'Had I but vigour enough, this morning would have seen me on a
pilgrimage to the tomb.' He put out a hand towards Neapolis. 'I rose
at daybreak to meditate the Fourth Eclogue.'
'The ides of October--true. I take shame to myself for having lost
the memory of Virgil in my own distresses.'
Decius, whose years were scarce thirty, had the aspect and the gait
of an elderly man; his thin hair streaked with grey, his cheeks
hollow, his eyes heavy, he stooped in walking and breathed with
difficulty; the tunic and the light cloak, which were all his
attire, manifested an infinite carelessness in matters of costume,
being worn and soiled. Than he, no Roman was poorer; he owned
nothing but his clothing and a few books. Akin to the greatest, and
bearing a name of which he was inordinately proud--as a schoolboy
he had once burst into tears when reciting with passion the Lay of
the Decii--felt content to owe his sustenance to the delicate and
respectful kindness of Maximus, who sympathised with the great wrong
he had suffered early in life. This was no less than wilful
impoverishment by his father, who, seeking to atone for sins by
fanaticism, had sold the little he possessed to found a pilgrims'
hospice at Portus, whither, accompanied by the twelve-year-old boy,
he went to live as monk-servitor In a year or two the penitent died;
Decius, in revolt against the tasks to which he was subjected,
managed to escape, made his way to Rome, and appealed to Maximus.
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