"And who are you?"
"I am Numa, Decurio of the Roumin[22] Legion, your foe in battle, but now your host and protector."
[22] The Wallachians were, in the days of Trajan, subdued by the Romans, with whom they became intermixed, and are also called Roumi.
"And why did you save me from your men?" asked the young man, after a short silence.
"Because the strife was unequal—a hundred against one."
"But had it not been for you, I could have freed myself from them."
"Without me you had been lost. Ten paces from where I stopped your horse, you would inevitably have been dashed to pieces by huge stones which they were preparing to throw down upon you from the rock."
"And you did not desire my death?"
"No, because it would have reflected dishonour on the Roumin name."
"You are a chivalrous man, Decurio!"