Читать книгу The Story of Rome, From the Earliest Times to the Death of Augustus, Told to Boys and Girls онлайн

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Then the herdsmen on Mount Aventine said one to the other, ‘See, here is our chance. We will lay an ambush for these unwary merrymakers.’

As the gods willed, they captured none other than Remus, and well pleased with their prize, they carried the prince a prisoner to their master Numitor.

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The young prisoner was brought before Numitor in the city of Alba. No sooner had the old man’s eyes fallen on the lad than he threw up his hands in amaze, and gazed more keenly at the prisoner.

‘No herdsman this,’ muttered the old king to himself, ‘rather does he bear himself as a prince.’

Scanning the face before him even more closely, it seemed to Numitor that the features were not unknown to him. Dreams of his lost daughter Silvia gladdened his heart.

Gently the old man tried to win the confidence of the lad, asking him who he was, and whence he came.

Remus was touched by the kindness of Numitor, and answered: ‘I will hide nothing from you, sire, for you seem of a princely temper, in that you give a hearing and examine before you punish.’