ls, that his
army has landed in the far East! But it does not agree--the other sign!
G doubtless means Gelimer, the fair-haired King. But the Emperor of the
Romans is J, Justinian. Speak, have you chanced to hear the name of the
Roman. General?"

"Belisarius."

The old man started up. "And B will overthrow G,--Belisarius will
vanquish Gelimer! Look, how blood-red the scourge-like star is shining!
That means bloody battles. But we, son of my son, we will not interpose
when Roman sword and Vandal spear are clashing against each other. The
conflict may easily extend as far as the Auras Mountain; we will plunge
deeper into the wilderness. Let the aliens fight and destroy one
another. The Roman eagle, too, will not long have its eyrie here. The
star of misfortune will rise for them as well as for these tall
sea-kings. The intruders come--and pass away; we, the sons of the
country, will remain. Like the sand of our deserts we wander before the
wind, but we shall not pass away; we always return. The land of the sun
belongs to the sons of the sun. And, as the sand of the desert covers
and buries the proud stone buildings of the Romans, so shall we, ever
returning, bury the alien life which forces itself into our country,
where it can never thrive. We retire--but we return."

"Yet the fair King has obtained ten thousand of our men for the war.
What must they do?"

"Give back the money; leave the Vandal army, which the gods have
abandoned! Order my messengers to-morrow to dash with this command to
every tribe where I rule--with this advice, where I can counsel."

"Your counsel is a command wherever the desert sand extends. Only I
grieve for the man with the mournful eyes. He has shown favor to many
of our people, granted hospitality to many of our tribes; what return
shall they make to their friend?"

"Hospitality unto death! Not fight his battles, not share his booty;
but if he comes to them seeking shelter and protection, divide the last
date with him, shed the last drop of blood in his defence. Up, strike
the basin! We will depart ere the sun wakes. Untether the camels!"

The old man rose hastily.

The youth dealt the copper kettle that hung beside the tent a blow with
his curved scimetar. The brown-skinned men, women, and children were
astir like a swarm of ants. When the sun rose above the horizon, the
oasis was empty, desolate, silent as death.

Far in the south whirled upward a cloud of dust and sand which the