t
they had come down in such proximity to the camp that the troops had
been obliged to rise and light great fires to scare them from making an
attack upon the horses.

The general had therefore consented, upon the entreaties of his nephew
Adherbal, and his son, to organize a hunt upon the following night. As
soon as the sun set the troops, who had already received their orders,
fell into their ranks. The full moon rose as soon as the sun dipped
below the horizon, and her light was ample for the object they had in
view.

The Numidian horse were to take their station on the plain; the infantry
in two columns, a mile apart, were to enter the mountains, and having
marched some distance, leaving detachments behind them, they were to
move along the crest of the hills until they met; then, forming a great
semicircle, they were to light torches, which they had prepared during
the day, and to advance towards the plain shouting and dashing their
arms, so as to drive all the wild animals inclosed in the arc down into
the plain.

The general with the two young officers and his son, and a party of
fifty spearmen, were to be divided between the two groves in which the
camps were pitched, which were opposite the centre of the space facing
the line inclosed by the beaters. Behind the groves the Numidian horse
were stationed, to give chase to such animals as might try to make their
escape across the open plain. The general inspected the two bodies
of infantry before they started, and repeated his instructions to the
officers who commanded them, and enjoined them to march as noiselessly
as possible until the semicircle was completed and the beat began in
earnest.

The troops were to be divided into groups of eight, in order to be able
to repel the attacks of any beasts which might try to break through the
line. When the two columns had marched away right and left towards the
hills, the attendants of the elephants and baggage animals were ordered
to remove them into the centre of the groves. The footmen who remained
were divided into two parties of equal strength. The general with
Malchus remained in the grove in which his tent was fixed with one of
these parties, while Adherbal and Giscon with the others took up their
station in the larger grove.

"Do you think the lions are sure to make for these groves?" Malchus
asked his father as, with a bundle of javelins lying by his side, his
bow in his hand, and a quiver of arrows hung fro