276 The Arch-Druid: [SEPT. 



tated my disgrace. Behold my revenge !" and she pointed sneer- 

 ingly towards the body, which her attendant, Locusta, was busy cover- 

 ing up. " To you, however," she added, addressing Sergius, with a 

 softness of manner still more frightful than her violence, ff I mean no 

 harm : be silent, and you are safe. To-morrow, Nero will be proclaimed 

 emperor ; and on your discretion depends whether you are still to head 

 the expedition to Britain. Away !" and she waved him backward with 

 her arm. 



The Dacian obeyed without a word. Though he .felt pity for his 

 benefactor, and the utmost indignation towards his assassins, yet, after 

 the first shock had subsided, self-interest resumed the mastery, his 

 better feelings were extinguished by his ambition, and having by this 

 time wholly recovered his presence of mind, he quitted the scene of 

 guilt, resolved as soon as possible to blot out from his recollection the 

 atrocious crime of which he had been the unwilling eye-witness. 



The next day it having been publicly announced that Claudius had 

 died of a fit brought on by excess Nero was proclaimed emperor ; and 

 in less than a fortnight afterwards, the army intended for the invasion of 

 Britain was ready to depart. On the morning of the day appointed for 

 sailing, an august sacrifice was offered up in the Temple of Mars, at which 

 both Nero and Messalina, whose religious zeal was just then notorious, pre- 

 sided in person. This duty fulfilled, the troops, to the number of sixty 

 thousand, embarked on board a squadron of fast sailing gallies. Sergius, 

 whom at his earnest intercession Manlius accompanied, was among the 

 last who quitted the shore. He had remained behind to receive the 

 final commands of the court, and having bid adieu to his friends, was 

 just entering his galley, when his arm was suddenly grasped by a sooth- 

 sayer, who, stepping forth from the crowd, whispered in his ear, 

 " Remember the Ides of May I" Before the Dacian could reply to this 

 mysterious warning, the augur had vanished ; and Manlius, impatient 

 of further delay, hurried his commander on board. The next minute, 

 the sound of a trumpet announced that all was ready. The signal was 

 made for sailing the rowers took their stations the huge sails were 

 unfurled and slowly the majestic pageant bore down the Tiber, 'mid 

 the cheers of thousands who thronged the water's edge. 



While the Roman reinforcements were thus shaping their course 

 towards Britain, the Druids were not inactive. Having freed South 

 Wales, at least for the time being, they resolved so to consolidate 

 their energies as to render difficult, if not impracticable, all further 

 attempts at invasion on the part of the Romans. With this view, 

 they drew troops together from all quarters of Wales, strengthened 

 every defenceless outpost, and established a strict line of communica- 

 tion from north to south of the neighbouring provinces. In all this, 

 their Arch-Druid, a warrior of surprising energies of mind, was their 

 leader. His ingenuity supplied them with resources ; his eloquence 

 inflamed, his perseverance kept alive their enthusiasm. By means of 

 spies selected for the occasion, he obtained early and authentic intelli- 

 gence respecting the movements of the Romans, the numbers of their 

 troops, the name and qualifications of their general, the place and even 

 the period of their landing ; so that when, after a forced march through 

 the west of Britain, Sergius once again encamped in the neighbourhood 

 of the Black Mountains, he found himself opposed to an enemy whose 

 vigilance was unremitting, and whose resources, husbanded with extreme 



