Then came silence and darkness.

The Gothic watch-fires flamed one by one into the dusky air.

The guards were doubled at the different posts.

The populace were driven from the ramparts, and the fortifications of the great city echoed to no sound now but the tramp of the restless sentinel, or the clash of arms from the distant guard-houses that dotted the long line of the lofty walls.
It was then that Ulpius, passing cautiously along the least-frequented streets, gained unnoticed the place of his destination.

A thick vapour lay over the lonely and marshy spot.