"What has happened?" asked a veteran.
"Twenty soldiers have been beaten to death!"
"What? Twenty! Why, it was a hundred!"
"They're going to cudgel every man in turn; it's the order!"
Suddenly a legionary with torn clothes and terrified demeanour rushed into the crowd shouting—
"Comrades! quick, to the palace!... quick! Julian's just been beheaded!"
These words fell like a spark on tinder. The long-smouldering flame burst into destructiveness. The faces of the soldiers took on an expression of animal ferocity. No one understood nor wished to hear, but all shouted—
"Where are the rascals? Kill the hounds!"
"Who?"
"The envoys from the Emperor Constantius!"