by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER X: BESET
During the winter Hannibal made every preparation to ensure thetranquillity of Spain while he was absent. In order to lessen the numberof possible enemies there he raised a body of twelve hundred horse andfourteen thousand infantry from among the most turbulent tribes, andsent them across to Africa to serve as garrisons in Carthage and otherpoints, while an equal number of African troops were brought over togarrison Spain, of which Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, was to have thegovernment during his absence.
Hanno, an able general, was to command the force which was to be left insouthern Gaul to keep open the communications between the Pyrenees andthe Alps, while the youngest brother, Mago, a youth of about the sameage as Malchus, was to accompany him to Italy. Hannibal's wife and achild which had been born in the preceding spring, were sent by ship toCarthage.
In the early spring the march commenced, the army following the coastline until it reached the mouth of the Ebro. The mountainous and brokencountry lying between this river and the Pyrenees, and now known asCatalonia, was inhabited by fierce tribes unconquered as yet by Roman orCarthaginian. Its conquest presented enormous difficulties. There wasno coherence between its people; but each valley and mountain was astronghold to be defended desperately until the last. The inhabitants,accustomed to the mountains, were hardy, active, and, vigourous, readyto oppose a desperate resistance so long as resistance was possible, andthen to flee across their hills at a speed which defied the fleetest oftheir pursuers.
Every man was a soldier, and at the first alarm the inhabitants of thevillages abandoned their houses, buried their grain, and having drivenaway their cattle into almost inaccessible recesses among the hills,returned to oppose the invaders. The conquest of such a people wasone of the most difficult of undertakings, as the French generalsof Napoleon afterwards discovered, to their cost. The cruelty of themountaineers was equal to their courage, and the lapse of two thousandyears changed them but little, for in their long struggle against theFrench they massacred every detachment whom they could surprise amongthe hills, murdered the wounded who fell into their hands, and poisonedwells and grain.
The army which Hannibal had brought to the foot of this country throughwhich he had to pass, amounted to 102,000 men, of which 12,000 werecavalry and 90,000 infantry. This force passed the Ebro in three bodiesof equal strength. The natives opposed a desperate resistance, but thethree columns pressed forward on parallel lines. The towns were besiegedand captured, and after two months of desperate fighting Catalonia wassubdued, but its conquest cost Hannibal twenty-one thousand men, a fifthof his whole army. Hanno was for the time left here with ten thousandinfantry and a thousand cavalry. He was to suppress any fresh rising, tohold the large towns, to form magazines for the army, and to keep openthe passes of the Pyrenees. He fixed his headquarters at Burgos. Hisoperations were facilitated by the fact that along the line of the seacoast were a number of Phoenician colonies who were natural allies ofthe Carthaginians, and aided them in every way in their power. Beforeadvancing through the passes of the Pyrenees Hannibal still furtherreduced the strength of his force by weeding out all those who had inthe conflict among the mountains shown themselves wanting in personalstrength or in military qualities. Giving these leave to return home headvanced at the head of fifty thousand picked infantry and nine thousandcavalry.
The company under Malchus had rendered good service during the campaignof Catalonia. It had accompanied the column marching by the seashore;with this were the elephants, the treasure, and the heavy baggage of thearmy. It had throughout been in advance of the column, feeling theway, protecting it from ambushes, and dispersing any small bodies oftribesmen who might have placed themselves on heights, whence witharrows and slings they could harass the column on its march. The companyhad lost comparatively few men in the campaign, for it had taken no partin the various sieges. Its duties, however, were severe in the extreme.The men were ever on the watch, scouting the country round, while thearmy was engaged in siege operations, sometimes ascending mountainswhence they could command views over the interior or pursuing bands oftribesmen to their refuges among the hills.
Severely as Malchus had trained himself in every exercise, he found itat first difficult to support the fatigues of such a life; but every dayhis muscles hardened, and by the end of the campaign he was able to keepon foot as long as the hardest of his men.
