Les aventures du Capitaine Magon. English

by David-Léon Cahun

  CHAPTER XIV.

  AN AMBUSCADE.

  For two days we continued our return march without any interruption,and reached the base of the steep ascent that leads to the plateauoverlooking the river.

  The mounting of this height was a matter of no little difficulty. Wehad to climb like goats, clinging to rocks and tufts of brushwood,trampling down branches and dry grass, and hardly succeeded, afterall, in following the track which the head of the caravan had opened.

  Suddenly, about half-way up the slope, the ground sank abruptly,forming a deep ravine that had to be crossed before continuing theascent. We paused at its brink to recover our breath. Behind us thelong line of our sailors and porters was slowly filing through thethicket; in front, yawned the precipitous ravine itself; and oppositeto us rose the mountain-side, to its very summit a mass of sombrewoods; several eagles were wheeling round above the chasm.

  "A fine place for an ambush!" said Hannibal, wiping the perspirationfrom his forehead, and little dreaming what was in store for us.

  Himilco took a draught from the goat-skin that he carried at hisside, and heaved a long-drawn sigh:

  "Ah!" he said, "it was in just such a plaguy hole as this that I lostmy eye ten years ago. I hope the hand that thrust the lance has beenrotten long since."

  My own experience of the dangers of the land of Tarshish made mevery cautious, and with the approval of my two military subordinates,I despatched Hanno and Jonah to the rear to call together thestragglers, and to collect any that might have lost their way in thewoods; Bichri and his ten Benjamite archers, and Aminocles with hisfive companion Phocians, I sent on in front to make their way rapidlyacross the ravine, and to explore the forest on the opposite side.

  Jonah's trumpet was soon heard sounding its call, and very shortlyafterwards Bichri and Aminocles were seen entering the wood beyondthe hollow. Without suspecting that there was any cause for alarm,I ordered the guide (who was still being watched narrowly by mysailors) to advance, and we began our descent. Some of us had alreadyreached the bottom, and the main body were making their way as bestthey could down the troublesome incline, when the guide came toa sudden halt. He was about fifty paces ahead, just beginning tore-ascend the hollow. As soon as he stopped, a whistle was distinctlyheard from the woods in front, and Himilco called out:

  "Look out, captain--look out! there's mischief brewing."

  I shouted with all my might to the guide to move on more briskly,and the sailor who had been put in charge of him was in the act ofpushing him forward, when the savage made a sudden dive, felled thesailor to the ground, in two or three bounds cleared the interveningspace, and disappeared in the adjoining thicket.

  "I told you so," said Himilco; "I knew well enough that the Iberianscoundrels would be at their old games again."

  AN AVALANCHE OF STONES. _To face page 220._]

  While he spoke, Jonah's trumpet sounding an alarm told only tooplainly that the column was being attacked in the rear, and infront a frightful chorus of yells and war-cries was followedinstantaneously by an avalanche of stones. One of my poor sailorsfell at my side with his skull smashed, and all the native bearerswho had entered the ravine threw down their loads and fledprecipitately.

  "Form a line!" shouted Hannibal to his men; and in spite of thestorm of stones that was falling around him, the intrepid leadermounted a projecting rock, and brandishing his sword, vigorouslyrallied his force. A party of sailors made a body-guard about the twowomen, and Chamai, pale with rage and excitement, rushed with hissword drawn to Hannibal's side.

  "What do you think of this?" said Himilco to me, pathetically, as hepicked up a great stone that had fallen within a hand's breadth ofhis side; "these Tarshish almonds seem to be falling pretty thick."

  And as if in answer to his words, a second storm yet heavier thanthe first came pelting down amongst us, and knocked over several ofour men; but this time it came from behind, from the quarter of theravine that we had just quitted, and showed us that we were assailedas much in our rear as in front.

  "O, if only we had some cavalry and some chariots," began Hannibal;"how easy to turn both flanks like the Khetas[40] did with theAssyrians.[41] We would send our cavalry to the right, and ourchariots to the left, and a free passage for our own centre shouldsoon be forced."

  [40] The Hittites of the Bible. Kheta was the general name given by the Egyptians to the Semitic tribes.

  [41] B.C. 1070.

  "But considering we have no cavalry and no chariots," I said,interrupting him, "we must defend ourselves how we can."

