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Carthaginians appeared. In these Malchus recognized at once the soldiers

of his escort. One of these shouted out:

"Surrender, or you are all dead men. A strong force surrounds you on

both sides, and my officers, whom you see, will give orders to their

men, who will loose such an avalanche of rocks that you will all be

swept away."

"It is only the men who escaped us," the chief cried; "push forward at

once."

But the instant the movement began the Carthaginians all shouted orders,

and a great number of rocks came bounding down, proving that they were

obeyed by an invisible army. Several of the mountaineers were crushed by

the stones, and the old chief, struck by a great rock in the chest, fell

dead. A Carthaginian standing next to Malchus was also slain.

The tribesmen gave a cry of terror. Hand to hand they were ready to

fight valiantly, but this destruction by an unseen foe terrified them.

The Carthaginian leader raised his hand, and the descent of the stones

ceased.

"Now," he said, "you see the truth of my words. Hesitate any longer and

all will be lost; but if you throw down your arms, and, leaving your

captives behind, retire by the way you came, you are free to do so.

Hannibal has no desire for the blood of the Italian people. He has come

to free them from the yoke of Rome, and your treacherous chief, who,

after our making an alliance with him, sold you to the Romans, has been

slain, therefore I have no further ill will against you."

The tribesmen, dismayed by the loss of their chief, and uncertain as to

the strength of the foes who surrounded them, at once threw down their

arms, and, glad to escape with their lives, fled at all speed up the

pass towards their village, leaving their captives behind them.

The Carthaginians then descended, Trebon among them.

"I did not show myself, Malchus," the latter said as he joined his

friend, "for the chief knew me by sight, and I wished him to be

uncertain whether we were not a fresh party who had arrived."

"But who are your army?" Malchus asked; "you have astonished me as much

as the barbarians."

"There they are," Trebon said, laughing, as some fifty or sixty women

and a dozen old men and boys began to make their way down the hill.

"Fortunately the tribesmen were too much occupied with their plunder and

you to pursue us, and I got down safely with my men. I was, of course,

determined to try to rescue you somehow, but did not see how it was to

be done. Then a happy thought struck me, and the next morning we rode

down to the plain till we came to a walled village. I at once summoned

it to surrender, using threats of bringing up a strong body to destroy

the place if they refused. They opened the gates sooner than I had

expected, and I found the village inhabited only by women, old men, and

children, the whole of the fighting men having been called away to join

the Romans. They were, as you may imagine, in a terrible fright, and

expected every one of them to be killed. However, I told them that we

would not only spare their lives, but also their property, if they would

obey my orders.

"They agreed willingly enough, and I ordered all those who were strong

enough to be of any good to take each sufficient provisions for a week

and to accompany me. Astonished as they were at the order, there was

nothing for them to do but to obey, and they accordingly set out. I

found by questioning them that the road we had travelled was the regular

one up to the village, and that you would be sure to be brought down by

it if the chief intended to send you to Rome.

"By nightfall we reached this valley. The next morning we set to work

and cut a number of strong levers, then we went up on the hillside to

where you saw us, and I posted them all behind the rocks. We spent all

the day loosing stones and placing them in readiness to roll down, and

were then prepared for your coming. At nightfall I assembled them all,

and put a guard over them. We posted them again at daybreak yesterday,

but watched all day in vain, and here we should have remained for a

month if necessary, as I should have sent down some of the boys for more

provisions when those they brought were gone. However, I was right glad

when I saw you coming today, for it was dull work. I would have killed

the whole of these treacherous savages if I had not been afraid of

injuring you and the men. As it was I was in terrible fright when the

stones went rushing down at you. One of our men has been killed, I see;

but there was no help for it."

The whole party then proceeded down the valley. On emerging from the

hills Trebon told his improvised army that they could return to their

village, as he had no further need of their services, and, delighted at

having escaped without damage or injury, they at once proceeded on their

way.

"We had best halt here for the night," Trebon said, "and in the morning

I will start off with the mounted men and get some horses from one of

the villages for the rest of you. No doubt they are all pretty well

stripped of fighting men."

The next day the horses were obtained, and Malchus, seeing that, now he

had lost all the presents intended for the chiefs, it would be useless

to pursue his mission further, especially as he had learned that the

Roman agents had already been at work among the tribes, returned with

his party to Hannibal's camp.

"I am sorry, Malchus," the Carthaginian general said, when he related

his failure to carry out the mission, "that you have not succeeded, but

it is clear that your failure is due to no want of tact on your part.

The attack upon you was evidently determined upon the instant you

appeared in sight of the village, for men must have been sent out

at once to summon the tribe. Your friend Trebon behaved with great

intelligence in the matter of your rescue, and I shall at once promote

him a step in rank."

"I am ready to set out again and try whether I can succeed better with

some of the other chiefs if you like," Malchus said.

"No, Malchus, we will leave them alone for the present. The Romans have

been beforehand with us, and as this man was one of their principal

chiefs, it is probable that, as he has forsaken his alliance with us,

the others have done the same. Moreover, the news of his death, deserved

as it was, at the hands of a party of Carthaginians, will not improve

their feelings towards us. Nothing short of a general movement among the

hill tribes would be of any great advantage to us, and it is clear that

no general movement can be looked for now. Besides, now that we see the

spirit which animates these savages, I do not care to risk your loss by

sending you among them."

The news of the disaster of Lake Trasimene was met by Rome in a spirit

worthy of her. No one so much as breathed the thought of negotiations

with the enemy, not even a soldier was recalled from the army of Spain.

Quintus Fabius Maximus was chosen dictator, and he with two newly raised

legions marched to Ariminum and assumed the command of the army there,

raised by the reinforcements he brought with him to fifty thousand men.

