following at some little distance, towards the other extremity of the fane, where, as I had occasion once to tell you before, the private chamber of the priestess was situated on the right-hand beyond the statue of Apollo. In passing, she stopped for an instant, and, kissing the feet of the statue, seemed to murmur some secret invocation for help-perhaps it might be for pardon. She kept hold of Athanasia's hand all the while, but said not one word either to her or to any of us; while the two uncles and the young Sempronia appeared to be still kept silent by the surprise with which all these unforeseen things had affected them. She She led us across the chamber in which, on a former day, I had heard Athanasia sing; and in like manner, having taken a lamp in her hand, on through the long passages which conduct towards the receptacle wherein the Sibylline prophecies are said to be preserved. opened the door, which she had, on that former day, told me led into the repository of those mysterious scrolls. Two inner doors appeared before us; that to the left she opened likewise, and we perceived, descending from its threshold, a long dark flight of steps, as if going down into the centre of the rock. Here," said she, as she paused, and held the lamp over the gloomy perspective, "here, at last, I leave you, having already done too much, whether I think of the god I serve, or of Trajan, or of myself. But for the blood of kindred not little may be dared. Go with her, since you have come with hermore I cannot do-here, take this lamp-the door at the bottom is fastened only from within; let it fall behind you, and make what speed you may." 66 "One thing," said Silo, "had better be done ere you depart ;" and so, very adroitly, he, by means of his jailer's key, relieved both of them from their fetters. He then turned to me, and said, "Go no farther, Valerius; you may rest assured that no one suspects us." I saw that he designed to return into the courts of the Palatine, and so proceed homeward, as if ignorant of every thing that had occurred: I saw this; and it was evident that Silo had no other course to pursue, either in duty to himself or to his family. But for me, all my cares were here. I squeezed by the hand both Lucius and Velius, and both warmly returned my pressure. The priestess gave the lamp into my hand, and the door was shut upon us; and we began, with hearts full of thankfulness but not yet composed enough to taste of lightnesswith thankfulness uppermost, I think, in our confused thoughts, and with no steady footsteps, to descend into the unknown abyss, that yawned black and deep before us. CHAPTER XV. THE steps were abrupt and narrow, but in a few minutes our feet became accustomed to them, and we descended rapidly. After we had done so for some time, we found ourselves in a low chamber of oblong form, in the midst of which an iron stake was fixed into the floor, having chains of ponderous workmanship attached to its centre, and over-against it, on the one side, a narrow chair of the same metal, and it also immoveable. I asked Athanasia to repose herself here for a moment; for it was evident that the tumultuous evening had much worn out her strength. But she said, shuddering, "No, no, not here, Valerius; I never saw this place before, but the aspect of it recalls to me many fearful stories, and explains the meaning of many dark hints, that at the time when I heard them I could not understand. Here, without question, many a poor wretch has expiated his offences against the dignity of the shrine and the servants of Apollo. I have heard the priestess allude to this dreary place--I cannot bear to stay in it. Aurelius knows, I doubt not, some humble Christian roof beneath which we may be safe until the first search be Let us breathe at least the open air, and God, who has hitherto helped, will not desert us." over. "There you speak rightly," said Aurelius; "let us not linger here amid the scenes of darkness and blood. Christian roofs, indeed, are known to me both humble and lofty, which would gladly shelter us; but how are we to know how far suspicion may already have extended, or why should we run any needless risk of bringing others into peril, having, by God's grace, escaped ourselves from the most imminent peril, at the very moment when all hope, as to this life, had been utterly taken from us? Let us quit these mysterious precincts-let us quit them speedily -but let us not rashly be seen in the busy city. There is a place known to me (and Athanasia also has, with far different purposes, visited it heretofore), where safety, I think, may be expected, and where, if danger do come, it can find no unnecessary victim. Let us hasten this night to the catacombs, which are beyond the Esquiline. There, but a few nights ago, we committed to the dust the mortal relics of Thraso. I thought this evening to have approached the companionship of his better part. Beside the tomb of the blessed martyr we will offer up thanks for our deliverance, and await in patience the hour that is to make us altogether free-or to undo what