Malchus advanced to meet him, sword in hand, when an arrow from Nessus whizzed past him and struck the chief in the throat, and his body fell heavily down the rocks.
"That is not fair," Malchus said angrily.

"I would fain have fought him hand to hand." The Arab bowed his head.
"My lord," he said, "the combat would not have been even; the man had the upper ground, and you would have fought at a grievous disadvantage.
Why should you risk your life in a fight with the swords, when my arrow has answered all purposes?
What should I have said if I had gone back without you?
What satisfaction would it have been to me to avenge your fall?
What would they have said to me when I told them that I looked on idly while you engaged in such a struggle?
Valour is valour, and we all know that my lord is the bravest among us; but the life of the cousin of our general is too valuable to be risked for nought when we are embarked upon a great enterprise." "Look, Nessus! what is there ?" Malchus exclaimed, his attention attracted by a dark object which was crossing the narrow path some distance ahead and ascending the steep side of the gorge.

"It is a bear, let us follow him; his flesh will form a welcome change for the company tonight." The bear, who had been prowling in the bottom of the ravine, had been disturbed by the fall of the body of the savage near him, and started hastily to return to its abode, which lay high up on the face of the cliff.

Malchus and his companion hurried forward to the spot where it had crossed the path.

The way was plain enough; there were scratches on the rock, and the bushes growing in the crevices were beaten down.