Among the Mountains.
Jonas was in high spirits as they started from the farm. He was leaving no friends behind, and so long as he had John with him he was perfectly contented. He was delighted to be on the move again, for although he had worked steadily in getting in the harvest, regular labor was distasteful to him; and accustomed as he had been to wander for weeks free and unchecked with his goats among the mountains, the regular life and order of the farm were irksome to him. John, on the other hand, was silent, replying briefly to the boy's questions. He felt the danger of the enterprise upon which he had embarked, and his responsibility as leader, and the thought of the grief which his father and mother would feel did aught befall him, weighted on his mind. Presently, however, he aroused himself.
“Now, Jonas, you must keep a sharp lookout round, for if we see any Roman soldiers in the distance I must hide my sword and buckler before they discover us, and you must stow away your sling and pouch; then we will walk quietly on. If they question us, we are going to stay with friends at Capitolias, and as there will be nothing suspicious about us, they will not interfere with us. After they have passed on, we will go back to our arms. We are not traveling in the direction of Gamala, and they will have no reason to doubt our story.”
The did not, however, meet any of the parties of the Roman horse who were scouring the country, carrying off grain and cattle for the use of the army, and they arrived in the afternoon on the bank of the Hieromax. Upon the other side of the river rose the steep slopes of Mount Galaad, high up on whose side was perched the little town of Abila.
“Here we can wait, Jonas. We are nearly opposite the town. The others will doubtless soon be here.”
It was not long before the band made their appearance, coming along in twos and threes as they had met on the river bank. By sunset the last had arrived, and John found that each of his first recruits had brought two others. He looked with satisfaction at the band. The greater part of them had been fishermen, all were strong and active, and John saw that his order that young men only should be taken had been obeyed, for not one of them was over the age of twenty-three, and, as he had laid it down as an absolute rule, all were unmarried. All were, like himself, armed with sword and buckler, and several had brought with them bags with javelin heads, to be fitted to staves later on. All their faces bore a look of determination, and at the same time of gladness.
The massacre on the lake had excited the inhabitants of the shore to fury, and even those who had hitherto held back from the national cause were now eager to fight against the Romans; but many shrank from going to Gamala, which was indeed already as full of fighting men as it could hold, and John's proposal to form a band for warfare in the mountains had exactly suited the more adventurous spirits.
All present were known to John personally. Many of them were sons of friends of Simon, and the others he had met at village gatherings, or when fishing on the lake. There were warm greetings as each accession to the party arrived, and each member of the band felt his spirits rise higher at finding that so many of those he knew personally were to be his comrades in the enterprise. When the last come had arrived John said:
“We will now be moving forward. We had best get well up the mountain before night falls; it matters not much where we camp to-night; to-morrow we can choose a good spot for our headquarters.”
It being now the height of the dry season the river was low, and they had no difficulty in wading across. Then they struck up the hill to the right of Abila until they had fairly entered the forests which clothed the lower slopes of the mountains. Then John gave the word for a halt.
Dead wood was soon collected and a fire made. Cakes of meal were baked in the ashes, and after these had been eaten the party lay round the fire, and a few minutes later John rose to his feet.
“You all know the reason for which we are gathered together here. We all long for vengeance on the oppressors of our country, the murderers of our kinsmen and friends, the men who carry off our women to shame and slavery in Rome. We are all ready to die for our country and our God; but we would fain die doing as much harm to the Romans as we can, fighting like freemen in the open, instead of rats slaughtered in a cage. That is why, instead of going into Gamala, we have gathered here.
“I am the youngest among you; but I have so far assumed the leadership because, in the first place, I have been much with Josephus, who, although he may now most unworthily have gone over to the Romans to save his life, was yet a wise governor and a great leader. From him I have learned much of the Romans. In the second place, I have seen more of their warfare than any of you, having passed through the terrible siege of Jotapata.
