The Last of the Legions and Other Tales of Long Ago

Pontus, the Roman viceroy, sat in the atrium of his palatial villa by the Thames, and he looked with perplexity at the scroll of papyrus which he had just unrolled.

Before him stood the messenger who had brought it, a swarthy little Italian, whose black eyes were glazed with want of sleep, and his olive features darker still from dust and sweat.

The viceroy was looking fixedly at him, yet he saw him not, so full was his mind of this sudden and most unexpected order.

To him it seemed as if the solid earth had given way beneath his feet.

His life and the work of his life had come to irremediable ruin.