o days the forty-six miles to
Cosa; whence they followed the Aurelian road to Marseilles, as we had
ridden it, and from there marched across Gaul to Gessoriacum and shipped
for Britain, all in half the time in which they had come.

Agathemer and I spent the whole day in our hiding place, suffering
terribly from the heat, for the day was hot, muggy and breezeless, so that
the still sultry air was stifling. We spared our water-bottles and made
their contents last. Our bread we munched relishingly after noon.

Before sunset we were discovered and unearthed by some of the infantry
whose trappings were unknown to us. We found out later that they belonged
to the newly-enlisted Viarii, cohorts created from picked young men judged
agile, alert, intelligent and loyal, to act as a special road-constabulary
to deal with robbers and especially with the bands obeying the King of the
Highwaymen and with him.

Our captors did not treat us roughly, though they bound our hands behind
us effectually. They laughed over our device for escaping the arrows and
commented on our cleverness. Our amulet-bags they ignored, being more
interested in our brand-marks and scourge-scars. Their sergeant asked us
where we were from.

"Do you think it likely," Agathemer laughed, "that we would tell you;
can't you read on our backs that, wherever we came from it is the last
place on earth we want to go back to?"

The sergeant laughed genially.

"Mark 'em 'unidentified'," he ordered.

They clothed us in tunics innocent of any blood-stains, but which, we felt
sure, had been taken from the corpses of our late associates.

"Put 'em with the rest," the sergeant ordered.

With the rest, some three hundred survivors out of more than three
thousand tumultuaries, we were herded inside a convoy of constabulary and
marched in the dusk and dark to our former camp at Rubrae. There we were
liberally fed on what was, apparently, the leavings from the entertainment
afforded the mutineers there on their down-march.

Next morning we were lined up and inspected by a superior officer with two
orderlies and two secretaries. As he passed down the rank in which
Agathemer and I stood he eyed us keenly. After a time he returned and
said:

"These two rascals are trying to keep together. Separate them!"

Thereafter I saw no more of Agathemer for over four years.

I do not wish to dwell on my wretchedness, after we were parted. Alone
among riffraff, I was very miserabl