JOEL BRINGS BAD NEWS
As soon as he was rid of the Egyptian, Joel beckoned to Simon.
"I must go ashore to-night," he said. "The women are in danger, and if
anything is to be done to save them, it must be done now."
"The moon is shining; it will be dangerous," Simon said doubtfully.
"That cannot be helped; I must go," the young man declared.
Simon made no further remonstrance. He took up a lamp and led the way
down a flight of stone stairs to the cellar, where great amphoræ of
wine, covered with dust and cobwebs, stood in the darkness. Picking
his way between them, he advanced to the end of the cellar, where he
gave the lamp to Joel while he rolled aside one of the jars. Then,
with some difficulty, he raised the slab upon which it had stood,
revealing a narrow opening in the floor and another flight of steps.
Down these they passed to a small chamber hewn in the rock. Around its
sides ran a stone platform not more than three feet in width, and the
remainder of the floor space was occupied by a pool of water.
When the wall of the city was built, its base had been laid in such a
manner as to bridge a natural fissure in the rock below the water line.
Why this opening had been left, Simon did not know. Possibly it had
been the intention of the architects to make it the outlet of a sewer.
If so, the plan had been abandoned, but the opening had been allowed to
remain.
Standing on the ledge of stone, Joel stripped off his clothing and
removed his sandals. Simon took from a niche a small jar of oil and
rubbed him with the contents from head to foot, at the same time
instructing him how to proceed.
"When shall you return?" he asked.
"To-night, if I can," Joel replied. "If not, then to-morrow night in
the third watch. Farewell!"
"Farewell!" Simon replied, stepping back and raising his lamp so that
its light fell upon the pool.
Joel drew in a long breath, clasped his hands, and plunged
head-foremost into the water. Simon placed the young man's clothing in
the niche, put away the oil jar, and ascended to the first cellar. He
did not close the opening in the floor, but arranged the amphoræ so as
to conceal it, and returned to the room above.
The impetus of Joel's plunge carried him the length of the pool and
into the fissure under the wall. He struck out vigorously, mindful of
Simon's instructions, and knowing that if his breath should fail while
he was below the masonry, nothing could save him. With the tips of his
fingers he could feel the sides of the passage, and presently he became
aware of a motion in the water caused by the underwash of the waves
outside. His head seemed bursting, and there was a ringing in his
ears. He felt that he must suffocate unless he could get air. He
began to swim upward through the water, dreading each moment to feel
his head strike the stones. What if the passage had been closed? None
had passed through it for years, and the defenders of the city were
constantly throwing down blocks of stone outside the walls. Something
grazed his back. He threw his arms upward, but his hands found no
obstruction. He had cleared the entrance.
He lay on the surface of the water filling his lungs again and again,
and gazing up at the stars above the gray height of the wall against
whose grim base the swell lazily washed. Half an hour later one of the
watch on a quinquereme that lay off the mouth of the Egyptian Harbor to
prevent the escape of any of the Tyrian vessels heard a voice under the
stern and saw the white gleam of Joel's shoulders in the water.
There was no sound in the Macedonian camp save the monotonous cries of
the sentinels when the young Israelite stepped from a small boat and
climbed the southern slope of the mole. He looked back and saw Tyre,
standing in the sea like an island raised upon cliffs of stone and
crowned with a circle of light.
He made his way into the Old City, now hardly more than a bare ruin
since houses and temples had been tumbled into the strait to lengthen
the causeway. He had been provided with the pass-word, and with the
assistance of the sentries he had little difficulty in finding the tent
that he sought. He lifted the flap and entered. Inside he could hear
the breathing of sleeping men, dominated by a tremendous snore that
sounded as though it must come from the throat of a giant.
"Peace be unto thee!" Joel cried, stumbling over the legs of one of the
sleepers.
"Thieves!" cried a stentorian voice, and the snoring suddenly ceased.
"It is I--Joel," the young man hastily announced.
"Joel!" exclaimed the voice of Nathan in the darkness. "How came you
here?"
He slipped out of the tent and returned in a moment, blowing upon a
brand from a smouldering camp-fire. With this he lighted an oil lamp
that swung from the central pole of the tent. Then he threw his arms
around the young man and embraced him heartily.
Joel saw Clearchus and the lazy bulk of Chares, who looked at him
sleepily with his head propped on his elbow. There was another man in
the tent whom he did not know--a man with firm shoulders and a square
jaw, who stood glowering at him with a sword in his hand.
"Put it away, Leonidas," Clearchus said, laughing. "This is no Tyrian,
but our little jailer in Babylon. How came you here?"
"I came from Tyre," Joel answered.
"From Tyre!" echoed Nathan and Clearchus. "How did you escape?"
"I swam under the wall," Joel said, "and I bring you bad news."
"Artemisia!" Clearchus cried. "Is she dead?"
"As yet she is unharmed," Joel replied.
"What is it, then? Speak!" Clearchus cried.
Joel repeated what Mena had told him.
"Is it possible to return by the way you came?" Clearchus demanded.
"It is possible for a good swimmer, but it is dangerous," Joel replied.
"I shall return with you at once," Clearchus announced, and began to
belt on his sword.
"You are mad, Clearchus," Leonidas said, raising the flap of the tent.
"Dawn is breaking. It would be broad daylight before you could reach
the walls."
"I am going, nevertheless," Clearchus answered calmly, continuing his
preparations.
"Do you think we are going to let you go alone?" Chares roared. "No,
by Zeus; I am going, too! I have something I wish to say to Thais."
He proceeded to arm himself, adjusting with care a breastplate inlaid
with gold.
"Wait!" cried Nathan. "I have a better plan. When does this sacrifice
take place?"
"It was to be on the second day," Joel replied. "That will be
to-morrow."
"Then we have another night before us," Nathan said. "Do you think my
people in Tyre will surrender their first-born to Moloch? Not while
Jehovah reigns will they do that, nor will Jehovah permit the
sacrifice. It would be folly to think of entering the city now. We
should be discovered, and all would be ruined. We can enter at
nightfall, if need be, and my people will join us to save their own.
Let us consult Alexander. It may be that he will order the attack and
that Jehovah will give Tyre into his hands to-day. At any rate, if it
is a question of dying, we can die to-morrow as well as now."
Leonidas nodded. "You are right," he said.
"Are you satisfied, Clearchus?" Chares asked.
"Let it be as you will," the Athenian responded.