One day he had followed a party of the tribesmen far up among themountains. The enemy had scattered, and the Arabs in their hot pursuithad also broken up into small parties. Malchus kept his eye upon the manwho appeared to be the chief of the enemy's party, and pressing hotlyupon him brought him to bay on the face of a steep and rugged gorge.Only one of the Numidians was at hand, a man named Nessus, who wasgreatly attached to his young leader, and always kept close to him inhis expeditions. The savage, a bulky and heavy man, finding he couldno longer keep ahead of his fleet footed pursuers, took his post at anarrow point in the path where but one could oppose him; and there, withhis heavy sword drawn, he awaited the attack. Malchus advanced to meethim, sword in hand, when an arrow from Nessus whizzed past him andstruck the chief in the throat, and his body fell heavily down therocks.
"That is not fair," Malchus said angrily. "I would fain have fought himhand to hand."
The Arab bowed his head.
"My lord," he said, "the combat would not have been even; the man hadthe upper ground, and you would have fought at a grievous disadvantage.Why should you risk your life in a fight with the swords, when my arrowhas answered all purposes? What should I have said if I had gone backwithout you? What satisfaction would it have been to me to avenge yourfall? What would they have said to me when I told them that I looked onidly while you engaged in such a struggle? Valour is valour, and we allknow that my lord is the bravest among us; but the life of the cousin ofour general is too valuable to be risked for nought when we are embarkedupon a great enterprise."
"Look, Nessus! what is there?" Malchus exclaimed, his attentionattracted by a dark object which was crossing the narrow path somedistance ahead and ascending the steep side of the gorge. "It is a bear,let us follow him; his flesh will form a welcome change for the companytonight."
The bear, who had been prowling in the bottom of the ravine, had beendisturbed by the fall of the body of the savage near him, and startedhastily to return to its abode, which lay high up on the face of thecliff. Malchus and his companion hurried forward to the spot where ithad crossed the path. The way was plain enough; there were scratches onthe rock, and the bushes growing in the crevices were beaten down. Thepath had evidently been frequently used by the animal.
"Look out, my lord!" Nessus exclaimed as Malchus hurried along. "Thesebears of the Pyrenees are savage brutes. See that he does not take youunawares."
The rocks were exceedingly steep; and Malchus, with his bow in his handand the arrow fitted and ready to draw, climbed on, keeping his eyes onevery clump of bush lest the bear should be lurking there. At last hepaused. They had reached a spot now but a short distance from the top.The cliff here fell almost perpendicularly down, and along its face wasa narrow ledge scarcely a foot wide. Along this it was evident the bearhad passed.
"I should think we must be near his den now, Nessus. I trust this ledgewidens out before it gets there. It would be an awkward place for aconflict, for a stroke of his paw would send one over the edge."
"I shall be close behind you, my lord," said Nessus, whose blood was nowup with the chase. "Should you fail to stop him, drop on one knee that Imay shoot over you."
For some fifty yards the ledge continued unbroken. Malchus moved alongcautiously, with his arrow in the string and his shield shifted roundhis shoulder, in readiness for instant action. Suddenly, upon turning asharp corner of the cliff, he saw it widened ten feet ahead into asort of platform lying in the angle of the cliff, which beyond it againjutted out. On this platform was a bear, which with an angry growl atonce advanced towards him. Malchus discharged his arrow; it struck
thebear full on the chest, and penetrated deeply. With a stroke of his pawthe animal broke the shaft asunder and rushed forward. Malchus threwforward the point of his spear, and with his shield on his arm awaitedthe onset. He struck the bear fairly on the chest, but, as before, itsnapped the shaft with its paw, and rising to its feet advanced.
"Kneel, my lord!" Nessus exclaimed.
