The Festival was applied by the army to the true meaning of the dream, and that interpretation was received by all as a certain harbinger of instant victory. Orders were thereupon forthwith given that a general and desperate assault upon the walls should be made at sunrise of the morrow, as that would be the precise moment when Tyrus--as one man--would be bent in adoration to the visible God of Light. The wooden-towers were to be secretly advanced during the night to the walls,--as, also, the ponderous battering-rams;--the former were to be filled with soldiery, so as to be ready for instantly entering the city through any breach, by lowering the tower drawbridges;--"crouching," like their ancestors, "in the ominous horse" at the siege of Troy. At midnight of the day preceding the Festival, the devotional tribute to Apollo commenced in the Capital by withdrawing from the walls the sentinels, citizens, and all warlike defences,--for the day about to dawn was dedicated to Nature, as a peace-offering upon the Altar of their Deity. Upon the walls being vacated, the Macedonians in silence, and aided by the darkness of the night, placed their battering-engines in position; advanced and filled their scaling-towers; and made every preparation, unseen and unheard, for the coming and dreadful event. As the first indication of the break of day became apparent, the Tyrian population, arrayed in their gayest robes and attire (the garlands of their own sacrifice) began to assemble, and concentrate towards the great Temple of Hercules-Apollo;--its steps,--the vast area in front,--and the broad avenues leading to the Edifice of Religion, were filled and occupied with masses of human beings, who, with their faces toward "the East," stood ready to kneel and kiss the bosom of their great mother,--Earth,--as the first beams of their protecting God should descend upon them! The rising of that Last Sun upon Tyrus was looked for with breathless anxiety, both by the besieged and the invaders,--the former were gathered to offer their wild thanks for their past safety,--for the present cessation from hostilities, and devout prayers for their future preservation,--for these solemn purposes were assembled the Old and the Young,--Fathers with their Sons,--Mothers and their infant Children,--Youths and Virgins plighted in the spring-time of hope,--King, Priests, the "Wise men," Warriors, and People were gathered as with one heart--with one impulse, to join in festive joy upon the Tyrian Sabbath of the Year. But the foes to this scene of human happiness, were crouched in ambush,--like the Serpent of Eden,--and waited for that Sun's appearance as if it had been the enemy of mankind, and were ready to wreak their fury upon its children and worshippers!