Just as he had gained the open air, the sentinel halted over the very spot where the Pagan stood, and paused suddenly in his song.

There was an instant's interval of silence, during which the inmost soul of Ulpius quailed beneath an apprehension as vivid, as that which had throbbed in the heart of the despised lizard, whose flight had guided him to his discovery at the wall.
Soon, however, he heard the voice of the soldier calling cheerfully to his fellow sentinel, 'Comrade, do you see the moon?
She is rising to cheer our watch!' Nothing had been discovered!--he was still safe! But if he stayed at the cavity till the mists faded before the moonlight, could he be certain of preserving his security?
He felt that he could not! What mattered a night more or a night less, to such a project as his?
Months might elapse before the Goths retired from the walls.

It was better to suffer delay than to risk discovery.

He determined to leave the place, and to return on the following night provided with a lantern, the light of which he would conceal until he entered the cavity.

Once there, it could not be perceived by the sentinels above--it would guide him through all obstacles, preserve him through all dangers.