Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) THE BRASS BELL OR THE CHARIOT OF DEATH A Tale of Caesar's Gallic Invasion By EUGENE SUE TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH BY SOLON DE LEON NEW YORK LABOR NEWS COMPANY, 1907 NEW EDITION 1916 COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY THE NEW YORK LABOR NEWS CO. PREFACE TO THE TRANSLATION _The Brass Bell_; or, _The Chariot of Death_ is the second of Eugene Sue's monumental serial known under the collective title of _The Mysteries of the People; or History of a Proletarian Family Across the Ages_. The first story--_The Gold Sickle; or, Hena, the Virgin of the Isle of Sen_--fittingly preludes the grand drama conceived by the author. There the Gallic people are introduced upon the stage of history in the simplicity of their customs, their industrious habits, their bravery, lofty yet childlike--such as they were at the time of the Roman invasion by Caesar, 58 B. C. The present story is the thrilling introduction to the class struggle, that starts with the conquest of Gaul, and, in the subsequent seventeen stories, is pathetically and instructively carried across the ages, down to the French Revolution of 1848. D. D. L. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Preface to the Translation Chapter 1. The Conflagration 1 Chapter 2. In the Lion's Den 8 Chapter 3. Gallic Virtue 24 Chapter 4. The Trial 35 Chapter 5. Into the Shallows 41 Chapter 6. The Eve of Battle 52 Chapter 7. The Battle of Vannes 59 Chapter 8. After the Battle 80 Chapter 9. Master and Slave 88 Chapter 10. The Last Call to Arms 102 Chapter 11. The Slaves' Toilet 107 Chapter 12. Sold into Bondage 115 Chapter 13. The Booth across the Way 126 FOOTNOTES CHAPTER I. THE CONFLAGRATION. The call to arms, sounded by the druids of the forest of Karnak and by the Chief of the Hundred Valleys against the invading forces of the first Caesar, had well been hearkened to. The sacrifice of Hena, the Virgin of the Isle of Sen, seemed pleasing to Hesus. All the peoples of Brittany, from North to South, from East to West, rose to combat the Romans. The tribes of the territory of Vannes and Auray, those of the Mountains of Ares, and many others, assembled before the town of Vannes, on the left bank, close to the mouth of the river which empties into the great bay of Morbihan. This redoubtable position where all the Gallic forces were to meet, was situated ten leagues from Karnak, and had been chosen by the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, who had been elected Commander-in-Chief of the army.