The gladiators sprang to their feet as their leaders returned to them,
and eagerly questioned them as to the news that had so reanimated
them. But they only replied, "Beric will tell you," and Beric was
obliged to mount a rock near the spot where they had been feasting,
and to repeat to the whole of the assembly his plan for the campaign
against the Romans. Loud shouts greeted his speech, the Gauls and
Britons clashing their swords against their shields as was their
custom, and the others signified their approval each after the
manner of his country.
"Beric is our leader! Beric is our leader!" they shouted. "We will
follow him to the death." When the tumult had subsided, Beric raised
his hand for silence.
"I am willing to accept the leadership," he said; "but if I must
lead I must be obeyed. In a warfare like this everything depends
upon the orders of him who commands being carried out promptly
and without question. I only accept the command because, although
younger than most of you, I have already fought the Romans often
and successfully. Each of you will remain under your respective
chiefs, who will act as my lieutenants, and all must be ready to
sacrifice their own wishes and their own opinions to the general
welfare. Those whom I order to fight will fight, I know; those whom
I tell off to fell trees, to raise obstacles, or to pile stones on
the edge of precipices, must labour with equal zeal; while those
who are despatched to drive up cattle, or to guard them until needed
in the forest, will know that their turn for active fighting will
come in good time. The man who disobeys me dies.
"It is only by acting as one man and under one leader that we can
hope to resist successfully. You are free men, and may consider
it humiliating thus to obey the orders of another; but the Romans
are free men too, and yet they submit to the severest discipline,
and without the slightest question obey the orders of their general.
So it must be here. If all are disposed thus to follow me I accept
the command. Let those who cannot so submit themselves withdraw
and fight in their own fashion. They shall be free to depart, none
harming them."
A great shout followed the conclusion of Beric's speech, and the
whole of those present lifted up their hands and swore implicit
obedience to him. The next few days were spent in making a careful
examination of the mountains above Cosenza, and fixing upon the
points where an active resistance could be best made.
"We must have missiles," Beric said one day when his lieutenants
were gathered round him. "We will not begin the war until the
Romans do so, but we must have weapons. Boduoc, you will tomorrow
take the whole of my band and descend to the plain, fall upon the
town of Castanium at daybreak; the bands of Victor and Marsus will
accompany you and will be also under your orders. My orders are
strict, that no one is to be injured unless he resists. Tell the
inhabitants that we wish them no harm. Ransack the armourers' shops
for arrow and javelin heads, and search all the private houses for
weapons; also bring off all the brass, copper, and iron you can
find, with every axe head and chopper in the town. We can erect
charcoal furnaces here similar to those we used at home, and so
provide ourselves with an ample store of missiles. Bring off from
the carpenters' shops any seasoned wood you can find suitable for
the making of bows. Touch no gold or silver ornaments of the
women--the metals are useless to us here--neither take garments nor
spoil of any other kind. I would show them that, until driven to
it, we are not the foes of the people at large. Above all frighten
no woman; let them see that we, though gladiators and outlaws, are
as well disciplined and as humane as their own soldiery."
Accordingly at sunset Boduoc marched away at the head of two hundred
men, and returned to the mountains late on the following afternoon
with a large store of arms and metal, Beric's orders having been
scrupulously carried out.
"You should have seen the wonder of the people," Boduoc said to
him, "when they saw that we meant them no harm, and that we touched
neither person nor goods save in the matter of arms. They gave us
their best to eat, and many even accompanied us some distance on
our return, overjoyed with the clemency we had shown the town."
There was no lack of charcoal, and in many places the stacks had
been left by the charcoal burners untouched when the bands first
appeared among the mountains. Those who had been accustomed to the
smelting of metals at home were appointed to cast heads for arrows
and javelins, others cut down and split up tough wood and fashioned
the shafts, others made bows; strong parties were set to work to fell
trees and form obstacles in defiles where the rocks rose steeply,
while others piled great heaps of stones and heavy rocks along the
edges of the precipices. As yet there were no signs of the expected
fleet, and when the preparations were complete the bands again
scattered, as it was easier so to maintain themselves in provisions;
and, a party being left to watch for the arrival of the Roman
legions, Beric returned with his band to his former station.
