CHAPTER XVI
IN THE CAMP OF THE MERCENARIES
Sometimes running and sometimes walking, Leonidas led Clearchus andChares all night through the foot-hills of Mount Ida. It was not untilday was breaking and they were thoroughly exhausted that he halted at aspot well advanced upon the northeastern slopes of the great mountain.They found themselves at the bottom of a rocky ravine, shaded byevergreens, through which trickled a shallow brook.
"Let us eat and sleep," Leonidas said, and in ten minutes they werelying wrapped in their cloaks in the shelter of a thicket.
Leonidas was awake and had aroused his friends before noon. Althoughthe country was wild and thinly settled, they pushed forward withcaution, fearing that they might stumble upon some Persian outpost.For the same reason, they skirted the hillsides instead of keeping tothe valleys, where it would have been easier to advance, and the wisdomof this precaution was made manifest before they had gone far. Thekeen eyes of Leonidas caught a drift of smoke above the tree-tops.Advancing cautiously along a ridge, they found an abrupt declivitywhich permitted them to look down upon a camp-fire about which weregathered twenty or thirty men.
From the variety of their weapons and costumes, the Spartan judged themto be shepherds and farmers who had been sent out by the Persiancommanders as scouts. They were under the command of an officer whowore a conical cap, linen trousers, and a flowing garment of yellow andblue, with wide sleeves. In his hand he carried a whip of rawhide, andhis only other weapon was a dagger which he wore at his waist. Theparty had evidently halted for its midday meal.
Seeing that the Persians did not suspect their presence, the threespies crept behind a huge bowlder which had fallen from the face of thecliff behind them and hung poised on a ledge above the camp. Theyhoped to learn something from the talk of the men around the fire, buttheir conversation seemed to be carried on in a dialect with which theywere not familiar. While Leonidas and Clearchus were watching, one oneither side of the rock, Chares, crouched behind it, began idly toexamine the mass of stone. It was taller than the stature of a man andshaped like a rough sphere. Ferns grew from its crevices and aroundits base, showing that it had hung there for years. It was separatedfrom the cliff by a narrow passage, and its outer side overhung theledge upon which it had been caught.
Chares measured the great rock with his eye and then quietly stretchedhimself down upon the ledge behind it, with his feet against the cliffand his shoulders against the stone. As he put forth his enormousstrength, slowly a crack appeared in the earth at the base of thestone. The delicate plumes of fern that grew from the moss on itssummit began to nod gently, although the air was still. The crackwidened and there was a sound of the snapping of slender roots.Clearchus and Leonidas, intent upon the scene below, noticed nothing.Suddenly the great bowlder seemed to start forward of its own motion.It hung balanced for an instant and then plunged from the ledge,bounding down the steep hillside with long leaps, rending everything inits path.
With shouts of alarm, the soldiers scattered in every direction, buttheir leader tripped on the long skirt of his gaudy robe and fell facedownward beside the fire. Before he could rise, the great stone wasupon him. It rolled over his prostrate form and came to rest.
Leonidas turned to discover what had happened and saw Chares lying withhis head in the hole where the stone had been, shaking with laughter.Without losing a moment, the Spartan dragged him to his feet and ranswiftly back along the way they had come. It was impossible to avoidbeing seen. There was a cry from below, and half a dozen arrows struckagainst the cliff about them as they passed. Luckily, they succeededin gaining shelter in safety.
The Spartan's face was pale with anger. "If you had done that in mycountry, nothing could save you!" he said to Chares.
"Why? What have I done?" the Theban asked in surprise.
"You have endangered the safety of the whole army and run the risk ofbringing the expedition to failure," Leonidas answered hotly. "I saynothing of ourselves, but we have been seen, and what you have done tono purpose may cost us our lives."
"That is true," the Theban said, filled with remorse. "I didn't stopto think."
"You made me leader," Leonidas continued bitterly. "If I am to lead,you must obey my orders. If not, lead on yourself, and I will show youhow to obey."
Clearchus peered down into the ravine and saw the Persians gatheredabout the motionless body of their chief, debating with manygesticulations.
"They are not thinking of pursuit," he said. "Come, I will answer forChares that he will be more careful in future. Let it pass. We haveno time to lose."
The Spartan made no reply, but turned and led the way once more towardthe east. They did not halt again until the mountain was at theirbacks, its peaks cutting a giant silhouette of purple in the crimsonevening sky. After a brief rest they struck out along a water-coursewhich brought them at daybreak to a larger stream that they judged tobe the Granicus.
As they advanced, the hills became smaller and the country more open.They met several companies of the Persians, some with wagon trains andsome on foraging expeditions; but when they explained that they wereGreek mercenaries on their way to join Memnon, they were permitted topass unmolested, since it was extremely unlikely that any of theMacedonians could have advanced so far inland. Finally, late in theafternoon, they reached an opening between the hills which gave themsight of a broad, rolling plain, through which the river ran like aband of silver. Far away they could see the tents of the Persian camp,spread out like a white city, and, a little to the right, a darksquare, which they took to be the earthwork surrounding the camp of theGreek mercenaries. Although the Persians made use of the Greeks, theywere so jealous of them that they always made them camp apart.Encounters between them were not uncommon, even when they were fightingin the same cause.
