THE BRASS BELL

OR

THE CHARIOT OF DEATH

A Tale of Caesar's Gallic Invasion

By EUGENE SUE

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH BY

SOLON DE LEON

NEW YORK LABOR NEWS COMPANY, 1907

NEW EDITION 1916

COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY THE

NEW YORK LABOR NEWS CO. 

PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION

_The Brass Bell_; or, _The Chariot of Death_ is the second of EugeneSue's monumental serial known under the collective title of _TheMysteries of the People; or History of a Proletarian Family Across theAges_. 

The first story--_The Gold Sickle; or, Hena, the Virgin of the Isle ofSen_--fittingly preludes the grand drama conceived by the author. Therethe Gallic people are introduced upon the stage of history in thesimplicity of their customs, their industrious habits, their bravery, lofty yet childlike--such as they were at the time of the Roman invasionby Caesar, 58 B. C. The present story is the thrilling introduction tothe class struggle, that starts with the conquest of Gaul, and, in thesubsequent seventeen stories, is pathetically and instructively carriedacross the ages, down to the French Revolution of 1848. 

D. D. L. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Preface to the Translation

Chapter 1. The Conflagration 1

Chapter 2. In the Lion's Den 8

Chapter 3. Gallic Virtue 24

Chapter 4. The Trial 35

Chapter 5. Into the Shallows 41

Chapter 6. The Eve of Battle 52

Chapter 7. The Battle of Vannes 59

Chapter 8. After the Battle 80

Chapter 9. Master and Slave 88

Chapter 10. The Last Call to Arms 102

Chapter 11. The Slaves' Toilet 107

Chapter 12. Sold into Bondage 115

Chapter 13. The Booth across the Way 126

FOOTNOTES

CHAPTER I. 

THE CONFLAGRATION. 

The call to arms, sounded by the druids of the forest of Karnak and bythe Chief of the Hundred Valleys against the invading forces of thefirst Caesar, had well been hearkened to. 

The sacrifice of Hena, the Virgin of the Isle of Sen, seemed pleasing toHesus. All the peoples of Brittany, from North to South, from East toWest, rose to combat the Romans. The tribes of the territory of Vannesand Auray, those of the Mountains of Ares, and many others, assembledbefore the town of Vannes, on the left bank, close to the mouth of theriver which empties into the great bay of Morbihan. This redoubtableposition where all the Gallic forces were to meet, was situated tenleagues from Karnak, and had been chosen by the Chief of the HundredValleys, who had been elected Commander-in-Chief of the army. 

Leaving behind them their fields, their herds, and their dwellings, thetribes were here assembled, men and women, young and old, and wereencamped round about the town of Vannes. Here also were Joel, hisfamily, and his tribe. 

Albinik the mariner, together with his wife Meroë left the camp towardssunset, bent on an errand of many days' march. Since her marriage withAlbinik, Meroë; was the constant, companion of his voyages and dangersat sea, and like him, she wore the seaman's costume. Like him she knewat a pinch how to put her hand to the rudder, to ply the oar or the axe, for stout was her heart, and strong her arm. 

In the evening, before leaving the Gallic army, Meroë dressed herself inher sailor's garments--a short blouse of brown wool, drawn tight with aleather belt, large broad breeches of white cloth, which fell below herknees, and shoes of sealskin. She carried on her left shoulder hershort, hooded cloak, and on her flowing hair was a leathern bonnet. Byher resolute air, the agility of her step, the perfection of her sweetand virile countenance, one might have taken Meroë for one of thoseyoung men whose good looks make maidens dream of marriage. Albinik alsowas dressed as a mariner. He had flung over his back a sack withprovisions for the way. The large sleeves of his blouse revealed hisleft arm, wrapped to the elbow in a bloody bandage. 

Husband and wife had left Vannes for some minutes, when Albinik, stopping, sad and deeply moved, said to Meroë:

"There is still time--consider. We are going to beard the lion in hisden. He is tricky, distrustful and savage. It may mean for us slavery, torture, or death. Meroë, let me finish alone this trip and thisenterprise, beside which a desperate fight would be but a trifle. Returnto my father and mother, whose daughter you are also!"

"Albinik, you had to wait for the darkness of night to say that to me. You would not see me blush with shame at the thought of your thinkingme a coward;" and the young woman, while making this answer, instead ofturning back, only hastened her step. 

"Let it be as your courage and your love for me bid, " replied herhusband. "May Hena, my holy sister, who is gone, protect us at the sideof Hesus. "

The two continued their way along the crests of a chain of lofty hills. They had thus at their feet and before their eyes a succession of deepand fertile valleys. As far as eye could reach, they saw here villages, yonder small hamlets, elsewhere isolated farms; further off rose aflourishing town crossed by an arm of the river, in which were moored, from distance to distance, large boats loaded with sheaves of wheat, casks of wine, and fodder. 

But, strange to say, although the evening was clear, not a single one ofthose large herds of cattle and of sheep was to be seen, whichordinarily grazed there till nightfall. No more was there a singlelaborer in sight on the fields, although it was the hour when, by everyroad, the country-folk ordinarily began to return to their homes; forthe sun was fast sinking. This country, so populous the precedingevening, now seemed deserted. 

The couple halted, pensive, contemplating the fertile lands, thebountifulness of nature, the opulent city, the hamlets, and the houses. Then, recollecting what they knew was to happen in a few moments, soonas the sun was set and the moon risen, Albinik and Meroë; shivered withgrief and fear. Tears fell from their eyes, they sank to their knees, their eyes fixed with anguish on the depths of the valleys, which thethickening evening shade was gradually invading. The sun haddisappeared, but the moon, then in her decline, was not yet up. Therewas thus, between sunset and the rising of the moon, a rather longinterval. It was a bitter one for husband and wife; bitter, like thecertain expectation of some great woe. 

"Look, Albinik, " murmured the young woman to her spouse, although theywere alone--for it was one of those awful moments when one speaks low inthe middle of a desert--"just look, not a light: not one in thesehouses, hamlets, or the town. Night is come, and all within thesedwellings is gloomy as the night without. "

"The inhabitants of this valley are going to show themselves worthy oftheir brothers, " answered Albinik reverently. "They also wish to respondto the voice of our venerable druids, and to that of the Chief of theHundred Valleys. "

"Yes; by the terror which is now come upon me, I feel we are about tosee a thing no one has seen before, and perhaps none will see again. "

"Meroë, do you catch down there, away down there, behind the crest ofthe forest, a faint white glimmer!"

"I do. It is the moon, which will soon be up. The moment approaches. Ifeel terror-stricken. Poor women! Poor children!"

"Poor laborers; they lived so long, happy on this land of their fathers:on this land made fertile by the labor of so many generations! Poorworkmen; they found plenty in their rude trades! Oh, the unfortunates!the unfortunates! But one thing equals their great misfortune, and thatis their great heroism. Meroë! Meroë!" exclaimed Albinik, "the moon isrising. That sacred orb of Gaul is about to give the signal for thesacrifice. "

"Hesus! Hesus!" cried the young woman, her cheeks bathed in tears, "yourwrath will never be appeased if this last sacrifice does not calm you. "

The moon had risen radiant among the stars. She flooded space with sobrilliant a light that Albinik and his wife could see as in full day, and as far as the most distant horizon, the country that stretched attheir feet. 

Suddenly, a light cloud of smoke, at first whitish, then black, presently colored with the red tints of a kindling fire, rose above oneof the hamlets scattered in the plain. 

"Hesus! Hesus!" exclaimed Meroë. Then, hiding her face in the bosom ofher husband who was kneeling near her, "You spoke truly. The sacred orbof Gaul has given the signal for the sacrifice. It is fulfilled. "

"Oh, liberty!" cried Albinik, "Holy liberty!----"

He could not finish. His voice was smothered in tears, and he drew hisweeping wife close in his arms. 

Meroë did not leave her face hidden in her husband's breast any longerthan it would take a mother to kiss the forehead, mouth, and eyes, ofher new born babe, but when she again raised her head and dared to lookabroad, it was no longer only one house, one village, one hamlet, onetown in that long succession of valleys at their feet that wasdisappearing in billows of black smoke, streaked with red gleams. It wasall the houses, all the villages, all the hamlets, all the towns in thelaps of all those valleys, that the conflagration was devouring. FromNorth to South, from East to West, all was afire. The rivers themselvesseemed to roll in flame under their grain and forage-laden barges, whichin turn took fire, and sank in the waters. 

The heavens were alternately obscured by immense clouds of smoke, orreddened with innumerable columns of fire. From one end to the other, the panorama was soon nothing but a furnace, an ocean of flame. 

Nor were the houses, hamlets, and towns of only these valleys given overto the flames. It was the same in all the regions which Albinik andMeroë had traversed in one night and day of travel, on their way fromVannes to the mouth of the Loire, where was pitched the camp ofCaesar. [1]

All this territory had been burned by its inhabitants, and theyabandoned the smoking ruins to join the Gallic army, assembled in theenvirons of Vannes. Thus the voice of the Chief of the Hundred Valleyshad been obeyed--the command repeated from place to place, from villageto village, from city to city:

"In three nights, at the hour when the moon, the sacred orb of Gaulshall rise, let all the countryside, from Vannes to the Loire, be set onfire. Let Caesar and his army find in their passage neither men norhouses, nor provisions, nor forage, but everywhere, everywhere cinders, famine, desolation, and death. "

It was done as the druids and the Chief of the Hundred Valleys hadordered. [2]

The two travelers, who witnessed this heroic devotion of each and all tothe safety of the fatherland, had thus seen a sight no one had ever seenin the past; a sight which perhaps none will ever see in the future. 

Thus were expiated those fatal dissensions, those rivalries betweenprovince and province, which for too long a time, and to the triumph oftheir enemies, had divided the people of Gaul. 

CHAPTER II. 

IN THE LION'S DEN. 

The night passed. When the next day drew to its close Albinik and Meroëhad traversed all the burnt country, from Vannes to the mouth of theLoire, which they were now approaching. At sunset they came to a fork inthe road. 

"Of these two ways, which shall we take?" mused Albinik. "One ought totake us toward the camp of Caesar, the other away from it. "

Reflecting an instant, the young woman answered:

"Climb yonder oak. The camp fires will show us our route. "

"True, " said the mariner, and confident in his agility he was about toclamber up the tree. But stopping, he added: "I forgot that I have butone hand left. I cannot climb. "

The face of the young woman saddened as she replied:

"You are suffering, Albinik? Alas, you, thus mutilated!"

"Is the sea-wolf[3] caught without a lure?"

"No. "

"Let the fishing be good, " answered Albinik, "and I shall not regrethaving given my hand for bait. "

The young woman sighed, and after looking at the tree a minute, said toher husband:

"Come, then, put your back to the trunk. I'll step in the hollow of yourhand, then onto your shoulder, and from your shoulder I can reach thatlarge branch overhead. "

"Fearless and devoted! You are always the dear wife of my heart, true asmy sister Hena is a saint, " tenderly answered Albinik, and steadyinghimself against the tree, he took in his hand the little foot of hiscompanion. With his good arm he supported his wife while she placed herfoot on his shoulder. Thence she reached the first large bough. Then, mounting from branch to branch, she gained the top of the oak. Arrivedthere, Meroë cast her eyes abroad, and saw towards the south, under agroup of seven stars, the gleam of several fires. She descended, nimbleas a bird, and at last, putting her feet on the mariner's shoulder, wason the ground with one bound, saying:

"We must go towards the south, in the direction of those seven stars. That way lie the fires of Caesar's camp. "

"Let us take that road, then, " returned the sailor, indicating thenarrower of the two ways, and the two travelers pursued their journey. After a few steps, the young woman halted. She seemed to be searching inher garments. 

"What is the matter, Meroë?"

"In climbing the tree, I've let my poniard drop. It must have worked outof the belt I was carrying it in, under my blouse. "

"By Hesus; we must get that poniard back, " said Albinik, retracing hissteps toward the tree. "You have need of a weapon, and this one mybrother Mikael forged and tempered himself. It will pierce a sheet ofcopper. "

"Oh; I shall find it, Albinik. In that well-tempered little blade ofsteel one has an answer for all, and in all languages. "

After some search up the foot of the oak, Meroë found her poniard. Itwas cased in a sheath hardly as long as a hen's feather, and not muchthicker. Meroë fastened it anew under her blouse, and started again onthe road with her husband. After some little travel along desertedpaths, the two arrived at a plain. They heard far in the distance thegreat roar of the sea. On a hill they saw the lights of many fires. 

"There, at last, is the camp of Caesar, " said Albinik, stopping short, "the den of the lion. "

"The den of the scourge of Gaul. Come, come, the evening is slippingaway. "

"Meroë, the moment has come. "

"Do you hesitate now?"

"It is too late. But I would prefer a fair fight under the open heavens, vessel to vessel, soldier to soldier, sword to sword. Ah, Meroë, for us, Gauls, who despise ambuscade or cowardice, and hang brass bells on theiron of our lances to warn the enemy of our approach, to comehere--traitorously!"

"Traitorously!" exclaimed the young woman. "And to oppress a freepeople--is that loyalty? To reduce the inhabitants to slavery, to exilethem by herds with iron collars on their necks--is that loyalty? Tomassacre old men and children, to deliver the women and virgins to thelust of soldiers--is that loyalty? And now, you would hesitate, afterhaving marched a whole day and night by the lights of the conflagration, through the midst of those smoking ruins which were caused by the horrorof Roman oppression? No! No! to exterminate savage beasts, all means aregood, the trap as well as the boar-spear. Hesitate? Hesitate? Answer, Albinik. Without mentioning your voluntary mutilation, withoutmentioning the dangers which we brave in entering this camp--shall wenot be, if Hesus aids our project, the first victims of that greatsacrifice which we are going to make to the Gods? Come, believe me; hewho gives his life has nothing to blush for. By the love which I bearyou, by the virgin blood of your sister Hena, I have at this moment, Iswear to you, the consciousness of fulfilling a holy duty. Come, come, the evening is passing. "

"What Meroë, the just and valiant, finds to be just and valiant, must beso, " said Albinik, pressing his companion to his breast. 

"Yes, yes, to exterminate savage beasts all means are good, the trap aswell as the spear. Who gives his life has no cause to blush. Come!"

The couple hastened their pace toward the lights of the camp of Caesar. After a few moments, they heard close at hand, resounding on the earth, the measured tread of several soldiers, and the clashing of their swordson their iron armor. Presently they distinguished the invaders' redcrested helmets glittering in the moonlight. 

"They are the soldiers of the guard, who keep vigil around the camp, "said Albinik. "Let us go to them. "

Soon the travelers reached the Roman soldiers, by whom they wereimmediately surrounded. Albinik, who had learned in the Roman tonguethese only words: "We are Breton Gauls; we would speak with Caesar, "addressed them to his captors; but these, learning from Albinik's ownadmission that he and his companion were of the provinces that had risenin arms, forthwith took them prisoners, and treated them as such. Theybound them, and conducted them to the camp. 

Albinik and Meroë were first taken to one of the gates of theentrenchment. Beside the gate, they saw, a cruel warning, five largewooden crosses. On each one of these a Gallic seaman was crucified, hisclothes stained with blood. The light of the moon illuminated thecorpses. 

"They have not deceived us, " said Albinik in a low voice to hiscompanion. "The pilots have been crucified after having undergonefrightful tortures, rather than pilot the fleet of Caesar along thecoast of Brittany. "

"To make them undergo torture, and death on the cross, " flashed backMeroë, "is that loyalty! Would you still hesitate? Will you still speakof 'treachery'?"

Albinik answered not a word, but in the dark he pressed his companion'shand. Brought before the officer who commanded the post, the marinerrepeated the only words which he knew in the Roman tongue:

"We are Breton Gauls; we would speak with Caesar. " In these times ofwar, the Romans would often seize or detain travelers, for the purposeof learning from them what was passing in the revolted provinces. Caesarhad given orders for all prisoners and fugitives who could throw lighton the movements of the Gauls to be brought before him. 

The husband and wife were accordingly not surprised to see themselves, in fulfillment of their secret hope, conducted across the camp toCaesar's tent, which was guarded by the flower of his Spanish veterans, charged with watching over his person. 

Arrived within the tent of Caesar, the scourge of Gaul, Albinik andMeroë were freed of their bonds. Despite their souls' being stirred withhatred for the invader of their country, they looked about them with asomber curiosity. 

The tent of the Roman general, covered on the outside with thick pelts, like all the other tents of the camp, was decorated within with apurple-colored material embroidered with gold and white silk. The beatenearth was buried from sight under a carpet of tiger skins. Caesar wasfinishing supper, reclining on a camp bed which was concealed under agreat lion-skin, decorated with gold claws and eyes of carbuncles. Within his reach, on a low table, the couple saw large vases of gold andsilver, richly chased, and cups ornamented with precious stones. Humblyseated at the foot of Caesar's couch, Meroë saw a young and beautifulfemale slave, an African without doubt, for her white garments threw outall the stronger the copper colored hue of her face. Slowly she raisedher large, shining back eyes to the two strangers, all the while pettinga large greyhound which was stretched out at her side. She seemed to beas timid as the dog. 

The generals, the officers, the secretaries, the handsome looking youngfreedmen of Caesar's suite, were standing about his camp bed, whileblack Abyssinian slaves, wearing coral ornaments at their necks, wristsand ankles, and motionless as statues, held in their hands torches ofscented wax, whose gleam caused the splendid armor of the Romans toglitter. 

Caesar, before whom Albinik and Meroë cast down their eyes for fear ofbetraying their hatred, had exchanged his armor for a long robe ofrichly broidered silk. His head was bare, nothing covered his large baldforehead, on each side of which his brown hair was closely trimmed. Thewarmth of the Gallic wine which it was his habit to drink to excess atnight, caused his eyes to shine, and colored his pale cheeks. His facewas imperious, his laugh mocking and cruel. He was leaning on one elbow, holding in one hand, thinned with debauchery, a wide gold cup, enrichedwith pearls. He looked at it leisurely and fitfully, still fixing hispiercing gaze on the two prisoners, who were placed in such a mannerthat Albinik almost entirely hid Meroë. 

Caesar said a few words in Latin to his officers, who had been preparingto retire. One of them went up to the couple, brusquely shoved Albinikback, and took Meroë by the hand. Thus he forced her to advance a fewsteps, clearly for the purpose of permitting Caesar to look at her withgreater ease. He did so, while at the same time and without turningaround, reaching his empty cup to one of his young cup-bearers. 

Albinik knew how to control himself. He remained quiet while he saw hischaste wife blush under the bold looks of Caesar. After gazing at herfor a moment, the Roman general beckoned to one of his interpreters. Thetwo exchanged a few words, whereupon the interpreter drew close toMeroë, and said to her in the Gallic tongue:

"Caesar asks whether you are a youth or a maiden!"

"My companion and I have fled the Gallic camp, " responded Meroëingenuously. "Whether I am a youth or a maiden matters little toCaesar. "

At these words, translated by the interpreter to Caesar, the Romanlaughed cynically, while his officers partook of the gaiety of theirgeneral. Caesar continued to empty cup after cup, fixing his eyes moreand more ardently on Albinik's wife. He said a few words to theinterpreter, who commenced to question the two prisoners, conveying ashe proceeded, their answers to the general, who would then prompt newquestions. 

"Who are you!" said the interpreter, "Whence come you!"

"We are Bretons, " answered Albinik. "We come from the Gallic camp, whichis established under the walls of Vannes, two days' march from here. "

"Why have you deserted the Gallic camp!"

Albinik answered not a word, but unwrapped the bloody bandage in whichhis arm was swathed. The Romans then saw that his left hand was cut off. The interpreter resumed:

"Who has thus mutilated you?"

"The Gauls. "

"But you are a Gaul yourself?"

"Little does that matter to the Chief of the Hundred Valleys. "

At the name of the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, Caesar knit his brows, and his face was filled with envy and hatred. 

The interpreter resumed, addressing Albinik: "Explain yourself. "

"I am a sailor, and command a merchant vessel. Several other captainsand I received the order to transport some armed men by sea, and todisembark them in the harbor of Vannes, by the bay of Morbihan. Iobeyed. A gust of wind carried away one of my masts; my vessel arrivedthe last of all. Then--the Chief of the Hundred Valleys inflicted uponme the penalty for laggards. But he was generous. He let me off with mylife, and gave me the choice between, the loss of my nose, my ears, orone hand. I have been mutilated, but not for having lacked courage orwillingness. That would have been just, I would have undergone itaccording to the laws of my country, without complaint. "

"But this wrongful torture, " joined in Meroë, "Albinik underwent becausethe sea wind came up against him. As well punish with death him whocannot see clear in the pitchy night--him who cannot darken the light ofthe sun. "

"And this mutilation covers me for ever with shame!" exclaimed Albinik. "Everywhere it is said: 'That fellow's a coward!' I have never knownhatred; now my heart is filled with it. Perish that Fatherland where Icannot live but in dishonor! Perish its liberty! Perish the liberty ofmy people, provided only that I be avenged upon the Chief of the HundredValleys! For that I would gladly give the other hand which he has leftme. That is why I have come here with my companion. Sharing my shame, she shares my hatred. That hatred we offer to Caesar; let him use it ashe wills; let him try us. Our lives answer for our sincerity. As torecompense, we want none. "

"Vengeance--that is what we must have, " interjected Meroë. 

"In what can you serve Caesar against the Chief of the Hundred Valleys?"queried the interpreter. 

