mines to work there,
and the Romans, with so vast a number of their own people in the hands
of Hannibal, would not dare to treat us with any cruelty or severity.

"Here it is different. No rumour of our fate will ever reach Hannibal,
and had every one of us died in those stifling mines he would never have
been the wiser."

The two officers both agreed with Malchus; as for the soldiers, they
were all too well pleased with their present liberty and their escape
from the bondage to give a thought to the morrow.

The next day Malchus and his companions explored the hills of the
neighbourhood, and chose several points commanding the valleys by which
their camp could be approached, as lookout places. Trees were cleared
away, vistas cut, and wood piled in readiness for making bonfires, and
two sentries were placed at each of these posts, their orders being to
keep a vigilant lookout all over the country, to light a fire instantly
the approach of any enemy was perceived, and then to descend to the camp
to give particulars as to his number and the direction of his march.

A few days later, leaving ten men at the camp with full instructions as
to what to do in case of an alarm by the enemy, Malchus set out with the
rest of the party across the mountains. The sun was their only guide
as to the direction of their course, and it was late in the afternoon
before they reached the crest of the easternmost hills and looked down
over the wide plain which divides the island into two portions. Here
they rested until the next morning, and then, starting before daybreak,
descended the slopes. They made their way to a village of some size at
the mouth of a valley, and were unnoticed until they entered it. Most
of the men were away in the fields; a few resisted, but were speedily
beaten down by the short heavy sticks which the Carthaginians carried in
addition to their spears.

Malchus had given strict orders that the latter weapons were not to be
used, that no life was to be taken, and that no one was to be hurt or
ill used unless in the act of offering resistance. For a few minutes the
confusion was great, women and children running about screaming in wild
alarm. They were, however, pacified when they found that no harm was
intended.

On searching the village large stores of grain were discovered and
abundance of sacks were also found, and each soldier filled one of these
with as much grain as he could conveniently carry. A number of o