“And then,” he concluded, “as you all know, came the embassy from suppliant Rome. Every ambition of Attila’s for the recognition of his power and glory was gratified in this appeal for mercy from the humbled Empire, from the helpless City which had so long been mistress of the nations. Leo was at the head of the procession, simple and stately, representative of the great Christian Church. “Never to my dying day can I forget that confronting of the worshippers of the scimitar, the conquerors by force, and the disciple of the Crucified, the conqueror by the Cross;—one more great incident in the long warfare between the forces of division and of peace, of good and evil, as real as that in which ‘Satan as lightning fell from heaven,’ and perhaps not more silent. “On one side the great barbaric host of the mighty king who had conquered and devastated Europe from the Euxine to the Baltic, in all its savage pomp and pride; on the other, the little company of peace-makers, led by our Leo, his tall, slight figure arrayed in the pontifical robes, his abundant silvery hair flowing down from beneath the silken, gold-embroidered mitre, the purple chasuble, the pallium with the small red cross on the shoulder and the large red cross on the breast, Roman courage and dignity blended with sacred majesty in his look and bearing. For some minutes there was a hush of expectation and suspense; then followed the brief speech between Attila and Leo. What was said has not been told. Some report, as no doubt you have heard, that Attila said he could fight with men, but not with the wolf and the lion (Lupus and Leo). But I believe and am sure that, whatever he said, Attila felt he was face to face with a courage nobler than his own, with a Power to save mightier than his to destroy—felt indeed that he could fight with men, but not with God. “And so it was that Leo won the day. The countless hosts of the destroyers went back with Attila to their own place among their wildernesses; the little embassy of the peace-makers went back with Leo to Rome. And Rome is saved.” [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXI. ON THE SABINE HILLS. It was not many days after the rescue of Rome from the Huns by Leo that Baithene came back from Ireland. He found the city full of noise and stir, the people crowding to the Circensian games; the Coliseum echoing to the shouts of the spectators of the chariot races, athletic games, and dramatic performances. Rome had not indeed received her deliverer as for a time misguided Troyes had received the Bishop who had risked his life for her. But her response to the great gift of her rescue was far from satisfactory to Leo.