  Without taking any notice of what I had said, he was proceeding toexpatiate upon the advantages and disadvantages of our position, whena huge stone struck his helmet, knocking off the crest and batteringin the headpiece, and enforced upon him more effectually than I haddone the necessity of abandoning theory for practice. For an instanthe staggered with the shock, but quickly recovering himself, heroared out:

  "By Nergal! this won't do. Holy El-Adonai! this is too much. Theymust pay the penalty for this. Archers! quick! up the slopes! shootevery one who attempts to enter the ravine!"

  And turning to me, he cried:

  "Captain, will you take your sailors back again up the very pathby which you came down, and sweep round to those vagabonds who areharassing our rear?"

  "Men of Judah," he continued, "follow Chamai. Chamai, lead themyonder to the left. And now, my men, to the right with me. Forward!"

  "Forward to the left! long live the King!" shouted Chamai at the fullpitch of his lungs, as he obeyed orders, and led off his company inthe direction contrary to Hannibal.

  The archers under Hamilcar formed a circle round the women and thebaggage, and were a guard for the bottom of the ravine; Himilco andGisgo, with my party, regained the ridge we had so recently quitted;and thus on every side we presented a front to the enemy.

  No sooner had we scaled the side of the ridge, than my men, cutlassin hand, began to lay about them vigorously. The half-naked men ofTarshish, armed only with clumsy bludgeons or wooden-pointed lances,could make no stand against our sharp weapons, and fell in numbersbeneath our blows; and although crowds of them disappeared behind thethickets, we did not break our compact mass to go in pursuit, butpushed on straight ahead. Concealed and protected by the underwood,many of the foe continued to follow us, and to hurl javelins atus from piles that had been secreted ready for the purpose. When,however, we came to any open patch, clear of trees, a detachment ofour men would make a dash into the brushwood in the hope of capturingsome of the stragglers; but the savages were generally much too fleetof foot to allow themselves to be caught, and only about fifteenaltogether were secured in this way. To these no quarter was given.

  NO QUARTER. _To face page 222._]

  Although we had advanced two stadia, we found no traces of Hannoand Jonah. I did not consider it advisable to go further, and mademy men halt and form a circle round a large oak that stood alonein a little glade; but Himilco, whose vengeance seemed insatiable,ventured on for about another stadium, with Gisgo and fifteensailors. It was somewhat more than an hour before they returned.They had caught and killed two of the Iberians, but what created afar greater interest for us, they had found Hanno's writing-case allcovered with blood, lying in a copse with the dead bodies of nineor ten of our adversaries, and the mutilated corpse of one of ourown sailors. The trampled soil, the pools of blood, and the carcasesof the savages strewn all about rendered it only too probable thatafter a desperate struggle the scribe and poor Jonah had succumbed tonumbers, and that they had not only been massacred, but their bodieshad been carried away.

 

  It was with saddened hearts that we made our way back to the spotwhere we had been first surprised, repelling our enemies all alongas they persisted in harassing us. As soon as I reached the ridge,and had satisfied myself that the women and the troop around themwere all safe, I closed in my ranks and told up my losses. Six of mymen had fallen. Meanwhile I was beginning to feel very uneas
y aboutboth Hannibal and Chamai, but my anxiety was of no long duration;they soon appeared together on the opposite height of the chasm:Bichri, too, was with them, and the troops were in good order. Theyhad nearly forty prisoners; and in the midst of the ranks I could seeAminocles marching along with a child in his arms, whilst amongst thecaptives I could distinguish a woman, two men wearing kitonets, andanother dressed in a long Syrian robe. Hannibal was in front, and nosooner did he catch sight of me than he waved his sword over his headwith a triumphant gesture, while Chamai, still more excited, with hishead bare and his forehead covered with blood, began running rapidlytowards me. I made pretence of looking another way as he stopped tokiss Abigail in passing, but in a minute or two he was at my side,his countenance beaming with joy. All out of breath, he exclaimed:

  "Close quarters! but we have pretty well done for them now!"

  Seeing the deep gash in his forehead and his blood-stained sword, Iobserved that he bore evident traces of a smartish tussle with theIberians.

  "Iberians!" he said, contemptuously; "who cares for Iberians? No; itis our Tyrians that have done the mischief. However, we have nabbedthe scoundrel Hazael; and Aminocles has recovered his boy; he wasonly just in time to save the child's life."

  "And Bodmilcar? what of him?" I asked, all excitement at theinformation.

