cup-bearers.

Albinik knew how to control himself. He remained quiet while he saw his
chaste wife blush under the bold looks of Caesar. After gazing at her
for a moment, the Roman general beckoned to one of his interpreters. The
two exchanged a few words, whereupon the interpreter drew close to
Meroe, and said to her in the Gallic tongue:

"Caesar asks whether you are a youth or a maiden!"

"My companion and I have fled the Gallic camp," responded Meroe
ingenuously. "Whether I am a youth or a maiden matters little to
Caesar."

At these words, translated by the interpreter to Caesar, the Roman
laughed cynically, while his officers partook of the gaiety of their
general. Caesar continued to empty cup after cup, fixing his eyes more
and more ardently on Albinik's wife. He said a few words to the
interpreter, who commenced to question the two prisoners, conveying as
he proceeded, their answers to the general, who would then prompt new
questions.

"Who are you!" said the interpreter, "Whence come you!"

"We are Bretons," answered Albinik. "We come from the Gallic camp, which
is established under the walls of Vannes, two days' march from here."

"Why have you deserted the Gallic camp!"

Albinik answered not a word, but unwrapped the bloody bandage in which
his arm was swathed. The Romans then saw that his left hand was cut off.
The interpreter resumed:

"Who has thus mutilated you?"

"The Gauls."

"But you are a Gaul yourself?"

"Little does that matter to the Chief of the Hundred Valleys."

At the name of the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, Caesar knit his brows,
and his face was filled with envy and hatred.

The interpreter resumed, addressing Albinik: "Explain yourself."

"I am a sailor, and command a merchant vessel. Several other captains
and I received the order to transport some armed men by sea, and to
disembark them in the harbor of Vannes, by the bay of Morbihan. I
obeyed. A gust of wind carried away one of my masts; my vessel arrived
the last of all. Then--the Chief of the Hundred Valleys inflicted upon
me the penalty for laggards. But he was generous. He let me off with my
life, and gave me the choice between, the loss of my nose, my ears, or
one hand. I have been mutilated, but not for having lacked courage or
willingness. That would have been just, I would have undergone it
according to the laws of my country, without complaint."

"But this wrongful torture," joined in Meroe, "Albinik underwent