“It will soon grow again,” she said; “and now, Malchus, do not let us waste a moment.  I am in terror while those dark walls are in sight.”

“We shall soon leave them behind,” Malchus said encouragingly.  “There are plenty of fishermen’s boats moored along the bank here.  We shall soon leave Rome behind us.”

They stepped into a boat, loosened the moorings, and pushed off, and Malchus, getting out the oars, rowed steadily down the river until they neared its mouth.  Then they landed, pushed the boat into the stream again, lest, if it were found fastened up, it might give a clue to any who were in pursuit of them, and then struck off into the country.  After travelling some miles they turned into a wood, where they lay down for several hours, and did not resume their course until nightfall.

Malchus had, before starting, entered the kitchen, and had filled a bag with cold meat, oatmeal cakes, and other food, and this, when examined, proved ample for four days’ supply, and he had, therefore, no occasion to enter the villages to buy provisions.  They kept by the seashore until they neared Terracina, and then took to the hills, and skirted these until they had left the state of Latium.  They kept along at the foot of the great range which forms the backbone of Italy, and so passing along Samnium, came down upon the Volturnus, having thus avoided the Roman army, which lay between Capua and Rome.

Their journey had been a rough one, for, by the winding road they had followed along the mountains, the distance they traversed was over one hundred miles.  The fatigue had been great, and it was well that Clotilde had had a Gaulish training.  After their provisions were exhausted they had subsisted upon corn which they gathered in the patches of cultivated ground near the mountain villages, and upon fruits which they picked in the woods.

Twice, too, they had come upon herds of half wild goats in the mountains, and Malchus had succeeded in knocking down a kid with a stone.  They had not made very long journeys, resting always for a few hours in the heat of the day, and it was ten days after they had left Rome before, from an eminence, they saw the walls of Capua.

“How can I go in like this?” Clotilde exclaimed in a sudden fit of shyness.

“We will wait until it is dusk,” Malchus said; “the dye is fast wearing off, and your arms are strangely white for a peasant girl’s.  I will take you straight to Hannibal’s palace, and you will soon be fitted out gorgeously.  There are spoils enough stored up to clothe all the women of Rome.”

They sat down in the shade of a clump of trees, and waited till the heat of the day was past; then they rose and walked on until, after darkness had fallen, they entered the town of Capua.  They had no difficulty in discovering the palace where Hannibal was lodged.  They were stopped at the entrance by the guards, who gave a cry of surprise and pleasure when Malchus revealed himself.  At first they could hardly credit that, in the dark skinned peasant, their own commander stood before them, and as the news spread rapidly the officers of the corps ran down and saluted him with a joyous greeting.  While this was going on Clotilde shrank back out of the crowd.