A few paces more, and the light of air of the blessed day bathed them in warmth and gave them courage.
The gladiator set Hermione on her feet and wiped his dripping forehead.
"Barely escaped," he muttered.
No one was in this part of the street by the amphitheatre. All the interest was in the interior. So great had been the number of Christians that Octavia and the others in this little group had not been missed.
Where they were going, they knew not; but that, for the moment, they were safe, they all thankfully realized and that they owed it to this big stranger with the honest face.
"Let us, for one moment, thank God for our deliverance," said Octavia.
Not daring to kneel, they turned their faces toward Heaven while
Octavia breathed forth a fervent prayer.
"We must hurry," said Lycias, leading the way to the Forum, to-day deserted for the greater amusements of the games, in which the Christians were the chief attraction.
It was a long, hard walk to the marble wharf where the ship lay on which Alyrus and his daughter were soon to set sail, as Lycias well knew. His great fear was lest the Moor might have decided to go earlier and not wait for the conclusion of the games. Suppose they arrived at the wharf and found the ship gone? What should they do?
Lycias' brain studied this problem. All these people were homeless, except the shepherd. Ah! that was it! If the ship had sailed, he would take these delicately nurtured women to the cave on the Campagna.