g the first to his faithful Derar,
and reserving the last for himself. They successively rushed on the
promiscuous multitude, insufficiently provided with arms, and already
vanquished by sorrow and fatigue. Except a captive, who was pardoned and
dismissed, the Arabs enjoyed the satisfaction of believing that not a
Christian of either sex escaped the edge of their cimeters. The gold and
silver of Damascus was scattered over the camp, and a royal wardrobe of
three hundred load of silk might clothe an army of naked Barbarians.
In the tumult of the battle, Jonas sought and found the object of his
pursuit: but her resentment was inflamed by the last act of his perfidy;
and as Eudocia struggled in his hateful embraces, she struck a dagger to
her heart. Another female, the widow of Thomas, and the real or supposed
daughter of Heraclius, was spared and released without a ransom; but
the generosity of Caled was the effect of his contempt; and the haughty
Saracen insulted, by a message of defiance, the throne of the Caesars.
Caled had penetrated above a hundred and fifty miles into the heart of
the Roman province: he returned to Damascus with the same secrecy and
speed On the accession of Omar, the _Sword of God_ was removed from
the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to
applaud the vigor and conduct, of the enterprise.

Chapter LI: Conquests By The Arabs.--Part IV.

Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus will equally display
their avidity and their contempt for the riches of the present world.
They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were
annually collected in the fair of Abyla, about thirty miles from the
city; that the cell of a devout hermit was visited at the same time by
a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition
would be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor
of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy martyr,
undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious and profitable
commission of despoiling the infidels. As he approached the fair of
Abyla, he was astonished by the report of this mighty concourse of
Jews and Christians, Greeks, and Armenians, of natives of Syria and of
strangers of Egypt, to the number of ten thousand, besides a guard of
five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens
paused: "For my own part," said Abdallah, "I _dare not_ go back: o