f bleeding flesh.

Several steps from where I lay, I saw an archer of gigantic stature,
calm in the midst of the tumult, choose from his quiver his sharpest
arrow, lay it on the string of his bow, pull it with a sinewy arm, and
take long aim at one of the two chained _saldunes_, who, dragged down by
the fall of his comrade, now dead by his side, could only fight on one
knee. But so much the more valiantly did he ply his iron-capped staff.
He swung it before him with such tireless dexterity that for some time
none dared to brave its blows, for each stroke carried death. The Cretan
archer, waiting for the proper moment, was again aiming at the
_saldune_, when old Deber-Trud bounded forth. Held tight where I lay
under the heap of dead which was crushing me, unable to move without
causing intense pain in my wounded thigh, I summoned all my remaining
strength to cry out:

"Hou! Hou! Deber-Trud--at the Roman."

The dog, increasingly excited by my voice, which he recognized, dashed
with one bound upon the Cretan, at the moment when the arrow hissed from
the string, and buried itself, still quivering, in the stalwart breast
of the _saldune_. With this new wound his eyes closed, his heavy arms
let fall the staff, his other knee gave way, his body sank to the
ground; but by a last effort, the _saldune_ rose on both knees, snatched
the arrow from the wound, and threw it back at the Roman legionaries,
calling in a voice still strong, and with a smile of supreme contempt:

"For you, cowards, who shelter your fear and your bodies under plates of
iron. The breastplate of the Gaul is his naked bosom."[11]

And the _saldune_ fell dead upon the body of his brother-in-arms.

Both of them were avenged by Deber-Trud. The terrible dog had hurled
down and was holding under his enormous paws the Cretan archer, who was
uttering frightful cries. With one bite of his fangs, as dangerous as
those of a lion, the dog tore his victim's throat so deeply that two
jets of warm blood poured out on the archer's chest. Though still alive,
the man could utter no sound. Deber-Trud, seeing that his prey still
lived, fell upon him, roaring furiously, swallowing or throwing aside
shreds of severed flesh. I heard the sides of the Cretan crack and grind
under the teeth of Deber-Trud, who dug and dug, burying his bloody
muzzle up to the eyes in the man's chest. Then a legionary ran up and
transfixed Deber-Trud with one thrust of his lance. The dog gave not a