TALES OF THE ROMANS
Philip began to make a heap of wood for a funeral pile on which to burn the body of his master. An old Roman soldier, who had fought under Pompey many years before, happened to pass.
“Let me,” he said, “assist you to do the last honors to the greatest general Rome has produced.”
The next day the people who sailed along that coast saw the flames and smoke of the pile. Philip, the faithful servant, was standing by.
The head was not burned. It was kept till Julius Cæsar arrived. A man brought it to him as soon as he landed, thinking he would be pleased.
But no such thing. He turned his face away in horror.
Another person gave him Pompey's seal, with which the dead general used to stamp his letters and other papers. On the seal was engraved a lion holding a sword in its paws.
As Cæsar took the seal the tears came into his eyes. And in those tears you see the noble spirit of a Roman.
CAESAR AND HIS FORTUNE
“WELL, sir, we have got you now!”
“No doubt,” said the young Roman, whom the pirates had just brought a prisoner to their island; “but of course you will let me go if my friends pay a ransom?”
114
