Judas laughed and assured Meph that he would make a strategist if not a champion some day; and with gigantic strides he went over the hills.
Within an hour the Fort of the Rocks was deserted by all save the women, the aged, the sick, and children. In single bands the armed men moved northward, following the depression between the hills, filing like ants close to the clumps of rock so that no eye less sharp than an eagle's would have detected a moving army. As night fell, the Jews, who had been scattered during the daylight, gathered in among the rocks bordering the great Wady. In the darkness they felt their way each to such couch as he might find between the boulders. Soon all was silent, except for the coming and going of Judas and his brethren, giving encouragement or command.
At the same time the army of Apollonius was approaching, a league to the west. A squadron of horsemen led the van. These followed the roadway, whose white line was extinguished by the clouds of dust raised by thousands of hoofs. Lance-point and helmet gleamed dimly through the darkness answering the stars, as when heavenly bodies are reflected in rippling water. The command to move in silence did not prevent the clicking of weapons and the low rumble of horses' feet on the beaten road.
Foot soldiers, armed with pikes, bows, and swords, followed the horsemen. Then came camels and asses, laden with provisions and heavier weapons. To the rear struggled hundreds of camp followers; merchants to purchase the spoil; and those of baser sort to revel in the expected rapine. The usual swarm of women were there to make their Circean camp wherever the troops should halt.
It was past midnight when the van of the Greeks reached the opening of the Wady. The soldiers needed rest after their rapid march. Each company scattered to right or left, maintaining only relative order. Then silence fell upon the host. Ten thousand men were scarcely distinguishable from the rocks and bushes amid which they slept. The sharp challenge of a sentinel, the accidental clash of a weapon against a stone, mingled with the hoot of an owl or the bark of some jackal as he found his usual path of marauding blocked by the strange forms of men.
Yet other eyes than those of night-prowling birds and beasts penetrated the darkness. Judas and his brethren had taken oversight of the Greek host almost as comprehensive as was that of Apollonius and his staff.
"I fear," said Judas to a comrade, "lest something untoward has happened the maiden; for this is the spot, and the stars mark the hour. God forbid that we have erred in sending her upon this unwomanly venture!"
"Yet," said Jonathan, "the information she has sent us is worth the sacrifice of a life."
"But not such a life, my brother. If she has been ensnared, I know not how to rejoice in any victory so dearly bought. Meph says she was at the very tent of Apollonius."