CHAPTER XII: AMONG THE PASSES
It was not until long after the guards to whom he was chained had fallenasleep that Malchus followed their example. It seemed to him he had beenasleep a long time when a pressure by a hand on his shoulder woke him;at the same moment another hand was placed over his mouth.
"Hush, my lord!" a voice said. It was Nessus. "Arise and let us go.There is no time to be lost, for it is nigh morning. I have been thewhole night in discovering where you were."
"But the guards, Nessus?"
"I have killed them," Nessus said in a tone of indifference.
"But I am chained to them by the ankles."
Nessus gave a little exclamation of impatience, and then in the darknessfelt the irons to discover the nature of the fastenings. In a minutethere was a sound of a dull crashing blow, then Nessus moved to theother side and the sound was repeated. With two blows of his short heavysword the Arab had cut off the feet of the dead Romans at the ankle, andthe chains were free.
"Put on the clothes of this man, my lord, and take his arms; I will takethose of the other."
As soon as this was done Nessus wrapped some folds of cloth round eachof the chains to prevent their clanking, then passing a band through theends he fastened them to Malchus' waist.
"Quick, my lord," he said as he finished the work; "daylight isbeginning to break."
They stepped over the dead sentry at the door of the tent and were goingon when Malchus said:
"Best lift him inside, Nessus; it may be some little time before it isnoticed that he is missing from his post."
This was quickly done, and they then moved away quietly among the tentstill they approached the rear of the camp. It was now light enough toenable them to see dimly the figures of the Roman sentries placed atshort intervals round the camp.
"We cannot get through unseen," Malchus said.
"No, my lord," Nessus replied; "I have wasted too much time in findingyou."
"Then we had best lie down quietly here," Malchus said; "in a short timethe men will be moving about, and we can then pass through the sentrieswithout remark."
As the light spread over the sky sounds of movement were heard in thecamp, and soon figures were moving about, some beginning to make fires,others to attend to their horses. The two Carthaginians moved aboutamong the tents as if similarly occupied, secure that their attire asRoman soldiers would prevent any observation being directed towardsthem. They were anxious to be off, for they feared that at any momentthey might hear the alarm raised on the discovery that the sentry wasmissing.
It was nearly broad daylight now, and when they saw two or threesoldiers pass out between the sentries unquestioned they started at onceto follow them. The morning was very cold, and the soldiers who wereabout were all wearing their military cloaks. Malchus had pulled theirons as high up as he could possibly force them, and they did not showbelow his cloak.
Walking carelessly along they passed through the sentries, whose duties,now that morning had dawned, related only to discovering an enemyapproaching the camp, the soldiers being now free to enter or leave asthey pleased.
"It is of no use to go far," Malchus said; "the nearer we hide to thecamp the better. We are less likely to be looked for there than at adistance, and it is impossible for me to travel at any speed until I getrid of these heavy irons. As soon as we get over that little brow aheadwe shall be out of sight of the sentries, and will take to the firsthiding place we see."
The little rise was but a short distance from camp, the country beyondwas open but was covered with low brushwood. As soon as they were overthe brow and were assured that none of those who had left the campbefore them were in sight, they plunged into the brushwood, and, makingtheir way on their hands and knees for a few hundred yards, lay down inthe midst of it.
"They are not likely to search on this side of the camp," Malchus said."They will not know at what hour I escaped, and will naturally supposethat I started at once to regain our camp. Listen, their trumpets areblowing. No doubt they are about to strike their camp and march; bythis time my escape must be known. And now tell me, Nessus, how did youmanage to follow and discover me?"
"It was easy to follow you, my lord," Nessus said. "When I heard yourorder I lay still, but watched through the bushes your meeting with theGauls. My arrow was in the string, and had they attacked you I shouldhave loosed it among them, and then rushed out to die with you, butwhen I saw them take you a prisoner I followed your orders. I had nodifficulty in keeping you in sight until nightfall. Then I crept up tothe wood and made my way until I was within a few yards of you and laythere till nearly morning; but, as the men around you never went tosleep, I could do nothing and stole away again before daylight broke.Then I followed again until I saw our horsemen approaching. I hadstarted to run towards them to lead them to you when I saw the Romanhorse, and I again hid myself.
"The next night again the Romans kept too vigilant a watch for me to doanything, and I followed them all yesterday until I saw them enter theRoman camp. As soon as it was dark I entered, and, getting into thepart of the camp occupied by the Massilians, whose Gaulish talk I couldunderstand a little, I gathered that a Carthaginian prisoner who hadbeen brought in was to be executed in the morning. So I set to workto find you; but the night was too dark to see where the sentries wereplaced, and I had to crawl round every tent to see if one stood at theentrance on guard, for I was sure that a sentry would be placed overyou. I entered seven tents, at whose doors sentries were placed, beforeI found yours, but they were all those of Roman generals or persons ofimportance. I entered each time by cutting a slit in the back of thetent. At last when I was beginning to despair, I found your tent.
