then remembered that he had heard that at nightfall numbers of
bats could be seen flying up from the openings to the reservoirs to
seek food without, returning to their hiding places when morning
approached.

Malchus amused himself by thinking over the fury and astonishment
of Hanno and his colleagues on hearing that their prisoner had
disappeared, and he pictured to himself the hot search which was
no doubt going on throughout the citadel. He thought it improbable
in the extreme that any search would be made in the reservoir.
Nessus would refasten the gate after passing through it again, and
the idea that he could be floating on the subterranean lake could
hardly occur to them.

Then he turned over in his mind the various devices by which it
might be possible to get beyond the walls of the citadel. The
anxiety of Hanno and those acting with him to prevent the manner
in which they had kidnapped and sentenced to death the messenger
and kinsman of Hannibal from becoming known in the city, would
be so great that extraordinary vigilance would be used to prevent
any from leaving the citadel. The guards on the walls would be
greatly increased; none would be allowed to pass the gate without
the most rigourous examination; while every nook and corner of
the citadel, the temples, the barracks, storehouses, and stables,
would be searched again and again. Even should a search be made
in the reservoir, Malchus had little fear of discovery; for even
should a boat come towards the spot where he was lying, he would
only have to pass the raft round to the opposite side of the great
pillar, some twelve feet square, against which he was lying.