It was for this he had stayed outside Alexandria till
the gates were shut. It were better to be a homeless Christian on
this water than to linger in godless Alexandria!
He heard sounds of revelry on shipboard. Heraklas pulled on the rope
that fastened the small boat to the ship. The rope was stout and
well-fastened.
In the dark, he began to climb the rope with trembling fingers. Now
he hung by the side of the ship, and now, one hand above another, he
drew himself higher, higher, till he grasped the ship's side. He
struggled over it, and dropped down on board in the darkness. He
waited. No one came. He heard sounds of men that laughed and talked
loudly.
He crept a little distance. A rope dangled in his face. He found
himself under the aperture where the buckets for bailing were
worked. After long and careful groping, Heraklas concealed himself
in the vessel's hold, and waited. He suspected that the Christians
were in the hold, but he was afraid to search far.
He had not been long hidden before he heard near him the sound of a
great sigh and the rattling of a chain, as of some animal half-
wakened from sleep.
"It is some wild animal that is to be taken to Rome," suspected
Heraklas, not without a little uneasiness at his own proximity to
the beast.
It was likely that the creature was well secured, yet the lad crept
farther away.
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