d. One of
the companies which first entered had made their way quietly along the
foot of the wall, and were not noticed until they suddenly threw
themselves upon defenders of one of the gates. As soon as they had
obtained possession of this, great fires were lighted, and a large
body of Egyptian troops, headed by engineers carrying beams and
planks, advanced. The gaps across the roadway were bridged over, and
the Egyptians poured in at the gate before the Rebu could dislodge the
party which had taken possession of it. Every moment added to the
confusion of the scene. To the Rebu it seemed as if their foes were
springing from the very earth upon them, and, despairing of regaining
the ground that had been lost, they began to break away and make some
for their homes, some for the water face of the city--the only one
which was open to them, for the Egyptians were now pressing forward
from the three other faces of the town. The boats lying along the sand
were quickly crowded with fugitives and pushed off from shore, and
those who arrived later found all means of escape gone. Some threw
down their arms and made their way to their homes, others ran back to
meet the Egyptians and die fighting.

It was some hours before the conflict ceased, for the Egyptians too
were confused with the darkness, and many desperate fights took place
between different battalions before they discovered they were friends.
Light was gained by firing numbers of the houses lying nearest to the
walls; but as soon as the Egyptians advanced beyond the arc of light
they were fiercely attacked by the Rebu, and at last the trumpet
sounded the order for the troops to remain in the positions they
occupied until daylight.

As soon as morning broke a vast crowd of women were seen advancing
from the center of the town. As they neared the Egyptians they threw
themselves on the ground with loud cries for mercy. There was a pause;
and then some Egyptian officers advanced and bade a score of the women
follow them to the presence of the king. Thotmes had entered with the
troops who made their way into the city by the gate, but yielding to
the entreaties of the officers that he would not expose himself to be
killed in the confusion, perhaps by an arrow shot by his own soldiers,
he had retired to the plain, and had just returned to take part in the
occupation of the city.

The Rebu women were led to him over ground thickly covered with dead.
Fully half the defenders