Bissula. English

by Felix Dahn

  CHAPTER XXXVIII.

  "Stay," said Hariowald, when the heralds, last of all, had left theplace of assembly, "you must know how this battle is to be fought,according to my plan and wish. For, if the Lofty One should call me upto him before the victory is won, you must complete it. Therefore youmust now learn all (far more than the men in the army) that for weeks Ihave been preparing during sleepless nights, and have secretlyaccomplished in the past few days.

  "Come, sit down by me; we will spread out on this stone the plan of theRoman camp, which we owe to your brave little brother.

  "It has been of the greatest service to me. I told you yesterday howthe men of the districts were to attack the four sides and gates of thecamp at the same time."

  "Yes: but you did not say where you would fight with your bands, andwhere I was to go."

  "I? I shall take the shortest way--from beneath."

  "No! No! Leave it to me. It is the--most dangerous one."

  "Yes, yes," cried the old man, laughing. "And you have no suspicion howdangerous it is. Know then: the ascent cannot be made, as we hoped,first of all and unexpectedly, taking them by surprise; it cannot bemade until after the foe, alarmed by the assault on the northern wall,stands ready in full armor."

  "Then it will be impossible! But why?"

  "Because, as I first learned night before last, the Romans, in diggingout the northern ditch, filled up the extreme northern end of thesubterranean passage; or else the earth has fallen in, from thejarring. When I entered this passage from the forest outside of thecamp--"

  "What? you yourself?"

  "Yes, I myself; night before last. I advanced only a few steps before Ifound a heap of earth which had fallen from above, and I was obliged toreturn. But I stole, on the surface of the earth, so near the ditchthat I could look into it from a tree. The whole ditch--it is now dryagain--was brightly lighted by their camp fires. Then I saw that theearth-goddess of our land had blinded the strangers' eyes. Theyperceived nothing suspicious in the large boulder that bars thecontinuation of the passage from the ditch into their camp, and theydid not roll it away. True, it has not been moved from the spot fordecades; for the secret, bequeathed from generation to generation, isknown to but two men of the race who bear the emblem of the stag'santlers, and there is rarely an occasion which demands its use. So theydid not perceive that the rock had been rolled there by human hands,and they planted one of their banners on the turf which covers it. Theyhave no suspicion of the passage. For look! The plan of the camp showsit; close beside the Nerthus pine, above the altar stones of the Idise,they have pitched a tent filled with provisions and weapons. You see,here!"

  "Yes, indeed. The tent is placed exactly over the mouth of the passage.But outside there, in the northern ditch, numerous sentinels areposted--Thracian spearmen alternating with Batavians."

  "Yes, that's just it. They must be driven away before I can roll therock aside and make my way up."

  "That will cost blood; it will also require time. The Thracians, andespecially the Batavians, are their very best troops. Alas, if ithappen to be the turn of the Batavians. They are not inferior to us inheroic courage."

  "No matter! They must fall before the badger can enter the old burrow."

  "And then--after the battle has summoned all our foes to arms--then youwill? Let me go in your place!"

  "Obey! You will find work enough at the southern gate, the lake gate.When we have stormed the camp, the whole flood of those who stillremain alive will pour to the ships through the southern gate. Theymust not be allowed to reach the lake in close order, to turn the tideof battle against us there at the last. You will meet them as theyburst through the southern gate, and drive them back into the burningcamp, or scatter them. They must not be allowed to reach the lake fromthe camp as reinforcements to the defenders of the galleys, but toincrease their alarm. This is your task: Saturninus, if he live, willmake it hard enough for you."

  "So my post will be at the southern gate?"

  "Yes; and to it I have sent, if by any means she can reachit--Bissula!"

  "Thanks!"

  "Do not thank me! For I forbid you to fight for the girl; you mustfight solely for victory. Yet have no anxiety. If she is still alive,she will be rescued. I have relieved Zercho and Sippilo from everyother duty, and given them only one charge--to find and protect theyoung girl. But you I need for higher work. I fear one man only in thewhole army," he added in a lower tone--"Saturninus. He is like the oldleaders they had in their better days, the days of which my grandfatherand father told me with horror, when it was almost impossible for themost heroic courage to defeat a Roman army. Who knows whether Ebarboldwill strike him down? We must let the King have the first chance; hehas the prior claim: but if the Roman should be the one who survivesand I do not reach and kill him after the King's fall, before you (Ishall make every effort to do it), do you, son of Adalger, provide thatSaturninus shall not lead his army in closed ranks down to the lake:detain him as long as you can stand."

  "As long as I can! But I wondered when you set the fisherman his task.If the Roman galleys cross the lake here, how can you know whether hewill be able to reach them from the shore? They will anchor, not cometo the land. How is Fiskulf to get from the storming of the Roman camphere?"

  "He will not share the assault," replied Hariowald, laughing, as hestroked his beard complacently. "And he will not go by land to thegalley, but by the lake."

  "Swimming?"

  "No, rowing. Know what no one has yet learned; for crowds aregarrulous. Besides the most distant Alemanni districts, I have secretlywon as allies the Hermunduri, who drink the water of the Main, andinduced them to send us reinforcements for this war. You supposed thatthe boats in the two forest-covered swamps on the east and west of theIdisenhang were filled solely with people unable to bear arms, after Ihad brought most of the men here? No, my friend! The boats, almostthree hundred, in the two marshes are not empty of men. The women andchildren are to be put ashore to-night; more than two thousand Alemanniand Hermunduri will leap into the boats. From left and right, from eastand west, they will float in the stillness and darkness of the nightagainst the high-decked galleys, and as soon as the first torch ishurled into the Roman camp on the Idisenhang, our boats will attack theRoman ships from the open lake and from left and right. Aha, do youthink our fishing boats will be like nutshells against those giants?Probably: but have you never seen a flock of brave little swallowsput a sparrow hawk to flight? Our skiffs are small, it is true; butmore than two hundred against sixty. And the pitch and resin of thepine-trees in the forests by the lake, blazing in a thousand faggots ofdry twigs, will burn merrily in the linen sails and the rigging of thetriremes."