Afer’s idea with regard to the movements of the jackal, as he termed him, was shrewdly correct, for Tigellinus bent his steps without further delay towards the villa of Neptune. The path was far from being an easy one. There was the high mountain barrier towering above him and separating him from the table‐land, which sloped towards the north‐west, upon the furthest verge of which the villa of the Emperor rested. He, therefore, decided to shift part of the burden of his toil upon some other shoulders. For that purpose he passed through the town and descended to the Marina proper on the north side, where he commanded a boatman to row him to his destination. His word seemed to carry as much authority with the fisherman as with the coastguard, since he was obeyed, although with some amount of grumbling on account of the unseasonable darkness. Within an hour’s row the boatman pulled into land and deposited his passenger on a small ledge chiselled out of the rock. Therefrom Tigellinus ascended a flight of steps to the level ground above, where, nigh at hand, loomed the walls of the villa Neptune. In the rear of the palace were its gardens surrounded by a wall. Tigellinus, evidently familiar with the premises, went straight to a small side door therein, where he received a sharp summons to halt, from a sentinel who paced in front fully armed. ‘What, Siccius, not know an old friend?’ quoth Tigellinus, with a laugh; ‘or must I show my signet?’ ‘Ho! ho!’ replied the soldier, peering close; ‘here again! Where have you dropped from? You come on one, all of a sudden, out of the darkness, like a ghost. Have you flown or swum?’ ‘Neither, Siccius. How are things with you all in the island?’ ‘Pretty well; a trifle more bustle and stir since the Prefect came. He is going to be the son‐in‐law of Tiberius.’ ‘Ay, ay! that grows stale, but do you happen to know how Caesar’s humour runs this evening?’ ‘I have heard no complaint, and if the weather is foul it spreads, as a rule, pretty fast.’ ‘Good, then I will go in. Good‐night, Siccius!’ ‘We shall see you later on,’ pleaded the sentinel, ‘to tell us the talk and the news of Rome—sweet Rome?’