The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt, Page 3

  CHAPTER II.

  THE SIEGE OF THE CITY.

  Amuba saw his father fall, and leaping from his chariot, strove tomake his way through the mingled mass of footmen and chariots to thespot. Jethro followed close behind him. He, too, had caught sight ofthe falling figure, and knew what Amuba did not--that the Rebu hadlost their king. He was not forgetful of the charge which had beenlaid on him, but the lad was for a moment beyond his control, and he,too, was filled with fury at the fall of the king, and determined ifpossible to save his body. He reached Amuba's side just in time tointerpose his shield between the boy and an Egyptian archer in achariot he was passing. The arrow pierced the shield and the arm thatheld it. Jethro paused an instant, broke off the shaft at the shield,and seizing the point, which was projecting two inches beyond theflesh, pulled the arrow through the wound.

  It was but a moment's work, but short as it was it almost cost Amubahis life, for the archer, leaning forward, dropped the end of his bowover the lad's head--a trick common among the Egyptian archers--and ina moment dragged him to the ground, while his comrade in the chariotraised his spear to dispatch him. Jethro sprang forward with a shoutof rage, and with a blow of his sword struck off the head of the spearas it was descending. Then shortening his sword, he sprang into thechariot, ran the man holding the bow through the body, and grappledwith the spearman.

  The struggle was a short one. Leaving his sword in the body of thearcher, Jethro drew his dagger and speedily dispatched his foe. Thenhe jumped down, and lifting Amuba, who was insensible from the sharpjerk of the bowstring upon his throat and the violence of his fall,carried him back to his chariot. This with the greatest difficulty hemanaged to draw out of the heat of the conflict, which was for themoment raging more fiercely than before. The Rebu who had seen thefall of their king had dashed forward to rescue the body and to avengehis death. They cleared a space round him, and as it was impossible toextricate his chariot, they carried his body through the chaos ofplunging horses, broken chariots, and fiercely struggling men to therear.

  Then it was placed in another chariot, and the driver started with itat full speed for the city. Jethro, on emerging from the crowd, pausedfor a moment to look round. He saw at once that the battle was lost.The center was utterly broken, and the masses of the Egyptians who hadcrossed the swamp were pressing heavily on the flanks of the Rebufootmen, who were still opposing a firm stand to those attacking themin front. For the moment the passage of the Egyptian chariots wasarrested; so choked was the causeway with chariots and horses whichwere imbedded in the mire, or had sunk between the fagots that furtherpassage was impossible, and a large body of footmen were now forming afresh causeway by the side of the other.

  This would soon be completed, for they were now working undisturbed byopposition, and Jethro saw that as soon as it was done the Egyptianhost would sweep across and fall upon the rear of the Rebu. Jethro ranup to two mounted men, badly wounded, who had like himself made theirway out of the fight.

  "See," he said, "in a quarter of an hour a new causeway will becompleted, and the Egyptians will pour over. In that case resistancewill be impossible, and all will be lost. Do one of you ride to eachflank and tell the captains that the king is dead, that there are noneto give orders here, and that their only chance to save their troopsis to retreat at full speed but keeping good order to the city."

  The horsemen rode off immediately, for Jethro, as the king's owncharioteer, was a man of some impatience. After dispatching themessengers he returned to his chariot and at once drove off. Amuba wasnow recovering, and the rough motion of the vehicle as it dashed alongat full speed aroused him.

  "What is it, Jethro? What has happened?"

  "The battle is lost, prince, and I am conveying you back to the city.You have had a rough fall and a narrow escape of your life, and can dono more fighting even if fighting were of any good, which it is not."

  "And the king, my father?" Amuba said, struggling to his feet. "Whatof him? Did I not see him fall?"

  "I know naught of him for certain," Jethro replied. "There was aterrible fight raging, and as I had you to carry out I could take noshare in it. Besides, I had an arrow through my left arm--if I hadbeen a moment later it would have gone through your body instead. Andnow, if you do not mind taking the reins, I will bandage it up. I havenot had time to think about it yet, but it is bleeding fast, and Ibegin to feel faint."

  This was indeed true; but Jethro had called Amuba's attention to hiswound principally for the sake of diverting his thoughts for a momentfrom his fear for his father. As Amuba drove, he looked back. Theplain behind him was covered with a mass of fugitives.

  "I see that all is lost," he said mournfully. "But how is it that weare not pursued?"

