Sejanus had spoken harshly to him. “The order to go to my room was given in anger,” Gannon said to himself. He now felt sure that Livilla’s reply was more important than Sejanus had admitted. “What did he mean when he said that hereafter the failure to have letters sealed would mean more than a dismissal?” he thought. “Could he mean imprisonment, or, worse, could he mean death?” The thought of being imprisoned without being able to communicate with his parents tortured the lad’s very soul. This was his first trouble, and in facing it he realized his own weakness. A window in his room looked out upon a large courtyard where the soldiers practised their manoeuvres. Leaving his couch, he watched them in their various formations. But the words, “Lygdus is a good man to do the deed,” were constantly recurring to his mind. “What would Sejanus do if he thought I had read Livilla’s reply?” he asked himself. “Would he see that my tongue is forever hushed?” Gannon shook with fear. He felt that he must communicate with his family, but how? He sat down and wrote a letter, but that he destroyed. “Who would carry it to them?” he asked himself. His handsome face had grown haggard with anxiety. His young heart was burdened with the consciousness of his deceit. Finally a plan for communicating with his family occurred to him, like a thought of hope to a despairing soul. Taking up a scrap of cloth, he wrote upon it in the smallest possible Greek characters the following words: “Have done wrong. Read a letter from L to S about Lygdus.” This he sewed to the under side of his tunic. Then, more contented, he threw himself upon his couch and waited to be called. He waited many hours. Chapter II Aelius Sejanus, commander of the Praetorians, was a tall and robust man, with a fine commanding head, set upon a coarse thick neck. He had a bold, hard, and evil face, which could at times appear weak, gentle, and friendly. His light-gray eyes were commanding and yet kind; his large mouth was voluptuous, yet firm. In fact, his nature was so complex and deceptive that he could instantly change from love to hate, from proud authority to fawning servility, from dignified sincerity to unctuous flattery. He was a man and yet a beast; an honest friend, a brave soldier, and a detestable villain. He was a living lie.