TARZAN AND THE LOST EMPIRE
home of Cassius Hasta. To whom, then, sooner might he turn for aid than to this powerful friend whose ambitions are well known outside the palace, even though they may not as yet have come to the ears of Validus Augustus?”
Nervously the Emperor arose and paced to and fro, the eyes of the others watching him narrowly; those of Fulvus Fupus narrowed with malign anticipation.
Presently Validus halted and turned toward one of his courtiers. “May Hercules strike me dead,” he cried, “if there be not some truth in what Fulvus Fupus suggests!” and to Fupus, “What is this stranger like?”
“He is a man of white skin, yet of slightly different complexion and appearance than the usual patrician. He feigns to speak our language with a certain practiced stiltedness that is intended to suggest lack of familiarity. This, I think, is merely a part of the ruse to deceive.”
“How did he come into Castrum Mare and none of my officers report the: matter to me?” asked Validus.
“That you may learn from Mallius Lepus,” said Fulvus Fupus, “for Mallius Lepus was in command of the Porta Decumana when some of the barbarians of the lake villages brought him there, presumably a prisoner, yet Caesar knows how easy it would have been to bribe these creatures to play such a part.”
“You explain it so well, Fulvus Fupus,” said the Emperor, “that one might even suspect you to have been the instigator of the plot, or at least to have given much thought to similar schemes.”
“Caesar's ever brilliant wit never deserts him,” said Fupus, forcing a smile, though his face paled.
“We shall see,” snapped Validus, and turning to one of his officers, “Order the arrest of Septimus Favonius, and Mallius Lepus and this stranger at once.”
As he ceased speaking a chamberlain entered the garden and approached the Emperor. “Septimus Favonius requests an audience,” he announced. “Mallius Lepus, his nephew, and a stranger are with him.”
“Fetch them,” said Validus, and to the officer who was
87
