At the same moment the old monster wolf had seized him from behind. The arms of the deacon were seen for an instant in the air. The spectators stamped and danced and cheered—the dense gray mass of writhing, snarling beasts closed over the spot where Marcianus had fallen! CHAPTER XXIII THE CLOUD‐BREAK The acting magistrate turned to his fellow‐quatuorvir, charged with co‐ ordinate judicial authority, on the left, and said: “Your nose is leaden‐ purple in hue.” “No marvel, in this cold. I ever suffer there with the least frost. My ear lobes likewise are seats of chilblain.” “In this climate! Astonishing! If it had been in Britain, or in Germany, it might have been expected.” “My brother‐magistrate,” said Vibius Fuscianus, “I believe that here in the south we are more sensible to frost than are those who live under hyperborean skies. There they expect cold, and take precautions accordingly. Here the blasts fall on us unawares. We groan and sigh till the sun shines out, and then forget our sufferings. Who but fools would be here to‐day? Look above. The clouds hang low, and are so dark that we may expect to be pelted with hail.” “Aye,” laughed Petronius, “as big as the pebbles that strew the Crau wherewith Hercules routed the Ligurians. Well; it is black as an eclipse. I will give thee a hint, Vibius mine! I have made my slave line this marble seat with hot bricks. They are comforting to the spine, the very column of life. Presently he will be here with another supply. You see we are not all fools. Some do make provision against the cold.” “I wish I had thought of this before.” “That is precisely the wish that crossed the mind of the poor wretch whom the wolves have finished. He postponed his renunciation of Christ till just too late.” Then Lucius Petronius yawned, stretched himself, and signed that the freedman who had robbed the master who had manumitted him, should be delivered to a panther. The wolves were with difficulty chased out of the arena, and then all was prepared for this next exhibition. It was brief. The beast was hungry, and the criminal exposed made little effort to resist. Next came the turn of Baudillas. Without raising himself in his seat, the Quatuorvir said languidly: “You broke out of prison, you were charged with aiding and abetting sacrilege. You refused to sacrifice to the genius of the Emperor. Well, if you will cast a few grains of incense in the fire, I will let you depart.”