They halted, however, on passing the crest, and an officer with them gazed long and searchingly over the country.

For some minutes he sat without speaking, then he gave an order and the horsemen rode back again over the crest.
"I think we shall see no more of them," Malchus said.

"His orders were, no doubt, that if I was in sight they were to pursue, if not, it would be clearly useless hunting over miles of brushwood in the hope of finding me, especially as they must deem it likely that I am far away in the opposite direction." An hour later Nessus crept cautiously forward among the bushes, making a considerable detour until he reached the spot whence he could command a view of the Roman camp.

It had gone, not a soul remained behind, but at some distance across the plain he could see the heavy column marching north.

He rose to his feet and returned to the spot where he had left Malchus, and told him that the Romans had gone.
"The first thing, Nessus, is to get rid of these chains." "It is easy as to the chains," Nessus said, "but the rings around your legs must remain until we rejoin the camp, it will need a file to free you from them." The soil was sandy, and Nessus could find no stone sufficiently large for his purpose.