_THE COST OF DEFENDERS._
Ditovix and his warriors had done their duty bravely; the tribes of the
Val d'Avon regarded them as saviours, and when the unfortunate besieged
went back to their devastated homes, they cheerfully divided the little
that remained to them with the new-comers.
In the enemy's camp were found provisions, the fruits of pillage, and
upon the bodies of the slain a little gold, and arms; and all this was
equally distributed. But winter was approaching, the fodder that had
been collected was dispersed, the animals lost or consumed, the stores
of grain destroyed. The means of subsistence had to be procured from the
merchants, and the allies to be fed. Scarcity prevailed in this valley,
so prosperous a month before. Its saviours were exacting, and began to
ask where was that wealth and plenty which had been promised them.
Quartered in the Oppidum with the warriors of Sigild, the followers of
Ditovix assumed a domineering air on the strength of the service
rendered to the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon, and whose importance they
were incessantly magnifying. Quarrels arose continually, and it needed
all the influence which Sigild had acquired among his people to moderate
their angry feelings.
Ditovix abstained from interference in these disputes. When assistance
had been asked--he would say to Sigild,--his men had been promised
wealth of all kinds; how could he remonstrate with them if they were
left to die of want?
Ditovix had brought a thousand warriors to aid the inhabitants of the
Val d'Avon; and, in spite of the losses suffered during the action, a
month after the dispersion of the enemy's army the number of these
auxiliaries was found to have unaccountably increased.
The Druids then interfered; they represented to Ditovix that though he
and his warriors had saved the families of the valley from total
destruction, they were reduced to poverty; that if they died of hunger
the same fate would befal his men, since there was nothing left to give
them; and that in the common interest it was necessary to come to some
understanding.
Then Ditovix adopted a different attitude. "I should be willing to take
my warriors back," said he, "but I cannot. They would refuse to follow
me, and would give themselves up to excesses of all kinds. I can
scarcely prevent their proceeding from murmurs to violence. I had to
promise much to induce them to come, and they must be satisfied.
Fighting has been their constant occupation--for the most part in the
countries beyond the mountains. They are not fitted for tilling the soil
or tending cattle. What do you propose?"--"What do you ask?" said the
Druids. "I will call together the leading men among them, and explain
the state of things; and will let you know what they want."
Ditovix and Sigild consulted together, for both saw the necessity of
securing the same advantages for the warriors of the valley and the
auxiliaries, if they would avoid a collision. The two chiefs called in
some of the principal merchants who frequented the valley, to induce
them to furnish supplies in consideration of certain guarantees very
advantageous to them.
Matters being thus concluded between Sigild and Ditovix, they called
their adherents together, and had no difficulty in getting them to
accept the conditions on which they themselves had agreed.
These conditions were as follows:--The Oppidum was to be placed under
the guard of the warriors of the vale and the followers of Ditovix
exclusively of all others. Their number amounted to nearly three
thousand. The inhabitants of the valley were to give them one day in
four to help them in executing the works necessary for defence or for
building their dwellings. A fourth part of their crops and of their
cattle was to be contributed by every family of the vale for the
maintenance of the three thousand warriors. As Sigild and Ditovix took
upon themselves to supply the wants of the people during the scarcity,
all the merchandise was to be deposited beneath the promontory near the
bridge; and the inhabitants were to receive and exchange it there, being
forbidden under the severest penalties to treat directly with the
merchants.
Harsh as these fiscal arrangements were, they were obliged to accept
them. Ditovix, loaded with valuable presents, quitted the Oppidum,
leaving his followers, who accepted Sigild for their Brenn. The bridge
was quickly restored, and there arose at either end dwellings and
storehouses for the merchants and their merchandise. The chiefs of the
warriors levied a toll on all the exchanges; they had the monopoly of
the market, as they bought up all the produce that was exchanged.
Notwithstanding the pressure of fiscal burdens, nay, even as a result of
it, the inhabitants of the Val d'Avon secured a larger return from their
land than formerly, and they had a greater number of cattle. Their
commerce became more extensive, and the population increased. Many
merchants came to live in the town built at the two extremities of the
bridge.
Thirty years therefore after the siege we have just described, the
valley had become highly prosperous; though the inhabitants smarted
under the domination of the warrior caste, and considered a quarter of
their substance and of their labour a great deal too much to give to men
who lived in idleness, and whose chiefs displayed an ostentatious
luxury. Often, it is true, these warriors would undertake some
expedition, from which all did not return to the valley; but those who
came back safe and sound took care to enforce the payment of past dues,
and would then spend days in eating and drinking, and were more exacting
than ever.
They recruited from among the youth of the valley, and even from among
foreigners, for it was of importance to them that their numbers should
not diminish.
Gradually the remembrance of the events which had led to this state of
things faded from the minds of the population. The grandchildren of the
followers of Sigild and Ditovix regarded the privileges accorded to
their ancestors as a birthright; while the tillers of the soil, and the
shepherds and craftsmen of the vale, became accustomed to submission,
and finally adopted the conviction that they had come into the world to
serve and support the men who inhabited the Oppidum.