  "Ah! we have just missed him," he said; "Hannibal got near enoughto slice him pretty sharply in the ribs, and if it had not been forthis unlucky wound of mine, we should have had him here now; but hispeople contrived to rescue him, and to carry him off to the wood."

  Half-frantic with agitation, and impatient to exact vengeance onmy hated adversary, I forgot all about our perilous position, myscattered ingots, and the fate of my unfortunate scribe, and declaredto Chamai that without the loss of an hour we must go in pursuit,and get Bodmilcar dead or alive. Across the ravine, off I started,bidding who would to follow.

  Himilco had shown Chryseis the writing-case, stained as it was withblood, and a very few words had sufficed to make her realise whatwere the fears we entertained upon the scribe's behalf. She saidnothing, but while Abigail grasped her waist and wept tears ofsympathy, she walked steadily along, her hands tightly clenched, andgiving no other outward sign of emotion than a slight convulsivemovement of the shoulders. Chamai, whom I had omitted to inform ofthe too likely fate of Hanno and Jonah, hurriedly asked Himilco whathad become of them, but the pilot only answered by a significantshake of the head, and by pointing to the woods behind.

 

  As I drew near to Hannibal, he advanced rapidly to greet me. Heseemed in high spirits, and although he was evidently affected by theintelligence we gave him about Hanno, he endeavoured to disguise hisfeelings by saying that we must all submit to the chances of war.

  "But what's to be done next?" he added, quickly.

  I told him that I was determined at all hazards to go in pursuit ofBodmilcar, who must not be suffered to escape.

  "Easier said than done," replied Hannibal. "Bodmilcar not only hada large force of Phœnician criminals and deserters, but when heattacked us he had a regular swarm of savages, all armed either withclubs or javelins. At any rate, he can keep his distance. I know notwhether he is alive or dead; but I know this, that the fellows havefound out that it is not to their advantage to tackle us in closequarters. However, we are too few to surround them, and to pursuethem is only to expose ourselves to another ambush."

  "What is to be done, then?" I asked, gnashing my teeth with vexation.

  "You must get to the top of the hill before night," he answered,decidedly; "you must reach the open plain; you must not run the riskof another surprise. Once on the plateau you are secure; you can restyour men and give them food; they are knocked up. And you will havetime to interrogate your prisoners."

  Chagrined as I was, I could not resist the conviction that Hannibal'sadvice was judicious, and, however reluctantly, gave up all thoughtof immediate pursuit. I directed that the prisoners should befastened together by a rope passed round their necks, and that fortymen should be told off under Himilco for a guard, with orders to killthe first man that showed the least sign of resistance.

  "You may trust me for that," said the pilot, with a vindictive grin;"they have only left me one eye, but that is a sharp one."

  When the captives had been securely bound, I had all the packagesand silver collected that had been left strewn about by the runawayporters.

  "There will be a double load for each of these scoundrels to carry,"I remarked; "I shall take good care not to trust Iberians with myproperty again till I have seen them well fettered."

  The baggage was gathered without the occurrence of any renewedattack, and Gisgo returned from the wood brandishing a stout cudgelthat he had cut from the bough of an oak.

  "Here's something to make them stir their legs a bit!" he said, as hesaw the men loaded with their burdens.

  "Now then, get on, you brutes!" Himilco screamed in Iberian; "and thefirst rogue that shirks his work is a dead man!"

  Placing the prisoners in the middle, we proceeded cautiously tocontinue our ascent; and while we were prosecuting our toilsomemarch, I asked Bichri to give me full particulars about the encounterwith Bodmilcar.

  "As accurately as I can," he said, "I will. On leaving you weadvanced without obstruction some hundred paces into the wood, whenin a moment we found ourselves with a host of Iberians in our front,and as many in our rear, pelting us with stones and darts. We ranfull speed to a spot where the trees were not so thick, and plantingour backs against a projecting rock, we stood on our defence; butalmost directly afterwards we espied a troop of soldiers dashing downtowards us. They were Bodmilcar and his miscreants. There seemed nohope for us: in a few minutes we must have been overpowered; but,happily, Hannibal and Chamai made their appearance, and a desperatefray ensued. I saw Bodmilcar fall to the ground; Chamai had all butsecured him, when he was cut down by a cutlass, and the Tyriansseized their opportunity to carry off their chief, the barbarianscovering their retreat, and hurling an incessant shower of missiles.But we were rescued."

  I had listened with eager attention to Bichri's story, and as he cameto a pause, I asked:

  "But how about Hazael, and the woman and the child?"

