"The soldiers are grumbling," observed Dagalaïf. "Don't push them to despair; they're worn out; the number of wounded and sick is great. If you lead them farther into an unknown desert, we can answer for nothing. Have mercy on them!... And are not you yourself in need of rest? You must be more tired than any of us." "Let us turn back!" cried all the generals. "To go on would be madness." At that moment a dull, menacing sound broke out behind the tent, a sound like the rumbling of a furious sea. Julian leant ear, and immediately understood. It meant mutiny. "You know my will," he said coldly to the chiefs, motioning them to the door. "It is unshakable. In two hours we must be upon the march. See that all is ready." "Well-beloved Augustus," answered Sallustius, with respectful self-possession, "I will not leave this tent without telling you what I ought to tell you. You have spoken with us, your equals not in power but in valour, in a manner unworthy of a Roman pupil of Socrates and Plato. We can only pardon your words by setting them down to a momentary weakness of the nerves, which clouds your Imperial understanding." "Is that so?" exclaimed Julian, sarcastically, growing pale with stifled anger. "Then, my friends, it is the worse for you, for you are now in the hands of a madman! I have just given the order to burn the ships, and my orders are at this moment being carried out! I foresaw your sage counsel, and have cut off your means of retreat. Now your lives are in my hands, and I shall oblige you to believe in miracles!" All stood overwhelmed; Sallustius alone pushed towards Cæsar, and taking his hands cried-- "It is impossible, Cæsar ... surely ... you have not ... actually...." He broke off the sentence, and dropped the hands of the Emperor. All the company stood up, listening. The cries of the legionaries became louder and louder--the noise of mutiny came nearer, like the sound of tempest over immense forests. "Let them shout," said Julian calmly. "Poor children! Whither will they go without me? You understand? That is why I burn the ships, the last hope of the cowardly and the idle. There is now no possible return, except by miracle. Now are you bound to me for life and death. In twenty days Asia will be ours. I have girt you with terror, that you may conquer all and become like me. Rejoice! Like Dionysus, I will lead you through the world, and you shall be the masters of men and gods!..." Hardly had he pronounced these words when a cry of infinite despair resounded through the host-- "They are on fire!... they are burning!" The generals rushed out of the tent, followed by Julian. They saw the glow of conflagration. Victor had transmitted the Emperor's orders literally, and Julian himself watched the flaming spectacle with a smile. "Cæsar!... May the gods protect us!... He has escaped!" With these words, a centurion fell at Julian's feet, pale and trembling. "Who has escaped? What mean you?"