lie."

"I should think a good many may escape, like us," Jonas said,
presently. "There are numbers of caverns and passages, from which
they have dug the stone for the building of the houses. A lot of
the people are sure to hide away, there."

"I daresay they will," John agreed; "but I fear the Romans will
hunt them all out."

"How long do you think we shall have to stay here, John?"

"Till the Romans go, whether it is one week or two; but I do not
think they will stay here many days. The town is so full of dead
that, in this hot weather, it will be unbearable before long. At
any rate, we shall be able to pass a good deal of time in sleep. We
have not had much of it, lately. Till last night, I have not been
in the house, at night, for over a fortnight. But I felt, last
night, as if I must have a sleep, whatever came of it. I suppose
the guards at the breach must have felt the same, or the Romans
could never have got in without the alarm being given."

For a few minutes, John lay thinking of the terrible scenes that
must be passing, on the rock above; then his drowsiness overcame
him, and he was soon fast asleep.

It was dark when he woke. As he moved, Jonas spoke.

"Are you awake, John? Because if you are, let us have something to
eat. I have been awake the last four hours, and I have been wishing
you would stir."

"There was no occasion to wait for my waking, Jonas. There are the
grain and the water, close at hand; and no cooking is required."

"I wasn't going to eat till you woke, if it had been all night,"
Jonas said. "Still, I am glad you are awake; they are quiet now, up
above, and I have heard the Roman trumpets sounding. I expect that
most of them have marched back to their camp."

The next day passed like the first. Occasionally cries of agony
were heard. Sometimes bodies were hurled from the top of the rock,
but a short distance from where they were lying.

The next two days passed more quietly, but upon that following a
murmur, as of a multitude of men working, was heard. From time to
time there were heavy crashes, as masses of stones, hurled down the
precipice, struck against its face as they fell; and then bounded,
far out beyond the stream, at its foot. All these sounds were
echoed back by the surrounding hills, until it seemed as if a storm
was raging, far away in the heart of the mountains.

"They are destroying the town," John said, in answer to his
companion's question as to the cause of