Descending to the plain, the three friends lost sight of the camp, butthey took the river for their guide, knowing that it must bring them totheir destination. They passed farms and cottages, from which thewomen peeped curiously at them, the men having been drafted into thearmy. They were emerging from a pasture behind a farm-house ratherlarger and more prosperous-looking than its neighbors, when they hearda commotion in which they distinguished the shouting of Greeks.Running forward, they found two foraging parties from the rival campsin angry dispute for the possession of a drove of cattle. The Greekshad found the cattle and were about to drive them away when the Persianparty came up and demanded them.
Words led to blows. The Greeks were heavily outnumbered, and althoughthey fought stubbornly, it was clear that they would be unable to holdtheir ground.
"Here is our chance," Leonidas cried. "Memnon! Memnon!"
He drew his sword and rushed into the conflict, with Clearchus andChares behind him, shouting at the top of their lungs. The Greeks,encouraged by their unexpected succor, made a stand, while thePersians, not knowing how large a force was upon them, ceased to followup their advantage.
"Drive in the sheep with the cattle," Chares cried, catching up a heavystake from a hayrick and swinging it around his head with both hands."Don't let them escape!" He brought the stake down upon the Persianheads like a gigantic flail.
Leonidas and Clearchus forced themselves into the thick of the fight,thrusting and hewing with their swords. The Greek foragers, regainingtheir courage, ran in after them. The Persians were unable towithstand the charge. They broke and fled down the road toward theircamp in disorder, leaving half a dozen of their number upon the field.
"Praise be to Zeus, the Preserver!" said the lochagos, or captain, whowas in command of the mercenaries. "Where did you come from?"
"From Antandrus," Leonidas replied promptly, "to join the army ofMemnon."
"By the horn of Dionysus, you came in time!" the captain cried, wipinghis sword. "But I have been long away from home. Is it the fashionthere now to fight with stakes for weapons?"
He looked at Chares, whose mighty onslaught had aroused the ad
mirationof the soldiers.
"It is the fashion there, as it always has been, to fight with whatevercomes to hand when Greeks are in danger," Chares said with dignity."But do you suppose, now, that there is a skin of wine in that house?"
"No harm in looking," the captain replied. "Get the cattle together ifyou expect to eat before you sleep," he added to his men and led theway into the house.
There were only women inside--the farmer's wife and two daughters, allin a flutter of fear. Chares, ignorant of their language, began bykissing each of them, which served somewhat to dispel their alarm.When the captain produced a bag of gold pieces and announced that hewould pay for everything they took, they became quite at ease andreadily brought the skin of wine that Chares demanded.
Having finished the wine in great good humor and settled their account,the party set off to the camp, driving the cattle before them. Aroundtheir camp-fire that night the three Companions learned all there wasto know of the Persian army. Under Memnon, there were nearly twentythousand Greek mercenaries drawn from the entire Hellenic world andincluding thieves, fugitives, murderers, and runaway slaves. ThePersian force was equal in number to the army of Alexander andconsisted mainly of cavalry. It was made up of picked men, the besttroops of the empire. With the satraps Arsites and Spithridates weremany of the great nobles of the realm, among them Atizyes, satrap ofGreater Phrygia, Mithrobarzanes, hipparch of Cappadocia, Omares, andothers who were renowned for their bravery and high standing with theGreat King.
"They think it will be a holiday affair," the honest captain saidcontemptuously. "We Greeks know better. They are encumbered with wineand women for the feast that they intend to celebrate after they havewon their victory, and they are already quarrelling among themselvesfor places at the board; but their greatest contention is over whatshall be done with Alexander when he is led before Darius, loaded withchains, to answer for his boldness. They have invented more newpunishments than would destroy the entire army."
"Why are they so certain of winning?" Clearchus asked. "I have heardthe Macedonians are good fighters."
"So they are," the captain replied heartily; "but the best troops ofPersia are here, and the young nobles cannot bring themselves tobelieve that common men can stand against them. Why, they are evenpredicting that the army of Alexander will run away before a blow hasbeen struck."
"You don't seem to care over much for our friends," Chares remarkedwith a yawn.
"Nor they for us," the captain said. "You saw what happened thisafternoon. They think they can get along without us and they do notintend to let us have any share in the victory if they can help it. Ibelieve we shall win if it is true that Alexander has only half as manymen as we; but they will never win without our assistance."
"I suppose we shall fight in the centre," Clearchus suggested.
"I don't know," the captain exclaimed. "Nobody seems to know. If theytake Memnon's advice, they will not risk all on a battle now. There isno need of it. All we have to do is to fall back, leaving nothing toeat behind us, and the Macedonians will starve to death. But thenobles will not listen to reason. They want glory, and so they insistupon a battle where the advantage will be all with the other side.They called Memnon a coward in the council this afternoon for proposingto retreat, and now they are at it again over yonder."
He pointed to a gayly colored pavilion in the middle of the Persiancamp, where the council feast was being held. It looked like astrange, gigantic mushroom, glowing with interior light.
"They even jeer at us for throwing up breastworks," the captain addedbitterly. "They have left their own camp defenceless, to show howbrave they are. Perhaps they will be glad enough to take refuge inours before they are through!"
"We must find out what the decision of the council is," Leonidaswhispered, as they rolled themselves in their cloaks, "and then thenext thing will be to get away."