k it," remarked Ausonius, filling his goblet
again.

"But, when one can't have the sea, this long stretch of lake isn't bad.
Remember me to your nephew, Herculanus; perhaps by to-morrow he will
have recovered from his illness enough for me to seek him in his tent.
And at the earliest dawn of morning, Saturninus, I will search the two
reedy lakes for you. If there are no Alemanni, there will be plenty of
rare waterfowl to hunt."

He went out with his officers and rode with them, guided by
torch-bearers, down the mountain back to the ship-camp: for one-half of
the newcomers slept on shore in the tents they had brought with them;
the other half on the vessels.

As soon as Nannienus went on board he asked the watch at the helm, a
trustworthy Breton countryman, whether he had anything to report.

"Nothing from here, my lord. Only behind Arbor a fire seems to be
burning on the Hill of Mercury; or they are celebrating one of their
Easter festivals. Look yonder!"

"Yes, that is in one of the farms of the Alemannic settlers. Hark! What
was that?"

"Wild swans, my lord. They must have hundreds of nests in the reedy
forests. They call and answer one another very often."

"Then surely no men can be hidden there; the noble birds are very shy
and wary. Who is coming to relieve you?"

"I, Albinus, the veteran from Arbor."

"Good: you will watch the first and second hours after midnight. Wake
me before the gray of dawn."

* * * * *

The sentries in the camp above on the Idisenhang, and below in the
tents brought from the ships, had shouted the hour of midnight without
the occurrence of anything to disturb the sleepers, who were lying in
the deepest repose, except that for a long time the noble dogs which
the Tribune, a keen sportsman, had brought from Vindonissa and kept in
an empty tent near the northern gate, had barked violently. They were
costly animals of the purest British breed, which, trained in the arena
at Rome to fight the aurochs, were now to test their skill and courage
in the primeval forests. They could not be quieted, whether the guards
patted or flogged them, and their loud, angry baying was heard in the
ditch before the north gate, where the whole Batavian cohort was
on duty. The bright flames and thick columns of smoke from their
watch-fire rose from the ditch, now dry once more.

Beyond it, on the north, about a hundred paces from the wall, Rignomer,
with Brinno and