“Of course you do; but I don’t suppose we shall move now for some time, till the captain’s scouts that he must have sent out bring back news of the enemy, and then he will camp for the rest of the night. He ought to. I should, so as to give the men a rest ready for when the enemy attacks again in the morning.”
“But you said that the enemy were beaten and driven away.”
“So they were, boy, but in a war like this they will only make for the mountains and collect together again ready for a fresh attack as soon as they get the chance.”
“But will they keep on doing that?” cried Marcus.
“Of course they will whenever they feel strong enough; and when they are weak they will give up.”
“Oh, I don’t understand it a bit,” cried Marcus.
“Well, you don’t want to understand it,” said Serge. “That’s for the generals and big captains to do. All that they want of us is to fight.”
“But why is this war?” said Marcus, impatiently.
“Oh, I suppose it’s because some of the tribes have been attacking and plundering and carrying off cattle and goods of the country people, till the chiefs say: This sort of thing must be stopped, and they collect an army, talk it over with the peaceful tribes who are ready to be friends, and then with their help march into the enemy’s country, conquer it, and bring them to their senses. That’s what we do, and used to do—bring all these nations round about under the rule of Rome. These we are fighting with now are the peoples off to the north and west. They have got all sorts of names, but I suppose they are all Gauls. But now look here: a bit ago you were so tired out with your long march that you wanted to sleep. Half the night hasn’t gone, so the best thing you can do is to curl yourself up and sleep till sunrise as hard as you can.”
“Sleep!” cried Marcus, mockingly. “Who’s to sleep at a time like this?”