They agreed, and mounting his horse, Bardel started at full
gallop to fetch Theodore. That man, so unprincipled that even
Abyssinians looked upon him with contempt, had basely betrayed, out
of mere love of mischief, those poor men who had trusted in him.
Theodore was quite taken aback when Bardel told him that the four
he had taken into his service, and Mackerer, were on the point of
deserting. "But were you not also one of the party?" Theodore
inquired. Bardel said that it was true; but if he had entered into
the plot, it was only to be able to prove his attachment to his
master by revealing it to him, when he could with his own eyes
assure him of the correctness of the assertion. Theodore accompanied
him to the tent where the others were anxiously expecting their
companion's return. Fancy their dismay and astonishment when they
saw the Emperor quietly walking in followed by their betrayer!
Theodore was calm, asked them why they were so ungrateful, and why
they wanted to run away? They replied that they longed to see their
country. They were given in charge to the soldiers who had accompanied
Theodore, chained hand and foot, each of them to one of their
servants; all their followers were stripped naked, tied with ropes,
and several of them killed. Their condition ever since was most
dreadful: they were confined at first with hundreds of starving and
naked Abyssinians, witnessed the execution of thousands, many of
whom had been their bed companions, and expected at any instant to
be called upon to pay with their lives the penalty of their rash
attempt.
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