“Still it is incomprehensible how he recovered from his defeat on the Catalaunian Plain.” “Everything is incomprehensible that has to do with this man, if he is a man at all.” “You are right. He is said to have succeeded his father’s brother, Rua, of whom we know nothing; he has murdered his brother Bleda. For twenty years we have had him held over us like an iron rod, and yet lately, when he was before Rome, he turned back.” “But he has promised his soldiers to give them Rome some day.” “Why did he spare Rome?” “No one knows. No one knows anything about this man, and he himself seems to be ignorant about himself. He comes from the East, he says; that is all. People say the Huns are the offspring of witches and demons in the wilderness. If anyone asks Attila what he wants, and who he is, he answers, ‘The Scourge of God.’ He founds no kingdom, builds no city, but rules over all kingdoms and destroys all cities.” “To return to his bride: she is called Ildico; is she then a Christian?” “What does Attila care? He has no religion.” “He must have one if he calls himself ‘the Scourge of God,’ and declares that he has found the War-God’s sword.” “But he is indifferent as regards forms of religion. His chief minister, Onegesius, is a Greek and a Christian.” “What an extraordinary man he is to settle down here in a salt-plain instead of taking up his abode in Byzantium or in Rome.” “That is because it resembles his far Eastern plains--the same soil, the same plants and birds; he feels at home here.” They became silent, as the sun rose and the heat increased. The low-growing tamarisk, wormwood, and soda-bushes afforded no shade. Wild fowl and larks were the only creatures that inhabited the waste. The herds of cattle, goats, and swine had disappeared, for Attila’s army of half a million had eaten them up, and his horses had not left a single edible blade of grass. At noon the caravan came suddenly to a halt, for on the eastern horizon there was visible a town with towers and pinnacles, on the other side of a blue lake. “Are we there?” asked Edeko. “Impossible; it is still twenty miles, or three days’ journey.” But the city was in sight, and the caravan quickened its pace. After half an hour the town appeared no nearer, but seemed, on the contrary, to grow more distant, to dwindle in size, and to sink out of sight. After another half hour, it had disappeared, and the blue lake also. “They can practise enchantment,” said the Roman, “but that goes beyond everything.” “It is the Fata Morgana, or the mirage,” explained the guide. As the evening came on, the caravan halted in order to rest for the night. * * * * *