They had done this kind of work before, and
each knew his part. Presently Antipater called two of them.
"Bring that girl Cyran--she that chants of her new king," said he, as
they ran to do his bidding.
"Noble prince, the strange god is again at work in me," said Vergilius,
with rising ire. "I could not bear to see you put her with the
leopard; I should rather face him myself."
"You!" said the other, tauntingly, and with a shrewd purpose. The
youths turned to see if Vergilius would really accept the challenge.
No man had ever faced a black leopard at close quarters without
suffering death or injury.
"I," said Vergilius, promptly. "If it is amusement you desire, I can
supply it as well as she. Surely I have more blood in me. If you wish
only to feed the leopard--will I not make a better feast?"
A sound hushed them. It was the slave-girl, singing as she came near:
"Send, quickly send, the new king whose arrows
shall fly as the lightning,
Making the mighty afraid and the proud to bow
low and the wicked to tremble.
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