‘What now?’ he asked of his nearest neighbor, a young artificer; ’what now?  Where are all these good folks thronging?’ Does any rich patron give away alms or viands to-night?’

‘Not so, man—­better still,’ replied the artificer; ’the noble Pansa—­the people’s friend—­has granted the public leave to see the beasts in their vivaria.  By Hercules! they will not be seen so safely by some persons to-morrow.’

‘Tis a pretty sight,’ said the slave, yielding to the throng that impelled him onward; ’and since I may not go to the sports to-morrow, I may as well take a peep at the beasts to-night.’

‘You will do well,’ returned his new acquaintance, ’a lion and a tiger are not to be seen at Pompeii every day.’

The crowd had now entered a broken and wide space of ground, on which, as it was only lighted scantily and from a distance, the press became dangerous to those whose limbs and shoulders were not fitted for a mob.  Nevertheless, the women especially—­many of them with children in their arms, or even at the breast—­were the most resolute in forcing their way; and their shrill exclamations of complaint or objurgation were heard loud above the more jovial and masculine voices.  Yet, amidst them was a young and girlish voice, that appeared to come from one too happy in her excitement to be alive to the inconvenience of the crowd.

‘Aha!’ cried the young woman, to some of her companions, ’I always told you so; I always said we should have a man for the lion; and now we have one for the tiger too!  I wish tomorrow were come!’

       Ho, ho! for the merry, merry show,
        With a forest of faces in every row! 
        Lo! the swordsmen, bold as the son of Alcmaena,
        Sweep, side by side, o’er the hushed arena. 
        Talk while you may, you will hold your breath
        When they meet in the grasp of the glowing death! 
        Tramp! tramp! how gaily they go! 
        Ho! ho! for the merry, merry show!

‘A jolly girl!’ said Sosia.

‘Yes,’ replied the young artificer, a curly-headed, handsome youth.  ‘Yes,’ replied he, enviously; ’the women love a gladiator.  If I had been a slave, I would have soon found my schoolmaster in the lanista!’

‘Would you, indeed?’ said Sosia, with a sneer.  ’People’s notions differ!’

The crowd had now arrived at the place of destination; but as the cell in which the wild beasts were confined was extremely small and narrow, tenfold more vehement than it hitherto had been was the rush of the aspirants to obtain admittance.  Two of the officers of the amphitheatre, placed at the entrance, very wisely mitigated the evil by dispensing to the foremost only a limited number of tickets at a time, and admitting no new visitors till their predecessors had sated their curiosity.  Sosia, who was a tolerably stout fellow and not troubled with any remarkable scruples of diffidence or good breeding, contrived to be among the first of the initiated.