And now to be more explicit, as follows: I come to-morrow morning, the fifteenth of December, towards evening, to Alexandria, with none but Antinous, the slave Mastor, and my private secretary, Phlegon.
We land at Lochias, in the little harbor, and you will know my ship by a large silver star at the prow.

If night should fall before I arrive there, three red lanterns at the end of the mast shall inform you of the friend that is approaching.

I have sent home the learned and witty men whom you sent to meet me, in order to detain me, and gain time for the restoration of the old nest in which I had a fancy to roost with Minerva's birds--which have not, I hope, all been driven out of it--in order that Sabina and her following may not lack entertainment, nor the famous gentlemen themselves be unnecessarily disturbed in their labors.
I need them not.

If perchance it was not you who sent them, I ask your pardon.

An error in this matter would certainly involve some humiliation, for it is easier to explain what has happened than to foresee what is to come.