"I offer Caesar my service as a mariner, as a soldier, as a guide, as aspy even, if he wishes it. "

"Why did you not seek to kill the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, beingable to approach him in the Gallic camp?" suggested the interpreter. "You would have been revenged. "

"Immediately after the mutilation of my husband, " answered Meroë, "wewere driven from the camp. We could not return. "

The interpreter again conversed with the Roman general, who, whilelistening, did not cease to empty his cup and to follow Meroë withbrazen looks. 

"You are a mariner, you say!" resumed the interpreter. "You used tocommand a merchantman?"

"Yes. "

"And--are you a good seaman?"

"I am five and twenty years old. From the age of twelve I have traveledon the sea; for four years I have commanded a vessel. "

"Do you know well the coast between Vannes and the channel whichseparates Great Britain from Gaul?"

"I am from the port of Vannes, near the forest of Karnak. For more thansixteen years I have sailed these coasts continuously. "

"Would you make a good pilot?"

"May I lose all the limbs which the Chief of the Hundred Valleys hasleft me, if there is a bay, a cape, an islet, a rock, a sand-bank, or abreaker, which I do not know from the Gulf of Aquitaine to Dunkirk. "

"You are vaunting your skill as a pilot. How can you prove it?"

"We are near the shore. For him who is not a good and fearless sailor, nothing is more dangerous than the navigation of the mouth of the Loire, going up towards the north. "

"That is true, " answered the interpreter. "Even yesterday a Roman galleyran aground on a sand-bank and was lost. "

"Who pilots a boat well, " observed Albinik, "pilots well a galley, Ithink. "

"Yes. "

"To-morrow conduct us to the shore. I know the fisher boats of thecountry; my wife and I will suffice to handle one. From the top of thebank Caesar will see us skim around the rocks and breakers, and playwith them as the sea raven plays with the wave it skims. Then Caesarwill believe me capable of safely piloting a galley on the coasts ofBrittany. "

Albinik's offer having been translated to Caesar by the interpreter, thelatter proceeded:

"We accept your test. It shall be done to-morrow morning. If it provesyour skill as a pilot--and we shall take all precautions againsttreachery, lest you should wish to trick us--perhaps you will be chargedwith a mission which will serve your hatred, all the more seeing thatyou can have no idea of what that mission is. But for that it will benecessary to gain the entire confidence of Caesar. "

"What must I do!"

"You must know the forces and plans of the Gallic army. Beware oftelling an untruth; we already have reports on that subject. We shallsee if you are sincere; if not, the chamber of torture is not far off. "

"Arrived at Vannes in the morning, arrested, judged, and punished almostimmediately, and then driven from the Gallic camp, I could not learn thedecisions of the council which was held the previous evening, " promptlyanswered Albinik. "But the situation was grave, for the women werecalled to the council; it lasted from sun-down to dawn. The currentrumor was that heavy re-enforcements to the Gallic army were on theway. "

"Who were those re-enforcements?"

"The tribes of Finisterre and of the north coasts, those of Lisieux, ofAmiens, and of Perche. They said, even, that the warriors of Brabantwere coming by sea. "

After translating to Caesar Albinik's answer, the interpreter resumed:

"You speak true. Your words agree with the reports which have been madeto us. But some scouts returned this evening and have brought the newsthat, two or three leagues from here, they saw in the north the glare ofa conflagration. You come from the north. Do you know anything aboutthat?"

"From the outskirts of Vannes up to three leagues from here, " answeredAlbinik, "there remains not a town, not a borough, not a village, not ahouse, not a sack of wheat, not a skin of wine, not a cow, not a sheep, not a rick of fodder, not a man, woman, or child. Provisions, cattle, stores, everything that could not be carried away, have been given up tothe flames by the inhabitants. At the hour that I speak to you, all thetribes of the burned regions are rallied to the support of the Gallicarmy, leaving behind them nothing but a desert of smouldering ruins. "

As Albinik progressed with his account, the amazement of the interpreterdeepened, his terror increased. In his fright he seemed not to darebelieve what he heard. He hesitated to make Caesar aware of the awfulnews. At last he resigned himself to the requirements of his office. 

Albinik did not take his eyes from Caesar, for he wished to read in hisface what impression the words of the interpreter would make. Wellskilled in dissimulation, they say, was the Roman general. Nevertheless, as the interpreter spoke, stupefaction, fear, frenzy and doubt betrayedthemselves in the face of Gaul's oppressor. His officers andcouncillors looked at one another in consternation, exchanging undertheir breaths words which seemed full of anguish. Then Caesar, sittingbolt upright on his couch, addressed several short and violent words tothe interpreter, who immediately turned to the mariner:

"Caesar says you lie. Such a disaster is impossible. No nation iscapable of such a sacrifice. If you have lied, you shall expiate yourcrime on the rack. "

Great was the joy of Albinik and Meroë on seeing the consternation andfury of the Roman, who could not make up his mind to believe the heroicresolution, so fatal to his army. But the couple concealed theiremotions, and Albinik answered:

"Caesar has in his camp Numidian horsemen, with tireless horses. Let himsend out scouts instantly. Let them scour not only the country which wehave just crossed in one night and day of travel, but let them extendtheir course into the east, to the boundary of Touraine. Let them gostill further, as far as Berri; and so much further as their horses cancarry them; they will traverse regions ravaged by fire, and deserted. "

Hardly had Albinik pronounced these words, when the Roman general shotsome orders at several of his officers. They rushed from the tent inhaste, while he, relapsing into his habitual dissimulation, and no doubtregretful of having betrayed his fears in the presence of the Gallicfugitives, affected to smile, and stretched himself again on his lionskin. He held out his cup to one of his cup-bearers, and emptied itafter saying to the interpreter some words which he translated thus:

"Caesar empties his cup to the honor of the Gauls--and, by Jupiter, hegives them thanks for having done just what he wished to do himself. Forold Gaul shall humble herself vanquished and repentant, before Rome, like the most humble slave--or not one of her towns shall remainstanding, not one of her warriors living, not one of her people free. "

"May the gods hear Caesar, " answered Albinik. "Let Gaul be enslaved ordevastated, and I shall be avenged on the Chief of the HundredValleys--for he will suffer a thousand deaths in seeing subdued ordestroyed that fatherland which I now curse. "

While the interpreter was translating these words, the general, eitherto hide all the more his fears, or to drown them in wine, emptied hiscup several times, and began to cast at Meroë more and more ardentlooks. Then, a thought seeming to strike him, he smiled with a singularair, made a sign to one of the freedmen, and spoke to him in a lowvoice. He also whispered a few hurried words to the Moorish slave-girl, until then seated at his feet, whereupon she and the freedman left thetent. 

The interpreter thereupon returned to Albinik: "So far your answers haveproved your sincerity. If the news you have just given is confirmed, ifto-morrow you show yourself a capable and courageous pilot, you will beable to serve your revenge. If you satisfy Caesar, he will be generous. If you play us false your punishment will be terrible. Did you see, atthe entrance to the camp, five men crucified!"

"I saw them. "

"They are pilots who refused to serve us. They had to be carried to thecrosses, because their legs, crushed by the torture, could not sustainthem. Such will be your lot and that of your companion, upon the leastsuspicion. "

"I fear these threats no more than I expect a gift from the magnificenceof Caesar, " haughtily returned Albinik. "Let him try me first, thenjudge me. "

"You and your companion will be taken to a nearby tent; you will beguarded there like prisoners. "

At a sign from the Roman, the two Gauls were led away and conductedthrough a winding passage covered with cloth, into an adjacent tent, where they were left alone. 

CHAPTER III. 

GALLIC VIRTUE. 

So great was the distrust in which Albinik and his wife held everythingRoman, that before passing the night in the tent to which they had beentaken, they examined it carefully. The tent, round of form, wasdecorated inside with woolen cloth, striped in strongly contrastingcolors. It was fixed on taut cords which were fastened to stakes driveninto the earth. The cloth of the tent did not come down close to theground, and Albinik remarked that between the coarsely tanned hideswhich served as a carpet, and the lower edge of the tent, there remaineda space three times the width of his palm. There was no other visibleentrance to the tent but the one the couple had just crossed, which wasclosed by two flaps of cloth overlapping each other. An iron bedfurnished with cushions was half enveloped in draperies, with which onecould shut himself in by pulling a cord hanging over the head of thebed. A brass lamp, raised on a long shaft stuck into the ground, feeblylighted the interior of the tent. 

After examining silently and carefully the place where he was to passthe night with his wife, Albinik said to her in a whisper:

"Caesar will have us spied upon to-night. They will listen to ourconversation. But no matter how softly they come, or how cunningly theyhide themselves, no one can approach the cloth from the outside tolisten to us, without our seeing, through that gap, the feet of thespy, " and he pointed out to his wife the circular space left between theearth and the lower rim of the tent cloth. 

"Do you think, then, Albinik, that Caesar has any suspicions? Could hesuppose that a man would have the courage to mutilate himself in orderto induce confidence in his feelings of revenge?"

"And our brothers, the inhabitants of the regions which we have justtraversed, have they not shown a courage a thousand times greater thanmine, in giving up their country to the flames? My one hope is in theabsolute need our enemy has of Gallic pilots to conduct his ships alongthe Breton coasts. Now especially, when the land offers not a singleresource to his army, the way by sea is perhaps his only means ofsafety. You saw, when he learned of that heroic devastation, that hecould not, even he, always so dissembling, they say, hide hisconsternation and fury, which he then tried to forget in the fumes ofwine. And that is not the only debauchery to which he gives himself up. I saw you blush under the obstinate looks of the infamous debauchee. "

"Oh, Albinik! while my forehead reddened with shame and anger under theeyes of Caesar, twice my hand sought and clasped under my garments theweapon with which I am provided. Once I measured the distance whichseparated me from him--it was too great. "

"At the first movement, before reaching him, you would have been piercedwith a thousand sword thrusts. Our project is worth more. If itthrives, " added Albinik, throwing a meaning glance at his companion, andinstead of speaking low as he had been doing up till now, raising hisvoice little by little, "if our project thrives, if Caesar has faith inmy word, we will be able at last to avenge ourselves on my tormentor. Oh, I tell you, I feel now for Gaul the hatred with which the Romansonce inspired me!"

Surprised by Albinik's words, Meroë stared at him in amazement. But by asign he showed her, through the empty space left between the ground andthe cloth, of the tent, the toes of the sandals of the interpreter, whohad approached and now listened without. At once the young womanreplied:

"I share your hate, as I have shared your heart's love, and the peril ofyour mariner's life. May Hesus cause Caesar to understand what servicesyou can render him, and I shall be the witness of your revenge as I wasthe witness of your torture. "

These words, and many others, exchanged by the couple to the end ofdeceiving the interpreter, apparently reassured the spy of the honestyof the two prisoners, for presently they saw him move away. 

Shortly thereafter, at the moment that Albinik and Meroë, fatigued withtheir long journey, were about to throw themselves into bed in theirclothes, the interpreter appeared at the entry. The uplifted clothdisclosed several Spanish soldiers. 

"Caesar wishes to converse with you immediately, " said the interpreterto the mariner. "Follow me. "

Albinik felt certain that the suspicions of the Roman general, if he hadany, had just been allayed by the interpreter's report, and that themoment had come when he was to learn the mission with which they wishedto charge him. Accordingly, he prepared to leave the tent, and Meroëwith him, when the interpreter said to the young woman, stopping herwith a gesture:

"You may not accompany us. Caesar wishes to speak with your companionalone. "

"And I, " answered the seaman, taking his wife by the hand, "I shall notleave Meroë. "

"Do you really refuse my order?" cried the interpreter. "Beware, beware!"

"We go together to Caesar, " began Meroë, "or we go not at all. "

"Poor fools! Are you not prisoners at our mercy?" said the interpreterto them, pointing to the soldiers, motionless at the door of the tent. "Willingly or unwillingly, I will be obeyed. "

Albinik reflected that resistance was impossible. Death he was notafraid of; but to die was to renounce his plans at the moment when theyseemed to be prospering. Nevertheless, the thought of leaving Meroëalone in the tent disturbed him. The young woman divined the fears ofher husband, and feeling, like him, that they must resign themselves, said:

"Go alone. I shall wait for you without fear, true as your brother is anable armorer. "

Reassured by his wife's significant words, Albinik followed theinterpreter. The door flaps of the tent, for the moment raised, fellback into place. Immediately, from behind them, she heard a heavy thud. She ran towards the place, and saw that a thick wicker screen had beenfastened outside, closing the door. The young woman was at firstsurprised with this precaution, but she presently thought that it wouldbe better to remain thus secured while awaiting Albinik, and thatperhaps he himself had asked that the tent be closed till his return. 

Meroë accordingly seated herself thoughtfully on the bed, full of hopein the interview which undoubtedly her husband was then having withCaesar. Suddenly her revery was broken by a singular noise. It came fromthe part directly in front of the bed. Almost immediately, the clothparted its whole length. The young woman sprang to her feet. Her firstmovement was to seize the poniard which she carried under her blouse. Then, trusting in herself and in the weapon which she held, she waited, calling to mind the Gallic proverb, "He who takes his own life in hishands has nothing to fear but the gods!"

Against the background of dense shadows on which the tent cloth parted, Meroë saw the young Moorish slave approach, wrapped in her whitegarments. As soon as the slave had put her foot in the tent, she fellupon her knees, and stretched out her clasped hands to Albinik'scompanion. Touched by the suppliant gesture and the grief imprinted onthe face of the slave, Meroë felt neither suspicion nor fear, butcompassion mingled with curiosity, and she laid her poniard at the headof the bed. The Moorish girl advanced, creeping on her knees, her twohands still extended towards Meroë, who, full of pity, leaned towardsthe suppliant, meaning to raise her up. But when the slave hadsufficiently approached the bed where the poniard was, she raisedherself with a bound, and leaped to the weapon. Evidently she had notlost sight of it since entering the tent, and before Albinik's stupefiedcompanion could oppose her, the poniard was flung into the outerdarkness. 

By the peal of savage laughter which burst from the Moorish girl whenshe had thus disarmed Meroë, the latter saw that she had been betrayed. She ran toward the dark passage to recover her poniard, or to flee. Butout of those shadows, she saw coming--Caesar. 

Stricken with fear, the Gallic woman recoiled several steps, Caesaradvanced likewise, and the slave disappeared by the opening, which wasimmediately closed again. By the uncertain step of the Roman, by thefire in his looks, the excitement which impurpled his cheeks, Meroë sawthat he was inebriate. Her terror subsided. He carried under his arm acasket of precious wood. After silently gazing at the young woman withsuch effrontery that the blush of shame again mounted to her forehead, the Roman drew from the casket a rich necklace of chased gold. He wentcloser to the lamp-light in order to improve its glitter in the eyes ofthe woman whom he wished to tempt. Then, simulating an ironicalreverence, he stooped and placed the necklace at the feet of the Gaul. Rising, he questioned her with an audacious look. 

Meroë, standing with arms crossed on her breast, heaving withindignation and scorn, looked haughtily at Caesar, and spurned thecollar with her foot. 

The Roman made an insulting gesture of surprise; he laughed with an airof disdainful confidence; and then drew from the casket a magnificentgold net-work for the hair, all encrusted with carbuncles. After makingit sparkle in the lamp-light, he deposited the second trinket also atthe feet of Meroë. Redoubling his ironical respect, he rose, and seemedto say:

"This time I am sure of my triumph!"

Meroë, pale with anger, smiled disdainfully. 

Then Caesar emptied at the young woman's feet all the contents of thecasket. It was like a flood of gold, pearls, and precious stones, ofnecklaces, zones, earrings, bracelets, jewels of all sorts. 

This time Meroë did not push away the gewgaws with her foot. She groundunder the heel of her boot as many of the trinkets as she could rapidlystamp upon, and drove back the infamous debauchee, who was advancingtoward her with confidently open arms. 

Confused for a moment, the Roman put his hand to his heart, as if toprotest his adoration. The woman of Gaul answered the mute language witha burst of laughter so scornful that Caesar, intoxicated with lust, wineand anger, seemed to say:

"I have offered riches, I have offered prayers. All in vain; I shall useforce. "

Albinik's wife was alone and disarmed. She knew that her cries wouldbring her no help. Her resolve was soon taken. The chaste, brave womanleaped upon the bed, seized the long cord which served to lower thedraperies, and knotted it around her neck. Then she quickly climbed uponthe head of the bed-stead, ready to launch herself into the air, andstrangle herself by the weight of her own body at Caesar's first steptowards her. So desperate was the resolution depicted on Meroë's facethat the Roman general for an instant remained motionless. Then, urgedeither by compunction for his violence; or by the certainty that, if heattempted force, he would have but a corpse in his possession; or, asthe unscrupulous libertine later pretended, by a generous impulse thathad guided him throughout;--whatever his motive, Caesar stepped backseveral paces, and raised his hand to heaven as if to call the gods towitness that he would respect his prisoner. Still suspicious, the Gallicwoman kept herself in readiness to give up her life. The Roman turnedtowards the secret opening of the tent, disappeared into the shadows fora moment, and gave an order in a loud voice. Immediately he returned, but kept himself at a wide distance from the bed, his arms crossed onhis toga. Not knowing whether the danger she ran was not still to beincreased, Meroë remained standing on the bed-stead with the cord abouther neck. After a few minutes she saw the interpreter enter, accompaniedby Albinik; with one bound she sprang to her husband. 

"Your wife is a woman of manful virtue, " said the interpreter toAlbinik. "Behold those treasures at her feet; she has spurned them. Great Caesar's love she has scorned. He pretended to resort toviolence. Your companion, disarmed by a trick, was prepared to take herown life. Thus gloriously has she come out of the test. "

"The test?" answered Albinik, with an air of sinister doubt. "The test?Who, here, has the right to test the virtue of my wife?"

"The thought of vengeance, which have brought you into the Roman camp, are the thoughts of a haughty soul, roused by injustice and barbarity. The mutilation which you have suffered seemed above all to prove thetruth of your words, " resumed the interpreter. "But fugitives alwaysarouse a secret suspicion. The wife often is a test of the husband. Yours is a valiant wife. To inspire such fidelity, you must be a man ofcourage and of truth. That is what we wished to make sure of. "

"I don't know, " began the mariner doubtfully, "the licentiousness ofyour general is well known----"

"The gods have sent us in you a precious aid; you can become fatal tothe Gauls. Do you believe Caesar is foolish enough to wish to make anenemy of you by outraging your wife, at the very moment, perhaps, whenhe is about to charge you with a mission of trust? No, I repeat: hewished to try you both, and so far the trials are favorable to you. "

Caesar interrupted the interpreter, saying a few words to him. Thenbowing respectfully to Meroë, and saluting Albinik with a friendlygesture, he slowly and majestically left the tent. 

"You and your wife, " said the interpreter, "are henceforth assured ofthe general's protection. He gives you his word for it. You shall nomore be separated or disturbed. The wife of the courageous mariner hasscorned these rich ornaments, " added the interpreter, collecting thejewels and replacing them in the casket. "Caesar wishes to keep as areminder of Gallic virtue the poniard which she wore, and which he tookfrom her by ruse. Reassure yourself, she shall not remain unarmed. "

Almost at the same instant, two young freedmen entered the tent. Theycarried on a large silver tray a little oriental dagger of richworkmanship, and a Spanish saber, short and slightly curved, hung from abaldric of red leather, magnificently embroidered in gold. Theinterpreter presented the dagger to Meroë and the saber to Albinik, saying to them as he did so:

"Sleep in peace, and guard these gifts of the grandeur of Caesar. "

"And do you assure him, " returned Albinik, "that your words and hisgenerosity dissipate my suspicions. Henceforth he will have no moredevoted allies than my wife and myself, until our vengeance besatisfied. "

The interpreter left, taking with him the two freedmen. Albinik thentold his wife that when he had been taken into the Roman general's tent, he had waited for Caesar, in company with the interpreter, up to themoment when they both returned to the tent, under the conduct of aslave. Meroë told in turn what had occurred to her. The couple concludedthat Caesar, half drunk, had at first yielded to a foul thought, butthat Meroë's desperate resolve, backed up by the reflection that he wasrunning the risk of estranging a fugitive from whom he might reap goodservice, had curbed the Roman's passion. With his habitual trickery andaddress, he had given, under the pretext of a "trial, " an almostgenerous appearance to the odious attempt. 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE TRIAL. 

The next morning Caesar, accompanied by his generals, set out for thebank which commanded the mouth of the Loire, where a tent had been setup for him. From this place the sea and its dangerous shores, strewnwith sand-bars and rocks level with the water, could be seen in thedistance. The wind was blowing a gale. Moored to the bank was afisherman's boat, at once solid and light, rigged Gallic fashion, withone square sail with flaps cut in its lower edge. To this craft Albinikand Meroë were forthwith conducted. 

"It is stormy, the sea is menacing, " said the interpreter to them. "Willyou dare to venture it alone with your wife? There are some fishermenhere who have been taken prisoners--do you want their help?"

"My wife and I have before now braved tempests alone in our boat, whenwe made for my ship, anchored far out from shore on account of badweather. "

"But now you are maimed, " answered the interpreter. "How will you beable to manage!"

"One hand is enough for the tiller. My companion will raise thesail--the woman's business, since it is a sort of cloth, " gaily addedthe mariner to give the Romans faith in him. 

