“We are no longer safe here, my father,” he said; “whither shall we go? Let us go together. Can you take me to Carthage?”

“Carthage is quite as dangerous,” answered Cæcilius, “and Sicca is more central. We can but leap into the sea at Carthage; here there are many lines to retreat upon. I am known there, I am not known here. Here, too, I hear all that goes on through the proconsulate and Numidia.”

“But what can we do?” asked Agellius; “here we cannot remain, and you at least cannot venture into the city. Somewhither we must go, and where is that?”

The priest thought. “We must separate,” he said. The tears came into Agellius’s eyes.

“Though I am a stranger,” continued Cæcilius, “I know more of the neighbourhood of Sicca than you who are a native. There is a famous Christian retreat on the north of the city, and by this time, I doubt not, or rather I know, it is full of refugees. The fury of the enemy is extending on all hands, and our brethren, from as far as Cirtha round to Curubis, are falling back upon it. The only difficulty is how to get round to it without going through Sicca.”

“Let us go together,” said Agellius.

Cæcilius showed signs of perplexity, and his mind retired into itself. He seemed for the moment to be simply absent from the scene about him, but soon his intelligence returned. “No,” he said, “we must separate,—for the time; it will not be for long. That is, I suppose, your uncle will take good care of you, and he has influence. We are safest just now when most independent of each other. It is only for a while. We shall meet again soon; I tell you so. Did we keep together just now, it would be the worse for each of us. You go with the boy; I will go off to the place I mentioned.”

“O my father,” said the youth, “how will you get there? What shall I suffer from my fears about you?”

“Fear not,” answered Cæcilius, “mind, I tell you so. It will be a trying time, but my hour is not yet come. I am good for years yet; so are you, for many more than mine. He will protect and rescue me, though I know not how. Go, leave me to myself, Agellius!”

“O my father, my only stay upon earth, whom God sent me in my extreme need, to whom I owe myself, must I then quit you; must a layman desert a priest; the young the old?… Ah! it is I really, not you, who am without protection. Angels surround you, father; but I am a poor wanderer. Give me your blessing that evil may not touch me. I go.”