CHAPTER V
When Procopius wrote the last lines, those whom he was seeking were farnearer than he imagined.
The first rays of the morning sun darted above the sea, glittered onthe waves, and shone over the yellowish-brown sand of the edge of thedesert, as a dozen Vandal horsemen dashed into the King's camp a fewleagues southwest of Decimum.
Gibamund, the leader, and the boy Ammata sprang from their horses."What do ye bring?" shouted the guards.
"Victory," answered Ammata.
"And a captive," added Gibamund.
They hastened to rouse the King. But Gelimer came in full armor out ofhis tent to meet them.
"You are stained with blood--both. You, too, Ammata; are you wounded?"His voice was tremulous with anxiety.
"No," laughed the handsome boy, his eyes sparkling brightly. "It is theblood of the enemy."
"The first that has been shed in this war," replied the King, gravely,"sullies your pure hand. Oh, if I had not consented--"
"It would have been unfortunate," Gibamund interrupted. "Our child hasdone well. Go to the tent for Hilda, my lad, while I deliver thereport. So, chafing with impatience, we long endured your keeping us sofar away from the foe; we have followed their march at a greatdistance, unsuspected even by their farthest outposts. When to-nightyou finally permitted us to ride nearer to their flank than usual, inorder to discover whether they really intended to go to Decimum to-dayunprotected by the fleet, and to pass at noon through the Narrow Way,you said that if we could obtain a captive without causing muchdisturbance, it would be desirable. Well, we have not only a prisoner,but more; we found an important strip of parchment on him. And it isfortunate; for the man refuses to give any information. See, they arebringing him yonder. There come Thrasaric and Eugenia; and Ammata isalready drawing Hilda here by the hand."
"Welcome," cried the young wife, hastening toward her beloved husband,but she shrank in embarrassment from his embrace, for the captive wasalready standing before the King. With hands bound behind his back, hedarted savage glances from beneath his bushy brows at the Vandals,especially at Ammata. Blood trickled from his left cheek upon the whitesheepskin that covered his shoulders; his lower garment also--itreached only to the knee--was of untanned leather; his feet were bare;a huge spur was buckled with a thong on his right heel, and four golddisks, bestowed by the Emperor and his generals in honor of brave deeds(like our orders), were fastened on his heavy leather breastplate.
"So," continued Gibamund, "toward midnight, with only ten Vandals andtwo Moors behind us, we rode out of camp toward the distant light ofthe hostile campfires, cautiously concealing ourselves behind the longmounds of sand, stretching for half a league, which the desert wind isconstantly heaping up and blowing away again, especially just on theedge of the wilderness. Under the protection of this cover, weadvanced unseen so far eastward that we saw by the glare of awatchfire--probably lighted to drive away the wild beasts--fourhorsemen. Two sat crouching on their little nags, with their bows bent,gazing intently toward the southwest, whence we had come; the other twohad dismounted and were leaning against the shoulders of their horses.The points of their lances glittered in the flickering light of thefire.
"I motioned to the two Moors, whom I had taken with us for this clevertrick. Slipping noiselessly from their steeds, they threw themselvesflat on the ground and were scarcely distinguishable in the darknessfrom the surrounding sand. They crept on all fours in a wide circle,one to the left, the other to the right, around the fire and thesentinels, until they stood northeast and northwest of them. They hadsoon vanished from our sight, for they glided as swiftly as lizards.
