fountain. That
still continues to pour up its clear and pellucid waters with a
ceaseless and eternal flow.

It was to this Delos that Datis determined to restore the golden
statue. He took it on board his own galley, and proceeded with it,
himself, to the sacred island. He deposited it in the great temple of
Apollo, charging the priests to convey it, as soon as a convenient
opportunity should occur, to its proper destination at Delium.

The Persian fleet, after this business was disposed of, set sail
again, and pursued its course toward the coasts of Asia, where at
length the expedition landed in safety.

The various divisions of the army were then distributed in the
different provinces where they respectively belonged, and Datis
commenced his march with the Persian portion of the troops, and with
his prisoners and plunder, for Susa, feeling, however, very uncertain
how he should be received on his arrival there. Despotic power is
always capricious; and the character of Darius, which seems to have
been naturally generous and kind, and was rendered cruel and
tyrannical only through the influence of the position in which he had
been placed, was continually presenting the most opposite and
contradictory phases. The generous elements of it, fortunately for
Datis, seemed to be in the ascendency when the remnant of the Persian
army arrived at Susa. Darius received the returning general without
anger, and even treated the prisoners with humanity.

Before finally leaving the subject of this celebrated invasion, which
was brought to an end in so remarkable a manner by the great battle of
Marathon, it may be well to relate the extraordinary circumstances
which attended the subsequent history of Miltiades, the great
commander in that battle on the Greek side. Before the conflict, he
seems to have had no official superiority over the other generals,
but, by the resolute decision with which he urged the plan of giving
the Persians battle, and the confidence and courage which he
manifested in expressing his readiness to take the responsibility of
the measure, he placed himself virtually at the head of the Greek
command. The rest of the officers acquiesced in his pre-eminence, and,
waiving their claims to an equal share of the authority, they allowed
him to go forward and direct the operations of the day. If the day had
been lost, Miltiades, even though he had escaped death upon the field,
would have been totally and irretrievabl