"Amen!" responded Meph. "And General Apollonius moves at once upon us. He will attack us to-morrow or next day. Deborah bade me say that he would surely come by the Wady. They must move up the dry water-bed if they would reach us so soon, for it will take thrice the hours to march over the hills; and she says that one man on the cliff above is worth a score hemmed in by the walls of the great chasm they must pass through." "God be praised! And is this all?" asked Judas. "Except," added Meph, "that a rich convoy has already started from Shechem for Jerusalem by the direct road. In it are many merchants and women of rank." "We want neither their pelf nor their women," said Judas. "Let them go their way, if they only keep out of ours. But this Apollonius I would have. He is the biggest hawk of them all. Oh, Meph! Meph! if we could only get his claws tangled in the Wady as you get the birds fastened in your nets!" "I generally have to pull the string myself," said the boy. "You must pull just then and just so, but you get them." Judas laughed and assured Meph that he would make a strategist if not a champion some day; and with gigantic strides he went over the hills. Within an hour the Fort of the Rocks was deserted by all save the women, the aged, the sick, and children. In single bands the armed men moved northward, following the depression between the hills, filing like ants close to the clumps of rock so that no eye less sharp than an eagle's would have detected a moving army. As night fell, the Jews, who had been scattered during the daylight, gathered in among the rocks bordering the great Wady. In the darkness they felt their way each to such couch as he might find between the boulders. Soon all was silent, except for the coming and going of Judas and his brethren, giving encouragement or command. At the same time the army of Apollonius was approaching, a league to the west. A squadron of horsemen led the van. These followed the roadway, whose white line was extinguished by the clouds of dust raised by thousands of hoofs. Lance-point and helmet gleamed dimly through the darkness answering the stars, as when heavenly bodies are reflected in rippling water. The command to move in silence did not prevent the clicking of weapons and the low rumble of horses' feet on the beaten road. Foot soldiers, armed with pikes, bows, and swords, followed the horsemen. Then came camels and asses, laden with provisions and heavier weapons. To the rear struggled hundreds of camp followers; merchants to purchase the spoil; and those of baser sort to revel in the expected rapine. The usual swarm of women were there to make their Circean camp wherever the troops should halt.