the cause of
all these woes, she made a noose of the purple garment wherewith she was
clad, and hanged herself from a beam of the roof. Then did lamentation go
through the city, for the women wailed and tore their hair, and King
Latinus rent his clothes and threw dust upon his head.

But the cry that went up from the city came to the ears of Turnus where he
fought in the farthest part of the plain. And he caught the reins and
said, "What meaneth this sound of trouble and wailing that I hear?" And
the false Metiscus, who was in truth his sister, made answer, "Let us
fight, O Turnus, here where the Gods give us victory. There are enough to
defend the city." But Turnus spake, saying, "Nay, my sister, for who thou
art I have known even from the beginning; it must not be so. Why camest
thou down from heaven? Was it to see thy brother die? And now what shall I
do? Have I not seen Murranus die, and Ufens the AEquian? And shall I suffer
this city to be destroyed? Shall this land see Turnus flee before his
enemies? Be ye kind to me, O gods of the dead, seeing that the gods of
heaven hate me. I come down to you a righteous spirit, and not unworthy of
my fathers."

And even as he spake came Saces, riding on a horse that was covered with
foam, and on his face was the wound of an arrow. And he cried, "O Turnus,
our last hopes are in thee. For AEneas is about to destroy the city, and
the firebrands are cast upon the roofs. And King Latinus is sore tried
with doubt, and the Queen hath laid hands upon herself and is dead. And
now only Messapus and Atinas maintain the battle, and the fight grows
fierce around them, whilst thou drivest thy chariot about these empty
fields."

Then for a while Turnus stood speechless, and shame and grief and madness
were in his soul; and he looked to the city, and lo! the fire went up even
to the top of the tower which he himself had builded upon the walls to be
a defense against the enemy. And when he saw it, he cried, "It is enough,
my sister; I go whither the Gods call me. I will meet with AEneas face to
face, and endure my doom."

And as he spake he leapt down from his chariot, and ran across the plain
till he came near to the city, even where the blood was deepest upon the
earth, and the arrows were thickest in the air. And he beckoned with the
hand and called to the Italians, saying, "Stay now your arrows. I am come
to fight this battle for you all." And when they heard it they left a
space in th