llic
fugitives, affected to smile, and stretched himself again on his lion
skin. He held out his cup to one of his cup-bearers, and emptied it
after saying to the interpreter some words which he translated thus:

"Caesar empties his cup to the honor of the Gauls--and, by Jupiter, he
gives them thanks for having done just what he wished to do himself. For
old Gaul shall humble herself vanquished and repentant, before Rome,
like the most humble slave--or not one of her towns shall remain
standing, not one of her warriors living, not one of her people free."

"May the gods hear Caesar," answered Albinik. "Let Gaul be enslaved or
devastated, and I shall be avenged on the Chief of the Hundred
Valleys--for he will suffer a thousand deaths in seeing subdued or
destroyed that fatherland which I now curse."

While the interpreter was translating these words, the general, either
to hide all the more his fears, or to drown them in wine, emptied his
cup several times, and began to cast at Meroe more and more ardent
looks. Then, a thought seeming to strike him, he smiled with a singular
air, made a sign to one of the freedmen, and spoke to him in a low
voice. He also whispered a few hurried words to the Moorish slave-girl,
until then seated at his feet, whereupon she and the freedman left the
tent.

The interpreter thereupon returned to Albinik: "So far your answers have
proved your sincerity. If the news you have just given is confirmed, if
to-morrow you show yourself a capable and courageous pilot, you will be
able to serve your revenge. If you satisfy Caesar, he will be generous.
If you play us false your punishment will be terrible. Did you see, at
the entrance to the camp, five men crucified!"

"I saw them."

"They are pilots who refused to serve us. They had to be carried to the
crosses, because their legs, crushed by the torture, could not sustain
them. Such will be your lot and that of your companion, upon the least
suspicion."

"I fear these threats no more than I expect a gift from the magnificence
of Caesar," haughtily returned Albinik. "Let him try me first, then
judge me."

"You and your companion will be taken to a nearby tent; you will be
guarded there like prisoners."

At a sign from the Roman, the two Gauls were led away and conducted
through a winding passage covered with cloth, into an adjacent tent,
where they were left alone.

CHAPTER III.

GALLIC VIRTUE.

So great was the distrust in wh