uish and
misery which the town endured, pulled her lover away in moments of
combat, snatched the bow from his hands, and dragging him from the
battlements, they hid beneath the hollow of a stairway at the foot of
the rampart, and made love with fresh ardor, their pleasure seeming the
more intense because threatened by the singing arrows and the cries and
exclamations of pain and fury overhead.

The respite lasted only twenty days. Breaking the silence of the camp
the carpenters' hammers rung ceaselessly and the besieged saw gradually
rising a great wooden tower several stories high, taller than the walls
of the city.

Hannibal regained his strength, and was eager to continue the siege. In
his desire that the enemy should see him without delay, he left his
tent, in spite of his still open wound, he mounted his horse, and rode
out of the camp to gallop along the walls, followed by his captains.

The Saguntines were dazed at the sight of him. He shone like a coal of
fire upon his black horse; the sun wrapped him in a splendor which
blinded, as if he were a divinity. He wore the cuirass and helmet made
of gold from the rivers which the Galician tribes had brought him as a
present. The chieftain preferred the bronze armor which he had ever
worn in his battles, but his parade around Saguntum was like a
resurrection, and he wished the besieged to behold him dazzling and
majestic as a god.

With the reappearance of Hannibal the siege began fiercer than before.
The Saguntines understood from the first moment that the besiegers had
taken advantage of the cessation of hostilities to augment their
offensive power. With great effort they dragged up the enormous wooden
tower which they had constructed. Archers were stationed in the
different stories to shoot through the loopholes in the sides. The upper
platform dominated the wall in such wise that its catapult hurled great
stones over the merlons, sowing death among the defenders.

Hannibal seemed everywhere at once, irritated by the tenacity of the
Saguntines, and eager to terminate the siege without delay.

It was impossible to remain uncovered on the walls. The tower had been
placed near the projecting part of the city which Hannibal considered
the weakest. Darts and stones fell ceaselessly and while the defenders
sought refuge behind the merlons, unable to step out into the crenels,
the battering-rams pounded at the base under the protection of the
tower, hammering agains