"Soon we heard, on the other side of the watchfire, toward the north,the hoarse, menacing cry of the leopardess going out with her cubs onthe nocturnal quest of prey. The mother was instantly answered by thebeseeching cry of her young. The four horses of the sentinels shied,their manes bristled; the scream of the leopardess came nearer,and all four of the strangers--they had probably never heard such asound--turned in the direction of the noise. One of the horses rearedviolently, the rider swayed, clinging to its mane; another, trying tohelp him, snatched at the bridle, his bow falling from his hand.Profiting by the confusion of the moment, we glided forward in perfectsilence from behind the sand-hill. We had wrapped cloth around thehorses' hoofs, and almost reached them unseen; not until we were closeby the fire did one of the mounted men discover us. 'Foes!' he shouted,darting away. The other rider followed. The third did not reach thesaddle; I struck him down as he was mounting. But the fourth--this manhere, the leader--was on his horse's back in an instant; he ran downthe two Moors who tried to stop him, and would have escaped, butAmmata--our child"--he pointed to the boy; the captive gnashed histeeth furiously--"shot after him like an arrow on his little whitesteed--"
"Pegasus!" Ammata interrupted. "You know, brother, you brought him tome from the last Moorish war. He really goes as though he had wings."
"--reached him, and before any one of us could lend assistance, with aswift double thrust--"
"You taught me, Gelimer!" cried Ammata, with sparkling eyes, for hecould no longer restrain himself.
"--of the short-sword, he thrust the enemy's long spear aside and dealthim a heavy blow on the cheek. But the brave fellow, heedless of thepain, dropped the spear and gripped the battle-axe in his belt. Thenour child threw the noose around his neck--"
"You know--the antelope cast!" Ammata exclaimed to Gelimer.
"And with a jerk dragged him from his horse."
Gibamund spoke in the Vandal tongue, but the captive understoodeverything from the accompanying gestures, and now shrieked in theLatin of the camp, "May my father's soul pass into a dog if that be notavenged! I, the great-grandson of Attila--I--dragged from my horse by aboy--with a noose! Beasts are caught thus, not warriors!"
"Calm yourself, my little friend," replied Thrasaric, approaching him."There is a good old motto among all the Gothic nations: 'Spare thewolf rather than the Hun.' Besides, that royal bird, the ostrich, iscaptured in the same way when he is overtaken. So it's no disgrace toyou." Laughing heartily, he straightened the heavy helmet with thebear's head.
"We reached the two at once," Gibamund continued, "bound the man, whofought like a wild boar, and snatched from his teeth this strip ofparchment which he was trying to swallow."
The prisoner groaned.
"What is your name?" asked the King, glancing hastily at the parchment.
"Bleda."
"How strong is your army in horsemen?"
"Go and count them."
"Friend Hun," said Thrasaric, in a threatening tone, "a king isspeaking to you. Behave civilly, little wolf. Answer politely thequestions you are asked, or--"
The prisoner glanced defiantly toward Gelimer, saying, "This gold diskwas given to me by the great General with his own hands after our thirdvictory over the Persians. Do you think I would betray Belisarius?"
"Lead him away," said Gelimer, waving his hand. "Bind up his wound.Treat him kindly."
The Hun cast another glance of mortal hate at Ammata, then he followedhis guards.
Gelimer again looked at the parchment. "I thank you, my boy," he said,"I thank you. You have indeed brought us no trivial thing, the order ofthe enemy's march to-day. Follow me to my tent, my generals; there youshall hear my plan of attack. We need not wait for the arrival of theMoors. I think, if the Lord is not wrathful with us--but let us have nosinful arrogance--Oh, Ammata, how I rejoice to have you again alive!After your departure I had a terrible dream about you. God has restoredyou to me once--I will not tempt Him a second time." Going close to theboy and laying his hand on his shoulder, he said in his sternest tone:"Listen; I forbid you to fight in the battle to-day."
"What?" cried Ammata, furiously, turning deadly pale. "That isimpossible! Gelimer, I beseech--"
"Silence," said the King, frowning, "and obey."
"Why," cried Gibamund; "I should think you might let him go. He h
asshown--"
"Oh, brother, brother," exclaimed Ammata, tears streaming from hiseyes, "how have I deserved this punishment?"
"Is this his reward for to-night's deed?" warned Thrasaric.
"Silence, all of you," Gelimer commanded sternly. "It is decided. Heshall _not_ fight with us. He is still a boy."
Ammata stamped his foot angrily.
