to enter the army with this
rubbish; and before they are properly equipped, the victory and the
Empire might be lost. But it is true: they can no longer carry
Genseric's armor. They would fall in a short time. They are swearing
because we are now in the very hottest months."

"Are we to tell the enemy that the Vandals fight only in the winter?"
cried Zazo, laughing.

"Therefore to fill the ranks of our foot soldiers I have already
obtained many thousand Moorish mercenaries," the King replied. "Of
course these sons of the desert, variable, impetuous, changeful, like
the sands of their home, are a poor substitute for German strength. But
I have gained twenty chiefs with about ten thousand men."

"Is Cabaon, the graybeard of countless years, among them?" asked
Gibamund.

"No, he delays his answer."

"It is a pity. He is the most powerful of them all! And his prophetic
renown extends far beyond his tribe," observed Zazo.

"Well, we shall have better assistants than the Moorish robbers," said
Gibamund, consolingly. "The brave Visigoths in Spain."

"Have you yet received an answer from their king?"

"Yes and no! King Theudis is shrewd and cautious. I urged upon him
earnestly (I wrote the letter myself; I did not leave it to Verus) that
Constantinople was not threatening us Vandals solely; that the imperial
troops could easily cross the narrow straits from Ceuta, if we were
once vanquished. I offered him an alliance. He answered evasively: he
must first be sure of what we could accomplish in the war."

"What does he mean by that?" cried Zazo, angrily. "I suppose he wants
to wait till the end of the conflict. Whether we conquer or are
vanquished, we shall no longer need him!"

"I wrote again, still more urgently. His answer will soon come."

"But the Ostrogoths?" asked Gibamund, eagerly. "What do they reply?"

"Nothing at all."

"That is bad," said Gibamund.

"I wrote to the Regent: I stated that I was innocent of Hilderic's
shameful deed. I warned her against Justinian, who was threatening her
no less than us; I reminded her of the close kinship of our nations--"

"You have not yet stooped to entreaties?" asked Zazo, indignantly.

"By no means. I besought nothing. I merely requested, as our just
right, that the Ostrogoths at least would not aid our foes. As yet I
have had no answer. But worse than the lack of allies, the most
perilous thing is the utter, foolish undervaluation of the enemy among
our own peo