  "We shall be pursued before long," Jethro answered. "But I fancy thatfew of the Egyptian chariots which first passed are in a condition tofollow. Most of them have lost horses or drivers. Numbers were brokento pieces in the _melee_. But they are making a fresh causeway, andwhen that is completed those who cross will take up the pursuit. Asfor their footmen, they have small chance of catching the Rebu."

  "Surely our men ought to retreat in good order, Jethro. Scattered asthey are, they will be slaughtered in thousands by the Egyptianchariots."

  "They could not oppose much resistance to them anyhow," Jethroreplied. "On a plain footmen cannot withstand a chariot charge. As itis, many will doubtless fall; but they will scatter to the right andleft, numbers will reach the hills in safety, some will take refugein woods and jungles, while many will outrun the chariots. The newcauseway is narrow, and a few only can cross abreast, and thus, thoughmany of our men will be overtaken and killed, I trust that the greaterpart will escape."

  "Let us draw up here for a short time, Jethro. I see there are severalchariots and some horsemen behind, and as they are with the main bodyof the fugitives, they are doubtless friends. Let us join them andproceed in a body to the town. I should not like to be the first toenter with the news of our defeat."

  "You are right, prince. As our horses are good, we need not fear beingovertaken. We can therefore wait a few minutes."

  A score of chariots presently came up, and all halted on seeing Amuba.One of them contained Amusis, the chief captain of the army. He leapedfrom his chariot when he saw Amuba, and advanced to him.

  "Prince," he said, "why do you delay? I rejoice at seeing that youhave escaped in the battle, for I marked you bravely fighting in themidst; but let me beg you to hasten on. A few minutes and the host ofEgyptian chariots will be upon us."

  "I am ready to proceed, Amusis, since you have come. Have you any newsof my father?"

  "The king has been sorely wounded," the general said, "and was carriedoff out of the battle; but come, prince, we must hasten on. Ourpresence will be sorely needed in the city, and we must get all inreadiness for defense before the Egyptians arrive."

  The chariots again started, and reached the city without seeinganything of the Egyptians, who did not indeed arrive before the wallsuntil an hour later, having been delayed by the slaughter of thefugitives. As the party entered the town they found confusion andterror prevailing. The arrival of the body of the king was the firstintimation of disaster, and this had been followed by several horsemenand chariots, who had spread the news of the defeat of the army. Thecries of women filled the air; some in their grief and terror ranwildly here and there; some sat at their doors with their faces hiddenby their hands, wailing loudly; others tore their garments and behavedas if demented.

  On their way to the palace they met the troops who had been leftbehind to guard the city, moving down stern and silent to take theirplaces on the wall. During the drive Amusis, who had driven in Amuba'schariot, had broken to the boy the news that his father was dead, andAmuba was prepared for the loud lamentation of women which met him ashe entered the royal inclosure.

  "I will see my mother," he said to Amusis, "and then I will come downwith you to the walls and will take whatever part you may assign me inthe defense. It
is to your experience and valor we must now trust."

  "I will do all that I can, prince. The walls are strong, and if, as Ihope, the greater part of our army find their way back, I trust we maybe able to defend ourselves successfully against the Egyptian host.Assure your royal mother of my deep sympathy for her in her sorrow,and of my devotion to her personally."

  The general now drove off, and Amuba entered the royal dwellings. Inthe principal apartment the body of the king was laid upon a couch inthe middle of the room. The queen stood beside it in silent grief,while the attendants raised loud cries, wrung their hands, and filledthe air with their lamentation, mingled with praises of the characterand bravery of the king. Amuba advanced to his mother's side. Sheturned and threw her arms round him.

  "Thank the gods, my son, that you are restored to me; but what a loss,what a terrible loss is ours!"

  "It is indeed, mother. No better father ever lived than mine. But Ipray you, mother, lay aside your grief for awhile; we shall have timeto weep and mourn for him afterward. We have need of all our courage.In a few hours the Egyptian hosts will be before our walls, and everyarm will be needed for their defense. I am going down to take my placeamong the men, to do what I can to encourage them; but the confusionin the city is terrible. None know whether they have lost husbands orfathers, and the cries and lamentations of the women cannot butdispirit and dishearten the men. I think, mother, that you might domuch if you would; and I am sure that my father in his resting-placewith the gods would far rather see you devoting yourself to the safetyof his people than to lamentations here."