“Lastly, I believe that God, having saved me almost alone of all the host that defended the town, has intended me as an instrument for his service. Therefore have I taken upon myself the command, in the first place, of this band; but, at the same time, if you think that I am too young, and would rather place another at your head, I will stand aside and release from their oath those who have already sworn. I am not self-seeking. I crave no the leadership over you, and will obey whomsoever you may choose for your chief. But to whomsoever is the leader prompt obedience must be given, for there must, even in a band like this, be order and discipline. We work for the common good, but we must yield to the direction of one will and one hand. Now what say you? I will walk away to leave you free to consult one with another, and will abide by your decision whatever it be. Only, the decision once made must be adhered to. There must be no after-grumbling, no hesitation or drawing back. You must have absolute confidence and give absolute obedience to him whom you choose. For only so can we hope to succeed in our enterprises.”
John had gone but a short way among the trees when he was called back again. All had come prepared to follow him. His father had always been a man of weight and position among the villagers on the shore, and democratic as were the Jewish institutions, there was yet a certain respect paid to those of position above their fellows. John's experience, and especially his escape from Jotapata, seemed specially to mark him as one destined to play an important part. And his quiet, resolute bearing now—the feeling that he knew what was to be done and how to do it, that he was, in fact, the natural leader—came home to all, and it was with sincerity that they assured him that they accepted him as their leader.
“Very well,” John said quietly. “Then let those who have not already taken the oath stand up and do so.”
This was done, and John then said:
“Now I will tell you more of my plans, although these of course cannot be in any way settled until we see how things turn out. It is by watching for opportunities and seizing the right moment only that we can hope for success. We are all ready to give our lives for our country, but we do not wish to throw them away. We want each of us to do as much as possible. We want to live so as to share in the defense of the Temple; therefore we have to combine prudence with daring.
“As for an attack upon any strong body of Roman troops, it would be impossible unless they attempt to follow us among the mountains. One of our first duties will be to learn the country well, so that we may know where to defend ourselves should they come up after us; where from eminences we can cast down rocks upon them; where there are crags which we can climb, but up which their heavy-armed soldiers cannot follow us. This is our first task, for as yet they have not commenced to siege of Gamala. When they do so we must draw down near them and hide ourselves, mark the position of their camp, see how their tents are arranged, and where their sentries are placed.
“Then we can begin work; sometimes falling upon their guards, at other times creeping in past their sentries scattering through the camp, and at a given signal firing their tents with the brands from their fires, slaying those who first rush out, and then making off again to the hills. Then, too, they will be sending great numbers of men up the hills to cut timber and branches for their embankments, their breastworks, and the construction of the wattles to protect their machines. We shall be in hiding, and when a party of men separates from the rest we will fall upon these; we will harass their workers from a distance, always avoiding a regular combat, but hindering their work and wearing them out. Thus we may do better service to the defenders of Gamala than if we were within the walls.
“At present we have only swords, but we must get bows and arrows. It would not have been safe to have carried them across the plains, but we can procure them at Abila or Jabez Galaad. I fear that we shall not be able to interfere with the provisioning of the army, for upon the plains we shall have no chance with their cavalry; but here in these mountains, stretching away over Peraea into Arbis and Moab, we can laugh at pursuit by the Romans; and even Agrippa's light-armed Arabs will have difficulty in following us, and of them we need have little fear. At Jotapata we proved ourselves a match for the Romans, and their light-armed troops will not care to venture against me alone, as they will not know our numbers, and will fear being led into ambushes.
“There is one question which we have to consider, and this is food; as to flesh, we shall have it in abundance. There will be many flocks of goats belonging to those in Gamala straying among the mountains without an owner, therefore of goats' milk and flesh we can take abundance; but there will be a scarcity of grain. I have some money with me which we can purchase it in Abila and the villages. As for Jabez Galaad it is too close to Gamala, and the Romans will probably ascend the hill and destroy it, or place a guard there. At any rate, the money will be sufficient to purchase meal for us for some time, much longer probably than Gamala will be able to hold out, and when that has fallen it will be time to arrange about the future. Only let us take nothing without payment; let us not be like the robber bands which prey upon the people, until they long for the Romans as masters.
“Only we must remember that while we desire now to do the Romans as much harm as possible, this is but the beginning of our work, and that we must save ourselves for the future. Gamala is but one town, and we shall have plenty of opportunities for striking at the enemy in the future. We have put our hands to the plow now, and so long as the war lasts we will not look back. It may be that our example may lead others to follow it, and in that case the Romans' difficulties will thicken every day.
