Page:The Song of the Sirens.djvu/161



OT another man," said Hannibal, "shall cross that river until those elephants are all safely over. We cannot afford to lose them, and we have none too many men on this side now."

He glowered at his brother with his domineering, preoccupied scowl, his dark face, small as it was between the low browpiece of his severe helmet and his tight curling sable beard, contracted still more in the concentration of his resolve, his black eyes glittering, his eyelids puckered, his brow knitted.

Mago smiled back his big, bland, blond, blue-eyed smile.

"Leave me a third of the cavalry," he said softly, "and I will hold off the Gauls until to-morrow night; yes, and until noon of day after to-morrow—hold them off without half trying. You won't lose an elephant."