CAESAR. No, no: they are further off than they seem in this clear air to your British eyes. Nearly quarter of a mile, Apollodorus. APOLLODORUS. Good. Defend yourselves here until I send you a boat from that galley. RUFIO. Have you wings, perhaps? APOLLODORUS. Water wings, soldier. Behold! _He runs up the steps between Caesar and Britannus to the coping of the parapet; springs into the air; and plunges head foremost into the sea._ CAESAR (_like a schoolboy--wildly excited_). Bravo, bravo! (_Throwing off his cloak_) By Jupiter, I will do that too. RUFIO (_seizing him_). You are mad. You shall not. CAESAR. Why not? Can I not swim as well as he? RUFIO (_frantic_). Can an old fool dive and swim like a young one? He is twenty-five and you are fifty. CAESAR (_breaking loose from Rufio_). Old!!! BRITANNUS (_shocked_). Rufio: you forget yourself. CAESAR. I will race you to the galley for a week's pay, father Rufio. CLEOPATRA. But me! me!! me!!! What is to become of _me_? CAESAR. I will carry you on my back to the galley like a dolphin. Rufio: when you see me rise to the surface, throw her in: I will answer for her. And then in with you after her, both of you. CLEOPATRA. No, no, NO. I shall be drowned. BRITANNUS. Caesar: I am a man and a Briton, not a fish. I must have a boat. I cannot swim. CLEOPATRA. Neither can I. CAESAR (_to Britannus_). Stay here, then, alone, until I recapture the lighthouse: I will not forget you. Now, Rufio. RUFIO. You have made up your mind to this folly? CAESAR. The Egyptians have made it up for me. What else is there to do? And mind where you jump: I do not want to get your fourteen stone in the small of my back as I come up. (_He runs up the steps and stands on the coping._) BRITANNUS (_anxiously_). One last word, Caesar. Do not let yourself be seen in the fashionable part of Alexandria until you have changed your clothes. CAESAR (_calling over the sea_). Ho, Apollodorus: (_he points skyward and quotes the barcarolle_) The white upon the blue above-- APOLLODORUS (_swimming in the distance_) Is purple on the green below-- CAESAR (_exultantly_). Aha! (_He plunges into the sea._) CLEOPATRA (_running excitedly to the steps_). Oh, let me see. He will be drowned. (_Rufio seizes her._) Ah--ah--ah--ah! (_He pitches her screaming into the sea. Rufio and Britannus roar with laughter._) RUFIO (_looking down after her_). He has got her. (_To Britannus_) Hold the fort, Briton. Caesar will not forget you. (_He springs off._) BRITANNUS (_running to the steps to watch them as they swim_). All safe, Rufio? RUFIO (_swimming_). All safe. CAESAR (_swimming further of_). Take refuge up there by the beacon; and pile the fuel on the trap door, Britannus. BRITANNUS (_calling in reply_). I will first do so, and then commend myself to my country's gods. (_A sound of cheering from the sea. Britannus gives full vent to his excitement_) The boat has reached him: Hip, hip, hip, hurrah! ACT IV