istance. All these
things we knew till we were weary; but that night they seemed very
strange to us, because the next day we knew we were to be their masters.

'The men took the news well; but when Maximus went away with half our
strength, and we had to spread ourselves into the emptied towers, and
the townspeople complained that trade would be ruined, and the autumn
gales blew--it was dark days for us two. Here Pertinax was more than my
right hand. Being born and bred among the great country-houses in Gaul,
he knew the proper words to address to all--from Roman-born Centurions
to those dogs of the Third--the Libyans. And he spoke to each as though
that man were as high-minded as himself. Now _I_ saw so strongly what
things were needed to be done, that I forgot things are only
accomplished by means of men. That was a mistake.

'I feared nothing from the Picts, at least for that year, but Allo
warned me that the Winged Hats would soon come in from the sea at each
end of the Wall to prove to the Picts how weak we were. So I made ready
in haste, and none too soon. I shifted our best men to the ends of the
Wall, and set up screened catapults by the beach. The Winged Hats would
drive in before the snow-squalls--ten or twenty boats at a time--on
Segedunum or Ituna, according as the wind blew.

'Now a ship coming in to land men must furl her sail. If you wait till
you see her men gather up the sail's foot, your catapults can jerk a net
of loose stones (bolts only cut through the cloth) into the bag of it.
Then she turns over, and the sea makes everything clean again. A few men
may come ashore, but very few. ... It was not hard work, except the
waiting on the beach in blowing sand and snow. And that was how we dealt
with the Winged Hats that winter.

'Early in the spring, when the East winds blow like skinning-knives,
they gathered again off Segedunum with many ships. Allo told me they
would never rest till they had taken a tower in open fight. Certainly
they fought in the open. We dealt with them thoroughly through a long
day: and when all was finished, one man dived clear of the wreckage of
his ship, and swam towards shore. I waited, and a wave tumbled him at my
feet.

'As I stooped, I saw he wore such a medal as I wear.' Parnesius raised
his hand to his neck. 'Therefore, when he could speak, I addressed him a
certain Question which can only be answered in a certain manner. He
answered with the necessary Word--the Word t