"There will be plenty of time to gather again before they move
forward," he said to their lieutenants. "They will have to collect
the carts from all the country round, to land their stores and to
make their arrangements for victualling. They will know that it is
no easy task that they are undertaking, and that they have desperate
men to meet. It will be a week after they land at the very earliest
before they leave Cosenza."
For a fortnight Beric remained quietly passing the greater portion
of his time at the farmhouse with Aemilia.
"It is terrible to me that you are going to fight the Romans,
Beric," she said.
"I have no desire to fight the Romans, it is they who want to fight
with me," he replied; "and as I have no desire for crucifixion,
or any of the other forms of death which they bestow upon their
captives, I have no choice but to resist. As you do not think any
the worse of me, Aemilia, for having fought your countrymen before,
I don't see that you can take it to heart that I am going to do it
again, especially as you have very small reason to be grateful to
them for the treatment that you and yours have received at their
hands. You must remember, dear, that as my wife, you are a Briton
now, and must no longer speak of the Romans as your people. Still,
were it not for my countrymen, I would gladly bury myself with you
in some cottage far up among the hills of Sicily, and there pass
my life in quiet and seclusion. But without a leader the others
would speedily fall victims to the Romans, and as long as the Romans
press us, I must remain with them."
At the end of the fortnight a messenger arrived saying that a great
fleet had arrived at the mouth of the Crathis River.
"I will from time to time send a messenger to you, Aemilia," Beric
said as he took a tender farewell of his wife, "to tell you how
matters go with us; but do not alarm yourself about me, for some
time there is little chance of close fighting."
The bands gathered in their full force above Cosenza, and during the
week that elapsed before the Romans advanced renewed their labour
at various passes through which it was probable that the enemy would
move. Some of the men were already skilled archers, and the rest
had spent their time for the last fortnight in incessant practice,
and could manage their weapons sufficiently well to be able to send
an arrow into a crowded mass of men.
It was with a feeling of satisfaction that the Roman column was
seen one morning issuing from Cosenza and moving up the road that
there crossed the mountains. Once on the crest they proceeded to
cut down trees and form a camp. While they were so occupied the
gladiators remained on the defensive. Light armed troops had been
pushed by the Romans into the woods, but after being permitted
to advance some distance the sound of a horn was heard, followed
instantly by a flight of arrows, and then by a rush of the gladiators,
who drove these light armed troops before them, killing many, till
they reached the protection of the spearmen.
Again and again during the ensuing week the Romans endeavoured to
penetrate the woods, heavy armed troops accompanying the archers.
Before they had penetrated far into the forest they found their way
arrested by obstacles--lines of felled trees with the branches
pointing towards them, and these were only taken after severe loss,
the defenders shooting through the green hedge, which was only
broken through when working parties with heavy axes came up covered
by the spearmen. One party, pushing on incautiously, was suddenly
attacked on all sides, and after pouring in their missiles
the gladiators charged them, broke the ranks of the spearmen, and
destroyed the whole party, three hundred in number.
After this the advance was delayed until the fortified camp was
complete and stored with provisions. Then the Roman army moved
forward, and was soon engaged in a succession of combats. Every
valley and ravine was defended, invisible foes rolled down masses
of rock among them and a hail of arrows, and it was only when very
strong bodies of archers, supported by spearmen, climbed the heights
on both sides that the resistance ceased. The Romans halted for
the night where they stood, but there was little sleep for them,
for the woods rang with war cries in many languages. The sentries
were shot or stabbed by men who crawled up close to them. At times
the shouts became so threatening and near that the whole force
was called to its feet to repel attack, but in the morning all was
quiet. As before, they were attacked as soon as they moved forward.
No serious opposition was offered to the columns of spearmen, but
the light armed troops who covered the advance and formed a connection
between the columns were exposed to incessant attack.
