gave to the chariots which came on behind
room to open to the right and left. The king's bodyguard shook the
solid formation of the Rebu spearmen with their thick flights of
arrows, and the chariots then dashed in among them. The Rebu fought
with the valor of their race. The Egyptians who first charged among
them fell pierced with their arrows, while their horses were stabbed
in innumerable places. But as the stream of chariots poured over
without a check, and charged in sections upon them, bursting their way
through the mass of footmen by the force and fury with which they
charged, the infantry became broken up into groups, each fighting
doggedly and desperately.

At this moment the officer in command of the Rebu horse, a thousand
strong, charged down upon the Egyptian chariots, drove them back
toward the swamp, and for a time restored the conflict; but the breaks
which had occurred between the Rebu center and its two flanks had
enabled the Egyptian bodyguard to thrust themselves through and to
fall upon the Rebu chariots and spearmen, who were still maintaining
the desperate conflict. The Rebu king had throughout fought in the
front line of his men, inspiriting them with his voice and valor. Many
times, when his chariot was so jammed in the mass that all movement
was impossible, he leaped to the ground, and, making his way through
the throng, slew many of the occupants of the Egyptian chariots.

But his efforts and those of his captains were unavailing. The
weight of the attack was irresistible. The solid phalanx of Egyptian
chariots pressed onward, and the Rebu were forced steadily back. Their
chariots, enormously outnumbered, were destroyed rather than defeated.
The horses fell pierced by the terrible rain of arrows, and the wave
of Egyptians passed over them. The king, looking round in his
chariot, saw that all was lost here, and that the only hope was to
gain one or other of the masses of his infantry on the flank, and to
lead them off the field in solid order. But as he turned to give
orders, a shaft sent by a bowman in a chariot a few yards away struck
him in the eye and he fell back dead in his chariot.

CHAPTER II.

THE SIEGE OF THE CITY.

Amuba saw his father fall, and leaping from his chariot, strove to
make his way through the mingled mass of footmen and chariots to the
spot. Jethro followed close behind him. He, too, had caught sight of
the falling figure, and knew what Amuba did not--that th