Out in the haven rode the little fleet of the Pompeians.

Agias had heard the proclamation, and hurried down to the mole to bear the earliest definite information to his mistress.

Presently, out of the throng of officers and court magnates on the quay, stepped Achillas in a splendid panoply of gilded armour, with a purple chiton flowing down from beneath.

Beside him, with the firm swinging step of the Roman legionary, strode two other officers in magnificent armour, whom Agias at once recognized as Lucius Septimius, a Roman tribune now in Egyptian service, and a certain Salvius, who had once been a centurion of the Republic.

The three advanced on to the quay and stood for a moment at a loss.