appeared in the
offing. Belisarius ordered that they should at once force their way
into the harbour of Neapolis, and spoil the handiwork of "those
pirates." On the evening of the same day the four immense ships cast
anchor at the entrance of the harbour. Belisarius himself visited the
coast with his followers, and rejoiced at the sight of the sails,
gilded by the evening sun.

"The rising sun shall see them inside the harbour, in spite of that
bold youth," he said to Antonina, who accompanied him, and turned his
dappled-greys back to the camp.

The next morning he had not yet left his camp-bed--Procopius was
standing near him, reading the sketch of a report to Justinian--when
Chanaranzes, the Persian, the leader of the body-guard, entered the
tent, and cried: "The ships, general! the ships are taken!"

Belisarius sprang from his couch in a rage.

"He dies who says it!"

"It would be better," observed Procopius, "that he should die who did
it!"

"Who was it?"

"Oh, sir, the young Goth with the sparkling eyes and shining hair!"

"Totila!" exclaimed Belisarius, "Totila, again!"

"The crew were lying, partly on shore with my outposts, partly on deck,
sound asleep. Suddenly, at midnight, all around became as lively as if
a hundred ships had risen out of the sea."

"A hundred ships! Ten nutshells!"

"In a moment, long before we could come to their help from the shore,
the ships were boarded, the crews taken prisoners, one of the triremes,
whose cable could not be cut quickly enough, set on fire, and the
others towed off to Neapolis!"

"Your ships have entered the harbour sooner than you expected, O
Belisarius," observed Procopius.

But Belisarius had recovered his self-control.

"Now that the bold boy has ships of war, he will become unbearable!
There must be an end to this."

He pressed his helmet upon his majestic head.

"I would willingly have spared the city and the Roman inhabitants; but
I can wait no longer. Procopius, go and summon the generals; Magnus,
Demetrius and Constantinus, Bessas and Ennes, and Martinus, the master
of artillery; I will give them enough to do. The barbarians shall not
rejoice in their victory; they shall learn to know Belisarius."

Shortly there appeared in the tent of the commander a man who, in spite
of the breast-plate which he wore, had more the air of a scholar than
of a warrior.

Martinus, the great mathematician, was of a gentle, peaceful nature,
which had long f