  "Patience, and you shall hear," he said. "We resolved to go inpursuit of our foe, who, we had no doubt, was seriously wounded,and we had got into the thick of the forest, when we came upon apile of wood with a child lying bound on the top of it. Fourteen orfifteen soldiers were standing round, and Hazael, with a long knifein his hand was on the very point of slaying the child, while two menwere forcibly dragging off a woman, who had evidently thrown herselfacross its body. The very instant that Aminocles caught sight of thevictim, he shrieked aloud 'My son, my son!' and dashed like a madmaninto the group; we all rushed after him, and Hazael, seeing that hewas in danger, made a lunge at the child with his knife and took tohis heels. However, I was too quick for him, and soon had him backagain. Meanwhile Aminocles and my archers had made short work withthe other men, and the boy, who had fainted, was set free by cuttingthe cords that fastened him, and was found to have sustained no veryserious injury. The woman, too, who had been endeavouring to ward offthe blow of the knife, was recognised by one of the Phocians as thewife whom he had lost. Altogether, considering we have captured theeunuch, saved the child, and restored a man his wife, I do not knowthat we have done a bad day's work."

  ON THE VERY POINT OF SLAYING THE CHILD. _To face page 228._]

  But changing his tone, Bichri added, mournfully:

  "And yet how it saddens all to think about poor Hanno and our bigfriend Jonah. I loved them both, poor fellows! I wonder what hasbecome of old Gebal. Is he gone too?"

  I said that I had very little doubt the monkey had been on hisusual perch upon the trumpeter's shoulder, and so most probably hadshared his fate. Bichri drew a long sigh, which seemed to convey theimpression that he was almost as much concerned at the loss of themonkey as he was moved by the fate of his c
omrades.

  We had now reached the plateau. It was a dreary plain, dotted atrare intervals with a few trees and tufts of thistles, and as far asI could estimate, about twelve stadia from the Bœtis. Our supplyof fresh water being nearly exhausted, we were obliged to be veryfrugal with it at our evening meal; but as soon as this wasfinished, and Hannibal had posted his sentinels and had all lightsextinguished, I summoned Hazael before me. I took my seat, supportedon either side by my officers and pilots, making Bichri, Aminoclesand his son, and the Phocian with his wife, likewise be present.

  THE DESPICABLE SYRIAN. _To face page 229._]

  The prisoner was brought forward, pale and trembling; his hands weretied behind his back, and his embroidered robe was torn and soiledwith dust and blood.

  "You know me?" I roared out to him as he approached.

  "Yes, my lord," he faltered out in a quivering voice, without liftinghis eyes from the ground.

  "And you know your conduct towards me?" I roared again.

  The culprit made no answer.

  "Do you suppose I took you with me that you should plot against me inEgypt, at Utica, at Gades?"

  He still gave no reply.

  "What made you dare to try and kill that child?" I said.

  "I was under orders," he whined out; "Bodmilcar made me. He wanted tosacrifice to Moloch to secure his favour. I dared not disobey him; hehas had me in his power all along. It is not I, it is Bodmilcar thathas wronged you."

  "O, that matters not," I answered. "Curses on Bodmilcar! Would yousave your life? One way, one only way is open to you still."

  The despicable Syrian prostrated himself till his face was on theearth, and groaned out:

  "Spare me! spare my life! ask what you will! trample on my neck! makeme your slave for ever! but spare my life!"

  Chamai, who was standing beside me with a bandage on his forehead,turned his head away in disgust.

  "Spare your life!" I repealed; "why, if I did my duty I should makeyour life a sacrifice this very minute to the souls of the braveheroes who have lost their lives through you!" And after a pause,I said: "But, listen to me! do what I require, and I will give youmore than your life; when we are back at Gades, I will give you yourliberty."

  "O, I will do anything; but swear, swear that you will spare mylife!" implored the abject wretch, still grovelling with his foreheadin the dust.

  "Yes, hearken!" I ejaculated. "By Ashtoreth! goddess of heaven, Iswear it!"

  Relieved of his immediate terror, the pusillanimous craven startedto his feet, and in a tone quite brisk in contrast with his previouswhinings began to ask what it was that I required him to do.

  "You must first inform us of the strength of Bodmilcar's force."

  "One hundred and sixty Phœnicians. Six hundred or perhaps sevenhundred Iberians."

  "You must next tell us the place of rendezvous he had appointed, incase his attack should fail."