"Go ahead then, " said the interpreter. "May the gods direct you. "

The bark, pushed into the waves by several soldiers, rocked a minuteunder the flappings of the sail, which had not yet caught the wind. Butsoon, held by Meroë, while her husband managed the tiller, the sailfilled, and bellied out to the blast. The boat leaned gently, and seemedto fly over the crests of the waves like a sea-bird. Meroë, dressed inher mariner's costume, stayed at the prow, her black hair streaming inthe wind. Occasionally the white foam of the ocean, bursting from theprow of the boat, flung its stinging froth in the young woman's nobleface. Albinik knew these coasts as the ferryman of the solitary moors ofBrittany knows their least detours. The bark seemed to play with thehigh waves. From time to time the couple saw in the distance the tent ofCaesar, recognizable by its purple flaps, and saw gleaming in the sunthe gold and silver which decked the armor of his generals. 

"Oh, Caesar!--scourge of Gaul--the most cruel, the most debauched ofmen!" exclaimed Meroë. "You do not know that this frail bark, which atthis moment you are following in the distance with your eyes, bears twoof your most desperate enemies. You do not know that they havebeforehand given over their lives to Hesus in the hope of making toTeutates, god of journeys by land and by sea, an offering worthy ofhim--an offering of several thousand Romans, sinking in the depths ofthe sea. It is with hands raised to you, thankful and happy, O, Hesus, that we shall disappear in the bottom of the deep, with the enemies ofour sacred Gaul!"

The bark of Albinik and Meroë, almost grazing the rocks and glancingover the surges along the dangerous ashore, sometimes drew away from, sometimes approached the bank. The mariner's companion, seeing him sadand thoughtful, said:

"Still brooding, Albinik! Everything favors our projects. The Romangeneral is no longer suspicious; your skill this morning will decide himto accept your services; and to-morrow, mayhap, you will pilot thegalleys of our enemies----"

"Yes, I will pilot them to the bottom, where they will be swallowed up, and we with them. "

"What a magnificent offering to the gods! Ten thousand Romans, perhaps!"

"Meroë, " answered Albinik with a sigh, "then, after ending our liveshere, even as the soldiers, brave warriors after all, we shall beresurrected elsewhere with them. They will say to me: 'It was notthrough bravery, with the lance and the sword, that you overcame us. No, you slew us without a combat, by treason. You watched at the rudder, weslept in peace and confidence. You steered us on the rocks--in aninstant the sea swallowed us. You are like a cowardly poisoner, whowould send us to our death by putting poison in our food. Is that an actof valor? No, no longer do you know the open boldness of your fathers, those proud Gauls who fought us half naked, who railed at us in our ironarmor, asking why we fought if we were afraid of wounds or death. '"

"Ah!" exclaimed Meroë, sadly and bitterly, "Why did the druidesses teachme that a woman ought to escape the last outrage by death! Why did yourmother Margarid tell us so often, as a noble example to follow, thedeed of your grandmother Syomara, who cut off the head of the Roman whoravished her, and carrying the head under the skirt of her robe to herhusband, said to him these proud and chaste words: 'No two men livingcan boast of having possessed me!' Why did I not yield to Caesar?"

"Meroë!"

"Perhaps you would then have been avenged! faint heart! weak spirit!Must then the outrage be completed, the ignominy swallowed, before youranger is kindled?"

"Meroë, Meroë!"

"It is not enough for you, then, that the Roman has proposed to yourwife to sell herself, to deliver herself to him for gifts? It is to yourwife--do you hear!--to your wife, that Caesar made that offer of shame!"

"You speak true, " answered the mariner, feeling anger fire his heart atthe memory of these outrages, "I was a spiritless fellow----"

But his companion went on with redoubled bitterness:

"No, I see it now. This is not enough. I should have died. Then perhapsyou would have sworn vengeance over my body. Oh, they arouse pity inyou, these Romans, of whom we wish to make an offering to the gods! Theyare not accomplices to the crime which Caesar attempted, say you?Answer! Would they have come to my aid, these soldiers, these bravewarriors, if, instead of relying on my own courage and drawing mystrength from my love for you, I had cried, implored, supplicated, 'Romans, in the name of your mothers, defend me from the lust of yourgeneral'? Answer! Would they have come at my call? Would they haveforgotten that I was a Gaul--that Caesar was Caesar? Would the 'generoushearts' of these brave fellows have revolted? After rape, do not theythemselves drown the infants in the blood of their mothers?----"

Albinik did not allow his companion to finish. He blushed at his lack ofheart. He blushed at having an instant forgotten the horrible deedsperpetrated by the Romans in their impious war. He blushed at havingforgotten that the sacrifice of the enemies of Gaul was above all elsepleasing to Hesus. In his anger, he rang out, for answer, the war songof the Breton seamen, as if the wind could carry his words of defianceand death to Caesar where he stood on the bank:

 Tor-e-benn! Tor-e-benn![4] As I was lying in my vessel I heard The sea-eagle calling, in the dead of night. He called his eaglets and all the birds of the shore. He said to them as he called: 'Arise ye, all--come--come. It is no longer the putrid flesh of the dog or sheep we must have-- It is Roman flesh. '

 "Tor-e-benn! Tor-e-benn! Old sea-raven, tell me, what have you there? The head of the Roman leader I clutch; I want his eyes--his two red eyes!' And you, sea-wolf, what have you there?

 'The heart of the Roman leader I hold-- I am devouring it. ' And you, sea-serpent, what are you doing there, Coiled 'round that neck, your flat head so close To that mouth, already cold and blue? 'To hear the soul of the Roman leader Take its departure am I here!' Tor-e-benn! Tor-e-benn!"

Stirred up, like her husband, by the song of war, Meroë repeated withhim, seeming to defy Caesar, whose tent they discerned in the distance:

 "Tor-e-benn! Tor-e-benn! Tor-e-benn!"

Still the bark of Albinik and Meroë played with the rocks and surges ofthose dangerous roads, sometimes drawing off shore, sometimes in. 

"You are the best and most courageous pilot I have ever met with, I, whohave in my life traveled so much on the sea, " said Caesar to Albinikwhen he had regained dry land, and, with Meroë, had left the boat. "To-morrow, if the weather is fair, you will guide an expedition, thedestination of which you will know at the moment of setting sail. "

CHAPTER V. 

INTO THE SHALLOWS. 

The following day, at sunrise, the wind being favorable and the seasmooth, the Roman galleys were to sail. Caesar wished to be present atthe embarkment. He had Albinik brought to him. Beside the general was asoldier of great height and savage mien. A flexible armor, made ofinterwoven iron links, covered him from head to foot. He stoodmotionless, a statue of iron, one might say. In his hand he held ashort, heavy, two-edged axe. Pointing out this man, the interpreter saidto Albinik:

"You see that soldier. During the sail he will stick to you like yourshadow. If through your fault or by treason, a single one of the galleysgrates her keel, he has orders to kill you and your companion on theinstant. If, on the contrary, you carry the fleet to harbor safely, thegeneral will overwhelm you with gifts. You will then give the most happymortals cause for envy. "

"Caesar shall be satisfied, " answered Albinik. 

Followed by the soldier with the axe, he and Meroë went up into thegalley Pretoria which was to lead the fleet. She was distinguished fromthe other ships by three gilded torches placed on the poop. 

Each galley carried seventy rowers, ten sailors to handle the sails, fifty light-armed archers and slingers, and one hundred and fiftysoldiers cased in iron from top to toe. 

When the galleys had pulled out from shore, the praetor, militarycommandant of the fleet, told Albinik, through an interpreter, to steerfor the lower part of the bay of Morbihan, in the neighborhood of thetown of Vannes, where the Gallic army was assembled. Albinik with hishand at the tiller was to convey to the interpreter his orders to themaster of the rowers. The latter beat time for the rowers, according tothe pilot's orders, with an iron hammer with which he rapped on a gongof brass. As the speed of the Pretoria, whose lead the rest of the Romanfleet followed, needed quickening or slackening, he indicated it byquickening or slowing the strokes of the hammer. 

The galleys, driven by a fair wind, sailed northward. As the interpreterhad done before, so now the oldest sailors admired the bold manoeuvreand quick sight of the Gallic pilot. After a sail of some length, thefleet found itself near the southern point of the bay of Morbihan, andknew that now it was to enter into those channels, the most dangerous onall the coast of Brittany because of the great number of small islands, rocks and sand banks, and above all, because of the undercurrents, whichran with irresistible violence. 

A little island situated in the mouth of the bay, which was still moreconstricted by two points of land, divided the inlet into two narrowlanes. Nothing in the surface of the sea, neither breakers nor foam norchange in the color of the waters gave token of the slightest differencebetween the two passes. Nevertheless, in one lay not a rock, while theother was strewn with danger. In the latter channel, after a hundredstrokes of the oars, the ships in single file, led by the Pretoria, would have been dragged by a submarine current toward a reef of rockswhich was visible in the distance, and over which the sea, calmeverywhere else, broke tumultuously. The commanders of the severalgalleys could perceive their peril only one by one; each would be madeaware of it only by the rapid drifting of the galley ahead of him. Thenit would be too late. The violence of the current would drag and hurlvessel upon vessel. Whirling in the abyss, fouling the bottom, andcrashing into one another, their timbers would part and they would sinkinto the watery depths with all on board, or else dash themselves on therocky reef. A hundred more strokes of the oar, and the fleet would beannihilated in this channel of ruin. 

The sea was so calm and beautiful that not one of the Romans had anysuspicion of danger. The rowers accompanied with songs the measured fallof their oars. Of the soldiers some were cleaning their arms; some werestretched out in the bow asleep; others were playing at huckle-bones. Ashort distance from Albinik, who was still at the helm, a white hairedveteran with battle-scarred face was seated on one of the benches in thepoop, between his two sons, fine young archers of eighteen or twentyyears. They were conversing with their father, each with one armfamiliarly laid on a shoulder of the old warrior, whom they thus heldtight in their embrace; all three seemed to be talking in pleasantconfidence, and to love one another tenderly. In spite of the hatred heentertained for the Romans, Albinik could not help sighing with pitywhen he thought of the fate of these three soldiers, who did not imaginethey were so near the jaws of death. 

Just then one of those light boats used by the Irish seamen shot outfrom the bay of Morbihan by the safe channel. Albinik had, on hisjourneys, made frequent voyages to the coast of Ireland, an island thatis inhabited by people of Gallic stock. They speak a language almost thesame as that of the Gauls, yet difficult to understand for one who hadnot been as often on their coast as Albinik had. 

The Irishman, either because he feared that he would be pursued andcaught by one of the men-of-war which he saw approaching, and wished toavoid that danger by coming up to the fleet of his own accord, or elsebecause he had useful information to give, steered straight toward thePretoria. Albinik shuddered. Perhaps the interpreter would question theIrishman, and he might point out the danger which the fleet ran intaking one of the passages. Albinik therefore gave orders to bend to theoars, in order to get inside the channel of destruction before theIrishman could join the galleys. But after a few words exchanged betweenthe military commandant and the interpreter, the latter ordered them towait for the boat which was drawing near, so as to ask for tidings ofthe Gallic fleet. Albinik obeyed; he did not dare to oppose thecommandant for fear of arousing suspicion. Before long the little Irishshallop was within hailing distance of the Pretoria. The interpreter, stepping forward, hailed the Irishman in Gallic:

"Where do you come from, and where are you bound to? Have you met anyvessels at sea?"

At these questions the Irishman motioned that he did not understand. Then he began in his own half-Gallic tongue:

"I am coming to the fleet to give you news. "

"What language does the man speak?" said the interpreter to Albinik. "Ido not catch his meaning, although his language does not seem entirelystrange. "

"He speaks half Irish, half Gallic, " answered Albinik. "I have oftentrafficked on the coasts of his country. I understand the tongue. Thefellow says he has steered up to us to give us important news. "

"Ask him what his news is. "

"What information have you to give?" called Albinik to the Irishman. 

"The Gallic vessels, " answered he, "coming from various ports ofBrittany, joined forces yesterday evening in the bay I have just left. They are in great number, well armed, well manned, and cleared foraction. They have chosen their anchorage at the foot of the bay, nearthe harbor of Vannes. You will not be able to see them till afterdoubling the promontory of A'elkern. "

"The Irishman carries us favorable tidings, " cried Albinik to theinterpreter. "The Gallic fleet is scattered on all sides; part of theships are in the river Auray; the others, still more distant, towardsthe bay of Audiern, and Ouessant. At the foot of this bay, for thedefense of Vannes, are but five or six poor merchantmen, barely armed intheir haste. "

"By Jupiter!" exclaimed the interpreter, "the gods, as always, arefavorable to Caesar!"

The praetor and the officers, to whom the interpreter repeated the falsenews given by the pilot, seemed also overjoyed at the dispersion of thefleet of Gaul. Vannes was thus delivered into the hands of the Romansalmost without defenses on the sea side. 

Then Albinik said to the interpreter, indicating the soldier with theaxe:

"Caesar has suspected me. The gods have been kind to allow me to provethe injustice of his suspicions. Do you see that islet, about a hundredoar-lengths ahead?"

"I see it. "

"In order to enter the bay, we must take one of two passages, one to theright of the islet, the other to the left. The fate of the Roman fleetis in my hands. I could pilot you by one of these passages, which to theeye is exactly like the other, and an undercurrent would tow yourgalleys onto a sunken reef. Not one would escape. "

"What say you?" exclaimed the interpreter. As for Meroë, she gazed ather husband in pained surprise, for, by his words, he seemed finally tohave renounced his vengeance. 

"I speak the truth, " answered Albinik. "I'll prove it to you. ThatIrishman knows as well as I the dangers attendant upon entering the bayhe has just left. I shall ask him to go before us, as pilot, and inadvance I shall trace for you the route he will take. First he willtake the channel to the right of the islet; then he will advance till healmost touches that point of land which you see furthest off; then hewill make a wide turn to the right until he is just off those blackrocks which tower over yonder; that pass behind us, those rocks shunned, we shall be safely in the bay. If the Irishman executes this manoeuvrefrom point to point, will you still suspect me?"

"No, by Jupiter!" answered the interpreter. "It would then be absurd toentertain the least doubt of your good faith. "

"Judge me then, " said Albinik, and he addressed a few words to theIrishman, who consented to pilot the ships. His manoeuvring talliedexactly with what Albinik had foretold. The latter, having given to theRomans this testimony of his truthfulness, deployed the fleet in threefiles, and for some time he guided them among the little islands withwhich the bay was dotted. Then he ordered the rowers to rest on theiroars. From this place they could not see the Gallic fleet, anchored atthe furthest part of the bay at almost two leagues' distance, andscreened from all eyes by a lofty promontory. 

"Now, " said Albinik to the interpreter, "We now run only one danger; itis a great one. Before us are shifting sandbanks, occasionally displacedby the high tides; the galleys might ground there. It is necessary, then, that I reconnoitre the passage plummet in hand, before bringingthe fleet into it. Let them rest as they are on their oars. Order thesmallest boat your galley has to be launched, with two rowers. My wifewill take the tiller. If you have any suspicion, you and the soldierwith the axe may accompany us in the boat. Then, the passagereconnoitred, I shall return on board to pilot the fleet even to themouth of the harbor of Vannes. "

"I no longer suspect, " answered the interpreter. "But according toCaesar's order, neither the soldier nor I may leave you a singleinstant. "

"Let it be as you wish, " assented Albinik. 

A small boat was lowered from the galley. Two rowers descended into it, with the soldier and the interpreter; Albinik and Meroë embarked intheir turn; and the boat drew away from the Roman fleet, which wasdisposed in a crescent, waiting on its oars, for the pilot's return. Meroë, seated at the helm, steered the boat according to the directionsof her husband. He, kneeling and hanging over the prow, sounded thepassage by means of a ponderous lead fastened to a long stout cord. Behind the little islet which the boat was then skirting stretched along sand-bar which the tide, then ebbing, was beginning to uncover. Beyond the sand-bar were several rocks fringing the bank. Albinik wasjust about to heave the lead anew; while seeming to be examining on thecord the traces of the water's depth, he exchanged a rapid look with hiswife, indicating with a glance the soldier and the interpreter. Meroëunderstood. The interpreter was seated near her on the poop; then camethe two rowers on their bench; and at the farther end stood the man withthe axe, behind Albinik, who was leaning at the bow, his lead in hishand. Rising suddenly he made of the plummet a terrible weapon. Heimparted to it the rapid motion that a slinger imparts to his sling. Theheavy lead attached to the cord struck the soldier's helmet so violentlythat the man sank to the bottom of the boat stunned with the blow. Theinterpreter rushed forward to the aid of his companion, but Meroë seizedhim by the hair and pulled him back; loosing his balance he toppled intothe sea. One of the two rowers, who had raised his oar at Albinik, immediately rolled headlong overboard. The movement given to the rudderby Meroë made the boat approach so close to the rocky islet that she andher husband both leaped on it. Rapidly they climbed the steep rocks. There was now but one obstacle to their reaching shore. That was thesand-bar, one part of which, already uncovered by the sea, was inmotion, as could be seen from the air bubbles which continually rose tothe surface. To take that way to reach the rocks of the shore was to diein the abyss hidden under the treacherous surface. Already the coupleheard, from the other side of the island, which hid them from view, thecries and threats of the soldier, who had recovered from his daze, andthe voice of the interpreter, whom the rowers had doubtlessly pulled outof the water. Thoroughly familiar with these coasts, Albinik discovered, by the size of the gravel and the clearness of the water that coveredit, that the sand-bar some paces off was firm. At that point, he andMeroë crossed, wading up to their waists. They reached the rocks on theshore, clambered up nimbly, and then stopped a moment to see if theywere pursued. 

The man with the axe, hampered by his heavy armor and being, no morethan the interpreter, accustomed to move upon slippery rocks coveredwith seaweed, such as were those of the islet which they had to cross inorder to reach the fugitives, arrived after many efforts opposite thequicksands, which were now left high and dry by the tide. Furious at thesight of Albinik and his companion, from whom he saw himself separatedby only a narrow and level sand-bar, the soldier thought the passageeasy, and dashed on. At the first step he sank in the quicksand up tohis knees. He made a violent effort to clear himself but sank deeperyet, up to his waist. He called his companions to his aid, but hardlyhad he called when only his head was above the abyss. Then the head alsodisappeared. The soldier raised his hands to heaven as he sank. A momentlater only one of his iron gauntlets was to be seen convulsivelyquivering above the sand. Presently nothing was to be seen--nothingexcept some bubbles of air on the surface of the quagmire. 

The rowers and the interpreter, seized with fear, remained motionless, not daring to risk certain death in the capture of the fugitives. Feeling safe at last, Albinik addressed these words to the interpreter:

"Say thou to Caesar that I maimed myself to inspire him with confidencein the sincerity of my offers of service. My design was to conduct theRoman fleet to certain perdition, sacrificing my companion and myself. Accident changed my plan. Just as I was piloting you into the channel ofdestruction, whence not a galley would have come back, we met theIrishman who informed me that the Gallic ships, since yesterdayassembled in great numbers and trimmed for fight, are anchored at thefoot of the bay, two leagues off. Learning that, I changed my plan. I nolonger wished to cast away the galleys. They will be annihilated justthe same, but not by a snare or by treachery; it will come about invalorous combat, ship to ship, Gaul to Roman. Now, for the sake of thefight to-morrow, listen well to this: I have purposely led your galleysinto the shallows, where in a few minutes they will be left high and dryon the sands. They will stay there grounded, for the tide is falling. Toattempt to disembark is to commit suicide; you are surrounded on allsides by moving quicksands like the one in which your soldier and hisaxe have just been swallowed up. Remain on board of your ships. To-morrow they will be floated again by the rising tide. And to-morrow, battle--battle to the finish. The Gaul will have once more showed thatNEVER DID BRETON COMMIT TREASON, and that if he glories in the death ofhis enemy, it is because he has killed his enemy fairly. "

Then Albinik and Meroë, leaving the interpreter terrified by theirwords, turned in haste to the town of Vannes to give the alarm, and towarn the crews of the Gallic fleet to prepare for combat on the morrow. 

On the way, Albinik's wife said to him:

"The heart of my beloved husband is more noble than mine. I wished tosee the Roman fleet destroyed by the sea-rocks. My husband wishes todestroy it by the valor of the Gauls. May I forever be proud that I amwife to such a man!"

CHAPTER VI. 

THE EVE OF BATTLE. 

