ill see him--ere long.'

Decius went forth for his morning's exercise, which sometimes took the
form of a gentle game of ball, but was generally a ramble on foot and
unaccompanied, for he never felt at ease when an attendant followed
him. His habits were solitary; ever absorbed in thought, or lost in
dreams, he avoided the ways where he would be likely to encounter an
acquaintance, and strayed among ruins in deserted gardens, such as were
easily found in the remoter parts of the Caelian. To-day, tempted on by
the delicious air, and the bright but not ardent sunshine, he wandered
by such unfrequented paths till a sound of voices broke upon his
meditation, and he found himself in view of the Lateran. Numbers of
poor people were streaming away from the open space by the Pope's
palace, loud in angry talk, its purpose intelligible enough to any one
who caught a few words. Decius heard maledictions upon the Holy Father,
mingled with curses no less hearty upon the Greeks who held Rome.

'It was not thus,' cried an old man, 'in the time of King Theodoric,
heretic though he might be. We had our bread and our hog's flesh, prime
quality both, and plenty for all.'

'Ay,' cried a woman, 'and our oil too. Since these Greek dogs came, not
a drop of oil has there been in my cruse. Heretics, forsooth! What
better is the Holy Father who lets Christians die of hunger while he
eats and drinks his fill?'

'Evil go with thee, O Vigilius! The pest seize thee, O Vigilius! May'st
thou perish eternally, O Vigilius!' shrilled and shouted all manner of
voices, while fists were shaken towards the pontifical abode.

Decius hastened away. The sight of suffering was painful to him, and
the cries of the vulgar offended his ear; he felt indignant that these
people should not be fed, as Rome for so many ages had fed her
multitude, but above all, he dreaded uproar, confusion, violence. His
hurried pace did not relax until he was lost again amid a wilderness of
ruins, where browsing goats and darting lizards were the only life.

Later in the day, when he sat alone in the peristyle, a visitor was
introduced, whom he rose to welcome cordially and respectfully. This
was a man of some threescore years, vigorous in frame, with dry,
wrinkled visage and a thin, grey beard that fell to his girdle. As he
approached, Decius saw that he was bleeding from a wound on the head
and that his cloak was torn.

'What means this, dear master?' he exclaimed. 'What has b