“Were there scores of bands of determined men like us hanging around them, ready to attack small bodies whenever they venture away from their camps to gather in provisions and forage, and to harass them at night by constant alarms, we could wear them out; only we must always avoid a pitched battle. In irregular fighting we are as good as they; better, for we can move more quickly; but when it comes to fighting in order of battle we have no chance with them whatever. Their cavalry the other day outside Tarichea were like wolves among a flock of sheep. Nothing but disaster can come of fighting in the plain.
“Every people should fight in the way that suits them best, and an attempt to meet an enemy in their own way of fighting is sure to lead to disaster. Let the Romans keep the plain with his cavalry and his heavy infantry; let the Jew, light-footed and swift, keep to the hills. He is as much superior there as is the Roman in the plains. And now we must establish signals. One long note will mean, gather to me; two, fall back gradually; three, retire at once with all speed to the spot agreed upon before setting out in the morning.
“Two short notes will mean, advance and attack in the manner arranged; one short note oft repeated will tell you the Romans are advancing, sound your horns; for it were well that each provided himself with a cow's horn, so that the signals can be repeated. If we are scattered over a hillside among the trees, and the Romans hear horns sounded in many quarters, they will think there must be a large body of men assembled. This will make them slow and cautious in all their movements, will force many to stand prepared with their arms to guard those at work, and will altogether confuse and puzzle them. And now we will lie down and sleep; as soon as it is dawn we will be on foot again.”
The next two days were spent in exploring that part of the mountains, examining the direction and extent of each valley and ravine, seeing where steep precipices afforded an opportunity for rolling down rocks upon an enemy passing along the valley or trying to storm the height, in searching for pools in dried water-courses, and in deciding upon a spot favorable for the camp.
They fixed upon a spot high up on the mountains, two miles east of Abila, as their headquarters. It was in a pass between two peaks, and gave them the option of descending either to the north or south, or of skirting along the mountains toward the sources of the Jabbok River, and thence crossing the Hermon range beyond the limits of Peraea. Jonas was sent the first thing to discover whether the Romans had taken possession of Jabez Galaad, which lay but five miles from Gamala, and on the southern side of the range of hills on whose western spur Gamala was built.
He returned in a short time saying that he had found the inhabitants in a state of great alarm, for that a Roman force could be seen coming up the road from the plain. Most of the fighting men of the town were in Gamala; the rest of the young women were leaving, so that only old people and children would be found in the town when the Romans arrived. Jonas also brought word that Vespasian's whole army was moving against Gamala. John had given Jonas money before he started to purchase bows and arrows. He had brought back bows for the whole party, and as many arrows as he could carry.
“I paid nothing for them,” he said as he threw them down. “The man who sold them was praying those who were leaving the town to take them, for he thought that if the Romans found them in his house they would destroy it; but no one listened, all were too busy in carrying off such of their household goods as they could take to burden themselves further; so he gladly gave me as many as I could take. I carried off nearly all his bows, and I left him breaking up the rest of his store of arrows in order to burn them before the Romans arrived. A boy carrying a bag of arrow-heads came with me some little distance. I paid the man for them, and they are now hidden in the forest. You can fetch them when you will, but I could not carry more with me that I have got.”
“You have done well, Jonas,” John said as the men seized each a bow and divided the arrows among them; and then stood waiting, expecting orders from John to proceed at once to harass the Roman column as it ascended the hill.
“No,” John said in answer to their looks, “we will not meddle with them to-day. Did we shoot at them they would suppose that we belonged to Jabez Galaad, and would in revenge destroy the town and all those they may find within it, and our first essay against them would bring destruction upon thousands of our countrymen.”
The others saw the justness of his reasoning, and their faith in him as their leader was strengthened by his calmness and readiness of decision.
“Is the bag of arrow-heads heavy, Jonas?”
“It was as much as the boy, who was about my age, could carry,” Jonas replied.
“Then do you, Pineas, and you Simeon, go with Jonas to the place where the bag is hidden, and carry it to the place we have fixed upon for our camp. If on the way you come across a herd of goats, shoot two or three of them and take them with you, and get fires ready. The day is getting on, but we will go across the mountains and see where the Romans are pitching their camp, and by sunset we will be with you.”