  "What would you have me do?"

  "I should say, mother, mount a chariot and drive through the streetsof the town; bid the women follow the example of their queen and defertheir lamentation for the fallen until the foe has been repelled. Bideach do her part in the defense of the city; there is work forall--stones to be carried to the walls, food to be cooked for thefighting men, hides to be prepared in readiness to be carried to theramparts where the attack is hottest, to shield our soldiers fromarrows. In these and other tasks all can find employment, and, in thusworking for the defense of the town, the women would find distractionfrom their sorrows and anxieties."

  "Your advice is wise, Amuba, and I will follow it. Order a chariotto be brought down. My maidens shall come with me; and see that twotrumpeters are in readiness to precede us. This will insure attentionand silence, and my words will be heard as we pass along. How did youescape from the conflict?"

  "The faithful Jethro bore me off, mother, or I, too, should havefallen; and now, with your permission, I will go to the wall."

  "Do so, Amuba, and may the gods preserve you. You must partake of somefood before you go, for you will need all your strength, my son."

  Amuba hastily ate the food that was placed before him in anotherapartment, and drank a goblet of wine, and then hurried down to thewall.

  The scene was a heart-rending one. All over the plain were scatteredgroups of men hurrying toward the city, while among them dashed theEgyptian chariots, overthrowing and slaying them; but not withoutresistance. The Rebu were well disciplined, and, as the chariotsthundered up, little groups gathered together, shield overlappingshield, and spears projecting, while those within the circle shottheir arrows or whirled stones from their slings. The horses woundedby the arrows often refused to obey their drivers, but rushed headlongacross the plain; others charged up only to fall pierced with thespears, while the chariots were often empty of their occupants beforethey broke into the phalanx.

  Thus, although many fell, many succeeded in gaining the gates of thetown, and the number of men available for the defense had alreadylargely increased when Amuba reached the walls. Although the Egyptianchariots came up in great numbers, night fell without the appearanceof the main body of the Egyptian army. After darkness set in greatnumbers of the Rebu troops who had escaped to the hills made their wayinto the town. The men of the contingents furnished by the other Rebucities naturally made their way direct to their homes, but beforemorning the six thousand men left behind to guard the city when thearmy set out had been swelled to four times their numbers.

  Although this was little more than half the force which had marchedout to battle, the return of so large a number of the fugitives causeda great abatement of the panic and misery that had prevailed. Thewomen whose husbands or sons had returned rejoiced over those whomthey had regarded as lost, while those whose friends had not yetreturned gained hopes from the narratives of the fresh comers thattheir loved ones might also have survived, and would ere long maketheir way back. The example of the queen had already done much torestore confidence. All knew the affection that existed between theking and her, and the women all felt that if she could lay aside herdeep sorrow, and set such an example of calmness and courage at such atime, it behooved all others to set aside their anxieties and to dotheir best for the defense of the town.

  Amusis gave orders that all those who had returned from battle shouldrest for the night in their homes, the troops who had remained in thecity keeping guard upon the walls. In the morning, however, allcollected at the trumpet-call, and were formed up according to thecompanies and battalions to which they belonged. Of some of thesewhich had borne the brunt of the combat there were but a handful ofsurvivors, while of others the greater portion were present; weakbattalions were joined to the strong; fresh officers were appointed totake the place of those who were missing; the arms were examined, andall deficiencies made good from the public stores.

  Ten thousand men were set aside as a reserve to be brought up to thepoints most threatened, while to the rest were allotted those portionsof the wall which they were to occupy. As soon as morning broke thewomen recommenced the work that had been interrupted by night, makingtheir way to the walls in long trains, carrying baskets of stones ontheir heads. Disused houses were pulled down for the sake of theirstones and timber, parties of women with ropes dragging the latter tothe walls in readiness to be hurled down upon the heads of the enemy.Even the children joined in the work, carrying small baskets of earthto those portions of the wall which Amusis had ordered to bestrengthened.

  The position of the city had been chosen with a view to defense. Itstood on a plateau of rock raised some fifty feet above the plain.The Caspian washed its eastern face; on the other three sides a highwall, composed of earth roughly faced with stones, ran along at theedge of the plateau; above it, at distances of fifty yards apart, rosetowers. The entire circuit of the walls was about three miles. Sinceits foundation by the grandfather of the late king the town had neverbeen taken, although several times besieged, and the Rebu had stronghopes that here, when the chariots of the Egyptians were no longer tobe feared, they could oppose a successful resistance to all theefforts of the enemy.