It was the eve of the battle of Vannes; the battle of Vannes which, waged on land and sea, was to decide the fate of Brittany, and, consequently, of all Gaul, whether for liberty or enslavement. On thismemorable evening, in the presence of all the members of our familyunited in the Gallic camp, except my brother Albinik, who had joined theGallic fleet in the bay of Morbihan, my father Joel, the brenn of thetribe of Karnak, addressed me, his eldest born, Guilhern the laborer, who now writes this account. He said to me:

"To-morrow, my son, is the day of battle. We shall fight hard. I amold--you are young. The angel of death will doubtless carry me hencefirst; perhaps to-morrow I shall meet in the other life my sainteddaughter Hena. Here, now, is what I ask of you, in the face of themisfortunes which menace our country, for to-morrow the fortunes of warmay go with the Romans. My desire is that as long as our stock shalllast, the love of old Gaul and sacred memories of our fathers shall beever kept fresh in our family. If our children should remain free men, the love of country, the reverence for the memory of their ancestors, will all the more endear their liberty to them. If they must live anddie slaves, these holy memories will remind them, from generation togeneration, that there was a time when, faithful to their gods, valiantin war, independent and happy, masters of the soil which they had wonfrom nature by severe toil, careless of death, whose secret they held, the Gallic race lived, feared by the whole world, yet withal hospitableto peoples who extended to them a friendly hand. These memories, keptalive from age to age, will make slavery more horrible to our children, and some day give them the strength to overthrow it. In order that thesememories may be thus transmitted from century to century, you mustpromise by Hesus, my son, to be faithful to our old Gallic custom. Youmust tenderly guard this collection of relics which I am going toentrust you with; you must add to it; you must make your son Sylvestswear to increase it in his turn, so that the children of yourgrandchildren may imitate their fore-fathers, and may themselves beimitated by their posterity. Here is the collection. The first rollcontains the story of all that has chanced to our family up to theanniversary of my dear Hena's birthday, that day which also saw her die. This other roll I received this evening about sunset from my son Albinikthe mariner. It contains the story of his journey across the burntterritory, to the camp of Caesar. This account throws honor on thecourage of the Gaul, it throws honor on your brother and his wife, faithful as they were, almost excessively so, to that maxim of ourfathers: 'Never did Breton commit treason. ' These writings I confide toyou. You will return them to me after to-morrow's conflict if I survive. If not, do you preserve them, or in lack of you, your brothers. Do youinscribe the principal events of your life and your family's; hand theaccount over to your son, that he may do as you, and thus on, forever--generation after generation. Do you swear to me, by Hesus, torespect my wishes?"

I, Guilhern the laborer, answered: "I swear to my father Joel, the brennof the tribe of Karnak, that I will faithfully carry out his desires. "

The orders then given to me by my father, I have carried out to-day, long after the battle of Vannes, and after innumerable misfortunes. Imake the recital or these misfortunes for you, my son Sylvest. It is notwith blood that I should write this narrative. No blood would run dry. Iwrite with tears of rage, hatred and anguish, --their source never runsdry!

After my poor and well-beloved brother Albinik piloted the Roman fleetinto the bay of Morbihan, the following was the course of events on theday of the battle of Vannes. It all took place under my own eyes--I sawit all. Were I to have lived all the days I am to live in the next worldand into all infinity, yet will the remembrance of that frightful day, and of the days; that followed it, be ever vivid before me, as vivid asit is now, as it was, and as it ever will be. 

Joel my father, Margarid my mother, Henory my wife, my two childrenSylvest and Syomara, as well as my brother Mikael the armorer, his wifeMartha, and their children, to mention only our nearest relatives, had, like all the rest of our tribe, gathered in the Gallic camp. Our warchariots, covered with cloth, had served us for tents until the day ofthe battle at Vannes. During the night, the council, called together bythe Chief of the Hundred Valleys, and Tallyessin, the oldest of thedruids, had met. Several mountaineers of Ares, mounted on their tirelesslittle horses, were sent out in the evening to scout the area of theconflagration. At dawn they hastened back to report that at six leagues'distance from Vannes they saw the fires of the Roman army, encamped thatnight in the midst of the ruins of the town of Morh'ek. The Chief of theHundred Valleys concluded that Caesar, to escape from the circle ofdevastation and famine that was drawing in closer and closer upon hisarmy, had left the wasted country behind him by forced marches, andintended to offer battle to the Gauls. The council resolved to advanceto meet Caesar, and to await him on the heights which overlooked theriver Elrik. At break of day, after the druids had invoked the blessingsof the gods, our tribe took up its march for its post in the battle. 

Joel, mounted on his high-mettled stallion Tom-Bras, commanded the_Mahrek-Ha-Droad_, [5] of which myself and my brother Mikael weremembers, I as a horseman, Mikael as a foot-soldier. According to thecustom of the army, it was our duty to fight side by side, I onhorse-back, he afoot, and mutually support each other. The war chariots, armed with scythes at the hubs, were placed in the center of the army, with the reserve. In one of them were my mother and wife, the wife ofMikael, and our children. Some young lads, lightly armed, surrounded thechariots and were with difficulty holding back the great war-dogs, which, after the example of Deber-Trud, the man-eater, were howling andtugging at their leashes, already scenting battle and blood. Among theyoung men of the tribe who were in the array, were two who had taken thebond of friendship, like Julyan and Armel. Moreover, to make it morecertain that they would share the same fate, a stout iron chain wasriveted to their collars of brass, and fastened them together. The chainas the symbol of their pledge of solidarity held them inseparable, scathless, wounded, or dead. 

On the way to our post in the battle, we beheld the Chief of the HundredValleys passing at the head of the _Trimarkisia_. [6] He rode a superbblack horse, in scarlet housings; his armor was of steel; his helmet ofplated copper, which shone like the sun, was capped by the emblem ofGaul, a gilded cock with half spread wings. At either side of the Chiefrode a bard and a druid, clad in long white robes striped with purple. They carried no arms, but when the troops closed in to battle, then, disdainful of danger, they stood in the front ranks of the combatants, encouraging these with their words and their songs of war. Thus chantedthe bard at the moment when the Chief of the Hundred Valleys passed byJoel's column:

 "Caesar has come against us. In a loud voice he asks: 'Do you want to be slaves? Are ye ready?'

 "No, we do not want to be slaves. No, we are not ready. Gauls! Children of the same race, Let us raise our standards on the mountains and pour down upon the plains. March on! March on against Caesar, Joining in the same slaughter him and his army! To the Romans! To the Romans!"

As the bard sang this song, every heart beat with the ardor ofbattle. [7]

As the Chief of the Hundred Valleys passed the troop at the head ofwhich was my father Joel, he reined in his horse and cried:

"Friend Joel, when I was your guest, you asked my name. I answered thatI was called _Soldier_ so long as our old Gaul should be under theoppressor's scourge. The hour has come when we must show ourselvesfaithful to the motto of our fathers: 'In all war, there is but one oftwo outcomes for the man of courage: to conquer or to die. '[8] O, thatmy love for our common country be not barren! O, that Hesus keep ourarms! Perhaps then the Chief of the Hundred Valleys will have washed offthe stain which covers a name he no longer dares to bear. [9] Courage, friend Joel, the sons of your tribe are brave of the brave. What blowswill they not deal on this day which makes for the welfare of Gaul!"

"My tribe will strike its best, and with all its might, " answered myfather. "We have not forgotten that song of the bards who accompaniedyou, when the first war-cry burst from them in the forest of Karnak:'Strike the Roman hard--strike for the head--still harder--strike!--TheRomans, strike!'"

With one voice the whole tribe of Joel took up the cry:

"Strike!--The Romans, strike!"

CHAPTER VII. 

THE BATTLE OF VANNES. 

The Chief of the Hundred Valleys took his departure, in order to addressa few words of exhortation to each tribe. Before proceeding to our postof battle, far from the war chariots which held our wives, daughters andchildren, my father, brother and myself wished to make sure by a lastlook that nothing was lacking for the defense of that car which held ourdear ones. My mother, Margarid, as calm as when she held the distaff inthe corner of her own fireplace, was leaning against the oak panel whichformed the body of the chariot. She had set Henory and Martha to work, giving more play to the straps which, fastened to pegs driven in theedge of the chariot, secured the handles of the scythes, which were usedfor defense in the same manner as oars fastened to the gunwhale of aboat. 

Several young girls and women of our kindred were occupied with othercares. Some were preparing behind the chariots, with thick skinsstretched on cords, a retreat where the children would be under coverfrom the arrows and stones thrown by the slingers and archers of theenemy. Already the children were laughing and frolicking with joyouscries around the half finished den. As an additional protection, mymother Margarid, watchful in everything, had some sacks filled withgrain placed in front of the hut. Other young girls were placing, alongthe interior walls of the car, knives, swords and axes, to be used incase of need, and weighing no more on their strong white arms than didthe distaff. Two of their companions, kneeling near my mother, wereopening chests of linen, and preparing oil, balm, salt and witch-hazel, to dress the wounds, following the example of the druidesses, near whomthe car was stationed. 

At our approach the children ran gaily from the depths of their retreatinto the fore-part of the wagon, whence they stretched out their littlehands to us. Mikael, being on foot, took in his arms his son and hisdaughter, while Henory, to spare me the trouble of dismounting from myhorse, reached out, one at a time, my little Syomara and Sylvest into myarms. I seated them both before me on the saddle, and at the moment ofstarting for the fight, I had the pleasure of kissing their yellowheads. My father, Joel, then said to my mother:

"Margarid, if fortune turns against us, and the car is attacked by theRomans, do not free the dogs until the moment of attack. The braveanimals will be only the more furious for their long wait, and will notthen stray away from where you are. "

"Your advice will be followed, Joel, " answered my mother. "Look and seeif these straps give the scythes enough play. "

"Yes, they are free enough, " answered my father, looking at some of thestraps. Then, examining the array of scythes which defended the otherside of the chariot, he broke out:

"Wife, wife! What were those girls thinking of! Look here! Oh, therattle heads! On this side the scythe-blades are turned towards theshaft of the chariot, and over there they are pointed backwards!"

"It was I who had the weapons placed so, " said she. 

"And why are not all the blades turned the same way, Margarid?"

"Because a car is almost always attacked before and behind at once. Inthat case the two rows of scythes, placed in opposite directions, arethe best defense. My mother taught me that, and I am showing the methodto these dear girls. "

"Your mother saw further than I, Margarid. A good harvest time is thusmade certain. Let the Romans come and assault the car! Heads and limbswill fall, mown down like ripe ears at the reaping! Let Hesus make it agood one, this human harvest!"

Then, listening intently, my father said to Mikael and myself:

"Sons, I hear the cymbals of the bards and the clarions of the_Trimarkisia_. Let us rejoin our friends. Well, Margarid, well, mydaughters, --till we meet again, here--or above!"

"Here or above, our fathers and husbands will find us pure andunstained, " answered Henory, more proud, more beautiful than ever. 

"Victorious or dead you will see us again, " added Madalen, a youngmaiden of sixteen. "But enslaved or dishonored, no. By the gloriousblood of our Hena---- no---- never!"

"No!" said Martha, the wife of Mikael, pressing to her bosom her twochildren, whom their father had just replaced in the chariot. 

"These dear girls are of our race--rest easy, Joel, " continued mymother, even now calm and grave. "They will do their duty. "

"Even as we will do ours. And thus will Gaul be delivered, " answered myfather. "You also will do your duty, old man-eater, old Deber-Trud!"added the brenn, stroking the enormous head of the war-dog, who in spiteof his chain, was standing up with his paws on the horse's shoulder. "Soon will come the hour of the quarry, fine bloody quarry, Deber-Trud!Her! Her! To the Romans!"

The mastiff and the rest of the war pack responded to these words withfurious bayings. The brenn, my brother and myself cast one last lookupon our families. My father turned his spirited stallion's head towardsthe ranks of the army, and speedily came up with them. I followed myfather, while Mikael, robust and agile, holding tightly with his lefthand to the long mane of my galloping horse, ran along beside me. Sometimes falling in with the sway of the horse, Mikael leaped with it, and was thus raised off the ground for several steps. We two, like manyothers of our tribe, had in time of peace familiarized ourselves withthe manly military exercise of the _Mahrek-Ha-Droad_. Thus the brenn, mybrother and myself rejoined our tribe and took our stand in the ranks ofbattle. 

The Gallic army occupied the summit of a hill about one league'sdistance from Vannes. To the east their line of battle was covered bythe forest of Merek, which was filled with their best archers. To thewest they were defended by the lofty cliffs which rose from the bay ofMorbihan. At the lower end of the bay was the fleet, already weighinganchor to proceed to the attack of the Roman galleys, which, motionlessas a flock of sea-swans, lay at rest on the waves. No longer piloted byAlbinik, the fleet of Caesar, although floated by the rising tide, stillheld its position of the previous evening, for fear of running upon theinvisible rocks. 

Before the army flowed the River Roswallan. The Romans would have toford it in order to attack us. Skillfully had the Chief of the HundredValleys chosen his position. He had before him a river; behind him thetown of Vannes; on the west the sea; on the east the forest of Merek:its border chopped down, offered insurmountable obstacles to the Romancavalry; and with an eye to the Roman infantry, the best of Gaul'sarchers were scattered among the mighty trees. 

The ground before us, on the opposite side of the river, rose in agentle slope. Its crest hid from us the road by which the Roman armywould arrive. Suddenly, on the summit of the slope there dashed intoview several Ares mountaineers, who had been sent out as scouts tosignal to us the approach of the enemy. They dashed down the hill atfull speed, forded the river, joined us, and breathlessly announced theadvance of the Roman army. 

"Friends!" the Chief of the Hundred Valleys called out to each tribe ashe passed on horse-back before the army in battle array; "rest on yourarms until the Romans, drawn up on the other bank of the river, beginto cross it. At that moment let the slingers and archers shower theirstones and arrows upon the enemy. Then, when the Romans are formingtheir cohorts on this side, after crossing, let our whole line fallback, leaving the reserve with the war-chariots. Then, the foot soldiersin the center, the cavalry on the wings, let us pour down in a torrentfrom the top of this rapid decline. The enemy, driven back again to theriver, will not withstand the impetuosity of our first charge!"

Immediately the hill-top opposite the army was covered by the numberlesstroops of Caesar. In the vanguard marched the "Harassers, " marked by thelion's skin which covered their heads and shoulders. The old legions, named from their experience and daring, as the "Thunderer, " the "IronLegion, " and many others whom the Chief of the Hundred Valleys pointedout to his men, formed the reserve. We saw glittering in the sun thearms and the distinctive emblems of the legions, an eagle, a wolf, adragon, a minotaur, and other figures of gilded bronze, decorated withleaves. The wind bore to us the piercing notes of the long Romanclarions, and our hearts leaped at the martial music. A horde ofNumidian horsemen, wrapped in long white robes, preceded the army. Thecolumn halted a moment, and several of the Numidians went down at fulltilt to the brink of the river. In order to ascertain whether it wasfordable, they entered it on horse-back, and approached the nearer side, notwithstanding the hail of stones and arrows which the Gallic slingersand archers poured down upon them. More than one white robe was seen tofloat upon the river current, and more than one riderless horsereturned to the bank and the Romans. Nevertheless, several Numidians, inspite of the stones and darts which were hurled upon them, crossed theentire breadth of the river several times. Such a display of braverycaused the Gallic archers and slingers to hold their fire by commonaccord, and do honor to such supreme valor. Courage in our enemiespleases us; it proves them more worthy of our steel. The Numidians, certain of having found a ford, ran to convey the news to the Romanarmy. Then the legions formed in several deep columns. The passage ofthe river commenced. According to the orders of the Chief of the HundredValleys, the archers and slingers resumed their shooting, while Cretanarchers and slingers from the Balearic Islands, spreading over theopposite bank, answered our people. 

"My sons, " said Joel to us, looking towards the bay of Morbihan, "yourbrother Albinik advances to the fight on the water as we begin the fighton land. See--our fleet has met the Roman galleys. "

Mikael and I looked in the direction the brenn was pointing, and saw ourships with their heavy leathern sails, bent on iron chains, grapplingwith the galleys. The brenn spoke true. The battle was joined on landand sea simultaneously. On that double combat depended the freedom orslavery of Gaul. But as I turned my attention from the two fleets backto our own army, I was struck to the heart with a sinister omen. TheGallic troops, ordinarily such chatterers, so gay in the hour of battlethat from their ranks rise continually playful provocations to theenemy, or jests upon the dangers of war, were now sober and silent, resolved to win or die. 

The signal for battle was given. The cymbals of the bards spoke back tothe Roman clarions. The Chief of the Hundred Valleys, dismounting fromhis horse, put himself some paces ahead of the line of battle. Severaldruids and bards took up their station on either side of him. Hebrandished his sword and started on a run down the steep hill-side. Thedruids and bards kept even pace with him, striking as they went upontheir golden harps. At that signal, our whole army precipitated itselfupon the enemy, who, now across the river, were re-forming theircohorts. 

The _Mahrek-Ha-Droad_, cavalry and footmen, of the tribes near that ofKarnak, which my father commanded, darted down the slope with the restof the army. Mikael, holding his axe in his right hand, was, during thisimpetuous descent, almost continually suspended from the mane of myhorse, which he had seized with his left. At the foot of the slope, thattroop of the Romans called the Iron Legion, because of their heavyarmor, formed in a wedge. Immovable as a wall of steel, bristling withspears, it made ready to receive our charge on the points of its lances. I carried, in common with all the Gallic horsemen, a saber at my leftside, an axe at my right, and in my hand a heavy staff capped with iron. For helmet I had a bonnet of fur, for breastplate a jacket of boar-hide, and strips of leather were wrapped around my legs where the breeches didnot cover them. Mikael was armed with a tipped staff and a saber, andcarried a light shield on his left arm. 

"Leap on the crupper!" I cried to my brother at the moment when thehorses, now no longer under control, arrived at full gallop on thelances of the Iron Legion. Immediately we arrived within range we hurledour iron capped staffs full at the heads of the Romans with all ourmight. My staff struck hard and square on the helmet of a legionary, who, falling backward, dragged down with him the soldier behind. Throughthis gap my horse plunged into the thickest of the legion. Othersfollowed me. In the melee the fight grew sharp. Mikael, always at myside, leaped sometimes, in order to deliver a blow from a greaterheight, to my horse's crupper, other times he made of the animal arampart. He fought valorously. Once I was half unhorsed. Mikaelprotected me with his weapon till I regained my seat. The otherfoot-soldiers of the _Mahrek-Ha-Droad_ fought in the same manner, eachone beside his own horseman. 

"Brother, you are wounded, " I said to Mikael. "See, your blouse is red. "

"You too, brother, " he responded. "Look at your bloody breeches. "

And, in truth, in the heat of combat, we do not feel these wounds. 

My father, chief of the _Mahrek-Ha-Droad_, was not accompanied by afoot-soldier. Twice we joined him in the midst of the fight. His arm, strong for all his age, struck incessantly. His heavy axe resounded onthe iron armors like a hammer on the anvil. His stallion Tom-Bras bitfuriously all the Romans within reach. One of them he almost lifted offthe ground in his rearing. He held the man by the nape of the neck, andthe blood was spurting. When the tide of the combat again carried Mikaeland myself near our father, he was wounded. I overcame one of thebrenn's assailants by trampling him under my horse's feet; then we wereagain separated from my father. Mikael and myself knew nothing of theother movements of the battle. Engaged in the conflict before us, we hadno other thought than to tumble the Iron Legion into the river. To thatend we struggled hard. Already our horses were stumbling over corpses asif in a quagmire. We heard, not far off, the piercing voices of thebards; their voices were heard over the tumult. 

"Victory to Gaul!--Liberty! Liberty! Another blow with the axe! Anothereffort! Strike, strike, ye Gauls. --And the Roman is vanquished. --AndGaul delivered. Liberty! Liberty! Strike the Roman hard! Strikeharder!--Strike, ye Gauls!"

The song of the bards, the hope of victory with which they inspiredtheir countrymen, caused us to redouble our efforts. The remains of theIron Legion, almost annihilated, recrossed the river in disorder. Atthat moment we saw running in our direction a Roman cohort, panic-stricken and in full rout. Our men had driven them back from thetop of the hill, at the foot of which was the tribe of Karnak. Thecohort, thus taken between two enemies, was destroyed. Slaughter wasbeginning to tire Mikael's arm and my own when I noticed a Roman warriorof medium height, whose magnificent armor announced his lofty rank. Hewas on foot, and had lost his helmet in the fight. His large baldforehead, his pale face and his terrible look gave him a terrifyingappearance. Armed with a sword, he was furiously beating his ownsoldiers, all unable to arrest their flight. I called my brother'sattention to him. 

"Guilhern, " said he, "if they have fought everywhere as we have here, weare victorious. That soldier, by his gold and steel armor, must be aRoman general. Let us take him prisoner; he will be a good hostage. Helpme and we'll have him. "

Mikael immediately hurled himself on the warrior of the golden armor, while the latter was still trying to halt the fugitives. With a fewbounds of my horse, I rejoined my brother. After a brief struggle, Mikael threw the Roman. Wishing not to kill, but to take him prisoner, Mikael held him under his knees, with his axe uplifted, to signify tothe Roman that he would have to give himself up. The Roman understood;no longer struggled to free himself; and raised to heaven the one handhe had free that the gods might witness he yielded himself a prisoner. 

"Off with him, " said Mikael to me. 

Mikael, who like myself, was stalwart and stout, while our prisoner wasslim and not above middle height, took the Roman in his arms and liftedhim from the ground. I grasped him by the collar of buffalo-hide whichhe had on over his breastplate, drew him towards me, pulled him up, andthrew him across my horse, in front of the saddle. Then, taking thereins in my teeth so as to have one hand to hold the prisoner, and theother to threaten him with my axe, I pressed the flanks of my horse, andset out in this fashion towards the reserve of our army, both for thepurpose of putting the prisoner in safe keeping, and to have my woundsdressed. I had hardly started, when one of the horsemen of the_Mahrek-Ha-Droad_, happening that way in his pursuit of the fleeingRomans, cried out, as he recognized the man I was carrying:

"IT IS CAESAR--STRIKE--KILL HIM!"

Thus I became aware that I had on my horse the direst of Gaul's foes. Sofar from entertaining any thought of killing him, and seized withstupor, my axe slipped from my hand, and I leaned back in order thebetter to contemplate that terrible Caesar whom I had in my power. 