The third day the Romans, after another disturbed night, again
advanced. This time they met with no opposition, and as they moved
cautiously forward, wondered uneasily what was the meaning of this
silence. Late in the afternoon they learned. They had advanced, each
man carrying three days' provisions with him. Beric, being aware
that this was their custom, had during the night led his men some
distance down the hillside, and making a detour occupied before
morning the ground the Romans had passed over. At midday a great
convoy of baggage animals, laden with provisions, came along. It
extended over a great length, and came in straggling order, the
men leading their animals, and making their way with difficulty
through the thick trees. Five hundred Roman soldiers were scattered
along the line. Suddenly the sound of a horn rose in the woods, and
in an instant, at points all along the line of the convoy, strong
bodies of men burst down upon them.
In vain the Roman soldiers tried to gather in groups. The animals,
frightened by the shouting and din, broke loose from their leaders
and rushed wildly hither and thither, adding to the confusion. Greatly
outnumbered, and attacked by foes individually their superiors both
in strength and skill of arms, and animated by a burning hatred,
the Romans could do little, and the combat terminated in a few
minutes in their annihilation. The men with the convoy were all
killed, a line of gladiators having been posted through the woods,
both ahead and behind it, before the attack began, so that no
fugitives might escape either way to carry the news.
The animals were then collected, and their burdens taken off and
examined. The flour was divided up into parcels that a man could
easily carry on his shoulder, and a large number of skins of wine
set aside. All that could not be taken was scattered and destroyed,
and the animals then slaughtered. As soon as it became dark the
band descended the mountain side, marched for many miles along its
foot, and then again ascended the hills, ready to oppose the Roman
advance; but there was no movement in the morning. Surprised and
alarmed at the non-arrival of the train by nightfall, the general
sent a strong body of troops back to meet them with torches. These
in time came upon the bodies of the men and animals, and at once
returned with the news of the disaster to the camp.
"This is a terrible blow, Pollio," the general said to his son-in-law.
"We had reckoned on an obstinate resistance, but did not dream that
the gladiators would thus oppose us."
"It puts me in mind, Muro, of the work in the fens of Britain; and
indeed more than once I have thought I recognized the war cries
with which the Iceni attacked us. The strategy is similar to that
we then encountered. Can it be possible that Beric is again opposing
us? I heard during the short time we were in Rome that the Britons
in the palace of Nero had risen and escaped. I was too heartbroken
at the fate of my uncle and his family to ask many questions, and
was fully occupied in our preparations. My first thought would have
been to find Beric out had I not been met on landing with the news
of the disgrace and death of Norbanus, and I shunned the palace
of Nero as if the pestilence had been there. No doubt Beric would
have left with the other Britons, and in that case he may well be
at the head of those opposing us."
"The tactics they are adopting certainly look like it, Pollio; and
if they continue to fight as they have done so far, we are likely
to have no better fortune than Suetonius had in his campaign against
them. It is ten days since we left Cosenza, we have made but some
ten miles advance among the hills, and we have lost already eight
hundred hoplites, and I know not how many light armed troops. At
this rate our force will melt away to nothing before we have half
cleared this wilderness of rock and forest. Hitherto in their
revolts the gladiators have met our troops in pitched battle, but
their strength and skill have not availed against Roman discipline.
But in such fighting as this discipline goes for little. They are
fighting on ground they know, can choose their moment for attack,
and hurl all their strength on one point while we are groping
blindly."
"But how can they have got through our lines in the night, Muro?"
Pollio asked. "Our men were posted down to the edge of the forest
on either side of the hills. There were two thousand under arms
all night."
"But there was nothing to prevent them, Pollio, from descending
far below the forest line and coming up again in our rear. This
is what they must have done. Nor have we any means of preventing
their doing so, for nothing short of a force strong enough to reach
down to the sea on either hand would prevent their passing us. At
any rate we must halt here for a time. The whole of our baggage
animals are destroyed, and nothing can be done until another train
is collected."
The war proceeded but slowly. The Romans indeed made some slight
advance, but they were worn out and harassed by incessant alarms.
To prevent the recurrence of the disaster to the baggage train the
supplies were now carried along the plain at the foot of the hill,
and then taken up under very strong escorts directly to the point
at which the army had arrived. The soldiers, worn out and dispirited
by constant alarms, became reluctant to advance unless in solid
order; and in this way five thousand men, taking nine days' provisions
with them, made their way through the heart of the hills until they
reached the southern slopes, and the sea lay before them. But they
occupied only the ground on which they stood, and their passage
brought them no nearer to the end they desired. The fact that the
army had made a passage right through the mountains was regarded
as a triumph in Rome, and believing that the end was near fresh
reinforcements were sent to Muro to enable him to finish the campaign
rapidly. His reports, however, to the senate left no doubt in the
minds of those who read them as to the situation.