  At noon the Egyptian army was seen advancing, and, confident as thedefenders of the city felt, they could not resist a feeling ofapprehension at the enormous force which was seen upon the plain. TheEgyptian army was over three hundred thousand strong. It moved inregular order according to the arms or nationality of the men. Herewere Nubians, Sardinians, Etruscans, Oscans, Dauni, Maxyes, Kahaka, arace from Iberia, and bodies of other mercenaries from every tribe andpeople with whom the Egyptians had any dealings.

  The Sardinians bore round shields, three or four spears or javelins, along straight dagger, and a helmet surmounted by a spike, with a ballat the top. The Etruscans carried no shields, and instead of thestraight dagger were armed with a heavy curved chopping-knife; theirheaddress resembled somewhat in shape that now worn by the Armenians.The Dauni were Greek in the character of their arms, carrying a roundshield, a single spear, a short straight sword, and a helmet of theshape of a cone.

  The Egyptians were divided according to their arms. There wereregiments of archers, who carried, for close combat, a slightly curvedstick of heavy wood; other regiments of archers carried hatchets. Theheavy infantry all bore the Egyptian shield, which was about threefeet long. It was widest at the upper part, where i
t was semicircular,while the bottom was cut off straight. The shields had a boss near theupper part. Some regiments carried, in addition to the spears, heavymaces, others axes. Their helmets all fitted closely to the head; mostof them wore metal tassels hanging from the top. The helmets were forthe most part made of thick material, quilted and padded; these werepreferred to metal, being a protection from the heat of the sun.

  Each company carried its own standard; these were all of religiouscharacter, and represented animals sacred to the gods, sacred boats,emblematic devices, or the names of the king or queen. These werein metal, and were raised at the ends of spears or staves. Thestandard-bearers were all officers of approved valor. Behind the armyfollowed an enormous baggage-train; and as soon as this had arriveD onthe ground the tents of the king and the principal officers werepitched.

  "What a host!" Jethro said to Amuba, who, after having his arm dressedon his arrival at the palace, had accompanied the young prince to thewalls. "It seems a nation rather than an army. I do not wonder nowthat we were defeated yesterday, but that we so long held our ground,and that so many escaped from the battle."

  "It is wonderful, truly, Jethro. Look at the long line of chariotsmoving in as regular order as the footmen. It is well for us that theywill now be forced to be inactive. As to the others, although they arecountless in numbers, they cannot do much against our walls. No towersthat they can erect upon the plains will place them on a level with ushere, and the rock is so steep that it is only here and there that itcan be climbed."

  "It would seem impossible for them to take it, prince; but we must notbe too confident. We know that many towns which believed themselvesimpregnable have been captured by the Egyptians, and must be preparedfor the most daring enterprises. The gates have been already fastened,and so great a thickness of rocks piled against them that they are nowthe strongest part of the wall; those parts of the roads leading up tothem that were formed of timber have been burned, and they cannot nowreach the gates except by climbing, as at other points. We haveprovisions enough to last for well-nigh a year, for all the harvesthas been brought in from the whole district round, together with manythousands of cattle; of wells there are abundance."

  "Yes, I heard the preparations that were being made, Jethro, and doubtnot that if we can resist the first onslaught of the Egyptians we canhold out far longer than they can, for the difficulty of victualing sohuge an army will be immense. In what way do you think they willattack? For my part I do not see any method which offers a hope ofsuccess."

  "That I cannot tell you. We know that to us and to the peoples aroundour cities seem impregnable. But the Egyptians are skilled in all thedevices of war. They have laid siege to and captured great numbers ofcities, and are doubtless full of plans and expedients of which weknow nothing. However, to-morrow morning will show us something.Nothing will be attempted to-day. The generals have first to inspectour walls and see where the assault is to be delivered, and the armywill be given a day's rest at least before being called upon toassault such a position."

  In the afternoon a _cortege_ of chariots made the circuit of the wallsfrom the shore of the sea round the great plateau to the sea again,keeping just beyond the range of arrows.