Malchus dropped on one knee, bracing himself as firmly as he couldagainst the rock, and, with his shield above his head and his sword inhis hand, awaited the attack of the enraged animal. He heard the twangof the bow behind him; then he felt a mighty blow, which beat down hisshield and descended with terrible force upon his helmet, throwing himforward on to his face. Then there was a heavy blow on his back; and itwas well for him that he had on backpiece as well as breastplate, or theflesh would have been torn from his shoulder to his loins. As the blowfell there was an angry roar. For a moment he felt crushed by a weightwhich fell upon him. This was suddenly removed, and he heard a crash farbelow as the bear, pierced to the heart by the Arab's spear, fell overthe precipice. Nessus hastened to raise him.
"My lord is not hurt, I hope?"
"In no way, Nessus, thanks to you; but my head swims and my arm is wellnigh broken with that blow. Who would have thought a beast like thatcould have struck so hard? See, he has dented in my helmet and has bentmy shield! Now, before we go back and search for the body, let us seewhat its den is like."
"Do you take my spear, my lord; your own is broken, and your bow hasgone over the precipice. It may be that there is another bear here.Where one is, the other is seldom far off."
They advanced on to the platform, and saw in the corner of the anglea cave entering some distance into the hill. As they approached theentrance a deep growl was heard within.
"We had best leave it alone, my lord," Nessus said as they both recoileda step at the entrance. "This is doubtless the female, and these arelarger and fiercer than the males."
"I agree with you, Nessus," Malchus said. "Were we on other ground Ishould say let us attack it, but I have had enough of fighting bears onthe edge of a precipice. There is as much meat as we can carry ready forus below. Besides, the hour is late and the men will be getting uneasy.Moreover, we are but half armed; and we cannot get at her withoutcrawling through that hole, which is scarce three feet high. Altogether,we had best leave her alone."
While they were speaking the bear began to roar angrily, the deepernotes being mingled with a chorus of snarls and whinings which showedthat there was a young family with her.
"Do you go first, Nessus," Malchus said. "The rear is the post of honourhere, though I fancy the beast does not mean to come out."
Nessus without a word took the lead, and advanced across the platformtowards the corner.
As he was in the act of turning it he sprang suddenly back, while anarrow flew past, grazing the corner of the rock.
"There are a score of natives on the path!" he exclaimed. "We are in atrap."
Malchus looked round in dismay. It was evident that some of the nativesmust have seen the fall of their leader and watched them pursue thebear, and had now closed in behind them to cut off their retreat. Thesituation was a most unpleasant one. The ledge extended no further thanthe platform; below, the precipice fell away sheer down a hundred feet;above, it rose as high. The narrow path was occupied with numerous foes.In the den behind them was the angry bear.
For a moment the two men looked at each other in consternation.
"We are fairly caught, Nessus," Malchus said. "There is one thing, theycan no more attack us than we can attack them. Only one can come roundthis corner at a time, and we can shoot or spear them as they do so. Weare tolerably safe from attack, but they can starve us out."
"They can shoot over from the other side of the ravine," Nessus said;"their arrows will carry from the opposite brow easily enough."
"Then," Malchus said firmly, "we must dispose of the bear; we must havethe cave. We shall be safe there from their arrows, while, lying at theentrance, we could shoot any that should venture past the corner. First,though, I will blow my horn. Some of our men may be within hearing."
Malchus pulled forth the horn which he carried. It was useless, beingcompletely flattened with the blow that the bear had struck him.
"That hope is gone, Nessus," he said. "Now let us get the bear to comeout as soon as possible, and finish with her. Do you stand at the cornerwith your arrow ready, in case the natives should try to surprise us,and be ready to aid me when she rushes out."
Malchus went to the mouth of the den, struck his spear against the side,and threw in some pieces of stone; but, although the growling was deepand continuous, the bear showed no signs of an intention of coming out.
