"Is all well with
Rome?" he asked; and he called to his wife to bring him his cloak.
She brought the cloak; and Cincinnatus wiped the dust from his hands
and arms, and threw it over his shoulders. Then the men told their
errand.
They told him how the army with all the noblest men of Rome had been
en-trapped in the mountain pass. They told him about the great danger
the city was in. Then they said, "The people of Rome make you their
ruler and the ruler of their city, to do with everything as you
choose; and the Fathers bid you come at once and go out against our
enemies, the fierce men of the mountains."
[Illustration]
So Cincinnatus left his plow standing where it was, and hurried to the
city. When he passed through the streets, and gave orders as to what
should be done, some of the people were afraid, for they knew that he
had all power in Rome to do what he pleased. But he armed the guards
and the boys, and went out at their head to fight the fierce mountain
men, and free the Roman army from the trap into which it had fallen.
A few days afterward there was great joy in Rome. There was good news
from Cincinnatus. The men of the mountains had been beaten with great
loss. They had been driven back into their own place.
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