her blood gave,

That Gaul might be free. Hena her name! Hena, the Maid of the Island of Sen!"

Douarnek then proceeded with the song:

"Hearing Hena speak these words,

Sadly gazed upon her her father

And her mother, aye, all the family,

Even the little children,

For Hena loved them very dearly.

"—But why, dear daughter,

Why now quit this world,

And travel away beyond

Without the Angel of Death having called you?—

"—Good father, good mother,

Hesus is angry.

The stranger now threatens our Gaul so beloved.

The innocent blood of a virgin

Offered by her to the gods

May their anger well soften.

Adieu, then, till we meet again,

Good father, good mother,

Adieu till we meet again,

All, my dear ones and friends.

These collars preserve, and these rings

As mementoes of me.

Let me kiss for the last time your blonde heads,

Dear little ones. Good bye till we meet.

Remember your Hena, she waits for you yonder,

In the worlds yet unknown.—"

And the other oarsmen and I replied in chorus to the rythmical sound of the oars:

"She was young, she was fair,

And holy was she.

To Hesus her blood gave

That Gaul might be free.

Hena her name.

Hena, the Maid of the Island of Sen!"

Douarnek proceeded:

"Bright is the moon, high is the pyre

Which rises near the sacred stones of Karnak;

Vast is the gathering of the tribes

Which presses 'round the funeral pile.

"Behold her, it is she, it is Hena!

She mounts the pyre, her golden harp in hand,

And singeth thus:

"—Take my blood, O Hesus,

And deliver my land from the stranger.

Take my blood, O Hesus,

Pity for Gaul! Victory to our arms!—

And it flowed, the blood of Hena.

"O, holy Virgin, in vain 'twill not have been,

The shedding of your innocent and generous blood.

Bowed beneath the yoke, Gaul will some day rise erect,

Free and proud, and crying, like thee,

—Victory and Freedom!"

And Douarnek, along with the three other soldiers, repeated in a low voice, vibrating with pious admiration, this last refrain:

"So it was that she offered her blood to Hesus,

To Hesus for the deliverance of Gaul!

She was young, she was fair,

And holy was she,

Hena her name!

Hena, the Maid of the Island of Sen!"

I alone did not join in the last refrain of the song. I was too deeply moved!

Noticing my emotion and my silence, Douarnek said to me surprised:

"What, Schanvoch, have you lost your voice? You remain silent at the close of so glorious a song?"

"Your speech is sooth, Douarnek; it is just because that song is particularly glorious to me—that you see me so deeply moved."

"That song is particularly glorious to you? I do not understand you."

"Hena was the daughter of one of my ancestors."

"What say you!"

"Hena was the daughter of Joel, the brenn of the tribe of Karnak, who died, together with his wife and almost all his family, at the great battle of Vannes—a battle that was fought on land and water nearly three centuries ago. From father to son, I descend from Joel."

"Do you know, Schanvoch," replied Douarnek, "that even kings would be proud of such an ancestry?"

"The blood shed for our country and for liberty by all of us Gauls is our national patent of nobility," I said to him. "It is for that reason that our old songs are so popular among us."

"When one considers," put in one of the younger soldiers, "that it is now more than three hundred years since Hena, the saintly maid, surrendered her own life for the deliverance of the country, and that her name still reaches us!"

"Although it took the young virgin's voice more than two centuries to rise to the ears of Hesus," replied Douarnek, "her voice did finally reach him, seeing that to-day we can say—Victory to our arms! Victory and freedom!"

We had now arrived at about the middle of the river, where the stream is very rapid.

Raising his oar, Douarnek asked me:

"Shall we enter the strong current? That would be a waste of strength, unless we are either to ascend or descend the river a distance equal to that that now separates us from the shore."

"We are to cross the Rhine in its full breadth, friend Douarnek."

"Cross it!" cried the veteran with amazement. "Cross the Rhine! And what for?"

"To land on the opposite shore."

"Do you know what that means, Schanvoch? Is not the army of those Frankish bandits, if one can honor those savage hordes with the name of army, encamped on the opposite shore?"

"It is to those very barbarians that I am bound."

For a few moments all the four oars rested motionless in their oarlocks. The soldiers looked at one another speechless, as if they could not believe what they heard me say.

Douarnek was the first to break the silence. With a soldier's unconcern he said to me:

"Is it, then, a sacrifice that we are to offer to Hesus by delivering our hides to those hide-tanners? If such be the orders, forward! Bend to your oars, my lads!"

"Have you forgotten, Douarnek, that we have a truce of eight days with the Franks?"

"There is no such thing as a truce to those brigands."

"As you will notice, I have made the signal of peace by ornamenting the prow of our bark with green boughs. I shall proceed alone into the enemy's camp, with an oak branch in my hand."

"And they will slay you despite all your oak branches, as they have slain other envoys during previous truces."

"That may happen, Douarnek; but when the chief commands, the soldier obeys. Victoria and her son have ordered me to proceed to the Frankish camp. So thither I go!"

"It surely was not out of fear that I spoke,