ried, "This is but play! Rome by the
strength in his arms can pick Greece away from the earth. Come thou,
Rome and Greece, dance _close_! Greece--evade the powerful arm that
seeks to draw thee beneath the wolf's tawny hide! Dance! Dance!
Dance away from Rome! Harder! Faster! Fiercer! He comes nearer!
His hand doth touch thee. Aye--watch! He comes closer. Hear his
heart thump with eagerness to seize thee? Feel his hot breath? He is
about to seize thee! He taketh thee, Greece! Thou art disappearing
under the hide of the wolf!"

As the wild dance neared its end, Pilate became so aroused he rushed
back and forth across the room in imitation of first one dancer then
the other, while his guests roared with laughter. And when the eunuch
seized the slave girl and gathered her under the thick fur, her screams
were those of honest fear for she knew not what might be in store for
her. "Scream--scream again!" shouted Pilate. "I like it. Aye, to the
heart of Rome stifled by the pious air of Jerusalem, screaming is like
new wine! Scream once again!" Again the slave girl's cry was heard
from under the wolf hide. "Thou doest well. Come forth and from the
golden cup of Pontius Pilate, held in his own hand, shalt thou drink.
Aye, thou doest well," he repeated as she came toward him. "To the
heart of Rome screams are dear. Here's to thy screaming, and here's to
Rome forever!" and he lifted the cup.

"Stay thy hand a moment," and Claudia touched the sleeve of Pilate
lightly as she spoke.

"What meanest thou?"

"Drink thou to Rome, my lord--but _not_ Rome _forever_."

"What meanest thou?" he repeated.

"In days long gone before Romulus had found the lair of the she-wolf,
there lived seers who foretold a king whose kingdom would be greater
than that of Caesar."

"Claudia hath been filching cups, methinks," Pilate said, joining in
the laughter of the Senators. "Another king than Caesar? As the
mighty Tiberius would do to a worm that should raise its head from the
dust to sting his heel, so will the mighty Caesar do to him whose voice
be lifted against the empire. My fair Claudia, thy brain is addled.
Here's to thee, my love, here's to our guests, the Senators, and here's
to Rome--_Rome forever_! On with the dance!"

CHAPTER XII

ON THE ROOF

The Day of Atonement had just passed and throughout Palestine great
preparations were being made for the Feast of Tabernacles, for the
harvest yield had b