The Arab was an old hunter, and he now asked Malchus to take his placewith the bow while he drove the bear out. He first took off his bernous,cut off several strips from the bottom, knotted them together, and thentwisted the strip into a rope. Growing out from a crevice in the rock,some three feet above the top of the cave, was a young tree; and roundthis, close to the root, Nessus fastened one end of his rope, the otherhe formed into a slip-knot and let the noose fall in front of the cave,keeping it open with two twigs placed across it. Then he gathered somebrushwood and placed it at the entrance, put a bunch of dried twigs anddead leaves among it, and, striking a light with his flint and steel onsome dried fungus, placed this in the middle of the sticks and blew uponit. In a minute a flame leaped up. "Now, my lord," he said, "be readywith your sword and spear. The beast will be out in a minute; she cannotstand the smoke."
Malchus ran to the corner and looked round. The natives were at adistance along the ledge, evidently with no intention of attacking a foeof whom they felt sure. A taunting shout was raised and an arrow flewtowards him, but he instantly withdrew his head and ran back to theplatform.
A minute later there was a fierce growl and the bear rushed out. Thebrushwood was scattered as, checked suddenly in its rush by the noose,the animal rose on its hind legs. In an instant the spear of Nessus wasplunged deeply into it on one side, while Malchus buried his sword tothe hilt in its body under the fore shoulder of the other. Stabbed tothe heart, the beast fell prostrate. Nessus repeated his blow, butthe animal was dead. Five young bears rushed out after their mother,growling and snapping; but as these were only about a quarter grown theywere easily despatched.
"There is a supply of food for a long time," Malchus said cheerfully;"and as there is a drip of water coming down in this angle we shall beable to quench our thirst. Ah! we are just in time."
As he spoke an arrow struck the rock close to them and dropped at theirfeet. Others came in rapid succession; and, looking at the brow of theopposite side of the ravine, they saw a number of natives.
"Pull the bear's body across the mouth of the cave," Malchus said, "itwill prevent the arrows which strike the rock in front from glancing in.The little bears will do for food at present."
They were soon in the cave, which opened beyond the entrance andextended some distance into the mountain; it was seven or eight feetwide and lofty enough to stand upright in. Nessus lay down behind thebear, with his bow and arrow so as to command the angle of the rock.Malchus seated himself further in the cave, sheltered by the entrancefrom the arrows which from time to time glanced in at the mouth. Onlyonce did Nessus have to shoot. The natives on the ledge, informed bytheir comrades on the opposite side of the gorge that their foes hadsought refuge in the cave, ventured to advance; but the moment the firstturned the corner he fell over the precipice, transfixed by an arrowfrom the bow of Nessus, and the rest hastily retreated.
"Hand me your flint and steel, Nessus, and a piece of fungus. I may aswell have a look round the cave."
A light was soon procured, and Malchus found that the cave extended somefifty feet back, narrowing gradually to the end. It had evidently beenused for a long time by wild animals. The floor was completely coveredwith dry bones of various sizes.
As soon as he saw that
this was the case Malchus tore off a strip of hislinen shirt, and rolling it into a ball set it on fire. On this hepiled up small bones, which caught readily, and he soon had a brightand almost smokeless fire. He now took the place of Nessus. The latterskinned and cut up one of the small bears, and soon had some steaksbroiling over the fire. By this time it was getting dusk without.
When the meat was cooked Nessus satisfied his hunger and then salliedout from the cave and took his post as sentry with his spear close tothe angle of the rock, as by this time the natives on the opposite side,being no longer able to see in the gathering darkness, had ceasedto shoot. Malchus ate his food at his leisure, and then joined hiscompanion.
"We must get out of here somehow, Nessus. Our company will search for ustomorrow; but they might search for a week without finding us here; and,as the army is advancing, they could not spare more than a day; so, ifwe are to get away, it must be by our own exertions."
"I am ready to fight my way along this ledge, my lord, if such is yourwish. They cannot see us to fire at, and as only one man can standabreast, their numbers would be of no avail to them."
"Not on the ledge, Nessus; but they would hardly defend that. No doubtthey are grouped at the further end, and we should have to fight againstoverwhelming numbers. No, that is not to be thought of. The only way ofescape I can think of would be to let ourselves down the precipice; butour bernouses would not make a rope long enough."
