Chapter II (5)

As he spake thus, Penchrysa leaned forward and whispered in the ear of the astounded Roman, 'Come, and we will rule together!' Her lovely face showing lovelier in the soft moonlight, her breath honey-sweet upon his cheek, the vision of rule together had almost intoxicated him. But then the shame of betrayal rose in him like a flood. Lust dropped from him as a garment. In one second he had drawn his sword and stabbed his temptress to the heart. 'So perish!' he cried aloud, 'all enemies of Rome!'

* * * * *

He bounded to his horse, leapt on its back, and at breakneck speed they hurtled down the fell. He was wounded by darts in shoulder and right arm, and his horse's loins were gashed by a spear, yet the camp at Chesters was but two miles away, and, setting his teeth together, he gave his horse the rein and leaned forward on its neck to take his weight off the loins.

The yells of the pursuers became fainter as he sped onward. Soon he saw the dark outline of the camp on the haugh below, and in a few minutes arrived at the western port.

'Who are ye?' inquired the sentry of the port.

'Castus, Vexillarius of the first squadron, Sixth Legion,' he shouted hoarsely, 'the Britons have risen!'

The stone gate jarred on its hinge; Castus, thrusting through, dismounted and wiped the foam from his gallant steed.

'What a fool I have been!' he murmured. 'Never again will I traffic with a woman. _Vale, O Femina--in eternum vale!_ Henceforth I dedicate my life to Rome--

"_Romae matri meae--
Orbis Imperatrici._"'

And, ratifying his vow by the head of Caesar, he fell to the ground, unconscious through loss of blood.

Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty
at the Edinburgh University Press

Transcriber's Notes.

Words have been hyphenated consistently within each story, and punctuation has been corrected without notation.

Spaces in common contractions (whether in dialect or not) e.g. "there's" "Aah'll" and "ye'd" have been closed up.

Dialect contractions, e.g. "o't" and "wi't", or "is 't" and "D' ye" are given as generally printed.

Footnotes have been moved to the end of each story.

The following obvious typographical errors in the original have been corrected:

On Page 158, "and swings away at a hand gallop" changed to "and
swings away at a hard gallop".

On Page 181 "for Ah'll stan' none" changed to "for Aah'll stan'
none" (consistent with spelling in same speech).

On Page 209, "went forward at a good trot an drecked" changed to
"went forward at a good trot and recked."

In Footnote 1 to "Muckle-Mouthed Meg" (i.e. Footnote to Page 205)
"Provost is really an anacronism" changed to "Provost is really an
anachronism."

The questionable spellings of "Chateau-Laffite" and "Vindolana" are as per the original book.