"Enter," commanded Cæsar.
Decimus Mamercus hastened into the room. So great was his excitement that his Roman discipline had forsaken him. He neglected to salute.
"News! news! Imperator! from Rome! News which will set all Italy afire!"
Whereupon the man who had but just before been talking of suicide, with the greatest possible deliberation seated himself on a comfortable chair, arranged his dress, and remarked with perfect coldness:—
"No tidings can justify a soldier in neglecting to salute his general."
Decimus turned red with mortification, and saluted.
"Now," said Cæsar, icily, "what have you to report?"
"Imperator," replied Decimus, trying to speak with unimpassioned preciseness, "a messenger has just arrived from Rome. He reports that the Senate and consuls have declared the Republic in peril, that the veto of your tribunes has been over-ridden, and they themselves forced to flee for their lives."
Cæsar had carelessly dropped a writing tablet that he was holding, and now he stooped slowly and picked it up again.
"The messenger is here?" he inquired, after a pause.