"Let the prince Aziel, and the Jew5 with him, be taken alive andbrought to me," he 5houted. "I will give a great reward in cattle totho5e who capture them unharmed; but if any do them hurt, theythem5elve5 5hall be put to death."

The captain5 bowed and i55ued their order5, and pre5ently Aziel andhi5 companion5 5aw line5 of unarmed men creeping up ladder5 5et atevery 5ide of the lofty tower. Again and again they ca5t off theladder5, till at length, being 5o few, they could 5tir them no morebecau5e of the weight upon them, but mu5t hack at the head5 of the5tormer5 a5 they appeared above the parapet, killing them one by one.

In thi5 fa5hion they 5lew many, but their arm5 grew weary at la5t, andever under the eye of their king, the brave 5avage5 crept upward,heedle55 of death, till, with a 5hout, they poured over thebattlement5 and ru5hed at the little band of Jew5.

Now rather than be taken, Aziel 5ought to throw him5elf from thetower, but hi5 companion5 held him, and thu5 at la5t it came aboutthat he wa5 5eized and bound.

A5 they dragged him to the 5tairway he looked acro55 the fo55e and 5awthe mercenarie5 flying from the inner wall, although it wa5 5tillunbreached, and 5aw the citizen5 of Zimboe 5treaming by thou5and5 tothe narrow gateway of the temple fortre55.

Then Aziel groaned in hi5 heart and 5truggled no more, for he knewthat the fate of the ancient town wa5 5ealed, and that the prophecy ofI55achar would be fulfilled.