"To seek the body of my betrothed. If it be the will of the gods, I will consign it to a tomb."
"Come, then, you shall," I said, deeply affected by her sorrow, her resignation, and her courage; "and may Ashtoreth protect us all!"
Hannibal gave the order to march. Bichri, ever indefatigable, went to the head of the column, leading Hazael by the cord which bound his wrists; Gisgo, with his hatchet on his shoulder, kept close to the eunuch on the other side; and Himilco, with his sword drawn, followed on behind. We advanced in silence towards the woods, choosing such hollows in the ground as the moonlight left in shadow, and in a short time were within sight of the dark masses of foliage that bounded the moonlit plain. Making our way as stealthily as we could through the thickets, we came to a mound near the edge of the steep that we had scaled in the morning. It was an abrupt elevation of the soil, and was described to us by Hazael as being the place known as the Wolf's knoll, and which Bodmilcar had fixed as the rally-point of his people. When we halted there was not a light to be seen, not a sound to be heard, nothing to break the gloom or the stillness of the forest.
"Before we give the signal for attack," said Hannibal, under his breath, "we ought to know what they are doing."
"I know my way," said the eunuch; "let me go and look, that I may bring you word."
"Thanks," said Himilco; "you are very good—we will not trouble you."
After this sarcastic rebuff to his very transparent pretext for eluding us, Hazael was relapsing into his former silence, when Bichri suggested that he should himself take the eunuch and go and ascertain the actual position of affairs, adding that if he made a movement to escape, he would plunge his knife hilt-deep into his body.
Hannibal gave his consent, and the two disappeared in the thicket, Bichri pushing on his prisoner before him. In less than half an hour there was a crushing of the brushwood, and they were before us again.
"What news?" we asked.
"The rascal has deceived us," said Bichri; "we went all round the mound, not a man, however, was to be seen."