Chapter IV.
Hadrian had expected Antinous many hours since, and the impatience and vexation which had been long seething in him were reflected plainly enough in his sternly-bent brow and the threatening fire of his eye. "Where have you been?" he imperiously asked. "I could not find you, so I took a boat and went out on the lake." "That is false." Antinous did not answer, but merely shrugged his shoulders. "Alone?" asked the Emperor more gently. "Alone." "And for what purpose?" "I was gazing at the stars." "You!" "And may I not, for once, tread in your footsteps?" "Why not indeed? The lights of heaven shine for the foolish as well as for the wise. Even asses must be born under a good or an evil star. One donkey serves a hungry grammarian and feeds on used-up papyrus, while another enters the
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