rxes had
given them, abandoned their bridge and all their other undertakings,
and set sail. They were to make the best of their way to the Hellespont,
and post themselves there to defend the bridge of boats until Xerxes
should arrive. On the following morning, accordingly, when the sun rose,
the Greeks found, to their utter astonishment, that their enemies were
gone.

A scene of the greatest animation and excitement on board the Greek
fleet at once ensued. The commanders resolved on an immediate pursuit.
The seamen hoisted their sails, raised their anchors, and manned their
oars, and the whole squadron was soon in rapid motion. The fleet went as
far as to the island of Andros, looking eagerly all around the horizon,
in every direction, as they advanced, but no signs of the fugitives were
to be seen. The ships then drew up to the shore, and the commanders were
convened in an assembly, summoned by Eurybiades, on the land, for
consultation.

A debate ensued, in which the eternal enmity and dissension between the
Athenian and Peloponnesian Greeks broke out anew. There was, however,
now some reason for the disagreement. The Athenian cause was already
ruined. Their capital had been burned, their country ravaged, and their
wives and children driven forth to exile and misery. Nothing remained
now for them but hopes of revenge. They were eager, therefore, to press
on, and overtake the Persian galleys in their flight, or, if this could
not be done, to reach the Hellespont before Xerxes should arrive there,
and intercept his passage by destroying the bridge. This was the policy
which Themistocles advocated. Eurybiades, on the other hand, and the
Peloponnesian commanders, urged the expediency of not driving the
Persians to desperation by harassing them too closely on their retreat.
They were formidable enemies after all, and, if they were now disposed
to retire and leave the country, it was the true policy of the Greeks to
allow them to do so. To destroy the bridge of boats would only be to
take effectual measures for keeping the pest among them. Themistocles
was outvoted. It was determined best to allow the Persian forces to
retire.

Themistocles, when he found that his counsels were overruled, resorted
to another of the audacious stratagems that marked his career, which was
to send a second pretended message of friendship to the Persian king. He
employed the same Sicinnus on this occasion that he had sent before into
the Pers