ht. He was said to have sworn an
oath that he would slay the Prefect of Horse, Marcus, with whom he had
an ancient quarrel, or be slain himself. It was told, indeed, that they
had met once already and struck some blows at each other, before they
were separated by an accident of war.

The beginning of August came at length, and the wretched city, in
addition to its other miseries, panted in the heat of a scorching summer
sun and was poisoned by the stench from the dead bodies that filled the
streets and were hurled in thousands from the walls. Now the Romans
had set up their battering engines at the very gates of the Temple, and
slowly but surely were winning their way into its outer courts.

On a certain night, about an hour before the dawn, Miriam woke Nehushta,
telling her that she was stifling there in those vaults and must ascend
the tower. Nehushta said that it was folly, whereon Miriam answered that
she would go alone. This she would not suffer her to do, so together
they passed up the stairs according to custom, and, having gained the
base of the tower through the swinging door of stone, climbed the steps
that ran in the thickness of the wall till they reached the topmost
gallery. Here they sat, fanned by the faint night wind, and watched the
fires of the Romans stretched far and wide around the walls and even
among the ruins of the houses almost beneath them, since that part of
the city was taken.

Presently the dawn broke, a splendid, fearful dawn. It was as though the
angel of the daybreak had dipped his wing into a sea of blood and dashed
it against the brow of Night, still crowned with her fading stars. Of a
sudden the heavens were filled with blots and threads of flaming colour
latticed against the pale background of the twilight sky. Miriam watched
it with a kind of rapture, letting its glory and its peace sink into
her troubled soul, while from below arose the sound of awakening camps
making ready for the daily battle. Soon a ray of burning light, cast
like a spear from the crest of the Mount of Olives across the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, struck full upon the gold-roofed Temple and its courts. At
its coming, as though at a signal, the northern gates were thrown wide,
and through them poured a flood of gaunt and savage warriors. They came
on in thousands, uttering fierce war-cries. Some pickets of Romans tried
to stay their rush; in a minute they were overcome and destroyed. Now
they were surging round the