"They would not reach a third of the distance," Nessus replied, shakinghis head. "They have been worn some time, and the cloth is no longerstrong. It would need a broad strip to support us."
"That is so, Nessus, but we have materials for making the rope longenough, nevertheless."
"I do not understand you, my lord. Our other garments would be of butlittle use."
"Of no use at all, Nessus, and I was not thinking of them; but we havethe skins of the bears--the hide of the old bear at least is thick andtough--and a narrow strip would bear our weight."
"Of course," Nessus said. "How stupid of me not to think of it, for inthe desert we make all our rope of twisted slips of hide. If you willstand sentry here, my lord, I will set about it at once."
Malchus took the spear, and Nessus at once set to work to skin the bear,and when that was done he cut long strips from the hide, and havingfastened them together, twisted them into a rope.
The bernouses--which when on the march were rolled up and worn over oneshoulder like a scarf, as the German and Italian soldiers carry theirblankets in modern times--were also cut up and twisted, and in threehours Nessus had a rope which he assured Malchus was long enough toreach to the bottom of the precipice and sufficiently strong to beartheir weight.
One end was fastened to the trunk of the young tree, and the rope wasthen thrown over the edge of the platform. One of the young bear's skinswas fastened round and round it at the point where it crossed the edgeof the rocky platform, to prevent it from being cut when the weight wasput upon it, and they then prepared for their descent.
"Do you go first," Malchus said. "As soon as I feel that the rope isloose, I will follow you."
The Arab swung himself off the edge, and in a very short time Malchusfelt the rope slacken. He followed at once. The first twenty feet thedescent was absolutely perpendicular, but after that the rock inclinedoutward in a steep but pretty regular slope. Malchus was no longerhanging by the rope; but throwing the principal portion of his weightstill upon it, and placing his feet on the inequalities of the rock, hemade his way down without difficulty. Presently he stood by Nessus atthe foot of the slope.
"We had better make up the ravine. There will be numbers of them at itsmouth. We can see the glow of their fires from here."
"But we may not be able to find a way up," Nessus said; "the sides seemto get steeper and steeper, and we may find ourselves caught in a trapat the end of this gorge. At any rate we will try that way first. Iwish the moon was up; it is as black as a wolf's mouth here, and thebottom of the gorge is all covered with boulders. If we stumble, andour arms strike a stone, it will be heard by the natives on the oppositeheights."
They now set forward, feeling their way with the greatest care; but inthe dense darkness the task of making their way among the boulders wasdifficult in the extreme. They had proceeded but a short distance whena loud yell rose from the height above them. It was repeated again andagain, and was answered by shouts from the opposite side and from themouth of the ravine.
"By Astarte!" Malchus exclaimed, "they have found out that we haveescaped already."
It was so. One of the natives had crept forward along the path, hopingto find the sentry asleep, or to steal up noiselessly and stab him. Whenhe got to the angle of the rock he could see no form before him,nor hear the slightest sound. Creeping forward he found the platformdeserted. He listened attentively at the entrance to the cave, andthe keen ear of the savage would have detected had any been slumberingthere; but all was still.
He rose to his feet with the intention of creeping into the cave, whenhis head struck against something. He put up his hand and felt the rope,and saw how the fugitives had escaped. He at once gave the alarm to hiscomrades. In a minute or two a score of men with blazing brands camerunning along the path. On seeing the rope, they entered the cave, andfound that their prey had really escaped.
Malchus and his companion had not moved after the alarm was given.
"We had better be going, my lord," the Arab said as he saw the men withtorches retracing their steps along the brow. "They will soon be afterus."
"I think not, Nessus. Their chance of finding us among these bouldersin the dark would be small, and they would offer such good marks to ourarrows that they would hardly enter upon it. No, I think they will waittill daybreak, planting a strong force at the mouth of the ravine, andalong both sides of the end, wherever an ascent could be made. Hark, themen on the heights there are calling to others along the brow."
