ove is beyond cure," said Zazo.

"What the sword cannot do, the flames will," exclaimed the King,
threateningly. "I will sweep through them like the wrath of God! Up,
follow me, my brothers!" He rushed out of the room.

"Order the hundreds of horsemen to mount, Gibamund," said Zazo, as they
crossed the threshold,--"the household troop, under faithful Markomer.
For the Vandals no longer obey the King's word unless at the same time
they see the glitter of the King's sword."

The archdeacon, muttering softly to himself and shaking his head,
slowly followed the three Asdings.

CHAPTER X

The "lower city" of Carthage extended northward to the harbor, westward
to the suburb of Aklas, the Numidian, and eastward to the Tripolitan
suburb. Directly beyond its southern gate, covering a space more than
two leagues long and a league wide, lay the oft-mentioned "Grove of
Venus" or "Grove of the Holy Virgin." From the most ancient pagan times
this grove was the scene of the sumptuous, sensual revels which were
proverbial throughout the Roman Empire. "African" was the word used to
express the acme of such orgies.

The whole coast of the bay in this neighborhood, kept moist by the damp
sea-air, had originally been covered with dense woods. The larger
portion had long since yielded to the growth of the city; but, by the
Emperor's order, a considerable part was retained and transformed into
a magnificent park, adorned with all the skill and the lavish
expenditure which characterized the time of the Caesars.

The main portion of this grove consisted of date palms. These were
introduced by the Phoenicians. The palm, say the Arabs, gladly sets her
feet as queen of the desert into damp sand, but lifts her head into the
glow of the sun. It thrived magnificently here, and in centuries of
growth the slender columns of the trunks attained a height of fifty
feet; no sunbeam could penetrate vertically through the roof of
drooping leaves of those thick crowns, which rustled and nodded
dreamily in the wind, wooing, inviting to sleep, to unresisting
indolence, to drowsy thoughts.

But they stood sufficiently far apart to allow the light and air to
enter from the sides and to permit smaller trees (dwarf palms), bushes,
and flowers to grow luxuriantly beneath the shelter of the lofty
crowns. Besides the palms, other noble trees had been first planted and
fostered by human hands, then had increased through the