Evening star., 1926-11-30
zzzE = Iaf1a =, :
t01e26. by EuEaas MacI.ean. }

wonder" He turned to look at the
men who crouched behind him. '1f
only | could talk to you fellows" he
lamented. But I'll try"
Touching the more agile of the two
| remaining tl1hesmen. he pointed to
Herods soldiers. then to one Of the
| javelins that lay beside him. The
man touched his own breast with his
forefinger and then indicated the en-
emy at the top of the rise. inquiringly
Antonius vigorously nodded his head
The Arabian arose, took his spear
in his right hand and his sword in his
left. and with A. wild halloo leaped
over the Roman and the unconscious
warrior before him and ran toward
the besiegers with the speed Of an
antelope.
In q moment he was off the path
and leaping up the hill. his spear
poised above his head. At the crest
he uttered his war cry again and
hurled the spear at an officer who
stood at one side of. his small COM
pany. Antonius could see the officer
fall backward, the spear buried in his
throat.
The Arabian whirled and ran back
to the path, Herod's men in wrathful
pursuit He leaped over Antonius and
his dying comrade. stopped, gathered
four Of the enemy's javelins that lay
upon the rock and hurled them one
after another at the guards, who al
ready were charging in single file on
the narrow ledge. Two Of the enemy
fell wounded. One, unhur, stumbled
over one Of his fallen comrades and
hurtled down the face of the cliff.
Three" counted Antonius. -Four"
he added. as he prepared to meet the
new rush. ~ forgot the officer
Before the attackers reached him,
however. the two Arabians leaped over
him. their spears leveled. and ran to
ensued, two men against eight. Their
spears were almost instantN disposed
of. One, deep in the body of a man
Antonius counted "Ffve.'-went into
the crevaSse. The other was broken
by a. sword stroke. The Arabians
drew their own swords and with their
daggers in their left hands lunged for
ward.
The chief. behind Antonius. crawled
forward and tapped his ally on the
arm. smiling and motioning with APP
proval at the two warriors. His
wounds were dripping and his face
was gray from pain and loss of blood.
but his eyes burned with the joy Of
battle.
Just AT this moment Herod's men
broke and ran. Two more were des-
perately wounded and another was
disarmed.
Antonius' own servant bore deep,
tagged cash in his thigh. as he limped
hack TO his master. The Roman pat.
ted him approvingly. AS the other
came up Antonius asked. mutely.
what he had found in his lone charge
up the hill.
The man made a motion as Of
throwing a javelin. Then. with his
hands spread. he indicated that the
enemy's supply of these weapons was
gone Laughing. he held up five
fingers-the number of besiegers re-
naming.
Antonius grinned. But plenty of
others are to come" he said rather
griroly 10 himself,
The men had brought back the re-
manning weapons Of the injured
guards They now had four lancee.
and each was the possessor of three
swords The chief motioned toward
the two villagers from Jezreel who
had been watching the recurrent COM
hat from the curve where they were
stationed. Antonius' servant ran to
the rear and delivered two of the
swords to them.
Now came a voice, apparently from
the air.
Soldier. Soldier" 1t cried
Where are you?" Antonius asked.
looking around him.
I'm the alcove OF the cave. | am
speaking through the opening. Look
at the ciump OF bushes on the face OF
the rock"
Antonius stared and presently be-
came aware of a mans arm waving
at him almost directly across the
abyss but partly concealed by leaves.
This is Aaron" the voice went on.
"A great force is gathering on the
top of the mountain. / think they
are preparing to attempt a passage
down the letiges. The route is des-
perate. but they outnumber us
Send a runner half way up the
path." Antonius ordered. ''One of the
Ayabians here will carry back two OF
these swords and some daggers and
will meet him. You will need the
weapons" He thought a moment
and added Draw back all but three
Of YOUR best men and place the rest
at the mouth of the cave. III stay
here"
Aaron gave a word Of farewell. and
Antonius, In sign language. ordered