"What! a giant?" demanded Edicon. "I saw such a one contending like a madman with our whole army. If it be of him you speak, most probably he is dead. I saw him fall beneath a blow which would have slain a bull. At all events, he is in the hands of Attila the King; for I heard him bid his people see to the brave African. Is there aught else?"
"I would fain," said Theodore, with a sigh, "I would fain recover the horse I rode. It was my father's charger: but I fear that it is vain, for I left it upon the hill."
"What, the black horse with the white star on his forehead?" demanded Edicon.
"The same," answered Theodore, with some surprise. "Have you seen him?"
"I saw him with you on the other side of the Danube, some four days ago," replied Edicon, "when Attila came down from the interior to meet you."
"To meet me!" exclaimed Theodore, with a faint smile; "he could not come to meet me; for I crossed the Danube by accident, not from any long-conceived purpose."
"So it might be," answered the chief, "and yet the king knew that you were coming, and went down to meet you. Do you not believe that there are men who see the coming events as clearly as we see the past? But it matters not," he added; "we left the tribe of Vultingours upon the hill. Perchance the horse may have fallen into their hands; if so, thou shalt have him."
He then spoke a few words in their own tongue to some of the Huns near, two of whom instantly sprang upon their horses and galloped up the hill. While they were gone, Theodore and Edicon lay down in the shade upon the grass; and the young Roman endeavoured to induce his companion to pursue to some clearer point of explanation the vague hints which had been given regarding his first meeting with Attila; but the wily barbarian was not to be led onward beyond the precise line by which he chose to bound his communication; and as soon as Theodore attempted to gain further information, he started up, and busied himself in giving orders to the wild warriors around him.
In a few minutes the two Huns returned, leading down at a quick pace the horse of the young Roman, which, snorting and rearing, resisted the unfamiliar hands by which he was guided. In a moment, however, the voice of his master rendered him tame and docile as a lamb; and Theodore could perceive, by the smiles and gestures of the barbarians, whose affection for, and command over, their own horses were even then proverbial, that he had risen highly in their esteem by the love and obedience which the noble beast displayed towards him.
When at length all was prepared, he mounted, though with much pain and difficulty from his wounds; but when once on his horse's back he experienced no further inconvenience, except from weakness; and, riding side by side with Edicon, he proceeded slowly on the same track which Attila and his troops had previously taken.