"It was the smallest of any that had been guarded, and this made methink I was right. When I crawled in I found feeling cautiously about,that two Roman soldiers were asleep on the ground and that you werelying between them. Then I went to the entrance. The sentry was standingwith his back to it. I struck a blow on his neck from behind, and hedied without knowing he was hurt. I caught him as I struck and loweredhim gently down, for the crash of his arms as he fell would have rousedeveryone near. After that it was easy to stab the two guards sleeping byyou, and then I woke you."
"You have saved my life, Nessus, and I shall never forget it," Malchussaid gratefully.
"My life is my lord's," the Arab replied simply. "Glad am I indeed thatI have been able to do you a service."
Just as he spoke they saw through the bushes a party of Roman horseride at a gallop over the brow between them and the camp. They halted,however, on passing the crest, and an officer with them gazed long andsearchingly over the country. For some minutes he sat without speaking,then he gave an order and the horsemen rode back again over the crest.
"I think we shall see no more of them," Malchus said. "His orders were,no doubt, that if I was in sight they were to pursue, if not, it wouldbe clearly useless hunting over miles of brushwood in the hope offinding me, especially as they must deem it likely that I am far away inthe opposite direction."
An hour later Nessus crept cautiously forward among the bushes, making aconsiderable detour until he reached the spot whence he could command aview of the Roman camp. It had gone, not a soul remained behind, but atsome distance across the plain he could see the heavy column marchingnorth. He rose to his feet and returned to the spot where he had leftMalchus, and told him that the Romans had gone.
"The first thing, Nessus, is to get rid of these chains."
"It is easy as to the chains," Nessus said, "but the rings around yourlegs must remain until we rejoin the camp, it will need a file to freeyou from them."
The soil was sandy, and Nessus could find no stone sufficiently largefor his purpose. They, therefore, started in the direction which theRomans had taken until, after two hours' slow walking, they came uponthe bed of a stream in which were some boulders sufficiently large forthe purpose.
The rings were now pushed down again to the ankles, and Nessus woundround
them strips of cloth until he had formed a pad between the ironand the skin to lessen the jar of the blow, then he placed the link ofthe chain near to the leg upon the edge of the boulder, and, drawing hissharp heavy sword, struck with all his force upon the iron.
A deep notch was made; again and again he repeated the blow, until thelink was cut through, then, with some difficulty, he forced the twoends apart until the shackle of the ring would pass between them. Theoperation was repeated on the other chain, and then Malchus was free,save for the two iron rings around his ankles. The work had takenupwards of an hour, and when it was done they started at a rapid walk inthe direction taken by the column. They had no fear now of the natives,for should any come upon them they would take them for two Romansoldiers who had strayed behind the army.
Scipio made a long day's march, and it was not until nightfall that hisarmy halted. Malchus and his companion made a long detour round the campand continued their way for some hours, then they left the track thatthe army would follow, and, after walking for about a mile, lay downamong some bushes and were soon asleep.
In the morning they agreed that before proceeding further it wasabsolutely necessary to obtain some food. Malchus had been fed whenamong the Romans, but Nessus had had nothing from the morning when hehad been upset in the Rhone four days before, save a manchet of breadwhich he had found in one of the tents he had entered. Surveying thecountry round carefully, the keen eye of the Arab perceived some lightsmoke curling up at the foot of the hills on their right, and they atonce directed their course towards it. An hour's walking brought themwithin sight of a native village.
As soon as they perceived it they dropped on their hands and knees andproceeded with caution until within a short distance of it. They werenot long in discovering a flock of goats browsing on the verdure in somebroken ground a few hundred yards from the village. They were under thecharge of a native boy, who was seated on a rock near them. They madetheir way round among the brushwood until they were close to the spot.
"Shall I shoot him?" Nessus asked, for he had carried his bow and arrowsconcealed in his attire as a Roman soldier.
"No, no," Malchus replied, "the lad has done us no harm; but we musthave one of his goats. His back is towards us, and, if we wait, one ofthem is sure to come close to us presently."
They lay quiet among the bushes until, after a delay of a quarter of anhour, a goat, browsing upon the bushes, passed within a yard or two ofthem.
