The Roman general was surprised and pleased with the moderation of the demand.  He had feared that Malchus would have insisted upon being restored with his companions to the Carthaginian army in Italy.  Such a proposition he would have been unwilling to forward to Rome, for it would have been a confession that all the Roman force in the island was incapable of overcoming this handful of desperate men, and he did not think that the demand if made would have been agreed to by the senate.  The present proposition was vastly more acceptable.  He could report without humiliation that the Carthaginian slaves had broken loose and taken to the mountains, where there would be great difficulty in pursuing them, and they would serve as a nucleus round which would assemble all the disaffected in the island; and could recommend that, as they only demanded to be sent to Rome as prisoners of war, instead of being kept in the island, the terms should be agreed to.  After a moment’s delay, therefore, he replied: 

“I agree to your terms, sir, as far as I am concerned, and own they appear to me as moderate and reasonable.  I will draw out a document, setting them forth and my acceptance of them, and will send it at once to the prefect, praying him to sign it, and to forward it to Rome for the approval of the senate.  Pending an answer I trust that you will abstain from any further attacks upon the villages.”

“It may be a fortnight before the answer returns,” Malchus replied; “but if you will send up to this point a supply of cattle and flour sufficient for our wants till the answer comes, I will promise to abstain from all further action.”

To this the Roman readily agreed, and for a fortnight Malchus and his friends amused themselves by hunting deer and wild boar among the mountains.  After a week had passed a man had been sent each day to the spot agreed upon to see if any answer had been received from Rome.  It was nearly three weeks before he brought a message to Malchus that the terms had been accepted, and that the Roman commander would meet him there on the following day with the document.  The interview took place as arranged, and the Roman handed to Malchus the document agreeing to the terms proposed, signed by himself and the prefect, and ratified by the senate.  He said that if Malchus with his party would descend into the road on the following morning three miles below Metalla they would find an escort of Roman soldiers awaiting them, and that a vessel would be ready at the port for them to embark upon their arrival.

Next day, accordingly, Malchus with his companions left the forest, and marched down to the valley in military order.  At the appointed spot they found twenty Roman soldiers under an officer.  The latter saluted Malchus, and informed him that his orders were to escort them to the port, and to see that they suffered no molestation or interference at the hands of the natives on their march.  Two