Making their way along the mountain the band came, after an hour's walk, to a point where they could obtain a view of Gamala.
The city stood on the western extremity of the hill, which, after sloping gradually down, rose suddenly in a sharp ridge like the hump of a camel, from which the town had its name, Gamala. On both sides this rock ended abruptly in a precipitous chasm, in which ran the two branches of the Hieromax, which met at the lower end of the ridge, and ran together into the end of the lake at Tarichea, three miles away.
Thus Gamala was only accessible from behind, where the ridge joined the mountains. Across this neck of land a deep fosse had been dug, so as to cut off all approach. The houses were crowded thickly on the steep slope of the ridge, which was so abrupt that the houses seemed to overhang one another. On the southern crag, which was of immense height, was the citadel of the town. There was a spring supplying abundance of water within the walls. Had it been defended by a garrison as brave and numerous as that of Jotapata it would have been well-nigh impregnable, but Cheres and Joseph, who commanded, had none of the genius of Josephus, although they were brave and determined. The city was crowded with fugitives from all parts, and had already, for seven months, resisted a besieging force which Agrippa had sent against it.
It was impossible to blockade the whole circuit of the town, but Vespasian took possession of all the neighboring heights and established his camp, with that of the Fifteenth Legion, on the hill facing the city to the east. The Fifth Legion threw up works opposite the center of the city, while the Tenth set to work to fill up ditches and ravines in order to facilitate the approaches. Agrippa approached the wall to persuade the inhabitants to surrender, but was struck in the right elbow by a stone from a sling and forced to retire.
This insult to the native king, who came in the character of an ambassador, enraged the Romans, and they set about the operations for the siege with great vigor. In spite of the efforts of the Jews the fosse which protected the wall on the east was speedily filled up, and the Romans then began, as at Jotapata, to raise an embankment facing the wall.
The day after the Romans had established their camp John and his followers advanced along the mountain until they could look down upon it, and for a long time watched the Romans at work, and learned all the details of the camp.
“You must fix them in your minds,” John said, “in order that even on a dark night you may be able to make your way about it without difficulty, so that you may be able, after striking a blow, to fly directly to the mountain, for any who get confused and miss their way will assuredly be killed. You see the enemy have placed a strong guard half-way up the hillside in order to protect themselves from surprise; but it will be possible, by moving down to the streams and then mounting again, to reach the camp without passing through them. And by the same way we must make our retreat, for if we succeed in setting the camp on fire the flames will enable the guard on this mountain to see us approaching them. I had hoped that we might be able to penetrate unobserved to the tent of Vespasian, and to slay him and some of his generals; but by the bustle that we see round that tower on the hillside, and by the strong force of cavalry picketed round it, it is evident that he has taken up his quarters there, and, indeed, from the top of the tower he can look down upon the town and on all that is passing there, and issue his directions to his troops accordingly, so we must give up that idea. Another time we may be more fortunate. But, see, a great number of troops are ascending the hill toward us, doubtless to cut timber for their works. As soon as they are at work we will attack them.”
The party retired into the forest, and as soon as they heard the sound of the Roman axes they crept quietly forward, moving noiselessly with their sandaled feet among the trees. When within a short distance of the Romans John ordered them to halt, and crept forward with Jonas to reconnoiter. There was little fear of their being heard, for several hundred men were at work felling trees, a line of sentries at ten paces apart standing under arms to prevent a surprise. The Romans were working too thickly to permit of any successful action by so small a party, and John saw that the idea of attack must be abandoned, and that he must confine himself for the present to harass the sentries.
Rejoining his men he told them what he had discovered, and bade them scatter along the line, and, crawling up under the protection of the trees, to approach as near as they could to the line of sentries, and then to shoot at them or at the workmen, many of whom, having thrown off their heavy armor to enable them the better to work, offered more favorable marks for the arrows than the sentries, whose faces only were exposed. They were on no account to come to close quarters with the Romans. If the latter advanced they were instantly to retire, approaching again as soon as the Romans recommenced their work; and so to continue until he blew the signal for them to draw off altogether. They were not to begin until they heard his signal for attack.
