CHAPTER XLIV
THE REVOLT OF THE ISRAELITES
While Azemilcus was dealing with his enemies in his own way, thewretched chancellor, shaking in every limb, conducted the Macedoniansback through the secret passage by which he had brought them to thepresence of the king. Descending the winding stairs, they reached thestreet level, where the old man opened a hidden door that led into anarrow subterranean gallery. They followed this for what seemed tothem a long distance in a stagnant atmosphere, heavy with dampness. Itbrought them at last to a slab of stone, from which hung a ring of iron.
Chares was forced to exert all his strength to turn this stone upon itspivot. They emerged from the passage into a small room with walls ofrough masonry and a door that was closed by a black curtain. At therequest of the chancellor, the lamp was extinguished.
"Where are we?" Leonidas demanded.
"In the Temple of Baal," the old man whispered. "This room is littleused by the priests. They live on the other side."
The Spartan raised the curtain and looked into the gloomy interior ofthe temple. It was deserted and silent.
"What shall we do with this man?" he asked, turning to his companions,and indicating the chancellor.
"We have no further use for him," Chares replied, placing his handsuggestively upon his sword-hilt.
"Spare me!" the chancellor cried, falling upon his knees. "I will tellwhere the rubies are, and a great store of jewels besides. They areunder the image of Baal. Do not take my life!"
"He might betray us if we let him go," Leonidas said, paying noattention to his supplications.
"I swear to you on the head of Baal that I will not," the old man criedpiteously.
"If he should betray us," Clearchus observed, "his own life would beforfeit, because we should reveal the part he had in bringing us intothe city."
"Very well; you have most at stake," the Spartan said. "Let him go."
The chancellor did not wait for further permission. He disappearedinto the passage like an old gray rat escaped from a trap.
"I am half sorry we spared him after all," Leonidas said regretfully."Let us see where we are."
They passed through the curtained door and into the temple. Twilightreigned beneath the lofty dome where the bats were still flitting.This semi-darkness was artfully preserved so that the fire, which wasthe essential feature of the worship of Baal-Moloch, might be visibleand effective during the sacrifices.
The Greeks found themselves in a vast hall of oblong shape. They werestanding upon a platform of stone, raised for the height of a man abovethe main floor, to which a flight of broad and shallow steps descended.A huge dark mass stood before them exactly under the dome, the sides ofwhich were pierced by narrow slits that admitted the light of day.This mass was the misshapen idol of Baal. The God was represented by ahollow statue of iron and bronze, sitting upon a throne. Its long armsterminated in hands that rested with palms upturned beside its knees.Its enormous head was inclined slightly forward, and the expressionupon its face was so cruel and malignant that Clearchus felt his bloodchilled as he gazed upon it and thought of the hecatombs of innocentvictims whose lives had been sacrificed to its ferocity.
There were larger and more splendid images of Baal in otherPh[oe]nician cities, but none that was so venerated. It had beenbrought from the Temple of Baal-Moloch in the Old City on the mainland,where for centuries it had been the guardian of the place, receivingits sacrifices each year. In the old days even the first-born of theroyal blood had been lifted in those blackened arms and rolled upon theiron knees to be roasted alive. The terrible face leaned above withdistended nostrils, as though to inhale the odor of burning flesh, andthousands of mothers had watched its dreadful smile through the smokewith songs of praise on their lips and death in their hearts, whiletheir babies writhed in agony in the pitiless embrace. Baal wouldaccept no unwilling sacrifice, and the mother whose child was torn fromher breast to be given to the God, not only lost her infant but wasdisgraced forever if she showed emotion while the rite was beingperformed.
In spite of themselves, the Macedonians were oppressed by a kind ofsuperstitious dread as they looked at the grim visage that seemed tosneer down upon them.
The great portals of the temple, at the other end of the hall, wereclosed. On either side were rows of dark columns upholding the roof,which was painted to represent the heavens. Dim shapes of monsters,half beast and half human, appeared upon the walls.