"We are fighting," he said, "an enemy who will not allow us to
strike him. Three months have passed since I entered the mountains,
and yet I cannot say that I am nearer the end than I was when I
began. I have lost three thousand men, of whom half are spearmen.
The gladiators have suffered but slightly, for they always burst
down in overwhelming numbers, slay, and retire. At least twenty
times my camps have been attacked; and although I have lost but
one convoy, the difficulty and labour of victualling the troops is
enormous. If the gladiators would but take to the plain we should
annihilate them in the first battle. As it is, it is they who select
the ground for action, and not we. The troops are utterly worn out
and well nigh mutinous at what they consider a hopeless task. You
ask me what had best be done. My own opinion is, that we should
retire from the mountains and establish the troops in camps near
their foot, so as to restrain the gladiators from making excursions,
and to fall upon them when hunger drives them to leave the mountains.
Treachery may then do what force has failed in.
"Among such a body there must be traitors, and when the war
is apparently ended we may, through shepherds or goatherds, open
communication with them. My great fear is, and always has been,
that as we gradually press them south they may pour down on to one
of the villages on the straits, seize the boats, cross to Sicily,
and take refuge in the mountains there, where they could laugh at
our efforts to pursue them. I should advise that it should be announced
publicly that our army, having traversed the whole mountains of
Bruttium without meeting with a foe, the objects of the expedition
have been attained, and the enemy may now be considered as a mere
mass of fugitives, whom it would be impossible to root out as
long as they take refuge among their fastnesses; but that for the
present the army will be placed in a cordon of camps round the
foot of the mountains, by which means the fugitives will be starved
into surrender. If this course is not approved I have but one other
to suggest, namely, that the whole of the population of southern
Italy should be ordered to take part in the total destruction of
the forests of Bruttium. Every tree must be cut down to the level
of the soil; every trunk and branch be burnt by fire. The task
would be a tremendous one. The loss to the country around by the
destruction of the forests, wherein their flocks of sheep and goats
and their herds of swine find sustenance and shelter in winter,
would be enormous, but thus, and thus alone, I am assured, can
these bands of gladiators be rooted out."
Muro's advice was taken, and the exulting gladiators beheld the
troops descending from the mountains to the plains below. Their
own loss had not exceeded three hundred men, and their shouts of
triumph rose high in the woods, and reached the ears of the Romans
retiring sullenly down the slopes. In a few days the plan of the
Romans became apparent. The camp in the pass above Cosenza was
still strongly held, four well fortified camps were established in
the plains on either side of the hills, and Muro himself took up
his post at Rhegium, where two thousand legionaries were posted.
The gladiators again broke up into bands, Beric returning to his
former encampment, to the delight of Aemilia.
"You must not suppose that our troubles are over, Aemilia," he
said. "We have indeed beaten them on our own ground, but we shall
now have to fight against famine. The wild animals have already
become scarce. You may be sure that the villagers will be allowed to
send no more flocks or herds up the hills to pasture, and before
long it will be necessary to make raids for food. You will see
that, emboldened by their successes, the men will become rash, and
may be cut off and defeated. As for us there is no fear; as long
as we can pay for provisions we shall be able to obtain them, for
although there may be difficulty in obtaining regular supplies,
now that the troops are at Rhegium, all these upland farmers and
villagers will continue to deal with us, knowing that if they do
not we shall take what we need without payment and perhaps burn
their houses over their heads."
It was not long, indeed, before Beric's predictions were verified.
As soon as the provisions became scarce the bands on the other
side of the mountains recommenced their forays on the villagers,
but from the Roman camps parties of soldiers were sent off after
nightfall to the upper villages, and the marauders were several
times surprised and almost exterminated.
