EUNICE: Has the litter been sent?
PROBUS: Yes, Lady; I saw the litter-men go. And in an hour or less—
EUNICE: A letter mumbled over together was a long letter, more than a mere request for a litter. So speak; what else didst thou hear?
PROBUS: Well, Lady, if I heard more it's gone out of my head. . . . But there was something more. Let me unpack my hamper, for whilst unpacking it I shall remember. . . . Something about a postponement of his journey to Rome till the springtime, when favourable winds will fill the sails and the ship be carried joyously over a blue, kindly sea.
EUNICE (To Apollos): Paul spoke naught of that. The man invents. As well might he tell us that Paul spoke of perfumed gales!
apollos: Now, what reason, good Probus, did Paul give for asking that his journey to Rome might be deferred till the spring?
PrOBUS: The lady is so anxious to hear all in a minute that I have no thought for anything. Give me time. . . . No, I can think of no reason except that he is tired, as well he might be. A journey of sixty leagues in a week is no small journey for a man—
aQuiLa: Forget the length of the journey, Probus, and tell us if Paul met with an angel.
PROBUS: We Romans know naught of angels. But if you like wings I can show you a few. I have brought some quails—
PRISCILLA: Did Paul say he was alone, or with a guide? Think, Probus, think.
PROBUS (returning to his hamper): I may remember whilst unpacking this hamper, Lady, a hamper that was packed with due regard to Christian license: lampreys, swine's flesh, wild and tame.
prisciLLA: We eat of lampreys only in the taverns frequented by Jews.
PrOBUS: I do not know how the Lord Jesus may be pleased by the eating of lampreys or refraining from eating them—a vile food, to my thinking, though deemed a delicacy by many.
