world above, Miriam aroused
Nehushta. She had been promised that this day she should be taken up the
Old Tower, and so great was her longing for the scent of the free air
and the sight of the blue sky that she had scarcely closed her eyes this
night.

"Have patience, lady," said Nehushta, "have patience. We cannot start
until the Essenes have finished their prayers to the sun, which, down in
this black hole, they worship more earnestly than ever."

So Miriam waited, though she would eat nothing, till at length Ithiel
came and led them past the cistern up the stairs to the store or
treasure chamber, where the trap-door stood wide, since, except in case
of some danger, they had no need to shut it. Next, they reached the door
of solid stone which Ithiel showed her how to open, and entered the base
of the massive building. There, far above her, Miriam saw the sky again,
red from the lights of morning, and at the sight of it clapped her hands
and called aloud.

"Hush!" said Ithiel. "These walls are thick, yet it is not safe to raise
a voice of joy in Jerusalem, that home of a thousand miseries, lest,
perchance, some should hear it through a cleft in the masonry, and cause
search to be made for the singer. Now, if you will, follow me."

So they went up and up, till at last they reached the topmost gallery,
where the wall was pierced with loopholes and overhanging platforms,
whence stones and other missiles could be hurled upon an attacking
force. Miriam looked out eagerly, walking round the gallery from
aperture to aperture.

To the south lay the marble courts and glittering buildings of the
Temple, whence, although men fought daily in them, the smoke of
sacrifice still curled up to heaven. Behind these were the Upper and the
Lower City, crowded with thousands of houses, packed, every one of them,
with human beings who had fled hither for refuge, or, notwithstanding
the dangers of the time, to celebrate the Passover. To the east was the
rugged valley of Jehoshaphat, and beyond it the Mount of Olives, green
with trees soon to be laid low by the Romans. To the north the new city
of Bezetha, bordered by the third wall and the rocky lands beyond. Not
far away, also, but somewhat in front of them and to the left, rose the
mighty tower of Antonia, now one of the strongholds of John of Gischala
and the Zealots, while also to the west, across the width of the city,
were the towers of Hippicus, Phasael and Mariamne, backed by the