Nessus let fly his arrow, it passed almost through the animal, rightbehind its shoulder, and it fell among the bushes. In an instantNessus was upon it, and, grasping its mouth tightly to prevent it frombleating, cut its throat. They dragged it away until a fall in theground hid them from the sight of the natives, then they quickly skinnedand cut it up, devoured some of the meat raw, and then, each taking aleg of the animal, proceeded upon their way.
They now walked without a halt until, late in the evening, they camedown upon the spot where the Carthaginian army had crossed. It wasdeserted. Going down to the edge of the river they saw the great raftsupon which the elephants had crossed.
"We had best go on a mile or two ahead," Nessus said, "the Roman cavalrymay be here in the morning, though the column will be still a day'smarch away. By daylight we shall have no difficulty in finding thetraces of the army."
Malchus took the Arab's advice, and the next morning followed on thetraces of the army, which were plainly enough to be seen in the brokenbushes, the trampled ground, and in various useless articles dropped orthrown away by the troops. They were forced to advance with caution, forthey feared meeting any of the natives who might be hanging on the rearof the army.
After three days' travelling with scarce a pause they came upon the armyjust as the rear guard was crossing the Isere, and Malchus received ajoyous welcome from his friends, who had supposed him drowned at thepassage of the Rhone. His account of his adventure was eagerly listenedto, and greatly surprised were they when they found that he had been aprisoner in the camp of Scipio, and had been rescued by the fidelity anddevotion of Nessus. Hannibal asked many questions as to the strengthof Scipio's army, but Malchus could only say that, not having seen itexcept encamped, he could form but a very doubtful estimate as to itsnumbers, but considered it to be but little superior to that of theCarthaginian.
"I do not think Scipio will pursue us," Hannibal said. "A defeat herewould be as fatal to him as it would be to us, and I think it morelikely that, when he finds we have marched away north, he will return tohis ships and meet us in Italy."
Malchus learned that everything had progressed favourably since the armyhad crossed the Rhone, the natives having offered no further oppositionto their advance. A civil war was going on in the region the army hadnow entered, between two rival princes, brothers, of the Allobroges.Hannibal was requested to act as umpire in the quarrel, and decided infavour of the elder brother and restored order. In return he receivedfrom the prince whom he reseated on his throne, provisions, clothing,and other necessaries for the army, and the prince, with his troops,escorted the Carthaginians some distance up into the Alps, and preventedthe tribes dwelling at the foot of the mountains from attacking them.
The conquest of Catalonia, the passage of the Pyrenees, and the marchacross the south of Gaul, had occupied many months. Summer had come andgone, autumn had passed, and winter was at hand. It was the eighteenthof October when Hannibal led his army up the narrow valleys into theheart of the Alps. The snow had already fallen thickly upon the upperpart of the mountains, and the Carthaginians shuddered at the sightof these lofty summits, these wild, craggy, and forbidding wastes.The appearance of the wretched huts of the inhabitants, of the peoplethemselves, unshaved and unkempt and clad in sheepskins, and of theflocks and herds gathering in sheltered spots and crowding together toresist the effects of the already extreme cold, struck the Carthaginiantroops with dismay. Large bodies of the mountaineers were perceivedposted on the heights surrounding the valleys, and the column,embarrassed by its length and the vast quantity of baggage, was alsoexposed to attack by hordes who might at any moment rush out from thelateral ravines. Hannibal, therefore, ordered his column to halt.
Malchus was now ordered to go forward with his band of scouts, and totake with him a party of Gauls, who, their language being similarto that of the natives, could enter into conversation with them. Themountaineers, seeing but a small party advancing, allowed them toapproach peaceably and entered freely into conversation with them. Theydeclared that they would on no account permit the Carthaginian army topass forward, but would oppose every foot of their advance.
The Gauls learned, however, that, believing the great column could onlymove forward in the daytime, the natives were in the habit of retiringfrom their rocky citadels at nightfall. Malchus returned with this newsto Hannibal, who prepared to take advantage of it. The camp was at oncepitched, and the men set to work to form an intrenchment round it as ifHannibal meditated a prolonged halt there. Great fires were lit and theanimals unloaded. The natives, seeing from above everything that wasbeing done, deserted their posts as usual at nightfall, confident thatthe Carthaginians had no intention of moving forward.
Malchus with his scouts crept on along the path, and soon sent downword to Hannibal that the heights were deserted. The general himself nowmoved forward with all his light troops, occupied the head of the pass,and posted strong parties of men upon the heights commanding it. As soonas day broke the rest of the army got into motion and proceeded up thepass. The natives were now seen approaching in great numbers, but theyhalted in dismay on seeing that the Carthaginians had already gainedpossession of the strong places.