"We must be more and more careful," Beric said to Aemilia when he
heard of one of these disasters. "The prisoners the Romans take will
under torture tell all they know, and it will not be long before
the Romans ascertain the general position of our encampment. The
force will dwindle rapidly. In the last two months they have lost
well nigh as many men as in the campaign in the mountains. More
than that, I have seen several of the leaders, who told me they
had determined, seeing that starvation was approaching them here,
to endeavour to pass between the Roman camps with their bands, and
regain the mountains beyond Cosenza, so as to establish themselves
far north; and indeed I cannot blame them. But their retreat adds
to our danger. So long as they roamed the eastern hills there was
no danger of a Roman force surprising us, but when they have gone
some of the captives may be forced to lead the Romans across the
hills to our neighbourhood. Boduoc is vigilant and his scouts are
scattered far round the camp, and at the worst we may have to carry
out my plan of crossing to Sicily. At any rate he has my orders
what to do in case of a sudden surprise. If I am absent, knowing
every foot of the wood now, he will at once make his way north,
leaving it to me to rejoin him as I best can."
But upon one thing Beric had not reckoned. So long as the gladiators
were in force among the mountains the country people on the slopes
above the straits were glad enough to purchase their safety by
silence. But as they heard of one band after another being crushed
by the Romans, and learned that parties from the various camps
had penetrated far into the hills without meeting with a single
opponent, their fear of the gladiators decreased. There were two
thousand legionaries at Rhegium. These could crush the band that
remained somewhere about the crest of the hills with ease, and
they need no longer fear their vengeance. The Roman general would
surely pay a great reward for information that would lead to
his being able to deal a final blow to the gladiators. The farmer
with whom Aemilia lodged had no such thought. He had earned in the
last eight months as much as his farm had brought him in the three
best years since he inherited it. He found these terrible outlaws
gentle and pleasant, ready to lend a hand on the farm if needful,
and delighted to play with his children. As to their chief, he was
a source of never ending wonder to him. Gladiators were, according
to his idea, fierce and savage men, barbarians who were good for
nothing but to kill each other, while this tall man bore himself
like a Roman of high rank, conversed in pure Latin, and could even
read and write. Aemilia, too, had become a great favourite in the
house. The farmer's wife wondered at seeing one, with two slaves
to wait upon her, active and busy, interested in all that went on,
and eager to learn every detail of the housework.
"I could manage a Roman household, Beric," she said. "I did so
indeed all the time we were in Rome; but we may have to live in a
hut, and I must know how to manage and cook for you there."
In Rhegium life was more cheerful than usual. Many of the upper
class of Rome, who shrank from the festivities of the court of Nero
and yet dared not withdraw altogether from Rome, had their country
estates and villas along the coasts, where they could for a time
enjoy freedom and live according to their tastes. Berenice had
joined Pollio three weeks before, when she found that he was likely
to remain stationed at Rhegium for some time. They lived with Muro
in a villa a short distance from the town, and looking over the
straits.
"I should feel perfectly happy here, Pollio," Berenice said one
evening as she walked to and fro on the terrace with him, looking
at the water in which the moonlight was reflected, bringing up into
view the boats rowing here and there with pleasure parties with
music and lanterns, "if it were not for the thought of Beric. It
is curious that he should be mixed up with both our lives. He was
my playmate as a boy; he saved me at the massacre of Camalodunum,
and restored me to my father. When we left Britain he was fighting
against Suetonius, and we expected when we left that the news of
his defeat and death would reach Rome before us. At Rome we heard
but vague rumours that Suetonius had not yet overcome the final
resistance of the Britons, and glad we were when Petronius was sent
out to take his place, and we heard that gentler measures were to
be used towards the Britons.
"Then, after a time, when we were in Syria, came the news that
Suetonius had returned, bringing with him Beric, the British chief,
with twenty of his followers, and my father at once wrote to the
emperor praying him that clemency might be extended to him for
his kind action in saving my life. Then when you came out to Syria
Beric's name again came up. You had journeyed with him from Britain
to Rome, and he had become your friend. Then a few months afterwards
a newcomer from Rome brought us the story of how your cousin Ennia,
having turned Christian, had been condemned to the lions; how a
British gladiator named Beric had sprung into the arena and craved
to fight the lion; how Nero had cruelly ordered him to do so unarmed;
and how he had, as it seemed by a miracle, overcome the lion and
bound him by strips torn from his mantle. Then again we learned
from one who came from Nero's court that Beric stood high in favour
with Caesar, that he was always about his person, and that rumours
said he kept guard over him at night.
