causing much
disturbance, it would be desirable. Well, we have not only a prisoner,
but more; we found an important strip of parchment on him. And it is
fortunate; for the man refuses to give any information. See, they are
bringing him yonder. There come Thrasaric and Eugenia; and Ammata is
already drawing Hilda here by the hand."

"Welcome," cried the young wife, hastening toward her beloved husband,
but she shrank in embarrassment from his embrace, for the captive was
already standing before the King. With hands bound behind his back, he
darted savage glances from beneath his bushy brows at the Vandals,
especially at Ammata. Blood trickled from his left cheek upon the white
sheepskin that covered his shoulders; his lower garment also--it
reached only to the knee--was of untanned leather; his feet were bare;
a huge spur was buckled with a thong on his right heel, and four gold
disks, bestowed by the Emperor and his generals in honor of brave deeds
(like our orders), were fastened on his heavy leather breastplate.

"So," continued Gibamund, "toward midnight, with only ten Vandals and
two Moors behind us, we rode out of camp toward the distant light of
the hostile campfires, cautiously concealing ourselves behind the long
mounds of sand, stretching for half a league, which the desert wind is
constantly heaping up and blowing away again, especially just on the
edge of the wilderness. Under the protection of this cover, we
advanced unseen so far eastward that we saw by the glare of a
watchfire--probably lighted to drive away the wild beasts--four
horsemen. Two sat crouching on their little nags, with their bows bent,
gazing intently toward the southwest, whence we had come; the other two
had dismounted and were leaning against the shoulders of their horses.
The points of their lances glittered in the flickering light of the
fire.

"I motioned to the two Moors, whom I had taken with us for this clever
trick. Slipping noiselessly from their steeds, they threw themselves
flat on the ground and were scarcely distinguishable in the darkness
from the surrounding sand. They crept on all fours in a wide circle,
one to the left, the other to the right, around the fire and the
sentinels, until they stood northeast and northwest of them. They had
soon vanished from our sight, for they glided as swiftly as lizards.

"Soon we heard, on the other side of the watchfire, toward the north,
the hoarse, menacing cry of the leopardess go