ion was great; yet the
people were so thankful to return, that they prepared to rebuild the
town.

They were greatly encouraged in this purpose by an event which seemed to
them a good omen. Near the temple of the patron goddess of Athens stood
a sacred olive tree, supposed to have been created by her at the time
when the city received her name.

This place had been burned by the invaders, and the returning Athenians
sorrowfully gazed upon the blackened trunk of the sacred tree. Imagine
their delight, therefore, when a new shoot suddenly sprang up from the
ashes, and put forth leaves with marvelous speed.

The people all cried that the goddess had sent them this sign of her
continued favor to encourage them to rebuild the city, and they worked
with such energy that they were soon provided with new homes.

As soon as the Athenians had secured shelter for their families, they
began to restore the mighty walls which had been the pride of their
city. When the Spartans heard of this, they jealously objected, for they
were afraid that Athens would become more powerful than Sparta.

Of course, they did not want to own that they were influenced by so mean
a feeling as jealousy, so they tried to find a pretext to hinder the
work. This was soon found, and Spartan messengers came and told the
Athenians that they should not fortify the town, lest it should fall
again into the hands of the enemy, and serve them as a stronghold.

Themistocles suspected the real cause of these objections, and made up
his mind to use all his talents to help his fellow-citizens. He
therefore secretly assembled the most able men, and told them to go on
with the work as fast as possible, while he went to Sparta to talk over
the matter with the Lacedaemonians.

When he arrived at Sparta, he artfully prolonged the discussions until
the walls were built high enough to be defended. Of course, there was
now nothing to be done; but the Spartans were very angry, and waited
anxiously for an opportunity to punish the Athenians. This came after a
time, as you will see in the following chapters.

LV. DEATH OF PAUSANIAS.

Pausanias, the Spartan king, was very proud of the great victory he had
won over the Persians at Plataea, and of the praise and booty he had
received. He was so proud of it, that he soon became unbearable, and
even wanted to become ruler of all Greece.

Although he had at first pretended to despise the luxury which he had
seen in