Unhappy me! Alas for Gaul! Caesar profited by my stupid astonishment, jumped down from my horse, called to his aid a troop of Numidianhorsemen who were riding in search of him, and when I regainedconsciousness from my stupid amazement, the blunder was irreparable. [10]Caesar had leaped upon one of the Numidian riders' horse, while theothers surrounded me. Furious at having allowed Caesar to escape, I nowdefended myself with frenzy. I received several fresh wounds and saw mybrother Mikael die at my side. That misfortune was only the signal forothers. Victory, so long hovering over our standards, went to theRomans. Caesar rallied his wavering legions; a considerablere-enforcement of fresh troops came to his aid; and our whole army wasdriven back in disorder upon the reserve, where were also ourwar-chariots, our wounded, our women and our children. Carried by thepress of retreating combatants, I arrived in the proximity of thechariots, happy in the midst of defeat at having at least come near mymother and family, and at being able to defend them--if indeed thestrength were spared me, for my wounds were weakening me more and more. Alas! The gods had condemned me to a horrible trial. I can now repeatthe words of Albinik and his wife, both killed in the attack on theRoman galleys, and battling on the water as we did on the land for thefreedom of our beloved country: "None ever saw, nor will ever see thefrightful scene that I witnessed. "

Thrown back towards the chariots, still fighting, attacked at once bythe Numidian cavalry, by the legionaries and by the Cretan archers, weyielded ground step by step. Already we could hear the bellowing of theoxen, the shrill sound of the numerous brass bells which trimmed theiryokes, and the barking of the war dogs, still chained about the cars. Husbanding my ebbing strength, I no longer sought to fight, I stroveonly to reach the place where my family was in danger. Suddenly myhorse, which had already sustained several wounds, received on the flankhis death blow. The animal stumbled and rolled upon me. My leg andthigh, pierced with two lance thrusts, were caught as in a vise betweenthe ground and the dead weight of my fallen steed. In vain I struggledto disengage myself. One of my comrades who, at the time of my fall, wasfollowing me, ran against the fallen horse. Steed and rider tumbled overthe obstacle, and were instantly despatched by the blows of thelegionaries. Our resistance became desperate. Corpse upon corpse piledup, both on top of and around me. More and more enfeebled by the loss ofblood, overcome by the pains in my limbs, bruised under that heap ofdead and dying, unable to make a motion, all sense left me; my eyesclosed. Recalled to myself a moment later by the violent throbbing of mywounds, I opened my eyes again. The sight which met them at first mademe believe I was seized with one of those frightful nightmares fromwhich escape is vain. It was the horrible reality. 

Twenty paces from me I saw the car in which my mother, Henory my wife, Martha the wife of Mikael, their children, and several young women andgirls of the family had taken refuge. Several men of our kindred andtribe, who had run like myself to the cars, were defending them againstthe Romans. Among the defenders I saw the two _saldunes_, fastened toeach other by the iron chain, the symbol of their pledge of brotherhood. Both were young, beautiful and valiant. Their clothes were in tatters, their heads and chests naked and bloody. But their eyes flashed fire, and a scornful smile played on their lips, as, armed only with theirstaffs, they fearlessly fought the Roman legionaries sheathed in iron, and the Cretans clad in jackets and thigh-pieces of leather. The largedogs of war, shortly unchained, leaped at the throats of theirassailants, often bearing them over backwards with their furious dashes. Their terrible jaws not being able to pierce either helmet orbreastplate, they devoured the faces of their victims, killing withoutonce letting go their grips. The Cretan archers, almost withoutdefensive armor, were snatched by the legs, arms, shoulders, anywhere. Each bite of these savage dogs carried away a chunk of bleeding flesh. 

Several steps from where I lay, I saw an archer of gigantic stature, calm in the midst of the tumult, choose from his quiver his sharpestarrow, lay it on the string of his bow, pull it with a sinewy arm, andtake long aim at one of the two chained _saldunes_, who, dragged down bythe fall of his comrade, now dead by his side, could only fight on oneknee. But so much the more valiantly did he ply his iron-capped staff. He swung it before him with such tireless dexterity that for some timenone dared to brave its blows, for each stroke carried death. The Cretanarcher, waiting for the proper moment, was again aiming at the_saldune_, when old Deber-Trud bounded forth. Held tight where I layunder the heap of dead which was crushing me, unable to move withoutcausing intense pain in my wounded thigh, I summoned all my remainingstrength to cry out:

"Hou! Hou! Deber-Trud--at the Roman. "

The dog, increasingly excited by my voice, which he recognized, dashedwith one bound upon the Cretan, at the moment when the arrow hissed fromthe string, and buried itself, still quivering, in the stalwart breastof the _saldune_. With this new wound his eyes closed, his heavy armslet fall the staff, his other knee gave way, his body sank to theground; but by a last effort, the _saldune_ rose on both knees, snatchedthe arrow from the wound, and threw it back at the Roman legionaries, calling in a voice still strong, and with a smile of supreme contempt:

"For you, cowards, who shelter your fear and your bodies under plates ofiron. The breastplate of the Gaul is his naked bosom. "[11]

And the _saldune_ fell dead upon the body of his brother-in-arms. 

Both of them were avenged by Deber-Trud. The terrible dog had hurleddown and was holding under his enormous paws the Cretan archer, who wasuttering frightful cries. With one bite of his fangs, as dangerous asthose of a lion, the dog tore his victim's throat so deeply that twojets of warm blood poured out on the archer's chest. Though still alive, the man could utter no sound. Deber-Trud, seeing that his prey stilllived, fell upon him, roaring furiously, swallowing or throwing asideshreds of severed flesh. I heard the sides of the Cretan crack and grindunder the teeth of Deber-Trud, who dug and dug, burying his bloodymuzzle up to the eyes in the man's chest. Then a legionary ran up andtransfixed Deber-Trud with one thrust of his lance. The dog gave not agroan. He died like a good war-dog, his monstrous head plunged in theRoman's entrails. [12]

After the death of the two _saldunes_, the defenders of the chariotsfell one by one. My mother Margarid, Martha, Henory, and the young girlsof the family, with burning eyes and cheeks, their hair flying, theirclothes disordered from the struggle, their arms and bosoms halfuncovered, were running fearlessly from one end of the chariot to theother, encouraging the combatants by voice and gesture, and casting atthe Romans with no feeble or untrained hands short pikes, knives, andspiked clubs. At last the critical moment came. All the men were killed, the chariot, surrounded by bodies piled half way up its sides, wasdefended only by the women. There they were, with my mother Margarid, five young women and six maidens, almost all of superb beauty, heightened by the ardor of battle. 

The Romans, sure of this prize of their obscene revels, and wishing totake it alive, consulted a moment on a plan of attack. I understood nottheir words, but from their coarse laugh, and the licentious looks whichthey threw upon the Gallic women, there could be no doubt as to thefate which awaited them. I lay there, broken, pinned fast; breathless, full of despair, horror, and impotent rage I lay there, seeing a fewsteps from me the chariot in which were my mother, my wife, mychildren. --Oh, wrathful heavens!--like one unable to awake from ahorrible dream, I lay there condemned to see all, hear all, and yet toremain motionless. 

An officer of savage and insolent mien advanced alone towards thechariot and addressed to the women some words in the Latin tongue whichthe soldiers received with roars of revolting laughter. My mother, calm, pale, and terrible, exhorted the young women around her to maintaintheir self-control. Then the Roman, adding a word or two, closed with anobscene gesture. Margarid happened at that moment to have in her hand aheavy axe. So straight at the officer's head she hurled it, that hereeled and fell. His fall was the signal for the attack. The legionariespressed forward to the capture of the chariot. Then the women rushed tothe scythes, which on each side defended the cart, and plied them withsuch vigor and harmony, that the Romans, seeing a great number of theirmen killed or disabled, conceived a wholesome fear for such terriblearms, so intrepidly plied. They suspended the attack, and, applyingtheir long lances after the fashion of crow-bars, succeeded, withoutapproaching too near, in shattering the handles of the scythes. Thissafeguard demolished, a new attack commenced. The issue was notdoubtful. While the scythes were falling under the blows of thesoldiers, my mother hurriedly said a few words to Martha and Henory. Thetwo, with a look of pride and determination on their faces, ran towardsthe cover which sheltered the children. Margarid also spoke to the youngchildless women, and they, as well as the young girls, took and piouslykissed her hands. 

At that moment, the last scythes fell. Margarid seized a sword in onehand and a white cloth in the other. She stepped to the front of thechariot, waved the white cloth, and threw away the sword, as if toannounce to the enemy that all the women wished to give themselves up. The soldiers, at first astonished at the proposed surrender, answeredwith laughs of ironical consent. Margarid seemed to be awaiting asignal. Twice she impatiently cast her eyes toward the shelter, wherethe two women had gone. Evidently, as the signal she seemed to wait forwas not given, she was trying to distract the enemy's attention, andagain waved her cloth, pointing alternately to the town of Vannes and tothe sea. 

The soldiers, unable to take in the meaning of these gestures, looked atone another questioningly. Then Margarid, after another hasty glance atthe redoubt, exchanged a few words with the girls round about her, seized a dagger, and, in quick succession struck three of the maidens, who had nobly bared their chaste bosoms to the knife. Meanwhile theother young women dispatched one another with steady hands. They hadjust fallen when Martha reappeared from the enclosure where the childrenhad been hidden during the battle. Proud and serene, she held her twolittle daughters in her arms. A spare wagon-pole stood in front of her, the upper extremity of which was at a considerable elevation from theground. She leaped on the edge of the car; a cord was around her neck. She passed the end of the cord through the ring at the extremity of thepole. Margarid steadied it in both hands. Martha leaped into the airwith outspread arms, and hung there, strangled. Her two little children, instead of falling to the ground, remained suspended on either side ofher breast, for she had passed the noose around their necks also. 

All this occurred so rapidly, that the Romans, at first struck dumb withastonishment and fear, had no time to prevent the heroic deaths. Theyhad barely recovered from their amazement when Margarid, seeing all herfamily either dying or dead at her feet, raised to heaven herblood-stained knife, and exclaimed in a calm and steady voice:

"Our daughters shall not be outraged; our children shall not beenslaved; all of us, of the family of Joel the brenn of the tribe ofKarnak, dead, like our husbands and brothers, for the liberty of Gaul, are on our way to rejoin them above. Perhaps, O Hesus, all this spilledblood will appease you;" and with a hand which did not waver, sheplunged the dagger into her own heart. 

All these terrible events which happened around the Chariot of Death Iwas compelled to behold, as I lay nearby, pinned to the ground. My wifeHenory not having emerged from the enclosure, I concluded that she hadput an end to herself there, first putting to death my little onesSylvest and Syomara. My brain began to reel, my eyes closed; I feltthat I was dying, and thanked Hesus for not leaving me behind alone whenall my dear ones were to enter together upon the other life in theunknown world. 

But, no, it was here below, on earth, that I was to return to life--toface new torments after those I had just undergone. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

AFTER THE BATTLE. 

After I had beheld my mother and all the other women of the tribe die toescape the shame and outrages of slavery, the blood which I had lostcaused me to swoon away. A long time passed in which I was bereft ofreason. When my senses returned, I found myself lying on straw, alongwith a great number of other men, in a vast shed. At my first motion Ifound myself chained by the leg to a stake driven into the ground. I washalf clad; they had left me my shirt and breeches, in a secret pocket ofwhich I had hidden the writings of my father and of my brother Albinik, together with the little gold sickle, the gift of my sister Hena. Adressing had been put on my wounds, which no longer occasioned me muchpain. I experienced only a great weakness and dizziness which made mylast memories a confused mass. I looked about me. I was one of perhapsfifty wounded prisoners, all chained to their litters. At the furtherend of the shed were several armed men, who did not bear the appearanceof regular Roman troops. They were seated round a table, drinking andsinging. Some among them, who carried short-handled scourges twisted ofseveral thongs and terminating in bits of lead, detached themselvesfrom time to time from the group, and walked here and there with theuncertain gait of drunken men, casting jeering looks on the prisoners. Next to me lay an aged man with white hair and beard, very pale andthin. A bloody band half hid his forehead. He was sitting up, his elbowson his knees, and his face between his hands. Seeing him wounded and aprisoner, I concluded he was a Gaul. I did not err. 

"Good father, " I said to him, laying my hand lightly upon the old man'sarm, "where are we?"

Slowly raising his sad and mournful visage, the old prisoner answeredcompassionately:

"Those are the first words you have spoken for two days. "

"For two days?" I repeated, greatly astonished. I was unable to believeso much time had passed since the battle of Vannes. I sought to recallmy wandering memory. "Is it possible? What, I have been here two days?"

"Yes, and you have been unconscious, in a delirium. The physician whodressed your wounds made you take several potions. "

"Now I recall it confusedly. And also--a ride in a chariot?"

"Yes, to come here from the battle-ground. I was with you in thechariot, whither they carried you wounded and dying. "

"And here we are--?"

"At Vannes. "

"Our army?"

"Destroyed. "

"Our fleet?"

"Annihilated. "[13]

"O, my brother, and your courageous wife Meroë, both dead also!" flashedthrough my mind. "And Vannes, where we are, " I added aloud to mycompanion, "Vannes is in the power of the Romans?"

"Even as the whole of Brittany, they say. "

"And the Chief of the Hundred Valleys?"

"He has fled into the mountains of Ares with a handful of cavalry. TheRomans are in pursuit of him. " Then raising his eyes to heaven, hecontinued, "May Hesus and Teutates protect that last defender of theGauls!"

I had put these questions while my thoughts were still disordered. Butwhen I recalled the struggle at the chariot of war, the death of mymother, my father, my brother Mikael, my brother's wife and his twochildren, and finally, the almost certain death of my own wife with herson and daughter--for up to the moment when I lost consciousness I hadnot seen Henory leave the shelter behind the chariot--when I recalledall that, I heaved, in spite of myself, a great sigh of despair atfinding myself alone in the world. I buried my face in the straw to shutout the light of day. 

One of the tipsy keepers became irritated at hearing my moans, andshowered several cruel blows of the scourge, accompanied with oaths, upon my shoulders. Forgetting the pain in the shame that I felt at thethought of me, the son of Joel, being struck with the lash, I leaped tomy feet notwithstanding my weakness, intending to throw myself upon thekeeper. But my chain, sharply tightened by the jerk, checked me, andmade me trip and fall upon my knees. The keeper, enabled by the lengthof his scourge to keep out of the prisoners' reach, thereupon redoubledhis blows, lashing me across the face, chest, and back. Other keepersran up, fell upon me, and slipped manacles of iron upon my wrists. 

Oh, my son, my son! You, for whose eyes I write all this down, obedientto the wishes of my father, never do yourself forget, and let also yoursons preserve the memory of this outrage, the first that our stock everunderwent. Live, that you may avenge the outrage in due time. And if youcannot, let your sons wreak vengeance upon the Romans therefore. 

With my feet chained and my hands in irons, unable to move, I did notwish to afford my tormentors the spectacle of impotent rage. I closed myeyes and lay still, betraying neither anger nor grief, while thekeepers, provoked by my calmness, beat me furiously. Presently, however, a strange voice having interposed and spoken a few angry words in theLatin tongue, the blows ceased. I opened my eyes and three newpersonages stood before me. One of them was speaking rapidly to thekeepers, gesticulating angrily, and pointing at me from time to time. This man was short and stout; he had a very red face, white hair andpointed grey beard. He wore a short robe of brown wool, buck-skinstocks, and low leather boots; he was not dressed in the Roman fashion. Of the two men who accompanied him, one, dressed in a long black robe, had a grave and sinister mien. The other held a casket under his arm. While I was gazing at these persons, my aged neighbor called myattention with a rapid glance to the fat little man with the red faceand the white hair, who was conversing with the keepers, and said to mewith a look of anger and disgust:

"The horse-dealer; the horse-dealer!"

"What are you talking about?" I answered him, unable to understand whathe meant. "A horse-dealer?"

"That is what the Romans call the slave merchants. "[14]

"How! They traffic in wounded men?" I asked the old man in surprise. "Are there men who buy the dying?"

"Do you not know, " he answered with a somber smile, "that after thebattle of Vannes there were more dead than living, and not an unwoundedGaul? Upon these wounded men, in default of more able-bodied prey, theslave-dealers who follow the Roman army fell like so many ravens uponcorpses. "

There was no more room for doubt. I realized that I was a slave. I hadbeen bought. I would be sold again. The "horse-dealer, " having finishedspeaking to the keepers, approached the old man, and said to him inGallic, but with an accent that proved his foreign origin:

"My old Pierce-Skin--how has your neighbor come on? Has he at lastrecovered from his stupor? Is he at last able to speak?"

"Ask him, " snapped the old man, turning over on the straw. "He'll answeryou himself. "

The "horse-dealer" thereupon walked over to my side. He seemed no longerangry. His countenance, naturally jovial, was beaming. Putting his twohands on his knees, he stooped down to me; grinned at me; and spoke tome hurriedly, often putting questions which he answered himself, notseeming to care whether I heard him or not. 

"You have, then, recovered your spirits, my fine Bull? Yes? Ah, so muchthe better! By Jupiter, it's a good sign. Now your appetite will return, and it is returning, isn't it? Still better! Before eight days you willbe in fine feather. Those brutes of keepers, always in their cups, scourged you, did they? Yes? I'm not a bit surprised--they never doanything else. The wine of Gaul makes them stupid. To strike you! Tostrike you! And that when you can hardly stand up; besides the fact thatin men of the Gallic race, choler is likely to produce bad results. Butyou are no longer angry, are you? No! So much the better! It is I whoshould be provoked at those tipsters. Suppose the fury raging in yourblood had stifled you! But, bah! those brutes care little for making melose twenty-five or thirty gold sous, [15] which you will presently beworth to me, my fine Bull. But for greater safety I'll have you taken toa shelter where you will be alone and better off than here. It wasoccupied by a wounded fellow who died last night--a superb fellow. That was a loss! Ah, commerce is not all gain. Come, follow me. "

He set to work to unfasten my chain by a secret spring. I asked him whyhe always called me "Bull. " I would have preferred by far the keeper'slash to the jovial loquacity of this trafficker in human flesh. Certainnow that I was not dreaming, still I could hardly accept the reality ofwhat I saw. Unable to resist, I followed the man. At least I would nolonger be under the eyes of the keepers who beat me, and the sight ofwhom made my blood boil. I made an effort to raise myself, but myweakness was still excessive. The "horse-dealer" unhooked the chain, andheld one end. As my hands were still shackled, the man with the longblack robe and the one who carried the casket took me under the arms, and led me to the extremity of the shed. They made me mount severalstairs and enter a small room that was lighted through an iron-barredopening. I looked through the opening and recognized the great square ofthe town of Vannes, and, in the distance, the house where I had oftengone to see my brother Albinik and his wife. In the room were a stool, atable, and a long box of fresh straw, in place of the one in which theother slave had died. I was made to sit on the stool. The black-robedman, a Roman physician, examined my two wounds, constantly conversing inhis own language with the "horse-dealer. " He took various salves fromthe casket which his companion was carrying, dressed my hurts, and wentto render his services to the other slaves, not, however, before helpingthe "horse-dealer" to fasten my chain to the wooden box which servedas my bed. The physician then took his departure, and left me alone withmy master. 

CHAPTER IX. 

MASTER AND SLAVE. 

"By Jupiter, " began my master immediately after the departure of thephysician. "By Jupiter, " he repeated in his satisfied and hilariousmanner, so revolting to me: "Your injuries are healing so fast that youcan see them heal, a proof of the purity of your blood; and with pureblood there are no such things as wounds, says the son of Aesculapius. But here you are back in your senses, my brave Bull. You are going toanswer my questions, aren't you? Yes? Then, listen to me. "

Drawing from his pocket a stylus and a tablet, covered with wax, the"horse-dealer" continued:

"I do not ask your name. You have no longer any name but that which Ihave given you, until your new owner shall name you differently. As forme, I have named you Bull[16]--a proud name, isn't it? You are worthy tobear it. It becomes you. So much the better. "

"Why have you named me Bull?"

"Why did I name that old fellow, your late neighbor, Pierce-Skin?Because his bones stick out through his skin. But you, apart from yourtwo wounds, what a strong constitution you have! What broad shoulders!What a chest! What a back! What powerful limbs!" While pouring out thesepraises, the "horse-dealer" rubbed his hands and gazed at me withsatisfaction and covetousness, already figuring in advance the price Iwould fetch. "And your height! It exceeds by a palm that of the nexttallest captive in my lot. So, seeing you so robust, I have named youBull. Under that name you are entered in my inventory, at your number;and under that name will you be cried at the auction!"

I knew that the Romans sold their slaves to the slave merchants. I knewthat slavery was horrible, and I approved of a mother's killing herchildren sooner than have them live a captive's life. I knew that aslave became a beast of burden. While the "horse-dealer" was speaking, Idrew my hand across my forehead to make sure that it was really I, Guilhern, the son of Joel the brenn of the tribe of Karnak, a son ofthat free and haughty race, whom they were treating like a beef for themart. The shame of a life of slavery seemed to me insupportable, and Itook heart at the resolve to flee at the first opportunity, or to killmyself and thus rejoin my relatives. That thought calmed me. I hadneither the hope nor the desire to learn whether my wife and childrenhad escaped death; but remembering that I had seen neither Henory, Sylvest nor Syomara come from the enclosure behind the war-chariot, Isaid to the "horse-dealer":

"Where did you purchase me?"

"In the place where we make all our purchases, my fine Bull. On thefield of battle, after the combat. "

"So it was on the battlefield of Vannes you bought me?"

"The same. "

"You doubtlessly picked me up at the place where I fell?"