The Greeks made a circuit of the temple but found no means of egress.There were several anterooms similar to the one to which thesubterranean passage had led them. These contained vestments, theimplements used in the ceremonials, and a store of scented wood, dry astinder, that furnished fuel for the sacrifices. In one of the roomswas a door which Joel believed connected with the building in which thepriests were housed. The walls around the platform were draped withheavy hangings of black that formed a background for the image.
"Let us take counsel," Nathan said, casting a look of hatred at theidol. "Jehovah will not permit this monster to triumph over Him."
They withdrew into their recess to consider a plan of action.
"One thing is certain," Leonidas said. "Alone we can never prevent thesacrifice."
"My people will help us," Nathan said. "They will not give up theirfirst-born without fighting."
"How many are they?" Clearchus asked.
"There are ten thousand of them in the city," Joel replied; "but theyare not armed, excepting those who have been drafted to the defence ofthe walls."
"I have more faith in Alexander than I have in your people," Charessaid bluntly. "He will be in the city before this day ends, unless theGods have misled old Aristander."
"But will he come in time?" Leonidas asked. "Let Nathan and Joel go tothe Israelites and rouse them to resist. Tell them that Alexander iscoming and that he will protect them. We three will stay here andawait the result."
To this the others gave their assent. It seemed a desperate chance,but it was all they had. There was a small window in the antechamber,high up in the wall. Nathan climbed up to it on the shoulders of theGreeks and looked through.
"There is nothing on this side but the cypress garden," he said."Farewell; you may be sure that we shall return, though we come alone."
He slipped through the window and dropped upon the turf outside. Joelfollowed him. The three Greeks, left alone in the temple, looked intoeach other's faces and Clearchus grasped his companions by the hand.
"You have placed your lives in peril for me," he said with emotion."Zeus grant that they be not demanded of you!"
"Pshaw!" Chares exclaimed, "are not our lives always in peril? If wemust die, we shall die; and we are not permitted to choose where orhow. When the Ferryman calls, we must go. For my part, if thouwouldst repay me, let me sleep, for my head is nodding."
Clearchus smiled, understanding his friend's aversion to any display offeeling. He embraced the Theban, who calmly lay down upon the stonefloor; his eyes closed, and he began to snore gently.
Leonidas, whose tough frame defied fatigue, and Clearchus, whose mindwas in a torment of doubt and suspense, stationed themselves behind thecurtain that hid the door and waited, talking in whispers. They couldhear the patter of raindrops and by the rising wind outside they knewthat a storm was breaking over the city. Its breath entered throughthe slits in the dome, causing the dark hangings to sway against thewall. The gloomy temple seemed to be filled with mysteriousmurmurings. Some drops fell upon the image of Baal and ran glisteningdown the bronze head and broad, sleek shoulders.
Nathan and Joel made their way through the cypress thickets and scaledthe wall of the temple garden. They found themselves in a narrowstreet which led them to a broader thoroughfare, where men werehurrying to and fro in the rain. Soldiers of the garrison, weary andhollow-eyed, were going to the defences. Citizens whose uneasy resthad been cut short by the tension of dread were early abroad in searchof news.
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"What of the enemy?" one of them asked of a soldier who was returningfrom the walls.
"They are coming out to attack," the soldier replied. "Their shipshave already left the shore, and the stones will soon be falling aboutyour ears."
"How much longer?" the citizen asked, with a groan.
"Ask that of the Gods," the soldier replied indifferently; "but I thinkthe end will be soon, unless Moloch relents."
Joel and Nathan passed on, their appearance attracting no attention ina city where there were so many of their race.
"Hasten!" Nathan said. "Alexander is coming!"
As they advanced toward the quarter occupied by the Israelites, thestreets became filled with people, nearly all of whom seemed to bedrawn in the same direction that they themselves were taking. Theyfell in with a man who strode on with knitted brows and lipscompressed. By his appearance he was a Hebrew, and Nathan addressedhim in the Hebrew tongue.
