Produced by MFR, Craig Kirkwood, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber’s Notes: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_), text enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=), and ^{} encloses superscripted material. Additional Transcriber’s Notes are at the end. * * * * * THE CHALDEAN MAGICIAN _AN ADVENTURE IN ROME_ IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR DIOCLETIAN BY ERNST ECKSTEIN Author of “Quintus Claudius,” etc. FROM THE GERMAN BY MARY J. SAFFORD NEW YORK WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, PUBLISHER 11 MURRAY STREET 1886 * * * * * Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886 BY WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington _Press of William S. Gottsberger New York_ * * * * * THE CHALDEAN MAGICIAN. CHAPTER I. A cloudless October day, A. D. 299, was drawing to a close; the western sky behind the crest of Mt. Janiculum still glowed with crimson light, but the population in the streets and squares of the world’s capital were already moving in a bluish twilight and yellow-red lamps shone, veiled by smoke, from the taverns of the many-gabled Subura. A youth with a white toga thrown over his shoulders, coming from the Querquetulanian Gate, turned into the Cyprian Way. His manner of walking was somewhat peculiar. Sometimes he rushed hastily forward, like a man impatiently striving to reach his destination; at others he glanced hesitatingly around or stopped a few seconds as though repenting his design. Passing the Baths of Titus he perceived, only a few yards distant, another youth who had entered the Cyprian Way from a side street on the left and with bowed head was pursuing the same direction over the lava stones of the pavement. Looking more closely, he recognized a friend’s countenance in the new-comer’s pallid features.