Night had closed in, and as I said before, dark and cloudy; only the flames of the blazing wood gave light enough to distinguish objects, when a young barbarian came up to Periander, and in the Castilian tongue, which he well understood, said, "Follow me, beautiful maiden, and tell the others who are with you to do the same, and I will place you in safety, Heaven helping me." Periander did not reply, but he rose up, signed to Auristella, Clelia, and the interpretess, that they should pluck up courage and go with him, and so, treading over dead corpses, and trampling upon weapons at every step, they followed the young barbarian who was their guide. The flames of the burning wood reached very near to them, and lighted them on their way. The advanced age of Clelia, and the great youth of Auristella, made it difficult for them to keep up with the rapid steps of the guide. Perceiving which, the barbarian, who was young and strong, caught up Clelia, and seated her on his shoulder; Periander did the same by Auristella; the interpretess less delicate, and more active, followed with manly vigour: and in this way, sometimes mounting, sometimes descending, they reached the sea-shore, and after coasting along for about a mile in a northerly direction, the guide stopped before the mouth of a spacious cavern, into which the tide came and went. They waded through the water a little way, turning first to the right and then to the left; and now narrowing, now widening, sometimes bending almost double and crawling on the ground, sometimes walking upright; they moved on till they came out into what seemed to them an open plain, where they might walk freely, at least so their guide told them, for they could discern nothing through the darkness, as the light of the burning forest, which still blazed fiercely, did not reach them here. "Blessed be God," exclaimed the barbarian, in the same Castilian tongue, "who hast brought us here in safety, for although there is still some danger to fear, it is not that of death." Then they saw that there approached rapidly a great light like a comet, or rather a meteor, which seemed to move through the darkness. They expected its coming with some alarm, but the barbarian said, "This is my father coming to receive me." Periander, who could speak the Castilian language, though not very fluently, said to him, "May Heaven reward thee, O human angel, or whoever thou mayest be, for the kind deed thou hast done; and even though our death should only be delayed, we still gratefully acknowledge the benefit received."