"Very well, my lord," Nessus said, seating himself on a rock, "then wewill sell our lives as dearly as possible."
"I hope it has not come to that, Nessus. There is a chance of safety forus yet. The only place they are not likely to look for us is the cave,and as we have climbed down from above with the rope, there will be nodifficulty in ascending."
Nessus gave an exclamation, which expressed at once admiration of hisleader's idea and gratification at the thought of escape. They beganwithout delay to retrace their steps, and after some trouble again foundthe rope.
Nessus mounted first; his bare feet enabled him to grip any inequalityof the surface of the rock. Whenever he came to a ledge which affordedhim standing room he shook the rope, and waited until Malchus joinedhim.
At last they stood together at the foot of the perpendicular rock at thetop. The lightly armed Arab found no difficulty whatever in climbing therope; but it was harder work for Malchus, encumbered with the weightof his armour. The numerous knots, however, helped him, and when he waswithin a few feet of the top, Nessus seized the rope and hauled it upby sheer strength until Malchus was level with the top. Then he gave himhis hand, and assisted him to gain his feet. They entered the cave andmade their way to the further end, and there threw themselves down. Theyhad not long been there when they saw a flash of light at the mouth ofthe cave and heard voices.
Malchus seized his spear and would have leaped to his feet, but Nessuspressed his hand on his shoulder.
"They are come for the she bear," he said. "It is not likely they willenter."
Lying hidden in the darkness the fugitives watched the natives roll thebear over, tie its legs together, and put a stout pole through them.Then four men lifted the pole on their shoulders and started.
Another holding a brand entered the cave. The two fugitives held theirbreath, and Nessus sat with an arrow in the string ready to shoot. Thebrand, however, gave but a feeble light, and the native, picking up thebodies of three of the young bears, which lay close to the entrance,threw them over his shoulder, and crawled back out of t
he cave again. Asthey heard his departing footsteps the fugitives drew a long breath ofrelief.
Nessus rose and made his way cautiously out of the cave. He returned ina minute.
"They have taken the rope with them," he said, "and it is well, for whenthey have searched the valley tomorrow, were it hanging there, it mightoccur to them that we have made our way up. Now that it is gone they cannever suspect that we have returned here."
"There is no chance of our being disturbed again tonight, Nessus. We cansleep as securely as if were in our camp."
So saying, Malchus chose a comfortable place, and was soon asleep.
Nessus, however, did not lie down, but sat watching with unwearied eyesthe entrance to the cave. As soon as day had fairly broken, a chorusof loud shouts and yells far down the ravine told that the search hadbegun. For hours it continued. Every bush and boulder in the bottom wassearched by the natives.
Again and again they went up and down the gorge, convinced that thefugitives must be hidden somewhere; for, as Nessus had anticipated, thecliffs at the upper end were so precipitous that an escape there wasimpossible, and the natives had kept so close a watch all night alongthe slopes at the lower end, and at the mouth, that they felt sure thattheir prey could not have escaped them unseen. And yet at last they wereforced to come to the conclusion that in some inexplicable way this musthave been the case, for how else could they have escaped? The thoughtthat they had reascended by the rope before it was removed, and thatthey were hidden in the cave at the time the bodies of the bear and itscubs were carried away, never occurred to them.
All day they wandered about in the bottom of the ravine, searching everypossible place, and sometimes removing boulders with great labour, wherethese were piled together in such a manner that any one could be hiddenbeneath them.
At nightfall they feasted upon the body of the bear first killed, whichhad been found where it had fallen in the ravine. The body of one of theyoung bears which lay far up the cave, had escaped their search, anda portion of this furnished a meal to the two prisoners, who were,however, obliged to eat it raw, being afraid to light a fire, lest thesmoke, however slight, should be observed coming out at the entrance.
