which he will indicate, unarmed,
and with but two garments each. I understand that these terms are stern,
but your misfortune commends them to you, for it is worse to die, and to
have your families fall as booty of war into the hands of a triumphant
army."

Alorcus ceased speaking, but still the Forum remained in silence, a
silence profound, threatening, like the leaden calm which precedes the
tempest.

"No, Saguntines! No!" shouted a woman.

Actaeon recognized the voice of Sonnica.

"No, no!" answered the multitude, with a thundering echo.

They swayed and surged from place to place; compact masses crowded
against each other, possessed with fury, as if they would rend
themselves in pieces to give vent to the wrath produced by the
conditions of the conqueror.

Sonnica had disappeared; but Actaeon saw her return to the Forum followed
by a cordon of people, slaves, women, soldiers, bearing upon their backs
the rich furniture from the villa which had been stored in the
warehouse; the chests of jewels, the sumptuous tapestries, ingots of
silver, and boxes of gold dust. The multitude observed this procession
of riches without guessing Sonnica's purpose.

"No! No!" repeated the Greek woman, as if talking to herself.

She was infuriated at the conqueror's proposals. She imagined herself
departing from the city with no other fortune than the tunic she wore
and another over her arm, compelled to beg along the highway, or to
labor in the fields as a slave, persecuted by the fierce soldiers of
many nations!

"No! No!" she repeated energetically, making her way through the crowd
to the fire in the centre of the Forum.

She was magnificent with her auburn hair loosened in her excitement, her
tunic rent by struggling through the multitude, her eyes flashing with
the expression of a Fury who found an acrid satisfaction in destruction.
Of what use were riches? Of what use was life? Her desperate energy was
spurred by the bitterness which she had tasted an hour ago before the
body of her slave.

She gave the signal by hurling into the bonfire an image of Venus in
jasper and silver which she carried in her arms, and which disappeared
in the flames as if it were a clod. The wretched and starving crowd
which followed imitated her with intense relish. The destruction of so
many riches made them howl with joy, and they danced in their
gladness--they, so poor, who had passed their lives in the deprivation
of slavery! Into the f