m destruction but a miracle!"

"Or your death at this moment! thou devil!" thundered Belisarius, and,
no longer master of himself, he drew his sword.

"Up, Procopius, in the Emperor's name! Take the traitor! He dies in
this hour!"

Horrified and undecided, Procopius rushed between the two men, while
Antonina caught her husband's arm, and tried to take his right hand.

"Are you his allies!" cried Belisarius furiously.

"Guards! guards! here!"

From each of the two doors two lancers entered the tent.

But Belisarius had already torn himself from Antonina's hold, and had
hurled Procopius to one side as if he were a child. Raising his sword,
he rushed at the Prefect. But he suddenly stopped short and lowered his
weapon, the point of which already touched the breast of Cethegus; for,
immovable, like a statue, without the least change of countenance, and
fixing his cold eyes penetratingly upon his furious assailer, Cethegus
had remained standing, a smile of unspeakable contempt upon his lips.

"What means this look and smile?" asked Belisarius.

Procopius quietly signed to the guards to leave the tent.

"Pity for your reputation, which a moment of rage might destroy for
ever. If you had killed me, you would have been lost!"

"I!" laughed Belisarius; "I should think _you_ would have been lost."

"And you with me. Do you believe that I put my head into the lion's
mouth like a fool? It was not difficult to foresee that a hero of your
sort would first of all try to put an end to his embarrassment with his
sword. Against this I have protected myself. Know that since this
morning, in consequence of a sealed order which I left behind me, Rome
is in the hands of my blindly-devoted friends. The Mausoleum of
Hadrian, the Capitol, and all the gates and towers of the ramparts,
are garrisoned by Isaurians and legionaries. I left the order with my
war-tribunes, who are youths fearless of death, in case of your
reaching Rome before me."

He handed a roll of papyrus to Procopius.

Procopius read: "To Lucius and Marcus, the Licinii, Cethegus the
Prefect. I have fallen a victim to the tyranny of the Byzantines.
Revenge me! Recall the Goths at once. I demand it of you by your oath.
Better the barbarians than the police of Justinian. Hold out to the
last man! Rather give the city to the flames than to the army of the
tyrant!'"

"So you see," continued Cethegus, "that my death will not open to you
the gates of Rome, but shut t