"To the palace! To the palace!" yelled the crowd. "Let us make Julian, Augustus! Let us crown him with a diadem!" The mob rushed off, leaving in the courtyard the half-dead centurion weltering in blood. Through the dark clouds the stars sparkled here and there, and a cold wind lifted the dust. The barred windows, doors, and shutters of the palace were all hermetically sealed. The building seemed tenantless. Foreseeing the revolt, Julian had not left his quarters nor shown himself to the soldiers, being occupied in divinations. For two days and two nights he had waited for a miracle. Clothed in the long white robe of the Pythagoreans, lamp in hand, he was ascending the steps which led to the highest tower. There the assistant of Maximus of Ephesus was awaiting him, and observing the stars. This assistant was no other than Nogodarès, who once in the tavern owned by Syrax at the foot of Mount Argæus had foretold the future to the tribune Scuda. "Well?" Julian asked anxiously. "There's nothing to be seen! It looks as if heaven and earth were conspiring." A bat swooped by. "Look, look! Perhaps some prediction can be made from the manner of its flight?" The night-wandering creature almost brushed Julian's face with its cold wings, and vanished. "Someone's soul approaches," murmured Nogodarès. "Remember! this night something great will be accomplished...." The indistinct cries of the mutineers were borne faintly up the wind. "If a sign appears, come to me," said Julian as he went down to his library. With irregular restless strides he walked up and down the room, halting every now and then to listen. It seemed as if someone was following him; that a curious cold air was blowing on the nape of his neck. He wheeled round, but discovered nothing. He felt the blood beating strongly in his temples. He resumed his walk, and again it seemed that someone was murmuring into his ear words that he had not time to understand. A servant entered, and announced that an old man from Athens desired to see the Cæsar on urgent business. Julian uttered a cry of elation and ran to meet the new-comer. He thought he should see Maximus; but he was mistaken. It was the high-priest of the mysteries of Eleusis, whom also he had impatiently expected. "Father!" exclaimed Julian, "save me! I must know the will of the gods!... Let us come quickly, for all is prepared."