'"No," said Allo, pushing the platter back into the bag. "That is for you and me. Your fate is fixed. Come."
'We came. When one takes Heather, one must obey one's Pict—but that wretched smoke was twenty miles distant, well over on the East coast, and the day was as hot as a bath.
'"Whatever happens," said Allo, while our ponies grunted along, "I want you to remember me."
'"I shall not forget," said Pertinax. "You have cheated me out of my breakfast."
"What is a handful of crushed oats to a Roman?" he said. Then he laughed his laugh that was not a laugh.
"What would you do if you were a handful of oats being crushed between the upper and lower stones of a mill?"
'"I'm Pertinax, not a riddle-guesser," said Pertinax.
'"You're a fool," said Allo. "Your Gods and my Gods are threatened by strange Gods, and all you can do is to laugh."
'"Threatened men live long," I said.
'"I pray the Gods that may be true," he said. "But I ask you again not to forget me."