"It looks as though we should have to make a stand here," the Theban cried. "We cannot surmount this."
"Are you anxious to die?" Clearchus said. "They would get above us on the banks and spear us like so many frogs."
Nathan had thrown himself from his horse. He ran to the gate. As he had expected, he found a narrow foot-path leading upward beside it.
"Come along," he cried. "Here is a way up. Leave the horses where they are."
Down the valley behind them they could hear the shouting of the guards, racing with each other in the narrow road in their eagerness to claim the great reward that Boupares had offered for the capture of the fugitives.
Clearchus and Chares dismounted and scrambled after Nathan up the path. Their horses, deserted by their riders in the darkness, neighed shrilly and strove to follow, digging their hoofs into the sand and gravel, which fell in showers into the canal.
At the top of the path a large reservoir spread placidly far to the right and left in a basin surrounded by low hills.
Nathan ran to the gate and knocked out the wooden pins that held it in place. It rose a few inches, and the water began to gush and gurgle beneath it. The Israelite seized a lever and thrust it into its notch, calling to Clearchus and Chares to do the same on the other side.
The pursuit had almost reached the foot of the gate when the leader of the detachment, a young man with a handsome face, saw that his horse was splashing through the rising water and realized the danger that threatened them. He gave a sharp command to halt. He glanced quickly forward, and then back along the way they had come, as though considering what course to take.
No time was allowed him for decision. Nathan, Clearchus, and Chares strained at the levers.