d brotherhood with Thrasamund, the predecessor
of Hilderic, gave him his beautiful, clever sister, Amalafrida, for his
wife, and bestowed upon the latter for her dowry, besides much
treasure, the headland of Lilybaeum in Sicily, directly opposite
Carthage, which was of great importance to the Vandal kingdom. He also
sent him as a permanent defence against the Moors--probably against us
too--a band of one thousand chosen Gothic warriors, each of whom had
five brave men under him. Hilderic was scarcely king when the royal
widow Amalafrida was accused of high treason against him and threatened
with death.

If Justinian and Theodora did not invent this high treason, I have
little knowledge of my adored rulers: I saw the smile with which they
received the news from Carthage. It was the triumph of the bird-catcher
who draws his snare over the fluttering prey.

Amalafrida's Goths succeeded in rescuing her from imprisonment and
accompanying her on her flight. She intended to seek refuge with
friendly Moors, but on her way she was overtaken and attacked by the
King's two nephews with a superior force. The faithful Goths fought and
fell almost to a man; the Queen was captured and murdered in prison.
Since that time fierce hate has existed between the two nations; the
Goths took Lilybaeum back and from it cast vengeful glances at Carthage.
This is King Hilderic's sole act of government! Since that time he has
seen clearly that it will be best for his people to be subject to us.
But he is almost an old man, and his cousin--unfortunately the rightful
heir to the throne--is our worst enemy. His name is Gelimer. He must
never be permitted to reign in Carthage; for he is considered the
stronghold and hero, nay, the soul of the Vandal power. He first
defeated the natives, the Moors, those sons of the desert who had
always proved superior to the weak descendants of Genseric.

But this Gelimer--it is impossible for me to obtain from the
contradictory reports a satisfactory idea of him. Or could a German
really possess such contradictions of mind and character? They are all
mere children, though six and a half feet tall; giants, with the souls
of boys. Nearly all of them have a single trait,--the love of
carousing. Yet this Gelimer--well, we shall see.

Widely varying opinions of the entire Vandal nation are held here.
According to some they are terrible foes in battle, like all Germans,
and as Genseric's men undoubtedly were. But, fro