Part 5 (1/2)

Meanwhile the Numidians on their way down the left bank of the Rhone had nearly reached the Roman headquarters when they met the party of cavalry whom Scipio, on his side, had sent out to reconnoitre The two detachht fiercely, and then, as Hannibal had directed, the Nu the Roinian entrenchments

Here the cavalry pulled up, and returned unpursued to Scipio with the news that they had defeated the famous Numidian horseher up the river

Ian his march northwards, which was just what Hannibal wanted

But at sunrise that sae of the elephants, and the Carthaginians had started on their way to the Alps, the heavy-armed infantry in front, with the cavalry in the rear to protect them Hannibal himself was determined not to stir till the elephants were safely over, but everything fell out as he expected, and the whole thirty-seven were soon safe beside hi with their trunks in the air

Then he followed his ive battle to the ene, arrived at the spot where three days before the Carthaginian army had been encamped, he found it empty

[Illustration: Hannibal was determined not to stir until the elephants were safely over]

Nothing is so necessary to the success of a ca correct h which your ar, had thought of this also, and had paid native guides well to lead him to the nearest passes over the Alps For four days the Carthaginiansthe Rhone, till they reached the place where the river Isere flows into it The Gallic chief of the tribes settled in this part of Gaul, being at ith his brother, was easily gained over by sohts, and in return he furnished the Carthaginians with stores fro leather sandals, and, more precious than all, with fresh weapons, for their own had grown blunted and battered in ena

At the foot of the pass leading over the Mont du Chat, or Cat Mountain, in a lower range of the Alps, the chief bade them farewell, and returned to his own doan His army consisted of many races, all different from each other, with different customs and modes of warfare, worshi+ppers of different Gods There were Iberians from Spain, Libyans and Numidians from Africa, Gauls froeneral, and trusted him completely, and followed blindly where he led

Still, the plunge into those silent heights was a sore trial of their faith, and in spite of thean their climb they found the pass occupied by numbers of Gallic tribes ready to hurl down rocks on their heads, or attack the this, Hannibal called a halt, while his native scouts stole away to discover the hiding-places of the enemy, and, as far as possible, how they intended towith them the i the night, but retired till daylight to the nearest villages Then Hannibal knehat to do As soon as it was dark he seized upon the vacant posts with his light-ar the rest, and the train of animals, to follow at sunrise

When they returned and sahat had happened in their absence the Gallic tribes were filled with rage, and lost no ti painfully over the rough ground The ani by their wounds, were thrown into confusion, and either rolled down the precipice themselves or pushed others over To save worse disasters, Hannibal sounded a charge, and drove the Gauls out of the pass, even succeeding in taking a tohich was one of their strongholds, and full of stores and horses

After a day's rest he started again, this time accompanied by some of the ene to wish for peace, and offered theuides over the next pass But Hannibal feared theifts,' and did not put much faith in their prouides of some sort were necessary, and no others were to be had

However, he ainst their treachery, placing his cavalry and baggage train in front, and his heavy troops in the rear to protect theinian army had just entered a steep and narrow pass when the Gauls, who had kept pace with them all the way, suddenly attacked them with stones and rocks Unlike their usual custo the dark hours, and did great harm; but at sunrise they had vanished, and without ed to reach the head of the pass, where for two days the men and beasts, quite exhausted, rested ae tosuns and the sands of the desert

Cold and tired though they were, hundreds of miles from their ho them to put their trust in his in the rich plains of Italy which could be seen far below the,' he said, 'not only the walls of Italy, but also those of Rome The worst is past, and the rest of the way lies downhill, and will be sht one, or at most two, battles, and Roht have been if Carthage had only supported the greatest of her sons, and sent hi when he told his soldiers that their difficulties were over, for as all accusto could have inforo down the pass than it had been to come up it A fresh fall of snow had covered the narrow track, but beneath it all was frozen hard and was very slippery The snow hid erous rocks, while landslips had carried away large portions of the path No wonder that ered and fell and rolled down the sides of the precipice At length the path, barely passable before, grew narrower still; the aro forward, and discover if the track becao on But the further he went the worseto a few sed themselves into clefts of the rock, to lower himself down the side of the cliff, which was as steep as the wall of a house Then he found right in front of hie precipice nearly a thousand feet deep, formed by a recent landslip, which entirely blocked as once a path As long as this rock re it was plain that no et round it

[Illustration: He found right in front of hi painfully back the way he had come, the soldier at once ith his report to Hannibal, who instantly made up his mind what to do

He carried supplies of some sort of explosive with him--what it e do not know--and with this he blew up the rocks in front till there was a rough pathway through the face of the precipice Then the soldiers cleared away the stones, and after one day's hard work the oxen, bearing the few stores left, and the half-starved, weary horses, were led carefully along, and down into a lower valley, where patches of grass could be seen, green amidst the wastes of snow Here the beasts were turned loose to find their own food, and a cah the path had proved wide enough for horses and oxen, it was yet far too narrow for the elephants, and it took the Nureat creatures which had struck such terror into the hearts of theloose over their bones, theytowards the friendly Gauls, in the valley of the Po

This was how in fifteen days Hannibal e of the Little St

Bernard five ena But the journey had been accomplished at a fearful cost, for of the fifty thousand ht thousand Iberians or Spaniards, twelve thousand Libyans, and six thousand cavalry, though, strange to say, not one elephant had been lost