"'I am writing this in the harbor of Carthage--'" "What? Impossible!" cried the three listeners. "'--which I am just leaving. I wished to see the condition of affairs with my own eyes. For three days I remained among you unrecognized. Only my brave General, Theudigisel, accompanied me in the fishing boat which bore me across the narrow arm of the sea from Calpe, and will be carrying me home again when you read this, Gelimer. You are a true king, a true hero. I saw you slay the tiger to-night; but you cannot kill the serpent of degeneration which has coiled around your people. Your guards sleep at their posts; your nobles go naked, or in women's garb. I saw them flame up at last, but it is a fire of straw. Even if they really desired to improve, they could not change in a few weeks what the slothfulness of two generations has accomplished. The punishment, the recompense, for our sins does not fail.'" The King sighed heavily. "'Woe betide him who sought to unite his destiny to your sinking race! I offer you not alliance, but refuge. If after the battle is lost, you can escape to Spain,--and I will gladly aid you to do so,--no Justinian, no Belisarius shall reach you with us. Farewell!'" "The subterfuge of cowardice," said Gibamund, resentfully. "This man is no coward," replied Gelimer, sadly. "He is wise. Well, then, we will fight alone." "And invite this wise King Theudis to be our guest at our banquet to celebrate the victory!" exclaimed Hilda. "Do not challenge Heaven by idle boasting," warned Gelimer. "But be it so. The aid of the Visigoths in the war is of less value to us than to have the Ostrogoths at least remain neutral; to have Sicily--" "Sicily," interrupted Verus, "if war should be declared, will be the bridge over which the enemy will march into Africa." The King's eyes opened wider in astonishment; Gibamund started up, but Hilda, turning pale, exclaimed,-- "What? My own people? The daughter of the Amalungi?" "This letter from the Regent has just arrived; Cassiodorus composed it. I should know by the scholarly style if he had not affixed his signature. She writes that, too weak to avenge, by her own power, the blood of her father's sister and many thousand Goths, she will joyfully see the vengeance of Heaven executed by her imperial friend in Constantinople." "The vengeance of Heaven,--retribution," Gelimer repeated in a hollow tone. "All, all, unite in that!" "What?" cried Gibamund, in an outburst of rage. "Has the learned Cassiodorus grown childish? Justinian, the wily intriguer, an avenging angel of God! And especially that she-devil, whose name I will not utter in my pure wife's presence! That pair the avengers of God!" "That proves nothing," Gelimer murmured, talking to himself as if lost in reverie. "The Fathers of the Church teach that God often uses evil, sinful men for His deeds of vengeance." "A wise utterance," said the priest, nodding his head gravely.