H. C. Bailey

“ In the midst the Druids marched and Dubnovellan, he droning a chant to Toutates, and all men joining thunderous in ordered response. So with pious joy they came to the grove, and as the sun fell beneath the western hills Caradoc and Cunoval were laid upon the victims' stone, and Dubnovellan consecrated them to the god, and roaring a hymn of praise the tribe marched back through the twilight.
So, bound, helpless and dumb as the dead, the brothers were left for the night of purification. The tight-drawn thongs seared their flesh, each muscle ached fiercely with cramp. ”

“ There is none like thee in the tribe of Dur Gwern, whether for comeliness or speed of foot. Swift of mind thou art also, and of many wiles. Surely the tribe holds thee its best and dearest, and so gives thee to the gods, even a sacrifice to the great god Toutates. ”

“ No man was ever wise to count on Cæsar's weakness. Caradoc saw the deep grey eyes flash light and fade. “King Caradoc, had you never thought Rome might mean the barbarian good besides ill? You are at the dawn of empire, we are past our noon. Your work is to do yet. But your blood is not fit for it till you have learnt in our school. We give you the strength and freedom of law.” ”

“ Cæsar shrugged. “There is no man so dull as a sceptic, Quintus. Believe in everything if you want to do anything. If this man thought he was the world's sacrifice he could move the world. Well. What does he want?”
“Sire, he wants to punish his tribe of Dur Gwern, to show them it is ill to try to sacrifice their king. So he wishes to guide you through Kent and promises you victory.”
Cæsar beckoned Caradoc close. His deep-set dark grey eyes matched themselves against Caradoc. ”

“ Caradoc spat at him. By that the tribe was fiercely inflamed, and they overthrew their king and bound and gagged him, and Cunoval, his brother, fighting for him fiercely, was taken in like manner.
So they lay in the midst, helpless and dumb, glaring like trapped beasts, and Dubnovellan smiled upon them. “Well. It is well,” he said. “At sundown we bear them to the grove. At sunrise they die.” And he went on with the rest of his sermon, showing the virtue of sacrifice, and how the gods must be fed on goodly blood. ”

“ But Dubnovellan, gulping a little, for his throat was still uneasy: “O King Caradoc, the great god Toutates promises victory if we devote to him our best. It is eternally right, as it hath come to us from of old, that the king die for the tribe.” ”

“ The hand of the Roman has been heavy upon us. The tribe has paid him blood and goods. By whose fault”—there were murmurs, and Dubnovellan moved uneasily—"by whose fault ye know. But we have paid something back, and the Roman likes it not. He is willing to go if he be assured that we are his friends. He wants hostages of us that we will not break his peace. Give them, he will go. It is my counsel that we give them. How say you?” They were uncertain, each man looking uneasily at his neighbour. “Men of Dur Gwern, for these hostages King Cæsar demands the men we honour most in our tribe. ”

“ All day the Roman ships had been dragging at their anchors. Night fell on a roaring, breaking sea. Caradoc harassed the camp on the landward side, as of old, and when the weary legionaries were well engaged, a troop of his best sped down to the beach and tore from the chariots each pair of men their coracle and launched out through the surf. They hacked cable after cable asunder and struggled back to the land, leaving the unmanned, helpless galleys to crash themselves to ruin. Atrius came stolidly to the rescue and saved much, but when dawn broke he counted forty good ships stove in. ”

“ Cæsar put a hand on the splendid shoulder. “Wait!” Caradoc watching him, blue eyes fighting with the grey, stayed his hand in the air, and checked Oor's stumbling turn. “King Caradoc, those that are not within the imperium are against it. To defy Rome is to weaken her. We do not suffer that.” ”

“ If Cæsar would go when he was hailed conqueror, they would call him conqueror that hour. If he wanted hostages for their friendship, they could find him a thousand hostages and never ask for them again.
In the plundered town of Dur Gwern Caradoc called his tribe to council. In lean, war-worn ranks they mustered, and their women gathered about them with wistful eyes. It was a chastened Dubnovellan and humbler Druids who stole to the low seats on either side the King. But there was a lilt in Caradoc's voice. “Men of Dur Gwern! ”

“ The Seventh Legion, locking their great shields close together over their heads, came like a great tortoise with shell of steel close to the foot of the wall. Vainly the Britons stormed at them with missiles and yells and fantastic dance. Working beneath that roof of steel the legion picked the weak wall down and made a causeway clean through. ”

“ Catuvellaun would not meet him in battle, but kept a swarm of chariots harassing the march, and the war-hardened legions were tried to the limit of their strength. They ravaged the scarce patches of cornland, they burnt a wattle town or two and seized some tons of bronze, but that was all their success, “There is not a pennyworth of loot in all this island,” Quintus Cicero wrote sadly to his respectable brother. Even Cæsar confessed that for his fame's sake he must risk no more. ”

“ Now all the men of the shoreward have joined them, and they have hidden horses and chariots and gone up together to the old fort on the hill. Dubnovellan is singing charms there. I think they will fight. The charms are very great charms. ”