s up and down, each time getting somewhat nearer
to the gate.

As he approached it for the third time the mahout guided him towards it,
and, accustomed at this hour to sally out, the elephant made a sudden
rush in that direction. The officer on guard shouted to his men to
close the gate, but before they could attempt to carry out the order
the elephant charged through, and at the top of his speed went down the
road.

CHAPTER XVIII: CANNAE

As the elephant tore down the road to the town many were the narrow
escapes that, as they thought, those coming up had of being crushed or
thrown into the air by the angry beast. Some threw themselves on their
faces, others got over the parapet and hung by their hands until he
had passed, while some squeezed themselves against the wall; but the
elephant passed on without doing harm to any.

On reaching the foot of the descent the mahout guided the animal to the
left, and, avoiding the busy streets of the town, directed its course
towards the more quiet roads of the opulent quarter of Megara. The cries
of the people at the approach of the elephant preceded its course, and
all took refuge in gardens or houses. The latter became less and
less frequent, until, at a distance of two miles from the foot of the
citadel, the mahout, on looking round, perceived no one in sight. He
brought the elephant suddenly to a standstill.

"Quick, my lord," he exclaimed, "now is the time."

Malchus threw off the sack, climbed out of the howdah, and slipped down
by the elephant's tail, the usual plan for dismounting when an elephant
is on its feet. Then he sprang across the road, leaped into a garden,
and hid himself among some bushes. The mahout now turned the elephant,
and, as if he had succeeded at last in subduing it, slowly retraced his
steps towards the citadel.

A minute or two later Malchus issued out and quietly followed it. He
had gone some distance when he saw an Arab approaching him, and soon
recognized Nessus. They turned off together from the main road and made
their way by bystreets until they reached the lower city. At a spot near
the port they found one of the Arabs from above awaiting them, and he
at once led the way to the house inhabited by his family. The scheme had
been entirely successful. Malchus had escaped from the citadel without
the possibility of a suspicion arising that he had issued from
its gates, and in his Arab garb he could now traverse the streets
unsuspect