After allowing some little time to elapse for the men to get into position, John blew his horn. A moment, and cries and shouts were heard along the whole Roman line. The sound of chopping instantly ceased, and the Roman trumpets blew to arms. John had advanced sufficiently near to see the Roman workmen before he gave the signal. Jonas was a little in advance of him, and as the horn sounded he saw him step up from behind a tree, whirl his sling round his head and discharge a stone, and almost simultaneously a Roman sentinel, some forty paces away, fell with a crash upon the ground.
The Roman soldiers who had retained their armor ran instantly forward to support their sentries. The others hastily buckled on their breastplates, caught up their bucklers and helmets, and joined their comrades. Arrows continued to fall among them from their invisible foes, and although most of these fell harmless from their armor, several soldiers fell in addition to the seven or eight who had been killed by the first volley. The centurion on command soon saw that the number of assailants was small, but, afraid of being drawn into an ambush, he hesitated to give orders for an advance, but dispatched a messenger instantly to camp, contenting himself with throwing out strong parties a hundred yards in advance of his line. These now became the objects of attack, while arrows ceased to fall among the main body of the troops.
John moved round the flank till he gained a position whence he could observe the camp. The trumpets above had been heard there, and the troops had already taken up their position under arms. As he looked on he saw the messenger run up to a party of mounted officers. A minute later a trumpet sounded, and a strong body of Arabian archers advanced at a run up the slope. John at once withdrew to his first position, and sounded the order for instant retreat, and then hurrying back half a mile, sounded the note for his followers to assemble at the spot where he was standing.
In a few minutes all had joined him. They were in high spirits at the success of this first skirmish, and wondered why they had been so suddenly called off when the Romans had shown no signs of advancing against them.
“There are fully a thousand Arab archers in the forest by this time,” John said. “They are as fleet of foot as we are, and it would be madness to remain. We have stopped their work for a time, and have killed many without a scratch to ourselves. That is well enough for to-day; to-morrow we will beat them up again.”
At daybreak two of the party were sent forward to the edge of the wood to see with what force the Romans went out to work. They brought back the report that they were accompanied by a strong body of archers, and that as soon as they reached the forest the archers were scattered in front of them for a long distance, and that it would be impossible to approach them unobserved. On the previous afternoon John had dispatched Jonas to Abila, and he had returned with a number of cow horns. Round the fires in the evening the men set to work to pierce the points with heated arrowheads, and had converted them into instruments capable of giving a deep, prolonged sound. On the return of the scouts John set his men in motion.
“We cannot fight them to-day, but we can hinder their work. We will scatter through the forest, and as we approach them each is to sound his horn, and continue to do so from time to time. The Romans will think that a great force is advancing against them.”
This was done with the effect John had anticipated. Hearing the sound of the horns all over the mountain side, the Romans concluded that a great force was advancing to attack them, and the archers were at once recalled.
The troops all stood to arms, and for several hours remained waiting an attack. Then after strong bodies of heavy-armed troops, preceded by the archers skirmishing before them, had pushed some distance into the forests without meeting with an enemy, the work recommenced, a considerable number still standing to their arms as protectors of the rest. Although a certain amount of time had been gained for the city by the interruption of the work of bringing in timber, John had undertaken these sham attacks rather with the purpose of accustoming his band to work together and to give them confidence, than with the view of troubling the Romans. In this he was perfectly successful. The band when they reached their camp that evening were in high spirits.
They had for two days puzzled and baffled a large Roman force, and inflicted some loss upon them, and forced them to desist from their work. They were pleased with themselves and their leader, and had lost much of the dread of the Romans which the capture of Jotapata, Japha, and Tarichea, and the tales of their cruelty and ferocity, had excited among the whole population. A reverse at the commencement of their work would have been fatal, and John had felt that however earnest the men were in their determination to die fighting for their country, the loss of a few of their number at the outset would have so dispirited the rest that the probability was that the band would disperse, or would at any rate be unwilling to undertake any desperate operation. But in their present mood they were ready for any enterprise upon which he might lead them, and he accordingly told them that he should abstain next day from a continuance of his attacks upon the working party, but that at night he would carry out the design of setting fire to their camp.
