mber, Roman citizens, what I have told you, that it is for
you and for Rome, that I incur the wrath of the wicked Varus, and may so
soon at his hands meet the death of a Christian witness.'

As Macer spoke, the Roman guard swept rapidly round a corner, and the
multitude giving way in every direction left him alone upon the spot
where he had been standing. Regardless of life and limb, the horse
dashed through the flying crowds, throwing down many and trampling them
under foot, till they reached the Christian, who, undismayed and
fearless, maintained his post. There was little ceremony in their
treatment of him. He was seized by a band of the soldiers, his hands
strongly bound behind him, and placed upon a horse--when, wheeling
round again, the troop at full speed vanished down the same avenue by
which they had come, bearing their victim, as we doubted not, to the
tribunal of Varus.

Determined to see all I could, and the last if it must be so, of this
undaunted spirit, I hastened at my utmost speed in the wake of the
flying troop. Little as I had heard or seen of this strange man, I had
become as deeply concerned in his fate as any could have been who had
known him more intimately, or believed both in him and with him. I know
not what it was, unless it were the signatures of sincerity, of
child-like sincerity and truth stamped upon him, that so drew me toward
him, together with that expression of profound sadness, or rather of
inward grief, which, wherever we see it and in whomsoever, excites our
curiosity and engages our sympathy. He was to me a man who deserved a
better fate than I feared he would meet. He seemed like one who, under
fortunate circumstances, might have been of the number of those great
spirits whose iron will and gigantic force of character bear down before
them all opposition, and yoke nations to their car. Of fear he evidently
had no comprehension whatever. The rustling of the autumn breeze in his
gown alarmed him as much, as did the clang of those horses' hoofs upon
the pavements, though he so well knew it was the precursor of suffering
and death.

With all the speed I could use I hurried to the hall of the Prefect. The
crowds were pouring in as I reached it, among whom I also rushed along
and up the flights of steps, anxious only to obtain an entrance and a
post of observation, whence I could see and hear what should take
place. I soon entered the room of justice. Varus was not yet in his
seat: b