e Rome's traitor dust;
We only bear our King away--
For the Gothic crown is lost!"

When the bier was carried past the litter, Narses called a halt, and
said in a low voice in the Latin language:

"Mine was the victory, but his the fame! There, take the laurel wreath!
Other generations may see greater things, but now. King Teja, I greet
you as the greatest hero of all ages!"

And he laid the laurel wreath upon the dead man's pallid brow. The
bearers again took up the bier, and slowly and solemnly, to the sad
sound of Adalgoth's silver harp, the death-song of the people, and the
long-drawn tones of the war-horns, the procession marched on towards
the sea, which now glowed magnificently in the evening red.

Close behind Teja's body was carried a lofty crimson throne. Upon it
rested the silent august form of Dietrich of Bern; upon the head the
crowned helm; on the left arm the tall shield; a spear leaning against
the right shoulder. On the left of the throne marched old Hildebrand,
his eyes fixed upon the face of his beloved master, which shone in the
magic light of the setting sun. He held aloft the banner with the
device of the lion, high above the head of the great Dead. The evening
breeze from the Ausonian Sea rustled in the folds of the immense flag,
which, in ghost-like speech, seemed to be taking leave of Italian soil.

As the corpse was carried past, Narses said:

"I know by the shudder which passes across me that this is the wise
King of Ravenna! First came a stronger, now a greater man. Let us do
this dead man homage."

And, with great exertion, he rose upright in his litter, and bent his
head reverently before the corpse.

Then followed the wounded, supported by or carried in the arms of their
followers. This part of the procession was opened by Aligern, who was
carried on a broad shield by Wachis and Liuta, assisted by two
warriors. Then came the chests and coffers, the baskets and vessels,
containing the royal treasure and the goods of the different families,
which, until then, had been hidden in the wagons.

Afterwards came the great mass of the unarmed people--women, girls,
children, and old people--for the boys, from ten years of age upwards,
would not part with the weapons which had been entrusted to them, and
marched in a separate corps.

Narses smiled as the little fair-haired heroes passed, looking up at
him with anger and defiance.

"Well," he said, "the Goths ha