Accordingly the following day the Romans pursued their work unmolested, although they still continued the precaution of keeping a force of archers and parties of heavy-armed troops in advance of those working in the wood. John did not move till the afternoon, and then, descending the hill to the right, he skirted along in the lower forest until within two miles of Gamala; here he halted until nightfall. While waiting for the hour of action he gave final instructions to his men and assigned them to the order in which they should ascend from the river toward the rear of the camp. When they approached the spot where they would probably find Roman sentries posted they were to advance singly, crawling along upon the ground.
Those who first went through were to keep straight on until they reached the further end of the camp, stopping as near as they could judge fifty paces apart. They were then to wait for half an hour so as to be sure that all would have gained their allotted positions. Then when they saw a certain star sink below the horizon (a method of calculating time to which all were accustomed) they were to creep forward into the Roman camp, and each to make his way as noiselessly as possible until he came within a few paces of one of the smoldering fires of the Romans and to wait until they heard a single note from John's horn. Each was at once to spring forward, seize a lighted brand and fire the nearest tent, and then to crawl away, cutting, as they went, the ropes of the tent, so as to bring them down and create as much confusion as possible. Then, either by crawling, or, if discovered, by leaping to their feet and making a sudden rush, all were to make their way down to the river again, to follow its banks for half a mile, and then wait in a body for an hour. At the end of that time they were to make their way back to their camp in the mountains, certain by that time that all who were alive would have rejoined them. Should he himself not be with the party they were at once to proceed to the election of another leader.
At about ten o'clock they again moved forward, and descending to the river followed its banks until they arrived at the spot they had fixed on; then in single file they began to climb the hill. John placed himself in the middle of the line in order to have a central position when the attack began. As soon as they reached the top of the slope they lay down and one by one crawled forward into the darkness, two or three minutes being allowed to elapse between the departure of each man. They could hear the call of the Roman sentries as they answered each other every half-hour, and knew that the line was but a hundred yards or so in front of them.
The night was very dark, and no sudden shout proclaimed that those ahead had been noticed. When John's turn came to advance, Jonas was to follow next behind him. All had left their bows, arrows, bucklers, and swords behind them, and carried only their knives, for they had not come to fight, and the knives were required only for cutting the tent-ropes, or, in case of discovery, to enable them to take a life or two before they fell fighting. Each had sworn to kill himself if he found escape impossible, in order to escape a death by torture if he fell alive into the hands of the Romans.
John, on approaching the line of sentries, was guided by sound only in trying to avoid them. He could not see their figures, but could hear the sound of their footsteps and the clash of their arms as they tramped a few yards backward and forward. He was, like his comrades, stripped to the waist, having only on a short garment reaching half-way down the knee, as it was upon speed and activity that his life would depend.
Without interruption he crawled through the lines of sentries, and continued his course until he was, as near as he could tell, opposite the center of the long line of tents; then he lay quiet watching the setting of the star. No sound was heard from the camp in front, although from down the hillside beyond it came a confused noise, as if a host of men at work, and the glare of many fires reddened the skies, for there five thousand men were at work raising the embankment against the doomed city, while the archers and slingers maintained a never-ceasing conflict of missiles with the defenders on the walls.
The star seemed to John as if it hung on its course, so long was it in sinking to the horizon. But at last it sank, and John, crawling noiselessly forward, made his way into the Roman camp.
It was arranged with wide and regular streets laid out with mechanical accuracy. Here and there, in front of a tent of a commanding officer, sentries paced to and fro, the sound of their footsteps and the clash of their arms each time they turned giving warning of their positions. In the center of the streets the fires, round which the soldiers had shortly before been gathered, still glowed and flickered; for although the days were hot the cold at night rendered fires desirable, and there was an abundance of fuel to be obtained from the hills.
John crawled along with the greatest care. He had no fear of being seen, but had he come roughly against a tent-rope he might have brought out some wakeful occupant of the tent to see who was moving.
He continued his course until he found himself opposite a fire in which some of the brands were burning brightly, while there was no sentry on guard within a distance of fifty yards. So far everything had gone well; neither in passing through the lines of the sentries nor in making their way into the camp had any of the band been observed. It was certain now that some at least would succeed in setting fire to the tents before they were discovered, and the wind, which was blowing briskly from the mountains, would speedily spread the flames, and a heavy blow would be inflicted upon the enemy.