The road by which the column was ascending wound along the face ofa precipice, and was so narrow that it was with difficulty that thehorses, snorting with fright, could be persuaded to proceed. Thenatives, seeing the confusion which the fright of the animals created inthe column, at once took to the mountains, climbing up rugged precipiceswhich appeared to the Carthaginians absolutely
inaccessible, andpresently made their appearance far up on the mountain side above thecolumn.
Here, sending up the most piercing yells, they began to roll rocks andstones down upon the column. The confusion below became terrible. Thehorses, alarmed by the strange wild cries, echoed and re-echoed a scoreof times among the mountains, and struck by the falling stones, plungedand struggled wildly to escape. Some tore along the path, precipitatingthose in front of them over the precipice, others lost their footing,and, dragging with them the carts to which they were attached, fellinto the valley below. All order was lost. Incapable of defence or ofmovement the column appeared to be on the verge of destruction.
"Come, my men," Malchus exclaimed to his Arabs, "where these men canclimb we can follow them; the safety of the whole column is at stake."
Slinging their weapons behind them the scouts began to climb the crags.Sure footed and hardy as they were, it was with the greatest difficultythat they could make their way up. Many lost their footing, and rollingdown were dashed to pieces; but the great majority succeeded in climbingthe heights, and at once became engaged in desperate battle with thenatives.
Every narrow ledge and crag was the scene of a conflict. The nativesfrom the distant heights encouraged their companions with their shouts,and for a time the confusion in the column below was heightened by thecombat which was proceeding far above them. Every stone dislodged by thefeet of the combatants thundered down upon them, and the falling bodiesof those hit by arrow or javelin came crushing down with a dull thudamong the mass.
At last the bravery and superior weapons of the Arabs prevailed. Theprecipice was cleared of the natives, and as the uproar ceased and themissiles ceased to fall, the column recovered its order, and again movedforward until the whole army gained the top of the pass. Here Hannibaltook possession of a rough fort erected by the natives, captured severalvillages, and enough flocks and herds to feed his army for three days.Then descending from the top of the pass, which is now known as theGol-du-Chat, he entered the valley of Chambery, and marched forward forthree days without opposition.
Malchus and his scouts received the warmest congratulations for theirconduct at the pass, for they had undoubtedly saved the army from whathad at one time threatened to be a terrible disaster. On arrival at atown supposed to be identical with the modern Conflans, the inhabitantscame out with green boughs and expressed their desire for peace andfriendship. They said that they had heard of the fate which had befallenthose who ventured to oppose the Carthaginians, and that they wereanxious to avoid such misfortunes. They offered to deliver hostages as aproof of their good intentions, to supply sheep and goats for the army,and to furnish guides through the difficult country ahead.
For two days the march continued. The route the army was passing wasthat now known as the little St. Bernard. Fortunately Hannibal had fromthe first entertained considerable doubt as to the good faith of hisguides, and never relaxed his vigilance. The scouts and light infantry,with the cavalry, preceded the great column of baggage, the heavycavalry defended the rear.
The track, which had for the last five days' march proceeded along acomparatively level valley, now mounted rapidly, and turning aside fromthe valley of the Isere it led up the deep bed of the mountain torrentknown as the Reclus; this stream ran in a deep trough hollowed out in avery narrow valley. The bed is now so piled with rocks and stones as tobe impassable, and the Romans afterwards cut a road along on the sideof the mountain. But at this time it was possible for men and animals toproceed along the bed of the torrent.
Suddenly while struggling with the difficulties of the ascent, a vastnumber of the natives appeared on the hills on either side, and began tohurl down stones and rocks upon the column below, while at the sametime a still stronger force attacked them in the rear. The instantthe natives made their appearance the treacherous guides, who wereproceeding with the scouts at the head of the column, attempted to maketheir escape by climbing the mountain side. The Arabs were starting offin pursuit, but Malchus checked them.
"Keep together," he shouted, "and on no account scatter; the enemy areupon us in force, and it behooves us all to be steady and deliberate inour action."
A flight of arrows was, however, sent after the traitors, and most ofthem rolled lifeless down the slope again.
Hannibal's first care was to extricate his cavalry from the gorge. Thiswas performed with great difficulty, and they were drawn up in goodorder on the narrow piece of level ground between the gorge in which theriver ran and the mountains bordering the side of the pass.
The light troops now ascended the hills on both sides, and speedilybecame engaged with the enemy. The confusion in the bed of the torrentwas tremendous. Great numbers of men and animals were killed by therocks and missiles from above, but more of the soldiers were trampled todeath by the frightened horses. The heavy infantry in the rear remainedsteady, and repulsed every effort of the main body of the enemy to breakin upon the column.
