arbarians demand
that one lord Felix, who slew their chief at Anderida, be given up to
them, and this my lord will not do. Also my lord saith that knowledge of
the rich treasure in the house was betrayed to the barbarians by a
drunken slave, and they are hot for plunder. Therefore he hath sent to
me, as the nearest one to afford him help, commanding that I say to you
in his name: Those of you whose crimes are not murder or against
religion shall be returned to the house to take part in its defence, as
many as can be singled out by to-morrow's dawn. For loyal service and
obedience to orders, ye shall receive the freedom of _casarii_ and your
sentence here shall be cancelled. To-night your records shall be looked
up, and to-morrow those of you whose names and numbers are called will
be sent forward as quickly as may be."

Half a hundred voices raised a tired cheer, not so much because their
lord was in danger, as because there was prospect of release. The
nightly rations of black bread and beans were served out. Some men took
their portion to the huts where they slept, as beasts carry food to
their lair; but these were for the most part condemned for murders and
religious crimes and knew that they had no hope of freedom. The majority
gathered in discussion about the fires, always with alert sentries
hovering near at hand. All that night the air throbbed with expectation.

In the first dark hours of morning the blast of a brazen trumpet brought
five hundred men into the open, eager to know their fate. The
superintendent and his assistants appeared with lists of names which
they had worked all night to complete. Men pressed close around him,
eager not to lose a word; the overseers, whips in hand, mingled with the
crowd to check incipient disturbances. A score of mounted guards were
drawn up near by, waiting to escort the detail. Lanterns shone here and
there through the thin gray mist which hung over the broken land.

Nicanor woke at the first brassy blare of the trumpet. His face was keen
with his first conscious thought; there was no doubt that he would be of
those chosen. He made his toilet with a shake of his tunic, and went
outside. Around him, in the semi-darkness, figures were hurrying to
where the superintendent, mounted on a keg, was calling the roll by the
light of a lantern, with his hood pulled well over his face against the
keen air of morning. His harsh voice, shouting names and numbers, rose
above the stir