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It was a long, hard walk to the marble wharf where the ship lay on which Alyrus and his daughter were soon to set sail, as Lycias well knew. His great fear was lest the Moor might have decided to go earlier and not wait for the conclusion of the games. Suppose they arrived at the wharf and found the ship gone? What should they do? Lycias' brain studied this problem.
And a plan was made to their satisfaction, a very difficult plan involving great danger for all of them, perhaps death to Lycias and Lucius. It hung to a large degree on one thing which seemed to be unattainable. "With God, all things are possible," said wise little Lidia.
When Lycias had finished his story, Dromas told the tale of how the God Pan had appeared to a shepherd he knew, as he was watching his sheep along on the hills. "It's all true," he declared, as the story ended. "I knew the man myself. All sorts of things happen when you're out alone on the hillsides."
"A faithless friend, a bitter enemy," was Lycias' thought as striding forth from the room, he joined Lucius. "It is worse than I feared," Lucius said. "There is little hope." "We shall see," responded the gladiator, thoughtfully. "Art thou willing to take great risks to save the son and daughter of Aurelius?" "For the sake of Lidia, who loves them, I am."
"It must be a very quiet keeping of the Feast," observed Anna, shaking her head. "It is said that King Antiochus is raging like a bear robbed of her whelps at the flight of Nicanor and the disgraceful retreat of Giorgias. A courier has ridden off, post-haste, bearer of despatches from the king to Lycias, the regent of the western provinces."
"Let us, for one moment, thank God for our deliverance," said Octavia. Not daring to kneel, they turned their faces toward Heaven while Octavia breathed forth a fervent prayer. "We must hurry," said Lycias, leading the way to the Forum, to-day deserted for the greater amusements of the games, in which the Christians were the chief attraction.
"Is it known what the despatches contain?" asked Hadassah. "It is reported in the city," said Anna, "that Lycias is to raise a more mighty and terrible army than any that has swept the country before more mighty than those led by Apollonius, Seron, or Nicanor. King Antiochus has sworn by all his false gods that he will destroy the Asmoneans root and branch."
Alyrus sat down and ordered his cup of fresh grape juice, with snow from Mt. Hermon to cool it in. As he sipped it, he saw the great gladiator, Lycias, come into the circle of light from the flaring torches, but he did not perceive the shepherd, who remained outside, in the shadow. Now, Lycias was a great man in the eyes of the Romans.
The soldier's face relaxed, but still he stood in the path. "To-day, I have specially strict orders lest some of the Christians escape. For my part, I would willingly let some of those poor creatures flee, but I value my head." "Perhaps thou wilt not gainsay me when thou seest my pass." Lycias held up the bronze lizard. Really, the big gladiator himself doubted the power of this symbol.
The voice of an old man could be heard, petitioning God, for Christ's sake, to lead them through this valley of the shadow of death and bring them to the holy city in its beauty and into the presence of their Lord and Master. "There, that is Virgilia, the fair one, yonder, with face upraised," said Alyrus. Lycias took a long look at the young girl, so that he would know her again.
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