"Sh, yourself," retorted Fridoline defiantly.
"In the meantime the Romans knew they were coming, and they went down by the river gate to talk it over. The Tiber river flowed by the city, and there was a big bridge——"
"How bid?" inquired little Mike.
"I don't know how big, but it was very large indeed," went on Miss Billy, "so that the enemy had to cross it before they could get into the city. And there they waited until a messenger came flying up the hill to tell them that Lars Porsena and his great army were very near. They looked over to the west, and they saw the great cloud of dust coming up from the road."
"What was they goin' to do?" asked Jinny.
"Why bust into the city an' kill the Romans," answered Launcelot. "Go on, Miss Billy."
"And the Romans knew that they would kill them all if they once got across the bridge," continued the historian. "And they hurriedly talked about what it was best to do. And then one of them had a plan. He was a wonderfully brave and noble man, and he wasn't afraid of anything."
"Bet he'd been scaret of a hyena," said the oldest Levi boy.
"He was not afraid of anything. And this was his plan. He told the Romans that he would get two other men and alone they would cross the bridge and meet the enemy on the other side. This is what he said: