"I wish you luck," said Praeclarus, "and, by Jupiter, I believe that you will succeed. I only wish that I might be with you." "You will not accompany us?" demanded Tarzan. "How can I? I shall be locked in this cell. Is it not evident that they do not intend to enter me in the contests? They are reserving for me some other fate. The jailer has told me that my name appears in no event." "But we must find a way to take you with us," said Tarzan. "There is no way," said Praeclarus, shaking his head, sadly. "Wait," said Tarzan. "You commanded the Colosseum guards, did you not?" "Yes," replied Praeclarus. "And you had the keys to the cells?" asked the ape-man. "Yes," replied Praeclarus, "and to the manacles as well." "Where are they?" asked Tarzan. "But no, that will not do. They must have taken them from you when they arrested you." "No, they did not," said Praeclarus. "As a matter of fact, I did not have them with me when I dressed for the banquet that night. I left them in my room." "But perhaps they sent for them?" "Yes, they sent for them, but they did not find them. The jailer asked me about them the day after I was arrested, but I told him that the soldiers took them from me. I told him that because I had hidden them in a secret place where I keep many valuables. I knew that if I had told them where they were they would take not only the keys, but my valuables as well." "Good!" exclaimed the ape-man. "With the keys our problem is solved." "But how are you going to get them?" demanded Praeclarus, with a rueful smile. "I do not know," said Tarzan. "All I know is that we must have the keys." "We know, too, that we should have our liberty," said Hasta, "but knowing it does not make us free." Their conversation was interrupted by the approach of soldiers along the corridor. Presently a detachment of the palace guard halted outside their cell. The jailer unlocked the door and a man entered with two torch-bearers behind him. It was Fastus. He looked around the cell. "Where is Praeclarus?" he demanded, and then, "Ah, there you are!" Praeclarus did not reply. "Stand up, slave!" ordered Fastus, arrogantly. "Stand up, all of you. How dare you sit in the presence of a Caesar!" he exclaimed. "Swine is a better title for such as you," taunted Praeclarus. "Drag them up! Beat them with your pikes!" cried Fastus to the soldiers outside the doorway. The commander of the Colosseum guard, who stood just behind Fastus, blocked the doorway. "Stand back," he said to the legionaries. "No one gives orders here except Caesar and myself, and you are not Caesar yet, Fastus." "I shall be one day," snapped the prince, "and it will be a sad day for you." "It will be a sad day for all Castra Sanguinarius," replied the officer. "You said that you wished to speak to Praeclarus? Say what you have to say and be gone. Not even Caesar's son may interfere with my charges."