His heart throbbed quickly within him, as he stood irresolute on the
spot he had occupied since the first peal of thunder had struck upon his
ear. Were the light and the man--one seen but for an instant, the other
still perceptible--mere phantoms of his erring sight, dazzled by the
quick recurrence of atmospheric changes through which it had acted? Or
did he indubitably behold a human form, and had he really observed a
material light? Some strange treachery, some dangerous mystery might be
engendering in the besieged city, which it would be his duty to observe
and unmask. He drew his sword, and, at the risk of being observed
through the lightning, and heard during the pauses in the thunder, by
the sentinel on the wall, resolutely advanced to the very foot of the
fortifications of hostile Rome.
He heard no sound, perceived no light, observed no figure, as, after
several unsuccessful attempts to reach the place where they stood, he at
length paused at the loose stones which he knew were heaped at the base
of the wall.
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