On the departure of the ambassadors, all the spectators still capable of
the effort repaired to the Forum to await their return, and were joined
there by members of the populace from other parts of the city. It was
known that the first intimation of the result of the embassy would be
given from this place; and in the eagerness of their anxiety to hear it,
in the painful intensity of their final hopes of deliverance, even death
itself seemed for a while to be arrested in its fatal progress through
the ranks of the besieged.
In silence and apprehension they counted the tardy moments of delay, and
watched with sickening gaze the shadows lessening and lessening, as the
sun gradually rose in the heavens to the meridian point.
At length, after an absence that appeared of endless duration, the two
ambassadors re-entered Rome. Neither of them spoke as they hurriedly
passed through the ranks of the people; but their looks of terror and
despair were all-eloquent to every beholder--their mission had failed.
Pages:
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674