well! There, I have told you more than all the
senate knows!"

Came Scylax, out of breath, less menial than most men's slaves, his head
and shoulders upright and the hand that held a letter thrust well
forward as if what he had to do were more important than the way he did
it.

"This came," he said, standing beside Sextus' couch. "Cadmus brought
it, running all the way from Antioch."

His hand was trembling; evidently Cadmus had by some means learned the
contents of the letter and had told.

"I and Cadmus--" he said, and then hesitated.

"What?"

"--are faithful, no matter what happens."

Scylax stood erect with closed lips. Sextus broke the seal, merely
glancing at Pertinax, taking permission for granted. He frowned as he
read, bit his lip, his face growing crimson and white alternately. When
he had mastered himself he handed the letter to Pertinax.

"I always supposed you protected my father," he said, struggling to
appear calm. But his eyes gave the story away--grieved, mortified,
indignant. Scylax offered him his arm to lean on. Norbanus, setting
both hands on his shoulders from behind, obliged him to sit down.

"Calm!" Norbanus whispered, "Calm! Your friends are your friends. What
has happened?"

Pertinax read the letter and passed it to Cornificia, then paced the
floor with hands behind him.

"Is that fellow to be trusted?" he asked with a jerk of his head toward
Scylax. He seemed nearly as upset as Sextus was.

Sextus nodded, not trusting himself to speak, knowing that if he did he
would insult a man who might be guiltless in spi