s impelled us. My father lamented it a thousand
times, remembering his faithful Lysias. With my protection I will make
amends for that injustice of Carthage."

"I will not follow you, Hannibal. I have bid farewell to war and booty.
I prefer to grow old here in this sweet and tranquil life, at the side
of my Sonnica, loving peace like any one of those Saguntines who dwells
in the merchants' ward."

"Peace? Peace?"

A strident and brutal shout of laughter, like that which Actaeon had
heard on the steps of Aphrodite's temple when the Roman legates were
embarking, broke the silence of the roadway.

"Listen well, Actaeon," said the African, recovering his gravity, "the
proof that I still remember my boyhood affection for you lies in the
frankness with which I speak my mind. Only to you, understand it well!
If, sleeping in my tent, I should learn on awaking that what is in my
mind had escaped in words, I would stab the sentinel who guarded my
sleep. You speak of peace! Actaeon, awake! If you think of growing old in
tranquility in any part of the world, flee with that Greek woman whom
you love, far, far away! Where I am, there shall be no peace until I
have become the sovereign of the world! War marches ahead of my
footsteps; he who will not submit to me must die or become my slave!"

The Greek comprehended the significance of the threat.

"Remember, Hannibal, that this city is Rome. The Republic has taken it
for an ally and protects it."

"Do you imagine that I fear Rome? If I hate Saguntum it is because she
is proud of her alliance, and that she scorns and forgets me, in spite
of my being near. She fancies herself secure because that far-away
Republic protects her, and she laughs at me, though I reign over all the
Peninsula as far as the Ebro, and am encamped almost at her very gates.
She antagonizes the Turdetani, who are my allies, as are all the Iberian
tribes, and within her walls she beheads the citizens who love me, those
who were friends of the great Hamilcar. Ah, blind and vainglorious city!
How dear shall it cost thee to live near to Hannibal without knowing
him!"

Turning about in his saddle he glared with menacing eyes at the
Acropolis of Saguntum, which stood forth above the fog of the early
morn.

"You could scarcely lay siege to her ally before Rome would fall upon
you!"

"Let her come!" replied the African arrogantly. "That is what I want, I
hate peace! I will not submit to seeing Carthage subdued