, and its sides were all covered with
jagged rocks, against which the prisoners were dashed to pieces long
before they reached the bottom.

The Messenians were cast into this place one after another, Aristomenes
being thrown in last of all, so that he might have the sorrow of seeing
his companions die. Of course, this was very cruel, but the Spartans had
been brought up to think this mode of getting rid of their enemies quite
right; and when they had thus killed them, they cheerfully went back to
the city and celebrated their victory.

[Illustration]

XXVIII. ARISTOMENES' ESCAPE.

Although the Spartans thought that Aristomenes was dead, they were
greatly mistaken. By some miracle he had not struck against any of the
sharp, jagged rocks, but, falling upon the heap of his dead companions,
had reached the bottom of the Ceadas unhurt.

There was apparently no way out of this pit except by the opening at the
top, through which a bit of sky could be seen; and Aristomenes soon
found that the sides were so steep that it was impossible to reach the
opening. He therefore went off to one side, away from the heap of dead,
and sat down on a stone in that cold, damp, and dark place. There he
drew his cloak over his head to wait patiently until he should starve to
death. Three days had thus been spent in this place, and his strength
was already fast failing, when he suddenly felt a warm breath on his
hand.

He softly drew aside his cloak, and, now that his eyes were used to the
darkness, he dimly saw a fox prowling around him, and sniffing his
clothes suspiciously.

Gently wrapping his cloak around his hand to protect it from the fox's
sharp teeth, Aristomenes caught the animal firmly by the tail. Then, in
spite of all its efforts to get away, he held it tight; and when it
started off, he followed its lead.

As he had shrewdly suspected, the fox knew a way out of the horrible
place. All at once it slipped into a hole; and Aristomenes, seeing a
little light at the end of this, let the fox go. With the help of a
sharp stone, he soon made the fox's hole big enough to crawl through,
and quickly made his way back to the Messenians.

You can imagine how happy they were to see the beloved chief whom they
thought dead, and how tenderly they cared for him until he was well and
strong again. They never tired of hearing the story of his fall,
imprisonment, and escape; and when he proposed to lead them once more
against the Sp