"Yes, there was a great pile of you Gauls there, in which there wereonly you and three others worth taking, among them that great booby, your neighbor--you know, Pierce-Skin. The Cretan archers gave him to mefor good measure[17] after the sale. That is the way with you Gauls. Youfight so desperately that after a battle live captives are exceedinglyrare, and consequently priceless. I simply can't put out much money, soI must come down to the wounded ones. My partner, the son ofAesculapius, goes with me to the battlefield to examine the wounded menand guard the ones I choose. Thus, in spite of your two wounds and yourunconsciousness, the young doctor said to me, after examining you andsounding your hurts, 'Buy, my pal, buy. Nothing but the flesh is cut, and that is in good condition; that will lower the value of yourmerchandise but little, and will prevent any breach of contract. '[18]Then you see, I, a real 'horse-dealer' who knows the trade, I said tothe archers, poking you with my foot, 'As to that great corpse there, who has no more than his breath, I don't want him in my lot at all. '"

"When I used to buy cattle in the market, " I said to the "horse-dealer, "mockingly, "when I used to buy cattle in the market, I was less skilfulthan you. "

"Oh, that is because I am an old hand, and know my trade. So the Cretansanswered me, seeing that I didn't think much of you, 'But this thrust ofthe lance and this saber-cut are mere scratches. ' 'Scratches, mymasters!' said I in my turn, 'but it's no use poking or turning him, 'and I kicked you and turned you over, 'See, he gives no sign of life. Heis dying, my noble sons of Mars. He is already cold. ' In short, my fineBull, I had you for two sous of gold. "

"I see I cost but little; but to whom will you sell me?"

"To the traffickers from Italy and the southern part of Gaul. They buytheir slaves second-hand. Several of them have already arrived here, andhave commenced making their purchases. "

"And they will take me far away?"

"Yes, unless you are bought by one of those old Roman officers, who, toomuch disabled to follow a life of war, wish to found military colonieshere, in accordance with the orders of Caesar. "

"And thus rob us of our lands!"

"Of course. I hope to get out of you twenty-five or thirty gold sous, atleast, and more if you are of an occupation easy to dispose of, such asa blacksmith, carpenter, mason, goldsmith, or some other good trade. It is in order to find that out that I am questioning you, so as towrite it in my bill of sale. So, let us see:" (and the "horse-dealer"took up his tablet and began writing with his stylus) "Your name? Bull. Race, Breton Gaul. I can see that at a glance. I am a connoisseur. Iwould not take a Breton for a Bourgignon, nor a Poitevin for anAuvergnat. I sold lots of Auvergnats last year, after the battle of Puy. Your age?"

"Twenty-nine. "

"Age, twenty-nine, " he wrote on his tablet. "Your occupation?"

"Laborer. "

"Laborer, " repeated the "horse-dealer" in a surprised and injured tone, scratching his ear with his stylus. "You are nothing but a laborer? Youhave no other profession?"

"I am a soldier also. "

"Oh, a soldier. He who wears the iron collar has no more to do withlance or sword. So then, " added the "horse-dealer, " reading from histablet with a sigh:

"No. 7. Bull; race, Breton Gaul; of great strength and very greatheight; aged twenty-nine years; excellent laborer. " Then he said:

"Your character?"

"My character?"

"Yes, what is it? rebellious or docile? open or sly? violent orpeaceable? gay or moody? The buyers always inquire as to the characterof the slave they are buying, and although one may not be compelled toanswer them, it is a bad business to deceive them. Let us see, friendBull, what is your character? In your own interest, be truthful. Themaster who buys you will sooner or later know the truth, and will makeyou pay more dearly for your lie than I would. "

"Then write upon your tablet: 'The draft-bull loves servitude, cherishesslavery, and licks the hand that strikes him. '"

"You are joking. The Gallic race love service? As well say that theeagle or the falcon loves his cage. "

"Then write that when his strength has come back, the Bull at the firstchance will break his yoke, gore his master, and fly to the woods tolive in freedom. "

"There is more truth in that. Those brutes of keepers who beat you toldme that at the first touch of the lash you gave a terrible jump thelength of your chain. But, you see, friend Bull, if I offer you to thepurchasers with the dangerous account which you give, I shall find fewcustomers. An honest merchant should not boast his merchandise too much, no more should he underestimate it. So I shall announce your characteras follows. " And he wrote:

"Of a violent character, sulky, because of his not being accustomed toslavery, for he is still green; but he can be broken in by using atdifferent times gentleness, severity and chastisement. "

"Go over it again. "

"Over what?"

"The description I am to be sold under. "

"You are right, my son. We must make sure that the description soundswell to the ear. Imagine that I am the auctioneer, thus:

"No. 7. Bull; race, Breton Gaul; of great strength and very greatheight; aged twenty-nine years; excellent laborer; of a violentcharacter, sulky, because of his not being accustomed to slavery, for heis still green; but he can be broken in by application of gentleness, severity, and chastisement. "

"That is what is left of a free and proud man whose only crime is havingdefended his country against Caesar!" I cried bitterly. "And yet I didnot kill that same Caesar, who has reduced our people to slavery and isnow about to divide among his soldiers the lands of our fathers, I didnot kill him when I was making off with him on my horse!"

"You, my fine Bull, you took great Caesar prisoner?" asked the"horse-dealer" mockingly. "It's too bad I can't proclaim that at theauction. It would make a rare slave of you. "

I reproached myself for having uttered before that trafficker in humanflesh words which resembled a regret or a complaint. Coming back to myfirst thought, which made me endure patiently the loquacity of the man, I said to him:

"When you picked me up where I fell on the battlefield, did you see hardby a war chariot harnessed to four black bulls, with a woman and twochildren hanging from the pole?"

"Did I see them? Did I see them!" exclaimed the "horse-dealer" with amournful sigh. "Ah, what excellent goods lost! We counted in thatchariot eleven young women and girls, all beautiful--oh, beautiful!--worth at least forty or fifty gold sous apiece--but dead. They had all killed themselves. They were no good to anyone. "

"And in the chariot were there no women nor children still alive?"

"Women? No, --alas, no. Not one, to the great loss of the Roman soldiersand myself. But of children, there were, I believe, two or three who hadsurvived the death which those fierce Gallic women, furious aslionesses, wished to inflict upon them. "

"And where are they?" I exclaimed, thinking of my son and daughter, whowere, perhaps, among them, "where are those children? Answer! Answer!"

"I told you, my Bull, that I buy only wounded persons; one of my fellowsbought the lot of children, and also some other little ones, for theypicked up some alive from the other chariots. But what does it matter toyou whether or not there are children to sell?"

"Because I had a son and a daughter in that chariot, " I answered, myheart bursting. 

"And how old were they?"

"The girl was eight, the boy nine. "

"And your wife?"

"If none of those eleven women found in the chariot were living, my wifeis dead. "

"Isn't that too bad--too bad! Your wife had already borne you twochildren; you four would have made a fine deal. Ah, what a losttreasure!"

I repressed a gesture of impotent anger at the scoundrel, and answered:

"Yes, they would have billed us as the Bull and the Heifer!"

"Surely! And since Caesar is going to distribute much of yourdepopulated country among his veterans, those who have no reserveprisoners will be under the necessity of buying slaves to cultivate andre-people their parcels of land. You are of that strong rustic race, andconsequently I have hopes of getting a good price for you from some newcolonist. "

"Listen to me. I would rather know that my son and daughter were dead, like their mother, than have them saved to be slaves. Nevertheless, since there were found near the chariot some children who hadsurvived--a thing that astonishes me, since the women of Gaul alwaysstrike with a firm and sure hand when it is a case of snatching theirrace from shame--it is possible that my children may be among thosefound. How can I find out?"

"What good will finding out do you?"

"I will at least have with me my two children. "

The "horse-dealer" began to laugh, shrugged his shoulders, and answered:

"Then you didn't hear me? By Jupiter, I advise you not to be deaf--youwould be returned to me. I told you that I neither bought nor soldchildren. "

"What does that matter to me?"

"Among a hundred purchasers of slaves for farm-hands, there would not beten so foolish as to buy a man and his two children, without theirmother. So that to offer you for sale with two brats, if they are stillliving, would make me lose half your value by burdening your purchaserwith two useless mouths. Do you catch on; thick-head? No, for you lookat me with a ferocious and stupefied air. I repeat that if I had beenobliged to buy the two children in one lot with you, or even if they hadbeen given to me to boot, in the market, like old Pierce-Skin, my firstcare would have been to have put you up for sale without them. Do youunderstand at last, double and triple block that you are?"

At last I did understand; heretofore I had not dreamed of suchrefinement of torture in slavery. To think that my two children, ifalive, might be sold, I know not where, or to whom, and taken far fromme! I had not thought it possible. My heart swelled with grief. So greatwas my suffering that I almost supplicated the "horse-dealer. " I said tohim:

"You are deceiving me. What can my children do? Who would wish to buysuch poor little things, so young? useless mouths--as you saidyourself?"

"Oh, those who carry on the trade in children have a separate andassured patronage, especially if the children are favored with prettyfeatures. Are your young ones good-looking?"

"Yes, " I answered in spite of myself. Before me was the vision of thecharming fair faces of my little Sylvest and Syomara, who looked as muchalike as twins and whom I had embraced a moment before the battle ofVannes. "Oh yes, they were good-looking. They were like their mother, who was so beautiful--!"

"If they had good looks, be easy, my fine Bull. They will be easy todispose of. The dealers in children have for their especial patrons thedecrepit and surfeited Roman Senators, who love fresh fruits. By theway, they have announced the near arrival of the patrician Trymalcion, a very rich and very noble man, an old and very capricious expert. He istraveling through the Roman colonies of southern Gaul, and is expectedhere, they say, on his galley which is as splendid as a palace. No doubthe would like to take back to Italy some graceful specimens of Gallicbrats. If your children are pretty, their fate is assured, for thepatrician Trymalcion is one of my partner's patrician customers. "[19]

At first I listened to the "horse-dealer, " without catching his meaning. But I was presently seized with a vertigo of horror at the idea that mychildren, who might unfortunately have escaped the death which theirfar-sighted mother had intended for them, might be carried to Italy tofulfill such a monstrous destiny. I felt neither anger nor fury, but agrief so great, and a fear so terrible, that I kneeled on the straw, andin spite of my manacles, stretched my pleading hands toward the"horse-dealer. " Not finding words to utter my feelings, I wept, kneeling. 

The "horse-dealer" looked at me in great surprise, and said:

"Well, well! What is it, my fine Bull? What ails you?"

"My children!" was all I could say, for sobs choked me. "My children! ifthey are living!"

"Your children?"

"What you said--the fate that awaits them--if they are sold to thosemen--"

"How? Their fate causes you alarm?"

"Hesus! Hesus!" I exclaimed, calling on the god in my lamentation. "Itis horrible!"

"Are you going crazy?" demanded the "horse-dealer. " "And what is thereso horrible in the fate which awaits your children? Ah, what barbariansyou are in Gaul, indeed. But, know: there is no life easier nor moreflowery than that of these little flute-players and dancers with whichthese rich old fellows amuse themselves. If you could see them, thelittle rogues, their foreheads crowned with roses, their flowery robesspangled with gold, their rich earrings adorning their heads. And thelittle girls, if you could see them with their tunics and--"

I could contain myself no longer. A bloody mist passed before my eyes. Furiously and desperately I leapt on the vile fellow. But my chain againtightening sharply, I stumbled and fell back on the straw. I lookedaround me--not a stick nor a stone. Then, crazed with rage, I doubledupon my chain, and gnawed at it like a wild animal. 

"What a brute of a Gaul!" exclaimed the "horse-dealer, " shrugging hisshoulders, and keeping well out of reach. "There he is, roaring andjumping and grinding at his chain like a staked wolf, and all because hehas been told that his children, if they are pretty, are to live in themidst of wealth, ease and pleasure! What would it have been, then, foolthat you are, if they were ugly or deformed? Do you know to whom theywould have been sold? They would have been sold to those rich lords, whoare so curious to read the future in the palpitating entrails ofchildren freshly slaughtered for divination. "[20]

"Oh, Hesus!" I cried, filled with hope at the thought, "let it be sowith mine, despite their beauty! Oh, death for them! Only let them enterthe other world in their innocence, and live near their chaste mother. "I could no longer hold back my tears. 

"Friend Bull, " began the "horse-dealer" in a dissatisfied tone, "I wasnot a bit mistaken in putting you down in my tablet as violent andhot-headed. But I fear lest you have a fault worse than these--I mean atendency towards tears. I have seen sullen slaves melt away like thesnows of winter under a spring sun, dry up like parchment, and causegreat loss to their owners by their pitiful appearance. So, look out foryourself. There remain but fifteen days before the auction at which youare to be sold. It is a short while to restore you to your naturalfleshiness, to give you a fresh and rested complexion, a sleek andsupple skin, in short, all those signs of vigor and health which allurethe experts, jealous of possessing a sound and robust slave. To obtainthis result, I wish to spare nothing, neither good food, nor care, norany of those little artifices known to us to make our merchandise showoff to advantage. On your part you must second my efforts. But if, onthe contrary, you do not get over your fits of anger, if you begin toweep, if you begin to make yourself miserable, to waste away, so tospeak, vainly dreaming of your children, instead of affording me honorand profit by your good figure, as a good slave should who is jealousof his master's interests, --beware, friend Bull, beware! I am not anovice in my business. I have carried it on for many years and in manylands. I have subdued more intractable fellows than you. I have madeSardinians docile, and Sarmatians as gentle as lambs, so you can judgeof my skill. [21] Therefore, believe me, do not expect yourself to causeme harm by pining away. I am very mild, very gentle. I am not at allfond of chastisements; often they leave marks which lower a slave'svalue. Nevertheless, if you oblige me to, you will make the acquaintanceof the jail for recalcitrants. Consider that, friend Bull. It will soonbe meal-time; the physician says that you can now be put upon asubstantial diet. You will be brought boiled chicken, oatmeal wet withgravy of roast sheep, good bread, and some good wine and water. I shallknow whether you have eaten with a good appetite and in a manner torecuperate your strength, instead of losing it in weeping. So then, eat;it is the only way of gaining my favor. Eat plenty, eat often--I'll seethat you have it. You will never eat too much to please me, for you arefar from being well-fed, and that's what you must be, well-fed, beforefifteen days, the time of the auction. I leave you to these reflections;pray the gods that they improve you. If not--oh, if not, I weep for you, friend Bull. "

So saying the "horse-dealer" shut the heavy door of the room behind him, leaving me chained within. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE LAST CALL TO ARMS. 

But for my uncertainty concerning the fate of my children, immediatelyupon the "horse-dealer's" departure I would have killed myself bybutting my head against the wall of my prison, or by refusing allnourishment. Many Gauls had thus escaped the doom of slavery. But I feltthat I should not die before doing what I could to snatch them from thedestiny which menaced them. 

I examined my room to see whether, my strength once restored, there wasany chance for escape. Three sides of the room were solid wall, theother was a thick partition re-enforced with beams, between two of whichopened the door which was always carefully bolted without. A bar of ironcrossed the window, leaving an opening too narrow to give me passage. Iexamined my chain, and the rings, one of which was riveted to my leg, the other to one of the cross-bars of the bed. It was impossible for meto unchain myself, even at my greatest strength. I then thought of aplan, a trick, to put myself in the good graces of the "horse-dealer, "so as to obtain from him information of my little Sylvest and Syomara. With that end in view, it would not do to repine, to appear sad orafraid of the lot reserved for the children. I feared I might not beable to carry out the role, for I came of a race unaccustomed to deceitand lying. The Gauls either triumphed or died. 

On the evening of that same day when, regaining consciousness, I hadbecome aware of my slavery, I witnessed a spectacle of terriblegrandeur. It raised my courage. I could no longer despair for the safetyand liberty of Gaul. The night was about to fall, when I heard thetramping of several troops of cavalry arriving at a walk in the greatpublic square of Vannes, which I could see from the narrow window of myprison. I looked out, and beheld the following scene. 

Two cohorts of Roman infantry, and one of cavalry, both in battle array, surrounded a vacant space, in the middle of which rose a large scaffoldof timber. On the platform was a heavy block, such as is used forchopping meat on. Beside the block stood a Moor of gigantic stature andbronzed of color. His arms and legs were bare, his hair was bound with ascarlet band; he wore a coat and a pair of short trousers of tannedskin, splashed here and there with dark red; in his hand was an axe. 

In the distance sounded the long clarions of the Romans, playing afuneral march. The sound drew nearer. One of the cohorts that were drawnup on the square opened its ranks, forming a double row. Through thislane the clarioneers entered. They preceded a troop of steel-cladlegionaries. After the troop came the prisoners taken in the Gallicarmy, tied two and two. Then came the women and children, also inbonds. More than two stone's throws separated me from these captives. Atsuch a distance I could not distinguish their features, try as I might. Nevertheless, my little son and daughter might be among them. Theprisoners, of all ages and sexes, closed in by the two rows of soldiers, were stationed at the foot of the platform. Still more troops marchedinto the square; after them, five and twenty captives were led in, insingle file, but not chained. I recognized them by their free andhaughty pace. They were the chiefs and elders of the town and tribe ofVannes, all white-haired fathers. [22] Among them, marching last, Idistinguished two druids and a bard of the college of the forest ofKarnak, marked, the first by their long white robes, the second by histunic striped with purple. Then appeared more Roman infantry; finally, between two escorts of white-robed Numidian cavalry, Caesar, onhorse-back, in the midst of his officers. I recognized the scourge ofGaul by his armor, which was the same he wore when, aided by my brotherMikael the armorer, I was carrying him off in full panoply on my horse. Oh, how at the sight of the man I cursed anew my stupid astonishment, that so unfortunately proved the safety of my country's butcher. 

Caesar drew rein a short distance from the platform, and made a signwith his hand. Immediately the twenty-five prisoners, the bard anddruids passing last, mounted with calm tread the steps of the scaffold. One by one they placed their white heads on the block, and each one ofthe venerable heads, stricken off by the axe of the Moor, rolled at thefeet of the bound captives. 

The bard and the two druids were the only ones left. The three rushedtogether in a final embrace, they raised their faces and their handstowards heaven, and intoned in a loud voice the song of Hena, the virginof the isle of Sen, uttered at the hour of her voluntary sacrifice onthe rocks of Karnak, that song which had been the signal for the risingof Brittany against the Romans:

"Hesus, Hesus! By the blood which is about to flow, clemency for Gaul!"

"Gauls, by the blood which is about to flow, victory to our arms!"

And the bard added:

"The Chief of the Hundred Valleys is safe. There is hope for our arms!"

Thereupon all the Gallic captives, men, women, and children present atthe execution, all together repeated the last words of the druids, acclaiming them with so powerful a voice that the air shook even in myprison. After that supreme chant, the three placed their sacred heads inturn upon the block, and went the same way as the elders of Vannes. Asthe bard's and the druids' heads rolled upon the scaffold, all thecaptives took up the war-cry of the druids--"Strike the Roman! Strike atthe head!"--in a voice so fierce and menacing that the legionaries, lowering their lances, hurriedly surrounded the unarmed and chainedprisoners in a circle of iron, bristling with lance heads. But thatmighty voice of their brothers and sisters had reached the wounded menshut up in the slave-shed, and all, myself included, answered therefrain:

"Strike the Roman! Strike! Strike at the head! Strike the Roman hard!"

Thus ended the war in Brittany. Thus ended the call to arms made by thedruids from the heights of the sacred rocks of the forest of Karnak, after the sacrifice of Hena--the call to arms that led to the battle ofVannes. But in my lonely cell I did not yet lose hope. Our native Gaul, although invaded on all sides, would still resist. The Chief of theHundred Valleys, forced to leave Brittany, had gone to arouse theregions still unvanquished. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE SLAVES' TOILET. 

Night fell, and with it my spirits, in my lonely prison. 

Hesus! Hesus! I was left to the torture, not alone of my thoughts aboutmy sacred and beloved country, but also of my reflections concerning themisfortunes of my family. Alas, at every wound inflicted upon ourcountry our families bleed. 

Forcibly resigned to my lot, I little by little regained my naturalstrength, encouraged each day by the hope of obtaining from the"horse-dealer" some intelligence of my children. I described them to himas accurately as possible. Every day his report was that among thecaptives seen there were none answering to my description, but thatseveral merchants made a practice of hiding their choice slaves from alleyes until the day of the public sale. The dealer also informed me thatthe patrician Trymalcion, whose very name now made me shudder withhorror, had arrived at Vannes in his galley. 

The evening before the sale, the dealer entered my room. It was, almostdark. He brought in the meal himself, and waited on me. He brought as anextra a flagon of old Gallic wine. 

"Friend Bull, " said he, with his habitual joviality, "I am satisfiedwith you. Your skin is almost filled up. You have no more crazy spellsof anger, and if you don't appear exceedingly joyous, at least I nolonger find you sad and tearful. We will drink this flagon together, toyour happy placing with a good master, and to the gain which I shall getby you. "

"No, " I answered, "I shall not drink. "

"And why not?"

"Servitude sours wine, especially the wine of the country where one wasborn. "

"You respond ill to my kindness. You do not wish to drink? Suityourself. I would have liked to empty one cup to your happy placing, anda second to your reunion with your children. I have my reasons for thelatter. "

"What say you!" I cried aloud, filled with hope and anguish. "You knowsomething about them?"

"I know nothing about them, " he answered curtly, rising to go out. "Yourefuse my friendly advance. You have supped well--now sleep well. "

"But what do you know of my children? Speak, I beg you, speak!"

