The Upper Walks of Society I It was very early in the morning.

From the streets, far below, a dull rumbling was drifting in at the small, dim windows.

On the couch, behind some faded curtains, a man turned and yawned, grunted and rubbed his eyes.

The noise of the heavy timber, stone, and merchandise wagons hastening out of the city before daybreak,[25] jarred the room, and made sleep almost impossible.

The person awakened swore quietly to himself in Greek.
[25] No teaming was allowed in Rome by day.
"_Heracles!_ Was ever one in such a city! What malevolent spirit brought me here?
Throat-cutting on the streets at night; highwaymen in every foul alley; unsafe to stir at evening without an armed band! No police worth mentioning; freshets every now and then; fires every day or else a building tumbles down.