door. The Hebrews seemed to the commander too superior a force to fight,
but duty required him to hold the fort until the arrival of the
reinforcements he had requested.

Hur, however, had not been satisfied with his first victory. Success had
kindled the courage of his followers, as a sharp gust of wind fans a
smouldering fire, and wherever an Egyptian showed himself on the
battlements of the store-house, the round stone from a shepherd's sling
struck heavily upon him. At Naashon's bidding ladders had been brought
and, in the twinkling of an eye, hundreds climbed up the building from
every direction and, after a short, bloodless struggle, the granaries
fell into the Hebrews' hands, though the Egyptians had succeeded in still
retaining the fort. During the passage of these events the desert wind
had subsided. Some of the liberated bondsmen, furious with rage, had
heaped straw, wood, and faggots against the gate of the courtyard into
which the Egyptians had been forced. It would have been a light task for
the assailants to destroy every one of their foes by fire; but Hur,
Naashon, and other prudent leaders had not suffered this to be done, lest
the provisions still in the store-rooms should be burned.

It had been no easy matter, in truth, to deter the younger of the ill-
treated bondsmen from this act of vengeance; but each one was a member of
some family, and when Hur's admonitions were supported by those of the
fathers and mothers, they not only allowed themselves to be pacified, but
aided the elders to distribute the contents of the magazines among the
heads of families and pack them on the beasts of burden and into the
carts which were to accompany the fugitives.

The work went forward amid the broad glare of torches, and became a new
festival; for neither Hur, Naashon, nor Eleasar could prevent the men and