It was now approaching midnight. The city was asleep and it was time to act. The men lit their torches and everyone crowded to the very back of the room while Jonathan set his charge. He wedged it under the door, lit it, and ran as fast as he could. Before he stepped twenty paces an extremely large explosion knocked him against the floor.
The bomb succeeded better than expected. The door was gone and the doorway wide open. The explosion had shaken the whole building, but as expected, the vanguard of Jonathan's crew encountered no one all the way into the courtyard of the temple.
With his revolver in hand and his squad of five, he followed close behind. When they reached the courtyard they halted, right by the door and lighted the way for all the others to file by, out the deserted gates and into the square. This took many minutes, and while it transpired several priests of the temple came running out in their nightclothes from the doors on the other sides of the plaza to see what had happened. Some began yelling when they saw the torches and the column passing by. But Jonathan took careful aim and shot them one by one. They made easy targets, holding up lanterns before their faces in the dark. More and more kept blundering out different doorways, and Jonathan had to reload twice and shot twelve of them before the last of his column straggled through the arch.
Now Jonathan and his men ran across the courtyard and took up a position just outside the gates, while the others moved rather slowly up the avenue. Jonathan had no fear of resistance from the townspeople. If they were anything like the souls he found in prison they’d hardly dare peek out their windows. If he could contain the officials in the temple and give the others a good enough lead, he felt sure of success.
But now the priests of the temple were beginning to organize. They had seen their brothers slaughtered as they rushed out the doors and now only yells and orders were heard, and men rushing along the protected ramparts. Jonathan and his men were still under the arch, and as he stepped out to into the avenue spears were hurled down. Jonathan turned and shot the first of these men leaning over the wall. A heavy thud resounded on the pavement a few feet away from him and no more spears were thrown.
They rushed ahead and Jonathan took up a position next to a building, to fire upon anybody who tried to follow. He sent the others ahead, to assist the column, which was making slow progress. No one followed and by the time his men were two blocks up the street Jonathan noticed a fire consuming one of the buildings to the right, which he guessed was the first of the storehouses.
It was a dark and starless night. When he reached his group he congratulated them on their efforts and he closed the ranks. They were moving at a snail's pace, and all who could were carrying sacks or assisting the others, and Jonathan realized the sad condition of these people. He made his way to the front and got there just as his torchbearers had looted the second building and set fire to it. They still had a half-mile to go before they reached the edge of town.
At the end of this street was a knoll, and as soon as the people reached the far side of it they collapsed in the grass, exhausted by the flight. For the next half-hour, others, limping behind, still came up, and Jonathan saw that most could go no further. He walked along the rows of these exhausted figures, telling them to stay quiet and rest up while he devised another plan to get them away. Then, in desperation, he called for every man who had strength left to come before him. About fifteen able-bodied fellows stumbled forwards.
Most of these men seemed to have more will then wind in them, panting heavily from the recent exertion. Jonathan chose three of them to hold torches and guard those resting. He took the other twelve aside and spoke as follows: "We've done well so far and have been lucky, but I see that we are going to need some carts and horses for the trip ahead, so we have to return to the city to get them. Now's the best time. The darkness is on our side. Who knows where wagons are kept?"
The bearded man who’d led the way spoke up, "down by the harbor there are stables, and wagons too."
"Good," replied Jonathan, "we'll leave our torches here. Hide your weapons. If there are people in the streets, try to blend in. But stick close together so you can hear me."
The men prepared themselves as Jonathan ordered and went back to the top of the knoll. Much to their surprise, they could see in the distance that the first fire they’d set was spreading from rooftop to rooftop. A gentle breeze was blowing from the sea on this warm night and fanning the fire towards the largest portion of the city, to the east. It now looked as if a whole block was burning, or more. The other fire was also burning but looked much smaller. They hurried down the hill. They could hear the cries of people not far away, and the temple bells ringing wildly.
The blocks of connected houses at the edge of town were still dark and quiet as they approached them, but now doors were opening and whole families were coming out into the streets to see what was going on. Some were holding lanterns and others still clung to the shadows, as no one knew what to do. Jonathan slowed his band to a walk, not to appear conspicuous, and went over to a family before their door and asked to borrow their lantern, as there was an emergency.
Paul's father was standing right behind him and in an excited tone whispered in his ear, "these are our own people here."
Jonathan glanced at this forlorn group of four adults, and six or seven children cowering behind them.
"Well then," he said turning to Paul's father, "tell them they can all come with us if they want to go home. Make them bring all the provisions they can carry and show them back. We'll rejoin you later."
Jonathan and his group hurried on with their lantern, looking like concerned citizens rushing to a fire. He was glad he found the opportunity to send back Paul's father, because this mission stood a good chance of being disastrous in its daring. He figured that they could easily make it to the waterfront in all this pandemonium. But how were they to steal a whole wagon train, load it with provisions and lead it back out of the city without being questioned or opposed? It was too crazy a scheme to even think about. They’d just have to do it.
They were now nearing the second of the fires they had set. There were officials in the crowded street yelling and directing others. The light of the fire illuminated the whole area distinctly. A pail brigade had been formed and set to work. There were others on rooftops nearby, dousing the flames, and the fire seemed likely to be contained to this one building, so many people were fighting it.
As Jonathan and his men trotted up, a young official waving his hands in a panic yelled at him to keep going, that this fire was under control, but the one down the street was spreading. Without a word Jonathan obeyed the fellow and continued on. A block further on they encountered a different degree of panic.
People were now fleeing towards them, screaming and pushing them out of the way. But the noise of the conflagration rose even higher than this human din. It was like a monster that crackled and roared and the heat of the thing could be felt in everyone's face though they were still a block away from it.
"Now they're getting a taste of their own medicine," he thought. "We should have started this in the temple where it belongs."
The fire roared all along one side of the avenue and was spreading east. Though the houses were built of brick, the roofs and rafters were all dry wood and joined across the whole block, and except for a few wide avenues the back streets were quite narrow. By now the fire had jumped three of these blocks and threatened a whole quarter of the city, if not more.
After pushing through a crowd Jonathan and his men made it to the plaza. Only an hour earlier this was a scene of eerie darkness. Now it was bathed in a hellish light, with a thousand people scrambling in every direction, with bags and buckets and children screaming in their arms. The fire burned along one edge of this square and the people seemed to vie with the flames in their frenzied motions.
