CHAPTER XXXII.
THE LAST BATTLE.
It was the night before the battle. Day by day and hour by hour thecontagion of doubt and disaffection had been spreading through the littlearmy that followed Judas. He had had three thousand men when he pitchedhis camp at Eleasa, and the three thousand had now dwindled down to lessthan one.
Judas was sitting by one of the camp-fires with Azariah and Seraiah, whentwo soldiers came up, bringing bound between them a man who hadendeavoured, they said, to make his way into the camp. He wore his hatdrawn down over his forehead, and little of his face could be seen, butthere was something in his figure that seemed familiar to Azariah.
"Who are you?" said Judas, "and what want you in the camp? Are you for usor for our enemies?"
"My lord," said the man, "my name is Benjamin, and--for I will hide nothingfrom you--I am a robber. Once I was a soldier in your army, but I broke thelaw, and I fled lest I should be put to death. Now I am come, of my ownaccord, to make such amends for my transgression as I may. Slay me, if youwill, as I stand here. There is no need of a trial. I have been tried andcondemned, and I acknowledge that I deserve to die. But if you will bemerciful, let me fight in the morning by your side; and on the morrow, ifI yet live, let me suffer the due punishment. Life I ask not, but onlythat I may strike a blow for you before I die."
"Unbind him," said Judas to the soldiers.
The command was obeyed.
"You are free to go or stay. But I would gladly have you at my sideto-morrow, for I have forgotten all but that you are a brave man."
Benjamin stepped forward, and raising the hem of the captain's robe to hislips, kissed it. He then knelt, and putting his head to the ground made asthough he would have placed Judas's foot upon his neck.
"Nay," said the captain, "we want not slaves, but brothers." And he raisedhim from the ground. "And now," he went on, "sit down and tell us what youknow, for I make sure that you have not come empty of news."
Benjamin did indeed know all that could be known about the enemy, and,indeed, about the situation of affairs. To a question from Seraiah hereplied that a surprise was impossible. The camp was too well guarded andwatched.
"Do they know our real numbers?" asked Judas.
"Yes," was the answer, "the deserters have told them." And he proceeded togive a number of names of those who had gone over to the enemy, with areadiness and a precision that showed how diligent had been his watch.
When he had told all his story, and understood that there was nothing morefor him to do before the morrow, he wrapped himself in his cloak, and withcharacteristic indifference to the future, fell immediately into aprofound and dreamless sleep.
As soon as the first rays of light were seen Judas mustered his soldiersand hastily numbered them. There were about eight hundred in all, whilethe army of Bacchides, according to the calculations of Benjamin, whichseemed to have been carefully made, could not be less than twentythousand.
Judas was not dismayed by this disparity of numbers, but was still true tohis old strategy of attack. "Let us go up against our enemies," was theexhortation that he addressed to the remnant that was still faithful tohim. At first they shrank back. The odds were too vast; the attempt toodesperate. An old soldier who had proved his valour on more than onebattle-field was put forward as their spokesman.
"This, sir," he said, "will be to tempt God. Let us now save our lives.Hereafter we will return again, and fight with them. But now we are toofew."
But Judas did not waver for a moment. "God forbid," he cried, "that Ishould do this thing, and flee away from them. Not so; if our time iscome, let us die manfully for our brethren, and not stain our honour."
His words roused once more an answering echo in the hearts of those whoheard him. They replied with a cry of assent. Victory they could not hopefor, but their captain they would follow whithersoever he should leadthem, and as long as he lived they would guard his life with theirs.
The little host was then divided into five companies, commanded by Judasand his two brothers, Simon and Jonathan, by Seraiah and Micahrespectively. Azariah, whose standing in the army would have entitled himto a separate command, had made a special request that he might be allowedto fight by the side of Judas. Benjamin had begged and obtained the sameprivilege.
On both sides the trumpets sounded, and both armies moved forward. It waswith nothing less than astonishment that the Greeks saw the slenderproportion of the force that was opposed to them. Most laughed aloud atthe thought that such a handful of men should venture to stand up againsttheir own well-appointed and numerous host. Others, who had before crossedswords with Judas's men knew that that day's battle, end as it might,would be no laughing matter. And indeed they were right. The littlecompany of Jewish heroes fought as three centuries before Leonidas and hismen had fought at Thermopylae.(28) The Greeks came on with the samearrogant confidence in their numbers as did the picked Persian forceagainst the defenders of Greece, and met with a like disastrous repulse.Such was the fury of the Jewish soldiers, such their agility and strength,that they kept the attacking force in check during the whole day. Whennight approached the Greeks had made, it might almost be said, absolutelyno way.
But the resistance, successful as it had been, had cost lives, and Judassaw his force dwindling before his eyes. Then he made his last desperateeffort. He threw himself on the right wing, where Bacchides commanded inperson, broke the line, and drove it in confusion before him. Possibly hewas too rash in his pursuit, but on such a day, when such odds are to beencountered, it is scarcely possible to distinguish between rashness andcourage. Anyhow, it was but a brief success. The left wing closed in uponhis rear, and he and his gallant band were surrounded. Judas was the markof a hundred swords and spears. For a time he seemed to bear a charmedlife. Azariah and Benjamin, at his right hand and his left, beat down theblows aimed at him, wholly careless of their own lives, while he with thelong sweep of his fatal sword--the same that he had taken from the deadApollonius on his first battle-field--dealt blow after blow, till theground was covered with the corpses of his enemies. But a spear piercedthe stout heart of Benjamin, and a sword-stroke laid Azariah in the dust;and just as the sun sank behind the rugged hills, the hero who had smittenthe enemies of his country at Bethhoron and Emmaues, at Elah and at Adasa,had struck his last blow. The Hammer lay broken on the rock.
The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times Page 34
