"And what do you think?" Mena continued, recovering himself. "The fool threatened to stab me for it. But he'll do it, never fear. There is a long score between him and me. Unless I am mistaken, the time is at hand when we shall have the reckoning. There is one house in Tyre where the Macedonians, when they come, will get little plunder. Come then to Memphis, and you will find Mena, with slaves of his own--and I would not be surprised if Thais was among them. Flayed alive, indeed!"

"Let us have wine!" Joel cried, making an almost imperceptible sign to Simon that meant the substitution of a stronger vintage. The wine was brought, glowing like liquid amber in the flagon. In half an hour Mena was incoherently trying to explain that he knew the Jews were in correspondence with Alexander's camp, although he could not tell how, and begging Joel not to forget him when the city fell. A little longer, and two servants carried him to the house of Phradates.

CHAPTER XXXIX

JOEL BRINGS BAD NEWS

As soon as he was rid of the Egyptian, Joel beckoned to Simon.

"I must go ashore to-night," he said. "The women are in danger, and if anything is to be done to save them, it must be done now."

"The moon is shining; it will be dangerous," Simon said doubtfully.

"That cannot be helped; I must go," the young man declared.

Simon made no further remonstrance. He took up a lamp and led the way down a flight of stone stairs to the cellar, where great amphorae of wine, covered with dust and cobwebs, stood in the darkness. Picking his way between them, he advanced to the end of the cellar, where he gave the lamp to Joel while he rolled aside one of the jars. Then, with some difficulty, he raised the slab upon which it had stood, revealing a narrow opening in the floor and another flight of steps.

Down these they passed to a small chamber hewn in the rock. Around its sides ran a stone platform not more than three feet in width, and the remainder of the floor space was occupied by a pool of water.

When the wall of the city was built, its base had been laid in such a manner as to bridge a natural fissure in the rock below the water line.

Why this opening had been left, Simon did not know. Possibly it had been the intention of the architects to make it the outlet of a sewer.

If so, the plan had been abandoned, but the opening had been allowed to remain.

Standing on the ledge of stone, Joel stripped off his clothing and removed his sandals. Simon took from a niche a small jar of oil and rubbed him with the contents from head to foot, at the same time instructing him how to proceed.

"When shall you return?" he asked.

"To-night, if I can," Joel replied. "If not, then to-morrow night in the third watch. Farewell!"

"Farewell!" Simon replied, stepping back and raising his lamp so that its light fell upon the pool.

Joel drew in a long breath, clasped his hands, and plunged head-foremost into the water. Simon placed the young man's clothing in the niche, put away the oil jar, and ascended to the first cellar. He did not close the opening in the floor, but arranged the amphorae so as to conceal it, and returned to the room above.

The impetus of Joel's plunge carried him the length of the pool and into the fissure under the wall. He struck out vigorously, mindful of Simon's instructions, and knowing that if his breath should fail while he was below the masonry, nothing could save him. With the tips of his fingers he could feel the sides of the passage, and presently he became aware of a motion in the water caused by the underwash of the waves outside. His head seemed bursting, and there was a ringing in his ears. He felt that he must suffocate unless he could get air. He began to swim upward through the water, dreading each moment to feel his head strike the stones. What if the passage had been closed? None had passed through it for years, and the defenders of the city were constantly throwing down blocks of stone outside the walls. Something grazed his back. He threw his arms upward, but his hands found no obstruction. He had cleared the entrance.

He lay on the surface of the water filling his lungs again and again, and gazing up at the stars above the gray height of the wall against whose grim base the swell lazily washed. Half an hour later one of the watch on a quinquereme that lay off the mouth of the Egyptian Harbor to prevent the escape of any of the Tyrian vessels heard a voice under the stern and saw the white gleam of Joel's shoulders in the water.

There was no sound in the Macedonian camp save the monotonous cries of the sentinels when the young Israelite stepped from a small boat and climbed the southern slope of the mole. He looked back and saw Tyre, standing in the sea like an island raised upon cliffs of stone and crowned with a circle of light.

He made his way into the Old City, now hardly more than a bare ruin since houses and temples had been tumbled into the strait to lengthen the causeway. He had been provided with the pass-word, and with the assistance of the sentries he had little difficulty in finding the tent that he sought. He lifted the flap and entered. Inside he could hear the breathing of sleeping men, dominated by a tremendous snore that sounded as though it must come from the throat of a giant.

"Peace be unto thee!" Joel cried, stumbling over the legs of one of the sleepers.

"Thieves!" cried a stentorian voice, and the snoring suddenly ceased.

"It is I--Joel," the young man hastily announced.

"Joel!" exclaimed the voice of Nathan in the darkness. "How came you here?"

He slipped out of the tent and returned in a moment, blowing upon a brand from a smouldering camp-fire. With this he lighted an oil lamp that swung from the central pole of the tent. Then he threw his arms around the young man and embraced him heartily.

Joel saw Clearchus and the lazy bulk of Chares, who looked at him sleepily with his head propped on his elbow. There was another man in the tent whom he did not know--a man with firm shoulders and a square jaw, who stood glowering at him with a sword in his hand.

"Put it away, Leonidas," Clearchus said, laughing. "This is no Tyrian, but our little jailer in Babylon. How came you here?"

"I came from Tyre," Joel answered.

"From Tyre!" echoed Nathan and Clearchus. "How did you escape?"

"I swam under the wall," Joel said, "and I bring you bad news."

"Artemisia!" Clearchus cried. "Is she dead?"

"As yet she is unharmed," Joel replied.

"What is it, then? Speak!" Clearchus cried.

Joel repeated what Mena had told him.

"Is it possible to return by the way you came?" Clearchus demanded.

"It is possible for a good swimmer, but it is dangerous," Joel replied.

"I shall return with you at once," Clearchus announced, and began to belt on his sword.

"You are mad, Clearchus," Leonidas said, raising the flap of the tent.

"Dawn is breaking. It would be broad daylight before you could reach the walls."

"I am going, nevertheless," Clearchus answered calmly, continuing his preparations.

"Do you think we are going to let you go alone?" Chares roared. "No, by Zeus; I am going, too! I have something I wish to say to Thais."

He proceeded to arm himself, adjusting with care a breastplate inlaid with gold.

"Wait!" cried Nathan. "I have a better plan. When does this sacrifice take place?"

"It was to be on the second day," Joel replied. "That will be to-morrow."

"Then we have another night before us," Nathan said. "Do you think my people in Tyre will surrender their first-born to Moloch? Not while Jehovah reigns will they do that, nor will Jehovah permit the sacrifice. It would be folly to think of entering the city now. We should be discovered, and all would be ruined. We can enter at nightfall, if need be, and my people will join us to save their own.

Let us consult Alexander. It may be that he will order the attack and that Jehovah will give Tyre into his hands to-day. At any rate, if it is a question of dying, we can die to-morrow as well as now."

Leonidas nodded. "You are right," he said.

"Are you satisfied, Clearchus?" Chares asked.

"Let it be as you will," the Athenian responded.