ned houses which would make a temporary fortification.
Fortunately, a drove of little cloven-hoofed horses which had been
scared by some of the rebels in their flight happened to blunder into
our lines, and as we killed five before they were clear again, there was
a soldier's supper for us, and quickly the fires were lit and cooking
it.

Sentries paced the outskirts and made their cries to one another, and
the wounded sat by the fires and dressed their hurts, and with the
officers I talked over the engagements of the day, and the methods of
each charge, and the other details of the fighting. It is the special
perquisite of soldiers to dally over these matters with gusto, though
they are entirely without interest for laymen.

The hour drew on for sleep, and snores went up from every side. It was
clear that all my officers were wearied out, and only continued the
talk through deference to their commander. Yet I had a feverish dread
of being left alone again with my thoughts, and pressed them on with
conversation remorselessly. But in the end they were saved the rudeness
of dropping off into unconsciousness during my talk. A sentry came up
and saluted. "My lord," he reported, "there is a woman come up from the
city whom we have caught trying to come into the bivouac."

"How is she named?"

"She will not say."

"Has she business?'

"She will say none. She demands only to see my lord."

"Bring her here to the fire," I ordered, and then on second thoughts
remembering that the woman, whoever she might be, had news likely enough
for my private ear (or otherwise she would not have come to so uncouth
a rendezvous), I said to the sentry: "Stay," and got up from the ground
beside the fire, and went with him to the outer line.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"My comrades are holding her. She might be a wench belonging to these
rebels, with designs to put a knife into my lord's heart, and then we
sentries would suffer. The Empress," he added simply, "seems to set
good store upon my lord at present, and we know the cleverness of her
tormentors."

"Your thoughtfulness is frank," I said, and then he showed me the woman.
She was muffled up in hood and cloak, but one who loved Nais as I loved
could not mistake the form of Ylga, her twin sister, because of mere
swathings. So I told the sentries to release her without asking her for
speech, and then led her out from the bivouac beyond earshot of their
lines.

"It is something of t