because
the sea wind came up against him. As well punish with death him who
cannot see clear in the pitchy night--him who cannot darken the light of
the sun."

"And this mutilation covers me for ever with shame!" exclaimed Albinik.
"Everywhere it is said: 'That fellow's a coward!' I have never known
hatred; now my heart is filled with it. Perish that Fatherland where I
cannot live but in dishonor! Perish its liberty! Perish the liberty of
my people, provided only that I be avenged upon the Chief of the Hundred
Valleys! For that I would gladly give the other hand which he has left
me. That is why I have come here with my companion. Sharing my shame,
she shares my hatred. That hatred we offer to Caesar; let him use it as
he wills; let him try us. Our lives answer for our sincerity. As to
recompense, we want none."

"Vengeance--that is what we must have," interjected Meroe.

"In what can you serve Caesar against the Chief of the Hundred Valleys?"
queried the interpreter.

"I offer Caesar my service as a mariner, as a soldier, as a guide, as a
spy even, if he wishes it."

"Why did you not seek to kill the Chief of the Hundred Valleys, being
able to approach him in the Gallic camp?" suggested the interpreter.
"You would have been revenged."

"Immediately after the mutilation of my husband," answered Meroe, "we
were driven from the camp. We could not return."

The interpreter again conversed with the Roman general, who, while
listening, did not cease to empty his cup and to follow Meroe with
brazen looks.

"You are a mariner, you say!" resumed the interpreter. "You used to
command a merchantman?"

"Yes."

"And--are you a good seaman?"

"I am five and twenty years old. From the age of twelve I have traveled
on the sea; for four years I have commanded a vessel."

"Do you know well the coast between Vannes and the channel which
separates Great Britain from Gaul?"

"I am from the port of Vannes, near the forest of Karnak. For more than
sixteen years I have sailed these coasts continuously."

"Would you make a good pilot?"

"May I lose all the limbs which the Chief of the Hundred Valleys has
left me, if there is a bay, a cape, an islet, a rock, a sand-bank, or a
breaker, which I do not know from the Gulf of Aquitaine to Dunkirk."

"You are vaunting your skill as a pilot. How can you prove it?"

"We are near the shore. For him who is not a good and fearless sailor,
nothing is more dangerous than the navigati