The soldiers exhibited sudden relief. "Only you!" said the one who did the talking. "I thought-I didn't know what to think! You gave us a start."

"Who are you?" I asked. The man's face was hidden by the cowl. "Are you the priest of this temple?"

"Priest?" The soldier laughed. "Whoever saw a priest dressed in such rags?" The cowled figure, without answering, stepped past him and out the door. The soldier pointed to his head and made a gesture to indicate that the man was mad. He lowered his voice. "We nicknamed him `Rabidus.' Not that the fellow's dangerous, just not right in the head."

"Does he live here?"

"Who can say? Showed up in camp not long after Caesar began the siege. Word came down from on high that we were to leave him alone. Comes and goes as he pleases. Disappears for a while, then pops up again. A soothsayer, they call him, though he doesn't say much. As strange as they come, but harmless as far as I can tell."

"Is he Massilian?"

"Could be. Or could be a Gaul. Or a Roman, for all I know; speaks Latin. He certainly knows a thing or two about local matters, as you've just seen demonstrated. What's that he called the lump on the pedestal?" The soldier tried to duplicate the word without success. "Anyway, why don't you and your son-in-law step out of the temple. It's getting so you can't see your hand in front of your face in here."

We followed the soldiers onto the porch and descended the steps. The soothsayer stood outside the gate, where there were now five horses tied to the pylons.

"So, Gordianus of Rome, what's your business in being here?" asked the soldier.

"My immediate business is to find a way out of this valley." He laughed. "Easy enough. Marcus and I will escort you out. In fact, we'll escort you all the way to my commander's tent. You being on a first-name basis with `Gaius Julius,' maybe you'll feel more comfortable explaining yourself to an officer." He looked at me sidelong.