has been done." * "Yes, dear father, let us go together," said the maiden; "there is no one will seek us; there, best of all, shall our thanksgivings and our prayers be offered. We will sit by the sepulchre of the holy man; and Valerius will go into the city, and procure what things are needful." She leaned upon me as she said so, and we began the descent of another flight of steps, beyond the dark chamber; this terminated at length in a door, the bolts of which being withdrawn, we found ourselves beneath the open sky of night, at the extremity of one of the wooded walks that skirt the southern base of the Palatine-the remains of the more than Assyrian splendour of groves and gardens, which had once connected the golden house of Nero with the more modest structures of his predecessors. I wrapped Athanasia in my cloak, and walked beside her in my tunic; and the old priest conducted us by many windings-avoiding, as far as was possible, all the glare of the Suburra round about the edge of the city, towards the place of which he had spoken. * Arenariæ. To my astonishment, it was not in any wild and desert place, but in the midst of the gardens which hang over the city wall, by the great Esquiline gate, that Aurelius at last desired us to slacken our pace, for that we had reached very nearly the end of our journey. "Is it here," said I, " is it here, in the centre of all this splendour, that you hope to find a place of more safety than any private dwelling could afford you? The dead, indeed, are safe everywhere; but surely you have not chosen wisely such a retreat as this for the living !" "Have patience," replied the old man; "you are but a stranger in Rome-and yet, after all, you speak what I should have heard without surprise from many who have spent all their days in it. For few ever think of entering a region which is almost as extensive as Rome itself, and none, I think, are acquainted with all the labyrinthine windings of that strange region." So saying, the priest led the way into the centre of one of the thickest of the groves. The trees were tall and strong, and their branches formed a canopy overhead through which scarcely here and there the twinkling beams of a single star could penetrate. The undergrowth, however, was, if possible, still more luxuriant ; insomuch, that not without great difficulty could we force for ourselves any passage among the close creeping shrubs. and wide-spread bushes of alder. Perseverance, nevertheless, at length accomplished what seemed to me at first almost impracticable. We reached the centre of the wide thicket, and there, within the circuit of the woody screen, we found a small space of soil, comparatively bare. The light of moon and star plunged down there among the surrounding blackness of boughs and thick leaves as into some deep well, and showed the entrance of a natural grotto, which had, indeed, all the appearance of neglect, oblivion, and utter desertedness. "Confess, Valerius," said the old man, "that I did not deceive you, when I promised a safe and a lonely shelter. But there is no hurry now; sit you down here by the mouth of the cavern, and let me taste once more the water of this hidden fountain, for my lips are parched and dry, and no one will disturb us." I had not observed, until the old man said this, a small fountain hard-by the mouth of the grotto, which, in former days, had evidently been much cared for, although now almost all its surface was covered with water-lilies, and other tender flowers, that spread their leaves abroad over it. The marble, also, with which the sides of the fountain were coated, now showed dim and green, by reason of the undisturbed moisture, and the creeping moss; nor had a statue, that reposed just within the entrance of the grot, escaped the general desolation, for the damp grass had grown up so as half to cover the recumbent limbs, and the beautiful Parian stone had lost all its bright ness. 66 You can scarcely see where the inscription was,' said Aurelius, "for the letters are filled up or effaced; but I remember when many admired it, and I think I can still repeat the lines—yes, it was thus they ran : 'Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep, Little did they who graved this command conjecture how well it was to be obeyed. But there should be another inscription here, and one of a very different tenour. Ay, here it is," said he, stepping on a long flat piece of marble, almost buried among the weeds, "here is it also; but it would be a more difficult matter for me to remember all the words that I have seen legible upon this fatal monument." I was advancing to examine the stone, but the old man stopped me, and said, "No, no; what avails it to spell out the record of an old forgotten murder? Do you remember the story of Asinius? it is told somewhere by Cicero. It was within this very cavern that the man * So Pope has rendered the beautiful lines of the celebrated inscription : Hujus Nympha Loci, sacri custodia fontis, Dormio, dum blandæ sentio murmur aquæ ; Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum |