y guide and protector. Bind thick soles of beech-rind under thy feet,
for the way is long. Brun, the dog, may accompany thee. Take that bag
of goat's leather; in it are six gold pieces which belonged to--to
Adalgoth's--to your father; they are Adalgoth's--but thou mayst use
them--they will last till thou reachest Rome. And take a bundle of
scented mountain hay from the meadows of the Iffinger, and lay thy head
upon it at night; then thou wilt sleep more soundly. And when thou
reachest Rome and the golden palace of the King, and enterest the hall,
observe which of the men wears a golden circlet upon his brow, and from
whose countenance shines a light like that of the morning--that will be
King Totila. Then bow thy head before him--but not too much--and do not
bend thy knee; for thou art a free Goth's free child. Thou must give
the King this roll, which I have carefully kept for many summers. It
comes from Uncle Wargs, who was buried by the mountain."

The old man lifted a brick from the masonry which separated the hearth
from the floor of stamped clay, and took from a hole a roll of papyrus,
which, tied and sealed, was folded in a piece of parchment covered with
writing and fastened with strange seals.

"Here," he said, "take the greatest care of this writing. That upon the
parchment cover I myself dictated to Hermegisel over in Majae. He swore
to keep it secret, and he has kept his oath. And now he can speak no
more from out of his grave in the church. And thou and Hunibad--you
cannot read. That is a good thing, for it might be dangerous for thee
and--and another--if any one knew what that roll contains before
Totila, the mild and just King, has read it. Above all, hide it
carefully from the Italians. And in every town to which thou comest,
ask if there dwells Cornelius Cethegus Caesarius, the Prefect of Rome.
And if the door-keepers say aye, then turn upon thy heel, however tired
thou mayst be, and however late the night, or hot the day, and wander
on until thou hast put three several waters between thee and the man
Cethegus. And no less carefully than the writing--thou seest that I
have put rosin, such as drops from the fir-trees, upon it instead of
wax, and I have scratched our house-mark upon the seal, the mark that
our cattle and wagons bear--not less carefully keep this old and costly
gold."

And he took from the hole the half of a broad gold bracelet, such as
the Gothic heroes wore upon their naked arms. He kis