The Maccabæans did not follow in pursuit. To have done so would have revealed to the enemy the fewness of their assailants. Should the Greeks regain their wits and resume the fight, Judas foresaw that his men, away from their coverts of rocks and copses and in the open plain, would be readily annihilated by superior numbers. He let the panic do its work. "It's the angel of the Lord," he said, "though his wings are black with God's curse." So Judas was content to watch the writhing of the python whose head he had crushed. Seron and the survivors of his staff displayed their genius by escaping in the opposite direction to the retreat of the mass of the army. They turned off from the highway, and crossed the fields toward the southeast in the direction of Jerusalem, their only covert now. Several of the horses of his suite were abandoned, having broken their legs as they slipped between the rocks; others refused to enter the thickets of underbrush which had already torn their flesh, until they were unmercifully prodded by the spurs of their riders. A handful of officers at length struck a hoof path that with many windings debouched into the highway near the summit of Bethhoron, whence they made their way toward the city. XXII A PRELUDE WITHOUT THE PLAY The day had been one of intensest excitement in the city of Jerusalem. From earliest morning the population had poured out of the gates, and gathered on the high ground to the north that they might welcome Seron and his host. It was remembered that on this spot years ago, according to the stories the rabbis told, Alexander the Great had been received by the people of the city. He, too, had ascended from Sharon by the pass of Bethhoron. Now, in the steps of the mightiest of world-conquerors, as Cynthia proudly noted, was to come the great Seron. The High Priest, Menelaos, had arranged a ceremony copied as nearly as might be from the legends of Alexander's visit. He himself was dressed in full pontifical robes of purple and gold, as were the ancient priests of Israel, except that the name of Jehovah no longer shone on the gold plate of his turban. The supreme pontiff was followed by scores of men, most of them Greeks, dressed for the occasion as common priests in white robes, which glistened as if the bright morning light were itself a part of the pageant. There were musicians with trumpets and cymbals to beat the very atmosphere into melodious salutation, and clacquers to shout and cheer the oration which Menelaos should pronounce as he invoked the blessings of all the gods upon the head of the advancing chieftain. After this official procession came a double palanquin, bearing the wives of Menelaos and Seron; and upon their persons, if one might judge by the gorgeousness of the display, was much of the movable wealth of their spouses.