Part 32 (1/2)
Presently, the pa.s.sages began to descend rapidly.
”We are now under the Palace of King Agrippa,” she said, ”and are descending by the side of the Tyropoeon Valley.”
Presently, turning down a small side pa.s.sage, they found their way arrested by a pile of stones and rubbish. They clambered up this, removed some of the upper stones, and crawled along underneath the roof. The rubbish heap soon slanted down again, and they continued their way, as before. Another turn, and they were in a wider pa.s.sage than those they had latterly traversed.
”This is the wall of the conduit,” the woman said, touching the ma.s.sive masonry on her right hand. ”The opening is a little further on.”
Presently they arrived at a great stone, lying across a pa.s.sage, corresponding in size to a gap in the wall on the right. They made their way through this, and found themselves in the Conduit of King Hezekiah. A stream of water, ankle deep, was running through it.
”We need not go further,” the woman said. ”Once here, you cannot miss your way. It will take nigh an hour's walking through the water before you arrive at the chamber of the springs, from which there is but the one exit.”
”I will come down again with you, tonight,” John said, ”and will carry your child to the entrance. You will both need all your strength, when you sally out; so as to get well beyond the Romans, who are scattered all over the country, cutting wood for their embankments. Moreover, I shall be able to see, as I come down with you, whether all the marks are plainly visible, and that there is no fear of mistake for, once lost in these pa.s.sages, one would never find one's way again; and there would be the choice between dying of hunger, and of being found by the Romans--who will a.s.suredly search all these pa.s.sages for fugitives, as they did at Jotapata.
”Truly, I thank you with all my heart; I feel you have given me the means of saving my life--that is, if I do not fall in the fighting.”
As they made their way back to the house, John examined the marks at every turning, and added to those that were not sufficiently conspicuous to catch the eye at once. When they had gained the cellar, and replaced the boards, the woman said:
”Why should you not also leave the city, tonight? All say that there is no hope of resistance; and that John of Gischala and Simon are only bringing destruction, upon all in the city, by thus holding out against the Romans. Why should you throw away your life so uselessly?”
”I have come here to defend the Temple,” John said, ”and so long as the Temple stands I will resist the enemy. It may be it is useless, but no one can say what is the purpose of G.o.d, or whether He does not yet intend to save his Holy Seat. But when the Temple has fallen, I shall have no more to fight for; and will then, if I can, save my life, for the sake of those who love me.”
That evening, on his return from the wall, John proceeded to the house of the woman. She was in readiness for the journey. The child, who was seven or eight years old, was dressed; and the mother had a little bundle with her valuables by her. As soon as they descended into the pa.s.sage below, John offered to carry the child, but her mother refused.
”She can walk well,” she said, ”for a time, and you could not carry her upon your shoulder; for the pa.s.sages are, in many places, but just high enough for you to pa.s.s under without stooping. At any rate, she can walk for a time.”
It was not long, however, before the child, weakened by its illness, began to drag behind; and John swung her up on to his back. The marks, he found, were easily made out; and in half an hour they arrived at the entrance to the conduit. Here they were forced to walk, slowly. In some places the water, owing to the channel having sunk, deepened to the knee; at other times stones had fallen from the roof, and impeded their pa.s.sage; and it was nearly two hours before they reached the arched chamber, at the termination of the conduit. There was a stone pavement round the edge of the pool, and upon this they sat down to rest, for an hour, for both John and the woman were exhausted by the labor they had undergone.
”It is time for me to be moving,” the woman said, rising. ”It must be nigh midnight, and I must be some miles on my way before morning. The child has walked but a short distance, yet; and will do her best, now, when she knows that those wicked Romans will kill her--and her mother--if they catch them.
”Won't you, Mariamne?”
The child nodded. The Romans were the bogey with which Jewish children had, for the last five years, been frightened; and she announced her intention of walking till her feet fell off.
”I will carry you, as much as I can,” her mother said, ”but it can only be for a short distance at a time; for I, too, am weak, and your weight is too much for me.
”And now, G.o.d bless you, my friend,” she said, turning to John; ”and may He keep you safe through the dangers of the siege, and lead you to your home and parents again!”
They made their way to the end of the pa.s.sage together; climbed over the rubbish, which nearly blocked the entrance; crawled through the hole, and found themselves in the outer air. Thick low bushes covered the ground around them, and no sound was to be heard.
John rose to his feet, and looked round. Behind him, at the distance of more than a quarter of a mile, the light of the Roman watch fires showed where the legions were encamped. Beyond and above could be seen, here and there, a light in the city. No sound was to be heard, save the occasional call of a Roman sentinel. On the other side, all was dark; for the working parties always returned to camp, at night, in readiness to repel any sortie the Jews might make against the camps or working parties.
”It is a very dark night,” John said, doubtfully. ”Do you think you can find your way?”
”There are the stars,” the woman replied, confidently. ”Besides, I was born at Bethlehem, and know the country well. I shall keep on west for a while, and then turn off into the deep valleys leading down towards Masada.
”G.o.d be with you!” and, taking the child's hand, she emerged from the bushes, and glided noiselessly away into the darkness.
John set out on his return journey--which he found very much shorter than he had done coming, for the weight of a child for two hours, when walking over difficult ground, is trying even to a strong and active man. He carefully replaced the boards across the mouth of the pit, placed the lamps in a position so that he could find them in the dark and, upon going out of the house, closed the door carefully.
The next morning, that of the 29th of May, the Roman attack began.
The Fifth and Twelfth Legions had raised embankments near the Struthion--or Soapwort--Pool, facing the Castle of Antonia; while the Tenth and Fifteenth raised theirs facing the great towers of Hippicus, Phasaelus, and Mariamne. They had not carried out their work unmolested, for the Jews had now learned the art of constructing and managing war machines; and had made three hundred scorpions for throwing arrows, and forty ballistae for hurling stones and, with these, they had caused terrible annoyance and great loss to the Romans.