He assented and we composed
ourselves on the straw. How long I slept or when I wakened I do not know:
I was roused by the opening of the trap-door and by the light which
entered from above. Food was lowered to us; pork-stew, still warm, in a
two-handled, wide-mouthed jug; bread; olives, not wholly spoiled; and a
small kidskin of thin, sour wine. Galvius received the dole and
safeguarded the containers: the ropes were drawn up, the trap-door reset
and we were again in utter darkness.
To my astonishment I felt entirely myself and very hungry. We drank and
ate deliberately and again drank. Galvius was a careful husbander of the
wine, and we drank mostly water from the spring.
Afterwards, nestled in the not unendurably damp straw, chilly, but not
shivering, we sat or lay side by side and he urged me to continue my
story. I began where I had left off, and, going into the smallest details,
brought my history down to the hour of my consignment to our dungeon.
When I paused he sighed, but not gloomily.
"You have had marvellous adventures," he said, "and marvellous luck, both
good and bad. I knew that Marcia had belonged to your uncle. I was
informed of the existence of Ducconius Furfur, of his likeness to
Commodus, of his presence in the Palace, of his utilization as a dummy
Emperor, to set Commodus free to masquerade as Palus, and I heard that he
had been your neighbor.
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