CHAPTER XXXIX
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 ifanything 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 waydown a flight of stone stairs to the cellar, where great amphorae ofwine, covered with dust and cobwebs, stood in the darkness. Pickinghis way between them, he advanced to the end of the cellar, where hegave 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 itssides ran a stone platform not more than three feet in width, and theremainder 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 amanner 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 hadbeen 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 toremain.
Standing on the ledge of stone, Joel stripped off his clothing andremoved his sandals. Simon took from a niche a small jar of oil andrubbed him with the contents from head to foot, at the same timeinstructing him how to proceed.
"When shall you return?" he asked.
"To-night, if I can," Joel replied. "If not, then to-morrow night inthe third watch. Farewell!"
"Farewell!" Simon replied, stepping back and raising his lamp so thatits light fell upon the pool.
Joel drew in a long breath, clasped his hands, and plungedhead-foremost into the water. Simon placed the young man's clothing inthe niche, put away the oil jar, and ascended to the first cellar. Hedid not close the opening in the floor, but arranged the amphorae so asto conceal it, and returned to the room above.
The impetus of Joel's plunge carried him the length of the pool andinto the fissure under the wall. He struck out vigorously, mindful ofSimon's instructions, and knowing that if his breath should fail whilehe was below the masonry, nothing could save him. With the tips of hisfingers he could feel the sides of the passage, and presently he becameaware of a motion in the water caused by the underwash of the wavesoutside. His head seemed bursting, and there was a ringing in hisears. He felt that he must suffocate unless he could get air. Hebegan to swim upward through the water, dreading each moment to feelhis head strike the stones. What if the passage had been closed? Nonehad passed through it for years, and the defenders of the city wereconstantly throwing down blocks of stone outside the walls. Somethinggrazed his back. He threw his arms upward, but his hands found noobstruction. 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 againstwhose grim base the swell lazily washed. Half an hour later one of thewatch on a quinquereme that lay off the mouth of the Egyptian Harbor toprevent the escape of any of the Tyrian vessels heard a voice under thestern and saw the white gleam of Joel's shoulders in the water.
There was no sound in the Macedonian camp save the monotonous cries ofthe sentinels when the young Israelite stepped from a small boat andclimbed the southern slope of the mole. He looked back and saw Tyre,standing in the sea like an island raised upon cliffs of stone andcrowned with a circle of light.
He made his way into the Old City, now hardly more than a bare ruinsince houses and temples had been tumbled into the strait to lengthenthe causeway. He had been provided with the pass-word, and with theassistance of the sentries he had little difficulty in finding the tentthat he sought. He lifted the flap and entered. Inside he could hearthe breathing of sleeping men, dominated by a tremendous snore thatsounded as though it must come from the throat of a giant.
"Peace be unto thee!" Joel cried, stumbling over the legs of one of thesleepers.
"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 youhere?"
He slipped out of the tent and returned in a moment, blowing upon abrand from a smouldering camp-fire. With this he lighted an oil lampthat swung from the central pole of the tent. Then he threw his armsaround the young man and embraced him heartily.
Joel saw Clearchus and the lazy bulk of Chares, who looked at himsleepily with his head propped on his elbow. There was another man inthe tent whom he did not know--a man with firm shoulders and a squarejaw, 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 tobelt 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 reachthe walls."
"I am going, nevertheless," Clearchus answered calmly, continuing hispreparations.
"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 inlaidwith gold.
"Wait!" cried Nathan. "I have a better plan. When does this sacrificetake place?"
"It was to be on the second day," Joel replied. "That will beto-morrow."
"Then we have another night before us," Nathan said. "Do you think mypeople in Tyre will surrender their first-born to Moloch? Not whileJehovah reigns will they do that, nor will Jehovah permit thesacrifice. It would be folly to think of entering the city now. Weshould be discovered, and all would be ruined. We can enter atnightfall, 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 andthat Jehovah will give Tyre into his hands to-day. At any rate, if itis 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.