'Say on! say on!' now cried one of the leaders of the crowd as silence succeeded; 'we will hear you.'
'Whom do you seek?' then asked Ælia, addressing him who had spoken.
'You know well enough, my pretty girl,' replied the other. 'We seek the house and family of Macer the Christian. Is this it? and are you of his household?'
'This,' she replied, 'is the house of Macer, and I am his daughter. My mother with all her children are below. And now why do you seek us thus?'
'We seek,' replied the savage, 'not only you but your lives. All you have to do is to unbar this door and let us in.'
Though Ælia could have supposed that they were come for nothing else, yet the brutal announcement of the terrible truth drove the color from her cheeks, and caused her limbs to tremble. Yet did it not abate her courage, nor take its energy from her mind.
'Good citizens and friends,' said she, 'for I am sure I must have some friends among you, why should you do us such wrong? We are poor and humble people, and have never had the power, if the will had been ours, to injure you. Leave us in safety, and, if you require it, we will abandon our dwelling and even our native Rome—for we are all native Romans.'
'That, my young mistress, will not serve our turn. Are you not, as you said, the family of the Christian Macer?'
'Yes, we are.'
'Well,' answered the other, 'that is the reason we seek you, and mean to have you.'