"Wine alone loosens my tongue, friend Bull, and I am not one of thosemen who loves to drink by himself. You are too proud to empty a cup withyour master. Sleep well till to-morrow, the day of the auction. "

He took another step toward the door. I feared that by refusing to yieldto the man's fancy I would anger him, and above all lose the chance ofobtaining news of my beloved children. 

"Do you really wish it?" I said. "Then I shall drink, and especiallyshall I drink to the hope of soon meeting my son and daughter. "

"You pray well, " answered the "horse-dealer" approaching his chattel, but keeping the chain's length away; then he poured me a full cup ofwine, and another for himself. I later recollected that the man had heldthe cup a long time to his lips, but without my being able to seewhether he drank or not. "Come, " he added. "Come, let us drink to thegood gain I shall make on you!"

"Yes, let us drink to the hope of meeting my children. "

I emptied my cup. The wine seemed excellent. 

"I made you a promise, " began the dealer, "I shall keep my promise. Youtold me that the chariot which held your family on the day of the battleof Vannes was harnessed to four black oxen?"

"Yes. "

"Four black oxen, with a little white mark in the middle of theirforeheads?"

"Yes, all four were brothers, and alike, " I answered, unable to repressa sigh at the thought of that fine yoke, raised on our own meadows, which my father and mother had always admired. 

"Those oxen carried on their necks leathern collars trimmed with littlebrass bells like this one?" continued the "horse-dealer, " fumbling inhis pocket, out of which he drew a little brass bell that he held upbefore me. 

I recognized it. It had been made by my brother Mikael, the armorer, and bore the mark with which he stamped all the articles of hisfashioning. 

"This bell comes from our oxen, " I answered. "Will you give it to me? Ithas no value. "

"What, " asked the dealer, laughing, "do you want to hang bells at yourneck too, friend Bull? It is your right. Here, take it. I brought itonly to know from you if the yoke it came from was of your family'schariot. "

"Yes, " I replied, putting the bell into my breeches pocket, as, perhaps, the only reminder of the past which might be left to me. "Yes, that yokewas ours. But it seems to me that I saw two of the oxen fall wounded inthe fight. "

"You are not mistaken. Two of the oxen were killed in the battle. Theother two, though slightly wounded, are alive, and were bought by one ofmy companions, who also bought three children left in the chariot. Twoof them, a little boy and a little girl of about eight or nine, stillhad the cord around their necks. But my companion who found them wasluckily able to bring them back to life. "

"Where is that merchant?" I asked, in a tremble. 

"Here, at Vannes. You will see him to-morrow. We drew lots for ourplaces at the auction, our stands are opposite to each other. If thechildren he is to sell are yours, you will be near them. "

"Shall I be really close?"

"You will be as close to them as twice the length of your room. But whydo you press your hands to your forehead?"

"I don't know. It is a long time since I have drunk wine. The glow ofwhat you poured out to me has gone to my head--a few seconds ago--I feelgiddy. "

"That proves, friend Bull, that my wine is generous, " answered the"horse-dealer" with a strange smile, and stepping out, he called to oneof the keepers. Presently he returned with a chest under his arm. Hecarefully shut the door, and hung a piece of curtain before the window, to prevent anyone looking from without into the room, which was nowlighted by a lamp. That done, he again passed his eyes very attentivelyover me, without saying a word, all the while opening his chest, fromwhich he took several flasks, sponges, a little silver vase with a longcurved tube, and also several instruments, one of which seemed verykeen. I watched my master closely, feeling an inexplicable numbnessgradually creeping over me. My heavy eye-lids fell once or twice inspite of myself. I had been seated on my bed of straw, to which I wasstill chained; but now I was compelled to lean my head against the wall, so heavy had it grown. Noticing the effect of the wine upon me, the"horse-dealer" said:

"Friend Bull, do not be disturbed at what is happening to you. "

"What--" I answered, trying to shake off my stupor, "What is happeningto me?"

"You feel a sort of half-drowse creeping over you in spite of yourresistance. "

"True. "

"You hear me, you see me, but as if your ears and eyes were covered witha veil. "

"It is true, " I murmured, for my voice also was growing weak, andwithout experiencing any pain, my whole life seemed to be little bylittle ebbing out. Nevertheless, I made an effort, and said to the man:

"Why am I in this condition!"

"Because I have prepared you for the slaves' toilet. "

"A toilet?"

"I possess, friend Bull, certain magic philters to increase theattractiveness of my merchandise. Although you are now quite well filledout, the deprivation of exercise and the open air, the fever which yourwounds caused, the sadness which captivity always occasions, and manyother things, have dried and dulled your skin, and turned you yellow. But thanks to my philters, to-morrow morning you will have a skin asfresh and sleek, and a color as ruddy as if you were coming in from thefields some lovely spring morning, my fine rustic. That appearance willlast barely a day or two, but I expect, by Jupiter, to have you sold byto-morrow evening, free to turn yellow and waste away under your newmaster. So I am going to commence by stripping you, and anointing youwith this preparation of oil. " The "horse-dealer" unlocked one of hisflasks. [23]

The performance affected me as so deep a disgrace put upon my dignity, that in spite of the numbness which was more and more depressing me, Isprang to my feet, and shaking my hands and arms, then unshackled, criedout:

"To-day I have no manacles on. If you come near I will strangle you!"

"I foresaw all that, friend Bull, " chuckled the "horse-dealer, " calmlypouring the oil of his flask into a vase and soaking a sponge in it. "Iknew you would get hot and resist. I might have had you bound by thekeepers, but in your violence you would have bruised your limbs, adetestable sign for the sale. These bruises always denote a stubbornslave. And all the time, what cries you would have let out! What arebellion, when your head had to be shaved, in token of your slavery!"

At this last insulting threat, I called up all my remaining strength. Iarose, and threateningly cried out at the dealer:

"By Ritha-Gaur, the saint of the Gauls, who made himself a shirt of thebeards of the kings he had shaved, if you dare to touch a single hair ofmy head, I'll kill you!"[24]

"Oh, oh! Reassure yourself, friend Bull, " answered the "horse-dealer, "pointing to his little sharp instrument. "Reassure yourself. I shall notcut a single one of your hairs--but all. "

I could retain my standing position no longer. Swaying on my legs like adrunken man, I fell back on the straw, and heard the "horse-dealer"burst out laughing, and, while still pointing at his steel instrument, say:

"Thanks to this, your forehead will soon be as bald as that of the greatCaesar, whom, you say, you carried on your horse in full armor. And themagic philter which you drank in that Gallic wine will put you at mymercy, quiet as a corpse. "

The "horse-dealer" spoke true. These words were the last I remember. Aleaden torpor fell upon me, and I lost all knowledge of what was donewith me. 

CHAPTER XII. 

SOLD INTO BONDAGE. 

The experience of that evening was only the prelude for a horrid day, aday doubly horrid due to the mystery that surrounded it. 

Aye, to this hour, when I write this for you, O my son Sylvest, to theend that from this truthful and detailed account, in which I recite toyou one by one the torments and the indignities heaped upon our countryand our race, you may contract a hate implacable for the Romans, whileawaiting the day of vengeance and deliverance;--aye, to this hour themysteries of that horrid day of sale are still impenetrable to me, unless they be explained by the sorceries of the "horse-dealer, " many ofhis people being given to magic. But our venerable druids affirm thatmagic does not exist. 

The day of the auction I was roused from my stupor by my master. I hadslept profoundly. I remembered what had occurred the previous evening. My first movement was to carry my hands to my head. It was shaved, andmy beard also! A thrill of anguish shot through me at the discovery; butinstead of flying into a rage, as I would have done the evening before, I only shed a few tears, fearfully regarding the "horse-dealer. " Aye, Icried before that man--aye, I looked at him with fear. 

What could have come over me during the night? Was I still under theinfluence of the philter poured into the wine? No, my torpor had gone. Ifound myself active of body, and in sound mind, but in character andheart I found myself softened, enervated, timid, --and, why not say theword?--cowardly! Aye, cowardly! I, Guilhern, son of Joel, the brenn ofthe tribe of Karnak. I looked timidly around me. Every minute my heartseemed to sink, and tears came to my eyes, as formerly the flush ofanger and pride had mantled my forehead. Of this inexplicabletransformation, due, perhaps, to sorcery, I was dimly conscious andwondered thereat. Down to this day, when I recall the incident, Iwonder, and none of the details of the horrid day has escaped from mymemory. 

The "horse-dealer" observed me in silence with an air of triumph. He hadleft me my breeches only. I was stripped to the waist. I was seated onmy bed of straw. The dealer addressed me:

"Get up!" said he. 

I hastened to obey. My master drew from his pocket a steel mirror, handed it to me, and resumed:

"Look at yourself!"

I looked at myself. Thanks to the witch-craft of my master, my cheekswere red, my face clear, as if awful misfortune had not settled upon meand my family. Nevertheless, on seeing for the first time in the mirrormy face and head completely shaved, as the badge of my bondage, I shedfresh tears, but tried to hide them from the "horse-dealer, " for fearof annoying him. He replaced the mirror in his pocket, took from thetable a braided wreath of beech leaves, [25] and said:

"Put your head down. "

I obeyed. The dealer put the wreath on my head. Then he took a parchmenton which were written several lines in large Roman characters, and hungthe inscription on my chest by means of two strings which he tied behindmy neck. Over my shoulders he threw a woolen covering. Then he openedthe secret spring which held my chain to the end of the bed, andfastened it to another iron ring which had been riveted on my otherankle during my heavy sleep. This way, although chained by both legs, Icould still walk with short steps. Finally, my hands were bound behindme. 

Obedient to the "horse-dealer's" orders, whom I followed as quiet andsubmissive as a dog does his master, I descended the stairs which ledfrom my cell to the shed. The descent was affected not without pain tomy limbs owing to the shortness of the chain. In the shed I foundseveral captives, among whom I had passed my first night, lying uponstraw. No doubt their recovery was far enough advanced to admit of theirbeing put up for sale. Other slaves whose heads had likewise beenshaved, either by trick or by force, also wore wreaths on theirforeheads, inscriptions on their breasts, handcuffs on their hands andheavy shackles on their feet. They had started, under the supervision ofarmed keepers, to defile by a door which opened on the town square. Itwas there the auction sale was to be held. Nearly all the captivesseemed to me to be mournful, depressed and submissive like myself. Theylowered their eyes like men ashamed to look at one another. Among thelast, I recognized two or three men of my own tribe. One of them passedclose to me, and said in a low voice:

"Guilhern, we are shaven; but hair will grow again, and nails also. "

I comprehended that the Gaul wished to give me to understand that someday would come the hour of vengeance. But in the great cowardice whichparalyzed me since my awakening, such was my fear of the "horse-dealer"that I pretended not to understand my countryman. [26]

The space engaged by the "horse-dealer" for the auction was not a greatway from the shed where we had been kept prisoners. We speedily arrivedat a sort of booth or stall, surrounded on three sides by planks, covered with canvas, and with the floor strewn with straw. Other booths, similar to it, were arranged to the right and left of a long space likea street. In this space Roman officers and soldiery walked in crowds, together with the buyers and sellers of slaves and various other men whofollow in the wake of armies. They looked at the captives chained in thebooths with a jeering and insulting curiosity. My master had informedme that his stall in the market was directly opposite that of hiscompanion in whose possession were the two children. A cloth was loweredover the opening. I only heard, a few moments later, imprecations andpiercing shrieks, mingled with mournful moans, from women, who werecrying in Gallic:

"Death, death, but not disgrace!"

"Those timorous fools are playing the vestals, because they are strippednaked to be shown to the customers, " said the "horse-dealer, " who hadkept near me. Presently he took me to the rear of the booth. On the wayI counted nine captives, some in their youth, others middle-aged, andonly two were past their prime. Some were seated on the straw, theirfaces turned down to escape the looks of the curious, others were lyingprone, their faces to the ground; a few stood erect casting fierceglances around them. The keepers, their scourges in their hands, theirswords at their sides, kept watch. The "horse-dealer" pointed to awooden cage, a sort of large box at the back of the booth, and said tome:

"Friend Bull, you are the pearl, the carbuncle of my assortment. Enterthis cage. The comparisons which would be made between you and my otherslaves would lower their value too much. As a thrifty merchant, I willtry to sell first what is of least value. One sells the small fry beforethe big fish. "[27]

I obeyed. I went into the cage, and the door was closed upon me. Ifound that I could stand up. An opening through the top permitted me tobreathe without being seen from the outside. Just then a bell sounded. It was the signal for the sale. On all sides arose the squeaky voices ofthe auctioneers announcing the bids of the purchasers of human flesh. The merchants bragged their slaves in the Roman tongue, and invited thepurchaser into their booths. Several customers entered to inspect the"horse-dealer's" stock. Without understanding the words that he spoke, Iguessed by the inflections of his voice that he strove to capture them, while the auctioneer all the while called out the bids. From time totime a loud tumult arose in the booth, mingled with the sound of thekeepers' lashes, and the curses of the dealer. Evidently they werescourging some of my companions in slavery who refused to follow the newmaster to whom they had been "knocked down. " But speedily the clamorceased, choked off by the gag. Other times I heard the trampings of aconfused struggle, desperate, though muffled. These struggles also cameto an end under the efforts of the keepers. I was frightened at thecourage displayed by the captives. I no longer understood resistance orboldness. I was plunged into my cowardly sluggishness. All at once thedoor of my cage opened, and the "horse-dealer" cried out in great glee:

"All sold, save you, my pearl, my carbuncle. And by Mercury, to whom Ipromise an offering in recognition of my day's profits, I believe I havefound for you a purchaser by private contract. "

My master made me step out of my cage; I traversed the booth, in which Isaw not a single slave left. I found myself face to face with a grayhaired man, of a cold, hard countenance. He wore the military dress, limped very badly, and supported himself on a vine-wood cane, which wasthe mark of the centurion rank in the Roman army. The dealer lifted frommy shoulders the woolen covering in which I was wrapped, and left mestripped to the waist; he then made me get out of my breeches also. Mymaster, with the air of a man proud of his merchandise, thus exposed mynakedness to the customer. Several of the curious, assembled outside ofthe stall, looked in and contemplated me. I dropped my eyes in shame andsorrow, not in anger. 

After the prospective purchaser read the writing which hung from myneck, he looked me over carefully, answering with affirmative nods ofthe head to what the merchant, with his usual volubility, was saying tohim in Latin. Often he stopped to measure, with his spread out fingers, the size of my chest, the thickness of my arms, or the width of myshoulders. 

His first examination must have pleased the centurion, for my mastersaid to me: "Be proud for your master, friend Bull, your build is foundfaultless. 'See'--I just said to the customer--'would not the Greciansculptors have taken this superb slave as a model for a Hercules?' Mycustomer agreed with me. Now you must show him that your strength andagility are not inferior to your appearance. "

My master pointed to a lead weight in readiness for the trial, and saidto me while loosening my arms:

"Now put on your breeches again, then take this weight in your twohands, lift it over your head, and hold it there as long as you can. "

I was about, in my stupid docility, to do as I was bid, when thecenturion stooped towards the weight, and attempted to lift it from theground, which he did, with much difficulty, while my master said to me:

"This mischievous cripple is as foxy as myself. He knows that manydealers use hollow weights which appear to weigh two or three times asmuch as they actually do. Come, friend Bull, show this suspicious fellowthat you are as powerful as you are well built. "

My strength was not yet entirely returned. Nevertheless, I took theheavy weight in my hands, throwing it over my head, and balanced itthere a moment. A vague idea flitted at that instant across my mind tolet the weight fall on my master's skull, and thus crush him at my feet. But that gleam of my bygone courage died out, and I dropped the weighton the ground. The lame Roman seemed satisfied. 

"Better and better, friend Bull, " said my master to me, "by Hercules, your patron god, never did a slave do more honor to his owner. Yourstrength is demonstrated. Now let us witness your agility. Two keeperswill hold this wooden bar about half a yard from the ground. Althoughyour feet are in chains, you will jump over the bar several times. Nothing will better prove the strength and nimbleness of your muscles. "

In spite of my recent wounds, and the weight of my chain, I leapedseveral times with my joined feet over the bar, to the increasingsatisfaction of the centurion. [28]

"Better and better, " repeated my master. "You are proven as strong asyou are powerfully built, and as limber as both. It now remains toexhibit the inoffensive gentleness of your nature. As to this lastproof, I am, in advance, certain of your success, " saying which he againbound my hands behind my back. 

At first I did not understand what the dealer meant. But he took ascourge from the hand of a keeper, and pointing with its handle to me, spoke to the purchaser in a low voice. The latter made a gesture ofassent, and my master passed the scourge over to the centurion. 

"The old fox, still suspicious, fears that I would not strike you hardenough, friend Bull, " my master explained to me. "Come, do not make aslip. Do me this last honor, and gain me this last profit, by showingthat you endure chastisement patiently. "

Hardly had he pronounced the words, when the cripple rained a shower ofblows on my shoulders and chest. I felt neither shame nor indignation, only pain. I fell down on my knees in tears and begged for mercy. Outside, the curious crowd, gathered at the door, roared with laughter. 

The centurion, surprised at so much resignation in a Gaul, dropped thewhip, and looked at my master who by his gesture seemed to say:

"Did I deceive you?"

Thereupon, patting me with the flat of his hand on my lacerated back, the same as one would pat an animal that pleased him, my master said tome:

"If you are a bull for strength, you are a lamb for meekness. I expectedso. Now some questions as to your laborer's trade, and the sale isconcluded. The customer wishes to know in what place you were employed. "

"In the tribe of Karnak, " I answered, with a cowardly sigh, "there myfamily and I cultivated the lands of our fathers. "

The "horse-dealer" reported my answer to the cripple, who seemed bothsurprised and pleased. He exchanged a few words with the dealer, whocontinued:

"The customer asks where the lands and house of your fathers weresituated. "

"Not far to the east of the rocks of Karnak, on the heights of Craig'h. "

At this answer the Roman was so pleased that he seemed hardly to believewhat he heard, and the "horse-dealer" turned to me:

"That cripple beats all for distrustfulness. To be certain that I do notdeceive him, and that I have translated your words faithfully to him, hedemands that you trace before him on the sand, the position of the landsand house of your family with reference to the rocks of Karnak and thesea-shore. Unfortunately I don't know his reasons, for if it were aconvenience to him, I would make him pay for it. But do as he bidsyou. "

My hands were once more loosed. I took the handle of a lash from one ofthe keepers, and traced with it on the sand, followed by the eager eyesof the centurion, the location of the rocks of Karnak and the coast ofCraig'h, and then the place of our dwelling to the east of Karnak. 

The cripple clapped his hands for joy. He drew from his pocket a longpurse, took out a certain number of gold pieces, and offered them to the"horse-dealer. " After a long chaffer, seller and buyer finally reachedan agreement. 

"By Mercury, " said the dealer to me; "I have sold you for thirty-eightsous of gold, one-half cash as a deposit, the other half at the close ofthe market, when the lame fellow will come to fetch you. Was I wrongwhen I called you the carbuncle of my stock?" After exchanging a fewwords with the centurion, he turned to me:

"Your new master--and I can understand it, seeing he has paid so good aprice for you--your new master is of the opinion that you are notchained securely enough. He wants clogs fastened to your chain. He willcome for you in a chariot. "

In addition to my chain, I was loaded down with two heavy clogs of iron, which would have prevented me from moving except by leaping with bothfeet; even if I could lift so heavy a weight. My manacles were carefullyinspected and locked on my wrists, and I sat down in a corner of thestall while the dealer counted and recounted his gold. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE BOOTH ACROSS THE WAY. 

While I sat in my former master's stall awaiting the arrival of my newpurchaser to take me away, the cloth that covered the entrance of theopposite stall was raised. 

On one side were three beautiful young women, the same, I doubted not, who a little before had filled the air with groans and supplicationswhile their clothes were being torn off them, in order to exhibit theircharms to purchasers. They were still half nude, their feet bare, plastered with chalk[29] and fastened by rings to a long iron bar. Huddled close together, these three held one another in such closeembrace that two of them, still crushed down with shame, hid their facesin the bosom of the third. The latter, pale and somber, hung her head, letting her disheveled black hair fall before her bruised and nakedbreast--bruised no doubt in the vain struggle against the keepers whodisrobed her. A short distance from them, two little children, three orfour years old, bound around their waists merely by a light cordfastened to a stake, laughed and played in the straw with theheedlessness common to their age. The children evidently did not belongto either of the three women. 

At the other side of the stall I saw a matron of the noble carriage ofmy mother Margarid. Manacles were on her wrists, shackles on her ankles. She was standing, leaning against a beam to which she was chained by thewaist. She stood still as a statue; her grey hair disordered, her eyesfixed, her face livid and fearful. Time and again she gave vent to aburst of threatening and crazy laughter. Finally, at the rear of thestall, was a cage resembling the one which I myself had occupied. Inthat cage, if what the "horse-dealer" said was true, would be my twochildren. Tears filled my eyes. In spite of my weakness, the thought ofmy children, so close to me, caused a flush of warmth to rise to myface--a symptom of my returning powers. 

And now, Sylvest, my son, you for whom I write this report, read slowlywhat is now about to follow. Aye, read slowly, to the end that everyword may imbue your soul with its indelible hatred for the Romans--ahatred that I feel certain must some day, the day of vengeance, breakout with terrific force. Read, my son, and you will understand how yourmother, after having given life to you and your sister, after havingheaped all her tenderness upon you, could in the end give you nostronger proof of her maternal love than by endeavoring to kill you, tothe end that she might carry you hence, to return to life in the otherworld at her side and in the circle of our family. Alas! You survivedher foresight!

