OLIS FLAMES

A few days only Xerxes and his host rested after the dear-bought triumph
at Thermopylae. An expedition sent to plunder Delphi returned
discomfited--thanks, said common report, to Apollo himself, who broke off
two mountain crags to crush the impious invaders. But no such miracle
halted the march on Athens. Boeotia and her cities welcomed the king;
Thespiae and Plataea, which had stood fast for Hellas, were burned. The
Peloponnesian army lingered at Corinth, busy with a wall across the
Isthmus, instead of risking valorous battle.

"By the soul of my father," the king had sworn, "I believe that after the
lesson at Thermopylae these madmen will not fight again!"

"By land they will not," said Mardonius, always at his lord's elbow, "by
sea--it remains for your Eternity to discover."

"Will they really dare to fight by sea?" asked Xerxes, hardly pleased at
the suggestion.

"Omnipotence, you have slain Leonidas, but a second great enemy remains.
While Themistocles lives, it is likely your slaves will have another
opportunity to prove to you their devotion."

"Ah, yes! A stubborn rogue, I hear. Well--if we must fight by sea, it shall
be under my own eyes. My loyal Phoenician and Egyptian mariners did not do
themselves full justice at Artemisium; they lacked the valour which comes
from being in the presence of their king."

"Which makes a dutiful subject fight as ten," quickly added Pharnaspes the
fan-bearer.

"Of course," smiled the monarch, "and now I must ask again, Mardonius, how
fares it with my handsome Prexaspes?"

"Only indifferently, your Majesty, since you graciously deign to inquire."

"Such a sad wound? That is heavy news. He takes long in recovering. I
trust he wants for nothing."

"Nothing, Omnipotence. He has the best surgeons in the camp."

"To-day I will send him Helbon wine from my own table. I miss his comely
face about me. I want him here to play at dice. Tell him to recover
because his king desires it. If he has become right Persian, that will be
better than any physic."

"I have no doubt he will be deeply moved to learn of your Eternity's
kindness," rejoined the bow-bearer, who was not sorry that further
discussion of this delicate subject was averted by the arch-usher
introducing certain cavalry officers with their report on the most
practicable line of march through Boeotia.

Glaucon, in fact, was long since out of danger, thanks to the sturdy
bronze of his Laconian helmet.