"Whither goest thou?" he asked.
"To save the innocent from slaughter," the man replied fiercely. "Comewith me if ye are men!"
"We will come with thee," Nathan said.
"There are the priests!" Joel exclaimed.
Half a dozen of the ministers of Baal, surrounded by a guard ofsoldiers, came down a cross street. They carried in their hands smallbundles of short cords with which to bind the limbs of their victims.The crowd gave way before them, gazing at their black robes and stern,fanatical faces with curiosity mingled with dread.
"May the curse of the Most High rest upon them!" the stranger cried,shaking his fist.
He began to run in the direction of the open square used by theIsraelites as a market-place. Nathan and Joel raced after him. Theclamor of voices raised in bitter lamentation reached them. They foundthe square choked with a surging mass of men and women who claspedlittle children to their breasts, seeking to protect them. The rainbeat in their faces and the gusty wind tossed their garments. Somecalled upon their God, raising their hands toward heaven. Othersshrieked the names of their offspring who had already been torn fromthem. Every house in the quarter was filled with weeping and cries ofdespair. The priests of Baal went hither and thither, seizing theirprey in the name of the law wherever they found it.
Nathan and Joel halted at the edge of the square. The priests weresearching through the crowd, many of them concealing a tiny burdenbeneath their robes of office. Feeble wailings betrayed the nature ofthese bundles. They were the children of the Israelites, bound handand foot for the sacrifice.
While the young men stood looking, one of the priests discovered awoman who crouched upon the ground with her face hidden in herdishevelled hair. He grasped her roughly by the shoulder and drew herback, disclosing the fact that she had been shielding her baby beneathher bosom. The child raised its dimpled hands and tried to touch itsmother's wet cheeks. The priest seized them and tore the infant fromher. She clutched the skirt of his robe and followed him on her kneesthrough the mire, begging piteously for the child.
"You have so many already," she said, "and he is all I have! SurelyBaal does not require my little one. He will be appeased. Give himback to me!"
The priest turned and struck her upturned face with his clenched hand.She uttered a cry of anguish and released his robe, falling backsenseless to the earth.
An inarticulate sound burst from the lips of the man who had guidedNathan and Joel to the market-place.
"O Lord, my God!" he shouted, raising his hands to the leaden sky. "Ihad two children to be the staff and prop of my old age. Wilt Thousuffer them to be taken from me? We have remained faithful to Thee; isthis to be our reward?"
Nathan was about to spring upon the guard that surrounded the priestsbefore him when the tall figure of an old man strode into the square.His gaunt frame was clad in sackcloth, and his long white hair andbeard were blown in the wind. He walked erect, without the aid of thestaff which he carried in his hand. There was an air of authority andeven of majesty in his bearing. The men and women nearest to him fellupon their knees and stretched their hands toward him in supplication.He did not glance at them and he seemed not to hear their prayers. Hisstern eyes swept the market-place and he spoke in a resonant voice thatrose above the tumult and caused it to die away.
"Why do ye lament, men of Israel?" he cried. "Cease now your weepingand rejoice. For Tyre is fallen! Her hour is come!"
"It is Pethuel, chief priest of the synagogue," Joel whispered toNathan, who was watching the old man with glowing eyes.
"Hearken unto me, O ye of little faith!" Pethuel continued, and thesilence spread until his words could be heard throughout the square."The worshipper of idols is cast down. The day of clouds and thickdarkness is at hand. Lo! they waxed a strong and a mighty people. Thecities of the world feared them, and their ships followed the tracklesswastes of the sea. There was none like to them in their greatness.
"Unto some they said, 'Go!' and unto others they said, 'Come!' Verily,their strength was like that of the lion, and they rejoiced in theirvessels of gold and silver. It seemed to them that there would be noending.
