John made his way along, until he came to the end of the next street, and then paused. Already, three or four active figures had run past him at the top of their speed, and he wished to be the last to retreat. He stayed till he heard the tramp of troops coming down--driven out by the spreading flames--and then sprang across the end of the road and dashed along at full speed, still keeping close to the line of tents.
A shout, which rose from the leading files of the Roman column, showed that he was seen. As he neared the end of the next opening, the Roman soldiers were pouring out; and he turned in among the tents again. Through these he made his way; dashing across the open s.p.a.ces and, once, rushing through the midst of a Roman column--through which he pa.s.sed before the troops had time to strike at, or seize him.
At last, he reached the extremity of the camp. The slope down to the river was but fifty yards away and, once over the brow, he would be in darkness and safe from pursuit. But already the Romans had drawn up a column of men along the edge of the plateau, to cut off any who might try to pa.s.s. John paused among the last row of the tents, hesitating what course to adopt. He could not make directly up the mountain, for the s.p.a.ce between it and the camp was now covered by the Roman cavalry--the greater portion of their infantry being still engaged in trying to save at least some portion of the camp.
Suddenly he heard a footstep among the tents, close behind him. He drew back into the tent by which he was standing, and peered cautiously out. A Roman soldier came hastily along, and entered the next tent--doubtless to fetch some article of value, which he had left behind him as he rushed out, on the first alarm.
A sudden idea flashed across John"s brain. He waited till the soldier came out, followed him with silent steps; and then sprang upon him at a bound, hurling him to the ground, and burying his knife again and again in his body.
Ill.u.s.tration: The Roman Camp Surprised and Set on Fire.
Not a cry had escaped the Roman. The instant he was sure he was dead, John rose to his feet, placed the helmet of the fallen man on his head, secured the breastplate by a single buckle round his neck, took up his buckler and sword; and then, emerging from one of the tents, ran towards the Roman line, making for one of the narrow openings between the different companies. Several other soldiers--who had, like the man whom John had killed, gone back to their tents to fetch armor, or arms, left there--were also hurrying to take their places in the ranks. Therefore, no special attention was paid to John until he was within a few yards of the opening.
Then a centurion at the end of the line said sternly:
"You will be punished, tomorrow, for not being in your place. What is your name?" for, as John was between him and the sheet of flame rising from the camp, the Roman was unable to see his face.
Instead of halting, as he expected, John sprang past him and, throwing down his helmet and buckler, dashed through the s.p.a.ce between the companies.
"Seize him! Cut him down!" the centurion shouted; but John was already descending the slope.
As he ran, he swung the loosely buckled breastplate round on to his back; and it was well he did so for, a moment later, a Roman javelin rang against it, the force of the blow almost throwing him on his face. But, in a moment, he continued his course. He was in total darkness now and, though the javelins were flying around him, they were thrown at random. But the descent had now become so steep he was obliged to pause in his course, and to make his way cautiously.
He undid the buckle, and left the breastplate behind him; threw down the sword; and climbed down until he stood by the side of the river. He could hear shouts above him, and knew that the Romans were searching the hillside, hoping that he had been killed or wounded by their darts. But he had no fear of pursuit. He swam the river--for he had struck upon a deep spot--and then, at full speed, ran along on the bank--knowing that some of the Roman cavalry were encamped upon the plain, and would soon be on the spot.
However, all was quiet, and he met no one until he arrived opposite the place where it had been arranged that the party should meet.
Then he waded across.
"Is that you, John?" a voice exclaimed.
"It is I, Jonas. Thank G.o.d, you have got back safely! How many are with you?"
There was a loud cry of satisfaction and, as he made his way up the bank, a number of his followers crowded round him; all in the highest state of delight at his return. Jonas threw his arms round his neck, crying with joy.
"I thought you must have fallen, John. I have been here ten minutes. Most of the others were here before me. Only three have arrived since and, for the last five minutes, none have come."
"I fear no more will come," John said. "The Romans have cut off all retreat.
"How many are missing?"
"We were nineteen, here, before you came," one of the men replied.
"Then there are six missing," John said. "We will not give them up.
Some may have made their way straight up the mountain, fearing to be seen as they pa.s.sed the ends of the open s.p.a.ces. Some may have made their way, down the opposite slope, to the other arm of the river. But, even if all are killed, we need not repine. They have died as they wished--taking vengeance upon the Romans.
"It has been a glorious success. More than half the Roman camp is a.s.suredly destroyed; and they must have lost a prodigious quant.i.ty of stores, of all kinds.
"Who are missing?"
He heard the names of those absent.
"I trust we may see some of them, yet," he said; "but if not, Jonas, tomorrow, shall carry to their friends the news of their death. They will be wept; but their parents will be proud that their sons have died in striking so heavy a blow upon our oppressors. They will live, in the memory of their villages, as men who died doing a great deed; and women will say:
""Had all done their duty, as they did, the Romans would never have enslaved our nation."
"We will wait another half hour, here; but I fear that no more will join us, for the Romans are drawn up all along the line where, alone, a descent could be made in the valley."
"Then how did you escape, John," Jonas asked; "and how is it that you were not here, before? Several of those who were in the line beyond you have returned."
"I waited till I hoped that all had pa.s.sed," John said. "Each one who ran past the open s.p.a.ces added to the danger--for the Romans beyond could not but notice them, as they pa.s.sed the s.p.a.ces lighted by the flames--and it was my duty, as leader, to be the last to go."
