"
"He lived to a green old age," said Hirnio, "and must have enjoyed every
moment of his life."
"He seemed to," said Murmex.
"And I conjecture," I put in, "that he was proud of his son."
"He seemed so," Murmex admitted, "but he was never a tenth as proud of me
as I of him."
"It is an honor," I said, "to be the son of the greatest gladiator of our
fathers' days, of the man esteemed the best swordsman Italy ever saw live
out his term of service and live to retire on his savings."
"It is," Murmex said, as simply as before.
Here we were interrupted by a yell from Tanno, as he leaned out of his
litter.
"Are we going to take root here," he bawled, "like Phaethon's sisters? We
were supposed to be journeying to Rome. We appear to be bound for Hades;
we shall certainly reach it if we continue sinking into your Sabine mud!"
"Martius agreed to wait for me, if I was late," I shouted back to him. "I
agreed to wait for him; I keep my word. If you choose, we'll get out of
your way and let you pass on. We can catch up with you."
"Bah!" he roared. "No going it alone on a Sabine road for me! I'm tied to
you hand and foot. But this waiting in the rain is no fun! Did you notice
that man on horseback we passed on the road?"
"I did," I called back.
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