"You are afraid to die?" asked Mallius Lepus.
"It is not that," said von Harben. "I am thinking of Favonia."
"And well you may," said Mallius Lepus. "My sweet cousin would be happier dead than married to Fulvus Fupus."
"I feel so helpless," said von Harben. "Not a friend, not even my faithful body servant, Gabula."
"Oh, that reminds me," exclaimed Lepus. "They were here looking for him this morning."
"Looking for him? Is he not confined in the dungeon?"
"He was, but he was detailed with other prisoners to prepare the arena last night, and during the darkness of early morning he is supposed to have escaped—but be that as it may, they were looking for him."
"Good!" exclaimed von Harben. "I shall feel better just knowing that he is at large, though there is nothing that he can do for me. Where could he have gone?"
"Castrum Mare is ill guarded along its waterfront, but the lake itself and the crocodiles form a barrier as efficacious as many legionaries. Gabula may have scaled the wall, but the chances are that he is hiding within the city, protected by other slaves or, possibly, by Septimus Favonius himself."
"I wish I might feel that the poor, faithful fellow had been able to escape the country and return to his own people," said von Harben.