Such a mode of address admitted of no denial; the harbor-master himself understood that the case was no common one, and in ten minutes he and the soldier were seated side by side in a light boat. They soon reached the imperial trireme, which at once took them on board, and the soldier explained in breathless haste how matters stood. The captain of the ship, a man of prompt determination, at once gave orders for sailing after the fugitives. While the soldiers made ready for a fight, the sailors weighed anchor and hauled in the chains. The oarsmen took their seats, the coxswain’s hammer gave the stroke, and they were off in chase. The Batavian’s trireme had a good start; it was now but a speck, motionless as it seemed, on the north-western horizon. It was not till nearly an hour later, that any one discovered on board the Batavia that they were being chased, and it was Magus' eagle eye that made the unpleasant discovery. Keeping a bright lookout landward from the stern, he perceived that a dark object, which he at first thought to be part of the buildings above the harbor, was a vessel in motion. Its starting at so unusual an hour, and still more, the direction it was taking, roused his suspicions. Magus confessed his fears to Caius Aurelius, and, in the dawn which was now breaking, his master saw clearly the danger of their position. The conspirators--who after exchanging greetings had separated, some to rest, and some, wrapped in cloaks, like Aurelius himself, to pace the deck--were soon assembled to hold council in that centre-cabin, which, to Aurelius, had a peculiar sanctity, as having been the scene of his first meeting with Claudia. The steersman was called in, and Magus remained on deck to find out what more he might. “Forgive me,” the Batavian began, “for having, under stress of circumstances, disturbed your slumbers. You have heard of the new danger which threatens us. It is a trireme, and, to judge from the speed she is making, well manned.” “Then we must pull for our lives,” said Ulpius Trajanus. “A fight would be useless.” “I know the ship,” said Cornelius Cinna, addressing the Hispanian. “It is the Charybdis, which has been in chase of pirates all the summer, off the coast of Cyrenaica. It was the only imperial vessel lying off Antium. She is well manned--no doubt of that; but only when she is on service. At the end of the season the soldiers go on shore to do other duty, or take leave of absence. There are very few left on board during the winter.” “If I understand Aurelius rightly, he spoke of the rowers, not of the fighting men,” replied Trajanus. “And as the oarsmen are in full numbers, leave has probably not yet begun.”