The next morning, so far as they could see, the place was deserted bythe natives. Lying far back in the cave they could see that the menon the opposite side of the ravine had retired; but as it was quitepossible that the natives, feeling still convinced that the fugitivesmust be hidden somewhere, had set a watch at some spot commanding aview of the whole ravine, they did not venture to show themselves at theentrance.
After making another meal of the bear, they sallied out, when it againbecame dark, and made their way along the path. When they neared the endthey saw a party of the enemy sitting round a great fire at the mouthof the ravine below them. They retired a short distance, and sat downpatiently until at last the fire burned low, and the natives, leavingtwo of the party on watch, lay down to sleep. Then Malchus and hiscompanion rose to their feet, and made their way along the path. Whenthey were nearly abreast of the fire, Malchus happened to tread upon aloose stone, which went bouncing down the side of the hill.
The scouts gave a shout, which called their companions to their feet,and started up the hillside towards the spot where the stone had fallen.
Nessus discharged an arrow, which struck full on the chest of the leaderof the party, and then followed Malchus along the hillside.
A shout of rage broke from the natives as their comrade fell; butwithout pausing they pushed on. Malchus did not hurry. Silence now wasof more importance than speed. He strode along, then, with a rapid butcareful step, Nessus following closely behind him. The shouts ofthe savages soon showed that they were at fault. Malchus listenedattentively as he went. Whenever the babel of tongues ceased for amoment he stopped perfectly still, and only ventured on when they wererenewed.
At last they had placed a long gap between them and their pursuers, andcame out on a level shoulder of the hill. They continued their way untilthey found themselves at the edge of the forest. It was so dark underthe trees that they could no longer advance, and Malchus thereforedetermined to wait till the dawn should enable them to continue theirjourney. Whether they were in a clump of trees or in the forest, whichcovered a large portion of the mountain side, they were unable to tell;nor, as not a single star could be seen, had they any indication of thedirection which they should take. Retiring then for some little distanceamong the trees, they lay down and were soon asleep.
When the first dawn of day appeared they were on their way again, andsoon found that the trees under which they had slept formed part of theforest. Through occasional openings, formed by trees which had fallenfrom age or tempest, they obtained a view of the surrounding country,and were enabled to form an idea where lay the camp which they had lefttwo days before.
They had not proceeded far when they heard in the distance behind themthe shouting of men and the barking of dogs, and knew that theenemy were upon their track. They ran now at the top of their speed,convinced, however, that the natives, who would have to follow thetrack, could not travel as fast as they did. Suddenly Malchus stopped.
"Listen!" he said. They paused, and far down the hillside heard thedistant sound of a horn. "Those must be our men," Malchus exclaimed,"they are searching for us still; Hannibal must have allowed them tostay behind when the army proceeded on its way."
In another half hour the horn sounded close at hand and they werespeedily among a body of Malchus' own followers, who received them withshouts of delight. The men were utterly worn out, for they had searchedcontinuously day and night from the time they had missed their leader,sometimes high up among the hills, sometimes among the lower valleys.The party which he met comprised but a fourth of the band, for they haddivided into four parties, the better to range the country.
They were now ascending the hills again at a distance of two milesapart, and messengers were at once sent off to the other bodies toinform them that Malchus had returned. Malchus quickly recounted to hismen the story of what had befallen them, and then bade them lie down torest while he and Nessus kept watch.
The natives who had been in pursuit did not make their appearance,having doubtless heard the horn which told of the approach of a body ofthe Carthaginians. In two hours the whole of the band were collected,and after a few hours' halt, to enable the men to recover from theirlong fatigue and sleeplessness, Malchus put himself at their headand they marched away to join the main body of their army, which theyovertook two days later.
Malchus was received with great delight by his father and Hannibal, whohad given him up for lost. Nessus had over and over again recounted allthe details of their adventure to his comrades, and the quickness ofMalchus at hitting upon the stratagem of returning to the cave, and soescaping from a position where escape seemed well nigh impossible,won for him an even higher place than before in the admiration of hisfollowers.