As night fell the combat ceased, but Hannibal and the troops in advanceof the column passed the night under arms at the foot of a certain whiterock standing above the ravine, and which still marks the exact site ofthe conflict. The natives had suffered heavily both from their conflictwith the light troops upon the hillside, and from the repulse of theirassaults upon the rear guard, and in the morning they did not ventureto renew the attack, and the column moved forward out of the ravineand continued its march, the natives from time to time dashing down toattack it.
The elephants were placed on the flank of the line of march, and theappearance of these strange beasts so terrified the enemy that theydesisted from their attack, and by evening the army encamped on thesummit of the pass.
The snow had already fallen deeply, the army were worn out anddispirited by the exertions and dangers through which they had passed,and had suffered great losses in men and animals in the nine days whichhad elapsed since they first entered the mountains. Hannibal gave themtwo days' rest, in which time they were joined by many stragglers whohad fallen behind, and by beasts of burden which, in the terror andconfusion of the attack, had got rid of their loads and had escaped, butwhose instinct led them to follow the line of march.
At the end of the second day Hannibal assembled his troops and addressedthem in a stirring speech. He told them that the worst part of theirjourney was now over. He pointed to them the plains of Italy, of which aview could be obtained through the pass ahead, and told them that therethey would find rest and friends, wealth and glory. The soldiers asusual responded to the words of their beloved general with shouts ofacclamation, and with renewed spirits prepared to meet the difficultieswhich still lay before them.
The next morning the march was renewed. The snow lay deep on the track,and the soldiers found that, great as had been the difficulties of theascent, those of the descent were vastly greater, for the slopes of theAlps on the Italian side are far steeper and more abrupt than are thoseon the French. Every step had to be made with care; those who strayed inthe slightest from the path found the snow gave way beneath their feetand fell down the precipice beside them.
Many of the baggage animals thus perished; but at last the head of thecolumn found itself at the foot of the steep descent in a ravine withalmost perpendicular walls, amid whose foot was in summer occupied by amountain stream. Into the depth of this ravine the rays of the sun neverpenetrated, and in it lay a mass of the previous year's snow which hadnever entirely melted, but which formed with the water of the torrent asheet of slippery ice.
The newly formed snow prevented the troops from seeing the nature of theground, and as they stepped upon it they fell headlong, sliding intheir armour down the rapidly sloping bed of ice, many dashing outtheir brains or breaking their limbs against the great boulders whichprojected through it. The cavalry next attempted the passage, but witheven less success, for the hoofs of the horses broke through the hardupper crust of the old snow and the animals sank in to their bellies.Seeing that it was impossible to pass this obstacle, Han
nibal turnedback the head of the column until they reached the top of the ascentdown which they had just come. There he cleared away the snow anderected a camp; all the infantry were then brought down into the passand set to work to build up a road along the side of the ravine.
The engineers with fire and explosives blasted away the foot of thecliffs; the infantry broke up the rocks and formed a level track. Allnight the work continued, the troops relieving each other at frequentintervals, and by the morning a path which could be traversed by menon foot, horses, and baggage animals was constructed for a distance ofthree hundred yards, beyond which the obstacle which had arrested theadvance of the army did not continue.
The cavalry, baggage animals, and a portion of the infantry at oncecontinued their way down the valley, while the rest of the infantryremained behind to widen the road sufficiently for the elephants topass along. Although the work was pressed on with the greatest vigour itneeded three days of labour in all before the elephants could be passedthrough. The animals were by this time weak with hunger, for from thetime when they had turned aside from the valley of the Isere the Alpshad been wholly bare of trees, and the ground being covered with snow,no foliage or forage had been obtainable to eke out the store of flourwhich they carried for their consumption. Nor was any wood found withwhich to manufacture the flat cakes into which the flour was formed fortheir rations.
The elephants once through, the march was continued, and, joining thetroops in advance, who had halted in the woods below the snow level,the column continued its march. On the third day after passing the gorgethey issued out on to the plain of the Po, having lost in the fifteendays' passage of the Alps great numbers of men from the attacks ofthe enemy, from the passage of the rapid torrents, from falls over theprecipices, and from cold, and having suffered still more severely inhorses and baggage animals.
Of the 59,000 picked troops with which he had advanced after theconquest of Catalonia, Hannibal reached the plains of Italy with but12,000 African infantry, 8,000 Spanish and Gaulish infantry, and 6,000cavalry--in all 26,000 men. A small force indeed with which to enterupon the struggle with the might and power of Rome. Of the 33,000 menthat were missing, 13,000 had fallen in the passes of the Pyrenees andthe march through Gaul, 20,000 had died in the passage of the Alps.