The trumpets sounded no longer. All was now quiet. Spendius had raised
one of the flag-stones and, entering the water, had closed it behind
him.
Calculating the distance by the number of his steps, he arrived at the
exact spot where he had noticed an oblique fissure; and for three hours
until morning he worked in continuous and furious fashion, breathing
with difficulty through the interstices in the upper flag-tones,
assailed with anguish, and twenty times believing that he was going
to die. At last a crack was heard, and a huge stone ricocheting on the
lower arches rolled to the ground,--and suddenly a cataract, an entire
river, fell from the skies onto the plain. The aqueduct, being cut
through in the centre, was emptying itself. It was death to Carthage and
victory for the Barbarians.
In an instant the awakened Carthaginians appeared on the walls, the
houses, and the temples. The Barbarians pressed forward with shouts.
They danced in delirium around the great waterfall, and came up and wet
their heads in it in the extravagance of their joy.
A man in a torn, brown tunic was perceived on the summit of the
aqueduct. He stood leaning over the very edge with both hands on his
hips, and was looking down below him as though astonished at his work.
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