g yell from hundreds of throats. He sprang in an instant to his
feet, as did the other occupants of the tent.

"To arms!" Hamilcar cried; "the enemy are upon us."

Malchus caught up his shield and sword, threw his helmet on his head,
and rushed out of the tent with his father.

A tremendous din had succeeded the silence which had just before reigned
in the desert, and the yells of the barbarians rose high in the air,
answered by shouts and loud words of command from the soldiers in the
other grove. The elephants in their excitement were trumpeting loudly;
the horses stamped the ground; the draught cattle, terrified by the din,
strove to break away.

Large numbers of dark figures occupied the space some two hundred yards
wide between the groves. The general's guards, twenty in number,
had already sprung to their feet and stood to arms; the slaves and
attendants, panic stricken at the sudden attack, were giving vent to
screams and cries and were running about in confusion.

Hamilcar sternly ordered silence.

"Let each man," he said, "take a weapon of some kind and stand steady.
We are cut off from the main body and shall have to fight for our lives.
Do you," he said to the soldiers, "lay aside your spears and shoot
quickly among them. Fire fast. The great object is to conceal from them
the smallness of our number."

Moving round the little grove Hamilcar posted the slaves at short
distances apart, to give warning should the enemy be attempting an
attack upon the other sides, and then returned to the side facing the
other grove, where the soldiers were keeping up a steady fire at the
enemy.

The latter were at present concentrating their attention upon their
attack upon the main body. Their scouts on the hills during the previous
day had no doubt ascertained that the Carthaginian force was encamped
here, and the occupants of the smaller grove would fall easy victims
after they had dealt with the main body. The fight was raging furiously
here. The natives had crept up close before they were discovered by the
sentries, and with a fierce rush they had fallen upon the troops before
they had time to seize their arms and gather in order.

The fight raged hand to hand, bows twanged and arrows flew, the light
javelins were hurled at close quarters with deadly effect, the shrill
cries of the Numidians mingled with the deeper shouts of the Iberians
and the yells of the natives. Hamilcar stood for a minute irresolute.

"T