"He is," replied the centurion.
"Has he been duly refreshed after a hard ride?" was the next question.
"He has just come."
"Then let him have the best food and drink my butler and cellarer can set before him."
"But his news is of extreme importance," gasped Decimus, only half believing his ears.
"I have spoken," said the general, sternly. "What is his name?"
"He is called Quintus Drusus, Imperator."
"Ah!" was his deliberate response, "send him to me when he will eat and drink no more."
Decimus saluted again, and withdrew, while his superior opened the roll in his hands, and with all apparent fixity and interest studied at the precepts and definitions of the grammar of Dionysius Thrax, the noted philologist.
At the end of some minutes Quintus Drusus stood before him.