  "If we had but a few of their archers here," Jethro said, "theEgyptian king would not be so overbold in venturing so near. It iswonderful how strongly they shoot. Their arrows have fully double therange of ours, and their power is sufficient to carry them through thestrongest shields, even when strengthened with metal. Had I not seenit I should have thought it impossible that living men, and those nobigger or stronger than we, could have sent their arrows with suchpower. They stand in a different attitude to that of our archers, andthough their shafts are fully a foot longer than ours they draw themto the head. I regarded myself as a good bowman till I met theEgyptians, and now I feel as a child might do when watching a manperforming feats of strength of which he had not even imagined apossibility."

  In the evening the great council met. It included all the principalofficers of the army, the priests, the royal councilors, and theleading men in the state. After a discussion it was determined thatin the present crisis it were best to postpone taking any steps toappoint a successor to the late king, but that so long as the siegelasted Amusis should be endowed with absolute powers. In order thatthere should be no loss of time for the necessity of consulting anyone Amuba was present with his mother at the council, though neitherof them took any active part in it. But at its commencement anannouncement was made in their name that they were willing to abide bywhatever the council should decide, and that indeed both mother andson desired that while this terrible danger hung over the state thesupreme power should be placed in the hands of whomsoever the generalvoice might select as the person best fitted to take the command insuch an extremity.

  That night the body of the king was consumed on a great funeral pile.Under ordinary occasions the ceremony would have taken place on anarrow promontory jutting out into the sea, about five miles from thecity. Here the previous monarchs had been consumed in sight of amultitude of their people, and had been buried beneath great mounds ofearth. The priests had long ago pronounced this place the most sacredin the kingdom, and had declared that the anger of the gods would fallupon any who ventured to set foot upon the holy ground. But it wasimpossible for the present to lay the ashes of the king by the side ofthose of his forefathers, and the ceremony was therefore conductedwithin the royal inclosure, only the officiating priests and the wifeand son of the deceased being present. When all was over the asheswere collected and were placed in a casket, which was destined, whenbetter times returned, to be laid, in the sight of the whole people,in the sacred inclosure on the promontory.

  Early next morning the trumpets of the guards on the walls called allthe troops to arms. As soon as Amuba reached his post he saw theEgyptian army marching against the city. When they arrived withinbowshot the archers, who formed the front lines, opened fire upon thedefenders on the walls. Their arrows, however, for the most part fellshort, while those of the besieged rained down upon them with effect.They were therefore withdrawn a short distance, and contracting theirranks a vast number of footmen poured through, and in irregular orderran forward to the foot of the rock, where they were sheltered fromthe arrows of those on the wall.

  "What can they be going to do now?" Amuba exclaimed, laying aside hisbow.

  Jethro shook his head.

  "They are working with a plan," he said. "We shall see before verylong. Listen."

  Even above the din caused by so vast a multitude a sharp metallicsound was presently heard like that of innumerable hammers striking onsteel.

  "Surely," Amuba exclaimed, "they can never be thinking of quarryingthe rock away! That is too great a task even were the whole people ofEgypt here."

  "It certainly is not that," Jethro agreed; "and yet I cannot thinkwhat else can be their intentions."

  It was nigh an hour before the mystery was solved. Then, at the blastof a trumpet sounded at the post where the Egyptian king had placedhimself, and taken up along the whole of the line, a great number ofheads appeared along the edge of rock at the foot of the walls. TheEgyptians had been employed in driving spikes in the crevices of therock. Standing on the first so driven, they then inserted others threefeet higher, and so had proceeded until a number of men had climbed upthe face of the rock. These let down ropes, and ladders had beenhauled up the steepest places. Great numbers of ropes were hung downto assist those who followed in the ascent, and the men who firstshowed themselves over the brow were followed by a stream of others,until the ledge, which was in most cases but a few feet wide, wascrowded with soldiers.

  The ladders were now hauled up and placed against the wall, and theEgyptians swarmed up in great numbers; but the Rebu were prepared forthe assault, and a storm of stones, beams of wood, arrows, javelins,and other missiles rained down on the Egyptians. Many of the ladders,in spite of the number of men upon them, were thrown back by thedefenders, and fell wit
h a crash over the edge of the rock to theplain below. Here and there the Egyptians gained a footing on the wallbefore the Rebu had recovered from their first surprise at theirdaring manner of attack; but so soon as they rallied they attacked theEgyptians with such fury that in every case the latter were slainfighting or were thrown over the embattlements.

