After some search up the foot of the oak, Meroe found her poniard. It was cased in a sheath hardly as long as a hen's feather, and not much thicker. Meroe fastened it anew under her blouse, and started again on the road with her husband. After some little travel along deserted paths, the two arrived at a plain. They heard far in the distance the great roar of the sea. On a hill they saw the lights of many fires. "There, at last, is the camp of Caesar," said Albinik, stopping short, "the den of the lion." "The den of the scourge of Gaul. Come, come, the evening is slipping away." "Meroe, the moment has come." "Do you hesitate now?" "It is too late. But I would prefer a fair fight under the open heavens, vessel to vessel, soldier to soldier, sword to sword. Ah, Meroe, for us, Gauls, who despise ambuscade or cowardice, and hang brass bells on the iron of our lances to warn the enemy of our approach, to come here--traitorously!" "Traitorously!" exclaimed the young woman. "And to oppress a free people--is that loyalty? To reduce the inhabitants to slavery, to exile them by herds with iron collars on their necks--is that loyalty? To massacre old men and children, to deliver the women and virgins to the lust of soldiers--is that loyalty? And now, you would hesitate, after having marched a whole day and night by the lights of the conflagration, through the midst of those smoking ruins which were caused by the horror of Roman oppression? No! No! to exterminate savage beasts, all means are good, the trap as well as the boar-spear. Hesitate? Hesitate? Answer, Albinik. Without mentioning your voluntary mutilation, without mentioning the dangers which we brave in entering this camp--shall we not be, if Hesus aids our project, the first victims of that great sacrifice which we are going to make to the Gods? Come, believe me; he who gives his life has nothing to blush for. By the love which I bear you, by the virgin blood of your sister Hena, I have at this moment, I swear to you, the consciousness of fulfilling a holy duty. Come, come, the evening is passing." "What Meroe, the just and valiant, finds to be just and valiant, must be so," said Albinik, pressing his companion to his breast. "Yes, yes, to exterminate savage beasts all means are good, the trap as well as the spear. Who gives his life has no cause to blush. Come!" The couple hastened their pace toward the lights of the camp of Caesar. After a few moments, they heard close at hand, resounding on the earth, the measured tread of several soldiers, and the clashing of their swords on their iron armor. Presently they distinguished the invaders' red crested helmets glittering in the moonlight. "They are the soldiers of the guard, who keep vigil around the camp," said Albinik. "Let us go to them."