This, my son, is what happened!

I had my eyes fixed on the cage in which I surmised you and your sisterwere imprisoned, when I saw an old man, richly dressed, enter the stall. It was the rich patrician Trymalcion, worn out as much by debauchery asby years. His dull, cold, corpse-like eyes seemed to look into vacancy. His hideously wrinkled visage was half hidden under a coat of thickpaint. He wore a frizzled yellow wig, earrings blazing with preciousstones, and in the girdle of his robe a large bouquet, of which his redplush mantle off and on allowed a glimpse. [30] He painfully dragged hislimbs after him, leaning on the shoulders of two young slaves fifteen orsixteen years of age, who were luxuriously dressed, but in such a style, and so effeminately, that it was impossible to tell whether they wereyoung men or girls. Two other and older slaves followed. One carriedunder his arm his master's thick cloak, the other a goldennight-vessel. [31]

The proprietor of the stall hastened to receive his patrician customerwith tokens of reverence, exchanged a few words with him, and then movedforward a stool on which the old man let himself down. As the seat hadno back, one of the young slaves immediately stationed himselfmotionless behind his master, to serve him as a support, while the otherslave lay down on the ground at a sign from the patrician, lifted hisfeet, which were encased in rich sandals, and wrapping them in a fold ofhis own robe, held them to his breast to warm them. [32]

Thus supported with his back and feet on the bodies of his slaves, theold man spoke some words to the merchant. The latter first pointedtoward the three half-naked women. At sight of them, Trymalcion turnedhalf way round and spat at them, as if to evince the most sovereigndisdain. 

At this indignity, the old man's slaves and the Romans, assembled in thevicinity of the stall, broke into coarse laughter. Then the merchantpointed out to lord Trymalcion the two children playing on the straw. The senile debauchee shrugged his shoulders, while he uttered somehorrible words. His words must have been horrible, because the laughterredoubled. 

The merchant, hoping at last to please so fastidious a customer, went upto the cage, opened it, and brought out three children, draped in longwhite veils which hid their faces. Two of the children corresponded inheight to my son and daughter; the other was smaller. The smallest onewas the first to be unveiled to the eyes of the old man. I recognizedher as the daughter of one of my relatives, whose husband was killed inthe defense of the chariot; the mother had killed herself with the otherwomen of the family, forgetting in that supreme moment, to kill thelittle one. The girl was sickly and without beauty. Patrician Trymalcionlooked her over rapidly and made an impatient gesture with his hand, asif annoyed that they should dare to offer to his sight so unattractivean object. She was, accordingly, taken back to the cage by a keeper. Theother two children remained, still veiled. 

I was eagerly watching these events from the corner of the"horse-dealer's" stall, my arms pinioned behind my back with double ironmanacles, my legs chained and my feet fastened by fetters of enormousweight. I still felt under the influence of the sorcery that had beenpracticed upon me. Nevertheless, my blood, so long frozen in my veins, began to circulate more and more freely. A slight tremor occasionallywent through my limbs. The spell was breaking. I was not the only one totremble. The young Gallic women and the matron, forgetting their ownshame and despair, experienced in their hearts of maid, of wife, ormother, a frightful horror at the fate of the children offered to thatdetestable old man. 

Although half nude, they no longer thought of withdrawing themselvesfrom the licentious looks of the spectators who were crowding at theentrance to the booth. Their eyes brooded with motherly terror upon thetwo veiled children, while the matron, bound to the post, her eyesglittering and her teeth set in impotent fury, raised her chained armsto heaven as if to call down the punishments of the gods upon suchmonstrosities. 

At a sign from lord Trymalcion, the veils dropped--I recognized youboth--you, my son Sylvest and your sister Syomara. You were both paleand wan; you were shivering with fear. Anguish was depicted in yourtear-bathed faces. The long blonde hair of my little girl fell upon hershoulders. She dared not raise her eyes, neither did you; you held eachother by the hand, closely clasped. Despite the terror that disfiguredher face, I beheld my daughter in her singular and infantinebeauty--accursed beauty! At sight of her Trymalcion's dead eyes lightedup and glistened like glowing coals in the middle of his wrinkled, paint-covered visage. He stood up, stretched out his emaciated armstowards my daughter as if to seize his prey, while a shocking smiledisclosed his yellow teeth. Terror-stricken, Syomara threw herself backand clung to your neck. The merchant quickly tore you from each otherand brought Syomara to the old man. The latter impatiently pushed awaywith his foot the slave that crouched on the ground before him, andgrabbing my little girl, took her between his knees. He easily subduedthe efforts she made to escape, while she uttered piercing cries; heviolently snapped the strings that fastened my little girl's robe, andstripped her half naked in order to examine her chest and shoulders. While this was going on, the merchant was holding you back, my son, andI--the father of the two victims--I, loaded with chains, beheld thespectacle. At the sight of this crime of the patrician Trymalcion, outraging the chastity of a child, the three fettered Gallic women andthe matron made a desperate but vain effort to break from their irons, and began to pour out a torrent of imprecations and groans. 

Trymalcion finished complacently his disgusting examination, and said afew words to the merchant. Immediately a keeper replaced the robe on mygirl, who was more dead than alive, wrapped her up in her long whiteveil, which he tied around her, and taking the slender burden under hisarm, held himself in readiness to follow the old man, who was takingsome gold from his purse to pay the merchant. At that moment of supremedespair--you and your sister, poor little ones bewildered with terror, cried out as if you believed you would be heard and succored:

"Mother! Father!"

Up to that moment I had witnessed the scene panting, almost crazy withgrief and rage. Slowly my heart, struggling against the sorcery of the"horse-dealer, " was gaining the upper hand. But at that cry, uttered byyou and your sister, the charm broke with a clap. All my intelligence, all my courage rushed back to me. The sight of you two gave me such ashock, it threw me into such a transport of rage that, unable to breakmy irons, I rose upon my feet, and, with my hands still pinioned behindme, my legs still loaded with heavy chains, I bounded out of my stallwith two leaps, and fell like a thunderbolt upon the old patrician. Theshock caused the old man to roll under me. In default of the liberty ofmy hands to strangle him, I bit him in the face, near the neck. The"horse-dealers" and their keepers threw themselves upon me; but bearingwith all my weight upon the hideous old debauchee, who was howling atthe top of his voice, I kept my teeth in his flesh. The monster's bloodfilled my mouth--a shower of whip lashes and blows from sticks andstones rained upon me--yet I budged not. No more than our old war dogDeber-Trud the man-eater did I drop my prey. --No!--Like the dog, when Idid let go, it was only to carry away between my teeth--a strip offlesh, a bleeding mouthful that I spat back into Trymalcion's hideous, tortured face, as he had spat at the Gallic women. 

"Father! Father!" you cried out to me through the tumult. Wishing thento approach you two, my children, I stood up, an object of terror--aye, terror. For a moment a circle of fear surrounded the Gallic slave, withhis load of irons. 

"Father! Father!" you cried again, stretching out your little arms, inspite of the keepers who held you back. I made a bound toward you, butthe merchant, from the top of the cage where you had been confined, suddenly threw a large piece of cloth over my head. At the same time Iwas seized by the legs, thrown down, and tied with a thousand bonds. Thecloth, which covered my head and shoulders, was tied down around myneck, and through it they made a gap, which unfortunately permitted meto breathe--I had hoped to smother. 

I felt myself being carried across to my own booth, where I was thrownon the straw, incapable of making the slightest motion. Quite a whilelater I heard the centurion, my new master, in a sharp altercation withthe "horse-dealer" and the merchant who had sold Syomara to Trymalcion. Presently they all went out. Silence reigned around me. Some time later, the dealer returned; he approached me; he kicked me angrily; he tore offthe cover from my face, and said to me in a voice trembling with rage:

"Scoundrel! Do you know what it has cost me, that mouthful of flesh youtore out of the face of the noble Trymalcion? Do you know, ferociousbeast? That mouthful of flesh cost me twenty sous of gold! More thanhalf of what I sold you for, for I am responsible for your misdeeds, wretch! while you are in my stall, double villain! So that it is I whohave made a present of your daughter to the old man. She was sold to himfor twenty gold sous, which I paid in his stead. He insisted upon it. And even so I got off cheaply. He demanded that indemnity. "[33]

"That monster is not dead! Hena! he is not dead!" I cried in despair. "And my daughter is not dead either! Hesus, Teutates, take pity on mydaughter!"

"Your daughter, gallows bird! Your daughter is in Trymalcion's hands, and it is upon her he will wreak his revenge on you. He rejoices overthe circumstance in advance. He sometimes is taken with savage caprices, and is rich enough to indulge them. "

I was unable to make answer to these words, save with long drawn outmoans. 

"And that is not all, infamous scoundrel! I have lost the confidence ofthe centurion to whom I sold you. He reproached me with havingoutrageously deceived him; with having sold him, instead of a lamb, atiger who exercised his teeth upon rich patricians. He wanted to sellyou right back. To sell you back, as if anyone would consent tobuy--after such an exhibition! As well buy a wild beast. Luckily for me, I received the deposit before witnesses. The fierceness of your naturewill not set aside the contract; the centurion has no choice but to keepyou. He'll keep you, I warrant, but he'll make you pay dear for yourcriminal instincts. Oh, you don't know the life that awaits you in the_ergastula_! You don't know--"

"But my son, " I asked, interrupting the "horse-dealer, " well knowingthat he would answer out of cruelty. "Is my son also sold? To whom?"

"Sold? And who do you think would still want him? Sold? Better say givenaway. You bring bad luck to everybody, double traitor. Did not yourragings and the shrieks of that mis-born limb teach everyone that he isof your beastly blood? No one offered even an obole for him! Who wouldbuy a wolf's whelp? Anyway, I was going to speak to you about that sonof yours, to delight your father's heart. Know that he was given to bootby my partner at the end of the sale, to the same purchaser to whom hesold the grey-haired matron, who will be good to turn a mill-wheel. "

"And that purchaser, " I enquired, "who is he? What is he going to dowith my son?"

"That purchaser is the centurion--your master!"

"Hesus!" I exclaimed, hardly able to believe what I heard. "Hesus, youare kind and merciful. At least I shall have my son near me. "

"Your son near you! Then you are as stupid as you are scoundrelly. Ah, do you imagine that it is for your paternal contentment that your masterhas burdened himself with that wolf-cub? Do you know what your mastersaid to me? 'I have only one means of subduing that savage beast yousold me, you egregious cheat. --The chances are, that madman loves hislittle one. I'll keep the wolf-whelp in a cage, and the son will answerto me for the father's docility. --At the father's first, and leastoffence, he will see the tortures which he will make his cub suffer, under my very eyes. '"

I paid no further attention to what the "horse-dealer" said--I was atleast sure of seeing you, or of knowing that you were near me, my child. That will help me to bear the awful grief caused to me by the fate of mylittle daughter Syomara, who, two days later, was carried into Italy onboard the galley of the patrician Trymalcion. 

 * * * * *

My father Guilhern was not granted time to finish his narrative. 

Death--oh, what a death!--death overtook him the very day after hetraced the above last lines. I preserve them together with the littlebrass bell that my father got from the "horse-dealer. "

The narrative of the sufferings of our race, I, Sylvest, shall continuein obedience to my father Guilhern, the same as he obeyed the behest ofhis father Joel the brenn of the tribe of Karnak. 

Hesus was merciful to you, O, my father. --You died ignorant of the lifeof your daughter Syomara--

It is left to me to narrate my sister's fate. 

THE END. 

FOOTNOTES:

[1] A short distance from the town of St. Nazaire, which is still inexistence. 

[2] The patriotism of the Russians in burning Moscow in order to starveand drive out Napoleon's army is justly admired. But how much moreadmirable was the heroic patriotism of these old Gauls! Not onlyBrittany, but almost a third of Gaul was delivered to the flames. SeeCaesar, _De Bello Gallico_, lib. VII, ch. XIV. Also Amedée Thierry, _History of the Gauls_, vol. III, p. 103: "The Chief of the HundredValleys was heard with calm and resignation. Not a murmur interruptedhim, not an objection was raised against the heavy sacrifice which hedemanded. It was with one voice that the heads of the tribes voted theruin of their fortunes and the scattering of their families. Thisterrible remedy was at once applied to the country which they fearedwould be occupied by the enemy ... On every hand one perceived nothingbut the fire and smoke of burning habitations. In the light of theseflames, across the ruins and the ashes of their homes, an innumerablepopulation wended their way towards the frontier, where shelter and foodawaited them. Their sorrow and suffering was not without consolation, since it would lead to the safety of their country. "

[3] The shark. 

[4] A Gallic war cry, signifying "Strike at the head--down with them. "

[5] A troop composed of cavalry (_mahrek_) and footmen (_droad_). 

"A certain number of Gallic cavalrymen chose among the foot-soldiers anequal number of the most agile and courageous. Each of the latterattended a horseman, and followed him in battle. The cavalry fell backupon them if it was in danger, and the footmen ran up; if a woundedhorseman fell from his charger, the foot-soldier succored and defendedhim. When it became necessary to make a rapid advance or retreat, exercise had made these foot-soldiers so agile that, hanging on by themanes of the horses, they kept up with the cavalry in its rapidmovement. "--Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, book I, ch. XLVIII. 

[6] In this body of cavalry each horseman was followed by two equerries, mounted and equipped, who remained behind in the body of the army. Whenthe battle was on, should the horseman be dismounted, the equerries gavehim one of their horses. If then the horseman's horse was killed, or thehorseman himself dangerously wounded, he was carried from the field byone of the equerries, while the other took his place in the ranks. Thisbody of cavalry was called the _trimarkisia_, from two words which inthe Gallic tongue signify "three horses. "--Amedée Thierry, _History ofthe Gauls_, vol. I, p. 130. See also Pausanius, book X. 

[7] "The Gauls had also their Pindars and their Tyrteuses, bardsexercising their talent to sing in heroic verse the deeds of great men, and to inculcate in the people the love of glory. "--Latour d'Auvergne, _Gallic Origins_, p. 158. 

[8] "The Gauls hold that it is a disgrace to live subjugated, and thatin all war there are but two outcomes for the man of courage--to conqueror to die. "--Nicolas Damasc; see also Strabo, serm. XII. 

[9] "Caesar in his Commentaries, and after him the later historians, took the title of command held by this hero of Gaul for his proper name, and, by corruption, wrote _Vercingetorix_ in place ofVer-cinn-cedo-righ, Chief of the Hundred Valleys, " observes AmedéeThierry (_History of the Gauls_, vol. III, p. 86). "Vercingetorix, anative of Auvergne, was the son of Celtil, who, guilty of conspiringagainst the freedom of his city, expiated on the pyre his ambition andhis crime. The young Gaul thus became heir to the goods of his father, whose name he nevertheless blushed to bear. Having become the idol ofhis people, he traveled to Rome and saw Caesar, who attempted to win hisgood graces. But the Gaul rejected the friendship of his country'senemy. Returned to his native land he labored secretly to reawaken amonghis people the spirit of independence, and to raise up enemies againstthe Romans. When the hour to call the people to arms was come, he showedhimself openly, in druid ceremonies, in political meetings; everywhere, in short, he was seen employing his eloquence, his fortune, his credit, in a word all his means of action upon the chiefs and on the multitude, to spur them on to reconquer the rights of old Gaul. "--Thierry. 

[10] Here are Caesar's own words on this extraordinary event, taken fromhis _Ephemerides_, or diary, wherein with his own hand he was accustomedto enter day by day what of interest had occurred to him. These wordsare transmitted to us by Servius:

"Caius Julius Caesar, cum dimicaret in Gallia, et ab hoste raptus, equoejus portaretur armatus, occurrit quidam ex hostibus qui cum nosset etinsultans ait: Ceco Caesar! quod in lingua Gallorum dimitte significat. Et ita factum est ut dimitteretur. 

"Hoc autem dicit ipse Caesar in Ephemeride sua ubi propriam commemoratfelicitatem. "--Ex Servio LXI. Aeneid, edit. Amstelod, type Elsevir, 1650, ex antiquo Vatic. Extemp. Cap. VIII. 

"One can see by this passage, " adds d'Auvergne, "that Caesar, havingbeen released by the Gaul who had made him prisoner and who was carryinghim off on his horse fully armed from the field of battle, believed thesaving of his life to be due to the very word which was intended to behis death sentence: to the word _sko_, which Caesar wrote _ceco_, andwhich he falsely interpreted to mean _release_ when the word in Gallicin reality means _kill_, _strike_, _beat down_. Everything points to theconclusion that fear or stupefaction having seized the Gauls, in whosepower Caesar completely was, at the mere mention of his name, he owedhis safety to the sheer astonishment of his captor. "

[11] "During the fight, which lasted from the seventh hour until theevening, not a Gaul was seen turning his back (aversum hostem nemovidere potuit). "--Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, ch. XXXVII. 

[12] "When the Romans drew near the chariots they came face to face witha new enemy, the war dogs. These were with difficulty exterminated bythe archers. "--Pliny, book LXXII, chap. C. 

[13] The total destruction of the Gallic fleet was the result of anextremely dangerous invention by the Romans, who, by means of scythesfastened to long poles, cut the stays which held the masts. These fell, and the Gallic vessels, deprived of sails and motion, were reduced toimpotence. See Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, book III, ch. XIV, XV. 

[14] See Pliny, Quintilian, Seneca, etc. Cited by Wallon in his _Historyof Slavery in Antiquity_, vol. II, p. 329. 

[15] About $100 or $120 in modern money. This was at the time the marketprice of a slave. (Wallon, _History of Slavery in Antiquity_, vol. II, p. 329. )

[16] Slaves had no name of their own. They were given indiscriminatelyall sorts of soubriquets, even to the names of animals. (Givin, p. 339. )

[17] It was the custom to throw in "for good measure, " upon the purchaseof a lot of slaves for labor or for pleasure, a few old men who werenothing but skin and bones. See Plautus, _Bachid. _ IV, _Prospera_ IV;and _Terence_, _Eun. _ Cited by Wallon, _History of Slavery inAntiquity_, vol. II. P. 56. 

[18] There were in the selling of slaves, as in the vending of animalsestablished grounds entitling the purchaser to recover in full or inpart his purchase price. Six months were allowed for causes of the firstclass to manifest themselves, a year for the latter. 

Deafness, dumbness, short-sightedness, tertiary or quaternary ague, gout, epilepsy, polyp, varicose veins, a breath indicating an internalmalady, sterility among the women--such were the grounds accepted forcomplete abrogation of the contract. As to moral defects, nothing wassaid. Nevertheless, the merchant was not allowed to ascribe to a slavequalities he did not possess. One was bound above all to make knownwhether a slave possessed a tendency toward suicide. (Wallon, _Historyof Slavery in Antiquity_, vol. II, p. 63. )

[19] We do not dare to expatiate on these monstrosities. We shall onlycite the words of the lawyer Heterus: "Shamelessness is a crime in afree man--a duty in a freedman--and a necessity in a slave. " For furtherdetails of the abominable and precocious depravity into which slaves andtheir children were dragged, see Wallon, _History of Slavery inAntiquity_, p. 266, following. 

[20] "Masters disemboweled their slaves, to search for prognosticationsin their entrails. "--Wallon, vol. II, p. 251. 

[21] The characteristics of different nationalities of slaves had passedinto bywords with the dealers. Thus they said "timid as a Phrygian, ""vain as a Moor, " "deceitful as a Cretan, " "intractable as a Sardinian, ""fierce as a Dalmatian, " "gentle as an Ionian, " etc. , etc. (Wallon, vol. II, p. 65. )

[22] Caesar wished to make a severe example. So "He put the Senate todeath, and sold the rest at auction. "--Caesar, _De Bello Gallico_, bookIII, ch. XVI. 

[23] See Wallon, vol. II, ch. III, for the singular means employed bythe "horse-dealers" to rejuvenate their slaves. 

[24] The Gauls in the north and west of France attached so muchimportance and dignity to the length of their hair that the provincesthey inhabited were called "Long-haired Gaul. " (Latour d'Auvergne, Gallic Origins. )

[25] When prisoners of war were sold as slaves, they were made to wearwreaths of the leaves of trees as a distinctive sign. (Wallon. )

[26] "The magic philters of Media and Circe of old were nothing butpharmaceutical brews of an action as diversified as powerful. Several ofthese narcotic or exhilarators, which threw a man into an incrediblemoral prostration, or else into a fit of frenzy, were long employedamong the Romans. The slave merchants used them to overcome and enervatetheir more unconquerable captives. "--_Philosophic Dictionary_, p. 345. 

[27] "The higher priced slaves were kept in a sort of cage, which drew, by its air of mystery, the attention of the connoisseurs. "--Wallon, vol. II, p. 54. 

[28] The slave was obliged to lift weights, to march, to leap, to provehis vigor and agility. (Wallon, vol. II, p. 59. )

[29] The feet of women and children were daubed with white clay. (Wallon. )

[30] See Petronius for details of Roman patrician "fashions. "

[31] For these shameful manners, which respect for humanity rendersunpicturable, see Tacitus, Martial, Juvenal, and above all Petronius. 

[32] See above authors. 

[33] The master was civilly responsible for the acts of his slave, thesame as for those of his dog. (Wallon, vol. II, p. 183. )