"And oh, my darling," Gelimer added, clasping the vehemently resistinglad in his arms, "let me confess it. I love you so tenderly, with suchundue affection, that anxiety for you would not leave me for a singleinstant during the battle, and I need all my thoughts for the foe."
"Then let me fight by your side; protect me yourself!"
"I dare not. I dare not think of you. I must think of Belisarius."
"Indeed, I pity him from my inmost soul," cried Hilda, in passionateexcitement. "I am a woman, and it is hard enough for me not to go withyou: but a boy of fifteen!"
Eugenia timidly pulled her back by the robe, stroking and kissing herhand; but Hilda, smoothing the boy's golden locks, went on: "It is aduty, it is a patriotic duty, that every man who can--especially a sonof the royal house--should fight for his people. This lad can fight; hehas proved it. So do not refuse him to his people. My ancestor taughtme that only he who is to fall will fall."
"Sinful paganism!" exclaimed the King, wrathfully.
"Well, then, let me address you as a Christian. Is this your trust inGod, Gelimer? Who in the two armies is as guiltless as this child? OKing, I am less devout than you, but I have confidence enough in theGod of Heaven to believe that he will protect this boy in our justcause. Ay, should this purest, fairest scion of the Asding race fall,it would be like a judgment of God, proclaiming that we are indeedcorrupt in His eyes!"
"Hold!" cried the King, in anguish. "Do not probe the deepest wounds ofmy breast. If he _should_ fall now? If a judgment of God, as you calledit, should so terribly overtake us? Doubtless he is free from guilt asfar as human beings can be. But have you forgotten the terrible wordsof menace--about the iniquity of the fathers? If I experienced _that_,I should see in it the curse of vengeance fulfilled, and I believe Ishould despair."
He began to pace swiftly up and down.
Then Gibamund whispered to his wife, who shook her proud head silentlybut wrathfully, "Let him go. Such anxiety in the brain of thecommander-in-chief will do more harm than the spears of twenty boys canrender service."
"But arrows fly far," cried Ammata, defiantly. "If, like a miserablecoward, I remain behind your backs, I can fall here in the camp if thefoes conquer. I certainly will not be taken captive," he addedfiercely, seizing his dagger, and throwing back his head till his fairlocks floated over his light-blue armor. "Better put me in a church atonce--but a Catholic one; that would be a safe sanctuary, devout King."
"Yes, I _will_ lock you up, unruly boy," Gelimer now said sharply. "Forthat insolent jeer, you will give up your weapons at once--at once.Take them from him, Thrasaric. You, Thrasaric, will assail the foe inthe front, from Decimum. In Decimum stands a Catholic church; it willbe inviolable to the Byzantines. There you will keep imprisoned duringthe battle the boy who desires to be a soldier and has not yet learnedto obey his King. In case of retreat, you will take him with you. Andlisten, Thrasaric: that night--in the grove--you promised to atone forthe past--"
"I think he has done so," cried Hilda, indignantly.
"Whose troops are the best drilled?" added Gibamund. "Who has lavishedgold, weapons, horses, like him?"
"My King," replied Thrasaric, "hitherto I have done nothing. Give meto-day an opportunity."
"You must find it. I rely upon you. Above all, that you will notimpetuously attack too soon and spoil my whole plan. And thisrebellious boy," he added tenderly, "I commend to your care. Keep himout of the battle; bring him to me safe and unhurt after the victory,on which I confidently rely. I also commit to your charge all theprisoners, among them the hostages from Carthage; for, in case ofretreat, you will be at its goal--you will learn it at once, the firstman; therefore the captives will be most securely guarded with you. Iintrust to you Ammata, the apple of my eye, because, well--because youare my brave, faithful Thrasaric." He laid both hands on the giant'sbroad shoulders.
"My King," replied the Vandal, looking him steadfastly in the eyes,"you will see the Prince again, living and unhurt, or you will neversee Thrasaric more."
Eugenia shuddered.
"I thank you. Now to my tent. Vandal generals, to hear the plan ofbattle!"