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.