arius
was heard, full of pain,--

"Lord, they took her with Ursus to the Esquiline prison. We are carrying
another body! They removed her before midnight."

Petronius, when he had returned home, was gloomy as a storm, and did not
even try to console Vinicius. He understood that to free Lygia from the
Esquiline dungeons was not to be dreamed of. He divined that very likely
she had been taken from the Tullianum so as not to die of fever and
escape the amphitheatre assigned to her. But for this very reason she
was watched and guarded more carefully than others. From the bottom of
his soul Petronius was sorry for her and Vinicius, but he was wounded
also by the thought that for the first time in life he had not
succeeded, and for the first time was beaten in a struggle.

"Fortune seems to desert me," said he to himself, "but the gods are
mistaken if they think that I will accept such a life as his, for
example."

Here he turned toward Vinicius, who looked at him with staring eyes.
"What is the matter? Thou hast a fever," said Petronius.

But Vinicius answered with a certain strange, broken, halting voice,
like that of a sick child,--"But I believe that He--can restore her to
me."

Above the city the last thunders of the storm had ceased.

Chapter LVII

THREE days' rain, an exceptional phenomenon in Rome during summer, and
hail falling in opposition to the natural order, not only in the day,
but even at night, interrupted the spectacles. People were growing
alarmed. A failure of grapes was predicted, and when on a certain
afternoon a thunderbolt melted the bronze statue of Ceres on the
Capitol, sacrifices were ordered in the temple of Jupiter Salvator. The
priests of Ceres spread a report that the anger of the gods was turned
on the city because of the too hasty punishment of Christians; hence
crowds began to insist that the spectacles be given without reference to
weather. Delight seized all Rome when the announcement was made at last
that the ludus would begin again after three days' interval.

Meanwhile beautiful weather returned. The amphitheatre was filled at
daybreak with thousands of people. Caesar came early with the vestals
and the court. The spectacle was to begin with a battle among the
Christians, who to this end were arrayed as gladiators and furnished
with all kinds of weapons which served gladiators by profession in
offensive and defensive struggles. But here came disappointment.
The Christ