"Then again, when we returned to Rome, my father was at once ordered
to take command of an expedition against some revolted gladiators,
among whom were, it was said, the British captives who had created
a disturbance in Nero's palace, well nigh killed the emperor,
and after slaying many of the Praetorians, escaped. After you and
my father had left me at the house of my uncle Lucius I made many
inquiries, and found that Beric had doubtless escaped with the
other Britons, as he had never been seen in the palace that night.
I heard too that it had been whispered by some of those who were
present at the supper, that the fault had not been his. He had
been betrothed to your cousin Aemilia, and Nero, urged thereto by
Rufinus, a disappointed suitor, ordered Beric to bring her to the
orgy. Upon his refusal Rufinus attacked him, and Beric slew him
by dashing his head against a marble pillar. Then Nero called upon
the Praetorians, and the Britons ran in to the aid of their chief,
and, defeating the Praetorians, escaped. It was the same night that
your uncle died and Aemilia was missing. It may be that she fled
with Beric, knowing that she would be sacrificed to the fury of Nero.
Is it not strange, Pollio, that this Briton should be so mixed up
in both our lives?"
"It is indeed, Berenice. There is no one to whom I owe so much.
First I owe your life to him, then I owe that of Ennia, my cousin;
for although she died afterwards, it was in her father's house,
and not a terrible and disgraceful death in the arena. And now we
have been fighting against him for months, and though of course
we made the best of matters, there is no doubt that we had all the
worst of it. We had twelve thousand men against a thousand, and
yet Beric kept us at bay and inflicted some terrible blows upon
us, for we lost a third of our number. After the first battle there
was no longer any doubt that Beric was the leader of our opponents.
Even had we not heard them shout his name as they attacked us, we
who had fought against him in Britain would have recognized that
he was again our opponent; for he used the same tactics among the
mountains that he had done in the swamps. We know from prisoners
we have taken since that he was unharmed in the struggle with us,
and certainly neither he nor any of his Britons have been among
the raiding bands whom we have surprised and destroyed. Indeed the
Britons never joined in any of the attacks upon the country people
before we came hither. I have questioned many of the sufferers by
their depredations, and none of them had seen among the plunderers
any tall men with light hair. The only time that they have been seen
on the plains was a fortnight before we landed, when they entered
Castanium and carried off all the arms. The Britons were among that
party, and a Briton commanded it; but from the description it was
not Beric, but was, I think, his principal follower, a man with a
British name which I forget."
"Was it Boduoc?" Berenice asked. "I have often heard him speak of
a friend of his with such a name, and indeed he came once or twice
to see him when he was with us."
"That was the name--Boduoc," Pollio said. "They behaved with the
greatest gentleness, injuring no one and taking nothing, neither
jewels, nor ornaments, nor garments, but departing quietly after
taking possession of all the weapons in the town.
"Your father reported the fact to Rome, bringing into prominence
the fact that this was the first time the Britons had ever descended
from the mountains, and that the inhabitants of Castanium were filled
with gratitude and admiration for the treatment they received. Last
week he wrote to Rome saying that so far as he could learn all the
bands that had not been destroyed had gone north, save one composed
of Britons and Gauls, about fourscore in number, commanded by the
Briton Beric, and suggested that as months might pass before they
could be captured, he should be authorized to treat with them,
and to offer them full pardon if they would lay down their arms,
especially as they had taken no part whatever in the misdeeds of
the other gladiators, and had injured no one either in person or
property. I know that it was a great disappointment to him, as well
as to us, when the letter came yesterday saying that they were to
be hunted down and destroyed, and that all not killed in fighting
were to be crucified. But we had better go in, Berenice, the dew
is beginning to fall."
They entered the villa. The general was alone in the atrium.
"Is anything the matter, father?" Berenice asked, as she saw that
he looked disturbed.