  For several hours the Egyptians continued their efforts, but afterlosing vast numbers of men without obtaining any success they wererecalled by the sound of the trumpet.

  "That has not been very serious, Jethro," Amuba said, wiping theperspiration from his forehead; for he had been encouraging the men byassisting in the lifting and casting over the massive stones and beamsof wood.

  "It was not difficult to repulse them under such conditions," Jethrosaid; "but the manner of their attack was a surprise indeed to us, andthey have fought with the greatest bravery. You will see that the nexttime they will have benefited by the lesson, and that we shall havesome new device to cope with. Now that they have once found a way toscale the rock we may expect but little rest."

  The fight was not renewed until evening, when, just as darkness fell,a large number of the Egyptians again ascended the rock. As before,the Rebu poured missiles down upon them; but this time only asufficient number had climbed up to be able to stand along close tothe foot of the wall, where they were to a great extent sheltered fromthe missiles from above. The night was a dark one, and all night longthe Rebu continued to shower down missiles upon their invisible foe,of whose continued presence they were assured by the sounds which fromtime to time were heard.

  When daylight enabled the defenders to see what was going on at thefoot of their walls they raised a shout of surprise and dismay. Duringthe night the Egyptians had hoisted up by ropes a quantity of thetimber brought with them for the construction of shelters for thosewho were engaged on siege operations. The timbers were all cut andprepared for fitting together, and were easily jointed even in thedark. Thus, then, when the besiegers looked over, they saw forty orfifty of these shelters erected against the foot of their walls. Theywere so formed that they sloped down like a pent-house and werethickly covered with hides.

  The besieged soon found that so solid were these constructions thatthe beams and great stones which they dropped upon them simply boundedoff and leaped down into the plain. Ladders fastened together had beenfixed by the Egyptians from each of these shelters to the plain below,so that the men at work could be relieved or reinforced as theoccasion required.

  In vain the besieged showered down missiles, in vain poured over thecaldrons of boiling oil they had prepared in readiness. The strengthof the beams defied the first; the hides lapping over each otherprevented the second from penetrating to those below.

  "Truly these are terrible foes, prince," Jethro said. "I told you thatwe might expect new plans and devices, but I did not think that thevery day after the siege began we should find that they had overcomeall the difficulties of our natural defenses, and should haveestablished themselves in safety at the foot of our walls."

  "But what is to be done, Jethro? The men working in those shelterswill speedily dislodge these stones facing the walls, and will thenwithout difficulty dig through the earthwork behind."

  "The matter is serious," Jethro agreed; "but as yet there is noreason to alarm ourselves. The greater portion of our troops will beassembled behind the wall, and should the Egyptians gain a way throughwe should pour in at the openings, and as they can be only reinforcedslowly, would speedily hurl them all over the edge of the cliff. It isnot that I fear."

  "What is it that you do fear, Jethro?"

  "I fear, prince, because I do not know what it is I have to fear.We are as children in a struggle of this kind as opposed to theEgyptians. Already they have wholly overthrown all our calculations,and it is just because I do not know what they will do next that I amafraid. It must be as plain to them as it is to us that if they digthrough the walls we shall rush in and overpower them."

  "Perhaps they intend to work right and left and to undermine thewalls, until large portions of them tumble over and breaches aremade."

  Jethro shook his head.

  "That would destroy the Egyptian shelters and bury their workmen; or,even did they manage to retire before the walls fell, they would gainnothing by it. In fact, I wish that we ourselves could tumble thewalls over, for in that case the heap of earth and stones would risefrom the very edge of the rock, and as the Egyptians could onlyclimb up in small numbers at a time, we could destroy them withoutdifficulty. I see now that our builders made a mistake in surroundingthe city with a high wall; it would have been best to have built amere breastwork at the very edge of the cliff all round. Here comesAmusis; we shall hear what his opinion of the matter is."

  Amusis looked flushed and anxious, although when he saw the prince heassumed an expression of carelessness.

  "The Egyptians are going to burrow through our walls," he said; "butwhen they do we will drive them like rats out of the holes. Do you notthink so, Jethro?"

  "I do not know," Jethro said gravely. "If they dig through our wallswe shall certainly, as you say, drive them out of their holes; but Icannot believe that that is what they are going to do."

  "What do you think they are going to do?" Amusis asked roughly.

  "I have no idea, Amusis. I wish that I had; but I am quite sure thatthey haven't taken all this trouble for nothing."