y and
carry off all the babies they could find, to be brought up as slaves.

"And this is what they had planned to do to the pretty city lying asleep
in the moonlight on a July evening.

"They started about noon--a large body of infantry, making a fine show;
for they wore polished armor as black as jet, that shone in the sun, and
every one of them carried a murderous weapon. The advance guard was
made up of the biggest and bravest, while the veterans, and the young
soldiers who lacked experience, brought up the rear.

"They had a long wearisome march across a rocky plain and up a steep
hill. Then there was a river to cross, and on the other side a stretch
of desert land, where the hot sun beat upon their heads, and where it
must have been hard to keep up the rapid pace at which they marched. But
they pressed on, and woe to him who stumbled and fell! for not a soldier
was allowed to stop an instant to help his fallen comrade. The whole
army swept on and over him, and there was no straggling from the close
ranks or resting for one instant till the day's journey was
accomplished.

"The last stage of the journey was through a dreary wood. Here they
were exposed to many unseen dangers. Beasts of prey sprang out upon and
devoured them. A big bird swooped down and carried aloft some poor
wretch whose fate it was to fill the hungry maw of a baby bird. And many
an unfortunate, getting entangled in a soft gray curtain of silk that
hung across the path, struggled vainly to extricate himself, till the
hairy monster which had woven the snare crept out of his den and cracked
his bones and sucked the last drop of his blood.

"It was night when, weary and dusty, the army reached the borders of the
wood. But they forgot both their fatigue and their losses by the way
when they saw before them in the middle of a green meadow, its dome
glittering in the light of the setting sun, the pretty, prosperous city
they had braved all these dangers to rob.

"They rested that night, but were on the march soon after sunrise. A few
rushed forward to surprise the sentinels on guard, while the main body
of the army advanced more slowly, in solid phalanx, their brave
coats-of-mail catching the early rays of the sun.

"Meanwhile the peaceful inhabitants, all unconscious of coming disaster,
pursued their usual occupations--waiting on the queen-mother, milking
the kine, building houses, cleaning the streets. Then came the alarm:
'The foe is at the g