Stringent orders were issued to the inhabitants of the districts through

which Hannibal would march on his way to Rome to destroy their crops,

drive off their cattle, and take refuge in the fortified towns.

Servilius was appointed to the command of the Roman fleet, and ordered

to oppose the Carthaginians at sea. The army of Fabius was now greatly

superior to that of Hannibal, but was inferior in cavalry. He had,

moreover, the advantage of being in a friendly country, and of being

provisioned by the people through whose country he moved, while Hannibal

was obliged to scatter his army greatly to obtain provisions.

Fabius moved his army until within six miles of that of Hannibal,

and then took up his position upon the hills, contenting himself with

watching from a distance the movements of the Carthaginians. Hannibal

marched unmolested through some of the richest provinces of Italy till

he descended into the plain of Campania. He obtained large quantities of

rich booty, but the inhabitants in all cases held aloof from him, their

belief in the star of Rome being still unshaken in spite of the reverses

which had befallen her.

Fabius followed at a safe distance, avoiding every attempt of Hannibal

to bring on a battle.

The Roman soldiers fretted with rage and indignation at seeing the

enemy, so inferior in strength to themselves, wasting and plundering

the country at their will. Minucius, the master of horse and second in

command, a fiery officer, sympathized to the full with the anger of the

soldiers, and continually urged upon Fabius to march the army to the

assault, but Fabius was immovable. The terrible defeats which Hannibal

had inflicted upon two Roman armies showed him how vast would be the

danger of engaging such an opponent unless at some great advantage.

Such advantage he thought he saw when Hannibal descended into the

plain of Campania. This plain was inclosed on the south by the river

Vulturnus, which could be passed only at the bridge at Casilinum,

defended by the Roman garrison at that town, while on its other sides

it was surrounded by an unbroken barrier of steep and wooded hills, the

passes of which were strongly guarded by the Romans.

After seeing that every road over the hills was strongly held by his

troops, Fabius sat down with his army on the mountains, whence he could

watch the doings of Hannibal's force on the plains. He himself was amply

supplied with provisions from the country in his rear, and he awaited

patiently the time when Hannibal, having exhausted all the resources

of the Campania, would be forced by starvation to attack the Romans in

their almost impregnable position in the passes.

Hannibal was perfectly aware of the difficulties of his position. Had

he been free and unencumbered by baggage he might have led his army

directly across the wooded mountains, avoiding the passes guarded by

the Romans, but with his enormous trail of baggage this was impossible

unless he abandoned all the rich plunder which the army had collected.

Of the two outlets from the plain, by the Appian and Latin roads which

led to Rome, neither could be safely attempted, for the Roman army would

have followed in his rear, and attacked him while endeavouring to force

the passages in the mountains.

The same objection applied to his crossing the Vulturnus. The only

bridge was strongly held by the Romans, and the river was far too deep

and rapid for a passage to be attempted elsewhere with the great Roman

army close at hand. The mountain range between the Vulturnus and Cades

was difficult in the extreme, as the passes were few and very strongly

guarded, but it was here that Hannibal resolved to make the attempt to

lead his army from the difficult position in which it was placed. He

waited quietly in the plain until the supplies of food were beginning to

run low, and then prepared for his enterprise.

An immense number of cattle were among the plunder. Two thousand of the

stoutest of these were selected, torches were fastened to their horns,

and shortly before midnight the light troops drove the oxen to the

hills, avoiding the position of the passes guarded by the enemy. The

torches were then lighted, and the light troops drove the oxen straight

up the hill. The animals, maddened by fear, rushed tumultuously forward,

scattering in all directions on the hillside, but, continually urged by

the troops behind them, mounting towards the summits of the hills.

The Roman defenders of the passes, seeing this great number of lights

moving upwards, supposed that Hannibal had abandoned all his baggage,

and was leading his army straight across the hills. This idea was

confirmed by the light troops, on gaining the crest of the hills,

commencing an attack upon the Romans posted below them in the pass

through which Hannibal intended to move. The Roman troops thereupon

quitted the pass, and scaled the heights to interrupt or harass the

retreating foe.

As soon as Hannibal saw the lights moving on the top of the hills

he commenced his march. The African infantry led the way; they were

followed by the cavalry; then came the baggage and booty, and the rear

was covered by the Spaniards and Gauls. The defile was found deserted by

its defenders, and the army marched through unopposed. Meanwhile Fabius

with his main army had remained inactive. The Roman general had seen

with astonishment the numerous lights making their way up the mountain

side, but he feared that this was some device on the part of Hannibal

to entrap him into an ambush, as he had entrapped Flaminius on Lake

Trasimene. He therefore held his army in readiness for whatever might

occur until morning broke.

Then he saw that he had been outwitted. The rear of the Carthaginian

army was just entering the defile, and in a short time Fabius saw the

Gauls and Spaniards scaling the heights to the assistance of their

comrades, who were maintaining an unequal fight with the Romans.

The latter were soon driven with slaughter into the plain, and the

Carthaginian troops descended into the defile and followed their

retreating army. Hannibal now came down into the fertile country of

Apulia, and determined to winter there. He took by storm the town of

Geronium, where he stored his supplies and placed his sick in shelter,

while his army occupied an intrenched camp which he formed outside the

town.

CHAPTER XVI: IN THE DUNGEONS OF CARTHAGE

Fabius, after the escape of Hannibal from the trap in which he believed

he had caught him, followed him into Apulia, and encamped on high ground

in his neighbourhood intending to continue the same waiting tactics.

He was, however, soon afterwards recalled to Rome to consult with the

senate on matters connected with the army. He left Minucius in command,

with strict orders that he should on no account suffer himself to be

enticed into a battle. Minucius moved forward to within five miles of