  Hazael hesitated. Chamai said that if he revealed this, he woulddeserve a score of hangings for his treachery. Without noticing theinterruption, I said again:

  "You must tell us his place of rendezvous."

  Again no answer.

  "Except you tell, you shall be hanged this very minute."

  And to show him that I was in earnest I called for a rope. Himilcoproduced a strong cable-end that he always wore round his waist underhis kitonet. Hazael quivered and turned pale.

  "Stop, stop! don't hang me! I _will_ tell!"

  "Out with it, then; quick!"

  "At the Wolf's knoll."

  "So far, so good. But where is that?"

  "In the wood, two stadia off."

  "But which way?"

  "Behind us; over there; there to the right."

  "Well then, come and show us the way."

  And weary as I was, almost worn out by fatigue, I could not resistthe desire to go upon the simplest chance of meeting the adversarythat I hated so bitterly. I called out to my men that I wanted fiftyvolunteers to go with me and hunt out Bodmilcar from his lurkingplace. Many more than I had called answered to my appeal, eager tooffer their services, and I could only request Hannibal to selectthose best fitted for the expedition, and bid the others take goodcare of the women and the baggage, and see that the captives werewell secured.

  Aminocles begged for permission to remain behind with his little son,and asked that his countryman Demaretes might likewise be allowedto stay with his newly-rescued wife; he acknowledged that they wereindebted to me for the recovery of their dear ones, promised thatthey would fight doubly hard another time, but pleaded that theymight be excused now. Of course I had no hesitation in yielding tohis request.

  Before setting out I said, incidentally, that we might perchance befortunate enough to recover the bodies either of Hanno or Jonah, orboth. Chryseis rose instantly to her feet, and, pale with agitation,placed herself at my side. To my inquiry whither she was going, shereplied in a steady voice:

  "To seek the body of my betrothed. If it be the will of the gods, Iwill consign it to a tomb."

  "Come, then, you shall," I said, deeply affected by her sorrow, herresignation, and her courage; "and may Ashtoreth protect us all!"

  Hannibal gave the order to march. Bichri, ever indefatigable, went tothe head of the column, leading Hazael by the cord which bound hiswrists; Gisgo, with his hatchet on his shoulder, kept close to theeunuch on the other side; and Himilco, with his sword drawn, followedon behind. We advanced in silence towards the woods, choosing suchhollows in the ground as the moonlight left in shadow, and in ashort time were within sight of the dark masses of foliage thatbounded the moonlit plain. Making our way as stealthily as we couldthrough the thickets, we came to a mound near the edge of the steepthat we had scaled in the morning. It was an abrupt elevation of thesoil, and was described to us by Hazael as being the place known asthe Wolf's knoll, and which Bodmilcar had fixed as the rally-point ofhis people. When we halted there was not a light to be seen, not asound to be heard, nothing to break the gloom or the stillness of theforest.

  "Before we give the signal for attack," said Hannibal, under hisbreath, "we ought to know what they are doing."

  "I know my way," said the eunuch; "let me go and look, that I maybring you word."

  "Thanks," said Himilco; "you are very good--we will not trouble you."

  After this sarcastic rebuff to his very transparent pretext foreluding us, Hazael was relapsing into his former silence, when Bichrisuggested that he should himself take the eunuch and go and ascertainthe actual position of affairs, adding that if he made a movement toescape, he would plunge his knife hilt-deep into his body.

  Hannibal gave his consent, and the two disappeared in the thicket,Bichri pushing on his prisoner before him. In less than half an hourthere was a crushing of the brushwood, and they were before us again.

  "What news?" we asked.

  "The rascal has deceived us," said Bichri; "we went all round themound, not a man, however, was to be seen."

  "No, no, no!" sobbed the eunuch; "I have not deceived you. I swear Iheard Bodmilcar say, 'Wolf's knoll.' Cut out my tongue if I lie! Iswear it."

  "Stop your oaths, liar!" I exclaimed impatiently. "Lucky for youI pledged you your life; but be on your guard, or, by Ashtoreth,another time----"

  "It may be," said Hannibal, "the villains have been lurking about,and, having discovered your approach, have decamped. The eunuch mayhave told the truth. Anyhow, nothing can be done. I am dead-beat."

  Himilco and Hamilcar both declared that they, too, were quite knockedup, so that I determined to make our way back, and seek the repose ofwhich we were so much in need.