There is a secret pathway, a hidden entrance. I know it and can
reveal it to you."
"Good," said the Chief, measuring the man with tranquil eyes, "but
what is your price?"
"Vengeance," said the man, "I ask only the right to revenge my
sufferings upon those who have inflicted them, when you have taken
the city."
Alaric bent his head and was silent for a moment. "It is a fair
price," he said, "and I will pay it. Tell me the way to take the
city, and I will leave at your command a troop of soldiers sufficient
to work your will on it afterward."
II
The trumpet sounded the capture of the city in the morning. The
Avenger, waking late from his troubled sleep, led his soldiers
through the open gate.
It was like a city of the dead, and the bodies of those who had been
killed in the last defense, lay where they had fallen. Empty and
silent were the streets where lie had so often walked in humiliation.
Gone were the familiar faces that had frowned on him and mocked
him. The houses at whose doors he had often knocked were vacant.
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