Vinicius saw Lygia lying on a cloak near the wall;
so, without speaking further, he knelt near her. Ursus recognized him,
and said,--

"Praise be to Christ! but do not wake her, lord."

Vinicius, kneeling down, gazed at her through his tears. In spite of the
darkness he could distinguish her face, which seemed to him as pale as
alabaster, and her emaciated arms. At that sight he was seized by a
love which was like a rending pain, a love which shook his soul to
its uttermost depth, and which at the same time was so full of pity,
respect, and homage that he fell on his face, and pressed to his lips
the hem of the cloak on which rested that head dearer to him than all
else on earth.

Ursus looked at Vinicius for a long time in silence, but at last he
pulled his tunic.

"Lord," asked he, "how didst thou come, and hast thou come here to save
her?"

Vinicius rose, and struggled for a time with his emotion. "Show me the
means," replied he.

"I thought that thou wouldst find them, lord. Only one method came to my
head--"

Here he turned toward the grating in the wall, as if in answer to
himself, and said,--

"In that way--but there are soldiers outside--"

"A hundred pretorians."

"Then we cannot pass?"

"No!"

The Lygian rubbed his forehead, and asked again,--

"How didst thou enter?"

"I have a tessera from the overseer of the 'Putrid Pits.'" Then Vinicius
stopped suddenly, as if some idea had flashed through his head.

"By the Passion of the Redeemer," said he, in a hurried voice, "I will
stay here. Let her take my tessera; she can wrap her head in a cloth,
cover her shoulders with a mantle, and pass out. Among the slaves who
carry out corpses there are several youths not full grown; hence the
pretorians will not notice her, and once at the house of Petronius she
is safe."

But the Lygian dropped his head on his breast, and said,--"She would not
consent, for she loves thee; besides, she is sick, and unable to stand
alone. If thou and the noble Petronius cannot save her from prison, who
can?" said he, after a while.

"Christ alone."

Then both were silent.

"Christ could save all Christians," thought the Lygian, in his simple
heart; "but since He does not save them, it is clear that the hour of
torture and death has come."

He accepted it for himself, but was grieved to the depth of his soul for
that child who had grown up in his arms, and whom he loved beyond life.

Vinicius knelt again near Ly