es."

"Your scheme is so pretty, I would I could rob you of it for my own
credit's sake, and as it is, I must kiss you for your cleverness. But
you got my word first, you naughty fellow, and you shall have the men
and do as you ask. Eh, sir, this is a sad beginning of our wedded life,
if you begin to rob your little wife of all the sweets of conquest from
the outset."

She took back the weapons and target she had given to the armour-bearer,
and stepped over the side of the litter to the ground. "But at least,"
she said, "if you are going to fight, you shall have troops that will do
credit to my drill," and thereupon proceeded to tell off the companies
of men-at-arms who were to accompany me. She left herself few enough to
stem the influx of rebels who poured ceaselessly in through the
tunnel; but as I had seen, with Phorenice, heavy odds added only to her
enjoyment.

But for the Empress, I will own at the time to have given little enough
of thought. My own proper griefs were raw within me, and I thirsted for
that forgetfulness of all else which battle gives, so that for awhile I
might have a rest from their gnawings.

It made my blood run freer to hear once more the tramp of practised
troops behind me, and when all had been collected, we marched out
through a gate of the city, and presently were charging through and
through the straggling rear of the enemy. By the Gods! for the moment
even Nais was blotted from my wearied mind. Never had I loved more to
let my fierceness run madly riot. Never have I gloated more abundantly
over the terrible joy of battle.

Nais must forgive my weakness in seeking to forget her even for a
breathing-space. Had that opportunity been denied me, I believe the
agony of remembering would have snapped my brain-strings for always.

14. AGAIN THE GODS MAKE CHANGE

Now it would be tedious to tell how with a handful of highly trained
fighting men, I charged and recharged, and finally broke up that horde
of rebels which outnumbered us by fifteen times. It must be remembered
that they grew suddenly panic-stricken in finding that of all those
who went in under the city walls by the mine on which they had set such
great store, none came back, and that the sounds of panic which had
first broken out within the city soon gave way to cries of triumph and
joy. And it must be carried in memory also that these wretched rebels
were without training worthy of the name, were for the most part
we