"Six of those who were beyond you have joined us," one of the men said. "The other six are those that are missing."
"That is what I feared," John answered. "I felt sure that those behind me would have got safely away, before the Romans recovered from their first confusion. The danger was, of course, greater in proportion to the distance from the edge of the slope."
"But how did you get through, John, since you say that all escape is cut off?"
John related how he had slain the Roman soldier, and escaped with his armor; and the recital raised him still higher in the estimation of his followers--for the modern feeling, that it is right to kill even the bitterest enemy only in fair fight, was wholly unknown in those days when, as was done by the Romans at Jotapata, men would cut the throat of a sleeping foe, with no more compunction than if they were slaughtering a fowl.
Perceiving, by John"s narration, that there was no chance of any of their comrades getting through to join them, now, the party struck off into the hills and, after three hours" march, reached their encampment. They gave a shout of joy, as they approached it; for a fire was burning brightly, and they knew that some of their comrades must have reached the spot before them.
Four men rose, as they approached, and joyful greetings were exchanged. Their stories were soon told. As soon as they heard--by the shouts of the Romans on the hillside, and of the outer sentries--that they were discovered as they pa.s.sed the s.p.a.ces lit up by flames, they had turned back. Two of them had made their way up a deep watercourse, past the Roman guard on the hill--the attention of the soldiers being fixed upon the camp. The other two had climbed down the precipitous rocks on the other side of the hill.
"It was terrible work, in the darkness," one of them said. "I fell, once, and thought I had broken my leg; but, fortunately, I had caught on a ledge, and was able to go on after a time. I think two of our party must have perished there; for twice, as I was descending, I heard a sudden cry, and then a sound as of a body falling from rock to rock."
"Better so than to have fallen into the hands of the Romans," John said, "and to have been forced to slay themselves by their own hands, as we agreed to do.
"Well, my friends, we have done a glorious deed. We have begun well. Let us trust that we may strike many more such blows against our tyrants. Now, let us thank G.o.d that he has fought by our hands, and that He has brought so many of us back from so great a danger!
"Simeon, you are the oldest of the party; do you lift up your voice for us all."
The party all stood listening reverently, while Simeon said a prayer of thanksgiving. Then one of them broke out into one of the psalms of triumph, and all joined at once. When this was done, they gathered round the fire, prepared their cakes of meal, and put meat on long skewers on the flames. Having eaten, they talked for hours, each in turn giving his account of his share in the adventure.
They then talked of their missing friends; those from the same village telling what they knew of them, and what relations they had left behind. At last, just as morning was breaking, they retired into the little bowers of boughs that had been erected to keep off the cold--which was, at this elevation, sharp at nights. They were soon fast asleep.
The first thing the next morning, Jonas set off to explore the foot of the precipices on the south side of the Roman camp, and to search for the bodies of their two missing comrades. He found one, terribly crushed; of the other he could find no sign, whatever. On his returning to the mountain camp, one of the young men was sent off to bear, to the relatives of the man whose body had been found, the certain news of his death; and to inquire, of the friends of the other, whether he had any relations living near the mountains to whom he might have made his way, if hurt or disabled by his fall.
The messenger returned, on the following day, with the news that their missing comrade had already arrived at his home. His fall had not been a very deep one and, when he recovered consciousness, some hours before daybreak, he found that one of his legs was useless, and an arm broken. Thinking that, in the morning, the Romans might search the foot of the precipices, he dragged himself with the greatest difficulty a few hundred yards and, there, concealed himself among some bushes.
A man came along, in search of an a.s.s that had strayed. He called to him and, on the man hearing that he was one of the party who had caused the great fire in the Roman camp--the sight of whose flames had caused such exultation in the heart of every Jew in the plains around--he hurried away, and fetched another with a donkey. Upon this the injured man was lifted, and carried down to the lake; pa.s.sing, on the way, several parties of Roman soldiers, to whom the idea did not occur that the sick man was one of the party who had inflicted such a terrible blow upon them on the previous night.
Once by the side of the lake, there was no difficulty in getting him on board a boat, in which he was carried to his native village.
The Romans were furious at the blow which had been struck them.
More than half their camp and camp equipage had been destroyed; a great part of the baggage of the officers and soldiers had been burned, and each man had to deplore losses of his own, as well as the destruction of the public property. But, more than this, they felt the blow to their pride. There was not a soldier but felt humiliated at the thought that a number of the enemy--for, from the fire breaking out simultaneously, it was certain at least a score of men must have been engaged in the matter--should penetrate unseen into the midst of their camp; and worse still that, after effecting all this damage, all should have succeeded in making their escape--for, so far as they knew, the whole of the Jews got safely away.
But not for a moment did they relax their siege operations. The troops engaged upon the embankment were relieved at the usual hour; and half a legion went up into the mountains, as usual, to procure timber; while four thousand archers, divided into parties two hundred strong, extended themselves all over the hills, and searched the forest for miles for some sign of their enemy--who were, they were now convinced, comparatively few in numbers.
The news of the daring attack on the Roman camp spread far and wide among the towns and villages of the plains; and aroused the drooping spirits of the people, who had begun to think that it would be worse than useless to offer any opposition to the Roman power. Whence came the party which had accomplished the deed, or who was its leader, none knew; and the inhabitants of the villages near Hippos who, alone, could have enlightened them, were careful to maintain an absolute silence; for they knew that if, by any chance, a rumor reached the Romans of the locality from which their a.s.sailants had come, they would have carried fire and sword among all the villages by the lake.