"And lo! the end is upon them. They are cast down; their walls areoverthrown, and their city is become a place of desolation. Thus saiththe Lord God unto me, His servant, that I may tell it to my people andbid them rejoice!
"He has delivered them out of the hands of their enemies as a bird fromthe net of the fowler. I said unto the Lord, 'Behold, the city ofabominations hath laid her hand upon Thy servants! In the olden time,did she spoil Israel and Juda and the pleasant valleys, wasting themwith fire and sword. Then did Thy vengeance fall upon her, until ofher strong walls not one stone remained upon another. But now shepresseth sore upon Thy people; wherefore help us, O Lord!'
"Hear ye, men of Israel! Out of the darkness came a Voice like therushing of a mighty wind and the sound of many waters, and it filledmine ears, saying: 'I am the Lord God of Hosts. Inasmuch as ye havebeen faithful unto Me and have bowed not before the work of man'shands, therefore will I hearken unto you. She has sown the wind, andshe shall reap the whirlwind. Her fortresses and her strong placesshall be spoiled. The weak shall perish with the strong, and themighty shall not deliver himself. I will give her daughters to ruinand her children shall be wanderers among the nations. This will I dofor My people, that they be not put to scorn. Say to them: "Take eachman his sword and let him slay; for who shall withstand the wrath ofthe Most High?"'"
To Nathan it seemed that the veil that separates the seen from theunseen had been rent away. The voice that rang in his ears was nolonger the voice of Pethuel, but that of his Maker. He felt himselflifted up beyond the region of doubt, and a great gladness filled hisheart.
Pethuel paused before him and looked at him with a gaze that piercedhim through like fire. The old man raised his staff and touched him onthe shoulder. It seemed to Nathan an act of consecration.
"Lead thou them!" Pethuel cried in a loud voice. "It is the command ofthe Lord, thy God."
A compelling Power, greater than himself, seized upon the youngIsraelite. He no longer had any volition of his own. He became aninstrument.
"Follow me, men of Israel!" he shouted, drawing his sword. "Jehovahgives the heathen into our hands!"
The hush was broken, and a great cry went up from the densely packedmarket-place. With one impulse, the crowd fell upon the soldiers andpriests who still remained in the square, the greater part havingalready retreated toward the Temple of Baal-Moloch. The Ph[oe]nicians,greatly outnumbered, were able to make but a brief resistance. Nathansprang forward and cut down the nearest soldier. In the rush thatfollowed him, the guard was swept away, scattered, and destroyedsingly. A score of children were rescued. The priests were trampledto the earth and torn limb from limb. The square resounded with savagecries. The Israelites had been roused to frenzy. The word of God wasupon them.
"To the temple!" Nathan shouted. The cry ran through the mob whichsurged into the narrow street
s leading to the shrine of Baal-Moloch,bearing down all before it. The frightened priests heard it coming andsent messengers to the walls, demanding succor. Azemilcus orderedsoldiers to be detached to quell the disturbance, and the defence ofthe city was still further weakened.
The fighting in the streets became desperate. The Israelites scatteredand, by circuitous routes, pressed toward the temple. They mounted tothe roofs, hurling all kinds of missiles from a great height upon theheads of the guards. The rain fell in blinding sheets. It seemed tothe Tyrians that the entire Hebrew population of the city had suddenlygone mad. Ties of association were forgotten, and men who had beenfriends for years struggled for each other's lives.
The tumult spread in every direction. The soldiers were forced to fallback and form a ring of defence around the temple. Even then, they hadmuch ado to hold the crowd at bay, for the Israelites charged againstthem without ceasing, recklessly throwing away their lives upon thehedge of steel.
Great stones dropped from the sky continually. Friend and foe werecrushed beneath them. When they struck the walls of the houses, theyleft gaping fissures through which the interior could be seen. Theycame from the engines upon the Macedonian ships that were renewing theattack upon the city.