"Yes, Berenice, I have received news that as a Roman general ought
to delight me, but which, as Caius Muro, your father and the father
in law of Pollio, vexes me greatly."
"What is it, father?"
"A man arrived half an hour since saying that he had news of
importance to communicate. He was brought in here. He told me he
was a cultivator whose farm lay far up on the hillside. For upwards
of a year he had, in fear of his life, as he said, been compelled
to sell food to the bandits in the mountains. He acknowledged
that he had been well paid, and that he had no cause of complaint
against them; but he now professed a desire to do service to Rome,
for which he evidently expected a handsome reward. I told him I
could not bargain with him. He had aided the enemies of Rome, and
by his own account his life was forfeited, seeing that for a year
he had been trafficking with them, instead of doing his duty and
reporting their first visit to the authorities here.
"He said that he was not alone, and that most of the farmers high
up on the hills had been compelled to do the same, and had kept
silence, knowing that the brigands would have burned their houses
and slain their wives and families had they reported aught against
them to the authorities, and that, indeed, they were altogether
ignorant of the position of the camp of the outlaws beyond the
fact that it was somewhere among the mountains. 'What, then, have
you to report?' I said angrily, for I hate to have to do with
traitors. 'It is this,' he said: 'for some months there has been
living a lady, supposed to be the wife of the chief of the outlaws,
at a farm next to mine, belonging to one Cornelius. The chief often
visits her and stays there; five of his followers live in an out
house adjoining the farm, and one of these is always on guard night
and day.
"'The chief himself is a very tall young man, and is called Beric
by his followers. Four of them are also of his race, tall and very
fair like him. There is also a youth who lives in the house. He
belongs to the band, but appears to be a native of Rome. He sometimes
comes down and makes purchases in Rhegium. The house cannot be
approached from below without an alarm being given, owing to the
strictness of the watch; but I could lead a body of troops high
up above it, so as to come down upon the rear of the house and cut
off all escape when another band comes up from below.' I told him
that his information was valuable, and that he was to come here
to-morrow evening at eight o'clock to lead a party of light armed
troops up into the hills."
"And you will send them, father?" Berenice broke in; "surely you
will not take advantage of this treachery."
"I have no choice but to do so," the general said gravely. "As
a father I would give my right hand to save the man who preserved
your life; as a Roman soldier my duty is to capture the outlaw,
Beric, by any means possible. Pollio will tell you the same."
Berenice looked at her husband, who stood in consternation and
grief at the news. "Do you say this too, Pollio?"
Pollio did not answer, but the general spoke for him. "He can say
nothing else, Berenice. To a Roman soldier duty is everything, and
were he ordered to arrest his own father and lead him to execution
he could not hesitate."
"But I am not a soldier--" Berenice began passionately.
The general held up his hand suddenly. "Hush, Berenice, not a word
farther! I am a Roman general. If you say one word that would clash
with my duty I should order you to your chamber and place a soldier
there on guard over you. Now I will leave you with your husband;"
and the general left the room.
"What do you say, Pollio? Will you suffer this man, who saved your
wife, who risked his life for your cousin, and is, as it seems,
your cousin by marriage, to be foully captured and crucified?"
"I am a soldier, Berenice; do not tempt me to break my duty. You
heard what your father said."
Berenice stamped her foot. "Does your duty go so far, Pollio, that
like my father you would place a guard at my door if I said aught
that would seem to run counter to your duty?"
"Not at all, Berenice," he said with a smile; "say aught you like.
I hear as a husband but not as a soldier."
"Well, that is something," Berenice said, mollified. "Well, Pollio,
if you will not warn Beric of his danger I will do so. Have I your
permission to act as I choose?"
"My full permission, dear. Do as you like; act as you choose; you
have beforehand my approval. If you fail and harm comes of it I
will stand by you and share your punishment; but tell me nothing
of what you would do beforehand. I trust you wholly, but for my
sake, if not for your own, be not rash. Remember, if by any means
it becomes known that you aided Beric to escape, both our lives
are surely forfeited."
"Thank you, Pollio," Berenice said, throwing her arms round his
neck, "that is spoken like my husband. You shall know nothing, and
I will save Beric."