sides, armed himself and his companions with short, curved knives;
Chilo put on a wig, which he obtained on the way from the old man's
shop, and they went out, hurrying so as to reach the distant Nomentan
Gate before it was closed.

Chapter XX

THEY went through the Vicus Patricius, along the Viminal to the former
Viminal gate, near the plain on which Diocletian afterward built
splendid baths. They passed the remains of the wall of Servius
Tullius, and through places more and more deserted they reached the Via
Nomentana; there, turning to the left, towards the Via Salaria, they
found themselves among hills full of sand-pits, and here and there they
found graveyards.

Meanwhile it had grown dark completely, and since the moon had not risen
yet, it would have been rather difficult for them to find the road were
it not that the Christians themselves indicated it, as Chilo foresaw.

In fact, on the right, on the left, and in front, dark forms were
evident, making their way carefully toward sandy hollows. Some of these
people carried lanterns,--covering them, however, as far as possible
with mantles; others, knowing the road better, went in the dark. The
trained military eye of Vinicius distinguished, by their movements,
younger men from old ones, who walked with canes, and from women,
wrapped carefully in long mantles. The highway police, and villagers
leaving the city, took those night wanderers, evidently, for laborers,
going to sand-pits; or grave-diggers, who at times celebrated ceremonies
of their own in the night-time. In proportion, however, as the young
patrician and his attendants pushed forward, more and more lanterns
gleamed, and the number of persons grew greater. Some of them sang songs
in low voices, which to Vinicius seemed filled with sadness. At
moments a separate word or a phrase of the song struck his ear, as,
for instance, "Awake, thou that sleepest," or "Rise from the dead"; at
times, again, the name of Christ was repeated by men and women.

But Vinicius turned slight attention to the words, for it came to his
head that one of those dark forms might be Lygia. Some, passing near,
said, "Peace be with thee!" or "Glory be to Christ!" but disquiet seized
him, and his heart began to beat with more life, for it seemed to him
that he heard Lygia's voice. Forms or movements like hers deceived him
in the darkness every moment, and only when he had corrected mistakes
made repeatedly did he begin to d