above the continuous rolling of the thunder; and immediately
afterwards, when the lightning alternated with the darkness, there
appeared to Hermanric, in the part of the wall where the birds had been
first disturbed, a small red gleam, like a spark of fire lodged in the
surface of the structure. Then this was lost; a longer obscurity than
usual prevailed in the atmosphere, and when the Goth gazed eagerly
through the next succession of flashes, they showed him the momentary
and doubtful semblance of a human figure, standing erect on the stones
at the base of the wall.

Hermanric started with astonishment. Again the lightning ceased. In
the ardour of his anxiety to behold more, he strained his eyes with the
vain hope of penetrating the obscurity around him. The darkness seemed
interminable. Once again the lightning flashed brilliantly out. He
looked eagerly towards the wall--the figure was still there.

His heart throbbed quickly within him, as he stood irresolute on the
spot he had occupied since the first peal of thunder had struck upon
his ear. Were the light and the man--one seen but for an instant, the
other still perceptible--mere phantoms of his erring sight, dazzled by
the quick recurrence of atmospheric changes through which it had acted?
Or did he indubitably behold a human form, and had he really observed a
material light? Some strange treachery, some dangerous mystery might
be engendering in the besieged city, which it would be his duty to
observe and unmask. He drew his sword, and, at the risk of being
observed through the lightning, and heard during the pauses in the
thunder, by the sentinel on the wall, resolutely advanced to the very
foot of the fortifications of hostile Rome.

He heard no sound, perceived no light, observed no figure, as, after
several unsuccessful attempts to reach the place where they stood, he
at length paused at the loose stones which he knew were heaped at the
base of the wall. The next moment he was so close to it, that he could
pass his sword-point over parts of its rugged surface. He had scarcely
examined thus a space of more than ten yards, before his weapon
encountered a sharp, jagged edge; and a sudden presentiment assured him
instantly that he had found the spot where he had beheld the momentary
light, and that he stood on the same stone which had been occupied by
the figure of the man.

After an instant's hesitation, he was about to mount higher on the
loose