," cried the young man.

"Ay, when all were stanch," his elder brother rejoined.

"Do you then doubt our men!" exclaimed Eleazar.

"Many of them will be faithful unto death; but I know that in some
quarters there are misgivings--I may call them fears," was the grave
reply of Simon. "Not all our troops are tried warriors; some in the
camp have spoken of submission."

"Submission!" cried Eleazar, clenching his hand; "I would lash the
slaves up to the conflict as I would lash dogs that hung back in the
chase."

"On the contrary," said Maccabeus, who had hitherto listened to the
conversation in silence, "I shall proclaim that whoso is fearful, has
my free permission to depart from us in peace."

"Were that well?" asked Simon, doubtfully, "we are already so greatly
outnumbered by the foe."

"It is according to the law," replied Judas, calmly; "it is what Gideon
did before encountering Midian. We can have no man with us who is
half-hearted; no one who will count his life dear in the struggle which
is before us."

"If we are to fall in the struggle," observed Simon, "half our number
will indeed suffice for the sacrifice." He spoke without fear, but in
the tone of one who felt the full extent of the threatening danger.

"See you yon stone, my brother?" asked Maccabeus, pointing to a pillar
on the way to Shen, which was clearly visible against the background of
the deep blue sky. "Yonder is Ebenezer, _the stone of help_, which
Samuel set up in remembrance of victory over the Philistines, when God
thundered from heaven, and discomfited the foes of Israel."

"Ay, I see it," replied Simon; "and I see the power and faithfulness of
the Lord of Hosts written on that stone. We are in His hand, not in
that of Nicanor."

"Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered!" exclaimed Eleazar.

"My brother, give order that the trumpets be sounded," said Maccabeus,
"and let our proclamation be known through the camp--that all who fear
may retire at once, nor remain to shame us by turning their backs in
the day of battle."

The commands of the leader were at once obeyed; the proclamation was
issued, and its alarming effects were speedily seen. The small force
of Maccabeus began to melt like a snow-wreath under the beams of the
sun. One man remembered the tears of his newly-wedded bride, another
the helpless state of a widowed mother; the hearts of not a few were
set on their flocks and herds, while many of their comrades