The lawyer was in need of money, Marzio thought, and as he himself was the possessor of what the other coveted, there could be little doubt as to the side on which the advantage would ultimately be taken.

Marzio went half-way up the steps of the Capitol, and then stopped to look at the two wretched wolves which the Roman municipality thinks it incumbent on the descendants of Romulus to support.

He thought one of them very like Carnesecchi.

He watched the poor beasts a moment or two as they tramped and swung and pressed their lean sides against the bars of their narrow cage.
"What a sympathetic animal it is!" he exclaimed aloud.

A passer-by stared at him and then went on hurriedly, fearing that he might be mad.
Indeed, there was a sort of family likeness between the lawyer, the chiseller, and the wolves.
Other thoughts, however, occupied Marzio's attention; and as soon as he was sure that his friend was out of the way, he descended the steps.