All the
Romans had not gone to the Circus, some were sitting in the eating-
places, and women were knitting in the doorways. Fortunately, it was
getting toward evening, but that would be a signal for the thousands
to leave the amphitheatre and scatter to their homes.
There was need for haste.
They approached the shores of the Tiber, turned into gold by the
sunlight from the setting sun. The masts were visible now.
Lycias gave a sigh of satisfaction as he saw, sitting on a grassy bank
a man and a woman, who was heavily veiled. Standing beside them was a
slender girl. It was Lidia, the daughter of the shepherd, who sprang
forward and put her arms around her father's neck, while great tears
of happiness rolled down her cheeks.
"At last! at last! thou art come. Thanks be to our God."
It had not been a difficult matter for the little scullery-maid to
persuade the lawyer to venture upon a scheme as bold as it was
doubtful in its outcome. Aurelius Lucanus was a broken man. He had
lost his children. He had not known how dear they were to him until
they disappeared.
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