them to show in this hour that they were men
indeed and did not fear, with their God's mighty aid, to fight for their
people and their liberty.

There was no lack of axes, clubs, sickles, brazen spears, heavy staves,
slings, the shepherds' weapons of defence against the wild beasts of the
desert, or bows and arrows, and as soon as a goodly number of strong men
had joined him, Hur fell upon the Egyptian overseers who were watching
the labor of several hundred Hebrew slaves. Shouting: "They are coming!
Down with the oppressors! The Lord our God is our leader!" they rushed
upon the Lybian warders, put them to rout, and released their fellows who
were digging the earth, and laying bricks. As soon as the illustrious
Naashon had pressed one of the oldest of these hapless men like a brother
to his heart, the other liberated bondsmen had flung themselves into the
shepherds' arms and thus, still shouting: "They are coming!" and "The
Lord, the God of our fathers, is our leader!" they pressed forward in an
increasing multitude. When at last the little band of shepherds had grown
to a body of several thousand men, Hur led them against the Egyptian
soldiers, whom they largely outnumbered.

The Egyptian bowmen had already discharged a shower of arrows, and stones
hurled from the slings of the powerful shepherds had dealt fatal wounds
in the front ranks of the foe, when the blast of a trumpet rang out,
summoning the garrison of the fortress behind the sloping walls and solid
door. The Hebrews seemed to the commander too superior a force to fight,
but duty required him to hold the fort until the arrival of the
reinforcements he had requested.

Hur, however, had not been satisfied with his first victory. Success had
kindled the courage of his followers, as a sharp gust of wind fans a
smouldering fire, and wherever an Egyptian showed himself on the
battlements of the store-house, the round stone from a shepherd's sling
struck heavily upon him. At Naashon's bidding ladders had been brought
and, in the twinkling of an eye, hundreds climbed up the building from
every direction and, after a short, bloodless struggle, the granaries
fell into the Hebrews' hands, though the Egyptians had succeeded in still
retaining the fort. During the passage of these events the desert wind
had subsided. Some of the liberated bondsmen, furious with rage, had
heaped straw, wood, and faggots against the gate of the courtyard into
which the Egyptians had been