I was certain that they
would do all that they could. But I dreaded that they could do nothing. I
was despondent, despairing. Actually, Dromo must have been clever, prompt
and judicious, and Agathemer equally quick and resourceful, with the
fullest possible help from Tanno and Vedia, and they must have taxed to
the utmost their influence and their means.
After a night almost sleepless I was visited at dawn by no less a person
than Galen himself.
"My boy," he said, "you, are in a terrible situation and we were in a
quandary how to advise you. But, after much discussion, we are agreed that
you have some chance of life as Phorbas the slave, accused of murdering
his master, whereas you have no chance at all as Andivius Hedulio,
proscribed along with Egnatius Capito. Our new Emperor seems to feel that
all enemies of former Princes are foes of his; he seems to have ordered
his agents to be on the lookout for all living persons accused, relegated,
or banished under Julianus, Pertinax and Commodus. Those taken in Rome
have been promptly executed. By all means, whatever happens to you,
whatever threatens you, give no hint that you are Andivius Hedulio. Endure
what befalls and hope for life and safety and ultimate rehabilitation.
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