ot leave, being sure that it would open its
gates before many days were over.

Narr' Havas, who wandered about among the three armies, was at that
time with him. He supported his opinion, and even blamed the Libyan for
wishing in his excess of courage to abandon their enterprise.

"Go, if you are afraid!" exclaimed Matho; "you promised us pitch,
sulphur, elephants, foot-soldiers, horses! where are they?"

Narr' Havas reminded him that he had exterminated Hanno's last
cohorts;--as to the elephants, they were being hunted in the woods,
he was arming the foot-soldiers, the horses were on their way; and the
Numidian rolled his eyes like a woman and smiled in an irritating manner
as he stroked the ostrich feather which fell upon his shoulder. In his
presence Matho was at a loss for a reply.

But a man who was a stranger entered, wet with perspiration, scared,
and with bleeding feet and loosened girdle; his breathing shook his
lean sides enough to have burst them, and speaking in an unintelligible
dialect he opened his eyes wide as if he were telling of some battle.
The king sprang outside and called his horsemen.

They ranged themselves in the plain before him in the form of a circle.
Narr' Havas, who was mounted, bent his head and bit his lips. At last he
separated his men into two equal divisions, and told the first to wait;
then with an imperious gesture he carried off the others at a gallop and
disappeared on the horizon in the direction of the mountains.

"Master!" murmured Spendius, "I do not like these extraordinary
chances--the Suffet returning, Narr' Havas going away--"

"Why! what does it matter?" said Matho disdainfully.

It was a reason the more for anticipating Hamilcar by uniting with
Autaritus. But if the siege of the towns were raised, the inhabitants
would come out and attack them in the rear, while they would have the
Carthaginians in front. After much talking the following measures were
resolved upon and immediately executed.

Spendius proceeded with fifteen thousand men as far as the bridge built
across the Macaras, three miles from Utica; the corners of it were
fortified with four huge towers provided with catapults; all the paths
and gorges in the mountains were stopped up with trunks of trees, pieces
of rock, interlacings of thorn, and stone walls; on the summits heaps
of grass were made which might be lighted as signals, and shepherds who
were able to see at a distance were posted at interval