h; her white garments and fluttering red
locks betrayed her when the wind bore the glare from the burning camp
in her direction.

Herculanus leaped into the ditch, but uttered a cry of pain, and fell:
his feet were too lame. Climbing and dragging himself up with his
hands, with great difficulty and keen suffering he succeeded in
reaching the southern side of the trench. The fugitive had gained a
longer distance in advance. The Roman perceived this with furious rage
and, battling with the pain, forcing his reluctant feet to bear him
onward, he redoubled his efforts to overtake her.

Bissula was doubtless greatly terrified when, after passing through the
gate into the open country, she again saw flames rising before, as well
as behind her, and heard the din of the raging battle. She had learned
from Prosper the arrival of the ships and the camp made by the lake, so
she understood that the conflict was probably now roaring around the
galleys. Yet she unhesitatingly obeyed the impulse which led her away
from Herculanus straight down to the lake; there, though she would once
more encounter the horrors of war, she would surely find her own
people.

So she ran directly down the hill, always watching sharply to see if
she could not distinguish one of the Alemanni on her way. But the men
whom she met were not Alemanni; they were Romans, and lay dead or dying
on the earth. Once she was startled by a horse that dashed across her
path; trembling, she hid herself behind a clump of bushes; but the
steed bore no rider. Two, four, six masterless animals followed the
first, but neither Romans nor Alemanni, who might have threatened or
protected her, were visible far or near: flight and pursuit had long
since swept down to the lake. A furious struggle was still raging
below.

She was forced to stop a moment, her heart was beating so violently.
Looking back from the bushes, she saw a dark figure, now plainly
visible in the light of morning, still swiftly chasing her; nay, it
seemed as though, behind the first, a second pursuer had rushed from
the camp or risen from the ground.

Again she ran forward, confidently hoping to reach her people by the
lake before she was overtaken; for the child of the forest was skilled
in running and had a considerable start. But, after a few steps, fresh
terror seized her: she again heard, this time directly behind her, the
hoofbeats of a horse. At first she hoped it was another riderless
charger, but