dates from this hour. Remember
your brave ancestors, who drove the great Julius himself across the
sea!'

The Britons were so stirred by these words that they replied by a great
shout; then rushing down the hill, they let fly a hail of darts and
arrows upon the Roman army.

For a long time the battle raged, and neither side appeared to gain the
advantage.

In order to meet the Britons hand to hand, the Romans had to cross the
river under a storm of darts. Many fell and were swept away by the
current. Others struggled onward, to be received by savage cries from
the Britons, who tore stones from the barricade to hurl at their
advancing foes.

In spite of the fury of the defenders, the Romans swept steadily up the
slope. Soon the foremost had reached the barriers. They stumbled and
fell among the loose stones, but recovered themselves and pressed
onwards, holding up their shields to ward off the blows rained down
upon them. The hillside became a seething mass of combatants; the
wild, active Britons flying hither and thither to repel the advance of
the steel-clad host. From the thick of the fight, Caradoc himself
shouted encouragement to his soldiers, who replied by shrill cries and
by redoubled exertions.

The stone barriers were passed; Romans and Britons were mingled in a
life-and-death struggle.

Soon it became apparent that the day belonged to the better-armed
combatants; the soft copper swords of the Britons had been blunted upon
the steel breast-plates of the Romans, while their own wooden shields
were hacked to pieces by the Roman swords.

In a short time the Britons were flying in all directions, unable any
longer to resist the Romans. Caradoc's two brothers were taken
prisoners, and his wife and daughter fell into the hands of the
conquerers.

The British leader himself, weary, wounded and disheartened, found his
way to the hut of his mother-in-law, and asked her for shelter. She
gave him a wolf-skin to lie upon by the fire and soon he was fast
asleep, worn out by fatigue and loss of blood.

For a time the old woman sat and watched him.

It had needed no words from the wounded, half-fainting chieftain to
tell her that the day was lost.

She thought of the proud Romans who were now masters of the country; of
the villages which would be burned, and of their inhabitants who would
be carried away into slavery.

Being a selfish old woman, she soon began to think less of other
people's troubl